Chapter 143: Yumi--Forms of Love

(In front of the wreckage of the Aoiya, Omasu hands Kaoru a cup of tea.)

Omasu: Here you are, Kaoru.

Kaoru: Oh--thank you.

Misao (climbing to the top of the smashed roof): They really wrecked the place.

Okina (similarly perched): Ah, this is nothing compared to what happened in the Boshin War.

Omasu: Will you two get down from there! (You're hurt!)

(Kaoru broods over her tea.)

Hiko (sipping sake): You worried about him? Don't be. The Amakakeru Ryuu no Hirameki I taught him can't fail. When you avoid the fangs of the dragon that soars the heavens, a fierce wind steals the freedom of your body and it pierces you with its claws. That is, if you do it exactly right. (I didn't bother to tell him that much!)

Kaoru:... I understand. It's all right. I believe in him.

Misao: But you still can't help worrying about him. (sighing) I know. When I think of Lord Aoshi...

Yahiko: I still don't know what you see in that gloomy guy.

(Misao demon-bird kicks Yahiko.)

Okina (tears streaming down his cheeks): Love is different for everyone, Yahiko. Among a hundred different people there would be a hundred different forms of love.

(Yahiko: What're you crying for, old man?)

Okina: There is no one form of love.

(Yahiko: Aren't you embarrassed to talk like that, old man?)

(Back at the battlegrounds.)

Amakakeru Ryuu no Hirameki!

(Kenshin's attack throws Shishio's body high into the air.)

Sanosuke: That's settled it. The Amakakeru Ryuu no Hirameki...

(Shishio lands on his feet, but chokes and has to sink to the ground.)

Saitou: He's feeling it...

Aoshi (thinking): The attack pulled together the first step, the drawing of the sword, the centrifugal force of swinging the body, the second step, and the advantage gained by splitting the air in front of him. The second Amakakeru Ryuu no Hirameki concentrates all these forces; it's much greater than the attack I took.

(Shishio shudders, then retches violently, throwing back his head in pain.)

Sanosuke, Saitou, Aoshi: (thinking): Something's changed... !!

Yumi (thinking): His limits...

Houji: Wait, Yumi!

(She throws her body between Shishio and Kenshin.)

Yumi: Stop! He can't anymore! Because of his burns he can't fight for more than fifteen minutes. Look at his body. He's had enough. Don't hurt him any further! Please...

(Kenshin lowers his sword.)

Shishio: You're soft, Battousai. The fight's still on.

(He drives his sword through Yumi's body to stab Kenshin in the stomach. Kenshin's collapse is reflected in Yumi's eyes as she falls back against Shishio, bleeding profusely.)

Kenshin: Shi... Shishio... you bastard, you'd go so far... you'd betray the woman who loves you just to win?

Shishio: Betray her? That's what you'd call it... She understands me better than anyone. And I understand her better than anyone else could

Yumi (tears dripping down her cheeks): I'm so happy... For the first time, I was useful in a fight... I helped Lord Shishio in the most important fight of his life. I was always so jealous of Sou and Kamatari... For Lord Shishio, the fight is everything... and all I could do was take care of his body. It was always at the back of my mind... but this time was different. (turning to him) Please win, Lord Shishio... I'll be waiting a few steps ahead on the road to hell...

(Her body goes limp.)

Houji: Komagata Yumi... a woman never blessed in life. But in the end, she found happiness...

Kenshin (pounding the ground with his fist): Don't give me that bullshit! Where's the happiness in death? If she'd lived she might have had more--it could have been different--

(The wound reopens, and he goes down again.)

Shishio: But it is time to speak of death. Yours and mine. The one who gets up and deliver the next attack, the one who survives, will be the victor!

Kaoru (looking up and thinking): Kenshin!