A/N: So… I was on the elliptical cycle at the health club and all of a sudden the idea for this fanfiction came around!
Disclaimer: I do not own Kenshin or any of the other brilliant characters created by Nobuhiro Watsuki. (sniff, sniff)
Chapter One:
Sweat trickled from every angle of her young face. Long ebony hair was tied up while some of her bangs hung loosely over her sparkling sapphire eyes. She gasped for air and steadily held her bokken in both of her hands. She was free.
She had been practicing her kenjutsu in the family dojo for over three hours and whenever she practiced she felt like she was one with the world. It made her feel like a human being and not just the daughter of one of the richest business executives in Japan. She was about to put her wooden sword away when she heard soft footsteps entering the practice area. She turned around and saw her sister standing there giving her a reproving look.
"Kaoru Kamiya, why didn't you come to dinner? Father was expecting you."
Kaoru reached for a towel to wipe off her face as she retorted, "Well, Tomoe, I didn't think he really cared. After all, 'the perfect one' was already in his presence."
"Stop acting like a child, Kaoru," her sister scolded.
"You know it's true! He really could care less if I wasn't there!"
"Kaoru, he's not going to be back until the wedding! Of course he's going to want to see you before then. You're not going to be able to see him for six months!"
Kaoru snorted, "If it was my wedding, he wouldn't have bothered coming at all."
Tomoe sighed, smoothed out her white kimono, and touched her hair lightly to make sure that her elegant bun hadn't fallen out of place. "Kaoru, that is utterly ridiculous! The reason why Father is so harsh is because you continue to participate in such a manly sport and refuse to grow up and be a lady!"
"You consider yourself to be a lady? Well if growing up and being a lady consists of forcing yourself to marry a man you've never met in order for father to get a business merger with another company, and never being able to pursue a life that you want, then damn it! I don't want to be grow up and I sure as hell don't want to be a lady!"
Tomoe's usually calm face twitched, "Kaoru that is not the situation. I am not being forced to marry Kenshin. I did it to help father because of how depressed he's been lately! It is my job to honor our father! Look at all he's given us! From the mansion to your foolish dojo he's paid for it all and he's worked hard for that money! And as for not doing what I want to do, sometimes it is better to do what is right then to follow a childish dream."
Kaoru clenched her fists, glowered at her sister, and stormed out of the room.
888
Ever since childhood Kaoru and Tomoe had been stark opposites. Whenever Kaoru would be yelling and playing sports with the guys, Tomoe would be practicing for tea ceremonies. Whenever Tomoe was given an award for marvelous performance in school, Kaoru would be given a detention for socking a guy who told her she 'needed to act more like a girl.'
However they had always been close. Tomoe was four years older then Kaoru, but they stayed by each other all the time. Kaoru always felt a strong connection with her older sister. Whenever something bad in life happened they would stick together, no matter what.
Despite the age diversity and the major personality variation, they loved each other. But about a year previously their mother had died of cancer and it caused their father to treat them differently.
Even though he supported Kaoru in joining kenjutsu at a small age, when his wife died he started to criticize her more about it, telling her to be more of a lady like her mother. Tomoe, however, (who had more of their mother's personality) was treated like the delicate daughter who never did anything wrong.
Because of this Kaoru became very jealous. She brought out her anger on Tomoe and insisted that if Tomoe would consider being less 'perfect' then maybe her father would pay more attention to her. Tomoe also started to feel strained because no matter what she did it felt Kaoru would resent her. So Tomoe ended up taking their father's side and things continuously got worse.
Their father felt that his business (Kamiya Kasshin Industries) would greatly benefit merging with the other business powerhouse in Japan (Hiten Mitsurugi Incorporated.) The Kamiya family had come from a long line of tradition and Mr. Kamiya thought it would be best to arrange a marriage between Tomoe and the nephew of the Hiten Mitsurugi executive, Kenshin, in order to assure that the business would stay together.
