“Momma, how did you and daddy meet?”, Zaylee would ask as she looked up from her book: it was a teen-based novel about a love story between two kids who had been friends when they were young, but had been separated due to one of them having to move away. They had met again in highschool, and after realizing who they were they had rekindled their relationship but it was rocky due to how both of them had changed so much during that time frame. It had made her wonder about her parents own beginnings and thus her question.

“Oh… well that’s a very long story.”, Marici responded, glancing up from the file she had been reading over and over towards her daughter who was seated across the living room from her.

“Didn’t you keep a journal though when you were younger?”, Zaylee would respond, thinking about her own journal she kept hidden up in her room, one she used mostly to keep track of the nightmares and dreams she had, but which she had begun to add details of her daily life into as well.

Marici found herself blinking and then grinning. “Oh gosh… yes, I did actually. Quite a lot of them. I forgot about them though. They should be up in the attic.”, Marici would respond, placing the file down on the coffee table after closing it, knowing well she didn’t have to worry about anyone peeking inside of it. Getting up from the couch she was unsurprised to find Zaylee getting up as well, prepared to follow after her. Chuckling Marici made her way upstairs to the second floor, listening as Zaylee called out for her father and brother to come join them. It made her wonder if her and Mamoru hadn’t been speaking about such wonderings behind her and Nanashi’s back. In truth, they had never really told the children much about themselves, but then again with their father faking his death and taking on the identity of Daremo it had been a necessary secret while the children were younger. Now though, Marici felt that they were ready to know some secrets, and that they would be able to keep them without trouble. Besides, if nothing else, they likely had even more questions, especially after their recent trip to Iwa only a little over a month prior where they had stayed at an Okiya while Marici and Nanashi were busy meeting with someone and handling some trouble.

Pausing at the doorway to the stairs that led up to the attic she would turn her focus onto her husband should he and Mamoru chosen to join them. “I think it’s time I pull my old journals out of storage.. And that our children learn of our past. I’m sure they both have questions after Iwa, and they’re old enough to have most of their questions answered now.” If her husband agreed she would open the door, leading the way up to the attic which was used as nothing more than a giant storage room for things they didn’t want in the house: the place was sealed in such a way that only members of the family could gain access, and even then certain rooms would not open unless it was Daremo or herself who wanted to venture inside. Making her way to one of these rooms in particular she headed over to an old box that was so filled with various types of journals it couldn’t even close. “Grab a seat, we’re going to be here a while.”, Marici spoke, before sitting down on the floor with her back resting against the wall, watching as Zaylee perched herself up on a giant wooden crate and got comfortable. Opening the box Marici began searching through it, figuring that they could begin from the very start of things. “Some of these journals are not mine, but were given to me by various people within the Okiya I grew up in so that if I could read them at my leisure and remember my history even back before I turned eight - which was when I began to keep my own journal. Due to some of the details I’ll be giving you a brief summary of things - the secrets of the Maiko and Geisha who entrusted me their journals are not mine to tell, so I’ll be keeping this focused on just myself and your father.” With the children nodding in understanding Marici pulled forth the first journal, this one belonging to Chiyo, Marici’s mother whom she never spoke of, and flipped to the first page before beginning to give an overview of what her mother had written, giving the children their first glimpse into not only their grandmother on her side, but their great grandmother as well.


Chiyo had been born into the life of a Maiko. Her mother, a woman by the name of Lin, was an absolutely beautiful Geisha and a symbol of perfection within the Okiya. She had started out a simple servant, sold by her father to the Okiya after Lin’s mother had died and he was no longer capable of taking care of her at just the age of six. She was to be a servant within the Okiya, and for the first year or so of her new life that’s exactly what she was. Yet there was no denying the natural beauty of Lin, nor the way that the eyes of men and women alike were easily drawn to her even in a simple blue yutaka like that which the servants within the Okiya wore. Thus Lin began the life of training to be a Maiko, worth more as such than she ever would be as a servant. The arts, seduction, and smooth talking were things that Lin had a natural knack for. She had a way of reading people and could poise herself and act accordingly: knowing when to laugh, when to be silent, when to speak up, and so forth. These were skills that caused her to do well with the men and women whom she encountered as a Maiko. At the age of thirteen Lin underwent her mizuage ceremony, her price one of the highest ever in the Okiya. She underwent the whole ordeal without a complaint, and with her head held high. Her mizuage led to her becoming pregnant at an early age, and while there were ways for the young Geisha to handle such matters Lin decided to give birth to the child growing daily within her womb despite her young age. This child was to be named Chiyo upon her birth, a child whom Lin absolutely loved and adored. From the time she could walk and talk Lin began to train Chiyo in the arts of the Maiko, wanting her daughter to be as successful as she was: yet Chiyo had never been very good at reading people, and always seemed to have a snotty attitude about herself.

Despite the best efforts of Lin and the other Geisha, Chiyo seemed to be a lost cause: costing more money for the Okiya than they ever thought she would be able to bring in. Yet, the Okiya mother took pity on Lin, knowing just how much she loved her daughter, a child who had rendered her in capable of having any more, and thus Chiyo’s training continued. Yet, Chiyo had a bad streak, and despite knowing her mother’s best efforts and knowing well that she was walking on thin ice on whether or not she could stay or would have to go, Chiyo began to use her beauty to draw the attention of any and all men. She allowed them to do whatever they wished to her, and it was through this that Chiyo began early on to get a reputation as nothing more than a finely dressed whore. By the time of her mizuage she was nothing more than spoiled goods who many had had a bite of, and her reputation was known well by that point with the more prominent men who would pay for the privilege. Barely anyone was interested in her, and knowing well that if she didn’t get at least one bidder she would end up being thrown from the Okiya or forced back into servanthood, so Chiyo began to do what she did best: scheme. She refuted the rumors, whispering lies in any man who would give her the time of day, trying to convince someone - anyone - that she was still untouched and pure. One man fell for the ruse, a man who had had an eye on her for some time and whom had ended up leaving his wife under plans to run away with Chiyo once she could get herself free from her debt to the Okiya: Lee Tanaka. She had managed to convince him of her purity quite a while ago and refused to allow him to believe the rumors that stated otherwise, with no plan as to how to prove that she wasn’t lying. When it came time to bid on her mizuage only one phone call came in, and Mister Tanaka’s low bid was placed: the idea behind it being he would bid just enough to free her of her debt and then the pair would leave the country together afterwards. The night of her ceremony had been brutal: upon realizing that she was not pure Lee Tanaka lost his temper, brutalizing her and using her before threatening to kill her for deceiving him. He had lost his wife because of Chiyo, and his kids had ended up being taken with her when she left. He had lost everyone he cared about being his sister, and it was all because of this one woman. Had it not been for Chiyo’s quick thinking he would have ended her life right then and there, yet once more she convinced the man to spare her life through a series of lies and false promises she never expected to keep. She made a deal with him that in exchange for allowing her to live not only would she help to ensure he got his hands on any girl who caught his attention by making him aware of the current bids so that he would always win, but she also promised him her first born daughter. After striking the deal Chiyo had managed to make it home, but just barely, and while she had no intentions of following through with her deal Mister Tanaka had other plans in mind: he wasn’t about to let her con him once again. The sight of Chiyo upon her returning to the Okiya was enough to send her mother over the edge, Lin blaming herself for being unable to protect her daughter, and holding on to a great deal of guilt. Chiyo, angry at everything and anything because of the position she was in, only further increased this guilt within her mother by constantly berating her among other things, pushing Lin to the point to where she ended up committing suicide - or rather, that was the assumption that all but Aguri was under. In reality Chiyo faked her death as a means to escape her brute of a child, wanting to put as much distance between herself and Chiyo as possible while continuing to keep an eye on things from afar, usually done in the form of letters from Aguri, sent in secret, that kept her up to speed on what her daughter was up to.

For Chiyo life was not an easy affair though she hid her plight as well as she could. While most people learned from their mistakes, Chiyo herself did not. She continued whoring around, her attentions upon the wealthy men, now more-so than ever before. She hoped that by ensnaring some man in her proverbial trap she would find a rich man willing to take her away from the Okiya, and thus the life she was forced to live as well as Mister Tanaka’s clutches. She found such a man in a young businessman named Jin Uchiha. Jin often conducted business in various countries, and was someone she had seen many times over again before her mizuage when accompanying one of her older Geisha sisters to various parties at the tea houses, and yet she had never spoken to him. Now though she made the connection, often taking assignments to tea houses or specific parties that she knew Jin would be at. She made her presence known, ensured that he saw her, and eventually he fell for her beauty like many others before him. For Jin there was no other Geisha as beautiful as Chiyo, and Chiyo used this to her advantage. Their relationship turned physical quickly, and she hoped that with her various skills as both a Geisha and a bedroom partner that she would be able to lure Jin Uchiha away from his current wife. Yet, unknown to Chiyo at the time, Jin Uchiha was expecting a son. And after months of their relationship continuing, and mere weeks after Chiyo found out she was pregnant, Jin spoke to Chiyo one last time, proclaiming that they couldn’t continue their relationship, that he could not betray his wife in such a manner especially after giving birth to his son so soon, and that he wouldn’t be pursuing Chiyo any longer. Devastated that her plan had failed, Chiyo hid her pregnancy from Jin, keeping the information to herself as she bid him goodbye one last time.

