It had been a little over a week since Ranka’s trip to see Asa, and Tousui had sent word he was working out a new excuse to smuggle her out of Yoshiwara. He’d also managed to raise a bit of money from some friends, and was hoping to gather a bit more over the coming months. 

All in all, it left Ranka with hope, and so, she was able to focus on her prayers to Inari with this visit to the local shrine. The silence in response to her request for help for Ichi was starting to make her nervous, but she told herself it wasn’t malice. The kami were simply busy, and, no doubt, the flood of prayers from Edo had grown overwhelming.

Briefly, she wondered if the divine governance of the city was as chaotic and overwhelmed as the human side of the city seemed to be. 

Taking Ichi’s hand, she led the disappointed girl out from the shrine grounds, where Fuji and Saki were waiting. As she slipped out from the front gate, however, she bumped into another woman.

“Ah! I’m very sorry madame,” the simply dressed young woman replied as she gave a deep bow. “I did not sleep well and my head was in the—Mister Beautiful?”

Ranka blinked, as the woman looked up. It was the waitress from the other night. 

“I-I suppose I should say Miss Beautiful though, and,” the waitress paused, giving Ranka a once over. “You really do look beautiful, all done up like that.”

“And who’s this, Ranka?” Fuji asked, walking over.

“Uh, she’s a waitress I met when I went out with the guards,” Ranka explained, before glancing back at the thoughtful look on the woman’s face.

“Oh! I heard about her. The guards said she had her eyes on you,” Fuji said, turning to the girl herself with an inquisitive raised eyebrow.

“She’s stunning as a man,” the woman muttered, before turning rather red. “I think she might still be stunning... or, at least, I see enough of her other side to still be struck.”

Ranka found herself unsure what to reply, but found herself saved by Fuji’s ability to almost always have something to say.

“You’ve got expensive tastes. An oiran’s services do not come cheap,” Fuji said, her grin growing.

“She had a clever solution to that one,” Ranka replied.

“Oh?”

The young waitress smiled. “Mhm. Since you oiran never have female clients, I wouldn’t be asking for her professional services.”

Fuji nodded, a spark of something lighting up in her eyes. Ranka was curious, but also began to realise the odd looks she was getting from passersby as the waitress continued to make eyes at her. Hastily, she excused herself, bringing a slightly confused Ichi along with her, towards Saki and then the ageya.

---

Ranmaru pushed himself during the kenjutsu practice. He knew flirting wasn’t generally a useful strategy, but the particular young guard he was facing right now made amusing expressions when he’d wink or wiggle his eyebrows. It was excellent vengeance for the man insisting he couldn’t spar an oiran.

Jabbing the man in the gut with a bokuto and seeing him double over was also satisfying, in its own way. 

Thirsty, and a little tired, Ranmaru headed off to the side area, where he absently took one of the cups of water offered by the various shinzou girls watching. To his surprise, however, he spotted Fuji in the crowd of girls, and slid his way over to her.

“What’s got you down here?” 

Fuji shrugged. “I thought it might be fun to watch you playing with the boys. Some of them aren’t half bad looking... glad you avoided the face on your opponent, for instance. He’s one of the cuter ones.”

“He probably deserved a bit worse than I gave. Gave me no respect,” Ranmaru muttered, before drinking some of his water.

“Maybe he has a crush?” Fuji asked, waggling her eyebrows playfully.

“Well, he’s going about it all wrong if he does,” Ranmaru replied, crossing his arms and huffing indignantly. “Doesn’t know how to treat a girl at all.”

The awkward faces the bulk of the shinzou girls made at that comment left Ranmaru struggling not to laugh.

“Well, when you’re all done playing, I have something I’d like to talk to you about,” Fuji said. 

Ranmaru nodded as he watched her walk off. Turning back to the guards, he wavered a moment before deciding he’d practised enough for the day. He asked his leave from the head guard, before hurrying after Fuji. 

She was heating up a kettle for tea when Ranmaru arrived, and he took a seat across from her as it heated. He stayed quiet, waiting for her to start, while she prodded the fire under the kettle a few times.

“So, I’ve heard that young master Akado has managed to raise a not insignificant bit of change for your freedom,” Fuji said.

“It’s not nearly enough yet, but it’s a promising start for only a week or so,” Ranmaru replied.

Fuji nodded. “I’ve been trying to save up too. I was hoping to manage enough to buy your freedom from the start, so you could find work as a samurai or... something decent paying. That way you’d be able to help get Saki and I out of the contract faster. It didn’t exactly go as well as planned though. I’ve got barely half of what it would take to free you right now.”

Ranmaru had to blink. This was the first he’d heard of the plan. “Why didn’t you share that plan from the start? If all three of us had been saving...”

“The Yarite would have gotten suspicious, with three of us trying to be oddly frugal. Plus, I’ve only managed to save as much as I have by offloading expenses on you and Saki. And... well, like I said, I have barely half what your freedom would cost. It’s proven much slower going than I’d hoped,” Fuji replied, letting out a long sigh at the end. “Even being frugal, the lifestyle demands of an oiran add up more than you’d think.”

“So, are you saying that this money is in play for the current plans?” Ranmaru asked, hoping he didn’t sound presumptuous.

“Of course. Your life is on the line... potentially.”

“Potentially?”

Fuji took a deep breath, before removing the kettle from the heat. Ranmaru found himself squirming a little as she poured out the tea. Only as she passed his cup to him did Fuji nod.

