Heart and Soul
Prologue: Tempest
It was all so simple in the beginning. He had planned it strategically, his desire for vengeance driving him to carry out his schemes. Take the one person that Battousai had held dearest to his heart and whisk her away to his island fortress. He had played the wonderful scene all in his head in the darkest hours of each passing night before he succumbed to a slumber of horrid nightmares. He had pictured slicing the girl's throat with the cold steel of his blade as the crimson-haired ruroni witnessed. He had dreamed of spilling her blood, feeling the precious drops of life trickling down his fingers as he enjoyed the look of horror and sorrow on Battousai's face. He wanted to watch him suffer as he had when he took his sister away from him. He wanted the same pain he had felt to eat away at the soul of the former assassin, to send him into an oblivion of despair.
Yes, he imagined killing the girl with twisted glee and excitement. Finally, his sister would be avenged and he would be able to receive one of the smiles that would always warm his heart since he was young. With the death of Kamiya Kaoru, he would finally know happiness once more.
But now...things just were not that simple anymore.
He watched her from the shadows, the steady glare of his turquoise eyes never leaving her still form. The wind had whispered through her long hair, its invisible fingers entwining with the endless raven strands. Her bangs drifted against the sides of her smooth, gentle face. However, she was immune to the playfulness of the night breeze, for he could see that her crystal blue eyes were focused on the undulations of the ocean ahead of her with a solemnity that betrayed her young age.
Nonetheless, she was breathtaking. His piercing eyes drank her beauty with ravenous consumption from behind his dark shades, his mind embedded with her gorgeous image. Even though the moon was devoured by the blackness of the storm clouds that threatened to pour rain, she was glowing with a radiance that no other female could surpass. He had known that since he had first laid eyes on her and decided to kidnap the girl away from Tokyo. Away from her dojo, away from her loved ones...
And especially away from Himura Kenshin.
Although Kamiya was attractive, she was ignorant to wait for a man whose inner turmoil was so great that he would not accept the love of a girl who was willing to do anything for him. A pang of jealousy stabbed his heart upon remembering the confidence of the girl's voice when she said to him that Battousai would come to rescue her. He recalled the affection gleaming in the depths of her blue eyes as she said his name whenever she had thought about him, which was quite frequently.
Such adoration for a poor, tortured soul...it was enough to make him retch.
"Love-sick fool."
His cruel words broke the silence, and her azure eyes met his indifferent ones, her rosy lips set in a straight line. He knew exactly how to get to Kaoru from the weeks that she had spent on the island. He knew what to say to make her feel embarrassed, knew the words that would send her in a fit of tumultuous fury.
But he had yet to know what would make her frightened of him, and that pestered him to no end.
"What do you mean?" was her indignant reply. He sauntered over to her in an arrogant walk, his navy blue cape billowing in the ocean wind.
"You spend countless hours here when you are not annoying me with your babble and poisoning me with that horrible substance that you call food."
A spark of anger clashed against the serene color of blue in her eyes, but she said nothing.
"And for what? Waiting for a man who could never return your love?"
That did it. His smirk grew wider as she came alive with anger. "For your information, you arrogant jerk, Kenshin is coming for me as we speak! He'll land on those shores soon enough, and-"
"Oh, I know that Battousai is coming for you," his smooth voice mocked her. "I am just stating the truth that my sister's murderer will never be able to feel the same way about you."
The anger subsided to doubt and sadness, sending a sting of guilt through Enishi's being. "You...you don't know that!" She cried, her voice trembling with emotion.
"Have you ever wondered why Himura let you into his heart in the first place, Kamiya?" He persisted, his voice covered in malice. "Out of all the pitiful idiots that he aids in order to redeem himself, do you know why he chose you to be closest to him?"
Kaoru did not answer him, only stared attentively with her sorrowful crystal eyes.
"It is because of the same reason why I have not been able to slay you. It is because you remind him of my dear sister."
Her eyes went wide when his bitter words reached her ears. She stared blankly at him, refusing to believe what she had heard.
"N-no..." She uttered, her uneven voice embodying the fearful apprehension that her captor might be right.
