RuroKen Week 2015
Day 5: Trust/Betrayal
Author: Kenkaya
Series: Rurouni Kenshin
Genre: Angst/Drama/Psychological
Type: Oneshot, character study
Rating: General, PG
Pairings: Himura Kenshin/Yukishirou Tomoe
Summary: In the end… Enishi hadn't honored his sister's memory at all.
Disclaimer: The characters and story of Rurouni Kenshin are copyright to Nobuhirou Watsuki, Sony, and other corporate someones who aren't me.
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Battousai's woman handed him the diary while he was in chains, defeated, self-righteous police pigs dragging him away from every (pointless) accomplishment he'd made.
"Here. Have this."
She held out the bound bundle with sakura petal sleeves, a bright (too bright) smile on her flushed face. He stared at the object blankly at first, brain still too wrapped up in battle and 'why-was-she-protecting-him?' to process the significance of her offering. A not-so-subtle yank on his handcuffs finally prompted him to take the booklet. He watched her run back to Battousai then, sleek black ponytail swishing across her back, and knew he would never see her again.
This handwriting, he looked down at the frayed cover as officers led him up a wooden ship plank. He remembered this handwriting…
His sister wrote in her diary every evening before bed, without fail. Sometimes, he would sit behind her- drawn by warm candlelight and her calm presence- watching the precise wrist flicks that translated to her elegant hand. He knew her characters well from his kanji lessons (she was the one who taught him, after all), and would often try to imagine what words she used in each entry. He never read them himself, though. Not since she caught him peeking over her shoulder once when he was five. She slammed the journal shut immediately, and warned him against ever intruding on a woman's most private thoughts; she told him that it was one of the ultimate violations of trust.
He promised to never sneak another peek. He trusted his sister more than anyone else in the entire world, he would rather stick a thousand needles in his eyes then give her cause not to trust him as well…
But now, he was sitting in a dilapidated slum, staring at a cover bearing her name in familiar strokes. Escaping the prison ship had been easy enough. Breaking his childhood vow to the one person who meant everything to him, less so.
He broke down soon enough. Yukishirou Tomoe was dead, killed before his very eyes, these written words were the only piece of her that existed outside memory. The binding cracked softly as he opened the pages. He sat back against a crumbling wall, turned to the first entry, and devoured his sister's story.
By the time he finished, the axis of his world had shifted uncomfortably far. The cool, composed woman (always with a gentle smile) in his mind's eye had been superimposed by one filled with insecurities, who defensively bottled emotions whenever they overwhelmed her. He didn't realize how often his childhood recklessness drove her to frustration. She worried about him constantly, especially after she'd left home. He discovered her guilt over Kiyosato's death, how she blamed his enlistment on failing to adequately express her happiness to him. The words painted his sister in another light: still recognizable, but different.
Nothing could have prepared him though, for the chapters after she encountered Battousai.
She wrote of the ruthless blade she saw, the bloody rain that fell when they first met face to face. But, she also noted the man's kindness and protective nature- how he defended her, a complete stranger, from hecklers inside a tavern and carried her to (relative) safety after she fainted. Further on, she detailed the emotional conflict he struggled with as a hitokiri. 'A gentle soul, who embarked on a dark path with the best intentions,' she called Battousai. He couldn't fathom… he knew his sister had loved Kiyosato immensely. How could she have possibly empathized with his killer?
Her final entry was written the night before she died. It read like a last testament: explaining the actions she was about to take and the reasons why. She loved Battousai (Himura Kenshin, he had to remind himself now). The man who stole her initial happiness had become her new source, and she planned to ensure his life at the cost of her own. 'I know he will create a better world. When the war ends and he puts down his killing sword for good, as he promised, a great number of people will benefit from his kind heart. He has to live, my second love,' she wrote. His sister clearly believed the Yaminobu wouldn't spare her. Her final inked regret was of involving her younger brother in 'this dreadful plot.'
'I hope Enishi listened to me for once and went home. For both our sakes. I don't think my spirit will be able to rest if my actions tomorrow cause him harm as well.'
The journal fell from shaking hands.
He recalled feeling alone (so hopelessly alone) after that day, living off Kyoto's backstreets until the war ended. He didn't care anymore without her; his hair became a snowy white, his cheeks sunk in, and the eyes looking back at him from murky puddles faded to a cold blue. Sometimes, he swore his sister was right beside him, but, whenever he turned, she was never there.
Until Shanghai. He saw her for the first time amidst the blood of his adopted family, slain by his own borrowed blade. She stood before him, whole, an ethereal image of pale whites and graceful poise. She was smiling.
He was certain then, that he'd chosen the correct path. Willing to do anything for that smile, he walked away from comfort to pursue what power he could on Shanghai's streets. He joined the mafia. He buried all sentiment and moved his way up through the ranks. He murdered in the name of completing his sister's revenge. She never responded to his voiced entreaties or one-sided conversations- she just kept smiling at him. It was his only sign. He truly thought he had been fulfilling her will back then.
Small wonder she stopped smiling for him.
He reached out a dirty hand towards the discarded diary (his poor, misunderstood sister), scooping the bent papers out of yellow dust and cradling them close. Around him, bedraggled feet attached to equally despondent people dragged across the narrow road. Rakuninmura, this place was called: The Village of Fallen Ones. The perfect spot for scum like him to disappear.
Because in the end (even through pain, near-death, blood, murder, and hardship), Enishi hadn't honored his sister's memory at all. Instead, he betrayed her last wishes; tormented the man she died for. Worse yet, he only grasped the full weight of what he'd done by violating her trust as an innocent five year-old boy promised he never would.
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A/N: Got a little behind on prompts since the past couple days have been occupied with family events, but I'm going to try getting the last two done tomorrow. Pumps fist.
I don't have too much to say about my interpretation of the prompt this time, except Enishi is a sad, sad character. I was also a bit inspired after reading animaniacal-laughter (on Tumblr)'s lovely Day 1 analysis on Tomoe's POV in RuroKen- particularly how she doesn't really have one since her story is told entirely within the framework of Kenshin and Enishi's POV. Her diary is the one exception and the reader never sees it… Enishi does at the end, but off panel. I became interested in exploring that moment.