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Seiko Hitoshi could still hear the sound of the horses hooves in his ears. Thud thud thud - the sickeningly sweet scent of rotting flesh which lay on the ground about his feet combined with the pounding made him feel dizzy and ill. But he was a strong man. A reliable and self sacrificing man. The perfect samurai, the perfect soldier, the perfect man. Since he was a boy he was raised as such. He would bring honor to his family and grow to be a man like noneother. He wished he could really believe that as he watched his friends falling dead around him. So much death... and yet... he lived.

It had been only a few days since he'd arrived back home. Besides a few over stretched muscles and some bruises and scratches, he was really none the worse for wear. He'd simply had the luck of the gods on his side. That is what he told himself. Some of the other men who had returned alive to the village had been excitedly speaking of wanting to return home so that they might see their wives, their children, and their mistresses. He realized that while he was relieved to be returning home, he was not at all excited. He had no children... He and his wife had been married only for five months before he'd been called away to war.

The marriage had been arranged by a friend of his family, as most marriages were in this day and age for a man of his status. As a lower class samurai, he could have married a commoner... but he had been set up with his wife, a woman whose family was about the same caste as his, if not slightly higher. He had no problem with it, but he didn't feel any affection for the woman who she shared a house and bed with. They had been married just after his twenty fifth birthday and while they had consumated the marriage, he hadn't touched her more than a handful of times since. There was no love in their relationship - not even any respect, really. She was like a maid to him, a woman to keep his house clean and to keep food upon his table.

And he found himself considering this subject even more as he sat around the low dining table, sitting back upon his heels with his knees bent beneath him as he shared a lively dinner with friends - both men who had returned home safe with him, as well as other men who had been too elderly or unwell to go to the war in the first place. There were no women present, save his wife, who had prepared the entire meal and was now sitting off at the far end of the long table to eat, closer to the kitchen so she could fetch anything the men might need. The friends had gotten onto the subject of women - probably much to his wive's chagrine, though it wasn't as if she could really say anything about it. Wives had little say in a marriage. In truth, geisha had much more freedom than a married woman, as she was technically unattached and independent from both her father and a husband. Normal women were always the property of some man or another.

"Hai, Seiko... Already I've another child on the way, or so my wife tells me. I've only been home for five days! Now that is a feat!" One of his war friends chuckled good naturedly as he sipped at his sake.

"Ahh.. wives are over rated, Toji. I don't know how you put up with her. I try to stay away from mine as much as possible. All the more reason to have a mistress. Besides, enjoying sex with your wife is like enjoying sex with your mother. Terrible, terrible," stated one of the men who hadn't been able to join the war, due to a lame leg. "You will never know true happiness until you know the embrace of a beautiful young woman who has been trained in the arts of pleasure and entertainment."

Seiko smiled to himself at the conversation, just listening as the other men spoke. He didn't want to get into this conversation with his wife sitting just feet from him. He may not have loved her, but at the same time the thought of discussing sex or love around her embarrassed him. It wasn't something they spoke of and it would stay that way. He made himself busy - plucking a crispy piece of smoked eel from a platter near him. At least she was a good cook....

'Just ignore the conversation...' the wife Nanako thought, as she quietly poured sake into the small bowls. There was no kind of expression on her face; not a smile, or a frown. Nothing. Yet, inside, there was strange feeling inside of her, like there was a void where her heart should be. Why was this?

As a girl, she was always fantasizing about the tales of how the prince would win the princess' heart, sweep her off her feet to an exotic land where they would wed and have many good and obedient, beautiful children. Of course as she matured she no longer believed those stories, seeing that she was nothing close to a princess, only being placed in the caste system as a merchant's daughter, luckily her father was a successful businessman. She learned how to take care of a house, cook and other things from her mother and her mother's mother, while her father paid a teacher to educate her and teach her how to play the sangen. Nonetheless, those skills weren't used in this marriage, this... arranged marriage, other than the house chores.

That is why she could not stay in that house alone while her husband left for war. Alone for almost a year? Ridiculous. The day she returned, about a month before he came home, their neighbors asked of her whereabouts, and the only reply they had received was "Somewhere..." She never had a good excuse of where she was at the time.

