Chapter Seventy-Five

The small employee locker room was hardly a secure enough place to be talking about something as serious as what this strange lady in her fancy kimono had suggested. At least, in Enishi's opinion. Frowning, the stone golem stood with his arms crossed as the one named Yuna sat herself primly on one of the benches. The floral demon named Tsubame seated herself opposite their mysterious visitor, and Enishi leaned himself against the locked door. Though Enishi was still uncertain why he had been invited to listen in on their private conversation, he could guess that it had something to do with Himura and Kaoru.

Is she connected to Sōjirō in some way? Another doll maybe, or pawn? But then why would she come to the restaurant, and how is this server connected?

Honestly, she seemed too bright and open to be under the control of shadow demon powers. Though that, too, could have been a ruse. When she caught him staring at her, she smiled gently in return, despite his less than welcoming scowl. Somehow, it reminded him of his older sister and her ladylike mannerisms, and his expression eased.

"If it is alright with you both, I will erect a barrier around this room. Our conversation must not be overheard." Neither Enishi nor Tsubame answered right away, but it was clear they weren't exactly comfortable with the idea. "It is merely a precaution. It will limit none of your abilities." A glance of her honey-colored brown eyes skated over him, and a tinge of red oddly darkened her cheeks. "I doubt you would need your abilities to overpower me, anyway."

Enishi frowned, but waved a hand in reluctant agreement. Tsubame also softly agreed from her perch on the bench. Unconsciously, his shoulders tensed in preparation, and he clenched his teeth. From his experience with barriers, no matter what they were for, they were always restrictive and heavy in feeling. Yuna's barrier, however, feathered against them like a welcome breeze, and his muscles slowly relaxed. It settled over the room like a light cloud, and felt purifying instead of limiting, as if it were uplifting his body with natural energy. Inhaling deeply, the overpowering smells of the city and the restaurant disappeared, and he instead found his lungs full of fresh mountain air.

"I will introduce myself now." Gracefully, she stood and bowed to them at the waist. "I am Yuna, Eighth Princess of the Sky Emperor. It is a pleasure to meet you both."

"P-princess?!" Tsubame jumped up immediately and knelt on the floor to bow lower than the royalty in their presence. Startled himself, Enishi uncrossed his arms to also show the respect her title demanded. Though his actions were mostly out of habit from his proper upbringing rather than honest respect for her title.

"Please don't." Her hands reached down to Tsubame on the floor, and Yuna smiled kindly at her upturned face. "I am not here officially. Today, I am here as a big sister."

"W-what?" The floral demon retook her seat, and Enishi slowly straightened as he watched the princess retrieve a carefully creased paper from the fold of her kimono.

At least it appears she is not aligned with Sōjirō, but what does a princess have to do with Himura? If he's been messing around on Kaoru, I'll beat him into the dirt.

"Yahiko-kun requested that this be delivered to you. My sister and I thought it best that I hand it to you in person."

Both of her small hands offered the letter to Tsubame, and the waitress accepted it hastily. Shifting his weight, Enishi impatiently wondered if he had overread the situation. He didn't know who this Yahiko was, but he seemed to be connected more to this girl than to Kenshin. The meeting suddenly didn't seem all that important for him to be a part of. Glancing at his phone to check the time, he thought about the original reason he had returned to the restaurant to seek out Kenshin. Why no one had thought to tell him that Kaoru had left the lab until two days later he wasn't sure, and it was something he would talk to his sister about when he saw her. Right then, he needed to hear directly from that fire demon whether what he had been told was the truth or not. Before he could put the device back into his pocket, Tsubame stood straight to her feet and his eyes jerked up to connect with hers when her head snapped over to look directly at him. Her deep, black eyes were wide in her pale face, and she looked terrified.

"Are you really Kaoru's brother?" Her breathless voice was desperate and strained. "Are you really someone that they trust?"

"Why? What's going on?" His deep voice rumbled unconsciously as everything wrenched back into more sober territory.

"Do you have proof?" Tsubame pressured him for more than just the word of a man she did not know, and Enishi was concerned but also a bit offended at the same time.

