Disclaimer 2: Any other fictional characters © Eileen Setiawan and other aliases she assumes (H-san, hina-chan, etc)
Disclaimer 3: I do not endorse this product as official. This will not be used for profit or in any way derogatory to the series. This is only for the sole purposes of killing time and boredom (and study time).
Author's Note: This is my first Rurouni Kenshin piece. Be gentle. I'm in the middle of reading the Jinchuu arc of the manga, have researched Enishi's past, character, and the Triad, have watched both OVAs containing him, and have overall wasted my time away to perfect this story's main character: Enishi Yukishiro so as to keep Watsuki-sensei's character as he had portrayed. Yes, as you can see, I am a pathetic girl with no life. With that being said, read on.
BREAKING THE ICE
Prologue: The Story of a Tormented Boy
Nearly two decades ago, an eleven-year-old boy watched as his sister died at the hands of the infamous Hitokiri Battousai, an assassin and his brother-in-law. Believing that Battousai had purposefully intended to murder his sister, he sought to gain Jinchuu, believing that his hands must punish this hitokiri, as the heavens had not yet given the justice he believed his sister deserved. He spent many years loathing Battousai, this hatred consuming him. Slowly, when he gained both power and wealth, he planned his final stage of revenge. His final act of Jinchuu.
But all did not go to plan.
After facing loss by the hands of Battousai, now known as Kenshin, Enishi Yukishiro was captured by police. As he boarded the ship bound to his life in prison, Kaoru, Kenshin's dearest, gave to him a diary belonging to that of his sister: Tomoe Yukishiro. In it, revealed to him was the truth. The truth of his sister, the sharp taste of reality, and a deep, disheartening despair; however, there was also hope. Hope that one day he would be able to finally grasp the sense of closure that was triggered through Tomoe's diary. With this in mind, he jumped the ship and swam all the way to Tokyo, with only the clothes on his back and Tomoe's diary as his belongings. He reached the Village of Lost Souls, and there he met a kindly man named Oibore. He remained with him for two years, recuperating and grasping the truth behind Tomoe's words.
It is now the 13th year of Meiji.
"Are you leaving already?" asked the elderly man, looking towards the younger one as he stood by the front doorway.
The younger one nodded, fixing his glasses with his forefinger by pushing it up the bridge of his nose.
"I want… to find what I'm looking for…" he stated, his voice flat and monotonous.
The old man nodded, a smile crossing his wizened face.
"Go then. Find what you are looking for."
Chapter 1: A Momentary Encounter
"More sake sir?" asked the waitress to the young man as he sat in a secluded area of the restaurant. He nodded his head in affirmation, placing his cup down. She nodded, leaving for the front of the bar with the empty jug in hand. Another waitress passed her, heading towards the door with a green cotton cloak covering her body. Before she reached the door, she turned to the waitress from before.
"O-tsukare sama deshita," she said, smiling.
The waitress looked puzzled.
"Leaving already? You can stay here you know. Gendo-san and I really don't mind. In fact, there are a lot of free rooms upstairs."
The waitress at the door smiled.
"Mikara-dono, I'm fine really. I promise. Besides, those lodgings are for customers, not employees."
Mikara looked concerned, but nodded. The waitress smiled and nodded, walking out of the front entrance and into the darkness of the evening. Mikara turned to the kitchen, still pondering over her decision to let the girl go, but then shook her head vigorously, trying to take her mind off the vague feeling that what she did was wrong. She sighed, asking for a refill of the sake. She then turned to her customer to tell him his sake would be a while, but was puzzled when she found nobody there.
Unbeknownst to Mikara, the man had left the bar a few minutes after the young girl.
The young girl walked on, pulling her cotton mantle about her as she tried to get warm. Autumn nights always chilled her to the bone, despite the fact that she loved the season for the colours of the leaves changing. She shook her head, her black hair falling in front of her face; a mechanism she believed would keep her warm. It only managed to get in her way as she blew on the locks to get out of her vision. As she continued walking, she suddenly had the vague feeling she was being watched. It was not due to some cosmic imbalance of the environment, but more due to the fact that her footsteps suddenly had an echo.
She stopped short, the echo stopping with her.
Believing it was just a trick of the mind, she continued walking. However, that feeling was still bothering her. Again, she stopped. And once again, the echo stopped. She continued on, her footsteps increasing in pace and her ears straining to hear any sign of another person. Still, there was nothing but that insistent echoing of her footsteps. Faster still she walked, clutching onto her shawl more out of fright than frost. As she neared a corner, she became aware of a shadow of something… or someone… behind her.
