Aoshi looked up from his drawing slowly. In his mind he kept the black and white picture, and tried to fit it to his inspiration. Then he noted that the wind had shifted slightly and the cherry tree he’d tried to paint didn’t look the same at all. 
Being a one armed man, painting had proved to be almost impossibly difficult. He had to use Amaya and one of his own feet just to keep the paper still, which left him sitting in a rather uncomfortable position. His sleeve kept sagging down dangerously close to the paper and wet ink, so he had to drop the brush and tug at this empty left sleeve to correct it, which meant that the ink dried unevenly… Of course, if he only asked any member of the eighth division for help they’d probably tie up his sleeve for him and mix the ink and stuff. But that would take away the challenge. 

[i]“It’s beautiful”[/i] Said a familiar voice, half inside his head and half out in the world. The floorboards next to him changed, the natural pattern in the wood started to shift and took on a more watery look. A black-clad head slowly rose up through the floor, Aoshi had gazed upon it so many times that he could see her face clearly in his mind without even looking at her. She rose up to the point where her breasts, somehow always conveniently covered by her long hair, were visible and resting on the surface of the floor. 
He looked at his drawing, to him it didn’t resemble the cherry tree much, if at all. It was only a bunch of hastily drawn lines, amateurishly arranged into something that could, at a distance and in the right light (preferably the darkness of a moonless night) resemble a vaguely tree-like figure. Long story short, he wasn’t satisfied.

A single pair footsteps approached casually, the wooden floor thump, thump, thumped as the walker came closer. A black-clad figure rounded the corner. Aoshi had already turned to face that direction. It was the eighth divisions lieutenant, Misao Kurihara.

The lieutenant was a short woman with shoulder-length, deep brown hair and a sweet face. She had a normally built body and moved with the deliberate grace of an expert martial artist or a dancer. She carried her sword in her belt, it was a simple sword with red wrappings and copper details. Even though she wasn’t the stunning beauty-type the lieutenant had a loyal following of suitors and fans. Every now and then someone would declare his love for her and she’d have to let him down. People who kept their eyes open around her could notice that she was uncommonly open and warm with the captain, who didn’t seem to notice at all.

“Third seat Daikoku.” She said as she approached, “Lieutenant” he replied with a nod.
“Didn’t expect to find you here…” Then she noticed the painting supplies. “You working on something? May I see?” 
Aoshi moved a little to reveal his latest masterpiece. 
“Aah, moving on to trees now, you usually hang out and paint down by the lake.”
“Aye, but there is only so much you can do with foam and waves in a calm lake. The leaves and branches of a tree is similar to a stormy sea, yet so very different.” 
Lieutenant Kurihara looks from the paper to the tree, then back to the paper again. 
“I see what you mean, here, let me help you.”
She took a seat while Aoshi handed her his supplies. She dipped the brush and began to moved it very gently across the paper.
“If you want to focus on the movement of the leaves, you must paint the movement in the branches.”
She only put in a few strokes, barely more than some dots here and there. When she handed the sheet back there was a tree on it. Aoshi studied it closely. It was still his painting, she hadnät really changed anything, but suddenly it looked… Real. 
“I hope it helps” She said with a smile as she got up. “Well, I have to get back to work. The first captain has us jumping through hoops for report day.” 
They said good bye and the lieutenant walked away as casually as she’d come. 
[i]”She ruined it, didn’t she?”[/i]
“No… No she didn’t…”
He set the paper aside to let the ink dry properly while he watched the cherry tree move in the wind.
“Report day… Something’s going on.”