"Chiba-san! Chiba-san! Please wake up, sir. Get some water, how long has he been here"
"I do not know. Above three days. He has been in and out"
"And you did not take the wine from him"
"It was not my decision to make. Anyway, you should know better than to attempt such with him"
"Please help me to revive him, I have urgent news from the estate."

-----

"What is it? Who sent you to bother me? My ever concerned father?" I ask, half groaning because of the bright morning light filtering in through the parted door of Rei's quarters.

As my eyes adjust to the changed atmosphere I feel a glass forced to my lips as Rei tips my head. One lesson my father taught me when I was young, was to always choose my battles. As a lawyer, this little adage, no doubt, has served him well through the years. After a moments hesitation I decide the accept the bitter herb water, meant to expedite my recovery from the hangover.

Only after the dizzying waves begin to subside do I notice Tsuneo, one of the household servants, trembling.

"Well, out with it. What is so urgent that my father would send you to Shinjuku"
"About that sir, your most honorable and noble father"
At this I cannot help but scoff, which earns a sharp look from Rei.
"…has passed away. This morning. The doctor Ichiro believes it to have been a stroke. He believes your venerable father suffered little"
"Stop with the praises, my father was a dragon." I interject, but Tsuneo continues talking as though he did not hear me,
"Your brother and mother wish you to return quickly to the estate.

So this is it? I've spent years what the day of my father's departure from the mortal realm would be like. I imagined all sorts of scenarios-- being called to my dying father's bedside as he bequeathed his worldly possessions or receiving a letter while away on business telling me of some tragic encounter between my father and the petty criminal he had helped put away. Regardless, none of this flights of fancy involved my current state of affairs. Me, the sophisticated, foreign educated, second son of one of the most illustrious barristers in Tokyo being found penniless, dependent on the kindness of a geisha, in Tokyo's flower district.

Had I had the time, I would have laughed at this.

Then again, at the time of those daydreams I had not lost my naive optimism and believed Usako's letterhead would read Mr. and Mrs. Chiba Mamoru, not Mr. and Mrs. Takagawa Issao.

-------

Thanks to all who reviewed. The title "Love is not Love" is drawn from one of my great inspirations, Shakespeare's Sonnet 116 and from King Lear 1.1.242. Both lines I believe illuminate different sides of the same theme, which is integral to the story I am about to tell.

I know this is short, and had I good excuse to offer, I would, but I have none. I have the problem of knowing what I would like to write, but not how to write it. But I promise the next two chapters will provide the background between Usagi and Mamoru. Alas for Rei fans, she remains only a supporting character in this novella.

I am going to experiment with this a little in the narration. As you can see, for the present it is in Mamoru's perspective, but to set up the expositionary details I will probably use a more passive voice, which I will again evoke for the conclusion.

But of course, this is all subject to change.