Chapter 5: Research
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Kaoru face paled as fear crept up on her and chased after Aoshi. Aoshi ran away first and Kaoru was about to exit the hole until a sick feeling in her stomach was beckoning her to turn around. Kaoru stood still until an arm wrapped around her shoulder making her jump. It was Aoshi.
"Let's go," he said warmly, his right hand reached over, grabbed Kaoru's left hand, and he gently pulls her out slowly. Kaoru walked slowly until a strange feeling told her that something isn't right and with all the courage she could muster up, she finally turned around. Suddenly her heart became heavy.
The man with red hair and amber eyes painted on the wall wasn't there anymore.
Two weeks has already passed since Kaoru had the incident at the Dark Tower. She has been avoiding going to the Lotus Temple and hanging out with her friends, her friends are now worried.
"I don't get it…Kaoru use to love going to the Lotus Temple with us and always attempted to spy during our meetings. Now she's avoiding it all the way. Is she sick Megumi?" Misao asked concerned to the fox-like girl.
"She's probably coming down with something, maybe we should ask her…" Megumi replied until she was interrupted.
"—Don't ask her something if she doesn't want to tell us." Aoshi snapped, shocking everyone.
"But we're worried…" Misao replied.
"It doesn't matter…if Kaoru wants to tell us something then she would but if not leave her alone until she wants to." Aoshi said defensively.
"Oh…okay…" Misao said quietly. 'Why is Aoshi being so defensive for Kaoru? Ever since we discovered Kaoru nearly dead he never left her side. Could it be that he's falling for her?' Misao wondered as tears form in her eyes.
"ANYWAYS!" Sano interrupted, "Let's have a meeting at Misao's house! If she doesn't want to come to us, then we'll come to her!"
"I'll go ahead and see her first okay guys?" Misao said while trying to hide her sadness as she levitated slowly into the air.
Everyone waved good-bye to Misao as she slowly faded out of their sight.
"Okay…you two group together and hold hands so I can teleport you guys to Kaoru's house…" Aoshi drifted off to Sano and Megumi.
"Me touch him? NO WAY! I'll catch his stupid ness!" Megumi shouted angrily while pointing at Sano.
"Can't say that I don't feel the same about you…" Sano muttered under his breath. Megumi shot him a look and immediately punched him into the air.
Aoshi stared at the bickering couple, sighed, and thought to himself, '…this is going to take a while…'
Kaoru laid on her bed and let's out a long sigh. She couldn't get over the past event that happened exactly two weeks ago. She silently sat in her room and began to worry.
'Why couldn't I get over with the last event? I didn't die; those men didn't scare the crap out of me. So why did it affect me so much!? I just don't get it!!!'
Kaoru started to struggle with herself in bed as a bad headache emerged into her head and caused an idea to spring into her mind.
'Maybe it was that freaky painting on the wall…yes, that's it! I'll just go back to the stupid tower and prove to myself that there was nothing there! But what if that same thing happens to me again? Ahhh…I'll cause SO much trouble for everyone!'
"WHY ME!?" Kaoru shouted towards the ceiling in frustration.
"Why what?" Misao said suddenly appearing over Kaoru's head. Kaoru was shocked by Misao's sudden appearance, she jumped up and her head collided with Misaos, making both fall on the floor.
"Kaoru! Dude…what was that for?" Misao cried as she got up from the floor.
"Sorry…I got scared and—wait a minute…why are you here?" Kaoru asked with curiosity spreading throughout her mind.
"Well…all of us…meaning Sano, Megumi, Aoshi, and I have been worried about you ever since you stopped going with us to the temple. So are you feeling okay?" Misao asked in a worried tone.
"I'm fine…I just got some things occupying my mind at the moment. Besides…I always thought that you guys hated my company…" Kaoru said sadly, "So I thought that I'd back off a bit…"
Misao opened her mouth to say more until Megumi, Sano, and Aoshi teleported in. Megumi and Sano fell to the floor tied up together with tapes over their mouths. Kaoru and Misao stared at Aoshi for an explanation.
