Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction, I do not claim any rights to any of the characters or concepts created or owned by Viz Video or Rumiko Takahashi. This is just the work of one fan to the others. The only characters or concepts that I claim are the ones I created or introduced. That said, I bring you:
For Love and Money, Chapter 23: A deal with the devil you know.
Yaayaa slowly opened her eyes and black naked as she looked around, then smiled at the Geisha, Konatsu, who sat at her side. "I'm so sorry… I must have fallen asleep. I had the strangest dream…" Yaayaa started to say, then was politely interrupted as Konatsu gently placed a cup in her hands.
"If our most honored guest would allow this One to serve you, it would make this One happy." Konatsu said with a gentle smile on her painted lips.
Yaayaa blinked and nodded. "Yes… please, and thank you?" She said as she drank the tea, then blinked as Konatsu refilled her cup.
"Two more cups, please, most honored guest." Konatsu said in that same soft, motherly tone of voice.
Yaayaa nodded slowly, and did as she had been asked. After a bit, she felt lighter, somehow. More relaxed and at ease. She smiled as Konatsu gently checked her pulse in the young girl's neck and nodded. Konatsu looked aside for a moment, and seemed to sigh slightly. "You may come out now, most honored guest. This One just asks that you try not to shock the young lady again, if you would please. There are limits on how effective the tea is before it begins to impair judgement."
After a moment, the doll-Hina peeked out from behind the vase on the table she had been hiding behind and smiled sheepishly. "Can we try this again, maybe this time with less passing out?"
Yaayaa felt her heart jump a bit, but the calm seemed to keep it tamped down somewhat. After a minute, she slowly nodded as Konatsu helped the little cursed spirit back onto the bed. The two looked at each other for a moment, before Yaayaa spoke slowly, carefully. "You're real?"
Doll-Hina nodded and bowed sheepishly to the young girl. "I am. Please forgive me for the sudden shock, in your condition that was improper and unforgivable." She said and glanced aside at Konatsu to make sure she had said it right. The fact that she got no response from the Geisha she took as a good thing, at least she hoped it was. She really hadn't practiced much on being polite, or even formal, in quite a while. If she wanted to be honest with herself, she had never really been good at it before, and that was probably part of the reason she ended up like this.
Yaayaa breathed out a slow breath and smiled down at the little doll. "Well, I seemed to have come to, so I guess no harm was done? And, I definitely believe you are real now… So, ummm…. What does a cursed spirit living in a doll want with me?"
Doll-Hina glanced aside at Konatsu and sighed. "First, I promise I will try not to shock you, scare you… Or guilt you into agreeing to my request. I honestly want you to listen, and decide for yourself if it's a good deal for you.". She said before she sat down where they could look eye to eye without Yaayaa having to turn her head.
Yaayaa stared at the strange doll, then jumped a little as Konatsu took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, her other hand rested lightly on Yaayaa's wrist where she could gently keep track of the young girls pulse
Konatsu exchanged a reassuring smile with Yaayaa before she said in that same gentle, reassuring voice of hers. "And this One will be here to help, both of you, in any way that this One is able to."
Doll-Hina nodded and stretched as she kicked her little legs and looked up at Yaayaa. "Did you have any questions you would like to ask before I make my request?"
Yaayaa thought about it for a moment, then nodded as she looked down at the strange doll. "How do you move like that? You seem so very… Alive."
Doll-Hina laughed and rubbed the back of her head, before she tossed her hair over her shoulder. "Isn't it wonderful? Am I not marvelous!". When Konatsu politely cleared her throat, Doll-Hina seemed to shrink in on herself a bit and shared a sheepish look with Yaayaa. "Sorry about that… okay, part of it is the quality of the dolls that Gosunkugi makes for me, and the rest is the result of me possessing it. I could even teach someone like you to do it almost as well as I do, given a few months of hard work."
Yaayaa smiled a sad smile. "I'd like that… But I can't even move my own body now."
Hina chewed on her lip,then looked at Konatsu and waited for her to nod before she started to speak. She took a deep breath, and smiled gently at Yaayaa. "Actually, that's part of the reason why I'm here today. I want to help you… No, I want to help us both. You want to be able to walk and run again… And I want to be alive again, to feel the sun, and taste food. It can be done, but it's not easy, and it comes at a price."
"What kind of price?" Yaayaa asked as she chewed on her lip.
Hina hesitated, then looked at Konatsu before she addressed Yaayaa again. "An exchange. We would exchange places. I would be in your body if flesh and blood… And you would be in the doll."
"You… Would be in my body? Why would you want it.. It's so… Broken " Yaayaa said sadly as she looked down at her legs that would never move again.
Yaayaa felt a reassuring squeeze of her hand and looked over to meet the gentle gaze of Konatsu. "Regardless of what kind of shape your body is in, this One knows that it does not reflect who you are. This One has the great honor of counting amongst her most cherished members of her House a woman who has lost an arm and an eye to her duties, but has become more through her losses. Yaayaa, who you are lies not in your body, but in the wondrous soul that resides within it. This One has spent many years learning to look past the shell of flesh that hides the truth within." Konatsu said with sincerity in her gentle voice.
