Hey, 2nd chapter!! yea! anyway, i think of of you guys who reviewed are WAY too nice on the reviews! i mean, aren't there anything wrong? y'know, something i can fix?! please include that on your reviews...but i'm also really happy that you all enjoyed it! i hope you like this chapter as much as the first!

Chapter Two: Maze

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" a voice asked. Keiko opened her eyes seeing a boy her age. Keiko couldn't speak. "Why are you crying? Is something wrong?" Keiko finally noticed that frightened tears streamed down her cheeks. 'Am I that frightened?' Keiko thought. "Our place is near by, why don't you rest there a little while? Come on." He helped Keiko up to her feet and supported her weight as she leaned limply against him. Her eyes were staring at nothing. 'Where was that beast?'

"Are you hurt?" he asked. Keiko shook her head slowly. "Okay, so how did you get here?" Keiko looked away. "O-kay…well, where's your village?" Those words were like rubbing salt into a wound. It stung the pain that refused to go away in her heart. She clutched her hand tightly and bit her lips; she fought back the tears that were desperately screaming out to come out.

"Gone." She managed. "Everyone…killed…"

"Oh…sorry. You must've tried to run away and landed here." His voice was trying to cheer her up; she knew that tone of voice. Everybody tried it on her when she first arrived.

She stayed silent for the rest of the trip as the young man led her to his home. Every now and then, he would ask if she were tired. Her answer was always a shake of her head. Her eyes were trying to lull her to sleep. She fought hard to stay awake and shook her head often.

"Well, here it is." He stated. Keiko looked at the house that was in front of her. It wasn't a house – it was like a mini palace! "Yea, it's a great place."

Keiko entered and saw that there were five people in there. "Who's that?" an elderly man asked.

"Um – what's your name? My name is Akira." Akira laughed. "Sorry about that."

"Nozomu, please to meet your acquaintance." One took her hand. Keiko didn't even blush like what most girls would've done; instead, she grabbed her hand back as if she had just been violated. "Okay, not what I was expecting…"

A chuckle escaped from the elderly man. "I'm Oboro, this is Katsura." A beautiful lady stepped forward; she greeted Keiko quickly. Keiko hesitantly bowed in return.

"That over there is Misoka – where's Mitsuru?" Nozomu looked around for one of them. Keiko then noticed than one of the five was gone. Gone like the wind.

"So, do you have a name?" Akira joked. Keiko was slightly taken back by this comment.

"Of course I do! Do I look like some servant girl to you?" she snapped. She was quite surprise by her own comment and voice. 'Was I ever this loud?' Keiko wondered.

"Sorry. I didn't mean it that way." Akira frowned. In their ways, a person without name is a person born in a servant-hood. When a child is born, and their parents are servants, it is illegal to name the child. For once the child gain their own name, the family is freed from the servant life. Often, servant parents abandon these children; other times, they let it be making them a child of no name. "So, what is your name?"

"K-Keiko." She stuttered suddenly embarrassed by the gaze of all the others.

"Well, Keiko, I'll show you to your room." Katsura offered. Keiko followed her into another twist of the place. As hard as she tried, Keiko couldn't memorize her way. Every turn, every corner, every hall looked identical. 'How on earth do they get around this place?' Keiko was worried, 'What if I can never find my way out!' This house was more of a maze than a house. She glanced around trying to use some little descriptions of her surroundings to memorize her way. But all that trouble was of no use.

"Here it is." Katsura's voice brought Keiko to a sudden halt. Avoiding the crash that would've occurred, Keiko suddenly slid and fell. "Are you alright?" Keiko nodded and got up slowly with the help of the lady. "Don't worry about how to get around. One of us is bound to show up. But I suggest you not to go wondering in the night."

"Why not?" Keiko couldn't help herself this time. "I'm just curious, is all." she added quickly. Katsura smiled.

"Getting lost in these walls at night can be quite frightening, I do not want you to be scared to death." Katsura's last word echoed loudly in Keiko's mind. 'To be scared to death…' Keiko shuddered. "Well, Akira's and Mitsuru's room are near here, if you need anything just shout."

