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...
Would you please wait here for a little while?
This will be my final indulgence.
When I come back after finishing him off...
...please think of it as proof that I'll assist you for the rest of my life.
And when that fails to happen?
Dream Play
Your face is pale, like a girl's .
Do you want people to point and say you're rotten on the inside too?
Well, Kagehisa?
You had to have a mere child save you. What a disgrace!
Master, please stop!
If she hadn't come, I would be dead!
I owe her my life!
The ltto-ryu head's grandson wasn't even able to defeat a wild dog...
...and you had to be saved by a girl.
Your very life wouldn't be enough to make up for such a scandal!
You imbecile!
Are you saying I have to lose even more dignity?
Master!
Just watch.
I'll erase your disgrace here and now.
What disgrace? What dignity?
Even killing women and children...
If you have to stoop to killing either to preserve it, what is dignity worth?
Your words ring true.
If samurai weren't smitten with form...
...I wouldn't have had to spend half my life as an outcast.
Right, Kagehisa?
Tough luck for you.
What's your name?
Otonotachibana Makie.
Your father's family name?
Harukawa.
Harukawa, you say?
Master, why are you doing such a thing?
It's obvious wild dogs will be drawn to the scent of blood and gather here.
If she falls from the branch...
Komae...
Yoshiaki...
That's right, isn't it?
She's the one...
What a happy little story.
The fact that she's alive in this world...
...is the ultimate shame of the Harukawa household.
You must've thought you outmaneuvered me, eh, Yoshiaki?
I trust in the Buddha of immeasurable light
Kuroi, what do you think of Grandfather?
What do you mean?
The old man's a loser.
That's a reckless thing to say.
He won't let go of shame and dignity.
How is he different from the Mutenichi-ryu...
...who were too strict regarding formality and style and expelled him?
Shame, dignity, formality, style...
Are such things virtues of ours?
Never mind that people actually die for them.
Whether human or beast, death is the duty of all creation.
If death is enough to uphold dignity, then even a monkey can be a samurai.
What is it you're trying to say?
I want to build a school that laughs at their "virtues."
A powerful group that pursues nothing but the sword and victory.
Kuroi is dead too.
The ltto-ryu's numbers are swelling, but we lack strong swordsmen.
Are we an enormous glass tiger?
My childhood hero, I want you at least...
...not to betray me.
Oh.
What do you mean, "Oh" ?
Weren't you waiting for me?
Maybe.
Sorry about the other day... for failing to deliver.
So you'll satisfy me this time?
Hey, Rin. I have some business with this woman.
Go treat yourself to mitsumame.
She's thin...
Pale...
Beautiful...
Yeah, compared to her, I'm still just a kid.
Right now, anyway.
But...
But just because...
Why're you shaking?
This enough?
Yeah, just enough.
Bye then.
What's with that?
What a good girl.
She doesn't need any praise from anybody in the ltto-ryu.
After all, she's trying to kill off that Anotsu Kagehisa guy.
For what reason?
Revenge.
Revenge?
To avenge her parents.
You are a little different from the other day.
The hair?
No.
Your eyes.
Sweet Shop
Hyakurin...
One more.
That was the best chance to finish me off. Is she screwing with me?
Huh. So your companion's getting with a streetwalker.
Who are you?
Well, we're not anyone in particular, uh...
It's just, you know...
Yeah, you know...
That's a strange story though.
Around here...
...there's not one place where streetwalkers could pick up clients.
Where could they get it on this early in the morning?
But all they really need is a mat.
She didn't have anything like that.
No way...
Something doesn't feel right.
It's probably heartburn.
She's doing the same thing she did the other day...
...but what's up with her ridiculous speed?
I can't believe I was lecturing her.
I thought her slender arms and that long-ass weapon were a bad combo...
Man, was I wrong.
I guess she needs the weapon's centrifugal force...
...to get that much destructive power with her slim arms.
Still though. Look how easy she controls it.
She's got serious skills.
She might be the one who...
I feel kinda bad since this is pretty much a sneak attack...
...but this'll make us even!
Where could she be hiding?
