Rurouni Kenshin Manga Translations
Volume Twenty--Remembrances
Part 171--A Brief Intermission
(The clock points to just past eleven. Kenshin falls silent, his head bowed.)
Megumi: Ken-san?
Kenshin: Let me take a breath . . .
Sanosuke: Yeah. He's been talking for over three hours.
(Another heavy silence falls.)
Tsubame: Um, I'll--I'll go get some more tea.
Megumi: You shouldn't have to do all that yourself. I'll help.
Tsubame: Thank you.
Sanosuke: I'll go get us some snacks. I'm kinda hungry.
Yahiko (trailing along behind him): How come you know where we keep the snacks?
(Only Kaoru and Kenshin are left; they sit in silence.)
(In the kitchen.)
Tsubame: But I'm so shocked that Mr. Kenshin was an assassin.
Yahiko: Oh yeah, you didn't know he was Battousai. (eating a bun) I can't believe he was married. And at fifteen, too.
Sanosuke: That's not that surprising. At the time a samurai was treated as an adult at fifteen.
Yahiko: Really?
Sanosuke: They called it coming of age. If you want to be a swordsman, you should remember that. And at 18, a woman was halfway through marriageable age.
Megumi (age 22): What are you trying to say?
Sanosuke: Nothing.
Megumi: I'm free to get married whenever I want. A stranger has nothing to say about it.
(Sanosuke: That's why I didn't say anything.)
Sanosuke: But we really don't know where we stand yet.
Yahiko: About what?
Tsubame: You're right.
Megumi: You think so too?
Yahiko: Don't just ignore me!
Sanosuke: Yukishiro . . . no, Himura Tomoe . . .
Megumi: We're still only halfway through the story, so maybe it's inevitable, but where she came from . . . who she is . . . what she was really thinking . . . even if she truly loved Ken-san . . . It looks suspicious.
Tsubame: That couldn't be true. How could she marry someone she didn't love . . .
Yahiko: I can't believe that he killed her. Whatever the reason, his own wife . . .
(They fall silent.)
Tsubame: We should be getting back. I'm worried about Kaoru.
Sanosuke: You're right.
Megumi (quietly): If she gives up on him now, I will never forgive her.
Sanosuke: What?
Megumi: Nothing. Let's go.
(Outside the mansion in Yokohama. Kujiranami, Otowa and Inui are sitting outside; Enishi comes out to speak with them.)
Kujiranami: Ten days?
Enishi: Yes. I gave him my declaration of war this morning.
Otowa (smoking a hookah): Without a word to your comrades? I can't accept this.
Inui: Suits me fine. All this waiting around isn't my style at all. Ha--ha!
Kujiranami: A declaration of war is fine. But ten days is ridiculous. What do we need all that time for?
(In the basement, Gein is working with his fine tools. Enishi smiles at the thought.)
Enishi: Because this time we're attacking on the enemy's home ground. No matter how cool-headed he is, he'll have to take us seriously then. You're free to attack him alone or together. But Battousai at his peak was known throughout the Bakumatsu as the strongest there was. If we fight, it will be a battle of our full strength against his, and that will mean total annihilation. Since that's the case, I thought we could use some new weapons. I've made arrangements with my organization in Shanghai, but since they'll have to be custom-made, ten days is the quickest I could make it. That's why.
Kujiranami: Isn't that self-contradictory? It used to be that once we had Battousai's attention, his head went to whoever got to him first. If you think about it, at that point, we six become enemies . . .
Enishi (going back inside): I'm the kind of man to send his enemies salt.
Kujiranami: Hm. Well, fine.
(Kujiranami, Otowa and Inui share the same thought:)
Whatever he's planning, in ten days Battousai's head will be mine!
Enishi (walking through the halls): I give up . . . All this cat-and-mouse foolishness is so tiring. (looking up) You must have heard me, Mr. Muyoui. It'll be in ten days. Don't forget.
Muyoui (peering from a crack in a ceiling panel): You make light of me. Enishi, what are you plotting? What is Gein building, down in the basement where there are no ceilings for me to crawl through?
Enishi: I wouldn't mind telling you, Mr. Muyoui. But you'd have to come down and meet me face to face.
(There is a slight pause.)
Muyoui: I'll give you some advice. I don't care what you and Gein are up to. I have no desire to interfere. But don't interfere with my slaughter of Battousai. The only man to see me and live . . .
(Enishi enters his own room and sits down facing the window.)
Enishi: "You and Gein," huh . . . My methods may coincide with Mr. Gein's, but our objectives couldn't be more different. I don't need any of them. Just as long as I have my sister. Just me and her . . .
(As always, her image appears before his eyes, smiling down at him.)
Enishi: Tomoe. Tomoe . . . (tears begin to form in his eyes.) Why? Why did you have to die? Tomoe . . .
(At the Kamiya dojo. Everyone is once again seated, with a cup of tea.)
Sanosuke: Let's go.
(Kenshin still doesn't speak.)
Kaoru: Kenshin . . .
Tsubame (thinking): Kaoru . . .
(Kaoru wrenches her gaze from her lap and looks up.)
Kaoru: Please. Let's hear the rest.
Kenshin: Very well. I will go on . . .
translations by maigo-chan
last updated 31 may 2000