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Addicting Taste, Chapter 2

Ongoing Series

Synopsis: Enishi Yukishiro was on a mission to execute his piece de la resistance. A plan to avenge his beloved sister. Until you showed up. Will you be a part of his downfall or will you try to save him?

Pairing: Enishi Yukishiro × reader

Genre: strangers to lovers, sunshine and sunshine protector, slow burn, a lot of fluff, comedic relief, teasing, occasional smut (later chapters)

Words: 5.5k +

A/N: Chapter 2 is finally here! I have been kicking my feet and giggling while writing it. Some technical difficulties led to delays in putting it up but I’m glad it’s finally here. Not really proud of it but I hope you like it!

Powered by Mackenyu's outstanding portrayal of Enishi's character in Rurouni Kenshin: The Final, I hereby present you a story ripped from the figments of my mind. I hope you'll love the story as much as I do. Enjoy lovelies, Paula.

His hands were cold as ice, enveloping yours like a snow blanket. They were a very welcome relief to yours that were hot and clammy from the previous battle. Long fingers laced with yours, interlocking in a dance every time your hands swung around as you ran together through the corridors.

Looking down at your hands, you couldn’t help but wonder why they fit together so well. As if they were meant to link and hold onto each other.

You anxiously waited for the moment he would let go and your hand would miss the way it felt in his. But he didn’t seem to want to let go just yet.

Steering clear of the guards gathering by the entrance, you switched places. You were the one leading him now, up the staircase and to the top floor. Checking to see if it was still empty you kept going until you reached the glass window you climbed through.

There was only one small problem interfering with your plan. You were kind of petite and there was no way you could reach it without help.

He let go of your hand abruptly. Letting it fall roughly at your side, you struggled to stifle a quiet whine that made its way up your throat from the loss of contact. Keep it together for Christ’s sake.

Looking over at him he looked deep in thought. All of a sudden, he started swinging his arms back and forth and propelled his body upwards reaching to push the window open. Jumping again with a little more force he made it through the opening and landed on the roof. You stared at him in awe, admiring the strength he displayed.

Preparing to finally get out of this place and get back to your place, you held your hand up for him to help you through. He looked down at you from his spot above and you felt the air shift. His eyes turned dark, glazed over with venom and a wicked smirk stretched on his lips. It all came crashing down on you as you came to understand the change in his behaviour. He used you.

“Thank you for your services. I will now be taking my leave,” he says, sending a mock bow of courtesy your way.

“Motherfuc—,” you didn’t even get to finish as he just turned around and left, leaving you dumbfounded.

You couldn’t believe it. You risked your life to right a wrong you thought was of your own cause. For someone you didn’t even know. Just for him to use you this shamelessly.

You made so many bad decisions today. All you wanted to do was help. But as always it backfired on you.

Your self-loathing turned to hatred. He wasn’t worth your time and anger. He personally made himself a honorary entry at the top of your hitlist.

If I ever see him again, I won’t hesitate to fucking kill him.

Armed guards made haste to reach the top floor. Alarm bells rang in your mind to warn you that you had to find a way out and fast. But before you could even think of what to do shots were fired your way.

You ducked down and looked for cover. There was a wooden table next to you that looked sturdy enough. Throwing it over on the side you went behind it in hopes it would protect you.

Looking around in a frenzy you noticed a red patch forming on your right arm. The newest hole gracing your dress belonged to a bullet that grazed you, just a few inches off puncturing your bicep. Fucking great.

More bullets thundered through your ears. Some of them started piercing through the wooden table. You wouldn’t make it out if you stayed there for too long. Looking everywhere for a way out you felt a familiar feeling creep up on you. Fear. The same fear you felt the day you lost your world.

Flashback

“Stay here, Miyu,” your mother said hastily, as she pulled you towards the corner of your room.

“Mom, what is happening?” you asked, starting to feel uneasy.

Before she could answer shots were fired downstairs in your living room. She hugged you closer to her until the blaring gunfire suddenly stopped.

She ushered you towards your wardrobe, opening the hidden compartment within it. You were small enough to fit inside.

“Promise me you won’t come out unless it’s me or your father coming in,” she said as she urged you inside. You only nodded in response. She closed the door and leaned a hand against the painted wood. Lifting your own you placed it on the door, mimicking her.

