Infected

Chapter 28: Mizu and Hana

Mizu hummed to herself as she fixed breakfast and packed lunch into bento boxes for her and Gaara. Rummaging came from upstairs. Footfall on the stairs let her know that the Kazekage was awake. When he entered the kitchen Mizu smiled at him.

"Good morning," she greeted him and placed the bento next to his breakfast.

"Good morning..." His eyes slid over the table. "Where is your breakfast?"

Mizu was already packing up her bag as she prepared for an early day. "Hmm? Oh, I have some orders I need to fulfill this morning. Then I'm going to head over to the apartment complex and check out the new room I might be renting."

"You could just stay here..." Gaara murmured.

Mizu turned to him and stood on tiptoes. She kissed him on the cheek. "No."

The mixed look of disappointment and excitement tickled her fancy. His innocence made him all the more fun to tease. Before he could protest, she was out the door and headed down the street toward the open-air market where her stall was set up. Yoki left the comfort of his tree and joined her. The heat was already getting to her.

"This hot and cold nature of the desert is hard to adjust too." Mizu fanned herself as she walked with the beast.

Yoki stared at her, and despite his thick coat of fur seemed perfectly fine with the heat. "Why don't you stay with him?"

Mizu stopped to stare at her lifetimes long companion. The beast was looking for an answer, so she gave him one. "It's a test... If we still like each other when we're not forced to be with one another all the time then... plus if my life ends in a couple years there won't be anything for him to get rid of."

"You do not sound sure of yourself."

She huffed, but didn't respond. The beast spirit knew her too well. When she reached the market and her small table where she set up her business, she pushed Gaara out of her mind and focused on her work. Yoki took his usual seat behind her stall and laid down. Setting up her bowls and herbs, she went about preparing the orders she'd received at the end of yesterday. While she was grinding some herbs together, a shadow fell over her table. Looking up, she found a pubescent teenage girl with a prim look and a pointy nose looking down on her.

"Can I help you?" Mizu's senses told her that this child was looking to start trouble.

The girl spoke loudly, drawing the attention of people in a three-stall radius. "I heard that one of your potions made a child ill. Is that true?"

Mizu sat there slowly grinding the herbs as she stared at this troublemaker. She looked away from the girl and noticed a small group of adolescent girls watching the spectacle. A familiar face wearing a light pink kimono was among them.

"Hey! Are you listening?" The girl slammed her hands on Mizu's table, making the tubes rattle. "I heard that your medicine makes people get worse, not better. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Mizu didn't respond. Instead, she finished her grinding and laid her pedestal down. Standing up, she noticed the girl flinch, but Mizu held back her smile. Yoki raised his head, but Mizu shook her head at him. He laid back down.

"Hey!" The girl shouted again. "Are you ignoring me? Or do you have something to hide, outsider?"

People were glancing nervously their way. Mizu ignored them and the girl; she left her table and headed for the small group. Hana watched her approach nervously.

Before the girls could block her, Mizu grabbed Hana's shoulder and whispered into the young teen's ear. "If you can't even fight for him head on what makes you think you're worthy to stand by his side?"

Mizu let her go, but she could see the look on the girl's face and felt satisfied that her words had an impact. Turning back to the girl who was still standing next to her stall, Mizu was in front of her in a flash and staring down this accomplice.

"Who?" Mizu growled.

"Wh-what?" The girl nervously looked over to her group of friends, then seemed to recover. "Did you not hear—"

Mizu cut her off. "Who's sick? What child? What symptoms? When did this happen? Why is the parent of this said child not coming to me? Why are you here on their behalf?"

The girl's face grew pale. "Th-that's..."

"What medicine did I prescribe that made them sick?" Mizu's eyes were on fire as she challenged the validity of this girl's claims.

"I-I..." The girl took a step back.

Someone behind the girl cleared their throat. Mizu looked up and found an old woman, younger than Yaba, but still up there in age. Though it didn't show with how tight and flawless her skin was. She wore a dark blue silk kimono and her white hair was swept up neatly, held with a gold pin. There was an air of importance about her, and everyone always bowed to her when she passed.

"Miomosa-san." Mizu bowed to the woman. "Forgive me, your orders not quite ready yet."

The woman looked from Mizu to the girl. "Ina-chan."

The young girl flinched and turned to bow to the older woman.

"How is your mother dear?" Miomosa asked Ina.

Ina fidgeted nervously. "M-much better. Thank you for the medicine the other day, she felt much better after taking it."

Miomosa chuckled and smiled slyly. "Don't worry about it, dear. I'm glad it worked. Uta-san's medicine is quiet amazing. I'd hate for her to leave when she's such a vital part of the community."

Ina looked confused. "Uta-san?"

Miomosa gestured at Mizu, and the color from the girl's face vanished. She looked from Mizu to Miomosa, and then desperately looked to her group of friends. Her supposed friends had disappeared. Tears welled up in her eyes and she hung her head low. Mizu left the girl to stand awkwardly in front of the table and finished up the drought she'd been working on. When she finished Miomosa paid her for it and turned to Ina.

"Here dear, this was the next dose your mother needed." Miomosa handed the girl the bottle, and she turned red with shame. She didn't look at Mizu and bowed to the older lady. "Thank Uta-san as well, without her your mother wouldn't be feeling better now would she?"

The girl slowly turned to Mizu, her eyes on the ground, her voice came out tiny, "Thank you."

Mizu saw the looked Miomosa was giving her and sighed. Sometimes being the adult in the situation wasn't any fun. She forced a smile. "You're welcome."

The girl bowed and ran away, Mizu was sure she'd started crying. Adjusting to the sand village would be harder than she thought.