Yuna tilted her head, and she held her kimono sleeve in place as she lifted a hand to cover her mouth. "Should I have asked for more proof earlier?" Her worried eyes swept over to him as well. "I did not sense that he was lying, but… I've never done this kind of thing before. What kind of proof would suffice?"

Only because the situation seemed abruptly dire did Enishi decide not to argue. If playing along was the quickest way for him to find out what new threat there was to Kaoru and why it had scared this poor waitress so severely, then that was what he would do. Unlocking the phone still in the palm of his hand, he swiped through his photos and held one up for Tsubame and the princess to see. It was an older photo, from their trip to the beach, but it had all of them together: Kaoru and Kenshin as well as his sister and him.

"Good enough?" Impatiently, his voice growled.

A shaky exhale left the little server's lungs as she studied the picture, and she immediately handed him the letter once she was satisfied. Taking it in hand, he stuffed his phone hurriedly into his back pocket while reading the cramped lettering on the small page. The gist of the circumstances became clear to him, and his stomach dropped through the floor of his pelvis. The why didn't matter. Everyone knew how dangerous and paranoid the Emperor was. Motives were irrelevant in the face of overwhelming power and influence. Pushing Tsubame behind him and out of the way, he stepped toward the princess and growled at her angrily.

"You came through the front door with this?! Didn't it occur to you that he's probably watching the restaurant?"

"I-I…" Wide brown eyes stared up at him, and for the first time Yuna appeared frightened, and, as a result, she became a touch defensive. "I'm certain my sister wouldn't have sent me here if it wasn't safe."

"One of the older sisters you told me you're not close to?" The poignant reminder seemed to hurt the fair princess, and it showed plainly in the scrunched and bruised gaze unsteadily meeting his own.

"Well… yes." In soft resignation, she confirmed her own words, and her chin lowered towards her lap. "Forgive me for being naïve. I only wished to help."

"Naïve? A child would have had better sense!" The princess flinched in the face of his scolding, but a loud puff of smoke from behind her startled all three of them.

"Watch your tone, young man." The sharp tongue-lashing announced the presence of a fourth person before they even materialized, and with the newly learned impending threat looming over them, Enishi reacted purely out of instinct. While Tsubame and the princess both jumped, Enishi grabbed Yuna by the shoulders to pull her out of reach of their intruder. A second later, Tsubame squeaked when she recognized her boss standing behind the bench where the princess had just sat.

"Tae-san! How did you get in here?" Dark eyes glanced at the locked door. "Where did you come from?"

The raccoon dog lifted her chin.

"This is my restaurant, isn't it? I can go wherever I please within it."

"B-but…" Steadying herself with an unknowing hand on Enishi's chest, Yuna spoke up softly. "My barrier is still in place."

A rare, soft smile relaxed Tae's usually business-like features, and she bowed to Yuna deeply. "And it's a good one, Princess. You merely made the mistake of erecting it within my own barrier. Mine's nothing special, mind you, but it does allow me certain advantages. How else do you think I might handle unruly customers?"

"Who the hell is this?" Because Enishi had no prior knowledge or way to confirm that this new demon was who Tsubame had said she was, and no way of knowing if she was someone they could trust in their current situation, he glared at her in intimidation. Truth be told, he wasn't sure he could trust anyone in that room at that moment, but his desire to protect Kaoru and, by proxy, Kenshin was stronger than his suspicion. No matter what, he needed to acquire as much information as possible so that he could warn Kenshin about the unknown danger the Emperor posed to Kaoru. Which ultimately meant that he needed to keep this princess and server safe while they imparted what they knew.

"Oh! This is Tae-san." Tsubame stepped closer to place herself half-between them. "She owns this restaurant."

