Got a slightly meatier chapter for y'all again this week. So kind of me, I know.
Enjoy!
For nearly a week now, Kagura had kept up her ruse of being a courtesan. No more murders had occurred, and with just a little petting and groping each night, she was practically swimming in cash.
Kagura wasn't ashamed to admit that after five nights doing the same routine, she had the courtesan act down pat. She knew just how to tease; how to flirt; how to touch a man to make him go wild. Businessmen, military men, and government officials alike were putty in her hands and she loved it.
Who was a gorilla-faced muscle girl? Who was worth only a few thousand yen? She was raking in more cash each night with her pretty face than Gin-chan and those crooked tax-robbers made combined.
Let's see you undervalue me now, you cotton-ball-eyed jerks! she thought as she straddled the thigh of a smitten shogunate official. The man was already dumb-drunk and having the time of the life with a pretty girl grinding on his leg.
"Ah, Kagura-chaaaan!" he groaned as she pressed her knee into his crotch so that he could benefit from the friction. She smirked as she watched such a powerful man squirm and plead beneath her. This was a man whose whims affected the fate of Edo, and yet a mere touch from her made him beg and whine like a starved dog.
"Mr. Inoue," she breathed against his ear in her most sultry voice. "You make me so hot… I think I need a drink."
She gave her hips one final thrust and reached for the nearest bottle. Keeping him distracted by staring directly into his eyes, she deftly slipped the usual capsule from her sleeve into the bottle and gave it a little swish. She then held the bottle out to him. "Please, won't you drink first? Then when I drink it'll be like we're…" she flicked her eyes away briefly as if she were embarrassed, "k-kiss—."
The client immediately grasped the bottle and threw it back.
Kagura grinned as she watched its contents drain into the man's throat. He was so eager to do as she requested that he'd forgotten he was supposed to leave some for her.
That suited her just fine. She hadn't intended to drink anyway.
The man was out before he'd even put the bottle down. Kagura sniggered and rose off his leg to begin her routine of making the room look as if it had been fornicated in.
Too easy. That killer needed to show up soon or she might actually consider turning this into a career.
oOo
Kagura was on top of the world. Utterly and unequivocally. She was rich. She was powerful. She was wanted. She was living her dream of making a life as a Yato without having to hurt anybody. Completely the opposite, she'd found a job that brought people pleasure. It was the best.
But, as life often went, when things seem like they're going the best, that's often a sign that they're about to take a turn for the worst.
Kagura had been told this before, but she hadn't truly believed it until she woke the next morning to find Mr. Inoue sleeping with a knife in his belly.
Kagura's eyes widened in shock and confusion. She blinked and rubbed her eyes, but the scene remained the same. Blood stained the white of the futon in the spot where the knife was embedded and Mr. Inoue's skin remained a deathly blue pallor. She shook her head in disbelief.
How could this be? Mr. Inoue wasn't a courtesan, he was a client. And he had been killed in her very own room.
It didn't make sense. She hadn't put that knife in him. Which could only mean…
Not wasting any time, Kagura scrambled to her feet and rushed out of the room to find Tsukuyo and Hinowa.
oOo
Sougo bounced his foot absently as he lounged on his back on the wooden walkway outside his room at the Shinsengumi headquarters. It was his day off and he was determined to spend it as lazily as possible. He had his headphones in and was happily listening to rakugo which he was using to drown out Hijikata who had appeared some minutes ago and was attempting to have a conversation with him.
"Hey, Sougo, are you listening to me? Oy."
Sougo didn't avert his eyes from the blue sky. "Yeah, that's really something. Die, Hijikata."
He vaguely made out the sound of Hijikata sighing and felt the dull thuds of the man's feet as he moved to sit beside him. "Don't pretend to mishear me. I'm being serious here, Sougo. Kondo-san and I are both concerned about this."
This time, Sougo did deign to give the man a glance. "And?" he prompted. "What do you think you can do about it? This is above both your heads, isn't it?"
The line of Hijikata's mouth tightened briefly and he said, "That's…"
Noting more came out. Sougo was right, after all.
