Standard disclaimers apply.
A/N: Here's the final installment of "Once upon an Edo night"! Thank you to all for your support throughout this short story, and once again, I hope you enjoyed this.
Once upon an Edo night
She closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of his surprisingly soft lips upon her own, telling herself that if she was allowed to bring a memory into the next life with her, it would be this. Kisses as signs of affection were so rare.
The initial fears of death were dispelled by his assuring presence by her side and his companionship on the final journey she was about to take in the miserable life she led as a Yoshiwara courtesan.
The chaste kiss lingered, before they slowly drew apart.
Memories flashed across her mind as she realized this was really the end. The end of everything she had been doing in the twenty odd years of her life, the end of the bothersome and meaningless routine she called life.
She recalled the loving faces of her parents, her sister Yugiri and the other siblings as they worked together on the small plot of rice paddy…
…The Yoshiwara procession on the streets of the town where she first came to the fateful crossroad that would change her life forever, along with the soiled sugared dough doll.
…The Tayu who brought her into Yoshiwara, who despite having bought her like a commodity, treated her with care and concern.
…The soft futon she slept on the first night at Yoshiwara…
…The injustice she suffered when she was growing up with the other child servants to the oirans and tayus, when they would gang up on her because she learned song and dance faster than any of them.
…The times she blushed and clapped her hands over her mouth when she spied the oirans engage in their nightly activities with their clients from behind the screens…
…The first time she was showed a jade carving of a male phallus and taught how to hold it, touch it in all sorts of ways to bring pleasure…
…The night she lost her virginity at twelve to a man who was in his forties, some owner of a few textile shops in the neighboring city.
…The day when one of her older oiran sisters was found missing from the Red Lantern House because she bravely eloped with a scholar whom she fell into a forbidden love with. Kagome had wept when she heard the news, but she later realized it was not out of sadness, but of joy for the oiran.
…Then she heard the death news of the oiran sister. She, along with the scholar she loved, was discovered by the Yoshiwara chaperones, and was to be dragged back to the Yoshiwara. But before the chaperones could do anything, the ill-fated lovers had taken their own lives with the daggers they concealed in their robes. Kagome had wept again, but once again, it was out of joy for the oiran. At the very least, she had found love.
She then recalled her own elevation in status from koshi-joro to that of oiran. Then came the stringent and somewhat humiliating process of considering her for the elevation to the status of Tayu. The proprietors of the teahouses, kabuki theaters, and textile merchants were consulted, and the chaperones of the oirans and tayus of the Yoshiwara district were called upon to judge her on her beauty, intelligence, earning power and cultural refinement. Her beautiful face, with its shape they described as melon seed-shaped, accentuated by her well-defined brows, large expressive eyes, fitted the criteria they were looking for. Her mouth, mesmerizing with its slightly upturned edges, was highly-valued.
There were a long list of flaws that could permanently remove a courtesan from consideration for Tayu status, but she was lucky – there were none they could find in her. On top of that, she was very strict and particular about her own behavior – Kagome never once used vulgar language or ate in front of her influential clients during her sessions with them.
She became a Tayu at the age of sixteen.
Only the wealthiest and most influential men could patronize her, with her value being almost forty times higher than the regular courtesan, the hashi. Her reputation reached far and wide to countries like China and Korea, with poets paying homage to her in their writings. She met some men, and rejected a lot of them as well. She became known as a "castle-toppler", a term referring to an immensely beautiful woman who could essentially drain the finances of a powerful daimyo or lord and literally topple his castle.
…Her first client as Tayu was none other than Lord Sesshoumaru of the Western Lands. She was a congratulatory gift to him from another demon lord for his battle victory against some rebels.
She remembered the way his eyes darkened with arousal and desire when she seduced him with her liberal yet subtle discussions on carnal pleasures, before he abruptly pushed her onto her back against the tatami flooring of his grand guestroom and undid her obi.
His beauty was her undoing; she was so desperate for a sign of tender affection from the handsome warrior lord, she went all out in her seduction of him. She hoped to tantalize, titillate and captivate his soul, just like how the art of seduction should be, with other aspects like perhaps bathing, dining, conversation and so on, on top of lovemaking. But somehow she failed to do so with him. As a Tayu, she should have appeared to be harder to get. So much for her training and great self-discipline in appearing aloof and aristocratic in front of men; they did not work in the least in his presence.
