Tenchi Muyo Fanfiction:
          These characters don’t belong to me.

Comments?  magdalena_gv@hotmail.com
      If you are new to this story, please read chapter one named 
accordingly like the title. Other than that enjoy!

* I did some changes, Ryoko is living in the Pontocho district now.
  I tried to be as accurate as possible, so if any of you know me to be
  mistaken in any ceremony please tell me so I can fix it promptly. *

Malena  ( magdalena_gv@hotmail.com )
          Regular

                                        " The Sea Of Change "


Chapter 5 :

                                                “  Geisha  ”


  “Psst. Cat. Wake up!”

Ryoko felt a hand urgently shake her shoulder. At first she thought it was 
Ryou-ohki trying to get her to change her sleeping position. Sometime during 
the night Ryou-ohki after moving from spot to spot for hours on the futon, 
finally was able to fall asleep on Ryoko’s back.

She groaned and shrugged the hand of.

“Cat! Wake up!”

This time the curtain was yanked open and light flooded the entire room, 
much like the first time Ryoko had laid eyes on it.

“What?”

She felt Ryou-ohki stir and she raised her head only to find a frantic 
looking Fei. Her eyes were a thin straight line and Ryoko fleetingly 
wondered if anyone could see through such a narrow opening.
Ryou-ohki being the sound sleeper that she is, kept right on dreaming. Fei 
mouthed the words, ‘Take a bath, Serla is coming.’

Ryoko’s eyes opened wide and all signs of sleep were swept away as the tide 
is at dawn. She carefully raised her self up on all fours, keeping her back 
straight so Ryou-ohki would not fall. She edged herself to the edge of the 
futon and much like a cook would slide and egg of the side of a spatula, 
Ryoko slide her sister onto the futon. Ryou-ohki landed with a soft ‘thud’ 
and hugged the pillow.

Fei spent no time in taking in the loving scene. She had heard from her own 
room next door Serla rearranging boxes here and there and knew she was up to 
something. Fei also knew that that something certainly had to do with Cat’s 
announcement last night.

She dragged Ryoko out of bed and Ryoko was surprised to find the bath 
already running. As Fei closed the door behind her, she took notice of the 
fact that the mirror was already fogged up.

-	Why is Fei so nervous? –
Ryoko took her under things off and carefully stepped into the bath. One 
foot in the water and she lingered in that position. Soaking in the fact 
that she could feel the warmness of it. As she sighed she heard some 
commotion outside and in a fit of nervousness at what was to come, flopped 
into the tub all at once.

When her bottom cheeks touched the floor of the alarmingly hot tub she gave 
out a little yelp and raised herself up while balancing her arms on the 
sides of the tub. The water on her foot seemed warm, but now feeling it 
coarse through her body it was hotter
than ... ?
Ryoko did not have much experience in any kind of physical feelings before 
she let go of her gem, so the only thing she could relate this to was the 
hot miso soup she had had for dinner the other night. Ryoko laughed as she 
got used to the water’s temperature and slowly lowered herself again. 
Letting herself be engulfed by the warm tickling sensations making their way 
through every crevice of her body.

There was a knock at the door and Fei slipped a package through the crack at 
the bottom.

“Put some of these herbs in the water. Make sure the water is hot. They will 
make your skin smell like jasmine.” Fei’s voice sounded muffled through the 
closed door.

She stretched her hand to pick up the package that landed not far away from 
the tub and shrugged. She dumped the whole thing in and decided to enjoy her 
bath. No point in worrying about something she had no idea about.

                                                         * * *



“I see both of you took the liberty of waking up early today.”

Serla shook her head and smiled at a yawning Ryou-ohki in her arms.

“Trust you will not make the same mistake tomorrow. But since you woke 
early, lets take advantage of your eagerness.”

Serla grinned and Fei swallowed quite noisily which made Serla snap her 
attention on her first.
She put Ryou-ohki gently on the floor and told her she had a breakfast of 
carrot  pancakes in the kitchen. She scurried along, and Serla could finally 
start business.
She walked around both Ryoko and Fei. Observing, Ryoko felt, every single 
detail in their clothing, hair, skin, everything.

Ryoko had been under such scrutiny while living in the Soja, but poor Fei 
fidgeted more than a mouse hiding in a room full of ravenous cats.

“Fei you know better than to wear these clothes on your first day of 
lessons!”

Fei bowed her head. “Sorry Serla-san.”

Ryoko quite bewildered at Fei’s attitude examined her clothing. She was 
wearing jeans, count they were a little baggy but decent looking, and she 
had a gray t-shirt. Her hair was combed neatly in a low ponytail. She had 
shoulder length hair though, so most of it escaped its rubber band prison 
and flowed freely down the base of her neck.
-	What is wrong with her clothing? -

As expected Serla next bore into Ryoko and stood awhile simply looking at 
her. Ryoko started to get uneasy but remained as calm as the wind.
Though nothing could be father from the truth since the wind is anything but 
calm. Flowing every which way with an electrifying pace clearly displayed 
active in Ryoko’s eyes.

“ Cat, Fei. Today is the only day I will permit you to wear western style 
clothing while I’m teaching you. From now on you will start wearing kimono 
like any decent Geisha. And what’s more,” with this she crinkled her face 
and Ryoko thought she must have a million wrinkles on her face. The odd 
thing was she hid them so well when she was serene. But now, she looked like 
an unmade futon, wrinkled and creased in every corner.

“What’s more, Fei you will let your hair grow out. I don’t know what 
possessed you to cut it in the first place but it makes you look like a boy 
more than ever.”
Again Fei bowed, this time more deeply, and answered trying to hide the hurt 
in her voice, “Yes Serla-san.”

Ryoko took in the conversation through the corner of her eye and as she saw 
Serla move her attention towards her again, she straightened up much like a 
soldier would do to his general. She had to fight the urge to salute her 
with the strong fist placed above the heart Kagato had taught her so many 
centuries ago.

