Hisazuru

''A megitsune is usually disguised as a woman. What is a megitsune you ask? Why, it's the clever fox spirit that is up to no good. It would like nothing more than to see you suffer for its own selfish entertainment.''

Chapter 1: Kaneko
Ishiwara Kaneko was born to a rather wealthy family. Her father was a merchant and her mother often sewed for the neighbors on the side. The family already had two sons and another daughter, all exceedingly older than her; Toshi, age 17, Dan, age 14, and Masako, age 12. Kaneko would be the last child born to this union. Her early life was filled with comfort and ease. Of course, this would all go downhill starting with the mysterious death of her eldest brother, Toshi, in a boating accident at the age of 24. The young man was athletic, so when he drowned while out on a sailboat, it came as a shock to the family, especially his wife, who soon took her own life. The next to die would be Dan and their father. This was another mysterious circumstance since the two ended up dying in a warehouse fire. They had been inspecting the wares and the building somehow went down in flames, trapping the father and son inside.

Masako and Kaneko watched as their mother struggled to make ends meet. Their father had accumulated a large amount of debt during his lifetime and there was almost nothing left for the remainder of the family to live on. Their mother, desperate to finance the family, married Masako off to another family so that she only had to support Kaneko. Tragedy struck when Masako died giving birth, driving Kaneko's mother off the brink. She married her husband's former business partner who had children of his own. He persuaded the damaged woman to sell her only child left to a broker, who in turn, sold her to a geisha house.

Chapter 2, Fujikiyo Okiya
As was typical of most okiya, when Kaneko entered, she was re-educated to behave more like a docile servant in the presence of the elder inhabitants of the okiya and the geisha district. The mother of the okiya, a former geisha by the name of Mizuru, was a harsh woman. She was extremely strict, only giving leniency to the two geisha that made the most money in the okiya, Hisamatsu and Kikusuru. During the day, she went to school for geisha training, attending classes like tea ceremony, dance, and music, while at night, she completed chores and practiced whenever she could. Kaneko enjoyed the company of another student at the school named Sayaka. The two lived and trained together in the Fujikiyo okiya, making life more bearable. It wasn't a particularly harsh life, but there were bouts of cruelty meted out by Mizuru or the other maids.

Chapter 3, The Maiko
At the age of 12, Kaneko had reached a point in her life and training which granted her the opportunity to become close to becoming a geisha. It was a hard time for the young girl since this time strained her relationship with Sayaka. Kaneko had been the more talented of the two, so when Hisamatsu and Kikusuru both came with offers for Kaneko to be their "little sister" (apprentice), Sayaka was overcome with jealousy. She began trying to mess up Kaneko's opportunities by sabotaging her during class or at the okiya. Kikusuru, taking pity on Sayaka since she had been in her spot at that age, recanted her offer and instead took Sayaka as her little sister while Hisamatsu took Kaneko under her wing. Each took the respective names of Hisazuru (Kaneko) and Kikuyu (Sayaka). It was during her time as a maiko, that Kaneko began to realize how corrupt the world truly was. She met married older men who lusted after young women and girls, people in power who used that power to get what they wanted rather than what it should have been used for, and the torture power and money was capable of. The incident in particular to truly upset her was when she witnessed the murder of a geisha who had refused the advances of the head of some village. The authorities refused to do anything about since the man was important. Hisamatsu had to console her little sister and remind her of a geisha's place in life, but Kaneko could not forget.

Chapter 4, The Death of Kaneko
At 18, Kaneko became a full-fledged geisha. The young woman was no longer bound to follow the rules set forth by Hisamatsu and set forth to create her own rules. Her first step was learning ninjutsu. This came in the form of a shinobi who came to frequent the teahouse in which she worked. The man taught her everything she wanted to know, too intoxicated to realize why the geisha wanted to learn so much. In fact, Kaneko had decided she wanted to take down the very power structure that gave her her current luxuriant life and her past luxuriant life. She had come to realize that those in power had to be stopped. Gone was Kaneko, the girl who looked on the bright side and strove to become the perfect artisan. In her place was Hisazuru, the geisha out to destroy.

Personality
As a child, Kaneko was very docile and sweet. She understood that money was a hard thing to come by and did not complain when she had to go without. Even when she was sold by her mother and step-father, all she could do was weep in private. She never caused any trouble for the okiya or Hisamatsu and instead, was diligent with her practices. Even when Sayaka turned her back on her, Kaneko did not stoop to the other girl's level. But as Kaneko got dragged deeper into "the willow world" of the geisha, her view began darkening. She no longer viewed the word in a rosy lens. She maintained her sweet disposition and would entertain her patrons with her cleverness, humor, and musical gift. Her smiles are generous as is her behavior. But beneath her façade lies a calculating, manipulative woman. She is kind, but she doesn't allow herself to care too much about the people she interacts with. Hisazuru does not forget her objectives and is bent on obtaining her goals.

Appearance
Like most geisha, Hisazuru is incredibly beautiful. Her eyes are as blue as the gem, aquamarine. Her natural complexion is pale, but healthy. Not a scar or marking mares her features. She had thick, ebony hair that is usually placed up in a traditional geisha style, but when let free, reaches down to her waist. Sometimes, she instructs the hairdresser to allow her hair to recover from the harsh treatment that she must go through to get the perfect style. She wears very few ornaments in her hair and only occasionally wears the white make-up typically associated with geisha due to the fact that the make-up is mostly worn by maiko and geisha only wear it for special occasions. Her kimono varies day by day, but when she is not entertaining, tends to wear simple, plain yukata.