"I also don't appreciate anyone hassling my workers, especially my best cook." Tae crossed her arms in an odd imitation of Enishi's stance earlier, and she tilted her chin up and her head to one side as she frowned. "Emperor or no, I won't have him ruining my business. Himura-san has doubled my customer count, and that's something when we were already overloaded. Customer satisfaction is through the roof, I can barely keep my food stocks running on time. I don't care what type of demon he is, he's one of the best workers I've ever had and I'm not about to lose the golden goose to some stupid pissing contest. Now," Turning back on Enishi, Tae's features dropped into a look of absolute no-nonsense. "I was going to listen without saying anything to keep from overcomplicating the matter, but it appears I'd best get involved what with the situation getting out of hand. Before you say another word to this pretty little thing, you better think long and hard about how she's risking her life bringing you this message. Scolding her for not being sly or mistrustful isn't doing any of us any good. It's certainly not going to help Himura-san or that sweet girlfriend of his."

Enishi bristled.

"Look here, Lady, I don't know or trust you, but I did think about it. She's the one who doesn't seem to understand that…" Emerald green eyes glanced down just as the princess glanced up, and he only just realized that he was still holding her by the shoulders. He had also unconsciously angled himself in front of her, like a shield. A sharp but silent inhale sucked through his nose at the same time that she audibly gasped, and the hand she had placed on his chest flinched away. A flush of deep crimson flooded her cheeks before she could duck her head to hide her reaction, and she stepped quickly away from the safety of his larger form. Clearing his throat, and suddenly trying to awkwardly figure out what to do with his hands, he shoved them in his pockets and scowled again. His voice was even rougher when he finished his explanation.

"If the Emperor has been watching Himura-san, then he already knows who we are and how close we are to him. Us being here isn't unnatural or a problem. But, if this letter is true, he won't believe it's just a coincidence that one of his daughters walked through the front door of the restaurant that Himura works at. Stop me if I'm going out on a limb here, but I'm guessing you don't frequent this place often."

Honey-brown eyes glanced up at him, but Yuna looked away when their eyes met.

"I… I've never been outside the palace before."

"Great." Two fingers pushed into the bridge of Enishi's nose.

"I see I misunderstood." An impressed look was aimed at him from the raccoon dog he was still uncertain about, but he didn't understand why she also looked so amused. "You were merely worried about the Princess. Very admirable of you, young man. Did you, perhaps, think to ask her if she had a plan, though, before you jumped into trying to protect her?"

Enishi's eyes narrowed on the owner of the restaurant before he turned his attention back to the princess. His silence pressured her into answering the unspoken question.

"Well… I snuck out of the palace, and I had planned to sneak back in the same way. But it has to be before five o'clock this afternoon. No one knows I'm gone, except for my sister. She's covering for me while I'm here. We…" She looked down briefly, before boldly meeting his gaze once more. "We may have never been close while we grew up, but that's neither her nor my fault. We have different mothers, and were always kept separate. She's trustworthy. She's also the one who has been assisting Himura-san, through his connections, on a way to free Yahiko-kun. She's been trying to meet with Himura-san personally to warn him of the Emperor's plans, but he's very mistrustful and has refused to meet with anyone connected to the palace until after Yahiko is freed. We feared it would be too late by then, though, and this letter was the only way we could get a message to him. I…" She folded her hands in front of her, and lowered her eyes. "I may be ignorant and sheltered, but I wanted to help in any way that I could. Not because I have any great connection or affection for the fire demon, but because… I know who my father is, and I do not agree with him."

The amount of information he had been given was a lot to sift through, and they had no real time to be dwelling on motives. Filing the rest away to think on later, Enishi focused on the important aspects as well as working out what needed to be done with the princess before he took the message straight to Kenshin.

"Who's this Yahiko and how's he connected?"

The waitress assisted with explaining his involvement, and once Enishi was caught up, he nodded his head silently. At least he had a little better idea of why the owner of the restaurant was butting in. This made two workers that had been targeted by the Emperor. Truth be told, Enishi would probably take it personally, too. Without looking at the princess, since she seemed suddenly shy about meeting his gaze, Enishi waved a hand.

"Do you still think your plan will work?"

Yuna's perfect features turned thoughtful for a moment.

"If we could pinpoint my father's watchdogs, I could put them to sleep. If no one knows I left the palace, it would be hard for them to report that they saw me outside. My father is extremely paranoid, but as a result his subordinates would never report based purely off of suspicion, hearsay, or belief. If they cannot prove what they report, they risk harsh punishment."

