Mirage of Blaze stage play: Ruritsubame Blues part 9

[wakarinikuiiro]

Finally, Kagetora reaches the top of Tokyo Tower and finds Oda. Calling him “Kuchiki”, Kagetora approaches him. Calmly facing outside, Nobunaga tells him the view is good there, as it reminds him of his old Azuchi castle. From the tower he will have a good view of the country he will govern. After some nostalgic commentary, he says: “long time no see, Kase - no, Uesugi Kagetora”.






Kagetora takes a deep breath before saying it looks like Nobunaga is playing with rather big toys here, and that he is foolish to think he could take control of the tower. Nobunaga himself is fascinated at how many people can watch the parade at the same time - Kagetora retorts it’s the crown prince and his wife the people want to watch, instead of listening to Nobunaga’s speeches. Nobunaga speaks about how this time is the kind where tens of thousands of people can watch the same videos and listen to the same music - a new era of brainwashing is coming.


On that note, Marii, totally blank, comes in. Pointing the skull at her, Nobunaga orders her to attack Kagetora, and she does. Kagetora manages to grab her for a while to ask Nobunaga what he has done to her, but she keeps trying to kick and punch him.


When Marii moves closer to Nobunaga, he makes her stop and points a gun at her head. He then makes his demand: Kagetora is to jump down from the tower. When Kagetora glances down and looks a bit terrified, Nobunaga taunts him: as a kanshousha, his life should be a cheap price for the woman’s life. Kagetora tells him to shoot her if he wants: she can perform kanshou all the same. “So, in the end, it’s you own life that matters the most”, says Nobunaga, and in that case, he will indeed kill Marii.






As Nobunaga renews his aim at Marii’s head, Naoe rushes in, calling Kagetora’s name. Kagetora tells him to shut up, and urges Nobunaga to go on - he himself will then kill Nobunaga at the same time. This makes Nobunaga drop the gun and turn toward Kagetora - “you would kill me?”. He laughs (Kagetora goes “Kuchiki) and makes fun of Kagetora. Tucking the gun away, he says Kagetora wouldn’t be able to kill him.


Mori comes in, grabbing the still blank Marii and holding a sword at her neck. Using the opportunity, Oda now points the skull at Naoe, and orders him to kill Kagetora. Naoe is attacked by severe pain, and he screams, holding his head. Kagetora tries to shout at Naoe, but Mori attacks him and he has to defend himself. Nobunaga demands Kagetora to choose: “will you be killed by Naoe, or will you kill Naoe?”






Kagetora goes to Naoe’s side, grabs his shoulders and yells at him to open his eyes, but Naoe pushes him away. Kagetora touches him again, screaming his name. Naoe slowly straightens up - Kagetora is looking at him and not guarding himself at all, when Naoe extends his hand and takes a hold of Kagetora’s throat.




Nagahide and Irobe arrive, but they can’t do anything with Nobunaga controlling Naoe and Mori pointing a sword at Marii. Naoe pushes Kagetora on the floor, and Kagetora is struggling to breath. “Naoe… Naoe… open your eyes” he manages with a constricted voice, and slowly slides his hand up Naoe’s arm, screaming his name for one last time.






Finally, Naoe snaps out of Nobunaga’s control for a second, and gets off Kagetora. He still has to fight himself not to attack him again. Naoe screams, bites down at his own hand, and looks at Kagetora. Seeing no other way out, he rushes to the edge - Kagetora moves toward him but can’t reach him, and Naoe throws himself off the tower.




Irobe and Nagahide rush out, while Nobunaga calls Naoe an idiot. Nobunaga turns the skull towards Kagetora, now held in place by Mori and his sword. Just in time, Jirou appears and attacks Nobunaga, allowing Kagetora to fight off Mori. Kagetora’s attack knocks the skull off Nobunaga’s hands, and it falls out of the tower. Jirou and Morii start fighting each other; Morii slashes Jirou badly, but Jirou is not giving in - he needs to pay back for Morii has done to Natsu.




Meanwhile, Kagetora and Nobunaga start fighting, and it’s Nobunaga whose attacks are working. In the end, Kagetora is down on his knees.






When Nobunaga is preparing to deal a final strike, Kagetora screams at him: “Come back, Kuchiki!” He’s trying to convince him he is not Nobunaga but Kuchiki, and for him to come back to Regalo. If he does, they can again work together, go bathing together - he can go back to being just Kuchiki Shinji. Nobunaga has been struggling with himself listening to all this. In the end he pulls out the gun and aims at Kagetora. Kagetora doesn’t flinch, grabs the gun and keeps it pointed at his own head, once more screaming Kuchiki’s name.




This seems to reach Kuchiki - he lowers the gun, and calls Kase’s name, remembering such a time existed. The hope is short lived though, as he grabs the gun with both hands and prepares to shoot.


Right then, Marii - controlled by Matsuhime - comes back, using a spirit and guiding it to attack Nobunaga. The gun ends up at Kagetora’s hands, and Matsuhime screams at him to act. Nobunaga fights off the spirit, and Kagetora points the gun at the weakened Nobunaga. When he hesitates to pull the trigger, Nobunaga asks him what’s stopping him. Looking defeated, Kagetora slowly lowers both his head and the gun.






Nobunaga now speaks to Matsuhime, asking why she’s stopping him, and if this is Takeda’s revenge. She tells him no, but she is unwilling to go on with the plot anymore. They talk at some length - Nobunaga asks her if she wants to give up now after all these years, and Matsuhime begs Nobunaga to let her return to Nobutada’s side. Finally, Nobunaga tells her to do what she wants.




Matsuhime now approaches Kagetora, saying just “Uesugi-sama”. Kagetora understands. Matsuhime sits down in a praying position, and Kagetora performs the exorcism. Matsuhime’s last expression is a peaceful smile, and she calls Nobutada’s name when she leaves Marii’s body collapsing into the floor.




Kagetora quickly checks Marii, but puts up his guard when Nobunaga stands up. Nobunaga tells him he’ll kill Kagetora the next time, and that Kagetora will regret not killing him when he had the chance. Kagetora still tries calling him Kuchiki, but Nobunaga only swears he will be the one to eventually kill Kagetora. With that, he throws himself off the tower, and Kagetora is left screaming for Kuchiki.




Irobe storms in, and Kagetora asks for Naoe. He’s okay and Nagahide is taking care of him, says Irobe, and soon enough the two come walking in. Kagetora and Naoe soflty call each other’s names, but the moment is ruined when Nagahide calls it annoying and pushes Naoe off his shouldes, moving on to ask about Haruie’s condition instead. She tells them she’s okay, somehow, and apologizes for all the trouble and worry she has caused.








The momentary calm is broken when Jirou and Mori make their return, still fighting. Kagetora jumps in to shield Jirou. Mori is in a rage, calling the yasha-shuu’s action unforgivable. He summons a hoard of ghosts to attack them. Kagetora and Mori fight two-on-two, and the rest take on the ghosts. When Mori retreats, Kagetora leads the group to exorcise the rest of the spirits together.




When the fight finally dies, Kagetora goes to check on Jirou, who is barely okay. Naoe asks Kagetora about Nobunaga’s fate. Irobe asks if he wasn’t able to stop him. With a weak voice, Kagetora tells them that for a moment, he saw Kuchiki. (“Shin-chan…” goes Marii). “What are you saying. He is… Nobunaga” says Nagahide, but even he is not able to look at Kagetora as he does this.






Looking down, Irobe notices the imperial wedding seems to be ending. The parade is over, he says.

To be continued in the final part.
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