"Those two wouldn't stop bickering…and refused to teleport together…so I did that to them…" Aoshi said and pointed to where Megumi and Sano were sitting murmuring angrily.
Misao and Aoshi quickly hid their laughter. Misao quickly grabbed a camera from her drawer and immediately clicked it. Kaoru laughed and untied Sano and Megumi.
"Thanks missy…" Sano said as Kaoru untied him, "No thanks to you, fox, and weasel!"
Kaoru untied Megumi and Megumi glared at him, "No point into arguing with a stupid guy so whatever…"
Sano was about to argue back until Misao put tape back over his mouth, "Okay…so can we get started with the now?" she asked impatiently.
"Very well..." Aoshi said as he pulled the book from the Dark Tower out, Kaoru began to freak out.
"Wait…why are you taking out that book? What meeting? Aren't you guys supposed to be doing to somewhere else where I'm not around?" Kaoru said suspiciously.
"Well…since you never really got to be in a meeting with us, we've decided to bring it to you!" Misao said happily.
"That won't be necessary, I'll leave now…" Kaoru snapped and headed out the door until Aoshi pulled her back with her hair, "What was that for!?"
"We think that you might actually have something to do with this book so then you'll be included in this meeting from now on. Now sit down…" Aoshi said gently. Kaoru stared at him and sat down. Sano lay on Misao's bed with Misao sitting on top of his back. Megumi grabbed a nearby chair and listened.
"I did some research on the book. It's says here that the past use to be very peaceful. It didn't say who the ruler was though. The only name marked in the book was "Battousai". So it started when the princess was turning 17, she was to have her full powers received from her mother and, of course she was to be married to a prince. Of course the princess and prince were deeply in love so there was no problem there. News came around a month before the princess birthday that the prince disappeared, they couldn't tell if he was dead or not so the princess waited. During this time a man named Battousai appeared and slays everyone, the queen was frustrated and arrested him. However, they find out that Battousai was here to slay all demons that wanted to overthrow her power. The queen immediately put him as one of her allies along with four other magical guards. The princess' birthday came by and the prince was never found. She immediately assumed he was dead and ran away from the palace, no one knew that. The dark wizard appeared out of nowhere and assassinated the princess. That was when chaos started." Aoshi stopped briefly and waited if anyone wanted to ask any questions.
"That was some stupid princess…" Sano muttered under Misao. Misao growled and smacked his head.
"Did they provide any detail who the guards were or who Battousai was?" Kaoru asked with interest.
"No, there wasn't any…" Aoshi replied shortly after. Kaoru lets out a sigh, "What happens after?"
"Well…chaos roamed around the world, plunging the earth into darkness. The princess never had the chance to receive her powers. Battousai and the guards went to fight after the Dark Wizard but they failed. The queen mourned over the guards, Battousai, and her daughter death so she made the one choice that changed the future forever. She used up all her powers to create a book and sealed everything within' it, the powers of the princess and the mysterious Battousai. She used up her life to create a new world. Everything was to be reborn and this time she hopes nothing will interfere it." Aoshi said and stopped again with disappointment on his face.
"What happened to the queen?" Megumi asked silently.
"She died somewhere in the tower…" he replied.
"What's with the change in voice?" Misao said as she saw that change in Aoshi's face.
"When the queen used her life to give rebirth to the world the Dark Wizard was also to be born in it. The Dark Wizard, before going away to the future, also sealed its powers into another book: the dark book. A book we don't have." Aoshi said glumly.
"So you want to find the Dark Book before the Dark Wizard new form takes place right? Sano repeated back. Aoshi merely nodded, "I don't know why we have to do it though."
Kaoru remained quiet the whole time and carefully watched each of her friends slowly. Megumi who saw what Kaoru was doing snapped, "If you got something to say, say it now!"
Kaoru took in a deep breath and sighed, "There were four guards protecting the princess right? Well that probably means that you guys are them in their rebirth form. If that's the case then that's probably why…" Kaoru stopped as soon as she saw all over her friend's faces, "…why weird stuff started all the sudden…"
"Whoa! That means that we died fast…man…were we that weak?" Sano shouted.
