Title: Begin Action (Thanks to Shizuki)
Kaoru wakes up and sits up on the bed dazed. She calls out,
"Keeenshiiiin, is breakfast ready yet?"
"Oh well, another five minutes," she plops back to sleep.
She quickly gets up after a moment. "Baka, not 'another five
more minutes'! Uh, what happened to me? (And I'm wearing a
bathrobe all of a sudden...)," Kaoru thinks.
Kaoru remembers how Enishi grabbed her from behind. "I thought
I was going to be killed that time.. But he put a gauze with
some chemicals soaked in on me, and I lost consciousness.
"I don't know how long it's been, but from the circumstances...
I must have been kidnapped. In any case... I have to escape!"
She grabs a vase in the room, "Take a weapon." She checks the
door and it's open. "There's noone standing guard. Actually,
I don't sense anyone here. It's quiet as if it were midnight."
As she slowly walks down the hall, Kaoru thinks "I wonder if
everyone is all right? Sanosuke, Megumi-san, Yahiko..
"Kenshin...
"I'm sorry I made you worry again. I'm coming home soon, so
wait for me. I'll go home.."
Kaoru opens the front door and is surprised at the sight.
Outside, just a cliff and the sea surrounding the building.
"It's not worth trying to escape," a voice from behind.
Kaoru quickly turns around, and Enishi is standing there.
His left arm is wrapped up, and he has bandages on his
face.
"This is an island used as a midway base by the organization
when shipping items to Tokyo. The nearest island is about
20 km away, and there are plenty of sharks swimming around.
Plus except for the cove in front of us, the rest is all
a cliff. Other than the contact ship that comes in the cove
once a week, it's impossible for anyone to come in or out.
Basically a natural fortress."
"Stay here quietly. Then I'll send you back to Tokyo
eventually," Enishi tells Kaoru. Kaoru asks, "How long
is eventually?"
Enishi thinks, "Until Battousai dies." He tells her, "It
won't be that long."
Kaoru looks at Enishi sternly and asks, "Why didn't you
kill me back then? I thought I was going to be killed."
Enishi pauses for a moment, walks back to the mansion
and says "It's nothing I need to tell you about."
Kaoru thinks, "Mercy? No, that can't be it. He said that
he doesn't have a heart like that himself when he was
fighting Kenshin. I don't get it, but..
"By some form, the Jinchu was completed, and something
must have happened to Kenshin.
"Kenshin..
I can't let it stay like this. I have to escape from
here by myself!"
Back inside the mansion, Gein says "'It's nothing to
talk about,' huh? I guess it's not something you'd blab
to people about. Well, because of that I was about to
have the opportunity to test out my skills.
"Anyway, I'll be leaving for Tokyo on the next contact
ship. I have a very very important thing I have to do."
After Gein goes into his room, Enishi thinks: "I have
no use for him now that the Jinchu is over. I should
take care of him before he leaks something out."
Back in Tokyo, Kamiya Dojo..
Misao takes out her Tobi-Gunai and destroys Kaoru's
grave-shrine. "Kaoru-san's alive, so we don't need
this anymore!"
Megumi sighs, and Yahiko tells her not to think much
about it. "Not even the best doctor in the world would
have figured that thing out. That kinda extraordinary
stuff is really for people like Aoshi." Megumi tells
him that she's actually happy. If Kaoru is alive, Kenshin
will now get better. Misao agrees, and wants to go tell
Kenshin immediately.
But Aoshi says, "Don't. It's still too early."
Aoshi explains, "Even if Kamiya Kaoru is alive, for Battousai
it still means like Yukishiro Tomoe, he couldn't save the one
he loves the most. If he finds out that Kamiya Kaoru is alive,
Battousai will begin to take action. He'll most likely rescue
Kamiya Kaoru by fighting Yukishiro Enishi, risking his life.
"But.. That will be the end.
"He will probably never return to Kamiya Dogo again. He'll once
again wander, and live travelling alone without making much
contact with others for the rest of his life.
"The only difference would be him moving his feet instead of
sitting down. He'll be the same as he is now inside. The only
thing that can be done is finding his 'answer' by himself.
The 'answer to repaying for his sins as an assassin' that he's
been searching for in the bottom of his heart these last 15
years.. If he doesn't find it this time, his spirit will never
return."
As Aoshi continues to talk, back in the Raku-nin Village,
Oibore wakes up and stretches.
Aoshi continues, "Someone can help by lightly pushing his back
to move forward, but..."
Oibore looks down at Kenshin sitting near him. Close-up
of Oibore's eyes shows he's not senile.
Aoshi continues again, "He himself must find the 'answer' and
get out of that state."
Back at the Kamiya Dojo where Aoshi was talking..
Megumi disagrees, but Yahiko interrupts her. "Wait, Megumi.
I think Aoshi is right. Let's listen to the one who's
'experienced.'
"What we need to do now is when Kenshin gets up, to make sure
that he can begin to take action immediately, we need to find
out where Kaoru is!"
Aoshi repsonds, "Yeah. We don't have any sources, but there
is one person who'll come back to Tokyo for certain. We'll
set a trap for him first."
"Setting a trap is fine, but we won't know when that'll be."
Yahiko continues, "There's a place that will have some source.
Let's go there first!"
Misao and Megumi ask, "You don't mean.."
Yahiko replies, "Yeah. Although he's really difficult to
deal with too." In the background, Saitoh smoking somewhere
in the police headquarters.
- end -