They reached the large gate that surrounded the castle, which immediately opened when they saw Kenshin, Sano, and Soujiro. Kaoru just looked around in amazement as they ride inside and to the stables that were on the far side of the large courtyard. Kenshin got off the horse first before helping Kaoru down, which caused her to blush. She smiles up at him once she's on her feet before looking down at the floor.

"So, what do you think of your new home?" Kenshin asked as he tucked her arm under his and led her slowly inside the castle, up the large stair case that was in the entrance of the hall.

"It's beautiful…" Kaoru said quietly as she looked around amazed and let herself be led through the castle. She looked up at him curiously when they stop in front of a big set of doors and he just smiled in return, his eyes twinkling as he opened the door and led her into a huge room with a big four poster bed, a desk that was covered in papers, and a balcony that had a beautiful view of the hills and the garden below.

"This is our room." Kenshin said after he closed the door and leaned against the wall, watching her explore the room with a handsome smirk on his face. Kaoru liked it a lot more than she like Saitou's. Blushing softly, she nods slowly and goes to look out at the view from the balcony, leaning her elbows on the railing and clasping her hands lightly as she looks out at the beautiful landscape. She had known something like this would happen since she was his slave, she just hoped that it would happen later on.

Kenshin watches her closely, noticing the slight change in her face as he mention it was their room. She had frozen up a little and that was confusing her. He follows her out to the balcony and stands next to him.

"Are you hungry?" Kenshin asked lightly, wanting the Kaoru that he had talked to at the bookstore. Not this quiet shell of her that would barely look at him. Leaning against the railing as she was, he takes one of her hands in his and looks at her curiously, his golden eyes searching her face for some clue of what was wrong.

He was about to ask what was wrong when a knock came at the door and a beautiful woman came into the room, smiling at Kenshin. For some reason, Kaoru was starting to feel jealous of her because Kenshin straightened up and leaned back against the railing, looking at the woman warily.

Kaoru straightened up as well and leaned back against the railing, still feeling jealous of the woman for some reason until Kenshin clasps her hand and smiles at her softly before looking back to the woman who was smiling with a slight glint in her eyes.

"What do you want Megumi?" Kenshin asked, knowing that glint in her eyes meant that Sano had done something wrong again and she wanted permission to punish him. Though she only asked permission so he could talk her out of killing Sano.

"Welcome back Battousai. This must be the beautiful prize that Sano just won't stop talking about." Megumi said, smiling kindly at Kaoru, which eased her jealousy a little more. The tone of Megumi's voice made it obvious that she and Sano were together, though what she said made Kaoru blush lightly. Kenshin just started laughing and once he was able to get it under control, he smiled at Kaoru before smiling at Megumi.

"Megumi, you may punish Sano however you want, just don't kill him. I don't need you assassinating my assassins." Kenshin said in a rehearsed tone, which made Megumi smile brightly and nod before she left them alone to go and punish Sano. They would probably find him later, tied up and hanging from a tree.

After Megumi left, Kenshin leaned down and kissed Kaoru on the cheek before leading her back inside and out of the room. Kaoru, blushing darkly from the kiss, just let herself get pulled along, smiling softly.

"Kenshin, where are we going?" She asked as he led her down the stairs and down a hall.

"The kitchen. You might be hungry and I know I am. I didn't want to leave you alone so soon after bringing you to the castle." He said, smiling brightly back at him as they enter a kitchen that was bustling and warm. Kaoru looked around before smiling up at him and letting herself be led to a table in the corner where Soujiro and another young boy were sitting and arguing about something. Well, the young boy was arguing and Soujiro was just sitting there and smiling, every once in a while pointing out something that derailed the young boy's argument. "Hello Soujiro. Yahiko."

"Hello Battousai." They both reply before going back to their argument. Kaoru had to laugh softly as she and Kenshin sat down across from them and watched them quietly as kitchen hands came around quickly, putting down a plate filled with food in front of them and a glass filled with wine each. Kaoru looks down at the food before smiling up at Kenshin.

"This all looks delicious." She said before starting to eat, starting to feel comfortable around him again. He was becoming just Kenshin again, not the Battousai, though she never forgot that she was his slave. "Mm, I was right, it is."

He laughs and starts to eat as well. "You're right, it is. We'll have to compliment Tae later. She's the head cook and she and her apprentice Tsubame are amazing. I believe that little Yahiko is a big fan of Tsubame." Kenshin said as he sat back and sipped his wine, laughing a little as Yahiko turns bright red and glares at him.

"Hey Battousai! You promised you wouldn't say anything! And don't call me little!" Yahiko yells, slamming his fists down on the table and shaking all of the plates. That didn't stop anyone from their work, so Kaoru took it to be a normal happening. She had to giggle a little and sipped her wine as well, noticing Kenshin watching her from the corner of her eye and smiling over at him shyly. They finish their meal and go over to the woman and the young girl that were working at the stoves.

"Kaoru, this is Tae and her apprentice Tsubame, the masterminds behind that delicious meal." Kenshin said as they turned around and smiled at him and Kaoru.
"So this is who you chose as prize, huh Battousai? Well, she's very pretty. Thank you for the compliment as well." Tae said, smiling kindly at them as Kaoru blushes and smiles at them as well.

"It really was very delicious. I can't even cook ramen, let alone something as good as that." Kaoru said, her blush fading a little.
"Well anytime you want, you can come down and we'll teach you how to cook." Tsubame said quietly, smiling up at Kaoru.

Kaoru smiles brightly and nods happily. "I'd like that, thank you!"

"Now that you've all made friends, it's late and we're going to bed. Night everyone." Kenshin said as Kaoru's blush came back full force. She follows him back to their room and sits on the bed as he goes to the huge walk-in closet and changes out of his clothes. Coming back out in his boxers, he smirks softly when he sees her blush and hands her a dark blue, silk nightgown.

"I had to borrow this from Megumi, I'm sorry. First thing tomorrow, we'll go and get you some new clothes." He explained as she took the nightgown and stood up, smiling shyly up at him.

"It's beautiful…thank you." She said before heading into the bathroom to change. Kenshin lay on his bed, on top of the silk black sheets and waited for him.

"You're welcome, I chose it because I thought it would bring out your eyes……" he trailed off as Kaoru came out in the nightgown which hugged her curves perfectly and, as he had been explaining, brought out her beautiful blue eyes perfectly. She blushes and crawls onto the bed next to him, suddenly self-conscience.

She had never slept with a man before and she didn't want to disappoint him by being horrible at it. He surprised her as he leaned over to kiss her softly, which made her face turn into a tomato as she shyly kissed him back. She was just starting to get the hang of it and was really starting to enjoy it when he pulled away and pulled the covers over them before laying down with her and wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her to his chest before kissing her forehead and closing his eyes. "Goodnight Kaoru…."

Confused and surprised, she continues to blush as she snuggles against him and yawns, thankful that he hadn't pushed himself on her but also a little disappointed. She closes her eyes and starts to drift off as well. "Goodnight Kenshin…."