Many men talked together in union so it was hard for someone from the outside to distinguish or understand some phrases out of the conversations, mixed together in a constant rumble. The rumble was not only result of the conversations happening at the same time, but also by the amount of men growling of approval and jubilee and also by the sound of chopsticks and bowls that were dinging around and the sound of the alcohol being poured within the small sake glasses and the gulps that were following as the burning liquor was getting lost within the thirsty throats of the warriors. Warriors were still dressed in their armors, having the katana swords of theirs on the tatami, right on the left side of them, close to their leg. The small portable tables for the food were located before each and every one of the men around, who were kneeling on small pillows upon the tatami, in front of their foods, lined up in two parallel lines, each line facing the other with a small path separating them. The tables were loaded with bowls of every size and had rice, soy sauce, fish and beans for every one of them. The rice-paper walls around them were illuminated by the candlelight.

Beautiful women dressed in fine, silk and colorful kimono were constantly re-filling the small sake glasses giggling at the vulgar (sometimes) jokes of the men around them. The atmosphere was heavy by the smell of sweat or the smoke of some pipe.

"What a great victory!" some of them were saying louder than they should, covering for brief moments the rumbling in the room.

To the head of this symposium there was a man sitting, or better half-lieing on a pillow, holding his sake glass in the hand, watching at the gathered people with his icy-cold eyes. He was dressed into a dark blue heavy robe and white hakama while on his head was wearing the typical kanmuri of Shogun. The crest on his chest also proved it. Therefore he was fully dressed in his Sokutai. One of the men raised his glass high and yelled.

"A toast! To Kaiba-sama, the man who brought us victory!"

"To Kaiba-sama!" everyone mimicked him and they all drank together.

The man was smirking proudly, arrogantly. Everyone was worshiping him. Him, the great Shogun who brought them victory; Seto Kaiba. He drank with them, always smirking. The meal continued till it was about time for the main dancer to appear. One of the women took the shamisen and started to play a soft tune and…there was he, the male dancer with the tri-colored spiky hair and the ruby eyes, to open the two fans and start to spin them or wave them in front of his face while spinning around himself softly. He was dressed in a wonderful silk kimono in the reddish color of fallen leaves in autumn but his kimono was also inwrought with silver sakura petals all over it. They were shimmering in the dim light as he was dancing. His hands seemed to be working independently with each other since he had managed to be spinning one of the fans with one finger while moving the other in a motion like a trapped fish within the fisherman's nest. Seto Kaiba placed two fingers under his chin in thought while watching with an amused smirk to his lips. The dancer's fine hips and alabaster skin looked the most desirable to him… For one moment the dancer through one of the fans in the air, using as a push the other fan, and caught it in his free hand to earn the applauding and startled exclamations of approval by his audience and of course yet another amused smirk by the great Shogun.

The song was brief and soon the dancer stopped along with the music only to be acclaimed by his watchers and the females who were there to entertain them. The Shogun with the blue eyes was also discreetly applauding as the dancer was now distributing bows to his ecstatic audience of men.

"Well done! Well done!" they were yelling

Seto Kaiba made up his mind.

"Hey you!" he called.

The dancer turned around and bowed his head deeply in respect.

"My lord…" he said. Seto Kaiba smirked satisfied

"What's your name?"

"Yami, my lord. Muto Yami"

"Yami huh?" one of the men growled in approval, "Darkness like the deep eyes he has! If you're finished with dancing I am willing in sharing my room with you!"

Yami pretended he hadn't heard the indiscreet comment of his and concealed it with a disarming smile and bowed saying.

"My lord is the most kind but I am afraid I have to refuse"

Seto Kaiba had overheard the conversation and grinned in amusement.

"Now, now, Komamura!" he said to the man spoken before, "This rare flower over here is not meant to be treated like a common kagema. Come to me, Muto Yami. A rare jewel like you should stand by my side!"

The male obeyed silently and stopped to kneel in front of the Shogun and bow in respect till his face almost touched the tatami and then stood up and joined the man, sitting by his side. Seto Kaiba, though, had other plans. He wrapped one arm around Yami's petite waist and pulled him closer, technically flush against his ribs. Yami Muto only smiled a courteous (and kind of playful) smile and said:

"My lord's glass is empty"

Seto smirked. "Indeed"

Yami took the sake bottle, "Then perhaps my lord would desire for me to re-fill it. Would he allow that?"

"I allow it" Seto Kaiba smirked again as Yami poured more warm sake within his empty glass. He drank its content with one sip.

"My lord is thirsty" Yami said again in his sleek yet deep charismatic voice, "May I re-fill his glass?"

"You may"

The men around were looking at the scene with hungry eyes as the dancer served the Shogun once more.

"Kaiba Seto is worth the best" someone said, "Always!"

"That's right!" Seto Kaiba smirked proudly, "This is how it should be!" and looked with lustful eyes at the delicate yet strong dancer beside him.

The festivities were moving smoothly but then there was a loud noise that made everyone jolt up from their seats.

"What was that?!" everyone exclaimed, some of them had already pulled their swords out of the sheaths

Suddenly someone rushed in. His clothes were stained in blood and he looked pale like wax. He was rasping.

"M-My lord…they're…" and fell to the floor…dead. The tatami was pained red by his blood.

