Hey peeps! This is the last chapter of enishi-ness, at least for now.
we'll be getting back to kenshin soon.
History Behind the History
Akitaka groaned as he shoved another very large, very useless book back onto its shelf. After being sighted for the last time in Japan in a place called Rakuninmura, then at his old home in Shanghai, it seemed as if Yukishiro Enishi really had just evaporated.
Just Akitaka's luck, he had probably changed his name so he'd be impossible to track. Come to think of it, of Akitaka had done the kinds of things Enishi had done, he'd probably change his name, too. He might then have gone back and lived right in the middle of Tokyo and no one would've known.
Then, maybe he'd become a hermit in attempt to make up for his crimes- or to avoid committing them again. Maybe that was idealistic thinking to think he would even try to make up for them, but hey, it could happen. That would make him difficult to track, since he wouldn't be on record as being involved with any important public events. Maybe he was just too depressed to leave his own home.
Perhaps he'd... killed himself. People did that often enough out of guilt or grief, and Yukishiro had plenty of both. It was even more common back then, when seppuku was considered a very honorable death. That death wouldn't be on record, since he'd have done it where the police couldn't find him before he finished.
If he'd planned to kill himself, his possessions would probably all be at his house, since he wouldn't exactly need them. The diary would have been burned with the rest, unless he held it dear enough to keep it with him when he died. In that case, it would suffer the same fate as the corpse with which it was found.
If he'd traveled, it was probably with him when he died. If he'd become a hermit or changed his name, it would be in his new residence. There was no telling where that might be. What a frustrating dead end.
Maybe there was a clue in this Rakuninmura place, though. Shanghai, he knew. Tokyo, he knew. What was Rakuninmura?
* *
*
"Yukishiro-san! Yukishiro-san, wake up!" An old woman was bent over Enishi's unconscious form in the Kyoto inn where he had obtained her mercy and a room while he was sick. She shook him, repeating his name to wake him up. He was not really likely to wake up since in his illness he'd been drifting in and out of consciousness, but really she was just checking to see if he was alive or no.
"Unnngh," came the only reply. At least he was alive- he wouldn't be much longer.
"We did as you asked," she informed him.
"The diary?"
"On its way to the shrine," she confirmed.
His last request had been to return his sister's diary to the shrine where she was buried. He had come back to Kyoto just for this purpose when he knew his life was ending.
He rolled over and clutched his side in a sudden, painful spasm.
"Would you like a blade?" The woman asked, and he knew she was offering him suicide as an alternative to the slow, agonizing death he had been enduring for days.
"No... I couldn't,"
"Would you like assistance?"
"No. I promised my father I would never end my own life purposely," he explained, but the woman could see he was raving, mad in his illness. Yukishiro-san had not seen his father since he was a small boy, and small boys do not say things like that.
"Hai, your father," she repeated soothingly, knowing madmen could not be persuaded to do what they did not wish to do. If he were to have an honorable death, she'd have to give it to him.
She began to pray over him prayers that, if able, he would pray himself. When ready, she lifted her blade and prepared to give him a quick death. She lowered it slowly, but he grabbed her hand before the point could reach him.
"No," he said, "I don't deserve it,"
"B-But, Yukishiro-san! It would be undignified to lie here and let the illness take you, to suffer and show weakness! Let me give you and honorable death!" She pleaded.
"I'm not honorable," he replied. "I never told you this, but my sister died when I was a child," he paused and the woman started to offer condolences before he signaled for her to be silent. "I was hopeless after she was killed-"
"She was murdered?" The lady interrupted.
"After a fashion, perhaps, but really it was an accident. The man who killed her- her husband- was trying to save her, but he was losing pretty badly, so she tried to save him by involving herself in the fight. He couldn't see her in time to avoid killing her with his opponent. I guess she really did save him, but she didn't make it," he explained.
"Oh, I see," the woman nodded.
