Disclaimer: Sigh I wish I owned Kenshin; alas, they say he and all the rights surrounding anything concerning him belong to Watsuki Nobuhiro.
Summary: AU. Kaoru is in arranged marriage to Shinomori Aoshi, a man she hardly knows. But what happens when she runs away and meets a dark and mysterious Kenshin? I tried this story once a long, long time ago, didn't like how it was going, and now I'm trying it again. I doubt anyone will remember it, but that's probably for the better. I've made several changes.
Rating: It's rated the way it is because I'm not sure where I'm going with this. It may go up, or it may go down. I prefer to err on the side of caution.
Now, on to the story! Enjoy! (If you don't, please don't flame me!)
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"Kaoru, come here!" Kamiya Kaoru looked up from the radishes she was picking. "Kaoru, I need to speak to you!" The girl sighed and set her basket of radishes on the ground.
"Misao, could you take these when you finish?" She asked her friend.
"Oh, fine, make me carry twice what I have to!" Misao huffed. "Why don't you have your brother do it? Yahiko never does any work anyway."
"That's not true!" Yahiko threw a radish at Misao's head.
"Kaoru!" her father's voice was louder now, and filled with annoyance.
"Alright, look, I don't care who does it, just see that it gets done!" she yelled at them as she ran back to the house.
She took off her shoes and ran inside. "Yes? Otosan! What is it?" Her father appeared with a stern look.
"Get out of those clothes." He said matter-of-factly. "Go wash your hands and face. Your grandfather has surprised us with a visit." From the look on his face, Kaoru knew her father was not happy about this surprise visit.
"Yes Father." Kaoru knew her father and her mother's father did not get along well, even less so after her mother's death.
The old man and his family had been fairly well off, while her father came from a poor farming family. However, he made enough money to be considered a groom for Kaoru's mother. Kaoru wasn't sure of the details, but she knew her parents had fallen in love, but when her father had asked for her hand in marriage, her grandfather had refused. The pair eloped and her grandfather had originally disowned them, but after Kaoru's birth, the old man had made his way back into their lives, much to the displeasure of her father.
After Kaoru had made herself presentable, she made her way to the back porch, where her father and grandfather were having tea.
"Ojisan." Kaoru said softly. Her grandfather turned around slowly, them smiled the way a man smiles when looking at a good cut of meat.
"Oh, Kaoru! My goodness, I almost didn't recognize you! You've become quite the young woman. And you look so much like your dear mother…" The old man sighed. "I've come with some rather important news. Come here child, sit down and have a cup of tea with us."
"Yes, Ojisan." Kaoru sat down across from her grandfather and poured him another cup of tea. She desperately wanted to know what was going on, but she knew her grandfather would be very annoyed if she spoke, so she was silent.
"Well, aren't you going to tell her what you came all the way here to say?" Her father said very suddenly. Kaoru smiled inwardly; she knew her father had no patience for the older man. "If you don't, I will."
"Hmm…Ah, yes." Her grandfather shot a dirty look at the younger man, but sighed, as if finally relenting to a child. "Very well, let's see…Kaoru, have you heard of a politician named Shinomori Yukata?"
She knew she should answer with a simple nod of her head, but she had seen something about this politician being assassinated a few days ago. "Yes, I read in the paper that he was killed-"
"Good." Her grandfather cut her off. "Well, he was a good friend of mine, and we often gambled together. One night, after we had had quite a lot to drink, I began to tell him about you. We got to joking, and well, some how or other, I managed to gamble you away. Of course, he put up a large some of money, but her won."
"What?" Kaoru cried. How could her grandfather have done something like that? She knew that the old man had never particularly cared for her, but to do something so…despicable? She didn't think that it was possible.
"Hold your tongue, I haven't finished. Now, as you can imagine, I felt horrible, and I realized I had to do something to fix this mess I had gotten myself into. I couldn't very well try to gamble you back; that would not be fair. So I did what I could to change the situation for the better. 'Shinomori-san,' I said, 'I hear you have a son a few years older than my granddaughter. Suppose I give Kaoru to him instead?'
