Note: This fic takes place before the first Yoshiwara arc. Housen is still Night King, Kamui isn't the captain of the Harusame's Seventh Division yet. The Kiheitai is still working out an alliance with Harusame. Also, Kamui's a main character in this, but there's no Kamui romance. He isn't interested in stuff like that, in my opinion.
Chapter 1: A Dangerous Proposition
"Is it true that Sumiko-chan is called for at last?"
The girl in question, the courtesan-in-training Sumiko, opened her mouth to answer, but her attendant shushed her. "Keep still while we're painting your face, dear." She was applying the white face paint to Sumiko's skin.
"Lady Kikuyu has requested her presence at a formal meeting," the attendant continued, answering the questioner.
"A formal meeting with a gentleman?" pressed the questioner, whose name was Chiyo.
"Perhaps," replied Sumiko's attendant, not elaborating any further.
"Some people have all the luck in the world," observed Chiyo.
Chiyo was a friend of Sumiko's, a fellow courtesan in this elite Yoshiwara establishment. But Chiyo had been working as a courtesan since she was fifteen, entertaining clients at dinner and in bed. Sumiko, on the other hand, was cut out for greater things.
Years ago, one of the great courtesans of Yoshiwara, the lady Kikuyu, had selected Sumiko as her protege and was training Sumiko to follow in her path. At age nineteen, Sumiko was trained in all the arts of a courtesan. She played the shamisen for lady Kikuyu's feasts and carried on witty conversations with guests, but she had never been sent to serve a client in a more intimate fashion. It was well known that Kikuyu was searching for a powerful and elite patron for Sumiko, a man who would pay a near fortune for her charms. Until then, Sumiko could wait.
That this meeting might be with such an eligible patron had occurred to Sumiko as well as her friend. Underneath her calm, still expression, Sumiko was terrified. She had no doubt she could charm the client, but to be bedded by some old, ugly lecherer . . . she had nightmares about the patron she might end up with. A handsome young man would be better, but she couldn't expect everything.
Please, please don't let him be over forty. At least that. Please.
In another room nearby, Kawakami Bansai was in deep conversation with a long-time acquaintance of his: the eminent courtesan, Kikuyu. Their relationship was based on business. Kikuyu had been a spy for the Kiheitai for years now, passing on juicy information about Bakufu officials and celebrities which the Kiheitai could use to either asssassinate or humiliate them. But as fellow musicians, they also shared a bond which might almost be called friendship. On another day, Kikuyu would have asked him to play his shamisen for her and then played for him in turn. But today he had an urgent proposition for her and there was no time to waste on the pleasures of music.
"You understand, Bansai-sama, that the decision will have to be Sumiko's," Kikuyu said.
Bansai nodded. "That is understood. An unwilling tool would be a danger to us all, I daresay."
"But I shall give you my support," Kikuyu continued. "I cannot say that I like this plan. I would have raised her up to be a legend of Yoshiwara, like Lady Suzuran or Lady Hinowa."
Bansai bowed his head to her. "This one does not doubt it. But in return for your co-operation, you will receive the protection of the Kiheitai when Shinsuke destroys this city."
"If he does," said Kikuyu.
Bansai chuckled. "You are very stubborn, Lady Kikuyu. But you have decided to accept this proposition. You know very well Shinsuke's capabilities, I daresay."
"They are taking far too long to bring Sumiko in," Kikuyu complained, ignoring Bansai's last words. "I gave them instructions to skip over the ordinary preparations."
As if in answer to Kikuyu's complaint, the screen at the far side of the room slid open.
Three women stood at the entrance. Two were obviously attendants in plain clothing with unelaborate hairstyles and make-up. But the woman in the middle was a vision of Yoshiwara beauty. Her black silky hair was piled up in an elaborate style and she wore exquisite hairpins of spangled silver and pink cherry blossoms. Her face was painted pure white and her lips were cherry red. Her pink silk kimono was covered in a print of silver blossoms.
Ushered into the room by her attendants, she knelt and bowed her head to the floor to Bansai and Kikuyu. "I am called Sumiko," she introduced herself. "I am at your service."
"Nicely done, Sumiko," said Kikuyu. "Come sit with us." She waved her hand at the attendants who left the room, sliding the screen closed.