Eventually, the man with the lame leg had asked her, "Where did you disappear to, Nanako-san?" She stood still for a moment, not expecting that question. Nanako looked at her husband, knowing that he heard nothing of her disappearance, before saying softly, "My grandmother was ill, and I had to take care of her. She is alright now, thankfully." How old was her grandmother again?
The truth of her disappearance may never be revealed, at this point...

'All the more reason to have a mistress. Besides, enjoying sex with your wife is like enjoying sex with your mother. Terrible, terrible...' Those words made her slightly pink in the face. How badly she wanted to pour hot tea on his head! Such a disrespectful thing to say about wives. About her. She looked down, away from the men's eyes, her jaw clenching a bit as she took the pot and walked off elsewhere. Hopefully Seiko haven't seen her.

In the kitchen, she thought for a moment, her delicate hands feeling the smooth patterns of the pottery. Was that the reason why she was not loved like she expected? Did Seiko look down at her as some old hag, just some servant that works around the house? Did she resemble Seiko's mother, and was untouchable? The lonely woman felt stinging in her eyes, trying to prevent the tears from running down her cheeks.

Was that all she was viewed as?

At the mention of her being away, Seiko furrowed his brow and raised his eyes from the eel that he held so delicately between his chopsticks. His deep brown eyes moved first to his friend, and then to his wife. She had told him nothing of being away. He had expected that while he was gone, fighting for the honor of their high lord and the lives of the villagers, that she had been tending the house like always. The fact that she had been away for a long enough time as to draw attention to herself worried him. No matter what the reason was that she had been gone, if people were speaking of her in such a way - she was bringing a bad name to him. As her husband and her keeper, if there were whispers of her being a woman of poor morals, it would be he who felt the sting - not her. What would people say?

"Hmmm.. you need to keep a better eye on her, Seiko." Another friend commented in a low, almost chidding voice after Nanako had gone into the kitchen again. Apparently, that is what people would say. "It would be best if you got her pregnant as soon as possible. Then she will be certain to stay in the house, don't you think?"

Toji, the war friend with the pregnant wife, nodded with a chuckle. "I'd say... Besides, when my wife is pregnant she is always making sweet buns to satisfy her cravings. I can't say that I don't sneak a few since she'd never make them any other time. She says I'm fat enough as it is." The man shrugged and glanced down at his yukata-clad potbelly.

"You are fat, Toji," the lame man noted off-handedly.

Toji shot him an amused glance. "At least both of my legs work, Akira."

"Cheap comeback," Akira sighed in a weary fashion.

Seiko finally sighed and lowered his chopsticks, instead taking up his sake cup and draining it. Feeling the heated alcohol slide down his throat pleasantly, he lowered the cup to the table and then nodded resolutely. He leaned a little closer in toward the table, his voice low in the hopes that Nanako would not be able to hear him in the next room - though technically he could have told her straight to her face. What he did was his business and she could not ask him to consider otherwise. As he leaned in, the other men perked up curiously and also leaned to listen.

"I had been considering it... a mistress. While I was away, I came to realize that the thought of my return home offered me no happiness. Most other men feel at least some respect for their wives, but Nanako... I don't know. I feel nothing toward her. Not as my wife, not as a woman, not as the keeper of my home. I feel more for the stray cat that comes to my doorstep for fish than I do for her." He sighed as if he was almost ashamed to say such things. "I'm still a man. I cannot be reduced to the activities of an ancient before I am even thirty. I haven't felt the desire to bed anyone since I've married her. I need someone to raise my spirits. Once Nanako becomes pregnant, she will have a child to care for. But I need someone to occupy my affection also."

Akira laughed loudly and the other men chuckled and smiled. "What did I say, Seiko!? Go... go visit the okiya. Find yourself a woman, you'll be all the happier for it. Nanako will not seem nearly so useless if you can spend your time pleasantly with a women of your choosing that you enjoy. Nanako will be the keeper of your house and child and you will appreciate her efforts all the more. Do it, Seiko, don't hesitate or rethink. You are correct - you are in desperate need of a woman who will satisfy your needs."

