January 11, 1914
"I want in on this mission," James told Tengen as the two sat down. "I want to be first in as we take the war right to the Upper Moons. Muzan hit us hard when he killed Kyojuro, and now it's time to hit back with all our strength."
"I could always use another Pillar," Tengen nodded. "If you had asked me this back before September of last year, I would have told you I could have handled it on my own, but after seeing what an Upper Moon did to Rengoku-san, I'm not too sure anymore. You know as well as I do that he was one of our best guys, and even he couldn't fully defeat an Upper Moon on his own."
"I should have been there," James remarked in regret. "I should have been there to help him instead of chasin' Cleburne and his men down. I would have gladly let 'em run off and take 'em on later if I knew what that Upper Moon fucker was gonna do to Kyojuro. I refuse to make the same mistake twice, Uzui."
Tengen, feeling bad for James, patted him on the shoulder and told him, "I'm sure you have a lot of regrets. I do, too."
"Yeah," James chuckled. "When you've been around for a little over 68 years, they just keep pilin' up. At the end of the day, though… You know, I wouldn't change everythin'. A part of me does, but another part of me realizes that if I did, I wouldn't have met all the people in my life I care about today."
"I feel the same way," Tengen agreed with a confident nod. "After all, I wouldn't have met my three wives if it weren't for how my life turned out."
"I still can't believe you manage to juggle three wives around so easily." The two of them then laughed. "I have a hard enough time sometimes with one fiancée."
"It takes patience and love, Colby-san. Patience and love."
"Any of 'em, you know…" James then leaned in and whispered to him, "Any of 'em also like the company of other women, if ya know what I mean?"
"Oh, that," Tengen replied out loud before flashing James a smug expression. "Hell yeah they do. That's one reason we've all stayed together." The two of them broke out into laughter once more.
…
Present, January 21, 1914
"Okay," Tanjiro then asked Tengen and James. "So, um… What exactly is a Red Light District again?"
"I'm curious, too," Inosuke asked. "What does this have to do with mating?"
Zenitsu's jaw dropped as James facepalmed in annoyance. The former exclaimed, "So you know what prostitution is, but not what a red light district is?! What the Hell?!"
"I know that that word ''prostitution' means having sex with someone and getting paid either money or goods for it," Tanjiro clarified. "Mukago-san told me about that when I asked her what she did before she became a demon. I didn't know there was a whole area just for them in cities, though."
James sighed and explained, "Tanjiro, in Japan, legal prostitution is confined to very specific areas of cities per law, and it's been that way for about 300 or so years. Red light districts are the name of these places. We have 'em in America, too, but many states outright ban it, so they're a lot more informal."
"And of course," Tengen also clarified with a rather flashy and flamboyant tone. "There's more to be entertained by then having your way with a lady of the night, my servants! They have music, gambling, arts, you name it, and if you're lucky, you can enjoy the company and body of a nice woman if that's your thing!"
"Wait," Nezuko then asked him out of confusion. "Music? Gambling? And, um, servants?"
"That's right," Tengen then proclaimed with determination and confidence in his voice. "You see, compared to you four, I'm a god!" He then pointed at the four of them and declared, "And you four are merely trash!"
Tanjiro asked, "Trash?"
"Correct! If I demand it, you four will become dogs, monkeys, birds, rats, whatever I say!"
James tried telling Tengen, "Maybe tone it down a bit, Uz-"
"You will cater to my every whim and pander to me endlessly! After all, it is only fair!"
After a pause, Nezuko raised her hand and asked Tengen, "Uzui-sama, um… What exactly are you the god of?"
Zenitsu looked at her in disbelief and thought to himself, "Please tell me Nezuko-chan is playing dumb…"
"I wonder, too," Tanjiro also asked. "What kind of god are you?"
"That's easy," Tengen declared once again. "I am the god of festivals and flamboyance!"
In the background, James began thinking to himself, "Oh, for fuck's sake, what did I agree to?"
"Hey there, god of festivals!" Inosuke then waved at Tengen, proudly telling him, "I'm King of the Mountains! It's nice to meet someone similar to me!"
Tengen looked at him in confusion and disbelief, telling him rather bluntly, "King of the Mountains, huh? I've never heard of you before. You're kinda creepy if you ask me."
Inosuke immediately got angry and shouted, "What the fuck did you just say to me?! Take that back right now! Creepy my ass!"
