Rurouni Kenshin Manga Translations
Volume Eighteen--Do you Still have the Scar?
Part 156--Comrades
Enishi: Inui Banshin. Otowa Hyouko. You’ve made a long journey. Welcome. This makes five of us. There’s one more left.
Inui: We can’t trust some guy that can’t even show up on time. Five’s enough.
Gein: We only said we would meet tonight, we never agreed on a time.
Enishi: Careless, wasn’t it.
Kujiranami: This is foolish. We won't get anything done like this.
Yatsume: I’m already here.
(Everyone looks up--there is no one else in the room.)
Enishi: Hiding in the ceiling? Clever trick.
Yatsume: Yatsume Mumyouni. I’m pleased to meet you.
Inui: Whadduya mean, pleased to meet you. Come on out of there!
Gein: That’s right, you could at least show us your face.
(Inui gives him a dark look.)
Gein: What?
Yatsume: I don’t wish to show myself before others.
Enishi: Well, that’s fine. In any case, we who all have reason to hate Himura Battousai are gathered here for revenge. We are the Six Comrades.
(a dramatic pause.)
Otowa: The Six Comrades? It’s not a very striking name.
Inui: Okay! Inui and his Followers!
Gein: Gein and his Merrie Men.
Kujiranami: I’m not merrie.
Yatsume: From the ceiling with love.
Enishi: Oh, you’re a poet. But it hardly matters what we call ourselves. We six are comrades now. Soon we’ll be united against a single enemy. Battousai is now living in Tokyo under the name of Kenshin. As long as Battousai believes that Kenshin is his true self, no matter how brutally we kill him, our revenge will be meaningless. Revenge begins when your opponent knows you will have retribution. We are gathered here to run him down and make him face the sins of his past. If we can do this, we six will separate, and the task of revenge will fall to the swiftest. For do we not all wish to deliver the final blow with our own hands?
Kujiranami: I see . . .
Inui: So the strongest gets to give him the final blow!
Otowa: I have no objections, but . . What is our plan?
Enishi: I’ve given that some thought. I don’t mean to stand in front while you do all the work. We will all fulfill our responsibilities, Mr. Otowa.
Otowa: I said I had no objections.
Enishi: I am sorry. Let me explain. First--
(Later. Everyone but Enishi and Gein have left.)
Gein: Perfect. You call them comrades, but you can do anything you want with these four. Telling them they could give the final blow themselves worked like a charm. The thought of killing Battousai is irresistible bait.
Enishi: I want to thank you for your cooperation.
Gein: It’s nothing. I’m like you . . . I don’t want to take revenge by killing Battousai.
Enishi: Yes. In the end death is only an instant of pain. That will not fulfill my sister’s last wish or dispel my hatred. I will plunge Himura Battousai into the living hell that we went through. This will be Yukishiro Enishi’s true revenge!
(At the Kamiya dojo. Kenshin and Sanosuke are drinking tea and looking at a map of the town.)
Kenshin: Finally, the police concluded that the attack wasn’t aimed at the Akabeko, but was a test or misfiring of an illicitly manufactured gun by dissatisfied samurai.
Sanosuke: That’s so weak! You can’t count on those guys for anything.
Kenshin: It’s not their fault. They don’t know the circumstances.
Sanosuke: What about those circumstances? You gonna tell the girl?
Kenshin: No . . . I don’t think so. I caused everyone a lot of worry with the problem in Kyoto. I don’t want to cause any more unnecessarily. My opponents have turned their hearts to revenge. On this point they will probably command more force than the Ten Swords. We should avoid another dangerous situation like the defense of the Aoiya. It’s best to keep Miss Kaoru and the others out of any fighting . . .
Sanosuke: Yeah . . . Well then there’s not much else to say. In this town the only places you hang out much are here, the Oguni clinic, and the Akabeko. If we each take one place, we’re covered. Finally your being antisocial comes in handy.
Kenshin (giving him a dirty look): I can’t deny it, but you don’t have to say it like that.
Sanosuke: The one thing I’m worried about is Tae and the little girl. They might still be targets.
Kenshin: It’s all right. The Sekihara family wants to keep this quiet, so they’re not relying solely on the police. They’ve hired a private group to guard them. As for Miss Tsubame--sh! Hide the map!
Kaoru: Kenshin, I’m coming in.
(Kenshin and Sanosuke are innocently drinking tea.)
Kaoru: Well? Hide what map?
Kenshin: Oh, what were we doing? Nothing. Maps? It’s fun to look at maps, isn’t it?
(Kaoru gives him a skeptical look.)
Sanosuke: He’s kidding. We were just trying to figure out which spots to hit in the red light district tonight.
Kenshin: Oro!
(Kaoru gives him the same skeptical look, but she’s blushing.)
Kaoru: Well, whatever. Just don’t talk like that in front of Yahiko and Tsubame. I’m trying to raise those kids right.
Kenshin (under his breath): Sano . . .
Sanosuke: What? If you want a woman to stop asking questions, this always works. (We aren’t all good boys like you!)
Kaoru: Oh, that’s right, about Tsubame. She works all day, and you thought we should let her get some rest. So she’s going to be staying here for a while. She’s coming over this evening.
Kenshin: That sets my mind at ease a little.
Kaoru (suspicious again): Sets your mind at ease?
(Sanosuke whacks him.)
Kenshin: Oro!
Sanosuke: Well, I’m going to Megumi’s, to, you know, get my hand checked out
Kenshin: Well, be careful.
(Kaoru is changing for practice.)
Kaoru (thinking): Something’s wrong. He’s definitely hiding something. He probably doesn’t want me to worry, but . . . (aloud) Ah, I’ve had enough of this! I’m gonna go work Yahiko till he drops. (entering the dojo) Yahiko! Time for practice! You ready?
(Yahiko is kneeling solemnly before her.)
Kaoru: Huh? What’s up with you today? Waiting for me kneeling, this is new. (You even put on a headband.)
Yahiko: Kaoru--I mean, Master! Begin handing down the succession techniques of the Kamiya Kasshin school to me today!
translations by maigo-chan
last updated 23 september 1999