He closed the distance between them with one more step, his height obviously towering that of her own. "I speak the truth, Kamiya. As brutish and rebellious that your manners are, you do embody some of the features of my sister. That is why Himura is always willing to protect you. That is why he is on a ship bound for my island right now. Rescuing you is a chance to repent for his sins. To that insolent bastard, saving you is the same as saving Tomoe."
Her eyes were brimmed with tears that her pride refused to shed, making the blue depths shimmer with a beautiful sorrow. He had hit her where it had hurt the most. Enishi knew that he had gotten through to that thick head of hers.
But unbeknownst to Kaoru, he was telling all of this solely for her sake. Tomoe died because of that cursed Battousai. He had seen it with his own eyes when her body was impaled by his sword, her life stolen from her as her blood stained the thick cloth of her kimono. He remembered seeing the pain and silent anguish that swirled in her eyes as she had fallen by Battousai's hand. He would never see his sister smile or hear her mature voice filled with wisdom ever again because of what Himura had done. It was her involvement with the Battousai that had been her death.
He didn't want the same to happen to Kaoru. Himura was a man whose hands were tainted with the blood of thousands, including that of Tomoe's. For some inexplicable reason, Enishi didn't want Kaoru to be murdered because of her blind love for the former assassin. He couldn't keep his sister from being killed by him, but he could save the girl.
To Enishi, Kaoru was safer with him than she was with the Battousai.
"...you're wrong."
He heard her animated voice, and he was thrown off guard by how she her answer. He thought that he had broken her, finally got her to realize that her affection was wasted on Himura. But cerulean eyes sparkling with tears, accompanied by a sad smile, gazed into his handsome face. "Kenshin is coming to save me because I am a friend. Not because I remind him of a woman from his past."
He sneered at how idealistic and naïve her nature was, but he kept silent.
"I...I love him, and I always will..."
The words were like venom to his ears, and he felt a hot, white anger burning within him.
"I don't know what I am to Kenshin, and I'm not sure how he feels about me. But I do know this...I know that we have always been dear friends, and that we still are. He is going to save me, not your sister, because of our friendship. Kenshin has many regrets in his life, but he knows that to live in the past is to not live at all."
With that, she turned her back to him so that her high ponytail was facing him. Seeing the endless tendrils of raven twirling in the ocean wind had stirred his blood. He had the strange urge to wrap his fingers in them, but he had forced himself to remain where he was.
She was just so damned impossible to figure out.
He was shocked by the maturity of her girlish voice, but was arranged by her attachment for the Battousai. He didn't deserve her. Not in the least bit. Enishi was certain that the former assassin would never be able to live his life with Kaoru as the foolish tomboy had hoped because he was too preoccupied with the guilt that gnawed at his soul each day. Kaoru should not throw away her heart to a man like Himura who still had ghosts that had incessantly haunted him. It was abominable.
A loud rumble of thunder rolled across the dark skies, and a light blanket of raindrops began to fall from the heavens. Within the span of a few minutes, the drizzle had evolved into a heavy downpour, soaking both the tomboy and Enishi. He felt the cold touch of the raindrops slipping down his skin, drenching his sleeveless shirt and cape. The feathery, wild strands of sterling hair were weighed down from the storm, but he was oblivious to the rain.
It was she that had clouded his senses. He was only a few tempting inches away from her, and even through the heavy rain, his nostrils could still smell her subtle, yet intoxicating, scent. The falling drops of water only illuminated her pale, creamy skin as it caused the simple white robe that she wore to cling to her lithe body. He felt that the world and everything around him had slipped away from him: his turquoise eyes only saw her.
And even though she was within his reach, she wasn't there. Kaoru was not here in this fortress with Enishi. She was at her dojo, scolding her student and stealing secretive glances at Battousai when she thought that he wasn't looking.
'Damn her,' Enishi cursed in his thoughts. 'She doesn't see what she's doing to me. She's pining for that bastard.'
He didn't even have to look at her, he knew. He recalled every moment he had spent with Kaoru when she had talked about the ruroni with great affection, much to his anger and disgust. Her eyes would grow so distant when Himura was brought up. When she wasn't cooking for Enishi or arguing with him, she spent countless hours on this very balcony looking to the shore, expecting to see the redheaded Battousai coming to her rescue with reversed-blade sword in hand.
