To My Sunflower

"Yah ungrateful brats! Yah steal food from meh when I graciously let yah stay in meh home!" The livid old man before them angrily spat out as he lashed at Rei and Kei"s backs with vehemence.

The twin brothers bit their lips as their backs stung from whipping after whipping until they bled.

"I"m sorry! It"s not Rei-tan or Kei-tan"s fault." The tiny voice of the little girl pleaded before the angry adult with distraught tears streaking her face. "I was hungry."

"Nisei brats! Yah make meh sick." Old Man Satō spat on them and to the floor.

He stopped his belting with a weary sigh and told the kids to get lost and don"t come back until night fall. If they failed to come back, he"ll sic some dogs on them to track them down; thinking on the extra rations of food he"d lose out on without having the kids around his place. He was able to eat like a king because of them, but they were proving to be a nuisance.

The little ones helped the twin preteen boys hobble out of the minka farmer house and down the gravel road to a part of the village they had yet to explore.

They wandered off track and into a field of sunflowers when Rei was showing signs of collapsing. The skin on both the twins was clammy with a cold sweat and festering with pus and blood around the open wounds. Kei"s eyes was glossing over with delirium as infection seeped in.

"Rei-tan! Kei-tan!" The girl and two young boys cried out as their older twins collapsed to the dirty ground, unconscious.

The disturbing cries had reached Hinata"s ears when he was tending to the vegetable garden on the other side of the field. Instinctively, he raced for the sound of the children"s sobbing and panicked at the sight of the two young boys bleeding unconsciously to the ground.

"Little Miss! Can you be brave and go to that house over there to bring back my water can," he gently said to the sobbing girl. "You brave boys, can you go with our princess to protect her? At the house call for a woman there to come."

The girl and two boys nodded, taking note of the cottage on the other side of the meadows.

The sight of the backs of the boys" before him broke Hinata"s heart. It crudely reminded him of the similar scars he carried on his own back from the hateful beatings other boys had given him in his school-days. He checked the boys" pulses and was relieved to feel regular beats from them. The sight of the infected wounds on their backs concerned him.

The girl soon returned with Aiyamsan carrying the water can.

"I saw Mei-chan. She said that you asked her to bring you this." Aiyamsan said, not hiding her shock and worry about the boys" conditions. "I told the boys to stay with Miki-chan."

"Can you help me carry them back to the house?" Hinata asked, as he carefully washed the wounds the best he could with the can.

He gave the little girl a warm smile. "Thank you for being brave and helpful to your brothers. Come."

Hinata and Aiyamsan carried the boys back to their house, with the girl hurrying after them.

"Miwtan, Shouttan!" Miki-chan excitedly greeted the two young boys she saw hovering around the cottage"s engawa porch.

"You"re here Miki-chan?!" One of the boys said with sigh of relief.

"I see you know our guests Miki-chan." Hinata said when he stepped into view with an older boy in his arms.

He and Aiyamsan laid the boys on the tatami in his room. Hinata spent some time tending to their wounds and wrapping them in a clean bandage.

Aiyamsan groaned when she realised that the girl"s short hair was full of lice. Luckily the boys" heads were shaved low, so nits couldn"t stick to them. She made sure everyone had hot baths. When they were cleaned and fed, she had them sit in the main room to undergo an intensive combing and nit-picking session. It made her sigh with a gentle smile, enjoying the bonding session.

"Mei-chan. We"ll need to cut your hair shorter because of the nits, sorry." She politely said to the young girl, whose dark eyes looked forward with a lost expression.
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The young girl acknowledged her words with a nod. The young boys stared at Aiyamsan"s motherly face wistfully, praying they could stay with her. She had been very kind and caring towards them during their trip from Osaka, making sure their sickness was gone with her healing skills. So, when they were forced to separate from the truck at their final destination, this had made them distraught. They were relieved to be reunited with her.

"I wonder if Chikafuji-san"s store has clothes for kids." Aiyamsan mused a loud and greeted Hinata when he entered the room.

"I"ve made the boys as comfortable as possible. They continue to sleep. I"ll check on them in an hour." He carefully said to Aiyamsan.

He smiled at the sight of her grooming on the little girl"s hair. His smile dropped with a groan when he realised she was carrying lice.

"Do you need more hot water?" He asked, but was already toward the kitchen to heat up the kettle over the small square Irori pit that kept the cottage warm as well as acted as the oven to cook the food.

