Kenshin did not know how long he had slept, but what he did know was that he was kicked awake by Hiko Seijurou XIII, with Miryu standing beside Algren, who seemed to have made his way to the mountain. "Shishou?" he asked quizzically, astounded that Hiko had recovered so quickly. However, he really was using a sakabattou, it really should have not been a problem with Hiko, or was it? He did not have time for rhetorical questions, and in an unexpected move, he dashed towards Hiko in all happiness and relief that he had in him.

If only Hiko returned his enthusiasm. Side-stepping to the left, the other man successfully evaded him, leaving Kenshin to knock the shelf against the wall, mumbling "Oroooo" until Miryu interrupted them by clearing her throat.

"I do not take lightly to being hugged by men," Hiko warned Kenshin. "Never. Do. It. Again."

If looks could kill, Algren was sure that Kenshin was already minced meat for Hiko's afternoon lunch. Unperturbed, Kenshin looked at Hiko with more than just relief and said, "At least the medicine worked…" This made Miryu break into a bout of uncontrollable laughter while Hiko took up the packet of the supposed "medicine".

With a raised eyebrow, Hiko said, "This was a placebo, baka-deshi." Why the hell did the honorable Kami ever thought to bless me with such a baka for an apprentice? Hiko cursed inwardly, while Miryu explained to Algren that Kenshin had unwittingly ingested a laughing mushroom out of hunger, and thought that his death was nigh, endlessly pleading to Hiko and Miryu to save him before he died out of laughing too much. "I simply mixed up anything to make you think that you had some sort of medicine."

"You seem to have a very… interesting childhood, Kenshin," Algren added, while Hiko picked up Kenshin's sakabattou to inspect it. Of course, Karma was a fair thing, and he was sure that one day, Kenshin would have the chance to spill everything on Miryu as well, judging by Kenshin's look of vengeance towards Miryu, who returned a similar glare.

"As I was saying, I did not raise the two of you in the principles of the Hiten-Mitsurugi Ryuu just to have you kill each other," Hiko chided the both of them… Nearly approaching their thirties and still, they were acting like children. "The secret of my… survival of the ordeal was in the sakabattou," he proclaimed, indicating at the handle of the weapon. "Look here, this rivet protrudes so it would shake just enough whether it is drawn enough, absorbing the power of the Amakakeru-Ryu-No-Hirameki, and is responsive to the intentions of its bearer. A very good sword indeed…" Kenshin smiled, and remembered Shakku's last words to him. This is not my finest work of art yet, come back when this one is broken, I shall give you another one. "At least, my genius was not wasted on you after all," Hiko added proudly. "Now, be gone with you. All three of you have more important things to do than just sitting here."

It was already afternoon when Kenshin, Algren and Miryu started to leave Hiko's mountain abode. "Shishou, thank you, for everything," Kenshin said, bowing to Hiko in reverence. No matter how much they apparently disliked one another, there was nothing to deny that Miryu and Kenshin respected Hiko to a level of almost worshipping him, and that his teachings were the greatest influence in the way they had lived their lives.

Hiko smiled at his words, an occasion of utmost rarity. "Wait, this cloak, it is for you," Hiko told Kenshin. "As I said, Miryu is of the Ryujou Line, thus unable to succeed me as the Fourteenth Master of the Hiten-Mitsurugi Ryuu, but you have also completed your training. It is rightfully yours."

Kenshin looked at the cloak and imagined himself wearing it. Flinching, he rejected the offer. "I do not think it would suit Sessha very well, Shishou," he mumbled after the image flashed out of his mind. "Even though I have learnt the ougi, I only desire to inherit the principles of the Hiten-Mitsurugi Ryuu, not the Ryuu itself. Forgive me…"

"Three hundred years have bearers of the ougi bore this cloak… It is outright selfish of you, Kenshin," Hiko replied. However, he knew that this would happen. They were in a new age, and the Hiten-Mitsurugi Ryuu would be consumed by it. Even if the early years of the Meiji era still needed swordsmen, the same could not be said for the future. In a huff, he replaced the cloak upon his shoulders, and turned towards his house to have another round of Sake before going back to his ceramics.

