Under the cherry tree
"Chiyo-chan!" Pumpkin's head appeared in the trapdoor on the roof where Chiyo had enjoyed two minutes of quiet and recreation while pouring water into the hot water tub and enjoying the view over the Hanamachi. "I think I lost my shamisen." Chiyo suppressed a sigh. Pumpkin was probably the most forgetful and clumsy young maiko in the whole Hanamachi. But she was like a sister to Chiyo, like her long lost sister Satsu, and Chiyos tender, selfless nature compelled her to help Pumpkin as much as she could on her way to a full geisha. "Pumpkin, how can you lose your shamisen, it is one of your most valuable possessions. Did you forget it somewhere?" Pumpkin crawled up onto the roof so as not to be overheard by anyone in the house and whispered: "Maybe I left it in school. I will be in great trouble when they find out I cannot practice tonight and I cannot possibly go back and get it because then they will know." By they she meant the other inhabitants of the okiya the girls lived in, Mother, Auntie and the geisha of the house, Hatsumomo. She was right, they would not be amused. Pumpkin looked at Chiyo with big, round puppy eyes, pleading with them. Chiyo gazed over the houses of the Hanamachi towards the roof that she knew was the school for the geisha-to-be. It was late afternoon and the warm spring sun caressed the rooftops of the geisha district. Soon the cherry trees would be in full bloom. Chiyo turned her eyes from the beautiful view and gave Pumpkin an encouraging smile. "You do not have to worry, Pumpkin, I will find your shamisen." Pumpkins face broke into a relieved smile. "I knew I could count on you!" After that she vanished down the ladder and Chiyo could hear her light steps become fainter in the corridor beneath. Chiyo cast one last glance over the rooftops before she took hold of the two wooden buckets she had taken with her onto the roof and climbed down the ladder after Pumpkin. She was worried. The school closed after the students had left which meant that there would be no one there to open the door for her now. But she had promised so she stored away the buckets, went downstairs into the hall and changed into her geta. She paused for a moment and listened closely to the noises of the okiya, but everyone seemed to be busy and no one came her way. So she carefully pushed open the doors and closed them again after having stepped onto the busy street. While she hurried through the streets of Gion she was careful not to look at anyone too closely as this would be regarded as very impolite, especially since Chiyo was only a maid who cared for the inhabitants of the okiya. Her plain brown clothes showed as much. She did not have time to stop and marvel at the river's beauty in the fading sunlight or the many lovely geisha and maiko that were already out on the street, their kimono as beautiful as if woven by nature itself. Her errand was too pressing to be delayed. When she reached the geisha school it was obvious that she had been right. There was nobody there to let her in and retrieve Pumpkin's shamisen. She walked around the school looking for a way to get inside when she came upon a boy sitting under the cherry tree that stood in the school yard. He looked her age, fourteen, maybe fifteen. His clothes were plain and black but it was obvious that they were made of a much more expensive fabric than her own. Between his fingers he held one of the first cherry blossoms of the year and was apparently lost in thought. Chiyo stood for a while and watched him until she reminded herself that it was very inappropriate to stare at people this way, especially when they obviously had a higher status than she had. Very slowly and cautiously she turned to go, but before she had even taken the first step, a voice called: "Wait!" She hesitated but the boy under the cherry tree had already risen and walked up to her. She turned to look at him, or at least almost look at him, as direct eye contact was reserved for people of higher status. "Are you looking for someone?", he asked. His voice already had the deep tone of a man's voice. "I am sorry to have disturbed you. I was looking for someone who could open the door for me," Chiyo answered, embarassed. The boy smiled understandingly. "Did you forget something?" Chiyo shook her head slightly. "I do not go to school. My sister left something and I promised her to retrieve it." Chiyo wondered whether the boy was new in the district. Everyone could see that she did not go to this school as she was dressed in the simple clothes of a servant girl while her hair was braided back instead of being elaborately piled up on her head with a red ribbon as a maiko would wear it. "What is your name?" "My name is Chiyo. May I ask your name, too?" She knew that it was risky to ask someone of higher rank for their name. Normally she would have to wait until he told her, but the boy did not seem to mind. "My name is Hajime. I know the son of the school's owner. I can ask him for help," he offered. "Please, I do not want to cause you any inconvenience," Chiyo said horrified. "Not at all," Hajime anwered and took her by the hand. "Come on. I will take you to him." There was nothing Chiyo could do but to follow him. Suddenly she was very aware of the people on the streets. What would they think, seeing her with the boy in those expensive clothes? But she did not have time to ponder this any longer since Hajime had stopped in front of one of the better-looking houses of the district, pulling the bell. A soft tinkling could be heard and a short moment later the door opened and a servant girl, her clothes the same colour as Chiyo's, stood before them. "Excuse me, is Daiki-san at home?", Hajime asked the girl who nodded, took a step aside and bowed them in. Chiyo felt very self-conscious standing in the hall of an unfamiliar house with a boy she had just met, being bowed inside by a maid just like herself. Nevertheless she could not help starting to like the helpful, unbiased boy and dared to really