Disclaimer: I don't own any Sly Cooper characters; they belong to Sucker Punch Productions/Sanzaru Games.
Claimer: I own all of my original characters.
Alrighty, I'm still updating slowly, but a bit faster than last time. I'm still super busy but I do have a bit of spare time, but once the summer comes and I get a break from my college work, I will be able to update more often. But for now, I want to sorely apologize for being so slow. I'm usually never this slow with stories, especially with requests, and I do feel bad for being so slow. For terms of this story, it's just about done. I have one more chapter after this chapter and it will finally be completed. I'm still working on my second request and hope to be faster on updates on that. For upcoming plans, when I have time in the summer I will be starting a completely new story, but will be away from the ancestors. So, thank you all for staying with this story, as drawn out as it may be, and I truly appreciate every bit of feedback I get. So thank you all so much! But for now, please read, review, and let me know how you think I've done with this. Thanks!
Chapter 10: Crumpled Sheets
Northern Japan, 1339
"My dear Kasumi-san, is all this really necessary?" I asked her as she continued wrapping new fabric around me. Her idea was to give me a change of clothes, to make sure I was unrecognizable, which in reality wasn't a bad idea, but it was taking a rather long time.
"It is, Rioichi," she said as she finished pinning the back of my shirt together, "This will keep you unknown for tonight, and if anyone discovers what we have done, they will not realize it is the owner of the sushi shop who pulled a ploy so dastardly." She stepped away, admiring her work for a moment, before returning to the mirror to finish getting ready.
"Rioichi," she said softly, turning from the mirror briefly, "are you sure this will work?" she took her hair ornaments, detailed arrangements of beads and flowers on clips, and placed one on each side of her head.
"It will work one way or another. I give you my word that I will protect you." She nodded quietly, standing and straightening out her kimono with a quick flick of her paws.
"And you know what to do?" she was getting nervous, now that the time was close for her to leave, and was starting to falter in her courage.
"I do, it will be quick and simple, I promise."
"Once I am inside, give yourself a few moments and then enter. If you enter with me there will be suspicion." I smiled, bowing my head her to briefly.
"I will not draw suspicion. All you need to do wait for her to release you to a room. I will handle the rest." She nodded, giving me one final look before darting out of her bedroom door and heading down stairs.
I went to the window, since I had time to kill, and looked out at the village. This really was a peaceful place, when it wasn't being run by the owner of a geisha house and a new, overpowering tiger who was starting to take over the land. His origins were mysterious, like most of the people I'd encountered, but this was an unwelcome stranger. I cleared my thoughts with a deep breath and tried to meditate before I left. The plan itself was simple, ask Madame Geisha if I could be assigned Kasumi, then sit and wait a few moments in her room, and that would be it. However, I had a deep, unsettling feeling in my stomach about the entire situation; like something was going to go horridly wrong. This was indeed simple, yet delicate. If Madame Geisha had any idea that this was a scam for Kasumi to become a geisha without her doing the physical deeds, then not only would I face repercussions but it was be dozens of folds worse for her.
Having waited a while I decided that now would be the right time to depart her home and make my way to the geisha house. Not waning to risk being seen, even though I never have in the past, I took her stairs and exited Kasumi's home through the back doors of her restaurant. I shut them behind me silently and walked normally down the village streets. It was a cool evening, very calm and unusually quiet, yet peaceful, given the current situation we were in. sounds of running water from the nearby stream, bugs chirping, and the soft clucks of chickens as they roosted for the evening were the only things that could be heard, aside from my footsteps on the cobblestones. I sighed as the geisha house came into view and the sounds of giggling girls and clapping, shouting men became louder and louder with each advancement.
I slipped inside the establishment quietly, avoiding contact with anyone, wanting to keep my cover low. I spotted a group of young girls sitting on small pillows in the center of the room with Madame Geisha in the middle of them, lying on her couch with a large smile and a rather big bottle of sake in her grasp. Men were lining up next to girls; each hoping to make them geisha and fulfill their nightly needs before another one has a chance to. I joined the line, hoping the skunk hadn't gotten there before me or someone else hadn't snagged her away. As I stood there I glanced to the girls, all had solemn looks on their faces and were looking down. I spotted Kasumi on the edge, her eyes scanning the line of men. Her gaze interlocked with mine and she gave a half smile, giving a slight nod of her head it was a signal that things were still in accordance with our plan. Her gaze returned to the floor, nothing wanting to draw attention to her, and I looked back to the line, which had diminished to where there was only one man ahead of me. The process of requesting a female was easy, simply point her out, pay the rhino, then go off to a room to complete your deed and leave.
"And for you?" the rhino asked as I finally stepped to her. I glanced to Kasumi pointing at her with my nose and looked back to Madame Geisha, a paw in my pocket, ready to pay. She shook her head with a drunken smile and pointed to a man behind me.
"My dreadful apologies sir, but Monsieur Le Paradox has already claimed that one for his enjoyment. He is a common customer here and I must agree with him. You will have to choose another." She motioned to the remaining girls with her arm and a hazy smile.
"I will pay you fifty gold coins for her, your honorable Madame Geisha." I said to her with a bow of my head, hoping she would allow me to have the raccoon instead of the nasty skunk.
"My dear, Monsieur has already offered one hundred for her and fifty silver." I shook my head, determined to win this.
