It was around three in the afternoon when Shiro stepped inside Hanabusa and looked around the ochaya. Faint strains of music filled the air from one corner of the room where a girl in the dress of a hangyoku played the shamisen. Three hangyoku moved from table to table around the room, picking up used dishes and replacing the placemats at empty tables – one covered her mouth and giggled on noticing him. A pair of deliverymen pushed inside past Shiro, looked around the ochaya, and stopped in front of different tables to drop off their food. With a quick bow, the two deliverymen backed away and left. About half the tables were occupied; at one a geisha appeared to be entertaining a client. The man looked around nervously – probably a potential client. A couple sat together at another table; other tables held individual guests. A level of quiet ambient chatter permeated the room, below the soft shamisen music.

One hangyoku approached Shiro and bowed low, looking up at him expectantly.

"Hello," he greeted her, inclining his head slightly. "I am looking for Geisha Yuki. I believe she is expecting me?"

The hangyoku nodded. "If you can wait here, I will fetch her for you, Nihonto-san."

Shiro let out a breath, looking around at the teashop's patrons curiously while the hangyoku disappeared through the door leading from the ochaya into the okiya proper. He had hardly ever come to a shop like this before this year – while working from his parents' home he had rarely had cause to come into the city, apart from work meetings, most of which had taken place at Nihonto Yunyo's headquarters. Since moving into the city with his mother and Kimiko, he had been reluctant to show his face in public, known as he was to the Yakuza. In fact, the ozashiki at which he had first made Yuki's acquaintance had only been third such party that he had attended in his life, and only his fifth experience of meeting geisha. Although his father had patronized Hanabusa, he had only done so for important meetings – ones which Shiro had hardly ever been invited to attend. But now it seemed as though he spent as much time at this ochaya, attached to this particular okiya, as he did anywhere else.

Of course, the company was so much more agreeable here.

The hangyoku playing shamisen in the corner paused momentarily to switch instruments, and the level of conversation in the room dropped off slightly. The man meeting with the geisha on the far side of the room frowned, started to shake his head, and paused for a moment. Finally, he nodded, bowing formally to the geisha. Shiro turned away and focused his attention on the door through which the hangyoku had passed. He had only a few minutes to wait before the same side door opened and Yuki stepped out, followed by the hangyoku who had greeted him. "Thank you, Mariya," Yuki told her, meeting Shiro's eye. The hangyoku bobbed her head and backed away. Yuki gave Shiro a demure smile and bowed. "Thank you for honoring me with this visit," she told him formally.

"Please," he answered, returning the gesture, "the honor is mine."

"Then I hope this will be mutually enjoyable!" Yuki looked around the teashop, and a frown passed over her face which vanished within moments. She smiled brightly. "Perhaps privacy would be preferable… May I show you to Chaba? It is only a block down the street. I have hosted tea there many times."

Shiro nodded. "Very well," he told her. "In that case, lead the way."

As the two of them left, another woman around their age walked in, wearing a somewhat flowery kimono similar in pattern to Yuki's. She raised an eyebrow at Yuki and smiled. "Yuki! So wonderful to catch you! I look forward to our engagement tonight; I hope you will return in time? Although if you are going to be hosting your danna this afternoon, I will understand if you are delayed…"

Yuki gave her an enigmatic smile as they passed. "I look forward to the evening's ozashiki! I will be sure to let you know if I am delayed," she told her. The moment the teashop's door had shut, Yuki let out a breath. "Haruna has asked about you quite a bit," she confided to Shiro. "I think she might be jealous."

"I think I recognize her… from your erikae?" Shiro raised an eyebrow. "Should she be jealous?"

"She was there." Yuki shrugged, glancing in either direction as they crossed the street, leading the way toward the teashop on the next block. "Haruna is one of my closest friends, though my six-week absence in Angola placed a bit of strain on our friendship." She frowned. "Not every geisha secures a danna before their erikae," she answered as they entered the teashop. "It is far more common for a hangyoku to secure a patron who will pay for her training expenses up front and whom she will then repay. To have my debt entirely paid off now by a dannaVery few geisha ever take on a danna." Yuki frowned for a fraction of a second before her smile returned. "But we need not worry about such things this afternoon."

"Very well." He smiled. "Thank you for the invitation to meet – I have not been to this particular teashop before. Actually, I very rarely even stop at teashops!"

She returned the smile. "Then in that case, I am even more happy to give you the excuse! Perhaps in the future I will introduce you to the other teashops in our hanamachi. I apologize for keeping you waiting – I had been practicing my shamisen for this evening's ozashiki, and I lost track of the time."

Shiro waved a hand dismissively. "Think nothing of it – my daytime schedule is exceedingly open. I simply assumed that you were getting ready."

