Chapter 6: Swaying on the Stormy Sea

Walking back to the okiya alone gave Tsukushi plenty of time to reflect on the conversation she had with Hanazawa Rui. From the moment she had met him, he had intrigued her with his quiet disposition and perceptiveness. He was clearly a man who spoke little but communicated volumes. And as she grew more acquainted with him, it was clear that she had been attracted to him. However she had come to realise that she could not pierce the shell that he had built around himself. It has hurt her deeply to admit to herself and to him that only Shizuka oneesan could penetrate the inner depths of his heart.

"It still hurts though," Tsukushi squeezed her eyes shut, willing herself not to cry again. Enough tears had been shed.

Shivering from the chill of the night and the dampness of the kimono, she tried to wrap it around her tighter. It was than that she remembered the note that Domyouji had slipped her. Taking the note out, she gave a cry of dismay. The note was ruined, courtesy of the result of her having fallen into the sea. Squinting at the crushed paper, she tried to decipher the writing on the note. "3pm tomorrow, near the Kyoto Shrine? What does the baka want now?"

Sighing, she was about to dispose of the note but something made her hold back. Instead she shrugged, slipped the note back in her notes and continued walking back.

Lounging in her room Tsukushi yawned. She could not sleep the previous night and had tossed and turn till it was time to get up. She could have attributed it to the anguish she felt over Hanazawa Rui but somehow she had dreamt of a man with curly hair yesterday. For some reason, he looked a lot like Domyouji but she immediately dismissed the notion.

Which reminded her of the note. She took it out and scrutinised it again. Frowning, she was interrupted by Yuki peering in and asking, "Tsukushi-san, do you want to go out shopping with me?"

No point brooding over things. Might as well go out and have fun before I have to work.

"Sure thing Yuki. Just give me some time to get ready," she nodded and got up.

After Tsukushi had gotten ready, she and Yuki set off for the shopping district.

"Tsukushi-chan, you went off so suddenly last night and came back so late. What were you doing, ne?" Yuki asked her teasingly.

Slightly flustered, Tsukushi pretended to act nonchalant, "Nothing much. I had my own stuff to do. Anyway aren't you a nosy one?" She reached out and gave Yuki a little nudge.

Giggling Yuki poked her elbow in Tsukushi's side and they ended up in a little tussle.

"Oww! Stop that! Shh, people are looking. Come on now, steady ourselves. Remember we have to behave. We'll never hear the end of it if this reaches Okasan."

And the two geisha regained their composure and continued on their own journey, maintaining an air of sophisticated aloofness. As they went in shop after shop, they bowed and carried on polite small talk, ever mindful of their status as a geisha. Tsukushi got rather impatient after awhile and she felt like screaming because for the millionth time, she could not bear all the propriety that was required of them. And she had to continue enduring it because Yuki seemed to insist on going to every shop available to look at the new material that have arrived. To make it worse, it had started to rain and Tsukushi was starting to feel cold plus a nagging feeling had formed at the back of her mind.

"Yuki? What time is it?" she finally asked.

"Hmm, its near 5pm. Ohh, I'd better hurry. We have to go back soon," Yuki nodded.

5pm? That note said 3pm. That baka couldn't have, could he? The shrine is not far from here. Maybe I should go check it out in case.

"I'll go back to the okiya myself. I need to do something first Yuki!" Tsukushi said quickly and ran out of the shop.

Looking up, Yuki only managed to see the retreating back of Tsukushi and the umbrella bobbing up and down as she ran off holding it. Stamping her feet, Yuki shook her head in exasperation, "Haven't I heard this one before? And she took our umbrella with her! Where on earth is that girl going?"

Along the street, the people gaped to see a geisha behaving out of sorts and running madly like a commoner.

There'll be hell to pay when Madam finds out about this. But whatever. I'm so tired of this life as a geisha. I want to escape from it. Run away from it all. But God, its hard to run in this damn kimono right now.

When she reached the entrance of the shrine, she panted and tried to catch her breath.

He won't be here would he? Nobody waits that long unless they're stupid. And someone as rich and powerful for him certainly won't be doing anything like that.

She was wrong. There he was in his crisp Western business suit, looking all irritated. But he was there. And all soaked to boot. She could only stand still in shock as she saw him shivering and getting drenched in the rain. When he looked up and saw her, he glared at her.

"Where the hell were you Makino? Do you know the time now!" he yelled.

Looking defensively back at him, she yelled back, "Why on earth did you wait so long? Nobody in their right mind would stand here to get wet!"

"I thought you were.. Never mind! I'm cold!" he complained.

Looking at him trying to keep warm, something in Tsukushi's heart melted. She ran over and shared the umbrella with him, "Come on. Let's take shelter somewhere to warm up."

She led him to a nearby restaurant, with him complaining at the top of his voice while she tried her best not to retort back. The restaurant was near empty and they took opposite seats by the window. An obviously bad-tempered Domyouji ordered sake and the waiter scuttled off, looking a bit intimidated.

Looking at him in irritation, she asked him straightaway, "Why did you ask me to meet you?"

He glared at her and looked out of the window in silence.

"Are you deaf, Domyouji-san?" she snapped, her patience wearing thin.

The waiter returned, depositing the cups of sake before bowed to them and shot off again. Domyouji grabbed his sake and downed it in one shot. It looked like he was nervous about something. He put his cup down and looked at her straight in the eye, "Makino, I want to be your danna."

Unfortunately as he was saying this, Tsukushi herself was drinking her cup. When the reality of his words sunk in, she ended up spitting her sake all over him.

"What the hell, woman! Look at what you have done! Do you know how expensive this suit is?" he spluttered.

But Tsukushi was barely listening to his rants.

Danna? He wants to be my danna?

She knew what it meant for a geisha to have a danna off course. Normally a geisha of relatively high popularity could not be bought for a single night. However if the right kinds of man, such as rich ones like Domyouji were interested, they could offer suitable terms to the geisha for a long term arrangement. He would pay her hourly as per normal in addition to paying for her living expenses and her debt. And she knew someone as wealthy as Domyouji would sponsor her lessons and all her clothes. But in return the geisha would have to provide her danna with extra services. If the geisha was lucky, she would only have one danna her whole life.

Domyouji coughed and averted his eyes, "If you're willing, I can talk to the Madam of your okiya and we can negotiate the terms."

Brought back to her senses, she could only stare at him.

He's interested… in me?

Author's Note: I finally updated this due to my renewed love for HYD thanks to the live action drama. And I heard the manga's going to have a sequel! Squeeee! Plus the Memoirs of a Geisha movie is coming out and I thought this was the perfect time to continue my fic. Gomen ne for any factual errors I may have made.. these terms befuddle me sometimes. Also I seem to have included the events of the manga into my fic again.. I wanted to experiment what it was like to write about these events in a different time period. Please read and review! You awesome readers are what motivate me to do this. 3