Children, in general, were a fairly new concept to her. And now that she looked down at the wrapped bundle in her arms, she was not quite sure if her decision was right or if she was even ready to take such responsibility. Or capable, for the matter.
As an Oiran, Mina knew what she was getting herself into. She knew that someone like her, who was a famous Oiran of a relatively popular and renowned brothel, couldn't have time to be a mother; she couldn't even afford to let her customers know that she was pregnant with what might be their child.
But it wasn't exactly her fault — she, unfortunately, took her contraceptive tea at a later date than she was supposed to; and didn't think much about it until she was diagnosed with a child. That was when she recalled taking in a customer right before she took her tea.
But after some pondering, she decided to carry on. With some impending discussion with her fellow courtesans and the head matron of her brothel, Mina was allowed to carry on with her unborn child. However, she was given such permission with the condition that she was to return to her job as soon as the child was old enough to take care of themselves.
To be quite fair, Mina was pleasantly surprised that she was even allowed to keep the child but she knew why they allowed her so — she was one of the greatest assets of the brothel of this district and moreover due to the fact that this brothel was like a very tight-knit family. It was one of the oldest brothels in the entire country and it had sheltered and protected hundreds of females from the cruel outside world. And in the kind of business they were, they had to protect one another to sustain a living.
It didn't mean that they were completely acceptable to the situation either, but they did begrudgingly agreed upon her insistence.
She gazed down at the baby in the bundle in her arms. With an adorable tuft of raven hair and fair, pinkish skin just like her, the baby born was a girl. Unfortunately so.
She didn't want her child to share the same fate as her. But neither could she stop her child from being subjected to a fate as hers either — a fate of prostitution.
Her grey eyes looked down at her child with genuine grief and guilt. Even with the doubts and the initial uncertainty, waiting for all these months and the painful childbirth itself had left a lasting effect on how she felt towards her child.
"Oh dear, if only I could promise you a better future than what I have." She whispered to her child softly, as her baby curled herself in the small bundle of the blanket.
But it seemed as if the baby might have a brighter future than her own after all, as her little girl grew up to be quite different from them all.
There were quite a number of sleepless nights and early mornings, she wouldn't lie, but they were far less than a baby is supposed to have, if she were to go by her fellow courtesan's words. Her little girl also seemed quite calm and empathetic — even at the age of only two months.
She cried very little and even tried to convey her words through gestures; though the gestures seemed to be a bit difficult to understand in the beginning. What the most surprising event was, however, when she sat upright for a few seconds at only three months of age, which even she knew was too young for any child to sit up.
But her child somehow did it.
And even looked up at her mother with her big lavender eyes, as if asking if she did it right.
At that moment Mina knew that she may have been blessed with a gifted child. And as time went by, she was only proved right.
Her girl, who she named Miyasha quite dearly, turned out to be a very observant and sweet child with a knack for reading and learning anything she found interesting. And up until now, she seemed to have learned many new things that a child of three years shouldn't even be able to comprehend or find remotely interesting.
In fact, not only was she a quick learner for her age but was also exceptionally keen and perspective. She even seemed to learn things at an abnormally fast rate, let it be sitting up at three months or talking coherently at only eleven months.
While her intelligence had posed some headaches for her and her fellow courtesans initially, it seemed to diminish with each passing year as her daughter learned and proved herself to be capable in almost everything around her — let it be sewing, drawing or even playing Koto that she picked up with only a few informal lessons from Yeri-chan.
She caught on to the social etiquettes quite smoothly even without any proper explanation or guidance from the adults, talking to people and conveying her thoughts quite beautifully. Not only that, but she also seemed to possess an ear and talent for music as well. She could sing very well too but allowed almost no one to catch her singing — not even her own mother, which was truly a pity.
Unfortunately, with all these talents and intellect, she seemed to concrete her image as a to-be courtesan perfectly well, which saddened Mina further. Mina loved her child dearly and didn't want her to be fated to what she was now and hopefully, she could get away from here before it was too late. However, seeing how her dedication to reading and writing had increased in the past few months than it was ever, it sometimes made Mina wonder if her child really did understand her situation.
Maybe she did, if she was to go by how her baby girl looked upon her peers with a look of sympathy and guilt.
Such actions of Miyasha often made her wonder how long she could keep her child with herself. She couldn't help but think how she was meant for so much more than this brothel, something far greater and divine. Even as a child of an Oiran, maybe Miyasha could surpass the ridiculing that the society offered to the children spawned off such paid intimacy.
Everyone who knew her seemed to agree with Mina that Miyasha was a blessed child, if not the daughter of God themselves.
She had even proved herself to the others once again when she weaved a beautiful set of decorative earrings out of the discarded pieces of old colourful kimonos and ribbons. She even made a matching bracelet and small piece of cloth that she dubbed as a 'napkin' to go with it.
She still remembers when her girl discovered these materials — she had made a decorative bracelet seemingly out of nowhere, using some beautiful knots she had never once seen anyone do. As the passing by customers noticed them, they demanded more bracelets like that and this started a new market of thread weaved jewellery and decorative pieces that soon her brothel specialized in. Her child was already contributing her revenue to the brothel when she wasn't even past the age of three.
Mina smiled tenderly as she noticed her daughter trying to open the ougi fans gracefully, before failing quite comically. The way Miyasha made faces at her fan as she, rather unsuccessfully, tried to open them made laughter bubble out of her. Her daughter's blushing face and rather adorable pout after spotting her made her laugh even more.
"O-Oka-san!" She squeaked, embarrassed at being caught.
Mina smiled and patted her daughter on her head. Despite all her intellect and talent, her daughter was still a child and didn't like being wrong or at least, didn't like being caught doing anything wrong.
"Miya-chan," Mina called her out, softly taking the fan from her left hand and opening it with the grace her daughter was maybe hoping to achieve. "Everything has a pace, a flow. No matter how much one may be dedicated, one cannot learn everything on their own."Her bright lavender eyes looked up at Mina's grey eyes. She smiled as she continued, "And it's alright to make mistakes, hm? Come here, let me teach you how to open them properly."
"Oka-san...?"
"Hm?"
"Can you teach me to... dance with the fans as well? Please?" Her child asked as she looked up at her mother with those pleading lavender eyes of hers.
Mina smiled and kissed her daughter's forehead softly before answering, "Yes. Yes, I will."
Maybe her daughter won't stay with her long but that doesn't mean she can't enjoy her moments with her for now.
"So firstly, you have to slowly open the fan with your right hand like this....."
YOU ARE READING
Wisteria Eyed
Fanfiction[OC-insert] She was not a part of their world; nor did she want to be, if she had to be honest. But now she was here and her very existence was causing ripples in the storyline of an already decided plot. And with her luck? She'd probably end up ex...
