Is it just me, or is Enishi appearing in too many FF.net RK fics recently?
A lot of people want to have a go at him! Weird thing about it: you would
see five versions of Eni-chan in five stories. The anime versions of the
-gumi all help us to be somewhat consistent in our renderings of them, but
we all don't have that privilege for Enishi. The short appearance in
SeisouHen just doesn't suffice.
Disclaimer: I don't do mushy stuff very well, but I try my best. ^^ I am sorry if it doesn't look like much of a story, the way "White Tiger Jade Concubine" has a story, but I hope you keep reading. There will be more exciting things happening eventually.
.............
He did not know what came over him. It just happened. His and her lips met, and he made the moment last.
He enjoyed her warmth, her scent, her hair, her face, her lips-her whole being. It was remarkable, how he felt about her.
He had never felt this way about other women, and he had had the opportunity in Shanghai to encounter other women. It came with the territory. But he always ignored them. They were there because he was connected with the Shanghai mafia, or because he was rich and powerful. A few women were brought to him-to get him killed, or to get his secrets. None of these women lasted a day with him.
To Enishi, only one woman existed, and she was dead. He had no eyes for others.
Until now.
This girl-no, this woman-was different. She had seen him at his worst, and still she chose to give him a chance, to be his friend. She did not care about his riches, or his power. She cared about him. It blew him away.
What he felt for her was not what he felt for his sister. It was not what he felt for Kamiya, or for the other women for that matter. It was more than friendship, more than affection. Something else.
As his lips touched hers, it was as if that something else found expression, in a way words could not describe. If only she would understand what he wanted to show.
But she slowly pushed him away, her eyes displaying her surprise, her pleasure, but also her fear.
"Not so soon, Enishi-san," she pleaded. "Two months....is too short.....for you to know me....that way...."
"No, it is not too short, Misao," he responded with desperation. "Two months I have seen you, known you, listened to you, learned from you. I know everything I need to know about you, and this afternoon gave me a final lasting impression. I am not making a mistake. I know what I feel. It is a new sensation for me, and I cannot give it words. But I am sure that you are the reason for it."
She turned her eyes from him. "This is your first time to know a woman this way....how would you know it is love that you feel?"
He answered with a raised voice, "How would YOU know it is.....love....that you feel, for Shinomori, eh----Makimachi?!"
She was struck dumb.
"It is the first time for both of us. I-I-did not plan it to end this way. It simply, simply, happened. Everything I knew combined into this one event, and before I knew what I was doing, I found myself this close to you...holding you." He pulled at his hair. "The feeling was eating me up inside, and it constantly demanded satisfaction, demanded assurance. I don't know what it is! Tell me, please, Misao, what it is!"
"I don't know, Enishi-san."
He slumped to the floor beside her, and held his head in his hands. She quietly rose from the chair and wrapped him in a warm embrace.
"I don't know what to think, either. The last two months were special to me, too. You're someone extraordinary. I've learned a lot from you that I'd never know myself. And I know what you mean. I've had those weird feelings inside that you say you have.....but I don't know what to make of them. I don't know anymore. Who are you, really, to me....?"
"Can you learn then to accept those sensations, and understand what they are, with me?" he asked plaintively.
"I don't know. Aoshi-sama--------"
"Shinomori again." He hung his head. "Why do you, as you say, love him? How do you know that he loves you back?" He took her hands again into his, and locked his piercing eyes on hers. His whole face demanded a reply.
A few tears fell from her face. "Don't ask me questions that have no answers, Enishi-san."
"They have answers, Misao," he returned with sharpness, and with sadness. "You merely refuse to admit them."
Then it was as if he had put on an invisible mask. He released Misao, stood up, cocked his glasses, and straightened his form. "Thank you for coming this afternoon. Now please leave, before any more words pass between us that we might both regret. Go, Makimachi, before I change my mind."
"But, Enishi-san..."
"GO!!----please..."
The young woman left.
Days passed.
Shiroyuki Shinichi tried to bury himself in work. There were a few expansions he wanted to make to the business, and he decided that this time was as good as any. Thus, he surrounded himself with papers, documents, and plans. He allowed associates and workers to meet him as necessary during the day. Anything to avoid thinking about last week.