Kaoru had always treated Enishi with the kindness and sincerity of her being, but she could never give him her heart. It had driven him insane and had given him twice the reason to hate the Battousai even more. It was all so wrong, so unethical! Why couldn't the girl ever talk about him with the adoration that she had with the ruroni? Why couldn't her eyes soften whenever she looked at him like she did with Himura? The fool did not deserve Kamiya's love. The man that had murdered his sister in cold blood was unworthy of her affection and compassion, unworthy to even be in her presence!
Enishi had known that as long as Himura was in the picture, he would never be able to claim Kaoru as his own. Which was why he was adamant as ever to kill the Battousai right in front of Kamiya's own eyes. It was the only way she would be able to see that despite of his cold and aloof demeanor, Enishi really cared about her. It was the only way he could prove that he was willing to do anything to keep her by his side.
Even though she was very defiant and unladylike, he had admired her for those very reasons. Her cerulean eyes were alive with a fire that he could not describe and that he had grown to adore. The way she talked, the way she moved, and the way she would act were all characteristic of her free and independent spirit. And what had intrigued Enishi the most was her benevolence. He had slain people in immeasurable numbers, but she was still compassionate enough to make sure he was fed and provide him with company so that he would not fall victim to his overwhelming thoughts of bloodlust and vengeance. He didn't know why, but Kaoru had made him feel tranquil. For the first time since he had lived with his sister, he was actually at peace.
And Enishi didn't want to lose that. He didn't want to lose her. He had already made the decision that Kaoru did not belong to Battousai, but to him.
Enchanted by her presence and senseless by raw emotion, Enishi reached his hand to the end of her ribbon. As she remained motionless and unaware, he removed it with a simple tug, sending her raven hair falling in a thick cascade that went past the small of her back. He heard her gasp out of surprise and felt her twitch, but before she had the chance to react, he buried his face in her wet hair. She was so shocked that she was paralyzed. Kaoru was frozen as she felt him nuzzle against her slender neck, his strong arms wrapping themselves around her, entrapping her. Her knees nearly gave out when his lips grazed her shoulder as he tangled himself within the soft mass of her hair. She had never expected that the man who had kidnapped her and had the intention of killing the person she loved to be the same one to trap her in an embrace. To her, it was frightening.
But something in her heart told her that it had felt right...that it was meant to be.
'No, I love Kenshin!' her mind screamed at her, and she acted on that logic by attempting to break away from Enishi's arms. She tried to push away from him, but he was the stronger one and kept her bound against his muscular chest. He didn't want to let her go, and she knew it. There wasn't any use in struggling either. Yukishiro Enishi was a man of iron will.
"When Himura arrives, you will not return to Tokyo with him," he whispered into her ear, his warm breath sending tremors down her spine. "You will stay with me."
She couldn't tell whether he was making a threat or making a statement. Kaoru didn't know how to react, her heart and her mind engaged in a deep conflict.
"I-I can't." She said, feeling the tears she was trying to hold back earlier running down her cheeks. "I have to go back home-"
"This is your home." He cut her off, his arms tightening possessively around her frail body.
Something in her wanted to agree with Enishi, but she continued to fight it. "No, I have to leave. With Kenshin."
He nearly snarled upon hearing the name as if it were an uttered blasphemy. She was still convinced that she was in love with Battousai. She wouldn't submit to his will, but rather rebel against it. Such stubbornness.
His arms suddenly whirled her around so that his turquoise eyes could see her lovely face. He saw the tears dripping down her pale cheeks, making her eyes glow like shards of bright sapphire. Acting on emotion rather than his mind, he bent down to her face and his lips locked onto her rosy ones. He felt her body tense in his arms, but he only intensified the kiss, tasting her untainted sweetness. Everything that he had experienced, his sorrow, his hatred, his love, his very being, was shared with her through their lips.
This was the first time she had experienced the kiss of a man who truly loved her. She felt a hot blush spreading across her face, her mind at a standstill as he kissed her. This was not the same Yukishiro Enishi who had taken her by force and acknowledged her with the utmost egotism and indifference that had made him feared. He was a different man, completely stripped of his cruelty. If anything, he was not a cold-blooded murderer, but a human.
A strange happiness elated her spirits as she was overpowered by his suffocating kiss, imprisoned in his strong embrace. Both were too lost in their passion to regard the rain as it poured over the island.
