Kikuya Iwasaki (supergeisha) wrote in marvel_nextgen,
@ 2011-05-29 10:18:00

Entry tags:

Acclimation.
When she spent time in private with Hajime there was no issue with his limited understanding of contemporary culture. When they were alone Kikuya and Hajime understood each other perfectly as her very traditional training matched up with the world he knew. It was when they were with the others or in public that things became ever so slightly more complicated. There were simply things that Hajime had no frame of reference for. Kikuya felt it was her duty to assist in helping him understand. It would make his daily life easier. That was important to her. One afternoon Kikuya decides to correct this and she shows up at the offices with three large shopping bags in tow--dressed in street clothes.

(Read comments) - (Post a new comment)

	supergeisha 2011-05-30 12:45 am UTC (link)
	Kikuya hadn't expected to encounter Hajime so when she hears his voice, she pauses before turning to bow to him. "I have, Hajime-sama. I thought I would get the appropriate materials to help you understand contemporary society." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	get_medieval 2011-05-30 12:49 am UTC (link)
	He bows as well, not quite as low as she does, respectful to her while acknowledging her status. "As always, your efforts are appreciated. Shall we sit and you can show me these materials?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	supergeisha 2011-05-30 12:53 am UTC (link)
	"Of course." Kikuya carried her bags to the table in the little break room and then pulled out a chair for Hajime. "Can I prepare you tea, Hajime-sama?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	get_medieval 2011-05-30 01:10 am UTC (link)
	He settles in comfortably. "Yes, I would like that very much, thank you." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

supergeisha
2011-05-30 04:35 pm UTC (link)

"I thought perhaps you would," she says and smiles before going about the time-tried ritual of preparing tea. It is not as elaborate a process as she would do for him when they were alone--the office kitchen is simply not equipped--but it is graceful just the same. After serving his tea, she sits quietly beside him.

"It will take a great deal of time for us to cover everything, so we will move at whatever pace you desire, Hajime-sama."

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	get_medieval 2011-05-30 04:40 pm UTC (link)
	He watches her preparing tea, as always, even when its not the full complex ritual, almost transfixed by the scene. He sips his tea, slowly, then sets the cup down to look at her and her materials again. "Perhaps we can determine that on how quickly or slowly I pick up on whatever you have brought. We can begin when you are ready, though." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	supergeisha 2011-05-30 05:12 pm UTC (link)
	"I suspect it won't take you very long at all." She smiles and then pulls out a thick book, a Japanese history textbook she acquired from a local secondary school. "I figured this would be a good start. It is mostly pictures with captions so that it serves as an overview." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	get_medieval 2011-05-30 05:14 pm UTC (link)
	"Ahhh, very good, thank you. I read well enough, but the language has changed a good deal since my time. Sometimes it gets very slow." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	supergeisha 2011-05-30 06:25 pm UTC (link)
	"You are progressing well, though. It will not be long before you are entirely fluent in the contemporary version of our language." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	get_medieval 2011-05-30 06:48 pm UTC (link)
	"You have helped a good deal with that. Hearing the words as they are now used and your modern dialect when you read to me have made it much easier. I should get some contemporary books on military history and tactics as well. It can only help with the learning if I am engaged in the subject matter." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	supergeisha 2011-06-02 10:33 am UTC (link)
	"I have a few of those in the bag as well." Kikuya nodded. "I tried to anticipate as many of your desires as possible." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

get_medieval
2011-06-02 12:31 pm UTC (link)

"You have become very good at it." he replies pleasantly - which is true. Thankfully, he's also both fairly easily pleased, and answers questions - for example, his general philosophy that war and tactics are subjects he should read, while art and politics are things to be read to him - and he will happily sit or lie down and be read to for hours, even if he then usually likes to discuss the subject afterward.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

supergeisha
2011-06-04 01:13 pm UTC (link)

Kikuya smiled. She wished they were in his dwelling right now and not in the office. The urge to bathe him, feed him, read to him and then, in a very un-geisha manner, curl up in his arms as they discussed whatever subject they had been reading. It was her idea of bliss.

"I have also procured documentary motion pictures, explaining much of Japan's history since your time as well as major global events." She would have to explain Hiroshima to him. And Nagasaki. There was no way she would be able to do so without crying and relieving her own grief.

"You are fortunate that I have lived nearly eighty years and can speak to some things firsthand."

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

get_medieval
2011-06-04 03:10 pm UTC (link)

They distinctly share this idea of bliss, an activity they both can, and ofen do put a lot of time into. Hajime continues to train like a fiend on a regular basis - and then is perfectly content to be served the rest of the time.

"Ahh yes, I have become fond of these movies in your presence. I also understand there have been a number of significant wars since my time - I am very curious about these."

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	supergeisha 2011-06-04 07:47 pm UTC (link)
	"Some of them sadder than others, yes. What time period were we up to now, Hajime-sama?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	get_medieval 2011-06-04 07:51 pm UTC (link)
	"Much of the civil war period and the internal struggles I understand, and while many of the tactics were innovative, I understand most of the nature of the warfare. We were up to the heightening tensions between Japan and China, leading up to the wars over Korea, which, you indicated, was key to understanding modern political tensions." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	supergeisha 2011-06-05 12:14 am UTC (link)
	"You were paying attention." She smiled warmly. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	get_medieval 2011-06-05 04:20 am UTC (link)
	"My teachers in the life before... and especially the kenku, were very insistent about paying attention. I also love hearing you reading. It makes it very easy.... besides, teaching history from a military perspective is something I understand." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	supergeisha 2011-06-05 11:00 pm UTC (link)
	"One might argue that there is only one perspective for history to exist in and that perspective is a military one. There are very few aspects of human existence that are not carved out by the idea of war. Mine included. I exist simply because of war." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

get_medieval
2011-06-05 11:07 pm UTC (link)

"I have always heard it that there are two great stories of society. That of war, and that of art. That which is beautiful tells its own story... tells us what a civilization is about and what it values... that which is beautiful may require protection time and again, the artisan is not expected to be a warrior... but the artisan gives the warrior something worth coming home to, and worth protecting.

You were made the super-geisha in a time of war, trained because of war, and you are very good at it. But I do not think that is what is in your soul... nor is it all there is to your story, or even nearly."

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	supergeisha 2011-06-07 10:49 am UTC (link)
	"Hajime-sama, if it were not for war I would not be alive today. Not with what I have seen and what I have endured." Her voice is uncharacteristically solemn. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	get_medieval 2011-06-07 01:15 pm UTC (link)
	"I do not dispute that. War is a part of your history, but it is not all that you are." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	supergeisha 2011-06-08 10:07 am UTC (link)
	"I am quite glad that you think so." She smiled at him. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	get_medieval 2011-06-08 11:40 am UTC (link)
	"Of course, you are skilled in the arts of war, but it is only the beginning of your skills. And you have been proving an exemplary teacher." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	supergeisha 2011-06-09 10:09 am UTC (link)
	"You're an easy student, Hajime-sama. Eager to learn, happy to listen. I am more than deeply honored that you permit me to serve you." There might, might have been the very slightest of color to her cheeks at his polite flattery. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)