Nice. I’ll keep an eye on this.

I like how you handle assumed and reasonable competence, as opposed to waving it away in favor of pointing at the manga and saying ”but he/she did this/didn’t do this!”

nice! she made it off the island and no worse for wear... except her hair. the people of tokyo believe her dead so they'll have to deal with superstitious people making signs to ward off evil around her until they get used to the fact that she wasn't dead. and thank you for not making kenshin tell her about enishi's jinchuu and gein's doll.

i like that she's never just the damsel in distress, she doesn't just sit still and waits for someone to rescue her.
gin

This is a really great story! I just found it and binged it. Thanks for writing this. I'm glad to see character development for Kaoru. I never understood why there wasn't much written about her, compared to the others. It seemed like a missed opportunity. I'm glad to see you rectifying that.

She cut her hair? Damn that’s a big sacrifice. Don’t worry she’ll grow it back. When I first read his a week ago it felt like I didn’t have much weight. Especially with the reunion. Like it was missing emotion. But after reading a couple times I take it back.
It’s good.

This was a fun & well imagined chapter. I really enjoy how Kaoru’s determination, strength of character & ingenuity are highlighted without her having to single-handedly take over & win every battle.
Re Kenshin, I thought the blankness would be him thinking he is seeing Kaoru everywhere vs totally not recognizing her. He has always been known for acute observation but he is weak from battle, hunger & grief, so I figure that pause is him trying not to give into that. This is a guy who just spent 2 weeks seeing himself walking on skulls after all. It’s your story so you write the rules, but in my head, that’s what I took to be happening.

I really loved Kaoru’s reaction to seeing everyone. A bit of an extreme response to a haircut indeed! I am really looking forward to more.

I remember reading this fic five years ago (under a different account) when I was a young teen and into RK, shortly this fic after it first came out. I was so into it! I understand you making changes. I have old fics I wrote young that I couldn't help but abandon altogether because my writing was so different back then and I am so embarassed with how I wrote back then xD Now when I write fics, I have promised myself to finish most of it before posting it so I don't feel as pressured to update. I am glad you decided to continue this :) I was randomly in a mood to read a Kenshin/Kaoru fic and I was delighted to see you had picked up on this fic :D Most Kenshin/Kaoru fics involve Kaoru getting with the Battousai side of Kenshin because I guess girl's are into bad boys but I prefer her with the soft, gentle, polite Kenshin we know for the series 3

Anyways, onto the fic :P

What I have always loved about this fic is how you portray Kaoru as more independent and much less of a damsel in distress as well as EMBRACING her knowledge of her family swordsmenship. And rather then making her seem naïve as she appears from Kenshin's perspective with how "a sword protects and doesn't kill", you explain her philosophy. You give her waaaay more depth than the author does. He really wasted her potential... I remember him saying in an A/N that Kaoru is strong but she looks weak compared to Sano and Kenshin since they are more experienced. Seeing as what happened with the author though, I guess it isn't all surprising that he made Kaoru such a HUGE damsel.

OMG! I LOVE THE CHANGE YOU MADE! Kaoru being a ninja and escaping the island. That like changes quite a few plot points. Lmao at everyone's reaction to her haircut xD I know she has naturally long hair but is it THAT different? I was picturing it being shoulder-length as I read it. I also love the Kaoru/Yahiko relationship, Kyoto seems to have matured Kaoru into taking on a more responsible firm mentor role and Yahiko grows to respect her more. Also, love the little sprinkles of Kenshin/Kaoru romance here and there. It's a good slow burn.

Damn. I can't believe you ended it like that :*( I am really excited to see the Kenshin/Kaoru reunion since now they can have a less chaotic reunion as in the manga where all this fighting was going on at the same time. Kenshin will probably think he is hallucinating when he first wakes up :P I feel seeing Kaoru is okay will pull him out of his depression and prepare him more for the battle to come. He will definitely be WAY more protective of Kaoru than usual :P

Anywhoo, can't wait to read more :D Glad you continued!

You are taking this story in a very interesting direction and I agree with your choices and reasoning wholeheartedly.
Now this has left me wondering about several things:
Will Tomoe manifest in Kenshin's dream to tell him about Kaoru?
Will Enishi attack them again? (Oh, and I would so like to see his reaction when be finds Kaoru gone!) If so, will Kaoru fight?
This story is a pleasure to read. Thank you for sharing it.

This was awesome! I can't wait to see how you treat the rest of this arc now that it will be different!

Thank you for writing Kaoru as the character she should be! It always felt like her character depiction in the canon and describing her as strong was an oxymoron. This is probably my favorite RK fanfic. I'm so happy this story isn't dead! Can't wait for your next update.

yeah, i like how you give kaoru more chance to act like a strong and independent character... then again the fact the original was written by a man who viewed females as objects in a culture that also views females the same and was targeted to the next generation of pre-teen/teen males, it's a wonder she was given any voice or skill at all. this story gives her worth and empowers her and gives her the ability to think and have a say. *\o/* GREAT JOB! *\o/*

so glad you decided to continue this, we all need this!
oh yeah, you've got skills in fighting with swords and gave kaoru an edge and maturity and you KNOW how she'd feel and act and think better than any geeky manga-ka who sits at a drawing table all day.
gin

i keep thinking of new stuff as i re-read this... i liked how kaoru knew there were other ways to protect kenshin than running in between two fighters. tomoe, although samurai must not have been trained to use the kaiken she carried as she used it ineffectively. instead of running between them she could have stabbed the yoshinobu leader in the in the armpit of his raised sword arm, in his kidney or cut his hamstring... i submit for your consideration: i totally think she should have sat on enishi before he left and told kenshin all about it and without their brat hostage, the yoshinobu would have had to go to the cabin so kenshin would have home field advantage... but she didn't do that and knew her brother was forfeit if she stayed with kenshin but also found out that since the youshinobu set her up to fall in love and if kenshin was killed, she and enishi were as good as dead (maybe as playthings for the survivors of his group and then killed). she should have known that she couldn't take on the whole group but went there anyway. she woke when the leader was fighting with kenshin, so wanting to save kenshin and enishi she did the only thing she could think of and get between them as a shield (a dark cynical part of me thinks that since she vowed to kill battousai and she no longer wanted that, so getting between them was not only to protect but was her way at passive sepuku... or'' i love him but still want my revenge so i'll make him feel how i did at being responsible for akira's death''... yeah i know, dark cynical but there just might have been a touch of possible insanity in the family and insane thinking doesn't have to make sense).
gin

and who says she was safe if she stayed in tokyo? his enemies had used her to get to him before and what's to say that it hadn't already gotten people's attention when her dojo's name was attached to ''battousai'' when goheh was claiming to be him in the first place? his arguments are moot, better to gain some intel and than take a stand from a position of strength and knowledge of what they're up against. i'm glad they had that conversation.

I am glad to see you are still updating this story. I am very intrigued about how you will handle things from here out. I like how you highlight Kaoru as a fighter but given Enishi’s skill level, I cannot imagine her beating him unless due to the psychological issues of fighting someone Tomoe’s age & coloring. I look forward to how you handle this & still allow Kenshin to come to terms w his most personal sins since I always felt this was the point of the jinchuu arc. Will you still keep that aspect while highlighting Kaoru? I rather hope so. If she becomes superwoman, I find that less interesting but I really enjoy you showing her as a dedicated & smart fighter.

You wrote another chapter! What a pleasant surprise this was! The fights were very exciting and now I am looking forward to reading about how Kaoru handles herself in the island, even though Kenshin's suffering in this section of the story breaks my heart...