WARNING: Spoilers! If you don't know who Kenji is, please read at your own risk!
WITH DUE CREDIT: This fic was loosely spun off from two fics - "Over the Sting" by sasori and "Chronicles of a Rurouni", one of my earlier fics.
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Yesterday's Shadow is Tomorrow's Twilight
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Chapter 43: Learning
"I wonder if Himura-san will be okay alone by himself?" Soujirou mused, while casting a symbolic glance over his shoulders. Enishi and himself had already travelled too far away from the workshop to be able to see what was going on there anymore. Further up ahead, said Enishi swept a few pieces of leaves away from a fallen tree trunk and sat himself down on it. He did not appear to have heard Soujirou. Or if he had, he chose to let the question fly over his head.
"What did you need to talk in private about?" The older man immediately asked, upon having settled down to his satisfaction. He folded his arms across his chest and waited with his eyes closed.
Smiling, Soujirou turned back around, walking with small steps until he stood a few feet before the lounging Enishi. "Did you know," he began, voice purposely cheerful and smile purposely bright, "that Zheng-san has already found out who you are?"
Enishi opened his eyes to glance at Soujirou questioningly. Knowingly. He did not seem alarmed in the slightest bit. "How could you tell?"
"It wasn't very hard," Soujirou lifted a finger to point to the sky. "After all, she literally came up to me to try to warn me nicely that I should stay away from you if I didn't want to get hurt!"
The immediate look on the ex-Shanghai mafia boss' face upon hearing Soujirou's words was that of a cross between drop-dead amusement and utter disbelief. "She did." He deadpanned, face twitching.
"Yes, she did," Soujirou agreed.
"And you accepted her warning."
"Of course not!" Soujirou was immediately offended at the seeming slight of his intelligence. "How could I, a person who knows /nothing/ about your dark, exciting underground ex-Shanghai life possibly agree with one of your ex-Shanghai enemies that yes, you are a dangerous mafia leader much to be feared and avoided at all costs?" It did not help that Soujirou was smiling happily while saying all of that. "Though, just to be sure, I did acknowledge that your head is very much being wanted by the entire Japan police force, just like mine is!"
While Enishi tried hard not to tumble unceremoniously off the rock, Soujirou laughed to himself, holding a sheepish hand against the back of his head. Enishi quickly cleared his throat. "I wasn't really sure if it was a good choice or not to let them find out who I really am," he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "But this could be our wildcard chance for success. We need to play the game right from now on..." he trailed off, lost in his own thoughts. Suddenly remembering something, his head shot up, and he pointed squarely at Soujirou. "Hey, what else did that bad tempered girl tell you? Anything will do, even if it seems unimportant," he gestured. "What else did she say?"
Soujirou's first reaction was to blink. His thought processes suddenly kicked back into rapid action. "...anything?" He thought back about what Zheng had been yabbering about. "She seemed rather adamant about branding you as a traitor, though it looks more to me like they've branched out and set up another organisation separate from the one you were together with them..."
"Oh, so I've become a traitor now," Enishi grinned to himself. "Interesting." He glanced back at the smiling Soujirou. "What else did she say? Did she reveal to you what plan she had to plot my downfall and demise?" He sneered.
"Oh, come on, Yukishiro-san," Soujirou waved dismissively, "I'm sure the Chinese mafia is a lot more discreet than that!"
Enishi shrugged. "Are you sure she didn't say anything else?"
"I don't exactly have a photographic memory, Yukishiro-san," Soujirou put a finger to his forehead, bowing his head low to consider the encounter with the girl further. "She was really just ranting away about how dangerous you are; or should I say, /trying/ to convince me about how dangerous you are..." he trailed off. "...though I don't know why she'd make the special effort to do that..."
"If she could convince you," Enishi said, composed and sombre, "then there is a possibility that they can use you to exact revenge against the so-called traitor, since you just so happen to have some sort of a mutual relationship with that traitor," his explanation was methodological and detached. At the end of it all, he sneered. "Not bad for a last pitch attempt for a plan in the middle of chaos. They've all gotten more observant and sharper from since I last saw them."
"Now is certainly not the time to be admiring how well the seeds you have planted have grown, don't you think?" Soujirou scratched at his cheek.
"I'm just taking a page out from your book of optimsm," Enishi shrugged. He let his glance settle on Soujirou. "And are you really sure she didn't say anything else?" He paused. "Anything about her observations of this 'traitor'?"
A few seconds Soujirou spent thinking. Then a bright smile pulled over his face. "Nope! Nothing else!"
Enishi eyed his partner suspiciously. He decided that if Soujirou wanted to keep something a secret, he was probably in no position to ask. He then shrank back to ponder their options. "That doesn't give us a lot to work with," he mumbled under his breath.
From seemingly out of nowhere he produced a large sheet of paper that had been neatly folded for ease of hiding. He glanced about himself furtively, eyes eventually coming to a stop upon a huge, sturdy tree somewhere near his right. He stood and walked over, carefully examining the bark. Then, without warning, he drew his fist back and smashed an area of the trunk in.
