"Battle of Nori Nanba"
Chapter 4


As Nori Nanba steps back into her home, the silence surrounds her making her feel alone. She gets started on her midday chores to help keep her mind off it. She starts by cleaning the house and picking things up, then she goes into the medical room to see what they may need. Making a list in her mind, and then goes into the village to pick up what they need.

While she is in the village, she stops by the teashop to chat with the woman and her husband to see how their children and they are doing. After a while of sitting there talking and finishing her tea, Nori Nanba says good-bye to them and leaves. When she walks out the front entrance, she noticed a man walking down the road into the village.

He seemed tired, and he was dragging his feet, as she watched him a few minutes longer she saw him fall. As she drops the packages that she is holding, she runs out to the man in the road that has fallen. She places her hand on him feeling the heat coming from his body, he is burning with fever, shaking him asking him if he is all right, he does not answer her, she rolls him over to see that he has been bleeding and it looks very bad. She runs back to the teashop for someone to help her get him out of the road and to her home so she can treat him. Two men from the teashop come to her aid.


When they get to her home, she tells them to place him in the medical room on the bed.

She tells one of the men, “I need water would you please go draw some from the well for me and place some on the fire to get it hot and bringing the rest to me.”

As he does this for her she starts to remove the mans shirt, she notices his wounds are very bad, but they do not look as if he got them from fighting another man, these look more like a wound from a animal or a demon. He had long deep marks on his chest that look like claw marks and wounds that look like they came from a set of fangs.

Cleaning him up the best she can while waiting for the water, she mixes up some medicine to give him for his fever and to rid his body of the infection that has started from the wounds going untreated.

She wonders how long he has been like this, "The blood was dry on his shirt." She thinks to herself. "He has to have been like this for a day or two; his wounds were not fresh at all."

As the man that got her the water walks into the room, she has him poor the rest in the bowl next to the bed where the young man was.

The villager looking at him and says, "Oh my! What got a hold of him?"

Nori Nanba said, "I think it was an attack from a demon, the wounds do not look as if they came from a sword or a weapon of any kind."


She goes back to the young man and gives him the medicine, hoping that it will be strong enough to fight off the infection; she starts cleaning the wounds with the fresh water she turns asking the man, “Can you go check the water on the fire and see if it is hot?”

As she is cleaning the young mans wounds he starts moaning and moving around, she tells him, “You will be all right and there is nothing to fear, I will take good care of you.”

As she is cleaning the wounds, the villager comes in with the hot water, please set it over there and thank you so much for your help.” She says to him as he is leaving.

The young man still moving around and moaning he looks up at her and says in a very silent tone, "Yoshiko Yamada you have come back to me."

Nori Nanba thinking this must be his wife or lover that he has lost, she looks at him saying something she should have never said, “Yes it is I... I have come to care for you and make you well once again." He smiles at her and passes out once more.

As she finishes cleaning his wounds, she finds she is ready to stitch up the wounds that are too deep to heal as they are. She gets up to mix the medicine in the hot water, thinking it should be cool enough now to mix it. She mixes the medicine with the water stirring it to make it a thick paste.

She gets the needle and thread picks up the medicine and goes over to the young man. She starts to sew up his wounds and places the medicine over them, wrapping them well so no more infection can get in there. She finishes up and stops to look at him once again touching him to see if his fever as went down at all, still feeling very hot, she puts a cool cloth on his forehead, and gets up to fetch clean water and clean herself up as well for she had his blood all over her hands and clothes.

Nori Nanba walks out to the well to draw up fresh water to clean her. Cleaning up and saying aloud, "Yoshiko Yamada, I have heard that name somewhere before," she says, "But where do I know it. Who is that young man, have I meet him somewhere before with this YoshikoYamada." She thinks, “He does not look like someone I know, but that name, Yoshiko Yamada, I know it, but from where."

She finishes up and draws more fresh water for the young man. Going back inside she sits next to him changing the cloth on his forehead to keep him as cool as possible and trying to break this fever.

"It is very bad for him to have a fever this high, if I can get the infection out of his body his fever will break and he might just make it, I just have to keep him as cool as I can, and give him the medicine to help fight it as well." She says aloud.


The sunsets and the moon shows it pale face, as Nori Nanba is still sitting next to the young man, she gets up to make more medicine for him, “It is about time to give him more.” she thinks, "His fever has not gone down at all and I am starting to worry about him. If he can make it through the night I think he will be all right, but his fever is so bad."

She wishes her father were there to help her, “I know he could save him.” She just hopes she can save him as well.

Remembering what her father told her one day when she was complaining, "Well what if I do not know what to do, what if the person is so bad I cannot help them and what if I forget something."

She remembers her father laughing at her for this and saying, "Nori Nanba are you not my daughter."

Answering, "Yes, I am your daughter."

He tells her, "Then do not worry you will be fine I have complete faith in you, and you knowing what you are doing, after all, as you said, you are my daughter!”

She goes back over to the young man and gives him the medicine saying, "PLEASE GOD let him make it through the night and be all right."

The night drifts on.

