Ruroni Kenshin Chapter #179 "Flashback Fourteen - The Time Passes" Author: Nobuhiro Watsuki Publisher: Shueisha ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tomoe: Everything will be alright this way... so please don't cry... (Battosai holds Tomoe in his arms crying) Battosai: No.. it's not supposed to be this way.. it's not right.. I, the killer, should be the one who dies! Of anything, it's not right for you to die! Tomoe... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - January 15th - Man: (points at Battosai's hut) .. over there. Kogoro: Thank you. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Battosai sits in his hut depressed) Battosai: (thinks) No matter how much I think, it doesn't make any sense. Why... why... Tomoe... (a cool breeze blows in and Tomoe's diary flips open) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Battosai: Tomoe's... diary... (he picks it up and reads the first entry) Diary: April 4th - I recieved news from Kyoto regarding Akira Kiyosato-sama's assassination. I can't believe it. Why didn't I stop him then? I regret it now. (Battosai's eyes skip to the name "Akira Kiyosato" ) Battosai: ... Kiyosato... so that's her fiance's name... I've heard it somewhere before... that had to be... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Battosai then remembers the young man he killed in Kyoto) Kiyosato: (flashback) to... (He then realizes Kiyosato was trying to say Tomoe's name right before he was stabbed through the heart) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Battosai: (touches his scar in disbelief) I killed him!!! I'm the one who killed Tomoe's fiance... ! I'm the one who made Tomoe unhappy... !! (remembers Tomoe's smiling face) Tomoe... Kogoro: (appears in the doorway) The fact that you killed Tomoe's fiance and that you fell in love with her yourself were misfortunes... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kogoro: Both of which weren't your fault... but indeed extreme misfortunes. Rumor has it.. the assassin is already sent after the traitor. - out on a trail in the middle of nowhere - Iidzuka: Hehe, too bad for everyone I'm one step ahead of them. Looks like a warrior needn't always depend upon whether the shogunate or loyalists will win. (juggles some money in his hand) I'll depend on these instead of the sword from now on... (he hears an evil chuckle and sees a blade with little sharp teeth) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- (A muscular swordsman with the looks of Genjuro Kibagami -otherwise Shishio without a fried body- stands before him) Iidzuka: ... chi, that Kogoro's one heck of a fellow... He just won't let me go, will he? I can't help but use my sword this time!! (Iidzuka draws his sword. Shishio smirks) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Shishio slices Iidzuka in half leaving him aflame) Shishio: My first assignment was to kill this puny guy. They underestimate my abilities. Oh well, someday I'll be recognized seriously. This country won't be ruled by the shogunate nor the loyalists cause I'll be the one... ! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - back at the hut - Battosai: Makoto Shishio... Kogoro: ... yes... his identity and school are unknown. He's a pretty dangerous character however his abilities are comparable to yours. I've decided to leave all the assassinating duties up to him from now on... Battosai: ... am I being laid off? Kogoro: No... you must fight now. In Kyoto the Shinsengumi are really starting to hunt down the loyalists vigorously- As of now, whoever rebels against the shogunate gets killed... Himura, stand on the frontlines of this bloody storm and protect the loyalists. You are to now act as a "squad swordsman." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kogoro: I think it's harsh on you at this time. However, there's no other man I'd rely on for this role other than you. Put aside your heart for now. I'd like you to fight with Hiten. (children look in) Girl: onii-chan, aren't you going to play today? Boy: We're going kite flying today right! [it's snowing though] Kogoro: (to the kids) We're busy right now. See you tommorrow. Battosai: Okay. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kogoro: Himura... Battosai: If I give up my sword here now, the lives of all the people I killed before would be in vain. Tomoe taught me the little happiness people pursue... That's why I'll continue to fight to build a new era full of hope... but when the new era comes, then... Kogoro: ... you'll give up the sword... ? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Battosai: ... don't know. I just don't want to kill people again. Never again... Kogoro: (thinks) ... just what Shinsaku had feared would happen... Shinsaku: (flashback) "It'll ruin that kid's life..." Kogoro: (thinks) My apologies... the sword of Hiten wasn't meant to destroy the former era. It should be used to protect the new era... Forgive me, Himura... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - outside the hut - Girl #1: Say, where's onee-chan? Where'd she go? Battosai: Somewhere far away. She's not coming back anymore. Boy: Did she leave you a letter of divorce- ? [uncool-] Battosai: nn, I'm afriad so. Girl #2: So that would mean after today, you'd also have to go far far away, won't it.. Boy: Huh, no way!(Battosai takes the kids' hands and starts walking) Battosai: I'm sorry... Let's play all day together till sundown... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Later on in Kyoto - (the Shinsengumi trap a loyalist in a corner) Men: There he is! Get him!! We won't let you get away! (a foot steps from out of the shadows) Men: Huh!? Voice: ... retreat ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Battosai: Retreat and your lives will be spared. If you don't... Men: (in shock) R.. red hair with a cross scar on his left cheek!! It can't be Hi-... Hitokiri Battosai-!! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Saito: I suspected you weren't one of the usual guys... Man: Squad leader Saito! (Battosai and Saito face each other) Narrator: Long ago... in the midst of the Bakumatsu uprising in Kyoto, there was a loyalist called "Hitokiri Battosai"... Making bloody scenes, he was a killer who soon vanished with the end of the uprising. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Battosai and Saito draw their sword) Narrator: And the time passes to the 11th year of Meiji- -End of Ruroni Kenshin Chapter #179- translation by Jenny