Chapter Text
Ichika put the kettle on the stove.
The stove was a small, old thing. It was rusty and busted up in a few places, and had a couple of stains. That was alright, the stove still did its job.
She added a bit more wood to the firebox.
It was winter, which meant they couldn’t plant any crops unless they wished for them to perish. Akio was out, helping the other men in their town cut down trees for lumber. It was hard, dirty work as the town didn’t have a lot of the proper tools for chopping down trees.
It being winter meant no income for them as Akio and Ichika live off their yearly harvests. Akio would get little to no payment from cutting down trees with the other men in their town. That was why they usually started stocking up before winter hit.
Their resources were usually enough as they were only two people. That made them more fortunate than the other families as they usually had more family members.
In the harsher winter months, the more elderly of the townsfolk would pass on as the town didn’t have enough resources to accommodate everyone. Newborns would sometimes not make it.
It was often common for people to die of starvation from the lack of food. People would end up dying of the cold because they didn’t stock up on lumber or had the proper supplies. Her mother died because of the cold when she was younger.
Ichika would try her best to save up money and food every year for them to survive. It was always enough for the two of them. She would always fight tooth and nails to keep their supplies safe from thieves’ hands. Ichika didn’t share.
Akio had a kinder heart than she as he would try to share the few things that they had.
‘ There are people who don’t even have rice!’ he would argue.
‘ We barely have enough for us,’ she would snap back.
Akio was extremely compassionate. Ichika loved him for it, but he was too giving. Every year it was the same, Akio sneaking off some food to other families and Ichika rationing whatever he gave away. They would often argue about what they had.
However, this year was different, this year they have a son.
Ichika glanced at the kettle, it was starting to bubble. She leaned back against the counter.
Ichika had always been fascinated with the meanings of words. The town’s education system wasn’t all that great, but Ichika, as a child, always scoured over the small library in the schoolhouse, trying to learn new words.
She did her best to learn Kanji. There weren’t that many great sources nor were any of the teachers certified. Unfortunately, Kanji was for nobles; Kanji is for the elites. It was a symbol of status so to speak.
The town, Takko, was too poor to ever be considered important. Takko was so bathed in poverty that they couldn’t even afford to buy new books. They could barely afford resources.
She only ever learned a handful of Kanji. This was due to her dedication to learning, she was quite desperate back then. She wanted to escape poverty, she wanted to be more than a country bumpkin. Ichika even stole books from the few mercenaries that came by, those excursions were sometimes successful.
Ichika remembered how she used to bug Makoto-san, who was one of the more literate elders, to teach her more words. She only ever learned Hiragana and most of the Katakana writing system.
Ichika didn’t escape the clutches of her poor, miserable life, no matter how hard she tried. Ichika wanted to be a scholar who taught at the Daimyo’s palace or maybe a poet.
She was so heartbroken that she couldn’t make it, but she wasn’t surprised.
Hardly anyone made it out of poverty in the town.
Why would she be any different than the others who tried so hard to make it and failed?
At least she has found a family with Akio.
She has her son. A son! Ichika couldn’t believe it.
He was born in spring. It wasn’t at the beginning of spring, like most of the other children were born, it was during the travel season. The travel season, which she believed was somewhere around May, was when more mercenaries would come and when more people traveled through the town.
Most of the children were born in spring for convenience. If they were born during summer or fall, they would most likely not make it through the winter. Her son himself was around 8 months old, therefore having better chances of surviving the cold than a 2 or 4-month-old baby.
Her son was currently being swaddled in blankets in his cot.
He was too small for a baby and many of the women in town believed he would not make it through the winter.
Ichika believes he will make it, she’ll make sure of it. She won’t lose him, not again after the fright he gave her.
-
When her son was born, the midwife delivering believed he was stillborn. He wouldn’t move or cry. His little body was limp. Ichika could remember her terror as she stared at his tiny body.
He was declared dead.
Until he gave a big gasp and started crying.
Oh, how joyful Ichika was! She was crying tears of happiness. The midwife was speechless, this has never happened before.
The crying was horrendous however, it sounded like he was dying.
It was worrying.
After her son calmed down, it was time to name him. The midwife was still not over her shock as she let Akio enter the room. He was clutching a small sheet of paper and a pen.
“Are you ok? Oh my- is it him, oh it’s him right? Let me hold him!”
Ichika chuckled, “Hold on, hold on! Be careful, give me a sec.”
Her husband, Akio, was holding him, eyes full of wonder. Ichika remembered how much Akio wanted a child.
“Can I name him? Please, let me do so!”
Ichika was fine with it as long as it wasn’t anything stupid. She told him so.
“How about Haru? Doesn’t that mean ‘child born in spring’?” he asked.
Ichika rolled her eyes, “Nearly every child here is born in spring, be a little more creative.”
“My name supposedly means a bright man. Yours is ‘a thousand flowers’ right? Let’s go for a plant theme then! How about Hana? That means flower.”
“Isn’t that a girl’s name? I have a pen and paper here, to write out the name, not something he’ll get bullied for.”
Akio frowned, “How about Daiki then? Doesn’t that one mean big tree?”
“It could mean that yes, it depends on the Kanji you write.”
“Can you write it then? It makes sense, doesn’t it? He has my hair too!”
The newborn had a small wisp of green-colored hair, just like Akio. It would be somewhat fitting to name him after a tree. She could write it, she remembered the Kanji for it.
“Why ‘big tree’ though? There are other names with a tree in it,” Ichika remarked.
Akio smiled, “Well, he’s a sapling right now, but with loving care, he’ll grow into a big tree. He’ll be a great man. He’ll do great things and be the best!”
“He’s a baby, not one of your plants in the garden!”
“It’s nearly the same thing! I have to love and care for them! Oh, oh- nurture ‘em too!”
Ichika grinned too, it was so sappy, but that was what she loved about Akio.
“Alright, his name will be Daiki.”
“It does match with our last name, ‘peaceful hill’, ” she added, “ a big tree in the middle of a peaceful hill.”
With that Ichika wrote down the Kanji for Daiki’s name on paper:
大樹
Akio was wearing that stupid grin of his. He stared lovingly at Daiki’s little pink face as he cooed at him.
“Oh- you’ll grow into the finest tree ever!”
-
Daiki was weird for a newborn.
He wouldn’t sniffle or sob; other babies would gurgle or cry, but Daiki never did. It was great that he wouldn’t cry, she was not saying it wasn’t, but weren’t babies supposed to, well, shed tears every once in a while?
Sometimes she wished he would just cry. It was unnatural, Daiki just ate and slept. He wouldn’t gurgle or coo like a regular baby.
Perhaps she should give it time.
Oh well.
The water in the kettle was boiling, Ichika moved it over and poured steaming hot water into her cup.
Akio should be coming home soon. Maybe he would then tell her why there was a bit of rice missing from the sack. They need to save food more now, as they have another little mouth to feed.
Ichika grabbed some of the freshly ground tea she made yesterday and stirred it in the hot water.
She was so glad she picked the tea leaves when it was still Spring. She was even happier that Akio grew some more types of tea leaves this year. Tea prices were rising in the markets right now and they couldn't afford much of it.
Ichika sighed and grabbed her cup of tea and sat down at the tea-table.
Daiki should still be sleeping, he’ll make it through Winter; she would rather die than let him die, right along with Akio. She should have a while before he wakes up.
She took a sip. She felt the warmth spread throughout her body.
Tea time.