[Fic] A Geisha's love story
Chapter 1
Kamenashi Kazuya, aged seventeen, looked up the sky and smiled as the cloud rolled above him. The soft fall of the palest of pink, silken petals around him made everything feel more serene and Kazuya wanted to think that he was living inside a dream.
He was at the field of the Inoue dance school wherein he and other apprentice geishas are being taught the graceful art of dancing.
Dance is the most revered of the geisha's arts. It was a privilege only to be experienced by the most promising and beautiful geishas to be. Sometimes, Kazuya felt grateful to have inherited his late mother's looks. It was this feminine features that had brought him to such good fate.
The first day he had tried to dance, he knew he was born to do it. The way his body moved naturally along the music and the way he swayed; those were proof enough to have the instructor be convinced that Kazuya was indeed meant to be trained to become one of the great geishas in the Tokyo prefecture.
"You really love this place, ne, Kame-chan?"
Kazuya opened his eyes and turned to his side, only to see Tat-chan looking at him with such tender eyes. If Kazuya was the carefree soul, Tatsuya was his exact opposite. Tatsuya and he did not differ much with their story. Basically, almost every one living in the okiya shared the same fate. It was either a tragic event had happened or that the family had went through a financial burden that has been too much to bear.
Tatsuya and Kazuya were examples of both.
As for their seniors, the juniors were not allowed to question their lives. The seniors were there to guide the younger ones on how to live the life of a geisha and not to share what miserable experience they had gone through.
"I do, Tat-chan. I love to think that my family is watching over me as I watch the clouds go by." Kazuya smiled at his friend. Tatsuya was very much like him, Kazuya thought. Tatsuya possessed a womanly face just like he does and the figure Tatsuya has was leaner than Kazuya's curvy ones.
"Did Inoue-san look for me?"
Tatsuya sat beside his best friend and stared at the endless rows of flowers that adorned the earth.
"He did." the older of the two said. "But he said you have already perfected the steps so he did not really mind that were away during our rehearsal."
"Inoue-san is really good to me." Kazuya chuckled. "ne, Tat-chan, do you think Satoshi-san would mind if I skip classes today?" he asked, referring to the singing lessons they had to attend after their break.
Tatsuya laughed softly. "Satoshi-san wouldn't. But Ninomiya-kun would surely turn the tables upside down to find you. You know how Nino-kun can act like a scorned mother sometimes."
Kazuya chuckled before nodding, knowing that what his friend had stated was very much true. "Fine. I'd go attend the class then."
"Nice choice." Tatsuya grinned as they both got up from their sitting position, made sure that there was no dirt clinging to their simple, blue in color kimono before heading to the other side of the dance school wherein Satoshi-san was waiting.
To be a geisha was never his dream nor Kazuya's but sometimes, things just get out of hand and one just has to go with the flow of his life less he wants to end up more miserable than he could ever be.
-----
A lovely voice was coming from inside the room and Kazuya smiled when he recognized the high-pitched tune that was melodic even in a simple conversation. Tatsuya took the initiative to slide open the door that has a paper screen.
"Kame-chan! Tat-chan!" the owner of said melodic voice almost squealed, breaking the song in process.
"Tego-nyan, you still sing the nagauta very well." Kazuya praised the younger male after he and Tatsuya bowed at Satoshi-san who welcomed them with a smile.
The nagauta was the form of song a geisha sings. It was not fast in beat but was slow in rhythm. It has to be sung emotionally so as to express the real meaning of the nagauta.
"Thank you, Kame-chan." Tegoshi answered back, gave his friends a smile. Everyone in the okiya sings well and there was no doubt about that when they see the crowd applause and cheer for them after every performance in the theater or even in the teahouses. Although he, Kazuya and Tatsuya are still maikos, they are allowed to perform as backups for their seniors.
Kazuya and Tatsuya took their rightful positions before they followed Satoshi-san's instructions.
Ohno Satoshi, Nino-kun's danna, was their voice trainor since he has a really nice voice and his ability to control it while singing was one of the reasons why Johnny-san had employed Satoshi-san to be their mentor.
Soon, the room was filled with voices singing a lovely melody yet haunting in a way. It was as if they were singing for a love they never were meant to have.
Like the art of dancing, singing conveys different kinds of emotions as the lyrics of the song tell a story of different endings.
-----
Kazuya strummed the strings of the shamisen with a plectrum.
The shamisen was a Japanese guitar only smaller and with a thin wooden neck that has three large tuning pegs at the end. Its body was a wooden box that can be taken apart to be put aside in a box or a bag.
As maikos, they should learn how to play at least two instruments and master it, acquire all the necessary skills to play the instrument with not as much of a trouble.
Ikuta Toma had been known to play the shamisen really well.
As Kazuya watched him strum the strings in a rhythmic pattern, Kazuya knew, without doubt, that Ikuta-san would be able to play the shamisen perfectly even with his eyes covered.
