20. “Did you just slap my ass?”
“Since we’re here, we should check out the local entertainment.”
Shiki shifted his gaze to his redheaded mentor and arched a brow. “I can only hope you’re referring to a Noh play.”
Akabayashi blinked at the younger samurai’s suggestion then snorted. “You actually think they’re going to have noh play here? This is Yonezawa, not Kyoto. I was thinking more along the lines of a local izakaya or maybe a gambling house.”
“Of course you were,” Shiki replied with a sigh. “Izakaya. I want to eat a proper dinner.”
“I suppose that’s a good enough start.” Akabayashi agreed. “Some fresh grilled yakitori and vegetables sounds pretty good right now.”
They left their bags in the ryokan they were staying at and made their way to a nearby izakaya, recommended to them by the ryokan’s owner. The first thing Akabayashi ordered, of course, was sake while Shiki focused on the meal. After several days of travel, a proper meal was pure heaven compared to the meals of dried fish and onigiri they had been eating. With Akabayashi refilling his cup, it wasn’t long before both of them were drunk, not that the young lord showed much sign of it compared to his boisterous mentor.
“Time to find some entertainment!” Akabayashi declared as he emptied the last of the sake bottle into Shiki’s cup. “I asked and the ryokan owner told me there’s a teahouse not too far from here that is putting on a women’s kabuki play this evening.”
Shiki stared at the cup with a frown. “Kabuki isn’t entertainment. It’s just a way for them to sell their girls.” He observed.
“Oh come on, watching pretty girls sing and dance is perfect entertainment,” Akabayashi replied, pulling Shiki to his feet as the lord emptied his cup. If he swayed a bit, Akabayashi didn’t mention it though the grin on the redhead’s face grew a bit wider.
“Fine, fine.” Shiki relented with a sigh. “Better than wasting money on gambling I suppose. At least the girls might provide decent conversation.”
“Are you saying I’m not good conversation?” Akabayashi replied as they left the izakaya and made their way toward the tea house.
“You’re not. Your interests range from fighting to gambling to drinking to pretty girls.”
“All worthy interests.”
“But not at all interesting to talk about.”
“Says the too-serious one. You’re… how old?” Akabayashi paused as if trying to calculate Shiki’s age.
“Sixteen.” The lord filled in with exasperation.
“And all you talk about is history and politics. That’s old men conversation. You’re in the prime of your youth. You should be enjoying yourself! Right ladies?” He gazed at the young women waiting to serve them as they entered the teahouse. “We are here to see the show!”
“Of course, my lords.” The girls responded, giggling at the two drunk samurai.
“It’s not old men conversation,” Shiki muttered sullenly, drawing a laugh from Akabayashi as the girls escorted them to one of the semi-private rooms. The screens on one side opened up to view the stage area while the other screens provided privacy from other guests.
“What do you girls like to talk about?” Akabayashi asked as the girls took seats beside them, pouring the sake. “Not politics and history, I’m sure.”
“I’m rather fond of poetry, my lord.” One of the girls responded with a shy smile. “We recently obtained a book of renga poetry from Kyoto.”
“Poetry! How romantic.” Akabayashi replied with a grin. “Haruya also enjoys poetry.”
Shiki rolled his eyes, turning his gaze away from Akabayashi to the stage as the actors began their performance. Despite the reputation women’s kabuki had garnered for being nothing more than a showpiece for prostitutes, this teahouse’s girls were surprisingly good performers and the young lord found himself engaged by the story, a retelling of a love story between a samurai and a common girl. The samurai was played by a boyish-looking girl who was quite charming in the role, while the girl was a more conventional beauty whose kimono kept ‘accidentally’ slipping as the story progressed, flashing glimpses of flesh to the audience.
“She’s a pretty one,” Akabayashi commented as the play came to its inevitable conclusion where the samurai and the girl shared a romantic embrace and a surprisingly chaste kiss.
“The other one was a better actor,” Shiki observed, resting his head on his hand.
