"It's getting late", said a young man named Kiyasato holding a lantern as he patrolled the streets of Kyoto with his seniors, an old man, Shigekura, and a middle-aged one, Ishiji. All of them were holding swords, all of them loyal to the Shogun. "Let's get back before those hitokiri…"
"Like those so-called hitokiri Battousai and Battouryu?" Ishiji asked, "Whether they exist or not, we'll crush their little rebellion soon enough"
As "predicted" by Kiyasato, they were being hunted down by the two hitokiri for their loyalty. Both hitokiri were of the same age, but the girl, Battouryu, with chestnut hair and gaijin foreign sapphire eyes laced with deep hues of amber was taller than the boy, namely Battousai, who had red hair, and violet eyes, which also amber. They were trained in the style of the Hiten-Mitsurugi, by the master of the style, Hiko Seijurou. The power and strength they'd learnt from him made them grow in the ranks of the Ishin-Ishishi, even though they were just hitokiri.
"So, I heard that you were getting married next month, you lucky dog" said Shigekura to Kiyasato. "Is she your childhood friend?"
Kiyasato smirked at the thought. "Thank you" he said, "but I feel guilty. I shouldn't be so lucky in these hard times"
They did not know that two pairs of amber eyes were following them intently in the shadows of the night. Battouryu looked at her accomplice, one who she saw as a brother, and whispered softly, "They talk as if they do not have a care, Kenshin. One of them is going to get married, too. Let's give them a quick and honorable death"
"You are right, Miryu, perhaps we should" said Battousai in return, "But now, we wait"
Now, Battousai and Battouryu aren't the names given to them at birth. They were Himura Kenshin, and Tsubasa Miryu respectively and just barely reached the humble age of fifteen. Young as they might be, they were considered to have come of age amongst the Samurai.
"Nonsense, Kiyasato" said Shigekura again. "In this world, everyone's trying to find a little happiness. If anything, if we make a new age in this work of ours, that's the form it should take"
Their targets now came to a stop when they heard Miryu's footsteps as she landed behind them after her descent from the rooftops above them, but they could not see her. It was Kenshin who made the first move.
"You must be Shigekura Jubeh" he said, "Though I bear you no grudge, and for the sake of the new era, I deliver Tenchu Heavenly justice"
All three of them were shocked, even more so when Miryu revealed herself and said, "This is a pleasant surprise, the famous Kyoto Soushidai and his bodyguards trapped like rats. It's too bad that all of you have to die right now!"
"Who are you?" Ishiji asked them, raising his sword.
"Choushu Ishin-Ishishi, Himura Battousai" Kenshin answered promptly, and killed Ishiji in a blink of the eye.
"Choushu Ishin-Ishishi, Tsubasa Battouryu" Miryu proclaimed, while producing a pair of whips. Then, she cracked the whips on Shigekura's body, using her Ki to amplify the attack. The result is a cry of absolute pain from the old man.
"Hiten-Mitsurugi Ryuu" Kenshin chanted, "Ryu-Sui-Sen-Zan!" With this attack, he killed Shigekura in an instant.
"Shigekura-san, Ishiji-san!" Kiyasato shouted as his companions died in the most painful way. In his shock, he did not know that Miryu had wrapped her whips around him, and flung him to Kenshin, who was waiting for the kill. I don't want to die, he thought, why should I die?
Thus, Kiyasato began exchanging blows with Kenshin, with Miryu using her whips to add further damage. At the last moment, the former was done and out in a pool of blood, his sword lightly grazed the skin on Kenshin's face.
It's the first time anyone could even touch me, he thought. He could still hear, Kiyasato murmuring about not dying, and marrying someone, but Miryu silenced him once and for all. The next moment later, a pair of inspectors came to them.
"Good work, the both of you" one of them said as the other scattered papers with the word "Tenchu" printed repeatedly on them. "Battouryu, you didn't do anything tonight, though"
"It was a bet, inspector" Miryu said, "and now I owe Kenshin a drink"
"Thanks" Kenshin said as they headed to their headquarters.
"Someone cut his face" muttered the other inspector, "can it be that his opponents were stronger?"