During the early months she simply avoided the tea houses that Jin Uchiha was at, not wanting to risk him figuring out that she was pregnant - though she planned on denying it was his if he did. But as her pregnancy progressed she busied herself around the Okiya. It was during this time, as she neared the due date of her daughter, that a new arrival appeared at the Okiya whose past was masked in secrecy. This woman, Mayuko, gave Chiyo the willies and she found herself feeling distrustful of the woman. What was more was she was frightened of her: the woman had a certain air about her that screamed danger, and her position within the Okiya as per a deal made with Aguri, was to be a bodyguard to the various Maiko and Geisha, instead of a Maiko or Geisha herself. However, as much as she avoided the woman, she stll found herself often stuck with her, more so after she gave birth to her sickly daughter, Marici. Marici, while born on time, was born with a terminal disease that caused her body to reject her own organs in much the same way a transplant recipient risked rejecting the donated organ. The doctors fought this of course tooth and nail, hoping to see the child survive, and yet her prognosis was grim and she was not expected to live long. However, Marici was a fighter, and despite spending quite a lot of time in the hospital she eventually became well enough to return home to the Okiya. Due to Mayuko having a child shortly before Marici did, Chiyo found that she was stuck enduring play dates between the two children, Marici and Mayuko’s son Nanashi. Despite all this time together though a bond that normally would have formed between two women did not form between Chiyo and Mayuko - there was a constant discomfort there, at least for Chiyo, that she simply could not get over. Of course, there was more than just that on Chiyo’s plate as she had to ensure that she kept to the deal she and Lee Tanaka had struck, having to help win him bids on the various Maiko he was interested in, both in her own Okiya and others all the while hiding well what she was doing due to the consequences which she knew she would face if anyone found out.

Of course, Lee Tanaka was unable to lay eyes upon Chiyo’s child, though he waited like the patient man he was for the girl to become old enough for her mizuage. Chiyo likewise waited for this date, as it would finally free her from Mister Tanaka’s clutches by offering him an effective replacement for her own. Knowing that Mister Tanaka would likely kill her if she gave over damaged goods, she kept her daughter close and became beastly protective over the girl, never really allowing her out of sight if she could help it. She ensured that her daughter’s training went well, giving her extra lessons despite how sickly or exhausted the child had been, and having to deal with the relapses of the disease that her daughter had. Everything she did was in preparation for a day years to come, but she wanted to show the utmost vigilance in ensuring that nothing went wrong. Yet, there was no stopping the friendship between Nanashi and Marici, nor the way that Marici seemed to favor Mayuko over her: often screaming when Chiyo picked her up and immediately reaching for Mayuko instead - many of these situations ending, much to Chiyo’s dismay, by Chiyo being told to hand the toddler over to Mayuko so she didn’t end up screaming herself sick. As Marici slowly got older Chiyo found any reason she could to keep the two children apart, doing much the same with the various other Maiko and Geisha within the Okiya, and yet despite her best efforts her attempts were in vain: too many people adored the sickly child, and would often chide Chiyo over trying to keep the girl so busy that she had no time for anything else.


Chiyo sat off to the side, watching her daughter play with Nanashi. The two children, much to Chiyo’s dismay, had been fairly close since the day they met - though it helped or so she assumed that they were the only two children that close in age ranges in the entire Okiya. If she was being honest Chiyo was quite a bit jealous of the relationship Marici and Nanashi had: Marici had taken lately to screaming or crying everytime Chiyo even attempted to pick her up, or otherwise attempting to run away and leaving Chiyo to chase the fast little child all over the Okiya. It was annoying to say the least. Yet, in that moment she watched as her daughter made her way over to Mayuko on what were now steady legs and plopped herself down right on the woman’s lap as she sat on the floor with the two children. Marici yawned, attempting to snuggle up right against Mayuko in a manner she had never done with Chiyo herself. Feeling a spike in her agitation due to her jealousy Chiyo stood immediately, crossing the distance between herself and Mayuko while reaching for her daughter. “Nap time.”, Chiyo spoke softly, trying her best to hide the agitation she was feeling within her voice.

Marici of course did as she had been doing lately, and immediately let out a single cry that led to a coughing fit as she clutched onto Mayuko’s top with her tiny little hands, burying her face into the woman’s chest while repeating “No, no. Bad. No, no. Bad.”

“Come on, Marici. We’re not doing this again today. It’s time for your nap.”, Chiyo would respond, her voice stern. The woman was still reaching for her daughter, but the girl was ignoring her entirely, not even looking in her direction as she clutched to Mayuko as if the other woman was her mother and not Chiyo.

“No, no. Bad. I nap with Nana.” Keeping her hold on Mayuko with her left hand she looked up and over towards Nanashi, reaching for him and opening and closing her hand as she often did when she wanted something. Yet, seeing her mother reaching for her arm she snatched it back and curled it against her chest which she pressed against Mayuko. “No, no touch! You bad!”

“Marici! You get your little butt over here right now so you can take a nap.”, Chiyo spoke, her voice more stern than ever, and the volume of it steadily rising.

“No! I want ‘uko and Nana! I take nap with Nana.”

Chiyo opened her mouth to speak, but at that moment the door to Aguri’s office opened, the woman leaning against the door frame with a sigh. “Let it go, Chiyo. Why don’t you run some errands for me while the little one’s sleep. There’s no point in getting Marici all worked up and coughing again; she’ll just end up having to go back to the hospital and you know it.” Aguri held out a list, watching as Chiyo looked back and forth between Aguri herself and the child who she had been getting angrier and angrier with. Yet, Chiyo knew that arguing with Aguri was a bad idea, and she snatched the list out of her hand before leaving the Okiya, slamming the outer gate shut behind herself as she disappeared. Aguri watched her go before looking towards Marici with nothing more than love and understanding in her gaze, before she shifted her attention to Mayuko. “Situations like these make me wonder what little Marici knows and can feel that we can’t.” Yet, whatever questions Aguri might have had for the child would certainly wait as with a soft sleepy yawn filling the air she watched as Marici snuggled right up to Mayuko and closed her eyes, asleep almost immediately now that her mother was gone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the years progressed many occasions like these came up again though in different forms: Marici wouldn’t willingly go down for a nap for her, would often wake up screaming and calling out for Nanashi or Mayuko the moment Chiyo entered a room, and during her stays in the hospital which were numerous and frequent when she was younger she would often get upset the moment Chiyo entered the room and begin to demand for Mayuko or Nanashi and for Chiyo to leave - and if she didn’t the child would often end up so worked up that the hospital staff would ask her to leave. Yet, by the time she was six a time would come in which this seemed to stop: either Marici getting old enough to simply accept Chiyo’s presence, or otherwise ignoring whatever gut instinct the child had that was telling her there was something off in regards to her mother.

With Marici calming down Chiyo found herself spending more time with the child, returning to having various reasons for the pair to be out of the house: shopping, getting their hair done, or mingling with people who would ensure that the child did well as a Geisha - if she made it through her mizuage. The stays in the hospital became less frequent, but posed a constant problem for the young girl. Yet, instead of this dissuading Chiyo from her path of using her child to square her own debts it just made her desperate enough to allow the child to survive up until that point: what happened afterwards happened.


Having finished going over the first journal belonging to her mother Marici closed it carefully: she hated the woman yes, but this journal spoke of things that Marici herself didn’t want to lose or throw away. It was the only reason she had kept the journal, well, that and ensuring that the children had something to look at should they have questions. Placing this journal to the side she focused back on the children after pulling another from the box. “Now that we’re done with my mother’s journal we’ll start with mine. I kept a bit more detail in mind than my mother did; mainly because at that point I not only had less secrets to hide, but also knew how to hide them better.”

“I feel bad for you, momma… Chiyo sounds horrible.”, Zaylee spoke, her voice sad as were her eyes as she stared over at Marici.

Smiling gently at her daughter Marici shook her head. “Don’t feel bad for me, my little one.Chiyo was horrible, yes. But she taught me to be strong, and more importantly she taught me to use my instincts and to trust them. I knew something was wrong with that woman even when I was a baby, I just didn’t know what. Most people don’t trust their gut instincts, and ignore them after a while. Even though I became calmer around Chiyo my instincts taught me not to trust her, and to be on my guard around her. It’s served me well even now as a shinobi. If anything what Chiyo put me through made me stronger. It also gave me the determination as you’ll soon hear about that caused me to go behind my mother’s back and do something very naughty.”

Seeing her daughter grinning at the concept of Marici being bad when she was younger, she held back any more questions she had in favor of Marici being able to focus on telling more of this story as she opened the journal and flipped to the first page. Marici began to read once more, and Zaylee found herself closing her eyes and picturing the things her mother spoke of as if she were there; like watching a movie through her mind.


The day was warm with a gentle breeze keeping the air from feeling to heavy with heat. The sun was shining brightly while clouds lazily passed by that were fluffy and white against the light blue background the sky gave. It was a beautiful day, especially to be out shopping as Marici and her mother were: her mother was looking to have a new kimono made for her daughter in celebration of her upcoming ninth birthday, and they had spent the morning going from shop to shop as her mother searched for the most perfect and unique fabric that would do her daughter the most justice. Most would have considered the outing boring, at least for a child, but Marici had always been a quiet and content child and she was more than happy to accompany her mother on such a task: curious as ever as to what kind of fabric her mother would end up ultimately deciding upon. Besides, it wasn’t all bad, as she had gotten more than her own fair share of delicious boba teas to try out from various venders, most of whom knew her mother well and offered them to the pair for free.

“Is she albino?”, came a masculine voice from nearby, causing both Marici and her mother Chiyo to glance off to their right to the well dressed businessman standing not more than three feet from them. The male had been in the middle of making a purchase at one of the market stalls when Marici’s albino appearance had caused him to take pause in what he was doing. The eight year old Maiko was finely dressed in a beautiful stark white yutaka which had brown stems on it from which pink lotus flowers were in the process of blooming from. Her long white hair, which was pin straight, and which when left down hung to her waist line, was currently done up in a beautiful bun on top of her head, and adorned with a lotus flower that had fully bloomed. With her pale skin, and reddish-pink eyes she looked like some kind of demonic china doll, but utterly beautiful.

Instead of responding herself Marici turned her gaze upon her mother who answered for her without missing a beat. “Yes, she is.”

This information only caused the man to smile as he looked over Marici as if she were a fine piece of meat for sale, or perhaps an expensive painting that he wished to get his hands on. “How old is she?”