"Sir, there's a young lady asking to meet with you," his secretary piped in one afternoon.
"Tell her I'm busy," he answered without looking up from the documents he was reading.
Afternoons were horrible for the young businessman. The office was stuffy, a few workers tried his patience, and some papers did not make sense. When he tried to nap away his annoyance, his mind merely returned to that singing voice, that embrace, that kiss-that withdrawal.
"Sir, the young lady is back," the secretary poked his head in.
"Get her out," he ordered, with a vehemence that surprised even himself.
He did not particularly appreciate liquor, although he drank a little at parties. But in desperation to eliminate the indescribable sensation in his heart, he took several glasses of wine at night. It lasted for only three days. The alcohol only heightened the sensation. He threw the bottle out through the terrace on the fourth night.
"Confound that weasel.....confound her......," he murmured, as he hugged his knees on the terrace.
He did not report for work the next day.
The end of the second week came.
That Friday was especially exasperating. Several deadlines had to be met. A few key negotiations had to be settled. The last of the plans for the expansion had to be completed. Everyone was unusually busy. More so, the manager for operations.
"Sir...,"
"What is it now? You've been bothering me all day!" Shiroyuki shot back, highly irritated.
"Um, sir....the young lady..."
"How many times have I told you to get her out?! At least once every single day! Do you want to keep your job?"
The secretary mustered enough nerve to enter his office. "Sir, I'm sorry, but I have a message from her..."
He slammed his hand on the desk. "That pesky weasel....tell her to stop bothering me and go home!"
"Sir, begging your indulgence, the message is: 'Tell Shiroyuki-san that I am not leaving here until I see Enishi.' "
He dropped his fountain pen.
"And the young lady has been standing patiently at the front door of the factory, waiting to hear from this Enishi."
He merely stared in disbelief, comprehending the young lady's pluckiness. He held his forehead in his hand, and waved his other hand at the secretary. "Escort her to my office."
He was obeyed.
He had a few minutes to think before she arrived. What should he do? Should he be angry at her, for something she did not do? Should he take her into a wide embrace and a passionate kiss, and leave her bewildered? Should he stay neutral, as if nothing happened, and act like he was no longer her friend?
He took time to look at himself in the mirror. He had grown haggard in two weeks, from lack of sleep and overwork. His hair was more in a tumble than usual. His shirt was open at two buttons, exposing a sweaty undershirt beneath. What kind of an appearance was this to show to a woman? He hastily remedied the situation, buttoning and combing and washing. Hopefully this was better.
Just in time. She appeared before him at the door.
She had not changed. Rather, she seemed more beautiful than when he last saw her two weeks ago. It was as if he had seen her for the first time. Maybe, because it was the first time he took time to look at her, all of her.
She was small for her age, and her clothes emphasized the fact. Yet her body was that of a warrior, well tuned and refined. There was speed, agility, and grace in those limbs. Her face, it was the face of someone who surpassed many difficulties with a smile. Her eyes, they shone with a brilliance of bright emeralds. Her hair, a black rope behind her, it was as fine as twined silk.
There was nothing about his sister in her. For once, he did not care. For the first time, he gazed upon another woman, without the vision of Tomoe looming behind her.
For the first time, he SAW another woman.
"Misao...." He whispered in quiet awe.
"Shiroyuki-san?"
The name brought him back to his senses. "Um, tell the secretary not to disturb me for the next hour, M-M-Makimachi. And lock the door behind you."
She did as she was told, and soon they were alone in the room.
Then came many minutes of silence, which neither dared to break. Both remained standing in the middle of the room. He continued to gape at this unique vision, and for some reason, she did the same. A wordless conversation began between their eyes. Each sought the purposes of the other. The man only saw sadness and confusion.
"Shiroyuki-san...," she called again uneasily, and broke the silence.
"Enishi....Yukishiro Enishi..." he mumbled.
"I've missed you, Enishi-san."
He turned his back on her. "Ah, no mention of Shinomori today? No Aoshi-sama?"
She remained silent.
"I thought so. Your time is wasted, Makimachi. Unlock the door and find your way out."
"I'm not leaving," she resolutely declared.
She wrapped her lithe arms around his waist from behind, and leaned her head on his back. "You don't understand, Enishi-san. I owe my life and my being to Aoshi-sama. Oftentimes I wish he would see me now as a woman, and that I could give him something more now, in return for everything he has done for me. It's all that I know, and it's all I want to be."
