Tang Mu
Chapter 3
I hurt her. Onee-san isn't too happy with me. She was just being nice.
Why do I always do that? 'I'm sorry Onee-san. I won't hurt her
anymore.' She smiles at that and fades away.
To my right, Liya is busy watching the townspeople scurry about. I
wish I didn't have to do this once a week. For obvious reasons, I'm
not very well liked. People eye me suspiciously. It's a good thing I
have so much money. Otherwise, I'd never bring back anything to the
village.
"Would you like to visit the bath house?" I don't normally spend my
money on anything other than food for the village, but today I will
make an exception. Onee-san wants me to atone for hurting her. I have
to do my best to make Tomoe smile.
Liya gives me a sheepish grin as I lead her to a store. Though her
dress is very pretty, something tells me she would be more comfortable
in something else. Besides, I doubt she will want to get back into
that after she has bathed. I think she wants to fit in somewhat. Maybe
I should try teaching her Japanese so that she can communicate with
other people besides just me.
Her eyes light up when she beholds the endless array of silk kimonos.
I give her an increasingly less rare warm smile and gesture for her to
pick out any one she wants. "S-sir…welcome…" I nod at the shop keeper.
He continues to stutter as if I'm going to blow the place up at any
moment. I don't blame him for thinking so low of me. After all, I am a
monster.
She picks up a red houmangi that fades into white at the bottom. Black
silhouettes of sakura adorn the design giving it a delicate style. I
like it. The color suits her. I cross the shop to let her show it to
me, even if I could see it just fine from where I was. "Help her.
She's foreign."
The man rushes to do as he is told. He guides her to the white under
kimonos instructing her to pick one of these as well. She gives him a
confused look. It will be amusing to watch how he explains this to a
person who doesn't speak his language. As I suspected, his voice rises
in volume. It always makes me laugh when people think foreigners are
deaf. He points at the white nagajuban several times and nearly shouts
at her to pick one out. Her eyes go from the beautiful garment in her
hand to the plain whiteness of the silk the man is pointing to. She
has no idea what's going on.
"The white one goes underneath the colored one." Her eyes register my
words causing her to nod and smile at the man. He seems confused at
the words coming out of her mouth. "She is apologizing for her
stupidity." Even though she's not stupid. Yes. I will have to teach
her at least a little bit of Japanese.
* * *
"Kaoru! Did you see that??"
"Enishi!? What is he doing here??" Kaoru gasps as Yahiko readies
himself for a possible battle. The mentioned man leads a young woman
into a nearby shop. Uncharacteristically, he has a gentle expression
on his face.
"He is fine Anata. He did not come here to fight, that he did not."
Kenshin smiles at his brother-in-law as his wife fumes. She wants to
see what he's doing with this girl in the tight dress. It's painfully
obvious what his wife is thinking.
"But why is he in town!? And why aren't the police arresting him!?"
Kaoru is already sneaking towards the shop to spy on the two.
"He comes here every week. In Rakuninmura, one person is sent to town
to beg for money and food. Enishi probably stored some money away, so
he doesn't have to beg. He never had any intention of keeping his
operation going once he got his revenge. The police have taken
control of most of his earnings, but sessha is sure he hid a good
portion. Saitoh does not arrest him on sight because he does not
consider Enishi to be a threat anymore. He is keeping an eye on him
and nothing more. As soon as he shows signs of being a threat, he will
be arrested again." Kenshin tries to push his wife and her student
along, but they remain rooted to their position.
"Stop it Kenshin! Don't you want to know what he's up to with that
floozy!!? She's wearing a pretty tight dress! Yahiko don't look!" She
stares at the young samurai with steam coming out of her ears. The
boy's eyes are transfixed on the young woman walking with the white
haired man. "And what do you mean by him coming here every week!? You
see him every week?? Kenshin!"
"Like Sessa said, people take turns every day coming to town to beg.
Enishi brings back a lot of food, so he is sent once a week. He has
his own money, so he comes to town buys food and reads all day. That
is all he does." The woman and young man face fault making Kenshin
laugh nervously and scratch the back of his neck. "Eheh…Sessha
supposes he could check up on him a little…Sessha is a bit curious…"
"How do you know all this Kenshin?" Yahiko rips his eyes from the girl
long enough to look suspiciously at his mentor.