“Everything will be okay.”

You were confused as to why she was saying that as her eyes were glazed over with sadness. She got up and headed towards the door to your room.

Before she stepped out of your room she turned to you once more.

“I love you, Miyu.”

She flashed you her biggest smile.

“Be safe, my little light.”

That was the last time you saw her. No one came back for you.

Hours later, when you came out of hiding, you went to look for your parents. Creeping slowly from behind your bedroom door, you were met with a strong metallic smell.

The closer you got to the living room, the scent took up more and more space in your lungs. The bloody scene before you was your nightmares’ favorite. It made sure it painted it for you every night ever since.

—————————

Shaking your head to pull yourself back to reality, you tried to figure a way out.

Unarmed, injured and with your dress turned to a mere cloth, barely hanging on your shoulders you were absolutely terrified. There was no way you could make it out of here without a miracle.

At least it wasn’t all in vain, you thought. Even if you hated his guts after the stunt he pulled, you were glad Mophead was out of harms way. To know you tried to help a person was a enough for you.

If you were to die tonight you wouldn’t really have any regrets. Except the fact that there was so much food you haven’t tried and so many places you haven’t seen yet. It dawned on you that you didn’t want to die. Especially here of all places.

Preparing to get torn to shreds by the guards, you shut your eyes tightly and hugged yourself in a comforting manner. At least I’ll get to see them again.

You waited for the bullets to rain down on you. But none of them came. As a matter of fact all firing stopped. It was way too quiet.

Confused, you opened your eyes and turned to peek over the table. The guards shooting at you just a few moments ago were now laying limp on the floor.

In the middle of the sprawled mess of bodies stood a white mop of hair. He glistened in the light shining through the glass ceiling, looking just like an angel. Except he wasn’t an angel. He was a demon straight from the pits of hell.

A guard lifted his gun to shoot him but he reacted quickly and kicked it away just in time, shoving his foot in the guard’s face.

Turning around with a huff he locked eyes with you for the second time tonight, this time more softly as he took in your state. The sleeves of your dress were ripped, barely connecting to the seams anymore.

You were trembling as you rose up from your hiding spot. But as your eyes made their way to him, the fear you felt moprhed back to anger. He left you here all alone.

Glaring at him with a look full of hatred, you furiously walked towards the staircase. Just before you reached it he caught your arm in a swift motion. He pulled on it to make you turn around and look at him but you weren’t going to give in so easily.

He looked down at you with an expression you couldn’t really pinpoint. Specks of guilt and something akin to worry reflected in his eyes. The only person who ever got that look from him was his sister.

“Let me go,” you gritted through your teeth.

“If you go through there you’ll get yourself killed.”

So he played and used you and now you were just supposed to forget all about it because he decided to come back as a last minute act of good faith? Why was he so two-faced? And why was he still holding onto your arm?

“Funny you say that as if you didn’t just leave me here to get killed a few minutes ago, after I saved your ass,” you sourly spat out.

The hand that was holding your arm let go and raised to meet his tangled hair in a frustrated sweep. He wasn’t put in this position before.

Usually, he couldn’t care less about the people fighting by his side because it always felt better not to. That was just how he was programmed.

But he couldn’t just ignore the fact that a total stranger just decided to risk their life for him. That made something snap deep inside of him. Something that wasn’t supposed to crack just yet.

——————

A few minutes ago

He was on a one man mission and didn’t need you or anyone to get in his way. Turning around from your small form on the ground he exhaled. He was out of that shithole and nothing else mattered.

He wanted to get his plan back on track as soon as possible. But as he reached the edge of the precinct roof, ready to take off into the night, he heard the gunfire.

Gravity was suddenly pulling at his feet like iron and he couldn’t move. You were left defenceless at the mercy of the guards. Just like his sister was that horrible winter day that he wanted so hard to forget.

Reality knocked into him and he stumbled as things became clearer in his head. You were nothing more than a stranger. But you laid your life on the line for him for some unknown reason.

He couldn’t let you die. Not if he had the power to help it.

Mumbling a quick curse under his breath, he rotated on his heels and started running at full speed, dropping back down in the precinct. Looking for you, he saw you tucked in the corner taking cover. You looked scared out of your mind and it was all his fault. Tomoe would beat me up if she was here.

