A Witch, A Knight and The Black Cat

Chapter 3

Shirayuki woke up early the following morning excited to speak with her new neighbor, even making breakfast to share with the girl, but when she knocked on Kumiko's door she found the room empty. She didn't see the Lowen woman until midday when Shirayuki went out to the greenhouse. Kumiko had snagged one of the wooden training swords from the knight training hall and she was swinging it about at an oak tree. She was solely focused on practicing; perfecting her footwork, throwing her weight just right to disarm her opponent, wielding her blade like an extension of her arm.

Shirayuki halted her journey to the greenhouse to watch Kumiko spin and swing until the wooden sword fell from her hand. An angry hiss left her mouth as she pulled the blood splattered bandages from her left hand. The handle of the practice blade didn't sit well in her palm, not like her sword, leaving fresh blisters along the side of her palm and the space between her thumb and forefinger. On the positive side her knuckles were mostly healed thanks to Shirayuki's salve.

"Are you okay?" the redhead called.

Kumiko spun around to see Shirayuki jogging over to her while eyeing her hand.

Flexing her sore hand Kumiko replied, "It's just the casualty of practice."

Shirayuki grabbed the girl's hand thoroughly inspecting the bleeding blisters and the rough calluses along her fingers. Her brows pinched together as she looked up into Kumiko's sweat damp face.

"You shouldn't push yourself. There's still two weeks before the festival's contest, you don't want to burn out before then," she said with an honest smile.

"I don't want to get sloppy," Kumiko stated.

Releasing her left hand Shirayuki said, "If you follow me back I can treat your hand, but you should really rest it until the wounds heal."

Kumiko flexed her fingers again flinching at the sting that happened when she moved her thumb. "How long would that take?" she inquired.

"Day after tomorrow," Shirayuki answered.

Kumiko frowned. If she waited like Shirayuki suggested she would be losing a whole day of training, but then if she didn't wait she could lose so much more. Running her good hand through her chin length hair Kumiko huffed and scuffed her boot heel into the grass.

"If you wouldn't mind," she said.

Grinning Shirayuki said, "It'd be my pleasure."

Kumiko followed the herbalist to the greenhouse where she gathered what seemed like random plants, then off to her office with Garrak and Ryuu. The small boy glanced up at Kumiko once before dismissing her presence and returning to his work. Garrak on the other hand smirked into her teacup as the two girls walked in.

"What brings you here today Kumiko?" Garrak inquired.

Kumiko perched herself in the open window enjoying the spring breeze that filled the room. Rustling papers, musing hair, bringing the scent of flowers along with it. The girl lifted her hand, palm out, so the pharmacist could see the injuries.

"Sword fighting a tree," she shrugged.

"That's a new one," Garrak chuckled. Turning to her redheaded busybody the woman asked, "Are you treating her?"

"If it's okay," Shirayuki replied.

"You have time," Ryuu spoke up. But he didn't stop working, his hand scrawling across the paper at ridiculous speeds.

Shirayuki worked swiftly as she cleaned Kumiko's cuts, and applied a salve that earned a growl like hiss from the patient. After the fresh bandages were wrapped around her hand Kumiko stood with a "Thank you," but didn't move to leave.