Sorry for the delay. My mind was a complete blank after chapter 4. Even
if the story is planned out, I didn't know WHAT I wanted out of Taming a
Tiger. Thoughts like, what kind of trouble did I get myself into?!
"Unwell" got typed out of my frustration, but it did not help the situation
one bit. Much like White and Black's chap 17, this got completed in the
patchy way: add something in front, at end, in front, at end, at
middle...Again, quote from maigo-chan, volume 19.
........
Where have I been all this time? I was in Shanghai. ..Shanghai, that demon city of the Orient, the whirlpool of riches and greed both East and West. ..For a kid driven out of Japan to survive in Shanghai meant coming out on top of the fiercest competition. ..
This is the only thing I have to thank you for. ..I was always close to death, but I survived. ..My revenge..was the only thing in my heart...
........
"I would like to borrow your records, please?"
"Name of file?"
"Yukishiro, Yukishiro Enishi."
"Classified information. You need special clearance for that, sir."
"Tell your superior I am connected to Himura Kenshin."
"Close enough. Wait here, sir."
The past simply could not be ignored, in order to understand the present.
He had convinced himself for one week that the past was unimportant. However, there were still too many questions left unanswered. The present would only make sense if he remembered what was the past. As Himura would never supply him with the answers he sought, he resolved to look for them himself. In the place he hardly expected to find so much information: the police office. He had learned from Kaoru that Himura was now working as a trainer of new recruits, and that he had significant influence in the precinct. He would use that to his advantage. Himura need not know, and even if he did, he could not stop him.
He was handed one....two...three thick leather envelopes, each tied securely in the middle. "There are two more, sir, wait here," the officer told him as he released the envelopes into his hands.
"Thank you," he acknowledged, as he stared down at the high pile of paperwork. He could not believe that a single person could amass that large a police file. He could not believe that he was that person. And he was not even thirty.
He chose to open the first two envelopes. He had nothing important to do over the next few days; he had time enough and to spare to inspect all five.
A lot of records on the second envelope were in Japanese, but most written material in the first, a short biography on himself, was in Chinese. He read it easily, sometimes even faster than he read the Japanese characters. He did not bother with translations. He had finished reading five documents when he realized the records keeper stared at him intently. He remembered with shock. It was rare for a Japanese person to know Chinese like he did.
"I studied abroad," he explained with a grin. Well, he did, didn't he, in a way?
Police reports of petty robbery, juvenile delinquency, and repeated escapes from custody, aged 12 to 14.
Short records on assassinations he had personally conducted, aged 14 to 17.
Records of sightings of him, aged 17 to 19, as a sub-leader of the Shanghai mafia's larger branches.
Detailed accounts of his leadership of his own branch. Accounts of sold firearms and weapons exchanges, starting from the time he was 20 until he was 24. Records of clients, transactions, sightings, all throughout the mainland and Formosa. The most extensive accounts dated from the time he was 23 and 24, when contact with Tokyo and Kyoto was extensive.
In the second envelope, in Japanese, were records, majority in the hand of one signed Saitou Hajime. Recorded plans to begin regular arms exchanges between Shanghai and Tokyo. Lists of contacts for specialized weapons. Sale records of a steel battleship, fully armed and loaded, used in a failed attack on Kyoto. Recorded as conducted by his henchmen: the bombing of the Akabeko, a popular sukiyaki restaurant; a hit on police Chief Uramura at his residence; an attack on the Maekawa dojo, one closely associated to the Kamiya dojo; and a devastating attack on the Kamiya dojo itself.
Several more documents, discovered by Saitou and his associate: locations of a temporary base in Yokohama, and of a trading post just beyond Tokyo Bay.
"Your island!" he recalled Yahiko's half-surprised words. "A small one in Tokyo Bay. You fought Kenshin there, you brought Kaoru there, don't you remember?"
He began to remember, slowly, a small island. Closed off from entrance except from a small bay. Smaller weapons exchanged in bulk were hidden there for weeks on end, until conditions were right. And yes, he did recall seeing Kamiya and Himura there, some time ago....for...for....something.....
His head began to pound again, so he returned the files and headed for home, promising himself to come back tomorrow.