The guards stopped firing to reload their guns and he took the opportunity to disarm them. His thought process went haywire as he ruthlessly broke bones with his bare hands. He had to protect you.

——————

The mad look on your face told him you weren’t the happiest to see him. Indeed, you felt like plunging your hands down his throat and pulling his balls through just to see him in pain a little.

“Look, the only way out is through the roof. You.. saved me… and I saved you. You could say we’re even now,” he said, flashing you a smirk.

Incredulous little shit. He still acted like he owned the world after everything that happened? You refused to perceive him. No matter what happens you can’t just leave people behind. What was worse was that he did it willingly. You can’t just get over that and shrug it under the carpet so easily.

Having enough of his behaviour you went to the space under the window and pulled over a nearby table. The height of it should be enough to help you reach up. The pain in your arm reminded you it needed immediate attention so you hopped on the table.

Just as you were about to reach up and pull yourself through, Mophead jumped up ahead of you again. But this time, he crouched down and offered you his hand.

You stared blankly at his hand. It’s been an exhausting day to say the least. A lot was weighing on your mind. You genuinely just wanted to get back to your place and forget everything that happened tonight. But you didn’t want to blindly trust this man again. What if he just drops me mid-air or something?

He sensed the inner battle you were having in your head. Hell, if he was in your position he wouldn’t trust himself either. So he tried to ease the tension in the air with another remark.

“Are you coming today or would you like to redecorate your dress with more bullet holes?” Okay, that came out way worse than it sounded in his head.

You can’t believe you were attracted to that. You hated yourself a little for it.

With a long sigh, you grabbed his hand and let him pull you up. He did it so effortlessly like you weighed nothing. His hand snaked around your waist for support as he pulled you through on the roof.

As he set you down you caught a different look in his eyes. He was holding onto you so delicately as if you would break the moment he let go. It made your previous feelings of hate disappear. The way he was unconsciously rubbing circles into your sides almost made you forget why you were mad at him in the first place.

Shaking your head, you separated from him and went to the edge of the building. Without looking back at him, you took off landing in an alley, while he sat there stunned. Ultimately, he decided to follow you.

——————

You had to take the long way back in order to avoid the troops patrolling around the city. Mophead was still on your tail, keeping close by just a few steps behind you.

Getting quite annoyed with him, you took hold of the collar of his shirt and pushed him roughly against the wall in of the brick alley. He was a little taken aback by your outburst but he couldn’t help but feel intrigued. He wanted to find out more about you.

“Why are you following me?”

“I kind of need a place to stay until it breaks for day at least.”

“And you thought I would offer you a sparkly invite to my place after the shit you pulled back there?”

“I guess I deserve that.”

Fixing him with a sharp glare, you let go of him and backed away. You waited for a valid reason why you should lend your place for the remainder of the night. Until you heard chatter close by. The patrol guards.

Mophead heard them too and what he did next startled you. He promptly backed you up against the other wall in the alley. He leaned so close to you that you could feel his breath fan your lips. Your breath got stuck in your throat and your pulse quickened.

It didn’t help that his broad arms circled around you the same way a viper would contrict its victim. His right hand came to rest on your lower back, while his left supported his body on the other side of your head. You prayed to all existing gods that he wouldn’t be able to see the effect he had on you. It would make you look like the biggest fool in the world after you tried so hard to stand your ground.

The two guards got closer and he dipped his head impossibly close to your neck. His hair tickled the side of your face and his scent entered your nostrils. He smelled like a combination of wood and jasmine. The mix was so addicting that a single whiff of it made your knees weak. The scent completely overpowered you. Your rational mind screamed at you to get it together while your instincts wanted you to pull him closer.

After the troops passed by and the coast was clear, he slowly lifted his head from your neck. He too was entranced in your rosy vanilla aroma. The familiarity of it swelled his memories but he still couldn’t figure out who you were to him. Feeling you tense under his small touch, he realised he wasn’t the only one being affected. He pulled away from you with a smirk gracing his mouth.

“Why do you keep smirking? Are you constipated or something?”

“What?! No?!”

You giggled seeing the outraged look on his face. He’s so funny and he doesn’t even realise it.

