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O.O I've reached my all time GOAL and went ABOVE! I can't believe it, thank you so much! ON WITH THE STORY!
Chapter 7: Chosen
'…' = Thoughts
"…" Speaking
Previous Chapter
Aoshi slowly watch Kaoru head up the stage and noticed a dark figure standing above the crowd with a gun in its hand. He quickly left his seat, Misao who saw him thought privately, 'Why is he getting off his seat?'
"Kaoru!" Aoshi cried out and jumped in front of her, the bullet pierced through his body.
"Aoshi!" Kaoru screamed. She quickly held onto him.
Soon everyone in the museum went crazy and ran to the exit. The dark figure smiled to himself as he viewed the sight from above the ceiling, 'that was too easy! Let's see who shall I take the ticket from…' The figure slowly scanned around the crowd and saw Sano, 'Ah…the bird head looks easy to steal from…'
Sano immediately ran towards the stage to Kaoru only to bump into some crippled old man. "Oh, sorry Mister…" Sano apologized.
"It's okay young man…" he said and smiled, "Just be careful next time!"
Sano nodded and resume to go to his destination. He realized that Misao and Megumi had already gotten to Kaoru and Aoshi. "All you guys okay?" he asked. Everyone nodded and Sano faced Aoshi, "Still have enough strength to teleport us?" Aoshi smirked and everyone huddled close together, soon a light emerged around them and they disappeared.
The crippled old man came out and smirked, "Well that was easier than I thought…" Soon the old man transformed and out came none other than Gohei. Gohei smirked and grabbed out the ticket, "That bird head didn't even suspect a thing…now I can proceed with the plan to find the dark book…" He then cackled and walked away from the museum doors.
Aoshi and the others teleported back the Misao's house and there sat Megumi healing Aoshi's shoulder.
"Okay…you're healed Aoshi!" Megumi inspected then faced to Kaoru, "You're lucky Aoshi managed to block you otherwise the bullet would've hit your head."
Kaoru gulped and looked sadly at Aoshi who was looking at her from across the room. "Can you guys leave?" Aoshi asked in the mist of everyone's conversation, "Except for Kaoru…"
Everyone soon began to leave the room leaving Kaoru to speak with Aoshi. Misao looked glumly at Kaoru, and Kaoru looked back with worry on her face. "Don't worry he won't do anything bad Kaoru…" Misao gave a reassuring smile. Kaoru smiled back and watched everyone leave the room.
"Kaoru?" Aoshi asked in the quiet room. Kaoru silently made her way to Aoshi and hugged him from behind, "Thank you…" she whispered through her tears.
Aoshi turned around and smiled warmly at the small girl standing in front of him, "It's okay…" He then lifted her chin up to make her face him.
Kaoru looked up into his deep blue eyes and frowned, then she smacked his shoulder, "You idiot! You had me scared when the bullet shot you!"
Aoshi chuckled, "I'd rather have a bullet shot through me than you." Kaoru smiled and leaned against his shoulder, he began to talk in the silence, "I never said I didn't trust you…it's just that you get into so much trouble that it's impossible to trust you when you say that you're going to be safe!"
Kaoru frowned and Aoshi laugh out loud, "Sorry…I didn't mean it to make it sound like it's a really bad thing…sorry…" Kaoru stopped frowning and giggled, "Yeah I guess you're right…and you know what?"
"What?" Aoshi asked while staring into Kaoru's mischievous eyes.
"I want a piggy back ride!" Kaoru shouted out loud and jumped onto Aoshi's back, "just like what you use to do for me when we were little kids whenever I get mad at you!"
"Fine with me!" Aoshi shouted and fit Kaoru's light body around his back. Soon once again a light emerged from Aoshi and then they disappeared.
"Aoshi? Why are we up here on the top of the roof?" Kaoru asked curiously.
Aoshi smirked, "One…two…" Kaoru then panic, "You're not jumping off it right!? I'm serious Aoshi! This is a two-story building! Are you crazy!?"
Aoshi stopped counting and turned to face Kaoru, "Three!" Then he jumped off the building with Kaoru screaming from behind. Before reaching the bottom of the floor another light emerged and Kaoru was teleported back into her room.
"Aoshi…" Kaoru said slowly while trying to calm down, "Were you trying to kill me!?"
Aoshi chuckled, "I'm just letting you know that you can trust me…"
Kaoru's heartbeat returned back to normal and she thought back to Aoshi's words, "Trust you? What's that suppose to mean?"