"Anyway, I was hopeless after that. I ran away and ended up in Shanghai, lived on the streets, killed the people who tried to take care of me, and set up and illegal weapons-dealing ring. I went to Tokyo to get revenge on my brother-in-law for killing my sister, because I was hopeless then, as I said. I also didn't know the whole story at the time," the woman nodded to show she understood.
"I killed a lot of innocent people and destroyed a good chunk of Tokyo with the help of five chosen fighters who also had grudges against that man, and whom I supplied with illegal weapons. I won't give too much excruciating detail, but there was a lot of unnecessary violence and I kidnapped a girl. Fortunately, her friends were able to come save her. I was arrested, but escaped to Rakuninmura,"
"Rakuninmura?" The woman gasped. "You must've been very badly off, then," she commented.
"Yes. I met a man there called Oibore, and he helped me understand how much I didn't want to be there. He reminded me of my father, so I called him that. It was better than Oibore, anyway," he laughed airily. "He's the one I promised I wouldn't commit suicide," he finished.
"Then you will honor your promise. I promise you now that I won't end your life before this illness does," she solemnly swore, but his eyes were already closed.
************************************
ok then, next chapter: Rakuninmura! by the way, i have two one-shots that will be appearing on ff.net soon. one is called 'my virginity' and has nothing to do with sex or virginity. it is about the first time kenshin ever killed someone. the other is called 'creeping up on you' and was intended as a songfic, but didn't really turn out that way. it's about kenshin having a stalker, and it's rather interesting because it gives my impression of what you would think of the characters only by observing them, not knowing anything about their lives.
Ginger1280: actually now its 2 chapters, but glad you like the enishi-ness. the next chapter will be from oibore's pov i think, all about rakuninmura.
Amaya: thank you! it's just once per DAY per chapter? i thought it was just once per chapter period. man, the computer must me REALLY messed up! anyway, thanks for the tip.
Califpinay3001: thank you! what flattery! well, as you know, flattery gets you everywhere...
Yuhi-thedoerofevildeeds: thanks! glad you like this and i'll keep it coming
History Behind the History
Akitaka groaned as he shoved another very large, very useless book back onto its shelf. After being sighted for the last time in Japan in a place called Rakuninmura, then at his old home in Shanghai, it seemed as if Yukishiro Enishi really had just evaporated.
Just Akitaka's luck, he had probably changed his name so he'd be impossible to track. Come to think of it, of Akitaka had done the kinds of things Enishi had done, he'd probably change his name, too. He might then have gone back and lived right in the middle of Tokyo and no one would've known.
Then, maybe he'd become a hermit in attempt to make up for his crimes- or to avoid committing them again. Maybe that was idealistic thinking to think he would even try to make up for them, but hey, it could happen. That would make him difficult to track, since he wouldn't be on record as being involved with any important public events. Maybe he was just too depressed to leave his own home.
Perhaps he'd... killed himself. People did that often enough out of guilt or grief, and Yukishiro had plenty of both. It was even more common back then, when seppuku was considered a very honorable death. That death wouldn't be on record, since he'd have done it where the police couldn't find him before he finished.
If he'd planned to kill himself, his possessions would probably all be at his house, since he wouldn't exactly need them. The diary would have been burned with the rest, unless he held it dear enough to keep it with him when he died. In that case, it would suffer the same fate as the corpse with which it was found.
If he'd traveled, it was probably with him when he died. If he'd become a hermit or changed his name, it would be in his new residence. There was no telling where that might be. What a frustrating dead end.
Maybe there was a clue in this Rakuninmura place, though. Shanghai, he knew. Tokyo, he knew. What was Rakuninmura?
* *
*
"Yukishiro-san! Yukishiro-san, wake up!" An old woman was bent over Enishi's unconscious form in the Kyoto inn where he had obtained her mercy and a room while he was sick. She shook him, repeating his name to wake him up. He was not really likely to wake up since in his illness he'd been drifting in and out of consciousness, but really she was just checking to see if he was alive or no.