"Then I offer you one hundred in both silver and gold coins." The skunk pushed past me and stood nose-to-nose with me, a scowl across his face.
"I add fifty to both for the girl." His voice was loud and started drawing attention in the building but I stood firm as well.
"Two hundred gold, two hundred silver, and one hundred copper coins for her." I saw the skunk start to ruffle his tail; I was close to finishing this.
"Five hundred in gold as well as two hundred in silver and copper for the raccoon." He smiled, feeling as if he had won this.
"The gracious Madame Geisha," I said kindly as I turned to the woman who was caught up in the auction for Kasumi, "I am willing to give you one thousand of each for her. And if you consider this, if Le Paradox-san is sun a valuable customer, then don't you believe he should be assigned to a more deserving, beautiful woman instead of a girl who isn't even a geisha?" Madame Geisha smiled heartily, standing up a little drunkenly, and she shook my paw vigorously, leaning on me for support so she can stand on her own feet. She turned the skunk and shook her head.
"I'm very sorry, but this is an offer that I can't refuse. You may have her next time, my dear, but tonight you are with me." I rolled my eyes, handing over my heavy bag of coins to the drunken rhino and turned to Kasumi with a gentle smile. With a swing of her arm Madame Geisha directed us to a room in the back and proceeded to drag the skunk off with her to her own room.
I took Kasumi by the paw, and we walked to the room she had pointed out. She kept her head down, still trying to hide our plan from everyone. I stepped in front of her, pulling the door open in the dark, quiet hallway and allowed her to step inside. I checked down each side, looking for anyone who could be either following or checking to see if we were about to do what we agreed to, before stepping inside once it was clear. I silently locked the door behind me and leaned against the frame, sighing in relief that this had worked out in the end. I looked to Kasumi and returned her large smile. I stepped away from the door and was instantly bombarded by Kasumi. Her arms latched around my torso and squeezed, my face pressed against my chest. I chuckled, returning her hug and simply held her in the middle of the room.
"Rioichi, I owe you so much," She said after she released me, "I will give you anything." I laughed again, seating myself on the bed inside the room and pulled her down gently to sit her next to me.
"Kasumi-san, you owe me nothing." She gripped my arm tightly and shook her head.
"You gave up so much for this. Your money and effort. You didn't have to, but you did. Please, Rioichi-san, I need to repay you." I shook my head, gripping her paw tightly and smiled.
"Then if you are so intent on this, you just have to give me one thing," her ears perked, "tonight, you have dinner at my restaurant." She rolled her eyes and smiled.
"I will. After all, I have to go in there sooner or later." I smiled, patting the top of her paw. It then dawned on me that if we were supposed to be making Kasumi a geisha, we certainly had to make it look like we'd done something. Without saying a word, I reached up and quickly ran my fingers across Kasumi's slick black hair, quickly making it a mess.
"Rioichi!" she shouted quietly as she swatted my paw away. The familiar angry face of Kasumi appeared on her face and her paw came up to quickly smack me across the snout. I stopped her arms and smiled at her.
"Kasumi, my dear, we much make this charade look realistic." I winked, quickly kissing her nose in the process.
"Fine." She said with a snatch of her wrist and a brief smile. She in turn messed up my hair as well. We also had to mess up the bed and pillows in an attempt to make it realistic. We both crawled up higher on the bed, messing it up with our feet in the process.
"Do you really think Madame Geisha will believe us?" she asked me after we'd stopped moving.
"Of course she will," I grabbed one of the pillows and held it by the cover, "we just have to continue making it realistic."
"And how do we do that?" I smiled and used the pillow to promptly smack her in the face with it. This would both mess up the pillow and any hair I may have missed. Kasumi gasped after I'd hit her before the anger returned to her face. This was a playful anger however and she took the other one and did the same to me. We went back and forth, smack each other with pillows, making a complete mess of both ourselves and the room. The feather in one of the pillows had fallen out and scattered across the floor and the sheets had become completely disheveled as we both tried to avoid being hit. We were both laughing loudly and Kasumi squealing each time I hit her. With a final hit to her stomach, Kasumi squealed and fell back, landing softly on the bed. She continued laughing from where the lay and I was as well. I leaned over her partially, kissing her forehead and lingering as our laughing finally died down. She looked up at me, her laughing finally quieted down, and smiled.
"Thank you, Rioichi," She said quietly with her voice barely above a whisper, "I truly do owe you."
"You owe me nothing, you were certainly worth every coin and every second," I gripped her chin softly and looked her directly in her large eyes below me, "and you always will be." We were quiet, laying there feeling our chest touch as were took in each breath and every second of our closeness.
"I know I don't show you affections enough, Rioichi, and I regret not doing it. You treat me better than anyone ever has and I don't let you know it. I do truly love you Rioichi-san." I smiled, taking both of her cheeks in my paws.
"And I love you too, Kasumi, and I always will." I leaned down slightly and pressed our lips together tightly. She melted into our kiss, pulling me down closer, and sighed contently.
"My dear," I said suddenly as I pulled away from her, "I believe it's time for us to go." I come up from the bed quickly and stood, looking down at the raccoon.
"Rioichi!" she shouted, slightly angry that I'd left her in the moment so suddenly. She stood up, fixed herself up slightly before coming to the door. I let her out first so she could see Madame Geisha. Tonight, we'd made Kasumi Bandicoot a geisha, without sacrificing her honor. And to me, that is the best way she could ever repay me.