Author's Note: Ok, this has absolutely nothing to do with "An Unexpected Invitation" as we are back to regular programming with one-shots and orphaned chapters and a smorgasbord of anything and everything RK that I have ever written.
Anyway, this is set in the manga. I repeat, this is set in the manga.
Every post-Jinchuu fanfic I've read so far, has Kenshin telling Kaoru about the doll and Rakuninmura. Or if not, him then someone else from the Kenshin-gumi. But I've never read a fic where it was Enishi who told her. So I've had this idea pestering me and it goes something like this:
ghosts and dolls
The hours pass slowly: daytime dragging into nights, the nights stretching until the birth of another new dawn. A new day of being trapped in this island, still with no way of escaping or finding out the reason for her captivity.
But she had not lost hope.
She counted the days: seven today.
Seven days, none of which, she was proud to say, she wasted by moping around in her room, feeling sorry for herself. She'd done that before when Kenshin had left for Kyoto and she had hated how useless she felt that time. She had learned her lesson.
She did her daily exercises in the morning, keeping herself strong. Even without a bokken, she did a hundred swings, feeling her muscles ache at each stroke. She made hourly checks by the window overlooking the ocean for any passing ship (none, this obviously wasn't a usual trade route), she noted when the tide swelled and when the water receded, eyes trying to spot anything that she could use to build a raft and how she would build it. She had crossed this out of her options, it was obviously not possible, but the mental exercise kept her mind sharp and it helped her churning out ideas. None she could use to effectively so far, but she wasn't giving up.
She realized early on that if she was going to attempt something the would absolutely be no room for error. If she failed, Enishi might do something drastic, like tying her up, locking her inside her room or worst, moving her to another place. Making it more difficult to be found or to try another escape. That she was even allowed to move around, although with limitation, was an advantage she wasn't willing to squander away.
The kitchen had been off limits precisely because there were too many weapons there that she could use but she'd been desperately hungry and had been ignored when she demanded for food that she took it upon herself to search the house for anything that she could eat. She needed her energy and letting days go by without sustenance would be stupid. If she wasn't going to be fed, well she would have to do something about that!
She had been surprised to stumble upon a well-stocked kitchen devoid of any activity. The remnants of the least meal that had been prepared was the one that she had eaten the night she had woken up inside a large room wearing that strange white robe. A tray of food had been left by the bedside table, all of which she had eaten. Slowly at first and then gradually gobbling up everything, barely tasting it.
The discovery that there was no one else inside the mansion except for her and Enishi had been troubling. She didn't understand why he wouldn't have guards or servants around. But then again, nothing about Enishi seemed to make sense. Filing the information for future use, she began to cook her own food and then realizing that Enishi probably hasn't eaten yet, she made a meal for him too. She just couldn't find it in her heart to starve an injured man. Ever since then, she had been allowed to prepare their shared meals. She had been generously using their provision so that she could one day force Enishi for an emergency supply run for rice. Surely, he wouldn't object to that! And that might give her an opportunity to at least figure out how and when they were getting their supplies.
Enishi was healing rather quickly now. She had seen him doing his usual sword practice in the morning, adding more complicated movements each day. It would not be long before his body had completely mended and who knows what he'll do then? In the meantime, she made sure that they had plenty to eat. Of course, she had to do this with measured subtlety. She didn't want to be too obvious and have her access to the kitchen revoked. Last she checked they still had enough supplies to last them for another two weeks. Possibly three. Not for the first time, she wished she knew how to make rice cakes. It would certainly help with depleting their supply. She'll just have to keep feeding Enishi lots and lots of onigiri. He would often complain about the lack of flavor, the ungrateful jerk, but he'd eaten everything she had prepared for him so far. He probably actually liked her cooking and was just too proud to admit it. In any case, Karou was glad to have the time to practice her skills in the kitchen. Who knows, maybe by the time she had escaped or rescued (whichever comes first) she'd be able to make a decent meal that would make Tae proud.
Thinking of Tae made her think of Tokyo and her home and her dojo and her students and Yahiko and Sano and Megumi and – heart clenching, of Kenshin.
If they couldn't find her yet – which was understandable, she didn't even know where she was, how could they? – she will do everything to get back home to them. She only needed to be patient and wait for Enishi to slip up, get too comfortable with her, trust her with something – information, a weapon she could use – anything so that she could finally escape this island.
