Fifteen-year-old Aoi Kanzaki was a good-hearted and caring girl. For six days out of the week, from before sunrise to early evening, she worked for Kocho Shinobu, the best doctor in this side of Japan, as a medical assistant, waiting on bedbound patients, preparing batches of medicine, helping with physical therapy sessions, and providing housekeeping services. She had a kind heart, but she was not a young lady who was much given to smiling. As far as she was concerned, she had no reason to be. Six years of training and working under Shinobu-sensei had taught her to be tired of people's foolishness.

People lived on deep-fried foods and cheap alcohol and then acted shocked when they developed health problems. Young men pulled stupid, reckless stunts and then came dragging in to complain about broken bones and pulled muscles. Patients claimed that they wanted to get better, but then moaned about the bitterness of medicine, had to be pushed to put in half an effort during physical therapy, left the hospital with instructions regarding diet, exercise, medication and the vices they should avoid, returned a month later to announce that they had not followed the instructions well, if at all, and were indignant when they did not get the results or the news that they wanted.

Aoi assumed that every patient she helped to treat was a bit like a peevish, pigheaded child whom she would have to order around unless and until he or she proved otherwise. So for her, it felt a little strange sometimes to be living with and looking after actual children - three of them, seven-year-olds Sumi Nakahara, Naho Takada and Kiyo Terauchi. She, Kanao and Tanjiro had found them all living alone in a tiny cabin in the woods. Emerald-eyed, pigtailed Naho had explained that they had all lost their parents recently and that they had previously lived in an orphans' workhouse, but had hated it and had run away after a few months. She had said that the workhouse head and staff members had been strict and angry, expecting the children to maintain silence at almost all times and never to make mistakes. They had wandered until they had found this cabin, where they'd made their home, looking after eachother.

A few days after meeting them, Aoi had taken the little girls into her own home. When Aoi and Kanao had been younger and in need, Shinobu-sensei had taken care of them and, more than that, had passed a good deal of her knowledge of medicine down to them. More than that, she had only been fifteen herself when she had taken Aoi on. Because she received a salary for her work at the hospital now, there was no reason why Aoi should not show these children some of the same kindness Shinobu-sensei had shown her instead of leaving her mentor and employer to shoulder yet another burden. "Some" was the relevant qualifier. Shinobu-sensei had asked the little girls whether they would like to help her and Aoi out around the hospital sometime.

"Of course, dears," she had said, reaching down to pat small dark heads, "we don't expect you to do anything you don't want to do. But you could learn a lot from working at the hospital, and I could certainly use the help. I'd pay you for your time."

The girls had eagerly accepted the offer. An annoyed Aoi, as soon as she'd gotten a moment alone with her mentor, had protested, "Shinobu-sensei, why didn't you wait for me to ask the girls about working here - or at least talk to me first?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, sweetheart," Shinobu-sensei had answered, "but I knew I couldn't wait on you because you wouldn't want the girls to help out here. And I wasn't lying when I said I could use some help. They seem like good girls, and if they were trained to take on some of the basic tasks for a few hours every day - checking in on patients and tidying up - it would free you up to help me with more of the medical work. Of course, if you really don't want them to do it . . ."

Aoi could not refuse her mentor a request. She just wasn't certain that she was up to the task of being a mentor herself, to passing the knowledge Shinobu-sensei had shared with her down to another person, least of all to three little children who knew nothing about working in a medical setting. Shinobu-sensei had insisted that until they were older, at least, the girls would only need to be taught to perform housekeeping duties skillfully and to do other simple little things, not to make medicine or help with surgical procedures. But Aoi knew that it would fall mostly to her to keep them from underfoot and be sure that they didn't endanger or hurt themselves. Looking after children at home was enough of a task; how was she to properly look after them at a hospital?

It wasn't as though she didn't like having the little girls. The hospital issue aside, it just felt a little odd for her sometimes, living with tiny people who were almost always bright, cheerful and smiling, so unlike herself. Shinobu-sensei smiled all of the time, but Aoi knew that she was not really always happy; the constant smiling was mostly for the benefit of her patients and those who relied upon her, and Aoi did not live with her anymore. When it came to her little wards, Aoi was not always certain how to interact with them, which was a cause of embarrassment for her.

Take this evening, for example. The girls had taken a tour of the hospital and were to spend their first afternoon helping out there tomorrow. They had talked about little else all day. Now, as they sat around with Aoi in the bedroom that they shared, brushing their hair in preparation for bed, they still bubbled with excitement.

"Kiyo-chan," Aoi cut into the chatter, "if you're going to brush Naho-chan's hair for her, then you need to slow down and be gentle! You're going to break the strands."

"Oh! I'm sorry, Naho-chan." The sheepish Kiyo did her best to work more carefully. "I just get so excited when I think about tomorrow. Do you think we'll really become doctors like you and Shinobu-sensei, Aoi-san?"

