It was already afternoon when Miryu and Algren met up with Kenshin, on the way to see Minister Ohkubo. The three of them were walking from Tokyo to Kioisaka, where they had deemed to be a place of convinience to the busy man, who had since taken over Minister Omura's duties following the latter's public disgrace. All three of them spoke not a word, all three of them earning curious stares, a gaijin, a man with red hair and a cross-shaped scar, and a woman with sapphire eyes, all bearing katana as if they had no fear of the law. They could hear many whispers but they did not pay heed. What was more important, was Kenshin's decision to take part in any future skirmish against Shishio Makoto.
Suddenly, Miryu stopped dead in her tracks, and covered her mouth, as if halting a gasp of shock. "Miryu, what did you see?" Kenshin asked her, and immediately noticed the crowd before them, the foul stench of blood ripe in the air. Someone had been killed. Steeling his heart, Kenshin went forward to inspect the commotion, only to find a run-down carriage, and a man, covered in a white sheet.
"It is Ohkubo Toshimichi..." Miryu murmured, "We were too late..." While it was true that she was used to death, the suddenness of Ohkubo's passing was too great to comprehend at the moment. Even if she and Kenshin were not particularly close to him during the days of the Bakamatsu, he was still one of their former comrades, and even if he was a highly ranked superior, he still believed in their abilities. Algren took her hand in his, itself being a measure that brought great comfort to her.
Although immediately after, there were seven samurai from Ishikawa who claimed to be responsible for the assassination, Miryu, Kenshin and Algren knew that no samurai of mediocre capabilites were able to take down a speeding carriage unscathed, much less kill its passenger. The person who did it must have monumental prowess of speed and agility, and the ability to hide his Ki, for it was to be made known that Ohkubo Toshimichi was once a formidable warrior himself...
It came to only one conclusion: Minister Ohkubo was assassinated by one of Shishio Makoto's men, and there was nothing to refute this claim. But the question was: Who?
Algren knew who that person could be, and he had a huge hunch that it was the boy who had intruded upon his and Miryu's estate a few nights previous. Even Miryu said that he has tremendous potential... Could he be that assassin? If the boy was indeed Shishio's lackey, he must be a very important lackey to have been given such a monumental task... Seta Soujirou...
Miryu looked around, and felt a strong burst of Ki, but subtle enough that only she and Kenshin could sense it. If Algren had suspected that the boy was near them, he would be absolutely right, and she knew that no matter how hopeless her husband was in sensing Ki, his deductive skills were top-notch, and she trusted him, as she trusted Kenshin and her own self. Her hand instinctively found its way to the handle of her katana, and she was about to turn when she heard his voice, saying:
"If you do not wish to die as well, please do not defy Shishio-san, for your own sake,"
Kenshin looked around, but found no one. However, he could see the figure of a young boy moving from the area, the katana that he carried suddenly becoming so obvious to the rurouni's eyes. Miryu put her hand on his shoulder and told him that the boy was a dangerous one indeed, and that he was working for Shishio Makoto without a doubt.
"Come, we have to get back to Tokyo," Miryu said to the two men. "Kawaji would want to see us nonetheless."
While it was true that Miryu had little to do with the political arena, she was certainly not one who was ignorant about its comings and goings. Being the Emperor's former bodyguard had granted her unprecedented freedom in and out of the Imperial Palace, and even throughout Japan if she wished it be. She followed every move of every politician, and while she was content that the highest ranked of the Ishin-Ishishi like Yamagata Aritomo, the late Katsumoto, and the recently dead Ohkubo still had the welfare of the country in their minds, she was often saddened by the corruption and deceit that those of lower ranks commited, particularly those who had their first taste of power.
Democracy was a new thing for Japan, where the people had always followed the orders of others. There were many rumors, whispers across the country that one day, their great nation too, would embrace democratic principles like many countries in the West. And Miryu knew that democracy was high on Ohkubo's agenda, and he was sorely disappointed on how slow his quest would take to complete.
It was already well into the evening when Kenshin, Miryu and Algren went to see Kawaji, the Police Chief, only to find Saito there as well. They were soon joined by another man, one Yamayoshi, the governor of the Fukushima Prefecture, who was the last person to see Minister Ohkubo.
"The one thing that worries me," said Yamayoshi, after elaborating on Ohkubo's last words, "was that he was usually so reserved, but he became so open and forthcoming... had he prior knowledge already that he was about to die?"
All four of them looked at one another, and did not know how to answer the man. As warriors, they were more in tune to death and bloodshed than any other. They knew when a man was about to die, whether it was by their hand, or the hands of others, but how and when, they could never tell. Nobody could.
"Two great men lost in the space of a year," Saito sighed, lighting up a cigarette as they exited the police headquarters. Despite fighting for the Shinsen-Gumi during the Bakamatsu, Saito Hajime had always a profound sense of respect towards both Katsumoto Moritsugu and Ohkubo Toshimichi. They had served solely for the people, and not for their own greed and power, unlike many others... "Japan will wander off course, and Shishio would be laughing all the way into the government."
Miryu looked at her "uncle" and said, "There will be a way to stop this madness, there has to be a way..." She looked at the setting sun on the horizon and said, "Ten years ago, once the sun set in Kyoto, it would rain blood without fail... I will not suffer my country being plunged into those dark times ever again."
Kenshin looked up and asked, "Will you wait for me here when night falls?" Miryu nodded, and smiled. There was no need for him to speak further, for he knew that she perfectly understood what he was about to do. He had made up his mind. He would stop this Shishio Makoto at his tracks once and for all, with Miryu by his side, as always, and he would find a way that would enable him to do so, without losing himself to Battousai, buried deep into his own psyche.
