The Heart Of A Shinobi

The day started like any other. The mistress woke us all up at sundown with her hand gong. The lower ranked girls served trays of breakfast to each room, giving the working girls time to eat first before they did. After eating, the girls began to put on their kimonos and makeup, making themselves presentable for tonight's clientele. The mistress woke me up last, as my room was on one of the highest floors, a sign of a higher class girl who brought in more money than the rest. While most girls shared a room, I shared mine only with my two wolves, who rose their heads with a big toothy yawn. One wolf was black as night, with bright blue eyes that shone like sapphires. I named her Kuromi. The other was white as snow, with piercing yellow eyes that seemed as though they saw through one's very soul. I named her Yuuki. I had the wolves since they were newborns, their gem like eyes not even open. We acted like sisters. In fact, I felt closest to my wolves than I did with any human. With a stretch, I put away my bed and began to get ready. I opened the sliding door to my room to retrieve my tray, eating the bowl of rice and giving the fish and tamago to my girls to eat. After we finished, I set the tray outside and slid my door shut to begin my preparations for work. I put on my favorite kimono, a pink one with sakura blossoms all over that came to my upper thighs. I tied the white obi belt around my waist and cinched it tight so my dress wouldn't come loose while I worked. The fluttering skirt was trimmed with white lace, so it was flowing rather than sticking to my legs. I put on my white thigh-high stockings so only a peek of my thighs were seen. I looked unto my small mirror to put on my red lipstick and line my eyes with the same color red to make my green eyes pop and shine, a rarity to see in Japan. I used a pink ribbon to tie my long black curls into a half ponytail and let my bangs fall naturally around my heart-shaped face. I woofed aty girls to come and get primped, brushing their coats to make them shine and tying red and white cords around their necks, the bells hanging off of them jingling as they moved. I placed two golden bangles around my ankles with the same jingling bells. We did this to be able to hear each other over the roaring of large crowds that would gather. I tied red ribbons around my wrists and hid my purple and black fans decorated with plum blossoms up my sleeves, my weaponry for tonight, and tied them securely with the ribbon. I placed my sandals on my feet and looked back at my girls. "Ready ladies?" I asked as they barked at me happily. "Let us be off then." I slid the door to my room closed and began to walk down the hall, bowing to various women as I passed. All of the women of the house waved to me excitedly, yelling my name. I would simply smile and wave back. Two little girls ran up to me on my way to the mistress' office. The twins were about seven years old, children who I adored, named Kirimi and Tsubaki. They looked exactly alike with their short, straight black hair and bright brown eyes. They were sold to this house to pay off their parents' debt, the story of most girls here. Seen only as property and not as people makes me sick. "Miss Ruka! Do you have anything for us today?" yelled Kirimi. Her sister bonked her on the top of her head with her tiny fist, "Baka! Address her properly! It's mean to not do so and ask for something right away." The young girl rubbed her head, and they both bowed in unison, "Good morning, Miss Hinata." "Now, now girls, no need for formalities. Of course, I have something somewhere," I began to jokingly look through the sleeves of my dress as they giggled. "Ah! There it is!" I said as I pulled out two pieces of candy for them. I placed a piece on their tiny hands, and they giggled excitedly. They bowed their heads and again in unison and said, "Thank you, Miss Ruka!" before running off to eat them. "You are going to spoil them, you know," said a voice behind me. I turned to see the mistress of the house, an older woman who wore plain colored yukatas and her hair up in a normal bun so as to not outshine the working girls. I shrugged my shoulders, "they're children. They deserve to be spoiled." She smirked, the wrinkles around her mouth curving with her thin lips as she motioned me inside her office. I sat on my knees in front of her as she worked behind a desk. I motioned for my girls to sit on either side of me, yawning at the boring atmosphere. "The band will be here shortly for you. We only have two on your hit list tonight. Repeat offenders who continuously harrass the girls and don't pay," the mistress said in her business tone. "Got to pay to touch," I said with a smirk, "which girls?" "Hanabi and Mizuki, they frequent them. I suspect they will be back again tonight and have told both girls to alert you if they try that s**t again," she said, staring her pipe to smoke. "Understood, I shall walk around and wait. Do you wish for me to dance up front or wait for the show?" I said. "Do your rounds. The show always brings in more than just you dancing around." "Yes, Mistress," I said with a bow before leaving her office. The doors to the geisha house opened and in came in the men. Men who wanted to drink away the monotony of their lives with pretty women. Some even pay so much as to bed them for a night. Again, it makes me sick. I patrolled through the halls with my girls on each side, all three of us using our sharp ears to listen in every room we passed. We heard the usual fake giggle and compliments