Miryu followed Iizuka out while Kenshin took his katana in one hand, and Tomoe's hand in another before leaving with them. Her sapphire eyes turned amber when she saw a group of men dress in turquoise and sky-blue colored haori, wearing masks but were armed with katana. "They must be the Shinsen-Gumi" she said to herself, wondering which one was Okita, and which one was Saito.
"Miyabe plans to set the city ablaze" Iizuka said as they parted the crowds that were enjoying the theater performance on a high platform.
"And why does he want to do so?" Kenshin asked, looking back to check on Tomoe, who was lagging behind.
"He has broken all ties with the emperor and wants to overthrow him. Also, he has severed his relationship with Katsura"
"That will only lead to his own demise" Miryu said, "It is obvious that he does not know what he is doing"
"The worse thing possible is that this has probably been leaked to the Shinsen-Gumi" Iizuka continued. "Who knows what those blasted Miburo would do"
"They will hunt down every Ishin-Ishishi leader, and consume them like the pack of wolves they are" she added. "But, they are not so powerful, as their most important asset, the Iron Wolf-Maiden of Mibu was dead long before the Ishin-Ishishi went against the Bakufu openly"
"I'd doubt it, Wolf-maiden or no, this battle will determine the rise and fall of the Shinsen-Gumi" Kenshin said, as their pace quickened. He saw Miryu taking one of her whips out of her obi, letting it trail along as they moved closer towards the Ikeda House. Heaven knows if the members of the Shinsen-Gumi would already be there…
Alas, the battle had already started when they arrived in the Ikeda House. Iizuka had left them to find more reinforcements, thus they were alone to fend for themselves, and Tomoe, make that only Tomoe. Miryu unsheathed her katana that was once the possession of her mother's, letting the bell on the tsuba sound in the midst of confusion.
"Did you hear that?" she could hear the Shinsen-Gumi members in front of them speak among themselves. "It is the bell on Ryumiko's katana! There's no doubt about it!"
"Yes, but who is using it?" asked another.
"I am!" Miryu exclaimed before slashing her mother's brothers in arms with the sword she carried with pride among their ranks. "Tsubasa Battouryu, here in your service" One by one, she killed them without mercy, yet her eyes still retained their deep, sapphire hue. A sign that she still had control over her emotions, a sign that told her other victims that she was conscious about the fact that she was about to claim their lives.
Her whips soon replaced her katana, which blows were so powerful that they broke the walls that surrounded them, and the bones of her enemies. Yes, it was the time for Battouryu to shine with the aid of the blood that the Shinsen-Gumi has shed. The time when Tsubasa Battouryu proved her worth as a woman and as a mighty warrior on her own right.
But, it was Battousai's turn as well. Soon, they ran into an alley were they were confronted by more members of the Shinsen-Gumi. Miryu stood at Tomoe's side, ready to defend her and to take a short rest as Kenshin fought the fools in front of them, slashing and stabbing them, revealing the strength and power of the Hiten-Mitsurugi. Still, more came where the others had fallen.
"Fools, you are out of my way!" he shouted, "Move out!"
"Move north!" said one of them, "My name is Heibo Shinosuke!"
"Like hell I care!" Kenshin replied as he charged to kill them. On the other hand, Miryu was also kept busy as wave after wave of Shinsen-Gumi members came to attack them. Then, out of the blue, a woman in the same stature as Miryu, albeit with emerald eyes and sun-gold hair appeared before them.
"Who are you?" Miryu asked the woman as she executed precise, deadly attacks against the men who were charging towards them. "Why are you helping us?"
"Satsuma Ishin-Ishishi" the woman replied, "Nagasaki Hiryuko"
Then, it struck Kenshin and Miryu. They knew her, the gaijin hitokiri working for the Satsuma clan. Yes, they saw her talking to Hiko Seijurou one fine day years ago. The woman who had mastered the techniques of Shikuchi and a style similar to the Hiten-Mitsurugi. What she and their Shishou had in common, they did not know, but what they wanted to do was to thank her for coming to their aid.
"Battouryu, behind you!" Hiryuko exclaimed as a tall, lank man sought to attack her from the back, but she had used her own katana to deflect the attack, and plunged it into his neck.
"Who was that woman?" Tomoe asked Miryu when no more members of the Shinsen-Gumi hunted them.
"She is Nagasaki Hiryuko" Miryu answered. "A hitokiri like Kenshin and I, but she does not hide in the shadows. She is a mobile attacker, and from what I heard, the main target of the Shinsen-Gumi for years"
"If she's here, that would mean that the Satsuma clan is involved as well" Kenshin added, leading the two women to the closest route to the Choushu headquarters. But, they had to move behind a clearing where the surviving members of the Shinsen-Gumi were gathered.
Saito heard the bell on Miryu's katana and looked up. Then, the scent of Tomoe's perfume wafted into his nostrils with the scent of spilt blood by its side.
"Saito-san, what is it?" Okita asked him.
"Strangely, I heard the sounds of Ryumiko's bell and the smell of the white plum"
"White plum in summer?" Okita asked him with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes, I think I may be going crazy" he replied, "but I cannot doubt that what I heard was indeed the bell that the ceramics artist gave Ryumiko"
"I heard it too" Kondo said, "Could it be that that daughter of Ryumiko is among the Ishin-Ishishi?"
"It is what Reiji-sama is afraid about" Okita told the commander of the Shinsen-Gumi, "and I think that the worst of his fears is true"