"Except there are cameras all over." Pointing out the flaw in her logic to make sure they covered all their bases, Enishi watched her smile.

"Oh, that's not a problem. My sister has already handled those." Her soft voice was thrilled to report she had that covered, at least.

"This is good. I can help with finding the lookouts." Tae grinned at bit devilishly. "A little short-term memory loss should make them second-guess themselves."

Enishi wasn't sold on this plan, but he also knew that if she didn't return to the palace, it could cause a worse situation. It could possibly even give the Emperor the excuse he needed to do whatever he wanted under the guise of fatherly devotion and parental wrath for those who had allegedly kidnapped his daughter. If he declared the need for emergency powers, the country would be locked down and no one would be able to hide from him. Which would only make it easier for him to attack Kaoru and Kenshin directly. Still, she was still taking on a lot of risk.

"Are you sure you'll be fine returning to the palace?"

A soft smile brightened the princess's features, and his concern seemed to please her.

"Like my sister said, I'm the perfect princess. I'm the least likely to be suspected of anything as daring as leaving the palace." The glow of her expression dampened, and her fingers twisted together. "Even if I am caught, he would only lock me up like he did Yahiko-kun. I…" Brown irises lowered. "I am a rare sky demon, and as such, I am too valuable to dispose of without first… bearing him an heir."

Tsubame's shaky breath spoke of empathy, but something sick twisted Enishi's insides at the confession. The type of father she alluded to was not something Enishi understood, as his own was loving and kind. If his father had once treated his sister the way that Yuna's father apparently treated her, he would have never allowed it.

Lifting her chin with a smile of reassurance, Yuna's honey eyes closed. "So please do not worry about me. You need to deliver this message to Himura-san as quickly as possible. I will be fine."

Tae's own tan-colored eyes darted between the three others before she waved a hand.

"She's right. Go deliver that letter to Himura-san. I will assist the princess in leaving unnoticed."

"No." A hand tapped his leg as he thought. "Handle the lookouts like we planned, but then take her to the café up the street. I'll deliver this to Himura and come back."

Yuna blinked at him, and he cocked a half-rueful grin.

"Do you even remember where you've got to go? You were lost when I came across you."

"I remember…" The princess's gentle, ladylike voice was slightly firm in defense, but it diminished rapidly into quiet concession a moment later. "… the building…"

Despite the dangers and the pressing seriousness, Enishi chuckled at her unwittingly cute response.

"Stay put at the café. I'll come back and escort you, Princess."

X

Akira reread the address Tomoe had given to him as reference, and then glanced around to make sure he was in front of the correct building. Stuffing the sticky note back into his pocket, he bent down to pick up the bag with Kaoru's sketchbook and art supplies, and adjusted the handle on the wheeled luggage with her clothes and necessities. They had heard nothing from Himura since the incident at the lab, and Tomoe had begun to worry about Kaoru not having any clothes or hygiene products. Therefore, Akira had been sent to deliver the packed bags instead of waiting for Himura to come pick them up as he had promised. For some reason Akira didn't understand, Tomoe had declined to come with him, but he wasn't sure if it was him she was trying to avoid or Himura. Whatever was going on with her, she was becoming more and more closed off, and he was becoming more and more concerned about what to do.

Walking up to the doors of the large apartment complex with his thoughts clearly elsewhere, Akira tripped when the rolling luggage caught on the short step up. The red daitengu mask perched on top of his head fell to the ground and clattered into the glass doors, and he caught himself on one knee. Someone walking past snickered at him, but he was too preoccupied to notice or care. As he attempted to regain his feet, a hand grabbed him by the elbow.

"You alright?"

The deep voice was familiar, though a bit rushed, and he glanced up to find Enishi standing over him.

"Yukishiro-san." A hasty bow doubled him back over. "What are you doing here?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing." The mask was retrieved from the ground, and Enishi's large hand settled it heavily back onto the top of Akira's head. It was only then that Akira realized the golem was breathing heavily, as if he had been running. Green eyes looked between the bag and the suitcase he still held and made a quick, correct assumption. "Those Kaoru's?"

