hakai | gabimaru

五

It is evening and in one of the tea houses, sounds of hearty and merry laughter resonate around the private tea room. Multiple yuujyo's* partied hard with a single man all the while the oiran he paid a large sum of money to see did not drink, eat nor engage with him. Jikka did not understood any of these oiran courtesy rules. For him, it didn't matter if he had to pay a large sum of money nor display his power. If anything, he could purchase this whole tea house if it meant going to sleep with her. 

"You're incredible, Sir Jikka." A yuujyo comments, showing him a sweet smile. "A single swing and already cutting seven bamboo sticks in one motion." 

"How remarkable!" Another yuujyo commented, her hands clasped together in front of her chest. 

He smiled and made an up and down motion with his hand. "Being a samurai has it's ups and downs." He begins to say, finishing the rest of the tea in his cup before placing it back down. A yuujyo immediately filling it up again for him. "But you know, I just want to take life easy." He expresses, letting out a soft sigh. 

"Surely we all live once right?" He asks, the yuujyo's nodding their heads; the oiran at the back of the room only watching from afar. Deeming inside her mind if this man is worthy of her service until their third meeting. She has heard stories from other girls how this man relished in experimenting sexual partners. 

"And since we only live once, let's all continue to be merry and have more sweets and tea!" He proposes. Of course for yuujyo's this is a great opportunity to indulge in the pleasures of life. As the yuujyo closest to the sliding door opens, a small gasp erupts from her lips. 

"What is it?" 

"It's Miss Aoyagi!" The girl beams. "Miss Aoyagi from Sado house!"

Obviously, Jikka has heard of the Mother of the Sado House - Aoyagi. The woman is in her early forties yet still looked like a blossoming flower in the first day of spring. Clad in a plain dark navy colored kimono along with a light pink obi around her waist. Behind her, Rika follows. Dressed in a blood red colored kimono with butterfly prints on the lower hem of her skirt and the same light pink obi, the same as Aoyagi.

As Aoyagi and Rika come into view, Jikka's face scrunches at the sight of the younger girl.

"Riku?!" He cries aloud. His eyes widening before peering his face a little closer to Rika's. "I thought you're still-"

"Please lower your voice, Sir Jikka. Don't shout at my girl like that too." Aoyagi softly spoke to him, patting his shoulder. "Her name is not Riku. It's Rika." She says, emphasizing on the last vowel of Rika's name. Could it be...

"It's nice to meet you." Rika spoke, bowing her head deeply to Jikka. "I'm a furisode-shinzo* Rika." She greets him, lifting her head back up to look at Jikka. Now that he's gotten a good look at her face, their faces really resembled one another. The difference to tell both Rika and Riku separately are that Riku had a more lean and built figure whereas Rika is more on the slim side. Riku has broad shoulders and Rika has narrow shoulders.

The tips of Riku's hair is yellow and Rika's is green. Riku has a calm and reserved exterior whereas Rika looked like she could eat anyone alive. Interesting. For Jikka, it would be interesting to sexual experiment with twins. He did hear a myth about twins having mind telepathy powers, he wanted to test that in bed.

"What brings you here, Miss Aoyagi?" One of the yuujyo's in Jikka's private tea room asks.

Aoyagi places a hand to her chest, smiling softly. "I was in a very good mood after praying a little in Gion. I found Rika sweeping the fallen leaves in front of our house and invited her to come with me for tea and sweets." She replies. Hearing her response made Rika smile. Cute. She looked like a soft bunny, big enough for him to eat.

"We will be on our way home now!" Aoyagi bids, waving her hand graciously at the yuujyo's.

However, Jikka had a different plan. "If it's not a problem, I would like to speak with Rika alone." He spoke, catching not only Aoyagi, the oiran he wanted to be serviced for, the yuujyo's and Rika. He had already paid a sum of ¥130,000 just this night alone. The tea and sweets not yet included. No one knew what exactly did he have in mind.

Yet more so, Jikka still had his way. Now in a different tea room, he sat in a comfortable cushion in front of Rika. Her eyes glimmering at the multiple small plates filled with mochi, ohagi and dango.

"Are you always this beaming with the opposite sex?" He asks, a small grin painting his lips.

Rika painted her lips with a tight lipped smile, shaking her head no in response. "I have no problems when it comes to males. I'm accustomed after all with my younger brother, Riku."

"Oho, so he's younger than you." Jikka replies, raising his left knee up to rest his left elbow on top. "You know, as the Head of the Yamada Clan, Riku's impressive. He's a great swordsman in the making." He comments, tilting his head a bit as he racks his mind about the other twin in their school. "Even when training time is over, he's still training. He calls it strength training." He finishes.

As Rika hears it, she realizes that the man in front of her is a big shot in the Yamada Clan. So there's where Riku found himself in. Nevertheless, she has faith in him. Hearing his last sentence, she knew what Riku had been doing. Committing to practice all four training methods, except one.

"Riku is no doubt an exact opposite of me." Rika comments, taking a hold of the pot and pouring tea into Jikka's cup first before hers. "Thank you very much for looking after him."

"Thank you?" Jikka asks, snorting afterwards. "Are you even of age?"

Rika smiled sweetly to him. "I am of age." She replies. Surely he wouldn't believe her if she tells him she's a thousand years old.

"Sweet." Jikka hums, beaming. "Don't you think you should be thanking me in other forms?"

"With all due respect, Sir Jikka." Rika begins to say, straightening her back. "I am not interested in intimate congress. What I seek is a much more higher opportune, not only for myself but for Riku included."

What a let down. The laid back expression on his face evaporated. His eyes silently averting to stare at her chest instead. "What do you want?"

"Please amend Riku into a position amongst the ranks." Rika replies. "I am sure that he won't let you down."

And with that, the white haired girl begins to devour the sweet treats to herself.

"By the way" Rika begins to say, de voiding the silence between them. Cheeks filled with mochi's. "May I know if I can come to the Yamada school? It's been a week and I want to see Riku." 

Jikka grumbles, holding onto his cup of tea. "Can't I at least have a hug from you?" 

Rika happily munched on the sweets, shaking her head no in response. "I'll report you to Aoyagi. And then she'll report you to the magistrate for illicit sexual conduct. That sounds like a scandal and a taint to your record, Head of the Yamada Clan, Sir Jikka." 

What a smart girl. Jikka grumbles, finishing his tea before averting his eyes again on her chest. "You can go. But you're only given one hour to do so."

"Okay!" 

On the other side, in the midst of doing sit ups on the floor of his own room, Riku lays his back down on the floor. Beads of sweat trickling down on his skin, raising his right hand up to wipe away the sweat before they would trickle into his eyes. "Jesus" He mutters his breath, gasping for breath. "Why do I suddenly want sweets."

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yuujyo - prostitute

furisode-shinzo - a promising girl to become an oiran