Disclaimer: RK and its characters are Watsuki's. No money for me, just fun.

Children of the Revolution

Chapter 2: Ode to my family

6 weeks had passed since Enishi had first awoken in Aizu. He had gotten familiar with her house, by now. First by merely relying on the sounds he could hear, guessing where was the fire in the main room, where she kept the cooking devices, that one of the three rooms was a bathroom. He had recovered enough after two weeks to roll away from his futon, and search the bedroom he was in, under the annoyed look of Tomoe. There was nothing personal, unfortunately, nothing that could give him FACTS about that woman. Only spare clothes and old medical apparels in the wooden boxes, more sheets and other futons in the closet, and empty spaces inside. This room was obviously the one for the guests. He had wondered, rather disgusted, if Battousai had stayed in, and preferred to ignore the possibility.

It has been ten days since he got well enough to leave it, at last, and discover the rest of the place, bar her bedroom. The main room was quite big, and covered with tatami, too, with the notable exception of the space around the fire, which was forming a kitchen place. There was a difference of level because the floor there was just wooden. The furniture and decorations were the same style as his room, good quality, discreet and tasteful feminine arrangements. The toko no ma was in a corner near the main door, it was just a cavity in the wall, going from the middle of it to the ceiling, decorated with another piece of shodo, an ikebana, and a little object it took time for him to identify, as he couldn't get close enough, first. It was a small, preciously decorated medicine recipient. He had wondered why she was keeping it there instead of using it. She put a particular care in that arrangement, burning fresh incense everyday, and changing the ikebana every week.

He had realized only the last time she did, that the flower arrangement was her work. It was not the quality of what Tomoe could sort out, but his sister was gifted, and he had to admit that it was very good and well thought. He had observed her doing it, while finishing his breakfast, which he could now take in the main room, after she carefully locked the doors in case a patient would forget politeness and rush in. Once more, he had admired the precision of her gestures. There was not a wasted movement of the hand, not a single hesitation. Her fingers were flying more than moving, and the preparation of the flowers looked like a graceful, perfectly organized ballet. It had surprised him again that she spent time on feminine occupations. He thought that women who wanted to have works like men weren't able, or interested, in such.

She was an enigma. The shodo in his room read "kansha", gratefulness. The one in the toko no ma read "sasageru", offer. This was odd, he had judged at first, gratefulness would fit better in the place were the loved one were honored. It was in fact the only clue he had about her, he had quickly realized. She was offering everything to her patients. She didn't spare her time, or energy, when it came to them. She was sometimes leaving in the middle of the night, to come back at dawn, and received other sick people in the clinic after a quick breakfast.

Relying upon the number of people coming, he had assumed that she was surely living under her financial possibilities. He knew now that it wasn't the case. When he was allowed to stay in the main room while she was treating a patient, concession he had obtained after a fierce verbal fight, he would see her dropping by to put some food in the small cellar near the fireplace. She accepted to be paid in nature. He was suspecting that she wouldn't even be paid at all by her poorest clients. He grinned. He had used this word with her once, and she had severely scolded him. She wasn't running a business: she was a doctor. Sasageru. When she said she had taken an oath, it wasn't mere words. He hence got her attitude towards him better. She was helping him, treating him, and she had never reproached him with not thanking her. Giving was more important than gratefulness. She seemed disinterested, still he had some problems to fully believe that. Of course, Tomoe thought otherwise, and each time he was restraining himself not to say the "thanks" that came weirdly into his mind, he would see his sister's disappointed face.

