Falling From the Floating World

by Nick Hurst

  A week’s rest suddenly seemed a lot less relaxing.

  Removing the plastic bag secured around my throbbing left hand, I dried myself awkwardly and tried to work out what I should do. I had no more options than I’d had at the start.

  Then something came to me so obvious I didn’t know why I hadn’t thought it before. Sakura. Was that it? Was that what the dream was about? Was she the courtesan with all the answers?

  Now I knew more of its background, the route into Senzoku-yon-chōme, or Yoshiwara as it had been, took on a different light. Rather than entering as I had previously and exposing myself to the streets’ eyes, I skirted around the side and came to the road leading to Matsubaya from a less conspicuous route.

  It had been four o’clock when I first visited and with the half-hour wait for Sakura that should have meant it would be around 4:30 when she arrived. I pulled down my cap, keeping my tell-tale hand in my pocket, and tried to wait as unobtrusively as I could.

  Dusk was drawing in and with it the early-evening autumn chill. I almost missed her as I hunched away from the breeze.

  ‘Sakura-san!’

  She turned, startled.

  ‘Sakura-san, I came to visit you a few weeks ago – do you remember?’

  I moved forwards, trying to looking as unthreatening as one can emerging from a concealed spot in an alley.

  ‘I just wanted to ask you a couple of questions. They’re about my girlfriend. She’s gone missing and I think you can help.’

  She hesitated a moment and then stepped towards me. ‘Yes, I remember you. We had fun.’

  I blushed. It had only been a few weeks but things were so different now.

  ‘Yes, we did.’

  ‘So what are your questions? Please don’t let them be about people I can’t talk about.’

  My stomach sank. I hadn’t been thinking. Or at least I had, but only about myself. If she told me the things I needed to know she’d be putting herself at risk. The risks so far had shown themselves to have precipitously high stakes.

  ‘Can I just ask them? Then you can decide if you can answer or not,’ I said. ‘I’m desperate. I don’t want to get you in trouble but I might be able to find my girlfriend with your help. Nothing you say will get back to anyone, I promise you. No one will even know that we spoke.’

  She looked at me but didn’t say anything. I took that as a cue to go on.

  ‘In the last month or two, has Takata of the Takata-gumi come around here?’

  She responded with a question that did nothing to answer mine.

  ‘You know this isn’t a Takata-gumi area any more? It was taken over by the Ginzo-kai in summer.’

  I pulled my cap lower. I wasn’t sure how this affected things overall, but it was certainly more uncomfortable in the immediate term.

  ‘Look, I have an appointment in a minute – they might even come this way. Give me your number and I’ll see what I can do. I’d like to help if I can.’

  She was in the kind of profession where crafting one’s emotions to please others was a fundamental part of the job. But I got the sense her sympathy was real. I typed my number in her phone and gave myself a missed call. She gave me another look – I wasn’t sure if I saw pity. I wondered what she knew.

  ‘I’ll call you, I promise. Take care.’

  She gave me a peck on the cheek, and then turned and walked briskly towards her work.

  The phone woke me at 2.30 a.m. – I suppose you have to allow for the different hours soapland girls keep.

  ‘There were three of them,’ she said by way of a greeting. ‘Takata-san and two other men.’

  Her words cut through my grogginess.

  ‘Do you know who the other men were?’

  ‘No. But one of them, I’m sure I’d seen his face before – maybe on TV.’

  ‘And the other?’

  ‘It was definitely the first time I’d seen him.’

  ‘Do you know why they were meeting?’

  ‘No. I wasn’t even supposed to be there. My boss was meant to serve them – she knows Takata-san from when they were young. But she couldn’t come in – she’d had a fall and hurt her hip. She asked me to take care of them instead.’

  She paused and I tried to work out what this meant and how it could help.

  ‘It seemed a strange place to meet – like I told you, this isn’t a Takata-gumi area any more.’

  ‘And you’ve got no idea what they were talking about?’