Now all the men had stood up, with their swords ready to defend their lord, completely surpassing their drunkenness and their previous happy mood, while the female dancers were now screaming in panic. Soon people dressed in robes of warriors, holding swords in their hands, entered the room. Their clothes were also stained in blood, and their faces too, but they didn't seem wounded.

"We arrived in this place to kill Kaiba Seto, that we are!" someone said in his husky and strong voice

"Hm!" Seto Kaiba smirked, "I understand why my enemies want me dead. But more than you people are needed in order to claim my life!"

"If you think we came here on our own, Lord Kaiba Seto, then you are a fool" the man retorted

And no sooner his words echoed in the room and the rice paper walls were torn, by people who entered the room violently. Some of them had swords, some others had longbows and arrows. The female screams increased.

"Hm! So you had calculated everything with detail huh?" Seto Kaiba jolted up from his seat pulling his sword out, "But! Kaiba Seto doesn't fall without a battle! Mark my words and my warriors and I will slay you all like pig and hang your heads in spikes!"

And the battle began. The soldiers and their adversaries came to a close combat sword against sword, clang of metal against the clang of metal while the females started running around with panicked screams but sometimes they were getting killed by some astray arrow or some sword that went out of its way. Seto Kaiba himself had managed to slay quite a few of the soldiers but he noticed that at least five of the archers had now directed their bows at him with the arrows ready to fire. Seto Kaiba growled. So this was the end?

The cords "sang" at the same time as the archers released their arrows. The shafts whistled in the air, thirsty for human blood and the sound of the flesh being torn reached Seto Kaiba's ears, louder than ever in his long, battle life. But his eyes had widened, his face was stained with blood…blood that was not his. The red kimono was there in front of him with the arms extended to either side, forming a protective shield. Yami, the dancer, was there with at least ten arrows piercing his chest. Not even a single exclamation of pain had left his mouth. For Seto Kaiba all the battle sounds around him had stopped at once. Now there was absolute silence. Nothing else mattered to him…only the boy who had saved his life… Blood was flowing now from the fresh wounds…redder than the kimono…flowing like a river over the silver sakura-petals… The white petals had turned red…

With a sharp gasp, Seto Kaiba's eyes snapped open and he remained there, staring at the wooden ceiling above him, gasping for breath. A dream? Was it all a dream? Yes, now he remembered. He was Seto Kaiba, President and CEO of Kaiba Corporation who produced high-tech gaming platforms. He was not a Shogun; he did not live in some Feudal Era of Japan… The battle he had seen had never happened!

He sat up on the futon and mopped the sweat off his forehead. A dream…but so vivid…! He noticed where he was when the remains of his dream started leaving his mind bit by bit. He was inside Akazakura Jinja, dressed in a yukata…sleeping in a futon. Perhaps that was the reason he had such a dream…or perhaps he ate heavily in the night. Or maybe it was the sake after all. Perhaps he shouldn't have drunk it without eating first…

He looked outside the window. It was morning. He was greeting by the constant chirping of the birds. He felt his stomach a bit funny. Perhaps it was the alcohol he had consumed last night. He noticed that at his feet, close to the futon, were his clothes carefully folded and perhaps ironed. When had he…? Perhaps Yami was the "morning type" Kaiba thought. He had to admit he was too. He always got up even before sunrise in order to attend his work in time and then to his meetings and stuff. However that day he had slept more than he intended to, for some reason. But if Yami had entered his room early in the morning to leave his clothes…had he heard him sleeping? Was he talking or worse, screaming in his sleep by the dream he had? He didn't know and of course he wouldn't ask Yami about it!

In any case he got up and dressed himself. He didn't bother to re-fold the futon and place it to its wardrobe. He was sure Yami could do it himself later. He walked out of the room, hoping to find the toilet in that temple.

As he walked outside, led by his instinct mostly and his knowledge on the traditional Japanese houses, he searched for the small wooden, house. He knew that traditionally the toilet was outside the temple but then again he didn't want to search the building just in case he found one inside. It was still cool outside and the sun had barely risen. He was right about the place. While he was doing his…business he heard from somewhere far the sound of a bass bell. As he walked out of the toilet, he followed the echo of this sound and found himself to the front of the temple. He saw Yami there with his hands joined together. He was praying. He was dressed in his usual temple outfit and he seemed really concentrated to his prayer. For one brief moment, Seto Kaiba caught himself wondering what Yami was praying about so focused or how beautiful he looked like this, in an old-fashioned, charming way. He shook those "dangerous" thoughts away and walked closer as soundlessly as he could so he wouldn't disturb him from his prayers. The dream was still fresh in his memory for some reason; the memory of Yami impaled by countless arrows and the kimono painted by his own blood… Fortunately the boy didn't seem to have seen him cause when he finished his prayer he turned around and saw him.

"Oh. You're awake" he said in that deep voice

Kaiba's mind traveled back to the dream once more, to that deep and submissive (and for some reason dominant at the same time) voice he had when he was serving him sake. He felt a chill run down his spine.

"Yeah" he half-growled the answer

His damn beautiful face was once more lit with a small smile.

"That's good" he said, "Did you have a nice sleep"

"Hm!" was his answer, "It was fine, I guess"

It was more than fine actually if someone excluded that strange dream but of course there was no way he would admit that. The boy smiled once more.

