Standard disclaimers apply.
Title: Wisteria
Chapter 10: The Next Day
There was the distinctive sound of a padlock opening.
The light...it was so bright, to the extent of being glaring. Kagome felt as if she was under water, seeing the jarring glow from another dimension, hearing voices which sounded terribly muffled.
She tried to open her eyes, but her eyelids felt like lead, weighing down stubbornly. She could only squint, cracking her eyes open with a fraction of a centimeter. The light hit her eyes again, and she hurriedly shut them to keep the discomfort out.
"Fuji-chan..."
There was a also familiar smell which she couldn't pinpoint. Her head was so heavy, spinning around and around like a deranged carousel...
"Are you feeling better?" The voice sounded distant and muffled. "Can you sit up?"
The voice...Kagome's faculties worked against her alcohol-laden senses. It sounded like Yanagi...and another breath of air confirmed it was the scent of fresh young willow. Snuggling back onto whatever she was laying on, Kagome tried to seek the strength within herself to pick her body up. It was the odd feeling of being detached from one's body. Exhaling, she closed her eyes and tried to recall whatever happened before she landed up in such a state.
Matsu Sansou...Sesshoumaru...Golden Pavillon, wisteria...pine scents...plum wine...
It must have been the plum wine. She had drunk more than her body could take.
A hangover...that must be what she was having. She stirred, trying to seek a comfortable position in which she could curl up in till this dreadful feeling passed.
"Is she awake?" Another voice cut through her dulled senses, a voice that did not sound as worried as the previous one. Raising a hand to her forehead, Kagome pressed her cooler palm against her burning forehead, allowing the refreshing coolness to dispel the throbbing in her head.
"Fuji-chan...wake up, Oka is here...quick..." Yanagi urged, the anxiety in her soft voice evident.
Hearing that it was her okami jolted Kagome awake with fear. It was funny in a twisted sense to see how effective fear was in dispelling discomfort of any sort, but to Kagome at that moment, it was not funny at all. Recalling the previous night's events, Kagome realized how disgraceful it was for her to have become drunk in front of a client, especially someone as important and as influential as Sesshoumaru.
"Help..." Kagome was surprised to find her own voice raspy from sleep, and hastily cleared her throat. "Help me up, please."
With Yanagi's help, Kagome scrambled into a kneeling position, forcing her eyes open to get accustomed to the flooding morning light. When her eyes finally regained normal vision, Kagome could make out her surroundings. It was terribly unfamiliar. She was not in the sleeping quarters; instead, she was in the shed.
"Oka..." Kagome acknowledged, bowing low to Ume. "I am sorry."
She knew the trouble she was in for...she had committed one of the worst mistakes ever since she came into Hanaka. Even now as she reflected on it, Kagome was filled with shame and remorse at her poor behavior. In the spur of the moment, she had allowed her heart to rule, forgetting all the training she had gone through and getting herself drunk on an entertainment session. It was most disrespectful to the client as well, and she wondered what Sesshoumaru thought of her.
As Sesshoumaru's name flashed across her mind, Kagome was struck abruptly by yet another stab of fear. Did she say anything wrong? What had she gotten herself into? It would be disastrous if she had accidentally revealed her identity, mentioned anything to do with Inuyasha, Naraku, or the Shikon Jewel. What if Sesshoumaru already suspected something? She could only pray fervently that her big mouth was affected by the copious amounts of alcohol she consumed and did not shoot itself off.
"You're sorry?" Ume questioned, her elegant voice cool and collected as usual. "Do you know how worried I was when you still did not return after nightfall?"
Kagome remained silent, allowing Ume to admonish her.
"Everyone was so worried, especially Yanagi. We were all thinking if you got lost outside or abducted by bandits. I even sent people out to search for you."
"Oka, I..." Kagome felt genuinely guilty, before glancing at Yanagi by her side. She had committed such a grave mistake, but Ume was not yelling at her. Instead, she was telling Kagome how worried she was and this was even more effective in making the young girl feel miserable.
