Hello again. I apologize for the long, long delay. Many things came up,
schoolwork and relationship problems being foremost. The thinking required
for this chapter is equivalent to the one needed for White and Black's
burning-building chapter. Unfortunately I didn't have the luxury of free
time for imagination, like that time, for the last few months. I definitely
don't grudge Midori now for her long lapses between chapters.
Thank you to those folks who have me on their Author Alerts. I know how useful they are to you, especially with the likes of me. This is the next chappie. Hope you like. This one will be a bit long.
.....................................................
He walked slowly and deliberately. He had to be careful with his former second man. The man knew everything he could possibly know about him.
In all likelihood, he would end up dead this time. Wu underestimated the effort it would take to kill him, the first time, the attack that made him lose most of his memory. Now Wu would get it right. The only reason he was kept alive this long was for those codes he knew. After he gave them, he would be killed. He knew that.
But before he got himself killed, he would first make sure that Kenji was safe, and back with his parents. He promised himself that. Probably the only unselfish thing he would ever do in his life. He would do his best work on it.
Many things had to be made right. He had to redeem himself for his many wrongs against a man who only tried to be kind to him. He had to regain the trust a courageous woman, wife of that kind man, gave to him. He had to finish this mission he took upon himself to complete. He had to prove himself an honorable man. He had to prove it to the boy, to his fiancée, to his brother-in-law, to his sister. To himself.
As he neared the warehouse, he looked around. He noted many plainclothes policemen already in place, and he thought he saw the blue costume of the Tenken from behind a wall. A well-planned police busting operation, he smiled. He had seen the best and worst of them in his time. This was pretty good.
He nonchalantly strolled onto the front gate of the warehouse. He cocked his thick glasses into place and leaned on his cane, then addressed the doorman in his best British English, "Good day, old chap. I have an appointment with your boss today, would you be so kind as to let me in?"
The doorman scratched his head. Mr. Yorkshire thus repeated his greeting in halting, foreign Japanese. The doorman finally understood, and opened the door for him with many a bow.
Lackeys were all the same, Enishi mused. Most Asians were the same. They crumble at the sights and sounds of a white man, of a Western language. They lose any common sense they might have had before seeing the white man. They would go great lengths to please them. They actually like to be servants to these giants. Not Yukishiro Enishi, not then, not now. White men were pompous, arrogant, spoiled ordinary men who needed to be taught their real place in Asia. They had no right to look down on Chinese or Japanese. Asians were as smart as them, and could be as powerful as them. These were the reasons he relished being mistaken for an Englishman for a time. He laughed to himself at how his countrymen groveled before him. He grinned at how the white men treated him differently, and actually, fairly.
The doorman left him with another low-level man, who unwittingly gave him a tour of the facility, bowing profusely the whole time. So far Misao's diagram was accurate. He noted his potential escape routes and danger points. But he still had not seen where they kept Kenji, and they were already in the center of the warehouse. Despite the outward calm, he was getting nervous.
He was about to ask about him, when he heard the voice of his former second man. His exasperated Chinese was getting nearer, obviously maligning the doorman.
"YOU IMBECILE!! I told you we weren't expecting visitors until tomorrow! What if that man is from the police?"
A door of a manager's office slammed shut, and a scrawny man in a black outfit appeared, with a face full of wrath. It immediately changed to a look of terror. The man had seen the British guest, and recognized the mafia boss.
"Now, is that any way to welcome me, Wu?" Enishi uncovered his head and took off his glasses. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
"Boss........." Wu fumbled, then coughed and regained composure. "How good of you to visit us yourself. I haven't seen you personally since that incident back home. Such a pity you were treated so unkindly." He paced before him with a grin. "You would be glad to know that I've fired those incompetents for not being thorough with you, back in Shanghai. And I know how you hate work that isn't thoroughly done."
He was not in the mood to be sarcastic. "I want the boy. The redhead's son."
Wu tsked. "You know, we weren't expecting you for another day or so, boss. So, I'm not sure if I'm ready to make a deal........"
