Disclaimer: Mr. Watsuki is the crazy mind who dreamed up Enishi. I only own a keychain with Enishi's picture in it. ^^
I'm very happy! Japanese RK is getting shown once again in AXN. Man, I've missed the Japanese Misao and Soujirou, and Mayo Suzukaze of course! When, when, WHEN will they ever animate the Jinchuu arc?!
Ro-chan gave me the nice idea for this chappie, thanks! The basic story is already all laid out, but I welcome inspiration for changes and additions whenever I get it. If any of you out there are still E/K fans, please don't get mad at me for this chapter.
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Red and black slowly opened the large doors of the resthouse. They creaked discreetly, but offered no resistance. It was evident that the owner had opened these doors a few times ago before they did.
All the furniture were hidden under white cloth. It was as if the resthouse was covered in snow from the inside. It quietly anticipated the return of the snow prince.
The rurouni consulted the house's blueprints, and led his ninja friend to the second floor.
They opened the door to one room. Under more white cloth they made out a Western bed, facing a window that overlooked a terrace. Both remembered Kaoru's precise descriptions, and understood each other without a word. This was the very same room Kaoru found herself in, after being kidnapped by Himura's brother-in-law, Misao's best friend, two years ago. Misao quietly squeezed Himura's left hand. He gave her a sad smile.
They opened another room, the largest in the house. Misao was quite familiar with its setup. The walls were covered by shelves, although they were rather empty now. A comfortable sofa, hidden under white cloth, faced a simple fireplace. Near the middle of the room was a large desk, dusty with disuse, but its strong and beautiful handiwork obvious to anyone. Near this desk, to a wall, were several file cabinets. Hidden behind a beautiful French portrait, Himura found a large safe.
The room opened to a large terrace, overlooking the sea. As Himura checked the papers and searched for the necessary documents, Misao found herself drawn toward the terrace. She espied a bamboo lounge chair and a small table beside it. Misao could quite imagine Shinichi—ahem, Enishi-san—sitting quietly on the lounge chair, his unruly hair blowing in the gentle sea breeze, his sleepy eyes covered by his dark spectacles.
She closed her eyes, and dreamed of the elegant dinner she had, at a terrace much like this one, a few weeks ago. The wonderful conversation, the delicious food, the handsome face.
Suddenly she also recalled a completely different man, wearing the same clothes, on that same night. He walked slowly and threateningly toward her until her back touched the bedroom door. His fiery eyes bored into her scared ones then. She quivered as she recalled how his powerful hands raised her by the neck, quite intent on forcing himself on her.
When a hand unexpectedly touched her shoulder, she jumped with a start.
"Maa-maa, Misao-dono," Himura reassured her. "I found the papers in the list." He presented them to her.
Most were practical business papers, notes of exchanges, inflow and outflow of finances, descriptions of the weapons traded. The dates on the documents all ended prior to the former smuggler's arrest, two years ago. A few newer documents were also present, duplicates of the metalworks factory's operating procedures and founding documents. There was a distinct time gap between the old and new papers.
One of the documents involved a list of people directly employed by the mafia boss. They were classified as follows: "Active", "Suspended", "Incarcerated"…………and "Eliminated".
The final list was systematic. Who, why, when, where, and by whom. His name was included among those who had eliminated employees. It was evident that this was only for the use of the boss himself, and not to be seen by others. It was organized, but simple, and not meant to be used in official business. While all of the records ended two years ago, Misao still gulped at the number of people the final list contained, a number nearing a hundred.
Other documents provided evidence of involvement in almost all political activity, during the years of his leadership. He had supplied weapons for both police and insurgents, in all the neighboring countries. A few of his best guns and cannons had also found its way to California. Many assassins and criminals had been supplied with blades, guns, and artillery from his coffers.
Misao could only mindlessly read through entry upon entry of illegal activity. She only knew the tip of the iceberg prior to this. All she knew was related to the confrontation with Himura. That was only the culmination of a long string of deception, cruelty, anger, and malevolence.
Himura calmly handed to her a small notebook he found among the documents. It was filled with the mafia boss' careful and sure handwriting. Each character was well defined and easily understood, as if the writer never rushed when he wrote.
Misao bit her lip, and started to read aloud the elegant script.