Ikuta-san was a geisha even before he, Kazuya, had come to the okiya.
He was one of the most requested geishas back when he was still one. Ikuta-san was pretty, his aura was as bright as the sun but it was his jovial personality that had gotten the interests of most men.
Unlike other geishas, Ikuta-san used to smile very so often. Even with the simplest of happenings. Ikuta-san would be all smiles, his eyes dancing in happiness and anyone who would see Ikuta-san in such state would feel relaxed and at peace. He can also crack witty jokes and make the quiet room roar with a blast of laughter.
Of all their seniors, Ikuta-san was the most thoughtful and helpful of his juniors. It was a wonder to Kazuya why Ikuta-san stopped working as a geisha when he was successful in their trade. The rumours about him falling in love with a younger man had spread but were never proven true. Sometimes, it felt like a regret to have Ikuta-san decide to be of help in the okiya by teaching them, the maikos, the art of playing the shamisen instead of being the playful yet elusive geisha he once was.
"Kazuya-kun, are you having trouble playing the instrument?" he heard his mentor ask who was now giving him a concerned look.
Kazuya shook his head gently and smiled. "I am sorry, Ikuta-san. I have been spacing out again."
Ikuta Toma chuckled. "It's alright. But try not to space out too much, okay? Johnny-san wouldn't like it if he ever sees you like that. Tell me, Kazuya-kun, is anything bothering you?" he asked the younger man. He had known Kazuya for a year now and he believed that Kazuya had it in him to be one of the greatest geisha who ever set foot in Tokyo if not in the whole Japan.
Kazuya thought for a while. "ne, Ikuta-san, why did you stop being a geisha?" he asked with a curious tone.
Toma stilled but he kept his face calm. Having to attend dance rehearsals for the Noh had been beneficial in times like this one because he could keep a face without any expression at all. It took him five seconds before a smile grew evident on his face.
"Kazuya-kun, as a geisha, there are things you can never control." he started. "Sometimes, it's better to give up some things that will end up hurting you no matter how much you prevent it from happening."
"What things, Ikuta-san?" Kazuya asked, having the innocence of a child.
"Emotions, Kazuya-kun. Always learn how to guard your emotions, especially your heart." Toma said, still smiling despite the painful memories that had played in his mind at the moment.
"So it is true that you fell in love, Ikuta-san?"
Toma nodded slightly before deciding to change the topic. "Now, now, Kazuya. This is not the time for us to talk about that. You can go to my room in the okiya if ever you want to know more and I'd be more than glad to help you. Now, place your plectrum on the second string and strum from there. Let's do the song again." he instructed the younger man, kept up his calm façade.
Kazuya followed the elder male and did what he was told to do.
He would never fall in love, Kazuya thought as he played the shamisen in his hands. He would do everything not to be vulnerable. He was training to be a geisha, a person of mysterious yet strong personality and somehow, at some point in time, it became a dream for him to be a full-pledged artisan and earn respect through it.
"Kazuya-kun, you are strumming really hard. Keep it light. Do it again from the start." he heard Ikuta-san say.
Who said that being a geisha was an easy task? Kazuya asked himself as he positioned his hands in a better angle and started strumming the strings in a lighter movement.
The song came to an end and Kazuya let out a relieved sigh when Ikuta-san nodded at him with a smile, indicated that it was enough for now.
Tatsuya had finished the lesson earlier than he did. He doesn't know how, but Tat-chan had a way with strings while he was no genius when it came to such instruments.
"Kazuya-kun, you have to keep your focus in playing the shamisen. I know that you enjoy playing the fue but the shamisen will always be the instrument you will hold in your hands as you entertain guests during your performances." he heard Ikuta-san say to him with an understanding tone.
That was true, Kazuya thought. He loved playing the fue more than the shamisen.
A fue was a kind of a Japanese flute. He liked the sound it produced more than what the shamisen could. On one hand, Tatsuya had mastered the shamisen and was attending classes for the tsutsumi, a small kind of drum that is played in a kneeling position, held in the shoulder and played by the use of the hand. Tatsuya took the class not because he loves the tsutsumi, but because the mentor had gotten his interest. Nishikido Ryo was younger than Tatsuya but he was an expert with the tsutsumi. Nishikido-san was the one teaching Tatsuya the techniques of how to play the instrument.
"Kazuya-kun?"
Kazuya blinked and smiled apologetically to the man in front of him. "I am so sorry. I promise that I will do my best the next time, Ikuta-san. Thank you for your patience." he'd said.
Toma nodded his agreement and watched Kazuya walk away after the young man had bowed in front of him. He sighed, wanting to know what was bothering the young man. Toma shrugged, knowing it was no longer his business, instead, he played a music that only the shamisen could produce, humming along as he strummed the strings.
