Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin, Memoirs of a Geisha, or the work of Arthur Golden.
.Past.
Kaoru aged 13. Kenshin aged 17.
"Kaoru, I must go" he told me as we both stood there in the rain that winter night.
"Will I see you again?" I asked as the tears fell from my eyes. My best friend Kenshin Himura was leaving our small town in Kyoto to train in the mountains with a swords master, he had told me to meet him near the bridge to tell me of this news.
"I don't know" he turned his back on me and my eyes grew wide at the truth he refused to show, we never really will see each other again, but he didn't want to admit it.
"I will miss you Kenshin" I shuddered as the rains bitter bite nipped at my icy white skin.
"Kaoru, I will never forget you" he spoke as though it was hard to form the words, then he left. Left me standing there in the rain watching his back slowly disappear into the dark night. I hadn't cried so hard in my life before, not even when my parents passed away. He had always been there for me, but now I was alone.
.Present.
Kaoru aged 18.
I struggled to run fast and dodge the crowds of people that fluttered the streets of Tokyo that summer morning. The new clog sandals I had been given were rubbing at my feet and my socks did nothing to ease the friction between my toes. But I held myself high and proud as I saw the house of the famous Nitta geisha. I slowed my breathing down and smoothed out the creases in my cheap kimono, I couldn't afford anything expensive. I stopped next to my new master and kept my head low so not to meet the eyes of her guest as she was speaking with him, but I gave him a slight bow of the head which caught his attention and he turned to me.
"Master" I breathed quietly still a little out of breath from all the running.
"Kaoru is my new protégée" my master informed her handsome guest.
"As beautiful as her master, and with eyes the colour of rain" he spoke before placing his top hat on his head. He said his goodbyes and left, touching my masters hand firmly before he left.
"The baron is a very special man to me, my danna" my master spoke when he had left and we wandered into her home.
"Someday, if you are fortunate, you will have a patron too." She spoke. She entered a room and I followed closely behind, kneeling and shutting the door behind me.
"Don't kneel. You are not a servant girl anymore" my master spoke and I turned to her in shock, but I nodded and rose turning to face her as a servant to the house fell to where I was once knelt and shut the door.
"Step into the light" she instructed me, and I looked out into the garden of the house and did as she told, stepping into the gentle light that glittered the room. I flinched when she took a hold of my chin gently and lifted my face, so our eyes met, but I quickly looked away nervously.
"I see water in you." She spoke softly.
"Does that displease you?" I turned my gaze to the floor to avert my eyes.
"Water is powerful. It can wash away earth, put out fire, and even destroy iron. But you have not drawn on those strengths, have you?" she spoke wisely.
"About the Kimono" I whispered apologetically.
"You may apologise if you wish" she turned her back on me and I dropped to the floor with my hands held out wide and head touching the floor, this was how I had been taught to bow in apology.
"Why that is a perfect bow...for a pig famer. Dont drop your head, fingertips together, elbows in, no weight on the hands. Yes" she smiled as I followed her instructions and did what she called was a perfect bow, but I felt uncomfortable in this position.
"As for the Kimono, I am no fool, Kaoru. Tomoe cannot tolerate competition." My master told me and I turned to her sitting up out of the bow.
"She is jealous of you?" I asked.
"Not me I'm afraid. Someone closer to home" She didn't say anything more, instead changed the subject.
"Rise." she instructed, so I rose to my feet.
"Not like a horse." She spoke and patted the floor, so I sat back down.
"Slide your foot forward. And rise" as she did the movements, I copied, until we were both stood, and she smiled at me.
"That's it, now walk" she told me as she walked first and I followed watching her every movement and copying them.
"You are a magnificent geisha. Tell me Kaoru, did your old master ever speak of the future?" she asked me as we walked to another room.
"Not to me" I replied as we sat at a small table in the centre of the room.
"Well, one day she will pass, and have to hand the Okiya over to one of her own geisha to succeed her. Strange isn't it, that she has not chosen Tomoe yet." And I thought of what my master said. Tomoe used to be my friend, until she turned nasty, she had succeeded in what I was still trying to achieve. She had become a fully fledged geisha and was becoming more popular and successful with every day passing, leaving me no path to turn to.