He couldn't thank her, as he was too frustrated by his situation. He was actually depending on the woman, for things he had always provided for himself whatever the circumstances. When he couldn't move at all, he had felt like a pet, each time she put food or water on the tatami next to him. She didn't do anything to give him that impression, but it was the way he felt, and it was driving him crazy. He had insisted the first day he had woken up to clean himself, with the hot water and soap that she had brought to him. He had expected her to argue, she hadn't, not the slightest, and she had even seemed relieved. Probably, she was repulsed at the idea of taking care of him in this way, because he had attacked her friends. But if so, she wouldn't tolerate him in her house, and wouldn't have done it when he was unconscious. That was the first little thing that didn't fit perfectly with what he had witnessed of her so far, and he had to dig into this direction. He hadn't yet, for a good reason. The idea of her hands, moving lightly, purposefully, gracefully on his body had crossed his mind and created a swift and unwelcome rush of blood. He had discarded the gross thought immediately. Anyway, he was now in a sufficiently good shape to use the bathroom, she was just helping him to walk in.

That was what he should focus on. His physical state left a lot to improve.

After two years and so in Rakuninmura, he had recovered his whole mind, had reflected on what had been done to him, what he had done, and what he could do. He had found some kind closure. Tomoe wasn't smiling to him yet, but she wasn't sad anymore. Just expectative.

He wasn't afraid that she would disappear, or to loose her smile forever. He felt closer to her than he had ever been, not since her death, but since she had fallen for Battousai. He didn't understand her at that time, the last he saw her alive, the last they could talk and share some moments together. He had started to when Kamiya Kaoru had tried to protect Battousai on the island, it had triggered his memory, and he had felt what Tomoe had. Saving the girl had completed part of the circle in his head, he had relived these fateful moments, and this time he had prevented her to die. Only when Battousai had stopped him from killing Wu, he had realized it wasn't Tomoe. Yet the event had changed his perspective.

The diary had then turned his world upside down. He had discovered a Tomoe that he didn't know, whose existence he wasn't even suspecting. He had thought she accepted to marry Akira because it was his wish, and their families'. And she loved him. He had thought that she hated Battousai. And she loved him, too. He had thought that she was as calm and quiet as she seemed. And she had a tormented personality. She had been afraid, torn, guilty. The soothing presence of his sister was the only certainty he had grown up with, and realizing that his belief rooted on fine sand rather than on hard rock had shattered him. The biggest, most hurtful discovery had been that she had wished to die. She knew he was alive, that he was around, and that he needed her. Yet it hadn't been enough to give her the will to live. If he had known with only the image of her that he had before, he would have been destroyed. But the Tomoe of the diary had wishes and aspirations of her own, he wasn't the center of her world. He was precious to her, and his long self-introspection had taught him to accept it as enough. She had sacrificed a lot to him, during all those years, it wasn't as natural as he had always naively imagined. He didn't love or respect her less. He understood her better, and he was admiring the person that she really was, not the image he had created. It had its personal cost, but the truth was better. That was why he could have given up on the diary, that day, deposing it where it was before, in the temple.

One of the costs had been that he had barely taken care of himself. He had received some light treatment from Oibore, and the other inhabitants of the village, reluctantly, enough not to catch an infection or lethal disease. He didn't eat, only feeding himself from time to time, in an automatic gesture of survival. He hadn't trained, either. He had lived locked in his own world, and he was now weaker than he had ever been, even as a child, no muscle left. He had been too focused on his personal goal to pay attention to this when he had made this trip to Kyoto, he had been too careless, hence the broken ankle and his current situation.

He had to talk to the woman about that.

Things had to change. This day marked it, as for the first time, he had been able to stand up alone. Not very long, and leaning on the wall, but he could apply some weight on his wounded leg. The waiting was over, and the real recovery could begin.

He gritted his teeth in frustration. She had ordered him to stay in his room that day, as she was expecting some visitor. Not a cop, she had added, dryly. Hearing her approaching his room, he lied down and pretended he was asleep. He felt her gaze inspecting him, and instead of coming to check on him like she always did, she closed the door as cautiously as she had opened it.

His curiosity was aroused. Without a noise, he crawled to the door, and applied his ear on it.