"He said, 'Very well, I am old, and the heat of a young man no longer runs through my veins. I have no need for a woman.'
"I suggested that, as we were such good friends, we should bind the two of you in marriage. He disagreed, so I said 'Why don't we leave it up to chance?' I told him you were lowly born, though you had some good blood in you-" Kaoru felt her father stiffen at her side. "-And you were very pretty. He finally relented, and I won.
"Now, her was not very pleased about this. He made a new wager; if he won, the bride's family would pay the groom's family a considerable sum of money. If he lost, he would give the bride's family the same amount. Knowing your families great debt, I was hesitant at first, but I decided that I had gotten myself into this mess, if I lost, I would pay him myself."
"And, as luck would have it…" Kaoru could hear her father grinding his teeth, but the man said nothing more.
"As luck would have it," her grandfather continued, "I won. You are to be married to Shinomori Aoshi. He is the bastard son of Yukata, but he's been named as heir. You'll live very well, and your family will be relieved of some of the debt it's in. What do you think of that?" Her grandfather seemed very pleased with himself.
Kaoru's father sat in silence; he had found out before she had, and seemed to have nothing to say to her grandfather. "How…how…" she stuttered. "How dare you! What makes you think you've got any say in who I marry, or how I live my life? What right do you have?" She seethed.
"Be quiet! You should be thanking me, Kaoru. You would never have married someone so high without my help. And you father has worked himself into very deep debt. With my help, your family may work their way out. You should see this as an opportunity to help you family. Don't be so selfish. You aren't the first girl with an arranged marriage, nor will you be the last."
"Get away from me!" Kaoru screamed. "How dare you take me away from what I love? I hate you!" She ran into the house, tears streaming down her face.
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When her father came to her later, she was in the yard letting of steam with a sword. Her father smiled; the only thing his daughter loved more than working on their farm was practicing her swordsmanship. It was a style he had devised himself – Kamiya Kasshin.
"Kaoru…" He said softly.
"What makes him think he can do that? He doesn't consider himself part of this family, so why is he allowed to make choices for us?"
"Kaoru, there is something I need you to understand." She stopped and looked at her father. "Kaoru…if I refuse to marry you to Shinomori-san, we will owe him a great deal of money in your place. You're grandfather was right about how badly we were in debt, and I don't have the money. Don't take this the wrong way, but it would help us greatly if you would consent." Her father sighed.
Kaoru nodded stiffly. "I understand perfectly. If you don't mind, I'm going to go back out and work. Please tell Ojisan that I've given my consent." She turned her back and walked away from her father angrily.
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"His name is Aoshi?" Misao asked, startled.
"Yeah, why?" Kaoru and Misao were in bed, whispering quietly about what had happened all day.
"Well, it probably doesn't matter." Misao smiled.
"Tell me?" Kaoru pleaded.
"Alright… Well, back when I was still living with my mother, there was a young man named Aoshi who lived there. He was about ten years older than me, but I really liked him. I followed him everywhere; I was always with him. I was probably a big pain to him, but that didn't really matter to me. He was such a good friend to me, and I greatly preferred the time I spent with him to being with my mother.
"Well, this guy was cold as ice. Seriously, he never showed any emotion whatsoever, and he didn't talk a lot."
"Sounds like your opposite." Kaoru joked.
"Yeah... Anyway, I realized I was in love with him. When I finally worked up the courage to tell him, he told me he felt the same, but that he had to leave. He said that he would come back, though, and that then he would marry me. I guess I'll never know if he came back; I ran away a few months later. He probably didn't mean it huh? I mean, I was only thirteen or so."
"Misao… What if-?" Kaoru whispered.
"It's not him Kaoru. How could it be? Do you realize how many Aoshis there must be in Japan?" Misao laughed. "I'm going to sleep. G'night." She lay back on her futon and closed her eyes.
"Yeah…" Kaoru sighed. What you mean, Misao, She thought, is that even if it were the same Aoshi, you wouldn't be able to be with him anyway. I'm so sorry my friend. If I could change it, believe me, I would. She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping to stop the tears from getting loose.
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So that's chapter one. I need to know if I should go on with this story, so please review!