Tomoe went into the room shared by the child-prodigy hitokiri teammates and started to sweep the floor. She did not notice Kenshin there, and vice versa. He was looking out at the window, and saw Miryu walking into the headquarters with a small jar of Sake. As he read the words on the bottle, he knew that it was their Shishou's favorite kind of Sake. His memories raced to the time when they were training with Hiko Seijurou, the times when Hiko actually loosened up and brought them to secret waterfalls and beautiful rivers hidden in the mountain where he lived in. How is Shishou faring now? He asked himself. His flashbacks were then interrupted…
"I'm here to clean the room; can you please leave for a while?" Tomoe asked him in a cold, soft voice.
"I did not ask you to do so" he replied in the same manner. Why does she always have this face, why can't she show expression once in a while?
"Okami asked to me to do so" she answered, and continued her task. Miryu saw the two of them in the room again, and decided not to enter. Although she could feel Tomoe's hatred for them, she knew that there was a hidden spark between her and Kenshin. Some spark that would end as… I'd laugh myself to death if that happens, she thought, and went into the kitchen to help Okami.
Now, back to Kenshin and Tomoe, both of whom felt that they did not care less about each other. The former noticed a white notebook on the floor, and picked it up. He'd come very close to reading its contents, if Tomoe did not stop him.
"Please, do not read my diary" she said, and tucked it into her Obi.
Who wants to, anyway? He asked in her mind. She has really settled in, then. Still, he could not stand the awkward silence between the two of them, and stormed out of the room. He met Iizuka there, who increased his anger by saying, "Why the long face? Don't tell me, you had another fight with Tomoe"
Immediately, the amber eyes of Kenshin's surfaced, who raised his katana with a thumb. It was enough to frighten the man standing before him. Miryu then threw a dagger in the direction of Iizuka, severing a few strands of his hair.
"Iizuka, what do you want?" she asked, with a face that threatened him not to ask any stupid questions, or the next dagger would not miss his eyes. The man only gave Kenshin a black envelope and went off.
"Tsubasa Hanako?" Kenshin asked Miryu when he read the contents of the envelope. "Do you know her?"
"I don't" she answered. "Says here that she's the wife of Shikegura Jubeh, a high-ranking official in her own right"
That night, blood was to be spilled in the streets of Kyoto again. The blood of the supporters of the Bakafu. Kenshin and Miryu did not return only until after midnight, Tomoe watched them enter, and saw the heavy bloodstains of their clothes. Mere children given the power to wield swords, I should've known, she said to herself. Still, children as they are, they are skilled in their art, excelling those who took scores of years in training, only to be defeated by them. If I do not stop them, the bloodshed will not stop… She went downstairs and greeted them, "Do the two of you wish to continue killing like this?" she asked.
No answer came, but Miryu's eyes were now in a shade of amber that suffocated anyone who looked upon with hatred. Tsubasa Hanako, as cowardly as she was, immediately recognized her, and called her a "child born of politics, lust and slavery". The latter was lucky that it was Kenshin who delivered the death-blow, and not Miryu, or she would've died a slow, extremely painful death, and the whole city would know about Miryu's identity thanks to her abuses.