Rurouni Kenshin Manga Translations
Volume Twelve--The Great Kyoto Fire
Part 97--The Assembly of the Ten Swords
Kenshin: Master!!
Hiko: The Amakakeru Ryuu no Hirameki is the strongest technique of the Hiten Mitsurugi school. You master it in exchange for the life of your predecessor. As master and student of the sword, all I've taught you ends here. After this, as a vagabond, you'll--
(He falls face forward.)
Kenshin: Master . . . .He's joking . . . there's no way the technique could kill him with just one blow from the reverse blade.
(Hiko is motionless.)
Kenshin (thinking): Am I going to let him die? (he throws aside his sword and picks Hiko up.) Can I stand to let him die?
(He ransacks the cabin and finds a paper packet.)
Kenshin: Here it is. (thinking) When I ate the warai-take and almost died, he got me this heart-strengthening medicine. If I went down the mountain to find a doctor we'd never get back in time. All I can do is bet on his strength. Master--!!
(That night, at Shishio's headquarters.)
Soujirou: I'm back!
Yumi: Boy!
Soujirou: What's wrong? You're all red.
Yumi: Where have you been!
Soujirou: Where? Well, everyone's stuck in this cellar and getting all depressed. So I thought, why not buy some Kyoto treats for everyone?
Yumi: And that took you three days?
Soujirou: What would be best? I just couldn't decide. (Yumi smacks her forehead.) What?
Yumi: While you were gone that Usui showed up. It's been terrible!
Usui: And what's wrong with that Usui?
Soujirou: Oh, Mr. Usui. I haven't seen you in a long time. Would you like one?
Usui: Cakes . . . When you leave Shishio's side it should be to perform some proper duty. And this was just for cakes . . . I can't see your eyes, but my mind's eye can see right through men's hearts. Those like you who don't employ their emotions directly are no exception.
Soujirou: Huh?
Usui: Well, whatever you're hiding, it has nothing to do with me. Oh, don't forget, the Ten Swords are meeting at once in the main hall. The other three have arrived.
(They enter the main hall.)
Soujirou: Hey, Kamatari!
Yumi: Ohgod.
Kamatari: Sou! It's been so long! Yumi, it's so good to see you again.
Yumi: Yeah . . .
Kamatari: This time we'll see who can steal Lord Shishio's heart.
Yumi: Right. Well, I'm certainly not going to lose to a guy. (Cross-dressing scythe-wielder.)
Saitsuchi: Heh heh heh, the young have so much energy.
Soujirou: Master Saitsuchi, who could have more energy than you?
Saitsuchi: Heh heh, only you'd be so good to say so. This lot talks about as much as you'd think. Kids these days. They're all jealous of my strength at heart.
Soujirou: Oh, speaking of which, Master Saitsuchi, where's your partner?
Saitsuchi: Fuji's outside. He couldn't fit through the door.
Houji: They're all here.
(Shishio enters.)
Soujirou (offering him the box): I'm sorry, Mr. Shishio, for just taking off for three days. I brought you a souvenir. They're delicious.
Houji: Soujirou, we're in the middle of something. This can wait.
(On the inside of the box lid is written: "Preparations for the ship are complete. We can leave at any time. * Mr. Usui is a little suspicious but it will probably be all right.")
Shishio: Thank you. Well done. We'll have some later. Everyone, you have traveled far. I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. Due to an unexpected incident, Chou isn't here, but aside from him we've all gathered.
Sword-Hunter Chou
Shishio: Those who honor me.
Soujirou the Tenken
Kamatari of the Great Scythe
Shishio: Those who would kill me
Usui the Blind Sword
Shishio: Those who lost faith in the Meiji government.
Yumi of the Night
Bright King Anji
Houji of the Hundred Senses
Shishio: Those with great abilities and great self-confidence
Round Demon Iwanbou
Soaring Henya
Destructive Army (First) Saitsuchi
Destructive Army (Second) Fuji
Shishio: With our own thoughts, the time to act as one has come. Tomorrow night at 11:59 the Great Fire of Kyoto will begin.
And so the day of destruction dawns . . .
(Kenshin dozes, sitting against the wall. Hiko kicks him awake.)
Hiko: Are you going to waste the whole day? There's a lot of people waiting for your return. So quit lollygagging and get off my mountain.
Kenshin (rushing forward): Master!
(Hiko ducks aside, so that Kenshin smashes into the far wall.)
Hiko: The day hasn't dawned when I'd be happy to hug a man. Don't jump around like that.
Kenshin: But . . . I'm glad the medicine worked.
Hiko: What? This stuff? It's just a placebo.
Kenshin: But . . . well . . . why . . .
Hiko: It was probably the sword.
Kenshin (thinking): The true reverse blade.
Hiko: Look here. The rivet protrudes, so whether it's drawn or not the actual blade will shake just enough. As a result, the blade itself can absorb and weaken the power of the Amakakeru Ryuu no Hirameki. It's responsive to the feelings of its wielder. It's a good blade.
Kenshin (thinking): Mr. Shakkuu.
Hiko: If I may say it again, my genius wasn't wasted in training you to make use of everything the sword can offer you.
So the passing down of the secret techniques is finished. As your experience tells you, the Amakakeru Ryuu no
Hirameki can kill even with the reverse blade. As a vagabond, you must control the force and speed of the technique.
Now quit hanging around and get off the mountain. People are waiting for you.
The Making of the Characters --Hiko Seijuurou--
There was no real model for the character. When I go to draw what I associate with the word "master," I come up with someone warped with arrogance.
He's a character I like and I keep wanting to bring him in more, but since he's actually stronger than Kenshin, my boss said "Compare him to the joker in cards" and
that he was too all-mighty, so bringing him in causes problems.
This is a digression, but lately I've been worrying about machismo, and Hiko is a forerunner of that. There are a lot of drinking scenes, but the truth is I don't
drink, and though I thought he would be the kind of cool, manly guy to drink alone, that doesn't mean that he's a drunkard. Also,
I got a lot of letters from readers asking if he was a blood relation of Hiko Seijuurou from the short story "Crescent Moon Over a War-Torn Country." According
to the story, the Hiten Mitsurugi school secrets are handed down according to ability, so they're not related by blood.
The design is of course the same as Hiko Seijuurou from "Crescent Moon Over a War-Torn Country," but that design is actually from Mr. Obata's "Arabian
Lamp Lamp," Hiten Majin Hamel. (Mr. Obata, I'm so, so, so sorry.)
From the short story to Ruroken, I made the overall design simpler, and made the hairstyle easier to draw. Again, though they're both men of the sword, he
was planned to be completely different from Kenshin. To direct the above-mentioned "machismo," I gave him a macho body under the cloak. To those female fans
who were in love with his face but disillusioned by his body, I'm sorry. (But if they were all beauties, how interesting would that be? I hate drawing like that . . .)
The cloak, by the way, came from the recently popular American comic Spawn.