A/N: I do believe that I will start posting chapters on Fridays, because I need more time to develop the events of this story. I am going to publish this chapter a little early, but I am going to try to adhere to a Friday-to-Friday schedule from now on.

Disclaimer(s): Rurouni Kenshin is the property of Nobuhiro Watsuki and his affiliates.

The story of Rapunzel is not mine.

My perambulations finally brought me full circle and the guards that traveled further afield in order to locate me were starting to trickle back onto the palace grounds. This is opportune since the guardsmen stationed atop the palace's roof were less likely to notice that a single guard has gone missing for quite some time.

I took this opportunity to slip into the kitchens and started on my promenade through the building. The palace guards have long since swept the entire edifice and since they have secured this location it is unlikely that they will check again until all of the other potentialities are extinguished. So I just have to act like I belong here if I happen to run into anyone along the way.

It is convenient that my imprisonment here was more like a house arrest since it gave me a considerable amount of leeway, but I will have to stay away from people who have seen me up close. Fortunately, the King cannot afford to hurt me. So even if I was caught I would not be harmed, but I would probably be shut up in my room for the duration of my stay at the palace and it would be harder to escape after that.

I still find it incredibly ironic that my father's dojo was ever accused of training the mysterious man only known by the title Hitokiri Battousai. Since the style my father developed does not advocate killing! Also, the technique uses bamboo shinai as its primary weapon and they are not exactly conducive to the bloody slaughtering that the Battousai is rumored to be capable of.

The kingdom must be really desperate if they are actually willing to believe in such a preposterous rumor.

Of course all of this ruminating does not help me solve my immediate dilemma. To be honest I did not really believe that I would make it this far without being detected by anyone. If the worst case scenario had occurred I would have defaulted to bulling my way through the entire situation if necessary, but I somehow managed to elude a bunch of "highly-trained" males.

"Huh! Their words not mine."

It is obvious why the king needs the legendary Hitokiri Battousai on his side, because clearly the rest of his men will do him very little good if he needs to defend his position against any hostile interlopers.

I just wish that the king had left me out of the entire situation to begin with. If he had I would still be running the dojo back home, but since I have been taken by the authorities for my intimate connection to my school's style; any of the students I did manage to retain after the death of my father will scatter like leaves do in the fall…DAMN IT!

I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT I GOT CAUGHT UP IN ALL OF THIS!

I swear if I ever meet the Battousai I will give him a piece of my mind, because just associating him-self with my father's style on some whim is unacceptable!

Crack!Hhh …Awooaoooooooooo…

…I am such an idiot.

My mother was right I reaally need to learn to control my temper…I think I will just stay here for a few seconds more…yeah.

-"S'good plan."

"What is?"

"Staying here."

"On the floor?"

"Hmm…yeah."

"Oookay. If you want, but Grandpa says it is a very unladylike habit."

"Yes, very unladylike indeed…WHAT!?" CRASH! Clunk! Ooof!

Argh! My head feels terrible. All achy...should the world be flickering in that fashion?

"…You don't look so good. I think you should go see my Grandpa"

Who?! I whipped my head around and stared at the little girl that magically appeared before me…ugh…I think I am going to be sick.

"N-n-n-noo. T-t-that is not necessary 'cause I am perfectly fine."

I tried to push myself up further, but that just made the pain worse. So I settled for a relaxed look instead…

"…You're bleeding."

It's not working! I have to come up with something…ummmmmm. AH!

"B-b-b-but I have duties to attend to."

That should do the trick.

"Well that's all right, 'cause Grandpa is one of the palace physicians. So he'll just give you a piece of paper that says you are in-des-posed."

"But, I"

At that her hands rose to her hips and her nose angled with an unmistakable air of exasperated patience.

"No more buts mister."

When she looks at me like that she kind of reminds me of my mother.

…It's so…cute!

"A-alright."

With that she giggled and grabbed ahold of my hand.

"Good."

An achy fuzzy type of feeling was spreading in my chest and twining itself around every scrap of flesh it could find.

"Hey Lady. Do you want to know somethin'?"

?

"…Okay."

"My name is Ayame…what's yours?"

The feeling overwhelmed me before I even registered the sound pouring from my mouth. It is a strangely…effervescent feeling of…something essential…something almost lost.

I am glad that I can experience it anew in this little girl's presence. That given the circumstances I could exist once again…as only myself…just because she smiled at me.

"…Well hello Ayame. My name is Kaoru."