amatsuki 73

amatsuki 73

144
Text: [Chapter 73: Threshing The Wheat / Orange]

145-146
SFX: [*glare*]
Toki: [...yo.]
SFX: [*twitch*]
Toki: Long time no see.
Toki: So I guess Hizame-san was keeping you locked up in here, huh?
Toki: [Hahaha]
SFX: [*tremble*]
Toki: Uh, you look kinda thin... she did remember to feed you, right?
Toki: Huh?
Toki: Gah!
SFX: [*shove*]
Kanzou: How do I get out of here!!?
SFX: [*choke*]

147
Kanzou: Where
Toki: !?
Toki: Gaah!
Kanzou: Is
SFX: [*gasp gasp*]
Toki: ....
Kanzou: The exit!?
Toki: Oh shit...
Toki: He's really going to kill me!
SFX: [*squeeze*]
SFX: [*gasp*]
SFX: [*push*]
Toki: Let me go!
Toki: Are
Toki: you
SFX: [*squeeze*]
Toki: Trying to kill me!?
SFX: [*glare*]
SFX: [*stumble*]
Toki: *cough*
Toki: *cough*
Toki: He's an animal...
Toki: But we're both looking for the same thing, I guess.
SFX: [*cough cough*]

148
SFX: [*glare*]
Kanzou: Where is t...
Toki: .....
SFX: [*cough*]
Toki: What are you going to do if you get out?
Kanzou: .....?
SFX: [*shock*]
Kanzou: Do you really have to ask!?
SFX: [*grr*]
Toki: You have some kind of link to the Inugami, right?
Toki: You could find Kuchiha!
Kanzou: .....
Toki: What's wrong, you don't know where she is?
Toki: [Ha!]
Toki: It should be no problem for you, right?
SFX: [*glare*]
Kanzou: .....!!

149
SFX: [*kick*]
Toki: GAH!
SFX: [*thud*]
Kanzou: You bastard...
Kanzou: You have no right to talk to me like that!!
Kanzou: Say another word, and I'll punch your face in!
SFX: [*twitch*]
Toki: Owww...
Toki: Ugh...
Toki: Damn it...
Toki: This...
Toki: Really hurts...
SFX: [*shudder*]

150
Toki: I really don't understand people who are into fighting...
Toki: What's fun about being in debilitating pain?
SFX: [*whine whine*]
SFX: [*wobble*]
Toki: I'm a pacifist...
Toki: But you've pushed me to this point...
SFX: [*squeeze*]
Toki: Too bad...
Kanzou: !?
SFX: [*surprise*]
SFX: [*punch*]
SFX: [*poof*]
Toki: .....!?
Toki: Damn it!

151
SFX: [*smash*]
SFX: [*crack crack crack*]
SFX: [*waaah!*]
Toki: OWWWWWW!!!
SFX: [*flail flail flail*]
SFX: [*gaaaaah!!*]
Toki: What!?
Toki: Why am I the one who takes damage!?
Toki: Uwaaaah, curse my modern-era body!!
Kanzou: ...
Text: [That's what happens when an amateur tries to hit a pro!]
Kanzou: ...I can't believe I'm dealing with such a pathetic excuse for a man.
Kanzou: This has got to be a fucking joke.
SFX: [*wipe*]
Toki: Hey! I don't care what you say!
Toki: I'm not foing to lose to someone like you!
SFX: [*glare*]
Toki: The way I see it, you're just a big jerk!
Kanzou: What?
SFX: [*twitch*]
Toki: You're so self-righteous and full of yourself...
Toki: But you're not worthy of people like Kuchiha and Hizame-san and Ainezu-san!

152
Kanzou: You fucking...
SFX: [*grab*]
Toki: Ha!
Kanzou: !?
Toki: Gotcha!
Toki: TAKE THIS!!
SFX: [*smash*]
SFX: [*throb*]
Kanzou: Gaah...
Toki: ......!!
SFX: [*throb*]
SFX: [*wobble*]
SFX: [*flop*]
Text: [Concussion]
SFX: [*tweet tweet*]
Kanzou: ...
Text: [Don't try this at home.]

153
Kanzou: You dumbass!
SFX: [*growl*]
Kanzou: HIZAME!!
Kanzou: GET ME THE HELL OUT OF HERE!!
Kanzou: AND QUIT FUCKING AROUND WITH ME LIKE THIS!!
Kanzou: LET ME OUT!!
Kanzou: YOU CRAZY OLD HAG!!
Toki: .....
Toki: Hey...
SFX: [*sniffle*]
Toki: What makes you think yelling is going to convince her to let you out?
Toki: Do you really think Hizame-san deserves to hear that kind of crap?
Toki: It's rude!
Kanzou: SHE STARTED IT!!
Kanzou: IT'S NOT MY FAULT!!
Toki: Sheesh...
Toki: You're loud...

