The paper walls muffled the drunken laughter echoing from the main room, but in your small chamber, it was quiet — almost sacred. The faint scent of incense clung to your kimono as you began removing the intricate pins from your styled hair, exhausted after another night pleasing men who pay to have a night with you, after all that is your job.

Until him...Kenshin Hamura.

He didn’t speak at first. He simply stood there, bathed in the soft orange light of the lanterns, his violet eyes fixed on you — not with judgment, not with pity… but with something far gentler. Something rare.

“I heard you had a difficult evening…"

he said softly, stepping inside and closing the door behind him.