"I'm not a doctor like Shinobu-sensei yet, just her assistant. If to become doctors is what you three really want and if you work hard, I suppose you might, but it's likely you'll start off as assistants, too." Aoi folded her arms. "Now listen, Naho-chan, Sumi-chan, Kiyo-chan. Those who work in a medical setting must always be courteous, pay close attention to details and, most importantly, be careful in everything they do!"

The girls regarded her for several moments with big, round, unblinking eyes, almost as if she were some lunatic who had gone off a rant. Then came the chirps of, "We understand!" "We'll be careful, Aoi-san!" "Of course we will!"

"We'll see when you try it out tomorrow, then. I want you three to be good girls while I'm gone. You can spend time at the Kamados,' but don't cause any trouble for Tanjiro-san or Nezuko-chan. Your breakfast and lunch will be in the icebox, so you don't need to eat with them; Nezuko-chan has enough people to cook for as it is. I need you to be on hospital grounds at the time we agreed upon. If you arrive late, you'll just have to wait until another day."

"Yes, ma'am," the girls chorused.

Aoi unpocketed a small pouch, which she placed before them. "Here. Shinobu-sensei sent you these for your hair."

Digging into the pouch, the little girls exclaimed their delight over the present, hair-ties adorned with silken flowers and butterflies.

"They're to help keep your hair neat and out of the way," Aoi explained. "As a best practice, medical workers who have long hair should tie it back to help keep their surroundings and their equipment clean and free of loose hair strands."

"Aoi-san," Sumi said, "can I wear my hair the same way you do?"

"You mean in two ponytails? Style your hair in whatever way you like so long as it's neat."

"Can you do it for me before you go to work?"

"Only if you're awake on time. I have to be up very early."

Sumi clapped her hands. "Thank you! Since we both have blue eyes, we'll be like twins now!"

"Like twins?" Aoi could feel herself beginning to blush. Honestly, where did children get such funny ideas from? She knew that she was their guardian, but why on earth did these little girls like the idea of being like her so much? Would Sumi start going around with a frown on her face, too, so that she and Aoi could be even more like twins? Wanting to be like Shinobu-sensei she could understand, at least. Aoi had to admit, though, that she could remember being a child and fantasizing about having a twin sister. When she'd been younger, too, secretly she had sometimes pretended to herself that she and Kanao were sisters by blood.

"Can you put my hair in two ponytails, too, Aoi-san?" Naho begged, and then Kiyo chimed in, "Mine, too!"

"I won't have time to do everyone's hair in the morning. Sumi-chan asked first." This answer brought sighs of disappointment from Naho and Kiyo. "Besides, you can't all have the same hairstyle. We need to make it as easy to quickly tell you apart as possible in case something happens."

The girls seemed to understand the logic even if they weren't thrilled with Aoi's answer.

"Please, can I brush your hair, Aoi-san?" Kiyo requested. "It's so pretty."

"Kanao's hair is nicer than mine," Aoi said, but she scooted forward so that Kiyo could come to kneel behind her. "You can brush it fifteen times. Naho-chan, Sumi-chan, you can do the same if you want to. Be gentle, please."

Every little girl took her turn. As she made the brush glide down the curtain of loose hair in her turn, Naho, the shyest of the three, ventured to speak.

"You take such good care of us, Aoi-san. None of us ever had brothers or sisters until we adopted eachother." The brushing paused, and, a few moments later, Aoi felt the gentle tug of tiny fingers stroking the ends of her hair. "We think of eachother as sisters, but we think of you as our big sister. Is that okay?"

Aoi blushed again, far deeper than before. It was a good thing that her back was turned towards the girls - her poor face, which was unaccustomed to smiling, could not decide what to do with itself, and she was sure that her expression was ridiculous. In the end, she straightened her mouth out and drew her eyebrows together. But she murmured, "I'll be your big sister if that's what you want me to be. No matter what I am to you, though, you have to listen and behave yourselves."

"YAY!" This came from Sumi. "Can we call you Aoi-neechan?"

Aoi brushed her dark locks into her face in an effort to conceal the pinkness of her cheeks. "That's fine with me. But it's time to rest now. Everyone get into bed. You'll have a busy afternoon tomorrow."

When the girls were in bed, Aoi deftly, but carefully tucked the blankets in around them. "It's a chilly night, so I gave you an extra quilt. Now don't get out of bed unless you need to."

"Yes, ma'am; thank you."

"Good night, Aoi-neechan!" Kiyo piped up from the pillow.

"Good night, girls." Aoi exited the room, pausing on her way to blow the lamp out.

Now that they were in bed, she took the opportunity to sweep the house. She could hear the little girls whispering and giggling when she worked her way down the hall and considered scolding them, but decided to overlook the bedtime chatter so long as they quieted down soon. As she had hoped, by the time she'd put the broom up and returned to the back of the house, there was no noise coming from the girls' bedroom except the sounds of slow, rhythmic breathing.

Aoi opened the door to peer in. She could see the dark outlines of three small heads lining the pillow end of the bed. As quietly as possible, she entered the room and came to stand at the bedside, where she lingered for a moment to look upon the little faces bathed in moonlight. She reached down to smooth each small, warm forehead. Before she left and retired to her own room, she checked the blankets again to be sure they were properly tucked in.

