Little Bird

Chapter 30

As days melted into weeks and weeks into months, Kaen made a few more friends and became one of the most accomplished students in her music classes. She had been disappointed when she discovered that the fue and her shamisen weren't going to be very helpful in her classes, but soon discovered that she was more than adept with a flute and began to take lessons in piano. The flute was not as difficult because she had been taught how to play her grandfather's fue, but at first the vast number of holes in the long shiny metal instrument had made her nervous.

Piano was a whole different kettle of fish though. She had to remember that one hand moved one way while the other went the other, and on top of that she had to press pedals that changed the pitches that the black and white keys played. During her second month of lessons, she lost her temper and slammed her hands down on the keys, producing a painful jangle of notes bending three of her fingernails back. After she had finished swearing in first Japanese, then German, then French, she took a deep breath and stalked out of the room after giving the huge instrument a dirty look.

Soon she was back and practicing again, her face set in a mask of determination. She would learn this, and she would learn it well.

After her one year seven months, Kaen sat alone in her room, waiting for the rest of the family to rise. It was still dark and as far as she knew, even the servants hadn't woke yet. She smiled and quickly dressed in a yukata and hakama, tied her hair back and slipped out of the room. The hall was chilly and dark. Blinking rapidly, Kaen waited for her eyes to adjust to the darkness and soon was walking to the stairs. There was an old broom handle that she used for her meditation at the foot of the stairs, leaning against the rail. She scooped up the pole and eased out the front door, heading to her usual place behind the house where there were fewer things to run into.

First she took her deep breath, holding herself straight and still. Then she raised the pole like it was one of the practice swords that she and her father had used when they would do this at home. She smiled at the thought of her father and swung the wooden 'blade' slowly, imagining the reed posts that she had practiced on when her mother had taught her how to use a sword. As she moved, she felt sweat running off her face and down her chest. When she had taught Shinta and a few of her friends these exercises, her students had been shocked to find how difficult the slow movements were. When she began to speed up, many had backed off to just watch and pant wearily.

As the sun began to rise, and Kaen walked back into the house, being careful to wipe her feet on a towel to get the mud off the soles of her bare feet. The maids had fits when she forgot and left trails of muddy prints all the way to the bathroom.

Hanging on a post was the long robe that she intended to wear after her bath until she got back to her room to dress. She and Shinta were going to see a play today, and she wanted to look at least reasonable. Gretchen would make her stand for a photo, and Kaen found that if she tried to make herself look nice, the woman would fuss less and the pain would pass quickly.

Well, that wasn't really the only reason…

She had gotten a letter from Jin a few weeks ago saying that he was going to be coming for a visit in June, and he wanted to spend some time with her and see how her time with the foreigners had changed her. She had laughed and written back that she would be thrilled to see him and that she and Shinta would meet him at the docks on the 16th, the day he was set to arrive. When she reread the letter, she noticed something that she had never seen before. She looked back over her other letters, one for her family and one for Yukako and Hiroshi, she saw it again.

Whenever she mentioned herself, she often referred to Yutaro's son in the same breath. Usually she didn't have much to say about herself alone, but when she talked about the things that she and Shinta would do, she would go on forever… She had shrugged it off then, but since then, she started to notice the way they acted when they were together.

The hot water of the bath relaxed her tired muscles and she let herself think about what the next week would hold for her. Today she would go to the theatre with Shinta, Karin and Erik. The two Germans had recently become an item, and Kaen was often treated to long discussions about Erik and Karin's relationship… As seen by Karin. The blond had grown into her height, and was actually very pretty in Kaen's opinion, especially when she pulled her hair back and secured with the plum blossom hair pin that she had bought for her, even when it was, at least by Kaen's calendar, out of season. After the theatre, they would go for coffee and walk around town. Then on Tuesday they would be going cliff climbing. This made her nervous, but she was sure that she would be fine.

Shinta had been busy with his other classes reciently. He had stopped going to the school that Kaen attended and had gone to another, where he studied medicine. He had blushed furiously when she had forced him to stand for a picture to send to her family, using the camera that they had sent her as a gift only a few weeks before. She had sent the photo to her family, who were careful to congratulate him in their next letter. Megumi sent a note of her own congratulations and a few words of professional advice.

With a sigh, she lifted herself out of the deep tub and dried herself, wrapping her hair up in a towel before pulling on the robe and tying it tightly shut. She smiled when she heard the rest of the house starting to wake up, walking quickly into her room and shutting the door. She would need help from little Heidi to get herself tied into her dress, so she took her clothes into Heidi's room when she heard her say she could come in.

"Oh, Heidi. You don't need to get dressed yet! What are you doing?"

Heidi had already pulled on as much of her dress as she could by herself and was looking at the rest of it with resignation.

"Mama said that we had to go shopping this morning, her and I."

"Ah. Well here, I'll help you and then you can help me. Then I'll braid your hair for you."

After much pulling and squeals, Heidi was tied and hooked and buckled into a dress of dark brown that made her skin look pale and bright under her hair. Kaen smiled and put on her own dress, holding still so the younger girl could tug and pull to her satisfaction until she was secured into her heavy powdery green outfit.

"I'll never get used to these things…"

"You don't gasp for air as much as you used to."

"I suppose it's a step. Now sit, and I'll do your hair."

Once the girl and her mother were gone, Kaen asked Martha, one of her favorite maids, to do something with her hair and the shoes she had forgotten to put on. The maid had tried one thing after another with her hair, but finally curled it and pinned it carefully into a bun and pulled a few tendrils of hair out so they fell about her face and neck. She smiled and buckled Kaen's shoes with a small chuckle.

"You know, I'm glad you and young master get along so well."

"Me too. He's a very good friend."

Kaen looked in the mirror and sighed. Her skin was still light and her hair was still bright red and her eyes the same shade of violet that they had been when she left home, but the rest of her had changed. Her hips had widened a bit and her bust had increased considerably, though compared to her European friends, she was as flat as a board all around. She was always jealous of their round-narrow-round shapes, but they always countered that her willowy shape was far prettier. She didn't believe them.

She brushed on a little makeup and added a drop of perfume before sweeping down the stairs. She looked out the window and smiled to see that Shinta was pulling up the drive with their friends. She had been sad when he moved out to live in the dorms of his school but was comforted when he visited at least twice a week. It had been like that for a little less than a year. She ran out the door and was greeted by Shinta stepping out of the car and smiling, holding out his arms.

She hugged him and waved to her friends as they walked around the car where Shinta opened the door and Kaen was all but yanked in by Karin. The whole ride, Karin had whispered questions and loudly told her opinion on Kaen's 'status' with Shinta. The half Japanese glared over his shoulder and told Erik to put a leash on his girlfriend, half joking, half deadly serious.

"We're friends, Karin. You know that. You're just trying to annoy him."

"Why shouldn't I bother the big important doctor? He's been after you from the beginning!"

"Karin!"

"What?"

Kaen sighed and steered the conversation toward a new direction. The conversation, now on the workings of their classes, lasted until they got to the theatre. Karin and Erik walked ahead of them, hand in hand. Shinta brushed a hand through his hair and leaned down to whisper so Karin wouldn't hear.

"I have to talk to you later. I'll take you home after Karin and Erik leave us. Do me a favor and don't tell Karin that I want to talk to you, I don't think I could handle the implications."

He smiled, showing that he was only joking about the venom in his voice. Kaen nodded and smiled conspiratorially and walked into the theatre. The lights went down in the house and soon she was lost in the story of three sisters and their search for husbands.