"That would be like releasing the tiger from its cage" I didn't even realise I had spoken out loud.
"You have a gift for expression. If your old master adopts Misao, that is hardly a threat." I was unsure of what my master was saying, but I didn't speak out.
"But a young girl with eyes like rain..." my master paused.
"She would never choose me" I whispered thinking of all the things Tomoe did to get me into as much trouble as possible, to get my old master angry so that she would beat me with her bamboo stick until it snapped under the strain. I had attempted to escape the hell whole I had been forced to undertake, and in doing so dishonoured the Okiya. My master was so disgraced she wanted rid of me, and was to sell me, that is when my new master had come and took me under her wing. A beautiful successful geisha.
"On the contrary, that is our goal"
"It is?" I asked unsure of what my master was planning.
"Of course, if you do not inherit the Okiya, then we will all be at the 'tigers' mercy" my master smiled as I finally took it all in and understood. If Tomoe was adopted as the new heir, then I would fail in ever becoming the successful geisha I dreamed of, I would have no supportive grounds to help me. I found myself reaching for the tea sat in front of me and sipping on it quickly.
" Water is always in such a hurry, perhaps it is just as well, we have no time to lose." She smirked as she took a sip of her tea.
After our tea I was guided to a room my master called the make up room.
"We must transform you, and what takes years, you must learn in months." She spoke as she settled me down and a few servant girls walked into the room, and I was plastered with sticky white make up. My face and neck were covered, but a small bit of the back of my neck was left leaving the naked skin to attract the men, it was very 'sexy' to leave bare skin free for eyes to desire a single touch.
As we washed that day in the bath house she taught me more.
"Say I'm entertaining the baron. Like so many clients, he's trapped in an arranged marriage. So in the teahouse, when he's seeking my company instead, I reward him like this" and with the piece of cloth on her arm she pulled a small portion of it back from her wrist. "With a glimpse of my wrist. Seeing this demure little trace of naked skin, well, it gives him pleasure."
"Or when youre sitting down, for the briefest moment, press your leg against his. Always by accident of course." And both master and student giggled out, with Kaoru blushing of what she was to do.
The next morning Kaoru was up early in the dance room learning the dance all geisha were required to learn and memorise. One slip up and an Okiya can be brought to shame.
That night Kaoru was required to apply her own make up, with supervision.
"Megumi, when does a geisha choose her danna?" Kaoru asked finally learning of her new masters name.
"Im afraid its the other way around. Focus on your studies, Kaoru" Megumi told me.
"Now lets begin another lesson" once Kaorus make up was applied. They both sat on the porch seeing as it was a beautiful day.
"Music, the art of conversation. Thats the surest way to attract a danna, on your feet, not off them." And Kaoru sat there practicing with the samisen she was given.
The next day both women took a walk through the large town and Kaoru looked around nervously as she struggled to walk in the huge sandals that were supposed to give grace and elegance to a geishas strides. And once Kaoru was left to wander on her own and she gained balance, she held her head high and walked with confidence down the streets.
"Remember Kaoru, geisha are not courtesans, and we are not wives. We sell our skills, not our bodies" Megumi spoke as both women danced spinning their fans on their fingers. Another skill Kaoru would have to practice to become successful in entertaining.
"We create another secret world, a place only of beauty." Megumi spoke out as she watched Kaoru become more confident in her tricks with the fan.
"The very word 'geisha' means artist, and to be a geisha is to be judged as a moving work of art."
Slowly Kaoru grew in both self confidence, and self respect. She wore expensive kimonos that she had only dreamed of wearing weeks ago. Both Kaoru and Tomoe performed in a group dance at a professional geisha school and Megumis smile of encouragement and Tomoes frown of disgust made Kaoru ever more determined to be what so many desired.
I was truly inspired by the film memoirs of a geisha that I just had to combine it with one of my favourite animes. The relationship between Kaoru and Kenshin is not clear in this chapter, but in later chapters it will become more obvious and understandable of their departed ways. Let me know what you think of it.