As Tsubame finishes up
weeding a grove not too far from town, Kenshin enters
the area and surprises her by giving off a powerful ki
that bends all of the bamboo trees surrounding him. Kenshin's
ki is so powerful that it even knocks Tsubame off of her
feet. Kenshin didn't mean to do anything on purpose though.
It was a coincidence that the two were in the same place
at the same time. Tsubame had been weeding the grove so
the soy beans would have a good harvest, and Kenshin was
just exercising his ki. Kenshin asks that Tsubame keep
his exercising a secret, however, as he wouldn't like
the others to know about it because it would sound like
he's still a rurouni even though he said "I'm home.".
Tsubame seems a bit confused, but promises to keep Kenshin's
secret.
A half hour before five
o'clock, Kaoru, Yahiko, Sanosuke, Tae, and Tsubame are
all gathered in the Akabeko, awaiting the arrival of Kenshin.
At the Akabeko, a party is planned to celebrate the safe
return of everyone from Kyoto, and afterwards, they will
all go to Asakusa. The only problem is that Kenshin is
running a bit "late", even though the party
doesn't start for another half hour. Kaoru begins to complain,
but Tae gets herself involved, demanding that Kaoru always
know where Kenshin is if they're going to be a couple.
Their little argument is cut short when a large man missing
his right hand and dragging a bag behind him enters, asking
for the cheapest meal. Quickly, Tae serves him a medium-priced
meal but charges him the price for the cheapest meal as
a treat because she thinks that the man must have been
a soldier of some sort.
Kenshin arrives a few minutes
before five o'clock, only to pass by the large one-armed
man as he is leaving the Akabeko. A strange feeling overcomes
Kenshin. Finally, Kenshin remembers that when he was the
Battousai, he was the one who had cut off the man's right
hand. Elsewhere, at Mount Ueno, the one-armed man encounters
the silver-haired figure.
