The Sunflower

[Kiyoshi Nagase]

Kiyoshi faced him when he told him to leave the woman alone, faced him to show him he wasn't afraid. Kiyoshi knew better than to speak. No matter how a master told a servant to speak, one never should. Kiyoshi had learned that long ago. He watched the door slam, said something very rude to it in Japanese and then hopped back downstairs to the kitchens.

Kiyoshi was now dreading having to work underneath that man. Work for him, do his chores for him, take care of that huge house of his. It was not something Kiyo wanted to do. The man was foul. He was beautiful, and rich, and pampered, and elegent, and kind...to a point. But Kiyo now knew enough to know that that perfection only went so far.

He wondered how such a woman as Miss Benjamin could have ended up with such a snake. It was unfathomable.

---

Later that night, as the festivities were wrapping up, Kiyoshi stepped outside to smoke a cigarette he had gotten from one of the higher servants who had lifted it out of the bedside drawer of their mistress, who kept a pack in there, but never smoked them and would never know they were gone. The smoked hovered in a cloud over he and his companion, a twenty-three year old servant who had been serving in houses since he had been eleven.

Kiyoshi had been running up and down all evening since the run-in with the Mister Benjamin, and had, so far, managed to see neither he nor his wife the rest of the evening. Which was all for the better. Kiyoshi had decided that he would not hang around with that woman unless Mr. Benjamin was in the room, and that would only be to serve tea or something harmless. No more contact.

If Kiyoshi could help it.

[Thaddeus Benjamin]

Thaddeus hissed as he stepped out of the bedroom, the entire house almost silent and darkened. He had been gone for quite some time and it was safe to assume that it was no longer time for cigars and sherry. He lingered out into the darknened hallway, the only thing he could see was that of the small electric lamps on the walls, sconces of high value and low lighting. He made his way down the stairs, knowing that it was past bed, but he was now needing to find that girl servant of Katherine's to let her know that, from this moment forth, she was to be with her whenever she was alone. He rubbed his hand, it hurting from where it had come in contact with Katherine's jaw, he hadn't expected it to hurt him as much, but he was at least glad that had shut up his wife and made her hunker away in a corner, fearing for her life, which was exactly how he wanted it to be. Establishing the head of the household feeling early on made sure that in the future she would never talk back to him, never disobey, and always be what he wanted her to be. The girl was still young, so a few hits were bound to come.

Thaddeus sighed as he walked into the lobby and towards the dining room, walking into the dark room the reminents of dinner still lingering in the air. He sighed out as she walked through the double doors that lead into the hallway that, eventually, led him down a pair of small stairs. He could hear people, all speaking in their annoying language. He scoffed to himself as he managed to make his way down into the cold dungeon like basement, low lights being seen in the hallway as he made his way closer to the festivities he heard.

The hallway was cramped, small, wooden, low lamps hung from the ceiling shining light where there was no window, he smelled something awful, he couldn't place it, but he realized that the Japanese were filthy and he was shocked his Host's would allow them to live in such disgust. Then again, he'd want them to be as far away from him as possible, allow them to live in their filth six feet under, like they were now.

He walked into a small room where he saw a small table in the middle with many Japanese people sitting around it, no seats, on their knees or behinds, smoking, laughing, but at the sight of him their happiness went away and almost all of them stood.

"I need to see a young girl," He stated loudly, slowly in case they wouldn't understand. "Stupid name...uh...Yumi Chiguse? Something to that ridiculously effect. I need to speak with her at once."

[Yumi Chiguse]

Yumi heard someone say her name from the dinner room. She was in the kitchens with Kiyoshi, catching up with him, laughing and twittering as they ate with the other teenagers, all of them catching up on the things that mattered to the younger generation. They didn't care much for the conversation of the adults, who spoke of the latest Geisha taking the bigger cities by storm, the patrons that were interested, they talked of the crops and the neew buildings being built in the towns, and the migration of the westerners to their corner of the Earth.

