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Tales of a Geisha

Chapter 2: The Ninja

By Kchan Ferrier

November 5, 1865

Nearly eight months had passed since Kanamo Yuriko had escaped from the miako house where she had been enslaved for nine years. Since her escape, she had traveled from city to city trying to survive anyway she could find. Unfortunately, she began with no idea how to do this, and was forced to find...other means than the most respectful to get money. Often times she would go and find a man who had been drinking a lot, meet him, get him so drunk that he would pass out, then steal his money. The first half of the scheme came easy to her thanks to her miako training. The stealing part, though, was something she was still struggling with. It wasn’t a matter of her being unable to do such a thing physically but rather mentally. Every part of her screamed out that what she was doing was wrong. However, the part of her screaming out for food, always overruled her morals.

She was only able to keep a portion on the money she stole, however; most of the time, it ended up in the hands of street thugs who saw her as easy pickings for some quick cash. She had no idea of how to defend herself and her womanly charms had almost gotten her... Well, let’s just say she was lucky an honorable samurai came by and rescued her.

Due to all of this, Yuriko had finally lost the last bit of her “baby fat” and had acquired some nice, toned muscles. For that, at least, she was happy. And, of course, she kept reminding herself that it could be worse. She could be back at the miako house being beaten across her back for not making the clients smile enough. Oh well.

In more silence than she had possessed in the miako house, she pulled the money from the poor drunk’s wallet and slid the empty thing back into his sleeve. Six hundred yen, she thought as she stood, glanced around and darted off towards the woods. What idiot would carry that much cash on him? Baka. It’s his own fault for letting himself get so drunk… Though I’m sure my little powder in his sake helped. The smug smirk that had accompanied these thoughts faded. Once again, as usual, her mind began to argue with itself over what she’d just done.

Once out of the city and hidden away in the forest, Yuriko let her hair cascade down to just below her lower back and changed from the elaborate kimono she had worn, more or less to seduce her victim, to the blue one she’d worn when she snuck out of the miako house. It had become what she refereed to as her “traveling” kimono.

Yuriko began looking for a place to stay the night as she tried to push down the conflicting thoughts of her morals versus her “primal instincts.” Then, it hit her. The scent of fish cooking swirled into her nostrils, making her mouth water. Instantly, a series of thoughts flashed through her mind. Maybe I could sneak in and steal some. NO! Bad girl! No more stealing. But, maybe I could buy some from him... hmm...

Chewing on her lower lip as she contemplated, she slowly made her way towards the encampment from which the scent emanated. When she saw the camp, her heart soared. There were four fish and only one set of blankets. And, whoever was staying there had left temporarily. If she was quick enough, she could get in, grab a fish, leave a few yen, and get out. Heart pounding in the all too familiar way that she had come to recognize as anticipation, she took her first step towards the camp.

A hand came down firmly on her shoulder, stopping her before she could even take a second step.

“And what have we here?” a man’s strong voice asked from behind her.

Yuriko’s heart began to pound harder, this time with fear. Oh no! What do I do now!!

“Trying to steal some of my fish?” the man inquired. This time though, his voice seemed somehow amused. Yuriko, however, was immediately indignant. She’d had no intention of stealing. But her heart still pounded with fear.

“Absolutely not,” she retorted in a surprisingly firm voice. “I was going to leave a few yen for you in place of the fish and I was only going to take one. It wasn’t stealing. It was buying.”

The man behind her was silent for a minute, still holding her shoulder. Her heart began to beat faster as the fear turned to dread. Then, he burst out laughing, his hand coming of her shoulder to wrap around his stomach as he doubled over with mirth. Yuriko turned to face the man – no, the ninja! She had been about to sneak into a ninja’s camp! Her face started to grow pale as his chuckls began to fade.

“I like your style, nechan,” the man managed, trying to catch his breath from the bout of laughter, “Come on, let’s eat. And you needn’t pay me for it, either. From the looks of your clothes, you need all the money you can get.”

