Ranka had been reading some of the latest poetry publications to Ichi, trying to get the girl’s mind off the lingering soreness Nishizaki’s herbal blend didn’t quite erase, when the apartment door slammed open. The Yarite marched in, eyes in a narrow glare, the accountant woman who’d found out about Ichi and the head of the guards following her. The accountant woman held a bundle of linen in her arms, and Ranka winced as she realised what had happened. 

“Mei, I would like an explanation for why the bedding you borrowed last night was found so covered in blood this afternoon,” the Yarite hissed, as the linens were unfurled.

Silently, Ranka cursed herself for having not snuck off to clean the linens herself. She’d been too tired and worried about Ichi to even think about the risk.

“It was for the sake of my kamuro, Ichi. She had a... condition. It required some slight surgery,” Ranka replied, bowing respectfully and keeping her gaze low in a humble and non-aggressive way.

“You had surgery done in my ageya?”

Ranka winced a little, but nodded. “It would require rather a lot of explaining to take a kamuro girl out through the gates to the doctor’s home, and the ageya is much cleaner than anywhere else in Yoshiwara. So, for her safety, it seemed the best option.”

“What was the surgery?” the Yarite asked, her tone icy cold.

“Did it have to do with the child’s similarity to yourself?” the accountant woman added.

“Yes,” Ranka half whispered.

“Is it an issue that could potentially strike yourself?” the head guard asked, honest concern in his voice.

“No... I am comfortable with both my forms,” Ranka replied. 

“And the child?” the Yarite asked.

“She was not comfortable with certain things. Especially the future developments of a masculine form,” Ranka explained, still not sure about revealing the exact truth.

“I thought you were training her to be your successor?” the Yarite asked.

Ranka blinked, looking up in honest confusion. “I was merely taking her in from the cold, to provide her somewhere safe to live when her family rejected her.”

“She could have made this ageya a great deal of money... Depending on what, exactly, has been done to her, a fine may be in order to make up for that,” the Yarite replied.

“I’m not sure we have much ground for that,” the head guard said. “The girl isn’t under contract with the ageya. Mei brought her in of her own accord, and has covered all expenses for the child beyond the occasional use of bathing linens, if I’m not mistaken.”

The accountant woman sneered at him, but then nodded. “What he says is true. Unfortunately.”

“Fine. I suppose an overstep like that could make other employees upset, as such... you’re off the hook for that specific punishment, Mei. I will find something else though. I have been too light on you, due to your little gift,” the Yarite grumbled. 

The head guard and accountant woman turned, seeming ready to leave, when the Yarite hovered a moment longer, eyes drifting down to Ichi, the young girl half hidden behind Ranka.

“Why was it that the child couldn’t just avoid rice in future? As well, what, precisely, was it that was done? You never answered that.”

“I... when I said that she was akin to myself, I was using a somewhat broad definition,” Ranka replied, sliding herself in front of Ichi a bit more. “You have read the Tale of Torikaebaya, yes?”

“Torikae... do you mean to tell me this child is like the son who lived as a lady in waiting?”

“Along those lines,” Ranka said, with a curt nod.

“If I remember the story correctly, the son and daughter eventually grew out of their strange afflictions and came to live proper to their forms,” the Yarite replied. “Yet you’ve... what, made a eunuch of the boy?”

“The doctor was guided here in answer to our prayers, it was not my first idea,” Ranka explained. “As well, I should think the idea of ‘living proper to one’s form’ should be suitably abstract when you’ve known me so long.”

“...Fine. As was mentioned earlier, the child, whether a boy or a girl, is your responsibility. It is not my problem if he grows out of this phase, as per the story, and comes to hate you,” the Yarite replied, turning and making her leave.

The head guard closed the door behind the trio, leaving Ranka alone to have the adrenaline drain from her body. Suddenly weak in the knees, she flopped to a rather graceless sitting position on the floor, taking a few deep breaths to calm her nerves. Ichi crouched down beside her, glaring out at the door.

“I don’t think I like that woman very much,” Ichi whispered.

“She’s kinder than most ageya owners. It’s a dirty business that shrivels the heart, though,” Ranka replied, her tones likewise hushed.

Ichi looked rather less than convinced, and Ranka decided there was little reason to push the issue. 

---

Ranmaru had a customer that evening, and passed Ichi over to Fuji for the night. Entertaining the client on so little sleep proved a bit tricky, but the man didn’t seem to mind speeding on to the second half of the visit earlier, letting Ranmaru get to sleep sooner.