"Y-yes. Tomoe asked me to bring them over. Are you…?"

"Good. I'll take them up." Though Akira protested, Enishi took them away a little roughly. "I can't explain right now, but I need you to get back to the lab and stay with my sister."

"Huh? But what's…?"

"Now, dammit! I'll be there later to explain everything." Impatience mixed with anger and his already cavernous voice sounded like the violent rumble of an earthquake. The extended handle on the suitcase was slammed down, and he picked it up by the side-handle with ease. "Just… keep my sister safe, alright? Can you do that?"

Stormy eyes frowned, and Akira could feel the electric zing of danger in the air. Without knowing what was happening, the expression on Enishi's face told him that it was something bad.

"Yes." The word was spoken with more confidence than he had felt at any time in his life.

"Great. Get going."

The stone golem turned and marched through the doors without an ounce of fanfare. Reaching for the mask perched now precariously on his crown, Akira pulled it down over his face, spread wide his impressive wings, and took flight. Almost immediately, he was surrounded by ten tengu guards.

"My Lord!"

The acknowledgement was spoken in tandem by all present, and they saluted with a fist over their heart.

"I need you to post two guards at the building I just left. Report any suspicious activity directly to me. The rest of you are to guard the lab."

"Yes, sir!"

Without a moment of hesitation or question, they scattered into two different directions to follow his orders. With them gone, two new tengu flanked him and saluted in the same fashion as their predecessors.

"Be quick!" The whistle of wind made it impossible to be heard without shouting.

"Yes, My Lord! We…"

The one on his right faltered, and the one on his left instantly finished their report.

"We can't find her!"

Throwing back his mask to reveal his face, he stared at the female tengu incredulously.

"You what?!"

"We're sorry, My Lord! We saw her go into the restaurant, as planned, but she's disappeared!"

"Keep looking! I can't tell her sister that we just lost her!"

The tengu on his right finally found the nerve to join in.

"The others are still searching, but… what do we do if we don't find her?!"

Akira frowned, and the mask came back down to cover his grim expression.

"If it comes to that, I will take the blame! I'm the one who agreed to the favor, despite withholding our support!"

His willingness to take it all upon himself seemed to sober the two tengu guards, and they respectfully saluted him again.

"Don't worry, My Lord! We won't stop looking! Come on!" A hand waved to the other tengu, and they both dropped to dive back towards the city. Once alone, Akira cursed out loud in uncharacteristic frustration, but also a touch of fear.

"Dammit!"

Losing a princess was easily the clumsiest thing he had ever done.

X

Kenshin laughed as Kaoru squealed and jerked helplessly away from his tickling fingers. Her own hands worked superficially to fend him off, but he knew there was only so much she would take before she decided to fight back in earnest. Twenty seconds later and his prediction came true when she hooked her leg around his knee, twisted her body out from under him, and jerked him onto his back. Grunting as the air wheezed from his lungs, he continued to grin as he watched her flip over to throw her entire weight across his torso.

An involuntary noise embarrassingly squawked from his throat when she went right for his most ticklish areas, and their wrestling was interspersed with laughter, shrieks, and thumps as their weight bumped around on the futon. When he'd had his fill of teasing her, he stopped fighting, and she pinned him with a satisfied grin of victory. She was wearing nothing but his shirt, and her rumpled hair cascaded around her shoulders as she bent over the top of him. Both of her hands pressed into his bare shoulders without truly restraining him, and her chest heaved with leftover exertion.

"Giving up so soon?"

Chuckling, he adjusted his shoulders and pushed back her hair. The longer horns on his head pressed uncomfortably into the futon now, but he ignored them in favor of the soft and fiery woman in his bed. Pushing himself abruptly upright with one hand, he gripped her around the waist and angled his nose into her ear.

"Never."

She squealed again when he spun her onto her back, and the legs that had straddled him now wrapped around his hips where the elastic of his boxer briefs kept him covered. Now splayed out beneath him, he took a moment to watch as she giggled in carefree delight.

Why can't everyday be like this?

