Chapter 28
Sorry I took so long, but here it is – the next chapter you've all been anticipating! I'm also discontinuing the disclaimer until the plot starts coinciding with the novel again (which is soon, trust me). Thanks for your comments and support!
A week later, I sat reading a magazine when the phone rang in Mother's room. I already knew who it was; Katsuraga-san, demanding to know where I was.
The day after Kohaku and I talked, our okiya received an angry phone call demanding to know what I had to do that was so important that I had to reschedule our meeting. She was even haughtier than usual, but I made sure to match her tone with one of equal airy nonchalance. All it did was infuriate her more, but I didn't care. In fact, it worked to my advantage. The one to pick up the phone the first morning was Mother – her deference to the once illustrious okiya long gone, Katsuraga-san's salty tone did nothing to endear herself further.
So was the case again when Katsuraga-san called that day, insisting to know why I was an hour late for our meeting. Mother could only try to be civil.
"Katsuraga-san, I assure you that… Yes, I know your time is very important… Well, if your other associates refuse to wait a bit longer, perhaps you never should've rescheduled, hmm?" she snapped, all civility gone. Mother then slammed the phone on the receiver and walked into the dining room.
"Do you mind telling me why the mistress of another okiya is barking at me that you're over an hour late for your meeting? Just what is going on, Hatsumomo?"
"Nothing, Mother," I said sweetly. "I'm just getting the pieces together for a little negotiation. I'm sorry if Katsuraga-san was sharp with you."
"I don't know what you think you're trying to pull, but I want you to get ready and get over there now. I'll decide if anything needs to be negotiated; you would do best sticking to looking pretty and earning money."
"Sorry, Mother, but Kohaku appealed to me specially; it's my duty to help," I said, sweeping up the stairs to get dressed.
It was a warm spring day in late March when I left the okiya. I really should've been in school or entertaining, but I was enjoying all the downtime I could get before the unbelievably hectic cherry-blossom viewing season. If a geisha as popular as me kept at her already busy schedule before the explosion of tourists and parties, she'd be dead of exhaustion before the end of the week. Not that it wasn't worth it – in that short amount of time alone, I could earn enough to keep the okiya afloat until September.
I was admiring the pink buds on the tree just outside of the Katsuraga okiya, when I caught sight of the mistress herself, glowering at me from the window. I gave her a wide smile before stepping into the entryway and knocking on the door.
The okiya was a little larger than ours, and worthy of their past prestige: sunlight gleamed off of mahogany floors and ceiling beams; pure white paper in the sliding doors opened to rooms with silk-lined tatami; and works of art - some of them priceless - sat in almost every room. Thirty or so years ago, the Katsuraga okiya was one of the most famous and prestigious in all of Japan, not to mention the wealthiest. But times had changed and they'd lost almost all of their vast wealth, as evidenced by the nearly total lack of maids and thick layer of dust on several of the antique art cases.
The okiya was quiet as I was led upstairs – probably all of the resident geisha were either out entertaining or at the school. At least we would have privacy for this battle, I thought as the maid opened the door and announced my arrival. Although I'd finally shown up, Katsuraga-san looked none too happy to see me. Sitting behind a cherrywood desk and wrapped in a blue silk robe, she fixed me with a look that suggested an angry empress sentencing someone to death. I smiled openly back at her, well aware that it was her judgment day, not mine.
"Hatsumomo-san, how good of you to finally decide to show up," she sniffed in her haughtiest voice.
"Don't be silly; I would never neglect a chance to discuss business about my apprentices, Haru-san," I replied cheerfully, using her first name and pretending not to notice the insult written on her face. "Now what exactly was it that you wanted to discuss? It's about Kohaku-chan's upcoming mizuage, correct?"
"How clever of you to have guessed," she snipped. "To be precise, I wanted to inform you about her mizuage patron. There will be no need for her to participate in the bidding this summer – Ren Matsuda has already offered a significant sum of money for the right, and I've accepted it."
I stayed quiet the whole time she spoke, and for a few moments after, before saying, "Do you mean to tell me that you've chosen Kohaku's mizuage patron yourself? And now you want me to cancel the bidding for her mizuage?"
"Not 'cancel' – hold a mock bidding war, if you like. My point is, I've personally chosen Matsuda-san as her future patron, so all actual bidding is forbidden. You are not to allow anyone to bid a single sen on her."
"Well, Haru-jii," I snapped back, using the title for an elderly person, "I hate to tell you this, but Kohaku's mizuage will go on as planned. You may as well give Matsuda-san a call and give the man his money back – the agreement is void as of now."
"On whose authority?" she demanded, eyes wide in rage.
"On whose authority did you make the agreement in the first place? This okiya may have been firmly on top in the past, Haru-jii, but not anymore. Your tarnished name only buys you so much, so I'd advise you to stop overreaching you rank."
"How dare you…!" she gasped, infuriated.