"Cut the crap. Where is the boy?"
"My, my. Touchy today, aren't we, boss?" Wu grinned. "You can't just have your way now. I have the upper hand, and I intend to use it well. I have to get back some of the pride I lost from all those humiliations you let me have. I'll let you suffer for just a little while longer."
He snapped a finger, and a large man walked out of the assembly. The screams and shouts of a little boy were heard from just behind the wall.
"Isn't that the son of your sworn enemy? Why don't you let me continue your revenge on him? What better way to get back to that redhaired man than to let his son feel what you felt as a child? I can let the boy have the life you had. I'll teach him everything he needs to know about our 'business'. I'll make him rise in the ranks. Who knows? He might just be a better dragon head than even you were!"
Enishi panicked and dropped all pretense. "If you as much as slap him- --"
"Since when did you become so emotional about a hostage, boss?" Wu smiled with much malice, as the man returned with a squirming, wailing small boy.
"KENJI!" Enishi stepped forward, and dashed toward the boy, when a guard stopped him.
Kenji heard the voice, and suddenly stopped crying. "Eni-chan!" He began kicking and squirming harder. "Eni-chan! Eni-chan!"
"Release the boy, NOW!" Enishi demanded.
"But of course, I will, boss!" Wu folded his hands with confidence. "After you give me the code."
Enishi haughtily bowed before him. "Very well. 1-1-6-2. Look for a certain Mr. O'Connor. Now release the boy."
"Wait," Wu sharply said, and snapped a finger.
Enishi was surrounded by armed and brawny men. He only raised an eyebrow.
"You can't fool me, boss," Wu told him with a large smirk. "That was too easy. It's not the real code." He snapped again, and smiled at his henchmen. "Get the code out of him, and don't stop until you do."
One lackey immediately landed a punch to his stomach, and another man hit him with nunchucks from behind. The others gave him successive punches and jabs. It was treatment restricted to low-level traitors and informants, short of killing them. They were too many and too fast for him to handle. Wu indeed knew how to prevent him, a feared street fighter and assassin as a teenager, from getting the upper hand. Soon his face was bruised and sore in three places. His brown suit was now torn and dirty.
"Fine," he panted, on hands and knees, "have it your way. The code..........the code is..........0-2-6-2."
"No other words or letters that go with it?" Wu asked matter-of-factly.
"None." He dropped to the ground.
"Good," the small man smiled again. "Your purpose to us is finished. It has been a, pleasure, working with you, boss." He gave a nod to a man beside him, who took out a pistol. "See you in the afterlife."
"You never did the dirty work yourself," he smirked from the floor.
But instead of a bang, he heard the swish of a sharp projectile and the falling of heavy steel onto the floor. In the next second, he found a kunai inches from his nose. Three more came raining down soon after.
"Get your hands off him!" a woman shouted from above. "We have you surrounded! Surrender and come peacefully!"
It could only be one woman. Enishi smiled.
"Oh, YOU!" Wu laughed heartily, looking up. "YOU want me to surrender? Go back to your mother, little girl!"
"One more word out of you, and this kunai hits your throat!" the woman threatened, as she stood over stacks of crates. Kunai filled all the spaces between her fingers, and her face showed full wrath.
From just behind Wu, Enishi also noted the quick and silent arrival of Myoujin and Seta, who positioned themselves behind the burly man carrying the squirming Kenji. With a well-positioned chop to the neck Seta sent the man sprawling to the ground, as Myoujin scooped up the little boy. The other men, looking up at the ninja, had not noticed.
"I would listen to that weasel, if I were you," Enishi rose from the floor, buying the young men time to get out. He took up the pistol from the floor and pointed it at Wu. "You don't want to get her mad. Believe me, I know."
"The world is coming to an end!" Wu sneered. "The white tiger of Shanghai has stooped to a woman!"
Enishi cocked the pistol.
"I would have understood if a woman of the elite stole your heart, but this poor girl from the backside? Not only have you lost your soul, you've lost your sight, White Tiger!"
He fired.