Akabayashi arched a brow, grinning. “Is that your type, then?” He teased the young lord. “Seems the lord likes the skinny ones.”
Shiki scowled at Akabayashi as the girls laughed. “That’s not what I said.” He protested.
“If my lord would like to meet her, we can arrange it.” One of the girls said with a smile. “I’m sure she’d be pleased to attend you.”
“No, won’t be necessary,” Shiki replied sullenly as his words were taken out of context. She had been attractive enough, he supposed, but he hadn’t been thinking of her in that sense when he’d spoken.
Akabayashi just laughed. “I think my lord has had too much to drink.” He teased, helping Shiki to his feet.
“Whose fault is that?” Shiki muttered, swaying a bit before giving the girls a polite bow. “Thank you for your company. Please tell your actors that we enjoyed their show.”
The girls glanced at each other in surprise at the lord’s actions then quickly returned the bow, smiling. “Of course, my lord. Please come visit again. We do a different play every week.”
Akabayshi just laughed and draped an arm over Shiki’s shoulders as they made their way out. “Manners first, even when you’re drunk.” He teased Shiki as they stepped out into the cool evening air. Shiki just rolled his eyes and began the walk back to the ryokan, concentrating on not swaying as he walked. “So is it skinny girls you like, Haruya, or pretty boys?” Akabayashi prodded with a grin.
Shiki gave him a sharp look. “I never said I liked her in that way.”
“But you couldn’t keep your eyes off her during the performance.”
“She was a good actor.”
“And you never seem to pay attention to the girls when we go out drinking.”
“Because unlike you, I’m not interested in wasting my time with that sort of entertainment.”
“You don’t want to get laid?”
“That’s not…” Shiki clicked his teeth in irritation. “I’m just not interested in those kinds of girls.”
“Then what are you interested in? Pretty noble ladies?”
Shiki stopped walking and turned to look at Akabayashi, crossing his arms over his chest. “Why are you so determined to drag me to these places and set me up with these girls?”
“Cause I think you need to relax and learn to enjoy yourself,” Akabayashi replied, gazing at the young lord seriously. “You’re taking everything on your shoulders and sharing none of the burdens. You don’t give yourself even the smallest bit of leeway to take a step away from your responsibilities once in a while and it shows.”
“I can’t afford to,” Shiki replied firmly. “I will be lord of-”
“-Lord of Sendai one day yeah, yeah, I know.” Akabayashi interrupted. “At this rate, you’re going to overwork yourself before you have the chance to inherit.” He grinned. “What an embarrassing way to die… Especially at such a young age.”
Shiki arched a brow. “And getting laid is going to help? I don’t think so. Just because you find flirting with women relaxing or fun or whatever, doesn’t mean I do.”
“How would you know?”
“What?”
“How would you know it won’t help? It’s not like you’ve ever seriously tried.”
Shiki couldn’t entirely refute Akayabashi’s words, ringing a bit too true in his drunken thoughts. “Maybe not, but I’m still not going to go paying those girls for that kind of thing.” He replied, eyeing Akabayashi with a calculating look. A hint of a smirk crept onto his lips as he continued. “Show me.”
“What?” Akabayashi replied in surprise.
“Show me how getting laid will help.”
“My lord…” Akabayashi’s grin returned. “Are you… propositioning me?”
Shiki sighed at the redhead’s teasing and turned away. “Nevermind. Forget it.”
“Oh no, I couldn’t possibly do that,” Akabayashi replied, smirking. “It’s my job to mentor you, after all. How could I possibly turn down a request for help?”
“No, really, don’t put yourself out,” Shiki replied, resuming the walk back to the ryokan. “You’re probably a terrible choice anyway.”
“Oh, I’m definitely going to make you take that back,” Akayabashi replied, catching up to him in a few strides, giving Shiki’s ass a solid swat that made the drunken lord stumble.
“Did you just slap my ass?” He exclaimed, giving Akabayashi a dirty look.
“Better get used to it, Haruya.” He replied, returning Shiki’s look with a predatory grin.
So is there going to be more to this, or...?
