Kenshin listened, sympathetic. He was rather good at listening, and he knew that this girl was opening up to him because he was the first person who had lent an ear. She was probably a fighter, what with this talk of teams and getting stronger. She was built like one, too, small (though, admittedly, taller than the rurouni) and lithe. That probably made it doubly more difficult for her.

Maybe it was time for the "kindly older man" to dispense some wisdom.

"This one...is just an observer, and has never met this young man, but...well, it seems odd that he would be so emphatic about avoiding you. That you aren't a team. Perhaps there are other reasons for his distance. You obviously care about him a great deal. Usually, in this one's experience, that feeling is at least a little mutual."