Eventually Ryu, trying to get her to leave him alone, told her about Rie. But Kaori wouldn't give up that easily. However, when she was kidnapped by Demon God Mu was intent on sacrificing her to revive his masters, it was Gai who found her first. It was he who offered his own pain and blood to protect her, and that was when she realized that she loved him, regardless of her feelings for Ryu. Thus it was utterly bewildering when he wouldn't let her make him over as someone more respectable when she went to introduce him to her parents. It was even more confusing when he broke up with her. Rejection was an utterly new experience for her. Like Gai, she had never had anyone of the opposite sex refuse her. Not that she was egotistical, but her experiences were limited and she was extreme class. She and Gai were just beginning to recover their relationship when Ryu went off the deep end because of Rie's death and took on Radiege all by his lonesome. With Gai facing Grey on his own, Kaori, Lyta and Ako went to help Ryu. Kaori took a shot meant for Ryu, forcing him off the field of battle to both tend her and receive a lecture on his responsibility to humanity and Earth weighing more than personal revenge. Ryu, strung out and did indeed pull himself together, and with his companions, together they destroyed Radiguet, ending the Vyram threat. Three years later, she marries Ryuu with whom she overcame difficult times.