She ran.
A young man walked down the lane, his head down and his vision fixated on the floor below. His cloak trailed behind him, flapping with the autumn breeze that blew through. In his left hand, he held a large weapon, conveniently camouflaged by a large white sheet. Leather ropes bound his hand, securing this weapon in place and making it more convenient to carry. His breath came out in a misty frost, another result of autumn's cold. Enishi Yukishiro has travelled far. It seemed the police had since forgotten about him, most likely believing he was dead after he had jumped the ship. He still had with him his sister's diary; tucked safely in a makeshift rucksack he carried with him, fixed to his sword. As he made his way down the lane, he turned a corner, instantly colliding into a girl.
"Gomen!" said the girl, looking up at him. "I…"
"OI!" came another voice from behind.
The girl gasped, her head snapping in the direction of the voice. She then turned to Enishi, a look of fear on her face. With this last look, she went around him and continued to run. Enishi turned in her direction, peering at where she fled. He then turned his head forward at the sound of the footsteps coming towards him. A group of men ran forward, most avoiding Enishi, but some brushing just past him, causing his cape to billow upwards.
"Outta the way!" said one man, roughly pushing past Enishi.
He stood there for a few moments, hearing as the footsteps faded, as well as the sounds of their laughter. Gripping his tachi, he continued on his way, but stopped, a part of him remembering words from Tomoe's diary: words of forgiveness and acceptance.
With that in mind, he unwrapped the tachi.
"Kuso…" mumbled the girl, coming to a dead end. She placed her palms on the stonewall, a fixated look on her visage.
"Hey little girl," said the voice of a man behind him. "You run quite fast there huh?"
Her eyes lowered as she turned around. "What do you want?"
"Our boss really wants you to go back you know," said another man.
"Boss?" questioned the girl, a slightly mocking smile on her face. "He doesn't trust you enough, doesn't he?"
The group of men looked stunned, looking to one another, speechless.
"He… he does too!" yelled one man. "Why do you think he gave us this gig?"
"Because I assume you're the only groupies of his in this town, ne?"
They glared at her, baring their teeth.
"Get her!" said the one in the front, which the girl assumed was the leader.
The men in the front, excluding the leader, ran towards her. Desperately, for a ploy to get out of her current situation, she grabbed the side of a rubbish container and threw. It only managed to stop some of them, who fell down spluttering and trying to wipe the rubbish from their faces. Those that managed to get by, however, were stopped short as a figure came down from above, the sound of metal on cement resonating throughout the area.
Those in the front fell back a step, shocked looks on their faces. Slowly, their shirts tore apart, the shreds of cloth falling to the floor. They yelled in horror at their close call with death.
Silently, the figure outstretched his weapon towards them, his purple-tinted glasses shining under the dim fall moonlight.
"Who… who are you?" yelled the leader, picking up one of his fallen comrades who was frothing at the mouth from sheer shock.
"I suggest," he started. "You leave the woman alone," he ended.
The men stared, some scared, others incredulous of this man's defiance.
"Let's get him!" said one man.
"YEAH!" echoed the others, rushing towards Enishi with chains, daggers and an assortment of weapons.
Enishi twisted his sword around, the flat edge of the blade facing them, and swung. There was a sharp smack of flesh on metal as the men went flying backwards, alive but seriously injured.
"You're lucky I don't feel like killing now," he said, swinging his weapon back once again.
"We'll… we'll get you! Just wait and see!" yelled the leader, backing off as the others followed in suit.
Enishi stared in their general direction, waiting for their footsteps to fade once again. He then wrapped up his weapon, and turned to the girl. He cocked a brow, finding that the girl was missing.
The girl leaned her hand against the wall, gasping in and out, her eyes closed, her free hand pressed to her chest. As her breathing calmed, she sat up, wiping her brow and sighing, her eyes looking up at the clouded autumn skies. She then peered around the area, groaning.
"Now where am I?" she questioned herself, wondering how she managed to end up in such predicaments.
Author's Note: I don't usually place one of these at the bottom of my works (as proven if you flip through my other stories), but I would like to just say: constructive criticism is good, supportive comments are always wanted, but flames? Flames are a no-no. Flamers should be kicked. Why flame when you could tell my why you hate it? And don't give me that "I'm too lazy crap". If you have enough time to read it, then you have enough time to give me a good constructive response.
Disclaimer of the A/N: I apologise for that outburst. If you like flaming, it's fine by me. Just… be gentle with your words… (cringes at oncoming onslaught)