I'll never be easily loved...
Am I just too clumsy?
That girl who looks good in pink...
Is that who you want?
Is red not good enough?
The rabbit with red eyes runs away.
Even though I loved you so much...
If I'm sad, I'm going to die.
The rabbit that you like...
...isn't on the moon. It's just a rabbit...
I was having an old dream.
A dream?
It's a foolish story.
When I was still a child...
...there stood before me a big dog that looked like it wanted to kill me.
Unfeeling green eyes.
I learned fear.
Suddenly, the dog's eyes flashed, and the moment it bared its fangs...
...a deep shadow ran out from behind me...
...and with one stroke the dog was cut in half, head to tail like an eel.
He must have been quite a brave warrior.
Actually, no.
It was a woman... a young girl.
She seemed to be a bit older than me, but she was definitely a child.
What really amazed me...
...was that even though she killed the dog from that distance...
...the truth was she didn't have a single drop of blood on her clothes.
The moment I saw this...
...a wholly different "fear" than before ran through my body.
What I still remember clearly to this day...
...is the glimpse I caught of her profile in the moonlight.
Her corpse-like pale skin...
...and her terribly sad-looking...
Pizzicato
Manji, do you believe what Shizuma Eiku said?
If you want to find Anotsu Kagehisa, go to Fukagawa.
You might run into him, if you're lucky.
It's something a man who lived for 200 years said before he died.
I'm sure it won't be a waste to at least check.
Fukagawa's a big place though. It'll be harder than I thought.
Hey, Manji.
As if they don't know it's a dream...
...those who roam...
...seek for a trace...
...abandoning friends and mankind.
They all left.
My mother said not to run because of my asthma...
Really?
That's a pretty hairpin.
This?
This is something my mother gave me long ago.
So why don't you put it in your hair?
You're right.
Manji. Manji.
Yeah?
I ran out of change.
I'll get some more, so wait for me.
Sure... Hey, where am I supposed to wait?
Just stay right there.
What, here of all places?
Uh-oh.
You look bored, friend.
Whadda ya want?
That didn't come out very refined. How about a good time for 28?
No thanks. Try someone else.
Is it that girl just before?
She's attractive.
I took her for a virgin, but maybe I was wrong?
I'm saying I'm not so pressed I'd do an old woman. Now get lost.
You can check if I'm an old woman or not.
I see.
Okay, come here.
Isn't it a bit early in the day to be turning tricks?
It's already seven o'clock. The sun will set before we're done.
It's odd though.
Why's a looker like you picking up customers on the street?
I'm too old to work the red-light district anymore.
Plus, a lot's happened.
Don't ask more than that.
Then just one more question.
What the hell's with this?
It's for self-protection. I work alone, you know.
What a joke. If it's for protection, why's there poison on it?
Tell me who hired you.
Well, I can pretty much guess who it is.
I don't know his name.
It was a young samurai.
With slanted eyes and long hair.
Speaking of which, I don't know what Anotsu looks like.
Slanted eyes and long hair? Well, whatever.
I'm pretty sure I'm right.
Forgive me. H-He offered me twenty ryo...
That's more than someone like me might see in a lifetime.
If you say that's more important than your life, then so be it.
But don't complain about gettin' killed if you try stuff like this.
Well, there's no point in killing an amateur...
...and my companion's coming back, so see ya. Earn your money honestly.
I'm sorry for not saying who I was earlier.
My name is Otonotachibana Makie.
The leader of the ltto-ryu, Anotsu Kagehisa, is one I am pledged to...
...as a swordswoman.
Thanks for telling me so politely.
Well, if both of us are experts, there's no need to hold back.
Bring it on.
Prepare yourself.
Don't move.
You can't even grasp your surroundings.
You're holding back, or is this all you've got?
Either way, you don't have any business with a blade...
...if you're swinging it around like you're stupid.
Like I told you, once someone picks up a blade...
...they can't complain if they get killed.
Is this how you want to die?
If you'd be a half-assed swordswoman, then just be a streetwalker instead.
It's for your own good.
Man, is the ltto-ryu that hard up for peons?
How could they send someone like her?
Makie, just become a prostitute.
You might as well, instead of a swordswoman.
Are you okay?
You were watching me fight?
From before that.
Miss, you're a swordswoman?
Yes.
You're weak.
You want this?
How come? Are you sure?
Yes.
I don't think...
...l'll need it anymore.
Infinity.
How do the forlorn go on living?
That's what the world calls dreams.
The world hates mankind endlessly...
It's not unusual to see someone good at both singing and playing...
...but I think it is to hear so much feeling in it from someone her age.
What do you think, sir?
You got that right, Ohatsu.
