* Rurouni Kenshin Manga Translation *
* Volume 12: Kyoto inferno *
* Chapter ninety-six: Between life and death... *
Kaoru: ... (notices something)
Voice: To brood in front of the window is something very dangerous. No one
knows when the enemy will attack.
Kaoru: Misao!
Misao: No! No! It's Okashira, not Misao.
Kaoru: ...
Misao: (twirls her plait) If only Himura would finish the Succession
Technique and return quick!
Kaoru: Yes, but...
(Yahiko practising with his shinai)
Kaoru: Every kenkaku's basic desire must be to improve himself... to have
mastered the Succession Technique will further enpower Kenshin with the
upper hand in this match between him and Shishio, but at the same time
increase the confusion between his killer heart and peaceful one. And
everytime I think of this I...
(turns to Misao)
Kaoru: Oh dear! I'm so sorry, you're in quite an emotion fix yourself yet I
still...
Misao: Ah? It's okay, it's okay, no problem at all.
(she winks)
Misao: You don't have to worry about me that much. There's no problem with
me at all.
(darkness. Daybreak. Hiko and Kenshin faces each other)
Hiko: ... You don't look like you slept last night.
Kenshin: ... that leaves us on par.
Hiko and Kenshin: ...
(they splash water on their faces)
Hiko: Then... found out what is it you lacked yet?
Kenshin: ... No...
Hiko: ... I see... Never thought that's all your intelligence brings you to.
(puts a hand on his mantle)
Hiko: Just because you cannot figure out the precise thing lacking in you,
you will neither get to complete the Succession Technique nor get to win
Shishio and his men.
(the other hand on his mantle)
Hiko: And even if you luckily scrap through, the undying waves of a killer's
heart you can never triumph over.
(throws the mantle on the floor)
Hiko: Eventually wallowing in loneliness, self-despair and with a sword
lusting for blood.
(Kenshin stares in shock)
Hiko: (a man of bulging muscles) If that is the case then let your master
assist your quest in seeking out what you lack! It is the last thing your
master can do for you.
(he swings his sword downwards in mid-air)
Kenshin: !!
(a whirlwind occurs, a break on the floor)
Kenshin: (stares)
(the mantle flies above to behind him)
Hiko: To conceal the physical identification to the enemies and to lessen
the fatal force in the successor's stroke, this white mantle of near 10
kilograms has been used. Together with the name of 'Hiko Seijuurou' it
flowed from generation to generation...
(he steps over the mini crevass in the ground)
Hiko: Prepare yourself, Kenshin!
(Kenshin stares in disbelief)
Kenshin: *It's the first time I'm seeing this..*
(Hiko advances)
Kenshin: *First time seeing the true 'Hiko Seijuurou'.*
(his incredible body structure is awe inspiring)
Kenshin: *Left hand... trembling.. What am I afraid of? Is it 'Hiko
Seijuurou'? Or is it the death I se behind this man - *
(grabs his fist)
Kenshin: *Be brave! I've been through countless turmoils in the Bakumatsu
era, and death is nothing now! If my life is the price to be paid for the
Succession Technique, then let it be the price!*
Hiko: - ... Prepare!
Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu, Ku Zu Ryuu Sen!
(the srokes come. The 'death' word appears in front of Kenshin)
*Kaoru: I only want the rurouni by my side -
Yahiko: ... I hate it! Why am I so useless!
Sano: No matter what you say, don't you dare go wandering again without my
permission, Kenshin!
Megumi: If I am the footstool to force Ken-san into a burdenous decision,
then I choose death!*
(Kenshin stares in confusion)
*Jin eh: How long can you last as a rurouni? I shall watch in hell!
Misao: If you're gonna pile all those injustices and sufferings upon your
own shoulder, I shall never allow a tragic ending for you!
Hanya: Then I leave all the rest to you now, Himura Battousai.
Aoshi: Before I return for your life, you continue living well!
Okina: Everyone wishes for your safety. This you must bear in your heart
always.
Okubo: Himura! For this country I beseech you to enter Kyoto once more!
Saitou: Now Japan shall truly walk lost.
Kaoru: KENSHIN - !*
(his eyes flicker of new determination)
Kenshin: *I can't die here - *
(Hiko is closer, Kenshin turns to a side)
Kenshin: *I can't lose my life now yet!*
(he draws his sword. They lock and then separate into the opposite
directions)
(the wind ceases)
Hiko: Now that's more like it.
Kenshin: !
Hiko: After killing so many people, you gave up to despair and self-guilt,
then gave birth to the thought that you had a worthless life.
(Kenshin looks at his master's back)
Hiko: But you forsook the fact that you are ultimately flesh and blood, no
different from all the rest at all.
(he turns around)
Hiko: These thinkings, on one hand refused you your true abilities, and on
the other let you endorse erringly in fits of frustration in that suppressed
killer's heart of yours...
(there's a big stroke across his chest)
Hiko: That yearn to live you obtained by struggling by the brink of death is
just one of the ways to curb this difficulty.
(Kenshin stares in surprise)
Hiko: The results of a sacrifice for your loved ones will only deeper
engrave bouts of further despair and regrets, and not true happiness.
Accepting the mission of self sacrifice to deliver a vast amount of
commoners with an ashura's feelings is grand, majestic even, yet this is but
a minor overtune in the symphony of major chaos.
(speckles in the air)
Hiko: The yearn to continue is the strongest motivation yet... and you keep
bearing this in your heart always. This way, the Ama Kakeru Ryuu No Hirameki
comes not only as simple, but defeating Shishio or winning the killer's
heart in you will be done with ease.
Kenshin: Master...
(Hiko closes his eyes)
Kenshin: Master... ?
Hiko: Do not mind. The day the Succession Technique is imparted, is the day
the master and student departs eternally.
(his wound deepens)
Hiko: You have not betrayed your bow in abstinence of lives...
(his wound flares up)
Kenshin: MASTER!
END TRANSLATION
(c) Nobuhiro Watsuki Translation: ruroken@geocities.com
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