He made a mental note to wash all their sheets in hot water the next day.

Hinata and Aiyamsan spent a lot of time making sure the children were comfortable as can be. Night was well and truly in place when a curt banging could be heard from the front entrance way. Hinata had just finished securing the amado around the cottage.

He opened the door to find the village"s young law enforcer looking pristine in his all black uniform, french style stiff peak cap and white gloved hands. Tanaksan was fresh out of college and a couple of years younger. Hinata found it strange for a mild-mannered man with a wiry body and mousy features to be stern enough as a law enforcer.

Tanaksan was accompanied by a pot-belly middle-aged man with the crankiest and scruffiest face he had every seen. This man was his neighbour Satō-san from the farm on the other side of the sunflower meadows. He was vehemently pointing accusations at Hinata for kidnapping.

"You"re the one who"s stolen dem kids!" Satō-san accused Hinata.

"I beg your pardon?!" Hinata spat back to the man with shock.

"Satō-san, accusing your neighbour for kidnapping is a serious offence. Unless you have some evidence, I will need you to zip your lips." Tanaksan firmly reprimanded the senior man with a polite voice and smile.

Hinata was made aware of the man"s looks being misleading.

"To what do I owe the pleasure for this visit?" He politely asked.

"I"ve been called to resolve a domestic disturbance between yourself and good neighbour here." Tanaksan respectfully and blatantly gestured to the grumbling old man.

"What kind of disturbance? I haven"t seen head or tail of him all day." Hinata glared at his neighbour.

"Do you have a bunch of extra kids in your house?" Tanaksan soberly asked.

Hinata nodded. "Yes, they entered my property distressed and hurt, so I"ve been helping them."

Tanaksan"s face was expressionless when he entered the cottage upon Hinata"s invitation.

"You stay here," he said to Satō-san at the entrance and added a warning of pressing charges with disorderly conduct should he disobey.

The old man grumbled, but stayed put with smugness when he felt he wasn"t going to be in the wrong.

Tanaksan politely asked for Hinata"s story as they entered the main room, taking note of the conversation in his flip-notebook. He there took note of the children"s conditions, Aiyamsan"s statement and then entered Hinata"s room to check the condition of the unconscious boys.

"What did you do to them?" He asked Hinata with a frown.

"If you"re implying I hurt these boys, I did not!" Hinata defended himself. "They collapsed to the ground from the wounds on their backs. I cleaned them up and dressed them."

Tanaksan carefully expected the skilful bandaging that was keeping the wounds from infection, taking notes as he went. The material showed tell-tale splotches of blood, which he suspected had oozed out of lash wounds. He also noticed that the boys" faces and limbs were wiped clean with care. They were resting with the aim of recovery. His eyes glanced over Hinata"s clean kimono and obi.

"I see." He stood to leave, having reached a conclusion of the truth.

"I"m sorry Tanaksan, I haven"t offered you tea." Hinata apologised for his lack of manners.

Tanaksan gave Hinata a curt smile. "I"m on duty, so I won"t need the tea. Please escort me to the entrance."

Hinata followed the law enforcer to the entrance where Satō-san was still hovering around.

"The children are to remain in Chikafuji-san"s care indefinitely, with paperwork transferred over to him." Tanaksan ordered as he took note of his words in his notebook. "Do you acknowledge these terms Satō-san?"

"What?! But dem kids be given to me to care for. I get the rations to look after dem!" Satō-san spat out angrily at the young haughty men before him.

"Are you defying my resolution?" Tanaksan coolly said that made Satō-san gulp down the rest of his words. "Would you like me to perform a fitness rea.s.sessment of your farm"s conditions towards these children"s care?"

"The boys are in no conditioned to be moved. Chikafuji-san"s home is cleaner and having a woman around the house will speed their recovery."

"But..." Satō-san began his further protest, but stopped when he copped the authoritative glare from Tanaksan. "Fine."

He turned and stomped away from Hinata and the law enforcer.

"Thank you Tanaksan." Hinata bowed gratefully to the young man.

"I don"t like the idea of leaving boys in your care. Given the options, your place is a better fit for their recovery." Tanaksan"s next words carried a serious undertone. "It would not hurt my conscience to place charges on you for any moral harm done to these boys."

Hinata frowned at the man"s accusation because of his preferences, but he decided his words towards his honour would be a wasted effort. "Understood."

He sighed with bitter relief when the village"s law enforcer disappeared into the night.