Each word stabbed like a knife through the businessman's heart.
"But you changed all that, Enishi-san," she continued. "You have done me no favors, and I have been less than kind to you. Still you see me as someone to depend on and trust. Now there's someone else I want to live life for, someone else I would be sorry to lose one day. And I don't know anymore what I feel...for Aoshi-sama....for you...more for you....."
"Forget Shinomori. You have no future with him," he said with severity.
"I can't do that."
"Stay with me, please, Misao," he faced the young woman and entreated.
"I'm not sure I can do that now. Give me time."
He sighed in defeat.
"Just do this one thing for me, then, and everything will be alright again."
"Alright."
"Do not resist."
He scooped her up, drew her close, closed his eyes-and completed what he started. She fulfilled her end of the bargain. The whole world was lost to this unusual couple.
It was the same memorable sensation, realized before him. It was a vague concept, one that had no word. But as he felt her hands through his hair and his shoulders, and touched the cheek next to his, he knew it was there. That something else.
Was this love? Was this what people meant when they spoke of love? Was this what people felt?
Whatever it was, it consumed him, it ran through his being, it filled his soul.
And he decided.
I---love---her.
No one will take her from me.
.............
AACK!! You have NO idea how hard it is not to make Enishi a psychopath, obsessive lover, possessive boyfriend! It's like a natural progression of things, that it's annoying! I can't use the "this chap typed itself" direction, because it would decidedly go that way, and I don't want it to go that way. I know the personality I'm driving at, but I'm not sure what it's called. ^^
Again, "Shiroyuki Shinichi" is just a made-up alter-ego, made by yours truly.
Tiian, Sabbie (sorry about that test), Cleao, amy, bittersweetKandy, animepixie, nekonomiko-thanks much!
Ayce Shade-YES! I need a mind behind Eni-chan!!
Chitchat-I checked at www.sitepros.net/kenshin, and you're right, Enishi is YOUNGER than Aoshi. By two years. Sorry!
Firuze-nee-san-Thanks very much for the insights into Aoshi as well. Seriously, you could write that in your Eni site!! Thanks for the assurance. I was afraid he was getting OOC. ^^
Hope you come back!
Disclaimer: I don't do mushy stuff very well, but I try my best. ^^ I am sorry if it doesn't look like much of a story, the way "White Tiger Jade Concubine" has a story, but I hope you keep reading. There will be more exciting things happening eventually.
.............
He did not know what came over him. It just happened. His and her lips met, and he made the moment last.
He enjoyed her warmth, her scent, her hair, her face, her lips-her whole being. It was remarkable, how he felt about her.
He had never felt this way about other women, and he had had the opportunity in Shanghai to encounter other women. It came with the territory. But he always ignored them. They were there because he was connected with the Shanghai mafia, or because he was rich and powerful. A few women were brought to him-to get him killed, or to get his secrets. None of these women lasted a day with him.
To Enishi, only one woman existed, and she was dead. He had no eyes for others.
Until now.
This girl-no, this woman-was different. She had seen him at his worst, and still she chose to give him a chance, to be his friend. She did not care about his riches, or his power. She cared about him. It blew him away.
What he felt for her was not what he felt for his sister. It was not what he felt for Kamiya, or for the other women for that matter. It was more than friendship, more than affection. Something else.
As his lips touched hers, it was as if that something else found expression, in a way words could not describe. If only she would understand what he wanted to show.
But she slowly pushed him away, her eyes displaying her surprise, her pleasure, but also her fear.
"Not so soon, Enishi-san," she pleaded. "Two months....is too short.....for you to know me....that way...."
"No, it is not too short, Misao," he responded with desperation. "Two months I have seen you, known you, listened to you, learned from you. I know everything I need to know about you, and this afternoon gave me a final lasting impression. I am not making a mistake. I know what I feel. It is a new sensation for me, and I cannot give it words. But I am sure that you are the reason for it."
She turned her eyes from him. "This is your first time to know a woman this way....how would you know it is love that you feel?"
He answered with a raised voice, "How would YOU know it is.....love....that you feel, for Shinomori, eh----Makimachi?!"