"If you understand, then drop it. It's nothing to go picking fights with the bigwigs over." He turned his face back to the sky and closed his eyes. Honestly, having the chief and Hijikata stick their noses into this was the last thing he wanted. The Shinsengumi were already in a precarious position what with the Mimawarigumi currying more and more favor with the government. They didn't need to risk their image dropping even further by getting into a row with the people who paid them over a little extra work.
Hijikata was clearly dissatisfied with being waved off because he lit a cigarette and puffed on it angrily.
Sougo knew he wanted to say more on the subject, but he didn't get the chance, because in the next moment a lower-ranking officer approached the two of them with a look that said he had an announcement. "Captain Okita," the man spoke, saluting respectfully, "one of the Odd Jobs is here to see you."
Sougo didn't have to tell the man to send the person in. As soon as he finished his announcement, Spectacles appeared from behind him.
Sougo lazily turned his neck to acknowledge him. "Oh. This is unexpected," he drawled, actually sitting up and removing one of his earbuds. "To what do I owe the pleasure—ugh, forget it. State your reason for visiting and make it quick. It's my day off."
He was expecting Spectacles to bore him with a complaint about their stalker chief. He was not expecting the kid to open his mouth and, as serious as he'd ever heard him, ask, "Okita-san, have you seen Kagura?"
Sougo blinked. Beside him, Hijikata rounded on him with a glower. "Oy, what did you do?" he demanded accusingly.
Sougo kicked him in the shin. "China?" he questioned, ignoring Hijikata's pained cursing. "Not recently. Why do you ask?"
Spectacles sighed like this wasn't the answer he'd wanted hear. "I see. I was hoping you might know something about where she's been for the past week. She's been gone every night and Gin-san and I are starting to worry."
Sougo straightened at this. "Gone every night, you say?" He thought back to the last time he'd seen the girl, four days ago. He'd tailed her all the way to the Yoshiwara district before having to give up. He'd wondered what she was doing going there at dusk of all times, and now hearing that she'd been gone many nights in succession caused a feeling of suspicion to rise inside him. "Have you tried asking her?" he inquired, half out of curiosity and half just to be annoying.
Spectacles nodded. "Of course we've tried asking her, but all she ever tells us is that she's taken some special job. She won't reveal any details about it and all we know is that it apparently pays very well."
Sougo hummed low in his throat as he added this new bit of information to his own.
So, the brat had been staying out at night doing a job she refused to talk about and making a lot of money from it.
A job that very likely had something to do with the Yoshiwara pleasure district.
His eyes narrowed. He'd seen firsthand the kind of money Spectacles was talking about. He also knew that the sorts of jobs that paid out that kind of cash were very limited, particularly in a place like Yoshiwara.
His feeling of suspicion was growing rapidly.
"I thought maybe she'd gotten involved in some kind of police work. You were asking about her before so I was hoping you knew something. But if even you don't know, then I'm afraid I'm out of people to ask."
Sougo kept his lips firmly glued together. He was pretty sure now that he did know something, but he highly doubted it was the kind of thing the boy wanted to hear.
He pointed his gaze out across the courtyard as if he could see all the way to the Yoshiwara district from his room. This was… a troubling revelation.
His mouth settled into a hard line. China… what have you gotten yourself into?
Behind him, Spectacles sighed. "Well, I'd better return to the shop. I guess I'll just have to be firmer about asking her."
Sougo heard him turn around in preparation to leave, but before he could take a step, a commotion in the yard caught all three men's attention.
"Hm? What's that racket about?" Hijikata vocalized their collective confusion.
A moment later, another lower-ranked officer came running toward where they were sitting. "Vice-Chief Hijikata! Captain Okita!" he called as he came to a screeching halt before them. "Urgent news!"
Hijikata removed his cigarette and gave the man a nod. "Speak. What's going on?"
The man saluted crisply but his face was pale. "Inoue-kokushi has been assassinated, sir. He was found dead early this morning."
Both Hijikata and Sougo's eyes widened. "Inoue as in Inoue Masanao? Of the Shogun's council?" Hijikata pressed the man.
The officer nodded. "The very same, sir. The news is spreading all over the city. I can't confirm this, but there's a rumor that he was killed while…um…conducting business in the Yoshiwara district."
The Yoshiwara District. There was that name again.
Abruptly, Sougo stood.
"Oy, Sougo, what are you doing?" Hijikata asked as he grabbed his sword and slid it into his belt.