The sound of your giggle made something warm grow in his chest. He shook it off as soon as he felt it. That was weird.

“Okay.”

“Okay, what?”

“You can stay over tonight. But as soon as the sun rises you’re out of my sight,” you said with a strict tone.

“You know, anyone would rave at the opportunity to host me,” he states cockily.

“Don’t push it, mophead.”

“WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?!”

You took off smiling into the city, with him behind running to catch up to you. The empty streets of Shanghai didn't feel so lonely anymore.

——————

Opening the door to your humble home, you took off your shoes and walked inside. The space was illuminated by the light from outside. It was bright enough for you to see in the small space.

You left mophead by the door to make himself comfortable while you got a change of clothes and went behind the divider in the corner of the room. The moonlight shining through the window made your silhouette reflect on the other side of the thin decorated paper.

He discarded his shoes messily by the door as he took in your small abode. A tiny futon was folded neatly in the corner, big enough to fit your form. Scanning over the cracked window on the opposite side of the room, he thought it added an air of vintage to the place. Your scent was present in the room but it that wasn’t strong. So you haven’t been in these parts for a long time.

His eyes landed on your moving shape behind the divider. It felt like time went in slow motion as he watched your outline dance around the material. Each move you made, from the swift throw of your damaged dress over the divider to putting on a new blouse, made him feel as if he was watching his own personal puppet show.

He’d seen women stripped bare before his own eyes, but this felt different. Your body was fully protected by the paper screen and you still managed to have an impact on him. He wasn’t the type to let his gaze linger on someone for too long. But you stole almost all of his attention tonight.

He moved his eyes away in a plea for his brain to stop cooking up nonsense. He settled on going back to scanning the room, reaching the small desk on the other side.

Just as he landed eyes on a bag with what looked like food, his stomach growled lowly in hunger. You heard it just as you rounded the corner and snickered to yourself. Thinking of sharing the little baozi you had with him, you moved towards the bag.

The miniature pastries were idly waiting for your return and though cold they still looked appetizing to your stomach.

“Are you hungry by any chance?” you asked him.

“No,” he replied firmly as he took a seat on the floor, folding his arms over his chest.

His stomach seemed to have a mind of its own as it disagreed with its owner. It made sure to growl a bit louder this time, as he tightened his arms over it to silence it.

“Here,” you offered him one of the bigger dumplings as you copied his position on the floor.

“I’m good.”

“Just take it,” you were growing tired of his ‘I don’t need your help’ antics.

“I said I’m —,” you cut him off by shoving the soft dough in his mouth.

His cheeks puffed up and he looked nothing short of adorable as he stared daggers at you. He slowly gave in as the dough broke into pieces when you shoved it in his mouth. The savory flavor of marinated chicken met his taste buds. He tried to hide the moan of satisfaction that crawled up his throat as he munched on the dough, but the way his features relaxed gave him away.

Shaking your head at his childish behaviour you continued sorting through the dumplings, preparing a few more assortments.

Pushing two smaller ones his way you see him hesitate again. He eventually picks them up and takes a cautious bite out of each one. One of them had egg custard filling and the other was with red bean paste. He definitely couldn’t hide his reaction this time as he sighed softly in content.

“This one tastes like the ones my sister used to make,” he says up in a hushed tone as he chomped down on the egg custard one.

He suddenly got transported to a time where she was still around, happily rolling the dumpling dough on the counter in their kitchen back in Edo. A time where it was just the two of them against the world. He hasn’t really told anyone else about her before.

You were surprised by his openness. You could tell that it wasn’t that easy for him to open up. He trusted you in some way.

He didn’t know why he suddenly disclosed such personal information to you. It was weird how he felt so comfortable with you in such a short amount of time. But it felt good being in someone’s genuine company in a while.

“Thank you. For the baozi,” he trailed as he looked down, “and for helping me out there tonight.”

You almost choked on the dough you were eating. It wasn’t necessarily the words he said that took you by surprise, but the way he delivered them so honestly. It was far from the apology you expected but you were happy with the words of gratitude he offered.

“You’re welcome,” you said, turning back to munching.

From the short period of time you’ve been together, you gathered that the man in front of you was a wild mix of hot and cold. It made him both mysterious and really insufferable at the same time.