Yuriko looked down at her tattered kimono and blushed slightly. Finally she looked up into his kind, sparkling eyes. “Hai! Arigato!” she smiled back.

“So, nechan, onamae wa?” the ninja asked, taking a seat by the fire and handing her one of the fish kabobs.

“Kanamo Yuriko,” she answered, then returned the question, “Onamae wa?”

“Makachito Satoshi,” came his answer around a mouthful of food.

Trying not to giggle at his “table manners,” or lack thereof, she bowed to him from her now seated position next to him and the fire, “Hajime mashite, douzo yuroshiku.”

“Eh, hajimemashite, yuroshiku.”

Their conversation died as they enjoyed their meal. After a moment, however, Yuriko’s curiosity started to rise about the man. She had never met a real ninja before, only heard stories of how lethal and cruel they were. This man didn’t seem to be cruel at all, though.

Gracefully, she whiped off any bits of fish from the corner of her mouth before asking in her most casual tone, “So, are you on some sort of mission?”

Silence consumed the camp as he stared into the fire, seeming not to have heard her, though she knew he had. Just as she was about to change the subject with a comment on the “wonderful food,” he spoke, “Iie. I am not affiliated with any sort of ninja society anymore.”

Yuriko bit her tongue to keep from asking further questions. He obviously was uncomfortable talking about the subject and since he had been nice enough to give her food and a fire to warm herself by, she pushed down her curiosity with all the will power she could muster.

Suddenly, Satoshi burst out laughing. She looked over at him in shock as he suppressed his chuckles and turned a huge smile on her. “If you try to push your curiosity down any harder, you’ll shit it out.”

Yuriko blushed deeply, both for his language and her inadequacy of hiding what she was thinking.

“Well, come on Yuriko-chan. What’s your question? Fire away!” he said to her around yet another bite of fish; he was on his second fish now and she had yet to finish her first.

“Anou...” she started, then pushed herself on harder, “Why aren’t you a member of any sort of ninja-group-thingy?”

A shorter moment of silence followed this before he responded, “I’ll tell you on one condition,” she looked at him questioningly and he continued, “If I tell you my story, you have to tell me what a miako like yourself’s doing in the woods in a tattered kimono.”

She stared at him in shock for a moment before her voice would work, “How did you..?”

He chuckled slightly to himself, “Well, your not quite old enough to actually be a geisha yet your mannerisms are almost exactly those of one. So, do we have a deal?” Slowly she nodded and he continued. “I was, at one point, a member of a small ninja clan; we were small but well skilled and in some ways more efficient than the larger clans.

“Back in August, a group of Ishinhishi came to the head of our clan and asked for our help in the ongoing battle. My friend Wanatabe Toshio and I tried to convince our leader not to join but to no avail. The next week, the clan was sided with those terrorists. Everyone knew Toshio and I were against the idea and after long arguments, we were… expelled from the clan. Toshio and I split company so that hopefully at least one of us would not get slaughtered by our former clan members. I don’t know how he is doing now but I do know that they are still trying to hunt me down. I just hope Toshio is alright,” Satoshi finished and took a long swig of water, “So then, what about yourself, little miako?”

For a moment, Yuriko just sat there staring at him. How horrible… He’s a lot like me. He was rejected by what he called family...

“Oi, Yuri-chan,” he called to her, “We had a deal, remember?”

“Ah! Gomenasai!” she answered with a slight jump, “I had just gotten lost in thought... That’s horrible, what happened to you and all,” taking a deep breath, she began to recite her story, starting from when she was sold at age three to when she was about to be sold again eight months prior to their meeting. “I’ve been running ever since,” she said after her long tale, “It’s been hard but I’ve managed to survive. I...” she hesitated at telling him just how she had survived. The guy was really nice and she wanted him to continue to like her and not think of her as any sort of vagabond. But, she had told him that she’d tell her story in exchange for his and she couldn’t very well go back on her word.

