Chapter 21
It’s not easy to find the answer, Ayaka comes to see.
There’s so much-it’s shrouded by so many distractions. Repeating words in different kanji, words that sound practically the same in conversations but must mean different things-
There’s so much to go off and she doesn’t know where to start.
“Why not just - do it?” Anka says, slowly running through her kata on the water.
Apparently, training your chakra starts with the very simple act of holding a leaf to your skin. Everywhere.
“Hm?” Ayaka asks distractedly, her focus on shifting the flow of chakra inside her body. It’s like water, slippery and ever runny. It falls through her grasp, yet she can pluck them up so easily.
It just refuses to actually stick.
“The puzzle. You already have an inkling to the answer, right?” Anka repeats, grunting when she makes a roundhouse kick and almost loses her footing with a slight wave, “Then try it. See if it’s what you’re supposed to do. Maybe you’re looking too closely at it.”
Ayaka blinks slowly, “Wait. Wait, wait, wait, wait wait! So there’s a chance that the simplest shit is supposed to be the answer? Nee!”
She cries out, turning to her side indignantly. Ann sits quietly nearby, under the shade, a leaf sticking to her forehead with ease. Ayaka’s falls down.
“Quiet down, dear.” Ann drawls, plucking the leaf down. “I can’t tell you anything. You need to figure it out yourself, imouto.”
“Well, that’s stupid. People are a precious resource, and I stand by my belief that I should be able to utilize it.” She huffs, pouting at the prospect. Why must she act herself when there’s plenty who can do it for her?
“You can’t always rely on Kochou-she can’t always be there.” Anka points out, stepping back onto the shore. She was wet to the bone, having fallen down just moments before.
Shaking off the wetness, Anka stands up and rolls her shoulders, looking consideringly at Ayaka. “Self-reliance is a good trait, you know?”
Ayaka just glares at her. “Oh shut up.”
She complains, standing up and dusting off her pants. “Hey, teach me how to water walk! You keep telling me to try getting this leaf to stick, but what goods does it do!? I do better on practicals! Practicals, you understand, Anka?”
Untrue, really.
But Ayaka is getting impatient. She learns from books and letters, but getting materials from spoken words eludes her. She can, of course, but it isn’t efficient.
Comparatively, practicals are really the best way for her to thrive.
Anka chuckles at her impatience, waving her hands about. “Al’ight, Al’ight. Don’t be so fussy now, Hana. Come here.”
It’s not hard to water walk. Not for Ayaka, anyway.
Oh, the control part is hard. It takes time to learn how to grasp that energy inside of you and harness its power. Ayaka can hardly stick a leaf to her skin for more than 10 minutes yet.
But water? Water has always been something she loved.
Kanae should be surprised.
She should, really, really should.
Hana couldn’t even hold a leaf for more than 10 minutes yet, what does she expect?
Kanae expected her to fall immediately after Kanae released her hold.
Well, she shouldn’t have, really.
Kanae watches as Hana dances across the water surface, not even faltering, and can only smile in exasperation.
“Mu. Imouto sure adapts fast.” Kochou stands right behind her, smiling indulgently at the dancing figure.
“She has talent, for sure.” Kanae can only nod. “But isn’t she… you know, jumping steps?”
Technically, the chakra exercises go leaf sticking, tree walking, water walking. Yet Hana can water walk when she hasn’t even gotten the hang of using her chakra.
“She is quite impatient.” Kochou beams back, and Kanae can only sigh. It’s not like she’s going to get more out of them.
“Right.”
“What are you doing on the shore, nee-sama, Anka? Come play!”
“Coming!”
“Hai, hai. So impatient, imouto.”
“Mother, what is Furoushiku?” Ayaka asks, not expecting a real answer.
Tsunami blinks, seemingly surprised, before she smiles softly and pulls Ayaka’s hand. “Come, child. Let me tell you a story…”
Once upon a time, there was an organization called Jinja.
