This is my third, yes, count it, the third, version of the ending to Taming
a Tiger. Yes, Taming a Tiger is winding down already, and I've already
tried to make two endings. Neither of which really pleased me much, after
they were done. ARGH!! Anyhow, I hope how you like the sequence of events
in this chapter and the succeeding ones.
.....................................
"Aunt 'Sao very nice," Kenji told his uncle, two days after the mission.
"Don't tell me; she gave you a new ball again, didn't she?" Enishi chuckled and ruffled Kenji's hair. The boy gave him a nod and a very happy smile, as he sat on his lap.
By now, all of his memories were already back and intact. The doctors gave him a final check, and released him, smiling to the ends of their ears, in eager expectation of academic acclaim in a few months time. Medical accomplishment did not matter much to him as the patient, however. He indulged them their documentation and pictures, signed their contracts, and went on his way. But this time, there was no article about his clean bill of health. The media thought it was not worth the coverage. At least, not after the spectacular arrest of an international weapons dealer by a handful of civilians.
The newspapers did not get much out of the civilians, however. The police gave the official statement, and would not divulge the identities of the civilians involved in such an incredible mission. It was just as well. Shinomori was not talkative to begin with. Seta only smiled at shopkeepers who asked about it. The Himuras had had enough incredible things happen to them to be ecstatic about this one.
And Misao, she only had her approaching wedding in mind. The whole Himura household knew it. Even as Aoshi and Soujirou returned to Kyoto, she stayed in Tokyo. Never again would she lose sight of her unpredictable fiancée.
"Aunt 'Sao like Eni-chan a lot!" Kenji continued.
"I bet she does," he replied nonchalantly.
But Kenji looked him into his blue-gray eyes and asked. "Does Eni- chan like Aunt 'Sao, too?"
He was surprised, but answered. "Yes, Kenji. I like Aunt Misao. I love her." It was odd coming from him, but it was true.
"Like Uncle Yahiko love Miss Tsubame?"
"I guess so." Enishi had indeed seen Yahiko a lot with a certain young lady named Tsubame. He would not grudge the young man's attention to her.
Kenji clapped his hands together and looked up at his uncle. "Eni- chan marry Aunt 'Sao, right, Eni-chan?"
He stopped.
Put so plainly, it was a simple matter. Enishi will marry Misao. If only things were so simple with everybody else. If only things were so simple between them.
"Right, Eni-chan?"
He could not answer.
Almost everything was set. All that remained was the ceremony. But he suddenly found himself faltering. He, who rarely faltered. He needed time to think about his final answer, to Kenji's simple question.
He took the boy into his arms, and lowered him to the ground. He smiled at him. "I am sorry, my little friend, but I have to go. Just tell Aunt Misao I left, alright? And tell your mommy not to worry about me; I will just be around Tokyo if she needs me. I have to go now."
He ruffled Kenji's hair one last time, tossed him his ball, and walked out of the dojo.
The memories arranged themselves in his head and slowly flashed before him, in order. The good times and the bad. Friends and enemies. Misery and joy. The terror he had seen, the sadness he had felt, and the pleasures he had encountered.
Finally, he recalled the memories he had with the woman he fondly called a weasel. He called her that, mostly just to spite her. He knew that the nickname always drew a reaction from her. It was a silly treat for him just to see her lose emotional control. A constant reminder to him, how this woman was different. She was unlike the world he was familiar with, unlike the people he knew, unlike the enemies he faced. He wanted to remain in her world, and be a part of it.
The days and nights just came and went with him.
He would eat a humble breakfast, then walk the streets and alleys as he thought about many things. He would end the day by stopping at a bridge, and watching the sun go down slowly to meet the river. He would wonder if SHE was seeing the beautiful sunset as well.
But as the sun sank lower, so would his head. What if she was marrying him out of pity, after all? What if she did not truly love him, but only liked him as a friend? What if she would not marry him, in the end? After all, did she seriously want to marry a former mafia boss, a criminal from the first? Did she know enough about the vindictive boy who became a revenge-seeking man, to give her life to him?
What if old members of the mafia still came to kill him? Could he uproot her from Kyoto, so they might both have a peaceful life? Would she actually like living the rich life? Would she be overwhelmed? Would she feel awkward?