But, unluckily for him, Miryu and Kenshin seemed to have another request. "Shishou, before we leave, can you please take care of those at the Aoiya for us?" Miryu asked, her voice almost pleading. She could put Algren in charge of the situation, but there was no telling what Shishio would have in store for them… There was no response from Hiko, and she was about to press further, but in the end, Hiko sighed.

"Remember that I did not train the both of you just to bring you misery," he told them sternly. "Just go and defeat Shishio Makoto, don't worry about it too much."

Smiling, the two of them thanked Hiko and went on their way back into the city with Algren.

In the police headquarters of Kyoto city, Graham was standing next to Saito in his office, with the local police chief, a rather portly man with a small, triangular-shaped beard. "They should have been here by now," the Englishman said, looking at his pocket-watch. Just a few hours ago, Algren had left for Hiko's place to pick up Miryu and Kenshin, where they would get on a carriage from the nearest police station to get to the headquarters.

And speaking of the devil, the sounds of the neighing of horses could be heard, and a carriage was stopped just outside of Saito's window. "Ah, there they are!" the police chief in elation. He had never seen Battousai and Battouryu before, but like the countless people in Japan, he had heard of how powerful the two of them were. Along with Battouryu's husband who was formerly hired to train the Japanese army, they would make an invincible team indeed.

Battousai stepped down the carriage first, with his flame-red hair shining like real fire underneath the sun's rays, followed by Battouryu, who was a vision of beauty with her height and her leather suit… Saito sensed something, the disparity of power, so obvious to those who knew the both Kenshin and Miryu was gone. Something had happened, and it made Kenshin evidently more powerful. At least, they would have actual leverage against Shishio, or at least, it was what he had hoped for. "Look at the three of you, riding a carriage on a weekday afternoon like those rich dogs," Saito taunted with a smirk, earning similar expressions in return.

"A fire…" Miryu murmured, slowly digesting the amount of information that Algren, Graham and Saito had for them. "Just like Miyabe before the Ikeda-ya Affair…" One of the Ishin-Ishishi patriots had once proposed that they burnted Kyoto city down, and move the Emperor to Edo for safety in an ultimate show of violence, but that idea was quickly silenced, for no other leader of the resistance wished to involve innocent deaths. It would make them more unpopular than they already were.

Looking at the multitude of maps sprawled upon the circular table before them, Saito said, "The one you got arrested, Chou of the Juppon Gatana revealed this to us, and just this morning, we arrested another guy who confirmed it. It would happen at 11:59 tonight."

It was strange… somehow. Merely burning the entire city down would not be enough to cause confusion and violence at all. There had to be something else… "They must have something else up their sleeves," Algren said, leaning against the table. Maps were useless to him, because he could not read in Japanese at all, despite his fluency in speaking the language. It was too complicated for him to learn, so he did not bother. However, the geography of the country was not lost to him…

"The Great Kyoto Fire, indeed," Graham said. He was there, because he had an usual amount of news from the underworld, which awed even Saito. "However, it does not equate with the foreign weapon Shishio bought from Shanghai…" There was also another possibility. Small fries like Chou and the other informant could not have been notified of further details of Shishio's plans, with his distrusting nature. "There must be some other place…"

Then, it hit Kenshin. "Osaka…" he said, pointing at the map. "The fire would be modeled after the Ikeda-ya Affair de gozaran… Since Shishio would be taking over the country out of vengeance, he would turn this into a game as well."

Catching onto his train of thought, Miryu said, "Tokugawa Yoshinobu tried to deceive his enemies by fleeing from Osaka to Edo, and the Ishin-Ishishi won the battle of Toba-Fushimi. Shishio would use this, and turn history around. He would attack Tokyo from Osaka… The weapon that Graham told us about could be a warship!"

"So, the true target is Tokyo, the seat of the government," Algren mused. With the fires in Kyoto, Shishio would shift the attention of the police and some portion of the military to Kyoto from Tokyo itself… An ingenious plan indeed… "But who did he buy that warship from?"

This was a question that even Graham could not answer. "I only know that it was from one of the greatest triad chains," the Englishman replied. "Even then, it took much digging to get that out."

