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

Rurouni Kenshin Act 217: The Two Dressed in Black (Part Two)

Title Page: Rurouni Kenshin - Meiji Kenkaku Romantan -
Act 217: The Two Dressed in Black (Part Two)

Aoshi stands staring at Gein, the tattered ribbons of his belt (fondly known as his butt-bow) flaring behind him. Gein grimaces down at him, his eyes full of loathing.

Side Text: Revealing the face of Gein which had been hidden in darkness! The genius secret agent's kodachi are skillful and sharp!!

Aoshi: ...I suppose it should be easier for you to talk now. Where is Kamiya Kaoru?

Gein: Ku!

Monkeylike, he hops onto the branch from which he was dangling. Beneath him, Aoshi slowly approaches the tree.

Gein: *sweating* (That impudent brat... But I can't underestimate him!! Fortunately I got away from him, and from this distance.... So long as we are at least this far apart, he can't come close easily. If I can maintain this distance and use a strategy for attack...)

Aoshi flips the kodachi in his hands so that the blades aim backwards. Gein's eyes widen as he realizes the danger of his position. An instant later, Aoshi grits his teeth, and steel slashes through the massive trunk of the tree, severing it completely.

Aoshi: Oniwabanshuu Shiki Kodachi Nitou Ryuu Ougi KAITEN KENBU ROKUREN!!

[shiki: style; kodachi: short sword; nitou: two blades; ryuu: fighting style; ougi: ultimate secret, also the ultimate technique in a fighting style; kai: spin, turn; ten: heavens, sky; ken: sword; bu: dance; roku: six; ren: continuous, consecutive]

Gein: !?

A loud crash echoes through the forest. A moment later, Aoshi approaches his handiwork, gazing down at the fallen tree. The strands by which Gein had been hanging are now severed; clearly he has escaped.

Aoshi: *gazing up toward the canopy* ...........

A short distance away, Gein is leaping from tree to tree and doing his best to think fast.

Gein: *panting* (I knew that the guy was strong even before now, but not this strong... It seems as if he's a completely different person from the one at the base of Shishio Makoto. So is that his true strength...? With that sort of power, he wasn't talking nonsense when he said 'With the strength of the Gehou, I will bury these villains of the Gehou in the darkness.') [Gehou: secret arts]

He pauses to take out a bottle hidden in his clothing and pour the liquid on his tightly wound strands of wire.

Gein: (But I will not give up on the Corpse Doll. The mechanical perfection of the Iwanbou series and the beauty in appearance of the Corpse Doll--the ultimate research of putting these two kinds of beauty together is waiting for me!!)

A short while later, Aoshi stands waiting near the open grave, kodachi still poised, when Gein shows himself in a nearby tree.

Aoshi: So you're done playing tag.

Gein: *panting* Fu fu... It seems like it would be useless to try any further. But it's still very difficult for me to give up on the Corpse Doll. So. How about making a deal here? I'll tell you where Kamiya Kaoru is, as you wanted, truthfully. But in exchange, you must tell me truthfully where you have hidden my Corpse Doll. How about it?

Aoshi: ---...

Gein: At this point, I won't lie to you. I have no need to cover up for Enishi, because I've cut all ties to him. For example, even the fact that his base is on the west bank of the Arakawa River, under the warehouse of the Heishin Realty--see? I told you all that really easily.

Aoshi stares at him, then at last says something softly.

Aoshi: ......... ...ned it.

Gein: *raising a hand to his ear* Huh? I'm sorry, can't you come a little closer? My hearing has gotten worse with the years. Hn?

Aoshi takes a few paces forward as Gein watches eagerly. One more footfall, and Gein swiftly lifts his arms, releasing his wire strands and crossing them in a game of deadly cat's cradle.

Gein: You've fallen for it! Shinomori Aoshi!! Gehou Kuriito ni Jutsu Kika Hachi Hou Ino Jin!!!

[Kuri: control; ito: strings, wires; jutsu: technique; kika: geometric; Hachi Hou: eight directions; ino: enclose, encircle; jin: formation]

Aoshi finds himself standing at the center of a vast spiderweb, surrounded on all sides by wires. Gein crouches in the tree, leering at his prey.

