A/N: So, after watching Memoirs of a Geisha twice and re-reading Mineko Iwasaki's Geisha, a Life, I decided I needed to write. I know I have several stories in progress, but this is where the random plot bunnies have led me. Maybe now they'll let me get some sleep!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Inuyasha & Co, they belong to the lovely and talented Rumiko Takahashi. I also don't own Memoirs of a Geisha or Geisha, a Life.
Translations:
Miyako Odori - literally "Cherry Dances", large festival held every spring
kata - series of exercises or movements
Inoue - Inoue School of Dance, founded in 1800; also title for the head of the school (Inoue Yachiyo)
hai - yes
okasan - mother
-san - honorable suffix
-chan - familiar suffix
ohayo - good morning
okiya - lodging house (commonly called a geisha house)
karyukai - literally "flower and willow world", term for the districts in Kyoto where geisha live and work
Gion Kobu - a karyukai in Kyoto
genkan - entryway
engawa - porch/deck/patio
domo arigato - thank you very much
jii-san - grandfather
atotori - heir
ie - no
sayonara - goodbye
ja ne - see you later
Prologue: Cherry Blossoms Cannot Stay
Kagome sat next to her mother on the train, anxiously twisting her hands in her lap. She looked at her mother out of the corner of her eye, taking in her calm demeanor. Kagome was too excited to sit still; she had only been to Kyoto once, last year. Her mother and grandfather had taken her to see the Miyako Odori for her fourth birthday. This year she wasn't going just to watch, she had been chosen to dance. As long as she could remember she had wanted to dance, watching her mother perform the dances of a shrine maiden season after season.
Kagome had begun her own formal training to be a shrine maiden within the past year, and had been studying with a private dance tutor. The tutor had been so impressed with her natural ability and the ease with which she memorized the kata that she had contacted the inoue of the dance school she worked for. Inoue Yachiyo V had traveled from Kyoto to Tokyo to watch Kagome dance. Kagome had been so anxious to please the inoue that she had practiced as much as she could, every morning and evening, until her mother scolded her to go to bed. After her footsteps had faded down the hall, Kagome tiptoed out of bed, silently rehearsing in her moonlit bedroom. The day when she performed for the inoue, she made no mistakes, her practice having made perfect. At first, she was unsure of the inoue's opinion, since she let her countenance betray nothing. She simply thanked Kagome and left. Kagome had been heartbroken, thinking she had performed poorly, and chastised herself for her lack of grace. Later that day, her tutor came by to inform her that the inoue had decided she would be in two performances of the Miyako Odori this spring.
"You must work very hard, Kagome-chan," her tutor had said. "There is much to learn and not much time."
Kagome began to dance constantly; as she walked through the shrine grounds, through the house, following her mother down the street; everywhere. For months she would stay up late and awaken early to practice. As the day grew nearer for their trip to Kyoto, she became more anxious and slept less. No exhaustion showed in either her expression or demeanor, for her excitement was causing her to have an overabundance of energy. The nearer the train crept towards Kyoto, the more antsy Kagome became.
"Kagome," her mother's whisper interrupted her thoughts.
"Hai, Okasan?" Kagome responded, lifting her head to meet her mother's eyes.
"Just a little while longer and we will be there. Try to sit still until then, onegai?" a smile touched the corners of her lips.
"Hai, I will try," Kagome nodded to herself, trying to distract herself by looking out the window at the passing countryside.
As she watched, the view out the window passed from trees and rolling hills to gradually more inhabited areas; first scattered villages, then larger, until finally, a city. Kagome saw many people and buildings, car traffic as well as foot, as the train began to slow to make its approach to the station. As soon as she saw the platform, she jumped up, ready to run outside. Her mother held her back, handing Kagome her backpack full of her travel things. She was so excited she had almost forgotten it. They made their way across the platform, her mother holding her hand with her right while carrying her own travel case in her left. Stepping off the platform and into the station, they quickly noticed a smiling face waving at them with a sign bearing the characters for "Higurashi".
