When Sakura Blossoms Fall
Chapter 7: Circumstances of a Reunion
A perfectly oriented array of white petals blossomed outward from the small, pale yellow center of the flower, all atop a slender green stem, just recently plucked from its dark, earthy home. The fragile bloom was balanced between two careful fingers, one of which would intermittently reach up to gently stroke a pearly petal. The holder sighed heavily and allowed his shoulders to sag.
What am I doing?
It was just Chizuru, right? Nothing had changed, he had to remember that. He shouldn't have been worked up by something so trivial as her unexpected arrival.
An almost bitter laugh erupted from him. She had changed so much! He hadn't even recognized her as he had first seen her, but as soon as her eyes had found him, why, she known him instantly.
It wasn't that surprising in reality, he was willing to admit. The color of his hair was a dead giveaway, despite its loss of length since they had last seen each other. And even if there were more Japanese redheads, how many of them had blue eyes? The more he thought about it, the more he realized that he should have been more shocked if she hadn't recognized him.
No, what was truly disturbing to the soldier was how she had reacted. The moment their eyes met and recognition dawned, he had braced himself for either a painfully powerful hug or an angry slap across his face for not writing. He had stood dumbfounded when instead she just walked slowly up to him, gave a slight bow, and smiled shyly.
"It's been awhile, hasn't it."
No, her appearance definitely wasn't the only thing that had changed. She hadn't even stubbornly fought back during Soichiro's harsh chastisement of her decision to follow him. She just smiled and shrugged, saying that is seemed like a good idea at the time.
Kenji smiled. It could have been worse. At least she hadn't given in and left.
But what on earth had she been doing since he joined the army? He hadn't thought about her for years, and Soichiro mentioned nothing about her at his arrival. A part of his past he had chosen to forget was back, and he was struggling to face it. He had barely been able to bring himself to speak to her since her sudden appearance.
"Is it for her?"
Kenji glanced up at Ai with tumultuous eyes, giving her an ashen smile before looking back to the flower in his loose grip. She sighed and seated herself next to him, eyeing the plant with disdain, perhaps a bit of envy.
"I hope it's not for her. She's so unbearably annoying, you know? She tries to come across as some perfect little angel, always trying to help with something. I can't stand it! She's too nice for her own good, and she's naïve and so foolish, I don't know how Itagaki puts up with it. And poor Soichiro, having her as a sister! She isn't even that pretty, either. I don't know why all of the soldiers swoon over her. I swear I can't stand her—"
"She reminds me of my mother."
The censurer paused, a glimpse of regret passing briefly over her features for perhaps the first time. She looked down.
"Oh."
"Did you know we used to farm together?" Kenji asked in a distressed, almost desperate tone. "She and Soichiro and I—we spent every free moment together. She was like a little sister to me. Back then, she was much more stubborn, and it seemed like she got upset over the littlest things, too. She was so funny." He let the tiny flower slip from his fingers and dropped his face to rest in his now open hands. "You know, for a long time I thought that she and Soichiro were the only ones that could really understand me, because they were orphans too." He sighed again. "Ai, why did I ever leave them behind?"
The geisha watched the dispirited man sadly for a few moments before pushing herself to her feet and attempting to pull him after her.
"Come on Kenji, I know what will make you feel better."
"Stop it Ai, that's your sixth one. You shouldn't be doing this."
She ignored him as she drained another serving of sake, smiling and covering her mouth with one hand after an unladylike hiccup.
"Stop being so stiff Kenji, no one's going to find out. Just have some! I promise it'll help." She pushed some of the tempting amber liquid toward him with an encouraging smile.
"No, Ai."
The woman shrugged and turned back to what remained of her sake. She had dragged him here about an hour ago, expecting him to drown his apparent sorrows in alcohol. Watching Hiko waste himself on the drink during his adolescent years had already led Kenji to develop a distaste for it, so naturally he declined. Besides, what would happen if another soldier found a soldier and the colonel's geisha out cold in a bar? Because despite Ai's continual assurances that no one would see them, he knew that more than one soldier in the regiment frequented these places.
He had to admit, though, that Ai's hope to turn his thoughts away from Chizuru had mostly worked. Between worry about being caught, amusement from watching Ai drunk, and surprise at her willingness to take this risk, and as a geisha, his mind had barely visited Chizuru since they had entered the building. Ai really was an unusual woman . . .
"What is that girl to you really, Kenji?" Ai suddenly blurted in shameless curiosity.
