Chapter 176: Remembrances 13--The Cross Scar

Tatsumi: Take this! Muteki-ryuu Taijutsu Goufubaku!

(He smashes Kenshin across the chest with his upper arm. A vertebrae cracks in Kenshin's spine, and he hits the ground.)

Tatsumi: Your entire body wounded and tired out. Your intuition, hearing and sight useless. And my Muteki-ryuu! Your chance of beating me is nil--

(Kenshin slices him across the chest.)

Kenshin: Even if my body and my senses won't work, if I concentrate all my strength on the point of contact in an attack, that's all I need.

Tatsumi: Hm ... you mean I can't let you get too close. After the Goufubaku, one more attack will be your instant death. That's fine. That'll do until we switch our different fighting styles.

(Inside the shack, Tomoe is regaining consciousness.)

Tomoe (thinking): Where am I... (aloud) What was I...

(She finds her dagger and picks it up.)

Tomoe: What was I doing?

(She hears Tatsumi and Kenshin outside.)

Tomoe: Someone's fighting... ?

(She looks outside, and sees Kyosato. She rubs her eyes; he is replaced by Kenshin.)

Tomoe (thinking): That's ... I see now. I couldn't stop him from dying. So I risked everything to bring about this man's death. But that's when ... that's when I fell in love with him. I don't want to cause any more death. So...

(She smiles.)

(Tatsumi and Kenshin fight, Kenshin swinging desperately, trying to land a blow. Tatsumi kicks him, and Kenshin stabs in that direction, but Tatsumi leaps clear.)

Tatsumi: How was that? Target determined by hands and footwork. Approach and break repeated. Never extending yourself too far. You can't kill with a single blow, but little by little you wear out your opponent's strength. You can't compete in your current state. Also, the combined effects of your great loss of blood and the extreme cold mean you've lost your bodily senses. With the loss of your sense of touch, the fourth barrier is complete. Do you think me cowardly? It doesn't matter. This is the greatest weapon of an old soldier. Even a young prodigy can be outwitted ... That's what I came to accept after years in the field. Call me an old fox. You can't win. But that's not to say you haven't fought well. Death ever inching closer? Or an instant kill? You should at least get to decide.

Kenshin: So I can't win ... You're right about that... (thinking) But if I could kill him at the same time... !

Tatsumi: A quick death, then.

Kenshin (thinking): If I can't rely on my senses, I'll sacrifice myself, and risk it all on the last blow ... I'm sorry, Tomoe. Live on in the new era, and be happy...

(He charges, and Tatsumi rushes to meet him. Kenshin raises his sword.)

Kenshin (thinking): That's...

(Tomoe has leapt between them, dagger raised. Kenshin's blow kills both her and Tatsumi.)

Kenshin (thinking): That scent ... white ... plum.

(As she falls back, her dagger scratches his cheek, making a vertical line to cross the horizontal scar.)

(Enishi, just coming out of the trees, sees everything.)

(Kenshin cradles Tomoe, tears in his eyes.)

Kenshin: Tomoe ... why ... Why?

(Tomoe reaches up and brushes a tear from his cheek. She smiles.)

It's all right ... So please don't cry. (Her eyes close.)

Kenshin: To ... mo ... e ... Tomoe!