Rurouni Kenshin Manga Translations
Volume Nineteen--Phantoms & Reality
Part 164--Phantoms & Reality
(At the mansion in Yokohama)
Gein: Ten days?
Enishi: Yes. I gave him my declaration of war this morning.
(Gein is working at a bench covered in grisly instruments: scalpels, pliers, mallets and other such tools.)
Gein: Was that wise? The others won't like it.
Enishi: It'll be fine. I'll persuade them. More importantly, will you be ready in ten days? Will it?
Gein: Leave that to me. I'll give this my all. When the time comes, I'll show you a work of art.
Enishi: I look forward to it. Indeed, my Earthly Justice hinges upon it.
(Later that morning, Sanosuke and Megumi come to see Kaoru at the dojo. Sanosuke's hand is rebandaged and in a sling.)
Sanosuke: You mean Kenshin isn't back yet?
Kaoru: No.
Sanosuke: And I dragged the medicine chest all the way here just for him.
Megumi (with a little arrow labeled "medicine chest"): I just now patched you up. Don't you have a shred of gratitude in you?
Sanosuke (ignoring her): Well, no point in worrying. Guy's practically invincible.
Megumi: Idiot. He most certainly is not.
Sanosuke: Almost forgot. I brought you some spoils of war.
Kaoru: What?
Sanosuke: Look, right over there.
(With a little arrow labeled "spoils of war," Iwanbou's slumped and misshapen form is thrown up against a wall.)
Kaoru: Isn't that one of the Ten Swords . . . ?
Sanosuke: Looks like it. If you think about it, it fits exactly with what we've heard so we'd think that. In this battle the enemy must have had relations with the Shishio faction--no, wanted us to think he had relations with the Shishio faction . . .
Megumi: Battle, huh. Is that what that was. So it wasn't just an accident?
(She starts pounding him with her medicine box.)
Megumi: You know something! Spit it out, rooster-head!
Sanosuke (attempting to block): Hey, I thought you told me not to use this hand!
Kaoru: Sanosuke . . .
(Sanosuke looks put out.)
Sanosuke: I know. I didn't think we could keep this up much longer. When Kenshin gets back--
Tsubame (rushing into the yard): Kaoru! It's Kenshin! Kenshin's back! But . . . but . . .
(Kenshin walks in after her. He is walking slowly, his eyes blank and cast down.)
Sanosuke: Hey, Ken . . .
(Kaoru holds up a hand and he stops.)
Kaoru: Welcome back. You look tired. Are you going to take a nap?
Kenshin: . . . Yes.
(He walks on around to the house.)
Megumi: He's miles away . . .
Sanosuke: This is not like him at all. What happened?
Tsubame: Kaoru, you didn't even ask him anything . . .
Kaoru (sadly): I couldn't ask. I've never seen him look like he'd suffered so much.
(Kenshin paces on.)
Kenshin (thinking): Enishi . . . Tomoe . . . What can I do, to atone for my sins? What can I do--
(Something crunches underfoot. He looks up to find himself in a bleak, dark landscape, where the ground is composed entirely of human bones.)
Kenshin (thinking): What is this place--when did I-- (aloud) Hills of white bones . . . like Hell . . . a place fit for Shishio.
(He passes a hand over his eyes.)
Kenshin (thinking): No . . . I am just as fit for Hell. I wielded my sword for the new age, for the sake of the oppressed . . . to those close to the ones I killed I was just a hitokiri. I caused so much suffering . . .
(A figure is walking up ahead, her back towards him.)
Kenshin: Miss Kaoru?
(He runs to catch up with her.)
Kenshin: Miss Kaoru, what are you doing here? Kaoru . . .
(He reaches out to her. She turns, and Tomoe's eyes fix him with a cold stare. He wakes up, gasping for breath.)
Kenshin (thinking): I'm going mad . . .
(He is sitting on the porch, watching the windchime turn idly in the breeze.)
Kenshin (thinking): What should I do . . . I can't find an answer. If this goes on my ghosts will kill me . . .
(He hears shouting in the distance.)
Kenshin: The dojo?
(Inside, Kaoru and Yahiko are training hard.)
Kaoru: Look! You're still relying on the whole blade! The Kamiya Kasshin succession techniques are based on the hilt! First learn what the hilt can do!
Yahiko: Right!
Sanosuke (who is again being bandaged by Megumi): They're working hard.
Megumi: Hold still!
Tsubame (noticing Kenshin at the door): Kenshin . . .
(Kaoru sees him too.)
Kaoru: Tsubame, stand in for me. Yahiko, a hundred strokes with the hilt.
Yahiko: Right!
Kenshin: Miss Kaoru, what is this?
Kaoru: Oh . . well. As you can see, I'm handing down the techniques.
Kenshin: . . . Yahiko's a little young.
Kaoru: I thought so too. Because he can't keep his temper and at first all he would say was "I want to be strong no matter what." But the other night, when you ran off on your own, he told me, "I'm sick of being the only one that's weak." He can tell something's going on, and he's working hard to be stronger and to grow up . . . For you, and for all of us, and for himself!
Kenshin: . . . That's true. Yahiko's rushed ahead too fast sometimes, but he hasn't made the mistakes I've made. So he's sensed this disaster as well . . .
(He turns to lean against the wall, looking down.)
Kenshin (after a very long pause): I guess there's something I need to talk to you about.
(Kaoru looks at him and sees that same blank, downcast look in his eyes. She holds back her questions again and finds a smile, holding out her hands.)
Kaoru: Before that, are you sure you're not hurt? You can tell me later. Right now Megumi should check you out.
Kenshin: . . . Thank you, Miss Kaoru.
(He catches hold of her wrist.)
Kaoru: Kenshin . . .
Kenshin: (looking at Yahiko) That sweat . . . (at Sanosuke) Those wounds . . .
I'll fight.
Kenshin: And this warmth . . . these are no phantoms.
I can find my answers later.
Kenshin: They're all real.
Now, I want to protect what's real, not phantoms.
Kenshin: There's something I want to tell you all. About this battle, from the beginning.
(A little later, they're all seated on the porch, listening.)
Kenshin: This morning, on my way home, I received a declaration of war from the mastermind behind all this. Ten days from now, he will attack the Kamiya dojo with all his forces . . . This man's name is Yukishiro Enishi. My brother.
Kaoru: Your brother?
Kenshin: More accurately, my brother-in-law. The brother of Himura Tomoe, the wife I killed with my own hands. It began in the Bakumatsu, the story of the hatred behind this scar . . .
translations by maigo-chan
last updated 3 jan 2000