How It All Goes Down
- Hatsumomo tries to humiliate Sayuri at the party with a crude remark about her lack of hair under her kimono.
- Sayuri turns it into a joke. "Oh, but I do! A good deal of [hair]!" (15.29), she says, and pats her head. Ha ha: geisha humor.
- Back at the okiya, Hatsumomo slaps Sayuri for her remark.
- Over the next few nights, Hatsumomo manages to show up everywhere Sayuri does.
- Mameha soon finds out that Hatsumomo bribed a maid in every teahouse to tell Yoko, the receptionist at the okiya, when Sayuri shows up.
- Mameha decides to lay low while she works on a plan to avoid Hatsumomo.
- One day after school, Sayuri attends a private party with Mameha and her danna (like a benefactor with benefits), the Baron.
- Even though Sayuri is nervous, and almost drops a scroll, the Baron seems impressed by the new young geisha.