Megumi closed the door, careful not to wake him up. His sleep was so light, and she would feel more comfortable meeting Kaneda knowing that Enishi didn't have a chance to hear her conversation.

The gate opened, and she hurried to open the door, before he could knock. That would surely wake her paranoid patient up.

"Hello, Takani-sensei."

"Kaneda-san, please come in."

She had prepared some tea and they settled in front of the small table. Kaneda was in his early thirties. He was a handsome man, always wearing western-style suits, his hair cut short and impeccably brushed, shining with cosmetics. He was looking like the perfect Meiji modern gentleman, yet his suave attitude was bothering Megumi in a way she couldn't explain.

"You seemed eager to see me, Takani-sensei," he began.

"Isn't it natural that I'm impatient to know if you have some news?" she answered, in an effort to stay polite. Definitely, she didn't like the man.

He sipped some of his tea, and she noticed that his little finger was hanging around in the air, like she had seen foreign women do during a trip to Yokohama with Ken-san and Kaoru-san.

"Unfortunately, I have nothing to tell you. I thought I had traced to your mother, as I told you during my last visit. The information was reliable, and I found this person, but she wasn't the one we hoped."

She tried to hide her disappointment. He gave her a sideway look. She wondered briefly how he could manage this while he was sitting in front of her.

"I have another lead on your brothers. Nevertheless.." He took a saddened expression.

"Nevertheless?"

"It may cost some money. More than what you gave me could cover."

"How come? I sent you 30.000 yens last month!" she exclaimed, puzzled.

"Informants aren't free, Takani-sensei, and neither are the travel expenses.."

"How much?"

"20.000 would be fine."

"You must be joking."

"I'm the best investigator of Western Japan, and probably of the country. If somebody can find your family, after more than 10 years, it can only be me."

She hesitated. "I don't have all this money right now. I gave you the last of what I have saved last time."

"You seem to have lots of patients."

"Most of them are poor and pay in nature, if you're such a good investigator, you ought to know that."

He seemed thoughtful for a minute, and she felt a beginning of nausea when he sent her a dirty, suggestive smile. She knew too well the meaning of it.

"How generous of you. Maybe I could be that generous and..accept some payment in nature, too.."

His hand was already moving towards her. She seized the little dagger she always kept on her, quick as light, darting it towards him threateningly.

"Get out of here. GET OUT OF HERE!"

"Come on."

"If you ever approach me again, I'll kill you. Is that clear?"

Frustration and malice shown in his eyes, there it was, that male, disgusting lusty and angry expression that she has seen so many times. She tightened her hold on her weapon, ready to aim for his throat at his any move.

He must have felt that she would do it without hesitation, as he stood up, in silence, and walked to the door.

"If you're being sensible again, contact me," he finally threw over his shoulder. "If you want to know what happened to your family, so to speak..Goodbye, Takani-sensei."

She was unable to move for an eternity. Then she let the dagger fall on the floor, collapsed on the table, her head on her crossed arms, and cried uncontrollably. The deceived hope for some news, the shock of being treated as a sexual object again, it was too much, she couldn't help. His disgusting gaze had transported her into the past, and no matter how terrifying her nightmares were, that small glimpse of it in her reality was more than she could stand.

Her tears dried, eventually, and she sighed. She had been swallowing in self-pity, but releasing the pressure had made her some good. Now, it was time for being practical. What could she do?

She had hesitated for some time, after settling in Aizu, to look for her family. She wasn't sure that she could face them, with the blood covering her hands. She had made a few researches on her own, but it had taken her several months to hire an investigator. Kaneda was indeed the most reputed one. She shuddered. She never trusted him, though, now she knew why. Her instinct had recognized the miserable lecher in him. Well, he was to be put behind, the only problem being that she was out of extra money to ask another one. She had to wait. It cost her, now that she had made the decision, but she had to be patient. She had delayed the search, so it was partly her fault, and her life had taught her that things weren't going according to people's timing.