“Cat, you will need to straighten out your hair if we ever want to style 
your it into anything. I have already made the appointment. We don’t have a 
lot of time to get you presentable. Meanwhile immediately after waking up 
and before going to bed you must brush your hair more than a hundred strokes 
on each side. That will make it a bit more manageable for Homino-san.”

Ryoko nodded and as the silence grew realized Serla was waiting for her to 
address her much like Fei had done.

“Yes Serla-san.”

Serla didn’t seem satisfied. “How many strokes?”

“A hundred per side Serla-san.”

She seemed now satisfied.

“Go eat your breakfast. It is already laid out for you. Do not let me catch 
you adding salt or anything else. It is especially designed for Geisha such 
as your self. It will improve the low quality of your skin. After, meet me 
down in the basement and bring Kitty Cat with you.”

                                                         * * *


-	Great! After I am finally able to somewhat enjoy food like any normal 
person, I am giving gruel. How ironic. -

Ryoko picked up her spoon and before putting it in her mouth she made a face 
and looked at Ryou-ohki. She was happily finishing her fifth pancake with 
one eyed glued to the tv.

She narrowed her eyes slightly and turned to Fei.
Fei one the other hand was eating like there was no tomorrow.
-	I wonder if this food is healthy for her and her baby? I wonder if  she 
suspects? –

“Good morning ladies! Goodness! What disgusting blob are you two eating? Fei 
I have to say I’m very offended that you would offer this crap to Cat here.”
Uncle Basho’s voice grew steadily higher and Ryoko couldn’t help but stare 
at the reddening left ear of his. The madder he got the redder and bloated 
his ear became.
-	How strange? His ear is nearly the size of his head. It looks like  a big 
ripe tomato, ready to part from its stem. -

“It’s okay Uncle Basho. Really its not so bad.”

To prove what she just had said was true, Ryoko again grabbed the silver 
wear and swiftly ate a spoonful of soup.
She was relieved to find she still could not taste anything.

Barely satisfied, Basho poured himself some orange juice and sat down next 
to Ryoko.
“Ready for an exciting day of photo processing? I got to tell you its really 
exhilarating,

“Uncle Basho-san.” Fei interrupted.
“Cat has decided to work with Serla instead.”
Fei said this with a frog in her throat and coughed to get it out.

“Mmm. I see.”
He looked from Ryoko to Fei.

“Well, I won’t pretend I’m not disappointed but I’ll find a way for you to 
make it up to me later.”
He winked at Ryoko and left to the living room.

On his way out he called over his shoulder, “Fei have you seen the 
newspaper?”

“Yes uncle, you left on the coffee table. Near the Boteros.

“Ahh yes.”

The living room became quiet and all three girls finished their meals in 
silence. Each engrossed in their own thoughts.

                                     * * *

“Cat-san pay attention. I will not repeat myself.”

Ryoko, Fei, and Ryou-ohki had been in the basement a full hour and a half 
before Serla arrived.
The first thing she did was ignore Fei and Ryoko and give ‘Kitty Cat’ 
instructions in copying characters in a fresh sheet of paper. When she got 
Ryou-ohki settled in a low table for her calligraphy practice she turned her 
attention in setting up various instruments in front of Ryoko and Fei. She 
still failed to address them in any way.

When she had each instrument lined up next to each other she straightened 
her yukata and rearranged her hair.

“Okay this,” pointing to the smallest drum, “ is called tsutsumi. This is 
the smallest of the drums you will learn to play. It is held on the left 
shoulder and played with the middle of the palm.”

She then moved onto the next instrument, picking it up and playing lightly 
on it while explaining.
“This drum is larger than the tsutsumi and is called okawa. This one rests 
on the inner thigh. And the largest drum is the taiko. This drum for its 
large size sits on stand and you kneel it towards you. It is struck with a 
large drumstick much like this one.”

She passed the drumstick to both girls and waited for them to finish 
examining all the drums.

“These are not the only instruments that you will learn to play. There is 
also the fue, but I don’t have one with me. It is a kind of Japanese flute. 
And this,“ She held a small wooden instrument with strings carefully with 
both hands, “by far is the most important instrument a Geisha will ever 
play, a shamisen. You will need to specialize in this, as the shamisen is 
the most popular and portable instrument you will use to entertain. Plus if 
you are every lucky  to be included in a seasonal Gion dance production you 
will most likely be required to  play complicated pieces on the shamisen.”

Ryoko mouthed all the names of the instruments. Both girls were still 
standing side by side, waiting for Serla’s instructions.
Serla put everything away, but took extra special care with the shamisen.
Both girls were surprised to see the shamisen could be taken apart and 
stored in a small case. This made it extremely comfortable for a Geisha 
since she usually attended multiple parties in a single night.

“Follow me ladies. Kitty, we’ll be in the pink room upstairs if you need 
anything. After you have finished your lessons, save the notebook and you 
can go watch some tv.”

“Meow.” Ryou-ohki nodded and waved at her sister as they disappeared through 
the paper screen door.


Ryoko soon found out that most of the rooms in the house were named 
according to the color of the walls. The pink room, was Serla’s own personal 
study.
If you were to walk in, you would see a low coffee table with cushions for 
chairs. The floor instead of having a rug or carpet was covered was smooth 
wood floor and a beautiful lacquered tatami mat under the table. There were 
two windows, one right in front of you on the back wall and one to the left. 
The left window reached almost to the floor and instead of glass it was a 
rice paper screen.

All the women sat on their knees on the cushions.
“This is were you will practice your calligraphy and shamisen.”
There were two packages on the table and she handed one to each girl.

