Here's where the LaviYuu comes in, Saya wonders what she's gonna do with this...and she has this all planned out, so she has no idea why she's wondering...erg...
Disclaimer: Saya doesn't own the characters. Also, please note that while Saya researched a lot for this fic, it is by no means historically accurate, and Saya knows that, so don't bother telling her that she's got some wrong facts in here.
Rated: This chapter is T. This story is steadily climbing up the ratings ladder.
2-Here the Good News
"You know, if you were intending to come in, you could've just gone through the front door."
The next morning, Lenalee is not so sick. The medicine the Doctor had prescribed was effective, it seemed, and now Lenalee was sleeping peacefully as her tired brother, who had not slept a wink all night even though he would need to rest because he had another full evening of work coming up, held her hand and worried about her in general.
"Well, I could've, yeah, but then I wouldn't have gotten to see that cute lil' surprised look you made when you saw me in the servant's quarters."
The boy's name was Lavi, Kanda had learned. He was the Doctor's apprentice, and thirteen-years-old, five years older than the now eight-year-old Kanda. Kanda didn't like being so much younger than this boy, because Lavi seemed like the type of person who would hang that over his head. He'd probably say "Respect your elders Kanda-chan!" any time Kanda got angry with him. But if that ever did happen, Kanda would just politely reply that he was simply following Lavi's example; the redhead wasn't exactly the most respectful apprentice himself.
"Geez Lavi, you shoulda said somethin' when you came back! I was worried that Kan-chan had gotten picked up by some strange man on the way home!" Daisya said with a huff. The three boys were all in the room with Lenalee, for it was after school and Daisya and Kanda had finished their chores for the time being.
"Eh, sorry Daisya, I woulda if I'd passed you on the way in."
"Well if a certain someone had come in through the front door, you could've put my worried heart to rest."
"You sound like a mother, Dai-kun." Lavi looked rather amused as Daisya clung to a suddenly stiff and irate Kanda.
"I understand your strife now, Komui! It's so hard, worrying after a cute little sister like this!"
"Who are you calling a sister?!" Kanda shout-whispered, because he didn't want to wake Lenalee, but at the same time wanted to get his anger across. Lavi stifled his laughter with his hand, more for Lenalee's sake than for Kanda's. Kanda struggled to release himself from Daisya's embrace, but stopped mid-struggle when Komui, who had up until just then been quietly sitting by Lenalee, suddenly leaned forward and started calling his sister's name.
"I think she's waking up! Lenalee-chaaaan! Stop worrying your older brother so!" The now-conscious Lenalee's eyes fluttered open, and she gave her brother a small smile.
"I'm awake now onii-chan, no need to worry," she said, and brought her little hand out from under her quilt to pat her brother's head. The irony of the younger sibling soothing the older made Komui chuckle.
"But of course there was need to worry! You were so sick, how could I not worry?"
"Was I really?" Komui nodded quickly. He put his hand over her forehead for a moment, before smoothing back her bangs. The scene inspired a pang of loneliness in Kanda; he remembered the only time he'd been sick like that, when his own older brother had sat by him and didn't move, even when their father yelled at him for not working. He wondered what had happened to his brother, what had really happened. His brother had said he'd gone to work in a textile mill, but now that Yuu had been sold, he wasn't so sure that was the truth. What if his brother was in a place like this? Or worse?
Kanda suddenly wanted to write to his brother. He hadn't known how to write before, so he'd just received letters from his brother and had his older sister read them to him, but now he wanted to get back in touch with his brother. It was strange, he'd managed to forget about his family outside of the okiya up until now, but...Well, Komui and Lenalee had this way of reminding him that they still existed.
"So how did Lenalee get to be here anyway?" Kanda asked without thinking. "I mean, she can't be an apprentice here...so why is she in the okiya?"
Komui was more than happy to rush into an explanation about his dear sister's being in the okiya. Lenalee seemed to shrink into her blankets as he told the story, though one could tell she was embarrassed in a sort of happy way.
