02x14 - Misao's Decision

[bunniefuu]

AOIYA

Aoshi Shinomori and Mr. Okina?

And what about Misao?

She went to stop them, but even
with her quick feet, it's likely that—

You know Himura Battosai's whereabouts.

Leader...

He's here, which means...

Okina...

Answer, or I'll k*ll you.

What should we do?

If Okina was no match,
even if we all g*ng up...

Aoshi Shinomori...

I'm so disappointed in you.

RESTAURANT AOIYA

You still have some nerve.

You must know Battosai's whereabouts.

I do know.

But Kenshin is in the middle
of an important training.

I won't tell you, even if you k*ll me.

Listen up! Even if you don't look for him,

Kenshin is sure to fight you
one more time!

And he'll definitely win!

Yahiko is right.

So until then,
please don't swing your blade.

Right now, your sword is a cursed sword
that makes everyone around you...

and even you yourself unfortunate
the more you swing it.

Cursed sword or whatever, I don't care.

If I can k*ll Battosai, that is fine.

I will wait in Makoto Shishio's lair.

Tell that to Battosai.

Okina. What about Okina?

Bring a doctor!

There should be no need for that.

- Megumi?
- Ms. Megumi?

Why are you here?

I don't know the situation in detail,

but you need a doctor right now,
don't you?

RUROUNI KENSHIN

RUROUNI KENSHIN
-KYOTO DISTURBANCE-

EPISODE 38:
MISAO'S DECISION

A total of 138 stitches
across the entire body.

Honestly, it's a miracle he's still alive.

If that girl hadn't stopped his bleeding,
he would have died for sure.

Really, thank you so very much.

I only did what a doctor
is supposed to do.

For Misao...

Would it be better
to not tell her about Lord Aoshi?

Right. It looks like
she's trying to sort her feelings.

TO MISAO

This is a letter Okina left behind.

He told us to give this to you
if something were to happen to him.

Ciao, beloved, my pretty Misao!

"Pretty"...

Huh?

She was floored.

Ciao, beloved, my pretty Misao!

The fact that you are reading this means
that I am likely no longer of this world.

But no need to be sad.

I made a resolution to defeat my opponent,

so I am also committed
to being defeated by my opponent.

The Oniwaban Group
will be disbanded as of today.

Leave everything hereafter
in Himura's care...

and you shall withdraw
from a life of danger.

Forget about the Oniwaban Group and Aoshi.

Return to being an ordinary girl and
grasp happiness within an ordinary life.

Got that, Misao?

Well, then, adios.

All you guys, look the other way!

SPY
MISAO
Stop it, Misao!

SPY

Why are you going crazy?

Oh, my...

Ninja garb...

Misao?

I'm sorry, Gramps.

To me, everyone in the Oniwaban Group
is irreplaceable family and my friends.

SPY
MISAO

So my happiness can't exist
without the Oniwaban Group!

Listen here. We, the Oniwaban Group,
will continue to be of help to Himura

and stop the ambitions of Shishio's clan!

I doesn't matter who the enemy is,
even if it's Lord Aoshi....

no, Aoshi Shinomori, I will defeat them!

- Wha?
- Wha?

I will protect the Oniwaban Group.

I won't let anyone else die.

From now on,
in place of Aoshi Shinomori...

yours truly is the new leader!

- What?
- What?
THAT'S BEING RECKLESS

My, oh, my.

That's impossible! Stop that!

She's right, Misao!

Not "Misao"! From now on, I'm "Leader"!

There was quite a commotion
right when you got here.

So why did you come over here?

Dr. Oguni encouraged me.

I apologize.

After speaking so sharply to you, I—

Oh, no, Mr. Okina has been saved.

I'm glad you came.

Huh?

Thank you, Miss Megumi.

You're welcome.

DETENTION CENTER

You took much longer than expected.

There was an incident.

So, Chief, where is Shishio's swordsman
that you caught earlier?

Oh... he's at the far end.

Fujita, one thing before that.

We locked up a guy
who caused a brawl in town a week ago,

but he's just settled in
and is troubling us.

Do something about it.

Just as I thought.

Instead of recklessly looking,

I was right to cause trouble
with the police and get ahold of you here.

That way, I can run into Kenshin
faster and more definitely.

It's you.

Yeah. Sanosuke Sagara
proudly arrives in Kyoto!

It was quite a big gamble.

But after egging Kenshin on like that,
there's no way you'd feign ignorance.

Come on,
show more feeling than that.

I made an effort to come here
by the perilous Nakasendo,

training along the way.

So anyway, Saito, I'll show you
the results of my training right now!

"Saito"? You know him?