"That's good" he said

"What about you? You sure are the morning type" Kaiba said coldly

"I slept fine thanks for asking. I just get up early. I have some works I need to do in this temple before my day officially starts"

"Hmm"

For the first time that day his gaze traveled down the boy's petite body and his fine lines beneath the miko-like appearance. Images from his dream stroke him again. But why? Why, dammit?! It was only a dream. Why couldn't he forget about it like it happened to all dreams?

"I got to go!" he said swiftly and turned his heels around to leave

"Ah! Wait. Don't you want to have breakfast before…?"

"I am already late. My brother should be worried." Seto replied without turning back, as he was walking away, "Thanks for the hospitality…"

And walked away leaving behind both Yami and Akazakura Jinja…

One week. It's been one freaking week since that day, Seto Kaiba was thinking while walking among the crowd with fast steps. Normally his dreams would fade even a few seconds after he had seen them –if he ever had any dreams at all- But this dream seemed to have stubbornly stuck into his head and wouldn't leave him in peace. He had started to think he was indeed addicted to some drug cause for one more time he was walking into that city. In fact he had started walking around with no real destination just because he didn't want to move straight towards the shrine once more or else even the youngest child in town would accuse him for being smitten in love or anything. Well…in reality wasn't he? He blushed at the thought. What on Earth was he thinking now? He didn't even know whether he liked men that way! Right? Right? In his doubts he hadn't noticed where his steps were leading him. He walked within the city with no real direction. He was ready to do a turn and start walking towards the shrine once more.

"Kaiba?"

He heard a voice and so he turned his head only to open his eyes wide in surprise. There was Yami, standing there in an outfit he had never seen before. He was wearing royal-blue jacket and black sleeveless vest with matching blue long pants. He hadn't seen him wearing trousers before, and this pair of pants truly pointed out his long, good legs in a way he had never seen before. The shoes he was wearing, was a pair of plain, black shoes and he was holding a school sack. Surpassing his first surprise he shook his head and said

"What in the world Muto? What are you doing here in this outfit?"

"I was at school" Yami replied simply

"School?"

"Yeah. What's the surprise? I am fifteen years old. Wasn't I supposed to go to school?"

"Why would you bother to go to High School? You have your job, don't you?"

"Well…" Yami shrugged, "I like school. After all my father really insisted I should go there no matter what choice I made for my life"

Seto Kaiba snorted.

"But likewise, Kaiba. What are YOU doing here? Once again that is"

"That's none of your business, Muto!"

Yami chuckled once more, reminding of Kaiba that Yami he saw for the first time during the Hanami Festival.

"I was ready to go to buy a few things before returning to the temple for dinner. Do you care accompanying me?"

Seto Kaiba shrugged his shoulders. He didn't have anything else to do anyway. So he followed Yami Muto into the city.

It was more of a town rather than a city. The suburbs outside Kyoto indeed resembled Domino City. Yami seemed to know very well where he wanted to go. Soon they reached a small grocery store. As they entered in the smiley, old shopkeeper's face beamed with a grin.

"Welcome, Yami!" he said kindly

"Good morning, Tanaka-san!" Yami replied in the same way, with a smile that made Kaiba's heart melt.

"How can I help you today?"

"I'll have the usual, thank you"

Yami walked around the shop, getting things from the shelves while Kaiba was simply watching him. As Yami brought everything he wanted to buy before Tanaka, he looked towards the direction of some offering candles. It was like those they lit for the dead.

"These go for 1000 yen each" the shopkeeper said.

Yami checked his wallet and failed to hide his disappointment but he concealed it with a half-smile.

"Not today, Tanaka-san, thanks"

Suddenly a handful of those candles were placed before them upon the shopkeeper's bench.

"Add these to the price of those he has already bought and put them all on my name!"

Yami snapped his head towards Kaiba's direction with a shocked expression all over his handsome features.

"Kaiba…no…I couldn't possibly…"

"Oh, shut up, Muto!" Kaiba interrupted him impatiently, "It is not like money is an issue to me or anything! Just get them and quit nagging like a freaking girl!"

Yami was still shocked but a faint smile came up to his lips.

"Thank you" he only said

The sun was already setting; its colors were all shades of red and orange, as the two men were walking through the town. Yami was walking forward holding the packages to his hands and Kaiba was following with his hands in his pockets.

"That was strange…" Kaiba said out in the blue after many minutes of silent walking.

For some reason he was feeling particularly talkative when he was with Yami.

"What?" Yami questioned

"Usually Jinjas do not sell stuff like that? Like candles and religious mumbo-jumbo…" he tried to show as much sarcasm as possible, "So why would you go and buy them from the shop instead?"

Yami scoffed a little, closing his eyes as if he had heard a sympathetic joke instead.

"My grandfather was always against it, the temples being also commercial places where people would buy and sell goods as if they are in a bazaar, or so he used to say. He believed that temples should be places for prayer and only that." He chuckled a little at himself as he added, "Of course no one said we say no to the temple offerings. It is not like we let the coins down in the offering box! However aside from that our temple does not sell either candles, or offerings or even charms and amulets. That's why…I often work as a dancer as well"

Seto had noticed Yami had lowered his voice at the last one. Was it sadness? Shame? No. Yami sure loved his work. Then what was it? Nostalgia, perhaps…

"Temples and religion are good but you also need to eat huh?" Seto half-mocked him again.

He was surprised though that his voice came out more like comforting and less than mocking the young boy that was leading him, God knew where right now. For one more time Yami chuckled.

