Kaoru had found a
Chinese ink painting done by her grandfather, a
master at the form of art work. Thus, Kenshin, Yahiko,
and herself won't have to be pinching every penny
for a while when the painting is sold. To celebrate,
the trio heads into town to eat sukiyaki at the
Akabeko. There, they are greeted by Tae, daughter
of the founders of the Akabeko and current owner
of the Tokyo restaurant, and are seated across three
drunks babbling on about democracy. Everything is
fine, even with the drunks' loud talk, until Kenshin
is hit in the back of the head by a sake bottle.
Kaoru tends to Kenshin while Yahiko quickly accuses
the three drunks, demanding they apologize. The
three men who claim to be freedom fighters argue
with Yahiko. Tae steps in to settle down the situation,
but she is backhanded by one of the drunks. Luckily,
she falls into the arms of a stranger.
A man wearing white
with the character for 'evil' on the back of his
shirt had caught Tae. While he was dining, he listened
to the drunks' talk and finds it disturbing that
they really are the opposite of what they speak
about. The three men ask if the stranger is looking
for a fight. Without hesitation, the stranger accepts
the challenge.
Normally, the stranger
is the one that issues the challenge because he
doesn't want to fight those weaker than him, but
in this case, it's a different scenario. One of
the drunks takes the field against the stranger
in white. The stranger allows the drunk to get in
his best shot on his forehead. The drunk charges,
but reveals a hidden dagger in hand when he strikes.
Even with the hidden weapon, no damage was dealt.
The stranger was never hit. Instead, the drunks
arm was bent backwards. To make things fair, the
stranger hits the drunk with a flick of his finger
right between the eyes. To everyone's surprise,
the drunk is knocked out. One of the other drunks
watching on prepares to draw his sword, but Kenshin
appears behind him and gives words of warning that
if he does so, Kenshin will be forced to do something
about it.
The three drunks
pay their bill and leave. The stranger approaches
Kenshin and asks if he's feeling better after shielding
Kaoru by taking the hit from the sake bottle. Kenshin
believes the stranger thinks too highly of him.
Immediately, the stranger issues a challenge to
the rurouni. Kenshin declines, but the stranger
tells him to come to the row house at the edge of
town if he ever wants to fight, then departs. Only
then does Tae remember that the guy forgot to pay
his bill.
Later that night,
at his home, Zanza the gangster, the stranger from
earlier on in the day, is paid a visit during his
dinner by the Hiruma Brothers, Gohei and Kihei.
The brothers seek the services of Zanza, in hopes
of him being the one able to defeat Kenshin. Zanza
doesn't look too interested in the proposal, but
when Kihei tells him that Kenshin is actually the
legendary Hitokiri Battousai, Zanza picks up his
weapon and begins psyching up for the battle.