Once more Marici kept her mouth closed and remained silent, feeling slightly unnerved by the way the man never took his eyes off of her or even seemed to blink. To cover this up, as her mother had always taught her never to show fear to a man or uncertainty for that matter, she lifted her straw to her pale pink lips and took a sip of the most latest boba tea she had gotten: this one was pink, strawberry flavored, with strawberry boba at the bottom that added a burst of more concentrated strawberry flavoring into her mouth whenever she happened to suck one up through the slightest larger than average straw. “She is eight.”, Marici listened as her mother, Chiyo, responded once more to the unknown to Marici business man.

“My oh my, so beautiful to be so young. I will certainly be looking forward to your thirteenth birthday. I might even put my bid in early with your Okiya mother…”, the man spoke, more so muttering to himself than to the two females as he turned and walked away.

In typical fashion for her mother, who even now was dressed in all of her Geisha splendor, she waited until the man was truly gone and out of both eyesight and earshot before pulling her daughter to the side and kneeling down enough to look Marici in her eyes. “If that man ever truly does win the bid for your Mizuage you should denounce the path of a Geisha immediately, my little Marici. That man is wealthy, but he is a brute, and has destroyed many young girls following your path.” No more was said about the man, nor the barbaric coming of age and womanhood practice for Maiko, as the two continued on with their shopping.

Returning to the Okiya around dusk, a fabric having been finally chosen and on its way for delivery, the two arrived together with Marici being quite happy to be home. While the day out with her mother had been overall very fun, she was feeling quite tired due to her most recent bout of sickness she had only very recently recovered from, and there was the fact that she was still on edge over the very brief conversation that had occured around noon dealing with the businessman who her mother had later identified to her as Lee Tanaka. Stepping through the gates of the Okiya it was unsurprising to find Aguri waiting for them, having bid farewell to several Geisha who were heading out to a large party that had been planned for weeks. “Did you two manage to find a fabric you like?”, Aguri questioned, her eyes turning to concern as she glanced over in time to see Marici’s exhausted appearance before her gaze shifted back to Chiyo. “You shouldn't have taken her with you, Chiyo. Poor Marici looks ready to collapse from exhaustion.”, the woman scolded Chiyo softly.

“We did find one. It’s utterly breathtaking, and Marici would look beautiful even in a potato sack made from the fabric, let alone a kimono.”, Chiyo would respond, glancing over to her daughter and likewise noting the exhaustion that seemed to extrude from the child. “She asked to come with, mother. I think she was afraid I’d pick out something she didn’t like.”

This caused Marici to smile and shrug her shoulders as she slipped off her gata and stepped properly into the house with the two older women. “You like greens, but I look like a rotten olive when I wear green, so I wanted to make sure you picked out something that wouldn’t make me look even paler than I am. Where’s Nana?”, Marici inquired.

“Right inside.”, Aguri would respond, still eyeing the girl with concern considering the dark circles under Marici’s eyes. Both adults followed her right inside, with Aguri looking between the mother and daughter with more curiosity than before: the woman was perceptive as always. “Something happened while you two were out, what is it?”, she inquired bluntly.

Chiyo hesitated but a moment, staring at her daughter whose back was to her with a great deal of sadness in her brown colored gaze. “Mister Tanaka saw her today while we were leaving one of the fabric shops. She’s caught his attention, and I assume you’ll be hearing from him soon. He wishes to bid early on her Mizuage. He was utterly entranced by the idea that she’s albino.” Instead of adding to her mother’s words, or giving her opinion on the matter, Marici simply lifted the straw of her boba tea once more to her lips and took a sip of it, choosing not to say anything at all: she didn’t trust her thoughts in that moment.

---

5,435

Daremo’s fist buried deeply into the gut of Mamoru, causing the boy to spit up blood as his body folded over on itself. There were no sympathy in the citrine eyes, colder than any reptiles, as the owner of them gripped the top of the boy’s head and harshly slammed it into the ground, causing a small cater to form. Instead of stepping away from the downed boy, the jounin for over four years brought his leg forward, and punted Mamoru across the backward. It was only thanks to a tree that Mamoru’s momentum was stopped, though, one could question if that was ideal considering the cracks which formed on the tree from the impact.

Seeing the boy slumped to the ground, Daremo’s voice ranged throughout the clearing, “Get up. That was just a love tap. Do you think your opponents will be this gentle with you?”. The words were harsh and unforgiven. He did not have any sympathy or concern for his son. It was Mamoru who came to ask him for training, and that exactly what he was going to give the boy. Even though there was the first time the father and son trained together, his son shouldn’t have expected him to take it easy. The word was simply not apart of the Jounin’s dictionary. The only time anything would be easy is when death embraces them, until then, life was unforgiven.

He did not allow Mamoru to see the smile which threatened to spread across his face at the youngest willingness to stand back up from the punishing attack. “Good. if you are still alive, then you should be able to stand.”, He spoke, catching a pair of thrown senbons between his fingers and throwing them back at twice the speed. The senbons piercing completely through the thick muscle. Instead of faltering from the attack, Daremo watched as his son began applying medical chakra to some of his wounds. If he was a nice person, he would allow his son to heal the wounds, but, unfortunately for his son, Daremo forced nicest to the back seat when it came to training.

“You need to be faster.” The distance between them were closed in a blink of the eye, and before Mamoru could finish healing his wounds, Daremo’s hand was gripping his face, “Or else your opponent will take advantage of it.”, and slammed into the back of the tree. Keeping a firm grip on the head of a struggling Mamoru, Daremo lifted his son in the arm. “Good attempt.”, Daremo muttered, catching the offending wrist which had a materialized red needled, a characteristic of the Guanyin clan, “Normally, your wrist would be snapped or severed here. Thankfully, I won’t be doing any of that.”

Setting his son down, Daremo stepped back, but kept an eye out on his son who was in the process of healing the wounds. “When healing wounds in the open, or when facing an enemy, or a group of enemies, always be aware of the surroundings. Minimize the amount of concentration needed to heal the wound so that your senses and attention can be focused elsewhere. You are a valuable asset on the battlefield, either as a main medic-nin or as someone who can dish out damage in a fashion many others can not. So, be careful of your surroundings. Know where everyone is at all times, for your life will always be in danger.”, Daremo spoke, giving his son the same advice which his mother had given to him and Marici.

“Father, are you pushing me so hard?”, Hearing the question, Daremo’s thoughts drifted back to his own training, alongside Marici, with his mother. The training was, to this day, some of the more brutalest he ever had the luxury of experiencing. And, he remember asking his mother the same thing after their first training section together, “You know, I asked your grandmother the same thing when she started training me. Her response was a simple one, ‘I just want you to have the means to live.’ “ Seeing the look of confusion on his son’s face, Daremo continued, “By pushing you this hard. By placing you in these situations you can’t win. I am preparing you to deal with those waiting for you out in the world. Though it might not seem like it, but, you will have an easier time in dealing with Genin and Chuunin shinobis because of you fighting me. You are gaining experience in fighting a stronger and more experience shinobi, thus, fighting anything lower should go from improbable to possible. By giving you these skills, I am hoping you will live longer than me. That, I won’t need to put another child into the grave.”

Although mentioning his other child, something which still needed to be told to Zaylee, he was opening himself up for more questions. This being evident by the way Mamoru was curiously looking at him, “That is a story for another time. I prefer telling Zaylee at the same time as I tell you. So, be patient, okay?” Receiving a nod from his son, Daremo stook a moment to look over his son, noting how most of his injuries had been healed. Nodding in approval, he spoke once more, “Training is done for today. Let’s go inside and wash up.” leaving the backyard, Daremo, followed by Mamoru, walked into the house.

Stepping out of the bedroom dressed in grey kisode and black hakama, Daremo made his way downstairs to where he knew the rest of his family was. In his opinion, today’s training session was a success. His son got additional experience in fighting a stronger shinobi, and taught a valuable lesson. While there was much which could be approved upon, he would not hold it against Mamoru this time around. Only this once would he allow Mamoru to get away with some things. It is only fair considering he gave the same courtesy to Zaylee. Speaking of said child, a smile came across his features upon hearing the question proposed to her mother, Marici.

“I honestly can’t believe you still have those journals.” Making his presence known, Daremo walked over to his wife, who was in the process of getting up to look for the aforementioned journals, and kissed her on the cheek. He always known about his wife’s journals, but, unlike some who might be curious to read the contents of them, he did not. He respected Marici’s privacy, as he knew she respected his. Though that is not to say he was clueless about the contents in the journal, for some that was furthest from the truth. Marici told him mostly everything that could be found in the journals.

Following Marici, and both of their children upstairs, Daremo’s thought shifted to what all that could be learned from the journals. Their children would get a firsthand glimpse into their life prior to becoming the people who they are today. They will learn stuff about their parents which only one other person, their grandmother, knew about. “Yeah, they are old enough to know about our past.” He agreed with his wife, pausing at the doorway with the rest of his family. Walking into the giant storage room, Daremo looked around the familiar, giant room, as his children took a seat wherever they could.

Daremo softly at Marici’s comment of the tale being a long one, he took a seat on the right beside his wife. Citrine eyes looking at the various journals within the box, the glint of sadness was fleeting when he caught sight of a particular sky-blue journal belonging to a close friend of theirs. “I had totally forgotten about some of these journals.”, he murmured, picking up a few from those who he and Marici knew. Looking at his children, Daremo added onto Marici’s comment, “Never should the other journals be open by either of you. The tales and experiences of the Maiko and Geishas who wrote them shall remain unknown for now.” having said what he wanted, he listened on as Marici started with the tale of her mother.

With Chiyo tell coming to an end, Daremo remained silent. Although the woman was a horrible individual, he could not find himself hating her any longer. There was simply no point in still being mad or angry at a woman who has zero contact with them. However, he did reach out for Marici, wrapping his arm around his wife in a comforting manner. He just wanted Marici to know that he was there for her, like he always had been. The sadness within Zaylee’s and Mamoru’s eyes wasn’t unexpected. Despite everything which had happened to them, both of them still had all their emotions, something many shinobi could not say the same.

