The Best of Friends

Chapter 2

It was a beautiful morning, and Takeda woke up with a small smile on his face. Once he got ready he went out to the small barn, where a cow ate her breakfast and he sat down on a stool and started to milk her.

As Takeda filled up the bucket, a happy fox pup ran inside the barn and he jumped up and tried to grab the white and black cow's tail. The cow mooed warningly at the pup and went back to her hay.

"Shoyo, stop pestering Kiyoko." Takeda chuckled and patted the cow. "Kiyoko, you're going to have to be patient with Shoyo. He's one of the family now."

Shoyo's bark caught Takeda's attention and Shoyo stood up on his two back legs.

"Oh, of course. Now I know." He laughed and took one of Kiyoko's teat and sprayed some milk into Shoyo's mouth. "I never will get my chores done."

Shoyo barked at him in thanks and went over to the nest of a chicken, where the mother hen and her babies sat, the babies started to chirp at the fox. Shoyo playfully patted a chick and the hen, thinking he was trying to eat her baby, squawked at him and gave chase. Shoyo quickly jumped out of the way and ran away from her. The hen and Shoyo ran under Kiyoko and she started to buck and moo in fear.

"Oh, my!" Takeda gasped and tried to get Shoyo to stop running. "Shoyo! Shoyo, stop it! Kiyoko! Kiyoko!"

Kiyoko stomped her feet down and the bucket full of milk fell over.

"Oh, no! There goes my milk! Oh, no!" Takeda yelled and started to calm the cow down. "Easy, easy, Kiyoko. Steady, girl. Steady."

Kiyoko calmed down and Takeda faced Shoyo, who had his head down and tail between his legs.

"Shoyo, you come here. Now." Takeda glared at the pup. "I said come here!"

Shoyo crept towards his owner and stopped at his feet. Takeda picked the pup by his scruff and pointed towards the mess he made.

"Just look at what you've done."

Shoyo looked at the split over milk and looked at Takeda with puppy eyes.

"Now, don't try to butter me up." Takeda said sternly but the corner of his mouth turned into a grin and he chuckled. "Oh, Shoyo, I just can't stay angry with you. You little imp. Now run along and play." Takeda put Shoyo on the ground. "Go on."

Shoyo ran out of the barn and he heard Takeda yell.

"And try to stay out of mischief."

Shoyo smiled to himself and sat down on the dirt driveway, wondering what he could do. He looked at the blue sky and saw two familiar birds flying through the air.

"Hey, it's Noya and Tanaka. Maybe they wanna play."

~

"Hiya fellas!" Shoyo greeted the two as they landed in a tree. "What ya doin'? Wanna play?"

"Sorry, kid. Not today." Noya said, Shoyo sighed in defeat and he turned away from him and saw a small yellow butterfly. The butterfly took off and Shoyo started to chase it.

~

On the other farm Oikawa and Tobio ate their breakfast, when the small pup caught a wiff of a smell from the wind.

"Hey, there, Tobio, what ya sniffin' at?" Oikawa asked.

"Something-" He sniffed again. "I never smelled before, Oikawa."

"Let me see." Oikawa said and took a big breath in and smelled the smell. "Oh, that's easy. The master just cooking' grits and fatback. You oughta know that."