Despite the (relatively) early night, Ranmaru ended up falling back asleep after bidding the client farewell. The sun was distressingly high in the sky when Ranmaru rose properly, grabbing a bath to remove his white Oiran makeup, before heading over to Fuji’s to check on Ichi and grab some breakfast. 

Arriving, he found Fuji deep in conversation with the head guard. 

“So, what do you think? Does it seem like a valid position?” Fuji asked as Ranmaru came into hearing range.

“It could be. I think the Yarite would be ready to argue, but it seems rational to me,” the man replied.

“What are we arguing about?” Ranmaru asked, slipping into Fuji’s apartment.

“A possible contract loophole,” the guard replied.

“Would that be the little curious thing you told me about?” Ranmaru asked, turning to Fuji.

The idea that Fuji was risking things unnecessarily made him nervous, and he hoped his nervousness was easily read through the look he was giving her.

“Well, since rumours have been spreading about Ichi, and the idea we might hire more employees along the lines of her is something all the girls are talking about, that little question of oiran falling for a woman seemed like it might be extra relevant,” Fuji replied, all smiles.

“Might even be deemed a health point,” the head guard replied as he stood up. “The Confucians like to say that too much male-male interaction leads to excessive Yang. I personally don’t know about that, but... better safe than sorry I suppose. Well, I must be off.”

Fuji and Ranmaru both gave the man a bow as he left, before Ranmaru closed the door and slid over beside Fuji, still eyeing her suspiciously.

“Maybe you found a decent excuse, but I still feel a little nervous about you making inquiries like that,” Ranmaru whispered.

“It wasn’t on your behalf,” Fuji replied flatly as she pulled out a small pot of rice.

“Pardon?” 

Fuji’s cheeks went a bit red as she continued to scoop out some more rice into a small bowl. It was only as she handed the rice over to Ranmaru that she spoke again.

“I don’t know why... maybe I fell so into my Yin aspect with the coldness and secrecy I’ve tried to maintain that a bold woman’s Yang is enough to attract me. Or maybe that whole Confucian idea on how attraction works is nonsense, the result of male scholars never listening to women,” Fuji said, her voice soft. “Either way, I... I have a vested interest in the question now.”

Ranmaru found himself too stunned to eat. Or to ask a question. He’d half wondered if Fuji had any interest in romance at all at this point. To hear she did, to such a surprising target, and that he’d somehow missed it, was a shock. 

“It’s that Miss Kane, isn’t it?” Ichi asked, causing Ranmaru to jump a little.

He’d forgotten the girl would be around.

Fuji’s cheeks regained their redness. “Y-yes. So, I need to know if I can let myself feel this, or if I need to push her away now.”

Ranmaru nodded, before starting to eat some of the meal provided. He wasn’t sure quite what to say, and, despite having not had high hopes, was slightly disappointed that she still had nothing to say after changing to her feminine form.

“Miss Kane seems nice,” Ranka offered.

“I can’t believe I’m ready to risk punishment while having no idea if she’d ever feel the same about me... love is an annoying feeling,” Fuji muttered, while passing over a small container of pickled plums. 

“That it is,” Ranka replied. 

The rest of the meal was quiet, Fuji visibly embarrassed at her confession and Ranka not sure what advice she could give. In fact, she was unsure if she was better off asking for advice, as Fuji clearly loved a (bold and not overly feminine) woman as a woman, and so might better understand ways for Ranka to smooth the reveal over with Asa than Ranka could assist in helping Fuji with her own questions. After all, Ranka suspected that her own love of Asa was coming from the masculine side of her heart, and therefore of little use on the subject. 

She got the impression that Fuji was still rather confused by the whole matter, however, and so did not push the issue. 

---

Ranka was sore from the endless scrubbing, to say the least, but the baths were clean. She considered it a rather demeaning punishment for an Oiran, especially when all she’d really done was dirty a couple of linens, but she knew better to argue with the Yarite when getting a glare like she’d received. 

Walking along the outer part of the courtyard, craving a nap with every fiber of her being, she heard Fuji’s voice coming from the Yarite’s office. Curiosity getting the better of her, Ranka slipped around the corner, hunting for a better listening point, only to find nearly a dozen shinzou girls gathered about spying on the argument. They gave her a nervous look, but a smile and a shushing gesture assured them they weren’t about to be ratted out. For added security, they slipped out of the way to give Ranka the best listening point.

“It’s a technicality at best,” the Yarite replied. 

Fuji was arguing for her interpretation of the contract. Ranka hadn’t expected it so soon, and couldn’t help leaning in to hear better. Fuji’s voice was fearless as she pointed to the cover the ambiguous wording could provide. 

