Flower Garnish Part 3

It was heavy. Her chest felt like there was a weight on it that shifted when she tried to breathe deeper. Yuzuki groaned, rolling over to get more comfortable. The weight fell off, losing the warmth it provided, but the movement caused it to make whining noises!

Her eyes snapped open and she sat upright with slight panic, fully awake once again. It was day time now. Yuzuki looked at the indignant little furballs that had previously been laying on her body, sharing their warmth.

Little rabbit-like creatures looked up at her. Each one was probably no bigger than the palm of her hand. They had soft, fluffy white fur, round eyes and twitchy little noses. There were wispier sections of fur around their necks and paws and there was a crescent moon shape on their foreheads, but they otherwise looked like dwarf bunnies. However, unlike the rabbits of her world, these ones were not skittish as they were surrounding her, some even moving closer. Reaching out gingerly, she touched one on the forehead where the moon crest was. The strange rabbit butted back gently, accepting the touch.

How…how cute! Taking this as an incentive, Yuzuki carefully scooped up the little creature. Truly, it was as fluffy and soft as it looked. The rabbit’s little paws gently padded on her palm and the woman had to hold back from squealing at how adorable this creature was. Her soul felt cleansed of all the anguish she previously felt the other day, just from interacting with this animal.

I wasn’t allowed animals growing up because my parents were allergic. And grandpa didn’t have time to look after me, the restaurant and a dog or cat. The cook had always wanted a pet and sometimes stopped at cat cafes whenever she had the time to let off some steam. Just stroking the cats and taking pictures of them while enjoying coffee to keep her spirit alive for the daily grind.

This rabbit was so tiny. Was it a baby? Having this thought, made her look around, now taking in where she had wound up. She was in some kind of deep trench. There was the incline where she fell down. She could probably make it back up, but it would be pretty difficult no matter which side she would try to climb up. Next to her was a very thin stream, whose water seemed clean, but Yuzuki was unsure about drinking water from the middle of nowhere. Plus, calling it a stream was generous. It was more like a trickle.

Her stomach rumbled loudly, startling herself and the rabbits. Yuzuki let out an embarrassed laugh.

With everything that happened, it was normal she’d be hungry. Remembering everything she’d done before effectively falling into a ditch, she felt incredibly stupid. Giving up, after running around and getting lost…honestly, Yuzuki felt pretty ashamed that she even thought about that. But considering the circumstances, well, it was natural to lose it a little. Thank goodness nobody had been around to witness her breaking down in a ditch.

Well, time for food. Thankfully, she had most of her belongings with her. The bag of food which she had turned into a pillow and her dagger. Unstuffing the bag of the leaves she had collected, she pulled out the remaining two carrots and the unappetizing bread, which was still hard as a brick as the night before.

The little rabbits circled around her as she was going through her supplies, sniffing up at her as she handled the carrots. Yuzuki remembered from her own home that carrots were not healthy for rabbits, more like junk food than a proper meal. But maybe it would be okay for these little guys? She realized they had kept her warm through the night with their little bodies, so she did owe them a debt of gratitude at the very least. It pained her to do it since she needed to survive, but she had these guys to thank for keeping her alive when things got so bad.

Yuzuki offered the carrot to them, laying it down and watching them look at it, then seemingly turning their little noses up at the offering.

Huh?!

The rabbits seemed interested before, but how come they didn’t want it now? Were they just not hungry?

Well, Yuzuki couldn’t blame them. After eating one of the carrots the other day, it hadn’t been the most appetizing thing. Even if she wasn’t a fan of them, even pickled carrots would have been better than just plain, unpeeled carrots. Maybe they didn’t like the skin?

Yuzuki picked up her dagger and checked it out. While it was nowhere near the quality of the chef’s knives she was used to back in Japan, the blade was sharp enough for what she needed to do. Picking up the carrot offering, the woman made quick work of the carrot skin, peeling at a spiral the way her grandfather had taught her. The skin came off neatly and she set them aside in her bag as the peels could still be eaten (and with such little food she couldn’t afford to waste anything); the carrot was then placed back on the ground for the little rabbits to chow down.

While there was a bit more interest, they didn’t eat, looking at her expectantly.

“What do you want from me exactly?” she asked them, getting no answer. Just little blank stares animals were known for.

“Well, sweetheart, sometimes it’s just nice to have food look pretty, too. Before you eat with your mouth, you eat with your eyes. When food looks nice, you want to eat it more, right?”

