To Lyger 0: I assume that would be after getting the girls out of the brothel?

To Guest: That's very true. I've tried to keep that history in mind as I explore the Yakuza, and especially with the different motivations of the various Yakuza characters. Nihon Hiro Chimu does have a couple of members with legit superpowers (Kamikaze and Kunoichi), but they are a bit outmatched against the Yakuza's people. I may introduce the yokai concept at some point…


"So, is it everything you hoped?"

Yuki raised an eyebrow at Keiko in an invitation to continue, topping off Keiko's teacup before refilling her own. The two of them sat together at one of the tables near the back of the ochaya connected to Hanabusa. Around them, several of the younger hangyoku moved from table to table, replacing teapots. Reina and Megumi, two older hangyoku, played a duet on shamisen and fue, providing quiet background music. Haruna moved from table to table, visiting with each of the patrons in turn. It was near the middle of the afternoon; Yuki would have to leave soon enough to prepare for her evening ozashiki. But she still had more than enough time to have tea with a friend. "What do you mean?" she asked, taking a sip of her tea and dabbing her lips with a napkin to avoid smudging her simple makeup.

Keiko rolled her eyes. "Don't play dumb with me. Is being a geisha everything you hoped it would be?"

Yuki hummed in thought, looking out over the ochaya. Haruna paused and bowed at a table on the far side of the room. At a glance, Yuki recognized three men from ozashiki she had worked with Miyoshi; one of them had requested her for an ozashiki the week before. "Truthfully," Yuki admitted, "I think it has yet to fully sink in. My routine has hardly changed. I have not moved out of my old room, so most of my time is still spent here. I still work a few times a week here in addition to ozashiki. I still practice every day–"

"One of these days, you have to give us another recital!" Keiko interjected, giving her a teasing grin. "Didn't you say you were still a little out of practice at your erikae?"

"Perhaps one of these days I will!" Yuki agreed, smiling. She paused, pursing her lips. "Miyoshi-san has mentioned the same, in fact."

"Your… mentor?"

Yuki nodded. "My oneesan. I was not her first hangyoku, but I think I must have been the most difficult – at least the last few months. But for all that she has been very understanding and kind. We have hosted a couple ozashiki together, even since my erikae."

"Really?" Keiko hummed. "I don't know, I guess I always assumed that geisha worked solo."

"Not always." Yuki smiled. "We sometimes work alone, but at least as often the client will request more than one geisha for a particularly large party. So far, I think those might be among my favorites, especially when I can work with Miyoshi-san or Haruna."

"All the time?" pressed Keiko, raising an eyebrow.

"Not every time," Yuki allowed. "Some clients I would entertain alone – your Guardians for one. But since I have so much more control over my schedule now than I did as hangyoku, I do like to take clients with someone else." She sighed. "That freedom, I think, has been the most significant change, and a welcome one."

Keiko smirked. "Have you had any ozashiki yet as… interesting as the one where we met?"

"Not yet, though anything is possible." Yuki slid her kaiken a couple centimeters out of its sheath in the sleeve of her kimono, just far enough for Keiko to see, before securing it again. "I still carry this," she told her. "But I hope never to need it again – at least not for an ozashiki."

Keiko gave her a dubious look. "Considering your… day job?" She furrowed her brows in thought. "I mean, I suppose geisha is a night job… but considering your other job, do you honestly think that's realistic?"

Shrugging, Yuki took another sip of her tea. "With any luck, I will be able to keep those two worlds apart. Or at least as much as I can. I suppose there's the possibility of overlap, but that's why I stay prepared."

Keiko chuckled. "Having seen you in action with that thing…"

Yuki paused as Haruna stopped beside their table and bowed. "Konichiwa," Haruna greeted Keiko. "I am Geisha Haruna. How is your visit? Is there anything I can do for you?"

Keiko raised an eyebrow. "Konichiwa," she responded. "I think we might have met last week – at Yuki-san's erikae."

