"Welcome, Himura Battousai, Saito Hajime, Algren Battouryu and Nathan Algren," Seta Soujirou greeted the four warriors who were facing him, with stern expressions on their faces. Truth be told, Saito was rather surprised that Shishio Makoto would employ such a young boy in his service. However, it could not be denied that he could sense a strong flare of Ki from the boy, and even the American was agitated by his presence... perhaps Miryu's husband was not that big of a bumbling idiot, after all.

Kenshin was the first to speak. "Saito, be careful de gozaru yo," he told Saito, "He is the one who killed Ohkubo de gozaran," There was no mistake about it, and even Miryu had confirmed of his skills, although still they remained hidden. This boy, he was an enigma. Even until now, he could not discover what his motives were, and why was he serving under Shishio. And that smile... it seemed to be that it is the only thing that he knew how to do, apart from being a killer, of course.

Soujirou heard Kenshin's words and immediately defended himself. "Maa, maa, Himura-san, I am just a guide!" he replied, showing Kenshin his empty hands. "See, I am not even armed!" Miryu rolled her eyes, and she knew that the child's feigned innocence would be anything but true. After several seconds, his sheepish laughter faded, and his smile resumed. "Please, come in, Shishio-san is anxiously waiting for your arrival."

Thus, they followed Soujirou into the manor, which was at least twice as large as that of Miryu and Algren's, not that they cared about it. Once they arrived in the central room, all they could see was a man's shape, draped in what seems to be layers and layers of bandages, seated upon soft, velvet cushions, with a woman, voluptuous and beautiful beside him, serving him Sake. The man's eyes were red like the setting sun, his skin, as it could be seen surrounding his eyes and his lips, were charred black and red... He was tall, and as his fine bone structure revealed, he was an ultimately handsome man before his mutilation. Miryu looked at him, and she remembered fire, and the stench of burning human flesh... She remembered those eyes well, and the more she looked at the man the more she knew that her assumptions were true.

This man was Shishio Makoto. This was the man who killed, Iizuka, the traitor to the Choushu-han, this was the man who killed countless others in the name of the Ishin-Ishishi, and this was the man who tried to capture her in his grasp, this was the man who had been threatening to bring Japan into chaos and darkness once more, after ten years of peace. This was the man that Miryu knew, she and Kenshin had to destroy, no matter what the price was.

"Shishio Makoto?" Kenshin asked, and he received an affirmative answer. His voice, as Miryu had accurately described, was smooth and effective. There was an air of charisma around the man, and nothing more. One who wished to end an age of peace regardless of the cost, so that he could be the leader of a new order, or so he had thought. He looked at Miryu, who hid her face beneath the fringe of her hair, a hand tightly holding that of Algren's, and knew that he was not wrong in his assumption.

Saito, however, enjoyed the fact that Shishio had served himself on a silver platter for them. "Any of us could have leapt into the center of the room and killed him on the spot, or even Algren could have shot him..." he commented to Soujirou, regarding Shishio's seating arrangement. "Aren't you afraid for your master?"

Chuckling, Soujirou replied, "Well, the rest are not as dishonorable as you are, Saito-san... You would most certainly launch a surprise attack, wouldn't you?" Although Saito seemed like he did not care for Soujirou's remark, the policeman was actually shocked that the boy had seen through him, which was a very rare occurance. Well, this would be a rather tough predicament, Saito deemed. At least things were getting more interesting.

Simon Graham usually was rather happy looking at the sidelines when dangerous things was going on. Often, he was able to be at the right places at exactly the right times, which was why he was so useful as an informant. However, his ability to survive even the greatest of tragedies (not on his part, of course), was also due to that very same fact, but this time, curiousity and concern got the better of him. Looking at the children, he asked, "Hey, aren't you going in there?"

After hearing those words, Misao just looked at him and blinked. She had thought that grownups had more sense than to risk their necks so blindly like going into the enemy territory when they were clearly outnumbered. It was more than enough that Eiji wanted to go in there as well, still thinking that he had to avenge his family. "Are you out of your minds?" she asked them, "Do you know how many men Shishio would have in that place?"

"I don't care!" Eiji exclaimed. "My family is dead, and I have no reason to live any longer!" Graham looked at the boy and sighed. As an Englishman, born in a time of relative peace, and having lived a life of privilage, he would have deemed this boy to be stupid, and outright barbaric to seek another man's blood in return of the death of his family. But given his travels, given his many experiences, Graham knew that this child did no wrong in wanting vangeance, although it was not the correct train of thought. Not even the wisest of adults would think better, anyways.

The boy needed to find out on his own, that sometimes, vangeance was not all that he needed, and the only way to do that, was to enter the mouth of the lion. "Well now, we must find a way inside, musn't we?" he asked Eiji, who looked at him with shock. "I would not like the four of those so-called warriors have all the fun."

Reluctantly, Misao finally agreed, knowing that no good would come to this. Given her ninja training, she knew better than to traipse into enemy territory. "Alright, I'll come with you," she said, giving up. Really now, she would expect someone like Graham to have more sense... "At least someone has to make sure that you two don't get yourselves killed."

"Yes, yes, Misao-chan, do protect us," Graham replied with a twinkle in his eye. Ah, this little girl was just like Miryu when she was her age, he mused. It was just that Miryu had killed hundreds and hundreds of men in those days, and her soul was even more jaded than an old warrior's.

Inside, Kenshin had enough of the formalities that they were going through. Shishio even had the audacity to imply that he was slightly disappointed at Miryu's poor choice of a husband, when said husband was right in front of him. "Enough small talk de gozaru yo," he said, clenching his fist beside him. "Why have you taken over this place when you are targeting the entire country de gozaru ka?"

