Ok here's the latest update!

Disclaimer- Not mine, not yet

Last Chapter… We headed upstairs, but HoroHoro stopped Kigali. He looked nervous.

"Hey Key, can I have a word with you?" She looked at us and motioned us to go on. We all glared at HoroHoro as we climbed the stairs.

KIGALI

"What is it?" I asked reluctantly.

"I… I just wanted to know if you accepted anyone's invitations to the dance…" He looked away.

"Me? No, I haven't. You're my 'boyfriend'. It's my obligation to decline anyone else's invitation."

"Obligation?"

"That's right."

"So does that mean I'm weighing you down? You don't really want to be with me, do you? You're just doing it because Tabitha ordered you to, aren't you?" His shoulders sagged. I felt horrible.

"No… that's not true…" I didn't really know how to handle the problem without hurting his feelings. I have a weakness for hurting people's feelings.

"It's ok if you want to go with someone else. I mean, I don't own you or anything. You don't even have to marry me if you don't want to. I understand." He sighed. Now I felt even worse. He was giving me my freedom in a silver platter. But I couldn't accept that, I don't know why, but I just couldn't.

"Hey, listen up, why don't you come to the dance with me? Just borrow a tux from someone, you still have time."

"For real?"

"Yes. I'll be playing for half the time, but I'll still have free time. I'll see you in three hours ok?" he smiled happily.

"Right." I climbed the stairs slowly. What had I gotten myself into? I had promised the girls that I'd hang with them. I walked hesitantly into my room. Anna was sitting in my bed while Asali painted her nails a sparkly pink. I leaned by the door as Ramissa caught sight of me.

"Girl! What's up? What did HE want?"

"Oh… um… nothing."

"Right. You didn't agree to go to the dance with him… did you?" she asked at the sight of my face. I sighed and slid down to the floor.

"Sorry!"

"KEY!" All three of them said at the same time.

"I'm so sorry! But he was all sad and depressed. He was like, about to cry or something. Don't worry, I'll still be with you when we play… and maybe I can ditch HoroHoro for a while to be with you guys…" Asali twitched an eyebrow and got back to painting Anna's nails while muttering something about a rapist. Ramissa shrugged good-naturedly and painted mine a pearly night-blue.

"As long as he loves you…"

"He doesn't love me. And I don't love him." I ranted. "It's an ARRANGED marriage. I had no choice in the subject."

"Quit moving and STAY STILL. Look, Just be careful."

"Of what, HoroHoro?"

"Not him. You know what I mean."

"Yeah, sure." I rolled my eyes. Maybe Asali's paranoia was rubbing in on Ramissa. We did our hair, changed, and finished putting on our makeup right on time for the dance. We stood around the room and admired each other.

Ramissa's was a flowy long-sleeve dress that went down to her ankles. It was a silvery green and had a hole in the shape of a star where her belly button was. Her hair was braided (by Denali's endless patience) and up in a ponytail with green highlights and sparkles.

Asali's was a pink prom dress with a flared bottom and short sleeves made from sparkly see-through veil-type material. She was swarmed in glitter and had her hair in thousands of perfect curls (the type that go 'boing!' when you pull on them).

Anna was wearing a black dress that went down to her mid-leg and had a slip up to her hip and had her hair in a black tiara. She didn't put on any glitter, but she did have a bit of silver shine above each eye.

But of all the dresses, I think mine was the best ("Duh! It's YOURS!"—Zoe) it was, like Asali's, a prom dress, but it was a deep ocean-blue with a silver hem that seemed to dissolve as it moved up the skirt of the dress. It was a halter top (no sleeves) so I put a silver armlet in each of my upper arms. My coppery hair was up in a bun with my white side-bangs let out loose and a bit of silver glitter around it ("For effect"—Ramissa). I wore the sapphire necklace Tabitha had given me and two silver loops Asali had let me borrow. Anna had put silver-blue eye shadow above each of my eyes and silver lipstick (VANILLA COCONUT!). I had on silver high-heeled sandals (which wobbled like crazy, so I ended up mostly barefooted at the dance, but one couldn't notice because my dress mostly covered my feet).

We were ready. Anna led us down stairs as Zoe rubbed against my feet as a cat.

