Welcome to Gaia! ::

Shizumi followed her closely, "I've brought a gift of graditude for taking me in on such short notice, " she said as she carried the two bags in her numb arms. She'd been carring these for a while, and her arms felt like they'd be stretched to twice their length. As they walked trhough the garden Shizumi gazed at all the beautiful flowers, smiling softly as they passed. She loved the smell of blossoming plants that came only in the spring, and she was trying to carve this moment into her memory forever. Even though she felt awkward and out of place she still wanted to remember this, it was the first day as a Miako, the first step to becoming a Geisha. She didn't particular want to become an Maiko or Geisha, she was perfectly fine being outside tending to the garden, growing a mix of vegitables. She had no choice now, and with the old okaya gone, she had to proove that true beauty will always come from the ashes and unlucky times.

Akime walked timidly into the court yard of this new place that has asked the maiko and others to come. She looks around from where she stands on her little pink getta. She hears the soft sound of the leaves rustling together and wonders if she is supposed to be here. Then unsure of what else to do, she waites in the silence that seems to engulf the amazingly beautiful cort yard.

Shizumi shook her head slowly, sitting their silently until Josophine excused her. She left the room as gracefully as she could, walking over to Ayumi, "Don't be upset. What's wrong? There isn't really anything you can do," she gave ayumi a supportive smile "Don't cry, you're too beautiful to be sad."

Shizumi's eyes glanced around quickly trying to find Akime, or anyone else that might have showed up. She wasn't changed at all by Josophine asking her to be her assistant, it some ways it hadn't set in. She'd come there expecting to fight for what she had, not to be trusted as an assistant.

She motioned for Ayumi to go into the room with the cots, "Did you bring anything from your old okaya? I could help you set your things up."

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Ryou rang the bell at the gate, still in his navy blue suit from work, the most casual thing about it was the unbuttoned jacket. He looked around him, strange to see such a new okaya seeming so deserted. No girls wondering about. The economy in Japan was becoming so crazy, the changing world not helping any. He was a modern man with the love of old Japan. He was a quiet and determined man, by the age twenty five he'd started his own company, now a year shy of thirty he was very living more than comfortably.

His right hand absently ran through his chestnut hair. It wasn't a formal short and barely there hair style of the men who often frequented the okayas. The type of men who worked for large, well known, companies that demanded formal and cookie cutter workers. His bangs pushed to the side in a wispy way. The sides slightly layered as they went around his ears. The only thing neat about it was that it was perfectly trimmed so that not one hair fell over his ears, instead the hair boxed around them.

He rang the bell again, not impatiently, just to be heard. The impatient men always rang the bell repeatably, he rang once waited a few moments then rang again. This action alone could tell you that he was patient, just serious and not there to waste time. He was on a mission. His hazel eyes, with hints of gold around the pupil, scanned the entrance gate that hid the beautiful garden and okaya. It was simple and told him nothing, for all he knew it was an empty lot behind the walls.