A Homecoming (sort of?)

Now, Kyoto is a really beautiful place. And since it had been nine years since I had seen it last, I had wanted to see more before I attended to 'business' and continued onwards. So what do I do? I spend my hard-earned money on visiting the girls at a nice Okiya (geisha house). Nothing, I repeat, nothing is better, than after a long month of travelling (and the month before that being sea-travel), tasty sake, intelligent and good-looking women, the tatami of my home country – and of course Akane-chan's lap as a pillow.

Yoko-chan pours me a cup of sake (which I down) and then asks me a question. "So where are you from, Seta-sama?" her voice is very nice, not too high-pitched.

"Soujiro is fine, Yoko-chan." I grin. "Or Sou-kun. But where I'm from? Nearby the Kyoto area." She pours me more sake and this time I don't down it all in one go (how admirable of me, no?) but take a sip (I am a master of self control!). Now I have too much energy to relax, so I extract myself from Akane-chan's warm and comfortable embrace.

I turn to her and hold her hand. "It's nothing personal." I say with mock seriousness. "Your lap is one of the most comfortable laps I have lain in to this day." She laughs and so does Yoko and the other girl, Mari. I wink. "Say, Yoko-chan, about your question… You thought I was a foreigner? Or were you curious about my travels?"

"Oh goodness, no! Nothing like a foreigner." Mari-chan puts a hand over her mouth. "Soujiro-sama, will you please tell us about your travels?" she giggles. "I'm sure you have a lot of interesting stories to tell!"

I turn to her. "Indeed I do." I drink some sake (a lot – but shh! – don't tell anyone) and feel pleasantly tipsy (what was that about self-control?). "I'm a wanderer! There's no place in Japan I haven't been! I've seen ninja, I've seen swordfights the like of which no man, or woman, has seen before. I've seen Very beautiful scenery, forests with no-one around for miles – and it's autumn so the trees look like they're on fire. I've met some amazing people who've made me rethink my entire life, some people who allowed me to stay with them for a short time despite what my history was with them… I've met a tiny, cute girl get angry and start throwing knives, then turning into such a young woman that they have a bouquet of flowers waiting for them every day from an admirer! Or in one case it was more like a tsunami of flowers. That guy had to outdo me in everything." I laugh, then stop. "Whoops." I say, taking another drink. "That last part was…"

Yoko-chan, always the astute one strokes my hair. "Oh… Sou-kun. Your flowers were forgotten in the mix? How could any woman overlook you?"

"I honestly don't know either." I grin at her and tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. "No, actually." I say. "I conceded to the better man, who in turn, destroyed all the other competition – somehow while always keeping that girl in the front of his mind.."

Mari-chan's hand flies to her mouth again. "Destroyed?"

Akane-chan looks at me carefully. "So what has become of them now?"

I shrug. "I left before anything happened. But!" I point a finger at all of them and they lean in closer to hear what I was going to say. "I was really cool about it." They laugh. "That response is a bit unflattering." I say teasingly. "But I'm just curious. Do you know of the Aoiya?"

"Oh!" Mari-chan puts her hand over her mouth again and I'm tempted to ask what would happen if she didn't cover her mouth any time anything happened. "They've really expanded lately and there's a lot of gossip involving that place – and the people who run it. The past innkeeper is a regular client of ours. A very… Energetic older gentleman. But getting back on topic… The inn is really popular." She lowers her voice. "And you get all sorts in there. Street-fighters, a prestigious lady-doctor from Tokyo, some really evil-looking guy who's actually a cop – someone swore he saw the legendary Battousai visit once. But it was some very adorable young man with a wife and child."

I began to laugh (adorable young man? Kenshin-san's probably in his forties or something!). Yoko-chan tapped Mari-chan's shoulder. "That man's wife is the head of one of the biggest kendo schools in Tokyo, the Kamiya dojo."

Akane-chan shakes her head and unfolds her fan. "There was also some huge swordsman there. I think he came down from the mountain… And the street-fighter and the doctor are married."

I raise an eyebrow. "Oh, really?" I sit cross-legged and Yoko-chan pours me another drink. "Do you know much about the people living there – the current innkeepers? There's actually someone in particular. A certain… Makimachi Misao? How is she?"

The three women exchange amused glances. Akane-chan is the first to speak. "She seems to be doing rather well as far as I know. Although…"

I sit up. "Although what?"

"She hasn't been Makimachi for a while now, Sou-kun." Yoko-chan supplies gently.

I sigh. "Well, I suppose that's to be expected." Then I stop and urgently turn to Yoko-chan. "Just in case… She's not a Nakatani, is she?"

"No, no." Mari-chan giggles (with that damn hand over her mouth again – it's a nice mouth, why cover it all the time?). "She's been Shinomori for quite some time now."

Slowly nodding, I lay my head back into Akane-chan's lap. "That is to be expected, of course." Akane-chan's long fingers play with my hair as she fans herself, and Yoko-chan pours me another cup of sake.

Mari-chan sympathetically pats my hand. "When you were talking about the knife-throwing girl who turned into a wonderful woman, you were talking about her, weren't you, Sou-kun?"

I down all the sake in my cup (which Yoko-chan immediately refills). "Yeah. But that's to be expected." (can you see how I'm trying to convince myself here?) "I've been gone from Kyoto for a long time now." I say. "That's her. But… How's Aoshi-san then?"

Yoko-chan snorts, then quickly regains her composure. "He's leading a normal life, it seems."

I laugh a little. "So he's doing well with Misao-chan." I say (mostly to myself – I'm already this drunk, no?) "That's good. That's good."

Akane-chan smooths my hair back from my face. "There's probably something you should know if you decide to visit them. They have a child. A very pretty but hopelessly energetic girl."

Again, I laugh a little. "Just like her mother, then…"

The empty sake bottle slips from between my fingers and I feel drowsiness overtake me. Yoko-chan takes out her koto, Mari-chan her flute – and Akane-chan gently begins to sing. For the first time in a long while, I allow myself to relax, off guard. I close my eyes, and for the first time in a long while I dream of white lilies, sea-green eyes, bright sunlight dancing on a set of kunai, flushed cheeks, a carefree grin and happy voice that cheerfully calls out a name that isn't mine. (or something kinda like that, no?)