A/N sorry i took so long to release the 3rd chapter I was very sick with a cold and stuck in bed for a long while but i'm finally better . I hope you guys enjoy this chapter .

Ghost of Himeka

Shizuma returned to the inn and began preparing breakfast. She gently squeezed the rice in her hand creating a ball then shaping it into a pointy triangle, then she placed a layer of seaweed on the bottom. Placing the finished rice ball on a plate, she continued the process again scoping another ball of rice into her hand. After making breakfast she sat down on her porch and ate two of the rice balls she made leaving the rest on the table inside for Megumi to eat when she woke.

As she watched the cherry blossoms fall from the trees she began singing:

Sakura, sakura,
Yayoi no sora wa
Miwatasu kagiri
Kasumi ka kumo ka
Nioi zo izuru
Iza ya
Iza ya
Mi ni yukan

"That's my favorite song. My mother used to sing it to me when I was a little girl," Megumi interrupted. Shizuma stopped singing and turned around to look at her.

"It's a very popular song... my mother used to sing it to me as well. I've made you some breakfast; it's on the table," Shizuma added.

Megumi walked over to the table, taking a rice ball from the plate and eating it while Shizuma took in the morning scenery. She stared at the cherry blossom petals that fell from the tree's boughs.

"Would you like to listen me play my shamisen at the tea house tonight?" Shizuma asked.

"Hai, it would be a lot better than staying here all alone." Megumi grinned.

Later that night, Shizuma told Megumi to wait at the tea house while she brought some new strings for her shamisen. Megumi smiled and acquiesced, unaware that Shizuma had only revenge on her mind. Shizuma changed into a white kimono, putting her long silver mane into a bun once more. Since it was raining hard outside, she opened her blue umbrella to shield herself as she rushed through the crowd of people in the city until she returned to the house she had seen earlier that morning.

Slowly, she walked up to the house and knocked on the door. A short woman with long black hair and brown eyes opened the sliding door Shizuma immediately recognized her as the woman she had spied on that morning.

"Who might you be?" the woman asked, annoyed.

"I am a dear friend of your husband. May I please come in?"

The woman reluctantly invited Shizuma in and motioned for her to sit down by a wooden table in her room.

"Would you like some tea ojou-san?" the woman asked.

"Onegai," Shizuma answered.

The woman set two cups of tea on the table. Shizuma drank it cupping it gently and they both chatted, the woman- Rina- opening up to Shizuma about her life.

"How did you and my husband meet?" Rina asked.

"Well you'll find out soon enough."

Shizuma got up from where she was sitting and picked up her umbrella, pulling a long katana from the handle of the umbrella and pointing it at Rina.

"You're going to do what I say, or else I will kill you. Understand?" Shizuma demanded. Terrified, Rina nodded in agreement. After giving her instructions, Shizuma spotted a man's silhouette approaching the screen door and she quickly hid in the kitchen.

"Do it just as I told you," Shizuma whispered loud enough for only Rina to hear.

"Rina, tadaima! What's for dinner?'' the man called out.

"I made your favorite, dear. Miso soup," she answered as she placed his dinner on the table.

"I can see that you're living quite well."

He stopped eating as he heard Shizuma's voice.

"It's been a long time hasn't Takanori?" Shizuma continued as she came out of hiding with an menacing grimace on her face.

"Who are you?" the man asked.

"It hurts that you don't remember who I am but I'll refresh your memory. A long time ago you took the love of life from me."

Shizuma then grabbed Rina and placed her katana close to her neck .

"Now I'll do the same to you."

"Ha- Ha- Hanazono Shizuma," he whispered, staring in terror.

"I'll make you feel the same pain I felt that day," Shizuma promised, pressing the knife close enough to draw blood from Rina's neck.

"Please, have mercy! Don't kill my wife, I beg of you, spare us!"

"Spare you? Don't make me laugh. You had no mercy when it came to me. You should have thought before you took her away from me!" she screamed.

"I'm a changed man. Please!" he begged.

Tears flowed from Rina's eyes down her cheeks as she heard her husband's pleas.