“Hold your shamisen with the narrow end resting on your lower left palm. 
Hold it on the lowest tip of the palm so your fingers can reach the strings. 
The wider, lower end is held parallel to your midsection. Though it should 
not touch your body in anyway, like this.”
Ryoko took note of the fact a shamisen was at least somewhat related to the 
guitar.

Serial took Fei’s shamisen to demonstrate the proper body posture and 
position.

“When you practice this keep in mind you will be wearing a kimono, so you 
should not rest all your weight on your knees as they rest on the floor. 
Your kimono will be wrinkled. Practice moving your weight around, rotate it 
from your knees to feet and back again.”

She paused to observe Ryoko and Fei experiment with their shamisen before 
grabbing some paper, brushes, and ink.

“Ok, enough for right now, this was only an introduction. You will practice 
your shamisen in the evening. In the morning while the mind is fresh and 
alert you will practice your reading and writing. Now Cat, I know that 
Ryou-ohki is also learning this, but please don’t try and help her along. 
You will only confuse her, since you yourself don’t really know how to speak 
and write correctly.”

Ryoko huffed and was about to answer when Serla held her hand up and calmly 
continued.
“Don’t take it the wrong way Cat. Very view people know how to speak proper 
Japanese, much less write it. By the time you finish, you can teach anybody 
you see fit, just not yet.”
She said this gently and Ryoko forced herself to calm down.
She swallowed the knot of anger growing inside her, and was able to remain 
neutral.

- Good Cat. Control your temper and soon you will control everything, and 
everyone else -

“This is the symbol for Kyoto.”
Her hand flowed effortlessly down the paper and Ryoko was reminded of how 
closely this was to sword fighting. The smooth, graceful movements that 
created the exquisite curves of a character could also execute a person with 
very little variation in the wrist position.
And so the first lesson began...

                                                  * * *

“I must say Cat, you are doing wonderfully in your writing.”

Ryoko gave a little bow with her head and resumed copying the characters, 
but on the inside she was beaming with pride.
Her hand glided all over the paper with an ease hard to come by for a person 
so recent in the art.
It took her a couple of days to adapt her sword fighting skills to 
calligraphy but one day she closed her eyes, imagined Kagato in front of her 
and moved her wrist in a way similar way to ripping his heart out. When she 
opened her eyes, there stood a carbon copy of the character. Who knew Kagato 
without meaning to, actually had taught her something useful?

Her shamisen skill was coming along nicely too. Fei had helped her change 
smoothly from one note to the next and now just a few days after, she had 
memorized the first few scenes of,          .
The impressed look on Serla’s face gave a mountain full of encouragement to 
the girls.

As their practice session ended they all went to look at Ryou-ohki’s own 
progress.
She had learned over four hundred characters and could now some-what say 
‘carrot’ , ‘chocolate’, and ‘Cat’.
Ryoko was overcome with pride when she heard her sister’s very first words.

“Today the schedule will alter a bit.”

Ryoko and Fei looked up from going over Ryou-ohki’s notebook and looked 
questioningly at Serla.

“Come see your kimono.”

She led them to her bedroom and very ceremoniously opened a drawer to reveal 
a gorgeous kimono.
She slowly unwrapped it from its paper package and gingerly extended it to 
give both girls a complete view of its richness.
The kimono was a deep gold. It had a dragon intertwined around the kimono 
giving the illusion of having trapped the women who would wear it. Around 
the dragon were little silver stars that shimmered when the person moved.

Soon Ryoko found out exactly how hard it was to wear a real kimono. Back in 
Okayama she had worn some kimono, but now she realized they were actually 
fancy yukata.  A real kimono would cost more than half of the Masaki house!

When Ryoko and Fei decided to debut they would not be full geisha but 
apprentice geisha. This is to familiarize themselves with the different 
teahouses and men they would surround themselves later on. Plus if the 
apprentice geisha was smart enough she would also be hunting for a man to 
bid for her mizuage, or virginity. The higher the bid, the more likely she 
would be a successful geisha.

The kimono geisha wore were heavy and uncomfortable, but for apprentice 
geisha they were even more burdensome.
The kimono for an apprentice had brighter colors and a still brighter obi.

The obi an apprentice wears, the belt that holds together the kimono, is 
knotted and starts at the base of the shoulder in an elaborate design and 
travels down to hang near the ground. If a person were to walk by an 
apprentice you would notice first and foremost the fabulous dangling obi and 
if they were walking right behind her glimpse only a part of the actual 
kimono on the corners of the shoulders and on the sides of the body.
Serla brought out the obi and Ryoko noticed that fully extended it reached 
all the way to the other end of her bedroom, counted the fact that her 
bedroom was the largest one in the okiya!

As Serla helped Ryoko put on the kimono and obi she noticed how heavy they 
were.
- How am I ever going to be able to walk in this thing? It feels like I’m 
wearing rocks instead of silk! -

The kimono was only a tad bit lighter than the obi, and combined Ryoko could 
barely walk across the room.

“Cat don’t drag your arms or you will ruin the sleeves before the first 
night is through.”

Ryoko looked at her gigantic sleeves and gave an infuriating sigh. How was 
she ever to become a geisha if she couldn’t even walk?
To finish the look, Serla handed her silk socks called tabi. They were white 
and especially made for zori. They were the wooden shoes geisha wore.

“When you walk you must take small steps. This will give the effect of 
floating above the ground.”
Serla showed her how it was done, cute little steps that made the bottom of 
the kimono flow like mist over a lake.

- You want to see floating? Too bad I don’t have my gem with me, then you’d 
really see what floating looks like. -

Ryoko kept her anger to herself and with a dedication she didn’t know she 
had, she practiced time and time again. She was going to get this perfect, 
anything but perfect was unthinkable.