Of course, the teenagers understood these matters, and could all speak educatedly about them. But they didn't like to linger on them too long.

Yumi glanced up. She smiled around at them, and then shook her head.

"Shisurei, kudasai," she said, pushing herself to her feet and fixing her yukata around her legs. As she fixed the bands holding back her sleeves, an older man, Hitei--a man who had wanted to court Yumi for a long time--knocked on the door and leaned inside.

"Chiguse-chan! Someone is here for you," he said, waving is hand. She nodded, hurrying over. She stepped down into the room, sliding into her shoes. She looked up, and was frightened when she saw it was the man who had spoken to her earlier, Mr. Benjamin. She paused for a moment, unsure if she was going to go over to her. The men and older women in the room watched her closely. One of the elder women scowled a little.

"Chiguse! Go to him. You must not daddle like that, what will he think?" she said. Yumi nodded.

"Hai," she said. She hurried around the table, and went over to him. She bowed breifly before moving out into the hallway behind him, not wanting to speak in front of the others. She turned and looked at him, bowing again. "Yes, Mr. Benjamin?"

[Thaddeus Benjamin]

Thaddeus gave a small scoff, under his breath of course, as he exited the room with Miss Yumi, he had had a thought of what he was going to say to her as he made his way down to the basement he was in now, but the moment he stepped into the hallway with her, he grinned, not really remembering what it was he had thought of.

"Evening." He said lowly, leaning slightly on his cane before leaning forward, towards her, closing space between the two. "I say, you look dashing in any light my dear." He titled his head to the left, his blue eyes scanning from her dark raven colored hair, to her beautfiul opals of brown, then on down to her feet, her small feet that he would love to get his hands on to rub. She was so dashing it was amazing. If only Katherine had this much beauty.

He lifted his hand and brushed a small stray from her hair, pushing it behind her ears lovingly, grinning slightly as he continued to survey her appearance. "So sad..." He said lowly, continuing to touch her face, her chin, her hair, anything in a manner that was other than discreet and acceptable.

"You coming from such a long line of heathens...you ought to try and get away from them, you'd make such a beautiful wife." He bit his lower lip, keeping back his grin and his perverse thoughts. He drew in a deep breath and let out a small roll of laughter.

"I have a request..." He raised his eyebrows, his brain working properly again. "Don't leave my wife unattended at parties. The alcohol consumption is not very good for her." He frowned and nodded. "She, uh, she was inappropriately touched by one of your kind. I think it was the man who was talking with you."

"Be sure that people know I do not approve of men wooing my wife. I am the only one allowed to woo."

[Yumi Chiguse]

Yumi wasn't sure what "woo" meant, but she knew that she didn't like the way this man was touching her. Touching her like they were intimately involved. She wanted so badly to jerk away and tell him not to do that, but she didn't dare.

"Nagase Kiyoshi, Master," she said, bowing lower than normal for Kiyo's sake. "I will tell him, and I will keep a close watch on your wife," she said, not being able to resist stressing the word just a little. Even though wives didn't always mean that much to men in Japan, she knew good and well, that the culture of England and America tended to call for one wife and to be faithful to her. If it meant this man would leave Yumi alone, she was ready and willing to adopt that lifestyle.

"Thank you for your compliments," she was sure to stick on. "You are most kind..." she straightened. "I will tell Nagase-san immediately."

[Thaddeus Benjamin]

Thaddeus grinned to himself, listening to her words, watching how she was acting, it was apparent she wasn't very keen on what he was doing which was fine by him, the more they struggled, the more entertaining it was to him. Oh how much he loved being able to strike fear into people's heart, almost gives him a power unlike any other, save for God Himself. He let a small grin slide across his face, glancing down at the young woman.

"Nagase Kiyoshi, I have learned so far that you say your names backwards? I assume his first name would be Kiyoshi?" He nodded, as if he had answered himself despite not truly knowing the answer, but he was a quick learning and picked up on things quickly.

