Hanabi, chapter one-- At the Golden Feather

Completed September 29 1008

Been WAY too long since I wrote in the Champloo universe. It's exactly a year before the death of Enshiro Mariya, and three young strangers, by chance, cross paths in Yokohama at festival time...

No smut in this chapter, but Mugen x Jin fans, just you wait. (grin)

"Gods, that new one is a terror," said Kiku-san, bustling in to help with the tea trays. Fuu, who was already pouring hot water into a row of tea bowls, perked up her ears.

"I could hear the racket she made from here." She hoped she didn't sound too unseemly curious. "I guess she's really angry at her father, huh?"

"Her father? Oh, no! You didn't hear?" The kitchen mistress' eyes sparkled; there was nothing she loved more than some juicy gossip, which Fuu had been counting on. She leaned in closer as the woman lowered her voice. "This one's in for crimes of her own. She's a pirate."

"A pirate! A pirate girl? Here?" This was even better than Fuu could have imagined. Kiku-san beamed with satisfaction at the impact of her news.

"Yes, it's quite a story. Of course you've heard about the river pirates who've been terrorizing the Katabira all summer? Well, last night the territorial police finally captured their ship, the Flower Dragon. All the men are in prison, but as this one's a woman, the magistrates decided she should serve her sentence here instead. She certainly doesn't agree, though." Kiku-san sighed in exasperation as Fuu whisked the tea. "It took four of us to get her bathed and dressed--she fought like a tiger."

"She won't get a lot of customers if she's like that."

"Well, she may end up costing us some money. Still, I imagine she'll draw in some men just to see her, and if we can serve them drinks and dinner, we'll at least break even. Especially with so many coming into town for the festival. " The mistress set little dishes of rice crackers and red pickled ginger on each lacquered tray. "She is a beauty, I'll say that, now that she's cleaned up a bit. And certainly stands out, with that red hair. I can't imagine why a pretty girl would choose such a life."

Fuu could think of several reasons, but held her tongue. "--Where's the list of rooms for tonight, Kiku-sempai?"

"Ah yes, back to business. Here it is--" Kiku-san picked up the sheet that showed which rooms expected a tea tray, and clapped her hands sharply. "Help, here!"

As other kitchen staff left their tasks and scurried to help carry the trays, Fuu could only think of the pirate girl. I've got to find a way to get in and talk to her.

Fuu actually didn't mind working at the Golden Feather. The brothel mistress, Yamaguchi Ran, came from a family with old alliances to her father's Seizou clan, so when she'd presented herself and explained she just needed work to support herself and Mom, they'd been happy to find her a safe job in the kitchen. She'd begun as a lowly tea girl, but as she'd shown a knack for organization, planning, and motivating a staff, she'd risen to assistant kitchen manager, and now supervised tea, sake' and even dinner menus. Kiku-san adored her, and had hinted she even might be kitchen mistress herself one day, if she stayed on. The hours were long--her feet and legs always ached terribly by the time she went home--but the pay was good, the food was free (joy!), and a smart girl who kept her eyes and ears open and her mouth shut could learn quite a lot. She could already throw dice as well or better than some of the dealers who worked the lower rooms every night, and had even filled in some nights when they were shorthanded. There was always work there too, if she wanted it. It was a little monotonous--okay, a lot, to be honest--but overall, not a bad life…

...but she felt terrible, couldn't help feeling it, for the women and girls who worked in the silk rooms upstairs. It wasn't that she didn't understand the custom or the honor of families--it just seemed so unfair to ask an innocent woman to give up her life and her freedom, selling herself like market goods, to settle debts that weren't even her own. Fuu suspected more than a few women here would gladly turn pirate if given the chance, just to be out of this place. Which was why this new girl was so interesting: a woman here for breaking the law herself!--and so dramatically too, not just for cheating a merchant or running away from home. Fuu could hardly constrain her curiosity: what must she be like?