A lackey shot at Enishi in response, as Wu dropped to his knees. Another guard opened fire both at him and Misao over the crates. He ran away from the shots, but was too slow and got hit again. Misao jumped onto the main floor of the warehouse.
But Misao's movements had dislodged the crates from their places. The topmost crates quickly began to topple down. And one was headed straight for her head. Her back was turned, and she did not see them falling.
"MISAO!"
He leaped forward, dived toward the ninja, wrapped himself around her, as they both hit the ground. The boxes of metal continued to fall around them. He unceremoniously carried her, and jumped away from the avalanche. He continued to weave his way through the warehouse, ducking and dodging, more with her safety in mind than his.
She yelled above the noise of the falling crates. "Are you crazy, Enishi?!"
"People say so, weasel," he grinned over her face.
She suddenly noticed that his clothes now had bloodstains around the right shoulder. And that the snow-white head had spots of red mixed in. Still he went on toward the gates. "Um, um, Enishi, you.......you could put me down now," she begged.
"Shut up before I change my mind," he answered sternly. "Where is the little redhead?"
In reply, a group of voices began to be heard just beyond the gate, yelling for them. "They're all just outside, thank goodness!" Misao happily answered.
But in the next instant, a box knocked him down, and set them sprawling to the floor. He hit the ground head first, with Misao over him, unharmed.
Misao quickly got up, but Enishi remained on the floor. "Come on, silly! We have to get out of here! Only a few more meters left!"
His eyes slowly fluttered open. "What?" He looked dazed.
"I'll take it from here, but we have to hurry!"
"Huh?" he drawled, as his brows knit together. "Who.........are you? What..........just happened?"
"No! Not now!" Misao exclaimed, as wood and metal continued to fall around them. "I'm Misao, I'll explain everything later, but we have to get out!"
"Misao?" He looked at her intently for a few seconds, then smiled faintly. "Oh, the weasel! Get out of here and save yourself. No one will miss me."
"WHAT?!" the woman exclaimed, then gave him a fast and hard slap. "Get a hold of yourself! I won't let you die here, and Kenji will cry his eyes out if you don't come back with me." She positioned herself below him, and heaved him up. "Now let's go!"
"Crazy weasel," he muttered, as he raised himself, slung over her back. But he felt himself moving in and out of consciousness. "Yell..........yell for Seta, your Aoshi-sama..........don't care who............you can't carry me out............." he told her. "Silly girl..........."
It blurred all around him.
Colors came and went over his eyes. Red, blue, black, and everything in between. He did not even know if he was dreaming, hallucinating, or really seeing things. He thought he heard everybody from above him, one at a time, from Saitou to Yahiko. He heard snatches of words over him. Something about bullet wounds, something about his head, something about surgery, something about being alive when he should be dead – people STILL did not believe he could be this tough. Besides, didn't he have a good guardian angel in his sister?
Where was everybody? He felt in front of him, but his hands met nothing. He still had trouble seeing beyond the haze. How long had he been like this, he did not know. All he knew now was that he was lying down, his right arm was awfully sore, and..........he did not know what happened to Kenji. What happened? Was he alive? Was he alright? Was he..........was he.................."KENJI--- ----!"
"Take it easy, Enishi!"
He was held firmly at the left shoulder. The haze slowly cleared, and he made out the features of Himura Kenshin. He looked around carefully. He noted hospital beds as far as he can see to the left and right of him, and he was sitting up in one of them.
"The doctors said you just need rest, and your shoulder will heal nicely. The same is true of the gash on your head."
He still did not understand. "Where is he? Where is she? Where are they? Where am I?"
"One at a time, one at a time," Himura lowered him back to the bed. "Kenji will be back shortly with his mother. He is very fine."
The uncle gave out a deep sigh of relief, then he remembered. "But what about----"
"Misao is also fine. We had to force her to go back to the dojo and sleep for a while. She did not want to leave you."
Alright, that was settled, but how did he manage to land back into the hospital?