Sumiko followed her lady's instructions, sitting down at her side. Her eyes were downcast, staring at the floor. A typical well-trained Yoshiwara courtesan, as far as Bansai could see or hear. If she had Kikuyu's grace and discretion, she would be ideal for this task.
"Sumiko, this is not an ordinary gathering you've been called to," Kikuyu began. "Yoshiwara has received an extraordinary request. It is a request that might bring you fortune, but it is not without risks. I will relate the details to you, but please keep in your mind that you are completely free to reject this request."
"I understand, Lady Kikuyu," replied Sumiko quietly.
"I hope you do. Now this gentleman here is an old friend of mine. His name is Kawakami Bansai and he is a Joui shishi."
There was a slight shift in Sumiko's pose. Her body tensed at Kikuyu's words, although she kept her calm admirably. The girl's song, however, had changed from a pleasant, lilting lyric to a tense violin composition.
"In the course of my career, I have had the honor of supplying small bits of information to the Joui shishi," Kikuyu continued. "I have always intended to take you into this confidence some day, and train you to do the same. But fate seems ready to give you a much larger part, Sumiko-chan. Bansai-sama here has suggested that you might be a spy for the shishi in a different setting."
Kikuyu paused for a moment.
"The Night King Housen has received a request from one his old colleagues: an Amanto captain in the Harusame organization, for a fresh young courtesan from Yoshiwara. This captain apparently wants to experience the charms of our famous pleasure quarter for himself. Housen has asked the highest-ranking courtesans to submit a candidate. I am quite certain that you would be the finest girl submitted. None of the other ladies would part with their dearest protegees.
"Once selected, you would leave Yoshiwara, leave even this planet. You would be sent out to space to this Amanto's ship and live there as his concubine. If you please him, you will live a privileged wealthy life. And I have no doubt you will please him."
"An Amanto . . . " the fear in Sumiko's voice and her music was palpable. She was obviously imagining one of the monstrous races that had invaded Japan.
"The Amanto captain is one of Housen's race," Bansai remarked. "A Yato, one of the three strongest races in the galaxy. He is a very ordinary-looking man, running a little to flabbiness, in his mid-fifties, I daresay."
This description would not entirely comfort the girl, but at least she would not live in fear of tentacles and claws.
"So if I become this Amanto's concubine, I will be spying on him for the Joui shishi, Bansai-sama?"
"You would be in a position to observe and relay essential information to the Joui organization of which this one is a member. Our organization is building up a connection to the Harusame group, a relationship of strategic convenience since the Amanto are still our enemies. An insider within the Harusame fleet would be a great advantage to us."
"If I was discovered as I spy, I would be killed on the spot."
"Or slowly tortured, I daresay. If you do accept this proposition, you must go into it with your eyes open."
"Lady Kikuyu," Sumiko turned her attention to her mentor. "Do you wish me to accept?"
Kikuyu took a while to speak. "I don't wish for you to be put in danger. And this Amanto is not the sort of patron I would have wanted for you. But the times are changing once again, Sumiko. Twenty years ago, our whole world was thrown into disorder by the coming of the Amanto. Today it seems as if this country will be under their control forever. But Bansai-sama here would tell you a different tale. He would tell you that the Bakufu and their Amanto allies are about to crumble, that this country is on the verge of fiery purge. And I ... I have chosen to believe him. Sumiko, if you wish to survive, I suggest that you do take up this mission. Ally yourself with the Kiheitai."
"The Kiheitai?" Sumiko asked.
"The Kiheitai is the organization this one represents," explained Bansai. "Our leader Takasugi Shinsuke has fought the Amanto for ten long years. Lady Kikuyu has spoken the truth. Edo will be destroyed soon. This country has to die so that a new better one can be reborn. If you take up this mission for the Kiheitai, you will not be forgotten, Sumiko-san. You will be on our side when we achieve victory."
Sumiko was silent, but the roiling strains of her music told another story. There was great emotional upheaval in her mind.
At last she looked up, though, so he could see her large, dark eyes at last.
"I accept your proposition, Bansai-sama. I will do my best to be of service to the Kiheitai."
I hoped you enjoyed this so far. It's not going to be a straightforward, pleasant romance, but a tangled story of intrigue and power plays. With some romance, yeah.