She frowned, turning her head in either direction, and started to reach up toward her hair only to stop herself and return her hand to her side. "Miyoshi assures me that I will get used to the katsura after a couple of weeks… but I am still afraid that it could slip off at any moment."

"It looks perfect," he assured her.

"Thank you."

Shiro nodded, smiling back, and the two of them selected a table near the back of the shop. A server stopped and placed a teapot on the table, and Yuki poured each of them a cup. "Does it still feel strange?" he asked, taking a sip of the hot tea.

Yuki hummed curiously. "Do you mean being a full geisha?"

He chuckled. "That to some degree," he allowed, his eyes flickering around the room to take in the other patrons, two or three of whom were dressed in the kimono and makeup of hangyoku. On the far side of the room sat a large group of tourists – probably American. Shiro frowned. "But I mean being back in Tokyo. We were in Angola for so long… I hardly remembered what life here was supposed to be like when we returned."

She pursed her lips in thought, looking out through the teashop's front window, and sipped on her tea. "In some ways it feels strange," she admitted. "The first few weeks especially I think I struggled to return to the routine. But I am happy to be back." She met his gaze. "I cannot tell you enough how grateful I am. I–" she swallowed "–I do not know what I would have done, had you not stepped in to smooth this all out with Miyoshi and Takamura-san."

"I was happy to do what I could to help you," he assured her. "After all, I was in part to blame for your long absence!"

She frowned, her brows furrowed, watching him closely. "Are you… content?" she asked. "With this arrangement, I mean? You did so much to ensure that I could reach this point, that I would be accepted back into the okiya after our absence… I have no wish to impose any hardships on you after you ensured that I could complete my geisha training."

Shiro smiled wryly. "I am perfectly happy with this arrangement – even if it is hardly the danna partnership that I think your okiya believes it to be."

"Still," she responded, hesitating, "I would feel guilty if this partnership didn't have some benefit for you… particularly with the expense that it involves."

He cocked his head, his brows furrowed in confusion. "What–" he coughed "what kind of 'benefit' did you have in mind?"

Yuki shifted nervously in her seat, looking away from him toward the main entrance for a moment before her eyes returned to his face. "Like the other night with your cousin and her clients, I mean. We never really settled this definitively, but I can host ozashiki for you and your family – any time you wish," she answered quickly. "After all, you are my danna; that ought to give you a stronger claim on my time than other clients."

He hummed. "I'm sure my mother and sister would enjoy a private ozashiki at some point. And Kagami may engage you to host ozashiki again when she is entertaining clients in Tokyo. But I wouldn't want such parties to interfere with your other clients."

"I would of course be happy to host a party for her, any time she was in town!" Yuki smiled. "I truly enjoyed that evening."

"She will be happy to hear that, I'm sure!" Shiro agreed. "But under the circumstances, I have very few occasions when I can take advantage of that offer," he pointed out. "However, should I ever regain control of Nihonto Yunyo, you can be sure that I will take you up on it! My father never mentioned it specifically, but I think he would have been proud to support the artistic heritage of our country by retaining a geisha fulltime."

She let out a breath in relief. "I will look forward to that day, then," she told him, tipping her teacup toward him. "And in the meantime, do not hesitate to call on me any time you wish."

Shiro nodded slowly. "You may need to remind me again," he admitted, "but I appreciate the offer."

"Do you need a refill?" asked a server in a pressed white shirt, stopping by their table and filling both their cups before either of them could respond.

"Thank you," Yuki answered, nodding in acknowledgment and raising the cup to her lips.

Shiro hummed, glancing up at the server just as she turned away. Their eyes locked for a fraction of a second, and Shiro started. Time seemed to stand still as he studied the woman's face. Something in the color of her cheeks, the angle of her jawline, the cut of her hair… something resonated in his mind as being strangely familiar. But he had never been to this teashop before in his life. He opened his mouth to comment but froze as a cup shattered against the floor and a loud thud sounded from the other side of the table. His breathing caught in his throat, his eyes wide.

Yuki had fallen out of her chair and hit the floor on her back, her eyes looking around the room before locking onto Shiro's, filled with surprise and confusion. Her mouth opened and shut, but without any sound coming out beyond a soft gurgle. Her eyes glimmered in the light as tears welled in the corners of her eyes. Her katsura had come slightly up from her scalp, revealing the natural hair beneath. Her hands trembled.

Shiro leapt out of his chair in a moment, pushed the table away, and knelt by her side, scanning her face carefully for any signs of what could have happened. She fumbled for his hand, and he grabbed it, holding it firmly but gently. She let out a weak cough, and froth came out of her mouth.

Poison.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, wincing, and stuck one of his fingers into her mouth.


Glossary:
Hanamachi – district where geisha work (literally "flower town")
Katsura – wig worn by geisha