A Witch, A Knight and The Black Cat

Chapter 5

There was a creak from the floorboards downstairs and the tiny squeak of the door hinges as the door was closed. The small girl jumped up from her bed and scrambled down the stairs to see her brother return from his apprenticeship. He was hanging up his belt and sword with an exhausted sigh.

"Mitsu-nii," the girl beamed.

Turning around the boy gave his sister a half smile and said, "I'm home."

"Welcome back," Kumiko said.

Dropping into a nearby chair Mitsuhide ran a hand through his hair. Kumiko could tell that he had something he needed say, so she pulled up the small kitchen stool and sat across from him.

"Is there something wrong?" she asked.

"No, it's great news actually," he half laughed. Kumiko leaned in extremely curious to hear what he had to say. Mitsuhide wrung his hands together as he took a steadying breath.

"Well?" Kumiko eagerly prompted.

Grinning Mitsuhide said, "I got the job at the palace. I'm going to be a palace soldier."

Kumiko jumped to her feet clapping and cheering. "That's great! This is your dream," she beamed.

"I know," Mitsuhide chuckled at her outburst. It had been years since he had seen his younger sister so excited, and it wasn't for herself.

"When do you start?" she asked.

Ruffling his hair he replied, "Tomorrow morning."

Kumiko's eyes widened as she dropped her waving hands. "That soon? Then we have to celebrate tonight. I'll be right back!" she frantically said.

Scrambling around the small den Kumiko gathered her shawl, wallet and shoes. As she pulled on her boots she dropped and picked up her small change purse several times before she reached the door.

"Kumi-chan where are you going?" he called after her.

"Cake! We need cake," she said.

"Don't," Mitsuhide began.

"I'll be right back. Promise," she smiled back at him.

Kumiko was skipping out the door before Mitsuhide could recover from her glowing expression. She ran the whole way to the bakery, knowing fully well that Seren-san still had an assortment of cupcakes left. The girl couldn't hide her pride or excitement for her brother's success as she bought the sweets and hurried towards home.

The smile was quickly lost when Kumiko tripped, dropping the box and landing hard on the stones. As she sat up dark laughter surrounded her sending a cold chill down her spine.

"Whaddaya got there Witch? Ingredients for your next spell?" Jin spat.

"We can't let her curse another person," the boy with him muttered.

Jin leered down at her. "You're right."

Kumiko couldn't remember exactly what happened other than the dark faces that hovered over her as she screamed and cried around her shawl that was shoved into her mouth. When she was finally released with death threats promised as Jin and his friend ran off Kumiko pushed herself to her feet to see the shower of black and silver hair pool at her feet. Wiping the back of her hand across her face she tried to pull herself together, brushing off the rest of the cut locks -her hair now shorter than her brother's- and wrapping her tear and drool damp shawl around her head. After twelve -she counted- deep breaths to steady her quaking nerves Kumiko made her way home.