Looking Around Yoshiwara
Now one of the main questions should be, Why did Kanae decide to act as a man?
Well….
"May I see your identification, Sir?" The gatekeeper at the door asked as it was Kanae and Yuu's turn to enter.
"Here are the documents," Yuu handed over the documents and the guard looked into them.
'A noble family of count rank from Kyoto?' The Gatekeeper looked at Kanae or as written in the document, Kanata, and then at Yuu, he was supposed to be the Kanata's servant.
These documents were provided by Kagaya for this mission, Yuu had asked for it specifically.
"Can I know your reason for the visit?" The gatekeeper asked his question after noting down their names.
"Kanata-sama here has come to visit the district to increase his cultural knowledge and experience on the family head's order," Yuu said as Kanae nodded and the guard looked over.
Even if the place was named Yoshiwara Pleasure District one would be wrong to assume that this place was only for sexual entertainment.
In fact, the Yoshiwara pleasure district was a hub of cultural activities such as theatre, music, and poetry. It was a place that was akin to a Cultural center of Japan during the time it was active, So, Yuu's reason was a very valid reason for this.
"Alright, I hope you have a wonderful experience, Sir," The gatekeeper looked at Kanae and said before handing over the document back to Yuu.
And with that Yuu and Kanae entered the Yoshiwara district.
'I should tell the Tokito house about them? They were looking for a patron for their new Oiran,' The gatekeeper thought as this was one of the ways he could make money.
But then he remembered Yuu and Kanae as his attention went to another direction.
'What was the requirement for the Kyogoku House?'
"Wasn't it something like having beautiful eyes and them being good-looking?" The gatekeeper muttered but couldn't linger on it long enough as another man arrived in front of him.
So, he had to put these thoughts on pause for now, but he knew he needed to fast so that they don't get snatched up by other houses.
Inside the Yoshiwara Pleasure District on the Naka-no-cho, or more like the main street, Kanae was looking around while standing in place with Yuu.
Well, if you're still wondering why Kanae was dressed as a man then, it was simple.
Women weren't allowed inside the Yoshiwara Pleasure District, unless they were going to be sold to an establishment as prostitutes or helpers.
And since there was no need for them to be snooping around for long, Kanae chose to dress up as a man to avoid looking suspicious.
'But they can just enter at night,' If one thought like that it wouldn't be wrong but…
"Let's look around the area," Yuu said and Kanae nodded, they needed to scout the area quickly as the sun had already set and the street was getting livelier.
This was probably the best time to look around and get to know the area.
Walking down the colorful street that was lined with several establishments on both sides Yuu and Kanae looked around.
Tea shops, restaurants, Clothing stores, theatres, you'd find everything on this street. The best of the best shops in Yoshiwara was on this street.
Having some tea and refreshments at one of the tea houses Yuu and Kanae were now ready to move to the alleys between the teahouses that lined up the street. This is where the brothels were located.
"Tachibana-sama this is the one we're looking for, right?" Kanae flipped through a magazine they got from the tea house, it contained poems, stories, illustrations, and advertisements related to the Courtesans, and here there was an illustration of Warabihime or Daki.
"Yes, that is her," Yuu did recognize her easily from the illustration before he looked in the front once again.
There were also several other types of illustrations but, Kanae didn't bring them as it might make the mood a bit ambiguous and the second reason was…
'Do men like these types of things?' Kanae thought as the men around them were looking at the magazines with quite passionate looks. She was curious but didn't ask about it.
Men were mostly looking at the lewd kind of illustrations while talking about it out loud. They didn't have to worry much since there were only men around here.
Thinking about this Yuu and Kanae arrived in the alleys and this place was even more bustling than the main street.
Men looked around the brothel buildings where Women were sitting behind wooden bars as the men outside would choose the one they like.
These were the normal prostitutes that offered sexual services in the rooms on the second room after they are picked by the customers.
But this way most of the attention was taken away by the bigger brothels, so in order to have customers the smaller brothels implied a few tricks…
"Yo, Young man why don't you come over to our establishment, look over there they are one of the finest beauties in Yoshiwara," A young man no older than Yuu and Kanae came over.
He held Kanae by her Yukata's sleeve and started to guide her towards a small brothel with only two floors on the right. And he wasn't alone there were several like him who did this to other men around.
They did this really naturally and caught the people in their flow.
"Um, please stop for a minute," Kanae spoke a bit softly and…
'I knew it, he is a total first-timer,' The man thought that he had struck a jackpot. He was what one would call a Gyu or a pimp that helped the brothel get more customers.
"No I totally get it, you'll have a really fun time, I guarantee it," The guy was happy that intuition was spot on, Kanae did seem like a timid guy currently and these types of people had a hard time refusing someone.
"No, I mean…" Kanae tried again but she wasn't heard and then.
"It might be because of the noise, but the sir here has refused a number of times," Yuu grabbed the guy by his hand and stopped him in his tracks.
"Ah, I see, I am really sorry," The guy was stunned for a second but apologized and took his hand off Kanae's sleeve.
"No No it is fine," Kanae shook her hand and the guy smiled slightly.
'Gothcu,' He thought as one of his buddies came from behind Yuu and Kanae.
That guy tried to snatch the hat on Kanae's head as she was focused in the front but...
"You should watch your hand," Yuu grabbed the other guy's hand and looked at him.
"A-Ah, I'm sorry," The guy ran away after Yuu let go of his hand.
"We'll take our leave first," Yuu said to the guy in front of them who could only nod dumbly as the two went away.
"What is ...that guy?" He was puzzled since his trick didn't work, but if it was done by someone else he might've been able to cause some chaos and get them into the brothel.
But the thing with Yuu was…
'That is one scary fucker,' But it did make sense given how the other guy was, at least that is what the pimp thought.
Even then he didn't think too deeply about it and got to work again.
On the other hand with Yuu and Kanae...
"You should speak with a little more firmly otherwise it would be troublesome," Yuu said as Kanae thought for a bit before looking back at him.
"Should I speak like you Tachibana-sama?"
"If that helps," Yuu said plainly.
"Alright, I(Changed from Boku to Ore,) will try my best," Kanae said trying to sound as plain as possible while trying to deepen her voice.
"Hey, sir would you like to come over to our establishment?" Another one of the Pimps approached the two and this time Kanae spoke up first.
"I would like to decline, Thank you for the offer though," Kanae sounded a bit too stiff and formal, but she was trying to sound serious with a cute voice, that's the best she could do.
"Ah, alright," Even the pimp sounded confused and the two walked past him in that window.
'Is that how I sound like?' Yuu thought hearing Kanae, and the answer to that is No, he was more formal than this.
Leaving that matter aside, after this the two looked around the alleys for a good amount of time dodging the pimps with all their might.
Both of them even got invitations from some prostitutes who sent the pimps to ask for them to come inside the establishment. It was a tough time for both of them, and now…
"I'll be back after three hours in front of the Kyoroku Tea house on the main street," Yuu was about to go off on his own to do something.
...
Hello, it would be great if I could have more powerstones,
Thank you...