Prologue: Tempest
It was all so simple in the beginning. He had planned it strategically, his desire for vengeance driving him to carry out his schemes. Take the one person that Battousai had held dearest to his heart and whisk her away to his island fortress. He had played the wonderful scene all in his head in the darkest hours of each passing night before he succumbed to a slumber of horrid nightmares. He had pictured slicing the girl's throat with the cold steel of his blade as the crimson-haired ruroni witnessed. He had dreamed of spilling her blood, feeling the precious drops of life trickling down his fingers as he enjoyed the look of horror and sorrow on Battousai's face. He wanted to watch him suffer as he had when he took his sister away from him. He wanted the same pain he had felt to eat away at the soul of the former assassin, to send him into an oblivion of despair.
Yes, he imagined killing the girl with twisted glee and excitement. Finally, his sister would be avenged and he would be able to receive one of the smiles that would always warm his heart since he was young. With the death of Kamiya Kaoru, he would finally know happiness once more.
But now...things just were not that simple anymore.
He watched her from the shadows, the steady glare of his turquoise eyes never leaving her still form. The wind had whispered through her long hair, its invisible fingers entwining with the endless raven strands. Her bangs drifted against the sides of her smooth, gentle face. However, she was immune to the playfulness of the night breeze, for he could see that her crystal blue eyes were focused on the undulations of the ocean ahead of her with a solemnity that betrayed her young age.
Nonetheless, she was breathtaking. His piercing eyes drank her beauty with ravenous consumption from behind his dark shades, his mind embedded with her gorgeous image. Even though the moon was devoured by the blackness of the storm clouds that threatened to pour rain, she was glowing with a radiance that no other female could surpass. He had known that since he had first laid eyes on her and decided to kidnap the girl away from Tokyo. Away from her dojo, away from her loved ones...
And especially away from Himura Kenshin.
Although Kamiya was attractive, she was ignorant to wait for a man whose inner turmoil was so great that he would not accept the love of a girl who was willing to do anything for him. A pang of jealousy stabbed his heart upon remembering the confidence of the girl's voice when she said to him that Battousai would come to rescue her. He recalled the affection gleaming in the depths of her blue eyes as she said his name whenever she had thought about him, which was quite frequently.
Such adoration for a poor, tortured soul...it was enough to make him retch.
"Love-sick fool."
His cruel words broke the silence, and her azure eyes met his indifferent ones, her rosy lips set in a straight line. He knew exactly how to get to Kaoru from the weeks that she had spent on the island. He knew what to say to make her feel embarrassed, knew the words that would send her in a fit of tumultuous fury.
But he had yet to know what would make her frightened of him, and that pestered him to no end.
"What do you mean?" was her indignant reply. He sauntered over to her in an arrogant walk, his navy blue cape billowing in the ocean wind.
"You spend countless hours here when you are not annoying me with your babble and poisoning me with that horrible substance that you call food."
A spark of anger clashed against the serene color of blue in her eyes, but she said nothing.
"And for what? Waiting for a man who could never return your love?"
That did it. His smirk grew wider as she came alive with anger. "For your information, you arrogant jerk, Kenshin is coming for me as we speak! He'll land on those shores soon enough, and-"
"Oh, I know that Battousai is coming for you," his smooth voice mocked her. "I am just stating the truth that my sister's murderer will never be able to feel the same way about you."
The anger subsided to doubt and sadness, sending a sting of guilt through Enishi's being. "You...you don't know that!" She cried, her voice trembling with emotion.
"Have you ever wondered why Himura let you into his heart in the first place, Kamiya?" He persisted, his voice covered in malice. "Out of all the pitiful idiots that he aids in order to redeem himself, do you know why he chose you to be closest to him?"
Kaoru did not answer him, only stared attentively with her sorrowful crystal eyes.
"It is because of the same reason why I have not been able to slay you. It is because you remind him of my dear sister."
Her eyes went wide when his bitter words reached her ears. She stared blankly at him, refusing to believe what she had heard.
"N-no..." She uttered, her uneven voice embodying the fearful apprehension that her captor might be right.