Gein: Now your mobility is down to nothing. Even if you could take a step forward, you still wouldn't be able to get to me. And... to end your life...

He holds up the tip of one of his wires, smirking evilly.

Gein: This steel wire has been soaked in so much highly refined oil made for machinery that if I light it, everything will go 'foom' before you can blink twice.

Aoshi is silent; Gein's glare sharpens with frustration.

Gein: *furiously* Will you lie when your life is on the line?! Come on, answer me! Where did you hide my Corpse Doll?

Aoshi: *calmly* I burned it.

Gein's pupils contract to mere pinpoints.

Aoshi: *his face shadowed* I pitied the dead bodies that were humiliated by a selfish practitioner of the secret arts. I sent them on by incinerating them so that nothing of that sort would happen to them again.

Gein's face contorts hideously with rage. Gein: GII... GYAA!!

He yanks at his web of wires, drawing one arm back. At the same instant, Aoshi aims his kodachi end to end and flings them at Gein.

Aoshi: Oniwabanshuu Shiki Kodachi Nitou Ryuu ONMYOU HASSHI

[on: shadows, darkness; myou: light; onmyou: yinyang; hasshi: hit]

Both blades bury themselves deeply in Gein's left shoulder. Nevertheless, Gein ignites the oil-soaked web, and an inferno erupts. Aoshi holds his arms close to his body to avoid the flames.

Gein: Stop that fruitless struggle of yours, just behave and die, you fool...

He breaks off, noticing the shimmer of a single stray wire...which is connected to the hilt of Aoshi's kodachi.

Gein: !

Aoshi lifts his hand, revealing that the wire is in his control.

Aoshi: ...It's this steel wire that you're so proud of that you threw away. You left it especially, so I used it.

Gein: *panicked* WA... WAIT, OKAY! I'll open up the formation! I give up on the Corpse Doll!! SO PLEASE WAIT!!

Aoshi stands coolly amid the raging flames, unmoved.

Aoshi: I refuse. For the Oniwabanshuu, the mission is absolute. And as I said just now...

The flames flare behind him, giving him the face of a demon.

Aoshi: With the strength of the Gehou, I will bury the villains of the Gehou in the darkness... This is the last duty I have as Okashira to settle the end of the Oniwabanshuu.

Aoshi pulls on his wire, dragging Gein from the tree into the inferno below.

Gein: KI...IYAAAA...

Both black-clad figures are then obscured in the swirling flames.

The next day, a group of policemen investigate the burned graveyard. One of them dashes toward their overseer, a familiar figure with a sheathed nihontou at his hip.

Random Policeman: Lieutenant Fujita, we found this over in the forest!

He hands over the lower part of Gein's trademark skull mask.

Saitou: *smoking* ... I see. With this, we can identify the deceased. How pitiful, becoming a real black skeleton...

He glances down briefly at Gein's charred remains.

Saitou: Since the place is the grave of Kamiya Kaoru, and the corpse is this guy--- the opponent who burned everything so flamboyantly must be...

At that moment, a slightly dirty Aoshi emerges from beneath a fallen log.

Saitou: *unsurprised* So it is you.

Aoshi: I know where Yukishiro Enishi's base in Tokyo is. I suppose it would be quicker to get there directly from here, rather than going back into town first.

Saitou: Oh? Not bad.

Random Policemen: *gawking* Wow... Really?

Saitou: But how did you manage it without getting yourself burned to death?

Aoshi: It was nothing really... Since I used the hole in the grave that had already been dug twice, where the earth was loose, it wasn't something that was all that difficult...

Saitou: *smoking idly* So you decided not to commit a double suicide with the skeleton? [Has implications of love suicides. ^_^;]

Turning away from Saitou, Aoshi brushes himself off.

Aoshi: Of course. I still have work to do. *closing his eyes* And there is someone waiting for my return.

Back at Kamiya Dojo, Misao is sprawled out on the porch, blissfully asleep.

Misao: *snoring* Ni he he he he. Aoshi-samaaaaaa~! *heart*

Yahiko: *sweatdrop* ...She's really carefree, isn't she?

*End Act*