"Well, our family was a happy one, but our parents were poor," Komui started, sounding a bit far away. "Before Lenalee was born, they got into a bit of debt after they couldn't pay back a loan. My parents were good friends with the Chan family, but they were too proud to just take the Chans' charity. I wanted to help, so I decided to ask if I could come here to work. My parents were a bit hesitant, but they let me. So I came here when I was ten, and my buying price was enough to pay off their debt.
"We kept up constant correspondence, because even though they lived just a little ways away from the hanamachi, I wasn't supposed to leave it. Three years later, I got news that I had a little sister, and felt both happy and upset, because I wouldn't get to meet her, I thought." Komui's expression showed just how much the idea had pained him at the time, and how just the thought of that having happened hurt all the more because he knew his sister now.
"But then a few years after she was born, our family house burnt down, and Lenalee was the only one to survive the fire. I begged Bak's predecessor to let me bring Lenalee here, so that she wouldn't get sent off to an orphanage. I told them that they could use my excess income to cover her expenses, and they let me get her. She'd been taken in by a neighbor at the time, so I went there to pick her up. I'd never seen her before, but when I met her at the door, I just knew she was my sister, and couldn't stop myself from wanting to take care of her. She is my precious little sister, and that's why she's here."
During the story, Lavi's eyes moved from Komui to Kanda. As he watched, he saw pain flicker across the youth's face, coming and going quickly. Lavi was concerned, because though he had not known Kanda for long, the boy seemed too proud to show such emotions. The worst of it was that it looked like Kanda might be getting genuinely upset. He would probably suppress it until he was alone. Lavi didn't like the idea of that, he'd always thought it was pitiful when people felt like they had to cry alone.
"Ah, lucky her then..." Kanda murmured offhandedly, keeping a blank face as he did so. Lavi suddenly shot up from his seat, drawing the whole room's attention as he did so.
"Ah...Lenalee is awake, but she hasn't had anything to drink in a while. Kanda-chan, come with me to get some water for her," Lavi said, and pulled Yuu from his seat before the boy could protest.
"Why the hell do you need help getting water? Hey! Lavi-san!" Kanda attempted to pull away from Lavi's grasp, but didn't succeed in freeing himself until Lavi had gotten him out of the room. At that point, he decided it would be stupid of him to just go back in, and walked with Lavi.
"You didn't look too good back there kid," Lavi said, his worry now clearly displayed on his face. Kanda shot him a glare for suggesting that he had been upset by the topic of conversation, and for calling him kid.
"There's nothing wrong with me," Kanda replied, looking to the floor. Lavi scoffed at his denial.
"So do you always go around making that "I'm not gonna cry" face, then? 'Cause that's what it looked like to me."
Kanda didn't know if he wanted to punch Lavi, or just spill everything to get him off his case. Well, since Lavi seemed the type to annoy him into answering...
"I was thinking about the one time I'd gotten that sick. Everyone in my family worked, but that time, my brother stayed home and watched me just as closely as Komui-san was watching Lenalee-chan. Even when our father yelled at him for being lazy, he yelled back "Yuu is more important than your gambling money," and turned his back on father. At first I thought it was strange that father didn't say anything after that, but then he sent onii-san away to work in Tokyo.
"I was thinking that I wanted to write to him sometime, now that I can. He used to write to me a lot, and my older sister would read the letters to me. Then I remembered that I wasn't allowed to bring anything here with me, so I don't have any of his letters with me. Without an address, I can't write back... I bet father has burnt them all by now, so I'll never be able to get them back."
Lavi hadn't quite expected to get a confession so easily, and honestly, he hadn't been prepared to hear that just yet. He sympathized with the boy and it hurt to think that about how much he must miss his siblings, and hate his father for tearing them all apart.