Nori Nanba looks out the window saying, "Morning has finally made it and you are still alive," touching the young man once again to see if his fever has gone down at all since the last time she checked him. He feels much cooler to her touch, she is happy his fever has gone down; he is not as hot as last night. Thanking the Gods, she gets up to, go draw more water so she can make more medicine for his wounds, and change his bandages.

While she is outside, she hears the old women's voices from the village calling her as she is walking up to her home.

"Nori Nanba how is the young man you took in yesterday."

"He is better" she says, "His fever broke sometime last night and it is going down, I think once I get the infection completely out of his body I do believe he will be fine. Then I will just have to keep on those wounds of his, they are very bad."

"Well," the old woman says, "Have you had breakfast yet?"

"No," Nori Nanba says to her.

"Good then lets go in and check on this young man, get him taken care of, and sit and eat." The wold woman says.

Therefore, she and the old woman go inside to tend to the young man. As she is mixing the medicine, the old woman is looking at him, "You have done a very good job here, your father would be proud of you."

She looks at the old women and says, "Thank you that makes me fell much better, I was so afraid I was going to lose him though the night, his fever would not break and his wounds are so deep."

As she walks over to the young man and starts to remove, his bandages and clean the wounds. The old woman looks at them, "Theses are wounds from a demon, he is a very lucky young man, still to be alive. He looks to be no more then in his thirty's he must be very strong to be able to defeat a demon on his own."

Nori Nanba looks at the old women and says. "I thought these wounds were caused by a demon, they just did not look as if they came from a weapon." She starts to apply the medicine to the cleaned wounds and re bandages them.


The old woman starts to get their meal ready as Nori Nanba finishes up with the young man. They stay in the medical room so Nori Nanba can be close to him, the old women can see she is very worried for him. As they are eating Nori Nanba, ask the old women her name.

"I do not mean to be rude," she says, "But you never told me your name."

The old woman laughs, "My name is Sanako Hosokoawa, but you may call me Sanako."

Nori Nanba says, "That is a very lovely name you have."

"Thank you," she said. "Even though it means beauty and my beauty has faded since old age has found me."

Nori Nanba saying, "Non-sense you are still very lovely."

"Well child" she says, "Thank you, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and no one wants to behold an old woman," as the Sanako starts to laugh, making Nori Nanba laugh as well.

"So child, do you know what your name means?" Sanako asks her.

"No," she replies, "My father never told me."

"Well Nori means God like and Nanba means beloved, your mother named you." Sanako tells her.

"Well I guess that fit me, I am not a God, only half a God, so I am God like and with the power to make men fall in love with me, I am beloved. My mother picked my name well I would have to say," As she smiles at Sanako.

As they sit there talking the young man stirs, talking in his sleep.

"Yoshiko Yamada," he calls out in a soft whisper, "Yoshiko were could you be my love." Sanako looks at Nori Nanba waiting for her to say something. Nori Nanba looks at the young man hoping he will understand her as she tells him,

“Sir my name is Nori Nanba and I am sorry but I do not know a Yoshiko Yamada. She was not with you sir when I found you."

He reaches for Nori Nanba smiling at her telling her, “I love you please do not leave me, I love you Yoshiko Yamada." he tells her, and he was passed out again.

Nori Nanba and Sanako sit there in silence for a few minutes, as Sanako gets up to leave she says, "Well child I need to get back to my chores. I will see you at lunchtime,"

“Thank you" Nori Nanba says, "You did not have to bring me breakfast and now you are bringing me lunch as well, thank you again you are very sweet."

"Well someone needs to take care of you while to tend to the young man we cannot have two down as well, then we would have no one that would be able to take care of him." Sanako says smiling at her.


As Nori Nanba walks Sanako to the door and walking outside with her. She thanks her again for everything.

Sanako turns and looks at Nori Nanba and asks her, "Do you know this Yoshiko Yamada?"

"No," Nori Nanba says, "But the name sounds very familiar to me as if I have heard it before or I know this person. Why do you ask Sanako?"

Sanako turns and starts to walk away, "It is your mother child." Nori Nanba could not say anything she was at a lost for words.

"This man knows my mother?!" She says to herself. "How does he know my mother and where is she now?"

She falls to her knees and starts to cry looking into the sky she yells to the heaves, "Mother where are you, have you forgotten about the people that love you and what of me. I need you badly; I am so very lost with everything in my life right now, PLEASE MOTHER! If you can hear me come to me, I need you. PLEASE!"

Nori Nanba is still outside looking up at the heavens crying. Placing her face in her hands and crying even harder as she is thinking of her mother and father and being torn apart when she was so young. Still crying and searching for the right answers within her and asking the same things.

"Will I ever know the answers to my questions, and these powers I have will I ever know how to control them, and did my mother really love me, will I ever know true love because of them or what of the man I wish to be with, will he ever know true love as well."

She gets up and goes back into the house to tend to the man that knows her mother, hoping he will awake soon so she can ask him about this Yoshiko Yamada.



The Battle Of Nori Nanba Chapter 5