Author's Note: I might update a little slower than usual. A lot of things have been going on. I know that the events are not matched up with the passing of time! Please ignore that! In the first chapter, it was the ending of summer and beginning of autumn. And the previous chapters were speeding through the fall season. In the next chapter it'll be winter. Ok!

The Winter of My Assassin Lover

-Previous Chapter

She choked out again, this time loudly," Kaoru-sama! Kaoru-sama! Kaoru-sama's gone!" Misao shook uncontrollably, as if she was being possessed. "Kaoru-sama! Kaoru-sama left me alone! She's not coming back! She's not coming back!"

"Wait! Hold on!" Aoshi pleaded, waiting until he had fully digested what Misao had said," What happened to Kaoru?"

Misao managed to point at the letter laying on the bed and continued sobbing hysterically. "Kaoru-sama! Kaoru-sama left me! She left me!"

Aoshi read the letter and his eyes widened at what it said.

-Chapter 8

It was late in the morning and the sun was high in the sky. Kaoru sat under the shade of a large oak tree, fanning herself with her hand as sweat trickled down the side of her face.

"It's autumn already but it's still hot!" she sighed to herself. She untied her large woolsack and picked a small red bean bun out of it. She took small bites out of it. After all, the slower you eat, the faster you'll get full. So you don't have to waste food.

Kaoru gave another tired sigh and looked around at her surroundings. 'I'm still in the forest. Ok, let's see, you have currently only 10,000 yen with you. (Approximately $100) How will you earn a living?'

"This is harder than I thought it would be…" the girl softly said to herself," How did my survive this and still end up being the wife of a baron?"

Then, a thought crossed her mind. Kaoru held her head in her hands and yelled to no one in particular," She wasn't my dad's whore was she!"

---

Aoshi crunched the letter he was holding in his hand and turned to the distressed maid with a determined look on his face. He took a handkerchief from his breast pocket and held it out to the sobbing girl.

"Misao, dry your tears," he said. It was more of an order than a plea.

"Bu-But Kaoru-sama! She's not- not coming back!" Misao cried, refusing the offered cloth.

"Exactly," Aoshi retorted, placing the handkerchief on the maid's head seeing that she will not take it," So, as her loyal servants, it is our duty to make sure she is safe from harm while placing her happiness above our own." He had to admit, his lethargic student had latched herself onto a soft spot in his heart and has no intention in letting go.

Misao dabbed the handkerchief on her tears and abruptly stopped crying though the tearstains were still apparent on her face. She looked up obediently at her love interest and her mistress's tutor and asked," So what are we going to do now, Aoshi-sama?"

"Simple," was his casual reply as he neatly folded the paper parcel and shoved it into his pocket," You pack your things. We're going to find her and make sure she stays out of trouble. Who knows what kind of fights she's bound to brew out on the streets."

Misao flashed him a bright smile and nodded eagerly, dashing to the maid's quarters to pack all her necessary belongings.

'I hope you're not in too much trouble, Kamiya,' he mused,' Or else you're getting double work. You're slacking off on your studies.' He chuckled to himself at the though of Kaoru whining at the work being pushed to her.

---

Kaoru had made her way out of the forest and into the town's own bustling marketplace. 'Wow,' she thought to herself in admiration,' This is so much better than all the wares that my father's merchants offer me. All this jewelry look so simple yet they're so beautiful!'

She looked at the fish, tofu, and other foods that the marketplace had up for sale, but Kaoru shook her head to rid herself of her hungry thoughts. 'I have to save money! It's all I have and I certainly can't go to father for more!' But a growl from her stomach contradicted with her. She let out a defeated sigh.

"I might as well." Kaoru reached into her pocket and found that there was nothing there. She hurriedly looked through her pocket and found a hole in the bottom. Sticking her finger through it and finding nothing but air. Kaoru flailed her arms in the hair and sighed yet again.

"I give up! I lost my money and I don't have anyplace to sleep in! Great! Just great!" Not looking where she was going, Kaoru walked straight into what seemed to be a brick wall.

"I didn't know that you would be here," an amused voice rumbled from the now talking brick wall," Kaoru-san."

Kaoru looked up to see none other than her Latin tutor. "Aoshi-kun!"

"Hey, don't forget about me!" a cheery voice rang out from behind him.

Kaoru gasped," Misao-chan!"

---

Yells and grunts were heard from a clearing in the forest. Soujiro, in his usual attire (you know, the one he wore in his battle with Kenshin), was training. The tree he was facing had many severe scars on its bark, slashes only a sword could make.

Satisfied with how little bark was left on that side of the tree, the young swordsman stabbed a stick into the ground in the middle of the clearing and placed a figure made of straw upon its point.

Soujiro stood next to the wounded tree and, in an instant; the straw person had been slashed into 5 pieces. To ordinary people, it would seem as though Soujiro hadn't moved at all, but, to expert fighters, he had merely stepped on the side of one tree and pushed himself toward another tree as he slashed through the straw person that stood in the middle.

He stepped on one of the pieces that was supposed to be the head and looked down upon his sword. A ray of sunlight, peering from in between one of the branches, reflected off of the blade. Soujiro wiped the sword with his thumb, smiling gently as his blood ran down his hand and onto the straw pieces.

"What is that, my dear?" He asked, putting up his sword to his ear as if it was talking," Is this how you plan to kill that redheaded bastard from the ball?" Soujiro shook his head slowly. "Oh no, no, no. That's not how we kill, my dear. That is too subtle. We must take our time, and splash his blood on the walls. Or else those fools of a bodyguards of his might think he just fainted on the floor."

Soujiro paused, letting his sword 'speak'.

"Hm? Ah, yes! Silly me! How could I forget? I have a mission to accomplish before my own personal agenda. Oh well." He carelessly slung his sword over his shoulder and walked away in a happy manner, leaving the broken straw person on the floor. Soujiro smiled at the weapon leaning on his shoulder. "What's that? Don't worry, we can always kill him tomorrow night."

He stopped in his tracks and looked at the setting sun. "Be thankful, Kenshin Himura. Your life has just been lengthened by one more night."

----

thundersister: Well… it's longer than the last chapter. That's for sure… Now that I have finally put up this chapter, I'm sure that those of you that were paying attention will give me an educated and well-informed guess as to who was the mysterious bachelor that dared to kiss Kaoru in front of our dear Sou-chan.

If you don't know who he is… then I pity you, from the bottom of my heart and with deepest sincerity.

Important Notice!

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