The familiar, quiet whisper perked up the samurai's ears as she turned to meet the girl, still pushing that feigned look of joy, such a cracked and tarnished masked Asuka wore upon her face. "Oh. Why it's you, Miko-dono." The woman replied warmly to the shrine maiden with a courteous bow, her company welcomed in this rather grim moment of desperation. "If you've come to resume your apology, there is no need to, indeed there isn't. I...understand honestly how you must feel of all these warriors, including myself, the more loathsome of the few. The smell of blood is indeed strong amongst this band, that it is." Purity, she noted such of the maiden because Asuka deemed her grateful that she never lost such grace as these other women have, staining their hands in the blood of their fallen foes and waving about their crimsoned blades with rancorous shouts and growls, more to the eye as a pack of murderous dogs rather than a band of honorable warriors.

Asuka sighed, her head still inclined to face the ground, "I too have had my share in the slaughter, indeed I have, but those days when I would bare my blade for the sake of killing another human, I have long set behind me, that I have. However, Miko-Dono, my wish is not to slay but to protect. I have taken many lives, that I have done, but it was for the sake of those whose lives I guarded with my blade and my honor." A light chuckle escaped her, albeit a tad anxious, "You might say I haven't even let go once of my days as a samurai, that you may, but as long as there are those who are in need, I shall come to their aid. The blade I drew to the Prince, you saw it, that you did." A soft grin crossed the woman's lips as she again unsheathed her sakabatou to Hanami, the polished blade gleaming in the bright autumn sun. Never once did a stain of blood mar the obscure yet magnificent katana. "Never once, even if I tried, could I take a life with this sword, yet I can still aid and protect those who are in dire need, that I can do." Where the sun caught the blade, the sharp end gleamed opposite of where it should lie, the front....blunt as ever.