He closed the distance between them with one more step, his height obviously towering that of her own. "I speak the truth, Kamiya. As brutish and rebellious that your manners are, you do embody some of the features of my sister. That is why Himura is always willing to protect you. That is why he is on a ship bound for my island right now. Rescuing you is a chance to repent for his sins. To that insolent bastard, saving you is the same as saving Tomoe."
Her eyes were brimmed with tears that her pride refused to shed, making the blue depths shimmer with a beautiful sorrow. He had hit her where it had hurt the most. Enishi knew that he had gotten through to that thick head of hers.
But unbeknownst to Kaoru, he was telling all of this solely for her sake. Tomoe died because of that cursed Battousai. He had seen it with his own eyes when her body was impaled by his sword, her life stolen from her as her blood stained the thick cloth of her kimono. He remembered seeing the pain and silent anguish that swirled in her eyes as she had fallen by Battousai's hand. He would never see his sister smile or hear her mature voice filled with wisdom ever again because of what Himura had done. It was her involvement with the Battousai that had been her death.
He didn't want the same to happen to Kaoru. Himura was a man whose hands were tainted with the blood of thousands, including that of Tomoe's. For some inexplicable reason, Enishi didn't want Kaoru to be murdered because of her blind love for the former assassin. He couldn't keep his sister from being killed by him, but he could save the girl.
To Enishi, Kaoru was safer with him than she was with the Battousai.
"...you're wrong."
He heard her animated voice, and he was thrown off guard by how she her answer. He thought that he had broken her, finally got her to realize that her affection was wasted on Himura. But cerulean eyes sparkling with tears, accompanied by a sad smile, gazed into his handsome face. "Kenshin is coming to save me because I am a friend. Not because I remind him of a woman from his past."
He sneered at how idealistic and naïve her nature was, but he kept silent.
"I...I love him, and I always will..."
The words were like venom to his ears, and he felt a hot, white anger burning within him.
"I don't know what I am to Kenshin, and I'm not sure how he feels about me. But I do know this...I know that we have always been dear friends, and that we still are. He is going to save me, not your sister, because of our friendship. Kenshin has many regrets in his life, but he knows that to live in the past is to not live at all."
With that, she turned her back to him so that her high ponytail was facing him. Seeing the endless tendrils of raven twirling in the ocean wind had stirred his blood. He had the strange urge to wrap his fingers in them, but he had forced himself to remain where he was.
She was just so damned impossible to figure out.
He was shocked by the maturity of her girlish voice, but was arranged by her attachment for the Battousai. He didn't deserve her. Not in the least bit. Enishi was certain that the former assassin would never be able to live his life with Kaoru as the foolish tomboy had hoped because he was too preoccupied with the guilt that gnawed at his soul each day. Kaoru should not throw away her heart to a man like Himura who still had ghosts that had incessantly haunted him. It was abominable.
A loud rumble of thunder rolled across the dark skies, and a light blanket of raindrops began to fall from the heavens. Within the span of a few minutes, the drizzle had evolved into a heavy downpour, soaking both the tomboy and Enishi. He felt the cold touch of the raindrops slipping down his skin, drenching his sleeveless shirt and cape. The feathery, wild strands of sterling hair were weighed down from the storm, but he was oblivious to the rain.
It was she that had clouded his senses. He was only a few tempting inches away from her, and even through the heavy rain, his nostrils could still smell her subtle, yet intoxicating, scent. The falling drops of water only illuminated her pale, creamy skin as it caused the simple white robe that she wore to cling to her lithe body. He felt that the world and everything around him had slipped away from him: his turquoise eyes only saw her.
And even though she was within his reach, she wasn't there. Kaoru was not here in this fortress with Enishi. She was at her dojo, scolding her student and stealing secretive glances at Battousai when she thought that he wasn't looking.
'Damn her,' Enishi cursed in his thoughts. 'She doesn't see what she's doing to me. She's pining for that bastard.'
He didn't even have to look at her, he knew. He recalled every moment he had spent with Kaoru when she had talked about the ruroni with great affection, much to his anger and disgust. Her eyes would grow so distant when Himura was brought up. When she wasn't cooking for Enishi or arguing with him, she spent countless hours on this very balcony looking to the shore, expecting to see the redheaded Battousai coming to her rescue with reversed-blade sword in hand.
