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Corrupted Innocence: Chapter 2
by white seraph
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Kaoru ran as fast as her legs could take her body, not caring if people on the streets were staring at her outrageous actions. She new and expected Ikumatsu or the lady of that tea house to drop a 'visit' the next day, in demand for her explanations, but Kaoru didn't care, or at least just for now. The cold wind was scraping mercilessly on her face, and by the time she was at the doors of her own house, the poor girl was already shivering.
Dragging herself past the corridor that lead her to the inner walls of the house, she ignored the servant's greetings, and the other geishas' questioning eyes, and went straight to her own room, shutting herself away from the rest of the world through that thin door before she allowed herself to collapse and burst into tears.
[yes I'm sure she's not over reacting cos I know how it feels to be touched without permission, so shut it if you're about to drop a flame]
And after what seemed an eternity, when Kaoru could no longer feel the tears on her check, the door creaked open, and there was a crack of light, and as of expected, when Kaoru looked up, she saw the old lady's bending figure approaching her and very casually taking a seat next to her. "My lovely Kaoru," Mama Okina's soft warm voice started as she stroked the girl's back. "I'm not going to ask you why you are back so early, or what happened. I just want to know if you feel alright now, after half a night by yourself."
Kaoru nodded without facing her.
"Now you know how everyone here cares about you, all the others, even snobby Yumi were asking if you were alright" the old woman continued. It was a lie, not that no one cared, because they did, but that she actually wanted to know what happened to the girl. But of course, seeing her in such a miserable state, she did not want the girl to recall what happened again. It was best to drop a visit by the Red Rose Tea house tomorrow to ask. Right now, the most important thing was to make sure the poor girl was alright, after all, she was the special girl here.
The old woman, never failing to comfort people, once again proved herself omnipotent at the case, for Kaoru chuckled softly "Yumi? I never thought even you'd call her snobby Yumi behind her back"
Yumi was one of more popular geishas in the house, and because of her fame, she also earned a reputation of being the arrogant, snobby one who thought herself so beautiful and the rest ugly. Kaoru knew the geisha never really liked her because the only reason why she wasn't the heiress of this house was because Kaoru already was assigned the title before she came along.
But despite the grudge, they sometimes talked, especially when all the others were gone to entertain some tea houses that particular evening, leaving the odd two awkwardly dining with Mama Okina.
[omg i can't believe I did it again!.-,-]
* * * * * *
Kenshin had a rather restless, but boring night with a substitute geisha, and though she was more than willing to spend her night with him, the pleasures were not mutual, for he, as of expected, was unable to dismiss the thoughts of that Kaoru girl, and for the entire night, felt rather guilty that he was working against his mind, to bed with someone he did had no desires for.
And of course, when morning came, Ikumatsu was not surprised to see the young man creeping up to her, demanding for her to see Kaoru again. He was, just as ignorant as he looked; he really thought a request to see a geisha was just like an assignment to kill someone, so Ikumatsu, being the gentle, patient woman she was, took her time, and explained him through all the reasons why it wasn't as easy as he thought.
"Obviously, Kaoru left early because you went over the top." Ikumatsu said, trying hard not to hurt his feelings, though she doubt he had any. "And I must say, after yesterday night, if I were Kaoru, I wouldn't even dare come to another tea party knowing you would be there."
"How am I supposed to know what goes on in you women's head." He said gruffly, it was indeed, a rather frustrating experience he was going through. As far as he was concerned, women are playthings, living for the sake of men such as himself, so far, all the ones he had come across had proven his hypothesis right, but now, for the first time, he had come across something he wanted, but cannot have, and he blamed it entirely on the nature of women and something people called virtue.
Ikumatsu sighed. She understood that although he was only a lad, for the first time going through the deprivation of something he wanted, like a child sulking, but he was also one of Katsura's most important men, and she knew, whatever price it would cost, that they would have to please this young man's heart in order for him to stay and continue with his job. "Well, why does it have to be Kaoru and only?" She finally spoke up, "I know she may be lovely to look at, but there are also many others who are just as beautiful as her." She knew wasn't a close friend of Kaoru's but she was well acquainted enough to understand that the girl simply, was out of Kenshin's reach, and it would be wise for him to stop with his pursue now, before anything disastrous happens.
"If that worked, then I wouldn't have come to see you this morning." He replied bluntly.
