"Who are you?" Katsumoto asked Miryu, looking at the girl, dripping wet, holding a katana in her hands that seemed too small to even hold them, and yet, she was tall, very tall... He had received reports about her for days, a girl, knocking at almost every door in Kyoto, searching for a boy known as "Kenshin", and it was about time that she had come to the Ohagi Inn, the headquarters of the Choushu-han… He looked into her eyes, and found that they were of sapphire, of the darkest blue, like that of a deep lake in the mountains, eyes that bore a spirit of fire… and that Ki, no normal child had Ki as strong as hers, except for the new hitokiri Katsura Kogoro had hired.
The girl looked up at him and replied, "Sir, I am Tsubasa Miryu…" She spoke the name of her father's Clan so softly that only he could hear her, and immediately, he opened the door wider and led her into the inn. Hiko Seijurou had told her explicitly that the name "Tsubasa" could not be used lightly, if she was to survive the darkness that awaited her, but somehow, she knew that man before her would not harm her… "I come to look for a friend, Himura Kenshin," she pressed on, seemingly unafraid of him. "He is of the Hiten-Mitsurugi Ryuu, as am I…"
Katsumoto sighed inwardly. This girl, there was no need for more confirmation that she was the rumored daughter of the Shinsen-Gumi's Iron Wolf-maiden and Tsubasa Akurou. He had seen her father before, and knew of his sapphire eyes as hers, but her strong jaw, high cheekbones, those were definitely features of the women of the Reiyama clan… If this child had grown in the circles of the samurai, she would have been a different woman altogether. Now, she stood before him, challenging him with her gaze, even if she did not do so intentionally… "What would you do if I let you see him? What then, Tsubasa Miryu?"
She bowed and said, "I shall fight for the cause of the Ishin-Ishishi, to bring a new age of equality and peace…" At her words, Katsumoto was taken aback. How was she able to know that she was in the Choushu-han? How was she to know that they were rising against the Shogun? This girl, she was not to be taken lightly. She told him how she had watched this inn for two weeks, and who came and went, who said what words at the door. Kenshin had told her that if he would fight in the coming conflict, he would fight for the Emperor, who was thought to be able to bring such an age… The moment she found him, she could have found any single Ishin-Ishishi faction…
"And why would you wish to do so?" Katsumoto asked further. He had seen the skill that Kenshin had, and if this girl was anything like him, she would be an ally that would be indispensible. Upon further thought, there was just a certain quality that differentiated her from Kenshin, and he could not guess what it was, but it was there… She was special, and girls with the samurai bloodline bearing the word, "Ryu" were all trained in the arts of the katana… Without even bothering to hear any more answers from her, he brought her to see Katsura Kogoro, sealing her fate, signaling the birth of Tsubasa Battouryu…
"You have come a long way since that day, Miryu," Katsumoto said to the woman next to him. "Who would have known what you have become if some Bakufu agents took you in instead?"
Miryu chuckled. She would always remember her first meeting with him, and replied, "I would be under the employ of my maternal grandfather, and I would be forced to cross swords with Kenshin upon the battlefield… I would have found my mother's family, but I would have lost my own…" Apart from her Shishou and Kenshin, there was no one she could have called her own before she joined the Choushu-han, and it was only after the Emperor decided to cut the Tsubasa Clan of its tyranny of the people did Reiyama Reiji, her maternal grandfather, try to reconcile with her… She bore no grudge against him, but still, the men of the Ishin-Ishishi felt more like a family to her.
Katsumoto laughed as well. "We never told you how much laughter you have brought us," he told her. "And now, you have softened the heart of the most jaded warrior... Your mother would be proud of you…" Her mother had been a subject that was rarely mentioned, but it was Katsumoto who told her that Reiyama Ryumiko had been a woman of high honor. He had faced her in battle before, and told her that no other woman could equal her strength and spirit, and that it was her that made him respect all womenfolk in general. That was why he set himself the task to mold her daughter into the woman she was now… And to be honest, he knew that he did a rather good job.
"Katsumoto-san, flattery does not become you," she replied. The Emperor had told her too often that he was a strict teacher, and she knew it to be true. "If there is anything I can do to make you see sense that throwing your life away will not help your cause at all, please, tell me…" She did not want him to leave before his time, her mentor and her friend. Without him, she could have been just an anonymous swordswoman with no cause and nothing to protect, no ideals… She had learnt to live, to live and to fight another day, and she wanted Katsumoto to see reason before it was too late…
However, the rebel leader was adamant upon his choice. Placing his hand on her shoulder, he looked at her, the daughter he would never have, and walked towards the front gate of his house, in the silks of a member of the Imperial Council, as a samurai of great honor and prestige… Algren had failed to persuade him against going against the Council, and she shared that failure as well.
As she watched the image of his back diminish in size as he walked further and further away, Miryu felt a stray tear fall from the corner of her eye… She knew that there was no reason to shed tears as of yet, that she, Algren and Graham would come to his rescue in the night, but somehow, a part of her was still afraid… Would there still be a Tsubasa Miryu without Katsumoto Moritsugu guiding her?
Algren walked to her side and held her by her waist silently, knowing very clearly that it was a difficult time for her. "Miryu, we have to get back," he said, planting a small kiss on her forehead. If anything happened, he swore to himself that he would be by her side, as she had been by his, up till now.