Haruna started, looking back and forth between Yuki and Keiko before studying Keiko's face more closely. "Oh…" She nodded slowly. "Yes, of course! Now I remember you: you're a friend of Yuki-san's danna, are you not?"

Keiko shrugged. "And of Yuki-san."

Haruna smiled. "Then I am happy to make your acquaintance, as well…"

"Kanzo," Keiko answered smoothly. "Kanzo Keiko."

"You must tell me how you met Yuki-san, Kanzo-san!" Haruna continued curiously.

Keiko glanced at Yuki, who nodded. "I happened to be at an ozashiki a few months ago," Keiko explained. "She showed some… impressive skills, and I was curious to learn more."

Haruna cocked her head. "With her shamisen? She is one of the more talented musicians at Hanabusa, but–"

Yuki shook her head, stifling a giggle. "We both know you have the edge," she told Haruna. "At least on the fue."

"Actually, I never got to hear her play that time," Keiko told Haruna. "She and Miyoshi-san had to leave early."

Haruna's eyes widened, and she looked at Yuki in surprise. "That was the ozashiki with…" She brushed her sleeve. Yuki nodded, trying to hide a wince. Haruna shook her head in disbelief and let out a rueful giggle. "It should go without saying, but that is not a response you should expect from other geisha!"

"I figured as much," Keiko agreed, nodding. "Still, it's a good skill for a geisha to possess, no?"

"Perhaps," Haruna allowed. "But it is not a skill I ever hope to require."

Yuki raised an eyebrow at her. "If you should ever change your mind, the offer is still on the table…"

"I will… keep it in mind," answered Haruna, glancing around the room. "Unfortunately, I have delayed too long; I must check on our other guests. If you will excuse me…"

Yuki gave her a smile as she rose and moved on to the next table. "Haruna and I started training the same month," she explained to Keiko. We would have completed our training together, but…" She shrugged.

Keiko hummed. "A lot of things had to get put on hold for that. I'm glad you were able to get back to this."

"I wouldn't have, had it not been for Shiro."

"You can say that, but you earned it, too."

Yuki shrugged, refilling their cups and emptying the teapot. Glancing up, she caught the eye of a new hangyoku, a girl who had only just had her misedashi a month ago. Quickly the girl hurried over, bowing obsequiously, and replaced the teapot with a new one. "Thank you, Mariya," Yuki told her, smiling brightly. The girl bowed low again as she backed away.

Keiko hummed in amusement. "So when do you get one of those?"

"Do you really think I'm ready for that?" Yuki asked dubiously. "I only just completed my own training."

"Fair," Keiko conceded. "Still, think of all the skills you could pass on to an apprentice: how to disarm a yakuza without spilling a drop of tea!"

Yuki shook her head ruefully. "That is one skill that I hope other geisha do not need to learn." She let out a breath, sipping on her tea. "Considering how busy I am currently, I doubt that I could handle teaching a hangyoku as well."

"How much is involved in the training?"

"Etiquette, of course," Yuki began, listing off on her fingers. "Dance. Music. Poetry. Appearance – especially the proper makeup. I couldn't count the number of times Miyoshi-san corrected my makeup. The first several times, she needed to apply it for me, until I could finally get it right on my own. Now, of course, it's second nature."

Keiko nodded in understanding. "So tell me, what is the most exciting part of this life – geisha, not the other thing."

Yuki sighed, looking across the ochaya to take in all of the people there – patrons, hangyoku, even a couple of other geisha, starting to leave for the evening's ozashiki. She shrugged. "I think it might be the opportunity to share more of my culture with people who don't know anything about geisha," she finally answered. "Last week, Miyoshi-san and I hosted an ozashiki for a group of American tourists who barely knew anything about geisha. I spent part of the evening helping a girl – maybe nine years old – to do her makeup like a hangyoku." She stifled a giggle. "One little boy asked if we knew Bu-Geisha, since he'd seen a picture of her at Tarascon!"