She gave him a lopsided smile, looking rather helpless. "Alright, I'll try to as the mistress of her house if she could attend a party tomorrow night, at the teahouse on the opposite of my house." Ikumatsu pursed her lips, and didn't say more, because she knew the chance of her coming would be very small.
But at that, Kenshin instantly smiled, and gave Ikumatsu a playful kiss on the cheek, as a sign of appreciation and left.
As soon as he left, Ikumatsu heard someone else call for her downstairs. She suddenly remembered, today they would be given their casts for the spring dance, and she had to be there before lunch. Thank the lord her make up artist came exceptionally early this morning, and had her made up already.
"Alright, I'll be down in a moment" She quickly responded before putting a coat on.
* * * * * *
In the entire house of more than fifteen geishas, the only ones who dared to go try out for the spring production were Kaoru, Yumi and Misao, Kaoru of course because dancing was her own expertise, her only way in stretching her fame as far out as possible, Yumi because of her obvious obligations as a popular geisha, and Misao, for the sake of impressing this mysterious man that Kaoru had never heard of, called Aoshi.
Now Yumi had left early, just before breakfast, off to somewhere she did not say, but by the time the sun was high up, and all the geishas were starting to busy themselves with their make up and attires that it was clear she would not be going to the casting congregation with the other two.
"It's okay, it's better to go without Yumi than be late." The old woman said, and ordered the two girls to go now.
"Oooh, that's a new Kimono you're wearing, isn't it?" Misao poked the ssilky pink fabric on Kaoru. She was rather late in starting her career, and at the age of sixteen, was still but an apprentice, and because Kaoru was the only other geisha in her house of the same age, she had become quite close to her despite the fact that they never attended the same teahouses, or entertained the same people.
"This one?" Kaoru put an arm up, examining the patterns on her sleeves. "No, I don't think so, it's just a very, very old kimono I found behind the closets, and decided to wear it for today." She smiled cheerfully, as if proud of it.
"Wow, it looks just like new to me!" Misao replied with enthusiasm, as if it was magic that this kimono still looked new. Of course, she was amazed, for it was plain obvious, from the mundane days we see of her, the way she treats kimonos, wearing them as if they were ordinary clothes, not caring if she spilt anything on them.
Kaoru gave her a broad smile, but did not say anything.
"Hey hey, so what exactly happened yesterday evening, I thought you were going to Red Rose Teahouse to entertain some people." Misao, being the curious little girl she was, did not realize she had just touched on a rather sensitive subject.
"I." Kaoru didn't really want to talk about it, as she thought it was a rather embarrassing subject. "Nothing I'd want to talk about." She finally decided to keep it all to herself.
But Misao was a little more obstinate today, and determined to find out, she pressed again "No, really, what happened, why did you look so angry and sad?" She chirped again.
"Because something bad happened" Kaoru said allusively, and turned her face away from the girl, not wanting anyone to see her teary eyes.
"Oh.." Misao immediately quiet down, as if she realized she had hit a sensitive subject that Kaoru would not like to talk about, but now after a while, the itching curiosity came back, and she couldn't have her heart settled without finding out. "But.would you like to talk about it? Were you being bullied by some older geishas?!" She guessed.
Kaoru sighed, the girl was not going to stop with her questioning until she had told her what happened. "Misao, have you ever been kissed before? By a stranger you barely know?"
"What?" Misao looked confused. "No, and no" She replied truthfully.
"Nevermind then." She said, giving Misao a reassuring smile.
The younger pursed her lips, she finally understood what happened, and immediately felt guilty for asking. Stupid girl, should have realized that when Kaoru said she didn't want to talk about it! Misao silently chastised herself.
It was awkwardly silent now, and tension was in the air, despite the loud noise from the busy street. Thankfully, they were nearly there, and Misao's excitement soon overrode her guilt. There were a lot of people, geishas, audiences, organizers, and sure enough, out of the crowd, the girls soon spotted Yumi, with that weird looking patron of hers, the one with bandage all over.
[yeah yeah I know what you're gonna say but this is an alternate timeline fic so shishio would be in]
Misao was about to go greet Yumi, when she was suddenly pulled back by Kaoru. She yanked Misao in front of her, as if trying to shield herself from something. "What.What's wrong?" Misao asked, utterly confused by Kaoru's actions.
But it was too late. She saw them.