"Exactly. And when dancing is not enough, I sometimes ask from geisha houses to include me too to their gatherings"

"You also work as a geisha?" he sounded surprised

"Occasionally" Yami replied.

Seto felt something strange sting his heart the moment Yami said that. Just the thought of Yami being in a room entertaining whoever was there made him feel extremely uneasy…just thinking of drunk or turned on men staring at Yami while he would tease them or serve them tea or sake…was simply making him boil in anger.

"Is this…jealousy…?!" he thought suddenly totally shocked at himself.

Yami continued his previous statement, though, dragging him back to reality.

"But still I have to perform all the tasks on the temple and of course continue my studies at school, my father loved so much. Don't get the wrong idea. I love my job and I love school. It is just…sometimes it can be tiring"

Seto Kaiba fell silent. It was the first time he saw someone who was as busy as he was and at the same time…so different than him! Seto Kaiba was agnostic while Yami was a shrine man, a priest. Seto Kaiba was a man of logic, a man of business and work while Yami seemed to live in a mystical world of art, a world so unknown to Seto Kaiba as the dark universe itself. He checked once more the boy from top to bottom. He could only see his back as they were walking but like he was dressed in school uniform, he could take a good glimpse of his good legs, his broad shoulders now that he wasn't wearing the kimono or hakama and montuki. He looked almost…normal. However Kaiba knew that it only needed one glimpse of the boy's flaming eyes to make him shower in sweat and his legs feel shaky and ready to collapse.

"Here we are" Yami's voice snapped him out of it.

They were at the base of a marble stairway. Seto Kaiba now saw where the boy was heading. A Graveyard. It was the place where the dead were supposed to be resting. He followed Yami upwards. Yami seemed so fragile from outside but now he was watching him carrying all the packages and bags with shopping and was climbing up the stairs without even being out of breath as if he was making his morning walk, and he felt a wild admiration for this boy once more. His heart was hammering against his ribs as the dying sunlight was painting him with its red colors. Now he wished the boy wasn't in school uniform but in the kimono he saw during the Sakura Hanami Festival. Oh, how wonderful this cloth would look on him now that he was showered in setting sun's light and his ruby-colored eyes were looking straight upwards! It was as if he was some airy creature or an angel dressed in red.

Finally they climbed up and Yami didn't even stop. He calmly walked through the cold gravestones. The discreet essence of incense was hovering all over the quiet place. Marble gravestones seemed to be emerging out of the cobbled ground. Some of them had offerings before them and some others didn't. Yami walked and kneeled before one tombstone. Seto Kaiba read the kanji on it:

Muto Family Grave.

Yami calmly took out of the package the candles and the incense wattles. He calmly lit them and placed them carefully before the tombstone. He clapped his hands once and closed his eyes. He was praying, Kaiba could see it. What was he praying for? Was he praying for his family to find peace? Was he praying for their redemption in Next Life? He didn't know. He could only admire the dying sunlight dancing on his alabaster skin as he was knelt on the ground giving it orange and red iridescences.

"Father…" he heard him whispering, "Mother…Grandpa…I hope whenever you are now…to be fine and happy…"

He finished his prayer and stood back to his feet, picking up the bags and packages.

"Let's go back" he said turning to Kaiba, "I apologize for bringing you till here"

"I don't remember being tied with a rope or something and being forced to follow!"

Yami only smiled, "Right…" he admitted in a low voice, "Then…how about come over? I'll make dinner. Do you like udon?"

"What kind of food it is doesn't really matter"

Yami gave him a small smile as a "reward".

"Okay then. I can have also sake and tea with the food. Let's go…"

Seto Kaiba only followed him down the stairs again, in silence, leaving the incense smell and the marble tombstones behind. They were getting further and further from them, till they were completely lost from their backside. Seto Kaiba didn't even bother to give them a second glimpse over his shoulder…

The darkness had fell almost for good as they reached the Akazakura Jinja. The dusk was now painted in colors of deep purple, almost blackish-blue and a few remaining rays of red could be spotted in the horizon. Soon the house was filled with the inviting smell of boiling udon. Yami had changed in his yukata by the time they had entered the jinja. He had gone to his room to change and soon returned wearing his white yukata. The yukata had a collar in soft ceil color like the sky in the morning. He immediately went to the small kitchen and started cooking over the cooker. Seto could only wait and perhaps watch him as he was cooking. Yami added several ingredients and he seemed focused to his work every time he was doing so. Even then his moves were graceful, Seto noticed. Yami slowly poured the warm food in two bowls and brought it to the table where Seto was waiting, knelt onto his small pillow. Yami next brought two cups for tea and the teapot and also a small bottle of sake. He poured tea for them both and sake for Seto Kaiba. He then took his seat and thanked for the food with a small bow. When they started to eat everything fell silent for Seto. He could only hear Yami while he was eating, he could only see his delicate fingers holding the hashi and leading the udon into his mouth…

They finished and Yami gathered the dishes. Seto was waiting for him in the usual room he had spent the previous nights his time with, and he was holding the glass of sake, drinking slowly. Soon Yami came to join him holding the shakuhachi flute. He knelt close to Kaiba and started to play. The sound that was coming out of his flute was just heavenly. The calming music was making him almost want to sleep and sleep a sleep full of dreams and calmness… No wonder he was so successful. However once more jealousy made him tense, imagining Yami be doing it to other men and women as well. As if the boy felt the intense stare piercing him, he stopped playing and opened his eyes.