"Go to her," Miryu told him, knowing that he would want to say his farewells to the young Kamiya girl. "She would not forgive you if you left without a word." She knew that the girl had harbored strong feelings for her friend, it was so prominent that only a fool could have denied it, and Kenshin was no fool. He was just afraid, afraid that he might taint her with what he deemed as his own sins, what he deemed as his own wrongdoings. But she knew that he was truly afraid that Tomoe's fate would one day be hers, for he had truly loved Tomoe as well.
Kenshin looked at her, not surprised in any way. The two of them would always be able to read one another's minds, and he smiled. It was her way of saying: when everything is over, I want her as your wife, and no other. It was the same with Algren, of course, but that was a story that was different all together. "I will meet at your estate later tonight."
"Nathan, I want you to go with Saito," Miryu told Algren when they returned to their home, in the privacy of their room, kissing his temple before she started to pack her belongings. "That way, you will reach Kyoto faster, and you will be in less danger."
Algren scoffed, and held her hand, staying her from any further movement. "And why would you come to such a thought, Algren Battoryu?" he asked, placing emphasis on his last name that she had took as hers after they were married, "and I have a gun, what can they do to me?"
She rolled her eyes and said, "Before you are able to shoot anyone, you would already be dead, you pig-headed American," She removed all the jewelry on her body, and began to run through an assortment of many more to search for a few understated, yet extremely valuable pieces in case she and Kenshin would need the money.
Inwardly, Algren smiled. He knew how independent his wife was, but he also knew that she was just as stubborn as Kenshin was when she wanted to be. "Is that so?" he asked her, pulling her into a deep, heated kiss that he knew would drive her to be hungrier for more. But what he did was to gain another vehement glare from her, when they parted, gasping for air.
"Please, do not do this," Miryu begged him, slumping into his arms. It would be the first time in many, many years that she would be reunited with Kenshin, on a mission that only the two of them could complete, and the first time where she would be facing sudden death, without Algren by her side. "I will not be able to sleep, knowing that you are with me when Shishio clearly wants Kenshin and I dead. Nathan, you are the last person I want to see when something bad happens."
Algren took her hands in his, and kissed them lightly. "Nothing will happen, Miryu. We will meet each other in Kyoto, and we will take that scumbag down whether he likes it or not."
His words were comforting, and for him, she knew that she had to force a smile, even though he would catch that it was all a ruse. No one else knew how powerful Shishio Makoto actually was except from her, even if they had never crossed blades in all actuality. The day when she met him, all she felt was power, raw power, power that she never thought could exist in a man, or anyone for that matter. And everything about him, was fire. Placing a last silk obi into her pack, she kissed his brow, and said, "Kenshin is here, we should go now."
Saito was not surprised to see his pseudo-niece's husband when they had come with Kenshin. It was Kenshin that surprised him, actually. He had never thought that the former hitokiri would ever want to step foot into Kyoto ever again. "So, have you said your goodbyes to the Kamiya girl?" What he received from the rurouni, was only an amber-eyed glare, which he rather enjoyed seeing. "Sorry, slip of tongue... Well, you are stuck with me as long as fighting Shishio is concerned, Kawaji has put me in charge with the Kyoto police."
It was Miryu who chuckled. "No wonder the smug expression," she said in an undertone to her husband, and Saito paid no heed to it. The girl had always a mischevious tongue around him, ever since she knew that he was the sworn-brother of her mother. That, and she tried to kill him in many, many skirmishes ten years ago.
"If we leave now for Yokohama, we will be able to catch the next ship to Osaka," Saito added. Turning to Kenshin when the rurouni gave no response, he guessed it was because the shorter man had no money. "Don't worry, Miryu can spare you some, or the navy, for that matter."
"No, Miryu and I are going the Toukai way," Kenshin replied. "Shishio's men will appear where no one expects them to, and if we are on a ship, we may endanger the innocent there." Saito merely looked at him, and growled that if he still thought like a rurouni, he would fight him then and there, Miryu as well.
However, the both of them were adamant in their decision. "Saito, if you are lonely, then Nathan shall accompany you," she suggested with a wicked smile, knowing that he would just ignore her husband altogether. "I want him safe and sound when we get to Kyoto, as best you can manage."
Saito raised an eyebrow. "I can do more than that, I promise you, my darling niece," he told her. "Very well, it would take ordinary people ten days to reach Kyoto using the Toukai way, for the two of you, it would take only five. But be careful, Shishio's intelligence network is like a spider's web, and he will be watching your every move."
"We will be careful de gozaru yo," Kenshin added with a bow while Miryu went to Algren's side to give him a good-bye kiss which was a little more intimate than what he had expected it to be. But that could not be helped, for Algren was a Westerner, and knew little of the norms of the Japanese, at least, that was that Kenshin had thought.
"Take care," Algren told his wife, squeezing her into a hug before she and Kenshin disappeared into the night. "How long would it be until Shishio strikes them?" he asked Saito, who said that no one would ever know, for if his existence was a complete mystery during the Bakamatsu, if he was proclaimed to be so dangerous that he had to be shot and burnt, certainly he would attack Kenshin and Miryu the first chance he has.
However, Saito looked towards the direction of the Toukai way and added, "I would not worry about them, American. It seems to be like you need to be more fearful for your skin. Shishio's agents are nothing like the conscripts you faced last year."