Hello! Many of you had been asking about Kenji's association with his Eni-chan. For now he doesn't know that Enishi is his uncle. He has just found something in common with him, that isn't present with his daddy. After all, they're both rather spoiled and both quite impatient people. I call it a meeting of kindred spirits, people who have a lot in common with each other and get along well together. The first book I read is Anne of Green Gables, and in it Anne Shirley knows she will be Diana Barry's friend and kindred spirit only minutes after they meet.
I apologize, but majority of this chapter will only make sense if you know your Jinchuu arc. Sorry.
........................
"Enishi!"
I hear her..........it's her............my nee-san...........
"Enishi!"
I remember......I am that little boy.........
"Enishi! Come and get your supper!"
"Hai, nee-san!"
She was pretty, nee-san, that I remember very well. She was quiet, and she did not smile a lot.
But she smiled for me.
........................
"Eni-chan! Eni-chan!"
Kenji greeted Enishi as he appeared at the gate, the next day.
"What, exactly, do you find in me, you little carrot-top?" he had to ask. Most children shied away from him, whether in or out of the hospital.
"I like Eni-chan, that's all!" the little boy replied with a grin from ear to ear. He then ran off and left his friend with his thoughts.
But what was there to like? Enishi had to ask. He was stubborn, he was proud, and he was irritable. He kept to himself, he always wanted his way. And he was not a Shinichi, but a person named Enishi.
When he returned to the hotel last night, he asked around if anyone knew anything about a Yukishiro Enishi. Almost everyone said they had not heard of such a name. One or two, however, mentioned seeing the name in the newspapers from several years ago.
"Why was he in the papers?" he asked casually of these people.
"He was arrested...............a smuggler of some sort............that's all I remember," was the answer he got.
A smuggler? Him?
So who was Shiroyuki Shinichi?
"One of the fishermen identified you as Shiroyuki Shinichi," a doctor told him in the hospital. "One of the more prominent people in Kyoto. He just did not remember why you are famous."
So, if he was this prominent person in Kyoto, who was this arrested smuggler, Yukishiro Enishi? And why did Himura say he was this Yukishiro Enishi? If one was an assumed name, an alias, which one was it? Which personality was real, and which had been invented over time?
And why was his sister's voice ringing in his ears, calling him "Enishi"? Was that, then, his real name? If so, why was he a smuggler?
Too many questions! Too few answers!
"Enishi? Are you alright?" a female voice asked from in front of him. "Enishi?"
"Sorry, I do not know who you are talking about," he replied, a hand on his pounding head. "My name is Shinichi."
"Do you want to lie down, Enishi? It's still early, and I haven't kept the futons yet."
He practically shouted at the young woman before him. "Why do you keep calling me Enishi, woman? I am not that man! Tell me I am not that man. A smuggler.......arrested.........years ago?" He gripped the side of his head hard.
The ground began to spin, as more questions spun around him. Why won't this woman answer? What did the woman, Himura's wife, know? And how come he felt that he had met this woman before? They had talked before............in an island.........who was this woman?
Who was this Himura?
Quite suddenly, the world blackened around him.
He opened his eyes to find his carrot-top little friend peering anxiously at him. He smiled weakly, and patted his head. He looked around, and saw that he had not reached the aforementioned futons. He was leaned on a post of the front porch, a cool cloth on his forehead.
He met the eyes of the woman he shouted at.
He knew her.
"Kamiya!"
He shuddered. He knew her, but he did not know why. Worse, at the back of his confused mind, he knew he had done this woman a major disservice. He had not violated her, he was sure, but he had done something terrible. For revenge..........but for what?
He knew that, whatever it is he had done to her, and to Himura, she remembered it, too. It showed too plainly in her eyes. Shock. Fright.
Who was he before? Who was this Enishi?
Firstly, though, he had to take away the fear in the young mother's face. Answers would come later.
"Gomen, Himura-san," he said, wiping his forehead with the cloth. "How long did I black out?"
"Only ten minutes," she breathed a sigh of relief, then smiled with understanding. "I got you to sit on the porch before you fainted."
"I apologize for the outburst. I had a rough night."
