Myoui Mina. She is the most desired geisha in all of Japan. Often mesmerized by her beauty, most passersby risk whiplash to take a second glance at her whenever she walked by. Both men and women talked about her; the children of Osaka, even, recognized her as the “beautiful one from Hyogo”. But with her defined and red lips, and her alabaster skin, who wouldn’t wish to have the most beautiful Myoui Mina in their arms?

Myoui Mina was the embodiment of elegance and grace. The way she moved held a certain kind of poise to it; the way she walked, seemed as if she were delicately stepping on a straight line. Even the simple action of tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear was enough to capture her grace.

She was also always dressed in the most beautiful of Kimonos, different colours of thick lace wrapped around her chest. Most of the time they were red, though also often orange. But underneath all those clothing was her lithe body- a desire, yet a mystery to many.

Needless to say, everybody wanted Mina; both men and women from Kyoto would take the train to see her perform, and soon enough, visitors from Tokyo have started to come, too. Rumours say that even those from Hokkaido and Sapporo wanted her.

Even out of all these, however, there was only one geisha she had to overtake, Auntie said. And that geisha was Hirai Momo.

//

“Mina-san,” Chaeyoung politely taps her from behind and bows. Chaeyoung was one of the apprentices in the okiya. She was young; her parents had both died from typhus, leaving her with no choice but to become a maid in a busy Osaka district- but Auntie had been moved with her beauty and decided to make her a geisha apprentice instead. “Auntie told me to come here, and to remind you that you have a show at a nearby tea-house around seven. She says she wants you to get ready.”

“Okay. You can tell her I already am.” Mina smiles at her, and noticeably, Chaeyoung’s breath hitches.

It was no exaggeration that no one was immune to her beauty.

//

“Ahh, Mina,” The former general slurs. He reeks of alcohol and lust, but Mina maintains a shy smile on her lips. A true geisha is in control of what emotions should and should not surface, and the only feelings she’s been taught to show are these. Delight. Gratitude. Amusement.

The general continues, “I wanted you to meet somebody, by the way! I’d say she’s as beautiful as you. Oh, or maybe even prettier!”

He crudely laughs, and then yells in another direction, most likely at the former lieutenant. But Mina does not (cannot) turn her head, and she perfectly maintains the smile on her face, although feeling it slightly falter- but it isn’t something anybody can possibly notice. Not underneath all that makeup.  

“Bring her in! Oh, there she is- Oh God, Momo, I’ve missed you!”

Momo? Mina’s eyes grow wide at the mention of her name.

The woman that enters the room is evidently flattered, smiling behind her fan. Her hair is a light shade of brown, just as silky-looking as Mina’s, her walk just as graceful and delicate as well. Her body, however, is a complete contrast to Mina’s lithe one Mina can tell even underneath her Kimono. Her wrists peek out her sleeves, but they are not anywhere as bony unlike Mina’s own. Mina can just imagine the chiseled and toned thighs underneath her clothing.

“Momo, come here! I’d like you to meet someone.”

And Momo obediently comes forward, knees folding neatly underneath her thighs, sitting at a comfortable distance beside Mina, in front of the general.

“Momo-san, This is Mina-san. I suppose you’ve heard of her, no? Impossible that you haven’t.”

“Yes, I have.” She bows politely to the general. She then turns to Mina, giving her a light bow, which Mina quickly returns. Momo’s voice is raspy when she speaks. “Hello, Mina-san. I’ve heard of you. And he’s right; it would be impossible if I haven’t.”

And for the first time tonight, a genuine burst of delight sparks on Mina's face, but still- she remains just as polite. “Hello, Momo-san. I could say the same for you.”

Momo gives her a tiny, pleasant laugh in reply, and the general seems all too amused at their meeting.

But then he goes on, telling the both of them stories during his time in World War I, and Mina shows him quick bursts of expression from time to time. Momo, on the other hand, intently listens with her jaw slightly agape. And for a while, Mina is taken aback. Maybe this was the charm to Momo, Mina thought, a fresh contrast to most of the geishas in Japan. Mina had to say that she was quite crash, with her ‘Oooh,’s and her ‘Wah!,’s that would let out her lips from time to time.

