Hello again! I'm back, although I'm sure you thought that I wasn't going to return... Although I can't make any definite predictions about its completion, I will say that this chapter just about marks the halfway point (I had to split up chapters 7 & 8, 'cause as one, it was just too big. So really, chapters 7 & 8 mark the halfway point). So if you can stay with me on this, then I'm sure that it can be completed (I also respond to prodding, even some hard jabs!)!
Thanks to all who reviewed. Especially to: Wing and JasLine (both of you: thanks for the vote of confidence with my finals!), Skydancer 1, Inda, and A. You guys keep me going! I do all for you! (tears are streaming down her face). Anyway, on with the show!
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam with or Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden or anything related to either of them (except my plot!).
White Mask by lmh
Chapter 7
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"Don't say anything to him until I motion for you to do so. Don't look him strait in the eye, and for heaven's sake, don't do anything to make yourself look bad!" Megumi ordered. Relena frowned at the last little comment. Although it was true that she had a habit of getting herself into unfavorable situations, there was no need for Megumi to be so harsh about it.
"Megumi-san," she began, "I have no idea what you are talking about!" Relena said innocently. Of course she was joking, but Megumi, however, was not.
Megumi snorted and looked back at Relena as she led her down a darkened hallway in a Gion teahouse. Her face had a tinge of amusement, but also annoyance on it. There was a time when Megumi wanted to joke, and a time when she did not. At this moment, she certainly didn't seem to be in any sort of joking mood.
"Next you'll say that we should just forget about the whole thing!" she said as she turned her attention back to walking. She laughed cynically at the thought, which elicited a sigh of hopelessness from Relena, "You're not getting out if it Aikyou" she said, finalizing the end of the small argument.
Relena sighed again after Megumi said this. She had been able to plead with Megumi to postpone her mizuage for at least another month. Though now that month had passed; and as Relena welcomed the vibrant colored world of the autumn season, she was also dreading her mizuage. In reality, Megumi had been somewhat content with the idea of postponing the event. She said that they had to make sure of each possible patron's stand point before actually presenting them with okubo. Of course Megumi wasn't going to go up to each potential patron and ask them outright of what they thought. Instead, Megumi had gone to parties hosted by each man and had what she called 'meaningful conversations'. Relena could only shake her head in amusement and admiration of Megumi.
The two women had just come from a different teahouse than the one they were in now, and Relena still had shivers going up and down her spine. Not an hour ago, she had presented Lord Treize Khushrenada with her okubo. At first, he was confused with the contents of the box, but after Megumi lightly reminded him of what it was for, his face lit up with a sort of nervous understanding. Relena would have liked to believe that he was somewhat embarrassed by the okubo, but she couldn't be sure. Lord Khushreanda was a difficult person to read; he never gave too much away. Megumi, however, seemed quite comfortable with everything. She didn't do much more that introduce Lord Khushrenada into the room; most of the talking was left to Relena. Although not much was said, she was still extremely nervous that she would forget what to say. She found the whole situation to be very embarrassing, and she was not looking forward to her next encounter.
Presenting okubo to Lord Khushrenada was one thing, but presenting it to Heero Yuy, was something entirely different. Relena felt awkward around him. She wasn't sure if it was the way he looked at her, the way he talked to her, or both. She hadn't known him for very long, not more than a year in fact, but at some point during the course of their conversations, he had managed to guess things about her, or challenge something that she had said. Most of the time, his assumptions were correct. She was amazed at his ability to see right through her, so to speak. He was an odd person, not too friendly either; but Relena knew better than to take him at face value. There was something, someone there inside of him; and against all better judgment, she wanted to discover and to understand what made him so enigmatic. She desperately wanted to know why he captured her interest so.