"No problem. But shall I call you Shinichi, instead?"
"He did say my name was Enishi, correct? I had best be called that way."
"Eni-chan alright now?" Kenji asked.
"Yes, my little friend, I'll be alright," he assured him.
Satisfied, the boy grinned and ran off again, chasing the butterflies near the bushes.
Enishi envied the boy. Kenji's questions had simple answers. Kenji's problems had quick solutions. It was not the same for him.
Kaoru led him to a spare room in the house, and told him he could use it as long as necessary. For an hour he unpacked very few belongings, all given to him out of charity-a fact he rather despised. He was not sure why, but these hand-me-downs were WAY beneath his taste. There had to be a way to get his own money, and to get his own things.
Kaoru then gave him a broom and orders to sweep the front and back yards. In less than an hour, she was surprised to see it cleaner than she had ever done personally, and second only to Kenshin's quality of maintenance.
"How in the heavens did you do that, Enishi?" she asked, stunned.
"I worked and slaved to the top of the organization," he explained nonchalantly, "Did you think I only bribed and killed my way up the ranks? I was known always for clean work." Suddenly he held his head. "Where did that come from?"
Kaoru was too astounded at the front yard to care.
The assistant kendo teacher was astounded as well.
"Wow, Kaoru! How did you get the place so clean?" Yahiko praised from the gate. He was reporting for work, already 15 years old and proud owner of a sakabatou. In kendo skills he was his mentor's equal, and in sword skills second in Tokyo only to Kenshin. At least, he said so.
"Are you mocking me?" Kaoru retorted.
"Maybe, you old hag," he fanned the flame. "The yard is spotless, and it never is when YOU clean."
Yahiko finally noticed Kaoru's whitehaired guest, who still held the broom. "What's he doing here, raccoon?" He put a hand to the sword.
"Who is he?" Enishi asked Kaoru.
"Don't give me that, you whitehaired psycho!" Yahiko glared. "Hasn't he learned his lesson four years ago?" He began to draw out the sakabatou. "Or shall I teach you again?"
"Whitehaired psycho?" The accused looked at him in surprise.
"You're getting on my nerves, Yukishiro Enishi," Yahiko warned. "Changed man or not, you will keep your distance from Kenshin and Kaoru if I can help it. Draw your sword." With that he placed the reverse blade in front of him.
"Sword? I don't have one." Still, instinctively, he took the broom and held it firmly in both hands before him. He assumed a defensive stance.
"Stop it, both of you!" Kaoru begged. She found Kenji running past, grabbed for him, and kept him in place before her.
"Not a chance, Kaoru!" Yahiko answered. "I'll show this man his place!"
He charged.
He swung the sword across to hit his opponent's chest, but met the broomstick in mid-attack. It was quickly swept up and hit Yahiko above his left ear, forcing the younger man to back away two steps. Yahiko tried a direct thrust, but his opponent swung the stick like a bat, brushed the sword aside, and kicked at his knees, making Yahiko buckle over.
Enishi jumped back, twirled the broomstick front and back, and finished with the broom held straight out at the back of his right arm.
"Had enough?" he challenged.
An angered Yahiko stood up, skipped, and took to the air in a downward thrust. In a split second, his opponent had pushed himself with the broomstick two feet higher, took the stick into both hands, and whacked him solidly at the left shoulder. It sent Yahiko straight to the clean yard floor on his stomach, the sakabatou clanging as it fell near him.
"Now stop bothering me, you insect," Enishi dropped the broom beside him, triumphant.
Kenji and a small group of early kendo students clapped nearby. Kaoru aligned her dropped jaw back in place. Not only did he have Myoujin Yahiko, a powerful force to be reckoned with, begging for mercy. He had him down in five moves. Yahiko entered the dojo with shamed face, grateful that only a few students had seen his humiliation.
But Enishi held his head again, more firmly than before.
How come he knew how to do that? It was on instinct, almost spontaneous. How and when did he learn to fight like that? Why did he learn?
For revenge.......that word again.........but for what?
The boy had called him Yukishiro Enishi as well. So Himura was telling the truth, and that was his name. But who was this man, this Enishi? Competent businessman, powerful fighter, former smuggler, whitehaired psycho? Organization? Bribing? Killing? Why were these words like second nature to him?