                                                     * * *


“When you meet Homino Yaminaka keep your eyes to the floor and give him the 
most deep, respectful bow you have in you. If we are lucky he will accept to 
be your hair consultant. If that happens we will be very lucky indeed. 
Homino is one of the most talented wig makers in all of Japan, and a geisha 
who has him for her hair consultant has struck gold.”

They kept a brisk pace as they walked the twenty or so blocks to his studio. 
It was located in the heart of the Pontocho district of Kyoto.
As they neared his building, Ryoko saw it wasn’t really a building at all. 
It was a four story house oddly placed in between two giant skyscrapers.
Or perhaps the skyscrapers were the ones oddly placed near the studio.
In any case as they finally reached his block there was a line of girls 
waiting to meet Homino that went round the block twice!
Ryoko groaned and Serla gave her a nudge on the ribs with her elbow before 
whispering,
    “Stay on your best behavior, and don’t have such little faith in me
     Cat. You will not have to wait in line. Just follow me and bow to
     every one that makes eyes contact with you.”

They made their way through the line and Ryoko must have bowed her head a 
million times for quite surprisingly everyone acknowledged her arrival. All 
the people were all smiles and bows but she did notice some girls snarl and 
whisper after she had passed by.
She was on the brink of turning around and knocking their lights out, but 
Serla’s words echoed in her mind.
  “You will have to learn to control that temper of yours and be as
    hypocritical and false as the situation calls for.”

So just for good measure she turned around and as the girls felt her heavy 
stare stopped talking. Ryoko gave her most charming smile and with an 
exaggerated gesture bowed with her head almost touching her knees, acting as 
if they were nobles. The girls as scared as ever turned to look elsewhere.
Ryoko narrowed her eyes and smiled.
She turned around and quickened her step to catch up with Serla.

“We are happy to see you back here again Serla-san. You are looking well.”

“Thank you Ayarami-san. You are most kind. Let me introduce Catara Sokimobu, 
she is to be an apprentice geisha.”

“She is very pretty Serla-san. You certainly have a good eye about you.”

Before she could say anything else there was a loud crash and a series of 
curses which made the maid blush in embarrassment.

“Please excuse me Serla-san, Homino is not in a very good mood today. He 
will be with you shortly.”

She gave both Serla and Ryoko a pity look and bowed before sliding the paper 
screen door behind her.

“You will have to charm him Cat. Homino is a very temper mental man and 
having him already flustered … well this is not good.”

Ryoko was surprised to see Serla so worried. She didn’t understand the point 
of so much commotion over one man, but seeing everybody wanted to be 
associated to him, that was enough to catch her attention.

She shifted her weight to her feet just as Serla had taught her. The kimono 
she was wearing wasn’t as fancy as the gold one she saw the other day, but 
was a dark blue with a waterfall print traveling down the sides. It matched 
perfectly with her cyan hair. The obi was light peach and as loud and bright 
as anything she had ever worn by her own admonition.

“I’m surrounded by idiots!”
The screen door slide open and in walked the
famous Homino Yaminaka.

Even if you never saw him, just hearing him speak and you’d realize he was 
used to a lot of pampering by anyone and everyone. He was wearing a spring 
yukata even though it was the middle of December, that was white with a 
green and yellow hummingbird perched near his crotch. Of course the desired 
effect was for everyone to draw their eyes to the hummingbird and then blush 
with embarrassment at the area they were also looking at.
He turned up the heater in the room without giving them so much as a glance. 
He smoothed out the wrinkles of his yukata and Ryoko noticed how he 
carefully kept his pinky suspended in the air.

He turned around and gasped at the sight of Serla and Ryoko, touching his 
upper chest with an opened hand.

“Why Serla-san you naughty girl! You haven’t stopped by here in ages! When 
Ayumi said you were planning to stop by I almost fired her for lying to me. 
I said,
    ‘How dare you lie to the great Homino! Away! Away with you!’
Of course she cried and begged for me to wait until today to prove to me it 
was really you, and voila!”

He laughed gaily and sat down facing Serla. They made small talk, both 
ignoring Ryoko was even in the room.
Serla had failed, purposely, to inform Ryoko that a girl in waiting to be a 
geisha had no rank whatsoever and would be overlooked until introduced. So 
that was what Serla was doing, and Homino out of the corner of his eye was 
judging if Ryoko as worthy of his time.
Ryoko herself just sat there,
trying desperately to eat the anger boiling inside her, threatening to 
erupt.
After a few minutes it was obvious Homino was not going to address her, so 
to keep her mind from focusing on her anger, she went over the rules she had 
learned about the famous Tea Ceremony.

   The tea ceremony goes back centuries in Japan’s history. It is
   usually done by one or two people. In this case the geisha. She
   sits in front of her guests and prepares tea in the traditional
   Japanese manner. The delicate whisks and cups are usually made
   from finely worked bamboo. The tea itself is called matcha and is
   made by the geisha. She grounds tea leaves into a powder and
   then boils it to become the matcha. The taste is bitter and when
   Ryoko tried it made a face. She had no idea something so
   ceremonious had such a bad after taste. Serla scolded her, and
   made her drink the whole batch until Ryoko was able to
   drink it with a delightful smile on her face.

Being so focused on remembering all the things Serla continuously taught 
her, only just realized that she had actually tasted the tea! It was an 
awful, bitter taste, but it was better then the nothing she had gotten used 
to since…forever.

Ryoko unconsciously sat up straighter. She still retained her neutral 
expression. Anyone walking in the room would have judged she was as bored as 
ever, but Homino had an eagle’s eye.
Ryoko could never completely control her emotions. She gave them away with 
her eyes. And right now they were as shiny and clear as the sun in a perfect 
summer day.
Homino actually held his breath and Serla followed his amazed expression to 
an oblivious Ryoko.
She smiled and bowed to leave.
It was all in Ryoko’s hands now. She was ultimately the one in control of 
the situation. If she played her cards right, Homino would begin by styling 
her hair this very day. If she didn’t … she would not think about that just 
yet.
She stood to leave and Ryoko snapped back to pay attention.

