Fortune
Chapter 1: The World's Most Eligible Bachelor
"Kaoru! Get your butt in gear and develop those pictures! Deadline in 10 hours!"
Kaoru jerked her head up from her desk, a loose sheet of paper stuck on her forehead and a droplet of drool dribbled down her chin.
Kaoru looked stupidly around for the source of the disturbance, wiping at her chin and saw a towering five and a half feet of deadly woman standing in front of her, waving a reel of undeveloped film.
"What is it, Misssss-AH-oh" Kaoru asked trying to stifle a large yawn, the loose sheet of paper falling off her head in the process.
"Sis! You know the next edition of our magazine is due in another 10 hours, and you're sitting here taking a cat nap while Grandpa, Grandma, mom, and I have painstakingly been working to finish off the next edition. Get your lazy ass up and work!" Misao finished with a long exhalation of air and a smoldering gaze that made Kaoru feel a little guilty.
Kaoru took the film from Misao and held it up to a dim lamp, sticking a pink tongue out between her lips as she scrutinized the tiny inverted images.
"You know, Misao, I'm a three years older than you and I'm STILL in high school…can't you cut me some slack! I've been slaving under pressure finishing my applications and managing to take photographs for the magazine? Did I mention I develop the film too?"
Misao gave a loud "harrumph" and dismissed her older sister's plea with a wave of her little hand.
"Kao, we have to do this for mom and dad. They're putting in a ton of hours for this magazine in order to get enough cash to send you to college and save up some for another 3 years when I have start applying. And Grandpa Genzai and Grandma Tae are working their butts off coming up with recipes and other wedding crap. And…"
"I know, I know. It just gets a little tiring doing all this stuff on top of homework after a while you know?"
Misao nodded her head slowly and looked at Kaoru guiltily.
The sisters stared at each other for a few minutes before Kaoru heaved a long sigh.
"Alright I'm off to work. Take a break and fix dinner," Kaoru added as she made her way to the dark room to develop the negatives.
"I'm not your personal cook! And I don't consider cooking 'taking a break'" Misao yelled to Kaoru's quickly retreating back.
7:30 A.M. And she was still in bed.
Kaoru bolted up out of her bed, the soft faded pink quilt falling off her as she grabbed her alarm clock and held it a fraction of an inch from her eyes in disbelief.
She was late to school. Again.
"Kaoru!? You ready to go?" Misao's slightly annoyed high-pitched voice yelled up the stairs to Kaoru's bedroom, which was in the house's attic.
"Ummmm….in a minute!"
Kaoru leaped into the bathroom and jumped in the shower. After a few hectic minutes of shampooing and conditioning her hair and quick scrub with her organic sponge, she stopped the flow of water, stepping out and toweling her hair dry to the best of her capabilities.
"Kaoru! Hurry up!"
"I would be there faster if you'd stop shouting for me!" Kaoru yelled, sticking her legs into her jeans with one hand while the other was pulling on a teal-blue button-up shirt.
Kaoru brushed her dripping black hair, pulled the drenched tendrils into a high ponytail, grabbed her jacket, and made a dash down two flights of stairs to her front door. Misao looked up from her book she had been reading and watched her disheveled sister struggle with the clasps of her satchel.
"You know…waking up early would help," Misao couldn't help but remark as when Kaoru pinched her finger while still fumbling with the clasp of her satchel.
"Shutup," Kaoru mumbled, slipping her hand through her black leather purse. She slipped on a pair of black converses and made for the door but then paused.
"Misao…breakfast?" Kaoru asked hopefully at her little sister.
Misao rolled her large blue eyes and reached into her satchel and pulled out a slightly crumpled paper bag.
"English Muffins," she said simply before exiting out of the front door.
Kaoru smiled and yelled, "Mom! Grandpa! Grandma! We're leaving!"
A chorus of voices replied "Get out and let us sleep!"
Kaoru smiled and followed he sister out.
Kaoru pulled into the student parking lot after dropping her sister off at the front door of their high school, Edo High.
"Kaoru!"
Kaoru locked her white 1997 Dodge Stratus with a turn of her key and found her best friend Megumi leaning against her car with a sneaky little smile playing softly on her beautiful face.
"Megumi!" Kaoru pulled her friend into a one armed hug (the other busily stuffing her face in with the rest of her muffin).
"You wake up late again?" Megumi eyed Kaoru's still dripping wet ponytail.
Kaoru smiled sheepishly and made her way to class, Megumi's innocent gossip amusing her on the way.
When she entered her homeroom class, a handsome boy with a shock of short black hair and pretty deep blue eyes waved at her and flashed a perfect smile in her direction.
"Well if it isn't my normally late Kaoru. My, your wet hair look is becoming quite a norm!" he said again flashing that heartbreaking smile.
"Shutup Soujiro!" Kaoru yelled in indignation but the tardy bell rang and the class was forced into listening to her homeroom teacher drone on and on about the importance of wearing nametags and dressing appropriately. Soujiro leaned back in his chair and muttered things to Megumi that vaguely sounded like "yeah like a random guy with a gun won't shoot us if we explain to them that he can't shoot us cause we're wearing an ID tag". Kaoru personally agreed with him.
After an exhausting 4 hours of school they finally made it to lunch break and Kaoru opened up her paper bag and pulled out a slightly squished peanut-butter and strawberry jam sandwich with an apple and a slice of cheesecake.
They went into line to buy their respective foods (Kaoru for a glass of milk) when Soujiro brought up the latest edition of Kaoru's Family magazine, Wedding Trends.