Yaayaa bit her lip, an uncertain look on her face, then looked down at her hand as two tiny hands gently gripped her finger on her free hand. "We are both here for you, okay?" Hina said and smiled gently at Yaayaa. "And we will be as long as you need us to be, regardless of what decision you make."
Yaayaa sniffled and looked down at the doll that claimed to be her relative. "Promise? Even if I decide to say no?"
Hina nodded and smiled at Yaayaa. "Even if you decide to say no."
Konatsu looked back and forth between them, then smiled. "This One believes that you two should talk for a while, get to know each other better before any decisions are made. Perhaps Lady Hina would like to keep young Yaayaa company tonight?" Konatsu suggested, and smiled as the two looked at each other, then over at Konatsu.
"You think it would be okay, Konatsu?" Doll-Hina asked.
"Please? I'd like that…" Yaayaa said, then bit her lip. "But I'm not allowed to have company past visiting hours "
"Not even a doll to keep you company?" Konatsu asked innocently as she sipped her tea. She smiled at the conspiratorial look that the two shared, then nodded to Yaayaa when the young girl looked at her questiongly. "Yes? What is it, Lady Yaayaa?"
"I'd… Really like that… But… Ummm… What about the other Hina?" Yaayaa asked.
Doll-Hina looked around with a confused look on her face, then over at the placidly smiling Konatsu. "Where is the other me?"
Konatsu sipped again, then said in that same calm tone of voice. Don't worry, this One hid it."
"You… Hid a doll the size of a teenage girl? How?" Doll-Hina asked incredulously.
Konatsu nodded and smiled. "This One does have some experience with how that is done "
Doll-Hina started to open her mouth, then closed it so fast it snapped shut. "Nevermind, I will take your word on it, Mother Konatsu."
Yaayaa looked down at the doll and started to open her mouth to ask, but was stopped when Hina placed a gentle finger on Yaayaa's lip. "I guess it's not important?" Yaayaa said as she glanced at the doll and smiled at the look she received.
Konatsu watched the two girls interact with a serene smile on her face for a while, then looked at the time and started to get up. "Sadly, this One should be going. Yaayaa's parents will be back shortly to check on her before visiting hours ends. This One trusts that you can be quiet and behave yourself, Hina?"
Doll-Hina smiled and nodded as she stood up and bowed to the Geisha. "I will be a perfect doll… Until all the adults are away, at least." She said with a mischievous smile, that drew a giggle out of Yaayaa.
Konatsu nodded and bowed once again to the two. "This One will be back once visiting hours begin in the morning to take Lady Hina back home, and she shall see that Gosunkugi is made aware that you are having a sleepover." Konatsu smiled at the happy look that crossed both of the girls face's. She bowed to them once more, and walked out of the room with that smooth, gliding gait of hers. As she turned the corner, she pulled her phone out of her sleeve and called Gosunkugi.
"This is Gosunkugi, did something happen, Konatsu? Is she okay? Did Yaayaa say no already?" Gosunkugi asked the second he picked up the phone, on the second ring.
"Relax, please. Both of the young ladies are fine, but Lady Hina will be staying the night with Lady Yaayaa, if that meets your approval?" Konatsu asked, inwardly amused at the unusual level of concern that he showed when it came to the cursed doll.
"She… Is staying the night?" Gosunkugi said before he breathed out a sigh of relief. "I guess that means that things went well?" He asked in a calmer tone of voice.
"This One thinks so, yes. It might be some time until Lady Yaayaa makes a decision, but this One believes that is in the best interest of both of them. This is not the sort of arrangement that one should consent to, or deny, out of hand. It must be thought over clearly and carefully." Konatsu said as she bowed to the staff on her way out the door, to where she knew that Amaya would be waiting for her.
When she exited the hospital, Konatsu smiled a slight smile as she saw the tiny African-American geisha standing by the open door of the car. After they exchanged bows and Konatsu had entered the car, she mused for a moment on the strange wonder that were the cursed springs. Some of them had very specific curses and forms attached, others were more of a guideline, a general template or idea that the curse based the new form on. It had been a topic that Ranma and herself had discussed at length, when the two of them had first started to work out the concept that would one day become the Teahouse.
Most people didn't think of Ranma as an intellectual, unless they truly were given the chance to know him. He had been a bit unpolished in his youth, rough and ill-mannered. But, no one could master so many martial arts and disciplines of combat being stupid. Konatsu had to admit that Nabiki had succeeded where she herself had failed, in truly polishing Ranma into the shining gem that they had become over the last few years.
Now that she had done what she could for Hina and Yaayaa for now, she had other duties to attend to. She had to make sure that Qiang Pu and the others rested and recovered properly, and see to the myriad little details that needed to be perfect behind the scenes to make sure that the Teahouse prospered. On top of that, depending on what Ranma found, and what had happened, it might finally be time to start a new and ambitious project. One that she had already found the perfect person to manage and nurture it. Now, she just had to figure out how to get her to accept the position and responsibilities that it entailed.
Konatsu didn't imagine it would be easy to convince Koda to leave the comfortable confines of the Teahouse, but she would see if she could convince her of the worth of the project.
It was the first step in making sure that those they held dear in China were taken care of, if there were any left to save.
Konatsu was drawn from her thoughts as the car came to a gentle stop in the back courtyard of the place that had become their home.
It was time to get back to work.