by India Millar
I stared at his navel. I kept my face expressionless, grateful that I was supposed to be blind. Even so, if my mind had not been so disciplined, I would have gasped out loud in shock.
His tree was huge. Was this the tail of legend? I rather thought it was. The thing reared up and up. It was thick and red and pulsing, as if it had a life of its own and might leap out at me. Yo’s tree of flesh was satisfyingly well developed. In truth, it was probably nearly as big as this one. But Yo’s tree was smooth and the same color as his body, a delicious light tea hue. The thing before me was blistered with ugly veins and it had a bit missing. I kept my eyes fixed on the gaijin’s stomach, but I could see still the top of his river monster. The head bulged out obscenely. Instead of being covered sweetly by a fleshy hood, this one swelled monstrously naked. Were all gaijin made that way? Was the removal of the tree’s hood some sort of hideous punishment? I knew that yakuza who had caused their leader displeasure were required to cut off their own little finger to restore their honor. I had heard of geisha who had done the same thing to themselves to reassure a greatly favored lover that they were true to them.
But this? I could not begin to comprehend the agony it must have caused to have that particular part of the body removed. Or were gaijin men born that way? And his kintama! Not that I could actually see the stones. The bag they hung in was bad enough. It was pendulous and hung in meaty folds. And just like most of the gaijin’s body, it was covered in hair. Curly hair. Oddly, I wondered if they were smoother than they looked like the rest of his body hair. A demon of mischief insisted I rub my finger against his kintama to settle the issue for once and for all. Instead, I bowed my head courteously.
“I am finished. If you are happy with my services, then I will go now.”
“Oh. Are you sure I cannot persuade you to take some sake with me? You are a remarkably beautiful woman. I would be very glad of your company a while longer, anma.”
The gaijin’s voice was very throaty. I realized with rising astonishment that it was not just my massage that had aroused him. He really did find me attractive. On reflection, I was not surprised. Of course the gaijin found me attractive. He was ugly himself. No doubt it was like calling to like. Then I thought of my own dear Yo, who also obviously found me deeply lovely, and I was ashamed.
“I must go, sir.” I rose to my feet. He stood with me, pulling his robe around him. I stifled a smile of amusement as his tree poked out from between the folds. It truly had a life of its own; the gaijin bowed politely, and his tree bobbed as well.
“That is a pity.” He fumbled in his purse and took out two coins. Before I could hold out my hand to accept them, he reached out and opened my fingers and pressed the coins into my palm, closing my fingers around them with an oddly tender gesture. How odd these gaijin were! So polite in some ways, yet so grossly discourteous when it came to keeping their distance. “Thank you for your help. My back feels wonderful. Should I have need of your services again, anma, where can I find you?”
“I am often about the Floating World, sir.” I tucked the coins into my obi. He had given me far too much, so much it was almost insulting. Had he no idea of the value of money? I shrugged to myself. As the saying has it, “Wealthy people have many worries.” Perhaps I was doing him a favor by relieving him of some of his wealth!
“I see.” He sounded disappointed. “And if I were to ask for you? What name should I use?”
“Kamakiri, sir.”
He thought about it, and I could see he was searching for a translation. Finally, understanding came to his eyes. He smiled widely.
“Mantis. An ugly name for a beautiful woman, anma.” He raised his eyebrows in obvious amusement. “Or perhaps it isn’t. Like your namesake, are you so lovely that your mate will face certain death to make love to you? Well, Kamakiri, my name is Adam. I hope you will remember it.”
I pretended not to understand him and bowed my way out. I was absurdly flattered by his words.
“Even an onna-bugeisha likes to be told she’s lovely,” I explained to Matsuo on the way home. He made no response. But to a dog, his owner is always perfect.
Eleven
Enjoy your honey.
It cost a bee the whole of
Its life to make it
It was clear that Yo didn’t understand my excitement. If anything, he was angry as I told him about my chance encounter with the gaijin.
“You should have walked away from him. Refused to touch him. The gods only know what sort of diseases they carry with them. They’re even worse than burakumin.”
