Kura: Hey, guys! So it was totally weird to type 1 in for the chapter...yeah...AND THE PLOT CONTINUES!

Hana: Woooooow Baka.

Kura: Yeah, I'm Baka capitalized because I'm that epic.

1. The Answer

Chaos. That was the only word that could adequately describe the state Alyx Hayashi was in. She was running around in circles, tearing her room apart trying to find her various possessions.

"Alyx…" Liza deadpanned, and was ignored.

"Alyx…" she repeated as her twin rushed over to the closet and began digging through the pile on the floor.

"ALYX!"

"Quit yelling at me and help!" Alyx cried, throwing some clothes into the air in exasperation.

"What are you even looking for?" Liza asked.

"My hoodie!"

"Which one?"

"The sleeveless one!"

"That doesn't really help."

"The black-and-gray-striped, sleeveless hoodie with the obnoxiously-bright-blue accents!"

"Okay," Liza nodded and helped her sister search.

After a minute, she unearthed it from a pile near Alyx's bed. She threw it at her sister's head and began to attempt to fold some of the clothes.

"Thank you!" Alyx grinned, throwing it over her dark blue cami.

"Want your hat too?" Liza asked, picking up the black cap.

"Oh yeah!" her sister replied gratefully, catching the hat as it flew towards her face.

Starting out the door, Alyx called back a quick goodbye. She rushed down the stairs, taking them two at a time.

"Ms. Hayashi," a maid said, causing Alyx to slow, "There is a nice boy waiting for you outside."

Alyx's eyes lit up as she wrenched the door open. There he was, looking slightly uncomfortable in the sunlight. He wore a long-sleeved, black turtleneck and dark, slightly baggy blue jeans.

She laughed as he pulled at the bangs of the dark wig he wore, "Are you ready to go?"

"Y-Yes, of course," Nekozawa said, cheeks turning pink.

As he turned, she noticed a bit of yellow fabric sticking out of his back pocket. He just couldn't seem to go anywhere without Beelzenef. Alyx bit her lip to keep from laughing, not wanting to embarrass the boy any more than he already was.

Hopping off the front step, Alyx bounded down the drive with Nekozawa following close behind, wearing a small smile on his face. The girl slid across the seat of the limo.

As her date sat down, Alyx looked at him expectantly, asking, "So where are we going?"

"W-Well, where do you want to go?" he answered, stammering less now that he was safely back in the darkness.

"Hmmmm," she thought aloud, "Well, it feels like it's been ages since I went to any kind of mall…in fact, I don't think I've been to one since coming to Japan."

Nekozawa paled a bit at the thought of a loud, crowded shopping center.

"But I doubt you'd want to go there," she continued, "What about…? No, probably not there…"

Blushing, the blonde rolled down the window that separated them from the chauffeur, "Please take us to the Miyashita Park Shopping District."

"What? Really?" Alyx asked, surprise written all over her face.

"You said you wanted to go," he replied with a small smile.

"O-Okay," she said, grinning back at him.

Twenty minutes later, the sleek car pulled up into one of the MPSD's many parking lots.

"I don't think I've ever been to this part of the city before," laughed an awestruck Alyx, "How did you know about this place?"

The shopping center was enormous. People were milling in and out of the different stores, spending every scrap of money they had. It was a place she would have never placed Umehito Nekozawa.

"Kanazuki told me there was a good store here for buying candles," he replied, avoiding her gaze.

"Candles? For what?" Alyx asked, looking confused.

"For my rit-er-rich aunt?" Nekozawa almost face-palmed at his nearly failed cover up. Renge had told him not to talk about the occult in order to be more normal for Kirimi, and he was sure the same applied for Alyx.

"Uh huh…" she replied, not buying it for a second.

The pair wandered around in the mall, glancing at various window displays, awkwardness quickly fading. Alyx was overjoyed to find a store similar to Hot Topic, her favorite shop back home. She practically dragged Nekozawa into the dark rook, not that he was complaining. He rather liked the Goth décor and burning incense, though he couldn't say the same about the loud music blaring out of the speakers.

Alyx grinned when she found a stand of Miyavi tees, and immediately took a few to try one, grabbing more shirts on her way back to the dressing room. She spared a look at Neko-chan and found him looking at some black trench coats with mild interest. In no time, they were back to meandering about the district.