Kaoru had always treated Enishi with the kindness and sincerity of her being, but she could never give him her heart. It had driven him insane and had given him twice the reason to hate the Battousai even more. It was all so wrong, so unethical! Why couldn't the girl ever talk about him with the adoration that she had with the ruroni? Why couldn't her eyes soften whenever she looked at him like she did with Himura? The fool did not deserve Kamiya's love. The man that had murdered his sister in cold blood was unworthy of her affection and compassion, unworthy to even be in her presence!
Enishi had known that as long as Himura was in the picture, he would never be able to claim Kaoru as his own. Which was why he was adamant as ever to kill the Battousai right in front of Kamiya's own eyes. It was the only way she would be able to see that despite of his cold and aloof demeanor, Enishi really cared about her. It was the only way he could prove that he was willing to do anything to keep her by his side.
Even though she was very defiant and unladylike, he had admired her for those very reasons. Her cerulean eyes were alive with a fire that he could not describe and that he had grown to adore. The way she talked, the way she moved, and the way she would act were all characteristic of her free and independent spirit. And what had intrigued Enishi the most was her benevolence. He had slain people in immeasurable numbers, but she was still compassionate enough to make sure he was fed and provide him with company so that he would not fall victim to his overwhelming thoughts of bloodlust and vengeance. He didn't know why, but Kaoru had made him feel tranquil. For the first time since he had lived with his sister, he was actually at peace.
And Enishi didn't want to lose that. He didn't want to lose her. He had already made the decision that Kaoru did not belong to Battousai, but to him.
Enchanted by her presence and senseless by raw emotion, Enishi reached his hand to the end of her ribbon. As she remained motionless and unaware, he removed it with a simple tug, sending her raven hair falling in a thick cascade that went past the small of her back. He heard her gasp out of surprise and felt her twitch, but before she had the chance to react, he buried his face in her wet hair. She was so shocked that she was paralyzed. Kaoru was frozen as she felt him nuzzle against her slender neck, his strong arms wrapping themselves around her, entrapping her. Her knees nearly gave out when his lips grazed her shoulder as he tangled himself within the soft mass of her hair. She had never expected that the man who had kidnapped her and had the intention of killing the person she loved to be the same one to trap her in an embrace. To her, it was frightening.
But something in her heart told her that it had felt right...that it was meant to be.
'No, I love Kenshin!' her mind screamed at her, and she acted on that logic by attempting to break away from Enishi's arms. She tried to push away from him, but he was the stronger one and kept her bound against his muscular chest. He didn't want to let her go, and she knew it. There wasn't any use in struggling either. Yukishiro Enishi was a man of iron will.
"When Himura arrives, you will not return to Tokyo with him," he whispered into her ear, his warm breath sending tremors down her spine. "You will stay with me."
She couldn't tell whether he was making a threat or making a statement. Kaoru didn't know how to react, her heart and her mind engaged in a deep conflict.
"I-I can't." She said, feeling the tears she was trying to hold back earlier running down her cheeks. "I have to go back home-"
"This is your home." He cut her off, his arms tightening possessively around her frail body.
Something in her wanted to agree with Enishi, but she continued to fight it. "No, I have to leave. With Kenshin."
He nearly snarled upon hearing the name as if it were an uttered blasphemy. She was still convinced that she was in love with Battousai. She wouldn't submit to his will, but rather rebel against it. Such stubbornness.
His arms suddenly whirled her around so that his turquoise eyes could see her lovely face. He saw the tears dripping down her pale cheeks, making her eyes glow like shards of bright sapphire. Acting on emotion rather than his mind, he bent down to her face and his lips locked onto her rosy ones. He felt her body tense in his arms, but he only intensified the kiss, tasting her untainted sweetness. Everything that he had experienced, his sorrow, his hatred, his love, his very being, was shared with her through their lips.
This was the first time she had experienced the kiss of a man who truly loved her. She felt a hot blush spreading across her face, her mind at a standstill as he kissed her. This was not the same Yukishiro Enishi who had taken her by force and acknowledged her with the utmost egotism and indifference that had made him feared. He was a different man, completely stripped of his cruelty. If anything, he was not a cold-blooded murderer, but a human.
A strange happiness elated her spirits as she was overpowered by his suffocating kiss, imprisoned in his strong embrace. Both were too lost in their passion to regard the rain as it poured over the island.