Kenko had just finished washing her gi, and was hanging it up on the rack to dry in the early afternoon sun when she heard Okami seemingly explode. Curious, she slowly made her way towards the kitchen door, careful to watch for any flying objects. She figured that Ikumatsu must have returned as she heard another female voice try and soothe the landlady down.
Before she had reached the confrontation, it had died down, and when she got there she took time to look at the scene. Standing by the door was not only Miyuki but also Ikumatsu, holding a large, folded package in her arms – the basket she had left with was now in Miyuki's hands. Okami was standing near the staircase, behind her a meek-looking Aya and several Choushuu men.
Ikumatsu, looking over to the kitchen saw Kenko looking slightly bewildered, tightened her grip on her package. "Well, Okami-san, if you don't mind, I need to get this upstairs – I got you everything you need from the markets."
"Ah. Yes, I see. Arigatou, Ikumatsu-san." Okami's smile seemed forced as she moved towards where Kenko was standing. "Now that you're back, Miyuki, you can finish doing your jobs. Himura-chan – please don't bother yourself with the girls' chores anymore today. Just relax, ok?" The smile became more natural as she faced the young girl, but soon melded into a grimace as she grabbed hold of Miyuki's arm and steered her into the kitchen in front of her. Aya followed them in, giving Kenko a quick smile before she too disappeared into the room.
Turning back, she saw that Ikumatsu still standing there, holding the large package. A smile slowly crept across the woman's face, making her a little nervous. Before she could make anything of it, the older woman stepped forward.
"Ne, Himura-chan – would you care to carry this upstairs for me, would you? Only walking around the markets carrying this for the last hour has made me a bit tired."
Her smile widened as the ever-helpful girl obliged, taking the bulky package out of her arms. Stepping forward, she noticed that the men who had gathered on the stairs to watch Okami's little outburst moved out of the way quickly as they came towards them. Looking over her shoulder, the smile faded as realised it was the young hitokiri that made them move so. She couldn't understand why they couldn't see her for who she really was – a young girl trying to help Katsura in the only way she could. The only problem was that it was slowly destroying her humanity, and it wouldn't be long before it would be lost forever. Unless something was done about it.
She had known better than to ask her lover to remove Kenko from the hitokiri role – she was needed too badly, and they couldn't risk sending out a less skilled samurai to do such an important job. But she knew – or at least hoped – that one day the girl would be able to leave the world of violence, and become a normal woman. The only problem was that she obviously hadn't been trained in such feminine duties since before she had started learning her sword.
Reaching the door of Kenko's room, she opened it and stood aside to let the girl in first. Seeing the questioning look in her eye, she simply smiled back. "Well, I have nowhere else to put it, do I?" Once inside, Ikumatsu sat herself down, as she knew the young girl would remain standing even if asked, and watched her as she started to place it beside the pile of books.
"Oh, actually, Himura-chan, you can open it." Kenko looked up in surprise when the older woman spoke. Something was going on. Slowly kneeling by the package, she gently tore at the paper. Pulling it away, she found herself looking at dark blue material. Picking it up with her hands, she eventually saw that it was a kimono. The kimono that Ikumatsu had been looking at the day before, in fact. She looked back up at the woman.
Ikumatsu was grinning. "So? You hardly even looked at it before – now that you can see it properly… what do you think?" Her grin slowly faded as the girl's face became blank.
"Uh… it's… nice, I guess, but… why did you buy it?"
"Mou, Himura-chan! It's your fifteenth birthday soon! You'll be a young woman, and you need a good kimono." Crawling over to her, she took the kimono out of Kenko's hands, pushed away the sea-green obi that was still on the packaging, picked up several ties and an under-kimono, and stood up. "Believe it or not, but you're not going to be a hitokiri forever. The revolution will end soon, and when that time comes, you will need to fit into society again. You need to learn how to be a woman. And that includes how to dress like one. Now – stand up."
Hearing an authoritarian tone in her voice, Kenko stood up almost meekly. But the next command almost made her choke.
"Get undressed." Ikumatsu rose an eyebrow as the girl just stood stock still in front of her, as stunned as a deer. Taking a step forward, she placed her hand on the knot holding up Kenko's hakama. "If you won't do it yourself, I will."
Blushing, Kenko brushed the woman's hand away, and removed her swords. As she slowly started to untie the belt, she mumbled, "I don't usually undress in front of people…"
Ikumatsu couldn't help but let a laugh out. "I'm not surprised, what with your recent upbringing. Living almost a year in a tavern with dozens of men, and before that living on a mountain with some hermit…" Glancing at Kenko, she saw an embarrassed look cross her face as she started undoing the ties around her hakama.