"Konoko-san!" Kagome cried, a smile breaking across her face. She broke free from her mother's grasp, skipping towards her dance tutor.
"Ohayo, Kagome-chan!" Konoko bowed to the little girl. "Are you excited for this weekend?"
"Hai!" Kagome chirped, bowing in return. Her eyes lit up when she noticed Konoko was dressed in a casual kimono. "When do I get to try on my costume?"
"Just after we get you settled at the okiya! Ohayo, Higurashi-san," Konoko turned to Kagome's mother, bowing again.
"Ohayo," Kagome's mother bowed in return. "I must thank you again for handling the arrangements for us, and for finding someone to put us up for the weekend."
"It is my pleasure! This is an amazing opportunity for Kagome-chan! Now, if you'll follow me, there is a car waiting."
With that, Konoko shuffled Kagome and her mother out of the station, into a nondescript black sedan. The man behind the wheel introduced himself as Jin, a business associate of the okiya they would be staying at in Gion Kobu.
"Do the okiya take in many visitors from other karyukai during the Miyako Odori?" Kagome's mother asked from where they sat in the backseat.
"Traditionally, yes; however, most stay in local hotels these days. With all the tourists that come to view the Odori, I'm surprised there's any room!" Konoko answered, turning in the seat to address them.
"Here we are, ladies," Jin spoke, bringing the car to a halt at the end of what appeared to be a wide alleyway. "I hope you enjoy your stay in Gion Kobu."
"Domo arigato," all three said, bowing as they left the car. Jin nodded in return before driving away.
"So many buildings so close together!" Kagome's mother exclaimed. "Why is the road so narrow?"
"The Gion Kobu is the oldest and most respected karyukai in Kyoto. We work hard to maintain her original splendor. It is a slight inconvenience that cars cannot pass down the road, but we find that it is worth it. Come, we are here," Konoko explained, gesturing to the building on their right. "Welcome to the Tanakawa okiya. Follow me."
Konoko stepped across the threshold into the genkan, Kagome's mother following after. Kagome hesitated, trying to memorize everything she saw. A cone of salt stood next to the open sliding doors, which she noticed had no rice paper covering the open panels. She stepped through the doorway, into a small room with a packed dirt floor. Sandals stood lined up before a step that led into the house. Kagome removed her sneakers and left them with the other shoes, her sock feet slipping on hard wood floors as she rushed to catch up to her mother and Konoko. Doors on her left gave her glimpses of a living and dining room that she would like to explore, but that would have to wait until later. Konoko led them out a back door and around the garden to the guest house. Here they had a large formal receiving room that appeared to double as living and dining space.
"Your futons will be laid out for you every night by the maids. The washroom is through that door," Konoko explained, pointing. "If you will make yourselves at home, I will go and summon Tanakawa-san."
"What do you think, Kagome-chan?" her mother asked, turning to her with a smile.
"Look, Okasan, koi!" Kagome pointed, standing on the engawa that connected the main house with the guest house.
"Hai, just like in our garden back home," her mother laughed, coming up beside her.
"They are much bigger here than at home."
"That's because their pond is bigger here than at home."
"I used to ask my okasan if a big fish was put into a small pond, would it shrink?" a voice came from behind them.
Kagome and her mother turned together to see an elderly woman in casual kimono, white cotton tabi on her feet, streaks of silvery grey just beginning to tinge the raven locks of her coiffed hair. Konoko came up behind her, carrying a tray laden with a teapot and cups.
"My name is Tanakawa Yaechiro. I am the Okasan of this Okiya. I welcome you," the woman spoke again, bowing.
"Domo arigato for your generosity towards my daughter and I," Kagome's mother replied, bowing deeply in return.
"Come, let us have tea," Yaechiro replied, waving them back into the guest house. Konoko followed, placing the tray on the low table in the center of the room as they sat around it. Yaechiro sat with her back to the garden, allowing Kagome and her mother the view. Konoko sat next to Yaechiro, busying herself by pouring the tea.
