The Fallen Women

Ch 56 The Way of Tea.

Kyoko dress quickly when she woke up that morning gathered her stuff and walked to the onsen , she washed herself in the shower area and then happily lowered herself in the hot waters of the onsen, she looked over the edge of the bath and took in the natural beauty that surrounded her. She was not sure how she felt about the day ahead of her, but she supposed she had to face it otherwise it would forever eat at her.

She allowed the hot water to fully warm and relax her before she stood and left the baths, she dried off and then put on her yukata and made her way back to her room ,where she changed into her green with pink and gold flowers Houmongi Kimono, she gathered her hair into a high ponytail and then separated her hair into three sections she pinned two outside sections and broke the middle one into two and processed to twist the hair around each other when she got too the bottom she tied it off with a small hair tie and then repeated the process with the other two sections. She took the middle section and pinned it just under where the ponytail begun and then wrapped the rest of the section around the ponytail counter clockwise pinning it as she went , she then took the left section and wrapped it around clockwise and then the did the last section in the same direction pinning to secure the bun as she went she then sprayed her hair lightly and added two long hair pins with had white and pink flowers hanging from it and one golden hair clip.

She checked herself in the mirror and added a light touch of makeup before making her way to the Fuwa's for breakfast.

Kyoko knocked on the door and waited to be invited inside, the door slides open and Sukura smiled at the young lady who stood before her.

"good morning Kyoko, your just in time." She moved aside and gestured for Kyoko to enter the room "please take a seat we will join you shortly"

Kyoko settled herself in and look at the lovely arrangement of food laid before her, she took a couple of things and places them on her plate.

Kenji Fuwa sat down across from her and started filling his plate "good morning, Mogami-chan I hope you slept well."

"I did" she answered and then started eating "did you sleep well"

He nodded "Yes quite well"

"I'm glad, did everything go ok with the men last night" Kyoko asked

"Yes, they wished me to pass on their apologies."

Kyoko nodded and watched as Sukura Fuwa came back and sat next to her husband. They all sat and ate making polite small talk until they finished eating.

"thank you for coming , as I said yesterday Kenji and myself have discussed your wish to end your marriage contract with our son and while Kenji isn't inclined to release you I think it would probably be best for all concerned to end the contract but we a few requirements"

"Yes, I expected as much, what are these requirements?"

"we have six things we require for you to agree to before we will accept ending the contract , the first is that you will do two week of work with us every year until you are either twenty five or have gotten married"

Kyoko looked at the coupled in surprise that was not something she was expecting but she nodded for Sukura to continue

"the second is that you pay the equivalent of 6 years of rent and training fees"

"how much will that be?"

"about 7,117,403.00 yen"

Kyoko swallowed "do I have to pay that straight away or can I pay it off in instalments"

"I see no problem with you paying it off in instalment's unless you are getting married and then we would expect it to be paid in full before the event"

Kyoko sighed trying to work out how she would pay that debt down.

"Third you will promote our Ryokan for the next five years" Kyoko raised her eyebrow at that

"I'll need to check if I can do that with LME before I agree" Kyoko said and Sukura nodded.

"that's fine shall we continue"

"Yes, what is the fourth condition"

"you will never inform anyone other than those already aware that there was ever a marriage contract between yourself and our son"

"yes, that I can promise, no good can come from anyone else knowing about this" Kyoko said

"we agree, fifth you are required to pay the cost of your dowry as agreed upon in the previous contract."

Kyoko sighed "how much is that?"

"that should be about 347,301.40 yen"

"and I assume that falls under the same arrangement as the other money" Kyoko asked

"Yes "Sukura nodded

"and lastly you must get Sho's agreement to formally dissolve the engagement before you leave Kyoko at the end of next week"

"and if he refuses to dissolve it"

"then all of the rest of this will be invalid" stated Kenji Fuwa

"okay" Kyoko stood up "thank you for giving me your conditions I will need to talk to some people and make some plans before I confirm." She bowed to them "I should go now I have a short tea ceremony starting in an hour or so."

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The video played on repeat as he lay in bed ,the way she looked as she removed each layer of fabric from her skin fascinated him, when she stood there naked so close but so far away his desire for her became almost overwhelming ,he had stroked his harden member in time with her hand movement until he had climaxed multiple time and it still wasn't enough to satisfy him, Ren looked over at his clock and wondered if it was too early to call her ,yesterday night when he had finally finished at the snow tomb photoshoot he had been pleased to see two messages from Kyoko ,he had smiled at her warning to open the multimedia message in private and so had waited until be had arrived home before he watched it. As he watched it he was glad he had waited there definitely wouldn't had been any way for him not to have embarrassed himself if he had watched it in public, as soon as it had finished he had rung her only to get her message bank . It had felt like some cruel and unusual torture to be able to watch her play with herself but be completely unable to touch her.