"I owe it to Tomoe-dono to keep an eye on her little brother."
* * *
Kenshin and his two companions absently sift through the clothes near
the front of the store. If Enishi looks their way, they can simply
hide on the other side of the wall. The former Hitokiri isn't as naïve
however. He knows his brother-in-law can sense them, but he also knows
nothing will come of it. As long as they keep their distance, nothing
will happen.
"What are they saying?" Kaoru whispers in Kenshin's ear. Violet eyes
flutter briefly. She will have to be reminded of what that does to
him…later. "I can hear them…I think. But I can't understand them."
"Being a business man, Sessha is sure Enishi knows many languages. The
girl is wearing a traditional Chinese dress. Sessha has seen them
before. She is probably from somewhere around there." He smiles and
watches his wife relax a little.
* * *
My bastard brother-in-law is watching me. As is his odd family. It
bothers me. I have to fight the urge to charge him, but I force myself
to look at my sister's image. Her face is neutral. What's that
supposed to tell me? Figure it out on my own? I guess that's it. It
looks like Battousai will be getting off the hook today.
Liya is calling me. She's not too sure about the obi. This will be
amusing to say the least. "Here." I pick out a random choice. She
scrunches her nose. Apparently, it doesn't match. I wouldn't know.
"You tie it around your waist and make it look pretty in the back."
I grab her by the waist and turn her around. Carefully, I attempt to
wrap the obi around her form. Instinctively, she raises her arms
slightly to let me work. She turns her head, almost straining to see
what I'm doing to her back. Her giggle catches me off guard. "What?" I
continue my meaningless attempts at tying a woman's obi.
"You're tickling me." She giggles again and tries to reach behind
herself to stop my hands, but I'm not done tying this damn thing.
"Idiot. He's tying it married woman style." I heard that. Doesn't that
woman remember how good my hearing is? It was only a year ago that I
kidnapped her. How am I supposed to know how to tie a stupid obi?
"He ties obis about as bad as you cook, Busu!" I close my eyes and
force myself not to throttle the kid. From the surge of ki coming from
the said Busu, she must be doing the same thing. I do vaguely remember
her having a pretty bad temper. If this boy is her student, I feel bad
for him. But he does have a point, her cooking is pretty bad.
"Well, you get the idea." I give up.
"I see. Like knot art." Not quite, but close enough. I shrug. As long
as she gets the idea, I'm fine. The two behind me are still laughing
and fuming. I need something to take my mind off of them. Brushing her
hands away from the offensive article of clothing, I remove the obi
myself making sure to tickle her a bit. Her innocent laughter will do
just nicely for taking my mind off of the idiots making fun of me.
Much to my astonishment, her giggling turns into laughter. So this is
what happens when I purposely tickle someone. Just for good measure, I
do it some more. She's laughing so hard, she begins to bend at the
waist to try to break free. I find that I like this reaction and
continue my onslaught. I also find that I especially like this
reaction when she is so close to me. I have never been with a woman
like this before. It almost seems like this is better than the women I
was with while I was in charge of the weapons organization. They were
there simply to please me and nothing more. Most likely, much like
what Liya was accustomed to with the yakusa. This is much different
though. She is enjoying herself as well now.
"Pervert…Yahiko don't look. Yahiko!" So, I'm a pervert for liking the
sound of her voice when she laughs? I doubt she's been given the
chance to laugh, or even giggle, since she was with the yakusa. This
is as good for her as it is for me. Why does that make me a pervert?
Is it her physical reaction while she's laughing and my obvious
enjoyment of that physical reaction that makes me a pervert? It
doesn't matter. I let her go. I am not a pervert.
She giggles one last time and blushes. My hand tugs at the obi letting
it slip off her frame as I smile back. "Go and put it on, so I can buy
it for you." She nods cutely and rushes to a nearby changing room.