She could still ask the Oniwabanshu. She knew that Misao would be delighted to help. Thinking of the girl, a real, guileless smile appeared on her lips. The mere thought of that little bundle of energy was cheering already. Even no progress reports would be encouraging if she took care of it. Aoshi was lucky, to have her all around him and..Aoshi. The reason why she didn't ask them in the first place. The reason why she couldn't, ever. His companions' death had happened in a fight to save her. She had a responsibility. She never voiced it, neither did he, but it was there, between them. She couldn't demand that him, or Misao even if she didn't see things this way, participate into bringing her back what she had lost, when she had a role to play in their own loss. It was indecent.

No, she had to save some more money, and then ask another private agency. This time, she would follow her instinct and rely on somebody she knew she could trust.

She stood up, putting the dagger back in her obi. She brought the cups in the kitchen corner, with utter repulsion. She felt like throwing his away. Her gaze fell upon the other sets of two cups or plates waiting to be washed.

Enishi.

He must have heard.

Hesitantly, she went to his room, opening the door with infinite precautions. He was lying on the futon, sleeping peacefully. That was weird. Her outburst should have awoken him. A dim worry invaded her. Maybe he was feverish again.

She heaved a sigh of relief as she put a hand on his forehead. It was fresh, no fever. The next second, the turquoise eyes were opened, and he murmured: "What is it?"

"I.I was just checking on your state."

"I'm fine. Don't you always tell me to rest? You should be happy."

"Sorry I interrupted your nap," she answered, lips pinched.

Back in the main room, she shook her head. He had heard. He pretended he didn't, what she was thankful for, but he had heard. He was still behaving like an ungrateful brat, yet the way he was looking at her had been different. The cautiousness and mockery always lightening the blue gaze had faded, and there was something, she couldn't define it, not compassion, not pity, but he had looked at her as a person, not as an enemy, not as a doctor. He had acknowledged her.

Enishi's blood was still boiling. This miserable pig. He had been about to rush in the room when she had yelled at him. He had noticed the dagger hidden in her obi before, that didn't surprise him or provoke particular defiance, as she was a woman living alone. Tomoe had one, too. He guessed she had used it to deter the bastard. Thinking about it, it was better that he didn't show up, and be discovered, but that didn't prevent him to feel murderous and frustrated. Ladies weren't to be treated as prostitutes, and, whatever she was crazy, Megumi was a lady. Women weren't to be forced, anyway, ladies or not, prostitutes or not.

The event had been very insightful, though. He knew more about her, her temper, and facts, too, for the first time. It had also proven how urgent it was for him to recover soon. And he had the name of someone he had a new score to settle with. Kaneda. Taking care of him would be a way to reward her for treating his wounds, when he was in shape again. A figure appeared behind his closed lids.

"What, Nee-san? Didn't you blame me for being ungrateful? Why are you disapproving, now?"

But Tomoe's face stayed unmoved.

Passing the communication door from the clinic to her house, Megumi almost fell down from surprise as she spotted Enishi, standing up in the doorframe of his room.

"WHAT are you doing again?" she stormed.

"I can stand up. We have to talk."

"Sit down. Let me help you."

She had run to his side, but he rejected her.

"I can do it alone."

She noticed the little pearls of sweat on his forehead, his gritted teeth, and the slight trembling of his legs. Shaking her head, she let him. He was able to fall again if she tried against his will.

"What do we have to talk about?"

"I want to train. I've no strength left." He spat the words.

Demanding, stubborn, authoritative. This man was unbelievable. She should consider herself lucky that he had provided her with the beginning of an explanation. They had to talk, indeed. He had to realize his complete physical state. He was a thickhead, yet she was used to thickheads. And Yukishiro Enishi being granted more brains than the Rooster, he'd be hopefully sensible about it.

"Let me see you ankle."

She examined it, before looking at him with an encouraging smile.

"Yes, I think that the bones are solidified. But you can't start a training right now, you have to reeducate it first."