Keiko nodded slowly and entered the room. The room was actually larger than Keiko would've expected. It was bigger than the hut that she had shard with her family! 'Amazing!' Keiko thought. Reasoning out the odds of a huge house in the middle of the forest was hard. It would've taken long to build – especially in a time such as this. Shaking out her doubt, she opened the window slightly.

Peering to the sky, or what she can see of it at least, she saw that the sky was a pink-purple color. Dawn is near. Uncaring whether it is morning or night, she crawled into the tatame and squeezed her eyes shut. All that walking, running and fear has made her extremely tired. Tired and grumpy as well. Sighing out her tiredness, she finally was able to go into the deep slumber she so desperately wanted.

Meanwhile, Mahiru paced around her room nervously. She remembered how Keiko's reaction was. She was frightened and unwilling to listen to anything. 'How much did she hear?' Mahiru thought once again. That question raced through her mind endlessly. 'Will she tell? No – she headed towards the forest…where they live!'

"Doh! Great…now what?" Mahiru sighed. She slumped down, finally tired of her restless pacing, and looked up. She had been up all night worrying about this. Not even a wink of sleep – 'I should take a rest.' She decided.

Lying down, she tried to calm her beating heart. This was irritating her greatly. Her fear of people finding out about the demons and her worsen as she tried to sleep. When she finally nodded off for a while, she dreamt of the demons being chased out and killed brutally.

"What do I do?" Mahiru crawled over to the low table and tucked her knees in. Absentmindedly, she started to peel an orange. Somehow, the citric smell of the fruit seems to calm her. "Maybe Keiko didn't run to the forest! Yes! That's it! Keiko ran off the other direction after she found out how horrifying wandering in the woods at the dark of night is!" she reasoned pathetically. She willed with all her heart to believe that even when she knew she was wrong. The chances of Keiko missing the house were equal to the chance she made it – and that's a large amount. "Please keep your mouth shut like always, Keiko!" she pleaded.

Keiko rolled over to her side trying to fall back to slumber. She focused on the darkness in the back of her mind. She searched for the feeling you get when you are about to sleep. The feelings like you're in a living dream – a feeling of total happiness. 'Total happiness?' Keiko snorted. 'Whatever.'

She scrambled up, frustrated, and walked out the door. Her hair was a total mess, but like she cared. 'In a house like this,' she reasoned. 'There has to be a hot spring somewhere.' Turning the corner, she walked to her right and turned again. A few turns later, she turned around. 'Where am I?' she thought. She started to retrace her steps.

'I turned here – no wait not here there!' Keiko often thought. Her head was pounding furiously. She was confused; is this a maze or a house? Either way, she still hated it. She grunted angrily and turned another corner. 'Where on earth is this?' she sighed.

"I will not be made a fool by a house!" she pounded her fist on a wall. Grumbling under her breath, she slid down. Even by walking she had to catch her breath. 'How long have I been wandering again?' she sighed again, this time louder. "Maybe I'll just sit here and rot to death." She turned around and leaned against the wall.

"I doubt you need a house to be made a fool of." A snide remark it was. Keiko twitched angrily at the words. She gripped her yakata and faced the speaker.

"You would be lost of you just came here," came her instant reply. "And who are you the one to talk?" Wait – who is this? He muttered something but Keiko couldn't quite catch it and she was certain that she would not want him to repeat it. Without paying another second to Keiko, he walked off. "Wait – are you just going to leave – "

"Seems so." He retorted. Keiko felt her anger rise up high. She's surprised that he isn't floating from all the hot air that was kept inside him! Biting back her comment, she got up and went to opposite direction.

Few hours later, she found herself lost – well, worse than before at least. 'Maybe I should've left a mark somewhere to know that I came here once.' Keiko panted. 'I don't even remember where my room is!'

"WHAT AM I DOING?" Keiko suddenly exclaimed.

