Here goes Miko and Kristin's approximate Jump summary/translation. ^_- Bracketed text are 'thought' text... ^_^;

Rurouni Kenshin Act 215: The Passage of Three Days

Title Page: Rurouni Kenshin - Meiji Kenkaku Romantan -
Act 215: The Passage of Three Days

Kenshin stands facing away, sword in hand, his head tilted to glance back over his shoulder. A stark shadow falls behind him.

Vertical Side Text: The past to which one cannot return is as a shadow. Beyond one's grasp even as one tries to walk towards it, inescapable even as one tries to escape...

Horizontal Side Text: Soon to be on sale on Nov. 4th! The newest individual volume number 23, 'The Consciousness of Crime and Punishment'

Small boats line the banks of a river. Superimposed on the images of riverside scenes are Yahiko and Misao, still charging forward, breathing hard.

Side Text: Run! Young ones!!

Quotation: 'Following that line of reason, the result is that there is a place by the mouth of the Arakawa River that I suspect would be the base.'

Yahiko and Misao: Search for Yukishiro Enishi's base! Even if Kaoru isn't there, there should be some clues to be found! DEFINITELY!!-----

The pair suddenly collapse against one another, drenched in sweat.

Yahiko and Misao: *PANTING* to the nth power ^_^;

Misao:*SD angry* ARAKAWA is too big an area!

Yahiko: *also SD* Shut up! It feels even bigger when you say that.

Misao: The late summer heat is too hot!

Yahiko: I told you to shut up! It feels even hotter when you say that.

The sunshine pounds down upon them. Misao grimaces.

Misao: Even so, we've investigated all of this side of the shore. What's left is the other half on the other side! Though I don't think that if you asked 'Is this the secret base?' that they would answer 'Yes'---

Yahiko: Shut up about that too.

Misao: *hands on her hips* Well, I suppose it will do if we surprise them with the question and observe their reactions, then probe them to see if they seem suspicious.

Yahiko: [small words] Didn't I say so? Let's stop for the day. If we don't go home soon, it will be sunset by the time we get back.

Misao: *pouting cutely* It's a pain too that the doujou is so far away---

Yahiko: You've been doing nothing but grumbling since just now.

Misao: *flailing her arms in frustration* But-- but Aoshi-sama doesn't seem to care at all! And he's never around during the night! [small words] We keep missing each other!

Yahiko: So that's what it's all about. *turning and walking off* You're not a kid anymore, so put up with it till we find Kaoru!

Misao: Whaaaat---!!

Meanwhile, back on Enishi's island, the cove is empty. Kaoru (still in her bathrobe) has taken over the kitchen. She stands at the counter slicing a large radish with a knife.

Kaoru: (... In the end the communications ship left, and I failed to escape... It will be another four days before it comes again... Until then, it will just be myself and Yukishiro Enishi here... ...There can be nothing more awkward than this. ) *chopping furiously* (Ah-- I can't believe it! Why do I, being a hostage, have to cook for myself! Though it is certainly better than having nothing to eat at all! If they have money from arms sales, then they should at the very least employ a maid! *small words* And it's popular now.)

She pauses, her eyes widening.

Kaoru: (... Come to think of it...)

A short time later, Kaoru sets a tray of food down on the table on Enishi's balcony. Enishi turns to her with a slightly puzzled frown.

Enishi: ... What's with all this?

Kaoru: *closing her eyes* Nothing. Just that it takes the same amount of trouble to make food for one as it does to make food for two. You haven't eaten anything decent since you got here, right? I know because there's no evidence of anyone having used the kitchen except for myself. *pointing one finger sternly* All right, now eat it properly.

She turns to leave.

Kaoru: And clean up the dishes after you're done, all right? *as she walks away* (I've thought about it for three days since it happened. The weakness that this person had shown --- if I attacked that wound in his heart fully, perhaps it would be easier than I had thought to make him lead me to escape. But.... It would be the same dirty trick that Yukishiro Enishi played on Kenshin when he set up 'Jinchuu'. After all... I don't like that sort of thing... *frowning, with a sigh* ...... I'm just too soft...)

Enishi gazes at her departing figure. A memory of his sister comes to him, from the day he visited her and Kenshin at their home in the countryside...

Tomoe: You must be hungry. Wait a little while. I'm just making dinner now...

His eyes seem to soften; he lifts the bowl of miso soup to his lips and takes a sip.

Enishi: ......... This tastes terrible...

Back at Kamiya Doujou, Yahiko and Misao have just arrived to find the little old man from Rakuninmura awaiting them.

Yahiko: *startled* Huh, it's Oibore! (Old Fool)

Oibore: *waving cheerily* Hey.

Yahiko: What are you doing here?

Oibore: I'm walking around on my weekly begging trip. *holding out his palm* Why don't you give me something?

Misao: I guess there's no way around it. Want to stay for dinner?