154
Toki: What are you even going to do if you get out?
SFX: [*rustle*]
Toki: Are you planning to run off and find Kuchiha on your own?
Toki: You know the Yakou's got swarms of enslaved ayakashi out there?
Toki: Even I don't know what happened to her inside that black smoke...
Toki: Do you really think you can find her without any leads to go on!?
Kanzou: What did you say!?
Kanzou: Are you saying I should just give up!?  You're pathetic!!
Toki: And you're an asshole!!  Don't call me pathetic when I'm trying to help you!!!
Toki: Just chill out, okay!?  Do I have to dump a bucket of cold water on you!?
Toki: Try listening to somebody else for a change!!
Toki: You're not accomplishing anything like this!

155
Toki: Look, I don't know what you intend to do after you get out of here.
Toki: But I do know that you're going to end up getting yourself killed, or at least badly hurt!
Toki: Can that power you get from the Dog God make you invincible?
Toki: Unless you're immortal, this is suicide!!
Toki: You might be possessed by the Dog God, but do you really want to die like a dog, too!?
Toki: The people from the Divination Bureau probably only locked you up in here because they don't want you to get hurt!
Toki (3 bubbles): You think you can just abandon everyone else and do what you want?  Get a grip!  You wouldn't have food or a place to live without those people!!  I guess there really is no hope for stupid people!!
Toki: Everybody is trying to help you,
Toki: And you're acting like a douchebag!!
Toki: Don't be so naiive!
SFX: [*squeeze*]

156
Toki: I swore...
Toki: That I would save Kuchiha,
Toki: And I'm not going to let you fuck it up.
SFX: [*twitch*]
SFX: [*grrrrrrrrrrrrr*]
SFX: [*glare*]

157
Hizame: ...Oh?
SFX: [*chirp*]
Hizame: ...What's this?  You're fighting like a pair of kitty cats.
SFX: [Eh?]
Ainezu: ...Kittens, huh?
SFX: [*loom*]
Ainezu: Play-fighting or not, bad kitties have to be punished.
SFX: [*grrrr*]
Ainezu: I can't have you stupid cats making so much noise...
Ainezu: So I'll have to give you a good swatting.
Ainezu: Kanzou...

158
Ainezu: Accept your punishment!
SFX: [*glare*]
SFX: [*shock*]
Toki: ...!!!
Toki: W... wait!!
Toki: Ainezu-san, it was partly my fault too...
SFX: [*slash*]
SFX: [*gaaaaaaaah*]
Yoshinobu: .....
Yoshinobu: .....hm.
SFX: [*toss*]
SFX: [*splash*]
Tatsugorou: Yoshinobu-sama?

159
Tatsu: How may I serve you,
Tatsu: My lord?
SFX: [*jump*]
Yoshinobu: Oh, it's nothing.
Yoshinobu: Just... it seems that people everywhere are losing their minds.
Yoshinobu: We've arrested rounin and even high-ranking samurai who have been tempted to turn against us... at least with the rebellion's strings cut, we should have a moment of peace.
Tatsu: The pro-government and anti-government forces both seem ready to make their move... you look worried, my lord.
Yoshinobu: I suppose.  I just feel that everyone is being a bit too hasty.
Yoshinobu: No one stops to *think!*
Yoshinobu: Violent uprisings, government suppression...
Yoshinobu: I just think there are better ways of resolving our issues.
Yoshinobu: It's almost as if there's a terrible disease going around...
Yoshinobu: The infected are robbed of all reason.
Yoshinobu: .....
Yoshinobu: It's just so strange...
Tatsu: And it's not only humans that are affected.
Tatsu: I've heard that demons have been attacking humans.  Everyone is talking about it.
Yoshinobu: Haha...
Yoshinobu: Well, if that's the case, then maybe this country is safe after all!
Yoshinobu: When the foreign barbarians come, we'll be protected by all those evil spirits!
Tatsu: Haha!
Yoshinobu: ......
Yoshinobu: Actually, the foreigners what I'm most worried about right now, Tatsugorou.
Yoshinobu: They're planning something.
Yoshinobu: And when the signal comes from across the sea, they'll attack...