"You lost consciousness, while you were slung over Misao-dono. You had lost a lot of blood. From inside the warehouse, Aoshi carried you outside. Saitou had a police wagon ready, so we used that to bring you here. The bullets were taken out of you two days ago. At the same time the gash to your head was also closed up. They doctors kept you here for observation. Most people would have died from the injuries you sustained, and the time it took to bring you here. They cannot believe you are still alive."
Enishi smirked. "I have been called a white devil when I was younger. I guess it's true that demons never die."
Kenshin then added, "One thing does bother me, though. Wu Heishin escaped."
Enishi only waved it off. "He's probably been booked already, but that chimney of a police officer hasn't told you."
"I do not understand."
"Government lackey," he tossed his snowy head at the redhead. "And one who doesn't know how organized crime works. You wouldn't last a day in my world, sword skills or not." He folded his arms and grinned. "There were two numbers that I gave him. The first, the one he ignored, was the true one, the one for access to the traders. The second code I gave that fool is the wrong code. Since he had to hurt me to get it, he thought he now has the real code. A buy-bust operation is waiting for him; I had Saitou arrange that. If he manages to get to the real contact anyway, the code he has are orders to abort the exchange, and not to trade with him. If the Americans don't kill him for that, the organization in Shanghai will. Either way, through Saitou or through me, his career is over. My work is done."
Kenshin nodded. "Very smart of you."
"I know."
The brother-in-law sweatdropped, then smiled and bowed low. "Yukishiro Enishi, I owe you the life of my son. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you. My wife thanks you. Domo arigatou gozarimashita."
"A.........Ah.........um," the poor young man had never been thanked sincerely in his entire life! He had no sarcastic comment for it. He could only mutter the standard reply. "Dou itashimashite."
"Your sister would have been proud of you."
"My sister met a good man."
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Thanks to the reviewers of the last chapter. Muchos gracias to jbramx2 for reminding me that it has been two months since I last released a chapter. ^^;; Thanks to those folks who liked the inner dialogue, and to those who liked the E/K interaction, and generally to everybody who left a review. You really make a person's day. My sincere thanks to those who read this chapter after the long delay. Summer's around the corner, so I'll be stepping up the pace soon. I'll see ya!
Thank you to those folks who have me on their Author Alerts. I know how useful they are to you, especially with the likes of me. This is the next chappie. Hope you like. This one will be a bit long.
.....................................................
He walked slowly and deliberately. He had to be careful with his former second man. The man knew everything he could possibly know about him.
In all likelihood, he would end up dead this time. Wu underestimated the effort it would take to kill him, the first time, the attack that made him lose most of his memory. Now Wu would get it right. The only reason he was kept alive this long was for those codes he knew. After he gave them, he would be killed. He knew that.
But before he got himself killed, he would first make sure that Kenji was safe, and back with his parents. He promised himself that. Probably the only unselfish thing he would ever do in his life. He would do his best work on it.
Many things had to be made right. He had to redeem himself for his many wrongs against a man who only tried to be kind to him. He had to regain the trust a courageous woman, wife of that kind man, gave to him. He had to finish this mission he took upon himself to complete. He had to prove himself an honorable man. He had to prove it to the boy, to his fiancée, to his brother-in-law, to his sister. To himself.
As he neared the warehouse, he looked around. He noted many plainclothes policemen already in place, and he thought he saw the blue costume of the Tenken from behind a wall. A well-planned police busting operation, he smiled. He had seen the best and worst of them in his time. This was pretty good.
He nonchalantly strolled onto the front gate of the warehouse. He cocked his thick glasses into place and leaned on his cane, then addressed the doorman in his best British English, "Good day, old chap. I have an appointment with your boss today, would you be so kind as to let me in?"
The doorman scratched his head. Mr. Yorkshire thus repeated his greeting in halting, foreign Japanese. The doorman finally understood, and opened the door for him with many a bow.