"Don't worry my dear, I will be swift." Shizuma said, digging the katana deeper into Rina's soft flesh. The woman cried out in pain but dared not move.

"Please, stop! She has nothing to do with this!" Takanori beseeched her.

"She has everything to do with this. She is someone you love; the mistake she made was marrying you. I'll destroy the one thing you love, just like you did to me."

With a swift slice, Shizuma cut through the slender neck, sending the head rolling. Takanori stood in shock, gaping at his decapitated wife. Shizuma kicked Rina's severed head out of her path as she stalked towards him. She raised her sword then stabbed him through the chest, thrusting deeply into his stomach. His death was almost instantaneous, a look of horror just dawning on his face. Shizuma primly took a napkin out of her kimono sleeve, meticulously wiping her sword clean and placing it back into the umbrella casing.

She looked at the window and saw that the rain stopped. She hurriedly changed into a plain black kimono with a white obi and searched the house for something an accelerant. She found a lantern in the couple's bedroom, throwing it to the floor she fled the hungry flames. Satisfied by what she had done, she turned away from the burning wreckage behind her. Realizing she was late, she broke into a trot and hurried back to the tea house .

Shizuma sneaked back into the tea house, spotting Makiko, Megumi and other geishas sitting with two gentlemen. Megumi caught a glimpse of Shizuma and called out before Shizuma could signal her to be quiet.

"Hi Shizuma," Megumi said cheerily. Damn, Shizuma thought to herself.

"Shizuma-san, you're late," Makiko chastised.

"Gomen, Maki-chan, I got a little sidetracked."

"Sidetracked? You're an hour late and you don't even have your shamisen tuned!"

"I'm really sorry Maki-chan," silver beauty apologized.

Suddenly a maid came bursting into the room holding Shizuma's shamisen.

"Don't worry Shizuma-sama, I already tuned it for you." she whispered into Shizuma's ear.

"You saved me Kikone, arigatou," Shizuma smiled back, making Kikone blush bright red.

"Now that the late-comer is here, how about we play a song?" asked Tanaka- one of the two gentlemen. The other- Konda- eyed Shizuma curiously.

They rose from their seats and set themselves in the front of the room. Shizuma kneeled, singing and playing her shamisen as two geishas danced hypnotically. The song they were performing told a tragic story of a man and woman who fell in love but we're separated by their families. The lovers killed themselves and were later reunited when they reincarnated.

After the performance the women took their places back at their seats, the two men were discussing a popular geisha.

"I remember a geisha named Himeka. I met her when she was a maiko," said an old man named Konda

"The famous Himeka?" said everyone in unison.

"Yes. I was one of her regular customers back then." Konda replied

"What was she like?" asked one geisha seated next to Makiko.

"She was very kind and friendly; she had a singular way with words. You know... that woman resembles her quite a lot," the man said mused, pointing at Shizuma. She kept her eyes downcast, trying to keep calm but she felt herself begin to panic.

"It's those eyes and hair. She's the spitting image of Himeka. The only difference between the two is their height. If they knelt in a room together you would not be able to tell them apart." the Konda said laughing. Shizuma remained quiet and drank her sake, while everyone focused their eyes on her .

"Now that I think about it, Shizuma truly does resemble Himeka. Shizuma could you perhaps be related to her?" asked the geisha sitting next to Maikiko.

"No, I'm not related to her. I heard she died a very long time ago," Shizuma added.

"I remembered when we received word of her death. The whole hanamachi was sadden by this news... strange enough, her younger sister had died that same day. It is really a shame that we lost such a talented geisha and a promising maiko. To this day Himeka's body has not been found and no one knows who killed them." The old man recounted. Everyone at the table gasped at the story they had just heard.

"They were murdered? What a horrible story!" Makiko cried out.

"There are many rumors about their death," Takana broke in. "Some say they were killed because they were involved with yakuza, others say it was a lovers' quarrel gone wrong, and still others think a jealous client killed them. Nevertheless, no matter how many rumors there are we shall never know what truly lead to their death," he said, puffing on his pipe.

