I am still alive. Yes. very much.

Disclaimer: The Characters do not belong to me. And the plot is from the story called Torikaebaya Monogatari and novel by Saeko Himuro, I just tweaked it.

Enjoy it.

Chapter I:

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and a lot of complaining.

Japan.

The Heian period.

Fujiwara clan estate.

If Lord Mu of the Fujiwara clan enjoys one thing, it was spending peaceful and quiet day away from the court, drinking sake while gazing at the cherry blossoms in silence. He enjoys it very much for it was an experience he rarely has.

'Ah, such a peaceful day. Thank the Gods', He thought while fanning to himself. 'Very peaceful indeed. When was the last time that both of my noisy wives had decided to leave at the same time? Now that they're both out I get to relax.'

"HA HA HA" he laughed to himself, thinking that the Gods had decided to give him some peace. But as we all know the Gods are very playful people.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

"My Lord! Something bad has happened."

'Ah there goes our maid starting with a 'something bad has happened' again. And I was beginning to enjoy my peace and quiet without those two demons' Sighing to himself; our poor Lord Mu gets up and goes to where his maid was waiting.

"What is it now? Can't you see I'm trying to enjoy my peace and quiet?" he questioned the maid who was panicking.

"My Lord, there is big trouble. The young master has challenged the son of Lord Danchoin no Miya! [1]" she practically screamed at him.

"Wha-What did you say?!" he screamed as he ran towards the West mansion to find his child.

As soon as he arrived at the West mansion, Lord Mu heard the sound of somebody practicing archery and two voices talking by the garden.

"Darn, I missed by an inch" he heard one say.

"But young master, you've improved so much" a softer voice had answered. And upon entering the garden he immediately spotted his child and ran over to his child.

"My chi-child" he panted.

"Father!" he saw his child smile at him. He grabbed his child by the shoulder and asked, "My child, did you really challenge the son of Lord Daichoin no Miya to a DUEL?!"

And his child smiling and looking as sweet and innocent as a flower answered him with a voice as soft as the wind, "Yes! It will be on the day after tomorrow. We shall split into two groups and shoot arrows against each other but with a limited amount of rounds. Don't worry, Father I am confident in my archery skills."

Lord Mu looked at his child dumbfounded, how his sweet child could look so happy and innocent while talking about the duel as if talking about the weather.

"Well don't be! Oh my child, why do you always worry your parents?! And this time you even challenged someone. You are such a troublemaker." He chastised his child.

"But Father! That pervert Yuna was hitting on Miri!" his child exclaimed with a pout and pointed at the said girl who blushed, "Miri and I were raised by the same wet nurse so that makes her the same as my sister. How could I allow a mumbling idiot like Yuna to make advances towards her?

"No Way! Whatever the reason, the competition is out of the question!" Lord Mu had let out an exasperated sigh, and said before his child could utter a reply "NO "buts", no matter what the situation is, you're still a GIRL!"

Lord Mu looked at his daughter who was now pouting and sighed, 'Oh this daughter of mine, when she was just a baby, her cries were louder than normal. Even though she's a girl she does not care about girly toys. All she cares about is archery and horseback riding', another sigh as he saw his daughter's face deep in thought, 'and she also excels in flute and poetry, she's even better than most boys. She even dresses up as one.'

Lord Mu placed a hand on his temples; he could feel a headache coming. "Just call off the challenge Cagalli, please?" he told his daughter as he exited the garden and made his way towards his chambers.

As he was walking, he could not help but think of his situation. "I must have offended someone in my past life. Or maybe the Gods." Another sigh escaped his lips, "Maybe it all stemmed from my bad decisions in marriage."

He sighed as he remembered his first wife.

As we can all see when Lord Mu was young, though at 32 he is still young thank you very much, he had thought that nothing could go wrong if he married an elegant and proper lady, and that is why he courted his first wife at the age of 15.

Lady Murrue.

She was beautiful. Yes. With her brown hair a color of the trees and he would have to admit she has a beautiful body. And she was also intelligent and very elegant.

But.

