A Kusarian woman stood at the docks of Hikone, waiting for Doctor Holliday. She was dressed in a dark red Kimono with white swirling patherns at the back and sleeves. The white obi around the waist was tied in an intrincic knot and her face was painted white with scarlet around her eyes and on her lips. Not far from her was a Maltese Rapier with Blood Dragon guns mounted on it.
While she waited for her guest, she took out her handfan from out of the folds of her obi and flicked it open, reveiling a white fan with red maple leaf motif on it, representing autumn.
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It had been some time since Doc had been on the base of the Blood Dragons. It was more out of respect, really, as he had little business with them through no fault of anyone. But by request, a member of the Golden Chrysanthemums wanted to meet with him. He could only guess why but he figured it would be a personal thank you for rescuing some pilots floating by a jumpgate. Among them were also two Blood Dragon pilots so he didn't figure there to be too many issues. Still, to show respect to his guests, he had a hold full of arms, munitions and some elixers prepared by Med Force Enterprises for their use. That move would prove wise as he docked his ship.
The dockmaster had to guards with him, all three with a stern tone about their faces. "I hope you have good reason to dock here, Gaijen," spoke the dockmaster.
Doc's Kusarian wasn't a strong language for him but he knew enough for mild conversation albeit a heavy accent and somewhat broken. He answered in their language as a show of respect.
"I am here to meet a young Chrysanthemum at her request," he explained. "In my hold are munitions, arms and Med Force Elixers for the Blood Dragons, all for you." He then bowed in respect. The dockmaster inspected, nodded, clapped twice and ordered the ship unloaded.
"Yes," he said to Doc, "you are a man of honor and respect and your arrival was expected. Follow me." He then escorted him to the Kusarian woman standing in the Kimono and left them to their privacy.
It was no secret to many. John Holliday had a preference of Kusari women. Their dress and mannerisms were something that a refined, southern gentleman liked. Despite the beauty of the woman before him, he disapproved of the use of cardamine. He also kept the secret buried of who his daughter was, now a Chrysanthemum herself. Still, the gentleman stood prominent as he greeted her, keeping a couple of feet from her and avoiding bold eye contact for the moment. He knew enough about traditions to know this.
"Konnichiwa, Mariko-san. It is an honor to meet you."
He then gave a bow and then put his hands in front of him.
"Hajimemashita, Holliday-san, I am Yamada Mariko, lieutenant of the Golden Chrysanthemum Gen'an Sisterhood. Dōzo yoroshiku. Would you please follow me?"
As she walked with the doctor through the corridor of the station she kept the conversation going
"I decided to get us some nice sushi at the station's bar. I hope this is to your taste? Oh by the way, did you ever figure out who that mysterious mistress of the white.pearls was? That ship was completely unknown to us until recently. All those valuables would have been a nice prize to us. Sadly I was poorly equiped to handle such a vessel."
They arrived at the sushi bar shortly and Mariko went ahead and entered
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He put his hands behind him as they walked. Being in unfamiliar territory, he stayed about a quarter step behind her.
He shook his head. "No, I have heard nothing of that ship's captain yet. I still find it interesting that a Corvo class cruiser was being used by a Freelancer. They are not great for combat and are more for long distance exploration and science hence why I found it strange."
Entering the sushi bar, he looked over the cuisine. Sushi wasn't something he favored but he didn't mind it. It was well laid out and clean. "It has been a long time since I had sushi," he explained. "My late wife often prepared it for easy pickings around our old estate. My kids love it though so it has become a delicacy on Med Force One." He smiled both at the food and the memory.
"So I take it that your pilots are recovering nicely?" he asked.
Mariko waited until the doctor sat down before she sat down herself.
"Hai, there are doing well. One of the Sisters already returned to the field. Tell me something about your late wife. She seems like an interesting woman and I am sad to hear that she passed away. My okaa-san was also a very caring woman, She gave me and my sister a proper education. Would you like some Ikura? It is one of my personal favourites, sushi made of salmon eggs"
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"Salmon eggs," Doc replied, "I have never tried them." He then had the look of someone who obviously didn't know how to prepare it. "Um.....how do you make it?"
