"Thank you."
"My attendants are concerned about you."
"Please excuse me if I have not been correct."
Koiko smiled. "The maids wonder if you have a tongue in your head, all agree your gentility needs improving, and all can understand a guardian wanting you improved."
"I need improving," Sumomo said, smiling.
Koiko's eyes crinkled. The young woman opposite her was not unattractive, her body lithe and strong, the face without makeup, the bloom of youth and health making up for that deficiency.
Her hair is in good condition but needs styling, she thought critically. The Kyoto style would suit her, lots of good oils on her hands and arms, some shading on her fine cheekbones, a touch of color on her lips. The girl has promise. We must bathe together and then I would know more though I doubt she could adapt to our life even if she wanted to adapt. "You are a virgin, yes?"
She saw the girl flush and laughed outright.
"Ah so sorry, of course you are, for a moment I forgot that you are not of our world. Please excuse me, but it is rare for us to meet outsiders, let alone a samurai lady, and to have one in your household however briefly, that is almost unknown."
"Is, is that what you call us? Outsiders?"
"Yes. Our Floating World sets us apart.
Take little Teko. Soon her other life will have vanished and she will know only mine. That is my duty, to train her and keep her gentle and kind, to sacrifice herself for man's pleasure--not at her impulse." Koiko's eyes took on a sheen. "That is what keeps men happy and content, pleasure in all its manifestations, neh?"
"Sorry, I don't understand "manifestations"."
"Ah, so sorry, it means "appearances, or qualities," to show pleasure in all its degrees."
"Ah, thank you," Sumomo said awed.
"Please excuse me, I never knew that ladies of the, the Floating World were so... of course I presumed they were beautiful, but never, never as beautiful as you and never dreamed they could be so well educated and accomplished." In the few days she had been here she had heard Koiko singing, and playing the samisen and had been inspired by the peerless quality and her repertoire--she too could play the samisen, just a little, and knew how difficult it was. She had heard her teaching Teko the art of haiku and other poetry, how to caress a phrase, about silks, how they are made, the warp and the weft and other mysteries, the beginnings of history and similar wonders, her range of knowledge vast. She bowed in tribute. "You astonish me, Lady."
Koiko laughed softly. "Learning is the most important part of our work. It's easy to satisfy a man's body--such a transient delight--but difficult to pleasure him for any length of time, to intrigue him and retain his favor. That must come through the senses of the mind.
To achieve that one must train oneself extremely carefully. You must begin to do that too."
""When there are cherry blossoms to admire, who would look at carrot tops"?"
"When a man is hungry he seeks carrots and not cherry blossoms and he is more hungry than not." Koiko waited amused. She saw Sumomo drop her eyes, at a loss.
"Carrots are peasant food, Lady,"
Sumomo said in a small voice.
"So sorry."
"Cherries are an acquired taste, as are their flowers. Carrots can take on many flavors, if properly treated." Again she waited but Sumomo still looked down. "Not in riddles, so you will not be confused, it is not sex that is really sought by men in my World, but romance--our most forbidden fruit."
Sumomo was startled. "It is?"
"Oh yes, for us. It is poisonous. Men seek romance in your world too, most men, and it is not forbidden you, is it?"
"No."
"Your future husband is no different, he seeks romance too, wherever it is available.
Better you make as much available at home as you can, for as long as you can." Koiko smiled. "Then you have can have cherries and fine carrots. The flavors can be acquired, easily."
"Then please teach me."
"Tell me about this man, your husband-to-be."
"His name is Oda, Rokan Oda,"
Sumomo said at once, using the cover name Katsumata had given her. "His father is a goshi... and he comes from Kanagawa in Satsuma."
"And your father?"
"It is as I said, Lady. He is of the line Fujahito," she said, using her new cover surname, "they are also from a village nearby and also goshi."
"Your guardian says this Rokan Oda is important."
"He is too kind, Lady, though Oda-sama is shishi and did take part in the attack on Lord Anjo at Yedo's gates, and also killed the Elder Utani." Katsumata had told her it was safer to tell the truth where possible, the fewer the lies to remember.
"Where is he now?"
"At Yedo, Lady."
"How long do you want to stay with me?"
"For me, Lady, as long as I can. My guardian said Kyoto was dangerous for me. I cannot return home, my father disapproves of me as he had told you, as Oda-sama's parents disapprove of him, so sorry because of me."
Koiko frowned. "That will make life impossible."
"Yes. Karma is karma and what is to be will be. Though I am of no value to anyone and believe I am unknown to the Bakufu, Sensei Katsumata approves of my Oda-sama, accepted the responsibility.
He said I'm to obey you in all things."
"Better to obey your parents, Sumomo."
"Yes, I know, but my Oda-sama forbids it."
A good answer, Koiko thought, seeing the pride and the conviction. Saddened, she glanced at the half-opened window. Surely this forbidden romance would end like so many others. In suicide. Together if Sumomo was blessed. Or her alone when, as this Oda should, he obeys his parents and takes a wife acceptable to them.
She sighed. In the garden outside, twilight was becoming night. A slight wind. "The leaves are whispering one to another. What are they saying?"
Sumomo covered her surprise and began to listen. At length she said, "So sorry, I do not know."