Shinomori Aoshi was an enigma as much as Battousai and Battouryu had been, and it was not because that they were prodigies in their own rights. This man was cold and passionless, ruthless and wrathful when angered; he is also precise and calculative. Miryu had faced him in combat when she had tried to infiltrate Edo Castle, and she had called off her own mission after dealing him but a few blows. There was something within him that made her still her katana, and vice versa, something that none of them could ever fathom at that time. Looking back, Miryu had never met anyone like him, and until now, she realized where she and the Okashira of the Oniwabanshuu were similar: They would die to protect all those that they held dear.

"Ao-sama, she will be upset if you came home so dilapidated," said one of his agents, who hid himself in a mask… His name was… Hann'ya, Miryu guessed, and she had not known who this woman was, that could hold Shinomori from attacking her further. Now, she knew that there would be a high possibility that it was Misao. What was her relationship with Shinomori? Had he shown her much love and care? If he loved her, why did he leave so willingly? And more importantly, where was Shinomori, currently?

As she and Kenshin ran away from the girl, they came across a wide chasm. There was no other way to cross it, unless they jumped. However, Kenshin had a brighter idea, there was a tree which had branches that stretched across the gorge, cutting the distance in half. Nodding to him, Miryu leapt onto said branch and successfully crossed it, leaving Kenshin, who did the deed in record time. It was only when the two of them were across safely that Misao returned to their sights.

"The game of tag is over de gozaran," Kenshin said to the girl sternly, hoping that she would at least see some sense in her actions. Miryu said nothing, her eyes of sapphire still fixed upon the young kunoichi. Misao had plenty of potential, that could not be denied, and given a few more years of training, there would be absolutely no doubt that she would be a formidable warrior. "Go home de gozaru yo…" Kenshin added, but Miryu put her hand up, and told him not to speak further. Misao obviously had something to say, and she would have her speak her mind first.

The girl acted to Miryu's prediction, and started to shout, "I am not done chasing the both of you yet!" She still had not seen the gorge, and when she did, she came into an utter halt. How did they get across? She asked herself, but no answer came. In her persistence, she had not seen the branch that Kenshin and Miryu had used, seeing only the former hitokiri at the other side. With a furrow of her brow, she whipped out her kunai in an attempt to at least stop them from progressing further, but the both of them whipped out their katana, causing the kunai to fall into the chasm, just with the wind they had caused by their movements, leaving Misao astounded.

"Please, Misao, try to see reason!" Miryu pleaded. "We do not know the circumstances in which Shinomori and your guardian had raised you in, but the activities of the Oniwabanshuu will have endangered your life… That is why Shinomori left you in Kyoto with your guardian." Was a cold-blooded man like Aoshi capable of love, to care for a child like Misao? What was she thinking about; she was once a cold-blooded killer herself… "Give up, child, you will never find what you will seek…"

It seemed that Miryu's words had a great effect on the girl. In fact, it made her more desperate, and more intent on getting across. "How can you say that? How can you ask me to forget looking for the most important person in my life?" Miryu was a woman as well; could she not see through her own point of view? She did not care any longer. She knew that the two of them had information on Aoshi, and she would pursue them to the ends of the earth. Gathering her resolve, she did not care if she would fall into the chasm, for if she had just remained there, she would never get to wherever she wanted to be.

"Misao, don't try it!" she could hear Miryu's voice, but it was unheeded. With the most powerful leap she could muster, Misao found herself coming closer and closer to her targets, but started to descend midway. Without any hesitation, Kenshin and Miryu went for her, holding her on either side just as they had done the night previous. When their feet landed on solid rock, they jumped again, returning themselves to the other side of the chasm. "She is unconscious," Miryu commented with a smile. "We must wait until she wakes up…"

Kenshin agreed, and that was what they had did for the next few moments. "Had she always been like this?" he asked Miryu, who sighed and gave him a small nod as a reply. Miryu told him that she had mistaken the Emperor's summer retreat as Edo Castle, thinking that she would find Shinomori and his companions there.

Miryu could only smile at the girl. "She has so much spirit and fire," she told Kenshin. "Yet, she is so innocent, so free with her love… Shinomori Aoshi is a man of cold steel, and yet, she loves him unconditionally… For that alone, we cannot judge Shinomori with what experiences we have with him… She complicates matters, is that not what you are thinking, Kenshin?" They said that great minds think alike, and she knew that while she and Kenshin had their own little disagreements, they would always agree on certain issues.

Kenshin would have said something, but he was interrupted by Misao's awakening. "Why are you still here?" she asked them, and Miryu did not stop herself from giggling.