The origins of the ship had to wait, as there were more important things to do. Kenshin dashed towards the door, and found Sanosuke standing before him, with a ready grin upon his face. "Leaving me behind again?" he asked, punching Kenshin in the face and catching him. "Not this time, pal." Smiling, Kenshin looked at his young friend and nodded. Sanosuke may not have their combined experience, but there would be a time when the youth would be able to prove his worth. "I've got a lot to tell you while we run…"

It was then when Saito interrupted Sanosuke, like countless times before. "Run?" he asked, "We're taking a carriage, ahou."

Before long, Miryu, Kenshin, Algren and Graham were in a four-horse carriage with Saito, while Sanosuke was positioned on the roof due to lack of space, or at least, Saito deemed it to be. "Do not worry about the letter that you sent out," the policeman said to them, "But what was it about?"

"Even if the police is there to combat 500 of Shishio's thugs, there would still be a possibility of 500 fires starting de gozaru yo," Kenshin replied. "We have recruited the aid of the Oniwabanshuu in Kyoto to help as well."

Saito nodded. Although the onmistsu organization that was the Oniwabanshuu was almost defunct in the Meiji era, there would still be some use to them, he reasoned. "I telegraphed the police in Osaka," he continued, "However, there is still little chance that we would be able to reach Osaka by midnight, and find that ship."

"Heh, Tokyo won't be as weak as to be unable to defend against a ship, right?" Sanosuke asked, peering into a window. Without a word's notice, Saito thrust his katana through the roof of the carriage, as if trying to kill Sanosuke. Thankfully, he missed.

"No," Algren replied, his ocean-hued eyes looking outside. "Tokyo is weaker than anything. The presence of a foreign ship would utterly throw the government into chaos. Sanosuke, the goal is not to destroy Tokyo itself, but to confuse the government."

All eyes turned to Miryu, who was more familiar to the inner workings of the government that they were. "Nathan is right. Tokyo has no strength to suppress such a threat," she said, with a sigh. "Once the central government falls, so will the entire country, and we will once again be plunged into a state of lawlessness while the politicians start to run around like scattered cattle without their herder… It would be worse than the Bakumatsu, and would take even more time to recover."

Soon, night came upon them, and they began to anticipate Shishio's next move. "Shishio deliberately followed Miryu and Sessha's footsteps," he reasoned, "And in those days, we would hide in plain sight, and strike when the victims did not expect it…"

Graham knew where Kenshin was coming from. "You mean that Shishio would conceal the ship, and anchor it in the open?" he asked, earning a nod from Kenshin. It was already 11.40, looking at his pocket-watch. Looking out the way, the coastline was already visible, and before long, they were in the port.

As it was already midnight, there was not a ship that was moving at all, but one. "That one, with the blowing steam!" Kenshin shouted, pointed at a rather rickety-looking ship as they got out of the carriage.

Shishio looked through his telescope at found Kenshin and Miryu standing next to Saito, Algren and Graham as well as Sanosuke. "Well, they have finally arrived," he mused to himself, whilst wondering who the other two were. He had never seen them before, not that it mattered.

"You are in luck, Shishio," Hiryuko said in her dulcet voice. "Nathan Algren, your rival for Miryu, is here… But who are the short one and the youth?"

It was a question that Houji answered, always laden with information that his leaders needed. "The other gaijin is Simon Graham, the middleman between the British forces and the Choushu-han during the Bakumatsu, and the young man is Sagara Sanosuke, a famous street-fighter from Tokyo."

"Street-fighter, eh?" Shishio asked. "So, he is basically cannon fodder…"

A small voice interrupted their conversation. "Shishio-san, shall we continue what happened at Shingetsu village?" Soujirou asked, eager to fight Kenshin and Miryu once again. To his dismay, Hiryuko said that there would not be enough time for a duel to the death at all.

"I think that its time to show ourselves," Shishio said, dispelling the boy's dissatisfaction. "Houji, break off the cover…"

Miryu watched in disbelief as what seemed to be Shishio's ship exploded, revealing a massive steel ship in its place. It was a warship alright, armed with countless guns and cannons. "Graham, how many guns did your Shanghai friends mentioned this ship has?" she asked Graham.

"Well, quite a few, I would guess," the Englishman replied, before stopping his gaze at what seemed to be the "crown jewel" of said ship. It was an Armstrong cannon… "Not good… not good at all…"