~*~
Chapter 2
Kamenashi Kazuya, aged seventeen, looked up the sky and smiled as the cloud rolled above him. The soft fall of the palest of pink, silken petals around him made everything feel more serene and Kazuya wanted to think that he was living inside a dream.
He was at the field of the Inoue dance school wherein he and other apprentice geishas are being taught the graceful art of dancing.
Dance is the most revered of the geisha's arts. It was a privilege only to be experienced by the most promising and beautiful geishas to be. Sometimes, Kazuya felt grateful to have inherited his late mother's looks. It was this feminine features that had brought him to such good fate.
The first day he had tried to dance, he knew he was born to do it. The way his body moved naturally along the music and the way he swayed; those were proof enough to have the instructor be convinced that Kazuya was indeed meant to be trained to become one of the great geishas in the Tokyo prefecture.
"You really love this place, ne, Kame-chan?"
Kazuya opened his eyes and turned to his side, only to see Tat-chan looking at him with such tender eyes. If Kazuya was the carefree soul, Tatsuya was his exact opposite. Tatsuya and he did not differ much with their story. Basically, almost every one living in the okiya shared the same fate. It was either a tragic event had happened or that the family had went through a financial burden that has been too much to bear.
Tatsuya and Kazuya were examples of both.
As for their seniors, the juniors were not allowed to question their lives. The seniors were there to guide the younger ones on how to live the life of a geisha and not to share what miserable experience they had gone through.
"I do, Tat-chan. I love to think that my family is watching over me as I watch the clouds go by." Kazuya smiled at his friend. Tatsuya was very much like him, Kazuya thought. Tatsuya possessed a womanly face just like he does and the figure Tatsuya has was leaner than Kazuya's curvy ones.
"Did Inoue-san look for me?"
Tatsuya sat beside his best friend and stared at the endless rows of flowers that adorned the earth.
"He did." the older of the two said. "But he said you have already perfected the steps so he did not really mind that were away during our rehearsal."
"Inoue-san is really good to me." Kazuya chuckled. "ne, Tat-chan, do you think Satoshi-san would mind if I skip classes today?" he asked, referring to the singing lessons they had to attend after their break.
Tatsuya laughed softly. "Satoshi-san wouldn't. But Ninomiya-kun would surely turn the tables upside down to find you. You know how Nino-kun can act like a scorned mother sometimes."
Kazuya chuckled before nodding, knowing that what his friend had stated was very much true. "Fine. I'd go attend the class then."
"Nice choice." Tatsuya grinned as they both got up from their sitting position, made sure that there was no dirt clinging to their simple, blue in color kimono before heading to the other side of the dance school wherein Satoshi-san was waiting.
To be a geisha was never his dream nor Kazuya's but sometimes, things just get out of hand and one just has to go with the flow of his life less he wants to end up more miserable than he could ever be.
-----
A lovely voice was coming from inside the room and Kazuya smiled when he recognized the high-pitched tune that was melodic even in a simple conversation. Tatsuya took the initiative to slide open the door that has a paper screen.
"Kame-chan! Tat-chan!" the owner of said melodic voice almost squealed, breaking the song in process.
"Tego-nyan, you still sing the nagauta very well." Kazuya praised the younger male after he and Tatsuya bowed at Satoshi-san who welcomed them with a smile.
The nagauta was the form of song a geisha sings. It was not fast in beat but was slow in rhythm. It has to be sung emotionally so as to express the real meaning of the nagauta.
"Thank you, Kame-chan." Tegoshi answered back, gave his friends a smile. Everyone in the okiya sings well and there was no doubt about that when they see the crowd applause and cheer for them after every performance in the theater or even in the teahouses. Although he, Kazuya and Tatsuya are still maikos, they are allowed to perform as backups for their seniors.
Kazuya and Tatsuya took their rightful positions before they followed Satoshi-san's instructions.
Ohno Satoshi, Nino-kun's danna, was their voice trainor since he has a really nice voice and his ability to control it while singing was one of the reasons why Johnny-san had employed Satoshi-san to be their mentor.
Soon, the room was filled with voices singing a lovely melody yet haunting in a way. It was as if they were singing for a love they never were meant to have.
Like the art of dancing, singing conveys different kinds of emotions as the lyrics of the song tell a story of different endings.
-----
Kazuya strummed the strings of the shamisen with a plectrum.
The shamisen was a Japanese guitar only smaller and with a thin wooden neck that has three large tuning pegs at the end. Its body was a wooden box that can be taken apart to be put aside in a box or a bag.
As maikos, they should learn how to play at least two instruments and master it, acquire all the necessary skills to play the instrument with not as much of a trouble.
Ikuta Toma had been known to play the shamisen really well.
As Kazuya watched him strum the strings in a rhythmic pattern, Kazuya knew, without doubt, that Ikuta-san would be able to play the shamisen perfectly even with his eyes covered.