Aoi did not sleep as well as she might have that night. In her dreams, she was mixing medicine at the hospital when Kiyo, Sumi and Naho appeared in the doorway of the workroom to greet her. Apparently she had asked them to wait in the lounge when they arrived, so she scolded them, not wanting them anywhere near the jarred chemicals or the sharp-ended equipment, and sent them to fold laundry. Somehow hours passed before she realized that she had not gone out to check on them. She peered out of the window - no one was out on the lawn. She hurried out of the window and checked all of the rooms. At first every room she looked into was empty. Then, as she searched on, she found rooms full of ailing people who coughed, perspired with fever and begged for water and aid - while she'd been preparing medicine, a plague had broken out.

Help these people or find the girls? Both tasks appeared to be impossible. The hospital seemed to have become infinitely large, far too much ground to cover, with far too many people who were clamoring for help. Shinobu-sensei was nowhere to be found, and the girls could be anywhere in the building, dead or alive. Aoi's steps slowed - she could walk, but could no longer run; it was as though her legs were being weighed down. She remembered stroking the little girls' warm foreheads. She ought to have known then that they were unwell - she should have kept them home, should have stayed home with them. As tears crept to the rims of her eyes, she felt the wetness of perspiration on her own forehead.

Is it all over. . .for me, too? Do I have a fever? No. . .no, I can't. . .with all of these people. . .who need me. . .and Kiyo-chan. . .Naho-chan. . .Sumi-chan. . .nowhere to be found. The breaths she managed to draw were forced up through a tightening chest. Kanao. . .Shinobu-sensei. . .help me.

It was with relief that Aoi opened her eyes to see the walls of her own bedroom and the pale yellow dawn light streaming in through the window. She pushed herself upright and took a few moments to draw calming breaths.

It's past time I got up. She blinked to expel the heaviness from her sandy eyelids. I don't hear the girls, so they must be asleep still, as usual. I won't wake them. Sumi-chan will just have to do her own hair today.

After washing her sweat-dampened face and her hands at the wooden basin in the corner and donning her work uniform, Aoi emerged from her bedroom and went shuffling through the front room into the kitchen. As she did on every evening before a workday, she had prepared a pot of rice cereal and fried eggs last night and put them in the icebox for the girls to heat up at breakfast time. She preferred to get out of the house without any fuss, so breakfast for her was tea and an apple at the hospital. Aoi opened the icebox, took her bento box out and set it on the stovetop.

"Aoi-neechan?"

The sound of Sumi's drowsy voice coming from behind her nearly made her start out of her skin. Aoi spun around to see the little girl standing there, rubbing at her eyes.

"Sumi-chan! You scared me half to death."

"I'm sorry." Sumi was meek. "I know you have to get up early for work, so I waited for you."

"You don't need to creep around the house like a ninja just because you want me to do your hair. Go and get the brush and your hair-ties."

Sumi hurried to obey. Aoi worked briskly with the brush and her fingers, and three minutes later, Sumi had her ponytails. Aoi lent her her hand-mirror so that she could admire the way the blue silken butterflies looked in her hair.

"Now we really are twins." The blue eyes sparkled. "You're the best, Aoi-neechan!"

"Just don't gloat in front of Naho-chan and Kiyo-chan." Aoi laid the mirror aside. "You won't be able to go back to bed if you want to keep your hair neat. I have to go now. When you're hungry, just heat the rice porridge and eggs up on the stove. Be careful not to burn the pots this time."

"Yes, ma'am. I'll see you later!"

After taking her bento box, with her free hand, Aoi gave Sumi a gentle rub on the head. Then she headed for the door. Another day of hurrying from task to task and wrangling with patients awaited her. She loved the heavy workload, though, and she wouldn't mind dealing with stubborn patients so long as nothing went wrong during the little girls' visit.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Aoi was a quick-moving, hard-working girl who, on the outside, never seemed to tire. By the time the sun had reached its peak in the sky that day, though, she felt the beginnings of a headache thanks to one of Shinobu-sensei's physical therapy patients.

"Do I have to work my whole body today?" the man moaned. "Can't I just do the upper body exercises? My knees have been bothering me."

"They wouldn't be bothering you so much if you'd come to your sessions every week the way you were ordered to, Takahashi-san," Aoi scolded him. "You haven't checked into the hospital since your second session a month and two weeks ago!"

"Oh - about that - I haven't been in town. I apologize; it's just that I got a message from back home about my mother, and I just had to go and look after her right away. She has a tumor the size of a peach, you see, and couldn't get it removed!"

"Your mother has an enormous tumor, and you didn't think to bring her here where Shinobu-sensei could have treated her? That's an unbelievable story, Takahashi-san. And yes, you do have to do a full-body session. You won't get better if you avoid doing the work, so please cooperate with me!"

"Be gentle, Aoi, dear," Shinobu-sensei reproved her. Then, to their visitor: "Now, Takahashi-san, when you say that your knees are bothering you, do you mean that they hurt the usual amount, or have you been performing strenuous work sometime in the past few days?"