Yes, there is a but.

Lady Murrue as it turns out is very superstitious. That whatever a fortune teller will predict she will believe it, and if a new sect or cult arose she will immediately join. All she does is pray all day long.

So Young Lord Mu ran away.

And with his running away he met another lady who made his heart beat fast.

Lady Natarle.

She was also beautiful. With hair as black as the night and yes she also has a beautiful body. However, she was the complete opposite. She was very strict, direct and frank. That if a room screen was in her way she would kick it down screaming that she doesn't need it.

There was also a story that she once caught a burglar sneaking in at night by throwing a bucket of charcoal at him. And that bucket was heavy.

And so when Lady Natarle had moved into the mansion and met Lady Murrue, a mutual hostility had started between the two upon first sight.

And since then, Lord Mu never had time for peace.

'Oh yes. There is also someone who is a source of my constant depression' he sighed as he remembered his other child, 'Kira, the child of Lady Murrue'

"Oh if only my children would swap personalities. If only I could exchange them!" Lord Mu exclaimed to himself as he arrived in his chamber, but as fate would have it somebody heard him.

"And what do you mean by that?!" a voice shouted that startled Lord Mu. Calming himself he turned to see who it was, praying to the Gods to not let it be one of his wives.

But as we know by now that the Gods love to tease. And annoy.

Mostly annoy.

And was Lord Mu annoyed when he saw that it was his wife Lady Natarle who had shouted at him, though he didn't show. Facing his wife he laughed nervously and said, "My darling, you're here. I thought you went to visit the wet nurse who was sick?"

"Hmmph, I just got back. And what do you mean by my child switching personalities with that unhealthy scrawny child?" Lady Natarle questioned as she narrowed her eyes at her husband, who was laughing nervously. "My Cagalli is perfect the way she is! She is above all other boys either in archery or any gentleman's sport. She also has a beautiful voice and graceful features. I will not have you compare my child with that pansy kid of Murrue's! You understand, darling?" she smiled evilly at Lord Mu who nodded.

"Y-yes, dear."

"Then please excuse me."

Then she left.

As soon as his wife left, our poor Lord slumped and began to wallow in his sorrows once again.

As you can see Lord Mu was blessed with two children, one from each wife.

Lady Natarle gave birth to a baby girl, whom they named Cagalli. And the very next day, Lady Murrue gave birth to a baby boy, whom they named Kira.

They grew up to be very good children, but they have very different personalities.

Cagalli, who people know as Lord Kira is praised by everyone as the reincarnation of Hikaru Genji.[2] While the son Kira, who they know to be Lady Cagalli has a reputation of having exquisite beauty and is the subject of envy among girls.

How the people mistook his children for one another is beyond Lord Mu.

"I mean, they have different hair color for goodness sake! How thick can those people be?" he complained. "And besides, Kira doesn't go out of the mansion much. Ah, the more I think about. The more it makes me want to cry."

And so, Lord Mu had decided to stop thinking about his problems, for now. And he thought to himself how lucky that he can continue his rest and relaxation.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

"My Lord! My Lord! Something has happened!"

But it seems lady luck is against our Lord.

"What is it this time?" he groaned. 'I think my hair is getting thinner'

"My Lord, Lord Kira from the East mansion fainted again"

"Not again?" Another groan. "That's it! I don't care anymore. I'm tired and I don't want hear anymore" before the maid could answer he dismissed her with a wave of his hand.

At the garden

"There seems to be a commotion inside" Cagalli heard Miri say as they walked.

"Yeah, my mother just arrived not too long ago" Cagalli replied not even sparing a glance towards the mansion, "She's probably throwing a tantrum at father again. No wonder his hair is getting thinner everyday" she pointed to her hair.

"Miri, the East mansion is noisy as well", Cagalli inquired, to which Miri answered, "Ah yes, because Lord Kira collapsed again."

"WHAT?! He collapsed again?" Cagalli sighed, "My brother is really weak. Come, let's pay him a visit"

Miri answered with a smile and they continued towards the East mansion.

