Not much Kaoru, but overall, I think this shows a lot of future promise...
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“Really, Ken-san, you should let me help you.” Megumi pleaded. “I have to thank you for helping me!”
Kenshin brought a hand up to touch the three deep slices on her chest, feeling the ragged edges of the bandages that normally bound her breasts.
“All right,” she replied, then gave a nervous little chuckle. “But can we go somewhere a little more private?” It was obvious that she was avoiding the curious looks that Kaoru, Sanosuke, and Yahiko were giving her.
“Oh come on, Kenshin,” Sanosuke snorted. “Don’t be so shy, you haven’t got anything we haven’t seen before. It’s not like you’re a woman.”
Kenshin froze, sweat beading down her face.
Frowning, Kaoru asked, “Kenshin?”
Megumi gasped and grabbed the front of Kenshin’s yukata, peering down the front and ignoring Kenshin’s yelp. “You are a woman!” she cried.
“What!?” the three boys exclaimed.
“What the hell!” came Yahiko’s scandalized outcry. “The Hitokiri Battousai is a woman!?”
“Oro…” Kenshin replied, sheepishly placing a hand to her head.
Silence descended all eyes falling on the Rurouni, before finally Kaoru broke it, confusion lacing his voice. “Kenshin, why didn’t you tell us?”
“It started with the Bakumatsu,” Kenshin said. “I joined when I was fourteen, which was normal for samurai… but my gender? I decided to hide it, because there was no way they’d let a fourteen year old girl join. After that, when I became a wanderer, the illusion provided a barrier from any unscrupulous people who would try and fight me because I was a woman.”
“But why didn’t you tell us?” Kaoru asked again, realizing that Kenshin hadn’t answered the question.
“I think Yahiko summed it up quite nicely. After all, who would believe that Battousai is a woman?”