"All right." He said lowly, leaning down to the young Yumi and he put his mouth right by her ear. "Please make sure this warning is not taken lightly," He looked out the side of his eye as he spoke lowly, harshly. "I never want him to touch her in any way or else I will, and I do mean will, kill him. I will also make sure that you are held personably responsible for his immediate death. You would never work in this hell hole again. Understood?" He leaned back slightly and gave her a soft, butterfly kiss on her cheek.

"Always a pleasure." He turned quickly and walked away from her, pleased with his conversation, pleased that he was able to cause such a reaction out of these people. How disgusting they lived, how he must change them once they moved into their own house. Thank god, it was to be done soon.

[Kiyoshi Nagase]

Kiyoshi not only got the message loud, it came to him crystal clear too. And from the moment Yumi had told him what the man had said, he had kept a very fair distance from the woman, unless Mr. Benjamin had her on his arm and Kiyoshi was passing them on his way somewhere else.

By the time the servants began packing things away into the special luggage cart to take it to the Benjamin's finished house, Kiyoshi was worn out by the cramped space of the Benjamin's servants and the other's servants all crammed into servant's corridors fit for half their size. Kiyoshi would be glad when they got out of there, but he was sure the work was only just beginning.

Not only did Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin have a lot of stuff, it was all to be packed just so. Kiyoshi was following the orders of the head servant who said he knew how they wanted everything packed away. Kiyoshi was driving the carriage the Mister and the Missus would be driving in, and another older servant would be driving the cart behind them. It was sure to be a sight, Kiyoshi was just glad that the trip was going to be short. Also that it was not raining, and the Missus didn't have to worry about getting her precious gowns filthy.

Kiyoshi's opinion of these two people had soured considerably from how it had begun. The man was insufferable, and the woman allowed him to be, to her, and to everyone else around them. But Kiyoshi was learning to not care. As long as he did his job, and kept away from them, all would be well...he just hoped it would stay that way.

"Nagase-kun! Push that up a little higher. There. That's better...alright, that's everything. I'm going to send Chiguse-chan up to fetch the woman, assuming her pig of a husband will allow us to get on our way," the head servant said in Japanese to the servants, turning to bow to Mr. Benjamin who was standing right next to him. Bowing politely, the head servant went off to fetch Yumi.

It was those times that Kiyoshi could smile and be happy that Mr. Benjamin didn't understand their language.

[Katherine Benjamin]

Katherine had never been so controlled in all her life and it was, to say the least, very detrimental to her health, mental health that was. She was so sick of being there, tired of those generous host's, their ridiculous attitudes, their pompous ways, their inability to communicate properly with their servants. Snapping their fingers at them whenever they needed to be served annoyed her more than anything, luckily she would be able to be a better boss, although that word never suited her well. Katherine never wanted to be called anything else than simply 'Katherine.' No need to be formal when they were living in her home and helping her with certain things, although she honestly wasn't sure how on earth they'd need other people to help them. She was a hard working girl, she was used to do things for herself, except perhaps cook and put on dresses. Katherine wasn't really good with change and so far this whole change of scenery, it was quite sad for her.

Luckily, today, the weather had been brilliantly wonderful. The grass on the rolling hills was so pure, so green and fresh that, when the wind swept across the land, it looked blue and it rolled as if it were waves of the ocean. The coold breeze brought the smell of fresh earth, iris's, and that of peony. For someone who loved the outdoors and loved plants, she could do nothing but enjoy this kind of view and weather, however, there was a flower she found herself particularly longing for that reminded her of home. She sighed out as she wandered around her large, overly so, room. The new home was nothing short of brilliant, she didn't like it to say the least, but she was quite surprised that she ended up loving her own bedroom.

