A/N. Woot! If you've made it this far, then I guess I don't suck! Hurray, happy times. :) I hope you are all enjoying it so far! Any comments and suggestions are welcome, all constructive, of course. I'd rather not be told rudely that I should never be allowed to write anything again. Though, I'm hoping not to be told that in a polite way either. --; So anyway, enjoy! Thanks for taking the time to read this, and thanks to everyone who took the time to review, it's appreciated. :) Thanks again Aya!

Disclaimer: Same thing as the last one, characters and idea, not mine, everything else is.

Kenshin hummed tunelessly as he diligently continued washing the laundry. He was almost done and he was looking forward to preparing a nice warm bath for Kaoru-dono. Kaoru, Kaoru, he corrected himself. He still hadn't quite managed to drop the honorific completely, but he was trying because he knew Kaoru wanted him to.

Seeing that he only had two more pieces of clothing left Kenshin allowed his mind to wander. It went directly to his wife. At this thought he smiled slightly. He thought back to when he had last seen her about an hour ago.

Kenshin was about half way done the laundry and stood up to hang something to dry. He stretched slightly and cracked his protesting back. Though he enjoyed being useful in these simple ways, sometimes Kenshin had to ignore the discomfort it brought to his body. He decided a little break would do him some good.

Kenshin looked down at his feet and smiled gratefully, they had led him exactly where he had wanted to go without needing instruction. His feet automatically took him to the training hall. Kaoru was in there.

He carefully looked into the hall. He spotted Kaoru right way. She had her back to him and was saying something to her students. The words themselves were lost on Kenshin; he was only concentrating on the sound of her voice. He watched her hips sway as she walked to the far wall and selected one of the many bokken displayed there. Kaoru then began to demonstrate something and Kenshin watched the light play on her inky locks. As she moved Kenshin's eyes followed her and he admired her curves approvingly. Recently, he had explored those same curves much more intimately and he now appreciated the result of Kaoru's training in katsujin-ken. At this last thought Kenshin allowed himself a small smile of satisfaction. Yes, he really enjoyed the effects the training had on his little katsujin-ken instructor's body.

Before he went too far with those thoughts Kenshin left. He took one last look at his lovely wife and went back to his chores.

"Kenshin!" Kenshin looked up to find Kaoru jogging toward him. She carried a towel in one hand and her bokken in the other. She smiled as she neared him and bent down slightly as she continued. "You were peeking in at the training session, right?" asked Kaoru as she brought her occupied hands down to rest on her hips.

Kenshin looked up and smiled as he replied, "Oh, you noticed, hmm?"

Kaoru straightened up and brought her bokken up to rest across her shoulder, "If you're going to peek you might as well come into the dojo," said Kaoru.

Kenshin laughed and busied himself with the laundry again. "No, I wasn't peeking to watch the practice…"

Kaoru brought the towel she had been drying her face off with back down at Kenshin's answer. "Oh? Then what were you doing," she asked. Kaoru watched as Kenshin scrubbed hard on one of his robes and thought she saw a little colour coming to his cheeks. She couldn't quite read his expression because his hair was blocking her view of his eyes; "…I was just admiring someone…" came Kenshin's soft reply.

Kaoru took a moment to process his words, "…eh?"

"Lately, you're changed a little again," explained Kenshin.

Kaoru felt herself blush, "What… 'Again'…?" asked Kaoru.

Kenshin kept his head lowered as he dutifully continued his work. "Yep." He paused; he carefully dried his hands on his lap and brought his hand thoughtfully under his chin. "Lately, you won't get beaten immediately. You might even be able to win-"

"…I don't think I've changed," interrupted Kaoru.

"No, you've changed!" insisted Kenshin. "When I first met you, you were much more manly."

Kaoru felt heat flood into her cheeks once again. "What's that supposed to mean," yelled an annoyed Kaoru.

WHACK!

"Oroorooo!"

Kaoru brought down her bokken squarely on Kenshin's head and stormed off. "Forget it!" she tossed over her shoulder. Kenshin was left with a big lump on his head and stars dancing around his line of vision.