“After what that waitress said, about how being with a woman isn’t part of our job, and so wouldn’t count as giving your services for free... I decided to check our contracts, wondering if it was a legitimate loophole. Things are... well, they’re ambiguously worded. One part of the section specifically mentions ‘the oiran and the man in love’, but... I don’t know if that would be enough to get you out of trouble or not,” Fuji explained. “I’m also not sure how to probe about without raising suspicions against you; so, I wanted to ask if you were okay with my trying to find a way to ask the question, or if we should just hope for the funds to be acquired?”

Ranmaru sipped his tea, trying to take it all in. It was definitely risky, since the question left little doubt whom Fuji was asking for. Then... well, then there was the issue of what to do even if permission were given. Did he bring Asa to the ageya? Working while they were separate was one thing, but could he handle his job while his love was in the same building? He’d mostly separated the acts of employment from feelings of romance, but he wasn’t sure Asa would have the same detached view.

“Let’s see how the fundraising goes,” Ranmaru said, at last. “If, after a month or two, there’s little sign of buying my freedom, then we’ll try the more unusual option.”

Fuji nodded. “Understandable.”

---

Ranmaru fidgeted with the onigiri in his bag as he reached the walls of the Muraji home. Tousui had gotten him out again, this time supposedly to go riding in one of the large equestrian tracks in the city, and the pair had split up at the same tea house as last time. Now, though, he felt himself having second thoughts about the idea of showing the truth of his nature to Asa.

He hated hiding half of himself from her, but... it was selfish, in a way. Wanting her to accept all of him before he rescued her. Maybe it was strange to spring on her after he’d helped her escape, but then, at least, she’d have a proper choice. She’d be free to leave. Now, if she were put off by what Ranmaru was, would she fake acceptance in the hopes of freedom?

Potentially forcing her to lie seemed worse to Ranmaru than lying himself. Especially when his own lie was one of omission, not direct falsehood. He could seek forgiveness later, once Asa could give it honestly.

Letting go of the bamboo leaf wrapped onigiri, so that it flopped loosely in his bag, and climbing into the tree, Ranmaru made his way into the walled yard.

Sneaking up to the house, he heard Asa singing to herself, though it sounded more like a merry working jingle than a proper song. Peeking around the corner, he saw she was cleaning the room she was in, though was spending more energy dancing about than actually cleaning. 

“Makes the cleaning more enjoyable, I take it?” Ranmaru asked, a playful smile on his face.

Asa froze for a moment, before she recognised his voice and lit up. “Ranmaru! You are back again so quick.”

“I have a friend helping me sneak out,” he replied.

Asa looked around, a conspiratorial look forming on her face. “Come in. Guard out front today is the scared one. Says I tried to curse him. I just muttered grumpy things in my language. So, he never comes in.”

Ranmaru felt nervous about complying, though a quick glance up at the sky revealed grey clouds that seemed ready to rain. Heart pounding, Ranmaru slipped into the house and sat down at the table with Asa.

“How go the escape plans?” Asa asked.

“I’ve made some progress. A couple friends are raising money, so that I can buy my contract,” Ranmaru replied.

Asa lit up. “Maybe I can find some things you can sell? Muraji has lots and lots of stuff. European treasures.”

“The guards and other servants might notice though, no? They’ll ask questions.”

Asa opened her mouth to argue, before exhaling and pouting a little. “Fine. When we run away, I will take his treasures. We could sell them for good money. Pay for months of food.”

“Even if we can’t sell them, it would be fun to imagine his face when he finds them missing,” Ranmaru added, a grin on his face. 

Asa nodded. “Yes. That too.”

With that, Ranmaru set his bag down, pulling out the paper, ink, and quill he’d brought alongside the onigiri.

“I’m not the best artist, but... I think I can draw better than I can mime, so thought it might help with your lessons,” Ranmaru explained.

“Oh? Will I be learning writing too?” Asa asked.

“Uh... not yet. If I’m being honest, writing in Japanese is complicated, to say the least. We use Chinese writing, mostly, but... it doesn’t always fit Japanese very well,” Ranmaru replied, feeling oddly self conscious about linguistics for the first time since he’d been figuring out when and how to switch between masculine and feminine speaking styles as a child.

Luckily Asa made no apparent judgement, and the two got to work on her lessons. Some of Ranmaru’s drawings weren’t the clearest, but his second attempts usually worked when his first ones were unclear. Different types of birds, however, he had to give up on. He simply couldn’t differentiate a duck from a sparrow well enough.

They both agreed that Asa could learn her species of birds later, though. Silently, he decided fish would probably go just as poorly, and switched to occupations. 

Once he’d drawn and explained a few different jobs, he saw a question grow on Asa’s face.

“Which... which one of these are you?” she asked.

Ranmaru felt his cheeks grow hot, as he struggled for a way to explain himself. There was no great shame in his job in the eyes of average Japanese people, but he knew that Western traders sneered at his career, and had heard monks viewed his work as less than upstanding. The latter seemed more relevant to Asa, after all, weren’t her lands linked to Tibet, which was said to be a great centre of Buddhism? Would she have the same disdain for such a worldly profession?

“I’m an... entertainer?” Ranmaru offered. “Playing music, dancing, and... similar things.”

He could tell from Asa’s eyes that she knew something was being hidden, but her gentle smile revealed she still trusted him. 

“I... I should probably get going, before the cook arrives,” Ranmaru said, feeling nervous about the situation now. 

He hated lying to Asa, no matter how much he could reason it was for her benefit.

A look of sadness flashed in her eyes as she nodded. “He should be here soon, yes. Please, stay safe.”

“Of course. I plan to see you again soon,” Ranmaru replied, a slightly forced smile on his face as he stood up.

---

Ranka sat in front of the mirror the next day, fully done up for a client, and couldn’t help but wonder what Asa would have thought of the truth.