Seiko cringed, hoping that Nanako hadn't heard his friend's loud words. He had tried to be discrete. Akira was anything but discrete.

What were his needs...? It wasn't only sexual. No. Though taking a second woman may have been mostly sexual to many, many men... he was honestly more interested in just having someone who would care for him, show him real affection. A woman to wrap her arms around him and lay her head upon his chest. Someone to bring the warmth back into his heart that he'd lost since his marriage.

Her emotions were getting the best of her. Nanako felt tired out, both from all the cooking and serving, and keeping her tears back and her mouth shut. Should she sleep, or go to that place? The young woman walked back into the dining area, ignoring the horrible advice Seiko's friends were giving him, refilling some of their cups, before going over to her husband and kneeling before him. It seemed rude for her to do this, but at the moment she didn't care. She couldn't be around them any longer.

"Seiko... may I rest for the evening?" she whispered to him, still polite through her tired voice. "I want to go out to buy a few things, before I go to sleep. I want to go get the supplies before the merchant closes his shop for the night."

Being a merchant's daughter, it seemed wierd enough that she would ask this, since she could just ask her father, but then he lived far from their village, so the supplies he would send their way would take a few days go get there.

"Please...unless you want to get the supplies for me." She pleaded, making herself sound more exhausted by the minute. She was feeling tired. Nanako, for the past few months of his absence, have been up from sunset to mid-afternoon the next day. And today, no sleep at all, because she was making food all day for the celebration in town and in their house.

His friends had overheard, however. They gave him a look, as if to say, "Go to the 'store'!"

He raised his eye brows in mild curiousity as his wife came and knelt at his side, obviously wishing to say or ask something of him. Shifting slightly, he turned to look at her to listen. He shrugged his broad shoulders in an uncaring fashion and sighed - trying to ignore the looks that his friends were giving him. "You've prepared a good meal for us... Tell me what you need and just clear the table and then rest. I can go to the merchant for you since you are so weary from cooking." It was difficult to tell if his words were intentionally scathing or not - though the thought behind them were 'what sort of wife tires herself out just from cooking?' It was more than likely that the other men were also thinking something similiar. But this gave Seiko a good excuse to leave the house.

He stood then, and nodded to his friends. It was not terribly late, but if he was going out to the 'store' they would all have to clear out. The men started to rise as well, bowing and thanking him for a pleasant evening. As the began to leave, Akira walked slowly over toward Seiko, whispering behind a hand, as Nanako was still in the room. "Promise me that you'll tell me all about it?" The young man raised an eye brow hopefully. Seiko gave him a dull glare and muttered. "I'll think about it."

As Akira finally turned and hobbled out of the house, it left only Seiko and his wife... and a table full of dirty dishes. Straightening his yukata, he slipped his hands into the billowing sleeves, arms crossed over his chest. "So what it is that you need from the merchant, my wife?" He did not appear to be in a hurry - as truly he was not. He would take his time in first going to the merchant for what she needed and then traveling to the okiya on the edge of town to see what it was like. He'd never been within a geisha's house before and all he knew of them was that many girls lived within their walls, watched over by a strange sort of mother who made certain that they were not taken advantage of and were properly trained.

Lost in his thought for a moment, Seiko looked off into the distance at nothing imparticular. When he was a boy, he had often worried about what his true would be like reguarding women. Many within their culture felt that to love too deeply was a weakness, something that made great men fall. He did not personally think that - though he understood that one's wife was not necessarily the best one to care about. She was the woman who took care of you physically - fed you, cleaned your house. But if one is to feel love for a woman, best it be a woman who you cannot feel jealousy over or claim. You can claim a wife. But you cannot claim a mistress - as technically she is not yours except for when she lies with you. But one woman may be the mistress to many men, unless the man asks specifically to have her be only his. And then she'd might as well be a wife - not just a wife, but a love.

"Ah--" she sighed, rather happily, "I will give you a list, then."
Before she left back into the kitchen, though, she watched as her husband's guests leave. "Oyasumi nasai." she said to them, bowing before they disappeared from her sight. Going to an empty spot on the table with a piece of parchment paper, an ink well and a pen, she kneeled and thought for a moment. 'What do we have a shortage of?' Getting the pen ready, she wrote as she thought.

