Himura Battousia Book 2: Kenshins Past
Copyright© 2007 by Trojan_85
Part 163: Overture to a Death
Enishi: What's wrong, Battousai? Can you see her too? (He laughs.) That's right. She's always with me. Now, always and forever. But, Battousai--(suddenly looking very angry) You don't have the right to see my sister's phantom!
Kenshin: Yukishiro... Enishi... You're behind all this.
Enishi: So you didn't know. The last time I saw you was in the middle of the Battle of Toshifushimi. Has it been eleven years already?
Kenshin: You--where--
Enishi: Where have I been all this time? I was in Shanghai. I didn't want to live in the new Japan you Ishin Shishi made. Shanghai, that demon city of the Orient, the whirlpool of riches and greed both East and West. After the Boshin War, after I lost my sister, my family was scattered. For a kid driven out of Japan to survive in Shanghai meant coming out on top of the fiercest competition. I drank from mud puddles, I ate dead flesh. I was always getting sick, always just about to die.
Kenshin:... That's enough. Don't tell me anymore.
Enishi: You'll listen to this. This is the only thing I have to thank you for. Yes... I was always close to death, but I survived. My revenge... To avenge my sister's death was the only thing in my heart. Ten years of that... I lived in Shanghai so long I almost forgot how to speak Japanese. I made it to the top. The top of the Shanghai mafia, controlling an entire continent of illicit arms manufacturers.
(He draws a fancy engraved pistol and levels it almost playfully at Kenshin.)
Enishi: Kujiranami's Armstrong cannon! Otowa's assassin's tools! Banjin's special-issue tekkou! Gein's ammunitions! All supplied by my organization! And Shishio Makoto, his battleship? I arranged for that as well.
(Six shots ring out. Six holes smoke at Kenshin's feet.)
Enishi: But that was a mistake... I hardly expected you and Shishio to meet head-on. I'm so glad you survived.
Kenshin: I understand, Enishi... You want revenge for your sister's death. That's perfectly natural. I can't deny your right to justice. But one thing! Don't hurt anyone else who's not involved in this! Your revenge is against me alone. Only I should accept your punishment.
Enishi: No. My revenge isn't for you alone. It's your everything! Those you hold dear, those you speak with. The whole of Japan, that you built with your bloody sword. A Japan without my sister. That's the only thing that could equal your crime.
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