Two weeks after the death
of his beloved, Kenshin sits alone in his farm house wondering
why Tomoe did such a thing. A faint wind blows, opening
and rustling the pages of Tomoe's diary. Kenshin looks
up and heads over to the book. He cannot help but read
what Tomoe had written down. Kenshin's eyes follow the
words on the page. Those words written by Tomoe speak
of the death of her fiancé, Kiyosato Akira. The
name is familiar to Kenshin. Suddenly, the image of the
man named Kiyosato flashes in his mind. At long last,
Kenshin realizes that he was the one who stole Tomoe's
happiness. Katsura makes his way in without forewarning.
He tells his hitokiri that it was just two pieces of bad
luck that Kiyosato had to die by his sword and Tomoe fell
in love with him.
Katsura sits with Kenshin
to talk about the latest events. Iizuka, the traitor,
has already been assassinated by Battousai's replacement,
Shishio Makoto, but the main subject is about Kenshin's
repositioning. Katsura asks the boy if he could come out
of the shadows and join the other patriots in Kyoto. Their
conversation is interrupted before Kenshin can give an
answer. The children Kenshin always plays with await his
company at the doorstep. Kenshin leaves Katsura to join
them, but first, gives his answer. He agrees to help in
Kyoto because if the new era doesn't dawn the men he killed
would be nothing but wasted lives. Yet, when the new era
becomes a reality, Kenshin swears that he will never kill
again.
After playing with the
children for one last time, Kenshin heads to Kyoto, where
he confronts a Shinsen Gumi squad in a narrow street chasing
fellow patriots during the evening. The Shinsen Gumi members
are well aware of who Battousai is, given the description
of his red hair and cross scar. The captain of the troops,
Saitou Hajime, steps forward and positions his sword in
the Gatotsu stance. Battou Jutsu versus Gatotsu, however
the fight went, the outcome was a draw.