More practical matters also surfaced to be considered. Nasty rumors had been circulating in Kyoto before he left, regarding his engagement. Who was this woman, his fiancée? To the influential social circles, she could well be a peasant girl. She was not suited to be the wife of a powerful eligible bachelor. She was a commoner, a girl who dared to walk the streets of Kyoto wearing clothes that fully revealed her legs. Slighted mother-in-laws fanned themselves and whispered. She was probably his concubine; she was definitely not a geisha. Otherwise, he probably got the girl pregnant, and now the girl demanded him to take responsibility. In any case, the girl did not really have affection toward the white-haired oddity; she only wanted his money.
In the area around the Aioya, tongues were also wagging. Why was Misao marrying a man she barely knew? Nobody knew much about this man, and what a few of them did know was not favorable. Why did she not marry within the Oni? Why was she marrying this fly-by-night businessman? True, he had done a lot to provide jobs for the immediate vicinity, but he was too new to be trusted with one of their women. Much less, a woman raised among them, a woman who was their favorite. A woman, capable of managing the Oniwabanshuu! Was she, contrary to her nature, after his money?
It was not about money! It was not about bastard children! Pardieu!
But was it worth evading all of the gossip to continue a match nobody approved?
The ultimate question stood.
Should he marry Makimachi Misao?
It was not a question of love. He loved her, truly. But marrying her was another matter. He did not know if he could.
Such were his musings, at the middle of a bridge, watching the sunset.
............................................
"Eni-chan gone," Kenji told her as soon as he saw her at the dojo gate.
"Gone?! Not again!" she kneeled and held the boy by the shoulders. "Did he say where he was going?"
Kenji shook his head slowly.
Misao held her head and sighed. "Can you at least tell Aunt Misao where he went?" She pointed left and right. "This way or that way, Kenji- kun?"
"Eni-chan went that way," he smiled, and pointed to the right.
"Thanks, little dear," she kissed him and ruffled his hair. "Now I have to get back that annoying Eni-chan of yours.........."
She ran the entire length of the street Kenji pointed to him, to no avail. Of course, she realized that he could have turned a corner at any of the side streets. She did it mostly to clear the worried thoughts in her head. What if he did this after they were married?
Actually, that was not her chief concern. This was her chief concern: WOULD they even be married at all?
What if all of these adventures were just his way of avoiding it? Wasn't she making a mistake in choosing him over her Aoshi-sama? Wouldn't she regret this in the end? No, no, NO!
She began to ask around for a man with impeccable clothes and white hair. And she found many eager witnesses. He had a memorable way about him. His bearing was regal, his face was handsome, his eyes were penetrating but not invasive. Sure, the townsfolk remembered him.
Nonetheless, the annoying white-haired man covered his tracks pretty well. Most of her leads gave her dead ends. Everyone remembered some different thing about him. They were all only consistent in the fact that he only asked for directions. Otherwise, he did not talk to anyone. Three days of scouring all of the city of Tokyo, and still she had not seen him.
She eventually found someone who told her, that he stayed at a small inn not far away. She thanked the man with a bow, and started walking again.
"Oh, and little miss," the man interrupted her bound away, "seems like that fellow has a lot on his mind. You sure you want to see him?"
"Positive," she smiled, and waved goodbye.
After a couple more hours more of walking, she finally found him, at the middle of a bridge, looking down on the water passing under it.
"Alright, what in the world is the matter with you, my silly fiancée?" She paced back and forth behind him, and asked with exasperation. "Three days! Three days you've been missing! Three days I've been looking for you!" She looked him up and down. "Well, at least I'm sure you do have a place to go back to. You're clean and white. You're the type who wouldn't last long without access to a bathhouse and water. But still, you should've told----------"
"Shut up, weasel," he muttered without moving.
"I will NOT shut up!" she answered. "I've been worried sick for the last three days. I didn't know if you've gotten sick, drunk, killed! That is NO way to treat a woman, much less your wife!"
"My wife?" he chuckled bitterly. "You?"
"Well, soon to be your wife, at least," she grinned. "One year of waiting while you were in China, half a year of waiting for you to get back to normal, one month of preparing a house and a banquet. NOW you are backing out?!" She angrily placed her hands over her waist. "Are you out of your crazy mind, Enishi?"
"Somewhat," he said quietly. "I have been thinking, that's all." He finally turned around and smiled at her, as his hair blew in the evening breeze.
"Three days?! You've just been thinking, for three DAYS?!"
"Something wrong with thinking, Misao?" he smirked. "I had plenty to think about." He frowned as he looked at her.
Misao leaned beside him on the bridge and looked up at the tall white tower. "Care to tell me?"