"That must have been awkward," Keiko mused wryly, arching an eyebrow.

"I told him that she's actually one of my friends, because all geisha are secretly superheroes!"

Keiko snorted.

"That was one," Yuki continued. "But then there was the ozashiki with Shiro, his cousin, and her friends, which was even more fun! One of Kagami's friends wanted to know everything there was to know about geisha – he said it was for 'research'. I spent most of the evening just answering his questions."

Keiko rolled her eyes. "Artists."

"I enjoyed it," Yuki assured her. "Although it was rather exhaustive."

"I suppose it was right up your alley, then!" Keiko raised her teacup in a salute. "So… have you been invited to serve any more Yakuza bosses?" she asked, arching an eyebrow.

Yuki pursed her lips. "If I am ever approached by those particular clients again, you will be among the first to know."

"Good." Keiko hummed, finishing off her tea, and looked around the ochaya curiously. "Do you enjoy living here?"

Refilling both cups, Yuki shrugged. "It is nice to be with other geisha. During training, we all had to live here; after erikae we have the option of moving out once our debt to the okiya is settled. For now, I plan to stay here, though many geisha live on their own once they can afford it. Takamura-san actually expected me to move into an apartment of my own as soon as my erikae was completed: if a geisha takes a danna, he is supposed to pay her full living expenses."

Keiko's eyes widened. "Does Shiro know that? It can't be cheap – the makeup and clothes alone…"

Yuki smoothed her expression to hide a grimace. "We… have discussed that fact," she answered cagily. Seeing Keiko's expression, she quickly added, "I do not expect him to support me in that way, any more than he expects me to be his fulltime geisha – something for which he has no need. I fully intend to support myself." She let out a breath. "He already did so much in enabling me to be reinstated… and paying the balance of my training."

Keiko blinked. "That's got to be a lot…"

Yuki couldn't hide a grimace. "Some hangyoku go years without repaying their training debt. So after that I would feel guilty if I cost Shiro any more money that he does not have to spare."

Keiko nodded slowly. "That is understandable, I suppose. But please let me know if your funds are being strained – I don't have much I can do, but New Atlantis does give me an expense account."

Yuki nodded noncommittally. But for as generous as the offer was, she would never accept it. "You talk often about New Atlantis, but I know hardly anything about it."

"What's to tell?" Keiko replied, shrugging. "It's a hidden island off the coast of Australia and home to the Australian Miraculous Set. My family came there as refugees comparatively recently – during the Sino-Japanese War – and it has been our home ever since."

"What is it like, though?"

"It's… home." Keiko furrowed her brows. "There's the temple, of course. And there's the Sorcerers' College – the only one on the planet as far as I know. Thanks to that, magic and miraculous are a normal part of life. They just started a project to expand the spaceport last month. The ocean is so blue… it's like diving into a sapphire. Kwamis can fly around freely – they're a normal sight around the island." She nodded toward her purse. "I think that's the part Levii misses the most."

Yuki smiled. "I hope one of these days I will get a chance to see it."

"I'll give you the tour next time I go back for a visit," Keiko promised. She snorted. "This arrangement should come with some perks, right?"

Yuki giggled.

Keiko frowned, eyeing Yuki carefully, and finally let out a breath. "There's something I've been curious about ever since we met… can geisha date? Or can you marry?"

Yuki raised an eyebrow. "We can, though it's generally not something we make a big deal about. Generally such relationships are kept low-key. Haruna had a boyfriend for a couple months when we first arrived, but he left her for someone he met at university. I never did – no time for it." She frowned. "What makes it a challenge, at least for some men, is that flirting is part of the experience at an ozashiki, though that is professional, not personal."

"So what about now?"

Yuki shook her head. "Not likely. Since I have a 'danna', that wouldn't mix too well – that might raise even more suspicion with Takamura-san and Miyoshi-san."


Glossary:
Fue – an instrument similar to a flute
Misedashi – debut for a hangyoku