Maiko was a Geisha who was orphaned at a young age and sent to the Okiya because there was no one to take her. She didn't even remember her name she was so shocked, so they called her Maiko. Eventually the name stuck and everyone around her just called her Maiko.
Kanayami was the name of her Okiya, so it became her last name. As she grew into a Senior Geisha an "Older Sister" as it would be, her professional name became Kana. So those she would entertain and work for would call her Kana and those who knew her on a more personal level would call her Maiko.
She was the object of obsession for the Emperor, and he wanted to keep her as his own. Maiko was in love with another, One of her guards (This can be changed). She knew this would anger the emperor, and she feared for her freedom. She began to study herb lore and found the proper herbs to be able to put the Emperor to sleep during their evenings entertainment.
So she Slipped him the sleeping herbs in his tea and fled, she knew her guard/lover would be upset, but in order for her to keep her freedom she needed to say goodbye to everything she knew and loved and flee.
She found herself in the Kawani lands, and since she had no means to support herself, she relied on her Geisha abilities. She would dance in towns and other places and see if she could entice someone to pay in order to get her entertainment for the evening.
This is where she would run into the brothers, for you see they all hail from the same land. She would join with them, but might not become a full member of their herd, after all she would touch some painful memories for them.
She would also fall in love with one of the brothers. Her heart would have hurt for so long for the love and the life that she had fled from and she would have given up hope of ever seeing Katsumi again. She would feel like it was time for her to heal and let herself love again.
So she would love the Kitsunekuma brother and their love would grow. All the while she might not know that Katsumi was searching the Kawani lands for her.... One day he would be in the same town as she was performing. He would then stumble upon her, and her feelings for him would flicker back... She would then have to decide if she still loved Kat (And he Her... for he could have found another in his journey to find her? Or any number of things could have happened -Is just thinking in a story based mindset-) This would again tear her apart. For she would now love both of the males in her life, and would have to potentially choose between them....
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