Sumi de ii desu. Kamawanaide kudasai - Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The beginning: daily life 3

It’s been half a year since I came here .

For a start, I’ve found out a lot .

First, the name of this town is… .  that “Yoshiwara . ” The time seems to be around the Edo period . Personally, it was the complete opposite of the image of what the world I was in had, so I thought that they must have just casually called it Yoshiwara .

But I was completely wrong .
It was normal .

I understand less and less about this world as I go on .

Though I had thought that the roles of men and women were reversed, surprisingly that wasn’t really the case, with those in power and the heads of the family and the jobs all went to men . But it was true that the percentage of women working was higher .

But what was different was that it was natural that women enjoyed the nightlife, enough that the perception was that those who couldn’t weren’t women .

I don’t get it .

To put it simply, the sayings “Men are men because they cheat” or “a healthy man” or “Womanizing is a man’s status” were impossible, and the sayings “Women are women because they cheat” and “a healthy woman” and “chasing after men is a woman’s status” were normal in this world .

Even after being taught, I still didn’t get it .
Because the fundamentals were just too different .

I asked the brothers why this was, but it was just too obvious that conversely they didn’t get it either .

The amount of money necessary to hire a male courtesan was usually earned by a husband if they had one . Those who worked paid with their own earnings . Those who lived in wealthy houses used that money to play .

Eh, are the husbands okay with that?

But, even with that it’s not like the women had high-handed dispositions .

All of the customers I’d seen until now were at the very least graceful, snuggling up to the courtesans and whispering words of love quietly . The kamuros (helpers of the courtesans/cute lil babbies) usually didn’t go out when the tatami rooms were in use, so this was just my impression from sneaking a peek… but they were just normal women .

Although I still haven’t gotten used to this world, I plan on trying my best .

“Nogiku is so smaaall”
“Ramon nii-sama is just huge . ”
“Ooh, you’ve learned to talk back!”

While I kneeled and held the shamisen, my head was roughly patted . I sometimes think that people in this brothel must really like to pet people’s heads .
I looked at the brother before me who was teaching me arts today .

This person is Courtesan Ramon . His age was 17, two years above Kiyomizu nii-sama .
In terms of appearance, he had skin that had a healthy whiteness and green hair that brushed his shoulders, with kind black eyes that tilted down slightly, and with a crying mole under his right eye . Even when he wasn’t doing anything he seemed seductive .
The strong arms that you could see in his sleeves let the women feel that they were really with a man… as might be expected from a brothel, this was a fine-looking man .

His personality was normally a bit rough, but for those who wanted to dream for a night, for even just one night he would profess his supreme love and ardor, and because of this his popularity neither exceeded nor fell behind Kiyomizu nii-sama .

“Really, the shamisen is much too huge for Nogiku . ”

“That’s true, oh well . Okay! Today I’ll teach you how to play the shamisen, and what things you should be careful about when you’re in the tatami room . ”

Right now, I’m listening to Ramon nii-sama’s lecture on the arts with Shuusui . Not too long ago, I started learning the arts, and today was supposed to be the shamisen, but…the size of me and the hugeness of the shamisen did not fit .

Rather than trying to do the impossible and practice anyway, which might lead to strange habits when performing in the future, actual practice was put on hold for now .
Grr, I won’t forgive them!

The arts that I was supposed to learn in total were eight .
They were the classics(literature), calligraphy, tea ceremony, poetry, koto, shamisen, the game of Go, and dance .
It was a pretty daunting amount .

At the very least, there were ten years until I would become independent, so during that time learning how to master these arts would be my ultimate goal .
I have to work hard .

“Heey, Nogiku, you good?”
“!, Yes!”
“Then here we go . First, in order from this thick part, they’re called ‘First string,’ ‘Second string,’ and ‘Third string’… . ”

I think I should work on my concentration first .

The shamisen lecture started in the afternoon, and now evening was approaching .
The red sun shone down on the tatami, and the room’s hanging scrolls swayed, reflecting the red light like a flame .

“… . oh? It’s already evening . Then let’s end it here today, shall we?”

“’Thank you very much . ’” (both of them speaking)

The basic shamisen lecture over, Shuusui and I bowed, saying our thanks .