When Tomoe heard the plan she didn't argue. She knew that her father was going through a difficult time and as his daughter it was her duty to do what he wanted. But Kaoru thought this was ridiculous. She hated the idea with a passion and she lost all respect she had ever held for her father and Tomoe because of it. Not to mention, she was sickened by the fact that Tomoe had never even met Kenshin before. All she knew was that he was 25. So Tomoe could end up being forced to stay in a relationship with a man who could have pre-mature balding, a beer belly, and the attitude of a common country pig.
Kaoru was thinking over all of this as she got out of the bath. She placed the towel securely over herself and started brushing out her hair. She gazed in the mirror. She noted that she looked a lot like her sister without the sword-training clothes.
She shook her head and got into a traditional kimono. She knew her father was already angry at her for missing dinner so she decided that this might soften the blow of the punishment. She tied her hair up in a ribbon and scurried out of the bathroom. She hurriedly ran to her father's study (well as fast as she could in a kimono) and knocked on the door.
"Come in," a gruff voice called.
Kaoru entered the room, her head hanging down. "I'm sorry Dad, I got lost in my training."
She heard a grunt and she looked up. "You act more like a young man then a young lady you realize? You also realize that I'm going to be leaving for six months and you can't even manage to take out an hour of your training?"
"Dad I'm…"
The man's voice rose, "I'm not done talking with you! Listen; if you don't give up this nonsense I am going to cut you from the family fortune and I will never speak to you again! Do you understand?"
Kaoru was shocked. Her father had given her lectures that lasted for up to four hours but he had never gone this far. "But Dad…!"
"You have the six months that I'm gone in to get this all over with. You're a senior this year and so you can participate in the kendo championships like you did every other year, but this will be the last time. Next year you're going to college and it will be time to grow you! You hear me?"
Kaoru felt close to tears. Two things that she loved dearly were her family and kendo. If she went with her father she would have to give up kendo. But if she continued to do kendo she would loose her father, and inevitably her sister.
Kaoru nodded, her head held down and she whispered, "Yes, father."
He nodded back and his face softened a little, "That's good. Good night, Kaoru," he stood up, kissed her on the cheek, and left the room.
888
"What do you mean you're going to quit kendo?" Misao Makimachi's voice pierced through the speaker on Kaoru's cell phone.
Kaoru sighed and replied to her best friend, "I know! But I don't want to loose my family! I already lost Mom."
Misao went quiet for a few seconds and softly spoke, "Kaoru, did you tell your dad how much you love the sport? He can't take away something that makes his daughter really happy."
"I guess he can," Kaoru replied bitterly, "I try to explain it to him every day but he just won't listen. Anyway I have to go, bye!" She shut her phone off and lied down on her bed face first and began to cry. She didn't know what to do. The reason she had hung up on Misao was due to the fact that she didn't want Misao to go out of her way and end up having her father force Misao out of her life with kendo.
The door to her bedroom opened softly and her sister walked in.
In a blubbery voice Kaoru demanded, "What?"
Tomoe walked over timidly and put her hands on Kaoru's shoulders. "Father told me the news. I'm sorry Kaoru."
"You don't care!" Kaoru retorted and edged away from her, "You agree with him! You want me to be miserable, just like him!"
Tomoe sighed "I can say truthfully that giving up kendo will probably benefit your life, but I don't want you to be miserable. I think father took the wrong approach in trying to breach you of your bad habit."
"Bad habit!" Kaoru snapped, her sapphire eyes were red from tears and burning with anger, "Do you have any idea how much I love it? Do you have any idea that if it was simply a bad habit I would have quit it ages ago! It takes dedication beyond what you have ever known!"
Tomoe glared at her, "You don't think I know dedication? I'm marrying a man I don't even know! My life is a lot tougher then you think it is!"
"You're doing that because you're a wimp and you don't want to go against Dad's orders!"
"No, being a wimp would be someone who went against his orders. It took a lot more strength to say yes!"
Kaoru was shaking with anger, "Oh yeah? Prove it!"
"What?" Tomoe was taken aback.
"That's right I want you to prove it!"
"How can I PROOVE it to you?"
Kaoru was silent for a few seconds and then she replied, "Switch places with me."
