Wheeeee! It's an update!

………………

Kaoru shrugged it off. Lots of people were against slavery, especially since it took advantage of the poor who couldn't pay their bills. Even so, while she was telling herself this, she was inching back, towards the door. Something in his eyes had unsettled her.

"What was your second question?" She hoped this would get his mind off what had upset him so."

"Have you seen my sword?"

…….

After several minutes of both of them searching together, Kaoru found the weapon buried in a stack of hay bales where Yahiko had stashed it. Kenshin slung it on with the ease of a man putting on a belt.

"Er… what will you do now?"

Kenshin had gotten over his earlier shock and now seemed to be thinking hard about something. His hands were absentmindedly tapping the bandages that wrapped his torso, his eyes clouded. She repeated the question, more loudly this time, but he still did not answer.

Kaoru did not like being ignored.

She took a deep breath, about to yell, when he looked up at her.

"I am not entirely sure, my lady, but I will think of something."

"So you're leaving?" Kaoru wasn't sure she liked the idea. No matter how good Megumi's medical ministrations might be, people who have lost copious amounts of blood should not be gallivanting about the countryside.

Kenshin saw the beginnings of an argument approaching. Instead of fleeing in terror like a normal man, he rose to the challenge.

"Lady Kaoru, I am afraid I must. However, I am certain that we shall see each other again very soon."

"You are not going anywhere."

Kaoru grabbed a shocked Kenshin by the elbow and towed him across the room. Ignoring his protests, she shoved him into Yahiko's room and firmly shut the door.

"Get dressed."

"Lady Kaoru—"

"Now."

.Kenshin did not reply, but in the room the rustling increased. A moment later, he stepped out. Conscious of her critical gaze, he straightened the pink tunic and brushed some dust off of the white pants.

Kaoru really hoped her blush wasn't showing. He actually looked good. She began to talk, hoping to distract herself.

"I'll package some food for you, if you're really bent on going."

Kenshin had a look of veiled alarm on his face.

"That really won't be necessary—"

"Some money then. Heaven knows you nee—"

"No thank y—"

"Some money and food then—"

"My lady." Kaoru stopped dead. His voice had a commanding note in it. When she looked at his face, however, it held only a genial smile.

"You have done more than enough. I am grateful to you. I am sure—" he reached out as if to brush her bruised cheek—"that many would have simply left me to die."

Kaoru had recoiled from the near-touch, and had retreated a step. She was furious to find herself blushing again, and angrier still at the person who caused it.

"Fine," she snapped, then pivoted on one foot and marched towards the door. Her anger deserted her for a moment, stopping her right on the threshold. She gave a single look back, and then slammed the barn door, completely missing the confused-yet-amused glance aimed in her direction.

………..

Kaoru stomped back towards the house, savagely kicking stray pebbles in her path. In the more rational part of her mind, she was puzzled with herself . The man was being perfectly polite. Why was she so angry with him?

Having a sudden idea, she ran off the beaten path a few steps and hid behind a crumbling, abandoned well house. Keeping very still, she watched as Kenshin exited the barn. He stopped a moment to cinch on that odd sword of his, then started off in the same direction the carriage had taken, his coppery hair glinting in the sun.

So he really was leaving.

For some reason, the day seemed darker to Kaoru. For so long, she had been hoping for something—anything—to take her mind off the drudgery of her life. The arrival of this mysterious stranger seemed to be it, but she had botched it.

Well, storybook adventures were just fairytales, anyway. No dragons or magic spells for her. She began a dejected trudge back to the manor, even not noticing that the hem of her too-long dress was dragging in the mud. She stopped on the edge of an enormous puddle on the side of the road, and looked at her bleary reflection. A painfully thin-looking girl with black hair and a dress that was absolutely not her color stared back.

Then Kaoru really looked at herself.

She sat with a thump on a convenient rock, stunned at this new twist.

Her bruise had disappeared.