"See? There's nothing wrong with me, I was just a little lost in thought is all," Kanda said, continuing to deny that those memories hurt him. Lavi gave a small smile, and pat the boy's head. Kanda forgot that he was feeling down, in favor of glaring angrily up at Lavi.
"Don't treat me like a kid!" He said, feeling patronized. Lavi just chuckled a bit.
"I don't think you need to worry about not being able to write to your brother," Lavi said, his tone soothing. "Someone who cared so much about you that they wrote you letters, even knowing you couldn't read them, because he just couldn't stop himself from trying to stay close to you? Of course you don't need to worry. I bet that once he finds out you aren't at home, he'll search for you."
Kanda gave Lavi a curious look, wondering why he was saying such things. Still, he couldn't help but childishly cling to the hope that Lavi's words had made in him. His brother was the kind of person who would do that, Yuu knew. Perhaps, one day, he would once again get a letter from his brother?
"But if he does find you," Lavi continued on. "You don't want to have to tell him that you're working as a maid at an okiya, right? You want to be able to tell him you've made yourself something to be proud of, right? So, you'll just have to work hard to become the best geisha you can possibly be, because that is the only thing you can do now. Even if you don't want to be a geisha, at least you can be proud of yourself if you're the best. I'm sure your brother would feel proud knowing that you were making the best of your situation, too."
Kanda had never thought of it that way. He'd had it in his mind from the moment that he'd learned what he was to become that being a geisha would be a disgrace unto himself, that it would be impossible to live proudly while masquerading in women's clothes and entertaining mostly male costumers. But Lavi made a point, it was the only choice he had now, so he should just make the best of it and try his hardest, instead of trying to do his worst. If nothing else, he could be proud of his hard work.
That was when Kanda resolved to become the best.
000
Lavi knew relatively little about his origins. He was fairly certain he was of mixed heritage, because of his hair and eye color, but he couldn't know for sure. When he was three, he had been abandoned by his parents. He did not remember their faces, his real birthday, or where he had been born, the only thing he'd known at the time was his name. Luckily for him, he'd been found by the Doctor only a few weeks after he'd been left behind. The old man had felt some pity for the poor boy, and decided that since he was getting on in years, it was about time he got an apprentice. Without even bothering to ask, he told Lavi he was to learn medicine. Lavi had been so desperate at the time, that even if the Doctor had asked, he would've said yes.
The two of them lived in a house behind the Chan okiya. Lavi, being the sociable person he found himself to be, had immediately befriended the Chan's residents. Whenever he wasn't training to become a doctor, he was at the okiya, and if he wasn't at the okiya, then he was most likely in his yard, looking over the hedges into the okiya's backyard.
That's what he had been doing when he'd first seen Kanda Yuu.
One day the mysterious boy had wandered out into the yard while Lavi had been staring over the hedges. Lavi had never seen him before, and concluded that he was new to the okiya. He had a potent aura of loss and loneliness about him, one which had captivated Lavi immediately. Lavi found himself watching the stranger out in the yard on an almost nightly basis after that. It was accidental at first, the kid just happened to go out at the same time Lavi usually started his bored watching, but soon Lavi realized he was specifically waiting to see the boy just sitting in the okiya's back yard, bathed in moonlight.
At first Lavi was rather taken aback by this, and decided that he was spending far too much time around male cross-dressers if he was starting to think of boys in such a way. He also couldn't help but laugh at himself for being so hung up over a person whose name he didn't even know, and who had to be younger than him by at least five years. The fact that Lavi had yet to meet this boy also reminded him of just how long it had been since he'd paid the Chan okiya a real visit.
It was by chance that Lavi had spotted Kanda on the way home that night. He'd been on an errand for the Doctor, and on his way back had noticed the boy struggling with the older man. At first, he was just going to turn a blind eye to it, but then he realized just who that boy was, and couldn't help but interfere. Lavi's act had been rewarded with the boy's name, and that was all Lavi had needed to leave satisfied.