The moon struggled to get her light inside your cramped room, to inquire about the personal exchanges between the two of you. She had to remain content with the little light that she managed to glare through, as the both of you sat in a comfortable silence.

“Enishi Yukishiro.”

You looked up at him. He just gave you his name, which meant that on some level he felt like he could trust you.

Should I give him mine too?

He looked expectantly at you, waiting for you to return the gesture. Could you trust him? You were both strangers to each other. It wasn’t like it could do you any harm.

“Miyu Hikari," you say sheepishly.

I hope he won't make me regret this.

——————

You spent the time talking about everything and nothing at the same time. He told you a little more about his sister. You could tell she meant a lot to him. He didn’t tell you what happened to her but he said he was on a mission to avenge her. When you wanted to ask more about what he meant by it he shifted the conversation to you.

“Enough about me. Tell me more about you.”

“Well, I’m originally from Yokohama. My parents used to be tailors for the rich people coming down from Edo,” you said, remembering the pride that came with the Hikari name.

“What are you doing all the way here?”

You weren’t sure what to tell him. ‘Oh, I'm just hunting down the mafia that took my parents’ wasn’t exactly an adequate response to playing 21 questions.

“I’m just doing some… jobs.” Okay, that didn’t answer it either.

He wasn’t that dense and could tell you weren’t comfortable elaborating, so he didn’t press any further. You felt thankful for that.

It was weird to say the least. You talked without actually mentioning anything too important and kind of not really saying anything at the same time.

Timid rays of sunshine started making their way in the room. You didn’t even notice the time go by so fast. I guess it’s true what they say about good company making time stand still.

“Well, I should get going,” he said as he got up from the floor and dusted his pants.

“Thank you,” you said softly.

“No. Thank you,” he said as he gazed at you with that soft look again.

He slipped on his shoes as you got up to see him out. Waving at him, he bid you a nod and headed down the stairs. You had to go down into the jewelry shop to get in and out of the building.

Closing the door behind him you leaned against it, feeling like you were left in a daze. It’s been a long night and you could feel the after effects taking a toll on you. You would love to just lay down and sleep for the rest of the day. But your thoughts wandered back to the man you just bid goodbye.

You still couldn’t remember where you've seen him before and it kind of drove you up the wall. Why am I so stuck on him?

You wished you got more time with him, maybe you could find out more about his past and you would eventually remember him.

It was as if the gods heard you. Just when you moved away from the door someone barged in. Turning around you saw a breathless Enishi, leaning his back on the door.

“Enishi? Did you forget something? What are you…”

“Grab your things,” he directed.

“What?”

“The guards are here. They were just circling the shop as I reached downstairs. The found us.”

We’re so fucked.

This was bad. You’ve literally been in this hideout for a little over a month. It was so hard to find a place to stay because your jobs weren’t exactly consistent in location. But this one was a really good one in terms of access to the whole city.

You grabbed a bag and started stuffing whatever you found at hand inside. You settled your guns and ammunition in the bag and got your boots on.

“Is there another way out besides the front door?”

Not having to think too hard you bundled up your fist in a cloth you found laying around and punched the window. The glass cracked and fell on the other side.

“I guess that works too,” he says, a little shocked by it. He sauntered over to the window and studied the distance to the ground. It was about four meters but it looked... doable.

Not wasting any more time, he jumped through the window first, landing narrowly on the ground behind the shop. You threw your bag over and as you were about to jump too you froze. The distance was way too big and there was a possibility you could crack your skull if you weren’t careful.

“I uhm.. I think I’ll stay here,” you laughed nervously.

This wasn’t like the precinct building. That was a normal 2 meter jump. This was double the distance and a drop to a hard surface, with absolutely nothing to cushion your fall. Except if you counted Enishi’s big mop of hair. You didn’t need to do the maths to know that if you missed the landing that was it.

He sensed your fear as you were slowly pulling yourself back inside.

“Come on, it’s not that big of a jump,” he tried to convince you.

“Not that big? My brother in Christ, it is HUGE! I'm not a mantis able to float to the ground like you did.”

“I’ll catch you,” he tried to assure you.

“From four meters above ground? What if you don’t and you drop me? What if I break my neck? What if I break your neck?”