Kagome's mind began to wander as her mother conversed with this strange Tanakawa woman. They discussed boring adult things, like the weather and the economic state of the country. Kagome was bored, but knew better than to interrupt her elders, so she silently drank her tea as she imagined what her kimono would look like. Konoko had taken her measurements months ago and sent them along to Kyoto. She couldn't wait to wear it for jii-san and dance at the shrine back home. He would clap and tell her she was the most beautiful shrine maiden he had ever seen. Suddenly the adults conversation broke in on her thoughts.
"... -ome should stay here, as my atotori," Yaechiro said.
"That is a very generous offer, but I cannot just give up my only daughter that way," Kagome's mother replied, staring at the teacup in her hands.
"Perhaps we should let Kagome decide," Konoko suggested, turning to the young girl across from her.
"Th-that would be acceptable, I suppose," her mother stammered, turning to lock eyes with her. "Kagome-chan, Konoko-san and Tanakawa-san want you to live here in Kyoto with them. They want you to train to be a geisha."
Kagome could tell that this was something very serious, and that it vexed her mother. "Okasan, if I lived here, would I still be able to dance?"
"Of course, my dear," Yaechiro responded, smiling.
Kagome spared a glance in her direction before locking eyes again with her mother. "And would you and jii-san come here to live as well?"
"Ie. We would remain in Tokyo."
"Could I still come visit you? And could you and jii-san come visit me?"
"Of course, as long as it doesn't interfere with your studies," Yaechiro again answered.
"What about Buyo? Could Buyo come with me?" Kagome turned to Yaechiro.
"Buyo?" Yaechiro asked.
"My kitty! Okasan and jii-san gave him to me for my birthday!"
"I don't see why not."
Kagome became silent, a small forefinger to her chin, her little brow furrowed in thought. The three women around her waited in anxious silence as the minutes passed. Finally Kagome smoothed her brow, removing her finger from her chin and looking up at her mother. "Okasan, do you want me to stay here?"
"Well, Kagome-chan, although I will miss you terribly, it is an excellent opportunity for you. You will be able to dance everyday, and the inoue herself will instruct you!" her mother responded, failing to mask the quiver in her voice.
Kagome's eyes had lit up when her mother mentioned dancing, and she turned to Yaechiro with a set expression. "If it means I can dance everyday, I will live here."
"That is wonderful, Kagome-chan!" Konoko exclaimed, hugging the young girl across the table.
Then next few days went by in a blur of costume fittings, practices, performances, and Kagome's careful exploration of her new home. Yaechiro and Konoko kept her distracted by picking out a new cover for the futon in her new bedroom as well as ordering her a new wardrobe. Her mother would take care of transporting her belongings from Tokyo to Kyoto. When the weekend was over, Jin again drove the three women to the train station, leaving Yaechiro back at the okiya. Jin remained in the car by the entrance while the three walked to the platform.
"Well, I guess I will see you in a week or so then, Kagome," her mother said, crouching down to look her daughter in the eye.
"And you will bring Buyo and jii-san with you?" Kagome asked eagerly.
"Hai, I will," her mother cleared her throat, tears forming in her eyes. "Be a good girl, now, and listen to Konoko-san and Tanakawa-san, ok? Don't give them any trouble."
"I won't, Okasan."
"Last call for Tokyo!" a man's voice rang out over the platform.
"Allright then. Sayonara," Kagome's mother clutched her in her arms, a few tears breaking through to roll down her cheeks.
"Not sayonara, Okasan! Ja ne!" Kagome replied, hugging her back.
"You're right. Ja ne," she said, turning and walking toward the train.
"Wave to your Okasan," Konoko instructed, bending down to Kagome's level.
Her mother turned one last time as she stepped on the train, raising a hand with a tearful smile on her face before disappearing behind the closing door.
A/N: Makes me kinda teary. So there's the prologue for you. FYI: The Inoue is a real school in the Gion Kobu, again a true karyukai in Kyoto. There very likely is a true Inoue Yachiyo V, however the Tanakawa okiya is of my own creation. Like it? Hate it? Let me know. This is Kibo, over and out!