"How much?" I turn to the shop keeper. He looks surprised that I'm not
just stealing his goods. I don't steal kimonos. That's stupid. I take
out my purse and glare at him from over my glasses. Waiting. He still
seems shocked. His mouth opens and closes as if he's afraid to tell me
the price. I take out several coins and let them jingle in my hand.
"How much? I'm not going to ask you again." He continues to stutter,
so I toss him an over-estimated amount and cross the store to wait for
Liya to finish changing.
"He actually paid! That's surprising!" Surprising? You don't know me
woman.
"Now now. He's a business man himself. He's not like Sanosuke. He has
no reason not to pay." How dare Battousai know me so well. This is
just odd. I wish she would hurry up. I need to get away from these
people before I kill one of them. I don't want to see Onee-san glare
at me if that happens, so I have to get away before I do anything.
"Are you almost done?"
"I suppose so. This sash is very hard to tie. I don't think I got it
right." I don't even bother to warn her as I pull open the curtain.
Suppressing a laugh, I regard the poor job she has done at dressing
herself. Apparently, the many aspects involved with wearing kimonos
confused her. It looks like she randomly picked articles and tied it
all together.
She blushes and laughs at herself. "I look pretty pathetic. Don't I?
The clothes in this country are very hard to wear." I never realized
this until now. She does look very funny.
Knowing full well how risqué it looks, I dare to close the curtain
behind me. "Do you trust me?" She blushes and nods. Once again, her
arms are raised so that I can do what I need to do to dress her. I
slowly untie the mismatched chords and sashes. After all, I don't want
to scare her. My eyes catch the many bruises coloring her skin. She
has been hit many times. They are all healing, but slowly. Probably
due to such a meager diet.
"What are they doing in there?"
"You don't want to know Yahiko..." If Battousai doesn't shut his woman
up soon, I will do it for him.
Quickly, I finish showing her how to put on the kimonos and guide her
out of the dressing room. Someone else can teach her how to tie the
damn obi. Obviously, I'm not any good at it. "You!" I try to catch the
attention of the wide-eyed shopkeeper. Apparently, he's been counting
the money I gave him.
"Yes, sir!" He's a lot more attentive now. That's good.
"Could you show her how to tie this? I'll translate for you if you
need it." He nods enthusiastically. He's very attentive. I must have
paid him quite a bit too much. Trotting, he retrieves a small scroll.
It has pictures on it of several different tying styles.
"You're wife is young. Does she still want a young woman style?"
"She is not my wife." My sister urges me on with a soft smile. "Just a
good friend." Tomoe's smile widens. Friend. I've never really had any
friends. No one ever dared to get that close to me. She's obviously
not running away screaming yet. I suppose she is my friend.
"I see." He points to the styles she can pick from. After seeking
approval from me, she finally picks one out. The simplest design she
could find. Simple. I never realized so much went into wearing these
seemingly simple garments. The shopkeeper points to several
accessories. Apparently, these are necessary as well.
"Too much. I don't want to spend all your money." She's not too sure
about this, but I remember watching Tomoe get ready for the day when I
was younger. These seemingly stupid accessories are necessary if a
woman wishes to keep her obi on, so to speak. She deserves it anyway,
so I shake it off and tell her to pick out what she needs.
"Those are new! I've never seen them before! Kenshin can I get one
too?" That poor man. Perhaps he doesn't need to experience my revenge
anymore. He already has his hands full.
"But Kaoru, we don't have that much money. You said so yourself, that
you did. And if you don't be quiet, Enishi will surely hear you. Do
you want that?" Her mouth clamps shut. Good. Now I won't have to kill
her.
"Do I owe you extra?" I produce my purse from my pocket again. The
shopkeeper shakes his head.
"No. You gave me more than enough before. In fact, here is your change
sir." I see. I did give him way too much. Nodding, I lead Liya out of
the shop. She looks a lot more comfortable now that she fits in.
Perhaps she would want Japanese shoes. A vision goes through my head
of how she would walk with wooden sandals on. Scratch that idea. Her
Chinese slippers will do fine.
"What is that smile for?" She giggles noticing the amusement on my
face.
"Nothing. You look comfortable now." Blushing, she mutters under her
breath.