"Why, You also auditioned for this year's spring production?" Ikumatsu said as she approached them, and Misao, upon seeing Kaoru's expression, understood that this was the woman she was trying to avoid. But.wait, was she the stranger who tried to kiss her?!
But before she could speak up, Kaoru already responded. "Yes, I thought you knew I participate in nearly all dance productions."
Another man, Kaoru recognized to be the host of last night's party, Katsura appeared from behind Ikumatsu. He showed some sign of recognition, and Kaoru bowed, showing her respects to the man.
"Well we really have to be going now" Kaoru lied. She wasn't really in a rush to anywhere, but she didn't want them to ask her to entertain for their parties again, and in order to avoid so, she did what she did, and excused herself before their conversation could go any further.
As Kaoru guessed, as soon as she left, Katsura spoke. "That's the girl he wants, isn't it? It seems like she doesn't want to talk to us"
Ikumatsu sighed. It's not 'seems like' it's blatant and obvious. She didn't understand why the young lad would be fussing all over a girl he barely even knew, there wasn't a chance that she would want to seem him ever again, it was plain obvious and clear that she wanted to avoid the couple, and thank the lord that the boy was not here, or it would have shattered his ego if he knew the girl had no apparent interest in him whatsoever.
Ikumatsu didn't have to say more, the chief organizer had himself seated at the centre, ready to announce the long list of chosen participants, people were quieting down, and the rows of seats were filling up rapidly.
After a frustratingly long time, when nearly everyone found a seat, one of the men finaly stood, and started the assembly with a brief introduction, thanking all those who auditioned and blah blah..
This year's spring production was going to have four main dancers, each representing a sister of the family in which the production would be revolving around. It was a rather big one, considering the number of main characters available, and the time given to prepare it. But Ikumatsu could have guessed, since it was exceptionally early for them to cast characters.
Finally, after a long half hour announcing names for small parts, the moment came, when the man started announcing the lucky few who were chosen, after an arduous time picking and choosing. Ikumatsu closed her eyes, silently praying he would call her name, for if he did not, it would mean she failed to enter the entire production at all.
"The four geishas chosen this year are," The man must have had an exceptionally loud and clear voice in order to deliver his speech to every corner of the large room. "Yumi [her last name I forgot ^^"] as Sadako Iwasaki" He paused for a breath that seemed like eternity for her. "Ikumatsu [I don't know her last name!] as Rumiko Iwasaki" Katsura gave her hand a reassuring squeeze, and smiled, but quickly turned his attention back to the man on stage when he continued. "Tomoe Yukishiro as Yaeko Iwasaki, and Kaoru Kamiya as Nuriko Iwasaki" He finished with one breath.
Ikumatsu was happy she got in, but what's more, now that Kaoru was her partner once again, it meant the boy would have a lot more chances to see her, if he would come watch her rehearse. She was deep in her thoughts and unaware that people were leaving now, and it wasn't until Katsura tapped her on the shoulder that she realized nearly half the people were already gone, off to the lunch the organizers of the production set up.
A hand pulled her back. "If the lunch isn't that important, do you think you can come with me to find this Kaoru's mistress, to see if we can hire her for a night?" Kastura spoke quietly despite the loud noise around. He had enough experience around the place to understand basic rules. It always worked, to find the mistress of a geisha if nothing else worked, since they, in sense, had the power to command these women.
Ikumatsu sighed. "Well I guess impressing that young man is more important than lunch."
"The sooner we get there, the sooner we get things settled, the sooner I take you to tea alright?" He replied, smiling.
She nodded, "If my memory is correct, then Kaoru's house should be one a street away, and it wouldn't take us long to get there." She had been to the girl's house a few times, especially last year when the two were both training for the same parts, because they rehersed till very late at night, Ikumatsu would just drop by Kaoru's to stay for a night, but leave before dawn.
And sure enough, there Kaoru's house was, still with the same, distinguishing green roof.
"We'd like to see the mistress of this house" Ikumatsu told the servant girl who was by the door arranging the geisha's shoes.
The girl seemed surprise at the guests, but did not hesitate to call Mama Okina, who immediately popped out of one of the rooms from the corridors at hearing the servant talking to two foreign voices.
"How may I help you?" The old lady asked, though seeing Ikumatsu's face she knew it would have to do with Kaoru. The women in the Red Rose Teahouse told her the story in bits and pieces, but she was able to put these pieces together, and came to understand what happened yesterday night. "Serve the guests some tea" She told the servant before taking the two into the room to take a seat.