turn her eyes on him for the first time. When Hajime looked back at her, however, she quickly cast down her eyes and whispered an embarrassed apology. In that moment another boy entered the hall, a little older than Hajime, greeting him warmly. Before Chiyo knew what was happening she was ushered onto the street by the boys who walked her back to the school. The sun had almost set completely now and the rooftops gleamed golden. Chiyo had her sister's shamisen back in no time and thanked Daiki and Hajime over and over again until they laughed and told her to let it go. On her way back, Chiyo saw the lights of the Hanamachi spring up one by one until the streets were bathed in the familiar reddish glow of the lanterns. More and more geisha and maiko appeared on the streets, clothed in elegant kimono of all colours and patterns, floating rather than walking on their way to the tea houses. Chiyo felt a short twinge of regret. She, too, had had the opportunity of floating along the street in an eleborate kimono and hairdo, released from the duties of a maid, but she had sacrificed that chance in an attempt to run away with her sister Satsu. It hurt Chiyo to think about her sister, although more than five years had passed since Satsu had left without her. So rather than losing herself in dark contemplations of the past and the future she let her thoughts wander to Hajime. He had been the kindest person she had met since her encounter with the chairman five years ago, whose handkerchief she still kept hidden inside her clothes. She wondered if she would ever meet Hajime again. He had not seemed very familiar with the district, but nevertheless he appeared to know many more people than Chiyo did, since he and Daiki had talked about many acquaintances they both had made. Chiyo wished she could have asked him where he came from and where he lived but that would have been too bold and even Hajime might have been offended by it. So everything Chiyo could do was to keep her eyes open for him on the streets. Determined to see him again she pushed open the front door of the okiya and stepped into the dimly lit hall. On the landing of the first floor Pumpkin bore down on her. "Chiyo-chan, what took you so long? I was worried. I nearly went looking for you. It is already nightfall." "I am sorry; Pumpkin, it took some time to find someone who could open the door for me." "So you found someone? Who was it?", Pumpkins expression turned from angry to curious. "I met a boy in the school yard. He was very kind. He brought me to the son of the school's owner", Chiyo answered. "But he will not tell anyone, will he, Chiyo-chan?", Pumpkin's eyes were round and frightful again. "No, Pumpkin, he will not." Chiyo felt sure about that. They heard a door being pushed open on the ground floor and the voice of Mother floating up the stairs: "I can't hear her practicing. Go and see what she's doing." The girls got up hastily and hurried to their rooms as quickly and quietly as possible. But of course Pumpkin tripped which made a terribly loud thump and gave her away to Auntie who was making her way up the stairs. Chiyo could still hear Auntie scolding Pumpkin when she was already lying in bed and once again thinking about the kind boy under the cherry tree. She fell asleep to the noises of the busy Hanamachi-streets, voices talking and laughing, feet scurrying about, the occasional door being pushed open and closed.
Chiyo did not see the boy again during the next few days but kept her eyes open when she was running errands on the streets. And one day when dusk was falling on the Hanamachi and she was on her way home from one of the tea houses where she had been delivering something for Hatsumomo, she saw him coming out of one of the okiyas on the main street. He recognized her at once, despite the red glow of the lanterns. "Chiyo-chan! I thought I would not see you again", he exclaimed. And once again he took her hand and pulled her through the crowd to the school yard where he sat down under the cherry tree. In the last few days more and more blossoms had appeared on its branches and they shimmered faintly in the twilight. Chiyo picked one of the flowers and twirled it slowly between her fingers. So pure and innocent it was. Like a swan on a dark lake, floating without so much as a ripple of the water, strong and majestic and yet so delicate. She hesitated but then sat down beside Hajime who took the cherry blossom and tucked it in her hair. "It suits you," he said. "The same beauty." Chiyo blushed. "I am not," she replied. "You don't seem to have a very high opinion of yourself. Why is it you are not to become a geisha?" Chiyo hesitated again. She wondered whether he could be trusted, whether it was appropriate to sit here beside him in the dark school yard, only lit by one single lantern now, and talk about her life and her wishes. She could definitely answer that last question with a no. It was no proper behaviour. She should have been home a long time ago, helping Auntie getting Hatsumomo ready for the night. But here she was, being the most imprudent maid in the whole Hanamachi and starting, very quietly, to tell her new friend how she came to be here. She told him about her parents and how her mother had always told her she was like water, always moving, always adapting, always finding a new path. She told him about her mother's illness and how her father sold her sister and her to save them. She told him about her sister who was too old and too down-to-earth to be taken up by Mother and Auntie and about how she ran away from the okiya to start a new life with her sister but fell from the roof on her way. She told him about the letter that told her that her parents had died and about Mother's decision to quit her geisha training and let her work off her debts instead. And in the end, she told him about her encounter with the chairman and her decision to somehow become a geisha, no matter what. When she had finished her story Hajime sat in silence for a while. After