"It will take another three days," he patted the top of her head. He then sighed, and offered his hand to her. "I am staying at a small inn nearby. They have excellent ramen and sake. That's what I have been living on. If you want to talk, we might as well do it there."
He led her across cobbled little streets into a respectable but unassuming inn. It was not full, but it had a decent number of guests that kept the waiter and cook busy. He motioned her to a table.
She noticed that, while he kept smiling at her, the sadness in his eyes never left. Whatever he was thinking about for three long days, it was still weighing down on him, and made him seem older than his twenty-nine years. He ordered a bowl of ramen for each of them, and...........and.............finally he ordered tea, after a long and uneasy stare at her reproving eyes.
They both ate in silence for a while. She was both glad and worried. She was happy to be sitting opposite him, seeing again his handsome face and his deep turquoise eyes. But those same turquoise eyes worried her. Something in those eyes gave her an idea of what he was thinking.
Was she, indeed, worthy of those eyes?
She had an idea of what he worried about. She was too nice, too kind, in his opinion. She was not suited to be the wife of a former criminal. On her part, she did not feel worthy, either. Wasn't he too smart, too cultured, too mature, for her? As she gazed at the sullen eyes, peering at her as he raised the ramen bowl to his lips, she felt the overpowering strength of the man before her. Why her? Out of all the prettier girls in Kyoto, Tokyo, and Shanghai, why her? What did he see in her?
"Stop staring, Misao," he said as he lowered the bowl.
"Sorry," she shyly looked down on the table.
Another long pause.
"Misao."
"Yes?" she asked without taking her eyes off the table.
"Misao."
"What do you want?" She slowly brought back her gaze to his eyes.
"Misao, I.......I..........I........."
She pounded a fist on the table, and spoke with irritation. "Look, you are really scaring me now. In my experience, you do not call me 'Misao' three times in a row. Either you call me a weasel in the next instant, or I will give you a solid punch through the jaw." She then grinned and waved her chopsticks at him. "Whatever it is you have in your head that's bothering you, out with it, right now."
"Misao, could you listen please to a LONG story?" he smiled sadly at her. "It's about this pompous, arrogant, conceited baka.........."
"Do I have to?" she pouted. "I know what I have to know about you."
"It's better you know everything now, while you can still change your mind about marrying me. Besides, I need someone who knows the whole details of my life, so the next time someone hits me on the head I won't have to bother so many people."
"I won't change my mind!" she declared. "But if it makes you happy, let's have that history."
"You'll hate me when I'm through."
"Let's have it, and then we'll see," she sat herself comfortably.
"Very well."
He told her everything. He held nothing back. When he finished, there were facts that only she knew for certain, facts that were vaguely reported in police files, facts that even Battousai did not know. As a trained ninja, she was used to hearing about murders and conspiracies. But nothing prepared her for his life in the lowest districts of the most notorious city in China. Her face, stuck in shock, told him so.
"You have finally met Yukishiro Enishi," he concluded with lowered head. "Little brat, selfish boy, heartless fiend, clever thief, merciless leader, ruthless killer. A wild, restless, and dangerous tiger."
She remained silent for a long time, alternately looking at the floor and at him.
Finally she answered.
"But a tiger can be tamed."
...................................
This came fast, because this chapter was in the works for quite a while, during the time I was stuck about chapter 17. Thanks for reading.
Answers to reviews starting from chapter 16:
Sabbie -- Right now I'm in finals season. I'm studying in the library to minimize the temptation to either fix a website or type fic. ^^
Maeko-Nohara -- I've seen majority of FY anime, but I guess I'm still not too confident to jump in and do it, I don't know it too well.
JML -- Thanks for liking the monologues! Yeah, I know about the mafia vs. triad thing, don't worry. As for writer's block, it has helped me to type out what is currently in my head, even if incomplete, then to come back to it when I have more to add. Hope it helps.
jbramx2 -- Thanks for liking Saitou. ^^ I've seen the E/M picture you drew, it was so, so, sweet...... muchos gracias. Thanks for the succession of reviews, you got me back on track.
Devil1 -- Thanks much!
CatH -- No, no. Enishi was in Shanghai meeting an American. About the Asian and white men thing, that's me speaking as my boyfriend. ^^ Because it IS true that we kowtow to Caucasians WAY too much!! As for rescuing Enishi, that's why I eventually had Aoshi come over to help.
scorpion05 -- As you can see from this chapter, your expected marriage should be coming soon enough. ^^ Yeah, E/M is rare since everybody assumes A/M is a sacrilege to break. I don't think so. K/K IS sacrilege to break, in my opinion. ^^ Check White and Black, the story before this one, if you'd like more.