He returned to the Kamiya dojo, and walked aimlessly toward the main practice area.
He scanned the large open space, and eventually found a collection of swords on a wall. His hands gravitated toward the longest among them. Not as long as the swords he was used to handle, but it had to do for now. Hopefully, a little bodily exercise would get rid of the pain in his head.
He unsheathed the sword, and found that his hands, feet, and body knew exactly what to do. He actually relished the exercise, after more than a month of relatively sedentary life. He swung the sword back and front, his wrist knowing the precise twists and turns required. His arms followed, taking the sword up over his head and low to the floor. Soon his legs bent and kicked in the basic practice movements of the style. He was in his element. He was capable in the long-stick martial arts, but he knew he was not at his best form when he fought Yahiko with a broom. Next to a sturdy pistol, the sword was his weapon of choice.
As his body continued moving in his accustomed way...whatever the school or the style was called, he could not recall right now...his head was busy processing that day's findings.
While the files gave him more information, it also gave him more questions. Not about himself, because many were answered by those leather envelopes. There was just this most important question.
Why?
Why did he do all that? For what?
Why did he go to Shanghai? What drove him, to be a criminal, and one of the best? What made him the man, the boss, the fighter, that he was? What was responsible for that?
The questions slowly formed into a solid shape, into a concrete figure, into a real enemy. Soon his sword was aimed at a certain adversary, his movements directed with anger at a certain opponent. As his thoughts merged with his movements, his wrath assumed the form of a man. A man who had been the object of all his thoughts, all of his movements, all of his actions.
But who, and why?
His mind returned to when we was eleven years old. He was alone in the middle of a battlefield. Corpses surrounded his feet, and the stench of death filled his nose.
Then he saw him.
Him.
He gave him a glare as terrible as of any grown man. They would meet again, and when they did, the man will pay. He WILL pay...for....for... ?
And they did meet again, he and his opponent. Fifteen years later, five years ago from the present. His sword swung faster and faster. To him his enemy had his own hand to a sheathed sword, preparing for his most terrible move. But he knew how to counter it, he had practiced for months to prepare for him. He was not going to fail.
His opponent stood before the door, hazy but visible. In his fury, he drove a direct thrust through him, his long sword aimed to kill.
But the figure suddenly ducked, and elbowed his left side. It forced him to drop the sword and kneel on the dojo floor. He quickly grabbed the sword again to slash at his opponent, but his opponent had moved out of the way behind him. With a singular movement the opponent wrenched the sword out of his hand. He immediately sought the scabbard, resheathed the sword, and returned it to its place.
"I should really ask Kaoru-dono to move those swords to another place..." the figure noted.
Enishi rubbed his eyes. He found the figure of his terrifying wrath replaced by Himura.
"I apologize," he said, but not comprehending the seriousness in Himura's face.
"None of that before Kenji, or Kaoru-dono," was all Kenshin said.
"Of course," he replied.
"Where have you been?" Kenshin asked calmly enough.
"Just around town."
Kenshin raised an eyebrow. "I saw you coming from the precinct this afternoon. What were you doing there?"
He shrugged. "Checking old records. Census, statistics...is there a problem?"
Kenshin shook his head.
"Daddy, dinner ready!" A little voice piped from the door.
Kenshin looked at the boy for a few moments, and looked back at Enishi. He sighed deeply, then smiled and walked toward Kenji. He patted Kenji on the head.
"Be careful of Uncle Enishi, alright, Kenji?"
Kenji looked up at his daddy with a quizzical look. "Uncle? Eni-chan my uncle?" He then smiled. Cool! If he was an uncle, that meant he would visit again even if he left. And he was surely nicer to be with than Uncle Yahiko!
"Exactly what do you mean, the boy must be careful of me?" the aforementioned uncle bristled.
"Uncle Eni-chan my friend!" Kenji seconded the protest.
"So he is, Kenji," Kenshin replied, with a glance at Enishi. "But he's still trying to remember things, Kenji. And I am not sure of what he might suddenly do."
A strong sensation deep in his soul resurfaced for a few crucial seconds. "Be scared, not of what I can do to the boy. But to you." He spoke with clenched fist.