"Reeducate?"

"Retrieving the mobility. It's the following of the little exercises that I made you execute during these last two weeks."

"It helped," he admitted. "But it can't be enough. I can do more."

"I'm sure that you think so." Lifting her hands to stop his protestations, she went on: "We have to discuss your physical condition, Enishi, and I have questions that I want you to answer, to precise my diagnosis."

"Why should I? I feel good."

"Didn't you realize that how you feel and how you're doing are two very different things?" she unleashed, loosing some of her patience.

His composure broke, his eyes widening behind his sunglasses.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have put it like this," she apologized.

"Go on." His face was impenetrable.

"I'd like you to answer about the way you broke your leg. Do you remember how it happened?"

"Yes."

"Can you tell me?" she asked gently. She didn't want him to close, trust between doctor and patient was important, particularly when it came to announce bad news.

He stared at her with his deep, deep blue eyes, searching something in hers. She didn't avoid his examination, and he finally talked.

"I was at the cemetery, with Oibore. This is the place were..."

"Tomoe-san rests," she provided.

"Yes. I don't know how they found us. Finally, I'm not even sure that they were actually after me. Anyway, I heard the whistles. We escaped to the very end of the cemetery. It's the way I usually get in. I should have that day too, but the old man wasn't in shape. I carried him on my back, and jumped over the wall to reach the street."

"Wait a minute. It was terribly high! How could you.."

"The other side of the wall isn't. I told you, I did it several times."

"With Oibore-san on your back. And there you broke your ankle."

"I don't know. I reached the ground and all went black. I woke up here."

"You fainted under the pain."

"I didn't feel any pain."

Her cinnamon eyes filled with concern. "That's what I thought," she muttered, before asking clearly: "But you're aware that it should have hurt, aren't you? You surely had fractures before."

He nodded slowly. "You have an explanation for that."

"Yes. Here is what I could deduce from your state when you arrived, and your reactions here. You have been barely feeding yourself, and barely drinking too. You had no treatment, no real treatment, for your wounds after Jinchuu. I don't know where you were hiding, but you were physically vegetating from this time on, I'm sure of it. Your muscles and bones were, are still, fragile because of this. You may have done the jump many times, but your legs weren't strong enough anymore to endure the shock, especially with the old man on your back. This is why your ankle broke so completely. The reason why you could do it..you know as well as me where it lays."

"The nerves of insanity."

"I think that after the psychological shock that you received on the island, your spirit took completely over your body, which was provided with just enough not to fall apart completely. I don't know why it happened, the sheer will to go on, maybe, but the fact that you don't feel pain unless your brain acknowledges it became a usual reflex, not part of an attack that you can control. You've been living on your nerves, Enishi, obviously for several years, so your whole nervous system is now deregulated. That's why you can't know how you really do, because your brain is automatically dismissing the idea of pain or weakness. And that's why you can't start to train right now. You have to reeducate not only your leg, but you also have to reconnect your brain and your body."

"I should learn to be in pain again? Don't be ridiculous. This is a precious advantage to fight.."he retorted, haughtily. He had more or less expected what she just told him, and was beginning to see the possibilities already.

"BAKA!"

Here it was, she was mad again. He glared at her, but she didn't pay attention, speaking in a passionate tone.

"Don't you realize that pain is a SIGNAL? It tells when your body has reached its limits before it breaks; it's a symptom that allows to detect the diseases before they can't be healed. It says that something is wrong."

"I thought that doctors were supposed to erase the pain, not to praise it."

"AFTER it indicated us what is wrong, so we can correctly treat the problem. Then it's a needless suffering to our patients. And it's the same for you, fighters of all sorts. When you train, how do you realize that you made some progress? Isn't that when you can perform more kata or whatever you do, without your body getting tired and sore? Pain shows the limits."

"Training is about pushing the limits."

