Kaoru, Sanosuke,
Megumi, and Tsubame all wait for the return of
Kenshin at the Kamiya Dojo. Not only did Sanosuke
drag Megumi along with him after he was forced
to see her due to the extreme damage of his right
hand, but also brought along the Iwanbou model
Gein left behind at the Maekawa Dojo. When the
rurouni arrives home, he looks tired and worn
out. There are barely any words exchanged between
himself and everyone that was awaiting his arrival.
Kenshin bypasses them and heads off to sleep after
a long night.
A nightmare attacks
Kenshin in his slumber. Hell is his location.
Kenshin finds himself in a field of bones, the
most fitting place for one who has taken away
the lives of many. Kenshin begins to contemplate
if Hell is truly his destination, but a figure
that looks like Kaoru is up ahead of him. When
Kenshin approaches the figure, it turns around.
It is not Kaoru, but Tomoe, who stares coldly
at Kenshin with a expressionless look on her face.
In a cold sweat,
Kenshin awakes. All of the activity is going on
in the dojo, so he decides to escape to reality.
Kenshin enters the dojo and finds Kaoru training
Yahiko and Sanosuke getting his hand checked out
by Megumi. Kaoru pauses her training with Yahiko,
putting Tsubame in as her replacement, to talk
to Kenshin. Kenshin questions her what's going
on, and she answers that she's training Yahiko
for the Kamiya Kasshin Ryuu succession technique.
Kaoru explains Yahiko's actions from the previous
night. Kenshin understands and is just contempt
that Yahiko isn't going to make the same mistakes
he did. Still a bit exhausted, Kenshin slouches
onto a wall. Kaoru overlooks Kenshin's face and
notices the bruise from Enishi's pistol. She tells
Kenshin to have it checked out by Megumi, but
instead, Kenshin reaches out for Kaoru's wrist.
Yahiko's sweat, Sanosuke's wounds, and Kaoru's
warmth - they are all real. At last, Kenshin announces
that he has something to tell everyone.
Outside, on the
porch, everyone gathers around Kenshin. He informs
them about the fight that will take place in ten
days at the Kamiya Dojo and mentions the leader's
name, Yukishiro Enishi, his brother-in-law. Everyone
seems shocked when they hear that their enemy
is a relative of Kenshin, so the rurouni prepares
them all for a tale - a tale of how the battle
began and the background of the cross-shape scar.