As the material pooled around her ankles, Kenko held the folds of her gi closed. Looking to the older woman, she whispered, "Matsu-san… could… could you just… make sure no one comes in!"
Sighing, Ikumatsu moved over to the shoji. "Who would come in your room, besides that slimy weasel?" Leaning back against where the shoji joined the wall, she asked, "There – is that better?" As the girl nodded furiously, she smiled, shifting the kimono items in her arms. "Now, take off that old gi – no one will come in."
As the girl hesitantly slid the clothing off her shoulders, Ikumatsu fought hard not to gasp out loud. Instead of being the slim, toned girl she had always imagined, Kenko was almost skin and bone. Her ribs were obvious, and the shoulder blades stuck out from under the binder she wore tightly over her chest. Her hips pointed out from her tiny waist, and her legs were more thin than slender. Sensing her staring at her, Kenko turned to her, holding her arms over her chest. "What's wrong, Matsu-san?"
Ikumatsu breathed a silent sigh as she saw the taut muscles move as she crossed her arms and shifted her weight between her legs – she did have some muscles on her bones at least. "You… you're… thinner than I thought you'd be…" she finally managed to say. Stepping forwards slightly, she held out the under-kimono for Kenko to take. But as her hand went out to take it, she pulled it back slightly, saying, "First, loosen that binder – how can you breathe when it's that tight?"
Blushing again, Kenko let her hand drop. "It needs to be tight when I wear a gi. Otherwi!" She suppressed a shriek as the older woman stepped behind her and started fiddling with the binder's tie. She stood as still as she could while Ikumatsu loosened the knot to allow more material to move. She was almost calm while she did it, until
"M-Matsu-san!"
Ikumatsu had now stuck her hands under Kenko's arms and was shifting the material – and other things – around. "Really, Himura-chan – we're both women…" she muttered while she made the girl's curves more visible. When she was satisfied, she turned Kenko around and held out the kimono again. "If you're going to wear something feminine, you should try to look feminine underneath… now, put this on."
Taking the clothing from the older woman, Kenko tried desperately to get her blush under control. Sliding her arms into the sleeves, she was surprised at how soft the material felt on her skin. She had to admit that the kimono did look nice, beautiful even. But she wasn't so sure she'd look good in it. Folding the collar and side where they needed to go, she took the strip Ikumatsu held out to tie the kimono into place. Obviously the way she had tied it wasn't to Ikumatsu's liking, as she sighed, dropped the main kimono to the ground and redid the tie around her waist, almost cutting her in half.
The whole process of putting on a kimono was quite a task – and it wasn't that uncommon to have someone help you. First item to put on (if it was very cold) was something like a petticoat shirt and wrap-around skirt. A folded towel would be placed across the stomach, and tied up with another one with covered the back. Also, if it was required, a towel was folded appropriately across the chest, as so not all feminine curves would be lost under the clothing. Next was the under kimono, with the collar folded with the left side over the right. The same would be done with the outer kimono later, as the collar was only folded the other way on a deceased person. A sash is then tied around the waist to keep the edges in place, along with one with a hard, flat part to push down on the toweling put on earlier. Next comes the outer kimono, the hems of which will pool on the ground. After folding the collar into place, one of the trickiest parts comes up. The material around the waist is folded up on itself for at least two inches, and this is tied into place. The fold is then carefully pulled out and folded over the tie, as so to hide it. Another one or two ties go around the waist to keep the collar in place and to flatten the stomach more. And next comes the hardest part to do own your own…
After everything else had been done, Ikumatsu then held out the obi sash, a slightly amused look on her face. "Let's see how well you remember to tie one of these, because I'm not going to do it for you…" She had to suppress a laugh as the girl managed to put it on the wrong way, then get it right but was unable to tie the bow at all. Stepping forward, she started to undo her own obi sash, unable to hold her laughter when Kenko blushed again. "Honestly, Himura-chan –monksare less prude than you. Now, watch how I tie this – first, you place this end here…"
After a few minutes, Kenko had managed to tie up her obi relatively well, but Ikumatsu tidied it up for her before she was satisfied, also tying the rope over the obi herself. Pulling out one last sash, she folded it over the front of the obi and into Kenko's collar, tucking the ends away. "Oh, one last thing, Himura-chan," she said as she reached into her kimono sleeve. The item she pulled out made Kenko's eyebrow rise in skepticism.
