Disclaimer: The original idea for Rurouni Kenshin belongs to Watsuki Nobuhiro. Therefore, I give him all the credit (sorry Sony!) But I don't own it, anyway.

I finally just got incredibly inspired for this chapter. The words literally just rolled out, and I'm very happy with the result. My editing is minimal because I am not very good at self-editing. So if you catch any mistakes, please tell me so I can fix them!

Chapter Two

"Mister, I don't think you should—"

Sano raised his head and simply stared at the young waitress. His vision swam and blurred from his intoxication. His cup of sake spilled across the table, but he didn't care. "Kaoru…" he mumbled and reached toward the young waitress.

"Oh!" she jumped back from his hand. "Tae-san!" she cried, fleeing from the table.

Sano slumped forward, eyes closed. "Enishi, you bastard…" he muttered. Enishi had promised Sano's sister Kaoru everything…and had given her the life of a courtesan. A life she didn't want. And Sano was sorry for every damn day of it. Every day after he had let her go.

He remembered what Enishi had said about the new client. That it could be Kaoru's chance to be free at last. He was rich and powerful, this client. And he could set Kaoru free.

But Enishi had lied before. Still, Sano wasn't so far gone that he no longer had hope. His faith was still there, just safely tucked away.

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Kaoru laughed daintily at Kanryuu's joke. It was tasteless, really, a horrible jibe at farmers. Kaoru's father had been a farmer.

"Kaoru, I have taken quite a liking to you," Kanryuu announced, stroking Kaoru's cheek. "Why don't you show me around this desolate little village?"

"I'd be happy to," Kaoru replied in a soft voice. She waited for Kanryuu to stand and then did so herself with the grace of a swan. She took Kanryuu to the marketplace, to the hotsprings and to the Shousei restaurant. Every minute she felt like she was letting Kanryuu slither into her life, making himself permanent. They arrived back at The House.

"I had a lovely day, my flower," Kanryuu said grandly. "I'll discuss the details with Enishi-san, but I know that we'll be seeing each other again very soon," he promised.

Kaoru nodded and watched him go without emotion. It was the same thing again, there was nothing different. He was just a client. She wilted and sighed, drawing herself away from the front door, deeper into the place she called home.

Minutes later she was in her room, changing out of her constricting kimono and putting on a floral green one instead. It was plain and modest and hadn't been worn in months.

"I knew that!" Kaoru could hear a voice from far off. It was female, high and lilting, but much too loud to belong in a teahouse.

Curious, Kaoru changed her course and walked toward it.

"This place is a total bore, anyway," the voice went on, sounding impatient. "When is Takeda going to be done, I wonder? I feel bad for whatever girl got stuck with him all day, I mean—"

"Misao," a lower, male voice chided.

Kaoru peered down the hallway to see two figures, one strikingly handsome and tall man and the other, a short and perky girl.

The girl sighed. "I know, I know. But it's not like he can do anything, away. He needs us around."

"One of us, anyway," the other muttered.

"What!" the girl was angry at once.

"Takeda-san only wanted one onmistu. He chose me for my skill and strength. The only reason you're here is because I wanted to keep you close," the man explained patiently.

"Oh, so you're the one who got me into this, is that is Aoshi-sama?" the girl yelled, clearly outraged.

"Misao, you were starving on the streets."

She fumed.

"Uh, excuse me?" Kaoru called in a small voice.

The two strangers turned toward her. The girl jumped back in surprise. "Gahh!" she cried. "Aoshi-sama, she's gorgeous!"

Aoshi cast his companion an infuriatingly condescending look. His eyes switched back to Kaoru. "Can we help you?"

"Do you…work for Kanryuu-sama?" she asked quietly.

"Regretfully," Misao sighed dramatically.

"Well, do you—um…I mean, is it—" her eyes slid down the floor. "Nevermind…"

Misao and Aoshi exchanged looks of confusion at the soft-spoken girl.

"What are you doing here?" Kaoru asked at last, raising her eyes back to look at the two onmistu.

"Waiting for Takeda to finish his stupid arrangement with Enishi. Know anyplace where we could grab a bite to eat?" Misao said casually.

Kaoru shook her head and was suddenly aware of Aoshi's shooting gaze. She looked away.

"Are you Kaoru?" Aoshi asked suddenly.

Kaoru nodded in confirmation.

Recognition seemed to dawn on both Misao and Aoshi. Misao walked right up to Kaoru and put an arm around her, drawing her closer to where Aoshi stood. "C'mon, let's go."

"Go?" Kaoru said, bewildered in all respects.

"Sure. You know. A restaurant or something. I told you I was hungry. Now where's the closest place?" Misao began walking, dragging Kaoru with her. Aoshi trailed behind them, a slightly amused look on his face.

"B-but I'm not allowed to…"

"Eh, who cares?" Misao said breezily, steering Kaoru back down the hall to the main entrance. "We'll cover for you, tell everyone that we're Takeda's bodyguards and he asked us to take care of you or something. It doesn't really matter."

Kaoru's protests died soon after that.