Tentatively Kenshin brought up a careful hand to inspect the damage. A light breeze ruffled his hair and he turned to find Kaoru hadn't gone very far. She was sitting on the porch lining the dojo and was allowing the soft breeze to caress her face. Kenshin stilled immediately and gazed at Kaoru. So lovely, he thought.

Eventually the power of his gaze got Kaoru's attention. She turned to look at him and found him watching her intently. Kaoru blushed again and felt a familiar thrill of pleasure to have caught his attention so completely. "…W-what," she asked. This time she was sure Kenshin was blushing.

"Nothing…" Kenshin paused. "Recently…" He glanced down at the robe in his hands and turned back to her and smiled. "You've become…beautiful again…"

Blood rushed to Kaoru's face when Kenshin was done. "Geez! Think before you speak! A-and, what do you mean by 'again'!" Kaoru shouted, gesturing wildly for emphasis.

"Ah…" replied Kenshin, how had he managed to upset her again? Damage control, damage control! He thought desperately. Kaoru crossed her arms neatly across her chest and Kenshin turned away his cheeks still coloured. "…I've always thought so…but I've been too embarrassed to say so…" confessed Kenshin a little awkwardly.

Kaoru tried not to let her surprise show too much, Since when has he thought- "…so," said Kaoru as she walked closer to him, she leaned down again and rested her hands on her knees. "You're not embarrassed anymore?"

Kenshin didn't answer right away. He continued scrubbing his perfectly clean sleeping robe for a moment before replying. "… 'No, I'm not,' would be a lie, but…" Kenshin stood up without looking at Kaoru. He dried off his hands on his clothes and continued, "That is…now…"

Kaoru smiled, "What?" When Kenshin didn't reply right away Kaoru tried again, "Hey, 'now,' what?"

With movements so quick Kaoru had no hope of following them, Kenshin was behind her with his arms wrapped around her waist and his hands resting on her abdomen. "Now, you're…my woman."

Kaoru was surprised. Kenshin hardly ever used the possessive "my." She hadn't heard him use those possessive nouns unless he was reverting back to "hitokiri" or they were making love. Kaoru felt the warmth from her glowing cheeks spread to her body as she rested her own hand over his, she smiled warmly as she replied, "It hasn't even been threee months… I might just be getting fat."

That wasn't what Kenshin had been thinking about at all. "Oro." …Just wanted to touch you, he thought.

Kaoru leaned into Kenshin's body and turned her head to speak to him. "But, it's unexpected…"

"What is?"

"For you to say something like that, it's a strange feeling." Kaoru explained.

Kenshin closed his eyes and rested his cheek on the side of Kaoru's head. "…Well…All men are like that, after all," he said a little embarrassed. Kaoru giggled softly and closed her eyes as well. Kenshin just smiled and breathed in her scent.

"But, I'm glad…" Kaoru said suddenly.

Kenshin moved his head to look at Kaoru's expression. "Oh? …Really," he inquired.

"Really…" she confirmed. "After all, all women…are like that too."

Kenshin laughed softly and laced his fingers with hers. He pressed her body closer into his and held her tightly. He didn't want to let her go. He wanted to keep holding her like this forever. He wanted the laundry to do itself, the bath to become magically prepared for her and dinner to cook itself. He wanted to be free to take his wife into their room and make love to her now. Well, why not? It's really not a bad idea, he thought. With a mischievous smile tugging on his lips Kenshin began introducing Kaoru to his wonderful idea.

A/N. Whew! -Wipes non-existent sweat from forehead- This has been the longest fic in this little "series" so far! Where the other ones took me, maybe forty-five minutes to finish typing out, this one took a good hour and a half. --; I kept pausing to think of a good way to express the emotions or actions and I wanted to make things sound better, so basically I kept stopping to think over it. -Stretches- Well, it sort of went in a different direction there at the end. Ha, a little more suggestive than the doujinshi it's based on. Oh well, I had wanted to keep it a little more wholesome though. Guess I'll try that for the next one, which I'm still working on, and will probably be the last "chapter." Heh, hope you guys liked it. It took a bit more effort than the first two, but it has been the most fun to write so far. Tell me what you think! Thanks! See ya!