This was easy. He was a lot closer than Mama let her get to the practice targets, even if he was taller. Oh, they were making him kneel in front of Mama and Papa. That was lower than Mama set her targets when she practiced. The new kimono was heavy, but Mama said she had to be very still and not fuss. She hated being still. The kimono was just like the one Mama wore when she was doing important things, dark blue with the Water God and chrysanthemums all over it. Mama even let her wear her best hairpin, the one with the cheerful, brightly-colored dragon on it. It felt funny in her hair and she had to keep her head really high to keep it in place.
Oh, Mama called her. She walked forward, trying to walk like Mama did. Her shuriken was nice and warmed up from her hands now. The man was staring at her. He looked at Mama, then Papa, and then back at her. She didn't like being stared at. He was dirty and raggedy too.
She raised her shuriken and threw it. It glittered in the sunlight until it hit the man in the throat. Blood sprayed everywhere. The targets weren't messy like that. All they did was spill sawdust. He fell down, and she saw a big wet stain spreading over his pants. There was blood and bits of flesh on her shuriken when she caught it. She held it out so she wouldn't get blood on her new kimono.
Mama took the shuriken and kissed her on the forehead. Papa did too, and Papa never did that. She ran off to wash her hands. Papa let her drink a little sake at dinner. It made her sleepy and she fell asleep with her head in his lap.