So she went to great lengths with her physical creativity, doing acts that even she as a courtesan could blush at, such as sensually de-shelling a boiled quail's egg with her mouth before slowly pushing it between her spread legs and asking him if he was hungry for a snack. He was impossibly turned on by that, and proceeded to give her the intense pleasure she never experienced with human men with his talented mouth. At times she played coy, touching all over his body only with her fingertips and nothing more.
She initiated at least six positions with him; even trying two of the seemingly physically impossible ones from one of her many pillow books. She even allowed him to hold the blade of his lethal sword against the soft, creamy expanse of her neck, a highly regarded erogenous zone, in a dangerously erotic display as he sought pleasure from her like there was no tomorrow. That was something neither could forget – swords were a taboo in Yoshiwara, yet they were practically part of life for Sesshoumaru, making the sexual experience both forbidden, familiar and wildly exciting.
But eventually, it gained her nothing – Lord Sesshoumaru did not feel love for her; he felt only lust. The next morning, despite all the intimacy the night before, went back to being the detached formalities.
"What would death be like?" She whispered, even though she knew he would not really have the answer to that.
"This Sesshoumaru has no idea."
She nodded, fully aware that she was not really anticipating an answer herself.
"Perhaps, like a very long slumber?" She mused softly, while a small smile crept into her visage again. "And when I awake, I'd have you with me. We will fall in love, just like the mandarin ducks, won't we?"
"Wait for this Sesshoumaru."
She regarded his visage slowly, while the shadows of the night danced across them languidly.
"My Lord…are you sure you would want to do this?" Kagome asked worriedly. "It is after all…detrimental to your honor and reputation should outsiders find out about how you accompanied me on a suicide pact, yet did not die in the process…"
"As you put it, those are outsiders. They are not worth thought, and neither would they understand."
Kagome bit her lower lip. She was well aware that while Sesshoumaru might sound as if he did not care in the least, an aristocrat of his status depends very much on reputation and honor. In their society, a man who did not perish from the lovers' suicide pact and goes on to carry on with his life while leaving the girl to travel to the underworld alone was frowned upon and despised.
"Please, Lord Sesshoumaru. I have yet another request to make of you."
His silence indicated his attention.
"Leave immediately after I die," She said in a soft but steely voice. "Leave no trace or evidence of you having been with me."
Sesshoumaru did not reply.
"Thank you." Kagome bowed politely with a slight inclination of her head.
"This Sesshoumaru will come for you in our next lives. Till then, please wait patiently."
"I will. See you soon." She added with a slightly playful smile.
The chiming of the night bells of the monastery was almost ending, and gently, the two figures on the ledge of the Nihonbashi caressed each other's cheeks in a silent act of finality to their entwined fates in that life.
Then they leapt off the ledge together, before a loud splash was heard from the inky waters underneath. Nothing was heard from water subsequently, and the night song of the crickets, shocked into silence a few moments ago, once again resumed, dominating the night.
The only things that revealed the Tayu's earlier presence were her high geta and the forgotten tobacco pipe left on the bridge.
Nothing else was left behind – not even her sorrow, her anguish and her final moments of contentment.
A few moments went by in stunned, heavily emotional silence, before the scene magically transformed like a tendril of smoke disappearing into the balmy summer air.
Takahashi Sesshoumaru and Higurashi Kagome of modern Tokyo, year 2009 found themselves standing on the grassy banks of what was obviously the river into which themselves from the previous lives jumped moments ago.
The unmistakable sounds of someone emerging from the river waters were heard, and they could see the demon lord Sesshoumaru carrying the slender, lifeless body of the young Tayu in his arms, walking towards land. Their wrists were still bound together by the red cord.
His expression was unreadable as he slowly walked up the grassy banks, unaware of the presence of the voyeurs that time and Fate worked together to send back to Edo in 1639. Rivulets of water ran down his face and his garments, leaving a trail of water and trodden grass from the river. It was impossible to tell how the demon lord was feeling then.
Lying motionlessly, looking serene and contented as she slept protected and secure in the arms of the man who accompanied her to the gates of Hell, the Tayu was as elegant and as dignified in death. Other than being drenched, there was no sign of any distress in the process of death. There was also no sign of the taint which marred this beautiful creature's bitter life. It was finality at its most beautiful, like a swan's song. There was no life remaining in the mesmerizing shell she used to occupy, even though a ghost of a smile was visible on her petal lips. Was it the natural upturn of her lips which she was blessed with since birth, or was she smiling in contentment in her final moments?