As soon as the girl came back with some hot tea, Ikumatsu spoke up. "We come here today to talk about Kaoru."
"I know," The old woman smiled "I know"
Ikumatsu hesitated at that. She knew? "Well we are aware that Kaoru is not yet conceded her full debut as a geisha despite her age, because she has not had her mizuage [i.e. she' still a virgin] yet.
"I see" The old lady drank some tea. She knew they would come for something along those lines, and they were not the first ones, so she knew very well, how to deal with them.
Ikumatsu gave her patron a glance, and he nodded, as if understanding her silence. "Well, I'll get to the point. What we want is to buy Kaoru's virginity, you name a price." [who here has read memoirs of a geisha?]
"I'm sorry, but Kaoru is not for sale, not for any given price" The woman replied regrettably. "For personal reasons" She added.
"Because the commodity simply isn't there to be sold?" Katsura couldn't help but ask, despite knowing how rude it was.
"No, the girl is still as pure as crystal."
Katsura, seemed to understand, and graciously said. "Very well then, I suppose I have no reason to stay here anymore. Thank you for the tea."
* * * * * *
After they left, Ikumatsu finally spoke her mind. "Really, Katsura, I don't understand why you have to please the boy like that, he's got to learn to accept the fact that not everything in this world is under his command." She shook her head, distressed. "Why can't you just leave the case to himself?"
He sighed, squeezing her hand. "It's not as easy as you think, I don't want the boy to end up killing the whole house of geishas, it would cause quite some commotion, and would definitely ruin my plans."
"Well as long as it doesn't cost any lives, can't we just let him get what he wants himself?" Katsura was acting even more protective than a father now, and she didn't like it one bit.
[A/N got I'm tired, sorry I really have to stop it here, or it'll go on forever and ever]
If you want to join my mailing list (applies for all stories, unfortunately) then drop your mail in a review :D
next time: er.haven't really thought of that yet, but Katsura's gonna have a talk with kenshin, and ikumatsu ends up going to the dance rehearsal with kenshin, and he sees Kaoru there and w00t! another seduction scene YAY. *mwah all the sweethearts who reviewed*
Corrupted Innocence: Chapter 2
by white seraph
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Kaoru ran as fast as her legs could take her body, not caring if people on the streets were staring at her outrageous actions. She new and expected Ikumatsu or the lady of that tea house to drop a 'visit' the next day, in demand for her explanations, but Kaoru didn't care, or at least just for now. The cold wind was scraping mercilessly on her face, and by the time she was at the doors of her own house, the poor girl was already shivering.
Dragging herself past the corridor that lead her to the inner walls of the house, she ignored the servant's greetings, and the other geishas' questioning eyes, and went straight to her own room, shutting herself away from the rest of the world through that thin door before she allowed herself to collapse and burst into tears.
[yes I'm sure she's not over reacting cos I know how it feels to be touched without permission, so shut it if you're about to drop a flame]
And after what seemed an eternity, when Kaoru could no longer feel the tears on her check, the door creaked open, and there was a crack of light, and as of expected, when Kaoru looked up, she saw the old lady's bending figure approaching her and very casually taking a seat next to her. "My lovely Kaoru," Mama Okina's soft warm voice started as she stroked the girl's back. "I'm not going to ask you why you are back so early, or what happened. I just want to know if you feel alright now, after half a night by yourself."
Kaoru nodded without facing her.
"Now you know how everyone here cares about you, all the others, even snobby Yumi were asking if you were alright" the old woman continued. It was a lie, not that no one cared, because they did, but that she actually wanted to know what happened to the girl. But of course, seeing her in such a miserable state, she did not want the girl to recall what happened again. It was best to drop a visit by the Red Rose Tea house tomorrow to ask. Right now, the most important thing was to make sure the poor girl was alright, after all, she was the special girl here.
The old woman, never failing to comfort people, once again proved herself omnipotent at the case, for Kaoru chuckled softly "Yumi? I never thought even you'd call her snobby Yumi behind her back"
Yumi was one of more popular geishas in the house, and because of her fame, she also earned a reputation of being the arrogant, snobby one who thought herself so beautiful and the rest ugly. Kaoru knew the geisha never really liked her because the only reason why she wasn't the heiress of this house was because Kaoru already was assigned the title before she came along.