“He was clean enough.” I was angry with Yo in my turn. We were equals. He had no right to try and tell me what to do. And if it came to that, if a burakumin—an untouchable—had come to me for help, I would not have refused them. I had a sudden insight that shocked me. Before Reiki had taught me the art of healing, I had known I was responsible for my family, which to my mind included all those who worked for us. Now, it appeared my circle of commitment had widened to anybody I could heal. “He didn’t even smell.” Not too much, anyway. “But that doesn’t matter. You’re not listening to me. The point is that if what he says is true about these morphine”—such a difficult word for my tongue!—“pills is true, then it’s the answer.”
Yo was sulking. His lips were set in a straight line. He shrugged.
“And how are you going to get them? You said yourself your gaijin only used your services as an anma because he didn’t have any of his magic pills.” I didn’t like the way Yo said “my” gaijin, at all. Nor the sneer in his voice when he said “used.” “And if you do get some, how are you going to persuade Akafumu to take them?”
“I don’t think it would be a problem to get Akafumu to swallow them.” I kept my temper. I would not allow myself to be goaded. “The wretched man’s a coward when it comes to pain. And I can inflict such pain on him that no amount of opium will cure it. He’ll be delighted to take anything to stop it. And as to where I’m going to get them from? I hoped you would be able to find some for me.”
“You’re looking forward to hurting Akafumu,” Yo said flatly. I tensed; how dare he say that to me?
“I think you forget the injustice he has inflicted on me, Yo,” I said stiffly. “I am the only one left to bear my family name. He should have acknowledged that. Instead, he wants to marry me off to an old man so that eventually he can get his hands on what is rightfully mine. I am being merciful in allowing him to live.”
We glared at each other. Matsuo sat between us, turning his anxious gaze from one to the other.
“Be careful, that’s all I’m saying. Don’t let your need for vengeance make you careless.” I understood he was worried about me, but at the same time, I was determined that I was not going to give into him. I was right; he was not.
“I will. But if you can’t—or won’t—get me these magic pills, then I will have to get them myself. And the only way I can do that is to seek out the gaijin again.”
“You must do as you think fit,” he said coldly. “I’m going out.”
I stared at his retreating back incredulously. He had just come in!
By the time Yo came back, I had veered from fury to worry. I had convinced myself that something terrible had happened to him and was relieved when he finally slid the shoji open and kicked his sandals off. I hid my pleasure and offered him tea very politely.
“Sake, please.” I was immediately positive he didn’t want sake; he was just being difficult in refusing the tea. And then I was angry with myself for offering to get him tea. Was I no more than a traditional wife—no, not even a wife—a concubine, who would leap to her man’s needs without even being asked? That I was not.
“I’ll take some with you,” I snapped. Yo blinked with surprise. I rarely drank alcohol. I knew I did not handle drink very well, and I preferred to do without it altogether rather than have it betray me.
“Thank you.” He accepted the brimming cup I handed to him. We both sipped in silence. I deci
ded I would bite my tongue off rather than ask him where he had been.
“I was in error.” I paused with my cup a hand’s breadth away from my lips. He was apologizing to me? “I’m sorry, Keiko-chan. I was so angry at the thought of you being alone with that gaijin, and of you being made to touch his body. It made me feel ill.”
I smiled and held my hand out, palm up, in a gesture that said he had no need to worry. All was forgiven. I sipped my sake to hide my true thoughts. I was delighted he had apologized. But I still found it deeply hurtful that he made it sound as if I had humiliated myself by taking the gaijin’s hurt away. As if by touching him, I had infected myself with his strangeness. Reiki had always insisted that an anma should be prepared to treat any living thing, human or animal. I knew instinctively that she would have considered the gaijin as merely a fellow being that was hurting and in need of her services. Surely I should do no less?
Yo was looking at me with a worried expression, and I buried my doubts. Shinobi or not, he was still a man, and it must have taken considerable effort for him to apologize to a mere woman. Even one he insisted he truly considered to be his equal.