Apparently, Thaddeus could listen to her afterall. Bright yellow and white walls, cherry wood canopy bed, a cherry vanity, everything she had asked for. Unfortunately, there had been no lock placed on her door which meant Thaddeus had access to her room at any given time. Katherine had been pondering on it for quite some time since they had gotten to the house. She was sure Thaddeus was either bossing people around or rolling around on his nice new study's floor naked. After a moment of sheer concentration and clever thinking she crossed the room, away from the window, and grabbed the crystal door handle and shut the large door. She walked swiftly to her vanity and grabbed the small chair and walked back to the door and gently placing it under the door handle then jerking it upward. She stepped back a moment then quickly grabbed the cold door handle and tried to pull it open, seeing that door had jammed. A smile crossed her face.

"You aren't as clever as you think, Thaddeus." She said to herself before her attention went to the window.

Katherine heard a few Japanese words carry into her room and, out of sheer curiosity, she managed to wander back to the window she had opened the moment she entered her bedroom. The French inspired windows were tall with many sqaure window panes allowing lots of light, and it had two windows that opened outwards. She bit her lower lip as she leaned against the white painted frame and touched the small centerpiece in the middle of the window, squinting her eyes slightly from the bright sun shining down on the yard. It faced out from the back of the house, below her being the small entry way to the servant's quarters. Something else she was happy with was the fact that the rooms for them had been rather spacious, enough room for her only friend Yumi to wander about with her friends. She briefly grinned at the thought of her face, but it was wiped off when more Japanese was uttered.

It was a scream of laughter coming from someone and before she knew it her heart jumped when a small group of three walked around the back holding small bags, which were their things she figured. Two she hadn't seen before, but one being that of the man who had helped her up the steps. She blushed and closed her eyes with embarassment. How stupid he must've thought she was! Stupid American probably. Katherine gnawed on her lip yet again, watching them, well mainly the young man. She couldn't remember his name...Yoshi-something? Kiyoshi! She had a mind to smile, but didn't. She was too fascinated with watching him, like some bird watcher. He laughed, talked so fast, goofed around with his fellow friends...it was something she hadn't seen the workers do, but it made her laugh and forget about her problems with tonight. Thaddeus was holding a large ball to celebrate his arrival, to celebrate the future plans of this small Japanese village, and to celebrate the fact that he was allowed to celebrate in general. A ball with every rich person he knew attending tonight, she didn't know how she was going to manage.

[Kiyoshi Nagase]

Kiyoshi and his friends who were also working there, had packed some of their things up and were moving them into the servants' quarters, which were much more spacious than the ones in the other house. Kiyoshi shared a room with another two other male servants--twenty-three year old Ryoki Hajimaru, an energetic man who loved life, even when it wasn't so great--and Sojo Ko, who was half-Chinese, and didn't talk much, but got along swimmingly with Kiyoshi and Ryoki.

They'd been given most of the day to settle in, get things in all working order. But Kiyo and his roommates had been finished moving in for quite sometime. Now, they were observing the plantation, looking over the gardens, and the long, flat, green feild out behind the house. Kiyoshi liked this area, and always had. He smacked Ryoki's arm, pointing out an imperfection in the stone wall that lead down to the servants' quarters.

"I think Mr. Benjamin will throw a fit when he sees that. Will have half the servants out here to fix it," he said in Japanese, laughing out loud. Ryoki nodded.

"Yeah, all for his little Poodle," Ryoki said, using the English word in an exaggerated fashion, and waving his hand pompously. Ryoki liked to make fun of the white people because they moved so strangely. Kiyoshi laughed, pushing him a little. His eyes followed the side of house up a little ways, until suddenly, he saw a woman peering out from her window, her hair blowing a little in the breeze. Kiyoshi watched her for two heartbeats longer than he should have, before looking back ahead of him and continuing on with his friends towards their room.

Anymore looking at Mrs. Benjamin, and Kiyoshi would be in distinct trouble of actually finding her one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen in his life.

[Katherine Benjamin]

The rest of the day she had been thinking of Kiyoshi. Since he had looked up at her window to find her there, staring down at him with great intriguement. To her shock he had stared back allowing her breath to be taken away for a moment. She had almost had her mind tricked into believing he saw her and was actually looking back at her, but she knew she was probably being silly. Upon recalling his name and after he had gone back to doing whatever it was he and his friends were doing she had gone over to her vanity and grabbed her small journal from a drawer. She had written his name down kee-o-she as the way she said it, rather than how it might have been spelled. With reading Encyclopedia's she knew her spelling would have been off.

