Masseuse Amaya, Part V(Iceman)

Amaya gave the words of Ailinn some thoughts. It all sounded sincere, it really did. But on he other hand, the Irish was an accomplished actor and this could still be some sick kind of game. The Japanese was quite jaded in this regard with her past. But at least her voice was a little softer now.
”Your remorse is unexpected and I appreciate it in the case you really mean it like you say. Nobody is forcing me to compete, and I take what I get. I came to AFW because nobody, and I mean nobody, would have given me a chance for an honest work beside them. It may not be the job or the life I imagined, but it is better than living on the streets or working in even more lawless places. Everything is legal and the opportunities are there to finally escape this life. When I arrived here, I was eating from the buffet tables in the AFW halls and sleeping in the apartment match area. Now I have my little shop and every day gets me closer to paying it off. Maybe I can even return from where I came someday.”

Her cup had broken and Amya had not realized that because she had been quite enraged, but now she saw some drops fall down on her floor.
”I am probably in the minority, many people would wholeheartedly agree with being here and would have enjoyed the match from the get go. You are a very attractive woman and it is easy to fall victim to your body and dominance. I don´t judge your desires, mind you. I judge your methods.”

Ailinn sighed with some relief when things started deescalating. The Irish’s only intention was to explain herself in a sincere way so at least Amaya could understand about her position, but it was also time to face some mistakes as the Gaelic had acted with extreme naiveté when approaching her newly found job. She took for granted some truths that weren’t so and now she had to cope with the consequences of her past mistakes, this one being the first. “Look, Amaya, you talk like you had some serious stuff in your past and I don’t want to meddle, but hear me out. For all of my life I have had numerous sexual encounters, most of them with people into some sort of domination, and every single time everyone involved in those encounters had a good time. When I got booked for a heavily domination wise match I commited the error of thinking that the other person in there was aware of this kind of world, and I was stupid enough not to realize in the middle of the match that you weren’t. But I have to say I never acted in bad faith or wanted to really hurt you.”

She took a deep breath and made a pause. She knew she was opening her heart because finding words was difficult. “I get it, you have the right to judge my ways, but I can assure you that when both parts agree in there there is nothing wrong about that. Damn, you should have seen my debut match… My mistake was to get overexcited and think you knew about what was going to happen but believe me: if I could go back in there I would make sure that I make everything easier for you without sacrificing the show. As I said, smoke and mirrors… You don’t really need to destroy someone to dominate them, only make it look like that. I’m no psycho after someone else’s pain. I don’t intend you to trust me or whatever, but at least take this into consideration.” Amaya would not be able to see it, but tears flowed around Ailinn’s face.

“And let me say I think you are very attractive as well...”

”I hope this works out for you. I can´t really imagine making a deal of that kind, but  if there is a market for it and people like it, why not. Who am I to judge other people´s desires and passions. I assume it is very complicated and takes some extensive planning to find the right people for the right stuff .”
Amaya also felt a little relief that the situation seemed to get a little  bit more relaxed and would now fully go back to work again, facing the tension her customer was feeling in the shoulders. She was even smiling all little after being complimented back. Maybe there were some also some good people in AFW. From the encounter with Britany Luuve she knew pretty well that success did in no way go hand in hand with being a sophisticated or at least tolerable person.
”How are your shoulders? Feeling better? If not, let me wander over the potential areas and then tell me where the pain is the most severe.”

“It is feeling better, but the most intense pain is just here, below the shoulder blades.” Ailinn pointed to the masseuse the points in which her aching was most severe. She had to admit that Amaya was good at her trade. Only some seconds after she resumed her massage the pain in her back started withdrawing.

Ailinn was also happy about the situation going back on rails. She didn’t get Amaya on her side but she didn’t want that. For the masseuse to understand and tolerate her trade and her ways was enough, she didn’t need the smaller woman to share her kinks, just understand how their misunderstanding came to happen.

The Irish judged that it would be wise to let the tension from before fade out as she decided on a change of topic. “Wow, it feels good. You seem to really be in your element in here. For how long have you been doing massages?”

”I am a maiko for real. My unofficial training began when I was 6 years old, in the traditional way. It is officially not allowed until you are 16, but I bothered my mother and aunts so much that they agreed to teach me early and ask for a special permission. It was agreed under the condition that I am under the care of a danna until I turned 16. That is kind of a sponsor, which was my great-grandmother. She is a survivor of Nagasaki and often has fits of pain, so my mother insisted that I also learned from one of my aunts to correctly massage her when she was in need. I didn´t mind. She is a grumpy old grumbler so to say, but she is our grumpy old grumbler. I got my official diploma as masseur when I opened the shop some months ago.”
Amaya explained, digging even a little bit deeper than she wanted in her memories. It was strangely nice to speak with someone in these massage sessions, and she was inclined to give Ailinn the benefit of a doubt in her motivation.
”It seems your shoulder area is treated now. I will now tend to your lower back, please tell when I have also hit the spot there.”