She kept a smile as bright as the moon on her face while Takahashi-san came up with another stupid lie. Then she and Aoi coaxed him through a particularly slow and gentle session. The gentleness did not deter him from carrying on as though he were being killed.

When the session had ended, Aoi left Shinobu-sensei to give Takahashi-san his instructions for the week and headed for the operating room, where she was to meet and briefly interview a patient who had come in for surgery. As she exited the therapy room, Takahashi-san had the nerve to mutter, "That young lady has a terrible bedside manner!"

"Please don't mind Aoi," Shinobu-sensei could be heard saying. "She can be a little intense, but she truly means well. Now, Takahashi-san, I will need to see you again no later than next Saturday."

Aoi was more than accustomed to being seen as too strict and serious in demeanor. Even Shinobu-sensei sometimes suggested that she smile more often. But being accused of having a poor bedside manner - this stung. It hurt her feelings as much as it irritated her. Just who did that man think he was, criticizing her after he'd made up an awful story about his own mother to excuse himself for not coming to his therapy sessions? And Shinobu-sensei hadn't even defended her honor, not really. If someone had dared insult sensei behind her back, she thought, I would have spoken up for her!

Coming to a stop a few feet away from the door of the operating room, Aoi closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She gave herself a little talk. I can't look angry and like I want to cry when I go in to speak with Yukimura-san. People like Takahashi-san are exasperating, it's true. But if Shinobu-sensei agreed with him, he must have had a point. It wouldn't hurt me to be a little milder-mannered. I'll take a few moments to calm down, and then I'll try to go about my work with a nicer attitude.

Aoi did compose herself before entering the operating room. She sat down with Yukimura-san, a brown-haired middle-aged lady, to discuss the surgical operation that she'd been scheduled to undergo today and remind her what to expect. Yukimura-san nodded, smiled, seemed to understand and be at ease with everything that she was told, and thanked Aoi again and again for all of her help. All appeared to be going well, with Aoi assuming she would soon be able to wrap the conversation up and confirm to Shinobu-sensei that their patient was ready for the procedure, until Aoi actually began to review the pre-operations instructions she had sent Yukimaru-sensei home with a week before.

"And, just to confirm, you haven't eaten anything in the last 36 hours, correct? You've only had fluids."

"I had an egg with tomato last night and two rice balls before I headed for the hospital," was Yukimura-san's breezy reply. "That won't cause problems, will it, dear? I didn't eat very much."

Aoi had never had such a hard time suppressing a groan. She set her notepad aside with a little extra force. "Yukimura-san. You've eaten in the last 36 hours?"

It was silly, of course, asking a question to which she had just been given the answer. It only gave Yukimura-san the opportunity to blink at her and say again, "Only a bit of food last night and today - not a full meal either time. That shouldn't be an issue, right?"

It wasn't as though it was Aoi's first time dealing with a patient who had disregarded pre-surgery instructions, either - far from it. She had simply hoped that this interview would go as it ought to. She had made up her mind to be better, after all - to soften the frown on her face and not to scold so much. So why, just why couldn't patients do their share of the work for once?

"It will be an issue. I'm sorry, Yukimura-san, but we can't operate on you at this time. We will need to reschedule you."

"WATT?!" Gone were the smiles and the grateful compliance. "Because I ate two rice balls and one egg in the span of 19 hours? That makes no sense to me, Aoi-san."

"As we explained to you when we last saw you, Yukimura-san, we cannot operate on you if you've consumed any solids at all within 36 hours of the surgery. You are only allowed to have consumed clear liquids."

"No solids at all? Not even a bite of food? I was supposed to go without any nourishment?"

"It's in your written instructions, which we explained to you before we sent you home with them. Because you failed to follow them, we'd only be putting you at risk if we performed the surgery today."

Yukimura-san kneaded her forehead and heaved a sigh, as though she were the one whose vital instructions had been ignored. "To think my family and I planned the next week around this surgery. My brother and sister asked to miss work for a few days so they could come to town and spend time with me. But I don't suppose I have any choice but to reschedule - since you say this is such a problem. What's the earliest appointment I can get? Can I come in tomorrow?"

Aoi picked her notepad up and snapped it shut. "Since you ate just before you came here, then no. You can only be operated on when you've fasted for 36 hours. I know that you don't see the point of these guidelines, Yukimura-san, but we uphold them for your safety."

"When can I get an appointment, then?" Yukimura-san moaned. "I can't ask my sister and brother to take more time away from work."

How hard would it have been for you to do as you were told, then? Aoi prevented herself from crying, though she was certain her eyes spoke for her. She rose, the notepad tucked under her arm. "You'll need to speak with Shinobu-sensei about that. I'll let her know that your operation will have to be moved to another date."

Yukimura-san shook her head. "All of this fuss over a few bites of food. I told you about them because I wanted to be honest with you and Shinobu-sensei just as I expect you, as medical workers, to be honest with me. I know you all have your protocol and your codes to follow, that you don't want to take any risks. But on a practical level - how on earth could having such a little bit of food over the space of 19 hours be enough to stop an important surgery I planned my week around?"