But to be blunt, it wasn't like Mina had expected Momo to be as graceful as Mina herself anyways. But perhaps it was this quality of Momo that made her so desirable; perhaps the generals saw themselves in her, Mina thought in genuine doubt, rather naïvely and un-maliciously.

And ultimatelly, maybe that’s why they desired Momo so much- just as much as they desired Mina herself.

//

Mina quietly sits by the porch one afternoon day, staring at the variety of plants that had seemed to grow throughout the years she’s been here. Beside her, Chaeyoung neatly folds her kimonos for her and washes her robes.

“I heard you finally met Momo yesterday.”

Mina doesn’t look away from the trees when she replies, seemingly lost in thought. “Yeah. I have.”

“That must have been lovely.”

“It was.” It definitely was.

Mina thinks about yesterday, and for a moment, she felt guilty for ever having thought of Momo as competition. Hirai Momo, who was full of innocence and naïvety, who had a tremendous passion for whatever she did, for she only really cared about performing, had unfortunately been a victim of Mina’s own prejudice (and ego?).

Mina sighed. She remembered the traditional dance Momo performed yesterday; the way Momo had moved wasn’t graceful at all, no, definitely not- but she was full of power, almost in the kind of way that moves you to tears. Mina still remembers it vividly. The slightest of Momo's moves, like the flick of the wrist, or the delicate blink of an eye, had been completely precise.

Should she apologize to Momo for having judged her wrongfully, Mina wonde-

“Mina!” Chaeyoung yells, cutting Mina from her thoughts. “Look! It’s Momo!”

And Mina’s head immediately snaps at Chaeyoung, her eyes wide. “Where?”

“There!” Chaeyoung points to the entrance of their okiya. The porch was a few meters away from the entrance. It was still afternoon as well, so the gates were still wide open.

And Mina looks towards the direction of Chaeyoung’s finger, and oh- there Momo is, with the same innocence in her eyes Mina still recognizes from yesterday. Unlike yesterday though, Momo looks significantly more relaxed (or maybe too relaxed, even). She’s seen unapologetically chewing on a stick of grilled squid whilst she casually chats with a tired young man carrying a rickshaw. Mina doesn’t take her eyes off of Momo.

“I should- I should go say hello.” And with that, Mina gets up and hurriedly walks to Momo, her wooden soled shoes clacking at the ground with every quick step she takes.

She can now hear their conversation from where she’s brisk-walking towards Momo, and the sound of Momo’s raspy voice that she perfectly recognized enters her ears again. She’s somehow comforted by the familiarity.

“To be frank, I would say the food in Korea’s much better. Oh, don’t even get me started, the j- Oh! Mina-san! Hiii!” Momo’s face immediately lights up at the sight of Mina. In a span of less than second, her attention diverts from the young man. “Oh! This is your okiya, isn’t it? Mine’s just a few blocks away from here, I wonder why we’ve never-“

The young man kindly smiles from behind Momo, and mouths to Mina, which Momo doesn’t hear, “I’ll get going now. Goodbye to you two.” They smile at each other knowingly.

Momo momentarily pauses. “What? Why? What was that? Anyways- it’s weird how we’ve never seen each other at all! Hey, we should get together for tea some time soon. I say we have it in my okiya. Is that okay? For you?”

“Of course.” Mina immediately answers.

“Okay, good.” Momo smiles triumphantly. “Anyways, I have to go; it’s getting late. It’s been nice seeing you around here. With that said, we should see each other soon, okay!?” She turns around, and waddles away, waving, “Bye-bye!”

Mina laughs, raising an arm in the air. She watches Momo walk away, until she is lost within the sea of people in the busy streets of Osaka.

//

“Really, it’s been a pleasure to meet you last week.” Momo says. She pours the both of them some tea, which Mina immediately murmurs her thanks to.

