Joy and Despair

Chapter 15 - The Opera House

"Would you like to dance with me?" a man asked. "It's the guy I bumped into!" Yumiko thought. "Sure I-" Yumiko said. "Misono-san! Long time no see! I know you really need a partner for the Waltz, but why her, mr.... playboy?" Mitsuko interrupted, holding her glass of wine. "P-playboy?!" he laughed. "I'm not a playboy! If I am, you're the geisha, the prostitute one!" he laughed harder. "She's my friend, she's not like that," Yumiko responded angrily.

"Miss, you don't really know her yet, do you? She's a prostitute," he said to Yumiko. "Geishas aren't prostitutes," Mitsuko said. "A lowly entertainer!" he said.

"Was,"

"Flirting all around~. Why Geisha?"

"Why playboy?"

"I wish you dead," Mitsuko said. "Why?" He asked. Mitsuko silenced. "Mitsuko-chan." Misono said. "What?" Mitsuko said dryly. "I was just helping you with your lovely Mizuage." He smirked. "E-eh?! Mi-Mizuage!??!" Yumiko thought.

(A/N: a coming-of-age ceremony in which a patron paid a great sum of money to take a maiko's virginity.)

"I paid you. How much? Oh right. ¥85,000,000! So cheap it is. Where did you spend them all?" Misono said. "Things I need. Like food, kimonos, to promote my debut as a Geisha, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. You know what? You should've paid more." Mitsuko said. "I'd be glad to. If you want to do that again..." he said. "No thanks. A child of a Yuujyo will always be a child of a Yuujyo. Am I right..., Monsieur Aristide Misono Lapointé?" Mitsuko said. Misono's smile faded. "Now please excuse me, I need to meet mr. Tokugawa." Mitsuko said as Misono made a way for them.

"Uh, sayonara!" Yumiko said. "Shall we dance?" a man said. "O-ok." Yumiko said while nervous because she never dances with someone. "He'll show you the steps," Mitsuko said. "Yumiko, why do you dance with him?" The familiar voice came back again.

"Gomennasai, Rengoku-san, But if I don't dance I would be embarrassed." Yumiko thought. "Ok, but don't get close to him." Kyoujurou said. "Hai, Rengoku-san." Yumiko thought. Then Rengoku disappeared from Yumiko's mind. "Something is wrong in your mind?" The man said. "N-no." Yumiko said. "Well, ok then!" The man said. Then they just stayed quiet and danced. "Hmm, Can we get a drink because I'm thirsty?" Yumiko asked. "Well, sure." The man said. The direction of Yumiko and that man are different, Yumiko goes the right way and that man goes the left way. "Mitsuko-chan is still dancing!" Yumiko said to herself. "How graceful, I wish I could dance like that!" Yumiko thought. "Oh Yumiko! It's Rondo, don't you want to try?" Mitsuko asked.

"Nope!" Yumiko replied. "Okay, but be careful, that man is a pervert, and you know what'll happen next after he harasses you, right?" Mitsuko said. "Wakkata!" Yumiko said. Then Yumiko left Mitsuko behind in the drink bar. "Konbanwa!" Yumiko said. "Oh, Konbanwa!" The man said. "Shall we stroll the garden together? Misono said. "Ok." Yumiko said. Then they left the ball room. "Can you close your eyes?" The man said. "S-sure." Yumiko said.

He led her to a room. "You can open your eyes." The man smirked. "Ok, is thi-" Yumiko said. "Y-you tricked me!" Yumiko said. The man doesn't hesitate to tear Yumiko's dress. "Don't get close to me, you weird man!" Yumiko said. He noticed the katana she's holding. "Well you can't go, you're not special, you're only an innocent girl that is only holding a katana." The man said.

"Someone! Help!!" Yumiko shouted, pushing Misono and ran out. Yumiko ran and ran, but he's still following her no matter how fast she is, he always matches her speed. A few minutes passed and they are still like that. Until, the dead end. "You aren't going anywhere again, aren't you?" he asked. "S-stay away from me!" Yumiko said.

"As expected. Misono-san~!" Mitsuko suddenly appeared, visibly had gone back home and changed clothes. "Can't you see we're busy here?" he asked. "Oh yes, very busy, you are." Mitsuko said. Mitsuko then slapped him. The sound of the slap is really visible to be heard. "It must've really hurt!" Yumiko thought. "You b*stard! Take this!" Mitsuko punched him with all her might in annoyance. "Let's not play with swords, he already got what he deserved."