- We’re leaving? I guess Homino decided not to take me. Oh well, who needs a 
self centered snob anyway. -

She stood up to leave but Serla shook her head.

“Nice talking with you Homino-san. I trust we will see each other more 
frequently.”
She said this more as a statement then a question and Homino simply waved 
her off with his hand. He was still observing Ryoko and how flustered she 
was getting over being left alone.

She slide the screen door shut and Ryoko looked down at the floor just like 
Serla had instructed her to do.
She had no idea how to act. He was just seating there.
Who knew someone so loud and obnoxious could now sit so quietly?
Ryoko could swear she could hear even the wind as it glided by her with the 
extra help of the heater.

“Do you know how lucky you are to be introduced to me by Serla-san? If it 
would have been any other person I would have never even laid eyes on you. 
All those girls outside in the freezing cold, well, they will keep on 
freezing until they learn I do not take charity cases of the street.”

He rose to leave and as he neared the door turned to look at Ryoko.
  “Well, are you coming or not?”

He slide the door open and left without waiting for an answer and Ryoko had 
to disregard the tiny step rule while wearing a kimono to catch up to him.

He walked across the hall to his assistant’s desk and Ryoko noticed over his 
shoulder Ayumi hide the fact she was trying to have a fast lunch. She shoved 
the tiny box of fried octopus under the desk and stood up and bowed.
Ayumi still had an octopus leg stuck to her bottom lip.
“Ayumi please cancel all my appointments for today,
I will attend to… ,”
he turned around and gave Ryoko an annoyed look at not having remembered her 
name.

“Catara Sokimobu.”

“Yes, yes. Well get to it Ayumi.”
He looked Ayumi over and opened the screen door next to the desk.
Ryoko pointed quickly with her thumb to her own bottom lip, giving Ayumi a 
hint of her current state before shutting the door behind her.

The room Himono led her to was actually where he got to work.
The room was a perfect square it seemed. With only a small window over a 
sink in the left corner.
Himono was not only a hair dresser, but made the most exquisite wigs in 
Japan. And thus in making old fashioned wigs, the tradition was to comb hot 
wax thoroughly over each strand. This made the hairstyle able to stand much 
longer without touch-ups.
Now with extra strength hairspray and mousse, he only used wax for the wigs, 
and not geisha’s hair.
The first thing Ryoko noticed in coming in the room was the horrible stench 
of burned hair. And since Himono woke up with a wim of wearing a summer 
yukata, had the heater on full blast and the window shut. This made the 
burned hair smell magnify a hundred fold.

Himono stood next to the sink and pulled out a chair, motioning for Ryoko to 
sit.
She crossed the room with her eyes gazing down. She still had in mind 
Serla’s advice in showing respect.
She passed by a low desk placed in the middle of the room, and noticed a 
samurai sword foolishly in display without a case for protection. She 
narrowed her eyes and quickly took in the detail of the hilt, hand-made to 
curve into a dragon’s face at the end. The dragon was gold and it’s eyes a 
fury of emerald.
The blade itself was narrow, long, and extremely sharp.
In the background she heard Himono huff in inpatients and she focused her 
total attention to whatever he was planning to do to her next.

He sat her in the seat, her back towards the sink and pulled back her head 
to rest on both the back of the chair and the beginning of the sink.
She ignored the beginning of a neck cramp and breathed deeply. She felt 
water flowing through her hair, and become increasingly warmed until she 
flinched as it lightly burned her scalp.
Then she felt little sharp knifes scraping across her scalp, like grass 
would fell when the hoe scraped across it to collect the leaves.
She raised her head and Himono gently pushed it back down.

“Feels awful doesn’t it? The price one pays for beauty is often too much for 
ones own good.”

Ryoko felt he had said this a thousand times to different clients as his 
voice sounded so mechanical.

After she felt all her hair had surely fallen of, he turned of the faucet 
and dried gently her hair.
Himono opened a drawer next to the sink and took out a fine toothed comb.
Next he began the tedious task of combing Ryoko’s long tresses. Being a 
perfectionist, he continued in this task for about an hour. Ryoko’s neck was 
at this time throbbing from all the ackward positions she had been put 
through.
-	Who knew getting your hair done could be a sort of torture? –

The miracle of all miracles happened and Ryoko gasped as she caught a 
glimpse of herself on the full sized mirror to her left.
Her hair was completely and utterly straight! Straight as the rice fields 
before harvest time.
Himono massaged her head with his fingers too relax the stressed follicles 
and applied camellia to make it shine.
Ryoko from then on kept her eyes glued to the mirror witnessing the change 
she had longed for so long.
He swooped her hair into to parts, called ‘the split peach’ by the way it 
looks from the back. Two slightly puffed semi circles divided in the middle 
with a fabric string peering out.
The fabric is used to tie the hairstyle in place and wrapped around under 
the hair and is only visible in the middle.

As he placed the finishing touches on her new look, there was a loud door 
slam coming from the hallway and both Ryoko and Homino looked as the shadow 
of a man became steadily larger as he approached the screen door.
Himono gave a little gasp and he franticly grabbed a flat, round brush for 
protection. The man opened the door with a slam.
He was short and stocky and reminded Ryoko of the man she had left 
unconscious in the gas station out of Kyoto.

“He,” Homino squeaked and cleared his throat before trying again.
“Hello Mimoniku. Wonderful weather today.”

The man’s nostrils flared and as he took a step forward, Homino took a step 
back.
Homino’s hands were all over the place, touching his hair,
face, neck …
Completely terrified.
Ryoko who had been kneeling as Himono attended to her. Now she sly as a cat 
stood up and walked towards the desk. She had done this so quietly the man 
had not even seen her in the room.