as the men began to get drunk on sake wine. Flamboyant moans could be heard upstairs, faking ecstasy, while men who didn't know what they were doing pounded into them. The band that played my music during my show were gathered outside on the front stoop, talking amongst themselves. Large crowds gathered in various other houses like this one, but eventually, they would come to mine. We were the most profitable house in Kyoto, after all. My show was unlike any other, especially when the security was pretty and small. After a few hours of roaming, Kuromi pointed her head and growled in the direction of Mizuki and Hanabi's room. I listened in and heard the girls warn the men nicely before they woofed, the alert we were waiting for. I smirked at the wolves, "Show time." I walked outside to the front of the house, the band members seeing me and getting ready. The crowd that was walking along shushed, and I could hear their whispers. "There she is!" "The show is about to start." "You have got to see this!" The whispers made me grin, knowing that I was about to let off some steam. A member of the band got up with a basket and began to collect money as the sound of two men yelling could be heard along with growls and barks. I looked up at the window overhead and saw my mistress smiling down at me. The two men fell to the ground in front of me as everyone crowded around us in a huge circle. My wolves chased them out into the open for me, and I opened my mouth to yell. "You have been warned about touching my girls inappropriately. You didn't listen, and now you get to be made an example of." "What the f**k? Is that a girl?" said one man. "Is that your security!?" said another with a drunken laugh. "And what exactly are you going to be making an example of? Gonna show them in there how it's done?" the other laughed as they both got up on their feet. I nodded at the band and the instruments began to play. I clicked my feet, the bells jingling around my ankles. I narrowed my eyes and with a flick of my wrists, my fans dropped into my hands. I began to sing and twirl, causing the two men confusion. At just the right beat drop from the drum, I jumped into the air with finesse and grace and dropped my fans. I twirled mid air to wrap the ribbons around the men's feet and twist them, causing them to be propelled and fall on the ground with a hard slam. The crowd laughed and gasped in awe. The two men got up, angry and began to charge me as I continued to twirl and swing with a smirk on my face. As I twirled, I gave my fans momentum and threw them at the men, cutting their faces with the sharp corners. I used the ribbons and wrapped them both around their necks and pulled, bonking their heads together. They charged me again from either side and I propelled myself on my hands and straightened my legs, kicking them both in the nose, breaking them as blood poured down their faces. At the finale of my song, I jumped in the air again wrapping my ribbons around their bodies. I used my strength to throw them into a nearby building and hearing them crash against the hard rock wall and landing onto the ground with a thud. Before they flew, two bags of coins fell from their pockets which I snatched up and handed to the girls they were trying to fondle. I turned and bowed to the crown, my show now complete. They crowd clapped and cheered, happy with my performance and the girls in the house hooted and clapped. I patted my two wolves for a job well done and threw them a piece of jerky I saved them. As the crowd began to walk through the strip, a man stayed and studied me. For a moment, I studied him too. He didn't wear traditional clothes like everyone else did. He worse black trousers and shoes as well as a black button shirt that was left unbuttoned half way up. He had a sword on his gold belt and wore a kitsune mask on the side of his head. His silver hair was slicked back in a ponytail, and his eyes were a gorgeous maroon color. He looked me up and down, and Yuuki and Kuromi began growling at my side. I sighed heavily and motioned him inside. "If you wish to partake in any of our girls, you must step inside," I said flatly. "What if I don't want just any girl. What if I want you?" he asked with a sly smile. 'Deadly' I thought to myself and faked a smile. "I am afraid I am not a girl for purchase. I only work security." The man smirked, "we shall see." He entered into the house and I watched curiously as he talked with the girl in front. She pointed towards the stairs and gave him directions to the mistress' office. I rolled my eyes, that man wasn't the first to try this stunt and I am certain he will not be the last. I began to walk more rounds. finally coming to the office where I could hear my mistress raise her voice. "I told you she is not for sale!" she yelled at the man. Yuuki and Kuromi growled beside me and we burst through the open door, I flicked my wrists to drop my fans into my hands as my girls bared their teeth. The man simply turned towards me with a smile, "there is the girl in question. I will say it again in front of her, how much?" "I already told you I am not for sale for the evening. I only work security sir. If you do not wish to obey the rules here then-" I began but he cut me off. "I do not wish to purchase you for the night. I want to buy you from the house," he said seriously. My eye twitched in irritation, "sir, if I do not get sold for evenings what in Hell makes you think-" "How much?" the mistress asked flatly. I looked up at her in shock, "wh-what?" "How much?" she repeated to the man.