"No way!" Misao protested, "This means that the Dark Wizard is also born at the century! I won't have it!"
"It's quite possible Misao…and if that's the case then…" Aoshi hesitated, "we'll have to destroy it first…"
Megumi interrupted the conversation, "We'll have to find the book fast then…if we want to live longer…"
Everyone nodded and looked at Kaoru. "What?" Kaoru asked with surprise.
"You're going to help us…" Aoshi said.
"What!?" Kaoru shouted, "No! I'm not going to risk my butt off anymore! I'm scared…scared about what happens, like what happened two weeks ago. I'm scared!" Kaoru collasped on the floor and cried.
"So that's why she didn't want to be involved with us…" Sano said loud enough for Megumi and Misao to hear.
"I'm scared Aoshi…really scared…" Kaoru replied. Aoshi slowly bent down and held Kaoru in his arms.
"Don't worry…everyone here will protect you…I WILL protect you…" Aoshi said sternly making Kaoru look up into his deep blue eyes, "You possess eyes that can pinpoint out things we've never thought of before…we need you…" Kaoru leaned her head on Aoshi's chest and sat silently. Megumi sensed an angry aura coming from Misao and quickly break the tension.
"Uh…ok! Let's start a search for the Dark Book starting today!" Megumi said cheerfully, "So where do you think we should go Aoshi?"
Aoshi began to open his mouth until Kaoru moved out of his arms and answered the question herself, "The museum…the biggest one near here…"
"The museum?" Misao asked curiously, "Why?"
"There are a lot of artifacts there…and probably by chance we might be able to find out some things about the book along with the past. Who knows we might see the Dark book there itself."
"Not a bad idea missy…" Sano said, "Let's go right now!"
"Yeah…it's best not waste time…everyone group together…we'll go there right now…" Aoshi commanded and everyone began to group together.
"Wait!!!" Kaoru shouted, "I need to get something..." She ran and grabbed her wallet in the drawer next by her bed. "Everyone else has their money right?" she asked eagerly. Everyone nodded and Aoshi began to use his powers.
The next minute they teleported behind the museum. A smell began to emerge as everyone made gagging noise.
"Ew…what's that smell?" Kaoru asked while pinching her nose. Aoshi stood still and simply said, "Look down…"
Everyone stopped and looked at their feet: they were standing in a huge trash bin.
"AH!" Misao screamed and immediately levitated out. Sano grabbed Megumi and jumped out the garbage can. Aoshi held onto Kaoru and teleported out.
"Aoshi! Why did you teleported into the friggin' trash bin?" Sano asked angrily, "We're not trash!"
"I wanted to teleport behind the museum…I didn't know that we'll end up in there." Aoshi replied instantly pointed to the trashcan.
"Okay…stop yelling at Aoshi…he didn't know that!" Misao shouted to Sano.
"We're at the museum right now and no one's hurt so it's okay. Let's just get started with our search." Kaoru said as cheerful as she could come up with and she grabbed out her Victoria Secret lotion. "Just put these on so you won't make anyone vomit…" she said as she handed everyone a bit of lotion.
Everyone sighed at headed to the front of the museum. Aoshi walked up to the cashier lady, "5 tickets for teens please."
The lady pushed some buttons and calculated the price, "That'll be thirty-two dollars and fifty cents."
Everyone pulled out their money and gave it to Aoshi. Aoshi gave it to the cashier woman, and she gave him back stickers for entrance to the museum. Everyone then put on the stickers and headed into the museum.
"Okay…we're in…now what?" Megumi asked Aoshi.
"We narrow down the place into the places that will mostly have clues about the book." Kaoru replied before Aoshi can reply.
"Let's see here…" Misao said as she opened the map, "There's History of the Past, witch craft, and Ancient Artifacts. That's about it…"
"Okay…since there are three places we'll have to find a way to split up so that all of us can inspect the place as quick as possible. Megumi and Misao go to the ancient artifacts, Sano will go alone to History of Past, Kaoru and I will go to witch craft since she might not be able to protect herself. So does everyone agree?"