They were powerful. Their riches piled up high like mountains.
But they were most revered for their Miko.
Miko were purifiers. They served the Gods and brought our land peace. They casted away the dirty impurities.
Jinja hosted them.
Miko? Belonging to Jinja? No, child, of course not.
You see, Miko were prideful. They had to work very hard to do away with the corruption of our land.
Jinja simply hosted them. Miko cannot be owned.
They were a part of Jinja, yes, so fundamental that they can be said to be the core of Jinja. But no one owns a Miko.
What does this have to do with Furoushiku, you ask? Well, dear. What do you think?
How clever.
Yes. This is that Furoushiku, dear.
We are informants, artisans, business people, mediators, but never liars.
Oh, but we are also seductions, serenators, and everything in between. It is a fine line to dance on, dear.
Do you want to learn?
Why, yes, of course. I will arrange for it, dear.
Ayaka loves her mother.
But she cannot even begin to voice all the frustrating things she does.
“Nee-sama~” Ayaka whines, hugging Ann’s waist, “Mama keeps hiding things!”
“You’re supposed to ask, Imouto.” Ann answers, a hint of exasperation in her voice. “She will always answer you.”
“Yeah.” Ayaka pouts, “I know.”
Furoushiku is a rather absurd organization, from Ayaka’s perspective. It’s tightly knitted by rules and hierarchy, but the relationship is purely exchange based.
Information is bought and traded, never freely given.
Favors are exchanged, vows spoken and upheld, contracts binding evermore.
You have to ask to receive.
“I’m just not used to it.”
“Then you better start, don’t you think?”
“... Has anyone ever told you you can be really irritating, nee-sama?”
“You, apparently.”
“...” Why has Ayaka ever thought her nee-sama would always be understanding again?
If you talk about pettiness, Ann would be number one. She’s not the kind of pouting petty, no. She wouldn’t angrily turn her back on you, nor would she shout and scream. Ann would smile and plot your downfall, then execute it in a way that she wouldn’t be implicit.
But it’s hard to get her to that point. Normally, she is just that amount of irritating and informal, enough to make you upset, but not enough to actually get you to be angry with her. Toeing the line of affectionate exasperation and actually irritation seems to be second nature to her.
Ayaka wouldn’t change a thing about her nee-sama.
God knows she only acts like this in front of her loved ones.
“What do we do in Furoushiku?”
“A lot of things, Imouto.”
“Will you give me a list?”
“Mother will have a better understanding of it.”
“I want you to.”
“…Very well. In Konoha, there are approximately… 127 stores more or less linked to Furoushiku in my knowledge.”
“That’s… a lot.”
“Furoushiku were an integral part of Konoha, Imouto. They funded its existence.”
“A founding… clan?”
“Organization, though I believe you can call it a clan, if one without much blood relation.”
“Wow.”
“Yes, wow.”
“Other than the stores?”
“The stores are the basic, Imouto. Care to guess what else is done?”
“Info trafficking. The best place to listen to gossip is shops and stalls.”
“Correct. Many trades are conducted in the rooms of Furoushiku’s shops. We ensure customers’ confidentiality, of course. But meetups and movements of organizations can be telling.”
“Financing?”
“Stores are well funded and well connected.”
“Political credentials?”
“Somewhat. Respect the merchants and you’ll be spared.”
“… that sounds ominous.”
“I’ never said Furoushiku is not scary.”
“Right. Money washing?”
“Technically no? At least to my knowledge. Furoushiku has binding contracts, and payments are always above the table.”
“Oh. Hm. The… red light district?”
“How much information do you think people let loose when drunk and high?”
“Good point. Recruitments?”
“Mostly through the red light districts and orphanages, I believe.”
“The children.”
“Children.”
“Because training young is better?”
“Because training young is better.”
“Mother. How respected is Furoushiku?”
“Very, dear. Why do you ask?”
“Isn’t it openly a brothel?”
