Ep. 2: Kusaka regresa de Londres para luchar en la Guerra Boshin contra su amante Akizuki

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Episode starts with Kusaka thinking about cutting ties with his clan when the Head Administrator, Sufu Masanosuke, offers to send him to London to learn about the West. Before leaving, Kusaka meets with Akizuki one last time during a sunset and they declare their love for each other by kissing and having passionate sweaty sex in a meadow near a riverbank. They consummate their relationship. While Kusaka is in England, Akizuki gains the leadership of his clan and its immediate association with the Shogun. After four years, Kusaka returns to Japan and receives a high ranking post in the Imperial army. It is during this time that Japan is in the midst of the greatest civil war Japan has known, the Boshin War, with Kusaka on the Satsuma-Chōshū (Imperial) side and Akizuki on the Bakufu (Shogunate) side. During one of the last battles, Kusaka finds Akizuki about to commit seppuku after having lost a leg to cannon fire. Upon being seen by one of his comrades aiding Akizuki, Kusaka kills the man, leaving his lover in shock. (Source: Wikipedia)