“If I can obtain some of the magic pills, do you not think my plan is a good one? Even better than getting Akafumu addicted to opium? After all, you said yourself it could take months, even more. I don’t know if I can wait that long,” I said frankly. “But Adam said it took only a very short time to become addicted to the magic pills. And if I don’t supply them to Akafumu, he can’t get them anywhere else. He’ll be lost. And quickly.”
I knew I had made an error in using the gaijin’s name. Yo’s face was stone, but I could see the bitter fury in his eyes. I winced at my own tactlessness as I suddenly understood the real cause of his anger.
Yo was jealous.
I patted Matsuo to hide my surprise. I wondered with some amusement how Yo would have reacted if I had told him how Adam’s gigantic tree had found me so very alluring. I pushed the thought away before it could make me smile.
“I cannot get your magic pills,” Yo snapped. “That’s what I’ve been doing. I asked everybody I thought might know about them.
“A certain apothecary who has helped me in the past had heard of the gaijin’s pills. He said he had been so interested, he had tried to make them himself, but nothing he tried worked any better than simple opium. He’s convinced it’s some sort of gaijin enchantment. He strongly advised me against trying to find them. As he pointed out, they may work for gaijin, but that didn’t mean they would do us any good at all. In fact, they could be poisonous to us. Forget it, Keiko. If you kill Akafumu with gaijin poison, you would be dead as soon as he was.”
“You may well be right,” I said judiciously. Yo looked pleased. He stretched and yawned, very obviously.
“It’s not worth the risk,” he agreed. “We’ll think of something else. Or it might be worthwhile simply getting him the sort of opium that even his chamberlain can’t buy and persuading him to smoke that to relieve his pain. I’ve heard rumors that Akira, Hana’s yakuza, has very special opium grown just for his own use. He’s a very strong man, both mentally and physically, so it has little effect on him. For somebody who isn’t used to it, it could be very different. It may well be that Akafumu becomes addicted to it very quickly.”
Yo sat back, obviously pleased with his own idea. I nodded absently, still thinking about Adam and his magic pills.
“What?”
Yo had said something I had missed.
“I said, I’m tired. Absolutely worn out, tramping the streets all afternoon for you. I think I’ll lie down for a while.”
I was lost in my thoughts, and it took me a while to recognize the broad hint that Yo was dropping. He paused in the doorway, looking at me from lowered eyes and pretending to fuss Matsuo. I smiled to myself as I got to my feet and followed him into the second room. I was pleased to see him back. Even more pleased that he had worked so hard on my behalf. Surely it would be appropriate to reward him for his efforts!
Whilst the temple’s house was tiny compared to my family home, it was a mansion compared to Reiki’s miserable hut. She had a single cold and drafty room for all her needs. We had the luxury of a second room for a sleeping apartment, so I could leave our futons made up. Yo shut the door firmly on Matsuo’s disappointed face and slid elegantly to the floor. His body was sinew and muscles worn as smooth as river pebbles by constant exercise.
He patted the futon beside him. I was amused and wanted to tease. I stood with my hands on my hips and leaned forward slightly. When Yo grabbed for me, I evaded him easily.
“You’re going to have to do better than that, shinobi!” I mocked. “Are you so out of training that a mere woman can evade you so easily?”
He frowned, and I wasn’t at all sure if he was pretending to be angry.
“If I am out of training, whose fault is that?” he demanded. “I can hardly keep myself in peak condition if I am spending all my time caring for you.”
That did it. I threw myself at him. Yo rolled aside, but the futons took up most of the floor and he had nowhere to go. I caught his legs between my feet, and rolled over, trapping him beneath my body. I was deeply disappointed when he didn’t even try to wriggle away.
“I can care for myself, shinobi,” I mocked. “See how easily I caught you?”
But Yo was not as beaten as I had thought. In a heartbeat, his arms were around my waist and he was rolling me over so that our roles were reversed. He was straddling me so hard the breath was thrust out of my lungs.
