A Geisha and the Mob
She looked into the mirror and spread the white makeup all over her delicate face, careful get it everywhere and smooth it out to give a perfectly even coating. She turned her back to the mirror and spread the makeup on her neck and a little way down her back. Taking brush and dipping it in rouge she carefully shaped and colored her lips with in blood red hue. When she was satisfied with her lips she picked up a bigger softer brush and dabbed it in a pink powder and smoothed the brush over her checks and applied some yellow and red powder on her eyelid. She sighed; it was another night with entertaining important, powerful men.
"Kaoru! Hurry up we still must get your kimono and hair pins on before the guests come."
"Coming Tokie!"
Kaoru all her life thought geishas were like beautiful living painted dolls, that's why she became one and Tokie taught her all she knew. Tokie was once a geisha too, a very popular one at that. But age caught up with her and her good looks faded. Now she owned a teahouse where she trains geishas to become experts of elegance, grace, charm, and all other tricks that come with the trade. Kaoru got up and perfected her walk into the next room where Tokie was picking out her kimono, sandals and hairpins.
"Which kimono, the pink one with dark pink flowers or the yellow lined with blue with gold flowers?" asked Tokie.
"Uh…" Kaoru looked at them both. "The yellow and blue one, it should bring out the color in my eyes," said Kaoru and batted her eyes at Tokie who beamed.
Kaoru was one of her most clever and beautiful geishas, who always chose her attire with meaning, a rare skill. But Tokie always thought of her teahouse as her child, and always wanted it to maintain its well-earned reputation, so she took great care in making sure her geishas appeared perfect so as not to reflect poorly. So without gentle or motherly hands Tokie pulled and tugged trying to get Kaoru's kimono on perfectly. Kaoru went to another big mirror and opened the boxes and chose a beautiful large gold butterfly hairpin and got Tokie to secure it in her newly made up hair, which was also pulled at the day before to produce the beautiful arrangement it was now in. Kaoru learned at an early age that becoming a geisha didn't come with out pain.
Kaoru hurried to the room where she would be entertaining two important men, she didn't know what they did to become rich and significant enough to be entertained by a geisha but she usually didn't. That wasn't her job, besides usually the men would be so drunk by the end of the night she would have practically heard their life story. Tonight since there was only two men Kaoru was going to entertain on her own with only Tokie coming in once in a while to bring in whatever was needed. Kaoru was getting more and more nervous as the hour came closer to the time the men would be arriving.
"Tokie! Are you sure I look alright?" Kaoru asked frantically.
"Yes. Yes. Kaoru don't worry. I remember the first time I was entertaining on my own. Don't worry as soon as you get settled the butterflies will go away," said Tokie patiently as she observed Kaoru who kept spinning around in front of the mirror.
"You don't think I should try on the other blue kimono?" Kaoru asked with an anxious look on her face.
"No, Kaoru there's no time," said Tokie who was starting to get restless with her geisha.
"Ugh? Where are these men? Why don't they hurry up and come!" cried Kaoru who was getting restless herself.
"Kaoru! Did I not tell you who's coming? You do not speak of them that way!" said Tokie obviously appalled by Kaoru's words.
"Well no Tokie you didn't! Who's coming that's so important to you?" questioned Kaoru innocently.
"It's the yakuza Kaoru! I thought I told you! The yakuza leader from Kyoto and his second in command, they're coming to celebrate a anniversary of some kind," said Tokie.
"What! Tokie how could you let me go in alone in there with a mob boss! What if I screw up?" shrieked Kaoru.
"Kaoru! Shhhh. Shhhh. You'll be fine! They wanted my best geisha and I chose you. I have faith in you," said Tokie putting her wrinkled hands around Kaoru's shoulders.
The bell rang the front desk and Kaoru and Tokie looked towards the front door.
"O.K. Show time!" said Tokie encouragingly.
Tokie went down the stairs first and Kaoru stood alone for a while regaining her composure and went down following behind Tokie with a modest face.
"Hello! Welcome! Come in! Come in," said Tokie with her usual professional yet gracious voice. "This is your geisha for tonight, Kaoru," Tokie gestured beside her. "Kaoru is my most skilled geisha so I think you will be very pleased. Kaoru this is, hmmm?"
"Oh, I am Sagara Sanosuke." The tall roster haired man stretched out his hand to Tokie who shook it quickly. Kaoru watched him smoke his cigarette and blow it out through his mouth and nose. The smell made Kaoru stiffen a little but she showed no noticeable sign that she was experiencing any kind of discomfort at all. He wore a thin black jacket and cropped pants. He taped his ankles, torso, and hands. Around his forehead was a red band that was keeping his high hair from falling in front of his eyes. Kaoru noticed he had the symbol 'bad' on the back of his jacket in white.
"Oh Mr. Sagara, a pleasure. And I assume this is your friend and employer Mr.?" Tokie said politely and looked to the other man. Kaoru too looked to him and realized he was gazing at her. They made eye contact for a while. She blushed, but you couldn't tell from the makeup. He was handsome; she had to admit that, his charming red locks tied back, his brilliant violet eyes wide open staring at her from head to toe. His white western suit, with a black shirt and white tie underneath made him look quite dashing.
"Kenshin, you gonna answer her!" said Sagara and elbowed the red haired man waking him from his trance.
"Uh? Oh Himura Kenshin," he said and shook Tokie's hand taking another glance at the quiet beauty beside her.
"Oh well now that that's all done perhaps I can offer both of you some sake upstairs?" said Tokie encouragingly. Kaoru walked up the stairs first followed by Tokie, Himura and Sagara.