'Zoe! You'll make me trip! It's hard enough to walk in these heels." I trembled down the stairs last due to Zoe. Asali, Ramissa, and Anna had already gone into the living room to meet the guys. I peeked inside so I wouldn't be seen. Anna was frowning at Yoh, who was drooling all over the floor, Asali was yelling at Ryu, who had apparently tried to hook up with her, and Ramissa was discussing something with Manta and sneaking a look at Yoh and Amidamaru every now and then. I stepped quietly into the room, hoping not to attract too much attention.

"HEY! There's Kigali!" Yelled out Ryu, escaping from Asali. So much for subtlety. I sighed and fully entered the room. I looked around the room and my eyes fell on HoroHoro. He was staring at me in open-mouthed awe. Asali slapped the back of his head.

"Stop staring at her, stupid. She's your date, and I BETTER not receive ANY complaints." He stood up and took my arm gently as we headed out the door.

"How are we getting to the school?" I called to Ramissa.

"I got us limousine. It should be waiting for us around the corner." It was. A white limo with a fat driver was parked just around the bend. He opened the doors courteously and let us in.

"Talk about fancy!" I exclaimed.

"Hmm… I could get used to this." Anna sighed. Ryu stayed at home and waved at us with a handkerchief. I shook my head. Sometimes I wondered about that guy…

"You know what they say; No date, no gain" sighed Missy.

"Ramissa, It's NO PAIN, no gain. And you don't have a date either so…" Asali countered. This went on for a while. At least until we reached the school. Which was about ten minutes away. We climbed off the limo in a flurry of excitement. Apparently, we were the only ones who had rented a limo.

"Hey Angels!"

"Are you going to play tonight?"

"Whom are you going with?" We just smiled and entered the school, where Ramissa, Asali, and I were swept off by the principal to the stage.

"Bye you guys!" I called back at Anna and Yoh, who waved back.

"You're late! The dance has already begun!" patronized the principal.

"Hey! Look, dude, we're doing this for free, so if you have a problem, we would be more than glad to serve a nice bill to your school." Shot back Asali. We were pushed out through the theater curtains and received with a gym-full of students, who cheered and whistled when they saw us. I turned to Asali and Ramissa.

"Five fast ones and two slow ones to end. K?"

"You got it." Asali said as she walked to the DJ table. Ramissa sat at the drums and winked at a hollering boy. I rolled my eyes and picked up my guitar. It didn't take long to impress the school. We had seen tougher audiences before, but it was still a bit sad. From my spot in the spotlight, I could see everything and everyone. Couples kissing, couples dancing, Anna yelling at Yoh… HoroHoro leaning against the wall all y himself. Several girls asked him to dance, but he declined every one of their offers. He just stayed there and bobbed his head in tempo with my singing. After the last slow song, we climbed off the stage in an outbreak of paper and pens. We must have signed about a hundred autographs before the principal came and told them off with a single glare at Asali. She and Ramissa immediately headed to the food table, but I excused myself and set out towards where HoroHoro was sitting. Zoe wrapped herself around my neck as a blue snake like an extravagant necklace. HoroHoro smiled when he saw me approach.

"You rocked the place."

"Nothing new." I joked. He took my hand and swept me towards the dance floor. The DJ they had hired for the other half of the dance put on a slow song. I put my head on HoroHoro's shoulder and he put his hands around my waist as we swayed to the music. Did I love HoroHoro? I remembered what Tabitha said; "You are extremely adaptive by nature, but you don't accept most change without a fight, and a good one at that. Sometimes you can be very stubborn, Kigali." Was I being stubborn about HoroHoro? Did I really want my freedom that bad? Did I—

"Key. Want to go outside for as bit?" I snapped out of my thoughts and smiled shyly. The song was over.

"Err… sure, why not." He led me by the hand to the schoolyard outside. We sat on a hidden bench behind a big willow tree; the perfect romantic setting. HoroHoro sat across from me. The only light remaining was that of the full moon. He gently ran his hand through my hair. I blushed and looked down at my lap.

"Key, I… um… have something I want to talk to you about…" He started. I looked up and caught his eyes. His eyes… what? They weren't the warm, bluish-black eyes I knew. They were cold and calculating. They were black. He wasn't HoroHoro. An inferno blazed behind me. His long brown hair faltered in the heat as he laughed his fanatic laugh. The fire burned my skin it was too real. I gasped and closed my eyes.