'Soy beans.'
'Quail eggs.'
'Mochi rice.'
'Soba flour. Rice powder.'
'Amanatsu. Mikan.'
'Fu.'
'Pork. Beef.'
'shiitake and matsutake mushrooms.'
'Udon noodles.'
'Maguro... sake [the fish]... hirame...'
'Kani, tako, ebi, ise-ebi... konbu...'
'Tsukemono... negi...'

"And nira..." she said outloud, blowing on the paper softly to help it dry, before wrapping it carefully, and handing it to him. "Dinner for the next few days." With that, she turned and began picking up bowls, putting smaller ones into the larger ones, walking off into the kitchen area. Before she left, she bowed slightly, saying, "Oyasumi." She knew she wasn't going to see him for the rest of the night.

Or at least, that is what she thought.

As his wife wrote up her list, he had retreated into the bedroom to change his clothing from the old dark blue yukata he wore around the house to his green silk kimono and black hakama with a black obi which a light bamboo pattern in silver upon it. Though it was one of his less formal kimono, it seemed strange that he had donned all of this when he was only going out to the merchant to pick up groceries and supplies for her. He said not a word about just why he'd gotten so well dressed, but instead took her list, glanced at it, and nodded. "Oyasumi nasai." He'd always used the formal when speaking to Nanako - he'd never grown out of it. It didn't denote that he felt her above him, however, so much as a stranger within his own house.

He watched as she walked into the kitchen with the bowls and he slipped the note beneath the edge of his obi, certain that he would lose it if he didn't tuck it away. He let out a breath as he ran his hand back through his long, black hair and quickly pulled it up into a proper ponytail at the back of his head. Even put up, it hung down to his shoulders and bits of his bangs fell down before his brown eyes. Every time he visited his parents they insisted he cut his hair properly, but he really didn't like the look of the 'proper' haircut he should've had, with half of his head shaven clean. He thought it would make him look like he was going bald. Unattractive.

He was soon out of the house, closing the door quietly behind him as he slipped his on his zori sandals which sat right outside of the door. He looked up to the sky... and then down at the ground. He wished it didn't have to come to this, but he knew he'd be happier in the long run. So first to the merchant before he closed... It didn't take long. He slipped the note from his obi and handed it over to the man - who noted that he looked in some manner of hurry.

"Some where to be, Seiko..?" The man raised an eye brow in curiousity. Was he so obvious? Seiko laughed and rubbed the back of his neck - Seiko knew for a fact that the merchant, Jin, as a man who also had a mistress. It was almost more common than uncommon in this town, he realized suddenly. Yet... he felt it best not to tell the man. He really didn't wish for Nanako to find out.

"Well, yes. Going to visit a friend for a while. Actually," he tilted his head. "Would it trouble you to have your boy deliver my items to my home in the morning? Since I'm going out right now, it probably would be best to just get them in the morning instead of this evening."

Jin waved his hand dismissively. "Not a problem... Oyasumi nasai."

Seiko bowed and replied in similar fashion before walking further into town. This would be something of an issue, as the okiya was some distance from his home, but perhaps it was better that way. If it were closer, more people who knew him from his day to day activities would spot him right away. This gave him a slightly more discrete appointment. He arrived less than ten minutes later, finding himself standing outside of the large, beautiful house. All of the lights were on and it was inviting, though he felt quite odd as he walked inside, slowling looking around.

The poor man looked lost, for lack of a better way to state it.

Sweet aromas seemed to waft in his direction, a smell of lavender, cinnamon, and other herbs ans spices. That, along with the lighting and mood of the whole place inside, gave a feeling of warmth, something that would attract most men, indeed. Around the side of the building, huge puffs of stream exited from one of the first floor windows, the smell of cooked food going along with it.

The okiya looked as if the people inside were celebrating a holiday, the exterior and interior decorated to perfection. But then, it was always a celebration every night in that building. The girls there, though being very serious with their job, always seemed happy and full of energy. As for their 'mother', she was especially happy. The town should see how much money they pull in every night!