  ‘None at all. I just took them to their room and served refreshments. They burnt something though. They asked me to bring in a bin and some matches and there was ash in it when they left. They’d opened a window but the room still smelled.’

  I shuffled into a sitting position, hoping things might seem clearer from there.

  ‘And the man, the one you’d seen before, did it look like he was Takata’s senior?’

  ‘No. When they spoke it was as equals. When they entered the room they debated who should take the head seat. They ended up leaving it empty.’

  Another answer that made nothing clearer.

  ‘And the other man?’

  ‘He definitely wasn’t their equal, but I don’t think he was an employee or anything like that. He looked awkward, I don’t know, wary.’

  ‘Was there anything else? Anything unusual, anything that made you think?’

  ‘No. I’m sorry.’

  I rubbed my eyes. I needed to think this through with a clear head. It seemed like valuable new information but it pulled in different directions and I was struggling to see how it could help.

  ‘Thank you,’ I said. ‘I’d like to do something to show my appreciation but I think it’s better if we pretended this call didn’t happen. You should delete my number. I’ll do the same with yours.’

  She paused, as though debating something.

  ‘You’re sweet,’ she said. ‘I hope you find your girlfriend and everything works out.’

  She hung up and I deleted her number. The only sakura in my future would be the cherry blossoms next spring.

  I lay back and tried to work my way through what I’d just learned. Takata wasn’t the undisputed leader but nor was he being led. I didn’t believe the KanEnCo boss was his peer, so who could the other man be? I wondered if I should go back to politicians again.

  A chill swept over me. Maybe it was the Ginzo-kai boss. Maybe they were in this together. That would explain why they met where they did and why they did so on equal terms. It would also make it more likely I was being used. More likely I’d be discarded when I was no longer needed.

  Perhaps Takata was the real power behind the Kamigawa plant troubles and was using them to extort money from KanEnCo. I might be a smokescreen – a distraction to take attention away from him and make it look as though the Takata-gumi and Ginzo-kai were at odds.

  Now I was wide awake, enlightened by information that turned everything murky, each new fact confusing rather than making things clear. It took me some time before I got back to sleep.

  EIGHT

  Dreaming of the Floating World 3

  ‘And I wish you were wearing it now. You know you excite me in a mawashi,’ she said of his sumō-wrestling apparel.

  He broke into a smile despite his best efforts, undermining the baleful reputation he had forged for himself, first on the streets and then in the dohyō ring.

  ‘Ka-chan, you can’t say things like that with so many people around.’

  Yamaryū gestured around the room. In response she gave a look as risqué as her words.

  ‘You know courtesans favour rikishi sumō wrestlers. Why shouldn’t I admit to it? Especially for the most powerful and handsome in the land.’

  He smiled again, for despite her flattery there was truth in what she said. He’d fought his way up from street corner sumō. Tsuji-zumo bore resemblance to tournament wrestling but had major differences as well. Eye-gouging, throttling and roughhousing a man’s most masculine parts meant some tsuji-zumo could be no more
refined than a brawl.

  But he’d started life impoverished and it had been his way of hauling himself up. Having established himself as the king of tsuji-zumo, he’d been called for by a daimyō lord with the strongest stable of wrestlers in the land. He’d found legitimate sumō even less challenging and had swept aside rikishi from Edo to Osaka and beyond.

  ‘Ka-chan, it isn’t what you say but the way you say it,’ he argued. ‘Although in truth it’s usually both. Somehow you manage not only to get away with it but have us fall at your feet as well.’

  ‘But not so soon I hope,’ she replied, refilling his sake. ‘The night is still young.’

  She lay beside him the next morning.

  ‘We’ve known each other a long time and you’ve become my most regular visitor,’ she said, trailing a finger around the sinews of his shoulder. ‘We have a relationship that’s closer than just courtesan and client, I think.’