Waiting till after Marici spoke, Daremo added onto her comment, “If there is anything you should get from this tale. It is to trust your instincts. Your instincts will never steer you wrong. Above everything else, if your instincts are telling you something is wrong, than believe them.” Seeing their children nodding in understanding, Daremo chuckled softly, “As you will see, your mother was bad unlike me.”, he jested as Marici began to tell her on tale. The tale being one which he knew about. And, as the tell came to an end, Daremo reached towards the journal, “Let me take it from here, my love.”, he whispered, taking the journal in hand. “Now, where were we.”, he said, looking at his children before looking back at the journal, and began the tale where Marici had left off.

---

There were a few things in the world Nanashi could not stand, and one of them happened to be the type of people that ruin his sisters in a way that they choose suicide over living. While he understand the occupation of a Geisha, at least when it comes to the Okiya that he was born in, was to give pleasure, rather that is simple companionship or some sexual service, with clients, a line in the proverbial sand was cross when the client oversteps their boundaries. And, right now, as he commonly walked through a backwater alleyway, one of the clients had just overstepped said boundaries, and have drawn the ire of Nanashi. Normally, his mother would handle these types of situations, but, the woman, who was not far from his vicinity, chose to hang back, and allow him to handle it as he sees fit.

Reaching into his sleeve, Nanashi hurled a pair of senbons towards the client that he had been chasing. The metal projectiles logging in the back of the client’s knee, sending a shock of raiton chakra through them, and causing said client to collapse from the pain. “Get away from me!”, Ignoring the client shouts, Nanashi stalked towards the male with a grace becoming of his status as a Geisha. “Mr. Maida. Do you know why this is happening? Two weeks ago, you left one of my sisters broken. Now, we understand some clients can get a bit rough, but, the extent of her injuries was beyond such understanding. Not only was there extensive physical abuse, but, also damaging psychological. So damage was her mind, from what you did to her, that she ultimately committed suicide. Now, this is where we have a problem. I have fond of my sisters, even if they are not related by blood. When one is hurt by a client, I tend to get even, no matter who the client is. You see where I am going with this?”, Chakra surged through his arm as he lifted the older male up, and causing spider cracks to form when said male was slammed and pinned to the wall, “It is only fair that I take your life, as you took my sister’s, no?”

Pouring water of his upper body, Nanashi dismissed the memories of what happened prior, as he continued to wash away the blood which clung to him. Michiko Maida did not go quietly, Nanashi made sure of it. Using teachings of his mother, Nanashi took his time in torturing Mr. Maida, giving him a taste of what his sister went through, though not in the same fashion. There were some close calls where the wealthy male had nearly died before Nanashi was finished with him, though, luckily, his mother was there to help in those incidents. She keeping the male alive while also giving Nanashi tips in torturing another, something she turned into a fun hobby of hers. The teaching paid off for Mr. Maida lasted far longer than a normal person would without any aid.

“Son, hurry up. We should be heading back to the Okiya, and tell Aguri that our bonding time was productive.” Glancing at his mother who was standing near the bank, Nanashi nodded. Stepping out of the water, he willed his body to dry, though was only partially successful, something his mother noted, and rolled her eyes. “More chakra control exercises for you.”, she muttered, while snapping her fingers. Nanashi did not panic when his body was engulfed in flames. For while it consumed him, the flames was anything but hot. His mother had impressive chakra control to the point she can control the temperature of flames without a second thought, hence him not burning up just now. When the flames were disperse, Nanshi was completely dry, “Thank you.”, his response was answered with his clothing been thrown in his face, and his mother walking away. Quickly getting dress, Nanashi followed his mother back to the Okiya.

Having wandered off once his mother informed Aguri of the productivity that came from their bonding moment, Nanashi looked around to see if he could find Marici. Only after asking one of his older sisters did he learn that Marici and Chiyo had went shopping for fabrics, and that they should be on their way back soonish. Sure enough, Nanashi looked towards the front door, spotting both Marici and Chiyo standing outside of the Okiya with Aguri. Moving towards them, a frown briefly came across his face at the sight of Marici’s exhausted appearance. He knew it was do to an illness of hers, one that he knew not to cure. Still, it hurt him to see one of his younger sisters like that.

As he was getting closer, joined by his mother, Nanashi caught the conversation between Chiyo and Aguri. The two were talking about how Mr. Tanaka, a brute of a man who had a habit of breaking girls, had shown interest in Marici, and planned on bidding on her Mizuage. Nanashi felt a spike of anger course through him that was only stilled by the strong hand of his mother placed on his shoulder, “Keep your anger in check.”, she warned. The words being enough to calm him down. “Hey Mari!”, Nanashi spoke, waving to get the attention of his sister, as he moved over. Bowing to the older women, “Hello, Godmother. Hello, Big Sister.”, spoke, turning his attention back to Mari once he was acknowledged by the older women.

Smiling brightly, he walked up to Marici, and gave her a hug, “How are you? How was the shopping trip? Did you get the fabrics you wanted?”, he asked, looking at his sister with curiosity. “Why don’t you take her out to the garden? This way she can sit down and rest.”, Nodding at his mother’s words, Nanashi reached out towards Marici’s hand, taking it within his own, and led her way from the adults, and into the garden outback.

Although not big, the garden was still a decent enough size to have a small pond, with four koi fish in it, surrounded on two sizes by different flora. There was a stone walkway that led to the small pond. One of the benches was located near the pond, and it was this one that Nanashi led Marici to, “Come sit down.”, he spoke, waiting for his friend to do so. “So, how was it?”, he question, wanting to know about her day without her having to be ‘polite’ around the older people.

---

2724

Marici knew well what her husband and son were doing: it was the same thing that Zaylee had gone through just a few months ago. With Mamoru having shown interest in the medical arts Marici had taken him under her proverbial wing to teach him what she knew and set him on the path as a healer, while her daughter Zaylee had shown a different route in her interests. Yet, as Marici knew well, even as a medic her son needed to be prepared for the battle field, he needed to be prepared for the horrors he would face, and to be ready to fight should the need arise. Neither she nor her husband believed in sugar coating the truth, and while they might have protected their children when they were younger, the day that they graduated the Academy the proverbial kid gloves came off. They were ready to step into the real world at that point and Daremo and Marici would make sure that they did that smartly and with the right skills.

Looking up towards her husband as she got to her feet she smiled as her cheek was kissed and nodded to his words. ”I can’t find myself wanting to part with them, especially for this reason.”, Marici spoke softly as she led the way upstairs and into the attic. In truth, there was really no point in keeping the journals, especially since they were kept locked away, but the thought had occured to her more than a time or two of leaving behind something for the children to go through should something happen to herself or her husband. They had a right to know about their past, yet she knew that they weren’t up until this point ready for it. Things would be revealed about Daremo and herself that the children were unaware of, so it would certainly bring up more questions that until then they hadn’t been prepared to answer.

She was glad to hear that her husband agreed with her on this stance, that their children were old enough to know the truth about things. She was prepared for the questions to come, she assumed there would be many, and she intended on being as honest with them as was possible.

As Marici began going through the journals, speaking on the things within them and cluing the children in to her beginnings as well as those of her birth mother, she could pick up on the sadness wafting from them, and found herself in a way glad that they could still feel such emotions. Yet, there was no need for them to be sad as she went on to explain, Daremo adding to this that the point behind the beginnings of Marici’s story was that they should always trust their gut instinct, no matter if they had a reason to do so or not. After she finished she handed the book over to Daremo, listening as he took over in explaining about their earlier years that would lead up to Marici agreeing to be trained by Mayuko, knowing well that this would also give the children eventual insight when they got to that point of why they were trained in the brutal manner that they were.

Smiling at her husband she took the book back, deciding to take a turn reading for a bit, and delved deeper into their beginnings, remembering well the day she had agreed to have Mayuko train her despite it being so many years ago at this point.


Ignoring the conversation going on about Mister Tanaka her attention shifted to Nanashi, a bright smile spreading across her face as it always did when she saw her brother and best friend; though this smile did nothing to hide the tiredness she was feeling. At Nanashi’s question she had to bite her lip to keep herself from uttering a foul word. Yet, she was saved from having to respond by the suggestion from Daremo’s mother to take her out to the garden so she could rest.

Sliding her hand into Nanashi’s she followed him outside. Once there she sat down next to Nanashi, leaning her head upon his shoulder and closing her eyes. “It was okay… I got lots of that tea I like at least.”, she would speak softly with a sigh. “But it was tiring, and also horrible.” Opening her eyes she would look at Nanashi, all of the fear and sadness she felt shining in her reddish pink eyes. “I can’t do this, Nana… I saw the way that man looked at me, I know what he wants. He looked at me like I was a piece of meat..” The way he had looked at her, the way he had made her feel, she had hid it well out of sheer practice but it had affected her nonetheless and had made her feel as if her skin was crawling.

She felt the tears streaming down her cheeks before her vision even became blurry: it wasn’t often that Marici cried. Even during her months of horrible sickness and the suffering that came with it she never cried. She was always strong, not for herself but for her mother whom she knew worried about her terribly. Yet in that moment she couldn’t hold the emotions back. She couldn’t stand the fact that in less than fives years time her Mizuage would be up for bidding, that a man she didn’t know nor care about would end up being the first to bed her, all because he had enough money and could pay the most.

She was strong enough to battle her sickness, strong enough to act like everything was okay in order to keep her mother happy and from crying. She could deal with bouts of sickness that made it near impossible for her to breath. She could feel with the pain and agony within her chest and face it with her chin up and her head held high. Yet this, she couldn’t do this. It wasn’t in her. She knew her mother loved her and only wanted the best for her, so how could this be the for the best? Was selling herself to a brute of a man who would use her as he wished while he had her before tossing her to the side for the best? How could such a thing be something that her mother wanted for her? She didn’t have the strength in her. She didn’t want to be violated by some man when she came of age, and if that was the path to become a Geisha than it wasn’t for her. Yet, she knew well the rules of the Okiya: no one got to stay for free. While she made no money now during her training, as a Geisha she would make that back and then some. All of her training along this path would make a wonderful profit later on. She just couldn’t do it. The idea sickened her, turned her stomach, and caused her breath to catch.