The entrance was always open, yet no cold air could get into the place because of the excitement inside. The house itself called to Seiko, beckoning him to come inside.

Seiko felt his worry and uncertainty melting away as the warmth and happiness of the place surrounded him. Some strange part of him had been expecting a run down, unpleasant, dirty place with unhappy and tortured girls. But why would so many men come to this place if it was miserable? No, it was very nice indeed - a home away from home. Slowly he pushed further through the door and let it close behind him with a soft thud. He admired the freshly waxed floors, the strong light from the lanters. He could get used to this place.

His dark eyes searched the front area for someone he should speak with and he finally noticed the front desk. Of course... this was a business after all. He smiled a bit sheepishly but walked toward the desk, bowing. "Konbanwa... I was hoping to meet one of your young ladies this evening..?" Was that how he should put it? He didn't know a better way, and that sounded the most humble. These girls weren't just common whores. They were beautiful, well trained, well educated women who were able to not only please a man in bed, but also intellectually. She was a woman of entertainment and comfort. He was yet uncertain of how much money this would be costing him - but he figured that he would have to find a way to set money aside so Nanako didn't discover that any was missing from their usual ammount. He would say that he had to buy some other suppies, and set the money aside little by little.

As a samurai, he did not work so much as he was paid a wage by the village Lord, as all samurai were. Thankfully since they had won the war, times were good and both rice and gold were not hard to come by. Because of this plenty, the samurai were paid not with true koku - or barrels of rice - but with the gold pieces that went by the same name. Each koku represented one barrel of rice - food for a year. Everyone priced their goods by that stanard - how many koku did something cost? So how many koku would a girl here cost? He didn't exactly know the price of a woman.

He awaited the woman's answer as he stood before the desk - hoping that he would be able to afford this. No, he would afford it. No matter what, he'd find a way. It was his money from his Lord - and he could do with it what he wanted. So long as he didn't put them into the poor house or neglect Nanako, it would be just fine.

"Ah! Welcome!" the hostess said cheerfully, as she rose from where she was, and bowing to him respectively. She held a scroll in her hand, that looked like a book than a rolled-up piece of paper. The woman was no younger than 32, no older than 45, with jet black hair done up nicely, with a royal blue kimono, a look of a business woman.
"This is your first time, no? Let me go over the rules with you quickly, which isn't much." she spoke quickly for some reason. "First off, the fee for the night is not by what woman you choose, just how long you have her company. The ideal amount of food you're allowed to eat is three meals, so if you go over the three, any extra meal will be added to the final payment for the night. When you are done, you can come back down and pay the bill."
It was apparent that she was too quick for him to speak. She continued on. "Two. Treat the woman with respect. If you become drunk and happen to hit her or try to come onto her and she feels unsafe, we will throw you out for the night, and you won't be able to come back until you apologize to her. After that, you only get one more chance before you are banned from this place."
"Third. We are not going to be involved with any relationship you have with one of our girls, because there were many a time where a guest tries to get their money back because their heart was broken. If you want to become a danna, you have to let us know."

"That is all for now." It was hard to believe that she was not tired from all the talking she was doing. "Girls! Come and greet our visitor!" she called out, and in a moment, a group of girls came from behind a screen, one by one, each of them having a different color scheme, all of them looking like they were making a rainbow. Their hair was done up in different hairstyles, different ornaments and flowers in their hair. As they bowed, the metal ornaments clashed together and chimed.

"Now," the hostess said, which one would you like?"

Seiko stared at the woman, trying to follow her quickly spoken words - she'd very obviously done this many times. Though she did speak quite quicky, he understood her words with ease and nodded a few times. So... pay by time, don't eat too much, be nice. That's what it came down to. He found the idea of heartbroken men asking for their money back rather amusing. He understood what this was - this woman wouldn't be his, she would be a free woman, able to love whom she wished and do what she wished for the most part.