"How dare you make such a sneaky, underhanded deal without anyone's permission or consent, not even mine? No, this is what's going to happen; you're going to call Ren Matsuda and you're going to tell him that you've changed your mind and you're sending back the money he gave you."
"And what makes you think that I'd do a single filthy word that came out of your mouth, you little brat?"
"Because I know a secret of yours that would ensure that this place dies with you if it was ever uncovered," I said simply, looking her directly in the eye. "I know that you've been manipulating both my okiya and Mameha-san's for your own benefit."
"So? Business is business; no one can do anything to me for taking advantage of your rivalry," she smirked, smug in her perceived victory.
"You think too much of the law, and not enough about the people involved. I don't think Mameha-san would take kindly to realizing that she's been nothing but a pawn this whole time, and I know Mother would be less than happy."
"If you don't like it, then drop Kohaku as your sister. I'll have one of the distinguished ladies here train her instead, and I'm sure that they'd do a much better job in satisfying my goals."
"Drop Kohaku? Never! Think of the star Gion would lose if she fails to turn her collar. She's much too valuable to abandon, not to mention one of the most popular apprentices in all of Gion, along with Sakura-chan. But that little toad of a daughter you have, on the other hand…"
"What did you say about my child?" she positively hissed, eyes narrowing like an angry lizard. "Tamame will be twice the geisha that country rat is now when she reaches her age! Kohaku is nothing but a failure; why else do you think that I chose not to adopt her and have her trained by the best geisha in Kyoto?"
"Are you sure you're talking about the correct girl?" I said, ignoring the obvious slight. "I've heard tales of your precious Tamame out in the teahouses – they say not a more graceless, untalented, lazy, bratty, and plain-looking girl has ever dared to put on a kimono. Geisha who once considered Mameha an enemy now almost pity her for being stuck with such a creature. It's the mystery of the year why she hasn't cut the little runt out of her life like a bunion. All that stalling about her debut was Mameha trying desperately to avoid being stuck with her, right? Tell me; what could you possibly have over Miss Prissy that's so powerful, that she can't even drop a disease like Tamame?"
"You're lying," Katsuraga-san insisted, although her face said that she knew every word was true. "You're not as smart as you like to think you are – that 'stalling', as you call it, was a dispute over the amount Mameha should get as Tamame's older sister. I thought she should get less since she'd recently acquired a man as rich as the Baron as her danna, and they disagreed. And I don't have anything over her. Mameha-san was happy to take her on as her sister, as thanks for setting her up with Mametsuki when she was younger."
Cutting through the pretty spin she put on things, in reality Mameha really did only end up with Mametsuki as an older sister thorough her mistress' then-friendship with Katsuraga-san, who was also a friendly acquaintance with Mametsuki. But rather than consider it a gift, she called it a favor and asked that it be repaid when her adopted daughter was old enough to debut. I don't know what good she thought she could accomplish for her daughter – Mameha was a geisha, not a miracle-worker.
"You may not like it, but you know I'm not lying. You also must know that Mameha has been desperate for a reason to get rid of her affliction for these past few years. As things stand now, she still owes you, but do you think she or her ex-okiya would care if they knew you had secret dealings with their biggest rivals? I could easily go home right now and place the call that would give her the perfect excuse to leave the two of you out in the cold."
"You don't scare me." She tried to flash me a defiant smile, but it came out a grimace. "Even if Mameha is foolish enough to drop Tamame, I could always have one of the women here train her, as I've said."
"No, you couldn't," I smiled back. "We both know that once a girl's been abandoned by her sister, a horrible stigma follows her throughout her career. You'll remember my unfortunate sister, Hatsuoki? She'll never survive the blow, and neither would any poor woman you try to force her on. It wouldn't surprise me if every geisha here would rather leave than get saddled with you failure of a child. And I'd be more than happy to help them do it."
Her face turned a strange mixture of colors, as if her own brain couldn't make up its mind whether to turn red with anger or go pale with fear. She had every reason to be upset; if I made good on my threat, she could never leave the okiya to a girl with a reputation so damaged. She'd have to either disown Tamame and find another girl to be her daughter, or shut the Katsuraga okiya down as soon as she retires. Finally, she leaned back, took a couple of breaths and said, "What do you want from me, you harlot?"
"I've already told you, Haru-san," I said sweetly. "I want you to call up Matsuda-san and tell him that you no longer want him to be Kohaku-chan's mizuage patron. Make up whatever excuse you like, just so long as he gets the message that he's not allowed. I'll sit right here while you pick up the phone and do that for me."
She glared daggers at me from across the table, but her hand still picked up the receiver and dialed the number. In a few minutes, it was done; she told the assistant who answered that Kohaku was no longer available to be his and that his money would be refunded in full. Satisfied, I gave her a little bow, thanked her for her cooperation, and stood to leave. I'd almost made it to the door when she spoke again.
"Don't think I don't know why you're doing this," she growled. "I know that little brat came to you about this because she wants Takui Matsuda for her own danna. Well, you can tell her that just because his brother won't be her mizuage patron, it doesn't mean that she's still anywhere near good enough to be his mistress. That privilege will still go to Tamame."