Eventually the Yarite let out a sigh. “If the girl in question were to refuse customers then the effect is the same, and so is the punishment.”

“And if she doesn’t refuse customers? Or if he doesn’t, should we expand our hiring a little to replace Ranmaru when his contract is up?” Fuji countered.

“We’re not hiring men,” the Yarite replied flatly.

“Not even those close to Ichi’s viewpoint? I’ve seen the ledgers to show the premium price Ranmaru brings in. You really want to give that up?”

There was a pause, causing Ranka and the shinzou girls to lean in.

Fuji let out a sigh. “Either way, that’s getting off track from the matter at hand. As the contract stands, is an Oiran allowed to have a female lover or not?”

“This is all about Miss Mei, isn’t it?” the Yarite asked.

Ranka felt all the eyes of the shinzou girls on her, and could only grimace. She also had to struggle not to laugh at the scandalised faces on a few of them.

“No. I’m asking for myself,” Fuji replied, her firm tone wavering a little. “I am teetering on the edge of falling in love with a woman, and I need to know if my safety requires me to reject her now.”

Silence followed. Silence long enough to make Ranka grow nervous, despite the comically wide eyes of the girls eavesdropping with her.

“I will admit, I did not expect that reason,” the Yarite said at last. “You’re an intelligent woman, Hanamoto. You have the determination to replace me one day... So I will ask you, how do you think clients would react?”

“In all honesty? I don’t think men would notice. As long as they did not peer into the bedroom during intimate acts, they would likely see nothing more than a close friendship,” Fuji replied, regaining some of her firmness. “If we brought on male workers, that might get noticed, but Confucian views on the need to vent excessive yang mean that it could likely be declared a health precaution.”

Things were quiet again, Ranka able to hear her heartbeat as she waited for a reply. 

“You know... you’re probably right, Hanamoto. Most men see women, especially the women in Yoshiwara, only as sources of pleasure. They remain ignorant to the idea that we have goals and dreams of our own. Doing business with any men from outside... it’s a headache. If you swear you can keep it discreet, then I shall ignore it. If a client complains, however, the punishment will have to be harsh. Our duty is about keeping customers happy after all,” the Yarite replied. “That would go for any other girl who might develop your... odd taste.”

“Th-thank you, Yarite,” Fuji replied. 

Ranka had to let a quiet giggle escape her at the confused faces the shinzou girls were making. 

“Yarite, there is one thing I wish to clarify: for that permission to any girl, does Ranka count as one? I did not ask for her sake, but... if anyone else on the staff were to have a woman catch their eye, it would surely be her.”

“Honestly, with Mei’s bizarre situation... it might even increase her appeal with some clients. Some of them seem like quite odd men in their own right,” the Yarite muttered.

Suddenly Ranka found the older shinzou girls in the group grabbing onto her sleeves or hands.

“I’d be thrilled to be there for your male heart!”

“You’re the most handsome man in Edo! I’d make sure to keep you happy!”

“I-I wouldn’t even mind if you were a woman half the time for romance!” a particularly red in the cheeks girl announced.

The door slammed open, revealing the Yarite, her eyes narrow with rage. “Mei, what are you doing?”

“I... I just saw all these shinzou girls and curiosity got the better of me,” Ranka explained, as the girls ran behind her for protection. “They got excited at your final point... I swear I have no intentions towards any of them.”

“If any of them do decide to try to woo you, they’ll have to accept they’d best not become Oirans. I’d count you or anyone like you as a man for the sake of their contract obligations,” the Yarite stated, leaning around Ranka to glare at the girls.

“Completely understandable, Yarite,” Ranka said with a bow.

Fuji then slipped forward, giving the Yarite a thanks and a deep bow. The older woman dismissed the entire group, turning back to her ledgers. With that, Ranka led Fuji back to the latter’s apartment, the pair sitting in silence for a moment once they were alone.

“That worked out ten thousand times better than I thought it would,” Fuji muttered.

“Thank you for clarifying about me,” Ranka whispered.

“You’re basically family. I couldn’t leave you in the unknown like that,” Fuji replied, taking Ranka’s hand.

Ranka responded by pulling the shorter woman into a hug, the pair of them letting some tears of relief and happiness and relief run down their cheeks. Ranka couldn’t believe that she felt safe again after so many months on the edge. She still wanted freedom, so she could be a proper husband to Asa, but... she could bring Asa to safety, away from Muraji. Letting Asa decide her own path.

That was going to be a victory on its own.