Chapter 123: Girls' Fight

(The soldiers look nervously at the unconscious body of Henya.)

Soldiers: No way... one kid beat Henya...

Yahiko: All right! Two to go! (His voice gets weaker--we see a huge bleeding gash across his back.) Let's give 'em... all we...

(He collapses.)

Kaoru: Yahiko!!

Kamatari: Like I said. You're all gonna die in the end.

(Kaoru turns from Yahiko to face down Kamatari.)

Misao: Kaoru!

Kaoru: It's okay. Yahiko isn't going to die so easily. Just watch yourself. We're up next!

Kamatari: Hmm. You seem a little different from that temperamental little girl here.

Misao: LITTLE--

Kaoru (stifling Misao): I'm not so different. It's just that when I take off my ribbons and put on my fighting gear, I'm neither a man nor a woman. I prepare myself for battle as an ordinary swordsman. Maybe you're the same.

Kamatari: Maybe so. But not in strength. There's a huge difference between Kamatari the Great Scythe of the Ten Swords and an ordinary swordsman.

Kaoru (under her breath): Misao, look at his weapon.

Misao: The scythe? What about it?

Kaoru: I'm guessing it weighs around eight kan. That would definitely put it in the class of heavy weapons. So it's got a lot of power, but it'll be used in huge swings that leave a lot of holes in his guard. If we aim there... I'll be the bait and draw him out. You take your chance to strike at a vital spot!

8 kan - 30 kilograms - 66 pounds.

Misao: Vital spot... (she remembers a "vital spot" that was exposed recently.) Ohhh! (Revenge is mine!)

Kamatari: Well, come on and get it!

Kaoru: You don't have to tell me twice!

(She charges; Kamatari swings the scythe downward. Kaoru flips over it.)

Kaoru: Misao!

Misao (dashing in): Right! (Got him!)

(The weighted end of the chain snakes around to strike Misao in the ribs.)

Kaoru (thinking): Oh no, the chain--(aloud) Misao!

(Misao is thrown to the lower roof of the Aoiya.)

Kamatari: You were right about the weak point of a heavy weapon, but that won't work on me. The weapon of Kamatari the Great Scythe is really a great chain scythe. The essence of the chain and scythe is an attack in waves. So--

(He whirls the scythe above his head; the chain whips around, forming a sphere.)

Soldiers: Oh, that's it. Lord Kamatari's killer technique--Midarebenen.

Kamatari: It destroys everything it touches, an attack and defense in one. You won't get through.

(Misao lies stunned on the roof.)

Misao. Who is that?

Miss Misao. Who's calling me?

Battousai kept his promise. Lord Aoshi is coming back... (She seems to see Hanya's ghost for a moment; then she blinks and he is gone.)

Misao (thinking): That's right... when I was running around after Lord Aoshi, Hanya was always the one to look after me. Hanya... even in the end, you were so worried about me you came back...

(Kaoru can do nothing but run from Kamatari's attack.)

Misao: Kaoru!! (The pain in her side forces her back to her knees.) Feels like I broke a rib. I can't fight like this. But--(holding up a double handful of kunai) I'm not going to just roll over and die! That technique keeps you from hitting any vital points, but there's one I'm gonna hit--! (aloud) Kaoru! Take aim! KANSATSU TOBIKUNAI!

Kamatari: It's futile.

(Kaoru strikes.)

Kamatari: I told you, it's futile!

(He swings the scythe around to slash through Kaoru, but Kaoru brings her bokutou down on the hilt of a kunai embedded in the scythe handle. Bokutou and scythe handle are broken in half.)

Kamatari (thinking): A weapon-breaker! Dammit, I thought they were just trying to get through like before--!

Misao: Since the scythe kept us from inflicting any damage, all we could do was destroy it. But my kunai don't have enough power, and Kaoru's bokutou couldn't cut through it.

Kaoru: Using the kunai as a wedge, the bokutou could break it with one stroke. Well done, Misao.

Misao: It's cause Lord Aoshi's coming back, and Hanya's looking out for me!

Kaoru (puzzled): Huh? (Hanya? You okay?)