But despite the grudge, they sometimes talked, especially when all the others were gone to entertain some tea houses that particular evening, leaving the odd two awkwardly dining with Mama Okina.
[omg i can't believe I did it again!.-,-]
* * * * * *
Kenshin had a rather restless, but boring night with a substitute geisha, and though she was more than willing to spend her night with him, the pleasures were not mutual, for he, as of expected, was unable to dismiss the thoughts of that Kaoru girl, and for the entire night, felt rather guilty that he was working against his mind, to bed with someone he did had no desires for.
And of course, when morning came, Ikumatsu was not surprised to see the young man creeping up to her, demanding for her to see Kaoru again. He was, just as ignorant as he looked; he really thought a request to see a geisha was just like an assignment to kill someone, so Ikumatsu, being the gentle, patient woman she was, took her time, and explained him through all the reasons why it wasn't as easy as he thought.
"Obviously, Kaoru left early because you went over the top." Ikumatsu said, trying hard not to hurt his feelings, though she doubt he had any. "And I must say, after yesterday night, if I were Kaoru, I wouldn't even dare come to another tea party knowing you would be there."
"How am I supposed to know what goes on in you women's head." He said gruffly, it was indeed, a rather frustrating experience he was going through. As far as he was concerned, women are playthings, living for the sake of men such as himself, so far, all the ones he had come across had proven his hypothesis right, but now, for the first time, he had come across something he wanted, but cannot have, and he blamed it entirely on the nature of women and something people called virtue.
Ikumatsu sighed. She understood that although he was only a lad, for the first time going through the deprivation of something he wanted, like a child sulking, but he was also one of Katsura's most important men, and she knew, whatever price it would cost, that they would have to please this young man's heart in order for him to stay and continue with his job. "Well, why does it have to be Kaoru and only?" She finally spoke up, "I know she may be lovely to look at, but there are also many others who are just as beautiful as her." She knew wasn't a close friend of Kaoru's but she was well acquainted enough to understand that the girl simply, was out of Kenshin's reach, and it would be wise for him to stop with his pursue now, before anything disastrous happens.
"If that worked, then I wouldn't have come to see you this morning." He replied bluntly.
She gave him a lopsided smile, looking rather helpless. "Alright, I'll try to as the mistress of her house if she could attend a party tomorrow night, at the teahouse on the opposite of my house." Ikumatsu pursed her lips, and didn't say more, because she knew the chance of her coming would be very small.
But at that, Kenshin instantly smiled, and gave Ikumatsu a playful kiss on the cheek, as a sign of appreciation and left.
As soon as he left, Ikumatsu heard someone else call for her downstairs. She suddenly remembered, today they would be given their casts for the spring dance, and she had to be there before lunch. Thank the lord her make up artist came exceptionally early this morning, and had her made up already.
"Alright, I'll be down in a moment" She quickly responded before putting a coat on.
* * * * * *
In the entire house of more than fifteen geishas, the only ones who dared to go try out for the spring production were Kaoru, Yumi and Misao, Kaoru of course because dancing was her own expertise, her only way in stretching her fame as far out as possible, Yumi because of her obvious obligations as a popular geisha, and Misao, for the sake of impressing this mysterious man that Kaoru had never heard of, called Aoshi.
Now Yumi had left early, just before breakfast, off to somewhere she did not say, but by the time the sun was high up, and all the geishas were starting to busy themselves with their make up and attires that it was clear she would not be going to the casting congregation with the other two.
"It's okay, it's better to go without Yumi than be late." The old woman said, and ordered the two girls to go now.
"Oooh, that's a new Kimono you're wearing, isn't it?" Misao poked the ssilky pink fabric on Kaoru. She was rather late in starting her career, and at the age of sixteen, was still but an apprentice, and because Kaoru was the only other geisha in her house of the same age, she had become quite close to her despite the fact that they never attended the same teahouses, or entertained the same people.
"This one?" Kaoru put an arm up, examining the patterns on her sleeves. "No, I don't think so, it's just a very, very old kimono I found behind the closets, and decided to wear it for today." She smiled cheerfully, as if proud of it.
"Wow, it looks just like new to me!" Misao replied with enthusiasm, as if it was magic that this kimono still looked new. Of course, she was amazed, for it was plain obvious, from the mundane days we see of her, the way she treats kimonos, wearing them as if they were ordinary clothes, not caring if she spilt anything on them.