A particularly strong gust of summer night wind blew, and as if worried that it was going to cause the Tayu to feel cold, the demon lord held her lifeless body closer to his own.
He came to a spot with wild dandelions in bloom, and gently, he placed her limp body onto the soft grass. Her extravagantly-colored kimono, all three layers of it, formed a stark contrast to the lush green she was lying against. Her hair was slightly out of place, and even though he knew nothing about the grooming techniques of the ladies of Yoshiwara, the demon lord slowly brushed the strands of hair away from her face with the hand that was not bound to hers.
A few moments went by in companionable silence with him looking at her peaceful visage quietly, before he slowly withdrew his hand from the loop binding them together. Picking three wild dandelions, he placed them over her still bosom in replacement of the three arrows used in Japanese burial tradition.
Standing up to leave, he cast a final glance at her peaceful form in death. The demon lord turned to walk away, but before he took the second step, he paused in his steps and turned back to where her body was. Then, despite of what she so sincerely requested of him, he tore out a piece of his sleeve where his family's heritage crest – the red hexagon with the white cherry blossom crest - and gently placed it in her hand, closing her slender, tapered fingers over it.
He left without a backward glance.
As magically as they found themselves in old Edo of 1639, Takahashi Sesshoumaru and Higurashi Kagome returned to the noisy, urban Tokyo of 2009, back to the very same spot on the Nihonbashi on which they were standing. The nostalgic surroundings of Edo, accentuated by its traditional beauty, swirled into a vortex of colors, predominantly brown, green, red and black, before it miraculously unraveled itself back into a predominantly grey and orange landscape of concrete jungles, highways and street lights, punctuated by the urban noises.
Down below the bridge they were standing on, was the very same river in which Lord Sesshoumaru and Tayu no Higurashi plunged into three hundred and seventy years ago.
Neither was able to break the heavy emotions that weighed on their hearts as the forgotten memories were recalled in them by the spiritual experience awhile ago. It was such an unforgettable experience – there was nothing she has seen in this lifetime that could rival the raw emotional pain, the nostalgic beauty of the ancient Japanese society, the ill fate of her previous life and finally, the peace that the Tayu find eventually in the demon lord.
"Higurashi-san…here."
She snapped out of her reverie, and turned to look at the handkerchief offered to her by the man by her side. It was then she realized she had been crying.
Nodding, she took the handkerchief from him, before realizing that he too, had a film of unshed tears clouding his eyes.
Raising the handkerchief to his eyes, she dabbed lightly while the tears from her own rolled down her cheeks to stain the blouse she was wearing.
Closing his hand around her wrist, Sesshoumaru gently but firmly moved her arm such that it was by her side, and leaned in to press his lips against hers in what was not a shy, tentative first kiss, but rather, a kiss that expressed the heartfelt emotions of having found a long lost love, destined from three centuries ago.
"Takahashi-san, what-" Kagome gasped in surprise against his lips.
"Fulfilling the promise I made three hundred over years ago." He whispered against her lips, before kissing her again. This time round, Kagome did not protest.
Eventually when they drew apart, Sesshoumaru looked endearingly at the beautiful woman standing in front of him. Three hundred over years ago, he had found her equally beautifully and charming, yet society did not allow their union and he did not love her back then. This time round, Fate has arranged for them to meet once more, and he would be damned if he missed the second chance he was so kindly given.
"Now I finally know why I found you so familiar the very first time I met you at our company's annual dinner. Somehow I felt an affinity with you, and I had to talk to you." He said, reaching out to tuck a lock of stray hair behind her ear.
Kagome nodded, before saying softly. "Our wishes in the past lives came true after all…I managed to meet you before…before you were taken by any other woman."
"Our wishes did not come true entirely. You wished to be free from the curse of beauty, didn't you? It did not happen, for you are as beautiful as you were back then. But this time round, I will not allow anything to make you unhappy or sad again. Such beauty is meant to be loved and cherished…never will you once again be a floating petal on the river current."
"Takahashi-san…"
"Should you still be calling me that?"
"Sesshoumaru." She said shyly, hoping the blush on her face was not too obvious.
He reached out for her hands, slender and fair like they were on the Tayu three hundred years ago, and ran the pads of his thumb over them gently.