  ‘All of which is true,’ he agreed with a grin. ‘And unless it’s too outrageous I’ll do whatever favour you’re about to ask.’

  She smiled back, turned his head and kissed him. ‘You see. You know me too well.’

  She paused to consider her next words.

  ‘This may be too much though, so please hear me out before you agree. It may put you in danger. That’s the last thing I want but I’m desperate and I don’t know what else to do.’

  He turned towards her, no less dashing for the sleep-dishevelled state of his topknot.

  ‘You are, of course, aware of the recent mysteries surrounding my family. I have reason to believe that Lord Genpachi may have been involved. From looking into him, Mizuno of Nihonbashi has appeared. I could have thought it a coincidence, but the reaction to my discovering these things was unusually severe.’

  ‘This is related to Mi-chan’s accident?’

  ‘It is, which is why I know it’s dangerous to seek anything else out. But I’m limited in what I can do. Neither man comes to me as a client; Lord Genpachi for our history, Mizuno because he’s a man I have always declined. So my investigations are exhausted within the quarter and I can’t leave to learn anything outside.’

  ‘And what do you think I can find out?’

  ‘You’re retained by a daimyō. In the course of your work you visit other daimyō, meet their wrestlers and perhaps some of their staff. I was hoping there might be one or two people you trust, and if there are, that you could make subtle enquiries of them.’

  He stretched.

  ‘Ka-chan, I have another hour before I leave. Asking a few questions pales beside the pleasure I’ll have in that time with you.’

  She smiled, reached over and kissed him again, lingering longer this time.

  ‘But the hour will be mine to enjoy – it seems I gain twice.’

  ‘I trust you’re as well as you look,’ said Yamaryū when he returned from his trip.

  She flattered him back with interest and he smiled.

  ‘My wit’s not enough to best you with compliments so I’ll tell you what I found out instead.’

  ‘Was there much?’

  ‘Unfortunately not. But hopefully enough to lead you to information that can help more.’

  He shuffled on the cushion that was failing to cope with his bulk.

  ‘You were right about the connection between Genpachi and Mizuno. Genpachi has apparently borrowed a considerable amount of money from him. So in that regard, their liaising shouldn’t be a surprise.’

  Her brow creased ever so slightly.

  ‘But their reaction to your prying suggests there’s more to it than that. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find out what this is but I may have found a way that you can. Despite kabuki’s official disfavour, it appears Genpachi has developed a secret taste for it. He’s been bringing actors to perform at his residence. Chitairō is especially favoured – he’s been boasting about his proximity to power as a result. Speak to him. He should be able to tell you more.’

  Her frown deepened.

  ‘I thought you’d be pleased.’

  ‘I am – thank you. It’s just …’

  She stopped a moment to take the scowl from her face.

  ‘I know how popular he is but there’s something about Chitairō that makes my skin crawl.’

  ‘So,’ he said. ‘The grand courtesan herself. To what do I owe the honour?’

  She recoiled within but managed to maintain her facade.

  ‘Oh, but the honour is mine, Chitairō-san. With every courtesan falling over herself to see you, I’m grateful you could spare me the time.’

  They both knew she didn’t like him and had rejected his requests for appointments three times before. Enough to be clear it was not coincidence, more than enough to ensure no further enquiries were made.

  ‘I know you’re not a man whose charm and charisma is limited only to the floating world,’ she flattered, ‘but one whose influence has carried him far beyond Yoshiwara’s walls. I was hoping I might prevail upon your knowledge and benefit from your sage advice.’

  She had racked her brains for a more delicate way to get the information – a chance meeting or a shared interest from which the conversation could evolve. But there was no alternative. She had avoided him since the day they met and they had nothing in common on which to start. Her only path was through risk. She would need to be blunter than she would like, and ready to react.

  ‘A tayū benefiting from a lowly actor? We’re still seen by many as prostitutes advertising our wares to the unrefined. How could I be of assistance to you?’