“Why did you send my daughter away without attending her? She came a month 
and stood outside before you even let her in. and then barely looked at her 
before throwing her out!”
The man’s restraint was all but gone, and his hand made it’s way to a pocket 
in the back of his yukata. Ryoko’s eyes flickered.
She recognized the familiar motion of reaching for a weapon, she guessed a 
knife or sword of some kind and she was right.

“Ohh my! Plea.. please Moniku-san I”

“Don’t’ Mimonku-san me! You had your chance, and you blew it.
No one disrespects my daughter!”

He flashed his machete in front of Homino and as he demonstrated a stab in 
mid air there was a flash and a ring similar to the bells announcing a 
Shinto summer festival.
The tip of the machete landed with a loud ‘clank’ on the floor and both men 
turned to a smiling Ryoko holding the beautiful samurai sword in her hands.
She then stood up straight and placed the sword behind her back, giving the 
impression of simply holding her hands behind her back, only the tip of the 
sword shone on top of head.

“Homino-san is very, very sorry for having over looked your surely beautiful 
daughter and will rectify his error immediately.”
At this Ryoko and Moniku turned to make sure Himono agreed.
“Immediately. Yes, yes, right away.”

Moniku turned once again to Ryoko in disbelief.
She disarmed him with the dazzling smile she had practiced white drinking 
matcha.

“Perhaps I’ll run into your daughter while visiting Himono?”
She kneeled and bowed just as Serla had taught her she should do when 
entering a tea house. She lowered her head to almost touch the ground and 
with her new hair style in place gave Mimoniku a very seductive glimpse of 
the back of her neck.

He fidgeted and pulled at his collar.
“I certainly hope so.”

He left and forgot to ask her name or warn Himono that he ‘meant business’. 
As Homino and Ryoko both heard the front door shut and Ayumi secure the 
lock, Himono broke out in a fit of frantic laughter.

“And I was going to give that sword to the milk man.”

He laughed so hard his eyes began to water. Ryoko just stood there, now not 
so sure of her fast thinking.
She had always gotten in trouble when she followed her instincts.
She placed the sword carefully back in its stand and kept once again her 
eyes to the floor.
-	Serla is going to kill me. –

Homino controlled poorly his laughing fit and raised Ryoko’s face with the 
tip of his hand.
“You will be the first geisha I ever attend to with such an advance skill in 
sword fighting.” He looked her up and down and his smile grew.
“Lets strike a deal.”
Ryoko’s eyes flashed to his face.
A deal?
Ryoko if anything had a knack for business deals and always managed to end 
up on top.

Homino laughed once again as he realized the look of pure business displayed 
on her features.

“You teach me your wonderful skills with the sword, and I will make you the 
most stylish geisha in Kyoto.”

He nodded to himself satisfied with his offer and poured a glass of sake for 
himself and his knew business partner.
Ryoko held the cup in her hand and made a face.

“That sounds very generous of you Homino, but my skill comes from a very old 
practice. You can’t imagine how old, but trust me. A more generous offer 
will be hard to think of...” Ryoko kneeled to a sitting position and felt 
the smooth wood of the table. She bit her lip, giving an expression of 
serious thinking before continuing, “How about I give you lessons and along 
friendly advice. The advice talented swords men keep a closed lid on to keep 
their edge, and for all this … You make me the most stylish geisha in 
Japan.”
Himono looked impressed and Ryoko grinned.
“ For free.”

“What! Wait a minute. I am a very busy man and that is not poss -

“I just replaced the money that would be coming from me with Mimoniku’s 
daughters. I bet he would pay extra too if you just drop by to their house 
from time to time.”

Homino sighed and nodded.
He closed his eyes and bowed to seal the deal.
Ryoko bowed back.

“Pleasure to meet you Catara-san. I will be paying a visit to your okiya 
soon.”
They drank their sake and Ryoko tried very, very hard not to beam. She must 
start acting like the demure, feminine geisha she would be soon, sooner than 
even she thought possible.

As Ryoko walked back to the house, she vibrated with excitement.
-	I cant wait to tell Serla. She’ll be sooo impressed. -

She giggled and made a little dance step before walking briskly down the 
street.

                                                       * * *

“Can I come in?”

Ayeka looked towards the door from the magazine she was reading. She glanced 
around her room, making sure everything was in order and decent.
“Sure come in.”

Tenchi sighed and turned the knob to enter Ayeka’s room.
It was now a few months after Ryoko’s disappearance and Ayeka had spent most 
of those days in her room. Now with Tenchi going to college next week, he 
didn’t want to leave without setting things right with his friend.

Ayeka sat up from the cushion she was laying on and was about to fix her 
wrinkled yukata but thought better of it. She no longer benefited from 
looking good for Tenchi.

“Sasami is almost finished with lunch. Mihoshi wanted a picnic since last 
week, so Sasami is finishing the pack lunches. Are you coming?”
Tenchi fidgeted with his hands and scratched a spot on the back of his neck.

“I am tired Lord Tenchi. Maybe next time.”
Ayeka reopened her magazine and started reading in hope Tenchi would get the 
message that the conversation was over.

Tenchi sighed and ran an annoyed hand through his shoulder length hair.
-	This is getting me nowhere. She doesn’t want to talk, and I can’t leave 
Okayama like this. With her hiding away in her room. –
He kneeled in front of her to talk face to face. She moved the magazine up 
and hide her face with its pages.

“Ayeka we need to talk.”

-	He wants to talk. Great I’m going to get a lot of pity that does me no 
good. Can’t he see I’m dealing with Ryoko’s leaving in my own way? Why does 
he want to force things? I don’t want to leave just yet. I don’t want to 
leave at all.-

As she absent mindedly glanced at the words in the magazine saw at the top 
suntan fingers gently pull the magazine from her grasp. Tenchi’s face was 
closer to hers than she had expected and she inhaled a quick breath.