Tanjiro and Nezuko both held Inosuke back from attacking Tengen as Zenitsu thought to himself, "Okay, it's official. I'm surrounded by idiots."
As Inosuke began to calm down, Tengen turned around and told everyone, "Okay, enough screwing around. We have work to do." He then turned to James and asked him, "Colby-san, wanna race down the road?"
"Oh, uh, I-"
"Good, let's go!"
Tengen then bolted down the road as fast as he could, prompting James to quickly start running after him. "Hey, Uzui-san, wait up!"
"Holy shit," Tanjiro remarked. "He's fast!"
Zenitsu exclaimed, "I can barely see him from here!"
"We need to catch up," Inosuke then declared as he ran after James and Tengen.
"Wait up," Nezuko then shouted as she began to run too, closely followed by Zenitsu and Tanjiro. "Let's hurry it up, guys!"
Just as all four of them disappeared, Naho ran outside to try to find them, shouting, "Tanjiro-oniichan! Tanjiro-oniichan!" She then realized they were already gone and could no longer hear her as she looked around. "Oh no… They left already. I knew they told me to wait for them to come back, but something told me to tell Tanjiro-oniichan now about Kanao-oneechan having a baby."
Kenzan, one of Kanao's biological siblings, also ran outside with the young Kameko hot on his tail, and asked Naho, "Did you tell Tanjiro-san about Kanao-oneechan?"
"No," she shook her head. "He already ran off to go on the mission, Kenzan-kun."
"Tanjiro-oniitan," Kameko then tugged Naho's shirt and asked her, "When is Tanjiro-oniitan going home, oneetan? Tanjiro-oniitan… Oniitan…"
Naho smiled and told her, "He'll be home in about a week, Kameko. Come on." She then took her by the hand. "Let's go inside with your big brother."
…
January 22, 1914
After a short train ride to Tokyo, the six of them arrived via a newly-delivered Ford Model T to the Yoshiwara area of Tokyo. There was only enough room for the driver and three others to get in, so James, Inosuke, and Tanjiro volunteered to hang onto the car from the sides. Inosuke in particular loved the ride, even rocking the car back and forth a bit a few times out of excitement before being told to stop.
Once the car stopped at Yoshiwara, everyone got off. James paid the driver and told him, "Apologies for my one friend. He's never been in or around a motor vehicle before."
"It's fine," the driver assured him. "A lot of people come up to me about this car and are fascinated by it. Give it a few years, American, and cars will be a very common sight in this country as they are in your's." The car then sped away from the entrance to Yoshiwara.
"Well," Tengen told the group. "Here we are. Yoshiwara is the legally-mandated red light district for Tokyo. They had a bad fire here earlier last year, but they very quickly rebuilt everything. Now, as for the four of you, I don't want you guys sticking out and making a scene, so stay calm and stay near me at all times."
Of course, Inosuke ran right in, fascinated by the many electric and gaslit lights and colorfully-painted buildings within Yoshiwara, as well as the many people who mingled around within its streets and on the balconies of the buildings within. "Holy fuck, this place looks awesome! There's so many lights it looks like the daytime here!"
James quickly ran after him, yelling, "Inosuke, wait up! Don't just run off, damn it!"
"Get back here," Tengen also yelled at Inosuke as he ran in. "Damn brat!"
The other three walked at a slow but steady pace into Yoshiwara. Tanjiro was amazed at his surroundings, and as they passed a building, two girls on a balcony smiled and waved at him. Tanjiro, somewhat oblivious to the implications, smiled and waved back, prompting Zenitsu to tell him, "Tanjiro, those are probably prostitutes. They're trying to draw you in."
"Wait, really?" Tanjiro blushed and quickly turned away. "Oh… I see… I need to be careful here, lest I anger Kanao."
"Inosuke-san's really the only one here who could take advantage of the services in Yoshiwara among us," Nezuko pointed out. "My brother has a girlfriend, I'm a girl, and Zenitsu-san… Well…"
"I'd never abandon you, Nezuko-chan," Zenitsu proclaimed.
"Yeah," Nezuko replied. "See what I mean? Of course, Inosuke-san doesn't even realize it. Besides, even if things were different, we'd be too busy to chase after women here. With our luck, we'd accidentally rent out the demon we're looking for and get ourselves killed."