It had been too long to be held captive like this.
This was now the 15th day.
She still wasn't allowed to wander outside the mansion. So much for gaining Enishi's trust. She had tried everything, from cheerfully greeting him, trying to open up a conversation to growling mutinously at how boring it was being in his company. Nothing worked. Whatever walls he had built around himself was made from the sturdiest stone, totally impenetrable. She stopped trying, it was a lost cause and she didn't have the energy to fake any form of friendliness although his coldness couldn't really subdue her. She would still chatter on but it was mostly for herself. She disliked the silence and it made her feel better when she could express herself, even though her only companion refused to acknowledge her. She told him useless, inane things: her usual daily routine at the dojo, the awful summer they were having, how unbearable it was to be so near the ocean at this kind of weather wearing the stupid robe, how she wished she could walk around, just to breath some fresh air. It was suffocating, cooped up within the mansion walls.
Enishi never said anything back but the next morning, he had brought her two new kimonos (green and yellow - where on earth he got them, was another mystery), an exquisite fan delicately painted with springtime scenes of blooming sakuras. And then one day, he led her out into the terrace, a table and two chairs already set up. This was where they had started to take their breakfast.
She was fetched from her room by Enishi himself. Always on time. Never a minute late or early. The hostility between them have ebbed away, only to be replaced by a strange routine that would start when he knocked on her door, surprisingly polite of him, all things considered. They would exchange a nod, a muttered ohayo and then she'd follow him as he lead her to the kitchen so she could start on their first meal of the day. He didn't bother her during this time and he most definitely didn't offer to help her. As soon as she started cooking, he would disappear without a word and she would always find him already sitting by their usual place, waiting for her to serve their food.
One time she thought about hitting him with the heavy silver tray she was carrying and he seemed to have sensed this, because they spent a whole second staring at each other: her contemplating how hard she could hit and him daring her.
In the end she decided that it would not be worth it. Enishi had pretty much regained his strength and unless she could somehow push him off the balcony, there was no way she could effectively render him unconscious. She had learned the hard way to never overestimate her own ability. She had promised herself that she will stay alive for Kenshin and her friends and if she needed to be ever more patient, then that was what she was going to do.
Sighing at the memory, Kaoru cradled her empty cup on her opened palm, relishing the warmth it still held. She glanced at her silent captor, who was blankly staring at the cloudless summer blue skies. His sharp profile had become familiar, as he very rarely gave her any attention, always looking at some distant point. Enishi barely spoke to her and when he did, it was always in riddles. She could not understand what exactly he was saying or even if he was indeed talking to her. Sometimes, it felt as though she was a ghost inside the room and Enishi wasn't even aware of her presence.
She tilted her head, letting her eyes roam over his face. The line of his jaw was strong, his chin a little pointy, his nose sharp and severe. He had incredibly long eyes lashes though and she was startled to find herself envying how it made his eyes look almost gentle. At least when he was like this, peaceful and calm.
There were times when he acted strange and talked strange but other than that he didn't seem to want to harm her. Kaoru still wasn't sure exactly what Enishi wanted with her. The only mistreatment she had to endure was the awkward silences between them, followed by sudden burst of half-hearted quarrels over the tiniest things
Why are your windows opened? You can't escape from there. You'll fall to your death.
I know that! I'm not an idiot! I wasn't even planning to, you paranoid freak!
You're so loud, always screeching and screaming, have you no manners?!
The silence is driving me crazy – you are driving me crazy!
Bland, everything you cook is bland!
Then don't eat it, no one is forcing you. You're an insufferable jerk!
All very much like the ones she and Yahiko would engage in.
Kaoru curled her hands around her tea cup, swallowing past her aching throat. She had learned to use that pain to feed her ever growing desire to escape from this island prison. Not that she had made any significant progress. It grated on her nerve how perfectly Enishi had planned her detention. Two weeks have passed since the attack at her dojo and she had no way of knowing what had happened afterwards. It was annoying how little Enishi would tell her, keeping her in the dark, making her think of the worst. Well, she had enough of that. It had been too long and she wasn't going to spend another sleepless night worrying. She turned towards Enishi, squaring her shoulders. "You have to tell me what's going on. It's been two weeks!"