"My mom read your magazine this morning…I swear she's obsessed…anyways and she really liked the crème de la strawberry cheesecake in there. Tell the fam great issue! And by the way, that was a good photograph of me and Megumi. Definitely another award under your belt, eh Kaoru? I didn't think me holding a cake would look so good…well maybe because I had such a beautiful woman beside me and another hottie taking pictures of me," he added with a roguish wink at Kaoru and Megumi.
Megumi rolled her eyes. Kaoru couldn't help but laugh. These two were enough entertainment to last a millennium.
After ten minutes of idle chat, Misao joined us with a rapid look on her face. When we asked her what's wrong, she pulled out a magazine. On the bold black Fortune 500 magazine cover, was a picture of a Greek god. Literally. He was officially the wealthiest man in the U.S. and according to the large white words "the World's Most Eligible Bachelor". He had no shirt on and his nice chest muscles rippled like a washboard all the way down to a pair of faded low-slung jeans around a slim waist. He had an unusual shade of dark red hair and a pretty set of intense violet eyes.
"Isn't…Isn't he hot?" Misao whispered, gazing back at the handsome man's picture again in awe.
Soujiro shrugged and continued a conversation about useless rich pretty boys with a neighbor at their lunch table.
Kaoru felt a little light headed seeing that handsome man. She carefully turned her head toward Megumi to see her reaction. Megumi was idly nibbling her taco shell.
"Megumi! Don't you think he's hot?" Kaoru asked in shock.
"No I don't. I prefer my men a little bit more rugged," she said simply, starting to take a bite of her taco salad.
Kaoru bit back a retort, thinking privately that its hard to get more rugged then that.
They spent the rest of the day in class, listening to boring Calculus lectures and a British Literature teacher drone on about the importance of Beowulf and its various religious symbols. But all Kaoru could think about was that very handsome man.
When they got out of class, Kaoru made for her car, eager to go on to the internet and find some more pictures of the handsome man and maybe even a bio.
But then, she saw Soujiro sidle by the car with a half-annoyed look not at all messing up his classic good-looks and Megumi following close behind.
"Kaoru…we're a little worried about you. We've noticed that you're not eating as much, and no it's not because you're vegetarian and the cafeteria has yet serve you vegetarian meals, but your little sis is saying you're stressing out with work and school. Do you need help with the magazine?" Megumi said, gazing at her friend with worry bright in her eyes.
Kaoru yanked open her car door and threw all her junk in haphazardly.
"Guys, I'm fine. Really. Work isn't so bad and Misao is just acting stupid. I'm fine. I gotta get home and get to work on next week's stories and pictures."
She smiled and gave sincere good byes to her dear friends before kicking her car into gear.
She was a little shocked at her friend's reaction and even more still at Misao's worry. She was fine…right?
Kaoru parked her car in front of her 3-floor house and ran inside.
"Hey Kaoru! Misao at cheerleading practice?" her mother, Yumi Kamiya, asked kindly in that motherly tone that made Kaoru feel at ease with her worries.
"Yeah, and her friend is giving her ride back home so I don't have to pick her up. I'm going to…uh…look up something online," Kaoru said dodging a hug from her Grandma Tae who was running toward her with her arms spread wide as Kaoru made her way to the stairs.
"Okay dear, dinner will be ready in a half and hour. And don't look up porn on the net!"
Kaoru rolled her eyes as she heard that last remark. It's amazing what shows like 60 Minutes could get mothers to believe. She was a 17-year old after all.
She logged on her laptop and signed in her Gmail account. A few people were online but none she really felt like talking to. She google searched "richest man in U.S." and immediately saw his picture with the first link.
His name was Kenshin Himura, son of the multi-billionaire Seichiro Hiko and future successor of the Hiten Misturugi Empire. He was 23 years old, 5"8 ft., and not in a relationship. The picture of him was as breathtaking as the one in the magazine except this time he was wearing a silky unbuttoned shirt that somehow showed off his slightly tanned skin and rock solid lean body. Kaoru sighed in pleasure and gazed fondly at the picture.
"I told you not to look up porn."
Kaoru nearly jumped out of her skin. Yumi stood there with a smirk playing softly about her mouth. Right behind her was her grandmother who gazing in such a way at the picture that made Kaoru feel slightly embarrassed.
"If I was your age, dear, I would definitely try to get into that man's pants," her grandmother said pointedly before leaving.
Kaoru smiled at her grandmother before turning to her mom. She was smiling too in a knowing way.
"You know him Kaoru?" she asked innocently.
"Ye..yes," Kaoru said softly.
"Good. Then I was right about making you the reporter for this man's little sister's wedding. I want you to go with Misao and come back with a full report on the wedding, complete with pictures. By the way, you were hired as the professional photographer for the wedding by that man. He heard about your famous pictures, and he only wanted the best." And with that she made her way back downstairs, only pausing to yell that dinner was ready.
Kaoru almost fell out of her seat. She was sure Misao would when she heard the news. She was going to meet the richest most eligible bachelor, the handsome and shockingly sexy, Kenshin Himura.
Hello everyone! This fanfic was an idea I had in my mind for along time and I that it would be very cute and very un-like my other stories that had a hint of action, danger, and crazy plot twists. I felt like starting something new and different. I'd like a sampling of all genres, ya know? And to my loyal readers, don't worry; this doesn't mean I won't work as hard getting out updates on my other stories. I still love all my stories. Anyways, R&R and tell me what you, the reader, think!!!
-Kish