After hiding around the corner Nanami stood against the wall for a few moments and two tears fell silently down her face. She was remembering everything slowly. At first, mere hints of a past, and then fragments of images. Over the past two weeks her mind had been trying to piece everything together, to make sense of it all, and now it finally had.
--
"Take this in the morning", a young girl of maybe 12 said, smiling at the person in front of her and handing him a small package. "Mix only a tiny bit with your tea, and it should last you until the next full moon."
"Thank you so much, Nanami-san" the old man said to her and made to pay her.
"No, please. Take it, and feel better" she insisted, smiling genuinely. The old man looked back painfully, reminiscing for a moment.
"You're as kind as your father was, Nanami-san. He would be proud. Thank you, again."
Nanami watched him leave, her smile fading as the man hobbled out into the quiet street, and then sighed. The day had passed so quickly and night was almost here; the setting sun illuminated the petals fallen from the cherry blossoms. 'So many people had come for treatment. Would it ever slow?' She walked over to the door and looked out properly. 'No more customers today' she thought, and made to close the door.
"Wait! Please, Nanami!" She heard distantly and stopped grabbing the boards. Looking around curiously, she saw a man running towards her shop at a healthy pace and wondered what he could want. She leaned halfway out of her door, to be polite, and watched him come closer. Finally, a few paces away, she let out a gasp and ran out to greet the man.
"Shouka-san!" she cried, wrapping her arms around him. Obviously, her impact had winded him and he let out a grunt of surprise.
"Haha! I wondered whether you would remember me" he then said, hugging her back.
"Of course I do! You and father were good friends. I remember everything". Shouka smiled and released her from the hug.
"May I come in for a moment?" Nanami nodded and stepped aside for him to pass. "And, Shusui too?" he asked, looking behind him. She gazed curiously around and, sure enough, a woman of considerable height but dainty figure was walking slowly behind him. She looked uncomfortable walking down the road, tugging at what she was wearing while looking every which way.
"O…of…course" Nanami stuttered. She was curious who this person was, and why they were acting so strangely. She again stepped aside for Shouka and his companion, and waited for both of them to pass before entering the building herself. She then shut the outer door, but left the boards where they were for when her guests might like to leave.
--
Nanami sat down and looked at them: Shouka sat at the chair beside her desk, smiling pleasantly, and the woman with him stood behind him still looking uncomfortable. Nanami noticed then that the woman was gazing around the room as if to memorize it and thought she was behaving very odd for one of Shouka's regular companions.
"I'll make some tea!" Nanami said to them, and disappeared into another room for a few minutes. She came back with a tray and an ancient porcelain tea set, set it down in front of Shouka, and then sat behind her desk.
"You've come a long way, Shouka-san! To what do I owe the honour?" Nanami then asked.
"Yes…I have. I wanted to ask you…how, well…" he sighed. Nanami looked at him curiously, 'what was so difficult to say?' she thought.
"Would you invite Shusui into your home, and teach her for me?" he finally asked. Nanami stared at him, shocked.
"Shouka-san…what?" He laughed, relieved at her reaction.
"She needs tutoring on how to be a proper lady. I wasn't sure who else to turn to, other than you. With the recent passing of your parents…I know things must be difficult around here. I thought that if she came to live with you, she would both learn lady-like skills and be of use around the shop!" He finished. Nanami stared blankly at him.
"But…I'm only a girl, Shouka-san. Isn't there someone older who could tutor her?" she said, and then added politely "Why should that honour fall to me?"
Shouka chuckled. "You are the only one I trust for her training! Your mother was a master of etiquette and was turning you into quite the little princess, or so I heard. Shusui will be entering the palace as a lady-in-waiting in the future. She will need tutoring on how to be a lady to do so."
Nanami stared at him for another moment, and then at his companion. The woman was still avoiding Nanami's gaze and surveying the room; 'perhaps', she thought, 'there is more to this than meets the eye. I must remember what father said once about Shouka-san'. She looked back to Shouka and made up her mind.
"Yes, she can stay here." 'She can stay here…at least until I figure out what you are planning' her mind finished for her.
"Excellent!" he replied. "That having been asked…how have you been, Nanami? Are things going well around here?" There was a certain gleam in his eye as he asked this. She wondered again whether there was more to this question than normal.
"Yes! For the most part, things are great! It's difficult running things on my own, but my father was the best doctor in the area and I won't let his memory down."
"So you haven't run into the two young Vagabonds who are running around causing havoc in Sa province? They haven't been trouble for you? You're not young and cute anymore, Nanami, young boys might be chasing you sooner than you think and they're exactly of age…Well with no parents around, I'm inclined to worry for you."
Nanami looked at him seriously for a moment, and then softened her look. "No, I haven't. And if they come looking here for something, I'll show them how to find the door!" Shouka smiled at her and she continued. "As far as I know, at least, they haven't come to town yet. My patients would tell me…they tell me everything that happens in town. 'Poor Nanami-san' they say, 'she never gets out; always tending the shop; working hard all day'".
Shouka chuckled, Nanami poured more tea for him and they continued talking for a little longer while the sun slowly fell towards the horizon.
--
Nanami walked Shouka outside of her shop and waved goodbye. When he was far enough down the road, she closed the door and put the boards up behind it. 'I wonder why he came all the way to Sa-province, with this awkward woman, to ask me to teach her. And then his question about the young boys. What's the meaning behind all this'. She looked at Shouka's companion.
"Well, shall I show you to where you'll be sleeping? You can use the spare room. It's a little dirty, but tomorrow I'll show you how to clean it so you'll have something to do." Shusui nodded and got up to follow Nanami up the stairs. 'She's got a real eye for detail, doesn't she', Nanami noted, and kept walking.
"This is it!" Nanami pointed into a small room, crammed with medical charts, maps, old letters, books, and many different boxes of kimono. It had a small window near the corner, and a very tiny bed under it. "I'll show you how to make the bed properly, as it would be done in a courtier's house, and then how to dress down for the night." 'This is odd,' she thought, 'she really doesn't know anything about this kind of thing?' Shusui followed her every instruction obediantly, and finally Nanami said good night and went to her room.
'How am I going to teach her…when I'm so busy?' Nanami thought after sliding her door shut and carefully listening for signs of movement. When confident that Shusui was indeed asleep, she crossed her room and picked up a glass lantern and matches. She lit it, opened a book beside it, and began to read. Her eyes dashed down the page but took in none of it; she was still listening to make sure the house was quiet.
After another 15 minutes, she finally got up quietly and changed clothing: something a little more form-fitting, easy to move around in, and as dark as the night outside. She was careful to leave the lantern going, and arranged some things to make it appear as if there might be someone passed out at the table. Then she casually snuck out her window and wouldn't return until a few hours before dawn.