She felt like she was drowning, though her sickness was in remission at the moment. The idea of having to go through something like that… no. She wouldn’t survive it. Perhaps physically she would still be alive but mentally it would kill her. It would take all of the fight she had in her to help her get through the turmoil with her illness and it would sap the strength she had left. If she had to do this, if she had to face that day years from now when she was older, it would end to her downfall - her death.

“I can’t do this Nana… I know I can’t. I can’t pretend this okay, that this is what I want, because it isn’t. I can’t just put a smile on my face like I do when I’m sick so that my momma doesn’t get upset and pretend it’s going to be okay.”, she would whisper softly, knowing that out of everyone within the Okiya it was Nanashi that would understand her the most, it was him that wouldn’t judge her for her weakness and unwillingness. If she could confide in anyone the way she was feeling it was certainly him: not even her own mother knew the deepest depths of her thoughts, but Nanashi did.


Pausing, she handed over the book to her husband so that he could continue reading where she had left off, but not before pausing as she took note of the questionable look upon both of their twins faces. “Wait, I thought you said that this would be about you and daddy? Who is the Nanashi person you keep talking about?”, Zaylee would inquire, looking between the two of them. It was a name she had never heard before, and considering how many of her parents friends she had met it was indeed odd, especially if this person played such an important role between her mother and father when they were younger.

Smiling softly Marici would glance to her husband, a silent conversation between them occurring whether or not they should tell their children this information or not to make things easier. If Daremo should agree she would look back to the children with a slightly larger smile. ”Your father was not always known as Daremo. When we were much younger than we are now through reasons I’ll leave up to your father if he wants to divulge or not, your father found himself in a position where he had to fake his death and assume a new identity to protect me. Before that he was known as Nanashi - or Nana, as I so very often called him when I was younger because I couldn’t fully pronounce his name for the longer time, and even when I could it simply became a nickname that stuck.”

Watching Mamoru tilt his head she focused her attention onto her son. “Is that why you went as Amaya Uchiha for the longest time while we were in Konoha?”

”Partially. But also because there was a period of time where I did not want to be connected with my past, and you’ll hear the reasonings behind that in time through these journals. Let’s just say that I had many reasons in which I needed to disappear from Earth country for a while, and assuming a new identity at the time was something I deemed necessary.”, Marici explained softly before looking over towards her husband and nodding for him to continue on with the story if he had nothing else to add to the conversation.

---

1,785 | 7,220

There was a tug to the right corner of his lips at Marici response to keeping the journals. Leave it to her to hold onto things of their past. Not to say he was ashamed of where he came from, far from it, just something that was rarely dwelled upon nowadays. Sure, there were times where he thought about where he came from, and everything which led him up to this moment. There were times where he thought about the ‘what ifs’ of the past, as in, how differently he would have been if he had done something differently? Would he still have made the friends, and found an extended family, if he made different choices in the past?

Though, being completely honest, it was during the moments of training either by himself or with Marici that his thoughts drifted to the past. His mind brings up the fond memories of training with his mother, and the torment she put both of them through to prepare them for the world. He remembered all the broken and bruised bones given to him by his mother who was doing it out of love and care for her child. All the times that he had woken up from unconsciousness after been brought there by a woman who was relentless in her attacks. All the joy which he felt whenever he or Marici managed to land a hit on his mother or the excitement that came from whenever a compliment was thrown in their direction. Now that he thought about it, maybe he did think about his past more so that he would like to believe.

Having taken the book from Marici, his fingers ran over the slightly raised lettering of the journal. As he glanced down at the words, once knowing his children were waiting for him to continue, he began reading. The words jumping off the journal, transporting him back to the exact moment of this entry, and giving his children an inside look into what their father’s life was like prior in becoming the man they know him as today. Finishing the reading, Daremo knew their children would have questions. For not once did his name, at least the one he goes by now was mentioned, instead, his original name was used. A name which he hadn’t used in some time now for circumstances that would be revealed whenever either child asked.

Giving the book back to Marici, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder, eyes glancing from her to the words written on the page. Smiling at remembering the particular moment which was about to be read: the moment when Marici was introduced to the training he went through, and when he made a promise to her which he managed to keep.

As Marici spoke, bringing forth the past, Daremo remembered it all. The promise he made to make sure Mr. Tanaka never get the chance to lay his hands on Marici. Promising his future wife that he would do everything in his power to make sure she would not need to give up her mizuage to such a brute. At the time, he did not mention he was going to attempt to win the bid on her mizuage, for it would have been cruel of him to get her hopes up and not deliver on the promise. Briefly, he wonder did she ever realize how far he was willing to go for her back then? How he had planned on killing Mr. Tanaka on the night of their mizuage, if the brute managed to win? Did she know he was prepared to sever ties with the Okiya, if it meant she didn’t have to give her mizuage to a brute? Knowing his wife, she probably did know.

With her part coming to an end, he reached out for the journal, taking it into his hand. He did not read from it right away, instead, looked towards the questioning gazes of their children. Leave it to the both of them to noticed how his name was not mention, instead someone named Nanashi was mentioned throughout the journal. Having already come to terms with telling the twins about his past, citrine eyes met those of Marici. A silent conversation going on between them, with him telling her it was okay to mention about his past, and why his name was different back then.

Daremo chuckled softly as he remembered all the times when Marici tried but failed to pronounce his name, hence the nickname ‘Nana’ was borned. A nickname which only Marici could call him by. As the chuckle died down, he looked at both of his children, “What your mother said is indeed correct. Originally I was known as Nanashi. The reason I had to change my name, and fake my death, is due to having noblewoman obsessed with me to the point she killed other female who got too close for me. In her eyes, I belonged only to her, and no other female had the ‘right’ to love me. Needless to say, when word got out that Marici was pregnant with you two, the noblewoman was not particularly happy with it. In order to protect my family, I did what was needed to remove her from my life for good, but, doing so, I had to fake my death, unless I wanted to be connected with her own.”, Although he left out some sensitive things, he made sure to be somewhat blunt with the twins. He wanted them to understand that, yes, he killed the noblewoman, but only out of the need to protect their lives

When Marici answered Mamoru’s question about her past, Daremo waited until she was done before adding on, “Both of you need to understand, in the world we live in, there are times were certain measures must be taken in order to protect oneself. We did everything we could to survive while not jeopardizing our own morals and ideology. Do you understand?”, he asked, receiving a nod from them both.  With that said, Daremo looked at the book in hand, and began to read from it once more.

---

No sooner when the question was asked regarding her trip out to the marketplace, Nanashi could tell something was wrong. While his best friend did not give any outwardly reaction to the question proposed, he just knew that something bad happened. He did not know what exactly it might be, but, knew he would not like it. Knowing whatever was bothering her would not be said in front of the adult, he was just about to suggest going out into the garden when his mother beat him; she, too, having noticed something amidst with Marici, and understand the child probably needed to vent away from the adults.

Sitting down on one of the stone benches, Nanashi glancing down at Marici as she leaned on his shoulder. Noting minding it at all, having grown used to it by now, he brought up his right hand, tucking away a strain of hair out of her face then went to running his fingers through it. Away from the prying eyes of the adults, Nanashi waited for his best friend, despite the age differences, to tell him what was wrong. Whatever was bothering he, he mentally promised to fix it. Seeing his friend like this was not something he liked. It made his chest feel weird, more so than seeing his sisters in a bad state does.

A soft smile came across his face when Marici mentioned getting tea, “Strawberry tea, I assume?”, he asked, knowing well his friend’s love for tea. Then again, he took enjoyed teas, but, rarely those of the sweet variety. The smile on his face diminished, and citrine eyes stared into Marici’s own, seeing the fear and sadness that shifted with her ruby orbs; a pair of eyes that he found exotic more so than her being albino. For a brief second Nanashi was confused on what exactly Marici could not do, but, that all changed when she mentioned a man looking at her like a piece of meat.

Eyes widening a bit as he realized that Marici’s Mizuage was coming up in a few years. Her thirteenth birthday was fast approaching in the coming of years, and with it was the task of her losing her purity to a patron with the highest bid. He really should not have forgotten about that considering his sisters go through it, but, when it came to Marici, it just slipped his mind. His heartbroke at the sight of tears streaming down her face, and he brought up his right hand to wipe them away, and use his right to bring her closer against him.

The Mizuage was something every Maiko had to go through, even he, being the only boy in the establishment had to go through it. The patron who sponsored his was not the kindest of them all, she cared little for his well-being in the matter. The only thing she cared about was getting pleasure from him in anyway possible. From what he understood, and witness the aftermath of, it was uncommon for a Maiko to get a patron that was actually kind to them, for most only sought for their pleasure, nothing more or less. Considering what Marici just mentioned about the guy in the marketplace, he would be just like all the others.

He would not care for her wellbeing, only seeking to use her body as a means for sexually pleasure, and to live some twisted fantasy of his. Staring down at his best friend, Nanashi did not want to think about the damage that would be caused to her by the male, along with how her sickly body would handle it. The act could very much kill her, and that realization brought forth a surge of anger and fear. He did not want to lose his best friend just over some money. He did not want to see his best friend damage because of some brute who only wanted to use her for sexually pleasure. No, Marici deserved better than this.

Listening to her speak her heart on the matter, Nanashi, without much thinking, lifted Marici up, and placed her on his lap. His arms wrapping around her, and his right hand coming up to comb through her hair, “You do not need to pretend this is okay. It is fucked up that you still have to do the mizuage even though you are sick. The practice is not one that I am fond of, but, understand without it the Okiya would cease to exist.”, he spoke, trying to gather words in hope to comfort his best friend. Combing through her hair, Nanashi thought about what he could do to help his friend. What can be done to get her out of the Mizuage. How can he help his friend? Could he. . ?

