China.
It was a foreign land to him, as he had never traveled here before, but it was not entirely unknown to him.
However, in the present moment, it was a refuge. The chances of his escapades having become general knowledge this far from Japan were miniscule, to say the least. At least, he hoped that they were.
Here, no one knew of the war. No one knew of Tomoe. No one here would have the slightest idea who Himura Battousai was.
Even if they did, the chances of him being positively identified were likely even more absurdly tiny than the other.
If Arai Shakku, or Katsura Kogoro, could see him at the moment, surely neither would recognize him. His hair was almost gone, and the few inches left were dyed black, instead of his characteristic burning red. His entire face was concealed by a white theater mask. His sakabatou was not sheathed at his waist, but was in fact strapped to his back, concealed by the overlarge kimono he had bought before sailing to Shanghai.
He was not here simply to escape Japan. He had been told a story of a valley, deep in western China; a valley with curious springs. He'd remembered it for its hilarity (without believing a word) but any excuse to leave Japan was welcome now.
If, miracle of miracles upon Earth, the story was true, there might be a chance of making his past disappear forever.
Himura Battousai was a man. Absolutely nobody would think to look for a woman.
Read the comments on this episode
See other episodes by nuclear death frog
(Posted Thu, 10 Nov 2005 19:11)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.