“I feel the same.”

She observes the surroundings of Momo’s okiya; it looked just like the one she stayed in, except for Momo’s was larger in space, and had more scrolls stuck on the wall than hers did. She then remembers Auntie, and how she would love to have their okiya look anywhere near this. But her attention immediately turns to Momo, and the thought of Auntie had gone just as fast as it came.

She asks Momo, “You really come from here, don’t you?”

“Yes, yes I do.” Momo answers. She looks evidently surprised for half a second. “And you…? Hyogo, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, Hyogo. In Kobe.”

“Kobe!?” Momo’s jaw slightly opens, her eyes widening, “Then how…!”

Mina smiles at her, “I got sold here.”

“Oh,” Momo nods in understanding; the gesture slightly resembled the little children in the daycare Mina used to visit. Childlike and pure. “You’re a strong woman, Mina.”

“Thank you.” Mina feels herself blush, and she looks down at the ground for a moment, lest Momo sees her reddening cheeks. That would be embarrassing.

But then she looks up, and Momo is looking straight at her, and it’s an expression she can’t read. Momo blinks her eyes, once, twice, then thrice.

“W-would you like some more tea?”

“Yes, please.”

It had been half past nine when Mina had gone back to her okiya, and thoughts of Momo don’t leave her head. She still remembers the way Momo had looked nearly mesmerized at the sight of Mina looking at the ground, how Momo had been so attentive to her whenever she spoke, (Mina didn’t expect her to be a great listener, in all honesty), to the precise details of Momo’s clean-cut nails, as she poured the both of them some tea.

Then the pleasant ring of Momo's laughter resonates through her ears, and Mina thinks of a beautiful Summer day. She wants the sun beating down her back, beads of sweat forming at the nape of her neck, and she thinks of a sweltering love that she can only, merely imagine, because geishas are prohibited to feel anything but gratitude and the like, Mina has always been taught.

//

“You’re going out a lot with Momo these days.” Chaeyoung points out one day, whilst arranging the pots of tea leaves in order in the cupboard: Green, Corn, Jasmine, then Chrysanthemum, just as how Auntie liked it.

“Me?” Mina smiles to herself, looking down at the ground. “Yes, you’re right. I am.”

And for a while, there is a pitiful look on Chaeyoung’s face. She closes the cupboard and walks towards Mina, sitting down in front of her. She folds her legs against her chest and hugs them, seemingly cautious of every action she does. She sounds like she’s treading on a thin line of string as she speaks.

“Mina, uhm... Auntie found out yesterday. She asked me where you were, and I said you were with Momo-san.” She pauses. “She… she wasn’t exactly pleased with what she heard.”

Mina’s eyebrows furrowed. Suddenly, the smile on her lips had gone. “What do you mean?”

“She’s angry, because Momo is competition, she said.” Chaeyoung bites on her lip as she explains. “She then started mumbling to herself-  rather angrily, I would say- that you should have known better because of all the years you’ve spent here, and that the only comrades you’re supposed to have as a geisha are the members of your okiya.”

This made Mina feel mad. What was this? Mina never felt angry. But Momo isn’t a comrade!, she wanted to yell. Momo is a friend, and she's my friend!

//

Her hair sits heavy on her head and her eyes are tired.

She removes each ornament off of her hair slowly, multiple pins pulling at her scalp as she fishes them out until her hair is completely down, flowing off of her shoulders.

Although she is still in her Kimono, this is where Mina feels she is completely - where she is inside the confines of her own room in the okiya, with nothing but the faint moonlight gleam to accompany her.

She then washes her face with a few handfuls of water, a bowl underneath her. She watches her skin turn from the familiar alabaster white to the natural shade of the yellowish tan she is. The face in the mirror that stares back at her is now an unfamiliar sight, and it’s only at this moment when she realizes: she’s been doing this for a long time now.