Ikuta-san was a geisha even before he, Kazuya, had come to the okiya.
He was one of the most requested geishas back when he was still one. Ikuta-san was pretty, his aura was as bright as the sun but it was his jovial personality that had gotten the interests of most men.
Unlike other geishas, Ikuta-san used to smile very so often. Even with the simplest of happenings. Ikuta-san would be all smiles, his eyes dancing in happiness and anyone who would see Ikuta-san in such state would feel relaxed and at peace. He can also crack witty jokes and make the quiet room roar with a blast of laughter.
Of all their seniors, Ikuta-san was the most thoughtful and helpful of his juniors. It was a wonder to Kazuya why Ikuta-san stopped working as a geisha when he was successful in their trade. The rumours about him falling in love with a younger man had spread but were never proven true. Sometimes, it felt like a regret to have Ikuta-san decide to be of help in the okiya by teaching them, the maikos, the art of playing the shamisen instead of being the playful yet elusive geisha he once was.
"Kazuya-kun, are you having trouble playing the instrument?" he heard his mentor ask who was now giving him a concerned look.
Kazuya shook his head gently and smiled. "I am sorry, Ikuta-san. I have been spacing out again."
Ikuta Toma chuckled. "It's alright. But try not to space out too much, okay? Johnny-san wouldn't like it if he ever sees you like that. Tell me, Kazuya-kun, is anything bothering you?" he asked the younger man. He had known Kazuya for a year now and he believed that Kazuya had it in him to be one of the greatest geisha who ever set foot in Tokyo if not in the whole Japan.
Kazuya thought for a while. "ne, Ikuta-san, why did you stop being a geisha?" he asked with a curious tone.
Toma stilled but he kept his face calm. Having to attend dance rehearsals for the Noh had been beneficial in times like this one because he could keep a face without any expression at all. It took him five seconds before a smile grew evident on his face.
"Kazuya-kun, as a geisha, there are things you can never control." he started. "Sometimes, it's better to give up some things that will end up hurting you no matter how much you prevent it from happening."
"What things, Ikuta-san?" Kazuya asked, having the innocence of a child.
"Emotions, Kazuya-kun. Always learn how to guard your emotions, especially your heart." Toma said, still smiling despite the painful memories that had played in his mind at the moment.
"So it is true that you fell in love, Ikuta-san?"
Toma nodded slightly before deciding to change the topic. "Now, now, Kazuya. This is not the time for us to talk about that. You can go to my room in the okiya if ever you want to know more and I'd be more than glad to help you. Now, place your plectrum on the second string and strum from there. Let's do the song again." he instructed the younger man, kept up his calm façade.
Kazuya followed the elder male and did what he was told to do.
He would never fall in love, Kazuya thought as he played the shamisen in his hands. He would do everything not to be vulnerable. He was training to be a geisha, a person of mysterious yet strong personality and somehow, at some point in time, it became a dream for him to be a full-pledged artisan and earn respect through it.
"Kazuya-kun, you are strumming really hard. Keep it light. Do it again from the start." he heard Ikuta-san say.
Who said that being a geisha was an easy task? Kazuya asked himself as he positioned his hands in a better angle and started strumming the strings in a lighter movement.
The song came to an end and Kazuya let out a relieved sigh when Ikuta-san nodded at him with a smile, indicated that it was enough for now.
Tatsuya had finished the lesson earlier than he did. He doesn't know how, but Tat-chan had a way with strings while he was no genius when it came to such instruments.
"Kazuya-kun, you have to keep your focus in playing the shamisen. I know that you enjoy playing the fue but the shamisen will always be the instrument you will hold in your hands as you entertain guests during your performances." he heard Ikuta-san say to him with an understanding tone.
That was true, Kazuya thought. He loved playing the fue more than the shamisen.
A fue was a kind of a Japanese flute. He liked the sound it produced more than what the shamisen could. On one hand, Tatsuya had mastered the shamisen and was attending classes for the tsutsumi, a small kind of drum that is played in a kneeling position, held in the shoulder and played by the use of the hand. Tatsuya took the class not because he loves the tsutsumi, but because the mentor had gotten his interest. Nishikido Ryo was younger than Tatsuya but he was an expert with the tsutsumi. Nishikido-san was the one teaching Tatsuya the techniques of how to play the instrument.
"Kazuya-kun?"
Kazuya blinked and smiled apologetically to the man in front of him. "I am so sorry. I promise that I will do my best the next time, Ikuta-san. Thank you for your patience." he'd said.
Toma nodded his agreement and watched Kazuya walk away after the young man had bowed in front of him. He sighed, wanting to know what was bothering the young man. Toma shrugged, knowing it was no longer his business, instead, he played a music that only the shamisen could produce, humming along as he strummed the strings.
~*~
Chapter 2