"I heard from some travelers that if you go to the forest where those geishas died, you can hear a flute playing at night," Konda joined in.

"I heard her younger sister was a very talented flautist. Perhaps it is her ghost calling for her sister." answered Konda.

"Enough of this story; it's upsetting me!" Makiko cried.

"We apologize, Makiko-chan," the two men said, laughing sheepishly.

Late that night, Megumi sat on Shizuma's lap in the onsen as Shizuma massaged her breast teasing her nipples with her fingers. Megumi moaned as she arched against Shizuma's touch; she then turned around giving Shizuma a passionate kiss and gently rubbing Shizuma's back as she snaked her legs around Shizuma's waist. Shizuma lifted Megumi on top of a smooth rock, then spread her lover's thighs apart. Running her long fingers up the soft legs, Shizuma thumbed Megumi's clit, eliciting a throaty moan. Shizuma then flicked it with her tongue , she then moved down to Megumi's core Shizuma moved in and out of her , Megumi moved her hips in rhythm with Shizuma's tongue , Shizuma then parted Megumi's lips with her fingers inserting her middle finger slowly into Megumi's woman hood she came out of the water and gave Megumi a deep kiss the dark hair beauty kissed and rubbed Shizuma's large breasts making the silver Goddess let out a tiny moan and making Shizuma thrust her fingers inside of her faster in excitement as they kissed , Megumi's body began to shake as she felt her body coming to a climax , as she reached her orgasm Shizuma slowly released her finger from Megumi's woman hood as she panted loudly .

"You really like that don't you ?" Shizuma said licking her fingertips.

They returned to Shizuma's room both tired from their work out. Shizuma poured tea for the both of them.

"Shizuma, may I ask you a question ?" Megumi asked

"Of course," Shizuma answered nonchalantly.

"That geisha named Himeka… was she you?" Shizuma set her tea pot down and remained silent for several moments, considering.

"How did you know that it was me?"

"You were silent during the story…you seemed a bit nervous," Shizuma was shocked by Megumi's perception but kept a calm façade.

"They say geisha life stays with you no matter where you go or how many years pass." Shizuzma whispered. She recalled briefly a moment many years ago…

A young girl knelt on the grass, her silver mane flowing down her back to her waist. She wore a yellow kimono with a pink obi tied tightly against her chest. She stared into a koi pond, the pond; the surface of the water shimmered with the red, yellow, white and gold scales of the fish. Shizuma placed her palm into the koi pond and the fish quickly swarmed to her fingertips. One of the fish nibbled a piece of bread from her palm and the others raced to get food from her hand.

"There is enough for everyone, don't rush," she said to the fish. She then took the remaining bread from her palm and tossed it into the pond.

"There you are. Okaa-san and I were looking all over for you."

"I'm sorry to make you and Okaa-san worry," she said without turning around to face Miyuki.

"You really like the koi pond don't you?"

"It helps me relax. They're very much like us."

"How so?" Miyuki asked.

"Beautiful things trapped in a prison that people love to look at. Some even admire us but they know nothing about us or where we came from. I do know that koi fish were originally carp that were mated to other types of carp to form the koi that are so popular now. If you return these fish to the wild they will again become carp just as we would become ordinary women if we left this place."

"Shizuma…" Miyuki murmured, choking on what she wanted to say. "It's getting late we should go inside before Okaa-san gets worried," she said instead.

"Before we do, Miyuki, will you please comb my hair?"

" Hai."

Miyuki took strands of Shizuma 's hair into her fingers and took her comb out of her obi, running it through the silver mane.

"I even heard it is honorable to sleep with a Geisha," said Megumi.

"I'm an ex Geisha," Shizuma answered, returning from her daydream.

"Shizuma, please tell me… what was it like? How did you grow up? I want to know everything."

"Why?"

"I'm just curious please tell me about your past. I would really like to know."

"Do you promise not to tell anyone about me or reveal who I am?"

"I promise. I will take this story to my grave."

"Very well… I will tell you the whole story."