"Eni-chan sick again," Kenji tugged at his mother's sleeve, and made her look. Indeed, Enishi had turned very pale, and his forehead was dotted with cold sweat, as he slowly made his way back to the front porch.
In times like this, Enishi remembered, he would look for his sister, and find his answers in her smile.
Where was she now, exactly? What happened to her? If it was true that Himura married his sister, what made him marry this new woman?
Himura............Kamiya............nee-san............Yukishiro...............Enishi...............names were swirling in his head, faster and faster, finding no common thread, but having a common theme. They swirled so fast around him that he could not keep his balance.
"What's wrong, Enishi?" Kaoru asked again.
"Everything," he answered, and blacked out.
................
Noisy kids and me don't go together well. This chappie got finished, in efforts to relax from a night of trying to control a room full of noisy children.
At the end of the manga, Yahiko and Kenshin had a final stand-off on his fifteenth birthday. Kenshin won, but Yahiko did get a hit. It was enough for Kenshin, and he gave him the sakabatou as a coming-of-age present. This little fight was shown in the SeisouHen. It is also mentioned in the end that Yahiko and Yutarou become Kaoru's assistant teachers at the dojo, Kaoru still being the master.
JML-Yes, you're right and I'm wrong, about okaa-san. ^^ Pronunciation for Shinichi? I'm not sure. As I said, it's the same Shinichi as Kudo Shinichi of Detective Conan.
Bee-Thanks, I guess. Comes with living and breathing RK for at least two years. ^^
BittersweetKandy-Thanks for understanding. Hope you like this chappie!
Dallisse-All of Jinchuu? No, I'm not so bad as that.
Sabbie-I said, I WILL finish How to Impress a Girl 101. With Vandread back on AXN, I just might be inspired enough to get a few chappies done for it. ^^
Beriath-How did Kenji recognize Eni-chan? A natural meeting of minds, you can say. ^^
Iceangel-Sorry about the writer's block. I'm glad you're not mad. Best of luck with the story! Misao? She'll come around after a little while.
Cat-Sorry, I have no mercy for either Ken-san or Eni-chan. But I'm not heartless. This will get better-eventually. ^^
Hope to see you all again!
I apologize, but majority of this chapter will only make sense if you know your Jinchuu arc. Sorry.
........................
"Enishi!"
I hear her..........it's her............my nee-san...........
"Enishi!"
I remember......I am that little boy.........
"Enishi! Come and get your supper!"
"Hai, nee-san!"
She was pretty, nee-san, that I remember very well. She was quiet, and she did not smile a lot.
But she smiled for me.
........................
"Eni-chan! Eni-chan!"
Kenji greeted Enishi as he appeared at the gate, the next day.
"What, exactly, do you find in me, you little carrot-top?" he had to ask. Most children shied away from him, whether in or out of the hospital.
"I like Eni-chan, that's all!" the little boy replied with a grin from ear to ear. He then ran off and left his friend with his thoughts.
But what was there to like? Enishi had to ask. He was stubborn, he was proud, and he was irritable. He kept to himself, he always wanted his way. And he was not a Shinichi, but a person named Enishi.
When he returned to the hotel last night, he asked around if anyone knew anything about a Yukishiro Enishi. Almost everyone said they had not heard of such a name. One or two, however, mentioned seeing the name in the newspapers from several years ago.
"Why was he in the papers?" he asked casually of these people.
"He was arrested...............a smuggler of some sort............that's all I remember," was the answer he got.
A smuggler? Him?
So who was Shiroyuki Shinichi?
"One of the fishermen identified you as Shiroyuki Shinichi," a doctor told him in the hospital. "One of the more prominent people in Kyoto. He just did not remember why you are famous."
So, if he was this prominent person in Kyoto, who was this arrested smuggler, Yukishiro Enishi? And why did Himura say he was this Yukishiro Enishi? If one was an assumed name, an alias, which one was it? Which personality was real, and which had been invented over time?
And why was his sister's voice ringing in his ears, calling him "Enishi"? Was that, then, his real name? If so, why was he a smuggler?
