"Kotoba dake ja tsutawaranai mono o The things you can't get across with just words" "Ichiban tsutaetai no wa naze?" "Why do you want to get those things across the most?" "Kutsuzoko o suriherashite Wearing down the soles of your shoes" "Hadashi demo tomarenai no wa naze?" "Why can't you stop, even when you're down to your bare feet?" "Kaban no naka ni hoshizora The starry sky is in your bag" "Arashi no yoru mo soko ni aru The stormy nights are in there too" "Soro-soro tabi ni dero It's about time you go on a journey" "Robou ni saku hana yo hana yo The flowers, the flowers that bloom by the wayside" "Goro-goro doro-darake Rolling around, covered in mud" "Mune o kogasu yoake yoake The dawn, the dawn that consumes your heart" "Soro-soro hashiri-dase It's about time you start running" "Kowareru made asobe asobe Play, play until you break down" "Odorou yo doro-darake Let's dance, covered in mud" "Mune o kogasu yoake yoake The dawn, the dawn that consumes your heart" "Cha pter Twenty Shinobazu Pond Lulla by" "Chapter Twenty Shinobazu Pond Lullaby The rain shows no signs of letting up." "The rain shows no signs of letting up." "You could rest here for a while." "I couldn't possibly." "I will be reprimanded if I enter the estate." "I would appreciate it if I could just get out of the rain over here." "It'll be fine." "Come inside." "As for your round fans, we'll buy all of them." "But..." "You men." "What's this, boy?" "Stop waving that sword around." "Try anything insolent and..." "Draw." "What?" "Boy..." "What is this?" "!" "Amazing!" "What is going on here?" "I told you, it's a Youi." "If you mean yesterday during the day, that would be Toshizo." "Toshizo?" "I have some distant relatives in Tama, you see." "He has to come work as an apprentice in the near future." "So he came to pay his respects, but he turned out to be a terrible hellion." "A hell..." "He means a rascal." "He is the son of a farmer, yet he spoke of becoming a warrior and demanded to be addressed by his family name." "At any rate, that Toshizo should have returned to Tama by now." "Did he trouble you in some way?" "No..." "I'm Tamahei of Yotsuya." "This is from your place, right?" "A kid that ate without paying at an eel place in Nezu had this..." "This is about Toshizo again." "First, that samurai, and now this..." "What is that brat doing, causing trouble all over the place?" "Samurai?" "There was a samurai who came asking about the kid?" "!" "Yes, he was just here." "What?" "!" "Yukiatsu, it is good of you to come back." "Yes..." "A mother is an incredible thing." "Yes..." "She seems young." "Think about it." "Ever since Ryudo ran away, she has not seen him for 25 years, through his growing years to now." "And yet, at first sight..." "Oh..." "The Blue Sky Has Perished" "The Blue Sky Has Perished Is that you, Yukiatsu?" "Is that you, Yukiatsu?" "Do you not remember me?" "From the branch family." "Could it be?" "We often spent time in the garden..." "You shoved me into the pond quite regularly." "I have come today as a representative of the branch families." "Mistress, please retire for today." "Yes." "We shall excuse ourselves as well." "Ryudo, I am happy for you, that your mother remembered you." "My mother has never once called me Yukiatsu." "She should have called me by my boyhood name, Souya." "She seems to be mistaking me for the adopted son." "Ryudo..." "Hozaburo Ogasawara, might I ask you to stay a while?" "You join Edogen and go after the child." "Yes, sir." "Once I've ascertained why the adopted Yukiatsu left, I'll go too." "Take your time and let yourself be spoiled." "Right." "It is as you say." "Toku's understanding of things has grown hazy, perhaps due to age." "Even if it were not for that," "I doubt she would immediately recognize you after twenty-five years." "She seems to think the adopted Yukiatsu has returned." "That does not bother me." "But why did he leave?" "He suddenly left the house." "No one knows the reason." "What of the adopted Yukiatsu's wife?" "Lost to illness about two years ago." "Yukiatsu, why not make your mother's misunderstanding a reality?" "Wait, by that, do you mean..." "It is truly by divine guidance that you have come home." "Why not return to this House as the original Yukiatsu Ryudo?" "I was disowned long ago, after I ran away." "Such things can be worked out, one way or another." "What say you?" "If you mean, as a warrior serving the Barbarian Knowledge Enforcement, you need me to give assurances of his identity..." "Hey, Boss!" "What kind of nonsense is this?" "!" "In reality, I would never have been allowed inside..." "That goes without saying!" "But without a head of household, the Ryudo House will be no more!" "Warrior houses are so idiotic." "All because these shobu flowers have a name that sounds like "shobu" as in "duel", they go and plant so many of them." "I'm surprised you knew where to find me." "You have a face that catches people's eyes." "I asked around and it was easy." "Aren't you a warrior?" "I intend to make a living as an artist." "I