Rurouni Kenshin - Tsuioku Hen
Act 4: The Cross-Shaped Wound
I found the spy.
It's Tomoe.
Her comrades are in a cottage on a nearby mountain.
Tomoe will probably be there.
Kill her!
Sis!
I better not waste any time.
I'll get out of here...
And find the next ship out of Japan...
Goodbye, Himura.
How long will we be able to stay here?
Why did you involve Enishi in this matter?
The boy was doggedly asking about his sister in Kyoto...
And an elder from the Shogunate sent him to me...
In other words...
It was very much the same as when you were recruited.
Where are the others?
They're hiding along the road, waiting for him to arrive.
Why didn't you wait to hear from me?
Wait for you?
About Hitokiri Battousai's weakness?
We know it already.
Then...
For what reason have I...
That's right.
Even the cruelest murderer is easy prey for unexpected emotions.
Right know, his weakest point...
...is you.
He is coming here, of course, to see you.
But he has found out that the woman he loves has betrayed him...
And his mind is in disarray...
This will prevent him from using his full abilities.
That was our real goal, you know?
You planned this all along...
You tricked me...
So, what will you do about it?
You've fallen in love with him, haven't you?
Woman is such a pathetic creature.
I understand what has happened, of course.
Human emotion is an unreliable, shifting foundation.
The separation between love and hate is no thicker than a whisper.
That's the nature of a human.
A malignant assassin can appear as innocent as a newborn baby...
...in the eyes of the woman who loves him.
From the beginning, you...
Don't be a fool.
It requires strength and clarity of thought to bite through your own tongue.
Besides...
Nothing will change if you commit suicide at this point.
Kill yourself, if you wish.
Perhaps you want to escape the memory of the origin of your involvement with us.
Why did Kiyosato die?
What was Kiyosato to you?
Wasn't he the dearest being in the world to you?
I know that you were the one he loved most of all in this world.
If that were not true...
He, with no confidence in his skills, would never have gone to Kyoto which was in a state of commotion.
Even by risking his life...
He wanted to make you happy.
He should have stayed with me.
If only he had stayed with me, I would have been...
It is man's nature to strive to please...
His lover, his community, and the all-powerful Shogunate...
Until he is certain of this achievement, he can never know true peace.
That is why we must eliminate any threat to the Shogunate...
Regardless of the severity of that menace...
It is this attention to detail that has kept the peace for three hundred years.
We are the keepers of this society...
And we are in harmony with our human nature...
We put our lives at risk to protect the happiness of the system.
Can you understand that?
Every man is full of sin.
We live and die in sin.
It is our fate.
We will kill him to preserve the Tokugawa Shogunate...
...and the society as a whole.
Your feelings for him are sinful.
However, everyone is prone to make mistakes...
But you must remember Kiyosato...
Remember your first love.
Tomo...
Tomoe...
Tomo...
Even after all this time, it seems that even more sacrifices are necessary.
But that was also expected.
I'll be the one to finally bring down that man.
That way, Kiyosato's death...
...as well as many other Shogunate followers' deaths won't go to waste.
That's the only way.
And you should be the one to witness it all with your own eyes.
It would be the least you could do for Kiyosato who died trying to bring you happiness.
Kiyosato-sama...
Madam...
Please prepare a room for her.
You Choshu soldiers are so restless.
You kill all night, and now you've found yourself a woman.
It's nothing.
It's not like she's my woman.
No one else thinks that.
She's just a woman you rescued once, right?
Katsura-san!
You're safe!
I wish I were dead.
I've lost everything.
Should we go to Otsu?
To Otsu...
Should we go to Otsu?!
Look at yourself.
You've used up your remaining strength just to arrive at this place.
Now, you know that when a man has to fight without anything to protect, the battle is harder.
Yet, from the beginning...
You had nothing to protect, unlike us!
By the order of the Shogunate, and as the chief of field operations, I will settle this right now...
...and take revenge for my fallen comrades.
This is the only thing I can do...
I, who could not protect my men from you!
I killed many men in order to safeguard the well-being of the weak.
But that caused you to lose your love.
I stole an important life from you.
I did not know I had done it.
I fell in love with you...
I am not fit to protect you.
Even so, I...
...love you...
Yes...
And we sold more medicine than I expected...
It's nothing...
You just look like you're really enjoying the meal...
Without it, the food tastes flat...
I saw red dragonflies this evening...
Tomoe...
I...
...will...
...protect you.
I don't understand...
...what a woman is...
Tomoe!
To...
Tomoe...
I am so sorry, dear.
Sis...
Tomoe...
Now that I've lost you...
I'm starting to understand how much you must have suffered.
You were living with a pain like this.
It must have been hard for you.
You should have hated me.
But you protected me.
You allowed me to live.
But...
Now, you are free from your pain, right?
You won't need to suffer anymore, right?
I will continue to live with this pain...
And search for a path to atone for my sins...
The lives of all the people I could not protect...
I must make reparations for them.
It will be hard...
...but I'll probably be alright.
I've been like that till now.
It's something you taught me.
If I remember the warmer parts of life...
I'll probably...
I...
I know I must say goodbye to you.
But now...
But just for now...
Let's be...
...like this together.
Tomoe...
Prepare to set sail!
Well, then...
I better get going before anyone finds me.
So, now it's time to test my sword skill, huh?
Well...
What a way to start the new year, with my usual rotten luck.
Life is a gamble...
So, I'm willing to make one final bet.
Himura...
I heard about what happened here.
I'm sorry.
Katsura-san?
I got rid of the spy...
And found a skilled assassin...
I guess I used up all of my good luck last year.
He will handle assassinations from now on.
Even so...
We still require your skills.
We are having a hard time surviving.
The Shinsengumi and the Bakufu hunt patriots with renewed determination.
If we cannot fight them off with greater ferocity...
Our cause will be lost.
I understand.
Himura?
Yes, sir?
I worried that your life as an assassin would destroy your inherent humanity.
I asked Tomoe to be a sheath for your ungovernable rage.
A sheath?
Yes.
I believe that she can still serve that purpose for you.
I want to believe that.
Katsura-san?
Right now, all I can do is continue lending my sword to you.
Tomoe also wished for it.
I believe she did that to protect me.
I see.
However...
Once the new era begins...
You will put aside your sword?
I don't know.
But from then on, I'll never kill again.
Never again.
Shinsaku...
The world has turned out just as you said it would.
I was wrong to doubt you.
Hiten Swordsmanship should only be used to protect the new world.
It should never be used to destroy the old regime.
I'm so sorry, Himura.
Tomoe...
Then...
I'm going out.
Get the rebels!
Don't let them escape!
I found them! Over here!
Don't let them escape!
We're gaining on them!
Hurry up!
Leave them alone.
What was that?
Bastard!
If you leave now, I'll spare your lives.
If you don't...
He has red hair...
And a cross-shaped scar on the left cheek...
You are the assassin.
Captain?
Okita-kun...
Stand back!
Saitou-san...
I am very sensitive to the smell of blood, you know.
Besides, you cannot defeat him in your current condition.
Let's go.
Bakumatsu - In Kyoto, there was once an Imperialist known as the Hitokiri Battousai.
He was a man who killed like a demon and cleared the way for the new Meiji era with his bloody sword.
But with the end of the upheaval, he disappeared without a trace.
What's your name, boy?
Shinta...
Much too delicate a name for a swordsman...
From now on, your name will be Kenshin.
Kenshin...
The End: Rurouni Kenshin - Tsuioku Hen