Enishi slowly turned his head to look at her, his eyes glasses catching the morning sun and glinting with white light. "I don't have to tell you anything."
Kaoru huffed, carefully placing her emptied cup on the table. "At least tell me how my friends are."
Enishi's lips curled in a twisted smile. "Hurt but alive, I can assure you of that at least."
She couldn't help but roll her eyes. She knew they were hurt. She'd seen the fights. She was there. It was the severity of their injuries that worried her. No doubt, Megumi and Genzai-sensei have taken care of them but they need someone to regularly check on their bandages, make sure they were resting and eating well. How will they get the money to buy food and medicine if she was here – two weeks already?! Two weeks of income lost and she could only imagine how much damage Enishi had wrought upon her dojo. She narrowed her eyes as Enishi silently sipped his tea, without a care in the world, ignoring her litany of complaints.
She didn't like the thought, but perhaps she could figure out a way to take with her a few of Enishi's fancy silverware. The porcelain tea set would be difficult to smuggle and easily broken, but the spoons and forks would fetch a good price. It would be petty theft but she hardly thinks Enishi would care. Besides, he certainly owed her money. It's not like the government will ever compensate her for everything that she had lost.
"You are not worried about Battousai?" Enishi suddenly asked, breaking her thoughts.
Kaoru threw up her hands in frustrations. "Of course, I am! I'm worried for everyone!" And again, that slow, distorted smile that made her shiver in fear. She wrapped her arms around herself, bracing for whatever Enishi has to say.
"Battousai is in his own hell that he had created. I merely sent him there."
Kaoru shook her head and bit her lips. Something inside her couldn't voice out her fear. Couldn't ask Enishi what he meant, what he had done. She could feel the tendrils of trepidation wrapping around her heart, squeezing it painfully. She couldn't help but let out an anxious whimper, but Enishi didn't seem to hear. He had his eyes back on the sky and she had ceased to exist.
Two weeks have passed and nothing still made sense to her. She had to come up with a plan soon or she might just lose her calm and end up doing something dangerous and drastic. She would not survive another week like this.
Almost three weeks now.
Today, right on schedule, Enishi fetched her for their afternoon tea. Only this time, he didn't lead her outside as usual, but deeper into the mansion and into a large room filled with books. The tea was ready, the table set with more of Enishi's elegant and no doubt expensive white and blue and gold rimmed porcelain cups.
Enishi wordlessly sat down, not waiting for her, legs casually crossed. He seemed a little more relaxed and maybe even happy. It was an emotion she had never seen in his usually stoic face. He didn't have that pale, delirious look to him that had often terrified her.
Unsure of what this new mood meant, she kept her distance. She was used to Enishi being cold and aloof and this sudden change felt even more dangerous to her. Observing him from him with lowered eyes, she silently walked around the room, randomly touching things here and there. The soft velvet chairs, the thick curtains draped around the window, framing it in such a way she had never seen before. She fingered the spines of the books lining the wall, all of them foreign. She couldn't read their titles but they look rare and valuable. Everything about this house was opulent and rich. And clean. There were no dusts. She had to wonder if there was another outhouse where Enishi's servants were staying. There was no way Enishi could maintain this place all by himself. She certainly didn't do any chores other than cooking.
This was important. She could use this to her advantage. If there were servants, there were other people that she could talk to, ask for help or not even that, she was desperate for company other than Enishi's usual disregard of her. If she could discover how these servants can come in and out of the mansion without her noticing, maybe she can slip outside too. She wished she had the ability to sense ki, at least she'd be able to know if there were other people nearby. They could be just well hidden or their schedules were made to match the time she was locked inside her room, unable to see anything else but the seemingly never-ending ocean that separated her from her friends. And Kenshin.
Thinking of Kenshin hurt. Like a lingering bruise right across her rib cage. Kaoru hated the thought of him needlessly worrying over her. He would not doubt be blaming himself. Were they as desperate as she was? It was taking them a little longer than she had expected but she didn't think they had entirely given up on finding her. She didn't want to burden them with the task of trying to look for her, but she wished they could hurry up. There was so little that she could do from here to help them out.
Suddenly, totally out of the blue, and in an incredibly bored tone, Enishi asked her, "Do you like dolls, Kamiya-san?"