“Shuusui, thank you too for being with me . ”

Shuusui was normally at a level that he didn’t need to attend today’s shamisen lecture . But despite this, he attended because I was a “hopeless guy . ”
I didn’t really understand it, but I’ll translate it as him being worried about me .

I will firmly believe that it wasn’t that I was completely useless, or stupid, or that I always cause trouble for the brothers .

Having been thanked by me, Shuusui turned his face away and,

“Well don’t worry about it . Because you’re a hopeless guy . ”

is what he said .
For now, the only thing I know is that in Shuusui’s mind, I’m a hopeless guy .
Shuusui, you… .

After this there was probably more work to be done for tonight, so we went to oyaji-sama’s* room to get further instructions .

*(oyaji-sama is like a p respectful way to call an old man, like in this case as the brothel’s owner and also as like kind of their father figure)

“Then, Ramon nii-sama . We will be taking our leave . ”
“Ah, hold on a second . Today Nogiku’s supposed to stay here with me . Get the comb and stuff ready please”

Ooo, I saved myself some work .

“Am I different?”
“Shuusui, you’re probably going to be with Courtesan Ujino . Well, go do your best!”
“Is that so, I understand . Then I will be going . ”

Shuusui opened the door and went off towards his next post .
Because I was staying here to help Ramon nii-sama, I set out to prepare the comb and kimono and everything .

Ramon nii-sama was someone who wore a lot of accessories, so the preparations were hard, but it was surprisingly fun .

Coral and jade, amber and ivory, an obi clip made out of tortoiseshell, patterned glass beads, earrings made out of shells, necklaces of agate, and much more, with all of these wonderful ornaments it was Ramon nii-sama’s daily pleasure to pick out what he would wear that day together .

“What’ll today be”
“Let’s see . . ”

Sandwiched between Ramon nii-sama’s legs, we hemmed and hawed as we closely scrutinized the accessories lined up on a white cloth .

Should the jade obi clip be the one after all? His hair was green so it would definitely suit him . Today’s haori string was orange, so earrings of orange patterned glass would add a sense of unity, and for his wrists putting on an ivory bracelet might be good too .
Wearing all of these accessories might outshine the person wearing them, but Ramon nii-sama was different .
For some reason it all suited him very well .

This kind of fiery feeling must have passed through to him . Since I was being hugged from the back, even the vibrations from a small chuckle would have been transmitted .

“Haha, having fun?”
“Yes!”


“Is that so . It’s been half a year since you came here, but I’m glad since you seem to have gotten used to it . ”

My head was patted . The green hair that fell on my cheeks was ticklish .

They must really like petting people’s heads .

“Nagikaze too, he was saying ‘Tonight I will be playing Go in Shuusui and Nogiku’s room!’ this morning all happily . Rangiku is probably with him too… . It’s good that they’re together, and it’s better if they got along…”

Nagikaze and Rangiku were kamuros, same as me .
Right now, there were only four kamuros all together at Amatsuki brothel, me, Shuusui, Nagikaze, and Rangiku .
But this was apparently on the plenty side, with other places only having one or two kamuros . Kamuros were the only ones who could become courtesans jrs and from there, full-fledged courtesans, so you could say they were a precious existence .

That was why we naturally had a fellow feeling for each other . At first, we were all kind of awkward with each other, but now we’re close enough to go visit each other’s rooms . The capacity for adaptation of kids is impressive .

Even now, there were still nights that I felt uneasy over who I was, and who I had been in the past, but recently thanks to the busy days and the people around me it doesn’t bother me as much .
Though it wasn’t something you could say was good or bad, but at least because of this my mood has gotten lighter .

“… . all right, this should be good!”
“Wow! So cool!!”

I couldn’t help but raise my voice in admiration at the sight of Ramon nii-sama, who put on the accessories we had finished choosing . He looked great!!

The deep green casual kimono with the jade obi fastener, with the navy blue haori worn over, and the orange haori string as a touch of color . For his head, an agate hairpin fastened the sides of his hair, and from the ears that could be seen peeking through dangled long amber card-shaped earrings .
As a finishing touch, nii-sama added red eyeliner to the corners of his eyes .
It was the completion of the brothel’s top tier courtesan .

“Hey, you’re good with compliments . Here”
“Wow!”
“You sure are light, Nogiku . Up high up highhh!”
“…… . . ”

Ramon nii-sama, not you too!!