"Something wrong?"

Seto Kaiba snapped once more back to reality.

"No. Nothing" he said, "Say…you said you often work as a geisha to teahouses."

"Yes. That's what I said"

"Isn't it a bit off for a male to do that? I thought only females could become geisha"

"Well, that is true but since my mother was a really famous geisha before she met my father and so they allow me to get in. Besides…" he smiled, "It's unusual to see a male geisha so…many people would visit the teahouse I worked in, not because I had talent or anything but barely to see the male geisha in the flesh"

Seto wanted to scream, to yell to the boy he did have a talent that would appear once in a century, that he was causing him feelings no other artist, well, not other person had ever caused him before but of course that was out of question because of his pride. He only took a small sip from his sake and said:

"I see…she must have been really good to her job then…your mother I mean"

Yami ignored the hidden irony.

"She was. Hey, haven't I showed you her picture?"

"No. Not really"

"Ah. Wait here…"

Yami got up and walked somewhere in the temple. He soon came back holding a small book, folded in his hands. It was an album or something. He knelt once more close to Kaiba opening the book carefully on the floor and searching for the page he wanted.

"Ah! Here!" he said after a moment of searching and turned the book towards Kaiba pointing at a wonderful portrait of a woman, "Here is a picture of her when she was an apprentice geisha. She has red collar beneath the kimono. Wasn't she pretty?"

The woman in the picture was indeed breathtaking. It was a young woman with lustrous black hair that was tied up in the usual geisha bun. She was dressed in an elegant black and red kimono with red flower patterns and reminded Seto of some black darkness splashed with blood. Her hair was decorated with a red flower and boughs of unpeeled rice. Even a blind man would claim she wasn't pretty, especially with that small smile of hers with those red lips upon the white face. No wonder Yami was so…so… He stopped his thoughts before they got any more dangerous.

"Yes…" Seto Kaiba said in a low voice, "She was…"

Yami smiled a nostalgic smile.

"She was teaching me, you know. Even if she was suffering from tuberculosis she always tried to teach me everything she knew. I asked her when I was around seven…"

Seto saw the look into Yami's eyes and he could see it. The boy for the first time was silent and lost in his thoughts. Kaiba knew what that meant. He was remembering…

"Mother!" a young Yami was running into the yard of the temple, running inside.

He passed through the silk curtains to get into a room. There was a woman knelt there. She was dressed in a magnificent kimono, red like blood with patterns of flowers made with golden and blue threads. A waterfall was also inwrought to the hem of her cloth, embracing her legs tenderly. Her black hair was up in a bun and was decorated in a simple yet elegant way with a small comb with silk, pink flowers hanging from the side of her head. Once she heard the child cry she turned her head around and smiled and then turned fully to see her son. Even if she didn't have make-up, her face was so pale and she seemed weakened by her illness. However her smile was as bright as a little girl's would be.

"Yami" she said softly and opened her arms for her son to get in

He rushed into her silken embrace and nuzzled in it like a bird flies back into the nest and close to its mother. His mother always smelled of jasmine and her breath was always fresh and had a scent of peppermint and peach. She gave him a sweet kiss on the top of his tri-colored hair and said in her almost singing voice.

"What is it, sweetheart? You look upset"

Yami looked up with his blood-colored eyes, with his unique, live-ruby eyes.

"I told Grandpa I wanted to become a geisha just like you! And he said I can't! And he told me to focus on my school and the temple duties instead! Why can't I mother?"

"Ara!" his mother said softly cupping her mouth gracefully with her palm.

Her moves were always so airy and so graceful, Yami could feel his small heart flattering in his chest. His mother was really young but also her face was making her seem younger than her age, but still she was so pretty! He was always proud of her.

"Why would you want to do something like that?"

"Because I always watch you, mother! I see how beautifully you play instruments and dance! I love dances and…and theatre…and….and I want too, to be graceful and beautiful like you! I don't care become big and strong or anything! I just want to do things you do!"

"Being a geisha is a really hard work you know. Also you are a boy. Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Yes!" Yami said in flaming passion nodding his small childish head so fast that momentarily he felt dizzy himself, "I want to. I want to dance like you and…and do the Tea Ceremony like you!"

His mother only smiled. She always was so calm and collected. She never yelled at him. She always smiled.

"Okay" she said, "I can teach you the art of being a geisha"

"Yay!" little Yami yelped happily and hugged her tightly

Right after that, Yami's life was split in two. He was practicing for becoming the priest (or Miko) of the temple…and at the same time…taking in the secret art of being geisha…

"You must be transformed" his mother was saying

And she kept her word. She always did. She was educating everywhere and anytime she could or she met alone with her son. For example during their bath (Yami liked taking a bath with his mother), when his mother had finished washing his back and poured hot water over herself as well, she was saying:

"Say I am entertaining a baron or a chairman. Like so many clients before and after him, he is trapped in an arranged marriage or a bad work. So in the ochaya when he seeks my company instead, I reward him like this"

"This" was a graceful move of her white hand. She moved her hand that way beneath the towel that was wrapping it, so the cloth fell slightly back to reveal her under side of her wrist.

"…With a glimpse of my wrist. Seeing this demure little trace of naked skin, well, it gives him pleasure"

Yami smiled and tried to mimic her move with his own cloth instead, revealing his soft wrist, trying to put as much grace as his mother in his simple move.