She was struck dumb.
"It is the first time for both of us. I-I-did not plan it to end this way. It simply, simply, happened. Everything I knew combined into this one event, and before I knew what I was doing, I found myself this close to you...holding you." He pulled at his hair. "The feeling was eating me up inside, and it constantly demanded satisfaction, demanded assurance. I don't know what it is! Tell me, please, Misao, what it is!"
"I don't know, Enishi-san."
He slumped to the floor beside her, and held his head in his hands. She quietly rose from the chair and wrapped him in a warm embrace.
"I don't know what to think, either. The last two months were special to me, too. You're someone extraordinary. I've learned a lot from you that I'd never know myself. And I know what you mean. I've had those weird feelings inside that you say you have.....but I don't know what to make of them. I don't know anymore. Who are you, really, to me....?"
"Can you learn then to accept those sensations, and understand what they are, with me?" he asked plaintively.
"I don't know. Aoshi-sama--------"
"Shinomori again." He hung his head. "Why do you, as you say, love him? How do you know that he loves you back?" He took her hands again into his, and locked his piercing eyes on hers. His whole face demanded a reply.
A few tears fell from her face. "Don't ask me questions that have no answers, Enishi-san."
"They have answers, Misao," he returned with sharpness, and with sadness. "You merely refuse to admit them."
Then it was as if he had put on an invisible mask. He released Misao, stood up, cocked his glasses, and straightened his form. "Thank you for coming this afternoon. Now please leave, before any more words pass between us that we might both regret. Go, Makimachi, before I change my mind."
"But, Enishi-san..."
"GO!!----please..."
The young woman left.
Days passed.
Shiroyuki Shinichi tried to bury himself in work. There were a few expansions he wanted to make to the business, and he decided that this time was as good as any. Thus, he surrounded himself with papers, documents, and plans. He allowed associates and workers to meet him as necessary during the day. Anything to avoid thinking about last week.
"Sir, there's a young lady asking to meet with you," his secretary piped in one afternoon.
"Tell her I'm busy," he answered without looking up from the documents he was reading.
Afternoons were horrible for the young businessman. The office was stuffy, a few workers tried his patience, and some papers did not make sense. When he tried to nap away his annoyance, his mind merely returned to that singing voice, that embrace, that kiss-that withdrawal.
"Sir, the young lady is back," the secretary poked his head in.
"Get her out," he ordered, with a vehemence that surprised even himself.
He did not particularly appreciate liquor, although he drank a little at parties. But in desperation to eliminate the indescribable sensation in his heart, he took several glasses of wine at night. It lasted for only three days. The alcohol only heightened the sensation. He threw the bottle out through the terrace on the fourth night.
"Confound that weasel.....confound her......," he murmured, as he hugged his knees on the terrace.
He did not report for work the next day.
The end of the second week came.
That Friday was especially exasperating. Several deadlines had to be met. A few key negotiations had to be settled. The last of the plans for the expansion had to be completed. Everyone was unusually busy. More so, the manager for operations.
"Sir...,"
"What is it now? You've been bothering me all day!" Shiroyuki shot back, highly irritated.
"Um, sir....the young lady..."
"How many times have I told you to get her out?! At least once every single day! Do you want to keep your job?"
The secretary mustered enough nerve to enter his office. "Sir, I'm sorry, but I have a message from her..."
He slammed his hand on the desk. "That pesky weasel....tell her to stop bothering me and go home!"
"Sir, begging your indulgence, the message is: 'Tell Shiroyuki-san that I am not leaving here until I see Enishi.' "
He dropped his fountain pen.
"And the young lady has been standing patiently at the front door of the factory, waiting to hear from this Enishi."
He merely stared in disbelief, comprehending the young lady's pluckiness. He held his forehead in his hand, and waved his other hand at the secretary. "Escort her to my office."
He was obeyed.
He had a few minutes to think before she arrived. What should he do? Should he be angry at her, for something she did not do? Should he take her into a wide embrace and a passionate kiss, and leave her bewildered? Should he stay neutral, as if nothing happened, and act like he was no longer her friend?
He took time to look at himself in the mirror. He had grown haggard in two weeks, from lack of sleep and overwork. His hair was more in a tumble than usual. His shirt was open at two buttons, exposing a sweaty undershirt beneath. What kind of an appearance was this to show to a woman? He hastily remedied the situation, buttoning and combing and washing. Hopefully this was better.