"What is this?" Ikumatsu repeated when the girl asked the question. "This is a ribbon for your hair. Your hair is always up in that horsetail of yours, and while it does look good down, I think this would look good in it. And while I'm at it…" Reaching again into her sleeve, she proceeded to take out a comb, some makeup, and a small mirror.
Which begged the question to be asked – "Matsu-san, just what else do you keep in your sleeves?"
"Never you mind." Was the curt reply. Walking over to the windowsill, she sat down and indicated for Kenko to kneel in front of her. Doing so, she tried not to make a face while the older woman had trouble loosening the tie that held her hair together.
While Ikumatsu combed through her hair, muttering about how long was the last time she had brushed it, Kenko decided to try and make conversation.
"Matsu-san, how did you meet Katsura-san?"
"Ah…" Ikumatsu smiled as she continued getting the knots out of the girl's hair. "That's going back a while now… well, his friends had taken to one of the more expensive geisha houses in town, and I was on service that night. He didn't seem particularly happy being there, but his friend Takasugi was enjoying himself immensely talking to my good friend Uno. You do understand, Himura-chan," she added, a bit more seriously, "That we geishas are not like courtesans. We do not sell services of that kind to our customers – we offer entertainment in the form of conversation, music, performing plays and distracting them from the difficulties of day-to-day life. After all, our title means 'one of the arts'."
Finishing that process, she then gathered the long side-bangs that usually hung to the sides of Kenko's face, and proceeded to tie in the ribbon. "But, one of the group there who wasn't a particular friend of Katsura's became a bit too drunk, and started to act obscenely. He was making lewd remarks to the women, and when he found that most were already involved with men at the time, proceeded to divert his attentions to me. This kind of behavior isn't that unusual, and it had happened to me before, so I knew how to deal with it. But he was very persistent, eventually trying to embrace me and have his way. I tried to politely remind him that geisha's did not offer that service to their clients, and that's when he became violent. He struck me to the ground, and started yelling. While the other men just stared in shock, Katsura got up, got hold of the man and took him outside."
Straightening the bow in Kenko's hair, Ikumatsu sighed lightly, and moved down onto the ground next to her. "After a few minutes, Katsura came back in. His clothes were slightly ruffled, so you could guess what he had done with the man. He came over to me and apologised for him even though he had know idea who the man was – he actually got up to the part to say his name, and his face went black. It was so cute. And for the rest of that night we talked." A dreamy look entered the woman's eyes. "After that he came back often, sometimes with his friends, other times alone. Soon, he invited me to join him one day outside the geisha house. That was when…" she trailed off as she figured that Kenko wouldn't appreciate hearing the intimate details. Instead, she opened up the foundation box and started applying it to the girl's face.
It was another minute before Kenko asked the next question. "So… why did Miyuki go out with you to the market?"
"Hmm? Oh, well, she's about your size, and I needed to make sure the kimono would fit you." Finishing putting the foundation over the scar on her left cheek, she then stood up, brushing out the creases in her kimono. "Though I must say, Okami-san wasn't particularly pleased that I hadn't told her of my plan earlier…"
"Earlier… so, she only found out when you came back in… which would mean…" Kenko's face paled slightly as she heard several pairs of footsteps coming up the stairs.
Sure enough, in a moment, three figures stood outside the door, and a curt female voice called out, "Is she decent, Ikumatsu-san?"
"Ha-i!" She called out in a singsong tone, and smiled broadly when the shoji was slid open to reveal Okami, Aya and Miyuki.
A silent moment passed as the newcomers took in the sight that was Kenko dressed in a beautiful kimono, hair recently brushed and decorated with a ribbon, and a slight blush across her powdered cheeks, with the scar nowhere to be seen.
"Ah – kawaii yo!" Cried the two worker girls as they flew towards the alarmed girl, who cheeks were now burning even more. Okami made her way towards the group slowly and more refined than the girls had, and told Ikumatsu that she had chosen very good colours for Kenko.
"She looks so cute with that ribbon, I must say!" She added with a laugh.
Unnoticed, Kenko's eyes flickered with annoyed amber.
Notes:
Well, this part became a lot longer than I planned it to be, so it became a filling chapter in the end. It gives a bit of comic relief in places, while also addressing the role Ikumatsu plays in my story a bit more. So this is why this chapter is short and doesn't actually go anywhere. And for some reason i included a detailed account of how my host-baasan dressed me in a kimono... except for the 're-arranging' bit, of course...
Translations:
Arigatou – thank you
Mou – darn, damn
Shoji – sliding door
Kawaii yo – so cute!