Still, Mina doesn’t take her eyes off of the mirror. Her kimono dips dangerously low, just enough to cover a few centimetres above her s. She stares at her bony collarbones, long enough for her mind to wander; she wondered if Momo had the same thoughts as she looked at herself in the mirror, and she wondered if Momo had ever felt as tired as she herself often does. She wondered what Momo was doing in that exact moment. Was Momo happy? Was Momo glad to see her, just as she was glad to see Momo? Did Momo also feel the butterflies in her stomach, and did her heart also beat faster, just as Mina’s often did?

But most of all, did Momo notice her absence? Did Momo miss her?

But she hadn’t seen Momo for months now. How could she possibly know? Mina wished she knew.

//

“That was wonderful, Mina.” Chaeyoung tells Mina. They had just exited a small auditorium where Mina had performed for a few foreign ambassadors. Now, Chaeyoung was escorting her back to the okiya, holding up an umbrella for Mina as they carefully walked through the busy streets. Chaeyoung looks up at Mina, smiling at her like she was the sun, “Wonderful as always.”

“Thank you.” Mina rests her hand on Chaeyoung’s shoulder, “You know, you’re going to do the same thing, too. In a few years.” She tucks Chaeyoung’s hair behind her ear, her thumb lingering on Chaeyoung’s earlobe, “I can’t wait to see you grow.”

“Oh, don’t remind me.” Chaeyoung sighs. “You’re making me anxious.”

Mina delicately laughs. “Don’t worry, I’ve been there. I think I was your age w-”

“Mina!”

But suddenly, a shrill yell of her name cuts her sentence halfway. Mina recognized this voice. For a moment, she freezes, her eyes widening; thank god Chaeyoung was holding the umbrella for her or she would’ve dropped it otherwise.

Mina slowly turns her head back in dread- and true to her suspicions, it was her. She was right- she did recognize that voice correctly. Distinctly rough but comforting. Of course it was Momo’s voice.

Right there, Momo was standing (or sprinting to her, rather), a number of feet away from her. Between them, a hustle-bustle of people still go on their lives- children running around, carriage-men huffing their way through the crowded roads, businessmen going home- but all Mina can see is Momo.

But no, Mina cannot do this; she cannot give in. Suddenly, Auntie’s voice rings in her head: the only comrades you should have are us!

Mina swiftly turns her head back, and she gives Chaeyoung an apologetic look, hoping she’ll understand, and she sprints away, her wooden-soled shoes clacking on the ground.

“Mina! Wait!”

And who did Mina think she was, running away from Momo? She was going the wrong way, she knew- but this was the life everybody set for her. To be a geisha, you are designed for perfection, for malleability, for temperance; when you are a geisha, you do not give in to desire, Mina had always been taught.

Momo catches up to Chaeyoung, whom she frantically asks, “Where’d she go!?”

But before Chaeyoung can reply, (she looks astonished; she’s barely even open ), Momo leaves a quick, panicked touch on Chaeyoung’s arms, as if she were apologizing for the ruckus she had caused; Momo then turns her head swiftly, and she catches a glimpse of Mina running into a small alley.

“Mina!”

Momo yells again, as she continues to chase after Mina, running into the narrow alley. It was too dark to see anything here, but Mina couldn’t possibly have gone anywhere else. And growing up here in Osaka herself, Momo knew this alley, too. It led to a dead end.

“Mina! Are you there!?”

Momo runs as fast as she can, even if she can barely breathe in her tight Kimono, until she hears the sound of panicked, quick breathing. She momentarily freezes.

She then walks a few steps further, and she deciphers the sound of small cries as well. Finally, her pupils adjust to the darkness of the alley, and now Momo can see Mina clearly, tears evidently streaming down her face.

“Mina!” Momo yells again, her voice breaking halfway.

Momo runs to Mina in concern, enveloping her in her arms. And Mina, poor Mina, who had failed as a geisha, she felt, because she had now given in, melts into the warmth and concern of Momo’s hug. Mina cries against Momo’s chest for a while. She inevitably leaves a wet spot on her Kimono, and oh, she ruined it. There were so much things to apologize for.