Everyone wore a face of disagreement and Aoshi sighed, "Okay…what then?"
"How about…Megumi goes with Sano to witch craft, you and Misao goes to Ancient Artifacts, and I'll go to History of the Past by myself?" Kaoru suggested. Everyone began to nod their heads except for Aoshi who argue against it, "NO! You are not to be left alone! I'm going with you!"
Kaoru smiled, "Aoshi…I know you're worried about me but I swear I won't get hurt. I'll watch over myself and besides History of the Past is so big that I think it's impossible for me to bump into danger there. Today also has really less people visiting so this is a great advantage for me not to get hurt. Don't worry!"
Aoshi hesitated and looked in Kaoru's puppy eyes. 'Must you always use that look against me?' he thought to himself.
"Fine you win…but here take this…" Aoshi handed Kaoru an earring, Megumi a ring, Misao a bracelet, and Sano a watch.
"What's this?" Kaoru asked as she stared at the earring in her palm.
"It's a communicator. The reason why it's a different item it's because we don't want people to get suspicious about us having the same item on our bodies. They'll probably think we are spies." Aoshi explained, "However, Sano and my watch are like detectors so we can see where you girls are."
"WOW!" Megumi exclaimed as she stared at the ring, "Since when did you make these things?"
Aoshi blushed slightly red, "I have free time…might as well create something useful with it."
"Aoshi is so smart!" Misao shouted cheerfully and hugged her new bracelet, "So are we going to start now?"
"Yeah we are…Kaoru…are you sure you're fine by yourself?" Aoshi asked once more.
"Yes I am! Now stop being so over protective!" Kaoru pouted, "I'll be fine!"
"Fine…remember if you need to talk to us…there are our communicators…" Aoshi continued to explain and pointed to his communicator.
Kaoru whined, "Misao, take Aoshi away please!"
Misao began to drag Aoshi away through the hall that led to Ancient Artifacts with him yelling from far away, "Be careful! And make sure you tell us ANYTHING that is suspicious!"
Kaoru turned around and saw Megumi and Sano whistling.
"You two go to where you're suppose to go right now. The faster we get through this the better!" Kaoru commanded.
"Yes Madame Kaoru!" they said aloud and went away quickly, Kaoru sweat drop, 'Am I that commanding?'
"I guess its now my turn to go where I'm supposed to…" Kaoru said to herself and walked towards the History of the Past section.
A huge bulky man entered to the front of the museums automatic doors.
"There might be some useful stuff here in this useless place…" he murmured to himself as he approached the lady at the cashier.
"Hello sir…welcome to the Ancient Past Museum, how may I help you?" she said in a high squeaky tone.
"I already have a reservation to go here today…" the man said as he handed the lady his membership card.
She typed some numbers on the computer and scanned the card. Finally she gave back the card to him, "Welcome our newest member Gohei. I hope you'll enjoy your visit here today."
"Thank you…" he said quietly and headed into the inner part of the museum. Gohei stared into the map and narrow down all his choices.
'I think there might be some useful stuff in the History of the Past…I'll check out there right now…' he thought to himself. Gohei slowly headed down the hallway, little did he know that he was also heading towards where Kaoru is.
Is Kaoru going to wind up with the same fate as before? What is going to happen now? Find out next chapter! Bye!
Send in REVIEWS! S3r3nity is trying to get 100 reviews!!!
I NEED HELP: Should Battousai's personality be nice or mean? Please give ideas!
Review Responses:
Ayah- I am so sorry for not answering your review last chapter, your review came right after I updated. Thank you for reviewing and thinking that my fic rocks! Hm…the question about Battousai switching personalities with Kenshin well it most likely won't happen. This fic I've already decided is all about Kaoru's past and future life. And what else…GAK! How could I forget that…I'm so sorry that the link in my e-mail didn't work! I'm so sorry…I wonder what went wrong with it….kicks the comp…ANYWAYS…yeah…THANK YOU FOR REVIEWING!