There was no denying it, She had become fond of Heero; she was very keen on him in fact. Her thoughts of him had increased from a few times a month, to several times a day. He was such an intimidating but strong person. She admired him, and sometimes thought that she wouldn't mind to have his strength. As time went on, she wanted to become Heero had somehow along the line, that turned into wanting to be with Heero. Whenever she wasn't with him she couldn't help but wonder what he was doing, and hoping that he thought of her too.
She quietly sighed to herself in pity and bliss. She cared for him, deeply. She didn't want to say 'love' yet, she couldn't. The thought of love was intimidating to her, and it would no doubt scare Heero. She couldn't say for sure what he thought. Personally, though, she could feel something there, something between them. Certainly he felt for her as well? He invited her to many parties, and increasingly without Megumi. And now, with her mizuage, he was going to be one of her potential patrons. That counted for something, didn't it? There was a precious sentiment flowing between them, and she didn't want to destroy it.
This is why she did not want to present Heero with okubo. She knew that he would be embarrassed, if not upset. Giving him okubo would suggest that he was nothing more to her than a wealthy patron, and that she only had uses for his money. That was not the case at all. Heero was important to her, though she was afraid that he would see it as a cruel game. She knew that he was not one for games of that nature.
Her steps slowed as the thoughts turned over in her head. What, oh what was she to do? There was a dreadful wrenching feeling in her gut, trying to pull her back to the teahouse entrance. It was trying to stop her from going on with this. Relena's steps slowed even more; and when Megumi realized that Relena had come to a complete stop, she turned around to face her younger sister; and she was very agitated.
"Aikyou, what are you doing?" Megumi whispered to her. She didn't quite hiss at her, but the tone of irritation was there. Relena's head snapped up at the sound of Megumi's voice. She stared blankly at the woman in front of her, racking her brain for something so say post-reverie.
"I-I was just thinking" she said. Her thoughts had carried her away to some far off place, far away from Megumi and the teahouse. She was still trying to regain her bearings. Megumi sniffed up at Relena's blunt admission and shook her head.
"Come," she said to Relena, walking back to her, Megumi lightly took her arm and began to lead her down the hallway again, "You can't have your mind flying away like that now. Wait until after giving to okubo to Yuy-san, hm?" She was smiling benevolently towards Relena, and if she hadn't been so well acquainted with Megumi, she wouldn't have realized the subtle joke she had just made. Relena nodded, smiling back.
Their walk wasn't very long, they found themselves standing outside a tatami room just a few moments later. Megumi's joke had lifted Relena's mood just a bit, but nervous trembles crept back into her heart as she grasped the idea that there was only minutes separating the time until she would be face to face with Heero. Her heart began to pound in her chest, and threatened to burst right out. This was too much, it was much too much. She was offering herself up on a platter a person that didn't deserve this kind of treatment; he deserved so much more from her. She turned back to Megumi, but when she tried to speak, she found that her voice cracked with anxiety.
"Megumi-san…" she began, but she couldn't find the words to continue. Megumi looked at her, concerned. Relena already knew Megumi was going to refuse her appeal, though she had to verbalize some things to Heero. She had to let Heero know her true intentions in all of this. She wasn't going to let him think her a vindictive person, "Megumi-san, I would prefer it if you didn't come in with me," she said. Megumi opened her mouth in protest, but Relena quickly spoke again, "I would feel much more…at ease, if I did this alone" she said slowly.
Megumi didn't say anything, but only watched her with a look of apprehension on her face. Relena assumed that she didn't like her request, but she had no intention of backing down on this. There was no way she could tell Heero what was truly on her mind if Megumi was in the room with them. Megumi stared at her for a few moments, and then lifted her head, looking down at Relena as if something just made sense to her.
"Ah," she said and nodded. She had begun to gaze upon Relena with a new light in her eyes; surely she couldn't know what Relena was thinking? "Very well," Megumi continued, "I'm sure you will do fine. I'll be downstairs if you need me," she said as she handed Relena the box of okubo, "Good night Aikyou." She quietly uttered, and left.
