"Mail this letter, take these books to the library and have Shouka-san look at them, retrieve these records, then ask for a seal for this new tax law, organize all the books you see over there by title then author then year and finally hand in the report of this month's budget to Shou-Taishi on your way out," Chamberlain Kou motioned to the list of things to do to his newest helper.

The boy stuttered, "S-so, does this mean- I-I- can go home?"

"After you finish everything."

"Ye-yes sir!" He started to turn away but stopped. "Um… what-what was it y-you wanted me to do ag-again?"

Kijin Kou internally sighed and repeated the errands once more. The boy scampered off ten minutes later; attempting to remember everything he had been told. The boy had done a very unsuccessful job for his department since Shuurei Kou had stopped working there. He didn't have the best memory and he was still afraid of the masked official, making his weaknesses seem even worse they actually where.

Kijin bent over his desk, reading important tax documents in the dim candle light. Silken, ebony threads of his long hair slipped over his shoulder, brushing against the white mask his lifelong friend Reishin Kou had made for him. He lifted his head and looked around at the empty, darkened office. Since everyone else had gone for the night and not many other people would be here at this time, it should be fine to take his mask off.

He reached up and touched the green strings but jerked his hand away when he heard someone in the doorway. A young girl with a small candle of her own and bundle of cleaning supplies stepped into the room. A smile appeared on her pale, light flickering face. "I'm sorry to disturb you Chamberlain Kou. I didn't realize you were still here. No one is usually around this late at night so…"

He asked, "You clean the rooms in the middle of the night?"

"Yes. Um… I'll do the other rooms and come back later. Sorry for interrupting you," she suddenly remembered her place and bowed before turning away.

"Wait, you can stay," he called out. "You aren't a bother."

Her violet eyes widened slightly. "Ah… thank you very much." She set her candle and water bucket in a corner, got down on her hands and knees and began to scrub.

Kijin went back to his work. As the girl went around the room, she noticed the increasing noise coming from the window. Eventually, she stopped and leaned back on her heels. "The window isn't locked?"

He didn't look up from his papers, "It doesn't lock. It's broken and when the wind is strong, it clashes against the window pane."

"I see." She stood up and strode over to it. He stopped sorting for a moment and watched her. She fiddled with it for a few moments then took a step back. "There."

"You fixed it?" he asked, surprised.

"Yes, it wasn't difficult."

"… What is your name?"

A lock of brown hair fell across her forehead as she turned to smile, "Zhao Michiko."

"Zhao Michiko," he repeated.

She went back to scrubbing the floor and he shook his thoughts away from outside influences. Less than a few minutes later she gathered her things and made her way to the other rooms.

"Wait. You couldn't have possibly finished this entire room," he noticed her departure.

Michiko paused. "I have. I washed the floor, threw out the trash, dusted and polished the desks and chairs and cleaned the windows. You were so focused with taking care of the papers of this country that you didn't see me."

His eyes traveled down to the chair he was sitting in. It was polished. When did that happen? Surely he wasn't so involved with his work that he hadn't seen her right next to him. Kijin opened his mouth to say something but she disappeared. He was alone.

She had been like a phantom, whisking in here and flying back out. Was she real? Was she a strange specter of his tired mind playing tricks on him? Perhaps.

Whether she was human or not was his concern. He remembered the reason why he was so tired, resumed flipping through the stacks of paper and put Zhao Michiko from his mind.