Female doctor, forced to make opium for the loser baddie Kanryuu, rescued by Kenbshin, in love with Kenshin, suspected involvement with Sano (see below)

Wai! In the words of (ugh) Kaoru, a truely independent and mature woman. Isn't she beautiful? She was originally one of my favouritest characters, until the Kyoto arc rolled along and her role got kind of overshadowed.

To add my two bits worth to the she- does-she doesn't argument about whether she was in love with Kenshin or Sano: Kenshin! Why? Well, despite all the flirting that made her look as if she wasn't serious about him, the fact remains that she cared enough to want the best for him. In fact, in Kyoto, she explicitly gave Kenshin up to Kaoru "for Ken-san's sake". (Not that kenshin would have chosen her anyway - he's obviously more interested in kaoru - weird taste in women, if you ask me)

So, well, does Sano stand a chance? I think so. ^_^ Well, to be more accurate, I HOPE so. i'm a great fan of the pairing, though there's precious little evidence in the manga that it can even be considered one. Still, *eyes take on a maniac gleam* did you notice the way she fusses over his hand, and all those arguments... hey, HEY, don't walk off!