Rurouni Kenshin Manga Translations
Volume Five--Patterns of Meiji Swordsmanship
Part 34--Patterns of Meiji Swordsmanship
(Kaoru is dressing for practice.)
Kaoru: Hmm . . . I wonder if this is a little too loose?
Yahiko (bursting in): Hey, what’s taking so long? Hurry up, it’s already getting dark--
(A scream and a thud.)
Kenshin (outside doing laundry):
(Kaoru marches out, the trussed-up Yahiko hanging from her shinai.)
Kenshin: Oh.
Kaoru: Jeez! That little peeping--
Kenshin: I’m sure it was an accident as always.
Kaoru: What do you mean, "as always"?
Kenshin: Are you going out today?
Kaoru: Today’s an outside training day. The Makekawa dojo has always taken good care of
us--oh yeah! Aren’t you coming too? Maekawa-sensei said he’d like to meet you. You only
came once, and you left right away.
Kenshin: I’d really better not. Besides the washing there’s some wood to chop and the bath
to get started.
Kaoru: Oh, in that you can do some shopping too. We need miso, salt, rice, soy sauce, some
vinegar . . .
Kenshin: I guess I’m coming.
Kaoru: Looks like you have to! Come on now. Let’s go!
(Outside a temple. A small hooded figure dashes in. His name is Yutarou, and his sensei is
Raijuuta)
Yutarou: There you are, sensei!
(His sensei is a large man sitting against a tree. He wears a large straw hat and feathered
shoulder guards.)
Yutarou: It took a while but I got almost everything. Let’s see. First, there’s four
kenjutsu dojos in town. Of those four the most active is on the southwest side, the Chuuetsu
school Maekawa dojo. The master Maekawa Miyauchi has been devoted to kenjutsu since his youth,
until he attained a level at which he could open his own school. Probably the best practitioner
in the area. There’s rumors of a fantastically strong vagabond who’s been living at the
Kamiya Kasshin school dojo, but of course, they’re just rumors.
Raijuuta: Hmm. Come then.
Yutarou: Yes sir!
(At the Maekawa dojo. Students in practice armor spar; others line up to practice their
strokes.)
Instructor: All right, fifty strokes. Begin!
(The door opens; students look up.)
Everyone: Hi, Kaoru!
Kaoru: Hello!
Student: We've been waiting for you. Please come on in.
Kaoru: Oh, don’t go to any trouble, please keep going.
Maekawa: It must be Kaoru. She always disrupts practice. I see you’ve brought this Kenshin
you’ve been telling me about.
(Kenshin’s and Maekawa’s eyes meet; there is a moment of tension. A group of students form
around them.)
Students: That’s that vagabond everyone keeps talking about.
He sure is. I’ve seen him before.
Himura Kenshin. That’s one guy Sensei should have a match with.
I wonder which one’s stronger?
Sensei, of course. When he was young he was in the Edo 20th.
Yeah, but this guy’s no slouch. He’s good.
Kaoru (thinking): Maekawa-sensei didn’t say a word to me about this . . .
Students: Well, you can’t tell who’d be stronger. It’d be a great match.
They couldn’t settle it without someone getting hurt.
(Kenshin and Maekawa exchange small smiles, to the puzzlement of the onlookers.)
Maekawa: I’m glad you could come. Certainly you can practice with--
Kenshin: No, no, I just came with Miss Kaoru, so--
Maekawa: Ah, well then have a seat. I’ll get you a cushion and some tea.
(The tension is broken, the group disperses.)
Kaoru: Sensei . . .
Maekawa: It was settled without speaking. The strong don’t need to fight. This is the nature
of the old kenjutsu. Don’t think any less of us.
Kaoru: But sensei . . .
Maekawa: No need to worry. Any desire to fight is gone.
(Kenshin brings a cushion over to the little alcove on the side.)
Student (carrying a cup of tea): Oh, I’ll get that.
Kenshin: No, no . . .
Maekawa: No, I lost without properly fighting at all. No matter how I gazed into him, his
eyes fended it all off. He clearly didn’t want to fight, and then he smiled . . . Those eyes
truly hide deep secrets. There’s something in his past. Let him hide it. Youth can’t have
such eyes for long.
Yahiko: He’s twenty-eight.
Maekawa: WHAT?? (That’s ridiculous . . .)
(Kaoru trains one to one with the students.)
Kaoru: Don’t be distracted! And don’t pull your hips back. Watch your opponent’s eyes!
All right? Okay, next!
Maekawa (to Kenshin): So, what do you think of my dojo.
Kenshin: It’s good. You have a lot of enthusiastic students.
Maekawa: What, this bunch? Usually one out of three won’t show up. There’s a lot here because
Kaoru came today. All this small town kenjutsu is known for is giving training and raising a
sweat. In this, she’s a charming amusement for the young. It’s pathetic, but in the old
days of the Edo age I said I wanted to make a great dojo, in both name and reality. While I
think this is the most pathetic of all, I’m still using my old comrade Kamiya
Koshijirou’s legacy to drum up business.
Kenshin: Don’t speak that way of yourself, Mr. Maekawa. The Kamiya dojo has very few students.
Giving these lessons is saving her dojo. It’s advantageous to you both.
Maekawa: However, I wonder what will happen to kenjutsu. The Meiji era and the age of culture
and enlightenment did away with it in one stroke. The Southwest war breathed a little life
back into it . . . but it’s on the way to dying out. It seems like every day another dojo
disappears--
(the figure in straw hat and feathered shoulder guards appears at the door. He steps inside
the dojo.)
Student: You can’t enter the sacred dojo with shoes on! Take off your sandals!
(he ignores him and marches across the dojo floor to stand before Maekawa.)
Raijuuta: Maekawa Miyauchi, founder of the Chuuetsu school. I want a match with you. I am
Isurugi Raijuuta! The future of kenjutsu in Japan!