Kaoru and Sano walk slowly to her room, Kaoru wringing her hands a little as she finally asks the question that had been on her mind since Kenshin had first brought her to this castle.
"Is Ken….is the Battousai always this nice to his slaves?" she asked quietly as she looks up at Sano with a slightly worried look. When Sano started to laugh uncontrollably, she balls up her fists and whacks him over the head, glaring down at him. He lay on the floor, holding the lump on his head and still laughing. "What's so funny!?"
"What's funny is that you think Kenshin has slaves." He gasps out as he tries to calm down and regain his breath. "That was a funny one Missy; I have laughed like that in a while. That hurt though."
"He…..doesn't have any slaves? But….but I was told I was to come here to be his slave to keep him from attacking my town." Kaoru explained confusedly, running her fingers through her hair and suddenly noticing that they were standing outside of her room already.
"Who told you that?" He asked sharply. Sano's laughing had stopped at that as he stood up and looked down at her. It had been explained to Captain Saitou and the leaders of the city that Kaoru would be looked after but nothing had been said about her being a slave.
"Saitou. He said…." Kaoru trailed off as she started glaring at the wall. Sano moved back a little, pitying the wall and wondering what had clicked in her mind as she started up again. "That son of a bitch! He lied to me to make sure I was miserable, oh, I'm going to kill him!" She shrieks, stomping her foot on the floor hard and looking up at Sano.
'Guess this is the real Kaoru, especially since she's been holding herself back because she thought she was a slave…poor Kenshin…' Sano thought as he looked down at the angry woman.
It was his turn to let out a yelp as Kaoru grabbed him by the wrist and started back down the hall and downstairs, outside to where the men had been practicing before. "Kaoru, where are we going?" He asked fearfully. She was almost as scary as Megumi when she was made.
"I'm furious and I need to practice my kendo. Now!" She yelled as she let go of his wrist and looked around, not remembering that she was in a kimono or that she didn't have a boken or something to practice with.
Sano did remember that though and knowing better than to anger an angry woman, he quick ran and got her a boken. The second the boken was in her hand, he went and stood on the edge of the field while she started doing her own katas, watching her curiously.
He'd seen women fighting before, there were even some other female assassins around the place, but Kaoru's katas were different from any style he had seen before. Gathering his courage and sensing that she had calmed down a little, he starts to ask her questions about it.
"What kind of style is that Missy?" He asked, breathing out a sigh of relief when she looks at him and smiles and starts explaining like she had for Kenshin just a few days ago. He listened with interest, taking the boken from her when she finishes and going to put it away before coming back and starting to lead her back inside.
"Sano…….if I'm not Kenshin's slave…..what exactly is the point of being his 'prize'?" Kaoru asked as they went up the grand staircase to her room. It had been a question that had been lurking at the back of her mind since he had told her that she wasn't Kenshin's slave.
"Well Missy, a 'prize' is something that each assassin in this place is allowed to have. When Kenshin asked the city to have you as a prize, it was pretty much him asking if he could bring you here and court you. That's how I got Megumi, from Tokyo. You might not have realized this, but Megumi is my 'loving' wife and has been for a year now. Now when an assassin claims a prize, it's when an assassin here meets a girl that he finds interesting and who he starts to like. That's why he's always happy to see you. Tell you the truth, he had told no one to disturb him before in the meeting room, but I knew that if I went in with you, he'd be happy and not kill me." Sano explained with a sly smile, looking down at Kaoru's expression, which was a dark blush and a look of disbelief.
"So……Kenshin likes me and has been courting me?" Kaoru asked in disbelief. That explained why he hadn't pushed her any farther than she wanted to go and why he hadn't taken her last night when she was in his bed last night. Kaoru's blush fades a little as she smiles up at Sano brightly. "Guess it's a good thing that I'm starting to like him too huh?"
Sano had to laugh at that and nod. This was great! Now that Kaoru was around, Kenshin wasn't as big of a tight ass as before because he was spending most of his time with her. Sano smiled down at Kaoru and put his hands behind his head.
"Yep, that's a great thing. Too bad he's off with that stupid Shishio all night, so you get the bed to yourself." He felt a little bad about telling her that, but it was the truth. Shishio dropped by four or five times a month to ask for Kenshin to join him in his plan to take over Japan. Kaoru's smile dropped a little at that and she nods.
"I guess that it makes sense. I can't monopolize his time…and it gives me more time to think as well, so I guess it's not all bad." She said as she looked up at Sano with a small smile. "I'm going to go to bed now, it's late and I'm tired."
Sano nods and waits for her to go inside before heading to his and Megumi's room, tired as well and missing his own prize. Inside her own room, Kaoru slips out of the kimono and grabs the nightgown that Kenshin had chosen for her, blushing a little each time she thinks about him.
She takes a quick bath before slipping on her nightgown and putting her wet hair up and then crawling into bed with a soft smile. Kenshin had been so gentle and sweet, doing everything that she wanted and putting her first, she was going to make it up to him when he came back to bed.