Chapter 218 - "Kyouki Toki Hanataru" or "Rampage Bursts Out" ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Misao stretches after waking up. "That was a good rest." Yahiko quips back, "You sleep too much, idiot! It's past noon already." Misao apologizes lightly, saying she was up late last night waiting for Aoshi to come home. Yahiko tells her it's too late to go investigate today, so they can take the day off today. Misao's expression brightens up, "All right! I can spend the whole day with Aoshi-sama! Where is he?" Yahiko replies, "I dunno. He hasn't come back yet." Misao sniffles, then thinks "That's strange. He usually comes back by noon, so why today?" Meanwhile, Yahiko finishes up his daily routine of swinging his shinai 100 times. "What should I do now?" he thinks, "It's been hectic lately that I haven't had free time in a while." He remembers back to the time he talked with Tsubame before the Jinchuu Day. "Don't worry. None of us are gonna die. We'll all meet again alive." Yahiko puts on his sandals to leave the dojo. "I guess.. The first thing that needs to be done is that..." Over at the Raku-nin Village The birds are perched on Kenshin's chained sakaba-tou, as Kenshin sits there motionless. The birds notice Oibore came back, and flies towards him. The men of the village greet Oibore, and he asks if everyone is doing well. Kuma tells Oibore that Kenshin hasn't moved as usual. "Well, I know why a nice guy like you [Oibore] are worried about that guy, since he's quite different from the other folks who came here before.. But he had something that made him fall to this level. I don't think anything's gonna happen even if you try." The rest of the men crowd around Oibore and ask him what he brought back this time. Oibore replies, "You don't need to be so anxious. I brought something back. This week's happy, big, exciting souvenier is..." and he pulls out a small bottle. The men looking a little depressed asks, "What's that?" Oibore opens the bottle and says, "I spent all the money I had to buy this." A scent flows out, and Kenshin reacts to it slightly. One man yells, "It stinks! Is that perfume? It won't add to our stomache!" Oibore replies, "How dare you say it stinks, you moron. Perfumes are made to cover up body odor. It's perfect for people like us." A faint voice says, "...please." Oibore turns around, where Kenshin is sitting. "Please take that scent away from me.." Kenshin says quietly. Oibore smiles and says, "'Hakubai-kou' is my favorite scent that brings me back sweet memories.. but it doesn't suit you, does it?" Oibore sets the open bottle down on the ground next to Kenshin and says, "Hakubai-kou is said to have the ability of calming a person's heart/mind. I'd like you to endure it a little and give it a try." Over at Aka-beko (Temporary Location) Tae asks Tsubame to run an errand, but notices that she doesn't look too well. "Why don't you take some time off a little bit longer?" Tae asks. Tsubame tells her she's okay & she can't rest while Tae is busy working. Yahiko walks in as they're talking, "Geez, it's gloomy in here. Even if you finally re-opened, customers won't come by if it's like this." Yahiko asks Tae if he can borrow Tsubame for a while. "Sure," Tae replies, "I wanted her to run some errands anyway. Just come back by sunset." Walking down the street, Yahiko thinks to himself. "I guess.. I should at least tell her about Kaoru." (flashback) "It'll be easier to move around if they don't know that we figured out the doll trick," Aoshi tells Misao, Yahiko, and Megumi at the graveyard. "Until we rescue Kamiya Kaoru, this needs to be kept to ourselves." "That's what we agreed on.." Yahiko thinks. He takes a glance at Tsubame, who looks sad and depressed. "But I don't want to see her look like this.." Tsubame asks if Yahiko's injuries are okay. "Well, it's not okay," Yahiko replies, "but it's useless to just sit around." Tsubame tells Yahiko, "Yahiko-kun, you're strong. Even after a thing like that happened, you got over it and..." Tears well up in Tsubame's eyes. "We promised.." Tsubame chokes as big drops of tear fall down her face, "That everyone will be alive, and I believed we'll all meet again.. But this.. this happens.." Yahiko crumples Tsubame's hair. "Don't worry, I'll keep our promise. If you listen to what I have to say, you'll feel better." Yahiko is tiptoeing as he puts his hand on Tsubame's head. "Everyone is going to see each other alive.. so don't cry anymore." Over at the police station Two police officers are chatting in the jail room corridor. "I heard the chief's out today," one says. The other replies, "Yeah, he went out with that guy from the main office.." The first one says, "Oh, Fujita Assistant Lieutenant(?)" His partner continues, "Yeah, that Fujita Assistant Lieutenant found an important clue to the investigation, so they left for the location first thing this morning." The first officer says, "By the way, do you know the true identity of Fujita Assistant Lieutenant? I heard he's one of the few Shinsengumi leaders that are still alive, and that he was a swordsman that was at the same level as that Hitokiri Battousai." Kujiranami, who is sitting in one of the cells, flinches as he hears the name Battousai. "Ba.. ttou.. sai" Kujiranami starts repeating the word over and over again. The two officers are alarmed at the sound of wood being torn apart. Kujiranami bursts out of the cell, breaking the bars made out of wood. The two officers scream, and blood splatters. "What's going on?" the assistant chief says as he runs down the hall. "He's escaped!" an officer replies, "the one-armed man from that incident broke out of the cell!" All the officers run down the hall. "This way, sir! He ran into that room!" The assistant chief looks at the sign above the door. "Storage Room" "Wait!" he yells at his men. "That room has..." In the room, something is attached to the end of Kujiranami's arm. "That room has an unused weapon.. no, a military arm.. that we confiscated when we arrested him." A flash of light comes out of the room. A huge explosion blows the men away. Kujiranami stands in the rubble. Wrapped around his body is a chain of bullets(?). Attached to his arm is a machine gun -- Custom-made Automatic Granade Rauncher. Kujiranami yells, "BATTOUSAIIII!!!" - the end - chap 217 | main | chap 219 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Disclaimer: All images, characters, whatnot belong to WATSUKI Nobuhiro, Weekly Shounen Jump, Shueisha. Translation by Shizuki. Anyone (on SASS ML) has permission to use my translation, mirror it at another website, etc. provided that it is not used for profit or to hurt the parties listed above. All comments should be addressed to shizzie@ucla.edu Whew. Is that enough for a disclaimer?