a while, Chiyo dared to speak again: "I told you my story. What about your story, Hajime-san? Where do you come from?" "There is not as much to tell about me," Hajime answered. "My mother was a geisha in another district of Kyoto. I was raised by a farmer's family in the mountains because I could not stay with her. I have not been in Gion very long, that is why I do not know your rules of conduct. My mother moved here recently to earn her money by running an okiya because she is too old to be a geisha now. She took me with her but I am not at ease in the Hanamachi. I have never learned how to behave in a place like this and I cannot bear the perfume of the district. That smell of powdered women of whom no one knows what they look like under that mask they wear, of men who need the distraction of these women to master their lives. It makes me feel sick." "If you could see behind the masks, would you be happier? Would it change anything for you?", Chiyo asked. Hajime looked at her for a while. "No," he said. "But it scares me to know that they could once have been pure and innocent and unique like you are, but have been wiped out by all the coal and powder they use to hide themselves." "You think, their personalities have been erased?" Chiyo stood up and held out her hand to Hajime who took it and stood beside her. She carefully pulled down a twig from above her head and held it before his eyes. "Look at that bud. Can you see how it looks on the inside? I am sure you can imagine, but do you really know? Do you think that, just because you cannot see what is inside, it has been wiped out? It will show itself in the end and then you will see that every cherry blossom looks different." Hajime seemed to contemplate what she had said because his eyes rested on the small green bud for a long while until she released the twig from between her fingers and it swung back in place. "And you will be the most beautiful blossom among them," he said at last and with that, he turned and left.
The days passed without so much as a glimpse of Hajime although Chiyo frequently came by his mother's okiya on the main street. She had almost accepted that she had scared him away when something different happened that completely threw her off balance for a moment. She was busy storing away a kimono in its box one afternoon when the doorbell rang. She hurried to open the door after having been called by Mother and was surprised and alarmed at the same time when she recognized the well-respected geisha Mameha. She bowed her in, careful to keep her eyes downcast when taking her umbrella. Mameha vanished behind the door to Mother's room and Chiyo as well as Pumpkin and even Auntie could not keep themselves from listening at the door. They could hear Mameha and Mother exchanging a few empty flowery phrases but they got to the point quite quickly and it was Chiyo they were talking about. Chiyo wondered if her ears could still be trusted, however, judging from the look on Auntie's and Pumpkin's faces, she was not the only one who heard the two women inside Mother's room discuss Chiyo's future. After half an hour everything was set. Chiyo was to become Mameha's protégé. She could not believe her luck until she hurried to Mameha's home the next day for her first lesson. And even then it was still hard to think of herself as a soon-to-be maiko, though it was what she had always dreamed of. In front of the door she met Mameha and a respectable and rich-looking gentleman that seemed to be taking leave of Mameha. Chiyo bowed deeply and was introduced to the gentleman who examined and complimented her: "As lovely as your big sister and with eyes the colour of rain." When Chiyo stepped onto the street after her first lesson with Mameha she intended to go straight home to start practicing on her new shamisen. Mameha had been careful to emphasize how little time Chiyo had to catch up with the other young apprentice geisha. However, when she reached the river, she saw someone standing on the wooden bridge she had almost forgotten because of the excitement of the last two days: Hajime. A breeze rippled through his shiny black hair and his light clothes that were midnight blue today. And suddenly she knew why Mameha had accepted her as an apprentice. She hurried forward to join him on the bridge where they stood side by side for while and watched the river's slow current. The sun rays broke on the surface and sparkled playfully. The cherry trees were in full bloom now and the next breeze sent hundreds of pinkish white petals swirling through the air. A few of them got caught in Chiyos pinned-up hair, but when she moved to brush them away, Hajime caught her hand. "I already told you, they only complement your beauty, Chiyo-chan. I came here to tell you I am leaving tomorrow. I am going back to live with the farmer's family again. That is where I belong. In the rough climate of the montains. It suits me. I have never been delicate and fragile, like you are. We can both start anew, in the surroundings we belong in." Chiyo looked at him and fought to hide her shock at the tidings. She had only just met him and now he was leaving again so soon. But in the end she managed to compose her features and smile at him. "Yes, we can both start anew, because you made it so. Like your name says, you are the beginning." Hajime smiled. "It seems that you have discovered my little secret. My mother is a friend of Mameha, as well as of another person that was essential and will be essential for you. But you will find out soon enough. Always keep your eyes on your target, but never forget who you are. I am sorry that I won't be able to watch you become the most beautiful of all the flowers in the Hanamachi. But I wish you luck, Sakura-chan." He bent forward and kissed her forehead. Then he turned and walked back in the direction of the main street. Another gust of wind blew a cloud of white petals around him. When he vanished among the trees, Chiyo whispered: "Let us meet again at the next beginning."