Rurouni Kenshin Manga Translations
Volume Four--Two Destinies
Part 29--Two Destinies--Megumi
(They climb the stairs and proceed down a passageway overlook the ballroom. Kenshin suddenly
falls to his knees.)
Sanosuke: Kenshin!
Kenshin (getting up): I’m all right. I just stumbled a little. Let’s hurry. Miss Megumi is
waiting.
Sanosuke (thinking): Looks like it would be better if we hurried. (looking down upon the
ballroom.) Shinomori Aoshi. Your great strength hurt Kenshin a lot. But in one battle, you
were hurt worse by far . . .
(Megumi, in the tower, clutches her knife anxiously)
Megumi: The gunshots have stopped . . . what on earth . . .
(The doorknob begins to rattle.)
Sanosuke & Yahiko (kicking it open): This is taking too long!
Yahiko: Right! Hey, no ambush.
Megumi: Yahiko. Sanosuke . . .
Kenshin: Sorry to have kept you waiting, Miss Megumi.
Megumi: Ken-san . . . you’re hurt.
Kenshin: We had a little trouble. But more importantly I’m glad to see you’re safe.
(Megumi does not return their smiles.)
Megumi: I’m sorry. I involved you in all this. And on top of that exposed you to such
danger. But don’t worry. (putting the knife to her wrist.) The source of your worries will
soon disappear.
Kenshin: Miss Megumi!!
Megumi: I’ve been reduced to making drugs . . . I regret that I couldn’t have seen my family
again, but I’m very glad I met you in the end.
Kenshin: Wait!
Megumi: Thank you . . .
(Sanosuke grabs the blade with his bare hand.)
Sanosuke: You idiot! Kenshin and Yahiko just laid their lives on the line for you! You
wanna throw all that away?!
Megumi: But . . . there’s nothing I can do. My opium caused so much pain to so many people
. . . Even knowing that I was forced to do it couldn’t restore to me even the weakest happiness . . .
(a pause. Yahiko glances out the window.)
Yahiko: Kenshin, trouble! It’s the police! They must have heard the noise! Hurry, let’s get
out of here!
Sanosuke (grabbing Megumi’s wrist): Don’t just stand there, hurry!
(She snatches her hand away.)
Megumi: Ken-san. (holding out a tiny jar) It’s a family treasure, medicine that stops
bleeding. It’ll take care of the cuts on your chest until you can get to a doctor. Kanryuu
made a secret passage in the roofspace. If you go through there you’ll get out safely. Thank
you for taking care of me.
(She turns to walk away.)
Kenshin: The punishment for smuggling opium is death--Did you know that all along? Miss Megumi.
Megumi: Yes . . . But the opium killed people like Sanosuke’s friend. I cannot run away.
For the crime of taking life I can pay with my own.
(Below, the police storm the mansion in a scene of chaos.)
Policeman: Chief, look here! A hidden warehouse in the cellar!
Chief: All right, confiscate everything!
General Hubbub: Be quiet!
Let me go!
Dammit!
This is a major smuggling operation! Let no
one escape!
Chief: We jumped at the chance to investigate this place when we got that
report of noise, but I can’t believe there was a Gatling gun hidden here. (catching sight of
Megumi on the second story landing) Who are you?
Kanryuu (restrained by two policemen): That’s her! She’s the one that produced the special
opium! She’s my accomplice! Don’t try and get out of this, Megumi! Whatever you say, you’re
the one that made the opium! You’re coming to hell with me!
Chief: Is this true?
(Megumi begins to nod.)
Kenshin (covering her mouth and saying sweetly): No, it isn't.
Chief: Mr. Himura!
Megumi: Mwen-man!! (Ken-san!)
Kenshin: This women is an excellent doctor. They wanted her to produce opium for them.
Kanryuu: What are you trying to pull, Battousai!!
Kenshin (glaring at him with fierce Battousai eyes): You will be silent! (resuming his ordinary
sweetness) Isn't that right, Yahiko.
Yahiko: Oh yeah! I’m Myoujin Yahiko, descended of Tokyo samurai. And I definitely
wouldn’t be fighting for someone who made opium!
Kenshin: Sano?
Sanosuke: I don’t know, I just came for the fight. But if you arrest this woman, I’ll have
some more fighting to do.
Kenshin: What do you say, Chief?
Chief: I understand, Mr. Himura. I’m sure what you say is true.
Kanryuu: What---!! She’s my accomplice!! Just investigate and you’ll see--
Chief: That’s enough, take him away.
Kanryuu: Damn you!! This is a travesty--!!
Police: Let’s go.
Kenshin: Once in a while, everything turns out right . . .
Sanosuke: Once in a while? (This happens every time, so I wouldn’t know.)
Megumi: Ken-san . . . what on earth did you . . .
Kenshin: "For the crime of taking life, I’ll pay with my own." There is another way to atone.
You can’t bring back the people you’ve killed at your own deathbed. Rather than that, a
single person wielding a sword for many--that is the true meaning of atonement. Hitokiri
Battousai lives this way in the Meiji Age.
Megumi (thinking): Hitokiri Battousai . . . (aloud) The legendary . . .
Kenshin: The excellent Takani school of medicine should be able to save many more people than
the sword of Battousai. (tossing her the jar of medicine) Become a doctor, Miss Megumi. Use
your strength to save the hurt and the sick.
Sanosuke: Yeah, and about my friend . . . I forgive you.
Yahiko: And you can find your family!
Kenshin: Let’s go home. Miss Kaoru’s waiting.
Megumi: . . . All right.
Kenshin (stopping): Oh yes. Chief, about Aoshi--
Chief: Aoshi? Who’s that?
Kenshin: What? The tall man in the coat . . .
Chief: There’s no one like that here. When we arrived the only one in the ballroom was
Takeda Kanryuu. There were four decapitated bodies, but . . .
The Making of the Characters--Takani Megumi--
I didn’t have any specific model, but made an image of an adult flirtatious woman. There were a lot of readers that
were confused that she was completely different from the Megumi in the short story (compare them in Vol 3), but I don’t
think they’re that different; they have the same place in my heart. The Megumi of the short story was the middle of
three children but cast the faintest shadow and was content to be passive. But, as it came out in the books, it was
imperative that she be flirtatious, and as I’d never done that kind of character before, I did a lot of research. Reading
it over now, It’s too bad I didn’t cut the flirting. Well, discord is the essence of drama, so there’s nothing I could
do . . . . Individually Megumi was fun to draw, so I thought I would introduce her as a minor character, the only other
woman that Kaoru interacts with. And on top of that it was necessary for her to have special skills . . . . I got a lot
of letters from readers that said "Aoshi and Megumi look good together," and "Sano and Megumi look good together," but I
think that of the former, it's their art that looks good together, and of the latter, it's their personalites (they both
have no characters). But, just like I haven’t decided whether Kenshin and Kaoru will be a couple . . . . The theme of
the Megumi story is atonement, and although it was a story where I could think about Kenshin/Hitokiri Battousai’s feelings
on atonement, the second half gave me a lot of trouble. When it comes time to write about Kenshin’s own atonement it
will give me even more trouble, but right now my head hurts too much.
My design came from young Baichi-chan in Obata’s "Cyborg Jiichan G." (Cyborg Grandpa G) It was a great deal of work, and of
course I can’t draw like him, so in my style it turned into a bad Megumi. (Sigh . . .)