"Don't be so polite around me. I don't need it." The redness on her
cheeks deepens in color.
"You spent too much on me. I don't know how to repay you. I have no
money." I take her hand. The police are eyeing me more suspiciously
than normal. Perhaps if I appear to be 'with' Liya, they'll leave me
alone. I don't know why. Just…married men seem to get away with a bit
more. It's not working though. In fact, they seem even more suspicious
now. Do they think I kidnapped her or something?
"Don't worry about it. Let's get you to that bath house." I tug Liya
along with me. Apparently, she was already doing a good job of keeping
up. My tug only made her smack into me from behind.
Her hand gently presses against my back as she mutters an apology. She
didn't need to apologize. It was my fault after all, but that's
alright. It doesn't matter. She'll get over that eventually.
* * *
Author's Notes:
Onee-san = older sister (I'm guessing. If it's wrong, please tell me.)
anata = wife (another guess.)
sessha = I've been told that this is kenshin's over polite way of
saying 'I'.
-dono = I've also been told this is an over polite/older version of
'-sama'
I got the very helpful Kimono info from a few websites actually.
http://jin.jcic.or.jp/kidsweb/virtual/kimono/top.html
http://www.asahi-jc.com/kimofaq.htm#inst
http://www.kikimimi.ne.jp/www/sortie/Ekimono.htm
A houmangi is a kimono that can be worn by both married and unmarried
women. it's known for its bright colors and designs that adorn the
sleeves and back. It's usually worn for formal to semi-casual events.
Nagajuban is the thin, white kimono worn underneath the colorful top
kimono. It serves as underwear.
obi is the sash that is worn on top of the kimonos. there are many ways
to tie an obi. married women use a single simple style, but unmarried
women can be as ornate as they want with it.
There is more involved with the kimono than I thought. It took ten
pages just to describe the steps involved with putting on the
nagajuban. Ten to show how to put on the outer kimono. And at least
twenty to show how to tie the simple married woman's obi. There are
a ton of neccessary accessaries involved as well. I thank those
websites for giving me this knowledge.
Chapter 3
I hurt her. Onee-san isn't too happy with me. She was just being nice.
Why do I always do that? 'I'm sorry Onee-san. I won't hurt her
anymore.' She smiles at that and fades away.
To my right, Liya is busy watching the townspeople scurry about. I
wish I didn't have to do this once a week. For obvious reasons, I'm
not very well liked. People eye me suspiciously. It's a good thing I
have so much money. Otherwise, I'd never bring back anything to the
village.
"Would you like to visit the bath house?" I don't normally spend my
money on anything other than food for the village, but today I will
make an exception. Onee-san wants me to atone for hurting her. I have
to do my best to make Tomoe smile.
Liya gives me a sheepish grin as I lead her to a store. Though her
dress is very pretty, something tells me she would be more comfortable
in something else. Besides, I doubt she will want to get back into
that after she has bathed. I think she wants to fit in somewhat. Maybe
I should try teaching her Japanese so that she can communicate with
other people besides just me.
Her eyes light up when she beholds the endless array of silk kimonos.
I give her an increasingly less rare warm smile and gesture for her to
pick out any one she wants. "S-sir…welcome…" I nod at the shop keeper.
He continues to stutter as if I'm going to blow the place up at any
moment. I don't blame him for thinking so low of me. After all, I am a
monster.
She picks up a red houmangi that fades into white at the bottom. Black
silhouettes of sakura adorn the design giving it a delicate style. I
like it. The color suits her. I cross the shop to let her show it to
me, even if I could see it just fine from where I was. "Help her.
She's foreign."
The man rushes to do as he is told. He guides her to the white under
kimonos instructing her to pick one of these as well. She gives him a
confused look. It will be amusing to watch how he explains this to a
person who doesn't speak his language. As I suspected, his voice rises
in volume. It always makes me laugh when people think foreigners are
deaf. He points at the white nagajuban several times and nearly shouts
at her to pick one out. Her eyes go from the beautiful garment in her
hand to the plain whiteness of the silk the man is pointing to. She
has no idea what's going on.
