"The fireflies sure are beautiful tonight," Kenshin said as he walked up to Kaoru in the darkness of the night.

"Kenshin!" she said happily as she turned to face him. He slowly walked up to her along the roadway.

"Mr. Okubo was assassinated today," he said sadly.

She replied, "I know, it's all over the news. What are you going to do?"

Kenshin explained, "I can't just sit back and watch all of this happening while Shishio takes over Japan from the background. I have to leave." He leaned in and gave her a hug.

Completely stiff, Kaoru had so much she had to say to him as she leaned against his shoulder. She slowly reached up and took her hair ribbon out. "Kenshin," she whispered as she stood back up all the way, "take this with you so you have to return it. Don't get any blood on this one this time, alright?" She reached the back of his neck and tied the ribbon in a bow around his pony tail.

"Alright Miss Kaoru," he replied, "I promise I'll return it to your hands." He held her hand carefully and then released as he turned around and walked away into the night.

As Kenshin walked through different towns along the highway, people stared and talked about him as he walked by without saying anything.

"Look at that, he has a sword."

"In this day in age?"

"Doesn't he know it's illegal?"

"What's up with his hair, doesn't he know hair ribbons are for women?"

"Maybe he's a cross dressing samerai."

"Is there such a thing?"

Kenshin thought to himself, Miss Kaoru's hair ribbon might be drawing attention but so is my sword. If I wear it openly like this people will be too afriad to approach me and they'll be safe from harm in case one of Shishio's men attack as I walk to Kyoto.

"Hey, you there!" a police man shouted in front of him, "Cross dressing swordsman, how dare you carry around a sword in broad-daylight in front of me! Swords are completely illegal in this era I'll have you know!"

"Huh?" Kenshin said nervously. One hair ribbon is hardly cross-dressing, he thought.

"I'm going to have to arrest you!" he shouted.

"Ah!" Kenshin said as he started running away from the police officer all over the town into the night.

Kenshin camped out in the forest in the mountains. "It's been a while since I've camped out, that it has," he said to himself in front of the fire. He touched the ribbon Kaoru tied in his hair and thought about everyone he left behind, knowing that they were probably all upset with him by then. Just as it seemed he could finally relax, he heard a woman's scream in the distance. "Shishio's men could be anywhere," he said, "but bandits, that can't be ignored."

He walked up to the scene to see a young girl beating up several male bandits and taking the money they stole from someone else. "Well now," he said, "I expected bandits but this is an unusual sight. Who are you?"

"The ninja Misao Makimachi doesn't need to name herself for anyone!" she shouted at him.

"You just..." Kenshin said, "you know what, never mind that. I see you robbed these bandits blind, that you did. Unfortunately that is wrong. You should return the money that you stole to the proper owner."

"I stole this money fair and square!" she shouted at him, "You have no right to take it from me!" She stared at him and said, "Who are you, some kind of homeless bum? What's with the ribbon in your hair?"

Kenshin fell over and whined, "Everyone is picking on me today."

As Hiko yelled at Kenshin for being a stupid apprentice at his home in the forest, Misao and Yahiko blasted through the door and shouted, "Who do you think you're yelling at!" Kenshin nearly fell over.

Hiko asked, "Who are these people?"

"Miss Misao," he said in awe, "and Yahiko."

"Kenshin," Kaoru said nervously as she stepped forward into the doorway, "Kenshin, you're still wearing my ribbon." She examined him slowly and saw that it was still tied in the bow she put in his hair from days before.

Kenshin replied as he stood up, "Of course Miss Kaoru, you did give it to me to wear after all."

She smiled and said, "I thought you'd take it off and put it in your pocket or something. You must have looked so silly, walking around with it in your hair like that."

Hiko said, "I was beginning to wonder why you dressed so femininely, Kenshin."

"Huh," Kenshin replied as he looked over at Hiko. He walked over to Kaoru and reached up and took the ribbon out of his hair, "here, Miss Kaoru. I promised that I'd give it back to your own hands. Take it. It suits you more than it suits me, that it does." He handed her the ribbon.

"Kenshin," she whispered, "are you mad at me for coming for you all the way from Tokyo?"

"Partly," he confessed, "but the other part is happy you're here."