Miryu looked at her new charge with intrigue and interest. The way he carried himself, the way he held himself, it was as if he was a samurai of Japan. She had known from the books she had read, that there were no warrior castes in the West, and there were certainly no honor-bound societies there, yet this Captain Algren, was special… "Forgive me, Captain, but you seem to be a man decorated with extensive knowledge of the sword, and of battle," she said, sapphire eyes scanning him up and down. "Your Ki, it is like a flame…"
Algren stared at her for awhile, and asked, "Ki?"
Graham cleared his throat, and said, "It is the internal energy within ourselves, Captain. The Oriental swordsmen think that there exists energy within every being that can be used as a weapon, in China, it is what they call 'Chi'". Algren looked back at Miryu, his hands almost touching her face, before he snaps out of his trance-like state, and maintains a respectable distance. He was told by Graham that she was the Emperor's bodyguards reassigned to him, and while she was not listening, had known from the Englishman that she would sometimes become the Emperor's mistress, and that there were rumors saying that the young woman had once been proposed to become the Empress of all Japan, but she declined, desiring freedom. By oath and by honor, she could not be married to any man unless the Emperor saw fit, as her repayment to the Emperor for honoring her wish to remain his bodyguard. It was all hogwash, according to Graham, but something in her eyes and the way she acted made Algren assume that the rumors held some truth.
"Yes, ma'am, I was a soldier," Algren said to Miryu. "And I understand that you fought in a similar war?" He wanted to know more about Japan, more about the woman that was his bodyguard. He had heard that the Emperor rebelled against the Shogun to regain his throne, and that Japan was plunged into civil war, and that Miryu was one of the Emperor's champions. She was beautiful, and tall, unlike the petite, dainty women around them. And her eyes, those eyes were like ice, yet they seemed to have contained a fire untamed, wild and restive. She was a breath of fresh air among the common wildflowers in spring and a warrior at that…
Nodding sadly, Miryu gave him a positive answer. "I was only a girl of fifteen when I left my… home to fight for the Emperor, to give Japan freedom from corruption and oppression, but the damage had been done long before I was hired as a hitokiri, or as your tongue calls it, an assassin…" She suddenly found the words that she had always uttered in pride unable to exit her lips, and did not know why. She looked towards Graham, and motioned for him to continue.
"Five years before Miryu fought for the Ishin-Ishishi, or the Emperor, your Commodore Perry sails in with his gunboats and politely requests that they open the country to trade or he'll burn the place to the ground," Graham said gravely. "Their whole world turned upside down in an instant. Men and women crying in the streets, even the mighty Samurai couldn't figure out how to fight back…"
Gant, the Irishman companion of Algren's then asked Miryu, "So, lassie, what kind of assassin were you?"
"Well, my Irish friend, I am the sort where I receive a black envelope of my targets' name and location, and I kill them, as silently as possible, in the dead of the night, or in the open light of day," she answered calmly, playing with her tanto, using it as a manicure-instrument. "Sometimes, my superiors would order me to hang my victims in the city square, and other times, kill them before starving hounds, leaving their hands and feet as evidence…" Gant gulped, and remained silent. "Of course, the honor of the Samurai could not be applied in those dark days; we needed a quick victory before too many of the innocent suffered."
There was a silence so thick that Miryu was sure that she could cut it with her katana, and she knew that it was Graham's job to make it less so. Kicking him in the shin, she made clear her point, and Graham continued his history lesson of sorts. "Twenty years ago, this was a sleepy little town," he said, "Now look at it!" The streets of Yokohama were now so full of life, in a pace that dizzied everyone and anyone. "The Japanese, they are clever," Graham continued, "They hired people from all over the world to beat us at our own game. I came with the British mission years ago, but I was soon relieved of my position."
At those words, Miryu chuckled lightly. "He had an unfortunate tendency to tell the truth in a country where no one said what they mean," she told Algren and Gant with a light smile, enchanting the American to no end. Was she some kind of angel, to own such a musical laughter? Was it even natural? How was she, such a jovial and joyful woman able to become an assassin without the nightmares he went through? Did he not commit to his duty to his country, as she did? Why was she so different? "So now he very accurately translates other people's lies." She looked at Algren, and found that he did not share the laughter, like Gant did. Was he always that stoic? "Captain Algren, are you well?"
Algren looked into her sapphire eyes and said, "Yes, Miss Tsubasa, I was just a little tired from my travels." She nodded in understanding, and gave him another smile. It was warm, and very, very slight, but he could see it clearly. The look that a warrior gave to another, when times were tough, when they knew they were treading down a path that would lead to the same fate, when they understood what the other was going through.
"Then you should rest, my American friend," she replied just as the rickshaw stopped. They had arrived in front of a great and beautiful courtyard, and with nimble and agile movements, Miryu descended the rickshaw and paid the driver, before helping Algren and Gant unload their luggage. "This ryokan was set up by my friend from my days as an assassin, so we will have privacy, as well as seclusion if you so wish it. I shall leave you here for the night, gentlemen, for I have my own matters to attend to. Graham, can you manage them all by yourself?"
Graham seemed insulted by her, but bowed as she bowed to him. "Don't talk to strangers, and don't try to go home if it is too dark!" he teased, speaking in a tone like a father does his daughter. Miryu chuckled, and gave him a hug before turning to leave. Like the wind, she came and went, as always, with only the sound of the bell on her katana to indicate where she currently was.