Ailinn listened carefully at Amaya’s explanation. Now that she knew more about the masseuse the Irish was so sure that it was that business and not wrestling what the woman really liked. She was curious about maiko practices, being Japanese a much different culture from hers, and the reasons that made Amaya abandon that way, but as a college dropout the Gaelic knew that most of the times that kind of question was an uncomfortable one, and she didn’t want to ruin the mood again. She would take what she got as she payed attention to Amaya’s lifestory.

“You have been practicing since you were just a child? That is just amazing.” Ailinn then got a glimpse of Amaya’s family story when she learned about her grandmother surviving Nagasaki and how the masseuse helped her the best she could. “Yeah… relatives can make good grumpies but I suppose they are there when you need them. I dropped out from college when I learnt that my parents were struggling to pay for my fees and their stuff. You know, family is always family…” The Gaelic felt her shoulders much better as Amaya did her job on them. She was sure it would feel even better when she had a bath. Then she noticed Amaya exploring her lower back and asking for her assistance. When Ailinn felt the masseuse probing some part of her back her body involuntarily flinched in pain. “J-just there. It has gotten really sore in the last days…”, the Gaelic said while emitting a small groan. Not that she complained, she knew that pain in massage was something that came in the package, but it would get better soon.

”Yes, since I am a child. Being a good geisha is quite complicated, and my mother expected only the best from me in that regard. She is a senior geisha right now, only a few steps behind the o-kasan, the house leader but not the atatori which is the supposed house inheritor.”
Amaya was quite proud of her mother as she was definitely a mothers child, although she dearly loved her father too.

And she liked talking about the Geisha business, but indeed not so much about why she had to abandon it at the moment.
”I am a little bit astounded that the AFW has not more geisha in their ranks. We live in Okiya, special houses in Hanamachi which are special city districts where men are only rarely allowed to stay for longer. She met my father there too, he is an artist and calligrapher for a living and therefore can stay longer.”

Then she realized that she had only talked about herself up this point, and this ashamed her a little while she kept trying to ease the pain away.
”What were you studying and where?”

Ailinn was paying utmost attention to everything Amaya explained to her. Coming from so far away every cultural concept the Irish was listening about was very different from the ones she was used to. Everything had a new and so unknown name for her, and she absorbed every detail of Amaya’s story. She was honestly interested though, the greenette was so proud of her Irish culture and homeland, but that didn’t blind her to the wonders of the wonderful place she moved to. “Wow, yours really look like very interesting kin. All the geisha matter really piques my interest as it is something so unknown to me. And also your father being a calligraphy artist… You must have grown up in a quite stimulating environment…”

The greenette remained silent for some seconds reflecting as she felt her physical pain fading away under Amaya’s skilled hands. Now that the woman standing next to her was much more than a name and a persona it pained the Gaelic even more not having been able to notice how reserved she was about what she did to her in their match. The Maiko was a really nice woman and she had toyed with her against her will. Amaya’s voice broke this introspection moment when she asked Ailinn about her college. She smiled thinking in her homeland before answering.

“Degree in Ancient and Medieval History and Culture in Trinity College, Dublin. I just love my homeland’s culture and its past. I’m not from the big city and that made quite a dent in my family’s finances so I decided to drop out and work for some time as a barista to help them recover. Then I moved here in Japan. Quite the story, actually, the girl from Irish countryside halfway across the world.” Ailinn would sigh in melancholy at the remembrance of the Emerald Island.

”Stimulating indeed. Chichi is actually quit a dreamer and such a typical constantly broke artist. He is not the least kind of tight or stern and has no sense of order at all outside of his art.”
Opposites attract, there was no doubt about that for Amaya. Despite her mother´s constant complaining and bickering with her father, the Japanese had as child already realized that her mother did not sleep very good when her father was not around or at least close in the neighborhood.

”My mother would have probably dragged my back by the ears if I had made it to go to a college and then dropped out of said college with nothing at all.”
The Japanese ginned at that thought.
”Can you Irish dance? I mean Lord of the dance like dance? Or play a traditional instrument?”

“Heh, both of them sound like some really interesting fellows...” Ailinn acknowledged that Amaya came from a very curious enviroment for her. She didn’t know that much about Japanese culture but as far as she knew traditional art and disciplines were known for their diligent practitioners. Having not one but two figures like that at home must have been as stimulating as pressing. The Gaelic never felt that sensation of having some parental expectations to fulfill. She had a good relation with her parents and they always showed love for their daughter because even with all the difficulties she faced Ailinn managed to find her way in life.

“Yeah… I can get you. It wasn’t easy to explain to them but it’s not like I gave them a choice in the matter. They even owed a couple installments of their mortgage, so I went back and started working to help them. My parents are simple folk with a simple life, but that house was their life and I couldn’t afford them losing it.” Ailinn got a little melancholic when reminded of her family. Thankfully the masseuse changed topics. “What do you mean, like Irish traditional dance? Oh no, no, that requires amazing coordination and I don’t have that. I had a couple of friends who practiced it while in high school, they were amazing. But instruments… have you heard about the cláirseach, the celtic harp? I played for some years, but had to leave it at home, you don’t know how heavy and fragile one of those is. What about you? As far as I know geishas are well versed in different arts: tea ceremony, traditional instruments… What can you do, Amaya?”