Relena stood for a few seconds, astonished at how easy it was to steer Megumi away from the situation. And now, she had to look to the task at hand.
"Okubo" she said, almost spitting the word out.
She unceremoniously reached over and slid the door open. She was greeted by a dark, empty tatami room. Heero was either not at the teahouse yet, or downstairs at some party; so she walked in and made herself as comfortable as she could. At the back of the wall, the wooden shutters that usually covered the windows were propped open. It was dreadfully hot outside and inside. In the middle of the room, a small table was set down. Relena situated herself at the side adjacent to the door, leaving the side facing the window open; incase Heero needed something to look at during the awkward moments, there was the window. In truth, Relena was trying to make things as easy as possible.
She tried to slow her breathing by thinking of other things, or telling herself that this was no big ordeal. The more she pushed the thoughts away, the stronger they became. Relena sighed in anticipation. Where in the world was he?
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Catherine swiftly walked down the brightened hallway. What a wonder electricity was. Though it was rare to have electric power in Japan, this teahouse was one of the more upscale ones, and could afford such things.
Electricity wasn't the only thing on her mind, there was a growing problem. Aikyou, lord what a problem. She was a girl of great interest to everyone around her. Catherine couldn't be sure of who knew Aikyou's true identity, but she was sure that Aikyou had no idea herself.
She was indeed a very head strong girl. She risked her reputation just pitching her 'sad story' to her teachers at the school. She put herself in embarrassing situations, and she didn't even seem to care! If Trowa and the others only knew how hard it was to keep an eye on Aikyou, then they wouldn't brush off Catherine's services so lightly.
She grumbled; she was very irritated, and very anxious. Aikyou had gone so far as to request that Catherine remove herself from the tatami room. Aikyou's need to be honest had overtaken her. She thought she was so clever; if her older sister doesn't hear anything, then she won't have a clue to what is going on. Catherine was not stupid though; she understood perfectly why Aikyou had asked her to leave her be. Now they had a problem.
Catherine continued briskly down the hallway, stopping at a seemingly random tatami room. She knocked quietly, announcing her presence. A solemn voice came back through the thin paper door. Catherine took that as permission to enter as she slid the door to her right, entered, and slid the door shut.
"I thought a maid was supposed to come" said Heero as Catherine sat opposite of him. He was sitting on a small pillow, legs crossed. There were no signs of irritation, worry, or weariness as he watched her with an empty face.
"She has requested me not to be present" Catherine said, disdain dripping from her voice. Heero frowned for a second, before he realized who she was talking about.
"She-oh" he said, then frowned again, "Why would she ask for that?"
Catherine sighed as she looked at him with a schooling stare, "She wanted to speak to you, alone" she said, putting emphasis on the word 'alone'.
Heero seemingly frowned in confusion for the third time. Catherine huffed at this. If he was truly so clueless about this, then things were going to become more complicated than they already were.
"She is taking this whole mizuage thing much to seriously" Catherine said, but regretted the statement as soon as it left her mouth. She had forgotten, her colleague opposite of her was an vital part in this mizuage. "I-I'm sorry" she said seconds later. If he felt anything at her comment, Heero was hiding it well. She saw no indications of offence on his face.
He shook his head, "Forget it," he simply said, "Tell me what you mean by 'taking it too seriously'" He was sitting up strait now, intent on hearing Catherine's explanation.
"Heero" Catherine began, but found she didn't know how to continue. She ended up stuttering through her sentences, "Heero, I'm-I fear that she is romantically involved."
Heero stared at her, astonished.
"You mean, me?" he said. Although his words didn't make sense, Catherine understood him perfectly. She sighed irritably.
"Yes you. She is confusing her feelings with the purpose of the mizuage." Catherine uneasily shook her head, "I would rather not go through with this, and adhere to Duo's advice. Take her and go."
Heero sat silently, perhaps he was reflecting on her comment, she hoped to God that he wasn't.