"We need you to be honest with us, but honesty isn't enough. This is about your health and safety above all, not about friendly feelings between us and you. You must adhere carefully to our instructions so that we can help you. The requirement is no food at all, not a little bit of food." Aoi turned to head for the door. "Shinobu-sensei will see you within an hour. Once she's rescheduled you, please follow our pre-operation instructions. Good day, Yukimura-san."

She blew out of the room so quickly that her visitor didn't have a chance to argue further. Everyone thought that she was strict, mean and intimidating. Well, all of those things might be true. But at this point, when it came to dealing with people like Yukimura-san, she felt she would prefer to have a poor bedside manner than a good graveside manner.

Aoi stopped at the nearest window. She took a deep breath, then released it in a sigh. She leaned in to rest her forehead against the cool windowpane and remained there for a few moments before opening her eyes to gaze out through the glass at the hospital grounds below.

And while I'm on the subject of hours and times - Kiyo-chan, Naho-chan and Sumi-chan should at least be on their way right now. I warned them to be punctual. If they aren't, I'll send them home. I can't work and look after children who won't listen at the same time.

They were good girls, though, she had to admit to herself. They could be energetic and talkative; they required some looking-after, but they meant well, and they always followed instructions, which was more than could be said of many adults with which Aoi worked. In all truthfulness, regardless of whether they were punctual or tardy, Aoi was not eager to attempt to divide her attention between supervising inexperienced little assistants and getting her regular work done. And there was more to her worries than that. A part of her feared that the main reason the little girls were so eager to lend a hand around the hospital was that they felt obligated to after all that Aoi and the others had done for them. Aoi had felt that way to a small degree when Shinobu-sensei had taken her on.

Reflecting on that fact made her uncomfortable and a little ashamed. Shinobu-sensei had always been good to her and had never suggested or implied that Aoi ought to repay her for her kindness by becoming a medical assistant. Besides, Aoi loved being a medical assistant. She considered it a privilege to have received so much of Shinobu-sensei's knowledge. She loved improving patients' health and saving lives. But there were parts of the job that she disliked, even hated - having instructions ignored, struggling to help patients who refused to put in any effort, and, rare, but bitterest of all, watching people die.

Feeling obligated to earn one's place and one's keep by any means - perhaps that was just a part of being an orphan. Aoi knew that Kanao had had that feeling as a child even if she had not talked about it. She knew, too, that Shinobu-sensei had grown up without living parents, but had never mustered up the nerve to ask her what it had been like for her. Shinobu-sensei's bright, ever-shining smile built a wall of reserve around her. Perhaps Aoi's perpetual frown did the same for her.

Still, Aoi did not want Kiyo, Naho and Sumi to believe they had to work outside of the home because she was housing and feeding them. Food, clothing and shelter - and medical care - were things that all people deserved; little children should not have to work for them. Even if she had not planned on becoming a parental figure at fifteen years old, she had taken the girls on because she had wanted to help them. When she imagined them believing otherwise, her heart ached so much that she could physically feel it.

The sight of three tiny silhouettes making their way across the hospital yard brought Aoi out of her reverie. They were here - and they were on time, so she couldn't send them away. Well, she told herself again, at least they knew how to listen. So long as they were attentive and obedient and she kept them busy with simple tasks, this afternoon wouldn't be too difficult.

On her way outdoors, Aoi hurried past Shinobu-sensei, who asked her whether the girls had arrived, and, when told that they had, followed her outdoors to meet them. As the children bowed in greeting, she patted each little head. "You were here exactly on time, dears. For a moment I was worried you wouldn't make it."

"We wouldn't forget our first day, Shinobu-sensei!" Kiyo assured her.

"Hearing that makes me happy. I'm counting on you three, okay?"

"In the future, you should arrive a few minutes early," Aoi admonished. "That way, the person you're helping will know you're really committed to your work. Kiyo-chan, what did I tell you about your hair? It all needs to be behind your ears. Fix it, please, and then I'll show you where you will wash your hands."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Aoi," Shinobu said, "why don't you have the girls help you with the laundry today? Their hands will get washed as they work."

"Yes, sensei."

"Good girl. Before I go - you haven't updated me on Yukimura-san's operation. Is she ready?"

Aoi handed her notepad over to Shinobu-sensei. "No, far from it. She got hungry and ate just before she came here, so she'll need to be rescheduled."

Shinobu-sensei's facial expression froze for a moment. Then her smile became brighter - and tighter - than before. "Thank you, dear. I'll go in to see her now."

When Shinobu-sensei was gone, Aoi turned to face the girls, whose eyes were round with interest now. Sumi asked, "What was that about, Aoi-neechan?"

"We aren't encouraged to gossip about our patients. Do you three know how to do laundry?"

"Only a little," Naho admitted. "Mama used to show me how, and we washed our own clothes a few times when we were on our own."

"But we weren't that good at it," Kiyo added.