No, not at all.

What?

He surely is thinking of a different man.

He'll get in the way, so let's
keep him locked up here for a while.

Oh, I see.

Are you runnin' from me?

If you won't open up,
I'll open this up myself!

Got that?

You surprised, damn it?

If you underestimate me
and think I'm the same as before,

you'll end up like this, too!

Damn you—

- Chief...
- Hmm?

I will get rid of him for you.

Please wait upstairs.

Okay.

There are a ton of questions
I'd like to ask you,

but first we have to settle the score
of the fight in Tokyo—

Wait, are you listening, damn it?

The idea for the attack
is similar to sukashi in karate.

Of course, the impact is incomparable.

So, what happened
to the basics of defense that I mentioned?

Who the hell
is gonna do everything you say?

Defense isn't my style at all!

I'll be fightin' my own way!

We're shorthanded
due to an unexpected incident.

Still, you're just useless.

Hey, are you runnin' from me?

I have no time to play with you.

Then this means I win by default!

Yeah. Say what you like.

I'm still not satisfied by that!

A fight! A fight! Fight me!

What's with that room?

It looks so much sturdier
compared to the other cells.

Of course. The man in here is
the most important one in this incident.

The one that Battosai, as soon
as he arrived in Kyoto, apprehended.

One of the Ten Swords, the special unit
directly under Makoto Shishio...

known as "Cho the Sword Hunter."

Wha? You guys made quite a ruckus.

{\an5}RUROUNI KENSHIN
-KYOTO DISTURBANCE-

I was nappin' here and feelin' great.

Can't you keep it down?

Quite the composure.

For now, we'll start with a question.

Go ahead. Ask anything.

Something that happened
in Kobe the other day...

The unit that I cherry-picked
from the army and police

to fight against Shishio,

approximately 50 swordsmen
met one of Shishio's men,

and they were all eradicated overnight.

As a result,
we've lost most of our forces.

Answer if there is anyone under Shishio
who can do something like that.

What? That's easy.

There sure are.

If it's Cho from the Ten Swords standing
before you, that'd be a piece of cake.

You have no intent on answering seriously.

Outrageous. I'm bein' serious here.

Well, give me answers, and I'll
pull some strings to have you released.

What do you say?

I'll pass.

I have no remorse left
about the outside world.

In other words, you're scared of Shishio.

Huh?

Even if you're released,
there's no way they would leave you alive

after making the blunder
of being captured by the enemy.

That means you're safer
if you stay right here.

He really pisses me off.

What's with this bird head?

You're the one who's pissing me off,
squawking broom head!

I'm not afraid of Lord Shishio or dying.

I just don't wanna be doin'
what you boring guys want me to do.

Boring?

You're out of luck.

I'm in my worst mood right now
since I've arrived in Kyoto.

Fight me fair and square
to see if I'm boring or not, broom head!

Oh, I couldn't ask for more, bird head!

- Bird!
- Broom!

- Bird!
- Broom!

Listen up. If you can win against me,
I'll answer any question you ask!

But if you lose, I won't be responsible
for what happens to you!

Hey, bamboo-blind-head over there!

Don't just stand there!
Give us the signal!

Keep your fearlessness in moderation.

The iron ball on his foot shackle...

I told you! When you lose,
I won't be responsible—

If you can't use your fists, there's
no way it would be fair and square.

Let's start over.

He was going only for the handcuffs
to begin with.

How boring!

What?

I hate guys like you more than anything.

I'll answer your question,
so hurry on with it and get lost!

Then, let's get right on with it.

Damn it! In the end,
that guy is the only winner!

Answer my earlier question first.

A guy who can k*ll off 50 elites
from the army and police overnight.

And if the job is done
in a very short time to boot,

there are two in the Ten Swords.

One is called Sojiro of Tenken.

He's a guy who is always smiling.

So it was him.

He's young, but he's served longest
as Lord Shishio's henchmen.

I don't know if that's why,

but he's the right-hand man
and has gained the most trust.

So much so that he was entrusted with the
assassination of Toshimichi Okubo, too.

But he's not the one you want.

After Okubo's assassination,

Sojiro headed to eastern Japan
to gather the Ten Swords.

It's impossible time-wise and
unnatural to consider, geographically.

That means the m*rder*r
is as skilled as Sojiro Seta.

Yeah, there's no doubt about that.

And that guy...

is the one that Lord Shishio is the
most cautious about among the Ten Swords.

The intruder is gone!
We lost sight of him!

Not over here, either!

Sheesh. Of all times, now,
when that boy is not here!

I am terribly sorry, Lord Shishio.

I will have the Ten Swords
head out to intercept...

so please wait for just a while longer.