"You should've come through the front door," Bookman said as he entered the servants quarters through the window.
"But it'll be more fun this way," Lavi said, which mildly confused the Doctor, until he saw Kanda come in and stare at Lavi in surprise a few minutes later.
After spending some time with Kanda, Lavi learned that he wasn't anything like he thought the boy would be, and was all the more attracted to him because of it. The petulance and strained politeness were positively endearing. That was why when Kanda had looked so upset, he couldn't help but notice and try to cheer the kid up. But he regretted telling Kanda to become the best geisha he could, because if Kanda really did become a geisha then he would be completely out of Lavi's reach.
000
The entire okiya was in a state of excitement, and Kanda had no idea as to why. While it had been something close to a year and a half since he'd come to the okiya, he was still in the dark about anything that wasn't commonly talked about. Whatever was happening now was obviously not something that happened often, or popped up in a conversation normally either.
So Kanda continued to do his chores and practice, wondering all the while why everyone was being so particular and fussy about cleaning and the appearance of the okiya. It was starting to grate on his nerves, really.
"So what's going on around here anyway?" Kanda finally asked Daisya one day, while the two of them and Lavi (who'd started making weekly appearances at the okiya) sat on the wrap-around porch. Daisya and Kanda had just finished cleaning when Lavi had wandered into the okiya's yard and had spotted them.
Daisya looked horrified to know that Kanda was clueless as to what was happening. His expression made it seem like Kanda should've been born knowing what was happening, and for a moment Kanda wondered if he really was asking a foolish question. However, Lavi's expression of mild surprise reminded him that Daisya tended to over-do it with facial expressions.
"Komui's got himself a potential danna. The guy propositioned him about a week ago, and since then everyone's been preparing for the ceremony that'll tie them together. He'll be coming here tomorrow!" Daisya explained, looking excited. "Apparently, the guy is involved with the weapons trade in the military, so he's dirty stinkin' rich. A real charmer from what I've heard, too. Komui's current "little sister" is always talking about how much of a flirt the guy is, though he focuses most of his attention on Komui these days. Our resident geisha is quite smitten, it would seem."
Kanda was confused by the first sentence alone. Danna? What was that? Komui getting one must've been an important thing, otherwise everyone wouldn't be making such a fuss. It probably had to do with the guy being rich too, and from the way Daisya was talking about their personal relations, it almost sounded like Komui was getting married.
"That's all well and good, but what's a danna?" One again, Daisya's expression made Kanda wonder if he was asking a stupid question. The boy sighed and shook his head in an exasperated manner that made Kanda twitch with annoyance.
"A danna is a geisha's patron. He pays off her, or in our case his, debts and covers his daily expenses. In return, he gets a relationship that's sort of more personal than your average costumer. It's sort of like getting married, but not really." Ah, so Komui was getting sort-of-but-not-really-married. Interesting. Now that Kanda thought about it, hadn't Daisya said he was the result of his mother's relationship with her danna? Kanda wondered just what Komui was getting himself into.
"So...it's a really big deal then for a geisha to get a danna?" Kanda asked, though it was more of a statement.
"Indeed! After this, Komui will probably have enough money to be able to move out of the okiya, if he wanted to." The three boys knew that Komui wouldn't leave though, because Lenalee liked it here, and Lenalee's opinion won out over everything.
"So what's the guy's name, anyway? I might know him," Lavi said, tearing his gaze away from this one particularly fascinating spot in the backyard. Lavi had been a bit out of it all day, he kept just staring into space with a distant look. And when he wasn't staring into space, he was staring at Kanda, which sort of unnerved the boy because he had no idea why Lavi was staring at him, and Lavi himself seemed to be unaware of what he was doing.
"I think his name is Cross...something or other, I forget, he's got a foreign name. And why would you and the good doctor know him?" Daisya asked, looking past Kanda to see Lavi.