Kaoru gave her a broad smile, but did not say anything.
"Hey hey, so what exactly happened yesterday evening, I thought you were going to Red Rose Teahouse to entertain some people." Misao, being the curious little girl she was, did not realize she had just touched on a rather sensitive subject.
"I." Kaoru didn't really want to talk about it, as she thought it was a rather embarrassing subject. "Nothing I'd want to talk about." She finally decided to keep it all to herself.
But Misao was a little more obstinate today, and determined to find out, she pressed again "No, really, what happened, why did you look so angry and sad?" She chirped again.
"Because something bad happened" Kaoru said allusively, and turned her face away from the girl, not wanting anyone to see her teary eyes.
"Oh.." Misao immediately quiet down, as if she realized she had hit a sensitive subject that Kaoru would not like to talk about, but now after a while, the itching curiosity came back, and she couldn't have her heart settled without finding out. "But.would you like to talk about it? Were you being bullied by some older geishas?!" She guessed.
Kaoru sighed, the girl was not going to stop with her questioning until she had told her what happened. "Misao, have you ever been kissed before? By a stranger you barely know?"
"What?" Misao looked confused. "No, and no" She replied truthfully.
"Nevermind then." She said, giving Misao a reassuring smile.
The younger pursed her lips, she finally understood what happened, and immediately felt guilty for asking. Stupid girl, should have realized that when Kaoru said she didn't want to talk about it! Misao silently chastised herself.
It was awkwardly silent now, and tension was in the air, despite the loud noise from the busy street. Thankfully, they were nearly there, and Misao's excitement soon overrode her guilt. There were a lot of people, geishas, audiences, organizers, and sure enough, out of the crowd, the girls soon spotted Yumi, with that weird looking patron of hers, the one with bandage all over.
[yeah yeah I know what you're gonna say but this is an alternate timeline fic so shishio would be in]
Misao was about to go greet Yumi, when she was suddenly pulled back by Kaoru. She yanked Misao in front of her, as if trying to shield herself from something. "What.What's wrong?" Misao asked, utterly confused by Kaoru's actions.
But it was too late. She saw them.
"Why, You also auditioned for this year's spring production?" Ikumatsu said as she approached them, and Misao, upon seeing Kaoru's expression, understood that this was the woman she was trying to avoid. But.wait, was she the stranger who tried to kiss her?!
But before she could speak up, Kaoru already responded. "Yes, I thought you knew I participate in nearly all dance productions."
Another man, Kaoru recognized to be the host of last night's party, Katsura appeared from behind Ikumatsu. He showed some sign of recognition, and Kaoru bowed, showing her respects to the man.
"Well we really have to be going now" Kaoru lied. She wasn't really in a rush to anywhere, but she didn't want them to ask her to entertain for their parties again, and in order to avoid so, she did what she did, and excused herself before their conversation could go any further.
As Kaoru guessed, as soon as she left, Katsura spoke. "That's the girl he wants, isn't it? It seems like she doesn't want to talk to us"
Ikumatsu sighed. It's not 'seems like' it's blatant and obvious. She didn't understand why the young lad would be fussing all over a girl he barely even knew, there wasn't a chance that she would want to seem him ever again, it was plain obvious and clear that she wanted to avoid the couple, and thank the lord that the boy was not here, or it would have shattered his ego if he knew the girl had no apparent interest in him whatsoever.
Ikumatsu didn't have to say more, the chief organizer had himself seated at the centre, ready to announce the long list of chosen participants, people were quieting down, and the rows of seats were filling up rapidly.
After a frustratingly long time, when nearly everyone found a seat, one of the men finaly stood, and started the assembly with a brief introduction, thanking all those who auditioned and blah blah..
This year's spring production was going to have four main dancers, each representing a sister of the family in which the production would be revolving around. It was a rather big one, considering the number of main characters available, and the time given to prepare it. But Ikumatsu could have guessed, since it was exceptionally early for them to cast characters.
Finally, after a long half hour announcing names for small parts, the moment came, when the man started announcing the lucky few who were chosen, after an arduous time picking and choosing. Ikumatsu closed her eyes, silently praying he would call her name, for if he did not, it would mean she failed to enter the entire production at all.