Nekozawa had insisted upon carrying Alyx's bags for her, though she'd assured him that she could handle it. The disappointed, almost pout-like, expression on his face was more than enough to guilt trip her into letting him win the argument. As time passed, the wig-wearing blonde got more talkative and before anyone really knew what happened, they were laughing and chatting like on one else was there. Everything changed though, the minute they stepped out the door.

It all happened so fast. A man jumped out at them. Alyx yelped and dropped the few bags she didhave. Nekozawa punched the guy in the face. Said male toppled over and Alyx stared at the blonde in shock.

"Ow, man! What was that for?" the guy yelled as he rubbed his cheek.

"You jumped us, you psycho!" Alyx shouted back.

"I was supposed to do that! It's my freaking job!" he retorted angrily.

"My apologies," Nekowzawa said, offering the boy a hand.

He nodded and got up.

"Where in God's name do you work?" Alyx asked, noting his appearance.

"The Highway to Hell," he replied casually, "It's a haunted cave set up to scare the pants off tourists."

"O-Oh, okay," she said, shuddering at the bad memories of the haunted corn maze she'd gone through back in Iowa.

"Sounds interesting," Nekozawa hummed thoughtfully.

"Y-You…you wanna go?" Alyx asked, feeling a bit shaky.

"Do you?" was his answer as he gave her a concerned look.

"Sure!" she lied, "I dragged you around the mall, so we can totally go somewhere you want!"

"All right," the blonde smiled, "Let's go."

They took a flyer from the slightly-confused boy and returned to the Nekozawa limo. Alyx sighed and leaned back in the seat. Neko-chan couldn't help but stare at her. He quickly averted his eyes when she looked his way. She raised an eyebrow in curiosity, but didn't say anything. After a few moments of silence, Alyx began to hum quietly.

"What are you humming?" Nekozawa asked.

"Is it bothering you? I can't stop if-" Alyx said.

"No!" he interrupted, "No, your voice is…i-it's nice."

Alyx noted the blush on his cheeks, but chose not to comment on it, "I don't remember the title…or really much of the song for that matter, except for the one part, that is."

Neko-chan nodded in understanding, "Would you, um, that is if you don't mind, would you s-sing it for me?"

"Um, sure, I guess," Alyx felt her cheeks heat up and tried to bring the melody back to her mind, "Please come with me. See what I see. Touch the stars for time will not flee. Time will not flee. Can you see?"

She stopped singing, saying, "That's all I can really remember."

"Y-You have a wonderful voice," he complimented, feeling more than a little embarrassed.

"Th-Thanks," Alyx's cheeks reddened, but she smiled nonetheless.

"Nekozawa-sama," the driver called back, shattering the happy, fluffy, atmosphere, "we've arrived."

His words loomed in the air like a dark cloud. Alyx suddenly felt her body go cold. She had completely forgotten that they were going to some supposedly haunted cave. The older Hayashi did notdo haunted well, but had tried to sound eager to go so that Neko-chan could at least enjoy himself a little bit. Gulping quietly, Alyx forced herself to step out of the car.

They walked towards the wrought iron gates – Nekozawa with confidence and Alyx with trembling hands. The sun was setting, casting an eerie glow over the area. When she faltered at the entrance of "The Highway to Hell", Nekozawa took Alyx's hand and led her into the dark interior.

The first few minutes weren't too bad. There was some fake blood and some plastic skeletons lay scattered throughout the rocky area. Seemingly out of nowhere, a man in a black, hooded, cloak grabbed Alyx's shoulder. She shrieked in terror. Nekozawa pulled her away and glared at the man, who just gave him a toothy grin.

"If ye want to get across the River Styx, ye'll have to pay the ferryman," he said in a creaky voice that sounded like a recording.

Nodding slightly, Nekozawa pulled out a small roll of bills and, after counting a few, handed hem to the "ferryman". He and Alyx stepped into the rocky boat as the man rowed them across the "river", which had actually just turned out to be a relatively large stream. Taking Alyx's hand, he helped her off the boat and sent a warning look at the cloaked man who appeared to be looking at Alyx's backside.