Shishio chuckled. It was the same laughter that made Miryu cringe ten years ago, and it was the same laughter that did the exact same thing to her now. "The hot springs, Battousai, the hot springs," he replied smoothly. "A man of my condition would benefit greatly from the waters of the hot springs, but I was afraid that others would see me without these bandages..."

The very thought of the amount of dead policemen, the bitterness of the villagers resulting from Shishio's tyranny, and the lives of Eiji's family fleeted into Kenshin's mind. It was because of the hot springs that Shishio had chosen to destroy this area so much that it no longer existed in the maps? That answer was enough to get him into a battle-stance, causing Shishio to laugh even further.

"My, my, the rumors are true, Battousai," Shishio snickered. "You are indeed a very serious man. You need to learn to take a joke."

Miryu neared Kenshin and whispered, "Do not let him get to you, Kenshin. We might fall into his trap if we are not careful enough." Although she had met their enemy only once before, that single encounter was more than enough for her to know that he was a dangerous man, that no word of his could be trusted. This was a man who could charm anyone and everyone into his bidding, into doing things that they would not consent to. "One sudden move, and all of us might be dead."

Catching the almost silent conversation between the two students of the Hiten-Mitsurugi Ryuu, Shishio said, "Miryu, if there is anything to be said, why not say it openly?" She stopped her whispering, but glared at him with sapphire eyes rimmed with amber, the very eyes that drew him to her in the first place, after watching her fight from afar during the days of the Bakamatsu. "I shall be honest with all of you, this place, it is an excellent stronghold for the Toukai region, that is why I chose to build my influence here. The hot springs are only an added advantage."

"So, with this base, you would seek to take revenge on those who gave you those bandages?" Algren asked. He was a specialist in strategy, and he knew, that the Toukai region was far enough to be detected by the government in Tokyo, yet, close enough to hound the politicians slowly, day in and day out. Japan had been his home only more than a year, but already he knew her as if he was a son born from her womb.

Shishio clicked his tongue. He had never expected for the gaijin to speak so fluently in Japanese. "Captain Nathan Algren, you were a man in the military like many of us in America, and we all want the same woman, I thought that we could be on the same page," he replied. "And to answer your question, no, I rather like to think that I would thank the men who gave me my bandages. They have taught me many things, like, 'if you trust, you will be betrayed' , 'you will die if you are careless'and more importantly, 'a good man is never far from a beautiful woman... er... women." To Miryu's distaste, he looked affectionately towards the woman beside him and her.

It was a good thing that her pseudo-uncle interrupted him, Miryu thought. It would not be long before she would irrationally try to kill him like Kenshin almost did just moments ago. "If that is all that you're doing, why don't you tone it down a little?" Saito asked. "I'm tired running all over Japan hunting you down."

"All of us survived the Bakamatsu, Captain Algren survived a Civil War. Why cant you understand?" Shishio asked them, with a tone of disappointment in his words. "We all thought that we fought for ideals of justice during the Bakumatsu, and all of us thought that we were right in our own ways, when it was really just an excuse to overthrow the government of the day to set up a new one, someone has to rise from the ashes to lead the new age."

"But that man is not you!" Miryu spat. "It will never be you!"

"Who, then, Miryu?" Shishio asked her. "That boy of yours on the throne whom you served for ten years? Or the musty old men that rule the country on his behalf? If you forgot, they were the ones who tried to kill me, and they failed!" By now, the amber in Miryu's eyes had totally replaced sapphire, and Shishio could see that she was angered beyond belief. "When my wounds were healed, I tried to come out again, but the Meiji age had already settled in and changes were made, to what end? Those who were granted minor offices thought that they had gained power after generations of servitude to the Samurai and to the Shogun, turning the government I had killed for into one that is weak and corrupt, how can you stand watching this? Look at our leaders now, they do not dare to set a single soldier against me in the fear of looking weak towards the Western powers."

Algren scoffed. "Believe me, those Western powers are actually more frightened of you than you are of them." The year before, the Americans had agree to send Algren over to train the Japanese army because Japan would open a new world of influence to their own country. If they succeeded, they would be hired to train more armies from more countries, and they would all buy American weapons... It was all the other way around.

"It doesn't matter now," Shishio shot back. "If it takes violence to solve this issue, than so be it."

However, it was a solution that Kenshin was not happy with. "And what about those who are living their lives in peace and freedom? They will be casualties in your pursuits de gozaran!"

"Whether if it was the Shogun, or even you, Shishio, they would not have a voice under either of you, even if Japan is a strong nation. In these times of the Meiji, the people know that they have the power, and they will be able to choose their own leaders to serve them," Miryu reasoned, like Kenshin, falling into a stance that seemed so natural to the both of them. "You cannot rob them of their voice and their rights to peace even if you seek your own justice."

Soujirou clapped at the battle of words. There was no doubt that this exhchange would result in a clash of katana. "What about you, Saito-san?" he asked Saito. "What do you think?"

Tipping some ash out of his cigarette on the tatami floor, Saito crossed his arms and leant against the wall. "I am not so fluent in pretty words like the two of them," he told Soujirou. "But, as things are going, I cannot help but realize that it is my fate to fight against Shishio."

"Really?" Shishio asked in return. "It really does not matter if we fought here or not. I had planned to do it in Kyoto, the city of flowers... But still, if it is a fight that you want, it will be a fight that you get." Thus, he tapped the floor with his hand lightly, and all of a sudden, a giant of a man leapt out, creating a hole. The man was rather inhumanly tall, and bore axe-blades in each hand.

"Senkaku, the ruler of Shingetsu will be your opponent!" the man roared, his eyes fixed on Kenshin and Miryu.