During these first few days in that strange place, I don't think I could have felt worse if I'd lost my arms and legs. I woke up the next day with sounds of feet dragging and shouting, I wondered what they could possibly be fighting about at this early hour.
I got out of my room only to be stumbled by Tama-chan, she squeezed her hands tight in her chest holding something I could not see. "Daiki-San!" The girl dashed behind me at the sight of a very angry Nene.
"You little crook!" she hustled trying to reach her sister who used me as human shield. "Give it back!"
"Okaasan gave it to me!" Tama-chan grumbled but that did not seem to stop the older geisha.
"Ladies!" I called once one of them slapped my face with her palm, they were surprisingly strong. "Calm down! Ladies!"
"Dear god what are you two doing?!" Mitsu came accompanied by Hatsu-Yome who separated the two of them, "I'm so sorry Daiki-san." She bowed a couple of times before turning to her sisters.
"Nene! This is no way to behave in front of a guest." Hatsu-Yome said giving her two daughters a vigilant glare
Nene clicked her tong looking away, "She took my clip!"
"Okasan gave it to me!" Tama told her again. "Tell her!"
"Tama-chan, I said you can have it if your sister is kind enough to give it to you." Hatsu-Yome clenched her teeth and laughed at this, I suppose because she was embarrassed at having been caught in her lie.
Tama pouted releasing from her grip the jeweled clip that Nene took with a victorious look in her face "I kindly won't."
I'm sure there are a great many things I don't know about these young women in their splendid dresses and stunning hair do, but fighting over a piece of jewelry was not one of them.
"I apologize on behalf of my immature daughters," Hatsu-yome said after she sent the girls down to the Ima, "I hope they did not disturb your sleep."
"No that's alright" I said. But she was already walking toward the door as I said it.
After tidying myself I went out to check on the girls, hoping they haven't murdered each other yet, a maid told me they were having breakfast in the Ima.
On my way I ran into Nene who appeared to be just freshening up. "Ohayo Nene-chan." I greeted her, bright smile and all.
She smirked, "Good morning Shou-kun." She greeted back blocking my way to the stairs. "I'm sorry about the little dispute earlier." Her voice as attractive as she was.
"It's Daiki-san." I corrected. "And it's alright, I'm used to it by now."
"hm, care to join?" she asked pushing the door to her room open.
Nene's room was the largest in the Fuku, larger in floor space than my entire house. I couldn't think why it should be so much bigger than everyone else's until one of the girls told me that in the past there'd been as many as three or four, and they'd all slept together in that one room. But then their number grew, so lady Hatsu-Yome put together a couple of extra rooms and Nene kept the largest one.
Nene may have lived alone, but she certainly made enough mess for four people. When I glanced up to her room that day, in addition to the magazines strewn about, and brushes left on the mats near her tiny makeup stand, I saw an apple core and an empty whiskey bottle under the table. The window was open, and the wind must have knocked down the wood frame on which she'd hung her kimono from the night before-or perhaps she'd tipped it over before going to bed drunk and hadn't yet bothered to pick it up. Usually Obasan would have fetched the kimono by now, because it was her responsibility to care for the clothing in the Fuku, but for some reason she hadn't.
"No thanks, maybe another time." I declined politely.
It was my first encounter with Nene alone.
Frankly, it frightened me.
She rolled her eyes drastically "Your loss" she said as she turned to walk ahead of me.
And just like the maid said, everybody was gathered in the main room. The aroma of the sweet-rice cakes was filling the room, I quickly sat across the table before my saliva starts dripping from my mouth.
"My my don't you look famished Daiki-san." Mitsu said, smiling, and picked up her rice bowl, she was eating rice mixed with red adzuki beans.
"You look quite skinny for a samurai" Obasan observed handing me a bowl of rice "Do they feed you properly?" she asked with concern.
"No matter how much we eat a soldier never has enough." I joked.
Nene laughed noticeably putting down her chopsticks "Megome, can you fetch me some water?"
"I just sent Yuu-chan to get some." Obasan told her.
"I don't want that filthy water, Megome." Nene ordered and the young apprentice had no choice but to obey.
"Where's that brat? Yuu-chaan!" Hatsu-Yome called and the boy came dressed the same as yesterday and knelt by Obasan's side, she took the water from his hands and placed on the table.
I could see from the glares Nene was shooting him that their relationship was somehow disturbed.
At least from one side.
Yuu had no reaction to Nene's habitual assault, he ignored her completely and that only added more to the fire.
It all started as a game.
Nene was bored, and he was so fun to tease, always so earnest and easily embarrassed even if he did not speak.
I was told Yuu was from a foreign country thus he did not speak our language. It was Obaasan that found him; she took him into her home in a snowy night and since then he was a servant in the Fuku.
He was truly the ideal victim for Nene, someone who couldn't say no.
Maybe it was not such a bad idea to have him around after all, she must have thought. Besides, if he were to be troublesome, beating him would not be very difficult. So why not make their time together a little more enjoyable for her?
He was the poor little mouse and she was the cruel cat constantly chasing after him. Nothing more than a game...
Yes, he irritated her, for quite a good number of reasons. Because no matter how much she tried, there were still parts of him she could not understand. It annoyed her even more that, he sometimes seemed to understand her more than anyone ever did. Bringing her the treats she likes whenever she was upset, picking up her cloths of the floor even when Obaasan specifically asked him not to.
He was stubborn, that was annoying too. No matter how scared he was of her, no matter how much she threatened him, he never backed down.
There was a time when I saw her true face behind that layer of makeup. Megome, Nene and I were sitting in the reception room. Nene was watching Mego do a dance routine she learned at school while Yuu gently brushed her hair.
I was cleaning up my scabbard when I heard her scream. I looked up to see her slapping his face so hard it left a nasty red mark on his left cheek. Then all of the sudden she turned him around to face her again, and began to stroke the side of his head with her hand. Then before I knew what she was doing, she worked her fingers down to his scalp; and all at once she clenched her teeth in fury and took a great handful of his golden hair, and yanked it to one side so hard he fell to his knees and cried out.
It was the first time I ever heard his voice.
I tried my best to keep her calm but I failed miserably. I could not understand what was happening; soon Nene had pulled him to his feet again, and began leading him up the stairs yanking his hair this way and that. She was shouting at him so loud I wouldn't have been surprised if she'd woken people all up and down the street.
I've never feared a woman in my life as much as Nene.
And the only person who could cool her down was Okaasan. But she rarely did, which gave her more opportunities to do as she pleased.
Sometimes I wished I could just go home