Kenshin already knew he was pushing his luck by taking the last two days off of work just to play hooky and stay in with her. It was not something he could do forever, but now that she was staying with him, now that she called his apartment home, he didn't want to ever leave it. He wanted to spend every second of every day with her, but he also wanted to keep her comfortable and safe. Which meant he had to go back to work at some point. Otherwise, he wouldn't have the income to keep them housed and fed. A part of him, though, still worried about leaving her there alone.

Small white teeth bit down on her bottom lip as she looked up at him, and he tilted his head curiously when she reached up to pull lightly on his tangled hair. Warmth glowed from her blue irises as she next traced a finger down his sternum, and his voice rumbled low in his chest.

"Keep looking at me like that and we'll never make it back out of bed."

A mischievous grin intensified the apple-shape of her cheekbones, and she lifted both hands to wrap around the back of his neck. Her voice was still slightly bashful, however, and breathless with her audacity.

"I don't mind."

At her urging, he leaned into the press of her mouth, and he made sure to take his time and carefully savor the moment. Kissing a soft path down her neck afterwards, his hot breath fanned against her skin as he spoke.

"As soon as I have enough money, I'm buying a bigger bed." The bed he currently owned was too small for them to both sleep on comfortably. As a result, they had ended up sharing the futon. While he didn't necessarily mind it, he felt like the mattress on the bed had more support for her human bone-structure. Instead of agreeing, though, she giggled at the complaint in his tone, and surprised him with her response.

"Or we could just get rid of the bed and keep the futon."

"Hmm." That was certainly a cheaper option. "Are you sure you're okay with that?" Pushing up the shirt she was wearing to bunch under her armpits, he transferred his attention to her sternum and the extensive scar covering her chest. The sight of it still lurched his stomach with guilt, but it also made him want to overwhelm her with more love than she could stand as a desperate way to counterbalance the harm he had caused.

"Why not? I grew up with a futon. I kind of prefer them to an actual bed. Besides," An impish tone entered her voice, and she threaded her fingers into his hair. "I've grown rather fond of this one."

More chuckles hummed against his throat and chest, and he was silently agreeing when the doorbell interrupted them. Pushing himself upright to the sound of her protest, he glanced towards the stairs with a frown. Two seconds later, and the insistent pound of a fist announced that whoever was there had something urgent to say. Kaoru sat up as well to pout at the intrusion, and he distracted her with a kiss before standing.

"I'll be right back." The husky promise made her blush, and she tugged the shirt back down over her torso to retain the warmth from his kisses and touch.

Clothes were quickly collected and tugged on, and Kenshin jogged down the hall to the entrance just as Enishi started yelling for him to open up. Jerking the door open, now a little concerned, he blinked and instantly frowned at the seriousness of Enishi's stance and expression.

"What the fuck took you so long?"

Backing up when the stone golem pushed his way inside, Kenshin glanced behind the man to see if he was there alone. Without wasting time, the bags in Enishi's hands were deposited onto the raised flooring of the hallway, and then green eyes looked him up and down once. A scowl darkened his entire presence in response to whatever it was he saw, and Kenshin instinctively ducked back when the golem took a swing at him. Unfortunately, the half-wall behind him stalled his dodge, and the rock-hard fist connected with Kenshin's chin with all the weight of a boulder. As his eyes crossed and his legs buckled, he realized that he was lucky to have reacted at all. If he had taken the full force of the hit, it would have knocked him unconscious.

"That's so I don't forget to do it later." The rumble of Enishi's voice nearly rattled the remainder of his brain right out of his eyes. A hand suddenly fisted into his shirt to keep him upright, and he blinked rapidly to fight off the darkness that threatened to take him. I really need to avoid taking any more of his punches in the future. There was nothing pleased about the face his eyes finally focused upon, however, and he feared Enishi would hit him again judging only by his expression.

"You and I need to have a long talk… but it's going to have to wait." The reluctance in his tone was blatant. "You need to read this. Now."