"Hey, the old man and I treat patients outside of the hanamachi, ya know, it's totally possible for us to have met. In any case, I don't know him, I don't think the old panda's ever seen to any foreigners since he took me as an apprentice."
"See, you didn't know him," Daisya teased and stuck out his tongue.
"That doesn't mean I couldn't have!" Lavi shot back with a pout.
"You two are so childish," Kanda said with a sigh, before lying back on the polished wood porch. Both Lavi and Daisya looked down at him with mock-offended looks.
"Who are you callin' childish? I'm a whole 5 years older than you!" Lavi huffed, grabbing Kanda's cheek and pulling it. Kanda knocked Lavi's hand away with a scowl and rubbed his smarting cheek.
"Your age has nothing to do with how you act, and I say you act childish," Kanda said, glowering in Lavi's direction. Lavi gave a strange, unreadable smile, and just said, "Well, if you say so."
000
After two years of strict schooling, Kanda and Daisya were allowed to graduate after taking an extremely difficult dance test. Now, the two of them were Minarai(1) together, and were soon bound to Komui as his "little brothers" (though Daisya insisted that Kanda was obviously a little sister). The day after the ceremony, both of them were brought to a hair stylist whom they unanimously decided was hell-bent on torturing them and turning them bald. Daisya left in (overly-dramatic) tears while Kanda barely managed to put up with the pain.
Even worse than having his hair waxed and styled, Kanda thought, was learning how to apply make-up. This killed his last shred of masculine pride faster than he could've thought possible. Being all but forced into the restricting, overly-ornate, positively elaborate kimono was enough to bring his pride back from the afterlife and kill it again. Kanda couldn't stand to even sit in front of the full-length mirror that hung in Komui's room.
Daisya, on the other hand, was taking this all in stride, he seemed positively euphoric to finally be allowed to go to teahouses, though apparently neither of them would be entertaining for about a month.
"Lookin' good you two," Lavi (who'd been watching since they started on their make-up) said with a low whistle. Kanda cringed at the openly admiring look. Even Kanda had to admit, as he was forced to walk to the mirror by Daisya and Komui (who was in the throws of pride over his little brothers' debut), that if it were not himself whom he was looking at, he would've thought the person reflected in the glass was beautiful. However, he knew what he was looking at, and therefore he was rather repulsed and indefinitely humiliated.
The crimson silk kimono with its golden obi and embroidered maple leaves did look stunning though. It felt heavy on him and the obi was tied just a tad too tight, but Kanda was pretty sure that was done purposefully, and that he'd just have to get used to it. Daisya looked almost swamped in his plum-colored kimono, that was embroidered with silver bellflowers, and tied with a green obi. He looked about as suffocated as Kanda was, but seemed to handle it much better. (2)
"I hate you," Kanda said, though at the moment, that statement could've been directed at the whole world.
"Ya really do look gorgeous though," Lavi said, with honest sincerity. While he was talking to both Minarai, Lavi was definitely looking at Kanda while he said this. Daisya, ever-observant, noticed this and smirked deviously. He walked over to Kanda and hugged his arm, sticking his tongue out at Lavi.
"Don't fall in love now Lavi, you can look but you better not touch!" Kanda looked down at Daisya, aghast and embarrassed, and very thankful that his blush couldn't be seen through his heavy white make-up. Just what was Daisya saying, anyway? Obviously, Lavi was just paying them a friendly compliment.
"Ok! Enough idle chatter and admiration! We've got an appointment to keep you two!" Komui, who'd been quietly observing the three, spoke up after checking the clock. They said their goodbyes and headed out for their first appointment.
000
Kanda was starting to feel a tad bit unmotivated, after three years at the okiya. He was starting to forget why it was he'd been working so hard in the first place. Well, he still knew the reason, but now he was wondering why he'd ever thought that something like that would be possible. The only way his older brother would know a thing about what had happened to him or where he lived would be if someone from his family told him. Kanda doubted his father would let that happen.