His patience was wearing thin. If he wasn’t practically indebted to you for taking in him and even feeding him he would’ve left ages ago. But he came back to get you out of harms way because he had a weird feeling whenever he saw you in danger. It made his chest squeeze in discomfort and he hated it.

“I promise to try to catch you. Now get your ass down here.”

You looked at him and tried to get some courage. Your ghost would have a lot of fun haunting him if he failed to catch you. Taking a few deep breaths to calm down, you closed your eyes. With one last look at the hideout behind, you let go of the window sill and let yourself drop.

You felt your blood pounding through your ears as you were free falling. The adrenaline in your body kicked in and you felt lightweight. As scary as it seemed, it all ended fairly quickly, as muscular arms held you above ground.

Enishi caught you. Opening your eyes, your face was just a few inches away from his. You could feel your breath hitch in your throat as you searched his face.

His eyes turned dark, consuming the blue hue on the edge of his pupils the more he looked down at you. If he didn’t stop this he would be in serious trouble. The sound of hurried steps above snapped both of you back to the real world.

Placing you back on the floor, you quickly dusted your clothes and chucked the bag in the corner over your shoulder. Then you both took off into town.

After wandering around for a while, you spotted a large carriage with apples, hauled by two horses. A man that looked like a farmer just sat down to start it. Enishi noticed it too and rushed over to the man.

“He’s gonna give us a ride,” he said as he came back.

“Alright."

You hopped on the back of the carriage, Enishi joining you on the other side.

The carriage left the inner Shanghai city walls and headed towards the countryside. You leaned your back against some bags filled with apples. The events of yesterday were catching up to you and you couldn’t deny the fact that your body needed rest. Leaning your head back you let the swaying of the carriage lull you to sleep.

Enishi noticed you dozed off and came to sit next to you, in the same position. He turned his head slightly to look at you. You looked so peaceful while you slept.

A stray piece of hair fell over your eyes. He felt compelled to sweep it away from your face. Letting his calloused hand ghost over your cheek, he tucked the strand gingerly behind your ear. He had to control himself from stroking your soft cheeks that sat puffed up as you slept.

Turning his head to the road disappearing behind, he closed his eyes for a while too.

————————

You didn’t know how long you’ve been asleep until a hand shook your shoulder gently. Stirring awake you opened your eyes to see an early autumn sunset.

“We’re almost there," he says from your right. When did he move so close?

You nodded in acknowledgment and stretched your arms above your head. He looked at you from behind and couldn’t help the ghost of a smile playing on his lips. You looked so small and adorable as you just woke up.

The sunset colors blended orange and red as you admired them with a small smile. The aura around you felt calm for the first time in forever. You couldn’t tell if it was because of the beautiful sunset before you or the man sitting next to you. It didn’t really matter. You would love to feel like this everyday.

The carriage came to a halt in front of a big villa, sheltered between dense camphor trees. The both of you hopped off and thanked the farmer. Walking further inside a lot of questions swarmed around in your mind. Most of them surrounded Enishi's job, that he didn't tell you too much about. Any way you turned it, there was no way he was the owner of this place.

As you got closer to the front door you noticed three men waiting by, coming closer to greet him. They looked like they busied their time counting money and beating up people who inconvenienced them the slightest.

“Welcome back, boss,” said one of them. He was smaller in stature, wearing what looked like an expensive fur coat. He eyed you suspiciously through the monocle on his right eye.

Enishi spared him a nod and walked inside the house. Following right behind, you couldn’t help but marvel at the architecture of the place. All kinds of colour schemes were present on the walls, from red and gold to the most beautiful sage green you’ve ever seen. The space was decorated with antiquities and traditional Chinese art.

The aesthetics of this whole place charmed you, distracting you from the elephant in the room. Until you snapped out of the trance induced by the scenic interior.

What did monocle guy mean by ‘boss’?

Just as you turned to the center of the room you just entered you spotted a desk littered with guns, from small pistols to hunting rifles. The round walls were ticked with swords of both Chinese and Japanese making.

Studying everything around you at full speed, you came to a realisation that made the hairs rise on your arms. Spinning around to find Enishi looking right back at you, you let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding.

“You... You’re the boss of the Shanghai mafia?”

————————————————————————

Thank you for reading! As always comments and reblogs are welcome! Hope you enjoyed :)

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