"I think I want to know that too," a soft laughter appeared. Keiko whirled around. "What are you doing?" Akira – yes, that was his name.

"Getting lost." Keiko replied. "Now excuse me, I'm sure there's plenty more halls for me to get lost in!"

"You forget? I live here!" Akira smiled. He grabbed Keiko's hand and led her through the many twists and turns.

"Where are you taking me? Let me go!" Keiko ordered.

"Come on! If you want to get out, I'm your only ticket." Akira said. Keiko frowned. 'I hate it when I'm vulnerable like this.' Keiko sighed. Suddenly, she was back at the living room. "Well, when you're here, you can find anything!"

"How about that hot springs?" Keiko asked, blushing at the question. Needless to say, she was embarrassed by having to ask a male that question.

"Oh! Well, I'll take you there." Akira offered. Keiko nodded. Walking together, an uncomfortable silence fell upon them. Hesitantly, Akira tried with great effort to start a topic with this girl, "So where did you come from?"

"Where I came from, is nothing now." She answered. Akira frowned.

"Why?"

"Destroyed – cruelly and brutally." She replied.

"Really?" Akira asked. Keiko nodded. She felt tears stinging in her eyes. She can never stand talking about this without breaking a tear. The stinging in her eyes caused her to close her eyes and rub them slightly. "Sorry." Akira put in quickly. He must've noticed her about to cry. Keiko shook her head saying that it's not his fault and then said in a louder voice why he had to ask a girl such a personal question.

"Personal? How is it?" Akira stammered.

"Hmph." Keiko stalked off then stopped; she forgot he was leading her. Akira quickly appeared in front of her, all in a blink of an eye. Keiko shook her head then followed.

"Well, here it is." Akira said softly. "You'll get use to the smell."

"Oh right, sulfur." She whispered. "That's the reason why it's hot and why it smells." She can smell the sulfurous smell from here. Pinching her nose, she stepped in until Akira stopped her.

"Um…I think Katsura has kimonos to spare. I'll ask her to drop it down later." Akira said. Keiko nodded and murmured her thanks before walking in.

The steam quickly warmed her even if it was quite chilling outside. The woods created a beautiful scenery with the hot spring. She took her yakata off and slipped into the hot water. The warm water suddenly soothed her of all problems Every trouble, every doubt, every worry – gone. Disappeared. Wonderful. Her goosebumps from the cold faded as the water touched her. She sank deep into it, despite of the repulsive smell. She closed her eyes savoring the wonderful feeling.

Suddenly, it hit her, her vision. A flash came before her eyes: it was a demon! The same demon she saw in her vision before! A girl – wait – that girl…is herself!

The headache hit her quickly after the vision ended. She tried to take in a breath but, instead, took a breath of water. While she was having a vision, she submerged into the water. She stuck her head up finally breathing air. Coughing and spitting up water, she forced her eyes open. Her hand lay limply next to her. Her breath – hard and separated as if she was running.

"Keiko-san?" Katsura's voice entered Keiko's head. But she sounded different, her voice sounded different – deeper actually. "The kimono is out here, alright?" Keiko replied as water trickled down her chin from her mouth. "I will be retiring for a while – seems like I caught a cold." Keiko nodded hoping that Katsura will see. That explained why she sounded different.

"Thank you, Katsura." Keiko called. Katsura head nodded and left. The steam of the hot spring made Keiko only see her silhouette of Katsura. Keiko shuddered and her skin pricked despite the warmth of the hot spring.

Gingerly, Keiko got out and wrapped herself with a towel. The cold hair didn't bother her that much. She picked up the kimono that Katsura had left and looked at it. The color totally clashed with her kimono robe (which was black if you forgot) and her yakata. Shrugging, she placed on the many layers of the kimono and walked out stiffly. Unlike the yakata, the kimono made her take time to get use to it. Every now and then, Keiko would trip on the hem of this outfit.

