Bittersweet Irony

A Rurouni Kenshin oneshot by Ayame-chan

DISCLAIMERS: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin. If I did, I would be wandering around the world, splurging on other anime merchandise and not writing this...or any fanfiction...

WARNINGS: Spoilers from the Jinchuu arc (Chapters 152 to the end of the manga). If you haven't read it, go! Read it! I order you to! (Not that you'll obey anyway...)

He had to laugh at the irony of it all.

Yukishiro Enishi slumped down against the wall he had chosen to support his shock, his ambitions, his hopes, his illusions, his entire life so far. Over the years, he had devoted his entire time to perfect his plans of revenge. Yet not matter how long he had painstakingly planned them, they all felt meaningless to him. He glanced down at the plain red book he held loosely in his right hand. It wasn't just any book. It was her diary, his dear sister's diary. Her words, her feelings, her truth were written down in this plain red book. The simple yet elegant brushstrokes of her writing were something that he could easily recognize since the day she taught him to read and write as a child.

The diary meant everything to Enishi and tore his world down at the same time.

After a month of searching, I have finally found him. Kiyasato-san's killer. I was expecting someone who looked more menacing, who stood at least a head taller than the typical samurai, but I'm surprised that he is just a mere boy with lifeless eyes...

He is so innocent that it's impossible to think that he has actually killed hundreds of men with one swing of his sword...

I can't hide my intentions much longer. After this entire time that I've stayed with him, I can no longer see him as the killer who killed my fiancé but merely a young man who has finally shone something in his eyes other than death...

If leaving him like this, without a word, is good for the both of us, then so be it. I will protect him as he has protected me from insanity...

The grip he had on the book tightened as he continued to peer down at the flimsy object through his broken sunglasses. He felt as if a train had run into him five times over as he continued to recall the words of her diary.

Enishi, I'm sorry for bringing you into this mess.

His sister wanted him to live a better life, but he wanted to avenge her wrongful death. The years since he witnessed her death by Himura Battousai sent Enishi on a long path of blood and chaos. The lives of others around him were meaningless. Because his sister wasn't alive anymore, everyone else around him was nothing. He killed to survive without remorse, eventually entering into the strongest syndicate in Shanghai and moving up the chain without ever stopping. He could care less about the section he controlled; what mattered the most was that he could get enough money and power to complete his plans. Shishio Makoto and his plans to destroy the Meiji government and take over Japan were far fetched, but the man was the perfect pawn for Enishi's true intentions.

Now, he wondered if all he did up until now was pointless.

"'Neesan..."

He clenched his teeth, trying to control the wave of emotions running rampant in his head. His muscles screamed for comfort, his ears throbbed in agony, his entire body felt like rubber, but none of these physical ailments matched the emotional torture he felt inside him.

Anger. Confusion. Sadness.

But most of all, he felt betrayed. By his own sister, nonetheless.

But then again, it was his own fault for getting involved. If he had only listened to Tomoe back then and had gone back to their empty household, if only he realized that her feelings had changed for Battousai, if only he had tried harder in convincing her that going after her fiancé's murderer was useless...

But what was done is done. There was no way to go back and change the past no matter how much he wanted to.

Enishi...

The white-haired youth snapped out of his thoughts when he heard her voice, and he quickly glanced at the odd old man next to him. Something about the man struck a chord in Enishi's memory, but he couldn't figure out what. Nor did he really care.

"New here, eh, young man?" the old man asked him in a cheerful voice.

Why in the world was this man talking to him? Enishi was at least twice the size of the older man, and he guessed since he was beaten by Battousai, escaped the police, and took down a couple of people in the process, he looked like hell. Many people who passed by steered clear from his path, but this odd yet vaguely familiar old man seemed intent on staying next to him at the moment. The broken sword in his other hand didn't seem to deter the man either.

Enishi took a quick glance, taking in the general details of the older man before looking back out into the blur in front of him. He really didn't want to make conversation, but his body didn't seem to listen.

"...Maybe..." he heard himself say.

The man turned to look at him more closely and for the first time Enishi saw something strikingly familiar in the man's coal eyes. They reminded him of...

"You know, I wonder if we haven't met before somewhere..." he murmured before laughing at something Enishi assumed he was thinking of. "Ha, ha, ha, must be my imagination."

"It might be my imagination as well, but you look familiar, too..." Enishi softly replied without displaying any of his real thoughts.

He could have sworn for a split second that he saw a faint glimmer of his sister's ghost right behind the man, smiling back at him. However, he only heard the man chuckle in amusement at something else he said. For once, Enishi didn't seem to mind. He was glad that for the first time in these past few days, he caught a glimpse of her. It was merely a glimpse or maybe he didn't see her at all and just imagined her there, but it was enough to put his mind at ease.

Enishi, you must live for yourself.

It told him that everything he had done had a purpose after all. Even if it wasn't right, even if it wasn't what she wanted, she understood. That was enough. The man next to him stood up and said something to the white-haired youth that Enishi didn't quite catch, but he didn't quite care anymore.

Yukishiro Enishi was just content sitting there, one hand holding her diary and the other holding his broken weapon, waiting to catch her smile and her voice again.

And in the back of his mind, he wanted to laugh at the irony of it all.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Ah, it's been such a long time since I've actually written an RK fanfic, considering that I have two that I haven't finished yet... I'm actually in the process of slowly disecting each and every chapter of "Two Sides of a Sword" and "True Love" because, after looking back at them, I noticed there were so many plotholes, too many characters, and really lack of detail in a lot of them. So I'm revising and re-revising all of them so that it'll be a little fresh and a little bit better than the last time I wrote them, which was over two and a half years ago. ("True Love" is even worse...but I won't get into that.)

But anyways, back to this somewhat short oneshot! I had an urge to write something about Enishi since he's one of my favorite characters from the series (Aoshi is on top, then Saitou, in case you're wondering who are my top favorites) and I've always wanted to write about the part where he reads Tomoe's diary or after he reads it.

Title doesn't really match the writing, but I couldn't think of anything else that could make sense....this may be a prologue to the newly revised version of "True Love", but I'm debating on it...

As always, I'd love to hear what you guys think!