Just in time. She appeared before him at the door.
She had not changed. Rather, she seemed more beautiful than when he last saw her two weeks ago. It was as if he had seen her for the first time. Maybe, because it was the first time he took time to look at her, all of her.
She was small for her age, and her clothes emphasized the fact. Yet her body was that of a warrior, well tuned and refined. There was speed, agility, and grace in those limbs. Her face, it was the face of someone who surpassed many difficulties with a smile. Her eyes, they shone with a brilliance of bright emeralds. Her hair, a black rope behind her, it was as fine as twined silk.
There was nothing about his sister in her. For once, he did not care. For the first time, he gazed upon another woman, without the vision of Tomoe looming behind her.
For the first time, he SAW another woman.
"Misao...." He whispered in quiet awe.
"Shiroyuki-san?"
The name brought him back to his senses. "Um, tell the secretary not to disturb me for the next hour, M-M-Makimachi. And lock the door behind you."
She did as she was told, and soon they were alone in the room.
Then came many minutes of silence, which neither dared to break. Both remained standing in the middle of the room. He continued to gape at this unique vision, and for some reason, she did the same. A wordless conversation began between their eyes. Each sought the purposes of the other. The man only saw sadness and confusion.
"Shiroyuki-san...," she called again uneasily, and broke the silence.
"Enishi....Yukishiro Enishi..." he mumbled.
"I've missed you, Enishi-san."
He turned his back on her. "Ah, no mention of Shinomori today? No Aoshi-sama?"
She remained silent.
"I thought so. Your time is wasted, Makimachi. Unlock the door and find your way out."
"I'm not leaving," she resolutely declared.
She wrapped her lithe arms around his waist from behind, and leaned her head on his back. "You don't understand, Enishi-san. I owe my life and my being to Aoshi-sama. Oftentimes I wish he would see me now as a woman, and that I could give him something more now, in return for everything he has done for me. It's all that I know, and it's all I want to be."
Each word stabbed like a knife through the businessman's heart.
"But you changed all that, Enishi-san," she continued. "You have done me no favors, and I have been less than kind to you. Still you see me as someone to depend on and trust. Now there's someone else I want to live life for, someone else I would be sorry to lose one day. And I don't know anymore what I feel...for Aoshi-sama....for you...more for you....."
"Forget Shinomori. You have no future with him," he said with severity.
"I can't do that."
"Stay with me, please, Misao," he faced the young woman and entreated.
"I'm not sure I can do that now. Give me time."
He sighed in defeat.
"Just do this one thing for me, then, and everything will be alright again."
"Alright."
"Do not resist."
He scooped her up, drew her close, closed his eyes-and completed what he started. She fulfilled her end of the bargain. The whole world was lost to this unusual couple.
It was the same memorable sensation, realized before him. It was a vague concept, one that had no word. But as he felt her hands through his hair and his shoulders, and touched the cheek next to his, he knew it was there. That something else.
Was this love? Was this what people meant when they spoke of love? Was this what people felt?
Whatever it was, it consumed him, it ran through his being, it filled his soul.
And he decided.
I---love---her.
No one will take her from me.
.............
AACK!! You have NO idea how hard it is not to make Enishi a psychopath, obsessive lover, possessive boyfriend! It's like a natural progression of things, that it's annoying! I can't use the "this chap typed itself" direction, because it would decidedly go that way, and I don't want it to go that way. I know the personality I'm driving at, but I'm not sure what it's called. ^^
Again, "Shiroyuki Shinichi" is just a made-up alter-ego, made by yours truly.
Tiian, Sabbie (sorry about that test), Cleao, amy, bittersweetKandy, animepixie, nekonomiko-thanks much!
Ayce Shade-YES! I need a mind behind Eni-chan!!
Chitchat-I checked at www.sitepros.net/kenshin, and you're right, Enishi is YOUNGER than Aoshi. By two years. Sorry!
Firuze-nee-san-Thanks very much for the insights into Aoshi as well. Seriously, you could write that in your Eni site!! Thanks for the assurance. I was afraid he was getting OOC. ^^
Hope you come back!