Infinity.
I-I'm sorry for doing so many unfair things.
Hey, don't hold back.
I mean, as you can see, I don't die too easily...
...if you don't think outside the box.
There's one way I could be immobilized forever.
Slice my head off...
What?
What are you so scared of?
Is that all it takes to frighten you?
It should be easy for you...
...the way you were fighting.
I killed three men before I saw you.
Look...
It won't stop.
It happened then, and again now...
Why...
Why do you continue to do such cruel things?
I forget while I'm fighting, but if I let my mind wander for a second...
...I get so scared of what I've done.
I suffer this awful feeling.
I start to question if his ideals are truly right...
...and become unable to hold a sword.
For what kind of ideal is it right to kill people?
lmagine if he dies before you.
The only title you earn then is murderer.
No matter how much talent you have...
...no untrained woman could ever move like that.
There must've been some reason you couldn't abandon the sword.
Remember what it was and fight for it!
If you don't want to do that, you'd be better off back at the brothel.
You're still going to fight with your body in that shape?
I've never lost a single sword fight.
That's actually a joke...
...but I won't just sit here while someone refuses to go all-out and finish this.
I'd like to show off and say I'll start fighting seriously now...
...but unfortunately, I've been serious the whole fight.
So if nothing else, I'm gonna make sure I don't have any regrets about it.
Your words put my mind a bit more at ease.
I'll join you.
What a good woman.
That stupid show-off!
Okay, now I'm ready.
Don't you get it?
Let me spell it out.
I'm seven weapons and one arm lighter than I was before.
Now I can keep up with your moves...
...I think.
If this takes much longer, that idiot's gonna come back.
So let's settle this with the next move.
Agreed. Each for their own reason for fighting.
Yeah, that's the spirit.
Prepare yourself.
There!
Can you do this without a place to kick off?
Shi...
How about it, lady? Still scared?
If you're okay then finish me off this time...
I've had about all the shame I can take...
You idiot, what are you doing drawing that sword?
Rin, right?
I want to ask you one thing.
How many people have died for your revenge?
How many people in all will be dead...
...by the time you reach Anotsu Kagehisa?
Have you ever thought about whether it's right to kill people...
...over a personal grudge rather than a just cause?
I swore in front of my parents' graves...
...to get revenge no matter what.
That I'd do anything to that end, however dirty...
I don't ...
I don't believe that killing people is right.
But I'm not skilled enough to live on without hurting others.
It's a lot more human to get your hands bloody over your family...
...than to commit brutal acts in the name of a just cause.
Am I making a mistake?
Thank you.
That's what I wanted to hear.
Please go on protecting her.
And humiliate myself again, you mean...
Miss Ohatsu...
I wanted to say my farewell to you.
I'm going back to the red-light district again.
My stupid parents lost it all gambling since they don't know when to stop.
It's all too commonplace.
I'm just a bird in a cage, no matter where I go.
I'd at least like for you to get to walk in the light.
When my mother was still alive, she was a prostitute too.
We were kicked out of a samurai's household because of me...
...and raising me alone, I guess she didn't have much of a choice.
Even then, she didn't detest my father.
She even rebuked me for wanting to take up the sword...
...and get revenge against him.
I was always irritated by how she lived her life.
But compared to a swordsman who lives his life hurting people...
...how much more wonderful must it be to live your life comforting others?
I truly am proud of her now.
I can no longer turn back.
Because I've remembered I became a swordswoman to kill my father.
But I want to see you live your life with pride.
I will never forget all you did for me.
Please take care.
Right, and you too.
It's totally ridiculous.
I lost to a woman, and I was saved by a woman.
Yeah, seriously.
You always brag that you're immortal, Manji...
...but you end up needing me when it comes down to it.
If you've learned your lesson...
...don't ever lie to me again like you did today.
Excuse me. I thought you might be my companion.
Um, your companion wanted you to have this...
How do the forlorn go on living?
That's what the world calls dreams.
The world hates mankind endlessly...
...and calls it love.
They call it love.
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?
Infinite Preview
Mask of Change