Chapter 6: Showdown--Sagara Sanosuke

Goheh (wearing a Sanosuke wig): "The legendary Hitokiri Battousai! The street fighter Zanza has been searching for a match like you!" It's been two weeks! Where is that rooster head?

Kiheh: I can't believe he would get scared and run off.

Goheh: "I'm just looking forward to the fight!" Heh, what a joke!--

Zanza (boxing his ears): You're the one joking! You keep up that weird copycat stuff and I'll hang you upside down.

Kiheh: O-oh, Mr. Zanza. Where have you been?

Zanza: The fight.

Kiheh: The--a different fight?

Zanza: No, stupid. The fight doesn't start with the kicks and punches. But a fake god of wealth and a muscle-bound freak wouldn't understand.

(he picks up his bundle and leaves.)

Kiheh: The street fighter Zanza... He's well known in the underworld of East Tokyo as a fighter-for-hire. He decides how much to charge for a fight by how much he enjoyed it. He's rude, a lone wolf. But he's strong! They say that after he's done with someone they see the character on his back for months in their dreams. If we use him we'll be rid of that annoying pest for sure. (thinking) That Himura Battousai!

(the Kamiya dojo. Yahiko is eating rice balls, Kaoru is reading.)

Kenshin (standing up): There's a visitor outside.

(he walks down the hall, Kaoru hurrying after him.)

Kaoru: Wait, Kenshin, what's wrong?

Kenshin: I felt his ki. (He opens the door to see Zanza standing in the yard.) It couldn't be hidden. This foolishly straightforward fighting spirit.

Zanza: I'm here for a fight.

Kaoru: It's him!

Kenshin: I thought it might be you. I told you that you'd have to excuse me.

Zanza: That's no good now. I'm here as a hired fighter, I can't back out. Especially since my target is the patriot Himura Battousai.

(General shock.)

Zanza: The Choushuu patriot Himura Battousai. Practitioner of the old style of kenjutsu Hiten Mitsurugi, who wielded his sword as the Hitokiri. He worked for five years, from the age of 14 to 19. For the first half, he literally were a killer, a cold-hearted assassin who killed in darkness. For the second half, he defended the revolutionaries from the Shogun's swordsmen units like the Shinsengumi, acting as a bodyguard. Originally he were meant to remain obscure, but today he's gained great fame for his work. Then, the decisive war of Boshin. After the first battle of Tobafushimi, he disappeared. To live as the vagabond Himura Kenshin. The real fight begins when you know your enemy and decide how to fight him. I had to go to Kyoto, the center of the Bakumatsu bloodshed, to find out about you. Was I more or less right?

Kenshin: Have you decided how to fight?

Zanza: There's the problem! All I could find out was a rough account of your career. What kind of kenjutsu is the Hiten Mitsurugi school? And changing from a cold-hearted assassin to a gentle vagabond is an important point I don't understand at all. I haven't figured you out yet, so I'm just going to meet you head on. A fair fight.

(the Hiruma brothers are watching from behind a fence.)

Goheh: Hey, brother, do you really think this Zanza guy can win?

Kiheh: His opponent is Battousai. The outcome is already decided.

Goheh: But--

Kiheh: Don't fuss. My plans have included Zanza's failure from the beginning! Zanza will lose, but I've heard he's a very strong fighter. Even if he's killed, he won't go without giving a good fight, probably wounding Battousai. Immediately after the battle, I'll bring him down the instant he lets down his guard. (he draws a pistol out of his kimono.) I brought it from the foreigner's quarters in Yokohama. This should do the trick!

Kenshin: I also do not understand.

Zanza: Huh?

Kenshin: I've seen that you hate bullying the weak. Why then make your living ignobly as a street fighter? Why do you wear the character for evil on your back? Your nature seems upright, yet now you are terribly warped. What could have done this to you?

Zanza (echoing him): What could... (then he smiles) Stop. That'd make a sad story before a fight. If you really want to know, fight me and beat me! Let me just say this. I hate the Ishin Shishi--you're all hypocrites. You did whatever you wanted all in the name of justice. Those who disagreed with you were destroyed, even if you had to distort the truth to do it. All those pretty words about equality of the four classes were just one big lie. So I want to destroy you, the legendary Hitokiri, the strongest of the Ishin Shishi, with all my heart!