"Yumiko, let's go. Leave him be, he has no right to be woke. I hope he'll sleep for eternity!" Mitsuko said. "I-I'm sorry, because of me, your dress is torned," Yumiko apologised. "That dress- what! What did you do to my dress?!" Mitsuko pulled Misono's collar. "That- that's from Tokugawa-sama-" Mitsuko bit her lips. "Well, either way, it's exactly 10 p.m., the Opera has closed, so we better get home. Cover that with this." Mitsuko handed her coat to Yumiko. "Arigato!" Yumiko thanked Mitsuko. "Anytime, let's go home before someone sees us. We're ladies who walk alone at night, so better hurry!" Mitsuko giggled. "Okay, Okay." Yumiko said.

They went to the exit and to Yumiko's surprise, a man in a suit is in front of a car. "So this is the girl who you 'accidentally' left?" He asked with a flat face. "Ummm, yes-." Mitsuko bit her lips. "Um, Mitsuko-chan, who is he?" Yumiko asked. "You gave someone you 'accidentally left' with the dress, hairpiece, earrings, shoes and the brooch I gave you? You know how much it costs?" The man said. "Yes, yes I know how much it costs. And this girl here, doesn't have anything to wear to the Opera House. So I just gave her what matches with her." Mitsuko said. "And, why should you go to the Opera house together?" he asked. "TO KILL THAT FR**KING D*MN CREATURE YOU SAW IN THE OPERA HOUSE! You think I want to go to the Opera House with this kind of girl?" Mitsuko said.

"Hey!" Yumiko said. "Huh. Shouldn't have bought them for you if I knew you would willingly give it to someone else, and you accidentally left it." he sighed. Yumiko turned to see Mitsuko who was smiling while clenching her fists. "Get in the car. It's cold out here." He said, getting into his car. "Mitsuko, who is he??" Yumiko asked. "You heard him. He's the one who gave everything you're wearing right now." Mitsuko said dryly. "Oh! Oops-" Yumiko said.

Yumiko got in the car in the back seat and saw a woman sleeping. "Who is this?" Yumiko asked, unsure. "Her? Oh, don't mind her. She's his... sister! Um, she fainted because she met a demon!" Mitsuko said. "Oh." Yumiko said. The man drove to the Butterfly Estate and dropped Yumiko.

"Why are you so late, Yumiko-chan?" Shinobu said. "Just now someone almost raped me but succeeded to escape because of Mitsuko." Yumiko said. "Oh, Wakatta! Did you kill him?" Shinobu asked. "Nope."

"Eh? Why?" Shinobu asked. "Well, for some reason! I'm not going to repeat the 'Kichisaburo tragedy'. I can be sued!" Yumiko said. "Good, now take a shower and sleep well!" Shinobu said. "Okay!" Yumiko said. Then Yumiko is done with showering and fast asleep.

The next day, Yumiko trains Tanjiro and his friends because Kanao has a mission. "So today I will train you, since Kanao doesn't have time to train you, guess I need to be replaced for her today!" Yumiko said. "Yumiko-chan!?!" Zenitsu shouted. "Zenitsu, please stop shouting, my eardrum will break." Yumiko giggled. "Oh Gomennasai." Zenitsu said.

"It's ok, Zenitsu-kun, now let's train!!" Yumiko said. "Hai!" They said, "Huh, look at how they're training, they are super fast now!" Yumiko was surprised. "Hatsune-san, we give you onigiri to eat." Kiyo said. "Oh, I will eat the Onigiri later." Yumiko said while smiling. "Huh, now I'm very tired, I should ask Aoi to take care of them." Yumiko thought. Then Yumiko walked to find Aoi. "Aoi-san! Can you take care of three of them? I want to rest." Yumiko said. There's no reply to the question.

The sound of a person falling to the floor hardly is heard very clearly. "You've promised us to refund our money, last week! Your debt will increase by ¥10 000 per day if you don't pay it right now!" a harsh voice said, while punching. "I-I'm sorry! I promise I'll bring the money back to you! But, ¥10 000? It's too much!" Aoi's voice said. "Well, it's your own fault. You haven't given back the money you've taken from us, so the price is fair enough. According to the law, it's supposed to be ¥15 000. We had minus it by 33.3% for you, so it is not 'too much', it is supposed to be 'too good'." the harsh voice said.

"B-but, I need that money for all these people here! If I don't-..., they'll die." Aoi said. "Hm, you don't look bad either..., what if you sold yourself to clear your debts? Surely a Okiya or Yoshiwara will accept you for your beauty!" an eerie voice of a woman said. "Let's go, we're done here. Next time, your debt must be paid."

"A-Aoi-chan?"

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