Aoshi sat next by Kaoru and pulled her against his body, "If anything happens in the future I promise that I'll be there to protect you, no matter what…I promise I won't let anything scared you anymore…"
Kaoru felt warmth slither all over her body as Aoshi's words kept repeating in her mind, 'A promise…a real promise…Aoshi's has never promised me anything! Could he be that worried about me?' Her head subconsciously leaned towards Aoshi's chest and they both sat quietly in each other comfort. That comfort was soon disturbed as soon as Aoshi pushed Kaoru away, "Someone's coming…"
Right after he said that Sano crash into the door with Megumi and Misao holding their fists up from behind. "What happened?" Kaoru asked while staring at the dizzy eye Sano.
"Believe it or not…he LOST the ticket!" Megumi said angrily.
"What!? How!?" Kaoru yelled in disbelief.
"Yeah…that's what Megumi and I were wondering," Misao replied angrily.
Sano finally recovered and yelled back, "It wasn't my fault! I don't know how it happened! I remembered that I put it in my pocket!"
"Right…right…" Megumi chirped sarcastically.
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Aoshi shouted obviously irritated, "What happened just happened leave Sano alone! Let's just go to the temple and decide who goes to the ball okay?"
Everyone immediately shut up and stared at Aoshi. "What bit him in his pants?" Sano asked Kaoru. Kaoru giggled then shrugged her shoulder and headed towards Aoshi, soon followed Misao, Sano, and Megumi. They all huddled close together and teleported out of the house.
"So who's going?" Misao asked Aoshi. Aoshi merely shrugged and replied, "Go figure…"
"Ohohoho! I will go!" Megumi shouted happily. "Why!?" Misao complained, "So you can flirt with the guys? I know you well enough to know that you won't do your duty so I'll go!"
Megumi shot Misao an evil glare, "Fine weasel…we'll settle this fair and square…let's ask the fire who will go…"
"Fine then!" Misao replied as both the fox and the weasel ran towards the fire. "Calling for powers from beyond," they chanted out loud, "please give us a sign to tell us who will go to the ball tomorrow night, and please pick only one…"
'Please pick me so I can prove to Aoshi that I'm useful!' Misao thought to herself, 'and not that flirtatious Megumi!' Misao shot a glare at Megumi.
'Please pick me over that weasel! I have been waiting for a long time to go to this ball!' Megumi thought inside her mind while glaring back.
The firewood cackled inside the fire and soon a sign popped into Megumi's hand. "I win, I win!" Megumi chanted, "it chose me over you Misao!
Misao frowned and the firewood cracked loudly once more, "The fire says that you're wrong…let's see why…"
Megumi opened her hand and in her palm revealed a jasmine flower, soon the smell emerged throughout the whole room. Misao took a whiff of the smell, "It smells like Kaoru…" Right after saying her name the flower lifted up from Megumi's palm and floated towards Kaoru and stopped in front of her.
"M—me?" Kaoru said shakily as she reached up and held the flower. A golden light suddenly surrounded her and the light blinded the whole room. Soon the room was back to its normal color. Everyone lowered their hands from their eyes and looked back at Kaoru. After seeing her, their mouths gaped open in awe.
Kaoru stood in the middle of the room in a peach colored ballroom dress, her dress was simple yet elegant, it was long and the top of it revealed her shoulders but not exposing too much of her white skin. Her ponytail is now replaced with long wavy hair, at the top of her hair contained a wreath of jasmine flowers. Around her neck has a peach ribbon necklace with a small jasmine flower hanging from the middle. Kaoru blushed at everyone's stare.
About five minutes later Sano was able to find his voice, "WOW! Kaoru you actually look beautiful!"
Kaoru glared at Sano and blushed as soon as she saw Aoshi. Aoshi cleared his voice and smiled at her then faced everyone to speak, "It seems like we know who's going to the ball tomorrow night so there's no point arguing against it."
Megumi and Misao were both filled with anger but couldn't help but smile. "You got to admit Megumi, Kaoru actually does look better in the dress…" Misao said truthfully.
"Yeah you're right. No matter how hard I try to get angry at Kaoru, I never can succeed to it, I think she deserves to do the job since we have always left her out," Megumi replied, "and since the fire did choose her out of all of us it must have its reasons…"
"You're right Megumi…" Misao answered back, "we're going to have to keep a close watch on Kaoru…"
Megumi nodded and everyone soon left the Lotus Temple.