So Aoi led them to the laundry room. Before pushing a washtub beneath the spout of the hot water tank to let it fill, she made the girls wait outside so that she could sort through the laundry and choose the gowns and sheets with the fewest and least offensive stains. She could not ask them to handle anything that had been touched by blood or that had an odor, not on their first day. If they insisted on helping out here, eventually they would need to learn and experience some of what it really meant to be a medical worker, but today she would tackle the least appealing pieces of laundry herself. She called the girls in then and coached them on applying the soap, using the wooden washing paddles and scrubbing-brushes, rinsing and wringing the sheets properly. After that, she moved back and let them try it for themselves while she tackled the pieces of laundry she had not wanted them to handle.

They were such little girls, not even big enough to fill half of the washtub while standing pressed together. It wasn't easy for Aoi to watch them wrangle with the large, wet sheets instead of jumping in to do the work herself, which would have saved her some time and spared their little arms. But she attended to her own work, leaving the tub now and again to patiently correct the girls when they made mistakes.

By the time she managed to get her share of the laundry rinsed and wrung out, the little ones, still up to their elbows in soap suds, their foreheads furrowed with concentration, appeared to be doing a passable job with theirs. Aoi knew that they would make slow progress and felt a little sorry for them. She couldn't stay out here to continue supervising, though. There were medicines that needed to be made before she went to the kitchen to tackle the evening's cooking.

"When you're finished washing, load the laundry into baskets and hang it up on the clotheslines out in the back. Then come inside and ask to be directed to the pharmaceutical workroom. Don't try to come in; it isn't safe for children to be there. Just knock and wait outside of the door, and I'll come out and tell you what to do next."

"Yes, ma'am."

Aoi took her laundry out to hang. When she reentered the hospital building, she found Nezuko waiting near the pharmaceutical workroom door with a hand-basket of fresh herbs.

"I picked these from our garden, Aoi-chan. I hope you can use them."

Aoi accepted the basket of fragrant leaves. "They look wonderful. I told you you didn't need to give us all of your herbs, though, Nezuko-chan. You have such a big family, I'm sure you all could use them at home."

"There's no need to fuss; we have plenty. Besides, I'm thankful to you and Shinobu-sensei for taking such good care of Rokuta when he got sick, and I'm sorry we weren't able to pay you properly."

Aoi turned away so that Nezuko couldn't see her blushing. "It wasn't any trouble, really. So long as he stays healthy, you don't have to repay us in any other way."

"Your patients haven't been giving you problems today, have they?"

"Have they ever! They don't understand clear instructions whether they're spoken or written down on paper, they make up ridiculous stories like toddlers who got caught sneaking into the pantry, and when I don't tell them exactly what they want to hear, they cry, 'Shinobu-senseiiiiiii! Your assistant is being mean to me!'"

Nezuko laughed. "Well, I know I can't come into the workroom and chat with you, so I won't tie you up much longer. I'd better start on supper, anyway. Will you come over and eat with us?"

"Thank you, but haven't you got enough to do, feeding the children and having Inosuke-san and Zenitsu-san over so often? You'd have to feed the girls along with me. Speaking of which, I hope they didn't cause too much trouble if they came over today."

Nezuko waved that concern away. "You know they're never any trouble. They're sweet angels. Hanako especially loves having them over. She'd be thrilled if they spent the evening with us. It isn't as if they do it often, Aoi-chan, and after being on your feet all day, you might as well give yourself a break from the dishes. We're having stir-fry, so it won't be hard to make a little extra."

The offer did appeal to Aoi, who secretly liked Nezuko's cooking better than her own. Aoi was a good cook, but she was used to preparing food with a quick and practical hand, making it in large batches so that it would feed a dozen or more infirmary patients, using precise measurements for ingredients, and being careful not to over-salt or overseason. On workday evenings, she usually took a portion of the food she had prepared in the hospital kitchen home with her so that she wouldn't have to cook supper. Even when she cooked at home, at the end of the day, in spite of her best efforts, she was a hospital cook.

"I suppose it would be better for the girls to eat right away than wait for me to heat everything up," she conceded. "All right, we'll come over after work. But you have to eat at our house sometime this week in return."

"The girls came to help out today, didn't they? How has that been going?"

"It's going well so far. I just now put them to work in the laundry room."

"I'll check in on them on my way back home." Nezuko turned to depart. "I'll see you later, Aoi-chan!"

Aoi retreated into the workroom, where she assembled the ingredients she needed. Usually she enjoyed the quiet and the solitude that working in this room offered. For security reasons, though, it had no windows. This meant that she couldn't work and watch the girls at the same time, which did nothing to help her feel at ease. With some difficulty she made herself get to work with her mortar and pestle and a heap of dried herbs. But she paused after every few minutes to run out to the nearest window and scan the lawn for a trio of small figures. Only when, at last, she peered out and saw her wards making their way across the grounds with overflowing baskets of linen was she able to breathe a sigh of relief and try to relax.

With a groan she noted that some of the bedsheets were hanging too low; the edges were being dragged through the grass. Well, it wasn't as if she could run down to stop it from happening now. Shinobu-sensei kept a clean lawn, and if it turned out that there was dirt on the sheets, Aoi would just have to give them a quick wash at the very start of her shift tomorrow. She turned most of her attention to her medicine and was preparing to wrap things up when she heard a knock.