She sighed dejectedly, "I can't believe her! I have said countless times not to mix feelings with anything concerning her career, but I see that she is too sentimental." She sighed again, but with more force, and more anger, "Damn it all."
Silence passed, all the while Catherine wished that Heero would say something, anything; just one word to pierce the calm.
"Don't worry," Heero said as he stood up and headed for the door. Catherine watched him pass with an uneasy feeling growing in her stomach. She brought her hand up to catch him as he passed her, but he was moving much too swiftly, for her to grab him.
"W-What are you going to do?" she asked. She was expecting an answer, but Heero didn't offer one. Catherine got to her feet as quickly as she could and latched onto Heero's arm, "What are you going to do?" she repeated.
He only glanced back at her, "What I have to do" he said and tried to pull away from her; though Catherine would not have him leave the room without giving her an answer.
"Heero!" she said as she tightened her grip, "Don't do anything to jeopardize our objective!"
"There are some risks that must be taken" he said and wrenched his arm free of her hold.
Catherine frowned in anger. He was always so secretive; he never told anyone what he was planning, even if he was working with them. It was most frusturating, and her knew that she hated this behavior. "You didn't answer my question, what are you going to do?"
He did not answer her this time, and simply walked out of the room. He didn't even bother to close the door. Catherine was left with an angry cloud hanging over her head. He hand dropped to her side as she balled it into a fist. They were in one hell of a corner.
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"Tell me again why I am here?" asked Noin, who sitting next to a small tea set, was in Mother's, or rather Une's, room of the Itoo okiya. Une was opposite of her, quietly counting numbers on her abacus and writing them in her accounting books. That was really the extent of what Une did all day, and sometimes all night. Mostly she was either keeping her books, or on the phone with, well, that malicious man. That man was the root of her problems, and all Une did everyday was help him to make life more difficult for Noin and Zechs. Une was the keeper of Noin's freedom, and Trieze was the captor.
Une continued sliding the little black beads across her instrument. Not once did she stop to consider Noin.
"Because we are quite concerned about your commitment to our little outfit," she began, "Ever since Lord Khushrenada's party, you've seemed…less enthusiastic about the whole thing. I hope you aren't going back on the deal we had?"
Noin closed her eyes and frowned. Yes, yes she was betraying them. She wasn't going to be a part of their inhumane operation. They had her acting as she never wanted to, preying on poor, stupid girls, and forsaking every bit of love, honor, and truth that she had in her body. She didn't want any part in it anymore.
"No, of course not" she replied, and this was all that she said. She didn't want to elaborate and seem like she was lying; and she didn't want to be too short with her answer and sound sarcastic.
Une sighed as she slid another bead across. It ticked loudly on the wooden frame and echoed into Noin's ears.
"Really Noin, how obtuse do you think I am?" Une said, her eyes still glued to the abacus and accounting book. "You've stopped going after Aikyou, You don't engage Kazue in any parties, and Kayoko tells me that you have been meeting with Megumi's dresser. What am I to think of all this?"
"What is wrong about meeting with Zechs? I'm only concerned about him" asked Noin. She inwardly seethed; she was loosing control of the conversation, and fast. From the moment Une summoned her, she knew that her dominating the conversation was essential if she planned to keepher plans secret. Certainly Une didn't know of her and Zechs's plans to escape? Unless…unless…damn that Kayoko, or Dorothy, she should say.
Une finally looked up from her work and glared at Noin over her glasses.
"When you came to us, both of you were starving and Zechs was almost dead. We didn't ask how you came to be that way, we didn't assume or make any judgments. You needed help and we gave it to you in return for your services on a single task," she said, and Noin was crumbling under her stare, "Now you're backing out on the deal? No, no, no. That is not how I do business."
Noin frowned, she had to regain control. Une had her in a lethal vice. "If I had known what I'd be doing, I would have never agreed" she spat.
"You should have thought about that beforehand," Une replied, "You both would have died if you didn't accept."
