It was a quiet afternoon. Nobody else was in the house except Yuuko alone. The sun was so bright outside that she had all the wooden blinders down, leaving the room heavy with shadow. As powerful a witch as she is, she lived many years to have no regards for many things. In present, she counted that she only cared about food and sake. Therefore most of the time, she kept her mind rather empty like a piece of blank canvas ready to be painted by the stories of people who came to her for aid.

With a magical wave of her hand, the old LD player at the corner of her room began to swirl. A bitterly familiar tune began to fill the room. It was an old tune, as old as her perhaps. It reminded her of many things in the past. It reminded of her past and her beginning. The smoke from her pipe seemed to dance to the old tune as well. Yuuko allowed her mind to wander off a little as she tried to look into her past and smiled wryly.

She saw a little girl running frantically in a barren field. She was lost and crying bitterly. Everything around was damaged by war. The smoke and fire blinded the little girl. The child could not remember where she lived or where was her family. Yuuko was tempted to reach into the past to grab her many times but decided to let things be. She had chosen her path and decided not to change anything about it.

"What the heck is that?" Yuuko's thought was interrupted and the mirage disappeared instantly. The slave-lad Watanuki had arrived.

"You're early," she looked aside from the blinding lights when Watanuki pulled the blinders up as he entered the room through the garden.

He coughed at the heavy smoke in the room and tried to fan it away with a magazine. "You're not trying to smother people to death, are you?" He sounded annoyed and rather temperamental. "I heard some odd sound from outside. Was it a song or something? It sounded so awful!"

"Huh?" There is no way Watanuki could have heard the tune unless he was magical which was obviously not. The other reason could only be…

"You are early and upset," a plan began to form in her head. "Anything wrong?"

"Nothing," he said sulkily as he grabbed his apron and headed to the kitchen.

Dissatisfied, she waved a little magic in the air and Watanuki reversed into the room again.

"Hey! Hey! What are you doing!?" He waved frantically, watching his feet moved by themselves. "Can't you see I'm trying to make lunch!?"

His feet stood very still in front of Yuko. She rose from her seat and the height of her shadow loomed over his skinny figure. He gulped.

"There could only be two things which make little Watanuki upset," she lifted his chin up with a finger. "It's either Himawari or Doumeki."

"Or you," he tried to move away from her but his legs just would not budge so his upper half felt backward, "AOUWWWCHHH!" He screeched at the creak of his backbone. He was not much of a sport person what more acrobats. "Leave me alone! Leave me alone! Leave me alone!"

"I personally think you whine too much, Watanuki." She dropped him to the floor then fixed his back. "Grow up and be a man or should I turn you into a girl? Then maybe you can be Himawari's best friend and share secrets with her."

Watanuki did not respond. He lied very still on the floor and stare at the ceiling blankly. "Can I go now?"

Yuuko crossed her arm. "Alright, go make lunch."

He got up slowly and dragged himself out of the room with much effort. "Why does everyone bully me?"

"Don't complain, Watanuki."

"Oh, shut up already." His frail voice echoed past the hall.

The other reason could only be he shared her equally dark past. Could that be possible?