So, Kanda, feeling discouraged, decided it was time to pay Lavi a visit. After all, it was Lavi who'd originally made him want to work harder, and Kanda had found that it was quite easy to talk to Lavi about such things, he was a very sympathetic listener.
However, Kanda had never actually gone to Lavi's house before. It wasn't that the residents of the okiya weren't allowed to, Daisya and the other apprentice geisha did all the time, when Lavi couldn't come to the okiya. Kanda just sort of felt embarrassed when he thought of going over there on his own, so he never did it. But now he was going to, because he wanted to and had a right to and dammit, why was it taking so long to gather his resolve?
"Uh...Kanda-chan, is there a reason you're glarin' into my yard?" Lavi's questioning voice snapped Kanda out of his revelry, and he realized that he had indeed been staring into his neighbor's yard. Embarrassment tinged his face pink, and he lowered his eyes so that he wouldn't have to look Lavi in the face. Lavi wondered if Kanda realized how demure he was making himself look, or if by this point in his training it was a reflex of his.
"I was going to ask if I could come over for a bit," Kanda said, his voice unwavering, for his pride wouldn't let it. Lavi blinked in surprise, before saying yes and excitedly helping his friend over the fence that separated the two properties.
"Well, this is unexpected. Ya never wanted to come over before," Lavi said, more than happy to have this person who interested him so in his home. Even if technically, they were outside on the porch, and not actually in his home. Kanda seemed embarrassed enough just being there, Lavi wasn't about to shove him inside if he didn't want to be there.
For a while, Kanda did not respond to Lavi's statement, instead he tried to distract himself from his embarrassment by questioning Lavi's enthused state. It surely couldn't mean that much to the older boy to have him here.
"I was just... wondering about some things lately," Kanda said, trying to make it seem as though he hadn't really cared to come here. Why was he so flustered over such a little thing anyway?
"Really? What kind of things?" Lavi asked, looking curious. At first, it didn't seem like Kanda was actually going to say anything, he just silently stared into his lap.
"Way back when we first met, you told me to work hard so that I could be proud of what I had to do, so that if my brother ever found me, I wouldn't have to be ashamed of myself. But it's been three years since I've come here. At this point, it doesn't seem like he'll ever find me, if he's even looking for a brother who got sold off."
"You can't think that way, because that'll just make it seem hopeless," Lavi scolded, surprised and a little disappointed with Kanda's negative thinking. "Besides, even if he never finds you, you should still do your best for your own sake."
"How would it be for my sake? I never wanted to succeed in this business!" Kanda said, looking angry.
"Then succeed for my sake," Lavi said with an uncharacteristically serious tone of voice. Kanda looked at him, confused. Lavi was looking straight ahead, but Kanda could see enough of his face to know his expression was serious.
"Your sake?"
"My sake," Lavi repeated, concentrating on some point straight ahead of him. "By the time you become a full-fledged geiko, I'll probably be a doctor, and I'll be makin' all the money the ol' panda does now. When you're an established geisha, I'll become your danna. Can't do that if you aren't a geisha though, so keep workin' at it."
Kanda was completely bowled over by that statement. Where had that come from? Lavi was his friend, why did he need to become his patron in order to have a personal relationship with him? Or was being friends not personal enough? But still, his danna? He was only ten, and Lavi was already talking of such things! Granted, in five or six years, he would no longer be ten, but what made Lavi so sure he'd want anything to do with Kanda then?
"Do you have any idea what you're saying?" Kanda asked, sounding like he had resigned himself to his confusion.
"Of course. You might be dense as lead, but if I say it that way then even you can understand what I mean, right?" Kanda felt his face heating up as he understood. He couldn't imagine what Lavi saw in him, but he must've done something amazing to have caught this person's attention.
Kanda sat, wallowing in his own embarrassment, when Lavi spoke up again to break the silence.
