Mariko allowed herself to be persuaded and did as she was asked. Kiku hid her smile as she felt him tighten under Mariko’s fingers and she was very pleased with her improvisations. Now the client was being pleasured through her artistry and knowledge, and being maneuvered as he should be maneuvered.
“Is that better, Anjin-san?”
“Good, very good, thank you.”
“Oh, you’re very welcome. It’s my pleasure. But the Lady Toda is so much more deft than I.” Kiku could feel the attraction between them though they tried to conceal it. “Now a little food perhaps?” It came at once.
“For you, Anjin-san,” she said proudly. The dish contained a small pheasant, cut into tiny pieces, barbecued over charcoal with a sweet soya sauce. She helped him.
“It delicious, delicious,” he said. And it was.
“Mariko-san?”
“Thank you.” Mariko took a token piece but did not eat it.
Kiku took a fragment in her chopsticks and chewed it with relish. “It’s good,
“No, Kiku-san, it very good! Very good.”
“Please, Anjin-san, have some more.” She took a second morsel. “There’s plenty.”
“Thank you. Please. How did—how this?” He pointed to the thick brown sauce.
Mariko interpreted for her. “Kiku says it’s sugar and soya with a little ginger. She asks do you have sugar and soya in your country?”
“Sugar in beet, yes, soya no, Kiku-san.”
“Oh! How can one live without soya?” Kiku became solemn. “Please tell the Anjin-san that we have had sugar here since one thousand years. The Buddhist monk Ganjin brought it to us from China. All our best things have come from China, Anjin-san. Cha came to us about five hundred years ago. The Buddhist monk Eisai brought some seeds and planted them in Chikuzen Province, where I was born. He also brought us Zen Buddhism.”
Mariko translated with equal formality, then Kiku let out a peal of laughter. “Oh so sorry, Mariko-sama, but you both looked so grave. I was just pretending to be solemn about cha—as if it mattered! It was only to amuse you.”
They watched Blackthorne finish the pheasant. “Good,” he said. “Very good. Please thank Gyoko-san.”
“She will be honored.” Kiku poured more saké for both of them. Then, knowing it was time, she said innocently, “May I ask what happened today at the earthquake? I hear the Anjin-san saved the life of Lord Toranaga? I would consider it an honor to know firsthand.”
She settled back patiently, letting Blackthorne and Mariko enjoy the telling, adding an “oh,” or “what happened then?” or pouring saké, never interrupting, being the perfect listener.
And, when they finished, Kiku marveled at their bravery and at Lord Toranaga’s good fortune. They talked for a while, then Blackthorne got up and the maid was told to show him the way.
Mariko broke a silence. “You’ve never eaten meat before, Kiku-san, have you?”
“It is my duty to do whatever I can to please him, for just a little while,
“I never knew how perfect a lady could be. I understand now why there must always be a Floating World, a Willow World, and how lucky men are, how inadequate I am.”
“Oh, that was never my purpose, never, Mariko-sama. And not our purpose. We are here only to please, for a fleeting moment.”
“Yes. I just meant I admire you so much. I would like you for my sister.”
Kiku bowed. “I would not be worthy of that honor.” There was warmth between them. Then she said, “This is a very secret place and everyone is to be trusted, there are no prying eyes. The pleasure room in the garden is very dark if one wants it dark. And darkness keeps all secrets.”
“The only way to keep a secret is to be alone and whisper it down an empty well at high noon,
“Between sisters there’s no need for wells. I have dismissed my maid until the dawn. Our pleasure room is a very private place.”
“There you must be alone with him.”
“I can always be alone, always.”
“You’re so kind to me, Kiku-chan, so very thoughtful.”
“It is a magic night,
“Magic nights end too soon, Little Sister. Magic nights are for children,
“Who knows what happens on a magic night? Darkness contains everything.”
Mariko shook her head sadly and touched her tenderly. “Yes. But for him, if it contained you that would be everything.”
Kiku let the matter rest. Then she said, “I am a gift to the Anjin-san? He did not ask for me himself?”
“If he had seen you, how could he not ask for you? Truthfully, it’s his honor that you welcome him. I understand that now.”
“But he did see me once, Mariko-san. I was with Omi-san when he passed on his way to the ship to go to Osaka the first time.”
“Oh, but the Anjin-san said that he saw Midori-san with Omi-san. It was you? Beside the palanquin?”
“Yes, in the square. Oh yes, it was me, Mariko-san, not the Lady, the wife of Omi-sama. He said ‘
