sorry I haven't updated in a while! But, you know, high school's a bixnatch. But I'm back now, so I'll try and update as much as I possibly can!

Kyo and Masaki crept down the hallway, trying to move as quickly as possible without making too much noise. With every step that Masaki took, she began to shake more violently. She was not looking forward to meeting Akito again. Kyo noticed her shaking. 'You can just go back if you're scared. I'm sure Hatori and Tohru haven't gone too far, so you can probably catch up to them.'

Masaki stopped and looked up at Kyo, at first with fear and then with anger. 'You're thinking like everyone else is. "Let's leave the child back there. She'll only be a nuisance." That's what they say. And have you seen what Akito looks like these days?' Kyo was silent, which Masaki took as an answer. 'I didn't think so. Trust me, I have a reason to be scared. But I don't care. It's my fault that Kureno might be killed. He tried to help me escape, and now I'm going to save him, even if it might mean giving up my own life to that monster.'

With that, she took off down the darkened hallway, leaving Kyo standing there with a shocked look. Then, suddenly, he ran down the hallway and yanked Masaki back, slamming her into the wall. He had a fierce look in his eyes. 'Listen to me, runt. There are times when you just have to run. Times when being brave will only cause more death. I know how you feel, having someone's life in danger because of you. But sometimes you just have to run.' Then he noticed something hanging on Masaki's wrist that hadn't been there before. 'What's that?' he asked, pointing to the red and white beads hanging from her wrist.

Masaki was still angry over being called 'runt', so she pushed Kyo back roughly and looked at the beads. 'Don't pretend you don't know. You know exactly what these are. This is the reason why everyone always wants to keep me back. They're afraid. Of me.'

'Wait, you're the spirit of the cat now?!'

'Duh, stupid. The curse is broken in your realm, but not mine. That's part of the reason I'm not going back home until I solve this. I want this curse broken so I can go home with my mother and father. And, for the record, you are nothing like my father. You're some scared boy who ran away from the person who cared about him most instead of doing something. You ran away because Akito told you to, didn't you? You were afraid that the new Akito might actually hurt Tohru. So you packed up your bags and broke Tohru's heart instead of trying to get through it together.'

Kyo looked away, filling Masaki with a sense of triumph. She had hit his sore spot. He turned back to her. 'How did you know?'

Masaki smiled, but it was a condescending smile. 'You think you know everything. You don't. Now if you'll hurry up, I want to go save Kureno. And by the way, Hana-chan isn't the only one who can see things.'

I don't get it, thought Kyo as he watched Masaki walk away. One minute she's a hopeful little girl, and the next she's as vicious as..Realization hit him. She's as vicious as I was. But what did she mean when she said that she can see things? I've heard stories about people who were possessed with the spirit of the cat going half insane and claiming to see things..but Masaki doesn't look insane. She just looks confused. But then again, it might be hard to tell the difference.

Just then, there was a shriek and a thump further up in the hallway. Kyo was wrenched out of his thoughts and suddenly realized that he had lost sight of Masaki. Running forward, his heart sank as he sniffed the air and recognized the scent of blood. And alot of it.

'Masaki!' yelled Kyo, rounding the corner into another hallway. This one was wider and more well-lit than the last one was. What he saw made him jump against the wall with shock. At one end of the hallway was Akito, a sword poised in his scaly hand. Towards the middle were Hanajima and Uo, with Uo clutching a hand to a wound in her side. But what Kyo saw closest to him made him scream inside. Lying on the floor was Masaki. But she was different. Kyo looked up quickly and saw that her beads were at the tip of Akito's sword. Which meant..

'Kyo! The beads! Get the beads before she wakes up!' yelled Hanajima, trying to help Uo steady herself.

'Why? If she wakes up, she'll transform and kill Akito! Then we can just put the beads back on her!'

'No! When she wakes up, she won't be the same as you were when you transformed! She'll still look like Masaki, but she won't recognize a friend from an enemy! Her demon will be released!'

Kyo was about to open his mouth to protest again, when a firm hand clamped around his ankle. Bending down, he tried to lift up Masaki, but reeled backwards when he looked into her eyes. They were red, the color of flowing blood. Her skin was unnaturally pale, and her hair was black. Rising from the ground, Kyo could sense a poweful force around her, and it wasn't good. She grinned, revealing knifelike teeth. With a speed that Kyo had never seen before, she reached out and scratched at his neck, giving him only a second to react.

He pushed her backwards quickly, narrowly escaping a fatal would to the throat. An evil laughter filled the air. Akito stepped forward, sword still in hand. 'So this is what has become of the demon that I created? What an angry creature..I think I shall put it out of it's misery.'

Akito moved to plunge the sword into Masaki's back, but Kyo reacted faster. He spun forward and put his food on the flat of the blade, moving it just enough so that it avoided Masaki and made contact with the ground. Kyo crouched so that Akito could not move the sword. 'What did you do to her?!'

'I did nothing! She was cursed the same way I was! All of the hatred and anger of every single cat spirit manifested itself in her spirit when I appeared in her realm. I thought it would make it easier to kill her, but it only made her into this!'

Masaki turned when she heard this, and for a moment, Kyo could actually see some humanity left in her eyes. But it was gone when she looked at Akito. Kyo knew that the Masaki inside of the demon would never forget the hatred towards Akito. She flicked her eyes from Kyo towards the wall, and it took him a moment before he understood. She's not a monster! She's human on the inside, I know it. She's helping me.

He nodded briskly and counted to three in his head. Then he jumped off of the blade, landing neatly beside Hanajima and Uo, who was starting to lose consciousness. What he heard behind him could only be described as a cry that even the devil could not bear. It was as if all of the hatred in the world was coming together in this last battlecry.

Kyo didn't have to look to know what was happening. He could see it in his mind as he watched Hanajima's face screw up in terror. She shut her eyes tightly, not wanting to see the carnage. There were horrible sounds. Masaki's battlecry was still ringing in her throat, but on top of that there was the sound of tearing skin and the splat of blood hitting the concrete floor.

At last it ended, and Hanajima opened her eyes. Kyo was still facing the wall, terrified to turn around and find death. Behind him, he could only hear the hard breathing of Masaki and the gasping sounds as she sunk to the ground. Finally, he turned around, and immediately wished he hadn't.

Doing his best to step around the remains of Akito without throwing up, he made his way to where Masaki was slouched over on the ground. He breathed a sigh of relief as he saw that her eyes were no longer red, and her hair was no longer black. But her teeth were still sharpened and dangerous.

'It's okay, Masaki. You're okay now. Just relax.'

There were tears welling up in her eyes. 'I d-did it again, d-didn't I? I h-hurt someb-body..'

In that moment, Kyo saw what Tohru must have seen when his beads were removed. He saw a sad child who had never meant to hurt anyone close to them. I almost hurt Tohru. I almost tore her apart like Masaki did to Akito.

Hanajima moved to kneel next to Kyo. 'She won't need the beads anymore, now that Akito is gone. Let's go. Uo-chan needs help..and so does Masaki.'