"It was only when Lord Sesshoumaru brought you back, drunk and oblivious to whatever was going around you, did we realize that our worries had been for nothing at all." Ume continued firmly. "Do you know how humiliating it was for me and the rest of Hanaka? We have been in this art of geishahood for centuries, and I do not think any incident of this sort has happened before."
Biting her lower lip, Kagome stared at the ground, letting the weight of the words sink in.
"Lord Sesshoumaru is such a prominent and influential client. How could you possibly allow yourself to behave in such a dreadful manner? It was Hanaka's glory to enjoy his patronage, but because of you, our reputation must have been tainted."
"Please forgive me, Oka! I promise I'll never allow this to happen again!" Kagome pleaded, bowing low to express her utmost remorse. It was the worst feeling in the entire world. But on top of that, she had a nagging fear which numbed all her other senses. What if she never got to see Sesshoumaru ever again? What if she was banned from seeing him? Then she would lose all connection to her sanity. An acrid feeling pricked at her eyes, and she found herself on the verge of tears, from the guilt and the remorse she felt.
"Yes, Oka...please forgive Fuji-chan. She did not mean to..." Yanagi pleaded, her sentence trailing off as her tears too, began falling. It made Kagome feel worse, for Yanagi was always so weak, sweet and vulnerable, it seemed like a heinous crime to make her cry.
"Mean to what? She should not have drunk so much if she knew she could not hold her liquor well." Ume did not give in to Yanagi's plea. "I thought she was a very sensible and mature girl, wise beyond her age. But she had to do something so disappointing to kill the trust I've placed in her."
"Oka..." Kagome felt the beginning of tears rolling down her cheeks, and there was nothing she could do to stop the onslaught of tears once the dam broke. Her heart ached to know the others had been worrying for her when she was somewhere out there, drunken. What will the okami do to her? Will she chase her out of Hanaka, out onto the streets to starve to death? Kagome had used to yearn for escape, but now that she had settled down, yet with not a single cent to her name, heavily in debt to the geisha house, staying here seemed like the best option.
Ume seemed to feel as if her words were a little too harsh on Kagome, for she toned down and said instead, "It is partly my fault. It is my fault for not taking you in hand, and also my fault for not entrusting you sooner to another 'older sister' when Kinofuji left you to get married to Lord Seiji. How careless of me...I've failed in training you well."
"It is not your fault, Oka, it is all mine..." Through the film of tears clouding her eyes, Kagome could see that the older woman's face had softened and there was only disappointment left without any trace of anger.
"Oka...please...do not punish Fuji-chan..." Yanagi pleaded, bowing low as well. The poor girl was sobbing by now, her slender shoulders shaking with the effort to speak through her tears.
Ume turned away and sighed. "Very well, Fuji. Since you seem truly remorseful, I will give you a chance to repent."
"Thank you, Oka...thank you for giving me a chance." Kagome thanked Ume profusely, while Yanagi smiled, her eyes shining with relief.
"You have to promise me to revise your training and devote yourself more to the practice of our art without being easily swayed." Ume said, gently but firmly. The ex-geisha resembled a goddess to Kagome at that instant, almost ethereal with her beauty and mercy.
"I will entrust you to another older sister, and you must promise me to learn well under her guidance, which I have total faith in."
"Yes, Oka."
"Now that Mokuren had undergone mizuage to become a geisha, I will entrust you to her older sister." The okami decided. "Fuji, you will now train under Hasu. I hope you will learn well and put in effort, and also appreciate my good intentions in allowing you to learn from such an outstanding geisha like her."
Hasu...Kagome's heart constricted uncomfortably at hearing that name. She must hate Kagome's guts for snatching Sesshoumaru, and to learn under her and perform the sisterhood ceremony, san san kudo, was going to be tough. Furthermore, a maiko's greatest asset is usually her 'oneesan' (older sister) and a deep relationship will be inevitably forged. How can she possibly survive learning under Hasu?