"Sessha must tell you that we might be attacked by unknown people on the way to Kyoto," Kenshin told Misao, "That is why we cannot allow anyone to travel with us, however, if you would pretend that we are strangers, and stay back a little, perhaps we would enjoy your company from afar de gozaru yo."

Immediately, Misao's expression brightened, and for the next few hours, they walked in silence.

Perhaps "silence" was not a word in Misao's dictionary, for she had started to talk non-stop sometime near afternoon. "Ao-sama is the best!" she exclaimed. "He was only 15 when he was made the Okashira, and he appears completely emotionless, even before those closest to him… Actually, he cares about all of us, and he would do anything to protect us…"

"Who are you?" Shinomori Aoshi asked Miryu just after she had pulled her katana out of the chest cavity of one of the door-guards. His eyes, they were of ice and lightning, a pale blue rimmed with green, and with every step he took towards her, all she could see was resolve and power. She did not need to answer her question, though. "Blue eyes like sapphires, the word 'Ryu' on your neck… You are Tsubasa Battouryu…"

Miryu did not know who he was, but judging from his kodachi, she knew that he was an onmitsu, and a very skilled one at that… He was tall and well-muscled, at the top of his form, and from his gait, she knew that he was a leader. "Perhaps I should ask you that question… But never have I heard that ninja protected Edo Castle." More time… that was what her comrades needed to get the information they needed, and hopefully, there were no other ninja like this man was.

With a bow, courteous and quick, the ninja told her, "I am Shinomori Aoshi of the Oniwabanshuu, and I suggest that you and your Ishin dogs leave before my men and I are forced to kill you." She was a woman after all, and he would never attack a woman. However, Miryu left no inclination that she was going to leave.

"Indeed, if you are here to kill them, then I am here to protect them. Draw your weapons, Shinomori, we shall see who has the victory here," Miryu replied, an amber light engulfing her sapphire eyes, the bell on her katana ringing clearly as she stood in a battou-jutsu stance.

Miryu could not remember how many times their weapons had clashed, but she did remember how short their duel was, because three of the six men sent to steal a certain document emerged from the designated archive, and she left with them just after Hann'ya stopped Shinomori from attacking further.

However, her silent thoughts were interrupted by a sound that came from behind her, Misao and Kenshin, and the former stopped her chatter with no need of instruction. "Misao-dono, stay back de gozaru yo," Kenshin warned Misao while Miryu motioned that she would inspect where the sound came from, and Kenshin joined her soon after.

"Hey, don't leave me alone here, I can help!" Misao insisted, coming to a clearing, where a man lay slumped against a tree. He was holding a small boy in his arms, his body crusted with blood, which Miryu had judged to be his own. There were many cuts all over that man's body, particularly on his back, where to slashes were particularly deep, as if made by a strange weapon which she had never seen before. But it did not matter, the man was dying, and the child he held, unconscious.

With great difficulty, the man said, "Please… help us…" He coughed blood, and started to look at the three of them. " Eiji… My village… Shishio…" With that, he died. They guessed that the boy in his arms was Eiji.

Kenshin looked at Miryu, whose expression had changed with the speed of light. "Miryu, are you alright?" he asked, and thankfully, she nodded.

"I can sense him…" she told him. "I can sense the fire… I will never forget that…" Her encounter with Shishio ran through her mind again and again as Kenshin and Misao buried the man, and she just stood at the edge of the clearing, looking at the village. She could sense not only the presence of that deranged sociopath, but also the misery and the fear surrounding that village, and she knew that there was a high possibility that Shishio would be there. He had to be there… she was not afraid of him, she was never afraid, but there was still something about him that stirs a great unrest in her heart. His kiss, although fleeting, had been a haunting shadow in her nightmares, and she wanted to escape it.

"Miryu-san?" Misao asked, placing her hand on the older woman's shoulder. "What's the matter? Who is this Shishio?"

Miryu looked at Misao and said, "Shishio Makoto is a man of malice and great power, he wishes to take over Japan, and burn the government to the ground so he can be our new leader…" It was an outcome that she would fight against until her death. A man like him would never be a fit ruler… "He is the man Kenshin and I are tasked to destroy, and he is the man who wants us dead. That is why, Misao, we refused to take you with us in the first place… But it matters not now, we are already in his grasp, and now, we must fight to save this village as well…"

They were about to leave, with the child in Kenshin's arms until Eiji woke up. "Who are you?" he asked them, but before he could answer, he saw a mound not far away from them, where a notched katana stood erect as a marker. That katana had been his brother's…

He screamed.