“Mari, do not worry. I will fix this.”, the words were spoken with conviction as he looked into Marici’s eyes, “I promise you. By the time the mizuage comes around, you won’t have to worry about it. No one will touch you. Just trust me, okay?” He was not going to allow some brute to touch, harm, and potentially kill his best friend. No, he would do everything he can for Marici, he was going to make sure of it. If the Mizuage still needs to happen then he would make it so that he wins it.

Holding her close, Nanashi thoughts turned on what could be done now, “Hey Marici. Why don’t you start training with me, and mom?”, he suddenly asked, “Mom always believe that everyone should know how to defend themselves from others who see them as easy prey. It would give you something to do, and plus, I believe you will be really good at it! And, once you get good enough, you can help us with our bonding moments.” Bonding moments was a term meant for when Nanashi and Mayuko went out to remove the men and women who caused the death of fellow sisters. Nanashi had confided into Marici at one point of time when he lost control on a man who bragged about what he did to the maiko which he sponsored.

“What do you say?”, he asked, looking at her expectantly, and hoping she would join them.

---

Finishing reading the pages on the journal, Daremo handed it back to Marici. His eyes flickering over towards their children, noting the look of confusion in their eyes. “What is an mizuage, daddy?” Zaylee asked, having never heard of the word until now. Looking at Marici, a silent conversation went between the two. Where the twins old enough to learn about a mizuage? Did either of them wanted their children to be exposed to this side of their lives? “My love, maybe you should answer this question.”, Daremo said, deflecting the question to Marici to answer, if she so choose too.

---

2170[4894]

Marici wasn’t going to go into too much detail about Nanashi’s reasons of becoming Daremo, leaving that instead up to her husband so that he could go into as much detail as he deemed was appropriate for the children. She listened quietly as he explained his reasonings, keeping some of the more graphic details out while being blunt enough with their children. So long had it been since she had thought about the councilwoman that the mention of her didn’t even spark the anger it used to: though this was likely do to the woman being six feet under as the old saying went. She had hated that woman when she was younger, loathed the very ground the woman walked on due to the things she had done to Nanashi when he was young - too young in her opinion. Yet, there was no point in wasting energy hating someone or being angry over the past, at least when the person in question was indeed dead.

In silence she listened as her husband went on to explain how the woman posed a very real danger to Marici the moment she became pregnant with their darling children. Given the woman’s possessiveness of Nanashi she surely would have done something evil and vile the moment she had discovered that Marici was pregnant with Nanashi’s children. Sure enough when the woman had caught wind of it, during which time Marici was showing and unable to hide the very prominent bump of having two sweet children growing within her womb, the woman had not been happy to put it lightly. Nanashi had done what was needed to protect herself and his children, and then had to fake his death in order to break any connection with the woman. While Daremo had indeed committed murder, causing the death of a prominent figure-head within the village, his motives behind it had been just: he was protecting the lives of not just one person but three. Considering the reach the councilwoman had she could have done any number of things to Marici and their unborn children, none of which would have been pleasant or nice.

As Marici finished answering Mamoru’s question she looked to Daremo as he added more on to what she had said, explaining to the twins that in their world there were certain measures they sometimes had to take to protect themselves. That what they had done was accomplished so that they could protect their own morals and ideology. As he questioned whether or not the twins understood this she glanced over to the children to see them both nodding in understanding. Marici kept herself quiet then, giving her husband a chance to begin reading from the journal, a soft smile appearing on her face at the words that reminded her so vividly of the past. She remembered that day well, and while she hadn’t known at the time how exactly Nanashi intended on keeping her safe she had believed him nonetheless that he would find a way and be able to accomplish this. Though, nieve as she had been, she had often wondered if Lee Tanaka would simply end up disappearing one day, or being found as the victim of some horrific accident. This was also the day during which Nanashi had suggested to her that she come and train with him and his mom, starting her down a path that would lead to her not only overcoming the disease that had ravished her body up until that point, but which would jump start her career and the calling she would answer that would allow her to go from being a Maiko and young Geisha, into something far more important: a protector of those she cared about.

As her husband finished reading she found herself glancing over to the children as Zaylee questioned what a mizuage was. Her silver gaze would then shift over to her husband, the silent conversation that passed between them leaving her nodding to her husband’s words. The question was, how much was she going to explain, and how would they handle learning about such a practice? Turning her focus onto her children. “When you begin training as a Geisha you start off as a Maiko. Maiko are normally trained from an early age, by the time they can walk and talk. You are taught how to dance, play musical instruments, tea ceremony, and many other things that would take a little too long to explain. When a Maiko reaches the age of thirteen they undergo a ceremony called mizuage. There are different parts to the ceremony, but the one I feared was the deflowering ritual that came in the evening. You see, in the days leading up to the ceremony bids are placed by the more wealthy individuals of the village, and sometimes from surrounding villages and even countries. The highest bidder wins the honor of taking the virginity of the Maiko, thus thrusting her, or him in the rare occasion the Maiko is male, into the position of a Geisha. The bid they place more often than not are extremely high, and the purpose if this is to pay back the debt the Maiko had accumulated throughout their years at the Okiya: food, board, schooling and training, the price of kimono and so forth. Unfortunately, this practice means that usually the Maiko has no say in whom the one who takes their virginity is. As you’ll see as we continue to read Lee Tanaka was a very brutal man, and he was violent, often hurting many of the females who he bid and won on.”

Pausing, Marici realized she had never truly spoke to her children about her sickness when she was younger, and figured it was time to explain about it. “You both know enough about medical ninjutsu to know that a normal transplant, organ or otherwise, can sometimes be rejected by the recipient's body, yes?”, she paused, watching her children nod before continuing. “I had that similar issue, only it wasn’t donated organs that I was rejecting, but my own lungs. There was a corruption in my DNA that caused my body to treat my lungs as if they were foreign. When I was born the doctors didn’t think I would survive, and it was only through sheer stubbornness that I did. Because of this I spent my younger years in poor and sick health, up until Mayuko’s training and her constant use of medical ninjutsu on us afterwards began to reverse these effects and ultimately ended up being the cure to this sickness. The reason I’m explaining this now is so that you understand what I was facing: here was this brute of a man who wanted me, a Maiko in already unstable health, and had he won it would have likely led to me dying. I don’t tell you this so that you’ll be afraid or sad, but so that you understand what led up to the actions your father and I will continue to read about and reveal as we progress through these journals.”

Taking the journal from her husband she would look to where he left off and continue with the story, hoping to enlighten the children more about their parents past. Yet, there was another point to this as well: while they had recently begun to see the world for how it was, this was a safe method in which they could reveal more of the harshness and realness of the world to them - by explaining it through their own experiences. She wanted the twins prepared for what they would face out in the world, she didn’t want them doing what Chiyo had attempted to do to her and leave her unaware and naive to the real dangers and the dark things that men and women could do to one another.


As Nanashi wrapped his arm around her she clung to him, sniffling softly as more tears streamed down her cheeks. Listening to his words she nodded in agreement: he was right, the whole situation entirely was fucked up, but more so because Marici was sick. Her body, her immune system, it was all much weaker than even the average human - though not for lack of trying. Her bouts of sickness sapped what little strength she had, and it would be like a lamb going to slaughter if she had to go through with this. She knew the chances of her surviving it, especially with how much of a brute Mister Tanaka was, were slim to none.

Staring into Nanashi’s eyes she would find herself nodding: she believed that he would find a way to fix this, that when the time came she would not end up in the hands of Mister Tanaka or anyone for that matter. She had faith that her best friend would make this situation right, even if she didn’t know how he would possibly get away with it. Her gaze shifted to the koi pond, watching the fish swim around in the fading light. Yet, her gaze would shift back to Nanashi as he mentioned her beginning to train with him and his mom. She knew that Mayuko believed that everyone should know how to defend themselves, and it was something that Marici believed in too - especially considering the condition some of the girls had returned home in. Yet, she had no way of knowing how her mother, Chiyo, would handle such a thing. Her mother was weirdly protective over her when it came to certain things - though, unfortunately, this protection didn’t seem to stem to the practice of those of the Maiko becoming a Geisha. Yet, even if she had to do it behind her mother’s back she would: she wanted to know how to protect herself, she wanted to learn how to fight. Even if she knew it was by no means going to be easy training under Mayuko.

Wiping away her tears a smile would form across her face as she looked back up at Nanashi and nodded. “Okay!” This idea had given her renewed strength despite her exhaustion. It was something to look forward to beyond just the mundane activities and Maiko training she did daily. Honestly, this was what she wanted to do. Even though she had hid well from Chiyo her desires, Marici had never wanted to become a Maiko, let alone go the extra step to become a Geisha. Her interests had always differed. Yet, to keep herself from breaking her mother’s heart, and knowing well that she had to be doing something if she wished to remain at the Okiya with her mother since she couldn’t very well just live here for free, she had done what was needed. But it had never been what she wanted. This though? She was looking forward to. The idea of learning to defend herself, being able to help take care of those who caused harm to her family that despite not sharing her blood were family all the same, it felt like the purpose in life she had been looking for.

The first training session for Marici was scheduled to begin the following weekend, and with it being something that she was looking forward to the week had dragged on, often with her mother complaining that her mind seemed to constantly be elsewhere. She hadn’t told Chiyo of her intentions, or what she would be doing, because she had feared that her mother would try and put a stop to it. She would be too concerned over how sick Marici was, or out of fear of her getting hurt, so it was something she had kept to herself. She didn’t expect this to be a walk in the park, While she was sure she had never seen the full brunt of the aftermath of Mayuko training Nanashi, she expected it was bad. Yet, this didn’t scare her away. She was no stranger to pain after all, she lived with it constantly. She was willing to face this head on, and it give her a strength she hadn’t had in years.

With her not wanting her mother to know what she was doing she had snuck out earlier than the pre-dawn hour the three were supposed to meet, dressed not in kimono as she normally would have - she didn’t want her mother seeing it ruined and getting suspicious after all - but in a simple long sleeve shirt and pants, both of which were an earthy brown coloration. It was clothing meant for travel and play, but it now had a new purpose as it would serve well as clothing to train in: her mother wouldn’t get suspicious if it disappeared should Marici have to throw it away or hide it if it got ruined, unlike the very expensive kimono her mother often had her dressed in. She knew the destination she was going to, having visited it before with Nanashi, so she was able to make her way even in the dark, arriving nearly half an hour earlier than originally intended. With her sickness in remission there was no coughing, and no shortness of breath, just a look within her gaze that spoke well of two things: she knew this was going to hurt, and she was prepared to face that pain to do this.


