[i]“[color=00FF36]Hff![/color]”[/i]

[i]Chuck[/i]

[i]“[color=00FF36]Hff![/color]”[/i]

[i]Chuck[/i]

[i]“[color=00FF36]Hff![/color]”[/i]

[i]Ch[b]CLANK[/b][/i]

Haruhi, breath still coming hard, stared at the suddenly bladeless hoe in her hand, and at the blade where it had bounced after striking the rock. She shook her hand out, wincing a bit at the ache where the reverberation had shot through her hand.

“[color=00FF36]Oops.[/color]”

For a moment she wondered whether or not she could reattach it somehow--after all, she wasn't done yet!--but as she jogged over and picked up the blade, she saw that was...rather unlikely. If the whole socket had come off or the shaft had broken she could just stick it on a new one, but the blade had actually broken [i]off of the socket,[/i] leaving a twisted jagged stump of steel.

She glanced behind, to where she'd been hoeing a line to prepare for planting the leek and cabbage. It wasn't much all tols, so she hadn't thought she'd need to get out the plough, but maaaybe that would've been a good idea. She idly twirled the broken shaft in her hand, rolling her stiff shoulders in the early morning chill. It'd been quiet a while since she'd broken one of her tools. Well, nothing for it, she supposed; she'd need to go visit the smith! Hopping up and down a bit to keep herself from getting too cold--she could feel the sweat on her skin starting to chill her, and a warning shiver ran through her--she hefted the blade in her left hand and kept on twirling the shaft in her right, occasionally dropping it, as she meandered through the fallow fields. 

Once she reached the road she tossed the shaft, watched it spin, and snatched it out of the air, then started to [i]skip[/i] along the road, feet striking the hardened dirt and sending up pale brown puffs of dust that dispersed away into the early spring winds. As she went, she flicked the shaft into the same hand as the blade, then dipped into her pocket and pulled out a handful of soybeans. A grin popped on to her face as she scattered them off, followed by another handful, then another, twirling as she went and sending them soaring off into the trees. “[color=00FF36]Demons out, luck in![/color]” Her words were followed by a joyous laugh that echoed off into the still, quiet valley.

By the time she'd made her way to the entrance of Heiseina proper, scattered soybeans trailed behind her, her pockets were empty, and her heart was light. Humming tunelessly and occasionally breaking out into quiet singing, she slowed to a walk, shaking out her hair behind her, setting her ponytail back to something at least [i]resembling[/i] neatness. Reclaiming the shaft in her right hand, she waved at those she passed with a bright smile on her face. The clattering of the beans tossed from windows and doors all around punctuated her steps as she wended her way through the village, and finally arrived at her destination.

----
tsubasa and keiko interlude
---

That done, she cupped her hands around her mouth and called out in the direction of the tall girl that was busying herself at the other side of the shop, “[color=00FF36]Mi-chan! Hey, Mi-chan! Can you fix my hoe?[/color]" She trotted up to her then passed it over, and [i]beaming up[/i] at Mio: 

“[color=00FF36]I hit it on a rock![/color]”