She glanced at the room list again, and realized that she hadn't asked the mistress what the new girl's flower name was to be. Well, it would be easy to spot a new addition. She read down the sheet and saw that the "empty" notation in fourth floor west had been lined out and replaced with "Kawayuri". River lily--that had to be her.

Fuu filed this bit of information securely away as she quickly straightened and re-pinned her hair. Now that tea had been served it would soon be time to prepare the women's meals; they always ate in the late afternoon, to give the staff time to begin preparations for dinner and the arrival of the night's customers. There were extra help coming in too, with two nights left in the Tanabata celebration. It shouldn't be too difficult to arrange the serving list so that she was handling the fourth floor west herself--

--what in the world--? --a sudden commotion at the front door broke into her thoughts: men shouting, a scuffle, the ring of blades--what? Someone tried to fight his way in? She rushed to see, but the struggle was already over, with one door guard pelting down the street in pursuit of the intruder and one on the floor clutching what looked like a dislocated jaw.

Yamaguchi-san swept regally onto the scene, a tall, impeccably-dressed woman with a proud, severe face. Fuu pulled hastily back into the doorway. The brothel mistress was the eldest daughter of a powerful yakuza lord, and Fuu had learned very quickly that crossing her even a little bit was a mistake you didn't make twice. She quickly scanned the scene, glanced at the injured guard.

"What happened here?"

"A man tried to rush in--just a kid really--"

"--a young man with a Chinese sword, very fast, oneesan--"

"Hm." The mistress studied the street a moment and made her decision. "All right, replace this man at guard duty and call an apothecary to tend him. Be sure the apothecary sees me before he leaves. If that boy is caught, I want him brought directly to me. If not, make sure a description of him gets to all the guards and staff.-- That will do."

"Hai, at once, oneesan!"

The front staff rushed to obey as she turned on her heel and sailed back to her offices in a trailing rustle of splendid brocade. Fuu darted back into the kitchen--not to be caught eavesdropping--and applied herself diligently to studying the dinner menu, delighted by this new twist to events. Who had any idea this was going to be such an exciting day?

The meeting with the swordsmith had gone smoothly, and Mariya-dono seemed thoroughly satisfied as he and Jin approached the outskirts of Yokohama. "We've made good time," he remarked, "we'll be in the city before dark. We'll take rooms at the teahouse for the night and catch the first ferry in the morning."

Tired as he was, Jin was still glad to be spending another evening away from Mujuushinken dojo. The day-to-day struggle to hold the school together; the endless political tension; and the unsteady, delicate truce between his master, himself, the dojo's nanadan masters, and Hojo Yukimaru made every day exhausting and draining. Trying to be everything everyone expected of him, teach his classes, keep his students focused and unworried, maintain his own training, keep Yuki satisfied and still get some amount of sleep every night…he wasn't at all sure how he managed it, and he wasn't always certain that what he said or did during the day made sense. So when the master had required his company on this trip to negotiate a contract with a forge across the bay (when you're master of this school, Jin, he'd said, you'll need to know how to deal with tradesmen and artisans), he'd considered it no less than a vacation. And the sense of relaxation and freedom he felt on the road was immense. Every sense seemed cleaner and sharper, his step felt lighter, even the food tasted better, without all that pressing down on his back.

The fourth and fifth traveling merchant's wagon he'd seen since they came in sight of town plodded past them, heavily laden. That seemed unusual this late in the day. "Is there some event in the city tonight, Master?"

"Now that I think of it, the ferryman did ask us if we were coming here for the festival. As we weren't, I didn't attend to him." Plainly Mariya-dono, too, felt more relaxed away from the dojo. "Well then, perhaps we've come on an auspicious night."

As the fifth wagon drew away, Jin noticed the large stenciled legend on its rear panel: CAUTION--FIREWORKS. Where had he heard of a fireworks festival in this area?…

It clicked into place. Of course: Tanabata, the Weaver Star Festival. They held a great fireworks show on the Katabira River to honor the stars' romance, a famous one that people traveled for miles to see. It was such a city event that everything else closed down, even--

--and he remembered their talkative ferryman's words. Going to Yokohama for the festival? If y'are, best not be planning to come back before it's over: this boat'll be shut down the final day, so the ferrymen can take their families to the show…

Auspicious, indeed.