"STOP IT!" It was one of those visions. Just a dream. He was tricking me. I felt a sharp bite on my shoulder. Hao's image dissolved into darkness.

"Kigali! Kigali! Are you ok? What happened?" I opened my eyes to find HoroHoro above me. I was on the ground.

"What happened?" I asked as I tried to stand up. He picked me up and put me in the bench.

"You sort of blacked out. Zoe bit you and then you woke up." He said concernedly. I looked away. This hadn't been the first time this had happened. Sometimes when HoroHoro neared me, the visions came back just like this one. I sighed and stood up.

"Look, I can't—" I started, but was interrupted by Asali, who barged into the secluded spot with a worried expression.

"Kigali! C'mon, we've got to go. Now!" Asali took my arm and pulled me away from HoroHoro.

"Sorry, Horo, but this date's over. Kigali! C'mon! This is important. We've got to leave immediately!" I looked back at a confused HoroHoro as I jogged away. He was soon out of sight.

"What are you doing?" I yelled at her. She screeched to a stop.

"Kigali. You have to call Blizzard! NOW! If you don't there'll be a horrible massacre here, in school." She told me quickly. It took a while to digest.

"What? Why?"

"Kigali. HE'S coming. Now! He's coming HERE." I knew who HE was.

"Why?' I repeated.

"I don't know and I'm not sticking around to find out, but I have a feeling it's not to dance. Call Blizzard!" I whistled loudly and Blizzard came flapping down with a distressed chirp. Asali pushed me onto the bird's back and then jumped on after me.

"Blizzard, go above the clouds." I ordered. She obeyed with a caw.

"Asali, where's Ramissa?" I asked her.

"She's gone to get our stuff at Anna's."

"What? We're leaving?"

"Yes. We're going to have to find shelter in another place."

"Does Anna know?"

"I told her before we left."

"Crap."

"Sorry I spoiled your little moment with your boyfriend."

"S'all right. Blizzard, land at Anna's." We jumped off the Anka and ran inside. Ramissa was running down the hall, loaded with our three backpacks plus my hoverboard. She shoved our things in our hands.

"Hurry up. Run for it!" I jumped back on Blizzard. She flared up into the air before Asali and Ramissa were fully aboard. It seems that she sensed something too.

"Where are we going?" I asked Asali. She looked very shaken, so I turned to Ramissa.

"Missy?"

"We can't afford to fight Hao in Tokyo; too crowded. But we can't leave the city because of the tournament. We'll just have to keep moving from place to place." I nodded. Ramissa was right.

"Blizzard, take us down in the next block." We climbed off in front of a shabby little inn.

"Last stop, everybody off!" I joked optimistically as we entered the room. But it wouldn't do. We changed and agreed to switch night shifts. It was one depressing night. I spent most of my shift watching cable-less TV. At least it had news.

"And we have just received information of a mysterious fire in Shinra Jr High, a school in a neighborhood called Funbari…"

"Oh my God! You guys wake up! Look!" I shook Ramissa and Asali awake. We stared at the TV in horror as they played shots of the fire. The school we had been at just a few hours ago was a blazing inferno.

"Oh no!"

"There were ten casualties and twenty three injured. The majority of the students in the school made it out alive, but there are still a large number of missing cases. A source tells us that the fire blazed up for no apparent reason in the middle of the gymnasium of the school, during the school's end of the year dance. The police are currently investigating…"

"Asali! We have to check on Anna and Yoh! What if they've—" my voice cracked.

"No! You saw what he did. That was Hao Asakura. He was looking for us, and he still is. We have to stay hidden."

"Asali! Don't you get it? This was our entire fault! All those people died because of us!" I cried. Ramissa hugged me.

"Don't worry, Key, we'll get him. No matter what." I cried on her shoulder. "Riomi." She called on her spirit, who slunk onto the bed in her black jaguar form. "Go to Anna's house and check on them. Come back immediately after."

"Understood. Don't worry Lady Kigali, I am sure they have all made it out safely." She turned into a crow and swooped out the window Asali opened. Ramissa turned to me.

"Kigali, get some rest. Your shift is over." I fell asleep on her lap. Only one question flashed in my mind as it creeped to an unconscious state. Why?

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Wow, hope you enjoyed this chappie! I can assure you this: More Hao… very soon!

Next Chapter- Escape into the Forest