"Not erasing them. Whatever strong your mind can be, there are limits, physical, undeniable limits to what a body can take. There's always a moment when the bone will break, when the veins will be torn apart and blood will flow. You're lucky that it was only your ankle. You can go on like this, it's your decision. But next time, it may be your neck, it can be the base of your vertebral column, and you'll die or end-up as a vegetable, doing something you thought was harmless. A stupid death for a stupid man."

Silence fell upon them. He had cast his glance down, so had she.

"What is the program that you propose?" he said after a long, long time.

She lifted her head, and couldn't help to give him a little smile. "We'll start tomorrow."

"I need to go out. I'm getting claustrophobic."

Her smile faded. She had won, well she had won in HIS interest, and he was bargaining again.

"That's what you said already for getting out of the room. It's too dangerous."

"There is your private garden on the other side of my room. Nobody ever goes there. I need fresh air, not only from an opened window. And I can't use crutches on the tatami."

She had thought this moment would come, anyway. Sighing with resignation, she took a bottle from the wooden box next to her, and put it in front of him, on the table.

"What IS that?"

"A hair dye. It's black. And stop wearing your sunglasses. Nobody will recognize you then."

His stupefied expression changed into a somewhat appreciative one. She had prepared that moment. Indeed, she was smart.

"The reeducation is going to take some time, you can't stay hidden forever anyway. When you feel better enough to go out, I'll think about a convincing lie to explain your presence here."

"I can do that."

"You could, yes. You have brains, I can see that now," she admitted.

"Because I followed your advice?" he grinned

"Precisely."

She was smiling again. Really smiling. Their eyes crossed, and he felt her going as awkward as he was.

"I have to prepare dinner," she said quickly, too quickly.

"I'm going to dye my hair."

She was taking good care of him. She'd help him to recover; he was certain now that he could trust her on that. But he was still the man who had sworn and tried to destroy her friends. She wasn't going to forget that. Weirdly, that thought was bothering Enishi.

They were finishing dinner, the atmosphere being less tensed than he had thought, as they had found a neutral ground of conversation in the way she intended to direct his reeducation, when a soft, pressing knock on the door attracted his attention.

She made him a sign not to move, and opened the door some inches. To his surprise, she then turned to him, pushing the panel away. Oibore was standing under the porch.

To be continued.

Talk about a quick update (-)

Continuity/ inaccuracy points: I have NO, but absolutely NO knowledge concerning medicine. The physical state of Enishi seems to be sticking to what is explained in the manga ("this man can't be in pain unless his brain has decided it"). It seemed plausible to me that he ignored unconsciously his physical state, the time he could sort out his psychological trauma, but of course it has no scientific bases and I apologize to the people it bothers. The toko no ma is a particular room or corner in traditional Japanese house, to welcome to the guests, and there's always at least a piece of shodo (calligraphy) and most of times a flower arrangement (ikebana). The altar to honor the memory of the beloved ones is usually in the main room or in that room. Sasageru means offer (to a divinity, or with a notion of sacrifice), devote, dedicate. Kansha is the formal word for gratefulness.

The character development is, as I said previously, very important, and I don't think that Enishi could really make a new start before dealing, one way or another, with Tomoe's memories, hence this "insight" chapter. But action is coming, too.

I would like to thank, again, one million times Firuze for her support and help and everything. I know that you recommended this story. I'm so glad that you like it, as I enjoy your fics so much. You know that I love Enishi's character (I think that he's my second favorite now, but I'm a hopeless Saitoh fan!), and I hope that I'll never disappoint you when I write about him. And thanks for your nice review, too!

Thanks a lot to the people who reviewed, who have past the odd combination of these two and read, and I hope that the following will satisfy you. I really appreciate all the nice reviews and comments!

A big THANK YOU to all of you!

Next chapter: Enishi has to deal with the return of Oibore and the anger of Megumi. His curiosity about her leads him to a major discovery about Kenshin.

See you!

Kamorgana.