Himura_battousai
Copyright© 2011 by Murasame
Chapter 223: Just Then, A Gust of Wind
(Tsubame, rushing back to town, trips and falls.)
Tsubame (through her tears): Yahiko ... Kenshin...
(The wind picks up, carrying leaves through the air. She looks behind her, and a look of joy spreads across her face.)
(Kuma brings a jug of sake and two cups over to Oibore.)
Kuma: Here. Brought you this. Don't spill it.
Oibore: Ah, thank you, thank you.
(They drink.)
Oibore: That reminds me, Kuma, there's something else I want to thank you for.
Kuma: Yeah?
Oibore: Letting that girl in here. Though I didn't know you had a thing for little girls-- (Kuma splutters.)
Oibore: Am I wrong?
Kuma: Damn right you are! (he settles back) The daughter my wife took with her would be about her age. Guess I felt like being a nice guy for a change.
(A pause.)
Kuma: Anyway, you shouldn't be talking. The perfume. The hairpin. An old man with a taste for women's things isn't something I like to see.
(Oibore takes the hairpin out of his topknot and looks at it for a moment.)
Oibore: Ha ha. Maybe you're right. Thanks for the drink. It's time I got going.
Kuma: Going? Where to?
Oibore: To Kyoto. It's been a while; I miss my daughter.
Kuma: Didn't know you had any family to go back to.
Oibore: No, I'm visiting her grave.
Kuma (surprised): Then that hairpin is your remembrance of her...
(Oibore only smiles.)
Kuma: ... Forget it. When are you coming back?
Oibore: Probably be there a while ... Big cities always have places for outcasts to go, so they'll look after me.
Kuma: Yeah ... Well, you get along with everyone, so wherever you go you'll be fine.
Oibore: Ho ho. Well, I was never much good at anything. That was my only talent.
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