"I really don't like that guy," the girl grumbled.

"Nor do I," Nekozawa replied, keeping her hand in his.

The couple followed the winding path as the cave got darker and darker. They could both hear the screams from up ahead. Swallowing hard, Alyx took a shaky breath and followed closely behind Nekozawa.

Lights flashed, recordings played, and people in costumes jumped out at the paying customers. As they went along, Alyx clung closer and closer to Nekozawa. She was pretty sure that someone was following them. The blonde, however, seemed completely at home amongst the horror.

Suddenly, a hand clamped over Alyx's mouth while another pulled her back into the darkness. Nekozawa turned to see what was going on, but the girl was nowhere in sight. Eyes widening, he looked frantically around for her. He heard some muffled noises coming from somewhere off to the right.

"Alyx?" he called, starting towards the source of the sounds.

He was barely aware of the rough rock tearing at his clothes and skin as he rushed through the tunnel. Upon reaching a small cave, he was abruptly stopped by a knife aimed at his throat.

"Damn boy. You weren't supposed to follow! Looks like I'll have to kill you too," hissed the man wielding the weapon.

Time seemed to slow as the blade came down. The blonde glanced at Alyx, who looked like she was going to be sick. She moved towards the man as Nekozawa attempted to dodge the blow. The knife bit deeply into his arm and he let out a cry of pain. He fell against the wall and knew he had nowhere left to run. The man went to stab him through the heart, but he was pulled off balance as Alyx wrapped her arms around his neck and yanked backwards. With a curse, he rounded on her, knife in hand.

"Alyx!" Nekozawa cried.

She fell back as the man slashed at her. Alyx was paralyzed with fear. She couldn't move. Her heart was pounding as she squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the blow that never came. There were sounds of a scuffle. Opening her eyes, Alyx saw Nekozawa struggling to keep the man away from her.

He jerked, making the blonde's head snap back against the light. It flickered and went out. Alyx bit her lip and curled up into a ball, afraid to move. The fight continued. A few cries of pain…a loud crack…silence. Footsteps came closer and closer to the frightened girl. She felt a hand on her led and screamed.

"It's just me, Alyx," came Nekozawa's soft voice from the darkness.

She stood up quickly and gave the boy a hug, "Thank God."

"Let's get out of here," he said softly, taking her hand and leading her back to the main cave.

"How do you know where you're going?" Alyx asked.

"The darkness is more familiar to me than daylight," he answered.

"Oh…right," she replied sheepishly.

The blonde hissed as a rock grazed his shin, "I'll admit it's a bit more treacherous here than in my own home."

"That's a given," Alyx laughed weakly,

She couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when the returned to the torch-lit area. All of the fake, scary stuff was now much less terrifying. Nevertheless, Nekozawa kept his arm clamped protectively around her waist until they were safely in his limo.

No words were spoken as the driver made his way back to the Hayashi estate. Alyx sat with her knees pulled up to her chest and Nekozawa leaned against the window, casting worried glances at her every-so-often. The car rolled to a stop in the expansive drive, causing the two to snap out of their respective dazes.

"W-Well, it's been…um…interesting…" Alyx said, blushing and feeling a bit awkward.

"Right, um, h-have a good night," Nekozawa replied.

The brunette leaned over and gave him a quick peck on the cheek before leaving, much to the blonde's surprise. Nekozawa sighed and slouched back against the seat, running his fingers through his now-exposed hair. Perhaps she didn't hate him as much as he'd thought she would. The date had ended in disaster, but there was still hope.

All the same, Nekozawa made a mental note to curse the bastard who had tried to harm Alyx. He's also made him lose his wig, but that was a much smaller matter. Wigs were replaceable, Alyx was not, and so his anger about her was much greater. He vowed to put it all into the spell. The blonde chuckled (almost evilly) as the car pulled away. Alyx looked back at the retreating limousine and couldn't help but smile.

"I wonder what a normal date with him would have been like," she murmured, deciding the she might just have to find out for herself in the near future.

Kura: Is it sad that this chapter made me go squee even though I wrote it?

Hana: Yes, yes it is.

Kura: I'm almost a NekoAlyx fan now...

Hikaru/Alyx: WHAAAAAT?