A/N: Hey guys, so I know my updates are really slow, like every Monday. I'm really sorry about that, and I'm thinking maybe I should change the updates to Mondays and Thursdays. I mean, if you guys want me to. So please, send me a review/private message, and tell me what you think. Thanks, and there's a little something for my book Scarlet Moonlight. Go to my profile, and you'll find a link that has the caption 'Trailer'. You'll know when you see it. Watch it, and please rate it.
Aye and Osen-chan arrived at Shimabara in roughly 10 minutes. Though it was a short walk, Aye was very tired. She hadn't gotten much sleep the night before, since she would be going undercover as a geisha.
"Your room is just around the corner," Osen-chan said, as she directed Aye to the corner. "Kimigiku can show you around tomorrow. You must be tired,"
"Yes. Thank you Osen-chan," Aye said with a polite nod, and she entered the room. Unexpectedly, there was another girl in the room, her forest brown hair longish. She had a kimono that looked to be her nightgown on, and was laying out a second futon next to hers.
"Oh! Hello, you must be the new geisha I was informed about!" She rushed towards Aye and did a small bow, and Aye returned it. Her dark amber eyes look into Aye's gray ones. "My name is Kosuzu, and I am a geisha in training,"
"Hello Kosuzu, my name is Aye Yokota. It is a pleasure to meet you," she said. Kosuzu squealed in delight and held Aye's hand in hers.
"I can call you Aye, right? You can call me Kosuzu!" Too stunned by the overly bright girl, all Aye could do was nod. Kosuzu took hold of Aye's arm, and she dragged her towards the futon, taking Aye's belongings in the other hand. When the girl let go of Aye's arm, she put the sack next to the futon, and dragged Aye down onto the floor with her.
"So, tell me your story," Kosuzu said, the too bright girl now serious.
"What story?"
"Oh, you know. How you got to come here," and they spent the rest of the night talking, and getting to know each other better. After all, they were going to be together for a while.
The sound of the room's door sliding open woke Aye the next morning. She opened her eyes, only to be greeted by an unknown room. Then she remembered the night before. She was a geisha now, and she was staying in the same room as an overly excited and happy girl. Not that she disliked it, of course. But she didn't want to get too close to her, since she never knew what would happen.
"Aye-sama," a voice made her sit up on her futon. She peered up from her still sleepy eyes, and saw a beautiful woman standing in front of her. She was so beautiful. "I am Kimigiku. I am sorry to wake you, but Senhime-sama told me to show you around," Kimigiku said.
"No, no it's fine. Thank you. But I would like to get dressed, if that is fine?" Aye asked, and Kimigiku nodded. She stepped out of the room, closing the door behind her. After Kimigiku left the room, Aye changed into her men's clothes, since she did not know what else to wear.
When Aye stepped out of the room—careful not to wake Kosuzu—she realized Kimigiku's surprised expression. It was probably because of her men's clothing.
"My dear Aye-sama, I think we should first visit the my room," without knowing the reason why, Aye followed behind Kimigiku, as she strode gracefully towards her room.
When they arrived, Kimigiku slid open the door, and let herself in, and gestured for Aye to enter as well. She headed towards her wardrobe, and pulled out a beautiful green and white kimono. She smiled at Aye, and handed her the kimono. When she was handed the kimono, she fumbled, and murmured a slight apology. Kimigiku stared at Aye for a few seconds, then chuckled lightly.
"Could it be that you do not know how to put on a kimono?" she said with a smile. Aye was too embarrassed to say anything, and so she just simply nodded, and smiled apologetically.
"I have never worn one. I was basically brought up as a boy." Aye commented while Kimigiku started getting her beautified.
A few seconds later, Aye was standing in front of a mirror, or was she? Inside the mirror, there was a stunning lady. She had a green and white kimono, with purple designs on the neck. As she stood there, gaping at herself, Kimigiku couldn't stifle her giggle.
"Aye-sama, we really should get going. We have spent enough time on dressing up. Now I really must show you around." Kimigiku spoke while she led Aye towards the door of the room.
"Yes, we should."
After the tour of the entire Shimabara, Aye's feet ached. They had walked around Shimabara twice, the first time of Kimigiku explaining, and second time of watching and observing. Then Kimigiku had dropped her off at her room, where Kosuzu was trying to get her hair up into a bun.
"Hey, Aye-chan, could you please help me? We have very important guests coming to Shimabara today, and I want to look my best." Kosuzu said, furrowing her brows.
"Who's coming?" Aye asked, a little confused. She looked into Kosuzu's amber eyes, and saw something that looked like excitement and nervousness.
"I… It's… Uh…" Kosuzu stuttered. "It's this guy… His name is Ryunosuke Ibuki, and…" Kosuzu said. And although she didn't finish her sentence yet, Aye could guess what was going on.
"Okay. I get it. Let me help you." Though Aye didn't really know much about hair, she did know one hairstyle that would look great on Kosuzu. So she put her hair up in a traditional bun.
After putting all sorts of ornaments on Kosuzu's hair, Aye let her stare at herself in the mirror.
"Wow, I thought you said you didn't know much!" Kosuzu exclaimed. With a shrug, Aye patted Kosuzu on the back. "Thanks so much," she said and hugged Aye.
"No problem. This is probably the least I can do. I'll cheer on you from here," Aye said, as she pushed Kosuzu towards the door. "You should hurry and go."
"What do you mean, Aye-chan? Aren't you supposed to come with me? I heard that we were going to go together."
"What? But I've never done this before. Shouldn't I get some training first?" Aye said with her arms in the air.
"This is your training, Aye-chan!" Kosuzu cried out. "Let's get you ready!"
Aye was dressed up in a white and red kimono. Her face was painted white, and her eyes a light shade of pink. Her copper hair was done in a traditional up do. This felt very weird for her, since she'd never had so much makeup on before. Inside her clothing were her weapons. Her two fans on her hips, and her daggers on her arms.
"Aye-chan, you look great!" Kosuzu said. Though compared to Kosuzu, she was nothing.
"Thanks. But I really have no idea what to do when I get out there,"
"Don't worry, you probably just have to pour some sake, and answer questions if they ask," Kosuzu said.
She made it sound so easy.
Kosuzu and Aye slide open the door of a room, and bowed in front of a group of men. As Aye raised her head and stood up, she felt a weird source of energy flowing in the room.
'Maybe I'm just tired…'
But as she walked towards the man who she was assigned to, her heart fell. His crimson eyes looked at her, no, through her, as if she were just a part of the air.
There he was, the reason she was here.
Kazama Chikage.