* Rurouni Kenshin Manga Translation *
* Volume 12: Kyoto inferno *
* Chapter ninety-nine: A million fire alarms *
Sano: (stepping on the driver's head while atop the carriage) Emergency!
Emergency! EMERGENCY!
Driver: ...
Sano: Destination harbour! Emergency! Ouch!
Saitou: Chi, didn't get him.
Kenshin: ...
Sano: Saitou! WHat in the O do you think you're doing?
Saitou: We're talking serious stuff here, so you shut up!
(Sano sits on the roof in dissatisfaction)
Saitou: Let's continue. We're 5000 strong in Kyoto, that's 10 times what
Shishio has. It shouldn't be difficult to stop the Kyoto Inferno plan.
Kenshin: The letter I penned before setting off...
Saitou: Don't worry about that, I handed it to my personal assistant, so I
can guarantee it's arrival. But who's it for?
Kenshin: 5000 people can stop 500 violent freaks, but they cannot detect 5
fire starting points.
(picture of Aoiya)
Kenshin: (voice over) To fully suppress the Kyoto inferno, we must seek help
from the organization orginally in charge of Kyoto's safety during the
Bakumatsu era!
Misao: Okon, come here for a while.
Okon: What's the matter Mis - no, Okashira?
Misao: How much does one of those cannons and guns cost on the black market
nowadays?
(Kaoru and Okon crashes in an explosion)
Okon: How would I know!
Kaoru: And why did you suddenly bring it up!
Misao: Ahahah... Well I don't like those foreign playthings either, but I
guess we could do with some new packaging against creeps like Shishio.
Okon: My goodness...
Kaoru: Misao. The speed of a cannon is like a flash of lightning no doubt,
and it's destructive powers can be termed as the champion of all weapons.
Yet they were reduced into a pile of useless metal in front of those four
Oniwabanshuu.
(she stares)
Kaoru: Surely the Oniwabanshuu did not earn it's prestigious stature from
mere money-exchangable assets? I'm sure this is why Kenshin thinks so highly
of you guys.
Misao: ...
Voice: They're here!
(Shiro, Kuro, Omasu and Yahiko runs towards Misao, Kaoru and Okon)
Yahiko: Oei! Your letter! Letter from Kenshin!
Misao and Kaoru: !
Yahiko: Sent by a police!
Kaoru: Police? Why?
Yahiko: How am I supposed to know? But only Kenshin has such an intricate
style of writing!
Misao: Open it and see!
(they read the letter)
Everyone: - ...
Shiro: My goodness!
Omasu: No wonder there were so many street patrollers today!
Kuro: Kyoto inferno...
Okon: Simply without law or regard!
Yahiko: The word 'law' doesn't exist in their vocabulary.
Kaoru: What now, Misao?
Misao: That goes without saying! We're gonna stop them! Release all the
carrier pigeons at once! Inform all our contacts in Kyoto!
(points)
Misao: And the four of you, into your ninja garbs! Time for the Kyoto
Oniwabanshuu to show our faces!
Kaoru: Yahiko, we're going to help them.
Yahiko: Of course! So we're going to fight shoulder to shoulder with the
Oiwabanshuu. To think we even had a death row battle with them in Tokyo,
this really feels like a dream.
Misao: We've got no time now! More speed! Emergency!
(the wheel of the carriage)
Saitou: I sent a telegram to the people in the harbour, but majority of
their troops has been transferred to Kyoto while the rest is hardly enough
to surround Shishio and company.
(he smokes)
Saitou: However fast this carriage can go, we'll only reach the harbour by
around 11pm, which leaves us with no time to scout around at all. What do
you suggest we do now?
Sano: Why do you sit there frowning?
Kenshin: !
Sano: Even if we're late, Tokyo is not a city that can be destroyed with
just a few bombs. Since we've already reached this state, what can we do
other than put in our best? EEEE!?
(he gets pierced by Saitou's sword again)
Sano: One time's not enougn, you're going for a second helping! You deserve
a whipping!
Saitou: You shut up when I tell you to! You don't even know what's
happening!
Kenshin: Sano, Shishio's motive is not to destroy Tokyo.
Sano: !
Kenshin: In 1848? 1858? (my history is LOUSY), Commodore Perry from America
sailed in to force the Bakumatsu government to "open up" Japan to foreign
trade, the so-called 'docking of the black ships'...
(picture of the black ships)
Kenshin: (voice over) These steel-constructed steam ships were like fire
breathing monsters to the Japanese then. The first fleet of Perry shocked
the residents in Edo into chaos and fright. Though it's name is Tokyo now,
yet the fear and anxiety these black ships stirred up which eventually led
to the bloody outbreak of an ending era's turmoil shall forever be a shadow
hung heavily upon the people's hearts.
(narrows his eyes)
Kenshin: Therefore, should another strange ship appear in Tokyo now and open
fire, the chaos created shall have never been seen before.
Saitou: Besides, the powers of the government is hardly enough to suppress
an uprising, which means Tokyo shall be an area even the government will
want to wash it's hands clear of.
Sano: ... fair enough. Then I understand now. This is indeed something
undelayable. Then what're we waiting for! Emergency!
(Saitou pokes through the roof again and again)
Sano: HEY!
Saitou: Driver! Get that rubbish on the roof down!
Sano: Saitou! I'll get you one of these days!
Kenshin: ...
At the harbour
Yumi: (as she stares at the broken ship) ...
Shishio: What's wrong with you, Yumi?
Yumi: This plan to attack Tokyo which even the Juppongatana is devoid of, I
am immensely privileged to be able to share it with you... but you're really
using... this broken boat?
(Shishio smirks)
Shishio: Yumi. Did you fall in love with my 'appearance'?
Yumi: What?
(the lamp on the carriage is lighted)
Kenshin: The Bakumatsu taught me something, that is, while carrying out an
assassination, two principles must be observed.
(he stares)
Kenshin: One is 'to move in the shadows', the other, 'to blend with the
crowd'...
(the light falls on the swiftly moving road)
Kenshin: (voice over) The opponent has done the first, to move in the
shadows of the night to the harbour. And 'to blend with the crowd'... means
to conceal one's traces of identity...
Shishio: you're in love with my inner self isn't it?
Kenshin: Shishio Makoto is the Hitokiri Battousai after me... so what is he
doing now?
Shishio: (opening a door) Then there's no harm in looking at it's inner self
either.
Kenshin: We are both Hitokiri Battousais, and if I were him...
(Shishio leads Yumi in view of a modern black ship)
Kenshin: (voice over) I would wholly disguise the ship's outward appearance
to lure others into thinking that this is merely a commoner's boat!
Yumi: !
Shishio: My final trump card, which I name 'Rengoku'.
(Yumi falls to the ground in shock)
Shishio: Yumi. Is it up to your mark?
(they stare at each other)
Yumi: ... Yes. As long as we have this, what is the Meiji government in our
eyes! Let's go! Let's set out immediately!
(she grabs his hand)
Shishio: There's no hurry. Hoji, time now?
(Yumi grabs Soujirou in delight)
Soujirou: ?
Hoji: Eleven... twenty-two.
Before the Kyoto inferno starts or before the Rengoku sets off, there is
thirty-seven minutes.
(picture of everyone currently involved)
And that means to say in thirty-seven minutes, these people shall initiate
an all out attack -
END TRANSLATION
(c) Nobuhiro Watsuki Translation: ruroken@geocities.com
Please press your browser's back button to go back.
(
geocities.com/athens/olympus) (
geocities.com/athens)