"Hey, can I call ya Yuu-chan from now on?" He asked, his voice back to normal, as if their last exchange hadn't happened at all. Kanda's face got impossibly redder with what was now an indignant flush.
"No you may not! I'd skin anyone who dared call me that!"
Lavi chuckled. "How cute! Yuu-chan's such a cute name, I think I will call ya that from now on!"
"You're asking for it, baka-usagi."
"So I've got a nickname now? I'm flattered!"
"..."
000
Three years later, Kanda had still not managed to stop Lavi from calling him Yuu-chan. At this point, Kanda wasn't really trying to stop him either, he would just tell the redhead not to call him that out of habit. Lavi seemed to realize this, and said his name all the more because of it. Sometimes Lavi wondered if Yuu would realize he was even calling out to him, if Lavi decided to address him as Kanda again.
Now that Kanda was in his fourth year of his Maiko training, he didn't have to wear such heavy make-up, though his white base was still fairly thick. His kimono were still quite ornate, though not nearly as decorative as they had been when he had debuted. Kanda had given up on being found, and now he work hard solely for himself.
Or at least, that's what he wanted everyone to think. Lavi knew the truth though, he knew that Kanda, now thirteen and no longer a little child (though he was indeed still a child), was working towards him. Kanda didn't even know why he was, perhaps he just liked the thought of having a danna he knew well, rather than some random old man he met at a teahouse? Maybe it was just because of who Lavi was? Either way, the words Lavi had said to him when he was a hopeless child had been what carried him through the years.
"Kanda-kun." Fou walked into his and Daisya's new, shared room. They were nearly full-fledged geisha, so they obviously couldn't sleep in the servant's quarters anymore. "Bak wants you in his office, now," the petite woman said, her expression solemn. Kanda followed her to Bak's quarters and prepared for the worst.
"You received a few things in the mail," Bak said, once Fou had left the room. He brought out two boxes of medium size and placed them on the low table in the center of the room. Curiously, Kanda opened the smaller of the two. His heart sank when he saw a memorial tablet and a letter inside the box. He didn't read the tablet, too afraid of finding out who had died. Instead, he took the letter out, and read it first.
The letter had been written by his mother, and Kanda sighed in relief knowing that she had not been the one to die. That still left three more family members though, so Kanda continued reading it. The letter spoke of how his father had fallen ill about a year ago, and had died just a month afterwards. Kanda looked over to the memorial tablet after reading that, just to be sure it said the right name. Sure enough, it was his father's name on the stone. He continued reading with mixed feelings about his father's passing.
His sister had gotten married two months ago, to a middle-class man who had graciously allowed his mother to move into his family's house. Apparently, father hadn't approved of the marriage while he was alive, but the two had intended to marry with or without his consent. Mother sung his brother-in-law's praises.
By the end of the letter, Kanda's feelings had still not sorted themselves out. Should he be happy or sad? After all, his father had sold him, chased out his brother, and had made his entire family's life a living hell. Still, he was Kanda's father, and if he hadn't sold Kanda, then Yuu would've had to live struggling for the necessities. Kanda was well provided for in the okiya, and lived in a warm environment with friends that were nearly like family now. In a way, his father had given him a better life. In the end, Kanda decided it would only be proper to mourn.
Still, mourning or not, Kanda simply couldn't overlook the second package that had been sent to him. This box was a bit bigger than the first, though it was a tad lighter. He opened it and his eyes lit up with excitement and childish happiness.
The box was filled to the brim with every letter his brother had ever sent him, including the letters that had never reached him. Letters that asked about him, his well-being, where Yuu was living now if he wasn't at home anymore. Letters that asked for his new address over and over again until he'd finally gotten it. The most recent letter from him expressed thanks, and it was only dated for a month ago. His brother had only just found him, but at least he had.
Well, mourning be damned, at least for the moment, Kanda was positively ecstatic.