"Aoi-neechan?" It was Sumi. "We're all finished."

"Very good," Aoi called back. "Stay out there and wait for me, please. I'll be done before long."

"Yes, ma'am."

By her estimates, Aoi was only in the workroom for another twenty-minutes, perhaps half an hour. That length of time might have felt like an eternity to seven-year-old girls, however, for when she stepped out, Kiyo, Sumi and Naho were nowhere in sight. The first thought that occurred to Aoi was a dreadful one - they had gotten hurt or suddenly become sick. But if a staff member had taken them away to help them, surely Aoi would have been called. Maybe she had been called and hadn't noticed, too absorbed in her work and allowing the clattering of the pestle to drown other noises out. Or maybe the girls had tried to call for her themselves, then, feeble and in pain, had staggered away to seek help because she hadn't heard them.

Feeling the stabbing of anxiety in her chest and stomach, Aoi hurried down the hall, then turned the corner, prepared to ask the first personnel member she saw whether he had seen three little girls anywhere nearby. The sound of giggling caught her attention then. She was fairly certain she knew those giggles. By moving briskly in the direction of the sound, she was able to trace it to the nearest lobby. Mitsuri crouched in a corner, attacking the little girls, who lay in a laughing, shrieking heap on the floor, with tickles.

After mustering all of the patience that she had, Aoi marched over to the site of the little party. Mitsuri turned around, her bright green eyes round with surprise. "Aoi-chan! Oh, I hope I wasn't causing any trouble, dear."

"No, Kanroji-san, but the girls aren't supposed to be here. Kiyo-chan, Sumi-chan, Naho-chan, I told you to wait outside of the workroom until I was finished."

"It was my fault," Mitsuri insisted as the chastened girls pushed themselves into a sitting position. "They had just come out of the washroom, and I'd dropped by to leave something for Kocho-san, but I couldn't help but to say hello to them. This is their first day here, isn't it? They have to be the most adorable workers in this hospital."

"Adorable or not, they can't work in this hospital if they refuse to follow instructions. If you three had to step away, you should have at least told me!"

"We didn't think it would take that long," was Naho's tiny-voiced protest.

"It isn't Kanroji-san's fault that you forgot to stay focused. Get up, please, and come with me to the kitchen to wash your hands. You can't help sick people while romping and rolling around on the dirty floor. Furthermore, I saw you taking the laundry out from the window. When you take sheets out to be dried, you shouldn't let them drag across the ground, or you're undoing all the work you put into washing them!"

" 'S'ma'am," Sumi murmured.

Mitsuri gave Aoi a pouty sad face, a face that meant, You're being a little too strict, Aoi-chan. Thankfully, she didn't say anything more, though, but got ready to take her leave, allowing Aoi to herd her errant little charges off.

In the kitchen, at least, she could keep them within sight of her as she worked. She directed them to the sink to wash their hands. They were so quiet and shamefaced that she began to feel mean for scolding them. She pictured herself, the scowling taskmaster getting angry at three sweet little ones for the crime of getting excited and wanting to have fun. But children ought to be obedient, more than ever when they were in a hospital. It was bad enough for Aoi to have grown patients who didn't listen to anything she and Shinobu-sensei said. And what would Shinobu-sensei have thought of her if she had seen them frolicking through the hospital as though there were nowhere they were expected to be? No matter that Shinobu-sensei was the one who had asked Aoi to put them to work here. She was Aoi's sensei, and she wanted to meet her expectations even when she didn't like what she had been asked to do.

Aoi handed the girls a large towel with which to dry their hands. "Thank you." She tried to make her voice gentle (by Aoi standards). "We're going to make supper for the patients in the infirmary now. Naho-chan, rinse the two blue pots out. Sumi-chan, Kiyo-chan, I want you to measure six cups of rice into each. I'll show you how to rinse the starch out of it."

"I know how to do that, Aoi-neechan!" Sumi insisted. "Mama showed me how."

Kiyo and Naho pitched in to let her know that they had also learned to wash rice. A little doubtfully, Aoi allowed them to show her. She had to coach them on precisely measuring the rice, filling their cups completely and then leveling the surfaces off, but they did an excellent job of rinsing the starch out. Encouraged by this, Aoi allowed them to put the rice on to cook while she attended to other matters.

Near the beginning of every kitchen shift, the worker on duty filled a sizable steel kettle, which held close to two gallons of liquid, with water and brought its contents to a steady simmer. The worker kept it full and its contents hot so that when tea or broth was needed, it could be made quickly. After putting the kettle on, Aoi got to work preparing the salmon she wanted to bake.

Kanao appeared in the kitchen doorway. "Aoi, can you make enough ginger and garlic broth for three adult patients?" She stepped in to give each little girl a pat on the head. Aoi, who had told the girls not long ago that they must wash their hands after touching their own hair in order to safely assist patients, wished she wouldn't set a bad example, but she bit her tongue.

"I'll have it ready in fifteen minutes."