  ‘But you’re speaking to a Yoshiwaran,’ she said. ‘One who appreciates kabuki and knows there are no crimes in pleasures of the flesh. Such debates are beneath you in any case – you’re the greatest actor of the day. I believe your wisdom is sought not only by courtesans but by the most exalted figures in the land.’

  His eyes brightened as he glimpsed the direction the conversation was heading.

  ‘You have an interest in my acquaintances?’

  ‘There may be one in whom I have reason to be intrigued.’

  ‘And who would that be?’ he asked, wanting to hear it from her mouth.

  ‘It was just some nonsense and gossip I heard, but it piqued my interest,’ she said. ‘That Lord Genpachi has been frequenting the quarter with Mizuno. A most unusual pairing, I thought, and being of a curious mind I was tempted to ask someone who would know more.’

  ‘You came to the right person,’ he replied. ‘But with so many lines to remember in my profession, my memories have to fight for attention inside my head. They can become blurred. Fortunately they seem to clear after rest.’

  ‘Is that so?’ she countered. ‘And my thoughts are so much sharper before being jumbled with sleep. At the risk of tiring you, I was wondering if you might be able to recall anything now?’

  ‘Perhaps I can. Lord Genpachi, let me see … yes, of course, I was at his residence when Mizuno came to visit just two weeks ago.’

  He paused to elicit a response.

  ‘But that’s no more than I already know,’ she said, playing her part.

  ‘Yet I was as intrigued by this odd couple as you,’ he continued. ‘Fortunately, I’m on good terms with the maid of Genpachi’s favourite consort. I spoke to her during a break in last week’s show.’

  The breaks in kabuki could last anything up to a couple of hours depending on whom the actors were choosing to break with. Women had been banned from the stage to prevent it being used to promote more lucrative pursuits. But male actors showed no less proclivity to the most ancient art. Chitairō may have been entertaining out of pleasure, not business, but Katsuyama had no doubt his information came from pillow talk.

  ‘It appears Lord Genpachi is only in debt to Mizuno in repayment of the debt Mizuno owes him.’

  A poet as well as an actor, thought Katsuyama with irritation.

  ‘And what debt is that?’ she asked in her sweetest voice.

  ‘The debt he owes for setting up his business
. When he was forced to become rōnin, Mizuno was fortunate to retain Genpachi’s favour. Unbeknownst to others, they have an acquaintance that goes back to childhood. It was because of this that Genpachi helped him back on his feet.’

  It didn’t solve anything but it was interesting, a lead that might bring about more.

  ‘Thank you for your kindness,’ she said, relieved to conclude the meeting so painlessly. ‘Your reputation for knowledge and good grace is well deserved.’

  ‘I’m honoured by your praise,’ he replied. ‘But in this instance you may have underestimated me.’

  ‘Why is that?’ she asked, alert to the possibility of more substantive news.

  He made a show of stretching.

  ‘For a full recollection, I really think I would need that rest.’

  It was first time she had bowed to another’s wishes. That would have been cause for resentment in itself. But to have her suspicions of his character confirmed, to endure his affronts to her dignity, be subject to his lack of respect – that demanded revenge.

  He rolled over, heaving for breath.

  ‘You are all they say. The wait only made it sweeter.’

  ‘You too are everything to be expected,’ she replied, the knowledge he would die for the day’s actions the only thing that kept the chill from her voice. ‘I hope your memory is suitably refreshed.’

  ‘It is,’ he said. ‘But it may bring you more questions than answers.’

  She waited out his dramatic, thespian pause.

  ‘Genpachi and Mizuno may appear strange bedfellows but you now know the reason. There’s been a far more unusual visitor to Genpachi. Not only for the differences he’s had with the daimyō, but for his history of closeness to you.’

  ‘I can’t think who you’re referring to,’ she said, her defences rising.

  ‘The old ally of your father’s lord. Your favoured client,’ he said, taking pleasure in dragging the moment out. ‘Lord Ezoe.’