"Wait, do you mean to tell me that this whole time, you were planning to stick Takui-san with Tamame? After all the damage she's caused to Mameha?"
"You shut up!" she snapped. "Mameha's suffering because of her own worthlessness as an older sister! She was supposed to turn Tamame into one of the best geisha in Gion – she was certainly ready for it when she debuted. The only reason I bothered sending Kohaku to you was to spread your rivalry to the girls. The competition would whip her into shape enough to be a wonderful geisha and a worthy heir to the Katsuraga okiya. When that happened, I was going to drop Kohaku's miserable hide and sell her off to the first jorou-ya to want her. But instead, this happens!"
"So you sent her to me to be trained only half-decently and then discarded, but Mameha's sister was supposed to be the rousing success?"
"Of course! Why would I ever want that brat to grow popular enough to challenge my daughter's right to run the okiya?"
"And when you say that you'd have one of the geisha who live here to train her…?"
"I mean I'd have them destroy her reputation and get her driven out of the trade. That's all she's good for, and you couldn't even do that right. You were just as worthless as Mameha," she huffed, back to her lofty self. "Now get out of this okiya – I never want to see you anywhere near here again. You should be lucky that I don't call Nitta-san to have her put you in your place for speaking to me so rudely. I'm aware that your Granny is in the habit of beating girls until bones break; she should've saved her strength for you and not your head maid."
"…I see. Well, I won't take up your time any longer. Good-bye, Katsuraga-san." I was thoroughly steamed but I didn't show it until I got outside, when I grabbed a low branch on their cherry tree and snapped it off with one hand. As soon as I got home, I demanded some tea before popping into Mother's room to deliver my report.
"How did your…negotiations go, Hatsumomo?" Mother snorted without even looking up from her books.
"Well, I'm banned from the okiya and don't expect her to be too happy to see either of us the next time we have the occasion to meet, but otherwise, it was a success."
"And that's why you should never do business yourself, you stupid girl," she growled, unhappy that I should anger an associate. "Regardless of what you got, you've damaged our reputation with another okiya, and possibly all their allies."
"They have no true alliances left. And you'll be happy I did after you hear what's been going on behind your back, Mother." It was at that point that I told her about Katsuraga-san's little scheme that had been years in the making; everything from when I first heard of it, to Mameha's involvement, down to all that I'd learned today. I made sure to stress the fact that we were set up to be the chumps while our biggest rival was supposed to be the happy hero.
After I'd finished, she sat there quietly, tapping a rhythm with her pipe as her nostrils flared in anger. Finally, she said, "Drop the girl. I refuse to have any dealings with them any further. From now on, you only have one sister."
"Sorry, but I can't do that, Mother. Like I already told Katsuraga-san, Kohaku's too big of an asset to drop. You're overlooking the fact that she one of the most popular apprentices in Gion, not to mention one of the top-earning."
"So is Sakura-chan, and her okiya is a lot more trustworthy," Mother snorted.
"But this close to her mizuage? You stand to lose a lot of money if we abandon her now. As her older sister, I can tell you that nothing less than a crowd of men would be happy to bid for her mizuage, plenty of them rich. I'd be surprised if she didn't break Mameha's record by the time all is said and done. She most certainly isn't far from paying her debts."
"That's all fine and good, but that doesn't change the fact that this okiya has been lied to the entire time she was here. What else could she be hiding?"
"She may have lied, true, but I can promise you that we're the ones who came out on top in this. Mameha's trapped in nothing less than a Hell right now with her apprentice, while we ended up with a beautiful girl who's shaping up to be a fine geisha." Seeing that she was less than convinced, I decided to change tactics. "If you're still determined that she should go, then how about this; we can drop her after her mizuage. Why not make a nice sum for your trouble?"
"And what is it that you get out of this? You wouldn't be suggesting it if there wasn't."
"It's more of a wager. If Kohaku can make at least half of Mameha's mizuage record, I continue training her until she turns her collar. That's only another several months, and she's made you so much already. Do you think that much would placate your anger that long?"
Mother sat mulling things over, smoking at her pipe. Then she said, "Simply for the fact that I think she'll fail, you've got a deal. I'll call Katsuraga and tell her of my generosity in the light of her transgressions, and inform her that I'll be pocketing a larger sum than normal for my troubles, whatever she makes. Once that's over, she's gone."
"Fair enough," I bowed and quietly left. But instead of going to my room to sleep before the busy night ahead, I shut the door and crept through the maids' room to Yoko's station.
After flipping through the directory in her desk, I grabbed the phone and called Mameha's ex-okiya, posing as a teahouse receptionist to inquire of her current phone number. As soon as the maid picked up the phone in Mameha's apartment, I dropped the guise.
"This is Hatsumomo," I told her briskly. "Tell your mistress to come to the phone; I have some news about one of her apprentices that would greatly interest her…"