A piece of paper was shoved into his hand, and Enishi let him go with a slight shove. It took a few shakes of his head to clear the fog from his brain, but he was finally able to decipher the words undulating on the letter that had been thrust upon him. As soon as it became clear to him who had written the letter, and, most importantly, that the Emperor meant to have Kaoru killed, his world sharpened with sickeningly precise clarity.

The rounded pupils of his eyes lengthened into slits, and his gaze shot up to the man waiting before him. Even after his rather violent greeting, Enishi shifted uncomfortably under his fierce scrutiny.

"Where did you get this?"

Casting his voice low, the paper crinkled in his fist as he listened to Enishi's quick explanation.

"What are we going to do? Defying the Emperor is…"

"Insanity." Kenshin finished Enishi's sentence, and there was a growl of frustration in the single word. Closing his eyes, he fought against helpless rage and angry defiance. "It doesn't matter. If he thinks I will simply allow him to take her from me, he's sorely mistaken."

"You know I'm with you, but… are you sure you could beat him? I mean, he's…"

"A real dragon?" Sarcasm laced his words, and Kenshin nearly growled as he yanked on his own stunted horns in vexed annoyance.

"You want my advice, take Kaoru and run. From what I've heard, I doubt you could even bluff him into leaving you alone." A slight frown lightened Kenshin's features thoughtfully, but Enishi crossed his arms without noticing to grunt out his own confusion and anger. "I just don't get why he's after her. What the hell has she even done to him?"

"I don't know… but I think you're right. For now, I just need to get Kaoru somewhere safe while I figure out what to do."

"You got somewhere in mind?"

Light footsteps could be heard coming down the loft stairs, and instead of answering verbally, Kenshin nodded. Enishi lifted his chin to indicate he understood, and they both turned to watch Kaoru shuffle quickly up the hallway.

"Nishi-nii! What are you doing here?" She grinned happily, but stopped next to Kenshin to slip her hand into his. Green eyes glanced at the connection suspiciously, and a long, hard breath issued through his nose as he kept his cool. At least she had taken a little more time to compose herself, but her unbound hair was as much of a dead giveaway as Kenshin's own unruly mane and wrinkled clothes.

"Sis wanted to send over your stuff, so I brought it for you."

"Oh." She glanced down at the bags. "You didn't have to do that. Kenshin said we'd go over tomorrow to pick them up."

"Don't worry about it. Your big bro's here to look out for you." A side-eyed glare was aimed at Kenshin, and then he turned around to pop the door back open. "I've got something to take care of, so I can't hang around today. Take care of yourself."

"Ok, you too!"

The door clicked closed, and Kenshin rubbed his thumb over the hand clasped in his. If he did nothing else right in his life, he would protect this woman he loved with everything that he had. Unfortunately, there was only one place he could think of to take her where the Emperor wouldn't dare follow. Turning to face her, he lifted his free hand to cup her jaw.

"Miss Kaoru… how would you like to meet a dragon?"

Sapphire eyes lit up with excitement, and her lungs filled eagerly on a shocked inhale.

"Seriously?! When do we leave?"

X

A/N: I couldn't resist adding in a little more of their tooth-decaying sweetness, lol. I enjoy writing them so much when they're happy and playful. On another note, I nearly messed up when it came to Yuna's portion of the story. After a little research that was supposed to be for a surname for the royal family, I learned that the Japanese royal family doesn't actually have a surname. Glad I found that out before I screwed that up… It also made it easier, so yay for me. Of course, that meant I had to fix a little mistake I made in the last chapter, but it was small enough to be forgiving. I struggled a little bit at the beginning of this chapter, and I hope it turned out well enough not to be confusing. I nearly tortured myself trying to fill in all the plot holes I abruptly found myself staring at. It was part of the reason why I didn't post last weekend. The other part had everything to do with packing for our move. (Oh, and technically, I got married… which isn't that big of a thing since we've been together almost fifteen years, lol. I wouldn't recommend anyone wait that long. This is what procrastination looks like at its worst.) I think I'll be able to post next Saturday, but all bets are off after that. Posting will be a little spotty until we can get ourselves into a new house. I'll still be working on this story whenever I get the chance, but please bear with me. Love the reviews! You guys are the best!