Those were the words her father gave her in her dream the other night, thought Yuzuki felt like she’d heard them before, long, long ago. Were comforting memories of the past coming up because she was so stressed? Could be. But they would prove quite useful as it gave her an idea. She wished she had the right tools for it, but she could make do.

Picking up the carrot again, she made strategic notches all around the carrot, spinning the vegetable expertly every time she did her diagonal cuts. The pieces were put away as before for an emergency snack before she went to her next step – chopping. Swiftly, she made slices, coming up with quite a handful by the end. While nowhere near as fancy as the flower garnishes she could make, if she had a peeler to make thinner slices, these were essentially flower shaped cuts of carrot. Presentation being everything, Yuzuki managed to locate a couple of large leaves from a low hanging branch and arranged the little carrot flowers on each one, as if they were plates.

Preparation done, she presented her new little friends with their meal.

“Eat up everybody. It’s not fancy, but I hope it’s to your liking.”

Honestly, she had no idea why she was putting so much energy into this. Was it a sense of gratitude? Her pride as a chef? Yuzuki didn’t know, but it felt like the right thing to do at the time.

To her amazement, the little rabbits actually came and grabbed a piece each, gently crunching on the prepared carrots. Little noises of enjoyment filled the trench as they finished up the cut flowers. It was honestly so cute, that Yuzuki got swept up in the moment when they all looked at her in unison, asking for more silently. Not even thinking twice about it, she cut some more flowers with the leftover carrot and watched them eat it again with a smile on her face.

Leftover with just the bread, Yuzuki figured it would be tolerable enough if she softened it with water. Like some kind of gross gruel. Better to have food in her belly than to go hungry, so that was what she did. Breaking the bread in half so she could save some for later was a hardship in its own right, even with a dagger to try and slice it up, but she managed and allowed it to soak in the water from the small stream. Even though she hated the fall she’d taken, it was somewhat lucky that she landed near water. After seeing one of the rabbits come by to take a sip it made her feel better knowing the water was indeed safe enough. Yuzuki took a sip and was grateful for how refreshing it was. Like that first sip of beer after a long day’s work in the kitchen! Cool, refreshing and clean. Yuzuki had to be careful not to let herself choke from drinking so fast with her face directly in the water. A shame she didn’t have some kind of water container to take some with her as she would need to be moving soon. She’d left her lantern behind, too, though it would have likely run out of fuel at this point. It could have been a makeshift container at the very least, if she couldn’t get a fire going again inside of it.

Yuzuki sat down to eat her soggy bread (whose taste left something to be desired), watching the rabbits finish eating their second round of flower garnishes and noticing something amazing. Their whole bodies seemed to glow now. Was this a natural phenomena or something else at play? They were all glittery and energized; truly this was definitely another world. No doubt about it. The glow eventually faded and the rabbits began their play as Yuzuki had her own meal. Jumping around each other, but generally staying close to her. Sometimes coming close and flopping down next to her leg. When they did this, she reached out to touch their little heads.

There were seven in all who had come to her. Seven little lives that helped her out. She wondered if they would follow her or would they eventually disperse? How intelligent were they? Yuzuki figured they had personalities at least, with how they rejected her original offering.

“Hey,” she called out softly. The rabbits stopped moving and looked right at her.

Good thing they were so cute (and it was day time), otherwise she might have seen their simultaneous head turns as something out of a horror movie.

“I’m kind of really lost. Do you think you could help me?” Yuzuki felt stupid the moment the words left her mouth. Fantasy world or not, surely these animals didn’t actually understand her, right? She wasn’t some kind of fairy tale princess or anything that would sing and animals would come to her rescue.

Oddly enough though, the rabbits gathered together, looking as if they were communicating even though there was no noise. They huddled together for a bit in silent discussion before one of them looked at her and nodded. Seriously?!

Somehow it was communicated that they would lead Yuzuki somewhere. With a lot gesturing with their heads and butting the back of her heels to get her to move, they began leading her down the trench towards the same direction the stream of spirits had gone down the other day. Realizing this, Yuzuki voiced her concerns.

“Um, you guys are sure this is the right way?” she asked. They squeaked in what Yuzuki interpreted as a positive way and she sighed. Making sure her dagger was at the ready for any problems, she continued her journey with the little rabbits, wherever they may be leading her.