But neither did Mina owing her an apology seem to cross Momo’s mind at all, nor did her initial intention of approaching Mina matter anymore. It was as if all thoughts in Momo’s head had dissipated into the air, and the only thing left was the concern over Mina’s wellbeing. She placed a hand on Mina’s neck, softly massaging her nape.

“Mina, are you fine? You can tell me.”

And oh, did it pain Momo to see like this- to have been cut off from Mina’s life in months, and to have their next interaction in grief. Her heart felt as if it shattered into a million pieces when she had to endure the sight of Mina in tears, slowly looking up at her in both apprehension and fear.

“M-momo, I’m sorry.” She softly says. “I-”

“No, Mina.” Momo brushes the hair out of Mina’s drenched face with a fingertip. She gently whispers, “I understand.”

And it was this, Mina remembered, the familiar feeling of Momo’s kindness and compassion, that she had come to love so much. “I- oh, still- it’s my fault- I’m- I’m sorry,” she squeaks in between tears, barely making it out.

And Mina furrows her eyebrows at Momo. She focuses on Momo's face, looks at Momo like this is the last time she possibly can take a glimpse of her (and who knows?). She felt that she couldn't afford to lose Momo again, and she realized she was in love with her.

She then had a visioned of that same realization in the form of a bird, robbing Mina off of a restricting obligation (that she was more than willing to give up) from her shoulders. Mina felt her heart rapidly beating within her chest, and suddenly, she had an urge to untie the ribbon on her chest and slip out her tight Kimono. She wanted the whole world to know that she was in love, and that was when she had finally thrown all her inhibitions away; she s her hand to the nape of Momo’s neck, pulled her in, and kissed her.

At first, Mina doesn't realize that she does it. It doesn’t dawn upon her halfway when she does so- only when she realizes that Momo is kissing her back and into .

Mina opens her eyes with a gasp, and the first thing she sees is Momo with her eyes closed. Mina ends the kiss, but she keeps Momo’s face near hers. And for a while, they stay like that, breathing on each other’s lips, faces only a few millimeters apart, with only the sounds of their ragged breathing entering their ears.

Then Mina kisses Momo again, but this time, with inhibition. She kisses Momo with finesse, whispering in Momo's mouth, “I love you, Momo-san.”

Momo sighs contentedly. She pulls away, and she looks at Mina with the previously unreadable expression she had given her in the okiya the first time they had met up. But Mina had recognized it now, and she now realized that it was love in Momo's eyes.

With a touch as nimble as ever, Momo Mina’s face with her thumb, brushing away a few more strands of hair. She wipes the damp tears on Mina’s cheeks with the sleeve of her Kimono- but nevermind it getting ruined; that didn’t matter anymore. Momo smiles at her. She brings her lips to Mina’s forehead, and whispers against her: “Still as beautiful as ever, our Myoui Mina.”

And in that moment, Mina had felt like all the right things in the world, and she assumed that Momo felt the same. But oh, that assumption was validated faster and Mina didn't have to doubt. Momo wrapped her arms around Mina tightly, buried her face in the crook of Mina's neck, and whispered, a few moments after: “I love you, Mina. I love you, I love you, I love you.”

Finally, no one had to dictate to Mina whether this was wrong, or if this was fine, and Mina did not have to ask, because this felt just perfect, and Mina knew that this could not possibly be more wonderful or right- as long as she was with Momo. It was always going to be Momo.

----

a/n:

hello! if you've reached this part, thank you for reading! it was really fun writing this, although i was a bit afraid that momo could've been a bit ooc ;; anyways, please leave a comment! i'd love to hear what you think :)

p.s this is a oneshot i'm sorry if you thought that was a cliffhanger :( it's a very hopeful "cliffhanger" though, if you wanna put it that way, and mina and momo do triumph after their kiss, so that's that! but with what they do with their careers as geishas, that is up to you to imagine :) ummm i don't mind writing a sequel for this also so if you have any ideas then you can leave it on my ask.fm ^^ ask.fm/radveivet