Lackeys were all the same, Enishi mused. Most Asians were the same. They crumble at the sights and sounds of a white man, of a Western language. They lose any common sense they might have had before seeing the white man. They would go great lengths to please them. They actually like to be servants to these giants. Not Yukishiro Enishi, not then, not now. White men were pompous, arrogant, spoiled ordinary men who needed to be taught their real place in Asia. They had no right to look down on Chinese or Japanese. Asians were as smart as them, and could be as powerful as them. These were the reasons he relished being mistaken for an Englishman for a time. He laughed to himself at how his countrymen groveled before him. He grinned at how the white men treated him differently, and actually, fairly.
The doorman left him with another low-level man, who unwittingly gave him a tour of the facility, bowing profusely the whole time. So far Misao's diagram was accurate. He noted his potential escape routes and danger points. But he still had not seen where they kept Kenji, and they were already in the center of the warehouse. Despite the outward calm, he was getting nervous.
He was about to ask about him, when he heard the voice of his former second man. His exasperated Chinese was getting nearer, obviously maligning the doorman.
"YOU IMBECILE!! I told you we weren't expecting visitors until tomorrow! What if that man is from the police?"
A door of a manager's office slammed shut, and a scrawny man in a black outfit appeared, with a face full of wrath. It immediately changed to a look of terror. The man had seen the British guest, and recognized the mafia boss.
"Now, is that any way to welcome me, Wu?" Enishi uncovered his head and took off his glasses. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
"Boss........." Wu fumbled, then coughed and regained composure. "How good of you to visit us yourself. I haven't seen you personally since that incident back home. Such a pity you were treated so unkindly." He paced before him with a grin. "You would be glad to know that I've fired those incompetents for not being thorough with you, back in Shanghai. And I know how you hate work that isn't thoroughly done."
He was not in the mood to be sarcastic. "I want the boy. The redhead's son."
Wu tsked. "You know, we weren't expecting you for another day or so, boss. So, I'm not sure if I'm ready to make a deal........"
"Cut the crap. Where is the boy?"
"My, my. Touchy today, aren't we, boss?" Wu grinned. "You can't just have your way now. I have the upper hand, and I intend to use it well. I have to get back some of the pride I lost from all those humiliations you let me have. I'll let you suffer for just a little while longer."
He snapped a finger, and a large man walked out of the assembly. The screams and shouts of a little boy were heard from just behind the wall.
"Isn't that the son of your sworn enemy? Why don't you let me continue your revenge on him? What better way to get back to that redhaired man than to let his son feel what you felt as a child? I can let the boy have the life you had. I'll teach him everything he needs to know about our 'business'. I'll make him rise in the ranks. Who knows? He might just be a better dragon head than even you were!"
Enishi panicked and dropped all pretense. "If you as much as slap him- --"
"Since when did you become so emotional about a hostage, boss?" Wu smiled with much malice, as the man returned with a squirming, wailing small boy.
"KENJI!" Enishi stepped forward, and dashed toward the boy, when a guard stopped him.
Kenji heard the voice, and suddenly stopped crying. "Eni-chan!" He began kicking and squirming harder. "Eni-chan! Eni-chan!"
"Release the boy, NOW!" Enishi demanded.
"But of course, I will, boss!" Wu folded his hands with confidence. "After you give me the code."
Enishi haughtily bowed before him. "Very well. 1-1-6-2. Look for a certain Mr. O'Connor. Now release the boy."
"Wait," Wu sharply said, and snapped a finger.
Enishi was surrounded by armed and brawny men. He only raised an eyebrow.
"You can't fool me, boss," Wu told him with a large smirk. "That was too easy. It's not the real code." He snapped again, and smiled at his henchmen. "Get the code out of him, and don't stop until you do."
One lackey immediately landed a punch to his stomach, and another man hit him with nunchucks from behind. The others gave him successive punches and jabs. It was treatment restricted to low-level traitors and informants, short of killing them. They were too many and too fast for him to handle. Wu indeed knew how to prevent him, a feared street fighter and assassin as a teenager, from getting the upper hand. Soon his face was bruised and sore in three places. His brown suit was now torn and dirty.