"The white one goes underneath the colored one." Her eyes register my
words causing her to nod and smile at the man. He seems confused at
the words coming out of her mouth. "She is apologizing for her
stupidity." Even though she's not stupid. Yes. I will have to teach
her at least a little bit of Japanese.
* * *
"Kaoru! Did you see that??"
"Enishi!? What is he doing here??" Kaoru gasps as Yahiko readies
himself for a possible battle. The mentioned man leads a young woman
into a nearby shop. Uncharacteristically, he has a gentle expression
on his face.
"He is fine Anata. He did not come here to fight, that he did not."
Kenshin smiles at his brother-in-law as his wife fumes. She wants to
see what he's doing with this girl in the tight dress. It's painfully
obvious what his wife is thinking.
"But why is he in town!? And why aren't the police arresting him!?"
Kaoru is already sneaking towards the shop to spy on the two.
"He comes here every week. In Rakuninmura, one person is sent to town
to beg for money and food. Enishi probably stored some money away, so
he doesn't have to beg. He never had any intention of keeping his
operation going once he got his revenge. The police have taken
control of most of his earnings, but sessha is sure he hid a good
portion. Saitoh does not arrest him on sight because he does not
consider Enishi to be a threat anymore. He is keeping an eye on him
and nothing more. As soon as he shows signs of being a threat, he will
be arrested again." Kenshin tries to push his wife and her student
along, but they remain rooted to their position.
"Stop it Kenshin! Don't you want to know what he's up to with that
floozy!!? She's wearing a pretty tight dress! Yahiko don't look!" She
stares at the young samurai with steam coming out of her ears. The
boy's eyes are transfixed on the young woman walking with the white
haired man. "And what do you mean by him coming here every week!? You
see him every week?? Kenshin!"
"Like Sessa said, people take turns every day coming to town to beg.
Enishi brings back a lot of food, so he is sent once a week. He has
his own money, so he comes to town buys food and reads all day. That
is all he does." The woman and young man face fault making Kenshin
laugh nervously and scratch the back of his neck. "Eheh…Sessha
supposes he could check up on him a little…Sessha is a bit curious…"
"How do you know all this Kenshin?" Yahiko rips his eyes from the girl
long enough to look suspiciously at his mentor.
"I owe it to Tomoe-dono to keep an eye on her little brother."
* * *
Kenshin and his two companions absently sift through the clothes near
the front of the store. If Enishi looks their way, they can simply
hide on the other side of the wall. The former Hitokiri isn't as naïve
however. He knows his brother-in-law can sense them, but he also knows
nothing will come of it. As long as they keep their distance, nothing
will happen.
"What are they saying?" Kaoru whispers in Kenshin's ear. Violet eyes
flutter briefly. She will have to be reminded of what that does to
him…later. "I can hear them…I think. But I can't understand them."
"Being a business man, Sessha is sure Enishi knows many languages. The
girl is wearing a traditional Chinese dress. Sessha has seen them
before. She is probably from somewhere around there." He smiles and
watches his wife relax a little.
* * *
My bastard brother-in-law is watching me. As is his odd family. It
bothers me. I have to fight the urge to charge him, but I force myself
to look at my sister's image. Her face is neutral. What's that
supposed to tell me? Figure it out on my own? I guess that's it. It
looks like Battousai will be getting off the hook today.
Liya is calling me. She's not too sure about the obi. This will be
amusing to say the least. "Here." I pick out a random choice. She
scrunches her nose. Apparently, it doesn't match. I wouldn't know.
"You tie it around your waist and make it look pretty in the back."
I grab her by the waist and turn her around. Carefully, I attempt to
wrap the obi around her form. Instinctively, she raises her arms
slightly to let me work. She turns her head, almost straining to see
what I'm doing to her back. Her giggle catches me off guard. "What?" I
continue my meaningless attempts at tying a woman's obi.
"You're tickling me." She giggles again and tries to reach behind
herself to stop my hands, but I'm not done tying this damn thing.
"Idiot. He's tying it married woman style." I heard that. Doesn't that
woman remember how good my hearing is? It was only a year ago that I
kidnapped her. How am I supposed to know how to tie a stupid obi?