As he learned by watching and helping before they sat down. He took a small bite to try it. For him, it was different but not bad. He chewed slowly to taste it. "Not bad," he said of it between bites, "maybe just a touch of spice to finish it off." Making up their plates, they would find a table. Doc carried her plate for her to the table.
After a few bites, he smiled a bit. "Midori," he began. "I met her a long time ago on Gas Miner Naha in Sigma 13. At one point I was buying nuclear fuel in the system for the Lanzerate reactor in Omega 49. Anyway, I met her on a stop. It took but a smile for me to like her. My cargo runs became me being her ride home to Honshu quite often." He paused a moment in thought, a drifting smile was on his face while he stopped his eyes from filling with water. "She was so sweet, short but sweet. That smile of hers.....it was alluring. Her specialty was Mahi fish and she loved cooking for my meetings and things. Telling the kids of her death was probably the hardest thing I ever had to do. I miss her so much to this day."
Then he stopped, not wanting to dig too deep into his feelings and continued with his sushi.
"Well the ikura are like these small orange orbs. They are the eggs of a salmon. They have a sweet taste. It is wrapped around by a leaf of nori, which is dried seaweed. You need to pick it up delicately with your shopsticks or you would squash it." she smiled. "Here let me show you." She carefull lifted the sushi with her chopsticks and showed it to him before eating it.
She waited until Doc finished his story before speaking. "I left my family at a young age to live with the Okaa-san of my sister and myself. Okaa-san means mother, but our Okaa-san was not our birth mother. It is what we geisha call the owner of the tea house we work for. We call fellow geisha sisters.
But my sister was unhappy with that life and she left to join the Golden Chrysanthemums after an incident. I followed her a few years later because it is the duty of family to look after eachother and without her presence I was feeling lonely. You can have all the admiration in the world and still feel like you live in a barren universe. So now I serve my new family."
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"You can have all the admiration in the world and still feel like you live in a barren universe."
Doc paused a few moments after she spoke these words, taking a deep sigh as he did. He gave a nod and softly remarked, "Is that not the truth."
With him living alone nowadays and Emiko making her own way through the world in ways he disapproved of, he had little even if he had a whole Enterprise behind him. What made it harder to deal with was that he was now talking face to face with a woman that she referred to as sister. Still, he buried it. For him to reveal her identity could possibly be bad for them both. It wasn't a chance that he was about to take.
"I guess you started life earlier than I did," he stated. "I was 19 when I left home. My mother died when I was young so I had to do something and medicine was my calling even if I started with dentistry."
He took a bite of his sushi. It was obvious that he wasn't the most versed man with a set of chopsticks. He fumbled with them but managed. "This is quite good," he said with a nod of approval. When finished, he cued in on her musical talents.
"You said your talents are in music. It is something we have in common. What do you play? I am a piano player myself."
"We all start and end life at our own pace. The important thing is what we do with the time that is given to us."
She took the cup of sake and drank from it while looking at him. "I never had any education in medicine myself, even though I was joking about my surgical skills earlier. I admire doctors, they dedicate their lives to improve that of others, which was part of the reason that I toned down my hostilities back in Tau-53. I would have surely attacked that Corvo if you weren't there.
My occupation is entertainment through the arts and to be pleasant company in general. Some talents are higher up the hierarchy and than others."
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"Geisha truly is an art," he responded as he took a cup of Sake of his own. It had been some time since he had some so he took a moment to taste it. He nodded in approval. "Very good."
"Midori always wore kimonos and I developed a liking of them. They only made me love her more. She would at times wear the white mask as well. She was always full of life yet her passion was gardening. I could lose her all day in the estate gardens."
He smiled a bit. "Yes, those were good times indeed."
He sipped his Sake. "I have forgotten how good this stuff is. Similar to Scotch in a way. Smooth going down but it hits hard."
He then gave a proud smile to her. "I was actually glad that you let that ship go. Sure, you could have.....taxed it....but you chose to let it go. Besides, in a way, you still got out of it sort of what you wanted. I mean, I split the donation with you?" He gave her a friendly wink.
"I do have to ask though and do forgive my being forward, is there a reason why I was summoned here? I mean, I am rather enjoying your company and the change of scene but few ever call me unless there is a crisis somewhere."
He held his cup up a bit as if to toast his host and swallowed the contents.
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