"The four geishas chosen this year are," The man must have had an exceptionally loud and clear voice in order to deliver his speech to every corner of the large room. "Yumi [her last name I forgot ^^"] as Sadako Iwasaki" He paused for a breath that seemed like eternity for her. "Ikumatsu [I don't know her last name!] as Rumiko Iwasaki" Katsura gave her hand a reassuring squeeze, and smiled, but quickly turned his attention back to the man on stage when he continued. "Tomoe Yukishiro as Yaeko Iwasaki, and Kaoru Kamiya as Nuriko Iwasaki" He finished with one breath.
Ikumatsu was happy she got in, but what's more, now that Kaoru was her partner once again, it meant the boy would have a lot more chances to see her, if he would come watch her rehearse. She was deep in her thoughts and unaware that people were leaving now, and it wasn't until Katsura tapped her on the shoulder that she realized nearly half the people were already gone, off to the lunch the organizers of the production set up.
A hand pulled her back. "If the lunch isn't that important, do you think you can come with me to find this Kaoru's mistress, to see if we can hire her for a night?" Kastura spoke quietly despite the loud noise around. He had enough experience around the place to understand basic rules. It always worked, to find the mistress of a geisha if nothing else worked, since they, in sense, had the power to command these women.
Ikumatsu sighed. "Well I guess impressing that young man is more important than lunch."
"The sooner we get there, the sooner we get things settled, the sooner I take you to tea alright?" He replied, smiling.
She nodded, "If my memory is correct, then Kaoru's house should be one a street away, and it wouldn't take us long to get there." She had been to the girl's house a few times, especially last year when the two were both training for the same parts, because they rehersed till very late at night, Ikumatsu would just drop by Kaoru's to stay for a night, but leave before dawn.
And sure enough, there Kaoru's house was, still with the same, distinguishing green roof.
"We'd like to see the mistress of this house" Ikumatsu told the servant girl who was by the door arranging the geisha's shoes.
The girl seemed surprise at the guests, but did not hesitate to call Mama Okina, who immediately popped out of one of the rooms from the corridors at hearing the servant talking to two foreign voices.
"How may I help you?" The old lady asked, though seeing Ikumatsu's face she knew it would have to do with Kaoru. The women in the Red Rose Teahouse told her the story in bits and pieces, but she was able to put these pieces together, and came to understand what happened yesterday night. "Serve the guests some tea" She told the servant before taking the two into the room to take a seat.
As soon as the girl came back with some hot tea, Ikumatsu spoke up. "We come here today to talk about Kaoru."
"I know," The old woman smiled "I know"
Ikumatsu hesitated at that. She knew? "Well we are aware that Kaoru is not yet conceded her full debut as a geisha despite her age, because she has not had her mizuage [i.e. she' still a virgin] yet.
"I see" The old lady drank some tea. She knew they would come for something along those lines, and they were not the first ones, so she knew very well, how to deal with them.
Ikumatsu gave her patron a glance, and he nodded, as if understanding her silence. "Well, I'll get to the point. What we want is to buy Kaoru's virginity, you name a price." [who here has read memoirs of a geisha?]
"I'm sorry, but Kaoru is not for sale, not for any given price" The woman replied regrettably. "For personal reasons" She added.
"Because the commodity simply isn't there to be sold?" Katsura couldn't help but ask, despite knowing how rude it was.
"No, the girl is still as pure as crystal."
Katsura, seemed to understand, and graciously said. "Very well then, I suppose I have no reason to stay here anymore. Thank you for the tea."
* * * * * *
After they left, Ikumatsu finally spoke her mind. "Really, Katsura, I don't understand why you have to please the boy like that, he's got to learn to accept the fact that not everything in this world is under his command." She shook her head, distressed. "Why can't you just leave the case to himself?"
He sighed, squeezing her hand. "It's not as easy as you think, I don't want the boy to end up killing the whole house of geishas, it would cause quite some commotion, and would definitely ruin my plans."
"Well as long as it doesn't cost any lives, can't we just let him get what he wants himself?" Katsura was acting even more protective than a father now, and she didn't like it one bit.
[A/N got I'm tired, sorry I really have to stop it here, or it'll go on forever and ever]
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next time: er.haven't really thought of that yet, but Katsura's gonna have a talk with kenshin, and ikumatsu ends up going to the dance rehearsal with kenshin, and he sees Kaoru there and w00t! another seduction scene YAY. *mwah all the sweethearts who reviewed*