Rurouni Kenshin Manga Translations
Volume Sixteen--Divine Providence
Part 131--Soujirou’s Past--Thunder and Madness
Kenshin: He’s been gone a long time.
Sanosuke: What’s he doing? We’re ready over here.
(Soujirou laces his sandals absently, lost in his memories.)
Shishio: You saw, boy. You could have seen, so I have no choice. I’ll kill you here.
(He raises the sword, but something makes him stop.)
Shishio: Are you so happy to die, boy?
Soujirou (with a frozen, helpless smile on his face): Huh? (looking about in confusion)
Huh? What? This? Ha ha . . . what?
(Shishio considers him for a moment, then sheathes his sword.)
Shishio: Boy! Get me food and some bandages. Do it and I’ll let you live.
(A little later, in the storeroom. Shishio has removed the old, dirty bandages and replaced
them with fresh ones. Soujirou watches him from the other side of a stack of rice bundles.)
Shishio. That’s better. I can move now.
Soujirou: Um . . . sir?
(Shishio turns to look at him, and he hides behind the rice.)
Shishio: I’m not so old you have to call me sir. Well, maybe you can’t tell like this.
My name is Shishio.
Soujirou: Um, Mr. Shishio.
Shishio: Yeah?
Soujirou: You killed that policeman, so are you a bad guy?
Shishio: The government is the real bad guy. They used me and then tried to burn me to death.
Soujirou: So you’re a good guy then!
Shishio: No. I’m a fiend from hell.
(Soujirou is suddenly cowering on the far side of the barn.)
Shishio: Don’t run away. I said I wouldn’t kill you. (leaning back) I like it here. As
long as you don’t talk, no one’s going to find me here. I’ll stay here a while.
Soujirou (thinking): He really is a bad guy, but . . . he’s really, really strong . . .
(The next day. The two brothers are talking as Soujirou carries a bundle of rice.)
Younger Brother: Did you hear the news?
Older Brother: Yeah, about the escaped rebel. The cops just came to tell dad. They say the
three cops that went after him have been missing for the last three days.
Younger Brother: They combed the woods and they still couldn't find him.
Soujirou (thinking): They won't find him. I buried the body deep in the woods. And Mr. Shishio
hasn't set foot outside the barn.
Older Brother: Hey, Soujirou!
Soujirou (dropping his bundle): Ye-yes?
Older Brother: You spent the night outside three nights again. Did you see anything or hear
anything? If you did you’d better tell us. (grabbing the front of his shirt) If you hide
anything, I’ll find out. This is a
chance to show off my skills. I’ll kill the rebel!
(He brings his sword down, splitting the bundle in half.)
Younger Brother: There you go again. You can’t just wave that thing around without thinking
like that.
Older Brother: Oh, give it a rest. What’re we going to do about the rice.
Younger Brother: I guess we have no choice. (raising his voice) Soujirou! You ruined
another bag of rice!
Soujirou: What?!
Father (pulling the screen door open): What! How many of those do you think we have, you
brat! You can’t even do a simple job right! I’m not letting get away with it this time!
(That night, in the storeroom.)
Shishio: Hm . . . I see. So they’re devils too. Why are you always smiling if they kick you
around like that?
Soujirou (smiling): Huh? What? Huh? Ha ha . . . yeah. I guess it’s a little weird. I
didn’t used to do it. When I first came here, when they picked on me or treated me like I was
in their way, I’d get mad or cry. But the more I got mad, the more I cried, they’d just tell me
to shut up or hit me. But if I was patient and kept smiling, they’d give up and go away, and
I wouldn’t get hurt any more. No matter how much it hurt, no matter how bad, if I just kept
smiling . . .
Shishio: So as you kept showing them a fake smile, without realizing it yourself, you
started dealing with scary or painful things by smiling?
Soujirou: Well, they can’t help it. It’s like they say. I’m not his real son, so . . .
Shishio: No. It doesn’t matter where you’re born. It’s because you’re weak. In this world,
the flesh of the weak is the food of the strong. The strong live, the weak die. No matter
how hard you smile, you can’t run from the truth. Here.
(He holds out his wakizashi.)
Shishio: I’m giving this to you. In payment for letting me stay here.
(Inside)
Mother: Has anyone seen those bandages?
Older Brother: What? I wouldn’t know.
Mother: That’s strange. Where could they be . . . There’s rice missing from the kitchen too.
I thought that little thief Sou probably took it, but why would he take bandages?
Younger Brother (chuckling): Dad beat him up pretty bad today. I bet he took those too.
Mother: Even so, they’re all gone. He couldn’t have used up five rolls.
Older Brother: Hey, Dad . . . that government rebel. They said he was burned all over, didn’t
they?
Father: Yeah, they--That little bastard!!
(Inside the barn)
Shishio: My burns are throbbing. There’ll be a storm tonight.
(Outside, Soujirou holds the sheathed wakizashi in his shaking hands.)
Soujirou (thinking): . . . After all, in this world the flesh of the weak is the food of
the strong. The strong live, the weak . . .
translations by maigo-chan
last updated 23 feb 1999