Noin stayed silent at this. It was true that when she met Zechs, he was beaten beyond recognition, for whatever mysterious reason. She took it upon herself to help him, though she found that she was of no help, when she could hardly support herself. Of course, Treize and Une swooped in for the rescue, at a 'small price'; she had taken it upon herself to save her and her companion. But instead of doing that, she walked them right into a deadly trap.
Une went back to her work when she saw Noin's retreat. "Besides, you are needed now more than ever."
Noin looked to Une with a new interest in what the woman was saying.
"The girl's parents have just arrived in Tokyo. They are bargaining with officials there to retrieve their daughter. Missing persons notices will be popping up in no time, so that means we must move quickly. After Lord Khushrenada successfully completes the mizuage ritual, he will ask to become Aikyou's danna, which I will grant him. Then you will go to a government official and report that you have found the girl. Lord Khushrenada will deliver one of the girls to the parents, and that is when you and Zechs move in for the kill."
"I will not do this," Noin said. She marveled at the elaborate plan, but stood her ground.
"Do you want the same fate as Auntie? Or Miss Sally Po I should say," Une retorted, "She was quite bold to place herself so close to the enemy, but her brash attitude proved to be her undoing."
Noin glared at her, anger boiling within her, Sally, they didn't…
"What did you do to her?" she nervously asked. Une only smiled.
"A clever woman, though why she believed that she could feed information to others while living under my roof, is beyond me."
"What did you do to her?" Noin repeated. The grin on Une's face grew even larger.
"Damn fool. Though I applaud her stamina, she didn't give one name before she died."
"What?" exclaimed Noin. She was lying, she had to be. Sally would never have let herself get caught, not the Sally that she knew. They killed her! They killed Sally, Noin's only hope for a way out. It was Sally who had the connections; Sally who could get Relena and Kazue to a safe place. She had no idea what to do now. The absolute nerve of Une...Noin had the great urge to attack her with all she had.
"Although we still don't have the names of the people against us, we can still go forward with out plan. Tomorrow you will-"
"I would rather die than do this!" Noin spat. She had taken quite enough abuse, Sally was the last straw.
Une sneered at her as she absently slid another bead across the abacus. It ticked loudly, again.
"That can be arranged" snapped Une, which broke Noin's last bit of inhibition.
She slapped her hands on the table and wildly looked back at Une. She was sure of the fire in her eyes, and she hoped that it matched the fire in Une's malice.
"I will not kill an innocent girl!" she shouted. Une shot back at her with an equally vulgar voice.
"Then you will die!"
Noin suddenly found that she could control herself no longer as she reached across the gap separating them, and struck Une across the face. Her glasses went soaring off her face, the abacus flew out of her hands and loudly crashed into the tea set, spilling the dark tea all over the crisp, tan tatami mats. Une's head snapped back to Noin, and she just stared in awe. Noin was still wearing her enraged frown, but became more and more afraid for herself as the seconds went by.
Une panted loudly as she brought her hand to her red cheek, which was no doubt stinging. At first,Noin thought thatUne was about to explode, but then she realized, the woman...was crying! Yes! Crying! Noin stared in disbeliefat Une's sudden show of weakness.
"Why…" she choked out through the tears, "How could you when I did nothing?"
Noin gaped in awe. Just moments ago Une was threatening her life, now she was accusing her of unjust violence. Utterly implausible.
Une drew her hand from her face and began to search around for her glasses. She continued to mumble things about how her face hurt and that she couldn't see anything. Once she had her glasses in hand, she placed them back on her face as quickly as she could. Slowly, she built herself up to her full stature, and fixed a very angry glower at Noin.
"You…" began Une; it was as if everything had snapped back to normal, she seemed too livid to form any rational sentence. "When Lord Khushrenada hears of this, you will…" she said, but Noin didn't give her a chance to finish. She abruptly stood up and ran to the door. Une's voice could be heard screaming after her.