East Mansion

Once they have arrived at the East mansion they found it to be empty, so they headed straight to Kira's chambers.

"Wow, Kira is so pretty. Look Miri, isn't he pretty." Cagalli pointed at Kira, who was sleeping peacefully behind a room screen. As they approached, Kira was suddenly rustled from his sleep.

"Wh-what? Who's there?" Kira questioned as he sat up and looked at his sister. "Oh, it's just you Cagalli and Miri"

"So, I heard you passed out again" his sister stated as she seated in front of him,

"I heard that Lady Natarle, your mother, came back. I thought they meant my mother." Kira told her.

Cagalli sighed as she looked at her brother. He was very beautiful, with his pale skin, and a tiny face framed by his hair. Her brother really does look like a girl.

"You've always been unhealthy ever since you were a baby"

"But I think that it is a fated curse." Kira sighed, "I was born a day after you. But I did not make any noise nor did I cry, they thought I was not going to make it. But my mother said that a god appeared in her dream, that if I was raised as a girl, I would not have any difficulties."

Kira looked at his sister who smiled at him, urging him to continue his story.

"So then I always thought I was a girl." Kira shuddered as he remembered that memory, "One summer, I saw a boy walking outside of my room, who was walking at the edge of the pond. And I thought that he was lucky to be a boy, as I turned, I saw that he fell into the pond. As I was looking around on what to do to help him, when I gazed back at him I was surprised."

Cagalli by this time was curious on hearing the rest of her brother's story. "What did you see?" she asked Kira, who blushed.

"I-I saw that he was naked, and I saw 'that thing', I saw that the boy has the same thing as me."

Three things happened after that line.

Cagalli laughed.

Kira pouted.

Miri blushed.

"Stop laughing! It's not funny, I was so surprised that I went directly to my mother and asked her why do I have the same body part as the boy. Then she told me with a straight face that I was indeed a boy." Kira told his sister who was still laughing.

"I even told my mother that I want to dress up as a boy. But every time I bring up the subject of my true gender, my mother and the maids threaten me that they will perform a group suicide, for I was being an ungrateful child." Kira complained, "How wonderful to be like you. You don't have to act like a proper lady, and be restricted in this stuffy old mansion."

Cagalli, who had stopped laughing, questioned her brother, "You really want to be a boy?"

"I am a boy! I just want to act like one. It's all I've been thinking about ever since I met you six years ago when we were 10."

"I remember that time, I was playing with Miri when the ball we were playing with landed here on the East mansion, and when I came to get it back you saw me and screamed 'waaaah!' and then you fainted"

Kira cleared his throat and continued after his sister, "Yes, and after that we would often sneak out just to see each other. And then you were introduced to the children of the officials, wherein you even dyed your hair brown, then you had friends. Speaking of dye, you haven't dyed your hair today."

"Kira, I only dyed my hair to make it look like yours whenever I'm with my friends. And I don't need to dye my hair today, because father is home and you know how he is with dye. And besides all my friends come here just so they could get a glimpse of my sister" Cagalli whined, "And you know it is also upsetting that they can't visit me anymore because all of my friends had Genpuku ceremonies. I also want one." [3]

Before Kira could answer, Cagalli got up and straightened her clothes, "Anyway I need to get going, I'll be going to the market to get some things. Miri, let's go." Miri stood up and bowed at him before following his sister.

Before she was out of the chamber, Cagalli turned around and went to give her brother a peck on the cheeks which surprised him. "See you later, Kira"

Kira touched his cheek before smiling at his sister's retreating back.

"See you later, Cagalli."

Notes:

[1] Danchoin no Miya- the name 'no Miya' is a honorific for a territorial Prince or Princess

[2] Hikaru Genji: the protagonist of Murasaki Shikibu's The Tale of Genji. In the story, he is described as a superbly handsome man.

[3] Genpuku ceremony: a historical Japanese coming-of-age ceremony for boys between ages 11-17. In Heian times, the ceremony was restricted only to the sons of noble and samurai families.

please do leave a review. thank you. :)

and see you on chapter 2.