Chapter 208: "The End of a Dream"
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A funeral procession is held for Kaoru Kamiya, but the only person who
isn't around at the end of the ceremony is Kenshin Himura -- he suddenly
disappears without a trace midway through. After the burial, Sanosuke,
Tsubame, and Megumi sit at the dojo and try to understand why such a
horrible thing happened, and Yahiko reflects on the events that occured
during the past couple of days [we find out that he didn't see how Kaoru
died -- damn!].
Suddenly, one of Sanosuke's friends rushes into the dojo, and announces
that he's found Kenshin. Sanosuke demands to know where he is, but his
friend warns him not to take women or children there -- for Kenshin is now
residing in the "village of dropouts (?)" [it looks like a place where the
ones who have been rejected from society live].
After a short walk through the village, they find Kenshin. What they see
utterly shocks them.
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Kenshin apparently has fallen into a stage of deep depression. He continues
to sit on the ground, oblivious to the events happening around him. His
eyes are open, staring out into nothingness. The sword which used to
protect others has now been chained up, and it looks like he refuses to use
it anymore.
Sanosuke yells at Kenshin to stand up, because he's going to march off to
kill Enishi Yukishiro, out of revenge for killing Kaoru.
Kenshin's answer is cold silence.
Sanosuke goes ballistic and yells out Kenshin's name again. He picks him
up, tells him to quit being silent, and orders him to say something.
Kenshin's reply:
"It's okay now. I'm exhausted already."
"You asshole!", Sanosuke says, as he gives Kenshin a hard left. "You stupid
asshole!" The residents of the "dropout village" begin to stir at his
second comment, and Sanosuke challenges them all to a fight. Megumi calls
him an idiot, and requests that he quit aggravating them, because Tsubame
is present and provoking them would risk putting her in danger.
Kenshin gets back up and immediately collapses against the wall, falling
back into the same position they found him in.
"It's okay now. I'm exhausted already. Please... from now on let me sleep
quietly."
The quartet (Yahiko, Sanosuke, Tsubame, and Megumi) decides to respect his
wishes, and they leave him alone. Yahiko later takes a midnight walk and
ends up on the same bridge where he first met Kaoru and Kenshin. He
continues to reflect more on the past, but is suddenly interrupted by a
familiar voice.
"Yahiko! It is Yahiko, after all! What are you doing in a place like this?
What's wrong? Has something happened?"
Misao and Aoshi have finally arrived.
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