Kenshin only smiled sadly. "If you must, you must. But deal with me alone." He tucked his hair behind his ears. "Come, you are still our guest. Let us have dinner."
Enishi did not move from his place.
"The truth. The truth you are hiding from me. Who are you?"
Kenshin kept his back to him, standing at the door of the dojo.
"I told you before, my name is Himura Kenshin. But what I am to you, only you truly know. I cannot tell you."
He scooped Kenji up into his arms, and walked away.
........
The next chapter will come a little late, maybe after a week. As I have forewarned, I'll be entering medical school, and next week is the first week of classes. I'll get my bearings first about reality, before I get my bearings back on Meiji Japan. ^^
Much of that rigmarole about that first file was fabricated by my head, what could be reasonably assumed from the information the manga provides. (Most especially Vol. 23) Some of this stuff I got out of a documentary I saw on the Chicago and LA mafia of the early 1900's. One guy was already high in the ranks at 21!
My thanks to those who reviewed Unwell: bittersweetKandy, Sabbie, Jason M Lee, bee, tesuka-chan, Cat H, Firuze Khanume, MightyMightyMunson, Angel of Death.
Sabbie-Aoshi was SO cool in the Jinchuu arc, helping everybody and all. Yutarou? Maybe, I'm still thinking how.
Dallisse-Thanks. I figured similar minds work well together. ^^
JML-Yeah, Enishi is one spoilt brat in his time. Thanks!
Cat H-It was deliberate. ^^ Yes, the guy could be sweet in his own way. He did treat Kaoru decent while he was in that island.
The Magician of Black Chaos-Thanks for putting me in the faves list! Unfortunately this story comes with a given that Enishi IS paired. Sorry to disappoint. I hope you still keep reading, though!
CardMistressSakura-OK, we're clear on that. I'm glad you like Eni-chan, too!
BittersweetKandy-You can say, I'm still setting the pace, that's why not much is happening yet. ^^
Battousai no Tenshi-Thanks, thanks. Not easy to do, I can tell you that!
Iceangel-Patience is a virtue! One that neither Misao nor Enishi has, of course, but it's still a virtue. ^^ On second thought, yes, Enishi does have patience in a good load! He did execute Jinchuu with a lot of waiting for the right timing. ^^
Devil-Misao will be OK, don't worry about her. ^^
Thanks again for reading!
........
Where have I been all this time? I was in Shanghai. ..Shanghai, that demon city of the Orient, the whirlpool of riches and greed both East and West. ..For a kid driven out of Japan to survive in Shanghai meant coming out on top of the fiercest competition. ..
This is the only thing I have to thank you for. ..I was always close to death, but I survived. ..My revenge..was the only thing in my heart...
........
"I would like to borrow your records, please?"
"Name of file?"
"Yukishiro, Yukishiro Enishi."
"Classified information. You need special clearance for that, sir."
"Tell your superior I am connected to Himura Kenshin."
"Close enough. Wait here, sir."
The past simply could not be ignored, in order to understand the present.
He had convinced himself for one week that the past was unimportant. However, there were still too many questions left unanswered. The present would only make sense if he remembered what was the past. As Himura would never supply him with the answers he sought, he resolved to look for them himself. In the place he hardly expected to find so much information: the police office. He had learned from Kaoru that Himura was now working as a trainer of new recruits, and that he had significant influence in the precinct. He would use that to his advantage. Himura need not know, and even if he did, he could not stop him.
He was handed one....two...three thick leather envelopes, each tied securely in the middle. "There are two more, sir, wait here," the officer told him as he released the envelopes into his hands.
"Thank you," he acknowledged, as he stared down at the high pile of paperwork. He could not believe that a single person could amass that large a police file. He could not believe that he was that person. And he was not even thirty.
He chose to open the first two envelopes. He had nothing important to do over the next few days; he had time enough and to spare to inspect all five.
A lot of records on the second envelope were in Japanese, but most written material in the first, a short biography on himself, was in Chinese. He read it easily, sometimes even faster than he read the Japanese characters. He did not bother with translations. He had finished reading five documents when he realized the records keeper stared at him intently. He remembered with shock. It was rare for a Japanese person to know Chinese like he did.
