Himura_battousai
Copyright© 2011 by Murasame
Chapter 165: Remembrances 3--A Man and a Woman in a Rain of Blood
Battousai (thinking): I started drinking about half a year ago. About the time I got the scar on my cheek ... I never liked the taste, but lately all I can taste is blood ... My master taught me the sword, but I learned to drink on my own.
(Behind him, Tomoe downs her cup in one gulp. The bar looks on with admiration. Two roughnecks elbow each other.)
Roughneck 1: Hey?
Roughneck 2: Yeah.
(They walk over and slam a bottle down on her table.)
Roughneck 2: Hey, woman!
Roughneck 1: Have a drink with us!
Roughneck 2: We're Aizu patriots! We risk our lives day and night for the common people! Drinking with us is the least you could do to thank us.
Someone: Aizu's on the Bakufu side, stupid.
Roughnecks: What was that!!
(The whole bar looks away.)
Roughneck 2: That's what I thought. Stay out of this.
Roughneck 1: That was a close one.
Battousai (behind him): It certainly was. If you had drawn that sword, you would have been fighting me.
Roughneck 2: What--!
(He reaches for his sword, but Battousai stops him.)
Battousai: Let me give you some advice. The violence is only going to get worse. Kyoto is no place for false patriots. If you value your lives, you should run back to the country.
Patrons: Yeah! Go home, frauds!
(The roughnecks storm out. Battousai tosses a few coins on the table and leaves as well.)
Battousai: Sorry for the fuss.
Proprietor: Ah--thank you.
Patrons: He's good, that kid. Yeah, he's a real patriot.
(Tomoe watches him go.)
Battousai (walking down the darkened streets.): The taste of blood is getting stronger. Guys like that wouldn't have gotten to me before. (He looks up at the stars.) Master...
Hiko: In spring, cherry blossoms by night. In summer, the stars. In autumn, the full moon. In winter, the snow. These are always enough to make sake delicious. If it tastes bad, that's proof that there's something sick inside you. Battousai (thinking): Sick ... maybe that's true. But saving people from the suffering of the ages is the foundation of the Hiten Mitsurugi school. And all the more now ... When we fought a year ago, why did he try to keep me from leaving...
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