His voice dark and low, seemed to fill the whole room and Kaoru stopped her exploration, turning to find herself standing beside the chair where Enishi was sitting down, curiously looking up at her, eyes wide and unblinking. Slightly unnerved by this, she swallowed and looked away, taking a few seconds to think of how best to answer such an odd question. She tried to remember if she ever owed a doll. Not that she had any aversion to them either. It was just something she hadn't let herself be interested in because, well, it was hard enough being a girl practicing kendo under her father's strict tutelage; playing with dolls would hardly make the boys her age want to associate with her. She had never been teased outright by the group of boys she trained with – mainly because her father was their master but she had a felt the need to be more like them and less interested with dolls and other girly things. It was easier to imitate their brashness. Was Enishi's question an implication of how he sees her? Too unwomanly. A loudmouthed tomboy. Was this some twisted comparison to his sister? Kaoru bristled a little but she quickly shook it off. "Uhm. Sure. I guess.
"Gein makes dolls. He calls them puppets. Robots. Have you heard of that, Kamiya-san? Robots. It's the future, he says. Anyway, he can call them whatever he wants, but it really is just a doll."
She didn't know what to say to that and even if she did, Enishi had lost his interest in her and was now looking outside, the opened window giving a clear view of the beach outside, the sand and the sea glittering in the afternoon light.
"Gein makes a special kind of doll." He continued, almost sounding dazed. "Life size. Life like. The face, the body, the tiniest details, exactly like their human counterpart. Gein says it's an art.
Kaoru's heart started beating faster, she could hear it inside her ears, the thudding sound it made, like an inconsistent drum beat. Her mouth had suddenly gone dry and she didn't know why she was suddenly afraid but Enishi's face, devoid of any emotion chilled her in a strange new way. "Would you like to have dinner now? I'm hungry. Are you? Hungry, I mean. I'll make dinner." She made a move to leave the room, but Enishi's hand quickly shot out, grabbing her by the wrist. Kaoru tried to pull away, but Enishi held on. He wasn't clutching, not painfully at least. Not yet. But he would not let go.
He tilted his head up. His glasses made it impossible for Kaoru to look at him, instead she found her own reflection staring right back at her. She looked away, unable to bear the obvious fear that she could so clearly see in her own eyes.
"When I arrived in Tokyo, I had you followed. Couple of days. Little boys, little girls, so that Battousai won't get suspicious. Children are always honest. So when I ask them, 'how does she look like? How tall is she? How long is her hair? What are her hands like?' they give real good answer. The hardest part, of course, was looking for someone with your eyes."
Kaoru, nervously stammering now, feeling something awful settling at the pit of her stomach, turned her attention to Enishi's mouth, avoiding the glare of his glasses. "M-my eyes? I- I don't understand."
"You have remarkable eyes." Enishi said, nodding thoughtfully. "I'll give you that. I didn't ask how - or, rather who - Gein got it from. It took him long enough, for sure. But it had to be the right shade of blue. Not exactly like yours, but close enough for them to not notice. To not question it."
Kaoru swallowed hard. "What? What are you saying?!"
Enishi's fingers, wrapped around her writs, was now digging into her flesh. "They believed the doll. The cross-scar on your cheeks. The wattou right through your heart." There was a hypnotic tone in Enishi's voice, it sounded almost like an incantation, of a prayer being murmured.
She was shaking her head, unable to fully comprehend what Enishi was saying. "No. No. No. No...I'm here! I don't have a scar. Nothing happened to me."
Enishi was smiling to himself, as though she hadn't spoken, "They mourned you. Quite a crowd, or so I have heard. It ruined Battousai. He's sitting somewhere filthy, rotting. Unable to do anything but grieve. Exactly just like I had planned. You see, no one knows him like I do. Not Shishio Makoto, not that foolish Mibu Wolf. They couldn't break him. They don't know how. But I did. He saw your suffering in those dead blue eyes. He –"
Without warning, Kaoru launched herself at Enishi, knocking him off the chair, both of them landing on the floor, plates and glasses shattering around them, she felt the splash of warm tea against her skin, spreading like liquid fire. Her anger had taken her by surprise, but she could not hold it in. It unleashed itself and she found herself on top of Enishi, tears streaming down her face, fist pummeling his chest. "You monster! How could you?! Does Sano, does Megumi... Yahiko?" Her wretched sob echoed inside her own head and she couldn't help the bright, blazing thought, Kami-help me, I could kill him. If I can get my hand on something sharp, I just might. Forgive me father, but I'm so angry, I think I might kill him now.