He was surprised at how it lifted his heart to say it: "We may be staying here longer than we planned, sensei."

Fuu was loading tbe last of the fourth floor's trays onto her cart when something grabbed her sleeve. She nearly dropped the tray, and the grip went to her wrist, clamped it tight: a harsh, male whisper: "Fight and I cut you."

"Let me put this down then," she whispered back, and the hand let go. She shot a sidelong glance as it did. Someone had somehow slipped in through the back supply door--where produce was delivered to the kitchen--and was flattened into the corner between the door and the tall tansu chest, hidden in its shadow. All she could see was a red haori and the glinting hilt of a sword worn on his back. She kept her head down, pretending to fuss with the trays. "What do you want?"

"Looking for a girl. Came in this morning, red hair, mean as a she-wolf. Where've they got her?"

"--You can't afford to pay for her?" (Where could he be from? His accent was so Southern it couldn't possibly be Japanese, not even Kansai.)

He snorted. "I'm taking her out of here. She's my shipmate."

"Your--" Fuu was so thrilled she could hardly breathe. "You're one of those pirates!"

"K'so! Shut up, will you?" The hand lashed out to grab her wrist again, so tight she felt the bones grate together; she gasped in pain. There were blue prison tattoos on his wrist. "You know where she is or not?'

"Yes--yes, but wait!" She shot a look around the kitchen--there was no time, someone would be here any moment. "Don't do it! The mistress'll have you killed!"

"She won't catch me. Talk, little girl."

"Fuu! Where are the rest of those trays?" Kiku, calling from the foyer. "We'll get behind schedule!"

She yanked her hand free, turned to see the intruder--a wiry kid of maybe 18, bright brown eyes, a wild, fierce face. "Let me talk to her first. Please. Come back later tonight."

"You'll let me in?"

"Swear." (What was she saying!? She could lose her job! The mistress would beat her to death! Or worse--)

"Deal, then. Her name's Toki." He edged toward the back door. "Tell her you saw Mugen."

He was gone, and Fuu's heart hammered as she pushed the cart toward the elevator door. How could she have said that? What was she thinking?

But inside the elevator, she knew just what she was thinking: this is no place for a pirate girl.

"Certainly we have rooms, master, but I'm afraid we don't offer full meals--just tea and delicacies. And sake' of course." The nanshoku teashop's host smiled in polite embarrassment. "For dinner we refer all our guests to the dining room in the establishment across the street."

Mariya glanced in said establishment's direction. "The brothel?"

"Yes, master. Their service and food are excellent."

Mariya might have been annoyed on an average night, but tonight he only shrugged. "I suppose it can't be helped." His adopted son was no child, after all. He paid for their rooms and turned to Jin, diplomatically not noting the younger man's mild embarrassment.

"I'm sure you're hungry. We'll see if our host's recommendation is good."

As they walked toward the brothel door Jin felt the unmistakable pressure of eyes on the back of his neck, so strong that he checked Mariya to see if he'd sensed it as well. The swordmaster smiled.

"Very good. Cities are different from small towns, especially when large crowds gather. There are bound to be thieves watching a place like this, hoping to catch some reveler off guard." Dry chuckle as he quickly scanned the crowded street. "Little chance they'd bother poor samurai like ourselves."

Jin somehow didn't think the watcher was a common thief, but let it pass.

Mugen polished off the rice ball he'd lifted from the little brunette's dinner tray. Later tonight, she said? Good enough. They might even get some pickings on the way out--this big party had probably brought plenty of guys to town with their minds on anything but trouble…

But first things first: Toki'd kept his secret and he'd kept hers. They were nakama, and he had her back. That was a promise.

He made himself more comfortable in the fork of his chosen tree and settled down to wait.