- He is so handsome. -

“Listen Ayeka. We … we haven’t really talked about what happened that night 
and … I want to explain myself.”
Tenchi swallowed and searched his mind to find the correct words to not hurt 
her.

“There are no explanations Lord Tenchi. I was drunk and that’s all there is 
to it.”
Ayeka’s voice shook slightly and she held her hands firm on her lap.
“I … I think that that had something to do with Ryoko leaving.’

Tenchi’s mind stopped wandering and jumped at Ayeka’s words.
Tenchi had been thinking the exact same thing. How odd was it the very night 
he kisses Ayeka, Ryoko leaves. If that was simply a coincidence then life 
had a very, very sick sense of humor.

“Why do you say that? Do you know something Ayeka?”

“No, but I know Ryoko well. She would not leave just because. And I did talk 
to her that night.”
Tenchi began to speak but Ayeka guessing his question didn’t give him a 
chance to continue.

“Before Lord Tenchi.”
She still could not say ‘before I kissed you’ out loud, much less to his 
face. She felt if she did it would be immediately followed by ,’You kissed 
me back then moaned her named and ripped my heart out you coward!’

“I want to be friends Tenchi. Is that still possible?”
Ayeka held her heart on her sleeve. She felt she was a glass full of water 
and one more drop and she would overflow, not stopping for anything. She had 
to be very careful to avoid that one drop and it seemed that drop was 
Tenchi.

She inhaled deeply, trying to avoid her heaving chest. She inadvertently 
smelled him, Tenchi.
He smelled of … she couldn’t place it. Maybe Norohia, a special kind of wood 
naturally grown in Jurai.
He smelled like a thousand erotic nights of tender love making.
He smelled like love and understanding if there ever was such a thing. But 
those were not her words but Ryoko’s.
One night back in Tokyo while talking over a bottle of sake Ryoko opened 
herself more than usual and had said to a surprised Ayeka all those things, 
her secret fantasies.
Ayeka had told her to stop watching so many soaps but now perfectly 
understood her friend’s sentiment.
Lord Tenchi really did belong with Ryoko, and now it was all her fault her 
two best friends were not together.

“Ayeka you are a part of this family, you know that. You hold a special 
place in my heart and nothing can change that, ever.”

She smiled at Tenchi. He was having just a hard a time at saying this than 
she was, maybe even more so. She smiled and held out her hand.
Tenchi held it with both of his.
“Friends.”
She made a move to stand up and Tenchi helped her.
As they left her room she began a conversation like any other, only this 
time everything was different.
She was okay with that, now they only had to wait for Ryoko to return to 
them. She would when she was ready. Ayeka only hoped it would be before it 
was to late for her and Tenchi.
She knew he was capable of falling in love with someone else, as was Ryoko. 
Only it would be a real shame seeing two people in need of so much love find 
it with other people.
She had heard a story when she was little. She couldn’t remember the person 
or the circumstance, but the message stuck to her like glue.

          Since the beginning of time the soul in order to travel to the 
fifth dimension had to be divided in half – too much energy would throw the 
dimension into chaos- so in order to enter they parted in pairs with the 
hope of finding their partner once there.
The problem was the two halves had no way of knowing where the other had 
been thrown.
The universe was like a huge bowl of rice, and it was almost impossible to 
find the exact pair of grains.
In the quest to find their whole self, the soul often fell in love without 
knowing if that was his pair or just a kindred spirit.
Of course the soul would feel in love, but in reality would not come close 
in comparing to a nanosecond in the presence of their ‘true self’.
Tenchi and Ryoko were each others pair. They were lucky enough to find each 
other, Ayeka had the impression they just could not avoid each other’s 
magnetism.
They belonged together despite what anyone said, even the first crown 
princess of Jurai.

As Tenchi and her descended the stairs to join the family picnic, Ayeka felt 
sick to her stomach.
She whispered to herself,
a kind of chant, “Hurry home Ryoko, hurry home.”

                                                        * * *


      I’m starving! I wonder what Basho cooked for dinner?
Ryoko closed the front door and headed to the kitchen, trying to remain 
nonchalant and not give away her business savvy deal with Homino.
It would be worth it to see the expression on Serla’s face! And perhaps 
she’ll convince Homino to help Fei as well.

She took an apple of the wicker basket on the middle of the breakfast table 
and headed upstairs.
She had taken her shoes of in the foyer and avoided turning her head from 
side to side to keep the hairstyle in place.
If anything happened she would have to go back and endure that painful 
process again.
Serla had said if you take adequate care of the hairstyle it should last 
about a week or maybe if your lucky two.
Most apprentice geisha ruined their styles while sleeping.
Putting pressure on the hair while you rest on the pillow immediately 
flattened it and you would go back to your stylist.
So the solution is the takamakura, or tall pillow.
Geisha laid their head carefully on the takamakura to keep their hair safe 
and dazzling. The takamakura isn’t a pillow in the normal sense of a soft 
object to rest your tired head on. The takamuraka is actually a tall wood 
poll with a hard fabric nest on the tip. This is where you rest your head. 
It is really quite uncomfortable, but the only way the geisha could sleep 
without throwing their hairstyle out the window.

She made her way to her room, or the ‘green room’ as everyone called it when 
she heard some sniffling coming from the room two doors down from hers.
She noticed the screen door was slightly opened, making a thin light line 
spread over onto the hall.
It was Fei’s room, the yellow room.
Ryoko’s good mood shifted to one of worry and nervousness. This was the 
second time she knew of Fei crying, and she still didn’t know what to do.
She stood outside the door, debating on whether to go on in, or go look for 
Serla.

“Catara?”

