Kaoru stood by her parents' grave silently. It was the first time she visit them since Kenshin had left. She could have prayed at the altar at home, but somehow she felt that she needed to be there.

Normally, whenever she visits her parents' tombs, she would always tell them stories about people around her, from Yahiko wetting his bed to Sanosuke's luck being worse than her cooking. But the story she always told was about a man with red hair and cross shaped scar, what he liked, how he lived his life and how he made her happy by staying at dojo. Ironically, it was one of the reasons why Kaoru didn't visit her parents' graveyards; she didn't know what to say anymore.

But, that day, she didn't have to say very much. What she needed was just to be there, by their sides. Kaoru didn't want to tell stories, but rather she want to know one. A story about what really happen the day her father left to fight in the war. Or did she? Her thoughts traveled to the day before, thinking about what the flashes she saw while training Yahiko. She had finally remembered a bit about what happened the day when her father left the house to fight in the Seinan war.

Her father had knocked her out when she tried to stop him from leaving. Kaoru woke up an hour later. Trying to search for him, she set out with a shinai strapped to her back. It was not very hard to find out in where her father was headed as Koshijiro Kamiya was very well known and respected man in Tokyo.

Following his trails, she entered the forest outside of Tokyo. Ignoring the dense undergrowth, she kept moving, not sure whether her father was using the same route or not. But, she was sure about one thing. She wanted to catch up to her father and asked him to go home with her. Failing so, she will stay at his side.

When she had finally caught up with him, she bore witness to the most shocking and frightening scene whereby her father fell under a stranger's sword. Maybe her father was right in not allowing her to follow him. It was so shocking that she had mentally blocked it from her memory for a long time!

Now, with the memory awakened, she wondered what happened that day and her father's involvement with the group that fought with the lone swordsman. Was the man somehow related to Orochi? Her father did say he was working with the government to help quell the upcoming rebellion.

But deep inside, Kaoru knew that she and her father were somehow connected to the swordsman. The attack he executed seemed a bit familiar. If that was the case, was he one of her father's former students?

Kaoru kneeled down and put a hand on her father's tombstone. She wondered about what she wanted to say to her father. Should she ask about who he really was? If he was with the other swordsmen, why were they attacking the lone warrior? Or should she ask about what she would do with what she remembered?

She closed her eyes. There were a lot of things happening to her that she didn't know what to do. 'Kenshin. I wish you're here. You will know what to do'

"Here you are! Mou, I've been searching all Tokyo for you"

Kaoru turned her head. Megumi was standing with arms crossed, tapping her foot impatiently.

"Yahiko's been acting like a chicken that lost its head, running around searching for you"

Despite the feeling melancholic just a moment before, Kaoru giggled. "I did say to him that I'm going to someplace and for him not to worry"

"I told him that you probably had some errands to do and not to worry. But you know Yahiko, always pretending to be though on the exterior..." Megumi said, flicking a hair haughtily.

"Sorry for making you worry"

"I wasn't worried at all" Despite her relaxed appearance, Megumi was relieved at finding her friend. She too had been worried when Yahiko approached him and told her about Kaoru's disappearance. She moved next to the kneeling girl. "Your parents'?"

Kaoru nodded before starting to offer a prayer.

Megumi waited patiently for her to finish. "Let's go home"

"Hai" She stood and gave Megumi a smile. They started to walk away from the place when a thought occurred to her. "Megumi"

"Hmm?"

"How do you manage to do it?"

"Do what?"

Kaoru took a deep breath, swallowing a lump in her throat. "How do you manage to stay strong? You've been through a lot but yet you don't let your past bother you"

Megumi smiled. "Who says that I'm strong?"

Kenshin knocked on Aoshi's room.

"Come in"

He entered the room. Aoshi was reading a document while marking on a map of Japan. The leader of Oniwabanshuu nodded toward a seat before resuming his work.

"Please have a seat""

Kenshin did as he was told and sat in front of him.

"How may I help you, Himura?"

"I would like to know the security situation in the major cities"

Aoshi stopped his work, a sign that the question had surprised him. He looked at Kenshin, thinking about why he was asking such question. He could have asked Yamagata for it if he wanted to know about the distribution of the security force. Then he remembered Sanosuke coming to his room to ask about the situation in Tokyo. He finally understood Kenshin's motive for coming to him. "According to Misao, there was a large movement of army from Tokyo moving toward here, and I assume that he will attack Kyoto in order to capture and use it as a base" He stopped for a moment to watched Kenshin for some reaction before continuing, "Despite that, I have asked Misao to stay in Tokyo in case something happen"

"I see"

"Is that what you wanted to know?"

