The Little Thief... Makimachi Misao's Deceptive Looks!

Is this... a fight? The ninja girl tries all she can to get her hands on Kenshin's Sakabatou, but her attempts fail. Even using her Kecho Giri does no good. Kenshin is just too strong to be weakened by her punches and he always manages to evade her attacks. With all of the commotion going on, Kenshin finds the time to take the stolen money into his own hands. Wanting the bag of money back, the girl uses her Kansatsu Tobi Kunai attack, throwing small daggers at Kenshin. To defend himself, Kenshin picks up the girl's mantle and blocks. The damage done to the mantle is great thanks to the rurouni. Angrily, the ninja girl takes back her mantle, claiming the Sakabatou as well, holding it for collateral until Kenshin can pay for the damage he's done to her prized possession. As she walks off, Kenshin runs up to the ninja girl and makes a deal; Kenshin will give all the money he has for his Sakabatou back. The ninja girl willingly agrees for the trade, but she looks a bit let down when she finds out that Kenshin is indeed poor.

Kenshin cuts the bridge. Afterwards, Kenshin returns to the town with the ninja girl to return the money to its rightful owner. Luckily, the money bag has the owner's name labeled on. Once Kenshin returns it without the owner ever knowing it was stolen, since he or she was sleeping, he leaves town and continues his journey to Kyoto. The ninja girl happens to follow the rurouni, only to complain however. She begins ranting to Kenshin about how she doesn't have any money now to get to Kyoto. The ninja girl finally tells her name, Makimachi Misao. Misao says she was in Tokyo looking for someone special, but before she can continue speaking, trouble catches up. As Kenshin and Misao cross a bridge, they are trapped in the middle. Both ends of the bridge are full of men from the town's yakuza. The men that Misao had robbed were members of it, so if she messed with one, she messed with them all. With revenge on their mind, the men all charge towards Kenshin and Misao. Quickly, Kenshin reacts by cutting the bridge. With all of the weight on it, the bridge collapses in no time.

Aoshi's name catches Kenshin off guard. Now, Kenshin and Misao are safe. Misao commends Kenshin's skills, but boasts that the guys she was looking for are better than him. The people she was looking for had protected Edo Castle during the Bakumatsu. Immediately, Kenshin knows who those men are, the Oniwa Banshu. Quietly, Kenshin mentions Aoshi's name. Misao happens to hear it, so she assumes Kenshin knows where Aoshi and his men might be. Kenshin doesn't speak after that, he just continues forward.

Misao foolishly wants to follow Kenshin. The next morning, along the way to Kyoto, Kenshin tells Misao his name after she continually calls him names associated with his attire and wealth. At one point, Kenshin runs off the path after deciding that it'd be best that Misao not know what happened to the Oniwa Banshu and figures if she stays near him, she'd be involved with Shishio. Still, Misao tracks Kenshin down, but finds that the rurouni had jumped a large chasm. Kenshin tells Misao to go home or else she'd be in danger. Aoshi did the same, he says, because he didn't want her to get hurt. Misao, like Yahiko, doesn't want to be underestimated. She gets a running start and jumps over the chasm, but it looks like she won't make it all the way across. Kenshin quickly jumps down, catches the falling ninja girl, then leaps back up onto the surface. When Misao wakes up later, Kenshin warns her that staying with him is dangerous and walks off. Misao gets up and follows, taking the risks of following Kenshin, still determined to get him to tell her about Aoshi.