Too many questions! Too few answers!
"Enishi? Are you alright?" a female voice asked from in front of him. "Enishi?"
"Sorry, I do not know who you are talking about," he replied, a hand on his pounding head. "My name is Shinichi."
"Do you want to lie down, Enishi? It's still early, and I haven't kept the futons yet."
He practically shouted at the young woman before him. "Why do you keep calling me Enishi, woman? I am not that man! Tell me I am not that man. A smuggler.......arrested.........years ago?" He gripped the side of his head hard.
The ground began to spin, as more questions spun around him. Why won't this woman answer? What did the woman, Himura's wife, know? And how come he felt that he had met this woman before? They had talked before............in an island.........who was this woman?
Who was this Himura?
Quite suddenly, the world blackened around him.
He opened his eyes to find his carrot-top little friend peering anxiously at him. He smiled weakly, and patted his head. He looked around, and saw that he had not reached the aforementioned futons. He was leaned on a post of the front porch, a cool cloth on his forehead.
He met the eyes of the woman he shouted at.
He knew her.
"Kamiya!"
He shuddered. He knew her, but he did not know why. Worse, at the back of his confused mind, he knew he had done this woman a major disservice. He had not violated her, he was sure, but he had done something terrible. For revenge..........but for what?
He knew that, whatever it is he had done to her, and to Himura, she remembered it, too. It showed too plainly in her eyes. Shock. Fright.
Who was he before? Who was this Enishi?
Firstly, though, he had to take away the fear in the young mother's face. Answers would come later.
"Gomen, Himura-san," he said, wiping his forehead with the cloth. "How long did I black out?"
"Only ten minutes," she breathed a sigh of relief, then smiled with understanding. "I got you to sit on the porch before you fainted."
"I apologize for the outburst. I had a rough night."
"No problem. But shall I call you Shinichi, instead?"
"He did say my name was Enishi, correct? I had best be called that way."
"Eni-chan alright now?" Kenji asked.
"Yes, my little friend, I'll be alright," he assured him.
Satisfied, the boy grinned and ran off again, chasing the butterflies near the bushes.
Enishi envied the boy. Kenji's questions had simple answers. Kenji's problems had quick solutions. It was not the same for him.
Kaoru led him to a spare room in the house, and told him he could use it as long as necessary. For an hour he unpacked very few belongings, all given to him out of charity-a fact he rather despised. He was not sure why, but these hand-me-downs were WAY beneath his taste. There had to be a way to get his own money, and to get his own things.
Kaoru then gave him a broom and orders to sweep the front and back yards. In less than an hour, she was surprised to see it cleaner than she had ever done personally, and second only to Kenshin's quality of maintenance.
"How in the heavens did you do that, Enishi?" she asked, stunned.
"I worked and slaved to the top of the organization," he explained nonchalantly, "Did you think I only bribed and killed my way up the ranks? I was known always for clean work." Suddenly he held his head. "Where did that come from?"
Kaoru was too astounded at the front yard to care.
The assistant kendo teacher was astounded as well.
"Wow, Kaoru! How did you get the place so clean?" Yahiko praised from the gate. He was reporting for work, already 15 years old and proud owner of a sakabatou. In kendo skills he was his mentor's equal, and in sword skills second in Tokyo only to Kenshin. At least, he said so.
"Are you mocking me?" Kaoru retorted.
"Maybe, you old hag," he fanned the flame. "The yard is spotless, and it never is when YOU clean."
Yahiko finally noticed Kaoru's whitehaired guest, who still held the broom. "What's he doing here, raccoon?" He put a hand to the sword.
"Who is he?" Enishi asked Kaoru.
"Don't give me that, you whitehaired psycho!" Yahiko glared. "Hasn't he learned his lesson four years ago?" He began to draw out the sakabatou. "Or shall I teach you again?"
"Whitehaired psycho?" The accused looked at him in surprise.
"You're getting on my nerves, Yukishiro Enishi," Yahiko warned. "Changed man or not, you will keep your distance from Kenshin and Kaoru if I can help it. Draw your sword." With that he placed the reverse blade in front of him.