"He ties obis about as bad as you cook, Busu!" I close my eyes and
force myself not to throttle the kid. From the surge of ki coming from
the said Busu, she must be doing the same thing. I do vaguely remember
her having a pretty bad temper. If this boy is her student, I feel bad
for him. But he does have a point, her cooking is pretty bad.
"Well, you get the idea." I give up.
"I see. Like knot art." Not quite, but close enough. I shrug. As long
as she gets the idea, I'm fine. The two behind me are still laughing
and fuming. I need something to take my mind off of them. Brushing her
hands away from the offensive article of clothing, I remove the obi
myself making sure to tickle her a bit. Her innocent laughter will do
just nicely for taking my mind off of the idiots making fun of me.
Much to my astonishment, her giggling turns into laughter. So this is
what happens when I purposely tickle someone. Just for good measure, I
do it some more. She's laughing so hard, she begins to bend at the
waist to try to break free. I find that I like this reaction and
continue my onslaught. I also find that I especially like this
reaction when she is so close to me. I have never been with a woman
like this before. It almost seems like this is better than the women I
was with while I was in charge of the weapons organization. They were
there simply to please me and nothing more. Most likely, much like
what Liya was accustomed to with the yakusa. This is much different
though. She is enjoying herself as well now.
"Pervert…Yahiko don't look. Yahiko!" So, I'm a pervert for liking the
sound of her voice when she laughs? I doubt she's been given the
chance to laugh, or even giggle, since she was with the yakusa. This
is as good for her as it is for me. Why does that make me a pervert?
Is it her physical reaction while she's laughing and my obvious
enjoyment of that physical reaction that makes me a pervert? It
doesn't matter. I let her go. I am not a pervert.
She giggles one last time and blushes. My hand tugs at the obi letting
it slip off her frame as I smile back. "Go and put it on, so I can buy
it for you." She nods cutely and rushes to a nearby changing room.
"How much?" I turn to the shop keeper. He looks surprised that I'm not
just stealing his goods. I don't steal kimonos. That's stupid. I take
out my purse and glare at him from over my glasses. Waiting. He still
seems shocked. His mouth opens and closes as if he's afraid to tell me
the price. I take out several coins and let them jingle in my hand.
"How much? I'm not going to ask you again." He continues to stutter,
so I toss him an over-estimated amount and cross the store to wait for
Liya to finish changing.
"He actually paid! That's surprising!" Surprising? You don't know me
woman.
"Now now. He's a business man himself. He's not like Sanosuke. He has
no reason not to pay." How dare Battousai know me so well. This is
just odd. I wish she would hurry up. I need to get away from these
people before I kill one of them. I don't want to see Onee-san glare
at me if that happens, so I have to get away before I do anything.
"Are you almost done?"
"I suppose so. This sash is very hard to tie. I don't think I got it
right." I don't even bother to warn her as I pull open the curtain.
Suppressing a laugh, I regard the poor job she has done at dressing
herself. Apparently, the many aspects involved with wearing kimonos
confused her. It looks like she randomly picked articles and tied it
all together.
She blushes and laughs at herself. "I look pretty pathetic. Don't I?
The clothes in this country are very hard to wear." I never realized
this until now. She does look very funny.
Knowing full well how risqué it looks, I dare to close the curtain
behind me. "Do you trust me?" She blushes and nods. Once again, her
arms are raised so that I can do what I need to do to dress her. I
slowly untie the mismatched chords and sashes. After all, I don't want
to scare her. My eyes catch the many bruises coloring her skin. She
has been hit many times. They are all healing, but slowly. Probably
due to such a meager diet.
"What are they doing in there?"
"You don't want to know Yahiko..." If Battousai doesn't shut his woman
up soon, I will do it for him.
Quickly, I finish showing her how to put on the kimonos and guide her
out of the dressing room. Someone else can teach her how to tie the
damn obi. Obviously, I'm not any good at it. "You!" I try to catch the
attention of the wide-eyed shopkeeper. Apparently, he's been counting
the money I gave him.