……….I don't understand why I'm doing this now. Maybe it's something I learned from nee-san. Writing down your thoughts. Hogwash. I've always thought of it as leaving written evidence. But this means nothing to the organization, and it won't get me in trouble, so what's the harm?……………At any rate, there's nothing better to do in this cramped little island. ……….
………My plans are working perfectly. Battousai will feel what it is to lose someone close to him. He will know what I felt when he killed my nee-san, he will know!…………
………And now, I can get rid of those four useless assassins. I know they all had private interests in this case, and I played my cards well. I worked their emotions and their brains to perfection. Now that I have what I want, we can all part ways. In a few days my henchmen will track them down, and make sure they stay mum about my involvement, for all eternity…………
………As for Wu, I did promise to give my part of the organization to him. The money, the weapons, the skills---they were all just a means to an end. Now that I have met my end, they mean nothing to me. He can have it for himself. It'll be a matter of two or three years, and he'll be ruined by it with his own hand. …………..
"Heartless, that he was," Misao commented.
"You have to be heartless, if you work in the underworld," Himura explained. "Kindness gets you killed."
"You should know, I suppose." She flipped a few pages. "Wait, here's something about a woman…….."
………She's still asleep, Battousai's woman. In MY bathrobe! What could I do about it, it was the only one in the whole resthouse. All the clothes in the house are mine. But I've seen enough of women to know; you can't possibly leave them in their clothes for a long time or they smell awful.
……….It's a good thing Wu brought a housekeeper with him. She got her out of that dusty kendo uniform, bathed her, and dressed her in the bathrobe. I would NOT for the world, undress a woman, who didn't know or was not willing. Nee-san wouldn't want that. And besides, I've seen females too many to be interested in this one………
"You mean, he wasn't kidding? He really didn't like Kaoru-san?" Misao found that really surprising.
Himura did not reply.
"But he made her wear his bathrobe?"
Himura kept silence.
"HIMURA!!" Misao shook the rurouni. "Your wife was left here two days, wearing nothing but a bathrobe?!"
"Oro?!" He slapped his head a few times. "Gomen kudasai, Misao-dono. Yes, Kaoru-dono already told me. That was not what I was thinking."
"What is it, then?"
His voice came from far away. "Why didn't he kill Kaoru-dono?" He then looked at the next entry.
……..What did my brother-in-law see in this woman---this GIRL? She isn't that pretty, nee-san was much better-looking. Her body doesn't even attract a man! She has curves in the right places, but nothing special. ………..
………The woman can't cook. The fish is burnt, the miso is salty, and the rice is not sticky enough. …………And she talks too much……….
………..I hate her, almost as much as I hate Battousai. She's trying to be nice. She looks at me, like I was a man she needed to save, much like Battousai. Like I was a man who needed understanding. I need no such thing. Such tactics never work on me. More often than not, it sends a person to his death to be nice to me…………….
……….The woman will die. Sending Battousai a taste of hell is not enough. I will send him there permanently. I will kill his love, in earnest, and I will make him feel what I know to be real every second. Nee-san is not coming back, neither will she!…………
"The NERVE of that infernal white-haired psycho!" Misao slammed the book shut, and waved a threatening fist in the air.
"Aa…….." Himura mumbled, lost in deep thought. His eyes were almost crying.
She took up the book again, and opened where she left off. "I'm not reading aloud anymore. You don't have to suffer through this rigmarole. But I said I wanted to know everything about him, and I will."
She inhaled deeply, closed her eyes, and readied her soul to read the next entry.
……….. I couldn't do it. I couldn't do it. Wretched woman. She looks too much like nee-san. How could I kill my own sister? It should not be this way.
………..Gein did not do the job well enough. Wu tells me that Battousai has gotten over the hell I've created. ………….He's coming to get her back. …………..I won't let him. I will fight him. I'll even let that annoying woman see him, see us, see us fight-----see him die. Maybe not, because I will take her life first. I'll even make him suffer first, then I'll show him, face to face, how with my own hands, with my own blade, I will kill his woman for real………………
Misao sideglanced Himura. She thought she saw again the Himura she saw at the beach, two years ago. The sadness in his eyes, the determination in his face, the courage in his heart.
Then she thought about the man he fought. It was a man hell-bent on revenge, until the end, when he had lost. That was what he had in mind to do? He really meant to kill his own brother-in-law, and Kaoru-san?!