As the women were called in, his eyes scanned from one end to the other, trying his best not to stare or gawk. There were many women... all quite attractive. A hand came up to the back of his neck and he realized that he'd have to make a decision. Some of the girls were ruled out easily for him, as he found them either to be too thin or too thick... He prefered a woman with curves, not a twig, but not too large either. Ruling out a few colors, he was left to play a game of random choosing. Finally he decided on the woman who was swathed in a shade of deep cherry red. He'd always been fond of red, and it went well with the woman's hair and skin tone. Well, even if all of their skin tones were basically the same, covered up by the very pale makeup they wore.

He turned to look at the woman from the front desk, turning his eyes then to the girl in red. Now how to phrase this? He didn't want to sound like some sort of dirty old man. 'I wanna screw that one!' - no... no no no. He cleared his throat, "I.. I would like the lovely young lady in red..." He nearly stumbled over his word and suddenly felt extremely stupid. How easy this was, yet he felt like he was doing something wrong. His arms crossed and his hands retreated into his long sleeves almost defensively. This would be easier once he was alone with the girl, where only they would be the ones speaking. It was odd having a peanut gallery of girls waiting for him to choose.

The girl sat up straight, trying to not give off the impression that she was indeed shocked. 'He doesn't even like me as a wife... yet he chooses me when he comes to the okiya.', she thought quietly to herself, as the older woman said at first to Nana, "Ah! You want Nana! Bring him to your room," then to Seiko,"and I'll see you later when you're ready to leave." The geisha jumped. Maybe choosing a nickname so close to hers was not a good idea at all. Nana silently stood, bowed slightly again at Seiko, her fingers intertwining with each other. "This way, sir." she spoke quietly, before leading him towards the stairs that led upstairs. She carefully climbed the stairs, making sure she wouldn't trip over the silk skirts of her kimono.

At the moment, it seemed like the worst case scenario. Her husband being her customer. She prayed in her mind that nothing would go wrong. When she made it to the top of the stairs, she turned to the left and down the hall, and opened the sliding door to her room. "Here we are." she said, before suddenly realizing that he could possibly recognize her voice. [Though, I'm assuming that Seiko's going to be like, "Hm... that voice is familiar.. oh well. :B] "Would you like anything to eat before we start?" she asked, covering her mouth with her arm, making it seem like she was scratching her nose.

"Or of course, you can have food later if you wish. What sort of entertainment would you like me to do?"

Nana...? His brain, calmed for a moment, had suddenly crashed into a pool of static distress. Nanako... what would she think? If she knew that he'd managed to choose a geisha who had a name so close to hers? No, he didn't know. Even when she spoke it didn't occur to him. He really heard his wife speak so infrequently that he didn't know her voice that well. Pathetic, perhaps, but the reality of things. Besides the fact that at home she often put on a 'cheery voice' to appease him. And as a good wife was supposed to, she said little directly to him.

This Nana's voice was pleasant. Seiko quickly bowed to the woman from the front desk and then followed the geisha in red, up the stairs and to her room. He entered, slipping his shoes off outside of the doorway as was the polite thing to do. Entertainment... Yes, that was the point wasn't it. He chuckled in a nervous sort of way and placed his hands on his hips as he stood just within the door way. "Ah, yes... Actually, I'm not hungry just now... but I would appreciate some tea. With the fall coming, it's starting to get so cool outside."

He let his eyes wander around the room - he'd never been in such a place before, so he figured that it was best to soak it in. Though he was almost certain this would not be his last time within this room. He absently brushed some imaginary dust from his black and silver kimono, realizing now that he'd probably over dressed for the occation. But better to have the girl thinking that he was a well dressed, well mannered man than a scoundrel with a few bucks in his pocket to buy a girl.

"But, yes... Nana... I'm Seiko. I'm honored to be in the presence of a woman with such beauty as yours. In all honesty, I am not particularly certain what to ask of you, my lady. I would find it most pleasing if you were able to walk me through what manner of entertainment you generally offer your customers." Perhaps that was an odd request, but he didn't know what to ask for. Most geisha as he understood it had things they were particularly good at. Playing an intrument, singing, discussions on different topics, massage. He didn't know her at all, nor what she was good at.