He sighed as the video begun again and pressed the stop button closing the player he stood up and left his bed heading to the shower to prepare himself for another long day , just four more days until be would be in Kyoto and could hold Kyoko again it wasn't that long he reasoned with himself but no matter what he told himself it felt like the longest time ever.

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Tomas Listened as Kyoko talked to him on the phone and breathed in happily so far it had turned out better than he had hoped

"That all sounds fairly reasonable and easily arranged. I'll write up a contract and bring it up this evening, is there anything you want added to it" he asked

"no, I'm fine with meeting all their requirements, I do find the amount of money terrifying, but they seem to be being fair"

Tomas nodded in agreement before remembering he was on the phone "yes, it could have been much worst"

He pulled out a pen and started writing "so just the five conditions, the rent and training, the dowry, the promotion campaign, the employment agreement and an NDA"

"Yes, that's everything" replied Kyoko

"Ok, I start working on that now and I'll see you soon"

"Thank you Tomas-san" said Kyoko sweetly "I'll see you later" and then she hung up and Tomas wondered how this young lady could be so calm about everything that had been sent her way ,he had worked in the entertainment industry for years and while he loved his job generally the young people he worked for were one step away from crazy but I more he interacted with Kyoko the more impressed he became.

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Sho looked down at the message on his phone in confusion not at all sure what to make of it but he couldn't help the smile that came to his face as he read the message again and he could almost hear her voice as he read it

Sho I am at your parent's place, we had some particularly important matters we need to discuss could you please come back to Kyoto and come see me.

Kyoko was back at home ,back where she belonged and she wanted to see him he laughed as he felt a sense of victory wash over him , yes he had beat Tsuruga-san and Kyoko was now crawling back to him, oh he would make her beg and then plead he may even take her for a little ride before he rejected her preferably in front of as many people as possible. After all he didn't take anyone sloppy seconds and she really should be made to pay for how bad she had been making him look in the public, he laughed again and the happiness that had left him the last couple of week came back full force knowing that everything was just as it should be.

He took out his phone and typed a quick response "I'll be there tomorrow"

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Kyoko took three deep breaths to steady her nerves , she checked her makeup and hair and looked at the clock half an hour to go ,she looked around the room checking that everything was in place that all the equipment was back in the correct area, she had breezed by her earlier tea ceremony and had started her plan of attack on the Sho issue but now as the clock ticked away and the hour of Saena arrival approached she couldn't stop her brain from going round in circles all her emotion twisted like into a ball of yarn that a kitten had gotten into all hopelessly tangled , why had she thought this was a good idea ,it was stupid nothing good could come of this .

Kyoko stopped and took three more deep breath and forced herself to calm down. There was no point worrying about it now she just had to go ahead with her plan. She walked over to the sideboard and poured herself a glass of sake, she swallowed it and poured herself another which she drank slower.

Kyoko head shot up as she heard the ding ding that alerted her that her next guest had arrived, she took one last breath and headed to the entrance to guide Saena to the tea house.

Kyoko felt the pain as soon as she saw Saena standing in the hallway, back straight and as beautiful as Kyoko remember, Kyoko bowed to her "Konnichiwa, Saena please follow me"

They walked silently to the tea house when they arrived Kyoko pointed to a mat Please leave your shoes here" Saena stood on the spot Kyoko pointed to and removed her shoes before following Kyoko to a small water feature where they both washed their hands as you would at a temple purifying themselves before they each took their places facing each other.
"thank you for joining me Saena and welcome, please feel free to have some of these"

Saena Acknowledge the welcome and looked at the small tea treats place on a small red silk cloth and pick up the small flower and ate it slowly , she watched as Kyoko cleansed each tool ritually, placing each required piece in its spot between them, the bamboo whisk, the matcha powder ,the tea pot and the bowl

Kyoko scooped three lots of powder into the tea bowl and slowly added a cup of the hot water from the pot into the bowl kneading the mixture with the whisk when she show that the thick tea was ready she passed the bowl over to Saena, who sipped at the bowl nodded in approval before wiping the bowl with the cloth in front of her and passing it back to Kyoko who cleanse the bowl and then started preparing the thin tea She place one scoop of matcha and one cup of water into the bowl and whisk until the mixture was a lighter colour and frothy

"Please enjoy" she said as she passed Saena sweeter and the tea bowl.

