Simplicity is Bliss

Chapter 1

Kirara stood looking out her window at her friend as she came toward her house, her purple hair now slightly past her shoulders. She wore her usual yukata and hakama with no shoes on her feet. The water priestess grinned and opened the door to let in her friend, remembering to call to Komachi that they had a visitor.

"How is Komachi coming along in her training?"

The little girl had begun to train as a second water priestess when it was obvious that Kirara was not enough. This was not to say that she was not strong enough, but rather that there seemed to be a lot of illness going around, and Kirara was just one woman.

"She's doing well. She has started healing. When is Ukyo getting home?"

Tomi sighed and sat down, accepting the cup of tea that was offered by the water priestess. Ukyo had been gone for a week on his twice-monthly trip to a neighboring city and a small village just south of them. He avoided recognition by keeping his hair, now only half it's original length, dyed black while he was away and wearing lenses in his eyes.

"He should be home tonight. Then I can give him some news."

"News?!"

The water priestess sat down beside her friend and reached for her hand, still liking the feel of Tomi's long fingered hand in her own small one, in anticipation. Would this be the day that she found out what had been making the older woman stay away from almost everybody in the village?

"Yeah. It, ah… It looks like I'm pregnant again."

"How far along are you?"

"About a month or two, I'd say."

She had told the water priestess about her intentional miscarriage one night during the O-Bon festival after the priestess heard her pray for the soul of the child.

Kirara's face split into a grin and she squealed as Tomi smiled and took a drink of her tea. Komachi came inside and looked from happily smiling, laughing friend to sister in an even happier state and scratched her head.

"What happened? Did somebody get married?"

Tomi laughed and Kirara motioned for her younger sister to sit down with them.

"Not quite. Tomi is going to have a baby!"

"Ah! Can I go tell?"

Tomi shook her head.

"No, I want to be the one to tell Ukyo. You can tell the Elder if you want."

Komachi congratulated her friend again and dashed out the door, already shouting for the elder.

The women laughed at the girl's antics, then Kirara rubbed her nose and looked around at Katsu as he walked past the window with one of the girls from the village. When he glanced in, he smiled at both woman, but couldn't look at Tomi for long before breaking out in a blush and stuttering.

When he was gone, Kirara turned to Tomi and refilled their tea.

"What was his problem?"

Tomi turned pink and looked down into her teacup and chewed her tongue for a moment before regaining her composure enough to relate an edited version of the story to Kirara.

"Well, the day before Ukyo left I had told Katsu that I had finished making the ink paining that I had been working on and wanted his opinion and asked him to stop by. Well, I wasn't expecting him to be there before sunset, as he was supposed to be keeping watch until late. Anyway, he came and caught Ukyo and I in an…erm… compromising situation."

Kirara's mouth fell open and she quickly covered it with her hand before she could break into a fit of giggles and mess up the story. Tomi herself snorted and continued with a giggle creeping into her voice.

"Then, as if it wasn't bad enough to have been seen like that in midday, after Ukyo got dressed he went out looking for the poor boy and… from what I gather, gave him a very graphic and detailed talk… Poor Katsu hasn't been able to look at me since without having a meltdown."

"What did Ukyo say to him?"

"I'm assuming it was a sex talk… Oh, I'm amazed the poor boy can talk to me at all…"

"Wait, you got caught in the middle of the day?"

"Well, it is our house."

"Where were you?"

Tomi smiled and covered her face with one sleeve, trying to hide the fact that despite Kirara's standing as her best friend, this was embarrassing.

"We were… In the kitchen."

Kirara laughed again and this time Tomi joined in. Their laughs turned to a unified shriek of shock when the door opened and Ukyo smiled down at them.

"I thought I would find you here."

"Ukyo! What are you doing here so early? I was thinking you wouldn't be home until nearly dark."

Kirara, in a rare show of bawdy humor, smirked and leaned a little closer to her friend and spoke in a stage whisper.

"Will you two be able to contain yourselves or should I just go visit Sanae?"

Ukyo burst out in a surprised laugh and Tomi flicked the priestess in the forehead, her eyes narrowed.

"I never should have told you about that."

"Ooh! Ooh! Tomi has something she needs to tell you, Ukyo!"

"Brat."

"What is it, Tomi?"

She looked up and, remembering what happened the first time that he had been given the news that she was about to give him, told him that he had to be sitting before she would speak another word. Once he was sitting next to her and holding her hand, Tomi took a deep breath and let it go.

"I'm pregnant."

And, once again, Ukyo passed out.