My Fair Geisha
By: sakuraflowergal
Chapter 6: Meiling
The pink ponk of the shamisen could be heard clearly even before she stepped into the room. Meiling had immediately recognized the tune as Syaoran's favorite piece.
'Can it be?' Meiling thought excitedly, 'Is Syaoran the one playing the shamisen?'
Meiling quickly entered the room and was greeted by the sight of Kohoshi dancing to the song. Of course, the shamisen player was not Syaoran, which made it a double disappointment. Kohoshi's pale-colored kimono scheme caught her eyes and she realized that it was completely contrasting her own bright-colored kimono.
"Wonderful performance, Kohoshi-san." She commented when the performance ended, "Even the kimono you wore today suits the beggar theme." She held the soft creamy silk lightly between her fingers, "Look at the color! Was it originally like that? Or did you just think that any old kimono is good enough for the Minister's party?"
Meiling smiled when she saw Kohoshi turn white and bit her lips. 'How dare she? A mere maiko trying to set fashion trends? Who did she think she is?'
Then, she noticed that Kohoshi used an old tactic; for just a few seconds, Kohoshi looked at the Minister with tear-filled puppy eyes before directing her attention to the tatami mats on the floor, like a pitiful girl who got bullied but dare not fight back.
"I think the kimono looks absolutely gorgeous, Meiling-san. At the very least, it looked better than what you're wearing." Minister Fukaru came to her rescue and openly showed his unhappiness with Meiling.
Meiling took back the smile and turned her attention towards pouring sake for the guest beside her. She had taken several days to ensemble the kimono and obi set for this formal occasion. The dark red hikizuri was the newest and the most expensive item in her large kimono collection while the golden obi was a precious family heirloom. And all because of the 'darling' Kohoshi-san, her efforts of trying to please the Minister went to waste!
"There's no need to get angry, Minister, I'm sure that Meiling Onee-san didn't mean any harm." Kohoshi sweet-talked the Minister while still acting the part of an innocent girl.
"I'm not angry, but I do mourn the absence of my favorite cherry blossoms." He sighed and drained the cup of sake.
"There's no need for such sadness, Minister, for I have a gift for you that might help." Kohoshi reached into her obi and took out her name card.
"I'm not supposed to give my name card to anyone yet until my debut as a geiko next week, but I'll make it an exception for you."
Minister Fukaru took the card and inhaled the sweet perfume of cherry blossoms.
"Hmm, such lovely scent! I shall remember you whenever I see the cherry blossoms every spring."
Kohoshi smiled shyly before she moved on to serve another guest. Once in a while, Kohoshi will deliberately turn back to peek at the Minister, just as how Syaoran had ordered her to. Meiling caught every one of those 'longing' looks, and her face turns darker as the night grows later.
It was after 1 a.m. when Meiling finally made it back to her house.
"How was the party?" the maids asked as they helped her change into a comfortable yukata and served her some cold noodles for supper.
"That wretched Kohoshi-san stole all my limelight and flirted with Minister Fukaru. She even attempted to set the fashion trends! Did she really think that she is so popular and so she can win over me? Fat chance! She needs more than pretty eyes and nice kimonos to take the place of the top geisha!"
The next day, Meiling woke up to the noise of the busy streets; the maikos were rushing to the schools for lessons while the maids ran errands. They may be very different; each having their own purpose in life, but one thing was common among them this morning: pale-colored kimonos.
"Ohayo, Meiling-san." The maids entered the room to help Meiling get changed.
She took a look at the kimono that the maids had carried in, and was immediately disgusted.
"Take the kimono away! I'm not following Kohoshi-san's trend!"
"But Meiling-san…"
"Meiling-san," the Oka-san said forcefully, "I specifically picked out that kimono. Wear it!"
"I will not, Oka-san. Kohoshi-san wore those last night! No way will I wear something which she thinks is nice!"
"Well, unless you are able to reset the new trend, wear what that is picked out for you! You are the geisha of my house; you do what I say."
"Demo, Oka-san…" Meiling pleaded. She may be the top geisha now, but she would forever be subjected to her Oka-san's rule.
"No more buts, Meiling-san, wear the kimono and come down for lunch."
"Hei."
Meiling reluctantly put on the kimono and stepped out of the okiya to make her daily rounds around the hanamachi.
"Okini, Oka-san, thank you for last night. Please call me again for my services. Okini!" Meiling goes around the ochayas every afternoon to thank the Oka-sans for the work the previous night before going to the dance school for lessons.
Today is special and more relaxed because there had only been one party the night before, and so, Meiling decided to use the extra time to shop around for new accessories. As she wondered around the streets selling all sorts of fans, hairpins, and other stuff, Meiling spotted a rare figure standing in front of the store selling fans.
"Okini, Otou-san Li, how surprising to find you here!" Meiling greeted cheerfully.