can quit being a warrior at any time." "I'll become a warrior!" "Yesterday, I went to Ueno." "One of my relatives has said they'll take me as an apprentice." "Work there for a number of years and become the head clerk, or be given a branch store..." "I've ended up seeing far into my future." "I want to live my life with honor." "Warriors are the ideal models of mankind, aren't they?" "Sacrificing oneself to fight and protect others." "But in today's world, where is there a warrior worthy of respect?" "Well, sorry." "So I'm going to become that warrior." "Does having a sword and being given a family name make you a warrior?" "Is that your notion of what honor is?" "I clearly sense the aura of Youi from him." "This is bad." "He smells the same as Yuki." "What do you mean?" "Well..." "This sword belongs to me..." "To Yukiatsu Ryudo!" "Turning a gun on a child is..." "Leave this to me." "Stop this, Toshizo!" "These people are trying to save you!" "Not bad, right?" "!" "Not many can match up against a spear with a short sword!" "Hey, wait, I'm in the middle of a fight right now." "That's..." "A Youi?" "There he is!" "Boy, you will not get away with your earlier insolence!" "Hold on now, all of you." "This is bad!" "If their swords all turn into Youi..." "Wait!" "You think you can bring down a Youi without me?" "I am an adopted son." "I can never return to my own family." "But as a warrior, is it not proper to carry on your House?" "Yukiatsu..." "Yukiatsu, the tea is ready." "Come, Yukiatsu." "Come quickly." "Or it will get cold." "Yukiatsu, did you injure yourself?" "Well..." "Tripping and bumping into things all over the place..." "I have accumulated nothing but injuries." "But for all that, I have not become any more skilled at walking." "Is that so?" "It was in this room that I became bewitched by the Other World and disappeared." "Though you probably do not remember." "I was chosen by the Other World..." "There was a time when I arrogantly believed that made me different." "But a friend reminded me that I was just another insignificant human being." "Since then, I have traveled continually." "On an aimless journey..." "Please wait a moment!" "The Mistress is currently with a guest..." "Torii..." "My, you are Lord Hayashi's..." "My apologies for not staying in touch, Lady Toku." "Do you not remember?" "Ryudo, your father was a pupil of Jussai Hayashi, my father." "When you were young," "I often visited this house in my father's company." "Since..." "I was a child?" "If their swords all turn into Youi..." "Shall we do them in first?" "We can't do that, either." "Stop already..." "I said stop!" "What I wanted was neither a sword nor a name!" "This thing..." "There's no honor in this thing!" "Damn!" "It absorbed my spears!" "So it can take any weapon?" "I'm Toshizo Hijikata!" "I'm no Yukiatsu Ryudo!" "Go back to your master!" "A Youi?" "!" "That one's been to the Other World with Yukiatsu." "That's where it became a Youi." "So it has appeared..." "Have we allowed it to escape?" "!" "Look over there!" "It is traveling underground?" "!" "It is headed for Ueno." "Let us get ahead of it and stop its progress." "How?" "!" "All of our weapons will be absorbed by it!" "Yukiatsu may be able to do something." "Not him." "What?" "Why not?" "He just can't... right now..." "I don't really understand what you're trying to say." "Let's go, Yukiwa." "Yes." "Hey!" "I told you no!" "The horse flew..." "You were quite the samurai." "I saw something strange just now..." "What?" "I was much older and I was standing on a battlefield..." "Everyone on my side was dead, and I was the only one standing." "And right then..." "Change your mind about becoming a samurai?" "No." "As far as deaths go, it wasn't bad!" "After you ran away," "I introduced a fine boy for adoption from among my mother's relatives." "His original name was Mitsutaka Maehara." "What a strange bond we share." "I will bring back Maehara, without fail." "In other words, you will not permit me to return to this House." "There is something that you must do." "You are the only child who has ever been taken by the Other World and safely returned." "That is proof that you have been chosen." "Don't give me that." "I'm just a vagrant." "You are neither an Ayashi nor a vassal of the Shogun." "Someday, you will save the rule of Tokugawa." "That makes me want to return to this House even more, then." "And forget about the Other World and everything that goes with it." "I doubt you mean that." "Please leave." "Though temporary, I am the head of this household right now." "The Lord of Kai has left." "Please do not worry." "I have decided to remain here." "He has always shown an interest in you..." "Where have you been for twenty-five years?" "The time you lived with me was fifteen years." "You have been away for far longer than that." "Mother..." "Could it be that you know who I am?" "Did you think I would mistake you, Souya?" "But you called me Yukiatsu..." "Having become the grown man that you are, it seemed strange to call