“Wait… grandma agreed to train you while you were so sick?”, Zaylee suddenly asked, tilting her head in curiosity.

Chuckling softly Marici found herself passing the book over to her husband before looking over towards Zaylee. “I agreed to it, Zaylee. Remember that; my hand was not forced. This was a decision I wanted. I wanted to be more use to the Okiya I called home that was beyond just being a Maiko or a Geisha.” Pausing thoughtfully for a moment she glanced over to her husband and then back to the twins. “While Mayuko never said it herself, I think that there was another reason for her readiness to agreed to train me while I was sick as well: I was not in the best of health all the time. While there were moments to where I was perfectly fine there were also moments in which I relapsed into my sickness. This meant that there would very well possibly be times to where I was ill and still needed to defend myself. While knowing how to work through moments like that, to know how to push my body even when I was so sickly and poor, I would still be able to defend myself if the time came for such.” Looking back to her husband she waited patiently for him to either add on to what she said, or otherwise continue reading to allow the story to unfold further for the twins.

---

2,470 | 9,690

Mizuage. Zaylee’s question was not a surprising one. He had expected for one of the twins to question them on the foreign term, and sure enough it had happened. Though, now having the question out there, he did not know how to go about answering it. Sure, he could tell them what it was, the selling of a Maiko’s virginity to the highest bidder as a means to pay for all of her essentials while living in the Okiya, but, he, himself, was an oddball in that regards. He never truly had a proper mizuage, instead, his virginity was bought way before he was of age. What happened to him was uncommon in most Geisha communities, but, considering he was only one of the hand full of male Maikos? The outcome was not too surprising. But, because of the circumstances surround his own mizuage, he did not believe he was the best one to answer this, thus, he turned to his wife.

As the silent conversation between them was happening, Daremo thought about Marici’s own mizuage. Her own was not exactly common either. Usually the patron is an acquaintance at best, but, usually a complete stranger who just took a liken to the Maiko for whatever reason. There is very little interaction between the two, asides from the patron showing interest in the Maiko, and chemistry between them is non existence. Yet, the Maiko is expected to give up their virginity to this individual who they feel nothing for. That would have been the case for Marici, if Daremo did not manage to win the bid. Thus, his future wife was able to give her most precious commodity to him. Yes, the circumstances surrounding both of their mizuages was not the normal. Though, he still felt that Marici’s own experience was closer to the norm.

In silence, Daremo listened to his wife speak on the subject. The twins being given a general rundown of what being a Maiko entailed. As she spoke, his own thoughts drifted back to the times where he was first learning what it meant to be a Maiko. Remembering all of the instances where his mother, sisters, and aunts drilled into him various things that would help him on his path to a geisha. A decent dancer as of today, he was anything but when he was younger. Learning how to dance, without tripping over his own feet, was one of the more challenging things he faced at a young age.

At the mention of the deflowering ritual, Daremo’s stopped his own musing and looked towards the twins. Both of them was old enough to understand what deflowering meant, especially considering that they were up and coming medic-nins, who has been taught by him and Marici. In the medical field, sugarcoating things did not help any party involved. Thus, both of them was well aware of what their mother was talking about when she used the deflowering terminology. Saying that, he was curious to see their reaction to the information revealed, for this was a big part of who both of their parents were.

Lee Tanaka. If the name was brought up when Daremo was younger, he would have got anger from just hearing it. He utterly despise the brute of a man. The hatred stemming from the man’s interest in Marici’s mizuage. Even as a child, Daremo was possessive over those who he loved, and he was highly so when it came to Marici. Thus, when he found out that someone was going to bid on her mizuage? He was less than please, and Lee’s track record with other maikos did not help with his anger. Now though, Daremo feels nothing for the man who is no longer in their lives. The last time he thought about the man was when Chiyo was sold to the brute.

When Marici spoke on her sickness, Daremo raised an eyebrow. Was this really the first time the topic was being approached? Honestly, the topic should have been brought up, incase one of the twins exhibit similar symptoms as the ones Marici once did. While her illness had been cured by his mother, Mayuko, he wonder was there a chance for it to show up within the children? No matter, him and Marici knew what was needed to cure their child, if they showcase it. Once she had finished speaking, Daremo would add onto her statement, “Understand that there are people, like Lee Tanaka, who could care less for the well-beings of others. They will use them for their own benefit, and throw them out like trash afterwards. This man poised a serious threat to your mother’s wellbeing.” Although both of their twins have experience the dark side of humanity, Daremo still felt like it was important to drill in that there are people who could give a fuck bout another human life.

Quietly, he listened on to Marici read the excerpt from the journal. The silver-haired male remembering the promised made to his future wife back then. Even at that age he was determined to make sure nothing happened to Marici. A promise which he kept. As she continue to speak, Daremo remembered why he suggested to Marici that she should train with him and his mother. Nothing in the world was guaranteed, thus, if for some reason he failed to win her mizuage, unknowingly to her, she would have another option available to deal with the brute.

Taking the journal in hand, Daremo chuckled at Zaylee’s comment. His eyes met Marici’s as she told the twins why, she believed, Mayuko agreed to train her.  “Your mother is right, the main reason why your grandmother, my mom, agreed to train her was to strengthen her body. For far too long, Marici’s mother had been treating her like a porcelain doll that sole purpose was to dress up and look pretty for those who came into the Okiya. She did not allow Marici to do any type of exercises, or activities that would have strengthen her body. Mayuko disagreed with such belief, thus, the main reason why she agreed to training your mother, asides from giving her a means to protect herself and another way to be useful to the Okiya, is by making her stronger. “ Daremo, spoke, looking at the twins.

Waiting to see if there were anymore question, with there being none, he began reading from the journal.

---

When the majority of the Okiya household was asleep within their respective rooms, recovering from another long and grueling day, Nanashi was in the process of waking up. Even after only having three hours of sleep, due to having to entertain a certain councilwoman, the young man still felt refresh, as if he slept the recommended eight hours of sleep. Pulling back the curtain, a pair of citrine colored eyes peered out into the darkness, showing a glimmer of uncertainty when he felt another person pressing up against him. Thanks to the rays of the moonlight, did he see that the person snuggled up against him was none other than Amaya.

Seeing her snuggled up against him brought a wave of confusion to him as he thought why she would be there. From what he could tell, both of them were clothed, thus ruling out the possibility of them having sex. Though, he doubt either of them would have sexual relations now, and, if they did, it would be outside of the Okiya. Dismissing those thoughts, he wonder did it have to do something with nightmares? He knew she had been suffering them for sometime now, especially now after the run in with Mr. Tanaka, and he did tell her that she could come into his room whenever she wanted. Thus, he could only assume the reason she was snuggled up against him was because of that.

As much as he would love to admire her budding beauty, both of them were needed to get up. Today being the day where Marici would be introduced into his mom’s hellish training, something she said replaced her hobby of torturing people when she is bored. “Mari-chan. It is time to get up.”, he spoke, nudging his best friend ever lightly, and continuing to do so until she had awaken from her slumber. Once awaken, Nanashi untangled himself from her, and went to take a quick bath, as Marici went to get changed. He would have offered her to change in his room, but both of them wanted to avoid suspicion from the others.

Stepping out of the shower in only a pair of boxers, Nanash ignored Marici’s presence on the bed, going straight to his closet to find training clothes for today. After putting on a silver and black outlined training gi, Nanashi looked at Mari, and questioned if she was ready to go. He would be leading her to the place where his mother, who was undoubtedly already there, would be waiting for them. Instead of going out of the front door, Nanashi let Marici through a the backdoor. Dodging anyone who might have recognize them, the pair arrived to the rather large cleaning within ten minutes of leaving.


A relatively large clearing with tree stumps, falling logs, and random posts throughout it. To the furthest right of them was a medium body of water. “Good, you both here.”, Dressed in a dark purple yukata with a golden dragon embroidered onto it was none other than Mayuko, who was sitting on one of the large boulders. Said woman turned her attention from her son, and onto Marici, her citrine eyes, a much darker shade than her son’s and having a stronger predatory feel to them, stared at the sickly child without curiosity. Lifting her right hand, Mayuko did a flickering motion towards Marici.

Seeing what his mother was about to do, Nanashi spoke “Mar- - -”, any attempt to warn his best friend futile. His mother having expertely aimed her killing intent at him, causing his body to lock up. He could do nothing but watch as his best friend was flung backwards from the invisible burst of wind. “Get up, I know that shouldn’t have hurt you too bad. I made sure to scale it done to only cause bruising.” Mayuko spoke, getting up from position, and walking towards the pair. Once Marici had rejoined them, the older woman spoke, “My son had roped you into joining his training session, eh?”, she asked. “I do not know if that was out of love, or a sick fascination of seeing me beat up the one’s who he love. Nevertheless, with you here, you are now my student. I will enjoy breaking, and moulding you into someone that is worth more than a warm body at night.”.  Not an ounce of anger was shown in her statement, even if Mayuko’s opinions on some things were different than the other geishas and maiko, “I know Chiyo did not approve of your training. She was always the type to never resort to violence, a foolish belief that only allow others to continuing manipulating you. You seem to be smart enough to realize that training would do you some good, or, you could just be madly in love with my son, and just following him like a sick puppy. I personally don’t care. All I care about is breaking and rebuilding you.”, she spoke.