"Konichiwa, Meiling-san. Are you here to buy fans too?" Syaoran replied emotionlessly.
"Just accessories in general. What about you?"
"I'm picking up Kohoshi-san's namesake fans for her debut next week."
Meiling gasped softly, "You came to pick up the fans yourself? Why didn't you ask the maid to do it?"
"Kohoshi-san is the jewel of my okiya. Whether my okiya survives or no depends on her, and so I must check through every detail myself to make sure that nothing goes wrong."
Meiling felt jealousy boiling, 'How come Syaoran never pays attention to me and yet he cares for her so much? What does Kohoshi-san have that I don't possess that made so many men fall for her?'
Meiling took a peek at the namesake fans and noticed that Syaoran had really invested heavily on Kohoshi. The fans were made of a dark blue paper which could shimmer in the light. This could only be done by mixing the blue paint with large amounts of real pearl powder. Meiling was very certain of that because she had wanted her own namesake fans to have the same shimmering effect but it was just too expensive. On the dark background, Kohoshi's name was written with real silver paint, and the fans were scented with the same cherry blossom perfume as the name cards. It was easily the most expensive namesake fan the hanamachi had seen for centuries!
'Really, what did Kohoshi-san do to deserve such good treatment?' Meiling thought bitterly to herself.
After that meeting, Meiling had lost the mood to shop, and so she decided to go to the dance school earlier for practice. This also happened to be a bad choice.
"Did you hear? Minister Fukaru was so entranced by Kohoshi-chan that he almost didn't want to get married this morning!" The older geishas gossiped among themselves when Meiling entered the room.
"Impossible! Minister Fukaru is probably the most stone-like person I've ever met. Other than his favorite cherry blossoms, the minister had never shown affection to anyone or anything else. How can he be attracted by Kohoshi-chan? I mean, she wasn't a maiko until just weeks ago, how did she manage to make the minister fall for her?" The other experienced geiko exclaimed.
"Ha! That shrewd little girl gave the Minister her name card which was scented with cherry blossom perfume. The Minister was immediately attracted to her and even made promises to call for her services again!"
"Hmm… do you think she will have such luck with the emperor?" One of the geishas asked.
"I doubt it. Minister Fukaru doesn't attend geisha parties often since he is always tied down by work. But the emperor is different. His majesty has a geisha party almost everyday. He is so used to geishas that one look and he will be able to identify the professionals and the rookies. Kohoshi-chan will have a hard time trying to fool him."
All the other geishas nodded in agreement and then moved on to other topics. In her heart, Meiling silently cursed Kohoshi for being such an attention seeker. Just when she thought the ordeal was over, the devil stepped into the room.
"Okini, Onee-sans!" Kohoshi chirped as she sank to her knees and bowed to her seniors.
"Ah, you're early today, Kohoshi-chan." The older geisha commented lightly.
"Hei! Otou-san said that I need more practice for my dance, and so I decide to come here earlier." Kohoshi smiled. "Please excuse me, I have to go practice. Okini!"
Kohoshi left the room and went to her personal dance studio to practice. Shortly after that, Meiling excused herself and rushed off to find Kohoshi.
"Ah, Meiling Onee-san." Kohoshi greeted when Meiling opened the door.
Meiling glared at Kohoshi with eyes of jealousy as she marched in and pushed the girl onto the floor. "Who are you?"
Kohoshi frowned at the odd question posted at her. "I'm Kohoshi, Onee-san. Don't you remember?"
"No! Who are you? Where did you come from? Why is it that a girl like you gets everything that I had fought so hard to achieve?" Meiling yelled and she gave Kohoshi a few hard kicks.
"Ahhh…! Onee-san, why are you like this!" Kohoshi started to cry from the pain.
"Answer me! Why are you here? You came out of nowhere and started stealing everything that I have. You stole my fame, my glory, my status as the trendsetter, and now, my position as the top geisha! If that is all, I'll still be fine. But why must you touch Syaoran? My Syaoran! You've only been here for a month and you have already achieved what I have spent all my life to get! Why?" Meiling screamed as she continued her assault on Kohoshi.
"Onee-san, please stop… I beg you!"
"What are you doing to my sister!" Touya roared as he entered the room and pushed Meiling away from Kohoshi. "Sakura, are you okay? Where did she hurt you?"
Kohoshi only shook her head and cried into his arms. "Just take me back to the okiya, Oni-chan."
Touya picked her up and they left the dance school, leaving the wide-eyed Meiling still sitting on the floor.
"Oni-chan, how did you know that I'm in trouble?" Kohoshi asked as they strolled down the streets.
"I followed you all day. I wanted to see for myself what geishas do."
"Geishas are prostitutes, just like you said." Kohoshi said with a snort.
"I'm sorry for what I said. After following you around since last night, I've realized that geishas are mostly decent girls. Which is why I'm letting you stay with him, at least until your 'mission' is over."