The door opened and Ryoko stood awkwardly as Fei broke down crying on her 
shoulder.
Ryoko froze on the spot, arms straight down her arms. She felt Fei heaving 
on her shoulder and recognized the cry of despair escaping her lips.
She slowly spread her arms around Fei’s back, trying to give a little 
comfort to whatever was wrong.

“I’m pregnant Cat. What am I going to do?”
She burrowed her face in Ryoko’s shoulder even more, making her confession 
sounded
more like, “M, prenmant Kt. At m goindoo?”

They made their way to her futon and both sat side by side, Fei still hiding 
away in Ryoko’s shoulder sanctuary.
Finally Ryoko realized Fei would not budge by herself, and gingerly 
unclasped Fei’s hold on her shoulders.

“I’m pregnant and I don’t have anyway to take care of myself, much less a 
child! What am I going to do? I can’t be a geisha anymore!”

She moved her hands to her belly and gently rubbed, waiting for Ryoko’s 
advice as it were a lifesaver as she drowned in a sea of despair.
Ryoko on her side, thought she was the most incapable person to be that 
lifesaver. She was used to being the one who threw the person in the water, 
watching them beg for mercy and drown.
Now she was the one designated to save a person, and she had no idea what to 
do. She was not patient or understanding.
She needed to be? She needed Tenchi.
He was the most understanding, caring, wonderful, amazing person she knew.
What would he do?
She looked into Fei’s eyes and recognized the gentleness there.
The same gentleness she found in Tenchi’s eyes.

“Are you going to keep it?”

Fei looked puzzled and then exclaimed, “Of course! No matter what, I could 
not kill my baby. He is already breathing in there.”
She glanced to her stomach and resumed her gentle massage.

“Well then there is nothing to worry about. You have your uncle, Serla, and 
myself who will help you with anything and everything you might need. Just 
don’t forget that.”

Ryoko saw the knots of worry in Fei’s face fade away through her gentle 
encouragement. She must be doing something right after all.

“I’m happy your with us Catara-san. You will be the baby’s godmother yes?”

Ryoko’s eyes grew as round and bright as the sun. Fei’s eyes grew just as 
round from the spectacular Ryoko’s eyes offered.
There were no words between them, Ryoko hugged her and Fei hugged right on 
back.

As Fei’s eyes began to tear-up, she felt the rich fabric of Ryoko’s kimono.
She pulled back and took in the rich fabric and exquisite embroidery on the 
helm.
-	Cat will make a great geisha. –

“Oh! I forgot to tell you, Serla is waiting for you in the pink room.
Ryo-ooki is with her I think.”

Ryoko smiled and stood up while fixing her kimono. She suddenly remembered 
why she had been so happy just a few moments earlier and a mischievous gleam 
colored her eyes.
Fei laughed.

“Come with me Fei. I have two great things to announce today.”
Fei’s face held pure curiosity. One was that she was to be her baby’s
god-mother, but what was the other?


“So I see Homino-san decided to accept you?”
Serla and Ryo-ooki were reading a book before Ryoko and Fei interrupted.
“Meow, meow, Cat!”
Ryo-ooki smiled and pointed at Ryoko’s hair.
She meant to say how beautiful she looked but hadn’t learned to say that 
word yet.

“Yup! Do you like?”
Ryoko held out her arms and pirouetted across the room until she ended up 
next to Serla.
“You are starting your transformation Cat.”
Serla-san wasn’t willing to say anything else. In truth Cat looked 
wonderful, but she didn’t want to build her confidence to the point she 
would stop trying to better herself. If that happened she would be good, 
very good but not great. Cat needed to be great.

Ryoko kneeled down opposite of Serla and Ryou-ohki with Fei on her left.
She beamed with held secrets and she physically looked like she would burst 
if she didn’t say them soon.

“After you unmercifully left me with Homino-san,” Serla quirked an eyebrow 
at her familiarity with Homino’s name.

“I was taken into a room and he worked miracles with my hair.”

“It does look wonderful Cat.”
Fei touched her hair gently, in awe of the masterful design.

Ryoko looked at her and turned to hold her hand.
“Well, he obviously accepted me with me oblivious to his decision, but that 
wasn’t the spectacular part.”
She took a dramatic pause and satisfactorily observed Fei and
Ryou-ohki squirm with anticipation of what was coming next.
Serla came as close to squirming as possible as she went over her gapped 
fang tooth twice with a quick flick of her tongue.

“It seems that Homino-san isn’t as accepting to other clients as he was to 
me. And one of those clients has a very temperamental father. So this father 
storms into his personal office.”
Ryoko stands up. She walks to the door and as she takes on Mimoniku’s 
persona to give a better effect of the story.

“…So after I shatter his machete and assure him his daughter will after all 
be attended by Homino-san he peacefully leaves.”

Fei and Ryo-ooki both held a perfect circle formation in their mouths and 
Serla-san huffed in approval. But the best part was yet to come.

“So Homino-san starts laughing and pouring sake to celebrate that big oaf 
leaving, when he offers that I teach him some sword techniques and in return 
he attends to me for FREE!”

Everybody cheered and started asking her questions all at once.
Now Ryoko wasn’t foolish enough to tell Serla that she had swindled Homino 
into not receiving a cent, she still didn’t know what exactly made Serla 
tick. For now this little white lie would do no one any harm.

Ryou-ohki walked over the table and sat on Ryoko’s lap, ignoring how 
wrinkled the kimono would be because of it.
Nobody seamed to notice, not even Serla.
“Well done Cat. When did he say he would be stopping by?”

“Mmm. Soon Serla-san. He didn’t specify anymore than that.”

Serla nodded roughly in understanding and stood to leave.

“Your leaving already Serla-san? Don’t you want to celebrate?”

“You three celebrate double for me Fei. Right now I have to go plan for 
Catara’s official introduction.


Next Chapter: Ryoko’s mizuage takes place.   Soon…

Copyright 2001