"Will you be my girlfriend, Kagome? Let me love you and care for you, just like how I promised you."
She looked at him and a smile of bliss spread across her face, before tears started welling up in her eyes again. She had finally found true love, something her previous life lived and ended for.
"What took you so long?" She chided playfully as she threw her arms around him and he pulled her into a strong, tight embrace. It felt so right – just like two pieces of puzzle coming together. "Three hundred over years for this…"
"I couldn't help being a demon lord, could I?" He laughed, inhaling the soft powdery scent of her hair. "It is not easy to die, you know."
"Arrogant!" She laughed teasingly, drawing the back of her hand across her eyes to wipe the tears away. "Lord Sesshoumaru was really, really charismatic though. It was no wonder that I fell for him back then."
"He's still me, isn't he?"
"Well…you can try. Good luck with finding that same costume though."
He laughed and tickled her, to which she laughed and squealed. "Can you imagine wearing that to the next company Halloween night?"
"Please don't! You still have your CEO image to upkeep. I'd never be able to walk beside you without collapsing from laughter." Kagome teased. "Your Hercules garb last year was not bad, though."
He shrugged. "I liked your Morticia Adams look. Sexy."
Kagome smiled at the compliment. "But then again, if you dress up as Lord Sesshoumaru, well…I might consider dressing up as Tayu no Higurashi."
"Speaking of which…" Sesshoumaru's eyes closed momentarily as if in deep thought, before saying out loud to no one in particular. "Thank you."
Kagome understood in that instant, and she too, looked out into the inky depths of the river and said with heartfelt gratitude. "Thank you. Thank you for everything."
Turning to Sesshoumaru, she said softly. "I hope the Tayu found peace."
"I am sure she did. Everything she wished for in the previous life came true," Sesshoumaru replied. "With the exception of the part about beauty."
"Cheeky guy." Kagome muttered in mock exasperation, smiling the entire time. "You were so disobedient since three hundred years ago! What should I do about you?"
"Disobedient? What did I do?"
"I told you not to leave any trace or evidence of your presence on me, didn't I?" She asked, poking him playfully. "But still, you left your family crest behind. I wonder what happened subsequently."
"We would never know. But I guess Lord Sesshoumaru could not bear to leave Kagome the Tayu back then without a proper status. As we know from history, the fates of courtesans like that would be…"
Kagome nodded sadly. "They would be dumped into unmarked graves."
"He couldn't bear to see that happen to her." Seshoumaru said softly.
Kagome gave him a questioning look.
"I know, because I would have done the same thing."
She looked at him endearingly, and silently hoped that somehow Tayu no Higurashi could hear this. "Thank you."
"Silly girl…" He chided affectionately, holding her close once again. "Some things will never change…take my word for it."
Kagome nodded blissfully.
"Now…shall we get going?" Sesshoumaru asked.
"Where to?" She asked, smiling up at him as they drew apart from the embrace. If she was not wrong, she could see that his eyes were somewhat…cheeky and up to something naughty.
"I wonder if…you know…" He asked her suggestively, his expression playful and cheeky. "…changed after so many years. We can always…check."
"What are you talking about?" She blushed furiously, asking him even though she knew very well what he was referring to.
"Hmm…I wonder what I am referring to…" Sesshoumaru laughed as he walked ahead, leaving a flushing and indignant Kagome behind.
"Takahashi Sesshoumaru! I…I can't believe that after so much has happened tonight, all you can think about is whether your sexual prowess is still so legendary!"
"Now, I didn't say that. You are such a gutter-brain, my dear. So that was what you were thinking!"
"Why, you…" Kagome chided and laughed, before chasing after him, their mingled laughter ringing into the night.
A gust of summer night breeze blew up again.
This time round, it still carried the nostalgic fragrance of smoky tobacco and the sensual scent of sandalwood on it, but unlike the scent on the wind three centuries ago, there was not a tinge of melancholy riding along the breeze.
The End.
A/N: Did you guys like it? This story is fast-becoming one of my all time favorites. It captured my heart, my soul and my interest, and somehow I find myself thinking about it, lost in the flowery transient world the Tayus of Yoshiwara lived in so long ago. Just to let those of you who listen to Chinese pop music know, this entire story was inspired by Jay Chou's "Qing Hua Ci" (Literally, "Green Flower Porcelain") while I was listening to it, riding on the bus.
It is the last installment already, so please review and reward my efforts!