Oibore: *bowing with his hands clasped together* Thank you! Thank you!

Yahiko has taken out his shinai and prepares to practice in the yard.

Oibore: *observing* Oh, you lose no time in practicing with the sword.

Yahiko: Yeah. Because if I don't continue with it every day, I won't become strong.

Oibore: Um! 'Cause a warrior must first above all things be strong.

Yahiko pauses, gazing at the old man thoughtfully.

Yahiko: Oibore, can it be that you were originally from... a samurai family?

Oibore's glasses hide his expression.

Oibore: Well... but I was weak. In the upheaval of Bakumatsu, I lost my daughter and son, and now I am as you see me...

Misao: Hmm... Even you carry a lot of burdens... Well then! From today on, you can think of me as your daughter. *posing*

Oibore: *grinning toothlessly* That's not possible! 'Cause my daughter was a hundred times more beautiful than you are.

[In the next instant, Oibore's straw hat has become a pincushion of kunai, while Misao snarls with rage.]

Oibore: *heedless of the daggers sticking out of his hat* Well, it's not unusual for one to lose something in the long span of a life time. It's fine so long as you didn't throw it away... There are times when something you've lost will miraculously be found again, but there are no examples of anyone ever being able to pick up something that they themselves have thrown away. *closing his eyes* I don't know what it is that he has lost, but he has stopped one step short of throwing something away........

Yahiko's eyes widen as he realizes that Oibore means Kenshin.

In Rakuninmura, the usual gang of scruffy riffraff sit around a large steaming hotpot.

Riffraff 1: *eating happily* Fuaa----- Delicious! Delicious!

Riffraff 2: This hotpot which we have once a month is definitely the only thing worth living for.

One of them glances over at Kenshin, who has not moved from his position near the wall.

Riffraff 3: Hey, new guy, how about it?

Riffraff 4: Isn't it about time you joined us?

Kenshin makes no response.

Riffraff 3: It's useless.

Riffraff 4: *looking concerned* That samurai-san hasn't eaten anything since he's arrived. I wonder if he'll be all right if he goes on like this.

A pair of the little birds which habitually trail Oibore flitter through the air.

Riffraff 3: Oh. Hey birdies, Oibore isn't here today.

The birds make a beeline straight for Kenshin and hover above him.

Riffraff 5: *surprised* Hey, that's strange. The birdies are going to someone other than Oibore...

Riffraff 6: They must be mistaking him for a dead body.

Riffraff 7: *laughing* Oh, already taking him for a corpse.

Kuma (Oh my god! a Riffraff with a name!!): Idiots. It's ravens that gather around dead bodies.

Riffraff 6: Kuma-san.

Kuma: *thoughtful* (So after those kids from the outside, now there's the birdies who will never even come close to the rest of us...)

One of the birds alights on the hilt of Kenshin's sakabatou and perches there, looking down (worriedly?) at Kenshin.

Later on, night has fallen at the doujou.

Oibore: *waving goodbye as he totters away with his cane* It was a great meal. I'll stop by again when I feel like it.

Misao: *puffs of steam* Don't you come back! You trash!!

Yahiko: (That guy......... I wonder who he really is...?)

Misao: *wailing* AAH-- AND AOSHI-SAMA ISN'T COMING HOME AGAIN---!!

Yahiko: What, you're complaining again? So in the end, you've spent the entire day complaining.

In the graveyard where Kamiya Kaoru was supposedly buried, sounds of shoveling once again disturb the quiet. A masked figure dressed all in black digs into the earth above the grave.

Gein: *throwing his shovel aside* Ku ku ku. ... Now I can finally relax. After all, something important shouldn't be let out of one's grasp for even a little while -----...

He steps toward the casket he has unearthed and begins to open the lid. The instant he does so, a net flies up and surrounds him.

Gein: *eyes wide with shock* !

A few footsteps away, another figure in black emerges from the darkness. Shinomori Aoshi stares cooly at his captive, kodachi in hand.

Aoshi: As I expected, you've come back for it. Considering the importance of the preservation process for that second puppet, I suspected that it wouldn't take very long for you to return... *sternly* Talk. Where is Kamiya Kaoru?

Aoshi's eyes flash with sudden alarm as a thin filament slices through the air. He dodges quickly, but not fast enough to avoid a tiny slash on his cheek.

Aoshi's net falls uselessly to the ground as Gein's weapon reduces it to shreds.

Gein: *standing up* The Okashira of the Onimtsu Oniwabanshuu, Shinomori Aoshi... (Okashira = leader; Onmitsu = secret agents) So this is your doing...

Aoshi's eyes narrow as blood trickles down from the slash on his face.

Aoshi: Zankousen ---...
(Zan: cut through; Kou: steel; Sen: line, thread)

Gein: *enraged* WHERE THE HELL DID YOU HIDE MY BEAUTIFUL MASTERPIECE!!

Side Text: Collision!

*End Act*