Kohoshi smiled and hugged her brother tightly. "Arigatou, Oni-chan."
"Keep away from that girl." Touya warned, referring to Meiling. "If she dares to beat you up today, there is no telling of when she will hurt you again."
"Don't speak of Meiling Onee-san like she is some sort of monster! She is mean to me because she feels that I'm trying to steal Otou-san away from her. She will soon realize that I have no interest in otou-san and she will stop being so nasty to me. In fact, she is a pretty nice girl who simply doesn't know how to handle her emotions well."
"I don't know about that." Touya mumbled.
"After seeing how Meiling treats others, I really feel that Meiling Onee-san is a really nice person."
"Not that. I'm referring to the part whereby you have no interest in him."
Kohoshi gasped, "How dare you tease me! You can be such a bully sometimes!" she playfully punched him on the shoulder.
Touya laughed, although he knew very well that he was not joking before.
When they returned to the okiya, Syaoran was horrified to find Kohoshi injured with bruises all over her back.
"Who did this to you?" Syaoran questioned as Naoko rubbed some medicated oil all over the purple-black patches.
"No one hurt me. It was just a clumsy moment; I fell down when I lost balance in my okobos." Kohoshi lied.
"Nonsense! You've been wearing those for a month. You are so used to it that you can even run in it."
"The floor was slippery then, and I wasn't paying attention and…" Kohoshi argued.
Syaoran sighed. "You would rather lie than tell me who hit you."
"Otou-san…"
"Fine! I won't make you say the name, but promise me that you will be careful not to hurt yourself again. Because every time you injure yourself, I…no, the people who love you will be very worried."
Kohoshi smiled. "Thank you. I'll take care of myself. I promise."
A week quickly passed when there was so much to do, and the time for Kohoshi to mature into a full-fledged geiko had finally arrived!
"Okini! I'm Kohoshi the new geiko. Yoroshiku onegaishimas!" Kohoshi bowed and offered her namesake fan to the Oka-san of the ochaya.
"Well, I hope that you will continue to do well, Kohoshi-san." The Oka-san replied before taking the fan to display it on the wall. Every geisha who entertained in the ochaya before have their namesake fan displayed on the wall. Normally, the newest geiko will have her fan placed right at the bottom. But since Kohoshi was already famous before her debut, the Oka-sans made an exception and displayed her fan at the top of the wall beside Meiling's.
"Otou-san Li called in just now to ask for you, Kohoshi-san. He wants you to return to the okiya as soon as you finish with the fans."
"Hei. If Otou-san calls again, please inform him that I'll be done very soon. Okini!" Kohoshi sang and continued with the fan distribution.
"Otou-san, I'm home!"
Naoko quickly rushed forward to help Kohoshi with her zori (slippers). She whispered softly into Kohoshi's ear, "Otou-san is in the living room with an important guest from Osaka."
Kohoshi nodded to show acknowledgement. After making sure that her attire was neat and proper, Kohoshi entered the living room.
"Let me introduce: Kohoshi-san, this is Eriol from Osaka; Eriol, this is the geisha of my house, Kohoshi-san. Eriol is my very good friend, Kohoshi-san. You'll be interested to know that he will be performing on the Royal Party."
"Honto ni? What is Eriol-san performing?"
"I'm a taikomochi, Kohoshi-san. I'll be doing a story that night and two lively songs if the party becomes dull." Eriol smiled. "Of course, with a roomful of geishas, the songs will probably go to waste."
"Pardon me, but what's a taikomochi? Do you really just play drums?" The confused Kohoshi asked.
Syaoran and Eriol looked at each other and burst into laughter. "That's a good joke, Kohoshi-san, Syaoran must have taught you really well."
When Eriol saw that Syaoran had a funny look while Kohoshi still looked confused, he realized that he was wrong about the joke.
"Erm…Taikomochis are not really drum bearers, just as how maikos are not really just dancing girls. Taikomochi is a male geisha, in fact, geishas were originally male. So I do just about everything geishas do, like dance, sing and tell jokes."
"I see…I'll be looking forward to your performance then, Eriol-san." Kohoshi bowed and excused herself.
"Kohoshi-san," Syaoran called out. "I've cancelled all your engagements for tonight. You'll come with Eriol-san and me to the Kansashi Hanamachi for the night. Daidouji-san is already upstairs with the appropriate kimono."
"Hei."
Indeed, before Kohoshi had even reached the door of her room, Tomoyo had already glided out with the beautiful garment. It was a lovely dark blue yukata with a flowery pattern of plum blossoms. Instead of the usual wig and makeup, Tomoyo had tied her honey brown hair into buns and covered her face with a thin layer of powder.
"Otou-san, is this right? It's as if we are going to…" Kohoshi asked.
"The moonlight festival? Yes, we are going there today. You may see it as a reward for your hardwork." Syaoran smiled.
"Arigatou!"
To be Continued