Kanda didn't question the fact that his first thought after discovering this was that he had to tell Lavi. Lavi had been the one who'd first made him even think that this day would come, of course he should be told about it. So Kanda thanked Bak profusely for giving the packages to him, and left the room with them, quickly stashing them in his own room before going over to Lavi's house. Kanda didn't bother knocking at the door before entering-it'd been roughly two years since he'd picked up the habit of just barging in.
Lavi had been sitting in the tea room, sipping tea that he promptly choked on when Kanda came in, looking for all the world like an excited puppy. Lavi was sure he'd never see this side of Kanda again, for he'd certainly never seen it before. Lavi was sure that Kanda must've given half of the okiya's residents quite the shock with that beautiful smile of his.
"I got them back!" Kanda exclaimed, coming to the table and smoothing over his kimono as he sat down properly, despite the informal setting and his less-than-formal entrance. By now, the general behavior of a geisha was so ingrained in him that he did it without thinking.
Lavi's choked coughs came to a sputtering halt as he regained control of himself. "Got what back?" He asked, while trying to memorize every aspect of Kanda's smiling face. He was so sure he'd never see this again.
"The letters my brother sent me! My father died, and since he'd been the one who wouldn't let them send them to me, they finally could. He knows where I am now and plans to drop by next chance he gets. Finally, it only took six years!"
Lavi was unsure of what he was feeling at the moment. Of course, he should've been happy for Kanda, and he was, he was. At the same time though, he was jealous, undeniably jealous. With all of two packages and ten minutes, Kanda's family had managed to do what he'd been trying to do for 5 years: Make Yuu smile, really smile. As Kanda continued to tell him about the letters he'd skimmed through, about what had happened to his family and about his brother's plans, Lavi realized that if Kanda's older brother really did come to the okiya, it wouldn't just be for a visit. No, this man would take Kanda away, and Yuu, who had never wanted this life to begin with and was just living the life he was given to the best of his abilities, would go with him without a second thought, Lavi was sure.
Lavi wanted to do something, anything really, that would make himself feel closer to Yuu, because at the moment, he felt that the younger boy was quickly slipping through his fingers. So, deciding that he should do something before he lost his chance to and regretted it, Lavi leaned over the table, grabbed Kanda's shoulders and kissed him mid-story without any warning. When Kanda made no move to back away or respond, Lavi decided to just indulge himself a bit until Kanda realized what was happening and killed him. Lavi licked the boy's lower lip, which elicited a gasp, and eventually, a shy bit of play from Kanda's side.
When the need for air became too great to deny, Lavi moved away from Kanda. The boy's face was redder than the crimson kimonos Komui just loved to doll him up in. Kanda's hands came up to cover his colored face, though he chanced a look or two at Lavi through his fingers.
Lavi, unsure of whether this was a good or bad reaction (for most people it would probably be pretty good, but this was Kanda he was dealing with), gave Kanda a questioning look.
"Uh...Yuu? Ya gonna be all right there?" Kanda nodded, stilled his head, and then shook it, not sure which answer was right.
"...Ask," Kanda mumbled finally, and once again Lavi gave him an inquisitive look. "Next time...ask first," Kanda clarified, and Lavi grinned wider than he ever had before.
1-the second stage of a geisha's training. Last's for about a month. They don't have to do chores anymore, and instead focus on field-training.
2-these are kimono layer-colors and patterns for the autumn season. Kanda's layer's are called mayumi, and Daisya's are uturoigiku.
3. Please note that a geisha is not a mistress to her master, despite what western movies and literature would have you believe! A danna paid for her living expenses, but sex was never a reward for this, just a more personal relationship. However, a geisha could choose to have that sort of relationship with her danna if she so chose, and it wasn't uncommon for a geisha to have her danna's child. Still, geisha are not prostitutes, that's an annoying misconception.
Once again, Saya will say that this is by no means historically accurate, and half of the research Saya's doing for this is going down the shitter.
Anyway...go chapter? The next one will be the last, and that's where the real drama is at.