Taking a deep breath, she continued, “I usually go and find men who have been drinking a lot, get them to drink enough that they look ready to collapse then walk around with them until they pass out. After that, I... steal their money. Sometimes, the ones that I can tell are really strong, I’ll slip some sleeping powder into their sake. The powder works faster with the alcohol and it doesn’t take as much so I can usually make my supply last for a while.”

“In that kimono?” he inquired, gesturing to her clothing with the skeleton of his second fish, “You must be pretty damn good to be able to seduce them in that tattered thing.”

Giggling slightly, Yuriko shook her head, “Oh no, this is my traveling kimono. I have a couple of nice ones that I brought with me when I left the miako house. I wear those to... get my money. I mean, come on, who would expect the ‘peasant-girl-in-the-torn-up-kimono' to be the ‘geisha’ whose been stealing from drunks? I’ve even been stopped and asked if I had seen her!”

Now, it was Satoshi’s turn to look shocked, “I’d never have expected a miako – or a geisha for that matter – be as... cunning as that. You’d probably make a good ninja.”

To his last comment, Yuriko’s head snapped up to stare at him, “Would you teach me?! If you really think I’d be good?!”

His expression turned to surprise, “A geisha become a ninja? ... Well, I suppose it could work...” he mummered to himself before turning to her, “I really can’t say right now. How about you sleep here tonight and I’ll tell you my answer in the morning.”

Hope plastered across her face, Yuriko quickly agreed with a vigorous nod and a “Hai!”



The moon shone brightly in the early November night. A few scattered clouds covered parts of star constellations but even so, the ground was well lit by the glow of the astral objects.

Yuriko slowly woke and took a deep breath of the cold, crisp air. Ugh, Mother Nature calls... she thought to herself, slowly crawling out of the warm blankets. The cold night sent an eruption of goosebumps across her soft skin but she did her best to ignore it. With a slight shiver, she silently slipped into the woods.

Upon finishing her business, she began walking back to the camp but hesitated. Her gut was twisting into knots and butterflies were ravaging her stomach. Something wasn’t right. Slowly, she bent over, picked up a stick and hid it in the folds of her kimono’s sleeve before continuing her careful trek back to the camp. Just outside the camp, barely in the edge of the woods, a slight rustle came form the bush she’d just passed. It was barely audible but she heard it and froze in terror.

Suddenly, someone grabbed her from behind, one arm around her neck, the other bracing the one that choked her.

“And now you die, loyalist wench,” the man hissed in her ear.

Kill or be killed, evil, KILL HIM! Something inside her head screamed as his grip tightened around her neck. In a flash of movement, she whipped the stick out of the folds of her sleeve and drove it into his stomach. Breaking it off as he stumbled back in surprise and pain, she lunged at him. He looked up in shock just before she drove the remaining half of the stick into his throat.

“I am not a wench,” she replied icily as blood splattered across her face and kimono.

She stared at the dying man in front of her for a moment before coming back to her senses. Oh Kamisama! She screamed inside her head. What have I done?! Then, she remembered the train of events. How did I... It doesn’t matter. It was kill or be killed. She reassured herself. He was evil; he would have killed me. Killing evil is not bad; it’s what all the legendary heroes did. ... I better get Satoshi-san.

Blood dripped off Yuriko’s hand as she reached to shake Satoshi awake. Before she could even touch him, he jerked out of his bed, jumping a good ten feet away from her. She jerked back in response, completely surprised.

For a moment, he stared at her. Finally he walked back over to where she stood, puzzlement showing on his face. “Yuri-chan,” he began, concern welling up in his voice, “What happened?”

Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she answered in a perfectly level voice, “I think some guy was going to try to kill you but I killed him first.” Her passive face dissolved and her eyes welled up with tears, “He was the first man I’ve ever killed…” her voice turned to a whisper as tears flowed down her cheeks, turning a rosy pink as they made their path through the blood on her face. “I didn’t have a choice, he was going to kill me…” Shaking her head as if to clear it, Yuriko suppressed her feelings and looked down at her blood covered hand, “It is a pretty color, isn’t it? But I’d never want to wear it.”