Kanao exited the kitchen. Aoi filled a teapot and a saucepan with hot water from the steel pitcher and set both on to boil. Because the girls were hanging around looking like lost souls, she instructed them to take some vegetables out of an icebox and wash them for her.

"And when the broth is ready, you can let Kanao take you to the infirmary so you can deliver it to the patients. I'm making tea, so you can give that to them, too."

For the first time that day, the sun rose on the girls' faces. They were actually getting to help out in the infirmary!

"Come straight back," Aoi warned them when their trays were ready to be taken. Carefully she placed one tray into each pair of eager little hands. "Place the trays where Kanao tells you to, and don't swarm the patients. They aren't there to be entertained. Besides, I don't want to risk you getting sick."

"Yes, ma'am," the little ones said together. Aoi wasn't overly concerned. They seemed to be ready to listen again, and Kanao would be there to keep them focused.

The broth was delivered without incident, and by the time the girls reported back to the kitchen, the first batch of food was nearly ready. Aoi arranged six teapots on the counter, laid tea-leaves at the bottom of each, and increased the heat beneath the steel kettle so that she could bring the water to a boil. The rice was done, so she swept the pot over to the counter opposite of the stove, where she scooped its contents into a large bowl. She began to arrange seaweed rice ball wrappers on the bottom of a long rectangular pan. "Naho-chan, be a good girl and scour and rinse this pot out as quickly as you can. We need another batch of rice, six more cups."

"I know how to make onigiri," Kiyo volunteered. "Can I help?"

"No, I need you doing something else. Help Naho-chan and Kiyo-chan with the rice."

Aoi deftly molded the steaming rice into triangles and stuck them one by one into wrappers. As she worked and Naho scrubbed at the rice pot, she kept an ear open for the water, which could be heard bubbling against the steel walls of the kettle before very long. It would take another minute or so to settle into a steady boil. Once it had, she would fill the teapots up.

About half of that minute had passed and Aoi was preparing to take the kettle off after finishing the rice ball she was working on when an unexpected sound - a shuffling, sliding sound coming from the direction of the stove - grabbed her attention. Startled, she whirled around in time to see Sumi pulling the steel kettle across the stovetop towards herself - tiny Sumi, who was not much bigger than that kettle herself. The large kettle, pulled down by the weight of its contents, toppled forward, breaking free of the little girl's grip. Aoi felt a scream trying to burst out of her lungs.

There was a teapot between Sumi and the kettle. As Sumi jerked her arm back, the kettle fell first onto the teapot, knocking it to the floor. The spilling of the hot water was delayed just long enough for Sumi to scramble backwards and for Aoi to seize her by the collar, yanking her to the right, completely out of harm's way.

The kettle landed on its side near the edge of the stovetop. It gushed and gurgled, emptying itself, until Aoi came in from the side, managed to get hold of its handle, scalding her fingers in the process, and sat it upright. All the while the enormous steaming puddle spread across the floor, around the heap of shattered teapot and the soles of her sandals.

Aoi turned to face the girls, who were pale now and who stared back at her with huge eyes. Sumi opened her mouth as if to speak, then closed it. Naho, still standing near the pot she had been scouring, the sponge lying on the floor now, did the same. Several moments passed before Aoi remembered how to form words and broke the silence.

"You could have been killed. What did you think you were doing, Sumi-chan?"

"The water was ready." Sumi's voice was barely audible. "Your hands were full, so I was trying to. . ." She trailed off and wrapped her arms around herself.

"It wasn't ready, and in the first place I never asked you to touch it. You're here to do what Shinobu-sensei and I ask you to do and nothing else! What about the concept of following instructions do you three not understand?"

Sumi mustered up the nerve to speak again. "Kiyo-chan and Naho-chan didn't do anything. It was only me. Please don't be angry at them."

Aoi was not appeased. "How could you two just stand there and watch while Sumi-chan did something so foolish?"

This made the corners of the girls' mouths turn down. Kiyo leaned in to hug Sumi. "We're sorry, Aoi-neechan. We do understand; we just -"

Aoi cut her off. She did not have enough energy to listen to anymore silliness today. "Why on earth would I have wanted any of you to handle a kettle full of boiling water that's almost as big as you are? When you were taller and you had more experience working here, maybe, but not on your first day! Honestly, Sumi-chan, you three are big girls, seven years old, not five. I let you come here against my better judgment, but even I didn't expect to have to watch you every second!"

"We know we're big girls, Aoi-neechan," Naho began. "That's why we -"

"There's no excuse. I want you three to go home right now."

"Can't I help clean up my mess?" Sumi pleaded.

"No, that's the last thing that I want you to do. In a medical setting, workers who don't listen present a major liability. I can't protect you three and do what I need to at the same time. Leave and go straight home, please. Can you follow those directions, or should I escort you personally? Because if I leave the kitchen and see you on hospital grounds, I'm going to be angry with you."

She knew very well that she would never do anything to the girls in anger, not for all of the world. But her words were enough to make them move, albeit slowly. One by one, they turned around and, taking tiny steps, exited the kitchen.