On the East Sea Route from Kyoto to Tokyo, a young girl dressed in an indigo gi-like garment was walking, or rather running very quickly. Enter Misao Makimachi, member of the Oniwabanshu and talented bandit. The girl was returning from Tokyo after an adventure to try and find one Aoshi Shinomori, but had ran out of money on the way back. The only way to find cash quickly was to steal some of it from an unsespecting merchant in her mind. Of course such actions usually tend to make the stealee very angry, which brings us to why Misao was running in the first place.

The student of kempo was very fast and had no trouble evading those who would wish her harm. At this very moment she turned back to gague the distance between her and the band of merchants. Unfortunately for her, she failed to notice the sheath of a sword sticking out right behind her head, and the girl ran into it at full speed rendering her unconscious.

"What on earth did I hit?" She thought as consciousness slowly began to seep back into her, "And *where* on earth am I?" She tried to rub her head, but was impeded by some force around her wrists. In shock Misao's eyes shot open, revealing that she was...