“Really?” He wasn’t even short of breath. I stayed as still as a trapped animal, pretending that he had winded me. As a finishing touch, I leaned my head against his ribs and sobbed for breath. “Give in? I’ll let you go if you promise to behave.”
“I promise!” I panted.
The second he relaxed his grip, I shot myself sideways. Yo grabbed for me, but clumsily. I realized at once that he was deeply aroused by our mock battle and that his own lust was distracting him. I was amused. If a shinobi, a man trained in all the arts of deception, could be so easily diverted, how much easier would it be to take advantage of an ordinary man? The idea that a woman could have crafts that could undo a man with almost no effort made me want to laugh out loud with pleasure.
“Not so fast, woman!” Yo had a few tricks left it seemed. He glanced at the door as if he heard something I had not. I was not fooled and refused to be distracted. Then his eyes widened in shock and I couldn’t resist a glance over my shoulder. A mistake; Yo slid under my guard as sinuously as a fish and his hand grabbed my hair, forcing my head back. It hurt, and I retaliated by biting his wrist. Not too hard, but hard enough to make him grunt.
We were deadlocked. A slow grin stretched his lips, and I smiled with him.
“Enough.” I bent my head. “We could carry on all day and end up no further forward.”
“You give in?” Yo demanded.
“Certainly not. It was a fair fight, and neither of us won or lost,” I said firmly.
He let go of my hair. I kissed the sore spot on his wrist. I found I was breathing far heavier than I had been during our activity. I leaned forward and kissed Yo hard on his lips. It was apparent that my lover was as deeply aroused as I was. He pushed my robe aside and grabbed my breast, rolling the nipple between his fingers. It was acutely, deliciously painful and I rubbed against him, forcing his hand to grasp me even more tightly.
I licked Yo’s mouth, savoring the salt of his sweat lingering on his upper lip. At that moment, it seemed to me to be more delicious than any banquet I had ever tasted. Yo bit my tongue. I snapped at his lip.
He twisted and threw me on my back. I didn’t even consider fighting back. The time for resistance was gone. I threw my legs so wide I felt my tendons protest at the sudden movement and grabbed Yo’s shoulders, demanding that he enter me. He paused for a mischievous second, and I knew he was teasing. I was having none of it. I arched my back so that the hood of his tree flirt
ed with the entrance to my sex. Yo could stand no more. With a gasp of pleasure, he slid inside me.
I moved with him, our rhythm as certain as if we had been lovers forever. For a fanciful moment, I wondered if we had known each other like this in a past life. If—should the gods smile on us—we would be together again in the next life. Then Yo bit my neck, hard, and I screamed with pleasure. I kept him tied in my grip as I slid forward to take him. I moved with slow, even strokes, feeling all sensation except for my own urgent need recede. I was greedy and craved a little more; with a jerk of my hips, I felt Yo’s black moss rub against the splayed-wide lips of my sex. The friction was delicious, and a moment later I felt my yonaki blossom and my toes curled beneath my feet as I threw my head back and moaned with pleasure. I released my grip on Yo’s tree and a moment later the waves of my yonaki were intensified as I felt his heat spill into me.
A long time later, Yo raised himself on his elbow and looked at me seriously.
“Give in?” he asked. I started to chuckle, and then Yo was laughing with me and I was pleased. We were one again.
Twelve
A leaf takes a year
To fall to the ground if I
Am apart from you
“You should have more than enough cash. The house is ours for as long as we want it. If you need me urgently, then go to Jokan-Ji Temple and ask to speak to the kannushi. He will be able to get a message to me. Will you be all right?”
I nodded as patiently as I could. Yo was fussing around me like an old hen with her brood of chicks. He had received word that his services were needed, and he had to accept the commission.
“I’ll be in Kyoto to begin, and then Kobe. I guess the journey will take perhaps seven days, more if the weather is bad. I don’t know how long I’m going to be needed there. It could be only a few weeks, but depending on how things go, it could be a few months or even more.”