She was, yet again, wandering the walls of this maze – house – or whatever it is. Keiko looked around and sighed. She took in a breath and did the only thing she knew that would help. She screamed. Akira, Nozomu, and Misoka came running towards her their eyes blazing with fear that something happened.

"What's wrong?" Akira panted. Keiko looked at them three and then down at her feet. "You don't have to be – "

"I got lost…again." She whispered.

"Maybe we shouldn't have build it like a maze." Nozomu laughed. Keiko shot up a glare and then looked away. "It's okay. I mean, even Akira gets lost I heard him howling at night."

"That's because I saw you." Akira joked. A friendly joke between friends? Well, whatever it was, Keiko didn't care. She just wanted to get to her room then out. "Maybe I should leave a trail of bread crumbs for you."

"Markings would be nice." Keiko grumbled. "I'm tired of running around this whole place. I don't even recognize one room."

"Well, let's drop you off at your room then we'll take you to the living room." Misoka stated. 'Wow, the shrimp finally talks.' Keiko commented in her mind. Luckily, her prophecy this time wasn't as extreme as before. She was able to hide her pain until it passes.

They walked quietly and then found Keiko's room. Making it as quick as she can, she dropped her clothes off and followed them to the living room. In her mind, she memorize which turns to make. Left, left, straight, right, left, right, straight, straight, right. She counted until they reached the room. Taking a parchment, she quickly scribbled down the direction and placed it inside the first layer of her kimono.

"Tea?" Oboro asked. Keiko snapped her head up and nodded slowly.

"Thank you." She whispered.

"Your welcome. How do you think we are going to treat our guest?" Oboro chuckled. Keiko looked away. It was like she built a wall around her that won't allow anyone near her. Oboro sighed and started to talk to the others…but often times, he tried to include Keiko but she would not reply.

"The kimono looks nice on you." A voice whispered in her ear. Keiko glanced up and saw a stranger. "Don't worry, I'm Katsura's twin brother." He laughed. "My name is Shion, and yours."

"Keiko." She replied monotonously. She looked away, her eyes darting around the room.

"So, Keiko, you still haven't told us, where did you come from?" Nozomu asked. Keiko froze and Akira swallowed. He knew that she gets touchy when it comes to this topic. He hissed angrily at Nozomu. "Huh? Ow! Akira, what are you doing?" He just received a kick from Akira. "I just wanted to – ow!"

"Shut. Up. About. This." Akira hissed. Keiko looked down and said,

"My village – is destroyed." She got up and started off. Quickly, Akira caught up with her and frowned.

"I'll show you the – "

"No I memorized the ways. It's here." Keiko showed Akira the parchment on which she wrote. Slipping away, Akira only watched until she turned the corner and went back to his Clan.

"That girl, she can be of danger to us." Mitsuru reasoned.

"She's harmless. She knows nothing of us." Misoka replied.

"She might find out!" Mitsuru hollered.

"If you keep talking that loud she will!" Misoka snapped. Another argument…who is to win, they do not know. "But as for now, she is to stay here!"

"Misoka's right! She doesn't have a home! Her village is destroyed! And her family's probably dead!" Akira said.

Mitsuru bit his lips. "I see, so it's gang up on me, eh?"

"No, Mitsuru, just let her stay. Until we can talk to the Princess again. She'll be willing to take her in." Nozomu sighed.

"Whatever." Mitsuru grumbled. "But not today or tomorrow…or this whole week. Near the full moon or the crescent moon, our powers are still weak."

"Until First Quarter or Gibbous?" Nozomu asked.

"First Quarter," came the reply. And the demon boy left without another word.

egag! i'm so sorry if they sound SO SO SOOOO out of character! i tried to make them in character...i probabaly didn't ty enough! > i need help on this...please review and tell me how to fix this! thanxs! i want to tell me what's wrong w/ this fic, okay? Besides the fact that if you hate the pairing keikoxakira and you read it anyway...> please and thank you! i'll try to update the 3rd chapter soon.....i thought my algebra teacher was gonna bombard me with quizzes all this week so it took be kinda long to write this....bye byz!

Rin-chan