The next day arrived and evening soon came around. Kaoru sat in her room filled with anxiety, 'Gosh I'm so worried! I feel sick to the stomach! Why was I chosen of all people?'
Soon someone knocked on the door snapping Kaoru out of her thoughts, "Who is it?"
"It us, Megumi and Misao!" Misao shouted energetically while banging on the door.
"Come in!" Kaoru replied. The door swung open and Megumi and Misao popped themselves right in. They immediately sensed Kaoru's damp mood.
"Don't worry so much Kaoru…" Megumi said gently, "Remember, we're all going to be outside when you need us!"
"But…I feel like a traitor…I never wanted to do this," Kaoru said while feeling guilty, "You two wanted to do this so bad and I took it away…"
Misao huffed loudly and stood in front of Kaoru, "Don't tell me that you're going to give up! If you do you're going to leave all of us down and especially Aoshi!"
Kaoru looked into her best friends eyes, which were burning with anger and frustration. "Listen Kaoru!" Misao hissed, "You've never given up on anything! As your best friend I won't allow it! I've known you my entire life and I don't even want to see you unhappy! So promise me that you'll do it! Okay?"
Kaoru looked down and smiled, "Thanks you two…I feel so much better now…are you two sure that you're not upset?"
Megumi and Misao smiled back and both replied, "No regrets, honestly, not upset at all."
"Besides, I still have a lot of time to go to a ball…" Megumi said happily.
"And I can prove myself to Aoshi that I'm useful some other time!" Misao chirped.
"You don't need to prove anything to him Misao…" Kaoru answered back, "he already likes you…it's just that you need to get around him more often. You two should hang out more!"
Megumi laughed loudly and elbowed Misao, "Does that answer your question about Kaoru and Aoshi relationship?" Misao immediately blushed red and looked down towards the floor.
"Huh?" Kaoru asked, "What relationship?"
"Well you see…" Megumi started but Misao immediately closed Megumi's mouth.
"Shut up Megumi, you're going to exaggerate too much!" Misao stuttered out.
"Care to explain then Misao?" Kaoru asked once more.
Misao sighed and blushed bright red, "You see…you two have been really close lately and I couldn't help but feel jealous…it was as if you two were a couple!" Kaoru laughed loudly, "Aoshi and me? No way! He looks at me like I was his little sister. He's just being protective…you know that I would never take him away from you!"
Misao giggled, "I guess that I jumped to conclusions way too fast…I feel like I owe you a million apologies…"
"That explained why you acted so cold to me for the past few weeks…" Kaoru replied after doing some thinking.
"Okay, I'm sorry! No more rubbing guilt to my face!" Misao demanded, "Now let's hurry up to get you dressed or you'll be late!"
"Fine…" Kaoru replied and went over to the drawer next to her bed and pulled out a small box. She opened it and pulled out the jasmine necklace from yesterday and put it around her neck. Her old clothes immediately transformed into the ballroom dress. "I feel so retarded…" Kaoru said while blushing.
"You shouldn't say that Kaoru," Megumi interrupted, "You're beautiful, BUT you'll be even more beautiful once you wear this with it…" Megumi stopped talking and pulled out a box and pulled out a pair of small jasmine flower earrings. Kaoru gasped as Megumi applied the earrings for Kaoru, "Oh Megumi…you shouldn't have…"
Megumi pat Kaoru's back, "I saw these at the antique shop today…kind of figured that it really matches you so I bought it and forced Aoshi to make it into a communicator-- stop glaring at me Misao…"
Kaoru gasped as she saw the mirror, 'Wow…I look like a princess…' She turned to Megumi and Misao and gave them a bear hug, "Thank you so much!"
"No problem Kaoru!" Misao choked out, "Can we go now?"
"I'll go and announce Kaoru's entrance!" Megumi chirped as she exit the door.
"You're going to be the center of attention at the ball Kaoru…" Misao whispered as she brushed Kaoru's hair, "But don't get distracted!"
"I won't!" Kaoru yelled back, "You can count on me!"
"Hey fox…what's taking Kaoru forever up there?" Sano groaned.
"Shut up rooster head…she's coming right now…" Megumi announced, "And now…coming downstairs with Misao is Kaoru!"
Right there everyone could hear footsteps heading down with Misao approaching first and Kaoru last. Sano gasped, "It's the Queen of Jasmine!" Misao heard the comment and threw her shoe at him, "Shut up!"