"I studied abroad," he explained with a grin. Well, he did, didn't he, in a way?
Police reports of petty robbery, juvenile delinquency, and repeated escapes from custody, aged 12 to 14.
Short records on assassinations he had personally conducted, aged 14 to 17.
Records of sightings of him, aged 17 to 19, as a sub-leader of the Shanghai mafia's larger branches.
Detailed accounts of his leadership of his own branch. Accounts of sold firearms and weapons exchanges, starting from the time he was 20 until he was 24. Records of clients, transactions, sightings, all throughout the mainland and Formosa. The most extensive accounts dated from the time he was 23 and 24, when contact with Tokyo and Kyoto was extensive.
In the second envelope, in Japanese, were records, majority in the hand of one signed Saitou Hajime. Recorded plans to begin regular arms exchanges between Shanghai and Tokyo. Lists of contacts for specialized weapons. Sale records of a steel battleship, fully armed and loaded, used in a failed attack on Kyoto. Recorded as conducted by his henchmen: the bombing of the Akabeko, a popular sukiyaki restaurant; a hit on police Chief Uramura at his residence; an attack on the Maekawa dojo, one closely associated to the Kamiya dojo; and a devastating attack on the Kamiya dojo itself.
Several more documents, discovered by Saitou and his associate: locations of a temporary base in Yokohama, and of a trading post just beyond Tokyo Bay.
"Your island!" he recalled Yahiko's half-surprised words. "A small one in Tokyo Bay. You fought Kenshin there, you brought Kaoru there, don't you remember?"
He began to remember, slowly, a small island. Closed off from entrance except from a small bay. Smaller weapons exchanged in bulk were hidden there for weeks on end, until conditions were right. And yes, he did recall seeing Kamiya and Himura there, some time ago....for...for....something.....
His head began to pound again, so he returned the files and headed for home, promising himself to come back tomorrow.
He returned to the Kamiya dojo, and walked aimlessly toward the main practice area.
He scanned the large open space, and eventually found a collection of swords on a wall. His hands gravitated toward the longest among them. Not as long as the swords he was used to handle, but it had to do for now. Hopefully, a little bodily exercise would get rid of the pain in his head.
He unsheathed the sword, and found that his hands, feet, and body knew exactly what to do. He actually relished the exercise, after more than a month of relatively sedentary life. He swung the sword back and front, his wrist knowing the precise twists and turns required. His arms followed, taking the sword up over his head and low to the floor. Soon his legs bent and kicked in the basic practice movements of the style. He was in his element. He was capable in the long-stick martial arts, but he knew he was not at his best form when he fought Yahiko with a broom. Next to a sturdy pistol, the sword was his weapon of choice.
As his body continued moving in his accustomed way...whatever the school or the style was called, he could not recall right now...his head was busy processing that day's findings.
While the files gave him more information, it also gave him more questions. Not about himself, because many were answered by those leather envelopes. There was just this most important question.
Why?
Why did he do all that? For what?
Why did he go to Shanghai? What drove him, to be a criminal, and one of the best? What made him the man, the boss, the fighter, that he was? What was responsible for that?
The questions slowly formed into a solid shape, into a concrete figure, into a real enemy. Soon his sword was aimed at a certain adversary, his movements directed with anger at a certain opponent. As his thoughts merged with his movements, his wrath assumed the form of a man. A man who had been the object of all his thoughts, all of his movements, all of his actions.
But who, and why?
His mind returned to when we was eleven years old. He was alone in the middle of a battlefield. Corpses surrounded his feet, and the stench of death filled his nose.
Then he saw him.
Him.
He gave him a glare as terrible as of any grown man. They would meet again, and when they did, the man will pay. He WILL pay...for....for... ?
And they did meet again, he and his opponent. Fifteen years later, five years ago from the present. His sword swung faster and faster. To him his enemy had his own hand to a sheathed sword, preparing for his most terrible move. But he knew how to counter it, he had practiced for months to prepare for him. He was not going to fail.
His opponent stood before the door, hazy but visible. In his fury, he drove a direct thrust through him, his long sword aimed to kill.
