Gein and his creation their
landing, causing the ground to quake. Everyone is caught
off guard by the sudden trembling of the ground. Sanosuke
and Inui continue their battle, nonetheless. Kenshin and
Otowa resume their standstill, but Kenshin puts his guard
down when he looks back and glances at Yahiko momentarily.
Suddenly, the rurouni draws his sword and slashes at Otowa
without forewarning. Otowa just barely manages to dodge
the Sakabatou. Kenshin had not intended to start a fight
with Otowa anyway. Instead, he heads off to meet with Gein,
thus putting Yahiko in the battle.
Otowa seems a bit displeased
with fighting a child, so he plans on finishing Yahiko quickly.
He positions his pocket-sized crossbow, but the band containing
it falls off of his wrist. The slice from Kenshin was meant
to do just that. Otowa begins to panic, but is then hit
across the face with Yahiko's shinai.
The three-front battle has
been set: Kenshin vs. Gein, Sanosuke vs. Inui, and Yahiko
vs. Otowa.
