Chapter 109: Fists of Conviction

(Sanosuke attacks again and again, with little effect.)

Saitou: If they're not using the Futae no Kiwami, it'll be a long fight. But he hasn't got a prayer against that wall of muscle. The deciding factor is going to have to be the Futae no Kiwami. Look how Anji is focused on his right hand.

Kenshin: Sano knows that. He hasn't used his right hand at all.

Yumi: Enough already! How long are you going to waste time with that boy! I'm sorry about what I said before, okay? Just hurry up and finish him!

(Sanosuke is sweating and breathing hard; Anji looks untouched.)

Anji: It may be unsportsmanlike, but it's time we settled this. It's too bad I must kill a man who could master in a week what took me a full month. At least you can taste for yourself my salvation of the world as you die!

Saitou: This is it. If you're going to stop them, it has to be now.

Kenshin: You seem pretty worried about Sano.

Saitou: Don't be ridiculous. What I'm worried about is the effect his death is going to have on your morale.

Kenshin: It's all right. Sano won't lose.

Sanosuke: Let's do it!!

(They charge)

Yumi: I knew it! When it comes to fists, Brother Anji is definitely the best!

Anji: From the nether world assure yourself of the world's salvation!

(He punches Sanosuke full in the chest.)

Yumi: He got him.

Anji (raising a hand in prayer): Namu Amida Buddha.

Sanosuke: Hang on there. It's a little too soon to start praying for the dead.

(He has blocked, like Anji, by punching himself at the exact same instant.)

Anji (thinking): It couldn't be--the Kiwami Hazushi?

(Sanosuke smashes him in the face.)

Sanosuke: That's the fight!

(Anji is sprawled out on the floor; Kenshin, Saitou and Yumi come down from the balcony.)

Saitou: A win's a win, but that was a one in a million fluke.

Sanosuke: I don't know about that. It was definitely one in a million returning Anji's right cross Futae no Kiwami. But I didn't just make up the block out of desperation or anything. I knew I could do it with the fists that I bet my life on learning the Futae no Kiwami. It might have been one in a million, but it was no fluke.

Yumi: I can't believe it ... Brother Anji...

Sanosuke: Don't worry. Anji's not dead. He just took the shock of the Futae no Kiwami. He should be out for a day or so...

(But even as he says it, Anji's fingers curl into a fist, and he gets to his feet.)

Sanosuke (thinking): That's crazy ... he took the Futae no Kiwami full on...

(Anji spits blood, then parts his shirt to reveal the tablet, now cracked.)

Sanosuke: A mortuary tablet... ?

Kenshin: That's enough, Anji. The fight's over. To tell the truth, in strength alone you have the upper hand. But now Sano's strength isn't in fists alone. For the sake of those he wants to protect, he's holding on to the belief that he can't lose. That strength surpasses yours and your desire to save the world. Anji ... You saved Miss Misao's life. I can't believe you're bad at heart. What would harden you into the Bright King--and whose remains would you conceal in your breast even on the battlefield... ?

Anji: ... These are the spirits of those pure at heart that I could not save. It began ten years ago, on the night of the Haibutsu Kaishaku...