"But that is absurd! There's no way I could do that!"
"Are you too much of a coward?"
"No, I'm being logical! It would never work! Not to mention the fact that I'm going to meet my fiancé in a few days and I don't want him meeting you and thinking that I'm a girl who doesn't know how to act like a lady!"
"Train me then!"
"No!"
"Yes! If I take your place and admit that your life is harder then I will put away kenjutsu forever and act like a 'lady,' as you call it, for as long as I live! But if I win, and you discover that my life is harder then you have to support me in telling Dad that I should be able to continue sword fighting without the risk of loosing my family!"
Tomoe was about to retort again when all of a sudden she realized something. 'This might actually be a good idea. Kaoru will also learn how to be a lady in the process and Kaoru and I look relatively alike so I'm sure Father's business associates won't notice. Father will also be gone for a while. But there is the issue with what to do about my future fiancé…'
Kenshin sneezed.
His best friend Sanosuke grinned, "Someone's thinking of you, man. Maybe it's a hot chick."
Kenshin sighed, "Sanosuke, that's just a myth and even if it was true I'm getting married in six months so I can't afford having these 'hot chicks' thinking about me."
"Oh come on, Kenshin! You haven't even met the girl yet! You might as well enjoy life while you still can!" Sanosuke patted him on the back really hard and made the red-headed man topple over.
"Sano, you don't understand. I'm going to end up running this business after Uncle Hiko retires and I need to start being serious about this now. The thing I'm worried about is not being able to have one last fling, but what this girl is like! I'm going to be stuck with her for a long time and the extent of what I know of her is that she has long black hair and she's the daughter of Nobuhiro Kamiya."
Sanosuke looked at his friend and shook his head, "I'm sure she'll be gorgeous Kenshin. I mean her dad is loaded so even if she was an ugly duckling she's had plastic surgery of some kind to make her look better."
"That's not the problem! I don't care what she looks like!"
Sano snorted.
Kenshin glared at him, "Shut up, Sano! I really do care about what she's like! I don't want to marry some rich snob! I want to marry someone who isn't afraid to let people know what she's thinking! I don't want someone who I could easily run over! Unfortunately she agreed to an arranged marriage and, well you know how romantic women can be. If she agreed to this, I highly doubt she's going to be a loud modern woman."
"And you like women like this? I would take the quiet and obedient one."
Kenshin grinned, "No you wouldn't."
Sanosuke stared at him, "What do you mean?"
"I see the way you look at Miss Megumi. Your eyes light up whenever you see her and you always find a way to talk, well argue, with her. And you can't tell me that Miss Megumi is a quiet compliant woman."
Sanosuke glared at him, "I don't like her! And besides if that was true then why haven't you fallen for her?"
Kenshin shrugged, "She's a childhood friend. I think of her more as a sister."
Sanosuke shook his head and felt slightly pained for Megumi's sake. He knew that she had been in love with Kenshin for the past few years now. But he also felt jealously that he could not deny. 'Why doesn't Kenshin realize how good he's got it with a girl like Megumi wanting him?'
Kenshin looked at his friend's blank face and grinned again. "You wish you could be in my place so you could avoid her many charms?"
Sano turned slightly pink, "Damn it Kenshin! Shut up already!"
Kenshin raised his eyebrows and walked over to the window in the room. He gazed out the window. 'Who are you Tomoe Kamiya?'
Tomoe finally broke the silence, "Alright, I'll do it. Starting tomorrow I am going to go into training as Kaoru Kamiya and you will be Tomoe Kamiya for the next three months."
A/N: So did you like it? I kind of enjoyed it! I also have a whole lot of plot in my brain for this one and I actually have a bit of an idea on how this fanfic is going to end! (Which unlike my other fanfics which haven't been updated in a long time, is truly a first!)
So please review! Oh and I have a question. Do you want there to be a lot of pairings in the story with odd romantic twists and turns or do you want me to focus on the main couples? (AKA: Kenshin/Kaoru, Sano/Megumi, and Tomoe/Akira)