Rurouni Kenshin Manga Translations
Volume Eleven--Overture to Destruction

Part 85--Half Feelings

Kenshin: Miss . . . Kaoru . . .

Hiko: These friends of yours?

Kenshin: Yes.

Hiko: It’s like Grand Central Station in here today. People should know when they’re not wanted. (Misao and Yahiko look outraged.) Kenshin, run outside and get some water. There’s only enough for one here. You can’t expect the kids to go all night without anything to eat or drink.

Kenshin: Why would I--

Hiko: Aren’t you going for a moonlight stroll with the girl?

Kenshin (getting angry): Master, that’s not why I--

Hiko: That’s your old spirit. Don’t stand here talking about it, just go!

Kenshin: You were always such a slave driver . . .

(Kenshin walks to the door . . . past Kaoru . . . without saying a word.)

Yahiko (to Kaoru): Why did you just stand there?!!

Misao: Exactly! If you couldn’t speak you should have started a fight!

Kaoru: I suppose . . .

Misao (smacking her forehead.): Geh.

Yahiko (likewise): Just when it counts, this again.

Hiko: So . . .

(They turn around to face Hiko’s stare.)

Yahiko (thinking): Hiko Seijuurou. The current master of the Hiten Mitsurugi school . . .

Kaoru (thinking): The master who taught Kenshin all he knows.

Misao (thinking): But first, above all else--

Misao & Yahiko: Lemme ask you something. How old are you?

Hiko: Forty-three. There something wrong with that?

(Misao and Yahiko freak.)

Yahiko: How can Kenshin and this guy be so good?

Misao: Wait a minute, you mean Himura just looks young?

Yahiko: Yeah, he’s twenty-eight.

Misao: Twenty-eight?!

Yahiko: I got it! The Hiten Mitsurugi school must have a secret technique for the elderly!

Misao: All right! I’m going to learn it too when I’m old!

Hiko: Can I go on?

Kaoru: Please.

Hiko: I know you know Kenshin, but why are you here?

(Brief pause.)

Misao (handing Yahiko a ladle (?): Go for it.

Yahiko: So Kaoru could see Kenshin. (handing the ladle to Misao) Your turn.

Misao: Yeah, so Kaoru could see Himura.

Both of them (passing Kaoru their ladles): You’re up.

Kaoru: Well . . . it was to see Kenshin . . .

Misao & Yahiko: And??

Kaoru: Uh--

Misao: What did you come here for?

Yahiko: To fight at his side?

Misao: To go back to Tokyo with him? To confess your love for him?

Kaoru: I--er--well--no . . . I wanted to see him, so I left Tokyo . . . at that time, I really didn’t think I would ever see him again. At the Shirobeko, I thought I would hit him or something, but when I saw his face I just couldn’t . . . .

Hiko: Hmm. I see. I don’t know what you see in that wooden statue, but my stupid pupil seems to be popular.

Yahiko: Who are you calling a wooden statue?

Kaoru: Yahiko?

Yahiko: No matter how much of a master you are, you only know Kenshin as a pupil. The Kenshin we know is definitely no wooden statue!

Hiko: Don’t interrupt, child.

Yahiko: Child?!

(Misao giggles.)

Hiko: I stopped getting news about my stupid pupil at the beginning of the Meiji era. What has he been doing with the Hiten Mitsurugi I taught him? That’s what I want to know. Not from him, but from those I don’t know who came to see him--

(Kenshin walks back to the house with two buckets of water.)

Kenshin (thinking): Miss Kaoru and Yahiko have come to Kyoto . . . Sanosuke must be on his way as well.

Sanosuke: You got that right, bub.

Kenshin: Now the battle with Shishio will be even more difficult . . .

(He enters the house; Hiko smirks at him.)

Kenshin: Master, where shall I put--

Hiko: You spent the last ten years wandering the country righting wrongs as a vagabond. Did it take you fifteen years to figure out the reason for the Hiten Mitsurugi school? Or were you atoning for the lives you took as the Hitokiri?

Kenshin: It was . . . both. And because of what I said to you fifteen years ago. Before my eyes, people are suffering, people are in misery. Whatever the reason, I don’t want to leave them as they are . . .

Hiko: Even though you’re a stupid pupil, when it comes time to act, you talk like a grown-up. Follow me! I will pass down to you the final mysteries of the Hiten Mitsurugi school!

(General surprise)

Hiko: What? As a great-hearted swordsman, I can’t let Shishio take over the country.

Kenshin: Master.

Hiko: And I don’t have time to look for another pupil.

(General face-fault)

Hiko: It’d be easiest to do it myself, but after all this time I’d just rather not deal with it.

Kenshin: Master . . . .

Hiko: You have a responsibility. Stop Shishio Makoto.

(He walks out of the cabin; Kenshin follows.)

Kaoru: Kenshin!

(He stops)

Kaoru: I came to Kyoto, without even thinking about the danger . . . are you angry with me?

Kenshin Half of me is. But for the other half, I’m somehow . . . relieved. (walking again) You don’t know where Shishio’s men could be hiding, so be careful.

Misao & Yahiko: No need to fear when we’re here!

Kaoru (thinking): Kenshin. You couldn’t even turn around and give me a smile like always. But . . . but . . .

(Hiko and Kenshin stand on a rocky ledge in front of a waterfall.)

Hiko: Before we begin I have something to say to you. If you master this final technique, you’ll probably gain strength equal to mine. (frowning) No, wait, you couldn’t be that good. At your very best you might be able to just touch my level. But don’t get too sure of yourself. If you bear your burden alone and protect others by sacrificing yourself, the Meiji era will not be easy for you. Likewise, it will not be easy to gain happiness alone. If you fall victim here, the girl who came all the way to Kyoto just to see you will be left miserable and alone.

Kenshin: Master, you don’t mean--

Hiko (drawing his sword): Remember this. No matter how strong you are, you’re only human. The Buddha has no need of violence. I’m through talking. Let’s get started.

(Kaoru, Misao and Yahiko are walking home.)

Yahiko: Hmm . . .

Kaoru: What’s wrong, Yahiko?

Misao: Yeah, you keep grunting to yourself.

Yahiko: There was something I was supposed to tell Kenshin, but I can’t--that’s it! Aoshi! Shinomori Aoshi! The guy who’s after Kenshin is in Kyoto!

(Misao is struck speechless.)



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