Sougo didn't look at him. His eyes were once again trained across the yard. "I need to talk to Kondo-san," was all he said in reply.
He didn't wait for Hijikata or the spectacled Odd Jobs to question this declaration. He was already gone before they could think to.
oOo
"This… is bad."
The room was quiet upon Tsukuyo's stating of what was generally agreed to be the state of their current situation.
Tsukuyo sighed and ran a hand through her pale hair. "Ugh, of all the things to happen, I never expected our killer to switch from courtesans to clients."
That was the only conclusion the three of them, Kagura, Tsukuyo, and Hinowa, had been able to come to. The Yoshiwara killer had snuck into Kagura's room and stuck a knife in her client. It was the only explanation that made sense.
"Unfortunately," she continued, "This looks very bad for Kagura. Obviously, we in Yoshiwara know that Kagura is innocent, but convincing the rest of Edo of that is going to be a hell of an endeavor." She took a long drag from her pipe and exhaled pale smoke into the air. "The Bakufu are going to point their fingers at the easiest target, and that's you." She pointed her pipe at Kagura who was sitting on the bench in Hinowa's shop and picking flowers from her hair.
"I'm so sorry, Kagura-chan. This is all our fault," Hinowa apologized, looking down at her lap in shame. "We never should have gotten you mixed up in this."
Kagura paused in removing the flowers to shake her head. "It's not your fault," she told the two brooding women. "It's that no-good coward of a killer. Besides, you said Mr. Inoue had a lot of enemies, right? Don't political figures get knocked off in Yoshiwara all the time?"
Tsukuyo exhaled another tendril of smoke. "I won't deny it. But Inoue-dono was the holder of one of the highest positions in Edo. At the very least, we can count on an investigation."
Kagura smiled. "It'll be fine," she assured the older woman. "This just means that we have even more reasons to catch the real killer."
Tsukuyo crossed her arms and shook her head. "I don't know where you pull all that optimism from. It's honestly astounding."
"If you give up at the first sign of adversity, you'll never get anywhere," she informed both women with a sage nod. "Better to keep fighting all the way till the end. That's what Gin-chan would say."
The two were silent for a moment following Kagura's declaration. Tsukuyo looked at Hinowa and something unspoken passed between them. They then both looked back at Kagura and smiled. "You're right," Tsukuyo conceded. "This was unexpected and a big hiccup, but the plan can still move forward. If you're willing, that is."
Kagura grinned and smacked her fist into her palm. "You bet! You think I'm gonna let that bastard frame me and get away with it? Not on his life! Even if he only did it to scare me, I'll show him that I'm not intimidated. He can come for me anytime he wants."
She would just need to be even more careful. Even if it meant sleeping with one eye open, Kagura would catch this man. She was more determined than ever.
oOo
That night, Kagura donned her very finest kimono and decorated her hair with the new kanzashi she'd bought at the market in addition to her usual flowers. She sat straight and proud on her cushion as she waited for her client to arrive.
She was going to show the Yoshiwara Killer just how unafraid of him she was.
Come at me, she challenged him in her head. If you think you can scare a Yato with a single dead body, you've got another thing coming to you.
The client tonight was reportedly some well-off silk merchant from oversees. Tsukuyo had been able to offer little information about him save for that he was a here-again-gone-again kind of visitor to Yoshiwara and that he had a reputation for being loose with both his money and his tongue.
His likelihood of being the killer? Slim.
His likelihood of being an easy mark? Very high.
As the door slid open, Kagura smirked to herself. Time to do what she did best. She bowed her head the way she always did, exposing the back of her neck. "Welcome, Mr. Yen Fay," she spoke in her smoothest, most inviting voice. She raised her head in a fluid motion and smiled radiantly. "I am Kagura. It will be my pleasure to serve…"
Her greeting died on her lips as her eyes swept over the features of the man standing in the doorway.
Dark red eyes looked back at her from a face framed by sandy blond hair. Their owner wore an impassive expression as he gazed down at her, one hand still holding the edge of the door. The look was one she'd seen a million times on that face, but tonight his eyes bored into hers with an intensity that was unfamiliar to her.
Her mouth went dry. He wasn't supposed to be here.
"Hello, China."
oO0Oo
Oh snip snap crickly crack. You all saw it coming.