In Tokyo, after Kaoru learns about Yukishiro Enishi's plans to kill everyone connected to Kenshin she teaches Yahiko the ougi of the Kamiya Kasshin. Enishi says that his goal is not to kill Kenshin, but to make him suffer by killing the person most important to him: Kaoru. He kidnaps her, leaving a replica of her dead body. Convinced that he again failed to save the one who was most important to him, Kenshin flees to the Fallen Village and falls into a catatonic depression. When he learns that Kaoru is alive, he and the group rescue her from Enishi. They marry and have a son, Himura Kenji. Five years later, after taking in Hasegawa Ashitaro, Inoue Aran, and Kubota Asahi into the Kamiya dojo, Kaoru receives information from them that her father is presumably alive and living in Hokkaido, prompting her and her family to travel there in the hopes of reuniting with him. Other media In Rurouni Kenshin: Reflection, although Kenshin and Kaoru are married he begins wandering again because he needs to help others; he returns every couple of years. Kaoru lets him go, promising to welcome him home with a smile and their child. Kenshin develops a mysterious disease, and Kaoru convinces him to transmit it to her. He leaves to help people in the First Sino-Japanese War, as he had promised the Meiji government. When he returns to Japan, Kenshin collapses in Kaoru's arms and dies. In the pilot issue of Rurouni: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story, first published in 1992, Kaoru is the sister of Megumi and Yahiko. Many of the character's details changed in her transition to mainstream manga. Kaoru appears in all Rurouni Kenshin video games (including Jump Super Stars and Jump Ultimate Stars), primarily as a supporting character. In the manga reboot Rurouni Kenshin: Restoration, Kaoru works for Takeda Kanryū to regain her dojo. After Kenshin defeats Takeda, she continues living in the dojo with Kenshin and his friends. Kaoru was played by Emi Takei in 2012's Rurouni Kenshin and its two sequels. Concept Watsuki said that he used "no specific model" and "no specific motif" in designing Kaoru, saying that if he had to name one model it would be Chiba Sanako of Ryōma no Koibito. He wanted to include the "commanding" qualities of from Shōtarō Ikenami's Kenkaku Shōbai (剣客商売). According to Watsuki, Kaoru is a "plain, regular girl" despite her