When will this end? She wondered, yet continued to fight her way through the crowd. She struggled to move through the crowd, dodging people left and right to follow the merchant's quick steps. If she lost sight of him for just a few seconds, she would lose him in the crowd.

When she reached the merchant's store, which was just outside the market, she placed the goods in the store and took 1000 Yauzs. Without hoping for a break, he sent her back to the market—to the other merchant’s shop that he recommended working for. Oh god, I have to walk all the way back past the market, to the other side of it now. When is this ever going to end? She trudged along, shoulders slumped and muscles aching, towards the other merchant store that was described to her. The sun burned on her skin, draining what little strength she had left. She stumbled on her feet, unable to break the fall—lying in the middle of the path, but the people on the street walked past her as if she didn't exist. No one had time. The bustling city stops for nothing, huh? 

She pulled herself back up. Her mouth was a desert. Wish I had some breakfast. Her legs were noodle-like, about to give up on her. She had to sit somewhere—and she noticed a bench near a shop’s entrance. Pulling her weight over there, she sat on a bench off the sidewalk when a group of kids passed her by. They were in or around her age, giggling in joy and hopping like bunnies. When a little boy, one from the group, around eight years old, dressed in red velvet and carrying a bag in his hand—slipped down. Mika instinctively leapt, helping the little boy get back up while her wounded eyes met with the little boy’s sparking forest green eyes.

Her training weathered hands glided over his flawless skin. The boy stood up as she reached over the bag he had dropped. She didn’t mean it, yet she took a small peek inside the bag. It felt heavy, not the bag—but her hands. The medicine we need… She thought. The bag he held had the very medicinal herb that Akemi needed. She rooted herself to the ground. Her face sunk, squeaked her jaws together as the whispers of the dry wind blinded her senses.

The boy thanked her. She outstretched her hand, giving him the bag with a lowered head. He happily grabbed the bag back. “I might die in my dad’s hands if I went home without this,” joked the kid. Her pupils shot open. She swiftly looked up at him, darting at his joyful eyes and flashing a faint smile, masking her despair. Yeah, ‘might die’ in my hands if I went home without this… She thought.

The fatal truth of her mom’s state at that moment hit her hard. That joke that the boy said for fun wasn’t funny to her, not anymore. The world suddenly felt dark for her. Yet hope glimmered in the dark in her eyes. Hope for the best! She bit her trembling lips, clenched her shivering fists, and broke into a brisk jog onto the crowded path amidst the busy market.

Soon after, she reached the other merchant’s shop. She looked up at the building and her dark-circled eyes gasped at the sight. A medicinal herb shop? It filled her heart with hope. I could ask for the pay in the herbs we needed. She thought, running up the stairs and knocked on the door as fast as she could. A sudden rush of adrenaline.

An old man opened the door. She bowed down while the man frowned, staring at the backside of her neck. It was coated with sweat and she reeked of an unpleasant smell of heavy exercise. Something that the grey man hated. But still—his eyes were fixated on her neck. More specifically, on her war-clan birthmark.

Everyone from a war clan would have a birthmark unique to their clan. It would be treated as a mark of pride. Something that marked that these people were warriors. She possessed her identity in her nape that she held with honor. “What do you want, kid?”

“This merchant named Keiyo told me you might have some sort of work for me.”

“How much do you ask?”

“A bundle of Kampo and two bundles of Natsushirogiku and a handful of Kaki.”

“No.”

She took a long breath, running her quivering fingers through her hair. Without control over her hands from shivering, she frantically reached her pouch and the sound of rustling leather and clashing coins filled the room. She opened the pouch and coins trembled out of her hands. Swiftly kneeling down, trying to pick the coins, her finger grew numb. Her heart raced as she struggled to collect the coins. 

Breathing rapidly, she got all the coins in her hand and bounced on her feet. On showing him the coins in her rattling palms, she swallowed hard. “Take what—take what I have.”

“I can pay you in coins,” she nodded vigorously. YES… Finally, another job. “I want someone to guard my shop till closing. Go stand outside the gate and watch.”

She said nothing and exited the room—without even asking how much he'll pay; she leaped downstairs and stood outside the gate. There should be a chair somewhere. After looking around, she couldn’t find any. Maybe they have it inside. She entered the shop. The cashier yelled at her, telling her that there was no chair for her because guards shouldn’t sit on duty.

A lie that the little girl couldn’t understand. She waited outside for the next five hours—but which seemed like an eternity. Numb and dehydrated. She entered the shop once again, begging for some water. The cashier couldn’t turn away from the sad sight of her. He gave her some water, and she drank it as if she had never seen water in her entire life. Someone blasted the door open. The cashier stood immediately. She gazed at the door. It was the shop’s owner again, angry and frustrated. He charged inside the shop. “It’s closing time.”

To be countined!