Pulling out a senbon from her sleeve, Mayuko began twirling it, far faster than any in the clearing could see, “We will begin with endurance and defensive training. You two won’t be attacking me, only defending against my assaults. Do not worry, I will just be using taijutsu to attack you two. Your goal is to minimize the damage dealt, and last for the next hour. The training comes to an end either after the hour or when three major bones are broken within each of you. Understand?”. Mayuko was not a teacher who took it easy on her students. She enjoyed breaking them in anyway she sees fit. She wanted them to understand the dangers that the world presented to them, and how to handle it. But, when it came to her son, and Marici, she wanted them to not only know how to handle whatever is thrown at them, but, also conquer it.

Glancing at Marici, Nanashi spoke, “You ready?”, no sooner after the words were spoken did he realize his mistake for Mayuko was now right in front of them. . . shit.

---

“Seeing how tough grandmother was with you too, that explains a lot.”, Daremo chuckled at Mamoru’s comment, and watched as his son rubbed his arms. The boy was undoubtedly remembering their training session from this morning. Daremo was anything but gentle when it came to training Mamoru, something which he learned from his mother.

“Indeed, though, what I put both of you through is mild compared to some of the later training me and your mother went through at the hands of your grandmother.”, he confessed, smiling while taking a glance at Marici, “Some people might not understand why your grandmother pushed us so far, or why we do the same to you two. We do it out of love. We do it out of fear. We hope and pray that you will never find yourself pushed to the brink of which we push you too. We hope and pray you are able to overcome those who are stronger and faster than you by using the experience gain from fighting us. By putting you in such positions, you learn how to deal with them, and understand your body’s limits. This is why we put you through them.”.

Looking at his wife to see if she had anything else to add, Daremo would hand her the journal.

---

2324[7218]

Marici found herself nodding as her husband went on to add more information onto what she already had spoken about. Mayuko had never agreed with her mother’s way of going about things, and Chiyo had indeed treated her like some kind of breakable china doll whose only purpose was to be dressed up all the time like a beautiful work of art for others to enjoy. Of course this stemmed deeper than just this, but that was something the children would come to find out more about soon enough as the diaries and journals progressed.

“Your father is right. I was not allowed to go outside and play, I was not allowed to leave the Okiya without a chaperone. Playing with children beyond those within the Okiya was also banned. My mother kept me under lock and key. The only time I could go outside was when I was in the garden in the center of the Okiya. For a long while that was the only fresh air I received. My mother told people it was because I was ill, but in truth it was just another way for Chiyo to try and control me and to keep me blinded from the truth.”, Marici spoke softly but truthfully, the words ones she had thought over quite a lot and believed.

Falling silent Marici listened as Daremo read from the journal, smiling as she continued to remember that day very fondly: she had handled Mayuko’s training a lot easier than those who had tried before her, and it was because of her sickness that she had to thank for that. As Mamoru spoke, indicating that he understood now the reason why they used the methods they did when training the children Marici couldn’t help but to grin: what the twins had experienced so far had been rough, but it was nowhere near the brutality that Mayuko had ended up showing them as the years progressed. As her husband spoke on this Marici couldn’t help but to nod her head in agreement with his words, and a soft smile spread across her face as she leaned gently against him. “Your father is right. We put you through what we do to prepare you. Having the knowledge of pain allows you to work through it. You know how to force your body to respond during these moments which lessens the chance of someone being able to take advantage of you during moments of weakness. It prepares you to face people who are far stronger than you. You see, being prepared like this keeps you on your guard, it teaches you to always expect the worst as well as how to handle those bad situations. Mayuko’s training saved my life on more than one occasion. When I was a Genin I was sent on a mission. I was to escort a man to a minor village outside of Iwagakure. It was simple enough, and listed as D rank. Yet, the man who paid to be escorted had failed to tell those in charge that the reason why he wanted this escort wasn’t to defend him against a possible bandit attack, but because he had three B-rank missing-nin after him because he owed them a lot of money. Had it not been for Mayuko’s training that mission would have gone very wrong, I would not have been prepared to handle fighting against people far stronger than me.”

Taking the journal from her husband her gaze shifted to the words as she began to read aloud once more, taking her turn to delve into more of their background in hopes that it would help the children to understand even more about themselves.


Marici had snuck into Nanashi’s room within the early hours of the morning after a particularly nasty nightmare involving Mister Tanaka and her mizuage. She still believed Nanashi’s words fully that he would do whatever he could to fix this situation and ensure that Lee Tanaka never won, and she also felt better now knowing that her training would be beginning soon, but it didn’t stop her subconscious mind disturbing her slumber when she was most vulnerable. So she had snuck into Nanashi’s room, the one person she felt understood her and would protect her, and had fallen asleep fairly easily snuggled up close to him.

After getting dressed and Nanashi doing the same she had followed him out of the house and to the clearing that they would be meeting his mother: her own mother home at the okiya, fast asleep and unaware of anything that was happening. If Marici was being honest she truly hated being so secretive with her mother, she knew that the woman loved her deeply and cared for her safety, but in this matter it was for the best. Chiyo would do everything she could to prevent Marici from walking down this path, even going so far as to lock her in her room if she felt that it was needed to keep her safe. Marici didn’t want that, but she did want this training, so certain things had to be done even if they went against her mother’s wishes and had to be done behind her mother’s back.

Arriving her attention focused completely on Mayuko, she knew not want to expect from the woman considering how well hidden her and Nanashi’s training sessions had been, but she was sure that what she had seen was only a small margin of what truly went on. She could only assume that she was in for a world of pain, but that was nothing new for her, the pain she suffered during her sickness was often well hidden from everyone. She didn’t want them to worry after all, so she did her best to keep her chin up and pretend that everything was alright.

Nanashi’s mother’s manner of dress didn’t fool her in the slightest: anyone as well trained as she likely was would have been able and capable of fighting in anything. In truth, Marici knew that she should have been training in the attire she wore most often, yet that was impossible at the moment considering how close of an eye her mother kept on her. The flick Mayuko gave that sent a burst of wind in Marici’s direction immediately knocked the girl off of her feet and sent her willowy body flying backwards. She landed hard on the ground. In that moment was when an instinct that had been honed from her sickness kicked in: fight or flight. Considering there was no chances of fleeing from her sickness it triggered the fight instinct, causing her to immediately get back on her feet. Pain was nothing new to her, and in truth she felt almost none even from her hard landing: it took more than that to keep her down.

Her gaze immediately fell upon Mayuko, watching the woman wearily, expecting anything while not knowing what to expect. She didn’t bother speaking, she was determined after all not to be caught unaware again. She listened to the woman’s words while paying close attention to her actions, not bothering to respond, simply waiting like a small lion cub would watch a lioness: constantly learning, evolving. As Mayuko explained what she would be doing it only confirmed Marici’s suspicions that she would be in pain when this was all over with: but she would be well on her way to better protecting herself, that much she could trust of the woman.

The session was grueling despite being an hour, every passing second feeling like ten or so minutes instead. Yet, no matter how many times Marici got hit she never complained, there was never a tear to shed. No matter how many times she got knocked down she got right back up. It was hard, painful even, but Marici was no stranger to pain. Pain and her had been constant companions, pain had been the way she knew she was alive when her sickness had her mere inches from death. If you could feel pain then you were living, and that was all that mattered to her when she was ill. The exhaustion that set in a little less than halfway through was likewise combated, Marici allowing nothing to keep her down despite not making much headway in defending herself against Mayuko: the woman was just too damn fast, had too practiced of a hit for someone who had never seen combat before in her life. But she knew she was learning, and it gave her strength to carry on.

At the end of the hour Marici found herself seated upon the ground, the pain within her body was great, but it did not bother her. Her arm was fractured in several places, both of her eyes had been blackened, and she was covered in bruises in numerous places. Still, not a complaint left her lips, though there was a look of interest upon her face as she went about healing her injuries, knowing well she couldn’t return home looking bruised and battered: her mother would immediately question what had happened after all, as would the other Geisha and Maiko within the Okiya. She knew that Mayuko, by the second of third attack, had been holding back: an assumption that had been confirmed with how easy it seemed to be for the woman to attack them. In a way it had been frightening, but it had also been enlightening as well.


Pausing in reading Marici would hand the book over to her husband before looking at the children, seeing the thoughtful looks upon their faces. “So, because of your sickness you were able to make it through the pain of that first hour?”, Zaylee inquired curiously, causing Marici to nod. “You see, my sickness was more than just being ill - it was agonizingly painful, and the treatments and testing I had to go through was even more so. I spent a good part of my young years hanging perilously close to death, but it was the pain that allowed me to know that I was alive. I clung to that pain because I knew that as long as I could feel it I wasn’t dead. That was important to me because that was my greatest fear. If I’m fighting an opponent I know I can defeat them as long as I put the skills I know to use. While there’s always a chance I come across someone who is stronger than me I still stand a chance. But when I was fighting against my disease there wasn’t much I could do. Mayuko taught me medical ninjutsu long before this training began as a means to increase my chances should I find myself relapses before I could get to the hospital, but I was still vulnerable to the disease. It was a horrible mindset to be in: being killed by something I had no control over, something I couldn’t do anything about. So the pain I felt was my lifeline, and I became familiar with it. Most people shy away from pain, they do anything they can not to have to feel it again, but for me it represented life.”

Smiling gently at the understanding upon her children’s faces mixed with sadness that their mother had to go through something like that, Marici continued on, “Don’t feel bad for me, my little ones. That pain was one of the reasons I didn’t quit Mayuko’s training on day one. It helped me to get through it when someone else would have quit in my place. While I also did it as a means to defy my mother and do something she would be entirely against, it wasn’t quite enough motivation to keep going. That ability to handle the pain, to learn from it, that helped me more than just being a defiant child.”

Looking over to her husband she waited for him to begin reading: the training so far the children had heard about was nothing more than a warm up. The real action, which would be revealed to them soon, had only just begun to brew.

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2,030 | 11,720

Training the following Specialization:
Fuinjutsu C -> B: 11,720 - 2,000 = 9,720
Fuinjutsu B -> A: 9,720 - 3,000 = 6,720
Fuinjutsu A -> S: 6,720 - 4,000 = 2,720

Training the following Jutsu:
Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation (A-rank) 2,720 - 2,000 = 720

Remaining WC: 720