Chapter 209: "Abayo" ("See ya")

starts off at Sanosuke's place (Gorotsuki Longhouse), where he's eating.
Sanosuke remembers Kenshin & his words "I don't care anymore. I'm tired."
and he tosses his ochoko (sake cup) aside.

back at Kamiya Dojo, Misao & Aoshi is taken to Kaoru's butsudan (of a sort.
it's a family shrine<?> for the dead), and Yahiko says "it's all over.
Kaoru was killed.. Kenshin (mentally) broke.. and I couldn't do anything."

Misao whacks Yahiko over the head w/ her bag. "I don't want to listen to
your whining! If you're gonna talk about your troubles, do it later. There
are things you need to do right now!" Misao slams down an old notebook..
Tomoe's diary.

"Open this in front of the eyes of the grey-haired guy & make him realize
that he's an idiot beyond help and how everything he's done is meaningless.
And make him bow his head down 'til his head digs into the ground in front
of Kaoru-san's grave and apologize."

"I'd rather kill him and bring his head to her, but that's not the way of
Kaoru-san's Kamiya Kasshin-Ryu and it goes against Himura's ideology of
not killing."

"But that's the least that could be done, or Kaoru-san won't be satisfied.
And this is a job for you -- Kaoru-san's first student, and the one Himura
saw promise in!!"

Yahiko's surprised at Misao's enthusiasm in any situation. Misao tells him
that's her biggest trait, and Yahiko sneers back that it's her ONLY trait.

Yahiko agrees w/ what Misao says about not letting things end like this,
and he plans to find the grey-haired guy (Enishi, if you haven't figured
it out yet <laugh>).

Later that night, while Aoshi sits in a dark room.. mixed with the sound
of the suzumushi ("bell-ring" cricket, says the dictionary), a faint
sniffling sound. Misao is sitting outside on the laundry-washing bin alone,
quivering slightly. "We said we'll play some day again... She said she'll
wait for me to come... Kaoru-san..." Misao is shedding tears over Kaoru's
death.

Aoshi sits in the room quietly.

Next day, in the Raku-nin Village.. Sanosuke walks towards Kenshin, who's
still sitting against the wall w/ his head down. behind Sano is a pile
of the "fall-out" men, who Sano beat up. Sanosuke stands above Kenshin,
who's still expression-less. Sanosuke punches Kenshin in the face and says,
"See ya."

Kenshin slowly gets up. Sanosuke starts walking away. Kenshin sits back
down in his previous position.

On the road, Misao and Yahiko are on their way to the Raku-nin Village.
Yahiko asks if Misao's eyes were red because she hasn't slept much.
Misao tells him not to worry about it. She says Aoshi said he had something
to do before meeting Himura, when they see Sanosuke coming towards them.

As Yahiko tells him that they were on their way to see Kenshin again,
Sanosuke says "Don't bother. Go home, and never come back here again.
If you're dealing with a guy who's alive but dead, it's a waste of time."

"I'll leave everything at my place as is. I'll give everything to you,
so hurry and move over. If you stay at a place that's already over, you'll
rot too."

Yahiko begins to think if everything is too late, and everything is over
because everyone is leaving Kamiya Dojo.. but then he looks determined
and says "It's not over yet.. NO, I won't let this be over like this!
I don't know where you're going, but come back to see it!"

Misao understands why Kenshin saw promise in Yahiko, and realizes she
doesn't have to pretend to be happy/energetic anymore.

While, at Oguni Clinic.. Megumi is talking to a visitor. She says it's too
late and everything is over. The diary won't help anymore. The visitor--
Aoshi, who told her that Kaoru asked them to bring the diary, says..

"I'll decide later if it's too late or not. The essence of an Onmitsu is
absolute realism. Tell me everything you can about what happened at that
time in detail."

-the end-

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