Chapter 006

On the second day, they spent at the infirmary the influx of patients was higher than normally seen in the town, and since they were already there they stayed to help. But the number of patients just kept increasing.

Kaoru watched the physicians diagnose the patients and help them record them. Her mother had taught her different kinds of herbs used in treating various kinds of diseases, she even had drawings of them but most of them were herbs from her mother's hometown. They didn't grow here.

As she observed the patients, she noticed strange red coloured welts on their necks and the underside of their eyes was sore red too. Then after some time, a physician fell ill with that strange illness, causing panic among the town members. A physician said to Kana that they feared they had an epidemic on their hands.

A young man appeared at the infirmary one bright morning, he also had those red welts on his body but he was filled with vigour and able to do hard work. Kana kept her distance from him though, Kaoru couldn't figure out why. To her, he was just another patient.

He would tell them stories of his travels to Kamakura, the capital city. He said the women were beautiful and the men were strong and he was sure Kaoru would take her place there. The epidemic took a turn for the worse and Kana pushed her to send a message to Susumu asking him to come. She couldn't see what his coming would achieve but she gave in.

The symptoms worsened, there were now sneezing, wheezing and whooping cough accompanying it. Kaoru then took it upon herself to source herbs. She carried a herb basket and her mother's herb drawings and ventured into the forest alone. After getting to the heart of the forest she would occasionally stop to dig out some of the herbs she could find and place them in her basket, she wanted to see if she could grow them on her own so she took some soil too. Then she suddenly felt like someone was watching her and stiffened.

She squinted as the bright noonday sun pierced her eyes. What was that? Her heart thudded wildly in her chest. She gripped her sickle hard and rose slowly from the ground. She tried hard to regulate her breathing so it wouldn't interfere with her hearing.

Kaoru's ears tingled as soon as she heard the sound of feet crushing some dried leaves and began to swing her sickle madly. Big-tanned hands grabbed hers and pulled her against a rock-hard chest.

'Calm down, Kaoru-chan. It's just me', silk like voice whispered to her and the tension left her body.

Kaoru then shook herself free of him and turned to face him, hands on her waist, 'how did you know where to find me?'

Susumu grinned, flaunting his impeccably white teeth. 'Kana told me you went to pick herbs and this is the only forest close. Why did you come here alone? You could have been attacked by a wild beast!'

She rolled her eyes, 'I have my sickle.'

'That's hardly enough defence.'

'Are you calling me weak?'

'Of course not!' Susumu laughed nervously and scratched his head, 'you're the strongest woman I know.'

Kaoru smiled, 'I can smell your lies.'

The sky suddenly turned dark, casting a gloomy shadow over them. Susumu took her herb basket and held her hand. 'It's about to rain, let's hurry back.'

'Wait!' Kaoru bent down and dug out the herb she was eying before he came and put it in the basket. 'Now we can go.'

They barely left the forest when the rain poured with terrible anger. By the time they got to the infirmary they were soaked through and through but they were laughing.

'You have very short legs' Susumu said, 'if I didn't drag you along you have still been in the forest now.'

'No! Mine are longer than yours!' Kaoru protested.

'Oh? Do you want to compare?' he lifted his hakama and she quickly averted her gaze.

'Stop! How can you be so shameless?'

Susumu opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by Kana coming out to the veranda on which they stood. She handed them fresh clothes and gave him a pointed look.

'He just came out to play' said Kana.

'Is he gone?' Susumu asked while drying his hair.

'The rain drove him away.'

'Who is this 'him' you are talking about?'

Kana looked at her, 'Gozu Tenño, your friend.'

'He's gone? But he's not well yet!' Kaoru exclaimed.

'You welcomed him when none should have, you and this infirmary have been granted immunity.'

Kaoru looked at them in confusion, 'what do you mean?'. But Kana changed topics and asked about the herbs she went to get. The epidemic went as silently as it came and surprisingly, there were no casualties.