They both sat silently as Saena drank the tea "you are quite good at this" observed Saena between sips.

Kyoko looked at Saena sadly to think that just before the end she would finally do something that Saena could praise her for and all it's did was made Kyoko feel sad , it wasn't that long ago that she would have done anything to get even one positive word from this woman.

"yes, I trained for hours when I was younger ,I wanted to please the Fuwa's and I always thought that maybe if I could at least do this well you may have visited me and been pleased"

Saena nibbled the sweet and continued sipping the tea.

"the Fuwa's did send reports of your progress but I admit I never took the time to read them"

"Yes ,I know I used to see Sukura writing them , I once added a note to her envelop for you when she wasn't looking and the next time I saw you it was clear you hadn't read it"

Saena was unsure what to say to that so instead she just hand back the now empty bowl which Kyoko set about cleansing again when she finished she cleansed all her tools again and then set them on the table .

Saena picked up the tools and examined them closely "these are lovely tools"

"They are my favourite set "replied Kyoko she looked at Saena who was studying the intricate pattern in the tea bowl

"I'm sure your wondering why I requested you to come here Saena"

Saena nodded and gently placed the bowl down "yes I was"

Kyoko paused "I just needed to ask a couple of question and tell you one thing; would it be ok if I ask them now"

"if you must now be as good a time as any"

"Have you had any contact with my father?"

"no, I did look for him before I gave you over to the Fuwa formally but he didn't exist that man made a fool of me and left no way to track him down if you want to try yourself I can send what information I had to that lawyer of yours"

Kyoko thought about it "I don't know if I'll ever use it but yes, I would like you to send that information."

Saena sighed and waited quietly for Kyoko to continue

"why did you place me here, why did you arrange a marriage contract for me"

"I imagine that what you want today if full honesty"

"Yes, let's be completely honest with each other"

"okay then, I couldn't stand to look at you any more , every time I saw your face I hated you, I hated what my life was like with you in it, I hated the way you smiled and looked and I needed you gone so I could pretend that I never made such a big mistake and maybe get my life back on track , I was scared if I kept seeing you that I would kill you I remember at times thinking how easy it would be to kill you nobody really knew us I could of put a pillow over your head or poisoned you and then tossed you in the river ,anyway I knew the Fuwa's from before my mother died and you came along they often took in women and girls to train up, some as ryokan maids and other for pre Makio training so I started leaving you with them but at the time I didn't have enough money to pay them to train you and you were a little young but she had a son who had become attached to you so we decided that the marriage contract was the best way forward, I left you here and I got my life back"

Kyoko stared at the woman as she tried to take in all the information that she had just received and to control her emotions she felt her hands tremble as she held back her tears.

"Was there never a time never a time when you loved me, even a bit"

"how can one love a thorn in their side"

A single tear slides down Kyoko face

"Thank you for the honesty, I think it's only fair I that I also be honest with you"

Saena looked at her and nodded in acceptance

" I would have done anything for you ,you didn't have to love me all you had to do was care a little but I see that is beyond your capabilities , it wasn't my fault you made that mistake or that you choose to give birth to me and keep me , you would have had options but instead you choose to punish me again and again and again, you destroyed me and then dumped me on the world and then when I was finally healing you decided it was time to do more damage you know really finish me off. I don't know why you did it but I know that I will never forgive you , I may never stop loving you or wanting your approval, I may never fully heal from your neglect or abuse but I won't let you hurt me anymore" Kyoko wiped away a tear from her check "one day when you look back on this on our whole relationship you'll reject the way you treated me but I won't because I'll be happy and content and I will never think about you . I know it's not going to be today or tomorrow or probably anytime soon, but it will happen"

Kyoko stood "well I think that everything I needed to know and say, do you have anything you would like to add"

"I did it because I could see it coming out and destroying the life I'd made for myself ,I'm highly respected at the moment but if people learned that I had a child that would all disappear and I don't have it in me to start again , it may be selfish but I don't care how it made you feel I needed the protection"

"I see thank you for telling me, now I think it's time for you to leave"

Saena bowed to Kyoko "thank you for the tea" stood up and left the tea house and Kyoko life.

Kyoko wiped her face and walked to her room, grabbed her phone, she walks to the little stream and dialled Ren.