The whole day through she got a small rush of excitement when recalling his face when he looked upward at the window, sometimes she'd lose her breath when thinking it, other times she'd grin, but mainly she just thought of him when she wasn't wanting to think of what she was preparing for now. She heard a small six or seven peace band downstairs practicing for the festivities later on. Katherine had no idea how he got the little jazz band there, but she figured it wasn't any of her concern. She was just glad that she hadn't seen her husband except once, to tell her what dress to wear that night and how to behave herself. Now, she was wandering around her room, watching the sun set, and waiting for Yumi to come and help her dress for this ridiculous party.

[Yumi Chiguse]

Yumi had to finish a few tasks before she went up to help Mrs. Benjamin with her clothes, but once she had, she was able to wash up, tie back her sleeves and head up.

Her feet padded quietly on the floor as she mounted the stairs and walked quietly upward, her mind wandering off to other places as she looked up and down the hall, trying to remember the floor plan that the head servant had shown her. They were supposed to memorize it, but she had been too busy to do so at that particular moment, but now she was hurting to remember where the woman's bedroom was.

After a moment, she decided to go right and found herself to eventually be correct. The house was so huge that it took her four or so minutes to walk all the way down one hallway to the last bedroom on the left. Glancing up at it, she knocked lightly.

"Mrs. Benjamin?" she said, her voice light and accented. "It's Yumi, I'm here to help you dress."

[Katherine Benjamin]

The sound of Yumi's voice brought Katherine's attention to the door she had jammed shut, fearing she'd be walked in on while in her white calve length bloomers and matching fallen shoulder camisole. Her alone in her room wearing her undergarments would surely have meant her husband would never leave her alone. She stood up from her vanity, laying down her ink pen and closing her leather covered journal, and quickly walking across the oriental rug to the door, pulling away the vanity chair from underneath the handle. Having moved the wingback chair from the corner of the room made quite a writing chair and better height to see herself in her vanity mirror. She grunted as she grabbed the arms.

"Just a minute!" She said with another grunt, hearing the wooden legs scratch against the bare wooden floor. She sat it aside and sighed, pushing a fallen strand of curled hair before grabbing the door and cracking it slightly to allow her friend into the room without anyone passing by to see her in her knickers.

"Sorry, I have to make a temporary lock until I have a moment to have someone put one in." She laughed lightly as she closed the door and quickly moved the chair back to its position under the door handles. "I am sure it isn't very good for the door, nor the floor..." She barely looked at the small mark she had just made by the hard surfaces rubbing unkindly with each other. "However," Katherine continued with a grunt and another low screech across the floor "...it is worth it." She sighed out once she felt it was secure and turned around to face Yumi, a small bead of sweat on her upper lip from the work in a flash she rubbed it off. "Warm night." She sighed out as she glanced at her open window's, showcasing nothign but a bright moon and the indigo sky, nothing like she saw back in New York, she looked back to Yumi and gave her a warm smile.

"I am trying to keep this marriage chaste for as long as possible!" She giggled, her conversation seeming to jump from thing to thing. She closed the space between the two quicky and walked over to Yumi throwing her arms open and embracing in a hug.

"It's been forever since I have seen you. Tell me, how are the workers managing? Are they all right? Do they need anything? I am sure I can get whatever you all need! Lamps? Candles? Incense? Hmm?" She felt like she spoke a mile a minute without ever stopping, her excitement never failing to cease whenever around Yumi. "I can get you whatever you need, you understand? Beds? Blankets? Food?" She realized her chatter and she backed away from Yumi.

"I am sorry." She said lowly. "I haven't talked to anyone for hours! I've literally locked myself in my room hiding from the Master." She rolled her eyes before looking back at Yumi with a confident grin. "I just want you all comfortable."