"Unnngh," came the only reply. At least he was alive- he wouldn't be much longer.
"We did as you asked," she informed him.
"The diary?"
"On its way to the shrine," she confirmed.
His last request had been to return his sister's diary to the shrine where she was buried. He had come back to Kyoto just for this purpose when he knew his life was ending.
He rolled over and clutched his side in a sudden, painful spasm.
"Would you like a blade?" The woman asked, and he knew she was offering him suicide as an alternative to the slow, agonizing death he had been enduring for days.
"No... I couldn't,"
"Would you like assistance?"
"No. I promised my father I would never end my own life purposely," he explained, but the woman could see he was raving, mad in his illness. Yukishiro-san had not seen his father since he was a small boy, and small boys do not say things like that.
"Hai, your father," she repeated soothingly, knowing madmen could not be persuaded to do what they did not wish to do. If he were to have an honorable death, she'd have to give it to him.
She began to pray over him prayers that, if able, he would pray himself. When ready, she lifted her blade and prepared to give him a quick death. She lowered it slowly, but he grabbed her hand before the point could reach him.
"No," he said, "I don't deserve it,"
"B-But, Yukishiro-san! It would be undignified to lie here and let the illness take you, to suffer and show weakness! Let me give you and honorable death!" She pleaded.
"I'm not honorable," he replied. "I never told you this, but my sister died when I was a child," he paused and the woman started to offer condolences before he signaled for her to be silent. "I was hopeless after she was killed-"
"She was murdered?" The lady interrupted.
"After a fashion, perhaps, but really it was an accident. The man who killed her- her husband- was trying to save her, but he was losing pretty badly, so she tried to save him by involving herself in the fight. He couldn't see her in time to avoid killing her with his opponent. I guess she really did save him, but she didn't make it," he explained.
"Oh, I see," the woman nodded.
"Anyway, I was hopeless after that. I ran away and ended up in Shanghai, lived on the streets, killed the people who tried to take care of me, and set up and illegal weapons-dealing ring. I went to Tokyo to get revenge on my brother-in-law for killing my sister, because I was hopeless then, as I said. I also didn't know the whole story at the time," the woman nodded to show she understood.
"I killed a lot of innocent people and destroyed a good chunk of Tokyo with the help of five chosen fighters who also had grudges against that man, and whom I supplied with illegal weapons. I won't give too much excruciating detail, but there was a lot of unnecessary violence and I kidnapped a girl. Fortunately, her friends were able to come save her. I was arrested, but escaped to Rakuninmura,"
"Rakuninmura?" The woman gasped. "You must've been very badly off, then," she commented.
"Yes. I met a man there called Oibore, and he helped me understand how much I didn't want to be there. He reminded me of my father, so I called him that. It was better than Oibore, anyway," he laughed airily. "He's the one I promised I wouldn't commit suicide," he finished.
"Then you will honor your promise. I promise you now that I won't end your life before this illness does," she solemnly swore, but his eyes were already closed.
************************************
ok then, next chapter: Rakuninmura! by the way, i have two one-shots that will be appearing on ff.net soon. one is called 'my virginity' and has nothing to do with sex or virginity. it is about the first time kenshin ever killed someone. the other is called 'creeping up on you' and was intended as a songfic, but didn't really turn out that way. it's about kenshin having a stalker, and it's rather interesting because it gives my impression of what you would think of the characters only by observing them, not knowing anything about their lives.
Ginger1280: actually now its 2 chapters, but glad you like the enishi-ness. the next chapter will be from oibore's pov i think, all about rakuninmura.
Amaya: thank you! it's just once per DAY per chapter? i thought it was just once per chapter period. man, the computer must me REALLY messed up! anyway, thanks for the tip.
Califpinay3001: thank you! what flattery! well, as you know, flattery gets you everywhere...
Yuhi-thedoerofevildeeds: thanks! glad you like this and i'll keep it coming