But the figure suddenly ducked, and elbowed his left side. It forced him to drop the sword and kneel on the dojo floor. He quickly grabbed the sword again to slash at his opponent, but his opponent had moved out of the way behind him. With a singular movement the opponent wrenched the sword out of his hand. He immediately sought the scabbard, resheathed the sword, and returned it to its place.
"I should really ask Kaoru-dono to move those swords to another place..." the figure noted.
Enishi rubbed his eyes. He found the figure of his terrifying wrath replaced by Himura.
"I apologize," he said, but not comprehending the seriousness in Himura's face.
"None of that before Kenji, or Kaoru-dono," was all Kenshin said.
"Of course," he replied.
"Where have you been?" Kenshin asked calmly enough.
"Just around town."
Kenshin raised an eyebrow. "I saw you coming from the precinct this afternoon. What were you doing there?"
He shrugged. "Checking old records. Census, statistics...is there a problem?"
Kenshin shook his head.
"Daddy, dinner ready!" A little voice piped from the door.
Kenshin looked at the boy for a few moments, and looked back at Enishi. He sighed deeply, then smiled and walked toward Kenji. He patted Kenji on the head.
"Be careful of Uncle Enishi, alright, Kenji?"
Kenji looked up at his daddy with a quizzical look. "Uncle? Eni-chan my uncle?" He then smiled. Cool! If he was an uncle, that meant he would visit again even if he left. And he was surely nicer to be with than Uncle Yahiko!
"Exactly what do you mean, the boy must be careful of me?" the aforementioned uncle bristled.
"Uncle Eni-chan my friend!" Kenji seconded the protest.
"So he is, Kenji," Kenshin replied, with a glance at Enishi. "But he's still trying to remember things, Kenji. And I am not sure of what he might suddenly do."
A strong sensation deep in his soul resurfaced for a few crucial seconds. "Be scared, not of what I can do to the boy. But to you." He spoke with clenched fist.
Kenshin only smiled sadly. "If you must, you must. But deal with me alone." He tucked his hair behind his ears. "Come, you are still our guest. Let us have dinner."
Enishi did not move from his place.
"The truth. The truth you are hiding from me. Who are you?"
Kenshin kept his back to him, standing at the door of the dojo.
"I told you before, my name is Himura Kenshin. But what I am to you, only you truly know. I cannot tell you."
He scooped Kenji up into his arms, and walked away.
........
The next chapter will come a little late, maybe after a week. As I have forewarned, I'll be entering medical school, and next week is the first week of classes. I'll get my bearings first about reality, before I get my bearings back on Meiji Japan. ^^
Much of that rigmarole about that first file was fabricated by my head, what could be reasonably assumed from the information the manga provides. (Most especially Vol. 23) Some of this stuff I got out of a documentary I saw on the Chicago and LA mafia of the early 1900's. One guy was already high in the ranks at 21!
My thanks to those who reviewed Unwell: bittersweetKandy, Sabbie, Jason M Lee, bee, tesuka-chan, Cat H, Firuze Khanume, MightyMightyMunson, Angel of Death.
Sabbie-Aoshi was SO cool in the Jinchuu arc, helping everybody and all. Yutarou? Maybe, I'm still thinking how.
Dallisse-Thanks. I figured similar minds work well together. ^^
JML-Yeah, Enishi is one spoilt brat in his time. Thanks!
Cat H-It was deliberate. ^^ Yes, the guy could be sweet in his own way. He did treat Kaoru decent while he was in that island.
The Magician of Black Chaos-Thanks for putting me in the faves list! Unfortunately this story comes with a given that Enishi IS paired. Sorry to disappoint. I hope you still keep reading, though!
CardMistressSakura-OK, we're clear on that. I'm glad you like Eni-chan, too!
BittersweetKandy-You can say, I'm still setting the pace, that's why not much is happening yet. ^^
Battousai no Tenshi-Thanks, thanks. Not easy to do, I can tell you that!
Iceangel-Patience is a virtue! One that neither Misao nor Enishi has, of course, but it's still a virtue. ^^ On second thought, yes, Enishi does have patience in a good load! He did execute Jinchuu with a lot of waiting for the right timing. ^^
Devil-Misao will be OK, don't worry about her. ^^
Thanks again for reading!