"Sword? I don't have one." Still, instinctively, he took the broom and held it firmly in both hands before him. He assumed a defensive stance.
"Stop it, both of you!" Kaoru begged. She found Kenji running past, grabbed for him, and kept him in place before her.
"Not a chance, Kaoru!" Yahiko answered. "I'll show this man his place!"
He charged.
He swung the sword across to hit his opponent's chest, but met the broomstick in mid-attack. It was quickly swept up and hit Yahiko above his left ear, forcing the younger man to back away two steps. Yahiko tried a direct thrust, but his opponent swung the stick like a bat, brushed the sword aside, and kicked at his knees, making Yahiko buckle over.
Enishi jumped back, twirled the broomstick front and back, and finished with the broom held straight out at the back of his right arm.
"Had enough?" he challenged.
An angered Yahiko stood up, skipped, and took to the air in a downward thrust. In a split second, his opponent had pushed himself with the broomstick two feet higher, took the stick into both hands, and whacked him solidly at the left shoulder. It sent Yahiko straight to the clean yard floor on his stomach, the sakabatou clanging as it fell near him.
"Now stop bothering me, you insect," Enishi dropped the broom beside him, triumphant.
Kenji and a small group of early kendo students clapped nearby. Kaoru aligned her dropped jaw back in place. Not only did he have Myoujin Yahiko, a powerful force to be reckoned with, begging for mercy. He had him down in five moves. Yahiko entered the dojo with shamed face, grateful that only a few students had seen his humiliation.
But Enishi held his head again, more firmly than before.
How come he knew how to do that? It was on instinct, almost spontaneous. How and when did he learn to fight like that? Why did he learn?
For revenge.......that word again.........but for what?
The boy had called him Yukishiro Enishi as well. So Himura was telling the truth, and that was his name. But who was this man, this Enishi? Competent businessman, powerful fighter, former smuggler, whitehaired psycho? Organization? Bribing? Killing? Why were these words like second nature to him?
"Eni-chan sick again," Kenji tugged at his mother's sleeve, and made her look. Indeed, Enishi had turned very pale, and his forehead was dotted with cold sweat, as he slowly made his way back to the front porch.
In times like this, Enishi remembered, he would look for his sister, and find his answers in her smile.
Where was she now, exactly? What happened to her? If it was true that Himura married his sister, what made him marry this new woman?
Himura............Kamiya............nee-san............Yukishiro...............Enishi...............names were swirling in his head, faster and faster, finding no common thread, but having a common theme. They swirled so fast around him that he could not keep his balance.
"What's wrong, Enishi?" Kaoru asked again.
"Everything," he answered, and blacked out.
................
Noisy kids and me don't go together well. This chappie got finished, in efforts to relax from a night of trying to control a room full of noisy children.
At the end of the manga, Yahiko and Kenshin had a final stand-off on his fifteenth birthday. Kenshin won, but Yahiko did get a hit. It was enough for Kenshin, and he gave him the sakabatou as a coming-of-age present. This little fight was shown in the SeisouHen. It is also mentioned in the end that Yahiko and Yutarou become Kaoru's assistant teachers at the dojo, Kaoru still being the master.
JML-Yes, you're right and I'm wrong, about okaa-san. ^^ Pronunciation for Shinichi? I'm not sure. As I said, it's the same Shinichi as Kudo Shinichi of Detective Conan.
Bee-Thanks, I guess. Comes with living and breathing RK for at least two years. ^^
BittersweetKandy-Thanks for understanding. Hope you like this chappie!
Dallisse-All of Jinchuu? No, I'm not so bad as that.
Sabbie-I said, I WILL finish How to Impress a Girl 101. With Vandread back on AXN, I just might be inspired enough to get a few chappies done for it. ^^
Beriath-How did Kenji recognize Eni-chan? A natural meeting of minds, you can say. ^^
Iceangel-Sorry about the writer's block. I'm glad you're not mad. Best of luck with the story! Misao? She'll come around after a little while.
Cat-Sorry, I have no mercy for either Ken-san or Eni-chan. But I'm not heartless. This will get better-eventually. ^^
Hope to see you all again!