Once James and Tengen had caught Inosuke, they dragged him back to the others as Tengen told them, "Listen up. Yoshiwara is normally pretty quiet during the day, but at night, this place gets really busy. That's why a demon would like to be here, since no one would question why they're out so late at night. As for the women here…"
Nezuko then turned to Tengen and asked him, "What about them?"
"The prostitutes here tend to do a lot more than just have sex for money," Tengen explained. "Some of the women here don't even do that, and do purely non-sexual entertainment. All of them, however, display some level of skill in music and dance at the very least. At the top of the food chain are the oiran. They're considered to be well above common prostitutes and even courtesans. They focus mostly on traditional arts, though for a very, very steep price, they will do the usual for you afterwards."
James asked, "Didn't you mention the geisha to me, too?"
"Ah, right," Tengen remembered. "In the past fifty or so years, the geisha have stolen much of the spotlight from the oiran, even in Yoshiwara, since they appeal more to the common working man and lower-level merchants. Some also engage in sexual activity with clients, but many don't at all, at least not officially or as part of their work. It's a bit of a touchy subject with both sides, though, so don't bring it up. As for how most girls end up here, they're either born here to other prostitutes, sell themselves, or are sold in a way. If they're particularly good at what they do in more ways than the one you're all probably thinking of, a rich man might buy out their contracts and allow them to either be free agents or leave the area altogether to marry them."
"How fascinating," Tanjiro remarked. "This place really is a whole new world."
"Now," Tengen then told the group. "Come with me and Colby-san. The corps has a safehouse right outside Yoshiwara. We'll set up there and get you guys in disguises."
…
In the Kyogai House, Daki had just finished a personal visit from a client who had made his fourth visit to her. For the fourth visit, she had entertained him in a more physical way for the first time, though it was just short of full-blown sex. As the man got dressed and pulled his pants up, he smiled and told her, "I'm glad we progressed to touching each other. You certainly have a way with your hands and mouth, Warabihime. You really turn me on."
Daki gave off a faint smile and told him as she brushed and wiped off her upper chest and neck with a towel and then got dressed in her clothes once more, "Why thank you. Come back soon, and I'll show you what else I can do." She then leaned in and whispered seductively in his ear, "I'm gonna let you fuck the shit out of me when you come back. You better do a good job when you do, though. Just make sure you have the payment needed, okay? I could use a nice romp." She then gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
The man chuckled and told her as he opened the door to leave, "Of course. Have a nice night. I'll see you soon."
"You too," she replied. Once the man was gone, she spat into a small cup nearby and then drank a small bit of sake from a different cup before remarking in disgust, "Ugh, he's lucky I didn't fucking kill him a few minutes ago. He could have at least warned me before he came in my mouth. I swear, I need to stop offering to swallow so I don't get surprised as much. If he does it again, he'll be my next meal." She then began to fix her makeup while looking into a small mirror. "Okay… Here we go… Right there…" She then looked at a planner on the dresser and read the schedule she had for the night. "Okay, so I have a shamisen performance in about fifteen minutes. That gives me time to check in on my little problem…"
Daki then used her obi sashes to travel to the secret room Makio was still kept in. As she stepped forward from her sashes and knelt down to talk to her, Makio looked up and yelled at her through her obi muzzle, "What the fuck do you want?!"
"You still aren't talking, huh?" Daki then laughed in her face. "How long do you intend on keeping this whole fucking thing up, Makio? How long do you intend on keeping me away from the things I need? How devoted are you to the person you kept sending those stupid fucking letters to?"
She then ripped the obi away from her mouth, causing Makio to scream in pain, "Agh, shit!" She then took a few deep breaths and declared, "My husband! I'm sending them to my husband, but you'll never know who he is until it's far too late, you bitch! When he gets here, he's gonna kill you!"
Daki then bound her mouth again, restricting her ability to talk once more. "I'll be back soon. You do realize that if you don't tell me what I need to know in a few more days, I'll just eat you alive, right?" She then disappeared through her obi sashes as she let out another peal of laughter. "Have fun spending your last few days alive as my prisoner! I'm gonna go enjoy my life in the outside world while you sit here and rot!"
"Motherfucker," Makio muttered through her obi muzzle. "That fucking cunt and her stupid brother are gonna get it when I get out of here." She then looked around at her restraints and chuckled, "She won't be so high and mighty when these obi are cut through like knives to paper."
