Blue was playing checkers with Taitsu-kun and winning.
Taitsu-kun had overnight both learned Blue's name and approved of her changed condition. It had was something that had weighed heavily on Blue's mind. It was bad enough that her sisters had only now begun to trust her again, but if Taitsu-kun had rejected her she wouldn't be able to bear it.
They sat in a solarium with the fall sun warming the room and blooming flowers scenting the air. Blue liked the solarium best because it was always springtime and there were no works-in-progress to distract Taitsu-kun.
Taitsu-kun, in turn, had begun to spend more time with Blue. In fact, now the only time Blue couldn't see Taitsu-kun or Chichiri-sama was when they had magic lessons; when she had suggested that she could watch, they both turned pale and shook their heads frantically.
"Hah!" cried Taitsu-kun, moving a piece. "I've got you now!" She slapped down a black piece, then watched in silence as Blue claimed three of hers.
"Errrr . . . " said Taitsu-kun, even as the door opened and Chichiri-sama stuck his head in. "Hey, I'm going to the village, no da. Need anything?"
"Ah, let me check my storeroom. Blue, I'm afraid I'll have to forfeit . . . how about tommorrow I'll teach you to play Mai Jhong?"
"Hai!" said Blue, waving to her departing friends. Then she began to put the game away and straighten the chairs.
On the way to Taitsu-kun's storeroom, Chichiri-sama said, "You owe me, sensei." "Here, don't spend it all in one place." Taitsu-kun dropped a clinking bag into Chichiri-sama's hand.
"Arigato no da, sensei!"
Chichiri wound among the street vendors, looking at the vast array of elegant and tacky merchandise displayed. Hmmmm . . . something for Taitsu-kun, something for Blue . . . and some candy for the nyan-nyans. Then he stopped and thought. Uh, bad idea, no da. Hmmmm . . .
Blue tended the small plot she and Chichiri-sama had planted in the courtyard. Carefully she unearthed turnips and plucked beans, cut the lush green leafs and twisted off the heads of cabbage. She put them in baskets between the rows, and every so often would ask one of her sisters to carry a full one inside. Her sisters liked this game, and would wait in crowds for her to ask someone to do something. They quickly learned that doing things on their own was against the rules of this game, and waited almost patiently for her instructions.
"Nyan-nyan?" said Blue, looking up at the sky, which had begun to darken. The next girl in line came forward and said, "Hai, Blue-san?" "Go see if Chichiri-sama is back, then come and tell me." "Hai!"
"Whew no da! Done at last." sighed Chichiri, hefting a rather heavy bundle. "Don't know how other people actually enjoy this shopping thing, no da." He spotted a tavern, and grinned. "Well, maybe I have enough time for a cup of tea, no da." He slung the bundle on his back and stepped lightly up the stair.
The inside was rather dim, but pratically deserted. There were three men in a back corner and an elderly man bringing them sake. He humbly presented them with it, and then placed it on the table. The men ignored him and poured the wine, talking low but intensely.
"Ano . . . May I have some tea, no da?" asked Chichiri politely. "Oh, of course!" exclaimed the old man, who quickly trundled into the back room.
Chichiri glanced at the men in the corner, and then sat down with a sigh and stretched out his legs. Ahhh, this is worse than lessons with Taitsu-kun, no da . . .
"Hey, you, foriegn boy."
Chichiri looked up and saw one of the trio, a thin, slightly balding man, tottering towards him, obviously inebriated. "Gomen, but I am from here within Konan, no da, a little village called Laon. My name is Chichiri, no da." He gave them a friendly smile, and tried to hide his bundle with one leg.
Being a rather large bundle, it didn't work. "Hey, watcha got there?" said one of his friends, a big, husky man. "Hey, gettin' presents for ya girlfriend?" "Na, skinny one like him ain't got a woman to cook for him . . . " commented the third, a sly look in his eye. Chichiri couldn't quite contain his reaction to that, and the skinny man said, "Ah, courting then. Wish I had the yen to buy presents for my sweet . . . "
"'Ey, you usually don't even try to charm 'em, anyway. Pay by the night for your wives, you do." joked the big man. "I do not! Anyway, what say ya give your gifts to someone who actually has a chance, eh?"
"Ah . . . actually, this is for my hostess and her daughters, no da." "Never mind that, hand it over!"
The man lunged for the package, and Chichiri jumped back out of the way. The man grabbed up his prize, and the other two looked at him suspiciously. "You not goin' ta fight for it?" said the third man, obviously the leader.
"No na no da. If you want it that much, you may have it, no da. It is not worth fighting over."
"Yeah, you just yellow," growled the man still clutching the package.
"Perhaps no da. Goodbye." Chichiri walked towards the door, then ducked under the chair one of them swung at him. However, he hadn't anticipated the club which suddenly appeared in the other's hand, and the world dissolved into darkness.
Blue's eyes suddenly went wide, and she clutched her chest in pain. She stagered and fell to her knees among the rows of plants, gasping for breath.
"Blue-san, Blue-san! Fix Blue-san!" cried the Nyan-nyans.
"NO," Blue choked, trying to find her voice in a suddenly airless world. "H-help . . . Chichiri . . . "
"Chichiri-sama?" said the Nyan-Nyans, looking at each other. Blue looked up with tears in her eyes, then collasped in the dust.
"Blue-san!" The Nyan-nyan cried, clustering around her fallen form. They lay their tiny hands on her back, head, arms and legs - wherever they could reach. From their hands came a golden glow, which ran like water into Blue's body and dissappeared.
Blue levered herself into a sitting position, still stunned by quickness with which the pain had come and gone. "Chichiri!" she gasped, turning to her sisters. "Please . . . take me to him!"
The Nyan-nyan nodded, and one came forward to kneel before Blue. Silently, she placed her first two fingers on Blue's forehead, and closed her eyes. There was a spark, like the striking of a match, and then the Nyan-nyan smiled and rose.
"Good luck, Oneechan!" they cried, as Blue dissapeared.