Kaoru wasn't listening to the small pleasant talk Tokie was making. All she could think of Himura Kenshin and the brief and uncomfortable moment they shared.
Ironically enough, Kenshin wasn't paying attention to Tokie's small talk either. He thought of Kaoru. He had seen many geishas before. Being as rich as he was he could easily afford it, even if the money wasn't entirely legitimate. But that girl was something else to him. She appeared so much different from all the other women he'd ever met before. He recalled though, how embarrassed she seemed when he was staring at her. Her innocent sea blue eyes opening wide and looking down to the floor trying to escape his gaze, her body stiffening with insecurity. It made him laugh inside…
Tokie lead them into a room with a long wooden table in the middle, traditionally low to the ground, with a couple of bottles of sake and glasses in the middle.
"Gentlemen this is my best room in the house!" said Tokie. "Could I interest you in some delicious foods our maids have prepared? The sushi is heavenly."
"Great I'm starving! Oh and I think we'll be needing more sake," said Sagara.
Tokie walked out of the room and let them take their seats. Sagara sat at the head of the table and Kaoru and Kenshin facing each other on the sides. Kaoru set out three glasses in front of each of them and pour the sake careful not to spill. Tokie came back and set the food platter in the middle of the table and left the room.
"Sano how about a toast?" Kenshin regained his strong and slightly arrogant composure. "To a good day's work and a better tomorrow!" he said raising his glass. Kaoru and Sano smiled, "Banzai!"
Kaoru sipped her sake and glanced over to Himura picking up a piece of sushi. She had to remain professional. Make them feel good and important, don't get any personal feelings, not with clients. Besides after tonight she'd probably never see him again. She sighed quietly and Sano let out a loud burp after consuming a large portion of the platter before them. Kenshin and Sano laughed, so Kaoru laughed too even though she found it repulsive. That was what she did, she made men feel like big shots, make the littlest thing they did seem like they moved a mountain.
The night went on a Kaoru began to relax more, she wasn't sure if it was the friendly talk or the gulping of the sake. So far she'd already danced and sung, have her turn in telling a story, and loose, as would be expected by a geisha, at many drinking games. Sano took the sake bottle to his mouth and leaned back and let it splash in the back of his mouth and choked it down.
"Hey, Kenshin," he said in a befuddled voice swaying from side to side even though he was sitting. "Remember that time we went to that bar… and they had a really beautiful girl as the maid or something. Well I don't remember if I told you but her and me… " But Sano didn't finish his story for he burped and fell over senseless.
Kaoru and Kenshin laughed at this. Kenshin was almost smashed too but Kaoru learned that a geisha had to pace herself to remain in a sensible behavior as required. Kenshin leaned slightly across the table to Kaoru; she poured him another sake.
"So Miss Kaoru how long have you been a geisha?" he asked lazily.
"I've trained since a early age and just became really good at it at a young age so I became a apprentice in my mid-teens," she replied.
Too much sake was swimming through her to make her uncomfortable with him being so close to her now.
"So you never thought of ever becoming something else?"
"You mean like becoming one of the most powerful men in all of Kyoto?" she joked and caused Kenshin to laugh and spill the sake.
Kenshin was impressed by her boldness to be talking about him in that manner. He leaned even more over the table, his eyes clouded and lazy. "I mean like ever becoming the wife of a man like that…"
She smelt his terrible breath now and knew he was just talking rubbish. He was too drunk to remember anything she or him would say tonight so she decided to have a little fun with him.
"You mean a powerful man like you?" she said alluringly
"You know when I saw you I thought you were the most," he burped loudly in her face. "The most," but he instantly fell onto the table out cold. The drink had finally put them all to sleep.
Kaoru just pushed off the table beside Sagara or Sano as he asked her to call him, and called Tokie up.
"Finally I thought they were gonna drink us dry!" said Tokie sleepily. "Oh I wished they left before now I have to make breakfast for them tomorrow too. Damn. Come on Kaoru you pull Himura and I'll get Sagara and we'll put them in the spare beds down the hall," said Tokie.
Tokie did this often, keep clients over night because of their uncontrollably drinking. She remembered in the old days when a geisha didn't just entertain with sake…
Tokie pulled Sano by the arms and Kaoru pulled Kenshin by the feet, but she accidentally knocked his head on the corner as they made their way down the hall. The women managed to get the drunkards onto the futons and covered them with a thin sheet and a pillow. Kaoru took off Kenshin's suit jacket and unbuttoned a few buttons from his shirt. She wondered if he was going to say she was beautiful before he passed out, she heard that too many times from drunk men to give it any real thought. Oh well, she thought, no personal relationships with clients. She pulled the sheet up to his shoulders and stroked his hair softly gazing into his face.
"Kaoru!" Tokie said. Kaoru looked up and took back her hand quickly. "Hurry up lets go and let them sleep."
Kaoru got up from the side of his bed and felt a funny feeling inside her, then quickly dismissed it and closed the screen door and let them sore asleep. Tokie walked Kaoru to her room to help her undress and get ready for bed. As Tokie helped her take out the pins in her hair Kaoru thought of Kenshin and some of the clever things he said earlier and giggled inwardly. It was obvious then he was trying to make her laugh. He was funny and cute, but then again Kaoru had see every sort of man in her business and none of them stuck around because of her. To them she was just another pretty face to smile at them when they paid for it, so why should this one be any different to her? Kaoru repeated this reality as she lay down to sleep, no connection so no disappointment when they left her.
After all how could a yakuza leader love a geisha?