But on the other hand, Ume was already being very merciful in not pursuing the matter further, and Kagome should be very thankful for that.
"Yes, I will not let you down, Oka." Kagome bowed respectfully.
Ume nodded, and proceeded to leave. "I have forgiven you, but rules are still rules, and there will be punishment. You will sleep here for the night and reflect on your mistakes, and will join the young ones in doing the chores for the entire week." Pausing to gaze at Kagome, the older woman said in a much gentler tone. "I've prepared ginger tea to help you recover from the alcohol. I'll get Kinsenka to send it to you later."
"Yes, Oka."
With that, Ume left in her usual dignified manner, leaving Yanagi and Kagome in the musty-smelling shed. The two friends looked at each other and smiled through their drying tears, holding each other's hand tightly in relief.
"I was so afraid for you, Fuji-chan! I thought Oka was going to..."
"To chase me out?" Kagome finished the sentence, running the back of her hand across her eyes to dry them. "I thought so too, Yanagi-chan."
"Don't worry, Fuji-chan...everything is fine now. You don't have to be scared anymore. You know, last night when Lord Sesshoumaru brought you back, you wouldn't stir no matter how I called out to you. That's when Oka got really upset and ordered that we left you in the shed until you woke up."
"I see...Yanagi-chan, did Lord Sesshoumaru say anything? Or...did he appear unhappy or uneasy?" Kagome asked urgently, hoping to find out from Yanagi if Sesshoumaru had found out about her true identity. It was really too scary a thought if he found out.
The other girl pondered, before answering, "No. If anything, I'd say he appeared expressionless."
"That's not very helpful, Yanagi-chan." Kagome sank back onto the hay where she was sleeping on earlier.
"I'm sorry, but you know how Lord Sesshoumaru looks like...he is always so seemingly perfect and distant, there's no facial expression I could really identify."
Kagome's shoulders slumped. "I guess. He's always like that in the face of the public."
"What are you worried about, Fuji-chan?" Yanagi asked with concern shining in her eyes.
"I..." There was no way Kagome was going to tell Yanagi about how she had known Sesshoumaru all along and they actually used to be more of enemies than allies; there was simply no point in further complicating matters that were already so terribly messy. "I am afraid I might have offended him."
"I don't think he is offended in the least...in fact, he simply told us to take good care of you."
Kagome nodded. Hearing that from Yanagi made her feel so much better; at least she had one last thing to worry about now. If Sesshoumaru found out that she lied to him, it would be disastrous, and she would not be able to face him. It made her regret and curse the fact that she got into such a sticky predicament in the first place. If it wasn't for the fact that they found her and adopted her into Hanaka, she would not have become a maiko. If it wasn't for the fact that he enjoyed patronizing geishas, she wouldn't have met him. And if it wasn't for the fact that she was beginning to like him, she wouldn't be so troubled now.
"Don't worry..." Yanagi assured Kagome, scooting closer to put her arm around the latter's shoulders. "I think that is the least of your worry for now."
"You are right...there's the problem of Hasu-san. Why am I so unlucky? Of all the geishas at Hanaka, I have to learn under the one who dislikes me the most." Kagome sighed inaudibly.
"Maybe Hasu-san is not what we imagined her to be? For all you know, she does not mind Lord Sesshoumaru patronizing you."
Trust Yanagi to be always so nice and sweet. "That's impossible, Yanagi-chan. I have already stepped on her toes."
"Hmm...in this case, why not you try explaining to her that you really did not mean to go out with Lord Sesshoumaru? You can tell her what you told me - you know, about Lord Kumano trying to violate you and Lord Sesshoumaru helping you. I am sure she will understand." Yanagi suggested kindly.
"I hope so, Yanagi-chan...I will try then."
Yanagi leaned her head on Kagome's shoulder. "Everything will be alright...just believe in that. And I'll sleep here in the shed with you tonight."
"Thank you, Yanagi-chan." Kagome smiled, as her vision once again became blurry.
To be continued...