"Yes, sir!" He's a lot more attentive now. That's good.
"Could you show her how to tie this? I'll translate for you if you
need it." He nods enthusiastically. He's very attentive. I must have
paid him quite a bit too much. Trotting, he retrieves a small scroll.
It has pictures on it of several different tying styles.
"You're wife is young. Does she still want a young woman style?"
"She is not my wife." My sister urges me on with a soft smile. "Just a
good friend." Tomoe's smile widens. Friend. I've never really had any
friends. No one ever dared to get that close to me. She's obviously
not running away screaming yet. I suppose she is my friend.
"I see." He points to the styles she can pick from. After seeking
approval from me, she finally picks one out. The simplest design she
could find. Simple. I never realized so much went into wearing these
seemingly simple garments. The shopkeeper points to several
accessories. Apparently, these are necessary as well.
"Too much. I don't want to spend all your money." She's not too sure
about this, but I remember watching Tomoe get ready for the day when I
was younger. These seemingly stupid accessories are necessary if a
woman wishes to keep her obi on, so to speak. She deserves it anyway,
so I shake it off and tell her to pick out what she needs.
"Those are new! I've never seen them before! Kenshin can I get one
too?" That poor man. Perhaps he doesn't need to experience my revenge
anymore. He already has his hands full.
"But Kaoru, we don't have that much money. You said so yourself, that
you did. And if you don't be quiet, Enishi will surely hear you. Do
you want that?" Her mouth clamps shut. Good. Now I won't have to kill
her.
"Do I owe you extra?" I produce my purse from my pocket again. The
shopkeeper shakes his head.
"No. You gave me more than enough before. In fact, here is your change
sir." I see. I did give him way too much. Nodding, I lead Liya out of
the shop. She looks a lot more comfortable now that she fits in.
Perhaps she would want Japanese shoes. A vision goes through my head
of how she would walk with wooden sandals on. Scratch that idea. Her
Chinese slippers will do fine.
"What is that smile for?" She giggles noticing the amusement on my
face.
"Nothing. You look comfortable now." Blushing, she mutters under her
breath.
"Don't be so polite around me. I don't need it." The redness on her
cheeks deepens in color.
"You spent too much on me. I don't know how to repay you. I have no
money." I take her hand. The police are eyeing me more suspiciously
than normal. Perhaps if I appear to be 'with' Liya, they'll leave me
alone. I don't know why. Just…married men seem to get away with a bit
more. It's not working though. In fact, they seem even more suspicious
now. Do they think I kidnapped her or something?
"Don't worry about it. Let's get you to that bath house." I tug Liya
along with me. Apparently, she was already doing a good job of keeping
up. My tug only made her smack into me from behind.
Her hand gently presses against my back as she mutters an apology. She
didn't need to apologize. It was my fault after all, but that's
alright. It doesn't matter. She'll get over that eventually.
* * *
Author's Notes:
Onee-san = older sister (I'm guessing. If it's wrong, please tell me.)
anata = wife (another guess.)
sessha = I've been told that this is kenshin's over polite way of
saying 'I'.
-dono = I've also been told this is an over polite/older version of
'-sama'
I got the very helpful Kimono info from a few websites actually.
http://jin.jcic.or.jp/kidsweb/virtual/kimono/top.html
http://www.asahi-jc.com/kimofaq.htm#inst
http://www.kikimimi.ne.jp/www/sortie/Ekimono.htm
A houmangi is a kimono that can be worn by both married and unmarried
women. it's known for its bright colors and designs that adorn the
sleeves and back. It's usually worn for formal to semi-casual events.
Nagajuban is the thin, white kimono worn underneath the colorful top
kimono. It serves as underwear.
obi is the sash that is worn on top of the kimonos. there are many ways
to tie an obi. married women use a single simple style, but unmarried
women can be as ornate as they want with it.
There is more involved with the kimono than I thought. It took ten
pages just to describe the steps involved with putting on the
nagajuban. Ten to show how to put on the outer kimono. And at least
twenty to show how to tie the simple married woman's obi. There are
a ton of neccessary accessaries involved as well. I thank those
websites for giving me this knowledge.