"Yes…" his mother whispered in approval.

That moment his mother was no longer his mother. She was like goddess Amaterasu herself. Her voice was low, melodic, calming and even seducing. It was like Yami was in a dream with those hot steams of the bathroom around him and his mother's voice.

"Or when you are sitting down, for the briefest moment, press your leg against his" and she did so to her son with so much mannerism, almost shyness, "…Always by accident of course!" she added with a small chuckle.

Yami couldn't help but giggle loudly along with his mother. The other time they were outside, dancing together, learning all the old dances of all types of theater and music while the autumn leaves would fall around them, and the background had a brownish-orange color, fitting perfectly with his mother's kimono, that was also inwrought with autumn leaves and brown ivies that were hugging her body.

"A geisha cannot choose her dana. Her dana chooses her. Therefore a geisha must study everything; music, dance and the art of conversation so she can bring the best dana to her… To attract her dana on her feet, not off them."

And he did try. He tried hard. Not only with his dance but also with language. His mother taught him the courteous way of speaking. She even taught him the old Kyoto speaking form, the shy and humble but at the same time provoking and playful way, the way would make men probably flaming in passion and lust for his mother, so many years ago, when she was entertaining men as a geisha, before she met and got married to his father. She taught him how to bow. How to bow gracefully on the ground; bend his head so much that it almost touched the tatami. He was using his fingers, not the palm to do so… She also taught him how to walk, how to walk prettily and gracefully, making the kimono slithering around his ankles. And she would take him out to the cobbled yard of the temple, making him practice walking with the high joori geisha use to show him the meaning of it (even if she was almost certain Yami would never really need to wear those since he was a male). And indeed Yami rarely needed it anymore after learning the moves well.

The other time, when winter would fall, both of them would sit outside with the white yard as a background, playing the shamisen and the shakuhachi flute or any other instrument. The winter wind was giving Yami rhythm and peace. The calmness around had magical influence on him. He simply closed his eyes, focused and played.

His mother had strong will. Not even when she was coughing and sometimes stained with blood her small silk handkerchief (secretly from her son) wouldn't stop. She was always focused on her son…always on her son…

"Agony and beauty lived side by side for us" she used to say, "Our feet suffered, our fingers bled…even sitting and sleeping would be painful…"

However even if she had showed him the takamakura, the high pillow the geisha use so their hairstyle wouldn't be ruined during the sleep, she never put him through agony. In fact, she didn't continue give him even that pillow when Yami woke up with a terrible pain on his nape, neck and shoulder blades the first week. She was so kind…so kind his mother! Yami didn't know how a person would be so kind. Also his mother never forced him through the pain of making his hair. She had told him geisha hurt quite a bit when someone tried to make their hair perfect, especially the old times, but he didn't make his hair even once.

"With such a unique hairstyle like yours, you don't even need jewels in your hair!" she had told him with her soft laughter and Yami, like always, would simply laugh with her.

Except from dances and the basic of acting, his mother would teach him how to dance with fans, with pieces of cloth and Yami, secretly, did practice even holding the sword doing dancing moves.

"Remember, Yami, geisha are not courtesans and they are not wives. And if a geisha gets married, she no longer is a geisha. We sell our skills, not our bodies. We create another secret world, a place only of beauty. The very word 'geisha' means 'artist', and to be a geisha you must be judged as a moving work of art…"

Yami was always moving along with his mother. He was practicing for around a year and a half and he was already capable enough of following. Without his mother and father knowing it, Yami would sneak out of his futon at nights and, wearing his yukata, he could walk out in the yard in the moonlight, sometimes wearing his joori, sometimes bare-foot and he would start dancing. The moon was showering him, making his white yukata glow like silver (as though he were some spirit or ghost in the night). His crimson eyes would seem like glowing darker in the pale, cold moonlight. The silence of the night, the cicadas' song was like the siren's call, calling him to join them and he would dance as the leaves of the sakura trees around (or their petals in spring) falling around him like snowflakes. Once or twice he went out in winter, feeling the white snow below his joori and the warm tabi shocks he was wearing. Occasionally he even went out in rain. He didn't care if the warm drops would shock him so much that the cotton cloth was plastered against his skin. All he cared about was the song of water, calling all around, giving rhythm for his dance. His body it was as if it was moving like the water rivers that were falling from the temple's roof or on the ground.

Unknown to him, his grandpa was watching him behind a column but he was no longer looking at him with fear or uncertainty for his future, but with pride. Yami would move his arms and hips gracefully, as if he had become one with the night breeze, moving his arms. Secretly repeating in his head:

"Shall I re-fill the sir's cup of sake…? Where does the gentleman wish to go tonight? Shall I offer the gentlemen my company tonight?"

And he was moving the yukata's sleeves to reveal his palms or wrists and then make a turn, pretending he was holding the fans or the sword or the ribbon, cradling his hips like the bamboo that bents but never breaks in the storm.

He didn't have only this pleasure though. He was also focusing on his training with his grandpa. Then it was his mother's turn to be watching him from afar as Sugoroku Muto was showing him the proper ceremonies and the tasks a priest would have to perform…

"You cannot call yourself a true geisha until you stop a man on his tracks with a single look" she told him one day while walking through the town's streets. She was wearing a plain, gray kimono with beautiful patterns of clouds and flowers in the color of the sky, "For you it will be even more difficult because you are a boy, but you will need to entertain men…"

"No one can do that" an almost nine-year-old Yami said in an almost protesting way. He was dressed in a plain red kimono with ivy patterns himself. He was about as tall as his head would reach his mother's shoulder by then.

