Rurouni Kenshin Manga Translations
Volume Nineteen--Phantoms & Reality
Part 166--Remembrances 2--Battousai is Born
Heaven's Justice!
(Battousai kills, again and again, under that motto.)
(At an inn in Kyoto. Battousai is washing his hands in a basin.)
Battousai (thinking): The smell of blood . . it won't come off.
Iizuka (coming in): Oh, Battousai, there you are. Come quick. Master Katsura's waiting.
Katsura Kogorou--The young leader of the Choushuu Ishin Shishi, active as the leader of a substantial province. Later joined with Saigou Takamori and Satchou Doumei to bring about the downfall of the shogunate. One of the Ishin Triumvirate.
Katsura: It's been a while since we've been able to meet. Are you doing well?
Battousai: Yes . . I'm doing them in very well.
Iizuka: Hey, watch it.
Battousai: What is my assignment tonight?
Katsura: Well, it's not so important I'd call it an assignment. . .
Battousai: If it's not important, please refrain from calling me.
Iizuka: Hey!
Battousai: I've assassinated almost a hundred people these past six months. No matter how we hide ourselves, the shogunate is beginning to sense we're here. It isn't a good plan for me to be near the Choushuu Hantei. The Bakufu forces are growing stronger day by day. Especially the wolves in Mibu . . .
Katsura: The Shinsengumi . . .
Battousai: We haven't yet crossed swords, but they could be the strongest of the Bakufu's weapons . . .
Guy: What could that ragtag crowd possibly--
Katsura: I understand. We'll look out for them.
Iizuka: Well, about that assignment.
Katsura: Actually, tonight, during the Gion Festival, there's to be a secret council held at a certain inn. Mr. Toshiwara and Miyabe are expected to attend.
Battousai: You need a bodyguard?
Katsura: Well, no. I was wondering if you would join us.
Iizuka: That's great! What an honor! Hey, your name could go down in history--
Battousai: I decline. It's easier if a Hitokiri keeps to the shadows as far as possible. And I'm not interested in history or honor. If we achieve a new age in which all can live at peace, that's enough.
(He turns and leaves.)
Iizuka: It's no good. Maybe he's killed too many, but lately he's been acting strange. I thought maybe he'd show some interest if we dangled the bait right in front of his eyes . . .
Guy: Bait? Master Katsura's come all this way--
Iizuka: Call it what you want.
Katsura: Iizuka's right. But I saw one thing here. He may act strangely, but his heart hasn't changed since I met him a year ago--
(Flashback: one year ago in Choushuu. A group of armed men are gathered, waiting their turn to show their skills. Katsura and another man, Takasugi, are a little ways off on a hill.)
Katsura: I came all the way from Kyoto because you said you had something to show me. What is this, Shinsaku?
Takasugi: You'll see. This is the strength of the new era. The Kiheitai!
Takasugi Shinsaku--Essentially the second in command in Choushuu. A battle-loving man from the most active of the Choushuu factions, he succeeded in unifying the province in forming the Kiheitai to topple the Bakufu.
Takasugi: Birth or status means nothing! Anyone can join my Kiheitai if they have the ambition and the strength.
Katsura: Certainly after 300 years of peace, they could be better than the soft samurai. But will this really work?
Takasugi: You worry too much. Look, even children.
(The young Kenshin walks up to take his turn striking the target, a thick wooden pole wrapped in rope.)
Man: Ha ha, the kid brought his own sword. Give it a try, kid.
Man: I'll give you a ryo if you cut it in half.
(Kenshin regards the pole for a minute. He slices it neatly in half with one stroke, then smashes one half with his scabbard.)
Katsura: Shinsaku.
Kenshin (to the heckler): One ryo.
Heckler: Uh--
Katsura: I'm taking this boy to Kyoto.
(Later. Katsura, Takasugi and Kenshin are talking over dinner.)
Katsura: So that was the Hiten Mitsurugi school. I've heard of it, but I didn't know it truly existed . . . But let me ask you something. Have you ever killed a man with this Hiten Mitsurugi school?
Kenshin: No.
Katsura: Do you think you could?
Kenshin: If with my own dirty sword and the lives I take, I could pave the way for a new era in which all can live in peace--
Katsura: I see. We're leaving for Kyoto first thing in the morning. Take a room upstairs and rest.
(A little later. Kenshin has left; Katsura and Takasugi remain.)
Takasugi: If you need Hitokiri that bad, you should do it yourself. When you were in Edo you were good enough to work your way up to the top of the Shindon Munnen school Renbeikan. Except for Sakamoto Ryouma of the Hokushin Ittori school, you never lost.
Katsura: If I could, I would. But I'm the head of the Choushuu Ishin Shishi now.
Takasugi: Yeah. That's right. You're the Choushuu shrine at the Bakumatsu festival. No one will carry a shrine that's covered in blood. So you're going to ruin that boy's life just so you can stay clean. If it means being driven into the jaws of death, or leaving a name that will shame generations to come, you should draw your own sword.
Katsura: Don't think I haven't thought of that. Today is the anniversary of the death of Katsura Kogorou the swordsman.
(End flashback.)
Katsura: That was just about a year ago. Maybe it's because he seemed so grown-up then that he's changed now. But his heart hasn't changed at all.
Man: That's good to hear.
Katsura (thinking): It's because he hasn't changed that he's beginning to feel the terrible difference of being a Hitokiri . . .
(Inside a small restaurant. Battousai is drinking alone.)
Battousai (thinking): It tastes bad . . . These days no matter what I drink, I only taste blood.
(General sounds of admiration as a girl walks into the bar alone and sits down at a booth behind him.)
Proprietor: What can I get you?
Tomoe: I'd like a cup of chilled sake, please.
translations by maigo-chan
last updated 11 feb 2000