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Tales of a Geisha

Chapter 3: Death and Renewal

By Kchan Ferrier

February 2, 1868

Yuriko silently adjusted her kimono, slid open the door to her room, and stepped out, closing the door again behind her. She had never expected herself to work as a geisha again but there she was, quickly descending the stairs to the tearoom below.

Two years and nine months had passed since the fateful night she had frist killed and had begun training under Satoshi. She had learned fast and was not afraid to kill and as a result, many more people fell under her hand. But, one morning, after having made yet another strike on a small group of Ishin shishi -or Ishin sissies as she had come to call them-, Yuriko went out to collect some berries for her and her sensei’s breakfast. When she returned, she found Satoshi laying in a pool of his own blood.

She still vividly recalled his horrified face, and... right below his terrified expression, the gaping wound that crossed under his chin, from one ear to the other. Fearing for her life, she had fled to Kyoto where she quickly found a job as a geisha. When asked where she had come from, she told a woeful story consisting of the death of her lover, the destruction of the house she had “previously worked in” and of being the lone survivor. Since she had heard such stories on the road to Kyoto, she even was able to choose a geisha house that fit the description. The other geisha instantly accepted her story and gave her the place she now had. She had become friends with a few of them and was soon let in on a secret. The Shinsen gumi were going to start holding secret meetings at their teahouse. In fact, tonight was to be their first meeting.

Forcing her memories down, Yuriko slid open the door to the largest of the tearooms and stepped silently in with a graceful bow. When she raised her head, she found herself staring into a pair of deep amber eyes; their hard gaze held her own obsidian eyes for a long moment, and she felt a certain air of hardness creeping into the warm mask which she had learned to wear.

The man with the amber eyes spoke over his shoulder to the owner of the house, “Oi, Nari-san,” his voice was quiet, but Yuriko could still make out his words and the irritation he was trying to surpress, “I told you I only wanted your oldest and most trusted geisha serving us. Who let this kitten in?”

Nari bowed deeply in reply, “Gomenasai, Saitou-sama,” she answered, “but the girl insisted. The geisha house she had previously worked for was destroyed by the Ishin shishi. Yuriko-chan is the lone survivor.”

Saitou slowly nodded, never taking his eyes off the young woman as she knelt by one of his officers to serve sake. “She can stay,” he told Nari absently. Something was kicking him in the back of his mind about her but he just couldn’t figure out what. As she stood to retrieve more sake, her eyes met his again and it struck him. Blood. That was what he had just seen behind her eyes. He knew that look far too well. He saw it every time he looked in a mirror and every time he looked into the eyes of any of the members of the Kagetai. They were the eyes of a person who knew the blood would never stop raining down. But, there was something more... almost like the eyes of a predator...

Slowly, he stood to follow her.



Yuriko took her time pouring the sake into the small serving dish. The man with the golden eyes, Saitou, Nari had called him, was beginning to scare her. Every time he looked at her, she had a sinking feeling that he saw what lay behind her eyes...

She stopped all movement as almost silent footsteps neared the entryway of the kitchen. Replacing her concerned, almost frightened face with her warm mask, she smiled and turned to the person who now stood in the doorway.

“Hai? Nan desu ka?” Her cheerful voice was met with the hard face of the captain of the third division of the Shinsen gumi. She blinked at his knowing smirk.

“Want to tell me who you are?” Saitou asked coldly.

“Makachito Yuriko,” she answered with a polite bow.

“Don’t give me that shit,” he replied icily, his eyes narrowing, “Your eyes aren’t those of a geisha. You almost fooled me with that façade, but...” he finished his sentence with a shake of his head.

She sighed, and lowered her head to stared at her hands, now clasped in front of her. Oh kamisama! She cried inside her head. What do I do now?! ... Satoshi-sensei, I wish you were here... Without realizing it, she had let her smile slip. In fact, her whole façade had broken. A single tear made a dark streak in her white make-up. Inside her head, she screamed at herself for thinking of her dead sensei. Those thoughts always made her cry. She was going to have to do some quick thinking to cover this up.

Saitou’s eyes softened slightly. Was I wrong? he asked himself. Maybe what I saw in her eyes was from what she had witnessed... Yuriko looked up into his concerned eyes. Maybe, just maybe, she could trust him. From what she had heard of Saitou Hajime, he would never back down. That left her with very few choices but still... She didn’t have to tell him the whole truth, only enough to pacify him.

With yet another sigh, she began her revised tale in an extremely soft voice, “I was sold to a miako house in the Owari providence when I was three. I trained there for nine years then...” Her voice trailed off. “Will you promise, if I tell you this, not to say a word to anyone?”

Saitou nodded slowly, “As long as you won’t be a danger to me or my men.”

With a deep breath, she began again, “My real name is Kanamo Yuriko. I ran away from my Miako house when I was twelve and lived with my only friend, Makachito Satoshi-sama, until two months ago when he was killed by a ninja working for the Ishin shishi. I didn’t know until that night but Satoshi-sama had left his ninja clan when they sided with the Ishin shishi. The ninja who killed him was one of his former comrades.”

“And this ninja didn’t attack you?” Saitou asked, his eyes hinting at distrust.

“Iie,” she answered with a shake of her head, “I was hiding. He never knew I was there.”

Saitou slowly nodded, staring into her nearly pleading eyes. That explains the look in her eyes. It’s not the look of the predator. It’s the look of the prey that has seen what the predator can do. But, this prey isn’t scared. She might be valuable to have around.

“Alright,” Saitou said after the momentary pause. “I will keep your secret if you will do a few things for me…”

Yuriko began to get a sick feeling in her stomach as she nodded her head.

“Keep your eyes and ears open where ever you go. Tell me anything you find that could be of importance. You are going to be one of my informants,” he explained before walking to the door. “I know it’s against your geisha codes to break the seal of silence, but I doubt you really care as long as you are helping the Shinsen gumi, ne?”

“Of course! I’d be happy to be one of your informants!” she answered with a huge grin, barely containing her giddiness. He nodded, smirking at her in amusement, and left her in the kitchen by herself. Suddenly alone again, she began to get an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. Quickly, she hurried to her room upstairs to fix her make-up. One thought lurked in the recesses of her mind, though. Why do I feel like a storm is coming...