"Fine," he panted, on hands and knees, "have it your way. The code..........the code is..........0-2-6-2."
"No other words or letters that go with it?" Wu asked matter-of-factly.
"None." He dropped to the ground.
"Good," the small man smiled again. "Your purpose to us is finished. It has been a, pleasure, working with you, boss." He gave a nod to a man beside him, who took out a pistol. "See you in the afterlife."
"You never did the dirty work yourself," he smirked from the floor.
But instead of a bang, he heard the swish of a sharp projectile and the falling of heavy steel onto the floor. In the next second, he found a kunai inches from his nose. Three more came raining down soon after.
"Get your hands off him!" a woman shouted from above. "We have you surrounded! Surrender and come peacefully!"
It could only be one woman. Enishi smiled.
"Oh, YOU!" Wu laughed heartily, looking up. "YOU want me to surrender? Go back to your mother, little girl!"
"One more word out of you, and this kunai hits your throat!" the woman threatened, as she stood over stacks of crates. Kunai filled all the spaces between her fingers, and her face showed full wrath.
From just behind Wu, Enishi also noted the quick and silent arrival of Myoujin and Seta, who positioned themselves behind the burly man carrying the squirming Kenji. With a well-positioned chop to the neck Seta sent the man sprawling to the ground, as Myoujin scooped up the little boy. The other men, looking up at the ninja, had not noticed.
"I would listen to that weasel, if I were you," Enishi rose from the floor, buying the young men time to get out. He took up the pistol from the floor and pointed it at Wu. "You don't want to get her mad. Believe me, I know."
"The world is coming to an end!" Wu sneered. "The white tiger of Shanghai has stooped to a woman!"
Enishi cocked the pistol.
"I would have understood if a woman of the elite stole your heart, but this poor girl from the backside? Not only have you lost your soul, you've lost your sight, White Tiger!"
He fired.
A lackey shot at Enishi in response, as Wu dropped to his knees. Another guard opened fire both at him and Misao over the crates. He ran away from the shots, but was too slow and got hit again. Misao jumped onto the main floor of the warehouse.
But Misao's movements had dislodged the crates from their places. The topmost crates quickly began to topple down. And one was headed straight for her head. Her back was turned, and she did not see them falling.
"MISAO!"
He leaped forward, dived toward the ninja, wrapped himself around her, as they both hit the ground. The boxes of metal continued to fall around them. He unceremoniously carried her, and jumped away from the avalanche. He continued to weave his way through the warehouse, ducking and dodging, more with her safety in mind than his.
She yelled above the noise of the falling crates. "Are you crazy, Enishi?!"
"People say so, weasel," he grinned over her face.
She suddenly noticed that his clothes now had bloodstains around the right shoulder. And that the snow-white head had spots of red mixed in. Still he went on toward the gates. "Um, um, Enishi, you.......you could put me down now," she begged.
"Shut up before I change my mind," he answered sternly. "Where is the little redhead?"
In reply, a group of voices began to be heard just beyond the gate, yelling for them. "They're all just outside, thank goodness!" Misao happily answered.
But in the next instant, a box knocked him down, and set them sprawling to the floor. He hit the ground head first, with Misao over him, unharmed.
Misao quickly got up, but Enishi remained on the floor. "Come on, silly! We have to get out of here! Only a few more meters left!"
His eyes slowly fluttered open. "What?" He looked dazed.
"I'll take it from here, but we have to hurry!"
"Huh?" he drawled, as his brows knit together. "Who.........are you? What..........just happened?"
"No! Not now!" Misao exclaimed, as wood and metal continued to fall around them. "I'm Misao, I'll explain everything later, but we have to get out!"
"Misao?" He looked at her intently for a few seconds, then smiled faintly. "Oh, the weasel! Get out of here and save yourself. No one will miss me."
"WHAT?!" the woman exclaimed, then gave him a fast and hard slap. "Get a hold of yourself! I won't let you die here, and Kenji will cry his eyes out if you don't come back with me." She positioned herself below him, and heaved him up. "Now let's go!"