"He's just a boy!" Kaoru raged, her fingers had found the fabric of Enishi's silk jacket and she clutched at it, shaking him with strength she didn't know she possessed. Enishi's eyeglasses had fallen off his face and she found herself staring into his eyes wide with shock. "Don't you understand what you have done?! Even if you think Kenshin deserves this - and you're wrong, he doesn't - Yahiko! He is just like you; don't you see that! He's you when you saw your sister die, when Tomoe-sa-"
Enishi let out a low growl and quick as lighting, he reached out to grab her shoulders, pushing her away from him and then thrusting her sideway and rolling over to her so that he's now straddling her. He pressed his whole body into her and Kaoru gasped, trying to breath as Enishi leaned down, snarling at her, his mouth just inches away from her face. "Shut up! Shut up! Don't ever say her name! You don't know anything! She had been my whole world. She was the only one who loved me! Neesan-" He gasped, his warm breath filling the tiny space between them, "She didn't have to suffer that way! Cut open and bleeding in the snow. Battousai got what he deserved but I wasn't as cruel as him. I didn't cut you open and left you to bleed on the floor of your dojo. A small lie. You will come back to them. But neesan is gone forever. He took her. He took her!"
"Get off, get off!" They were both hysterical now, their voices overlapping but Kaoru couldn't find it in herself to calm down, all she knew was she needed to breath and she couldn't, Enihi's weight was too much, it felt like her lungs were being crushed, that if he leaned in any further, her ribcage would snap. "I can't- I can't breathe, I - I can't -" she was panting now, her breaths slow and shallow, dark spots were dancing in front of her eyes. Please, please, someone help me. Please. She could feel her tears helplessly rolling down the side of her face. I'm so sorry minna-san. I tried. I tried so hard… oh Kenshin!
And the pressure in her chest was suddenly lifted. She took great, big lungful of air, enough to make loud, wheezing noises as she realized that Enishi was no longer pressing down on her. He was still straddling her, her body trapped between his thighs. He was looking down at her with an unreadable expression on his face. His breaths matched hers and for a moment, there was only the sound of their harsh exhalations.
Slowly he reached out to touch her and Kaoru flinched, but his fingers were gentle as he wiped away her tears. "Stop crying, Kamiya-san." It sounded both a demand and a plea and Kaoru moved her face away from his reach, unable to stomach the careful, tender gesture that was and wasn't for her. She turned her head so that she was seeing things from the lenses of Enishi's glasses lying in front of her. Everything was distorted, things that weren't supposed to be large filled up her vision: broken remnants of the blue and white tea cups, the delicate red flower on the vase crushed and ruined, like a large opened wound, the dark spilled tea trailing a path towards her, probably mixing with her tears. She could feel the warm liquid soaking the sleeves of her kimono. The green one. She was wearing the green one today, her mind supplied this fact and she shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts.
"Get off me." She ordered in broken voice.
And quietly, almost like a ghost, Enishi was gone. She closed her eyes and in the midst of the ruin, for the first time she had been taken, she let herself cry – not for herself, but for her friends and for Kenshin and Yahiko and the grief that they had to endure.
I will come home. No matter what, I will come home. Please just wait for me.
The first humanoid robot made in Japan was named Gakutensoku, ("Learning from the Laws of Nature"), created by biologist Makoto Nishimura (1883-1956) in 1928. Let's pretend that Gein was way ahead of his time and had invented the term "robot"
So what did you think? I posted this a long time ago in tumblr, but not in this form. This is like an extended version. If you want to read how it was originally, as a mere idea, 6 years ago (!) you can read it here: post/124218709318/rurouni-kenshin-jinchu-arc-what-if
You know who else I want to tell Kaoru about the whole mess that Enishi had left behind? Saitou. Yeah, that would be interesting, wouldn't it? I mean it would be too much for Kenshin to relieve everything that he had gone through just so he could explain to Kaoru why he was in that condition when they finally rescued her. I think Kaoru would be better prepared to comfort Kenshin if she knew before she had been rescued (or at least before Kenshin had healed from his wounds) what Enishi's Jinchuu had been. Anyway, as always, thank you in advance for reading and please leave a message or comment.