Kaoru stood blushing in the middle of the room, "Yeah…the jasmine flowers are overkill…"
Aoshi approached and handed Kaoru a rose, "…Nothing on you is overkill…you're beautiful tonight…"
Kaoru blushed at his words, as she held tighter onto the red rose in her hands. "Thank you…" she whispered and gave Aoshi a hug.
"Okay! No more mushy stuff!" Sano cried out, "I'm getting a really bad toothache. I want some action, let's go right now!"
Aoshi and Kaoru broke the embrace and everyone went and teleported out the house.
They reappeared behind a bush at the side of the mansion.
"Wow!" Misao said loudly, "It's HUGE!"
"Well…good luck Kaoru!" Megumi said shortly after Misao, "We'll be watching you from out here so don't do anything stupid!"
Kaoru took a deep breath and smiled at everyone, "Better watch over me! Don't worry…before I get out tonight I'll discover something! I promise!"
Kaoru got on the bush and Aoshi immediately grabbed her hand, "Be careful! Don't forget to try to fit inside! I'll be here if you need me."
Kaoru smiled and headed towards the building. "Excuse me miss but do you have your ticket?" a young man asked in front of the mansions entrance. Kaoru took out her ticket and flashed it in front of him. "Thank you miss! Please enjoy your night!"
Kaoru nodded and headed through the door, her eyes opened wide as soon as she saw the inside. "It's huge!" she said in awe, "not to mention beautiful!"
The inside on the mansion had a huge marble dance floor, which is where the ball was held. The ceiling stretched high up and was painted like clouds. Huge white marble columns surrounded the circular room and from all around Kaoru could hear the orchestra playing beautiful music echo.
'Kaoru! Haven't you forgotten your job!? Go to the punch bowl and get some punch and look NORMAL!' She thought to herself, 'but aren't I normal already?' She argued back, "Shut up and do it!"
Kaoru straightened her back and headed towards the punch bowl, which is far across the ballroom. As she walked the crowd of dancers separated and formed a clear walkway for her as if she's a royal. The music immediately stopped and Kaoru could hear everyone whispering about her.
"Who is she?" a man asked someone next to him, "She's beautiful!"
"Even I can't beat her beauty!" one woman exclaimed.
Kaoru could hear her communicator snicker: it was Misao. Misao was laughing hard outside and into the microphone, "Oh gosh…I know that Kaoru is beautiful tonight…I just didn't know how these people would react! They treat her like a goddess! I won't be surprised if guys dreamt about kissing her tonight in bed and do something more than that…"
"Not funny Misao…" Kaoru murmured under her breath. Kaoru finally let out a sigh of relief as soon as she reached the punch bowl. Right at that instant everyone resume back to their dancing and music filled the room again. Kaoru poured punch into her cup and analyzed that whole room. 'Hm…nothing looks suspicious…' she thought to herself as she scanned the room more thoroughly. Her heart immediately raced as she saw a flash of red from across the room. She noticed the whole room quiet down once more and everyone divided the room once more, then she could hear a whole bunch of people whispering and girls chattering excitedly.
"Oh my gosh! Who is that handsome stranger!?" one girl asked to another.
"I hope he's approaching to me!" another one said as she quickly applied her make up.
"No way! He's approaching me!" an older woman bellowed back and pushed the two other girls out of her way.
'What are they talking about?' finally Kaoru could see what all the girls were excited about. A young man dressed in a black tux appeared out of the crowd. He was not too short and his hair was smooth fiery red. Kaoru's heart pounded with each step he took. 'Okay…if I saw his eyes I'd probably faint…thank goodness he's wearing a mask that covers it…oh gosh…don't tell me that he's coming to me…please don't!'
Kaoru's heart pounded faster and her breathing pace increased. The man with the red hair is now standing in front of her, the room was still and quiet, it was like time froze. He slowly reached out his left hand and lifted her right hand. Kaoru stood frozen and the room was even more still, no one and nothing stirred, the room was now revolved around Kaoru and the mysterious stranger.
He opened his mouth then a soft and gentle voice emerged, "May I have this dance?"
Muahahaha! I'm so going to stop there. Well…Battousai has finally made hisappearance. So what's going to happen now? Our story doesn't end here! T
une innext time to find out! So review! Here's the review response! I still need a good summary! I have one at the moment; let's see who else has an idea!
Man…the response page is getting longer…it's not bad…really it's not! Thank you all for the wonderful reviews! I really loved to read the long ones! It motivated me to update much faster.