"What?"
"She's more than a friend, right?"
Kenji's eyes widened and he leaned back in surprise.
"Ai, you're drunk. You don't know what you're talking about."
"No I'm noooot . . ." she slurred out, tipping her head to the side so one hand could support it.
Kenji shook his head as he pulled her sake out of her reach. She glared at him for a moment, but seemed to promptly forget his gesture as she laid her head on the table with a sigh.
"You said you were both orphans, right?"
"Yes."
Another sigh. "What was your mother like, Kenji?"
"She was . . . she was nice, Ai."
"That's not a very good answer."
"How would you know? You can hardly sit up without seeing double right now."
She smiled, but ignored the criticism. "My mother was really smart. Really smart and really beautiful. She was a fool, too, though." She paused, and Kenji thought he saw a solitary tear dripping to the table and smearing her makeup. He raised an eyebrow. She had never shown emotions like that before.
"Did you know your father, Kenji?"
He jumped, caught off guard by her question. Then he frowned.
"No."
"Really? Neither did I. Kaa-san never really told me about him, she just said that he left before I was born." Ai bit her lip and began to blink more rapidly. "She made me so mad. She always pretended to be so strong, but I always heard her crying at night. I know she really missed him, no matter what she said."
"Ai, you probably shouldn't be telling me this—"
"I hate him."
"Ai, didn't you . . ." he stopped in mid-sentence. "What?"
"I hate him. My father hurt her so much . . . that's why I ran away from home."
"To find him?"
"Yeah."
Kenji let out a doubtful chuckle and shook his head. "Maybe we have more in common than I thought, Ai."
"What?"
"Never mind."
They fell into silence as Kenji's thoughts wandered and Ai regained the liquor Kenji had taken away. She hiccuped and giggled, and a serious expression overtook Kenji's face.
"Ai, what if Itagaki finds you here?"
"Who cares? I really hate that man, anyway."
"Then why—"
Ai smiled sardonically, sensing his question before he asked it. "It's hard to survive on your own when you're young and you've run away from home, you know. It wasn't long before I fell into deep poverty. That stupid man found me and promised to help . . . and I was so foolish I believed him."
Her eyes became oddly unfocused as she remembered with a frown and a few more tears. "I suppose I should be grateful, in a way. He took me to an okiya and paid for all of my expenses and schooling." She laughed bitterly. "Some existence he's given me." The geisha let her head fall forward to rest on the table again. "I really hate him, Kenji."
Kenji just watched the top of her head quietly, unable to supply a response. He hadn't wanted to know that. He had felt a wide variety of emotions toward the geisha in the time they had known each other, but pity had never been one of them. It was an odd, uncomfortable feeling.
"You never answered my question, Kenji."
"What question?"
"Is she more than a friend or not?"
"That's not a fair question, Ai. We haven't seen each other in years—"
"Stop avoiding the answer and tell me."
He smiled at her persistence and eyed the cup in her hand.
"You know, maybe I will have some sake."
An unbearable and unfamiliar pain greeted Kenji as he began to awaken several hours later. He yelped quickly after attempting to open his heavy eyes.
"Finally awake?"
He groaned upon hearing the sarcastic feminine voice and reached up to rub his eyes. He nearly jumped when he felt his face, which was strangely cool and clammy.
"What's wrong with me?"
"You got drunk, that's what, you idiot."
"Ai?"
His companion released a quick, condescending breath.
"No, she was just as bad as you. You're lucky Soichiro found you before someone else did. He got the two of you out of there before anyone saw you. You've been unconscious ever since, and vomiting all night long. It's quite disgusting."
"Who—"
"It's me, stupid. And what were you thinking, going off and getting drunk with that woman? Honestly, you never would have done something so ridiculous back in Japan—"
"Chizuru?"
He heard her sigh impatiently. "Who else would I be, Kenji? Really, have you lost all sense since joining the army?"
He chuckled at that, despite his current less-than-ideal condition. Maybe she hadn't changed so much after all.
"Chizuru?"
"What?"
"I'm glad you're here."
If his eyes had been open, he would have seen the pleased smile that leapt onto her face.
"Oh stop it. You're still delusional."
Sorry it's been a little longer than usual since I updated! I'll try to get the next chapter up soon, but I'll be out of town part of this week and there's still a lot to get done before I go, so don't count on anything too incredibly soon. I'd like to thank those that have reviewed this story so far, as always, you're very helpful. Suzu