.....................................
"Aunt 'Sao very nice," Kenji told his uncle, two days after the mission.
"Don't tell me; she gave you a new ball again, didn't she?" Enishi chuckled and ruffled Kenji's hair. The boy gave him a nod and a very happy smile, as he sat on his lap.
By now, all of his memories were already back and intact. The doctors gave him a final check, and released him, smiling to the ends of their ears, in eager expectation of academic acclaim in a few months time. Medical accomplishment did not matter much to him as the patient, however. He indulged them their documentation and pictures, signed their contracts, and went on his way. But this time, there was no article about his clean bill of health. The media thought it was not worth the coverage. At least, not after the spectacular arrest of an international weapons dealer by a handful of civilians.
The newspapers did not get much out of the civilians, however. The police gave the official statement, and would not divulge the identities of the civilians involved in such an incredible mission. It was just as well. Shinomori was not talkative to begin with. Seta only smiled at shopkeepers who asked about it. The Himuras had had enough incredible things happen to them to be ecstatic about this one.
And Misao, she only had her approaching wedding in mind. The whole Himura household knew it. Even as Aoshi and Soujirou returned to Kyoto, she stayed in Tokyo. Never again would she lose sight of her unpredictable fiancée.
"Aunt 'Sao like Eni-chan a lot!" Kenji continued.
"I bet she does," he replied nonchalantly.
But Kenji looked him into his blue-gray eyes and asked. "Does Eni- chan like Aunt 'Sao, too?"
He was surprised, but answered. "Yes, Kenji. I like Aunt Misao. I love her." It was odd coming from him, but it was true.
"Like Uncle Yahiko love Miss Tsubame?"
"I guess so." Enishi had indeed seen Yahiko a lot with a certain young lady named Tsubame. He would not grudge the young man's attention to her.
Kenji clapped his hands together and looked up at his uncle. "Eni- chan marry Aunt 'Sao, right, Eni-chan?"
He stopped.
Put so plainly, it was a simple matter. Enishi will marry Misao. If only things were so simple with everybody else. If only things were so simple between them.
"Right, Eni-chan?"
He could not answer.
Almost everything was set. All that remained was the ceremony. But he suddenly found himself faltering. He, who rarely faltered. He needed time to think about his final answer, to Kenji's simple question.
He took the boy into his arms, and lowered him to the ground. He smiled at him. "I am sorry, my little friend, but I have to go. Just tell Aunt Misao I left, alright? And tell your mommy not to worry about me; I will just be around Tokyo if she needs me. I have to go now."
He ruffled Kenji's hair one last time, tossed him his ball, and walked out of the dojo.
The memories arranged themselves in his head and slowly flashed before him, in order. The good times and the bad. Friends and enemies. Misery and joy. The terror he had seen, the sadness he had felt, and the pleasures he had encountered.
Finally, he recalled the memories he had with the woman he fondly called a weasel. He called her that, mostly just to spite her. He knew that the nickname always drew a reaction from her. It was a silly treat for him just to see her lose emotional control. A constant reminder to him, how this woman was different. She was unlike the world he was familiar with, unlike the people he knew, unlike the enemies he faced. He wanted to remain in her world, and be a part of it.
The days and nights just came and went with him.
He would eat a humble breakfast, then walk the streets and alleys as he thought about many things. He would end the day by stopping at a bridge, and watching the sun go down slowly to meet the river. He would wonder if SHE was seeing the beautiful sunset as well.
But as the sun sank lower, so would his head. What if she was marrying him out of pity, after all? What if she did not truly love him, but only liked him as a friend? What if she would not marry him, in the end? After all, did she seriously want to marry a former mafia boss, a criminal from the first? Did she know enough about the vindictive boy who became a revenge-seeking man, to give her life to him?
What if old members of the mafia still came to kill him? Could he uproot her from Kyoto, so they might both have a peaceful life? Would she actually like living the rich life? Would she be overwhelmed? Would she feel awkward?
More practical matters also surfaced to be considered. Nasty rumors had been circulating in Kyoto before he left, regarding his engagement. Who was this woman, his fiancée? To the influential social circles, she could well be a peasant girl. She was not suited to be the wife of a powerful eligible bachelor. She was a commoner, a girl who dared to walk the streets of Kyoto wearing clothes that fully revealed her legs. Slighted mother-in-laws fanned themselves and whispered. She was probably his concubine; she was definitely not a geisha. Otherwise, he probably got the girl pregnant, and now the girl demanded him to take responsibility. In any case, the girl did not really have affection toward the white-haired oddity; she only wanted his money.