you Souya." "So you remembered me..." "Atl..." "Your sword has become a Youi and is headed for Ueno." "That short sword?" "!" "There's another you in Ueno, Yuki." "Oh, my." "Pardon the intrusion, Mistress." "I was on the trail of that brat, who was using your name." "That led me to a warrior, who said he gave a sword and the name Yukiatsu to that brat." "In Ueno." "The adopted Yukiatsu?" "You're the only Yuki I know." "It's a nuisance having so many of you running around." "Mother," "I shall bring the real Yukiatsu to you." "He left of his own will." "If the name Yukiatsu Ryudo was stripped from me, what would be left?" "What if nothing would be left?" "I find that thought terrifying." "Bringing ruin to the House of Ryudo was unthinkable, but was he to live solely for that purpose?" "I had the same thought." "But that sword guards the House of Ryudo..." "It will not condone one who attempts to turn his back on the House." "But that is also what he wished for." "You would tell me to let things lie as they are?" "I am the mother you have neglected for twenty-five years..." "Will you not stay with me a while?" "Mother..." "The fifteen years I spent in this house with you were a joy." "But I, Yukiatsu, have lived twenty-five years beyond that." "I cannot turn my back on those twenty-five years." "Yukiatsu..." "The fact that you remembered me made me happy to the point of tears." "But Mother..." "This is Yukiatsu." "Huh?" "What the..." "Here it comes!" "So we made it in time." "We will finish it off here." "Genbatsu, use all the gunpowder you have." "Yes, sir." "Over there!" "Yes, sir." "Over there!" "Have you come after me?" "!" "To punish me?" "!" "That is..." "Ryudo!" "Then, that is..." "The form of Yukiatsu having become one with Quetzalcoatl!" "Ryudo!" "That Youi is the same as Ryudo's Ayagami!" "He will be cut to pieces at this rate!" "Souya..." "Sou" "That Ayagami is "sou"." "Sou?" "The character means "purifying"." "It originally depicted the image of a woman with patterns drawn all over her body in order to drive away evil." "It has the power to deflect enemy attacks, but why a woman's..." "Souya..." "It is Ryudo's boyhood name." "Yukiatsu's?" "It is the Ayagami his mother gave him, along with his name." "Show me your Ayagami!" "Kanashi" "Yukiatsu has drawn out the Ayagami!" "Perhaps that thing is the very embodiment of a warrior." "Ryudo..." "Are you Mitsutaka Maehara?" "You are?" "There is no longer anything binding you to the Ryudo House." "From now on..." "I do not know who you are, but I am grateful that you have found our family heirloom." "With this, I can return to the House of Ryudo." "You are fine with that?" "I am a warrior." "If my duty is to protect the House," "I am the same as this sword." "I have realized that." "It is my intent to live out my life as Yukiatsu Ryudo." "What happened to that Toshizo or whatever?" "Went home to Tama." "But says he'll become a warrior someday." "I'm rather confused now." "What does it mean to be a warrior?" "It's the same as the Other World." "Some people think they want to become warriors." "Or they think they want to behave in warrior-like ways." "But maybe a true warrior is like an illusion." "High and mighty words." "And just what do you think you are?" "What would you think of a man who can't grant his mother's final wish?" "Worthless." "I think so too." "How strange." "Though people continue to age, summer always comes unchanged." "Mado no soto no sora o mitara Outside my window, looking at the sky" "Kumo ga haato no katachi ni mieta yo The clouds looked like they were in the shape of a heart" "Iki o ookiku suikome ba If you take in a deep breath" "Kokoro ga ookiku natta ki ga suru ne It makes you feel like your heart's grown bigger, doesn't it?" "Ai to wa nanika?" "What is love?" "Nante kono toshi ja wakaru wake nai kedo There's no way I'd know that at my age" "Itsu no hi ka wakaru toki ga kuru no kana I wonder if there'll come a day when I do know" "Mado kara mieru ki no eda mo ha mo Outside my window, I can see tree branches and leaves" "Mainichi mainichi nobite-iru yo And they grow every day, day after day" "Kore kara mo nobite-iku yo ne They'll continue to grow from now on too, won't they?" "Konna toki ni wa konna uta ga niau At times like this, a song like this is just the thing" "Jibun no ima omou kimochi o kuchizusame Sing whatever you're feeling right now" "Aishite-iru to iu suteki ni hibiku kotoba ga The words "I love you" have such a wonderful ring to them" "Mirai ni iru jibun o kitto ima no nanbai mo ookiku Surely they'll make my future self many times greater" "Yasashiku sasete kureru no kamo shirenai Maybe many times kinder than I am today" "Preview" "It seems the Northland Magistrate oversees the various foreign goods being brought in from the northern sea." "And yet another forbidden good has made it across..." "Next Time Cha pter Twenty-One To Perish in the Starlit Night" "Next Time Chapter Twenty-One To Perish in the Starlit Night Chapter Twenty-One." "To Perish in the Starlit Night."