"Did you visit Shishou these few days?" Kenshin asked as he and Miryu drank Sake in a restaurant nearby the Choushu headquarters.
"No, of course not" Miryu said. Her birthday was approaching in a few days' time, a day which she hated to share with others. It was the day when her mother died as well. Growing up with Hiko, she visited Reiyama Ryumiko's grave every year. Still, he did not tell her what happened to Ryumiko that caused her death, nor who she was when she was still alive. The only things that she knew from him were the fact that her long gone father was the cause of it, and that Hiko loved her dearly. "Kenshin, the both of us know that Shishou is always moody and even more anti-social when that day draws nearer" she added.
Kenshin nodded. From past experiences, he knew that angering Hiko during the month close to Miryu's birthday would be suicide. There must be something that he knows, and we don't, he thought as he sipped the Sake. It tasted bad, and had the taste of blood to him. Miryu seemed to be enjoying it though. "Will you go to your mother's grave with Shishou again?" he asked her.
"I don't know, Kenshin" she answered. "Maybe we'll have another assignment that night. Anyways, you can't always cover for me, can't you?"
That was true. Miryu had fallen sick the same month due to a bad piece of eel she'd unwittingly stomached and, to add to her latest report to their leader, she made a bet with Kenshin that he could kill all three of their targets without her help a few nights ago.
"You seem to have a point there, Miryu" Kenshin smiled weakly. His violet eyes were gleaming instead of amber. Miryu's sapphire gaijin eyes were also there. You could've sworn to two of them were brother and sister if you looked at them from far. They were so alike in temperament, politeness and talent with the sword, alike in all things, except for height. Miryu was taller than the average woman, reaching the height of six feet while Kenshin was only 158 centimeters in height.
That night, she took her diary with her when she headed to her mother's grave, along with some matches, which she slipped into her obi. Along the way, she came across a stall which sold some flowers, at which she spotted a fresh bouquet of tiger lilies. She left a few shillings at the stall as payment, although knowing full well that the money would be taken by street thugs in the dead of the night.
"Oka-sama, I've brought a few flowers for you" she said after bowing before her mother's resting place. "You've probably been wondering where I have been these past months… I've joined the Choushu Ishin-Ishishi, and am working as a full-time shadow hitokiri. Shishou taught me the secret principle, Amakakeru-Ryu-No-Hirameki and Ku-Zu-Ryu-Sen, which I used to beat him. We used training swords, of course, as I cannot inherit the Hiten-Mitsurugi anyways. But, I did break a few of his ribs, though, but a doctor has seen him before I left" She knew talking to the head-stone was nothing compared to talking to someone alive, but she knew that her mother would be listening somehow. Then, she burnt her diary with the matches, in hope that Ryumiko would read it when it was sent to heaven by the smokes that came from the combustion of the book.
After she'd extinguished the flames, she sought to return to the headquarters, but was stopped by a voice which called, "Halt, who goes there?"