In the area around the Aioya, tongues were also wagging. Why was Misao marrying a man she barely knew? Nobody knew much about this man, and what a few of them did know was not favorable. Why did she not marry within the Oni? Why was she marrying this fly-by-night businessman? True, he had done a lot to provide jobs for the immediate vicinity, but he was too new to be trusted with one of their women. Much less, a woman raised among them, a woman who was their favorite. A woman, capable of managing the Oniwabanshuu! Was she, contrary to her nature, after his money?
It was not about money! It was not about bastard children! Pardieu!
But was it worth evading all of the gossip to continue a match nobody approved?
The ultimate question stood.
Should he marry Makimachi Misao?
It was not a question of love. He loved her, truly. But marrying her was another matter. He did not know if he could.
Such were his musings, at the middle of a bridge, watching the sunset.
............................................
"Eni-chan gone," Kenji told her as soon as he saw her at the dojo gate.
"Gone?! Not again!" she kneeled and held the boy by the shoulders. "Did he say where he was going?"
Kenji shook his head slowly.
Misao held her head and sighed. "Can you at least tell Aunt Misao where he went?" She pointed left and right. "This way or that way, Kenji- kun?"
"Eni-chan went that way," he smiled, and pointed to the right.
"Thanks, little dear," she kissed him and ruffled his hair. "Now I have to get back that annoying Eni-chan of yours.........."
She ran the entire length of the street Kenji pointed to him, to no avail. Of course, she realized that he could have turned a corner at any of the side streets. She did it mostly to clear the worried thoughts in her head. What if he did this after they were married?
Actually, that was not her chief concern. This was her chief concern: WOULD they even be married at all?
What if all of these adventures were just his way of avoiding it? Wasn't she making a mistake in choosing him over her Aoshi-sama? Wouldn't she regret this in the end? No, no, NO!
She began to ask around for a man with impeccable clothes and white hair. And she found many eager witnesses. He had a memorable way about him. His bearing was regal, his face was handsome, his eyes were penetrating but not invasive. Sure, the townsfolk remembered him.
Nonetheless, the annoying white-haired man covered his tracks pretty well. Most of her leads gave her dead ends. Everyone remembered some different thing about him. They were all only consistent in the fact that he only asked for directions. Otherwise, he did not talk to anyone. Three days of scouring all of the city of Tokyo, and still she had not seen him.
She eventually found someone who told her, that he stayed at a small inn not far away. She thanked the man with a bow, and started walking again.
"Oh, and little miss," the man interrupted her bound away, "seems like that fellow has a lot on his mind. You sure you want to see him?"
"Positive," she smiled, and waved goodbye.
After a couple more hours more of walking, she finally found him, at the middle of a bridge, looking down on the water passing under it.
"Alright, what in the world is the matter with you, my silly fiancée?" She paced back and forth behind him, and asked with exasperation. "Three days! Three days you've been missing! Three days I've been looking for you!" She looked him up and down. "Well, at least I'm sure you do have a place to go back to. You're clean and white. You're the type who wouldn't last long without access to a bathhouse and water. But still, you should've told----------"
"Shut up, weasel," he muttered without moving.
"I will NOT shut up!" she answered. "I've been worried sick for the last three days. I didn't know if you've gotten sick, drunk, killed! That is NO way to treat a woman, much less your wife!"
"My wife?" he chuckled bitterly. "You?"
"Well, soon to be your wife, at least," she grinned. "One year of waiting while you were in China, half a year of waiting for you to get back to normal, one month of preparing a house and a banquet. NOW you are backing out?!" She angrily placed her hands over her waist. "Are you out of your crazy mind, Enishi?"
"Somewhat," he said quietly. "I have been thinking, that's all." He finally turned around and smiled at her, as his hair blew in the evening breeze.
"Three days?! You've just been thinking, for three DAYS?!"
"Something wrong with thinking, Misao?" he smirked. "I had plenty to think about." He frowned as he looked at her.
Misao leaned beside him on the bridge and looked up at the tall white tower. "Care to tell me?"
"It will take another three days," he patted the top of her head. He then sighed, and offered his hand to her. "I am staying at a small inn nearby. They have excellent ramen and sake. That's what I have been living on. If you want to talk, we might as well do it there."