………..Why did I wait so long to decide this? Why didn't I kill her sooner? Did she have an emotional hold on me? …………..No, absolutely not…………….
………..A woman is a woman is a woman. An instrument sent to take men down, as their greatest weakness. A tool that could be discarded as soon as one is done using them, or as soon as one has lost interest in them. Nee-san is not a woman. Nee-san is another being altogether. She is my sister………..
…………It was not profitable to kill her. It would have been a waste of time and energy. Besides, a female's death is not as rewarding as a man's death. ……….That is all.
There were no other entries.
What would stop him from killing again? For exacting revenge again? On Aoshi-sama, on Okina, on the other members of the Oniwabanshuu, even on herself? Was the self he had shown her, just a cover? Just for show? Just to get her? Eventually, when he had grown tired of her, would he eliminate her, like he had done the other people in his life?
If Himura himself sometimes returned to his old Battousai personality, what guarantee was there that Enishi would not become a psychopath again?
Was she deceived? For so long?
Was Aoshi-sama right after all, to keep her away from him?
Was she wrong to love him?
She felt Himura put an arm through her back. "Daijoubu de gozaru, Misao-dono, daijoubu," he whispered.
She brushed away the tears trailing down her cheeks. "I should be the one consoling you, Himura. He did this to you, not to me."
"True, but sessha has forgiven him. Misao-dono has to do the same."
"I can't, I can't, not after THIS! I can't face him again, Himura, I can't!"
He rocked her gently and hushed her protests.
"Misao-dono, this is what he was two years ago. Truly, it is a part of him you have to understand, to really know him. However, he is no longer that man. Time has changed him. YOU have changed him. Like you changed Aoshi, like Kaoru-dono helped change me."
"It's all a trick, just a trick, like Aoshi-sama said. A trick to infiltrate the Oni, to spy on police, to get his way…………He never really loved me………..He just used me…………," she sobbed.
Himura stood up, and returned the journal to the drawer. He retrieved the documents, and placed them in a packet from the drawer. He then kept them inside his hakama.
"Sessha is made to understand one of the principal codes of the Oni: an operative must complete a mission given, unless he is killed in the line of duty. Misao-dono must complete the mission she accepted, irregardless of what she thinks of the officer. Is sessha correct?"
Misao sniffed, rubbed her eyes, and nodded.
He offered a hand. "Come, Misao-dono. We have to finish this mission. We have to know the truth."
……………………………….
I used what I know from the Jinchuu arc, not really the Seisou Hen. The entries are what could reasonably be assumed from the manga panels and dialogue. Once again, I don't hate Kaoru! I happen to like the girl a lot! But I do have to show things from our snowy headed friend's point of view. ^^
So annoying, I can't seem to cache for ff.net or Yahoo Mail, so I have a lot of fics and reviews that I can't read offline!! I have a long list already of fics to read, some being Ro-chan's, Iceangel's, tesuka-chan's, Sabbie's, Accident Prone, the end of Fragile Balance, something about a dinner, an S/K/K story, etc. etc. and so forth, "……and all…….that……..jazz!"
Nominate people at the Nikki Diary, she has an RK fanfic awards thing going there. . Chiki's When the World Revolves Around You is currently nominated for fanfic of the year.
Cherry—Thanks for nominating Seven Days!
Sabbie—Sorry about the portfolio. We'll send Sou-chan over to deliver a bouquet of flowers for you. ^^ Thanks for the nomination! I'm not worthy, but thanks!
Dellisse—Thanks much!
JML—Yay, he's back! Yup, that line is one of the catchiest in all of "Romeo and Juliet". Well, they did say Sou-chan was going to be a rurouni of sorts.
BittersweetKandy—I'm continuing, thanks for coming back!
Ro-chan—I liked your story, very nice! Keep up the good work please! I agree about Sou-chan's smile, but he has some very nice and un-creepy ones too. ^^
ICEANGEL—Keep up the good work with your fic! You're now getting more people than even I do!
Tesuka-chan—Thanks much! Nice fic, keep it up please!
CardMistressSakura—Thanks again! I hope you won't be disappointed with this chappie!
Chitchat—Thanks much!
Firuze-nee-san—Glad to hear about the painting job coming out nicely! Hope you like this new chappie too. Just being realistic. Eni-chan was really rather creepy in his time. ^^
That's everyone so far. Thanks for reading!