Being with Misao and Aoshi was like being in a different world. They both seemed to care so much about her, despite the fact that they had only just met. Misao spoke to her so casually that Kaoru caught herself thinking that they had grown up together. Misao was so openly affectionate to both her and Aoshi; it scared Kaoru a little bit.

"Ooh, I love soba!" Misao delighted, digging in with nimble chopsticks. "It could warm me up on a snowy day!"

Kaoru eyed her, half way appreciative and half ridiculing the girl's careless demeanor.

"Here Aoshi-sama, try some!" Misao lifted a clump of noodles and shoved it at Aoshi. To Kaoru's surprise, the icy, stoic man opened his mouth and allowed Misao to shovel food into it.

Kaoru sat straight with her hands neatly folded in her lap. She felt somewhat out of place with these people, even though the conversation was flowing rapidly. They were just so…different.

"I've always been a big city girl," Misao revealed. "We used to live in an inn in Kyoto, and when we're in Tokyo I just feel so at home. It must be weird to live in such a tiny town, huh Kaoru-chan?"

Kaoru's eyes flickered over to her female companion. "What? Oh, yes." Her gaze had been caught by a glint of red. "Excuse me, won't you?"

Misao laughed. "You're so polite! Makes me feel like a barbarian…"

"Your not a barbarian, Misao," Aoshi replied with little emotion as Kaoru stood up and left them.

Unsure of exactly what she was doing, Kaoru drifted throughout the happy crowds in the restaurant, catching whiffs of different foods and notes of different songs. The gleeful chatter of the guests collaborated together and filled Kaoru's ears. She reached the backdoor of the restaurant and pulled it open.

She was surprised at how quiet it became outside with the door shut behind her. She neatly sat down on the steps, her gaze glued to her pink toes that peeked out from the hem of her kimono. She stayed like that for a while, her breaths slow and her mind at ease.

Suddenly she was aware of another presence. Her head snapped up and she looked around. There was a lone figure, leaning against the wall, is face covered in shadow. He held a wooden flute against his lips, but no sound came from the instrument.

Kaoru's eyes widened in shock. "You're that flute player!" she cried, jumping up and forgetting herself completely.

The flutist glanced over at her, holding his eyesight steady on her flushed face. Then, slowly, he dipped his head in a nod. So he had been real after all.

"And you are that girl," he replied. Kaoru couldn't help but love the sound of his voice as it caressed her ear. It sounded like water over pebbles.

Girl, he had called her. That girl. Could it be that he had no idea who she was? That she wasn't that girl, but instead a fallen woman?

Her eyesight fell to the flutist's hip, where another object lay, hidden in plain sight. This one was far more dangerous than the flute.

"My father owned a dojo," she found herself saying. "Before he was killed. We had to sell it, my brother and I."

There was silence after her confession. Like the man didn't even know that Kaoru was speaking to him.

"You haven't said one word about my appearance," Kaoru said, tilting her head. The words were just tumbling out. Maybe she was just trying to provoke him, she didn't know. But she couldn't help being very drawn to this red-haired man.

"Should I?" he replied. "You're very beautiful."

Kaoru wilted on the spot. She hadn't wanted him to say that. Maybe she was hoping he would tell her that there was nothing special about her appearance. She would have liked that, even knowing it wasn't true.

"But you know that," he went on. "To tell the truth, your beauty is not what I saw first."

"It…wasn't?" she was unsure of how to react to his bold words.

"No," he replied. "It was your soul, yearning to be free. Your heart, aching for love."

"I don't want love," she said stoutly. "I just want out of this place."

"Perhaps not love," he amended lightly. "But the ability to love and be loved."

"I cannot love," she said, not caring what her words implied.

The man stepped forward, and his tone changed from conversational to passionate. "How can you live like that?" he asked, wide-eyed. "A life without love—that's no life at all!"

Kaoru jumped at how suddenly fervent her companion sounded.

He closed his eyes, calming down. "I loved, once. She was killed."

Kaoru didn't offer her apologies. She wasn't sure that he wanted them. "By who?" she asked, not caring if she sounded rude.

"Me," his eyes blinked open.

She nodded. "Well, good day mister—"

"Kenshin," he put in. "I'm Kenshin."

A whisper of a smile traced Kaoru's lips. "Good day Kenshin-san." She turned away, but he grabbed her wrist.

She did not protest or try to pull away. She gave into Kenshin as he tugged her back toward him. She was pressed against his chest, looking up through her bangs at his brilliant violet eyes. You could love me, they seemed to say.

Then, without a word, he released her. He raised his wooden flute to his lips again, and began playing a simple tune, one that pleased her ears and melted her heart. She didn't move, even though she was free to go.

In a world of deception and lies, where she was worth only what someone would pay for her, it suddenly felt wonderfully empowering to be around someone who defied all of that. Someone who defied her reality and defined a world that she could only dream of.

Kaoru stepped forward and pressed her lips against Kenshin's, bridging the gap between their worlds.

I'm sorry if updates get to be slow. I'm not a trained writer and I don't necessarily cater to reviews (though I love them!) so I basically write when I am inspired and start new fics whenever I think of them. I have a short attention span so it's a big achievement to be writing a fic that is not a one-shot. I'll try really hard for you guys!