He led her across cobbled little streets into a respectable but unassuming inn. It was not full, but it had a decent number of guests that kept the waiter and cook busy. He motioned her to a table.
She noticed that, while he kept smiling at her, the sadness in his eyes never left. Whatever he was thinking about for three long days, it was still weighing down on him, and made him seem older than his twenty-nine years. He ordered a bowl of ramen for each of them, and...........and.............finally he ordered tea, after a long and uneasy stare at her reproving eyes.
They both ate in silence for a while. She was both glad and worried. She was happy to be sitting opposite him, seeing again his handsome face and his deep turquoise eyes. But those same turquoise eyes worried her. Something in those eyes gave her an idea of what he was thinking.
Was she, indeed, worthy of those eyes?
She had an idea of what he worried about. She was too nice, too kind, in his opinion. She was not suited to be the wife of a former criminal. On her part, she did not feel worthy, either. Wasn't he too smart, too cultured, too mature, for her? As she gazed at the sullen eyes, peering at her as he raised the ramen bowl to his lips, she felt the overpowering strength of the man before her. Why her? Out of all the prettier girls in Kyoto, Tokyo, and Shanghai, why her? What did he see in her?
"Stop staring, Misao," he said as he lowered the bowl.
"Sorry," she shyly looked down on the table.
Another long pause.
"Misao."
"Yes?" she asked without taking her eyes off the table.
"Misao."
"What do you want?" She slowly brought back her gaze to his eyes.
"Misao, I.......I..........I........."
She pounded a fist on the table, and spoke with irritation. "Look, you are really scaring me now. In my experience, you do not call me 'Misao' three times in a row. Either you call me a weasel in the next instant, or I will give you a solid punch through the jaw." She then grinned and waved her chopsticks at him. "Whatever it is you have in your head that's bothering you, out with it, right now."
"Misao, could you listen please to a LONG story?" he smiled sadly at her. "It's about this pompous, arrogant, conceited baka.........."
"Do I have to?" she pouted. "I know what I have to know about you."
"It's better you know everything now, while you can still change your mind about marrying me. Besides, I need someone who knows the whole details of my life, so the next time someone hits me on the head I won't have to bother so many people."
"I won't change my mind!" she declared. "But if it makes you happy, let's have that history."
"You'll hate me when I'm through."
"Let's have it, and then we'll see," she sat herself comfortably.
"Very well."
He told her everything. He held nothing back. When he finished, there were facts that only she knew for certain, facts that were vaguely reported in police files, facts that even Battousai did not know. As a trained ninja, she was used to hearing about murders and conspiracies. But nothing prepared her for his life in the lowest districts of the most notorious city in China. Her face, stuck in shock, told him so.
"You have finally met Yukishiro Enishi," he concluded with lowered head. "Little brat, selfish boy, heartless fiend, clever thief, merciless leader, ruthless killer. A wild, restless, and dangerous tiger."
She remained silent for a long time, alternately looking at the floor and at him.
Finally she answered.
"But a tiger can be tamed."
...................................
This came fast, because this chapter was in the works for quite a while, during the time I was stuck about chapter 17. Thanks for reading.
Answers to reviews starting from chapter 16:
Sabbie -- Right now I'm in finals season. I'm studying in the library to minimize the temptation to either fix a website or type fic. ^^
Maeko-Nohara -- I've seen majority of FY anime, but I guess I'm still not too confident to jump in and do it, I don't know it too well.
JML -- Thanks for liking the monologues! Yeah, I know about the mafia vs. triad thing, don't worry. As for writer's block, it has helped me to type out what is currently in my head, even if incomplete, then to come back to it when I have more to add. Hope it helps.
jbramx2 -- Thanks for liking Saitou. ^^ I've seen the E/M picture you drew, it was so, so, sweet...... muchos gracias. Thanks for the succession of reviews, you got me back on track.
Devil1 -- Thanks much!
CatH -- No, no. Enishi was in Shanghai meeting an American. About the Asian and white men thing, that's me speaking as my boyfriend. ^^ Because it IS true that we kowtow to Caucasians WAY too much!! As for rescuing Enishi, that's why I eventually had Aoshi come over to help.
scorpion05 -- As you can see from this chapter, your expected marriage should be coming soon enough. ^^ Yeah, E/M is rare since everybody assumes A/M is a sacrilege to break. I don't think so. K/K IS sacrilege to break, in my opinion. ^^ Check White and Black, the story before this one, if you'd like more.