You're Omaki, right?
Yes...
Come here and pour me a drink.
I've seen your face somewhere before.
Oh, right. Till recently, there was a girl who looked exactly like you...
...in this little red-light district on the edge of town. Yeah, no mistaking it.
Say what you like, but it's the face of a women I slept with. I wouldn't forget.
How does tonight sound?
Sir.
I think that's about far enough.
We are just humble geisha.
Women who market our talents for a living.
If it's sex you want, the night is still young.
Please go to Asakusa or Shinagawa.
Miss Ohatsu, thank you so much for earlier...
Don't worry about it. You're a bit too submissive though.
Your song...
It's just very moving.
Before I came here, I was selling my body around Asakusa...
...just like you.
Just once, I tried escaping the red-light district with a lover.
It was a shame what happened to him.
He was so heartbroken he hung himself.
We were both just too young.
Even if you wish to live a decent life, once you get mixed up in all this...
...the heavens see, and they don't let you get close to any other dreams.
If Father were alive and did something like that...
...l'd be angry.
If I had a brother, and he did something like that...
...I think I'd still be angry.
You see, this has nothing to do with jealousy.
Could it be that you're still mad?
Get a life, Rin.
I said I'm sorry for buying a girl without telling you.
Or maybe that's not it. Maybe you're jealous.
Are you...
...stupid or something?
Just to let you know, Manji, I don't care what you do.
Yes, that's right. I don't care.
You're a man, so I'm sure you have your own share of troubles.
I won't say you can't spend money on a prostitute. But you're my bodyguard.
If you're doing such things when the time comes, that'd be a problem, right?
If you want to play around, just go out while I'm asleep so I don't notice.
Okay, okay. I'll watch out from now on.
Please do so.
Although, if you look at this in a different light...
...there's a way to resolve this without spending money.
For example, if you were to be my partner.
Forget that. It'd never work with a girl who's like sixteen.
Chances are you've been so busy with sword training most of your life...
...that you've never even held hands with any man besides your father.
W-Well?
Do I look more like an adult?
What the heck was that?
Sorry, sorry. What a joke!
You're a funny girl!
You know, a kid like you doesn't have the breasts or butt to look sexy...
...just by letting down your hair. If the world worked like...
Get out of here! Now!
Damn it, stupid! What are you doing?
H-Hey, wait wait wait!
Makie, there's someone out back who wants to see you.
What in the world are you doing here?
You think I ransomed you that day...
...so you could work somewhere like this as a geisha?
I wanted to pay you back the money...
I don't recall asking you to do such a thing.
Excuse me.
I heard you fought with him.
Yes...
He was a strong, ferocious fellow.
I find it hard to believe...
...but many of my men have died by his hand.
Two of those men had sword skills that threatened even me.
Even so, he shouldn't be much of a foe to you.
It's my opinion that you're the only one in the world...
...who can defeat me with a sword.
My mother...
I've been thinking about my mother.
She said if I would kill for a living... If I would be a swordswoman...
...I might as well just be a prostitute.
But I'm just a joke.
I don't even have the backbone to be either one of those.
I'm now a geisha so I can pay you back as soon as possible...
...but what will I do if that comes to an end?
If you tell me to wait, I will.
But someday...
...l'll make you mine.
If only I didn't know the true cruel intentions behind those words...
...then what bliss I would feel right now.
But, Sir Kagehisa...
...I know it all too well.
You just want my abilities.
You are...
You are the same as my father.
You would pluck away at a mere woman's dream...
...if it furthered your ambition.
Born into a samurai household but not allowed to hold a sword...
...or even hope for a modicum of happiness in this world.
I imagine that in your eyes...
...my life must look like a despicable thing.
But I...
Why weren't you intimate with me that time?
Had I fallen into a twisted lifestyle at your hands...
...I might have been able to bring myself to live as a prostitute.
I can't stand to see your talent smothered like that.
That's all.
No wonder you wouldn't stoop to my level.
You've been treated like gold by a handsome man like him.
I was hired by your ex-boss at the place you used to work.
He said to bring you back even if it's by force.
I understand.
I was acting like a child.
I just now...
...realized it.
Stupid bitch. Nobody'll wanna buy you if you chop that off!
Miss Ohatsu...
It was just like you said.
Once a woman falls into a life of whoring...
...having dreams the way other people do simply becomes too much to ask.
Sadly, I awakened...
Overflowing reality is just...
...more of the empty lies.
To be honest, I have to get ready for the next one.
The morning slides in from the window.
Regardless of what I see, I remember.
I remember...
The unchanging wind always...
...just said this as it passed by...
"What's needed for this endless journey?"
Where should I go?
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