"Crazy weasel," he muttered, as he raised himself, slung over her back. But he felt himself moving in and out of consciousness. "Yell..........yell for Seta, your Aoshi-sama..........don't care who............you can't carry me out............." he told her. "Silly girl..........."
It blurred all around him.
Colors came and went over his eyes. Red, blue, black, and everything in between. He did not even know if he was dreaming, hallucinating, or really seeing things. He thought he heard everybody from above him, one at a time, from Saitou to Yahiko. He heard snatches of words over him. Something about bullet wounds, something about his head, something about surgery, something about being alive when he should be dead – people STILL did not believe he could be this tough. Besides, didn't he have a good guardian angel in his sister?
Where was everybody? He felt in front of him, but his hands met nothing. He still had trouble seeing beyond the haze. How long had he been like this, he did not know. All he knew now was that he was lying down, his right arm was awfully sore, and..........he did not know what happened to Kenji. What happened? Was he alive? Was he alright? Was he..........was he.................."KENJI--- ----!"
"Take it easy, Enishi!"
He was held firmly at the left shoulder. The haze slowly cleared, and he made out the features of Himura Kenshin. He looked around carefully. He noted hospital beds as far as he can see to the left and right of him, and he was sitting up in one of them.
"The doctors said you just need rest, and your shoulder will heal nicely. The same is true of the gash on your head."
He still did not understand. "Where is he? Where is she? Where are they? Where am I?"
"One at a time, one at a time," Himura lowered him back to the bed. "Kenji will be back shortly with his mother. He is very fine."
The uncle gave out a deep sigh of relief, then he remembered. "But what about----"
"Misao is also fine. We had to force her to go back to the dojo and sleep for a while. She did not want to leave you."
Alright, that was settled, but how did he manage to land back into the hospital?
"You lost consciousness, while you were slung over Misao-dono. You had lost a lot of blood. From inside the warehouse, Aoshi carried you outside. Saitou had a police wagon ready, so we used that to bring you here. The bullets were taken out of you two days ago. At the same time the gash to your head was also closed up. They doctors kept you here for observation. Most people would have died from the injuries you sustained, and the time it took to bring you here. They cannot believe you are still alive."
Enishi smirked. "I have been called a white devil when I was younger. I guess it's true that demons never die."
Kenshin then added, "One thing does bother me, though. Wu Heishin escaped."
Enishi only waved it off. "He's probably been booked already, but that chimney of a police officer hasn't told you."
"I do not understand."
"Government lackey," he tossed his snowy head at the redhead. "And one who doesn't know how organized crime works. You wouldn't last a day in my world, sword skills or not." He folded his arms and grinned. "There were two numbers that I gave him. The first, the one he ignored, was the true one, the one for access to the traders. The second code I gave that fool is the wrong code. Since he had to hurt me to get it, he thought he now has the real code. A buy-bust operation is waiting for him; I had Saitou arrange that. If he manages to get to the real contact anyway, the code he has are orders to abort the exchange, and not to trade with him. If the Americans don't kill him for that, the organization in Shanghai will. Either way, through Saitou or through me, his career is over. My work is done."
Kenshin nodded. "Very smart of you."
"I know."
The brother-in-law sweatdropped, then smiled and bowed low. "Yukishiro Enishi, I owe you the life of my son. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you. My wife thanks you. Domo arigatou gozarimashita."
"A.........Ah.........um," the poor young man had never been thanked sincerely in his entire life! He had no sarcastic comment for it. He could only mutter the standard reply. "Dou itashimashite."
"Your sister would have been proud of you."
"My sister met a good man."
....................................
Thanks to the reviewers of the last chapter. Muchos gracias to jbramx2 for reminding me that it has been two months since I last released a chapter. ^^;; Thanks to those folks who liked the inner dialogue, and to those who liked the E/K interaction, and generally to everybody who left a review. You really make a person's day. My sincere thanks to those who read this chapter after the long delay. Summer's around the corner, so I'll be stepping up the pace soon. I'll see ya!