Hi! This is my first fan fiction! I am really sorry for any mistakes you may find while reading the story. I am not an English native speaker. Thanks for reading this and please review! :D I hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: Anythig related to the anime or manga "Rurouni Kenshin" belongs to Nobuhiro Watsuki.

Makimachi Misao was planning her next strike

Makimachi Misao was planning her next strike. She needed money in order to get to Tokyo, and stealing seemed to be the easiest way to get it. As an Oniwaban member, she had managed to survive all by her own, thanks to her ninja skills and her determination to see, after years, Shinomori Aoshi once again.

It was noon already, and she was waiting for someone to appear. Someone, she could rob.

'This is pathetic' She thought as she sat against the wall of the cave she was hiding in. 'It is one of those days'.

By "one of those days" she meant days she wouldn't be able to steal a cent. She sat there, impatiently for some more minutes, until she saw someone.

'Finally!' She thought as she stood up and walked to the cave entrance, making sure she stayed out of sight. She saw a man, he looked about nineteen or twenty years old, he was carrying a sword and he looked…weak? 'Yeah! This will be an easy one!'

She started walking towards him, as silently as possible she jumped onto a branch tree and began to travel through the trees. She was a really agile woman, so she had no difficulty in doing this. Before she could notice, she saw herself on a tree, on top of the man she was about to rob.

"Show yourself" the man said, and Misao froze completely, she thought she was so silent, he was no ordinary man. "I said show yourself, or will I have to go get you?"

Nothing happened.

"Okay, you asked for it" he said, a smile on his face. With a hand on his sword, he jumped and cut the branch Misao was on. She quickly jumped to another branch, but this time, he was fast enough to cut the tree down. "Are you going to give me a hard time miss?"

She fell to the ground, letting a moan of pain escape her lips, and stood up. She looked up to him and met his cobalt eyes. He was taller than her and he was always smiling.

"Who are you?" Misao asked her hand on her head.

"There is no reason why I should reveal my identity" he answered smiling. Agh it was starting to annoy her. "May I ask what a girl like you is doing at this time of the day still awake?"

"There is no reason why I should answer that" she replied, and jumped onto the branch on top of her. "And I am not a girl! Now give me all your money!"

"Oh I see, so are you woman thief?" he asked, smile still on his face. "That's not something you see everyday"

"Give me your money or I will have to take it personally!" she shouted, she didn't know why, but this man was really annoying her.

"You can take it, I won't fight you" he said and held out a bag full of money on his hand, handing it to her.

"You are annoying you know?" she told him, taking the bag without letting her guard down.

"I've heard that before" he politely said and smiled. He sheathed his sword and started walking the opposite direction.

"Hey wait!" she ordered and threw the bag of money he had given her on his head. "Where are you heading to?"

"I am looking for someone" he told her, rubbing the place the bag full of money had hit him "Now, if you were so kind I would appreciate to be left alone"

"I am looking for someone too, I am on my way to Tokyo" she said "Shinomori Aoshi"

He quickly turned around and met her gaze.

"Do you know him?" she asked and picked up the bag of money from the floor.

"Never heard of him before" he lied, "But I am on my way to Tokyo as well, I wouldn't mind if you followed me to the next town"

"Great!" she jumped to the ground "And may I ask, who are you looking for?"

"None of your business" he answered, smiling. "I am Soujiro by the way"

"My name is Makimachi Misao, but you can call me Misao" she told him "Hm, how old are you?"

He was a little surprised by the question, "I am eighteen years old, I guess"

"You guess? How come you don't know your age?" she asked, annoyed

"I lost track of it, so how old are you?" he stopped walking and sat down next to a tree.

"I am sixteen, hey why are you sitting down? I thought we were walking to the next town" she asked him.

"We are not walking through the forest at one in the morning" he answered smiling "And I am really tired, if you don't mind, I would like to sleep"

"Fine! Go to bed you baby" she shouted and sat against the tree in front of him, but she quickly fell asleep.

Makimachi Misao was sixteen, but she looked much younger. She still did not have the body of a woman, and if she did, it was covered under her ninja outfit. Her eyes were sea green and her hair was black, always tied down in a braid. She was a short woman, but she was really courageous and was afraid of almost nothing. She had had a hard childhood, raised by the Oniwaban members, but one day she was left behind with and old man. Her sweetheart had always been Shinomori Aoshi, former leader of the Oniwaban group. Though, he was much older than her, she had always loved him. When she heard he was in Tokyo, she left without hesitation to look for him. It was her only wish, to be loved by Aoshi.

When she woke up, she saw herself sitting all alone against a tree. She quickly started remembering what had happened. She remembered the boy, or man, he looked quite young actually, and she remembered what he said about going with her to the closest town. She stood up and began looking for him, but then she realized she was really hungry and alone.

"Great, he took his money!" she whispered angry, a hand on her empty pocket "I knew it was a trick, I am not letting my guard down anymore!"

"You know it is not healthy, talking to yourself" a man told her, smile on his face.

"Shut up I wasn't talking to myself!" she screamed "where were you?"

Even though Soujiro was eighteen years old, his smile made him look much younger. Now that there was sunlight, Misao was able to see him. He was not ugly, he was actually pretty handsome. His eyes were cobalt blue and his hair was light brown. He was tall, really tall and he looked skinny and frail. She had underestimated him yesterday because of his looks, but this time she wasn't going to fall for it.

"Oh, I am sorry I left you alone" he told her "I went to look for food"

"Oh and did you have to take the money? My money?" she asked him, now she was standing in front of him.

"I am sorry, but I used it to buy bread" he showed her the bread and mushrooms he had bought.

"I don't like you" she told him and glared at him "where did you exactly buy the bread?"

"There was a market in the last town, I just went there and bought it" he answered and sat down "Are you eating something?"

"Of course I am! I am starving" she sat down in front of him and looked at his sword "Why are you carrying a sword?"

"Self defense" he answered taking a piece of bread and handing it to her. "I've been learning swordsmanship for ten years already"

"Ten years?!" she asked surprised, "but why exactly have you been learning swordsmanship?"

"I just find swordsmanship interesting" he answered taking a bite of his bread.

They sat there in the middle of the forest for a while, Misao was surprised by Soujiro's kindness, and she first thought he was annoying, but now she was enjoying his company, she didn't want to be alone in such long trip.

"How many miles to next town?" she stood up after their meal

"I am not sure, but it might take us 5 to 7 days to arrive" he calmly answered and stood up.

"5 TO 7 DAYS!?" she screamed, it was too long. 'How am I going to live with that smile of his for 7 more days?'

"Yep, so make yourself comfortable, it is a long trip" he grabbed his sword and started walking.

"Oh I hate you" she whispered loud enough for him to hear and began walking behind him.