Author's Note: I'd like to take this moment to stop and thank my reviewers. THANK YOU, y'all have been very nice to me, and I hope I don't disappoint you.

*~?*~?*~?

You Are My Sunshine

Chapter 3- Getting to Know You, Part 2

Soujiro looked at Kaoru from across the table. "Domo arigato. You are a very good cook."

Kaoru blushed. What could she say? She didn't want to admit that the food wasn't hers, but didn't want to lie and say it was. "Oh..."

Soujiro chuckled. "You're very modest."

Kaoru giggled. That got her out of it. For now.

He smiled as he looked around. "Do you keep this place up all by yourself?"

"No, I have help. How is your shoulder?"

"Much better, thank you."

Kaoru smiled and nodded. The end of the polite conversation left an uncomfortable silence.

"Um...I'm curious...where do you live?"

He smiled. "All of the ranch hands have apartments at the ranch. Behind the barn."

"Oh." She studied him for a minute. "Are you still going to work with horses?"

He nodded. "Of course!"

"Why, after what that one did to you?"

He smiled. "They're not all like that. They are magnificent creatures, most of them are very gentle. Sometimes its just magical being with them."

Kaoru couldn't really believe that they were really that gentle. Especially after seeing his shoulder. Soujiro noticed her expression, and glanced out the window, noticing it was still light outside. He stood and walked over to her, holding out his hand to help her up. "Come on, I have something to show you."

*~?*~?*~?

"Where are we going?" She asked after they had been walking for about ten minutes. It was nearly dark and she couldn't recognize where they were.

"You'll see."

She sighed. She was beginning to wonder if this was really a good idea.

Then she finally realized where they were; outside of the ranch where Soujiro worked.

"Why are we here?" She asked.

"You'll see. There's something I want to show you."

She sighed as he lead her to the barn, and down to a stall about midway on the left side. He quietly slid the door open and walked in, gesturing for her to follow.

She didn't like the idea of being in such a small space next to such a large, unpredictable animal, but he had left the door open so at least she had an escape route. Moonlight shone in through the window, illuminating the stall. The large horse turned its head to look at them as they entered then resumed munching on hay.

That's when Kaoru noticed the little one walking around from the other side of the big one. Soujiro crouched down and motioned for Kaoru to do the same.

The baby approached them with curiosity. She could hear its small breaths as it reached out with its nose to sniff Soujiro's hair, then moved over to Kaoru. She giggled as its whiskers tickled her face, its hot breath smelled sweet. It began making chewing motions as it smelled her hair, then moved back over to Soujiro, nuzzling and smelling his hands as if it expected a treat from him.

Soujiro turned to Kaoru. "Now do you see why I still work with them?"

Kaoru smiled as the baby walked back over to its mother and began nursing. "Yeah, I guess I do."

*~?*~?*~?

"If you ever need any help, let me know." Soujiro said as he shut and locked the stall door.

"Well, I'm sure you have your hands full with this place and this fish stand. Plus now with your shoulder..."

"My shoulder really doesn't bother me, and the owner gave me a few days off, remember? If you ever need any help, please don't hesitate to ask."

Kaoru smiled sweetly and nodded. "If I did need help, would I find you here?"

Soujiro grinned. "Most likely."

"Well, Sayonara."

"Sayonara."

Kaoru turned and began walking back to the dojo. She thought about what he said the entire way there. Kenshin -was- gone, after all. She had no idea how long he was going to be gone. Yahiko probably wouldn't do everything Kenshin did, Sano certainly wouldn't, and she didn't have time, what with all of her own chores.

She shook her head. Why was she trying to scheme to be with Soujiro?

'Well,' She tried to reason with herself. 'He would be a big help around the dojo. '

She stopped, sighed, and against her better judgement, turned around.

*~?*~?*~?

Soujiro opened the door.

"Miss Kaoru!"

"Um...I decided to take you up on your offer...would you maybe consider spending a few days at the dojo, helping with some chores?"

"I would be more than happy to, Miss Kaoru."

"Then I'll see you in the morning?"

He smiled and nodded.

"Good. Um, have a nice night."

He laughed. "You too, Miss Kaoru."

*~?*~?*~?

"Look, a tabi puppet!"

Kaoru looked at Soujiro with a very worried look. Soujiro laughed.

"Gomen."

Kaoru couldn't help but smile a bit as he took the tabi off of his hand and folded it neatly on the pile beside him. "You would be good with children." She said.

"What makes you say that?"

"The tabi puppet."

"Oh." He laughed again.

He had been there at the dojo for about three days now, and Kaoru was beginning to get very comfortable with his presence. She was, admittedly, a bit nervous at first, as was Yahiko. It was obvious that Yahiko was still a bit leery, but, like Kaoru, was beginning to get accustomed to the former Tenken.

Soujiro turned and smiled shyly at Kaoru as he picked up pair of Hakama and folded them.

"Is something wrong, Miss Kaoru?"

She shook her head. "No, why?"

"You've been standing there staring at me for an awful long time."

"Oh." She laughed shyly. "Gomen, I was just thinking."

"About what, may I ask?"

Him. She had been thinking about him. But she certainly couldn't tell him that. She cleared her throat. "Um, today's lessons. Speaking of lessons, I should go get ready. Domo arigato, for all your help."

"Any time, Miss Kaoru."

She smiled and walked away. She had to get a new hobby; she was thinking about Soujiro way too much. She sighed and headed for her bedroom.

*~?*~?*~?

"Oi, Jou-chan! Kenshin come back yet?"

Kaoru shook her head as she sipped her miso soup. Sano was about to settle down at the table when he noticed the new figure. He leaned a little closer to Kaoru.

"Jou-chan, are you aware of who this is?"

"Yes, he's Soujiro. He's helping out while Kenshin is gone."

Sano shook his head. "He's Tenken no Soujiro. Why is he here?"

"I told you, he's helping out while Kenshin is gone."

"Kaoru, do you know what he's capable of?"

"Sano, he's changed..."

"Yeah, right. Where did you meet him?"

"At the market."

"How much did you pay for him?"

"Sano!"

He chuckled but leaned down and whispered "Be careful." Before shooting a glare at Soujiro and settling down at the table and helping himself to the food. Soujiro said nothing, even though Kaoru was sure he heard every word.

She smiled at Soujiro from across the table. To her surprise, he didn't smile back, but winked. Throughout the rest of the dinner she pondered over what that wink could have meant.

*~?*~?*~?

After dinner she cleared the table while Sano and Yahiko took off. She noticed Soujiro heading out the front door and began to worry.

Worrying about him leaving.

She shook her head. Why was she so worried about him leaving? She should be more worried about whether her Kenshin would make it back safely. She sighed and finished clearing the table, then headed out to check on Soujiro.

She found him sitting alone on the front steps. (A/N Does the dojo have steps? Well, if it doesn't then he was sitting on the ground, I guess.) She wasn't sure if she should bother him, but walked up to him anyway. "Do you mind if I join you?"

He turned and looked up at her, giving her a small smile. "No, I don't mind."

She sat down on the steps next to him. "It's a beautiful night."

"Hai, it is."

The sun had set but it was still rather light. The air was warm, the crickets and frogs were chirping, the night's first stars were becoming visible. Kaoru took a deep breath of the fresh air.

"Um, about what Sano said..." She began.

He smiled. "Don't worry about it. I'm used to it."

She nodded. "Um...I really appreciate all of your help. I-I don't know what I would do without you."

He looked at her, a bit surprised. "You are very welcome, Miss Kaoru. I'm glad I can help." He smiled. She didn't know what she would do without him. No one had ever said that to him before.