No need for that.

We wouldn't want
the Ten Swords to fight each other.

Fight each other?

And knowing him,
I'm sure he's close to us by now.

"He"? It can't be!

Lord Shishio!

Your skills have improved yet again.

It was you, Usui!

SOUL'S EYE

Usui the Blind Sword...

Yeah. Before the revolution,
he was an adept swordsman

hired by the Shogunate
to fight against hitokiri.

He had culled
many famous hitokiri.

But one day, he fought Lord Shishio,
and both of his eyes were slashed.

Ever since, he has been training
to seek revenge against Lord Shishio

and ultimately came up with an ultimate
form of swordsmanship: shingan. And now...

Why are you angry, boy?

If he shows me an opening, he won't mind
if I attack at any point in time.

That was the condition
to join forces with Shishio. Right?

Yeah.

I am fully aware of that!

What I am angry about
is how you k*lled off our soldiers

pretending to be an intruder!

It's fine if I fight as 1,000 men.

Fifty or so foot soldiers mean nothing.

That's right. Speaking of 50,

on my way here, there was
a suspicious group forming in Kobe,

so I k*lled them off right away.

What? I always tell you
to not act on your own!

Usui, was there a man with
a cross-shaped scar on his left cheek

or a tall, thin, wolfish man
among those men?

I'll throw those words right back at you,

but 50 foot soldiers
are not much of anything.

Those two men are the greatest foes
of the Ten Swords.

I see.

Then, those two men and you...

I simply need to get rid of them
all at once.

Sojiro, the Sword of Heaven,
and Usui, the Blind Sword,

these two are no doubt
the strongest among the Ten Swords.

But Sojiro would almost never mobilize
without Lord Shishio's orders.

In that aspect,
he could still be considered safe.

Looks like you're
quite skilled yourself...

but I'd have to say
Mr. Usui is even better.

That sounds interesting.

One more question.

I got intel the other day that Shishio
is planning on the destruction of Kyoto.

What the hell is he trying to do in Kyoto?

The Ikedaya Incident...

you know about it?

Well, as much as anyone else.

IKEDAYA

In June of the first year
of Genji, 1864...

Imperialists were setting up
a certain plan at an inn called Ikedaya.

The plan was to set fire to Kyoto,

assassinate the key personnel
of the Shogunate,

and to transport the Emperor to Choshu.

However, the Shinsengumi's as*ault

prevented the plan
before it was set in motion.

This is what people call
the Ikedaya Incident.

IKEDAYA INCIDENT

SINCERITY

They were dubbed the Wolves of Mibu
and hated,

but this incident
put the Shinsengumi in the limelight,

as they risked their lives
to protect Kyoto from a great fire.

It is also a story that speaks
of their unparalleled combat powers.

Setting fire
to the Millennium Imperial Castle,

which was once prevented...

all of that has turned into Lord Shishio's
plan for the destruction of Kyoto.


burning it to the ground.

At the same time, the Ten Swords
will annihilate all officials in Kyoto.

So he plots to carry out the heinous
act planned by the Imperialists

who engulfed him in flame
back in the Bakumatsu Era.

Like Lord Shishio, it is a grand

and greatly ironic declaration of w*r,
so to speak.

As soon as all the Ten Swords
had gathered in Kyoto,

we were going to go through with it,

so that day is coming soon.

I see. As there's yet to be
an official relocation of the capital,

this country's capital is still Kyoto.

This is a symbolic city
rooted in Japanese hearts

enough to be dubbed
Millennium Imperial Castle.

If they couldn't manage
to protect the city,

the people's trust in the government
will crumble.

I don't care about the government!

The government won't be the most troubled
when Kyoto gets engulfed in flames.

That'd be the people who live here.

Soaked in blood
from the chaos of the Bakumatsu.

Ten years since the destruction
of the Boshin w*r!

They finally have hold
of happiness and peaceful lives,

but because of the government,
they'll be right back where they started!

BAD

I swear by the "bad" on my back...

I will not let Kyoto go up in flames!

Saito, settling the score with you
will have to wait.

We gotta find Kenshin first and foremost!

I couldn't care less
about settling the score with you,

but that indeed is the priority.

To let the souls of the Wolves

who fell beneath the "sincerity" flag
rest in peace...

we must absolutely prevent
a great fire in Kyoto.

What?

I didn't ever dream that we'd agree.

So quit grandstanding.

Hurry up and go find Battosai.

Hold on a sec. Don't give me orders!

Shut up, moron.

Why are you coming out here as well?

Oh, you noticed?

NEXT EPISODE
BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH

Next episode: "Between Life and Death."