She only smiled.

"Choose someone for me"

His mother was so much like him. When a challenge would show up, she would take it right away. So Yami searched carefully to give her that.

"The man talking on the phone, with the green envelope under his arm"

He saw how busy the man was so he doubted he would even bother to take a second glance. However once his mother spotted him, she simply smiled, accepting the challenge and moved towards him gracefully. She barely took a glance at him and the man practically came to a halt and even took the phone further from his ear and half-turned his entire torso just to look at her for a little longer. Yami felt the admiration hit him and also his heart flattering to his chest wondering if he could do something like that himself. But he was a boy of challenge.

"Choose one for me, mother" he said

His mother chose quickly.

"The man with the briefcase. With one look!" she smiled and walked away leaving him alone.

Yami took a glance over his shoulder. The man was walking fast (obviously being in a hurry to reach his job). He would be quite the challenge. Yami made a half-turn and started walking towards the opposite direction; he had his head lowered like his mother had done a moment before. His heart was practically ready to jump out of his chest. The man had come closer. The moment they were about the same line, shoulder-by-shoulder, Yami barely raised his eyes and for the briefest moment the man met the pair of ruby eyes with his own. His gaze it was as if frozen within the boy's, when suddenly Yami lowered his gaze almost shyly. The man was so busy admiring him (almost), that he hadn't seen the column for the electric wires and he bumped into it. He held his nose with a pained expression but also staggered and fell upon an upcoming boy that was carrying crates of fruits and he fell on him. As a result, man, boy and the fruit became a skein as they fell on the ground. Yami was shocked and amazed by the sight as he continued walking. His mother joined him smiling.

"You are ready!" she had told him and Yami never in his entire life hadn't felt this proud before.

His mother had also showed him how she put on her make-up, she had showed him how to see the difference between the good quality of silk in kimonos and the bad one but what Yami enjoyed the most was the Tea Ceremony. His mother performed every move as if it was sacred, and so Yami adopted the same passion for it and he still loved it even many years ago, and enjoyed it…like a good night's sleep…

However when the Akazakura Jijna wasn't happy, it was dressed in black. People; distant relatives, ex-admirers and friends were all dressed in black, crying or expressing their sorrow and support to the family. There was a small column with a name on it, close to a photo with the beautiful female face. She had left them. She had left them to go to the distant Land of the Dead where she would dance more gracefully than ever. However Yami instead of being inside and mourning with the others, ran in his room and wore a black kimono with scarlet patterns of sakura flowers and ivies, placed in his spiky hair one of his mother's old jewels; a silver comb with black and red silk petals, and outside in the yard behind the rice-paper windows of the room the others were mourning, he started to dance. Yes. He danced like he had never danced before and he didn't stop not even when he was out of breath. And tears were running down his cheeks…like diamonds…

Yami came back to reality after that flashback he had many years to think so much. Seto too was left speechless from details of Yami's past. He simply finished his sake in one last gulp.

"I see…" he only said

They kept each other company for a few more minutes. Then Kaiba looked at the picture of his mother. He saw Yami had it in two copies. He placed a hand upon the one of them.

"Mind if I take this?"

"My mother's picture?" Yami sounded surprised by the request, "Sure. For what reason though?"

Seto didn't answer. He only took the picture Yami gave him and placed it in a pocket from inside his suit's jacket. They both stood up and Yami held the book with him. He headed inside again. This time, though, Kaiba followed him. They entered in a room full of shelves that were packed with books. Books that were made in the traditional Japanese style and not only. Yami went straight to the shelf he wanted and put the book back in place. Seto Kaiba, even if he never was interested in old stuff, he was pretty impressed by the size of the library and the amount of books in it.

"Your library is…impressive…" he only said.

Yami smiled turning at him.

"Yes. Akazakura Jinja has some really rare documents, hundreds of years old. Many of these books are extremely valuable. Some others are newer ones"

He caressed the front side of a self almost tenderly. Seto Kaiba was escorted to the door once more.

"Well…" he said feeling a knob to his throat, "Thanks…for today…"

It took him all his willpower to say those words.

"No…I thank you…" Yami said and bowed his head at him once.

Seto bit his lip and turned his back starting to walk away.

"Seto…"

He immediately stopped to his tracks. His name spoken by Yami's lips, his first name and not just his surname, sent shivers and chills all over his skin and system. He glanced over his shoulder. Yami's yukata was indeed glowing in moonlight. The breeze was once again blowing the sakura petals.

"Will I see you again?" Yami said in a low voice.

If Kaiba's heart hadn't stopped beating before, now this sudden question sure did the job. He remained there frozen. For one moment he was torn between two answers. The one (that seemed out of question) was the true answer. Was him screaming "yes" as many times as his heart was beating like crazy. The other was answer nothing and walk away not really caring if he would hurt him or whether the male would hate him the next moment. However that too seemed too painful in his heart to do so… For one moment he felt torn, as if his arms and legs were tied to two horses and each horse was running to a different direction ready to tear him apart in two pieces. He kept on looking at Yami over his shoulder and then he turned his gaze back forward again.