Review Response:
himesama16- Hehe…I am really evil to leave a cliffhanger huh? LOL…anyways…I have updated! Please review! Thank you for the last review!
rkfan246- I'm so glad that you really like my fic! It's okay if you forgot to review the last chapter, just remember to please to it for this one! Oh…the last story "Endless Wish"…err…well…I'm still typing it. I'll post it up as soon as I'm done with one of my fics, which is going to be a while. sighs please be patient, I have a whole mess of stories to handle with…wish there wasn't much…anyways, thank you for reviewing!
Silver Goddess1- I'm so glad that you like my story! Thank you for reviewing!!!
are-en1- AH! I'm super happy! You like all my stories! I can't believe it!!! WOW!!! Thank you so much for reading them!!! And thanks for reviewing!
xia xue- I really like your idea! I'll be sure to add it there in future chapters! I'm so glad you still like my story! Thank you!!!
Pinky4- LMAO! I'm so glad you like my story…BUT like everyone else you'll have to wait till I update to read it! No cheating…LOL…sorry! Anyways, thanks a lot for reading and reviewing!
Green-Eyed-Moony- I'm so glad that you like my last chapter! Thank you for reviewing!!!
NARGIEGIRL21- I'm sorry that it frustrates you to wait for me to update…but I'm doing the best I can so please be patient and wait slightly longer for me to update. Thanks for reviewing!
Kitsune KeNsHiN- Muahaha! I know I'm evil but that's what makes everyone want more right? Yup….Battousai appeared in this chapter as nice…I wonder how long will he keep that up…anyways, thank you so much for that really great review! It really told me what you liked about the last chapter!
IloveMalik- Yup…Battousai has finally appeared! And he's going to appear permanently! Yeah! I'm so glad that you liked the last chapter! Thank you for reviewing!
LuneTigre- O.O I really love that summary! Hm…I'll check to see if I'll change it later. Thank you for the useful review!
crystal-flame- I'm so glad that you like my story so far. I don't think it's really that good…--…thank you for reviewing! It's just like what I've always wanted to see in a review!
Yobukai- Thank you for reviewing! I'm so happy that you put this story in your favorite list! Thank you! I hope that you enjoyed this chapter.
BLONDE GOTH- O.O WOW…you've been following my story all along…LOL…I'm so glad you like the plot so far! THANK YOU FOR REVIEWING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dragon Master271- FF.net has been really on my nerves…it's always down…either that or my internet is crappy. I'm going to r & r your fic when I have the time but so far…I have none…wha I'm so glad that you liked the last chapter! Thank you for reviewing!
Victoria- O.O…from the beginning of your review I seriously thought that you would stop reading this fic! LOL…scared me for a moment…Muahahaha! Yes, I am evil thank you for that compliment…LOL…thanks for reviewing!
kenshin's-angel- I'm so glad that you liked that last chapter…yes I felt sorry for Sano too. Thank you for reviewing!
Rei- You really think this fic is getting better? WOW! THANKS!
Nauriell- I'm glad you like my story! Or at least I hope you do… Thank you for reviewing!
ME- Yes I'm mean. Muahahahaha Battousai has finally appeared! I hope that you'll continue reading! Thanks for the review!
Crasyducky- LOL…I'm so glad that you like the plot. Yeah, when I look back at my chapters I noticed a couple grammar mistakes too…my bad grammar, I'm really sorry if it frustrates you. Please forgive me! I hope you like this chapter! Thanks for the useful reviewing! Hm…your Mafia story sounds interesting…I must find the time to read it somehow…
Ookami-chi- Yeah…I updated pretty fast…maybe I shouldn't do that anymore…LOL…maybe just once a mouth per chapter or more than that…LOL…I don't know…thanks for the review!
Me, Myself, and I- I'm so sorry I didn't take your suggestion. . I feel so bad…! Yes, it was Gohei who shot at Kaoru…man…is this fic that predictable? sighs Anyways, thanks a bunch for the last review!
animemistress419- I'm so glad that you liked the last chapter!!! I'm very happy that you enjoyed one of its part. Thank you for reviewing!
This fic says that it has 118 reviews, however, I only see 113. How weird, but then it must mean that I couldn't respond to other people! To those who weren't listed up there I'm so sorry! I would like to take this chance to thank you for reviewing! SO THANK YOU!!! - Thank you very much for reviewing…sorry I couldn't respond to you! Argh…ff.net screwed my reviews!
Now press the pretty purple button to review please! Make me happy!