Kitsune KeNsHiN- Yeah…I have no problem with an A/K fic…BUT I'm always for a K/K one! Yup! Anyways…thank you for the review and I'm glad that you enjoy my story so far. I hope you liked this one too!
sc gurl- Hi…thanks for reviewing! I don't mind writing an Aoshi and Kaoru fic but…yeah…I don't have time to write one since I also have two other stories to write. Sorry…but if you're writing one I'll be willing to contribute some ideas!
- Hello again…and THANK YOU for reviewing! I do hope that you enjoyed the last chapter ALONG with this one too!
Victoria- I updated that I did! I'm glad that you liked the last chapter and I hoped that you liked this one too! Sorry…Battousai isn't going to appear for some time, however, I'll try updating it faster so then everyone can finally meet him! Thank you for reviewing!
donna8157- WOW! You really think this is a novel idea!? I feel so…blush HAPPY! THANK YOU no one has ever told me that before. I'm so happy that you liked it! I hope that you enjoyed this chapter too! Thanks for reviewing!
Dragon Master271- No problem answering your review. Hm…about your fic…I haven't checked that one out yet…I'll be sure to as soon as I have time. Thank you for reviewing and I hope that you liked this chapter.
Ochanoko- YAY! I got another reader! does a little dance Hm…oh yeah…your question…Aoshi and Kaoru are just friends that have known each other for their whole lives. You can say that Aoshi looks after Kaoru like a little sister…yup! Anyways, I hope that you liked this chapter! Thank you for reviewing!
xia xue- I'm glad that you liked my story! Yeah…I'll be sure to make Kaoru throw something to Battousai soon enough…I wonder what though…got any ideas? Well if you do please tell me! Thank you for reviewing!
The evil witch- I'm glad that you liked my last chapter. You know what? I finished reading your fic "I'm thinking of you" and I think it was great! I can't wait for the sequel. You know what…about my last review it was going to be LONG until my mom came in my room scaring the heck out of me that I had to cut it short! I'm so sorry! Anyways I can't wait till your next update! Thank you for always reviewing! I'm so happy sniffs
Battousai-Lover- I'm so glad you like my story so far! Yup! Don't worry I'll keep writing…just as long as you as well as the other readers read it and review! Well…THANKS a LOT for reviewing, I just hope that you liked this chapter…!
Alex- Hm…this is chapter 5…so Battousai isn't going to appear till chapter 7…man…sorry I can't do anything about it! I've tried increasing the pages for each chapter but it wasn't enough! I'm so sorry! The suspense is really getting to you huh? Haha…me too! Nah…I don't think you're weird…TRUST me…I've known more weirder people! Thank you for reviewing!
Triana9- I've updated! I'm glad you liked the last chapter. Anyways…THANKS for REVIEWING!
ILoveMalik- WOW…I'm glad you're liking my fic more and more! LOL…well…I personally never thought that my fic would ever this interesting…THANK FOR ENJOYING IT! And thanks a lot for reviewing!
LuneTigre- LOL…wow…that last review you gave me was—you really were sugar high…BUT I loved your review because it actually shows that you obvious liked it…LOL…I'm so HAPPY! Um…Battousai and Kaoru are going to meet in chapter 7…please be patient till then! Thanks again for reviewing!
anonymous me- Yeah…that last chapter was creepy…I was freaked out myself…LOL…anyways…OKAY! Thank you for reviewing! I hope that you like this chapter.
kik-ting- Yeah…that last chapter really did scare people…LOL…trust me, there are going to be a little more scary stuff in the future…Oops! I just let out a little too much info…but it won't be that scary…just freaky…I hope…I'm glad that you thought that I wrote that part really well…that took a lot of thinking…anyways! Thank you for reviewing and I hope that you liked this chapter!
Tigerrelly- WOW…I'm happy that you liked my last chapter! Our little red head wanderer isn't going to appear till chapter 7 so please be patient…THANK YOU! And also THANKS for reviewing!
kenshin's-angel- NO way! Your fic rocks! I love it! Yeah I love Kenshin and Kaoru together too! YUP! Our red head wanderer is going to appear in chapter 7 so please be patient. Thanks for reviewing!