Today was a busy day, Hatsu-yome told me. Nene was going to perform at the Yuzu theater, and the preparations were going to be quite difficult; first, she had to go check on the kimono fittings, then she had to go to the Takashi tea house and keep her guest of honor company until late in the afternoon when she must return home to get ready.
And I of course have to be by her side all that time.
We got out of the house that morning in a hurry because Nene had to have her 'beauty sleep' "no time to eat!" Obaasan said to me when I tried to sneak into the kitchen.
With my stomach growling, I waited outside while the oldest geisha talked to her tailor.
They've been talking for a while; I could see them from the cracked door. Yuu-kun was there as well carrying bags bigger than him, although I could not see his face since Nene's baggage were standing in the way; for some reason she decided to buy makeup supplies in the busiest day of the week. Hatsu-yome had scolded her enough for that.
"Good luck on your performance!" I heard the lady at the door say as Nene waved goodbye.
"Thank you, have a nice day." she said back.
And boy was I happy to clear this of our day plan.
"What's next?" I asked her.
She lifted a finger to her chin and looked up thinking. "hmm I feel like shopping, I hear they're selling new merchandise down the street."
"Dear god no more shopping!" I groaned.
Nene laughed covering her face with her fold-able fan "oh relax brave warrior there won't be any of that today."
I let out a breath of relief "You had me there for a second." Looking ahead, I saw a lock of crimson hair hover passed me and I knew immediately who it belong to; Fuji Hara stopped in front of a sweets shop and when my eyes landed on his, his face lit up.
"Dai-senpai!" he called, waving drastically.
"Ah Fuji-kun," I chucked walking toward him as he did the same, we met half way and enveloped in a bear hug "What are you doing here?"
"I should ask you the same Dai-senpai walking around with a lovely lady," he pushed me aside swiftly taking Nene's hand "Hello there, I'm Fuji, Fuji Hara."
I could see Nene was too surprised to answer; "You haven't changed a bit." I laughed "This is Nene-chan a geisha of the Fuku."
"Oh that's right I heard about your mission." Fuji nodded "Senpai is so lucky!"
Nene's lips curved into a smirk. "Indeed he is." She teased.
Fuji sighed as he continued "I wish I had an assignment like yours, all Riota-senpai gives me are guard tasks." He complained. "I wish he'd give me something I'm good at, like infiltrating an enemy base or steal a top secret document!"
Nene, amused, taped him with her fan "My, Fuji-san is so childlike."
Actually he was. However, there was some truth on what he said.
Fuji-kun dreamed since childhood of becoming a great ninja. He didn't give up on his dream as he grew. When he was seven, he fell off the roof of his neighbors' house while practicing the ninja arts -as he calls it- and broke his arm.
The pain was bad.
Explaining to the neighbors why he was there in the first place was worse.
His family went from being amused at his creative mind to being deeply worried about his obsession. The adults in his life insisted that the ninja stories weren't real.
There were no glamorous practitioners of near magical arts.
At first, he refused to believe this.
After all, what would his parents know about real ninjas?
But as he grew up, he came to realize the adults were right. So, he settled down to learn his father's trade, training in acupuncture and medicine-making. As far as anyone else knew, he'd left his ambition to become a ninja behind in childhood, where it was supposed to stay.
Then one day, a group of samurai calling themselves 'soldiers' came to Nara (region north of Miyoshi). They were looking for local men to join their ranks. And Fuju-kun answered the call.
That was the day Fuji Hara joined officially as Soldier. I remember when the commander asked him on our first meeting. "So you want to be a samurai?"
Fuji-kun nodded. He listened carefully as Riota-san laid out the challenges he hoped Fuji-kun could aid us with. As a local, he could better gather intelligence for the southern soldiers. He had no history with the other men, so he would be impartial in watching their behavior.
A smile lit up his face when he finally realized.
We didn't want another samurai, really. What we wanted was a ninja.
Our get together was shortly interrupted when a group of guards came looking for him and after saying our goodbyes, Nene and I continued on to our next stop.
Later that day the theater opened, I accompanied the girls to the dressing room where I stood waiting; for Mitsu had told me I was not allowed to enter. An hour later I was standing with the girls and other apprentices in the wings of the theater, as they were getting ready for the opening dance. They wore identical kimono of yellow and red, with obis of orange and gold so that they looked, each of them, like shimmering images of sunlight. When the music began, with that first thump of the drums and the twang of all the shamisens, and they danced out together like a string of beads their arms outstretched, their folding fans open in their hands.
I had never before seen something like this.
After the opening piece, Nene rushed upstairs to change her kimono. It was time for the dance in which she was to appear as a solo performer. While I waited in the wings, I had the peculiar feeling that the weight of the entire building was pressing down on me, I found myself with a few minutes to peek out at the audience.
I needed a cigarette.
When I left the theater I expected to find no one outside but as I reached the street, a guard emerged running past me. That is when heard sword clatter, I followed the sound back into the garden of the Theater where four guards surrounding a strange looking man.
"Dai-senpai stand back!" Fuji Hara was on his knees two feet away from the guards, his right arm completely frozen while holding his katana.
I rushed into him helping him into his feet "Your arm, what happened?"
"We were patrolling the area when we found him creeping around the theater." He told me. "He uses some kind of technique."
I frowned trying to get a look at the man clashing with the guards but he was too quick for my eyes so I asked. "Who is he?"
Fuji Hara looked at me with an odd expression then said "I'm surprised you don't recognize his face, it's him, the killer that goes by the name of-"
The Ripper.