"I don't know…" he finally said and walked away, leaving Yami behind.

However he came. He came countless times. They kept company to each other, ate together or walked together in town. Sometimes Kaiba would go to pick Yami back from school and walk him up to Akazakura Jinja. He stayed there once or twice for the night. Yami helped him sometimes with his bath like he had done then. Always Yami though. Kaiba never saw Yami naked, never helped him with his own bath. He could only imagine the alabaster skin below the white yukata or the miko clothes.

They would spend hours talking and Yami would tell him stories or even gossip (fake or real) to make him laugh. Sometimes they would go shopping for the shrine and then Yami would make him lunch, dinner, tea or simply give him a drink. Sometimes they would spend hours in the garden of the shrine and hear Yami playing some musical instrument. Sometimes he even danced for him. Yes. Yami danced for him once or twice, making Seto's heart melt a thousand times in his chest and making him die a hundred deaths and at the same time being reborn a thousand. And when Yami would sing some song in his deep and calming voice, then Kaiba would prefer a thousands of times he were deaf and blind because when the song was finished and he returned home it was as if he had tasted heaven once and now the life on earth seemed like hell to him…as if he couldn't live, he couldn't breathe without it and he was feeling like suffocating.

Seto simply couldn't imagine he would actually feel that way for another person. It was as if he was addicted to drugs now. He only wanted to see him. He only wanted to hear him. He sometimes spent nights without sleeping in his bed, just thinking about him or in his futon, just to hear Yami's calm breathing while he was sleeping next doors with only a soft rice-paper wall between them. And so the days passed…and weeks and months. The summer came and soon gave its place to autumn and to winter with the snow but still Seto Kaiba was found "trapped" between torment and absolute happiness. And still he was wondering to himself…why was he feeling that way? And about a male too. What did that boy have on him, IN him and was making him so eager and so desperate even to take a glimpse of his ruby eyes? Seto Kaiba didn't know. His logic couldn't analyze that no matter how hard he thought. And for the first time in his life he came to this conclusion:

No more thoughts. Just walk forward…

PLEASE RREAD:

Hay! I'm back again! Remember the first chapter that was a gift for right? Well I finally got the time to write Part 2! I hope you like it like the previous one. But for one more time...it became bigger than I expected! Most likely I will need Part 3 as well! Of course if you guys want it!

Japanese Words:

Tatami: A "carpet" usually made of straw with which the japanese traditional floors were covered with.
Kanmuri: Type of "hat" the old Shogun used to wear. It is visible in many japanese lords' pictures
Shokutai: The full clothing of a Shogun. It is consisted by large "shirt" and in general impressive appearance wikipedia…
Kagema: Literally is the male prostitude. Usually were boys or males that didn't have too manly characteristics (usually actors that played female roles or even "proffessional" prostitudes)
Udon: Japanese pasta-like food, similar to soba or noodles but made of wheat.
Ara!: Exclamation in japanese, usually used by females. It can be translated as "Oh!" or "Oh, my!"
Ochaya: Teahouse. It is consisted by the words "(o)cha" which means "tea" and "ya" which means "shop" when put behind a word (for example sushiya = sushi shop)
Dana: It has several meanings. The closest (and the one in this story) is "patron". It can also be used as "master" or sometimes even "teacher". When a geisha talks about her dana she talks about her patron.
Takamakura: It means "High Pillow" and it is the "pillow" used by the geisha to put their head on when sleeping so they won't ruin their hairstyle.

Story Trivia:

In old Japan it wasn't unusual for a man to have affairs outside the marriage. He could go with prostitudes or cocubines if he desired. Also it wasn't unusual for a man to have affairs even with male lovers and that was the reason the kagema existed. Even priests could have kagemas to satisfy their needs once in a while. A man could also have relationships with both males and females. (at least this is what I know. Correct me if I am wrong)

The scene with Yami dancing in Kaiba's dream was inspired by the scene of the Memoirs of a Geisha movie when Sayuri dances as Maiko for the first time watch?v=DtrKne…

In Seto's dream everyone says the surname first and then the name. That is because in Japan usually they introduce themselves first with the surname and then with the last name (for example "Muto Yugi" and not "Yugi Muto")

Yami's mother as an apprentice geisha (maiko) is in my gallery here . His mother stopped being a geisha because she got married to his father however she still had the way of acting for a geisha.

Yami if we had the story in japanese would be calling his mother "Haha-ue" which is a very formal and somehow old-fashioned way to call someone's father. In addition Yami would call his father "Chichi-ue" (like Atem does in the anime). His grandpa would be "Ojii-ue" or "Ojii-san"

The scenes with Yami's training were of course inspired by Memoirs of a Geisha movie. I even used some quotes in order to give credit to that wonderful movie with the wonderful music.

Yami's mother was suffering from illness since always but still she trained Yami in her art of geisha however she kept it hidden from her son because she loved how talented he was and how much passion and love he was putting in whatever he did.

When it mentions Yami dancing in the rain, I am mostly referring to summer rains. In that part of Japan there are rains every summer in the beginning of it.

The library Yami got in more or less looked like this. . /fa63d9c8911cb78a4cf9a0dbd11183e8/tumblr_nqq5otmiQ81sk31wdo1_

Story by me

Preview image by (permission taken) please go and see this in her account

Please commend

Shall I make Part three?
Enjoy!