Tree juice squirted about in all directions at the impact. When Enishi retrieved his fist, coloured sap began oozing out from cracked areas in between the tree's bark. Enishi went closer to sniff at the sap. He grunted something under his breath, then proceeded to dip his right index finger into some of the sticky sap. Once it was adequately stained, he turned and swathed the piece of paper in his hand with large, slow strokes of writing.
While he repeated the process, Soujirou watched on, his smile never once leaving his face. "Well," he eventually managed to say, "at least it's a better alternative than blood, hmm?"
Enishi rolled his eyes. He got more of the coloured sap onto his finger to finish a few more strokes. Altogether, they spelt out two words. 'They Came'. While he stared at his finished work, waiting for it to dry, he dug into one of his pants pockets and fished out a small, round and oblong whistle of sorts from it. Handing to Soujirou, he instructed, "Use it."
"Oho?" Soujirou took the whistle and examined it carefully. His confused smile slowly melted into a knowing one. "I've seen this thing before!" He exclaimed, abnormally happy over a matter Enishi thought was rather slight.
"Congratulations to you," the white-haired man cheered monotonously. "And so are you going to use it anytime soon?"
"Of course, of course," Soujirou held the whistle in his hands and blew into it. No audible sound came out of the instrument, but Soujirou and Enishi knew better than to assume. Once Soujirou lowered the whistle to indicate his job was done, they both waited, knowing their quarry would come.
"What are you going to inform Shinomori-san about, though?" Soujirou mused aloud. He returned the whistle to Enishi, who was now folding the piece of paper he had written upon. "We were told not to use the pigeon whistle unless in cases of real emergencies."
After having folded the paper into a tiny square, Enishi now took to rolling it up. "He needs to know that his plan worked," was Enishi's response, although he did not look at Soujirou in the eye, preferring to concentrate on rolling the paper into a tight wad. "...he set up a trap of sorts for the Yuugure and asked me to inform him immediately if they popped by the workshop when we're still around. I'm just fulfilling that part of the deal. Everything else is his call."
There was awkward silence.
"Oh." Soujirou blurted out at last.
"Mind you, this was entirely his idea," Enishi reared back and clarified the situation slightly, the lack of response from Soujirou's part making him uncomfortably aware of the conversation they had just had some time ago by the cliff side. "He hardly needed to have said it, but I know he wanted to see just how far removed I really was from the current Shanghai underground," the man snorted. In the distance, the soft flapping of wings started getting louder and louder. "As to the details, I'm sure he will have something to say, once we arrange to meet him at Azumamaro," Enishi looked into the sky, where the carrier pigeon was slowly but surely flying into sight. "Because even /I/ don't know what exactly is going on, on his side. And I would rather not second-guess."
"I see," Soujirou blinked, the heavy tension in the air slightly eased. Then, all of a sudden, he burst into loud, short chortles, not stopping until his breath caught in his throat and he had to revert from laughing to coughing.
"What's so funny?" Enishi, however, was not amused. He looked at Soujirou, demanding an answer, cross.
"Ahaha..." Soujirou half-coughed and half-laughed. "...the... mere thought of you and Shinomori-san... working /together/ on something..." he simmered down, but was still giggling, "...it... it scares me." He grinned widely, looking much more amused than scared. "Completely out of my wits."
"I don't see what's so scary about that," Enishi murmured to no one in particular. He had caught the pigeon, which had finally arrived and landed on the ground in between Soujirou and Enishi, pecking at the ground and cooing away. Stuffing the rolled up piece of paper into the tube tied to its feet, he sealed it carefully, then set the pigeon free into the skies once more.
The duo watched the bird take off into the distance, until it was no more in sight. Enishi was the first to look away from the sky, sighing softly and turning, meaning to walk down the path back to the workshop. "Was there anything else you wanted to talk to me about?" He directed his query at Soujirou, who was slightly startled. He had been staring at the skies, apparently deep in thought.
"Mmm... not that I can remember, but thank you for asking," Soujirou bowed slightly, and Enishi turned to walk away. He knew Soujirou was hiding something, and he also knew better than to insist and interrupt the boy when his head was somewhere else up in the clouds. "I'll be at the workshop," Enishi offered, "in case you change your mind."
Soujirou turned abruptly. "There really is nothing else important to tell you about, Yukishiro-san."
"Not to you, maybe," Enishi shook his head. "Anyway, do us both a favour and go check out the redhead and muscleman, will you?" He gestured in a random direction. "Especially the redhead. I know he wants to come along for the final showdown, but I don't need to carry a weight around on the most important leg of this mission. Make sure he understands that," he sneered, turning to walk away at long last. As he did, he held a fist up in what looked like an acknowledgement of sorts. "Thanks." He muttered. And let the wind carry his voice to his partner.
Soujirou stiffened instinctively - this he did every time he saw or heard Enishi do something uncharacteristic. Then he figured that he rather liked the way Enishi was being uncharacteristic now, and so he relaxed and smiled from ear to ear. "I can't believe it took me so many years to teach you that simple word, Yukishiro-san!" He held a finger up. "Shall we learn 'please' next?"
".../PLEASE/ shut up before I throw you over the cliff."
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... to be continued
6/1/05
tougenkyou . net / xd