"Walk out that door, and you'll only be making things harder for yourself and Zechs!" she yelled, but Noin continued to run down the stairs as Une continued, "I will find you!"
She tried to block the voice from her head as she reached to front door. She forgot about money, food, her clothes, she only had one thought on her mind, and that was to get out of the city, and fast. As she wrenched the door open, she almost bowled over Kazue, who was just coming back from a series of parties; she yelped in surprise.
"Kayumi-san," Kazue said, trying to calm herself from shock, "You scared me!"
As Noin looked at her younger sister, she remembered her conversation with Une. She had to leave the city, but she couldn't leave Kazue in the okiya to fend for herself, but she also couldn't take her with. It would be much too conspicuous to see two geisha outside of Gion together. Noin thought quickly of what she could do for Kazue. She grabbed the chatty girl by the shoulders and shook her until she was listening.
"Kayumi-san, what are you-"
"Shhh! Listen to me!" Noin interrupted, "Kazue, things are not safe here for you anymore, you need to get out of Gion, out of Kyoto!"
Kazue frowned at Noin in puzzlement, "Why, whatever do you mean?" she started to say, but Noin shook her again.
"Listen! In my room, I have money in my pocket book, and snacks stolen from the kitchen in the closet. Wrap them up in a handkerchief and prepare yourself for a long journey."
"What?" exclaimed Kazue. Noin clamped her hand over the girl's mouth to quiet her. It would do her no good if Une knew that she had spoken to Noin.
"Hilde, please listen," she said, "Can you get out of the okiya tomorrow?" she asked her. Kazue nodded. "Good," Noin said, "Leave as soon as you can. Get on a train bound for Tokyo. When you get there-"
"Kayoko, what are you doing?" she heard Une shout from upstairs. Noin frowned; Dorothy must have been listening in on the conversation before. She had better get out. With one last look at Kazue, Noin ran out the door and onto the street.
One though ran through her head, find Zechs, find Zechs. Things were moving so fast now. At the beginning of the week, she was safely inside the okiya, playing the part of a heartless witch; now she was running for her life, and the life of others. She had to find Zechs…
She gasped loudly as someone grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into a dark alley.
"Zechs!" she hissed when she saw who it was. Well, at least she didn't have to spend precious time searching for him.
"I followed you home after your last party," he said, "Noin, we have to talk to Une and Khushrenada; we have to convince them to stop this." He urged. Noin shook her head.
"We have to leave. Where is your sister?" she asked hastily.
"Relena…Noin, what did you say?" he asked, warily staring at her. Noin sighed as she closed her eyes.
"It's not so much what was said…"
"Noin, what did you do?" he asked, revising his original question. He grabbed her by both shoulders, to emphasize his question.
"We have to tell her Zechs" she said solemnly after looking up at him. She knew that she had dashed away any hopes of a covert liberation of Relena from the Itoo okiya.
He frowned at her. She couldn't tell if he was angry with her or worried about Relena; whichever it was, they were running on Khushrenada's clock, and time was of the essence. Zechs turned away and looked blankly out on the dark, empty street.
"Shit."
。。。。
Some people were asking for it, so here it is!
Glossary
Mizuage-an ancient tradition of the geisha. Wealthy patrons of apprentice geisha will place bets of money on the geisha in hopes to win the prize of her virginity. The winning patron will spend one night with the geisha; they will basically have sex, but only once. The mizuage patron has no other influence on the geisha's life anytime after. This ritual was outlawed by the Japanese government in the 1950's.
Okubo- okubo is a sweet bun with a red indentation in the middle of it. An apprentice geisha gives okubo to her possible mizuage patrons, signifying that she would like for them to bid money on her mizuage.
Danna- A danna is a wealthy man who is a benefactor to a geisha. He pays for everything from her lessons, to gifts that he buys for her. In addition to this, he has sole 'usage' of the geisha. This means he is entitled to privileges that other men are not, sex.