“Yes.”
“Then why is Furoushiku respected?”
“People ask things of us.”
“Just so?”
“Simply put, yes.”
“Thank you, mother.”
“You’re welcome, dear.”
“Anka. Have you ever heard of Furoushiku?”
“I do not believe I have, no. Why?”
“Nothing. Just a weird name I heard.”
“If you say so.”
"Mother.”
“Yes dear?”
“Where can I go to learn chakra?”
“Chakra? Do you mean jutsu?”
“Not jutsu, mother. I want to know chakra.”
“The tutor I arranged for you should come back in a few days.”
“Thank you.”
“Nee-sama, do you know who the tutor mother mentioned is?”
“I can guess.”
“Who?”
“Introduction is best conducted by oneself.”
“Hm.”
“Rules are rules, Imouto.”
“It is worded like a suggestion.”
“In this case, it isn’t.”
“... Understood.”
Ayaka understands discretion, of course. She was a doctor, patient-doctor confidentiality is a necessity.
But Furoushiku’s rules are very much interchangeable. No, not interchangeable per say, more… complex and intertwined. Some of them are contradictory. Some of them don’t make sense. Some of them don’t seem plausible at all.
Pause, rewind and review.
Ayaka knows the below points.
Furoushiku is either very little known, or so well known that people don’t talk about it.
Furoushiku is respected, despite also being a brothel.
The ladies around her are, in one way or another, connected to Furoushiku the organization, not just Furoushiku the brothel.
Furoushiku cannot lie, but can misdirect, mislead, make technically truthful statements, change the tone of a spoken fact, and any other techniques to deceive but not lie.
Furoushiku has power. A great amount of it.
Furoushiku has connections. An information network was formed and has been upheld for a long time.
Furoushiku is young but old. Historically, the name Furoushiku has only existed for around 50 years. The exact date is unknown. Yet the rules and running of it is… far too comprehensive.
Furoushiku must be a legacy. Of what? Of whom? Unknown yet.
Ann knows more than she does. A lot more. The timeline does not quite fit. At most, Ann would’ve known of Furoushiku 2 months before Ayaka, since it has only been 2 months and 5 days since their mother picked them up. How and why?
Their mother is still withholding a lot.
Miko is important.
Ann was not lying when she spoke with Ayaka.
Then there are things Ayaka does not know.
Both Ann and their mother dodge certain topics, dance around the points, steer the conversation away. It is not that they do not know, but because Ayaka does not know. She cannot know.
Furoushiku has a hierarchy, and Ann has climbed it fast. Ayaka seems to not have even touched the gate. She must catch up. How?
Who is her tutor? Can they fill in this information disparity?
What else is she missing in this equation?
What else can she learn?
Anka does not know of Furoushiku. Anka is an Uchiha. Anka is not a high-ranked Uchiha.
So possibilities of Furoushiku existence being something only higher up knows of.
Some rules seem like suggestions but are obligatory. Why? To whom does it apply?
Ayaka is not under the self introduction rule. Mother did it in her and Ann’s place when they first arrived here. But her soon-to-be-tutor is. What’s the difference? Ranking? Incomplete data.
Somehow, the more she knows, the more questions it opens up.
Ayaka can’t help but sigh as she gets ready for bed.
How… vexing.
“Annoyed?”
“No, nee-sama. Just thinking.”
“Questions?”
“Not now, no.”
“Ah, alright then.”
“Nee-sama.”
“Hm?”
“Will you sing me a lullaby?”
“What was that? I thought you didn’t have any questions?”
“It isn’t a question, but a request.”
“What are you willing to trade then?”
“Uh… one back massage?”
“Hm… acceptable. Very well then, tonight’s lullaby is Nene Cororiyo.”
“Oh? Do I get to be tucked in tonight, darling?”
“Mother! Nee-sama is going to sing a lullaby for us!”
“Well then, darling, can I listen too?”
“Of course, mother.”