Chapter 153: Human Justice

(Kenshin and the others are walking home. A man on a ladder is ringing a bell.)

Kaoru: The fire bell ... It must have something to do with that sound.

Tae: Kenshin, you said it was an Armstrong cannon? Shouldn't you...

Tsubame: I ... I think so too.

Kenshin: I may just be imagining things. We can check it out tomorrow. It's getting late.

Kaoru: You're right. It won't do any good to worry about it now.

Sanosuke and Yahiko: All right! Then we can go back to the Akabeko for another round.

Kaoru: You still want to drink? (I've had about of these guys.)

Police: Out of the way, out of the way!

(A company of police officers charge through the streets.)

Kaoru: The police.

Chief: Mr. Himura!

Sanosuke: Hey, long time no see, mustache-glasses.

(Kaoru elbows him.)

Kenshin: Chief, what is it?

Chief: Didn't you hear it? That was a cannon shot! Someone fired on the city from Mt. Ueno! A restaurant called the Akabeko took a direct hit! We're mobilizing the entire force to surround the mountain. There could be more shots, so be careful!

(He runs on.)

Kenshin: I'm going to Mt. Ueno! Everyone head back to the Akabeko!

Sanosuke: Wait, I'm coming too!

Yahiko: Me too!

Kaoru: Yahiko, you stay here! Hey, Yahiko!

(But they're gone.)

Tae: Kaoru.

Kaoru: Too late. We'd better hurry back to the Akabeko.

(The restaurant is completely destroyed, a heap of broken boards.)

Tsubame: This is terrible ... How could anyone...

Kaoru: Tae.

Tae: My God...

Tae's Father: Tae!

Tae: Dad!

Tae's Father: Thank God you're safe. Come here.

Tae: What happened?

Tae's Father: I don't know. Luckily no one was hurt, and nothing caught on fire.

Police Officer: Is this your daughter? I'll ask to be sure. Do you know of anyone that would want to hurt you or your store?

Tae: I don't know ... I don't remember anything that would offend anybody.

Officer: I thought so. The Akabeko customers are merchants too. It was a popular place. No one would bear you any ill-will.

(Yahiko is running, but sweating hard and losing ground.)

Yahiko (thinking): They're too fast ... Kenshin--well at least Sanosuke was drinking a lot too--

(He stops suddenly and is sick into a canal. Kenshin and Sanosuke disappear into the distance.)

(At Mt. Ueno. Police scour the peak around a giant fallen tree.)

Sanosuke: The sacred tree's been knocked over, but you can't see where they put the cannon pedestal.

Kenshin: No, look here. This deep footprint ... Probably he was carrying the gun when it was fired, and set it against the tree to take the recoil.

Sanosuke: You think it was that whale-mouth? He's bigger than Anji, but he's only got one arm. And even if that is how he fired it, there's no way he could accurately target the Akabeko from this distance.

Kenshin: Still, it can't be just a coincidence that this man appeared at the Akabeko the same night it was destroyed.

Chief: Mr. Himura! The culprit left a note!

(The note contains only two characters, the word "jinchuu.")

Kenshin: Jinchuu...

Chief: I don't know what it means.

Sanosuke: Didn't they mean to write tenchuu?

Kenshin: No ... Tenchuu means "the judgment of Heaven." It was a word frequently used among the Ishin Shishi. It expressed out intention of meting out the justice of Heaven with our own hands.

Chief: So, by Jinchuu, he means--

Kenshin: "Even if Heaven spares you, we will bring you to judgment." An expression of a totally opposite kind of justice...

Chief: There are still a lot of samurai with grievances against the new government ... Well, this isn't getting us anywhere. I'll see you later.

(He leaves.)

Sanosuke: ... So it was him.

Kenshin: No ... He wasn't working alone. A single individual couldn't get his hands on an Armstrong cannon. I don't have any proof of this. But they are avengers come to bring justice by their own hands to I, who have killed many but received no punishment from Heaven.

Sanosuke: Kenshin...

Kenshin: It's all right. (thinking) I am prepared to accept my past and my sins.

(In a mansion in Yokohama.)

Enishi: So you rented a summer house. I had thought we'd be in a hotel.

Gein: Something wrong?

Enishi: No, this is excellent. I've come to like Yokohama. Much better than being in the same city as Battousai...

Kujiranami: Wherever we are, why don't you tell me your name.

Enishi: No need to rush. We'll make our introductions when we're all here. Ah, there they are. The fourth and fifth of our comrades...