Rurouni Kenshin Manga Translations
Volume Nine--Arrival in Kyoto
Part 74--Arrival in Kyoto
(Misao and Kenshin arrive in Kyoto; Kenshin has covered his scar with a square bandage.)
Misao: We finally made it. It's such a relief to be back
Kyoto, the city at the center of Japan, is a center of art as well as that of Japanese Buddhism. It has been the capital ever since the Tento dynasty in 794 and so was called the Thousand Year Capital.
Kenshin (thinking): Kyoto . . . Ten years have passed for Japan since the coming of the new era. I didn't think this place would be touched again.
Misao: Himura! This way!
The color and brilliance of its seasons make it the city most suited to the word elegance, but under the surface, when it was called the Demon City and Chimimouryou from the Taiko swaggered through its streets, it became a center of war where plague and famine were spread many times. During the violence of the Bakumatsu, not a day went by without a spray of blood or a freshly severed head, until it seemed like it was a road of violence to a battlefield on a map of hell--
Misao: Himura!!
Kenshin: Oro?
Misao: Don't oro me! What're you just standing there for? You've been acting weird ever since we got to Kyoto. And do you have to have the sword? It really sticks out, it's embarrassing.
Kenshin: Your clothes are more embarrassing.
Misao: Why you--Angry Demon Bird Kick!
Kenshin: Oro!
In the end they were equally embarrassing.
Kenshin: Anyway, you should go home first, Miss Misao. I'm sure they're worried about you.
Misao: Home? We're already there, look.
Kenshin: Oro. An inn . . .
Misao: Yeah, the Aoiya's pretty well known in Kyoto--Hey, Gramps!!
Okina (for that is his name): Misao!!!
Misao (hugging him): I'm back!
Okina: Welcome home!
Misao: I know I'm late and I made you worry. I'm sorry. Ow ow ow ow ow ow!!!
Okina (tickling her): That's your punishment for being late.
Kenshin (thinking): He's mad, he's mad.
Okina (turning to Kenshin): Oh, you must have brought her back.
Kenshin: Well . . .
Okina: She can be a handful, can't she.
Kenshin: You said it.
(Behind him, the four workers at the Aoiya pour out.)
Omasu: Misao!
Shiro: She's back! Oh, you've grown.
(Kenshin smiles at the scene.)
Kenshin: Well, I'll be going now.
Okina: Wait! We haven't thanked you yet.
Misao: Himura! Shiro and Kuro are making a feast tonight. It's going to be great!
Okina: As Misao says. Please stay a while, Mr. Himura Battousai.
(Kenshin stops.)
Okina: Even if you hide your scar, you're known to those you know you.
Kenshin: How do you--
Okina: It's a long story. Please, come in.
Meanwhile . . .
(Three girls are cooing over a little chow puppy.)
Girl: Oh, chow-chow?
Girl: Chow-chow chow chow?
Girl: Uh-huh, chow-chow-chow.
Yahiko (thinking): That's--that's not Japanese! (frowning) My first taste of the Thousand Year Capital is a little different than I expected--
Kaoru: Hey, quit playing around and help me!
Kaoru's and Yahiko's ship has arrived in Kyoto.
Kaoru: First we have to find Tae's family's house.
Tae: Prices at inns are ridiculous. I'll send word home; please feel free.
Kaoru: But Kyoto all looks the same to me. It's confusing . . . I wonder how we're going to find one person in all of this.
(Yahiko whacks her with his shinai.)
Yahiko: After all that work cheering you up you aren't going to lose it now, idiot! All right, fine--I'll go look for Tae's house, you sit here and watch the traffic. Maybe if you're lucky Kenshin'll pass by!
(They both catch sight of a sword at the side of a passerby--but it's a tall man in a trenchcoat, not Kenshin.)
Kaoru (thinking): When I saw the sword handle I thought maybe-- (aloud) What a coincidence.
Yahiko: What's he doing here . . .
(At the Aoiya)
Misao: Okay, I'm going to go take a bath.
Okina: All right. (to Kenshin) Well . . . I'm sure she told you about herself and the Oniwabanshuu on the road. As you've guessed, I, Kashiwazaki Nenji, was once one of the Oniwaban spies. The name was the one who searched Kyoto, Okina!
In 1854 when the black ships led by Perry came to Uraga, the previous Okashira immediately suspected that it concerned not the nation's sovereignty but who held that sovereignty, namely the Emperor and his court. Expecting Kyoto to be the center of the violence, he sent me to gather information independently for the Oniwabanshuu.
Okina: I opened the Aoiya as a base; ironically the inn survived when the Edo Bakufu was destroyed. But in the new era, as a place of refuge for those of us unable to find work, it was very helpful.
Kenshin: So that's why Aoshi left Miss Misao with you.
Okina: You know Lord Aoshi . . .
Kenshin: There is something you should know . . .
(the story is told)
Okina: I see . . . So Hanya and the others are dead, and Lord Aoshi is missing . . .
Kenshin: Please, keep this a secret from Miss Misao.
Okina: Yes, that's best. Now, Battou--no, Mr. Himura. Your appearance in Kyoto after almost ten years, could it have something to do with your successor, Shishio Makoto? Using my experience from the old days, the intelligence network is still alive today. I know almost all of Kyoto inside and out. Well, now it's more of a hobby. When I heard he was alive and threatening Kyoto, I didn't believe it, but if you're here it's a different story . . . As thanks for bringing Misao home safely, and for witnessing the end of the Oniwabanshuu, I'll become your ally!
Kenshin: Oro.
Okina: I love the Kyoto of today. To protect the capital, this seasoned solider will again take the field.
Kenshin: Wait--wait a minute.
Okina: The Aoiya will be fine. Shiro, Kuro, Omasu and Okon are all originally from the Oniwabanshuu. They manage to protect Misao and myself.
Kenshin: However--
Okina: There's nothing you can say. After all, I'm the one that raised Misao!
(Misao and Okina smiling and holding up victory v's: Stubbornness incarnate!)
Kenshin: Somehow you're very persuasive . . .
Okina: Exactly, exactly.
Kenshin: You're very kind. May I ask you something? I'd like you to use your information network to find two people for me. Arai Shakkuu and Hiko Seijirou. Please, find them as soon as you can . . .