160
Yoshinobu: And when that happens, it's all over.
Yoshinobu: This country is finished.
(Note: Foreign invasion was a very real fear in 1866, when Amatsuki is set.  In 1853, after Japan had been almost totally isolated from the rest of the world for 250 years, heavily armed American ships appeared in a harbor near the capital and *demanded* that Japan be opened to trade with the United States.  Although no shots were fired, the threat of an attack was always there.  Most Japanese citizens feared and resented the "foreign barbarians," but the Japanese government chose to comply with American demands.  This only added fuel to centuries-old disputes between the shougun and other powerful samurai.  The government now appeared too weak and vulnerable to fend off a foreign invasion, much less a civil war.)
Yoshinobu: Japan will be a puppet state ruled by Americans.  (Note: He literally says that Japan will be like China under the rule of the foreign Manchu dynasty.)
Tatsu: This is serious.
Tatsu: I'm assuming you have some sort of plan, Yoshinobu-sama?
SFX: [*haha*]
Yoshinobu: Hm, perhaps.
Yoshinobu: The role of a leader is to protect the country, right, Tatsugorou?
Yoshinobu: And that's where *he* falls flat.
Yoshinobu: Oh, he fits the part of a lord well enough, I suppose.
Yoshinobu: He has the right look, and he's clever, and the people like him.
Yoshinobu: With his marriage to Princess Kazunomiya, he formed a bond with the Imperial Court.
(Note: Kazunomiya was an Imperial princess and the wife of Shougun Tokugawa Iemochi.  She'd originally been engaged to someone else, but with the shougun's government in a state of decline, an alliance was deemed necessary.  The Imperial Court was weak, too, having been stripped of all real power centuries before, but many southern samurai advocated overthrowing the shougun and replacing him with the Emperor.  So Princess Kazunomiya was used as a political pawn to demonstrate the Emperor's support for Shougun Iemochi.  When Iemochi died, she was again manipulated into supporting Yoshinobu as the next shougun.)
Yoshinobu: He's just so honest and pure.
Yoshinobu: I wonder...
Yoshinobu: Will this madness touch him, too?
Yoshinobu: And if it does...
Yoshinobu: Will I be able to take his place?

161
Yoshinobu: Who knows what lies beneath the surface of that man.
SFX: [*splash*]
Yoshinobu: In the end, I suppose all that really matters is that the Tokugawa family perseveres.  (Note: Literally, he says "in the end, everything will be under the hollyhock crest."  The symbol of the Tokugawa clan is the three-leafed hollyhock plant.)
SFX: [*float*]
Tatsu: That is true.
Tatsu: Whichever way the river flows, you will float above it all, Yoshinobu-san. (Note: He drops to a much lower level of formality for this line.)
Tatsu: Well, then.
Tatsu: Why don't you enjoy those sweets I brought you, your Lordship?
Yoshinobu: Tatsugorou,
Yoshinobu: I thank you for all your hard work.
Tatsu: Yes, sir.
Yoshinobu: .....
SFX: [*blink*]
Tatsu: ?
Tatsu: Yoshinobu-san?
Yoshinobu: What!?
Yoshinobu: What is that...!?
Tatsu: !?

162
SFX: [*fwoooosh*]

163
Hizame: ...Alright, is this everyone...?
SFX: [*whisper whisper*]
Hizame: We'll have to start thinking about how best to hide the situation from the townspeople...
SFX: [*whisper whisper whisper*]
Hizame: It's only been an hour, but we don't have long before? investigators begin arriving.
Sasaki (2 bubbles): Excuse me, but we must settle this as quickly as possible.
SFX: [*whisper whisper*]
Sasaki: Anyone able to move should leave this place immediately.
Sasaki: Those who stay behind will die.
SFX: [*whisper*]
Toki: Sasaki-san...?
Toki: What's wrong...?
Sasaki: About an hour ago...
Sasaki: Edo Castle was consumed by darkness.

164
TOki: [.......!?]
SFX: [*gasp*]
Sasaki: It appears that the entire main tower...
Sasaki: Has been enveloped in that black mist.
SFX: [*whisper whisper*]
Sasaki: The mist has cut off all entrances to the castle.
Sasaki: No human can pass... nay, not even a demon could enter that tower.
Sasaki: At the time of the attack, I had just concluded a private meeting with his lordship, the shougun...
Sasaki: But his current whereabouts are unknown.

165
Toki: WHAT!?
Bonten: .....!!
Hizame: !?
Sasaki: Everyone, go now!  Take the secret route to the castle!!
SFX: [*gasp*]
Sasaki: We'll regroup there and figure out what's happened!!

166
Yakou/Chitose/Suou/fuck if I know: Once upon a time,
???: There was a princess trapped high, high in a tall castle.
Sasaki: The Yakou is attacking our lord!
Sasaki: We must go to him at once!!
???: What if she let her long hair hang from the window?
Yakou: Alas, it couldn't reach her prince.
???: So she cut it off.
???: What if she reached out her hand?
???: But it couldn't reach him either.
???: So she cut it off.
???: She cried out for her prince to save her,
???: But what if it wasn't that her voice couldn't reach him?
???: What if he simply wasn't worthy of being her prince?

167
Suou: What's wrong, Tokidoki?
Suou: Don't worry about stuff like that.
Suou: You don't have to be a hero.  Just be yourself.
Suou: What matters is that you're there for her.
Chitose: [Come to me, everyone.]
Chitose: [I'll be waiting.]