Legend of The Wishing Fireflies.
The Girl Who Waits For Her Sword Master.

One soon-to-be hungry Sanosuke Finally, back home from Kyoto, everything seems to be just the same, as if nothing had happened at all. Kenshin is cleaning, Yahiko is training, and Sano is lounging around. Kaoru admires everything until Yahiko and Sano get into an argument. To quiet them down, she gives each of them chores. Sano is now forced to repair the hole in the wall Saitou busted him through and Yahiko is forced to wipe the floors one hundred times. As for Kenshin, when he is finished doing the laundry, Kaoru gives him a fishing rod and asks him to catch dinner for tonight. Both Sano and Yahiko expect Kenshin to catch a ton of fish for tonight after their hard work. They even demand that he bring home a whale or two.

A normal fisherman or not? By the riverside, Kenshin casts his rod. Kenshin isn't having too much luck catching any fish. Nearby, Ayame and Suzume, who accompanied Kenshin, spot their friend, the fisherman, on the bridge. However, also by the fisherman is what looks to be trouble. Four men circle around a young, rich boy after the boy had accidentally bumped into them. The men demand the boy's money, everything he has on him, but the fisherman stands up and walks past the scene. As he passes by, the men are left in shock. One man's knife was knocked away, another had his bokken cut in half, and the other was dropped to the ground. Immediately, the four run away in fear. The rich boy's father comes along, only to see the four thugs running away. The only one nearby is the fisherman, whom the father beats up, believing he was one of the bullies. As the father and son leave, Ayame and Suzume run up to their friend to check if he's all right. Of course, the fisherman is. As a promise from a while back, he gives Ayame and Suzume origami cranes. Kenshin trails not too far behind the girls. The fisherman had noticed the rurouni and his bad luck, so he takes Kenshin to a better site.

Kinu prays to the wishing fireflies with much hope. As Kenshin and the fisherman settle down, Ayame and Suzume frolic not too far away. The fisherman asks Kenshin out of the blue when he stopped being a Hitokiri. Somehow, the fisherman was able to sense Kenshin's warrior spirit. He feels as though their meeting was destined, Kenshin and the fisherman. The fisherman begins to tell a story of the wishing fireflies, the ones Kenshin had seen before his departure to Kyoto. A while back, there was a boy named Ryunosuke who sought to be the strongest. He had always believed that he would be more skilled with a sword, rather than a shinai. One of Ryunosuke's friends had a sister that admired him. Her name was Kinu. Kinu had been praying for nearly two months to the wishing fireflies. It was rumored that if you had prayed to them for an entire year, your wish would come true. What Kinu was wishing for was for Ryunosuke to notice her and her feelings.

Ryunosuke's First Murder One night, during a storm, a bandit had comitted a robbery. Ryunosuke was not too far from the scene of the crime. He actually saw the bandit kill those after him. What amazed Ryunosuke was the technique the bandit had used. Ryunosuke believed it was the ultimate killing technique. That night, however, Ryunosuke had killed for the first time. He had no choice. Other bandits would have killed him if he didn't fight back. Thus, for twenty-one years, Ryunosuke became a wanderer. He killed without a reason. All Ryunosuke wanted to do was to develop and learn the same technique that of the bandit had. One day, his journey came to an end.

Ryunosuke faces off with the man who inspiried him. Ryunosuke had encountered the bandit from the night of the storm. Without knowing it, Ryunosuke had drawn his blade. The bandit did the same, but it was he who was killed. Ryunosuke had not known it, but he had already developed the technique he had sought out to learn. However, Ryunosuke also learned that there was no such thing as an ultimate technique. Feelings inside of him exploded. Ryunosuke had known he did wrong. After putting himself together, Ryunosuke had returned to the beginning. Under a tree where Kinu had always prayed to the wishing fireflies was Ryunosuke's aged friend. Although Ryunosuke's friend had not recognized him, he told Ryunosuke that today was his sister's memorial day. Kinu had died, wishing for Ryunosuke's return for twenty-one years.

Kenshin's jpgt That ends the fisherman's story. It's sunset by time he's finished. The fisherman gets up and walks away, but he is asked by Kenshin if Ryunosuke ever regretted his life. The fisherman replies by saying that even if Ryunosuke did, nothing would have changed. Once a man meets a special woman, they are never far apart. With those words, the fisherman walks away. Later, Kenshin returns home empty-handed with the girls. Kaoru, who greets Kenshin, tells him that Doctor Genzai had brought dinner, so there was no need to worry. Kenshin looks to have something on his mind, which Kaoru notices. Kaoru asks Kenshin, but he doesn't admit anything. Kenshin leaves the flower he bought for Karou on the porch and joins everyone for dinner.