Kenshin's eyes twitched. He understood very well what Aoshi had implied with the question, but there's no way he'll admit that he wanted to know whether Kaoru was safe or not. "I just want to know the current situation, that's all. Thank you for your time"

"Not at all," Aoshi said, not wanting to pursue the question anymore. "We will meet at 8.00 tonight to discuss on what we will do to fight Orochi"

"Understood"

Yamagata examined everyone that was present in the room slowly, going from one to another, like a general inspecting his men before going to battle. He was the general of Japanese army, after all, and most of the men there were his. He didn't even know how to begin telling them the importance of the mission that they will carry out. The mission that will determine whether the country will maintain its fragile peace. The mission that end any possibility of civil war. The mission that will determine the future of Japan. Despite being a war veteran, Yamagata didn't know how to start the briefing.

"Can we start now? I haven't any food since lunch time and I'm hungry"

Yamagata looked at the one called at Sanosuke and sighed. "Shinomori-san?"

Aoshi nodded. "Thank you, Yamagata-san"

The room where they were assembled was dimly lit, giving off a secretive aura. Orochi stood regally in the center of it, facing his men, the arms dealer and his lackeys. "Let us begin"

Aoshi tapped at the map using a stick. "As you all know, we're currently at a stalemate"

Some of the people were nodding. Orochi continued, "That's why we have to carry out a decisive attack"

"According to the information collected by the Oniwabanshuu, there was a large movement toward here, Kyoto"

"The enemy would no doubt found out about our movement and has prepared accordingly"

"We believe that they may be aiming to capture Kyoto"

"Tokyo is well defended with most of the government troop already stationed there. So we must conquer Kyoto so that it can be used as a base to launch an attack on the capital"

"However, we receive reports that they will also execute simultaneous political assassination to instigate chaos among the public throughout Japan. The likely targets are governors and administrative officials"

"The attack will be carried out by mercenaries and other ninja groups that have come under our payroll, using the weapons Shingo and Neuwindst took from the weapon depot. Unfortunately, Shingo has fallen while performing his duty. But don't worry. We will make sure that his sacrifice is not in vain," Orochi said to a chorus of people shouting their agreement.

Aoshi stopped briefly. "The whole of the police force will be mobilized to stop them, including those in the reserve"

"Despite the government using most of its personnel to stop the assassinations from taking place, they will probably assemble a group of trained warriors to try to stop our attack"

"That's why you are here, to stop Orochi's attack"

"They will fail and fall"

"We believe the attack will be launched two days from now as they will want to take advantage of the annual meeting in Tokyo"

"They will be prepared for us, as we are prepared to defeat them"

"We will concentrate on Kyoto's attack"

"We will attack from the southeast, as that will give an advantage of terrain"

"As you all know, the group are armed with modern weapons, probably even modern than what we have"

"But they have the advantage of numbers"

"They even have cannon, machine guns and rockets. And unlike the attack by Shishio, they'll probably bombard the town first"

"They will expect us to do that. But that will be their mistake. We will bombard the town, but it would be for psychological effect. We cannot destroy too much of the infrastructure if we want to use the town as our base. Once we free the town, the residents will see that our fight is the true path and they will join us willingly. With their help, we will free other towns"

"I believe that the best way to defeat them and save Kyoto from the attack is by attacking them first. We will mount a surprise attack. That way we will be able to minimize loss to our side"

"That is why a group of us will be going ahead of the others in order to scour for possible enemy ambush"

"I will go" Every person in the room changed their attention to Kenshin.

Sanosuke who was next to him grinned. "Count me in" He turned toward Saitou. "How about you, Ahou (fool)?"

Saitou grunted, "I suppose I'll have to be there to ensure Tori Atama doesn't get himself skewered like the last time," Aoshi nodded and turned toward Yamagata. "I will go too,"

"I, Yuri, Ryo and few more Kensais will go. Neuwindst will provide us with covering fire in case the enemy is laying an ambush"

Aoshi showed toward a place on the map. "We will set up an ambush at this place. There's a clearing large enough for a small army. Orochi and his men will gather here before the attack"

Orochi turned toward Neuwindst. "The surrounding hills will be perfect for you to set up some artillery targeting the clearing" The blond foreigner gave a thumbs up. "You can count on me"

"Nevertheless, we must be very careful in our mission"

"We must succeed in this battle. With the Meiji recruiting more and more army, if we lost this battle, such an opportunity will be hard to come by"

"They are desperate, as they know this is their final chance to win; we're desperate too. The various problems that we faced have made our security weak"

"They will be like a cornered beast, and a cornered beast will fight savagely. We must show them that not only we can be more savage, but we can fight better and more intelligently"

Aoshi finished and paused before turning toward Yamagata, signaling him to take over. The general nodded and cleared his throat before addressing his men. "Do your best, to preserve the future of Japan"

"We will cleanse the corruptions and injustice plaguing our beloved Japan. Then, we shall carve a new era for it"

"YES!"

"For Orochi-sama!"

"Very well. From now one, we will refer to this mission by its name. The code for this mission is…"

"Henceforth, I announce a fitting name for our operation, which will be… "

"The spear of twilight"

"The blooming of the chrysanthemum"

The final battle for the future of Japan has just begun.

1
Author's note (6 July 2006)

1. Hence, the hardest but the most crucial part of the story starts. At least, that's the case for me.