Beautiful. A word that Seiko never told her before, not even during the courting or their marriage. There was that painful strain in her throat and her heart as she simply smiled in thanks. She wanted to tell and exaggerate her pain and scold him, but that would of course give herself away. How could he act different with her as a geisha, and not his wife? Nanako couldn't seem to comprehend. Her voice croaked a bit as she said after a while, "Okay, then I will make you tea." But nevertheless, her voice was cheerful, or at least showing that she was in a 'good mood'. She could always get him tea, and have the cooks make it, but this was her husband she was serving. And speaking that the okiya's tea wasn't the very best... she will make it with a bit of Tender Loving Care. It was part of her lifestyle, her devotion to him as a wife, even if she wasn't playing that role at that moment.

When he had asked about the entertainment, she kneeled down for a moment. "Well... hm." she had to think of that, herself. What would he be interested in? "I can sing a bit, and play the shakuhachi, though it doesn't sound best when I play music by myself. Then... I can dance for you, or I can listen to you." The last part made her laugh a little. "There are times where men come in, expecting to do something else, but then end up sobbing and telling us about their problems in their lives. Surprisingly, we help them a lot with our advice. And most of them return afterwards." A minute after, she thought that she could've kept her mouth shut. Nana didn't want to hear his problems, since they would most likely be about her.

"There may be more that I can't think of at the moment. So, what would you like me to do for you, so I can prepare?"

Seiko found a plush pillow on the floor on which to sit and relax, letting out a silent breath that he'd been holding in. He listened to her intently, eyes on the woman's face as she spoke. So keen on showing that he did indeed wish to know her, not just use her in one way or another. He laughed and smiled at her words. "Is that so? I'm afraid I don't feel very comfortable talking about my problems with anyone... and I'm not the sort to turn to tears. Not even in pain. I find that tears are for children, not for grown men." He said this all matter-of-factly. He wasn't a harsh man, but he was set in his thoughts. He refused to cry, to show any sort of pain - mental or physical. He wasn't any good at consoling... and yet as he thought, he spoke openly without realizing.

"That's probably why I'm here, anyway. I'd much rather be away from home, and be at peace with myself as a man... than be home and be at war with myself as a husband. I'm quite certain I'm not the sort of man who should have been given a wife. But all men need one, for this and that. Cooking, cleaning... children. Yes?" He paused and shook his head. He wondered about this woman.... Girl, he corrected himself. She could only be a girl. Too young for marriage - childless, without a husband. Otherwise she would have never been allowed to be here. What man would let his wife entertain other men? No, that was unheard of. Stupid.

He snorted softly and smirked. "Forgive me, here I give the impression that I am a man of few complaints and then I make myself a hypocrite. I suppose I just need to clear my mind. I would certainly enjoy hearing you play or sing. It would help me relax a great deal, Nana..." He said her name with such affection and respect, like she'd never heard before. He obviously felt comfortable with her, with this stranger of a woman. More so than he could allow himself to be with his wife.

Is that all they could think about women? Cooking, cleaning, and giving birth to children? Men. How she began to hate them. She bit her tongue inside her mouth to keep her thoughts from slipping out her mouth. "Very well then," she said when she calmed down some, "I'll get you some tea now."

When she closed the sliding door of the room, there was a huge sigh of relief. How was she going to live through the night? Or even worse, how was she going to get home before he does? Unless he was distracted by the hostess or by something on the road on his way home, there was no way in the world she would appear asleep when he come in their house!

But now was not the time to worry about that, she thought, as she walked down the stairs and towards the kitchen area. Getting a teapot out, she began to boil water, while adding the green tea leaves in the tetsubin [the teapot used for holding the tea]. Nanako wasn't going to give him plain old tea, though. She looked at the spices, before pulling out and cutting bits of ginger and garlic up, and adding it to the tetsubin. "That way," she said to herself quietly, "He wouldn't get sick so easily from traveling." Ginger and garlic was always good for sore throats and bad colds. At the same time, she thought of what dinner she was going to make the next night. Too many thoughts bounced into her head.

Soon enough, she was back by the room, pushing the door open, and going in with the crimson-colored tetsubin and two matching chawan [the bowls used for drinking], setting it on the fine wooden table beside him. "I put ginger and garlic in the tea, if you don't mind. You won't taste it much over the green tea taste."