Christmas was soon approaching, but still We worked diligently. For weeks, Megumi and I spent our days reading all we could about curse removal. I learned the incantation for curses:

I, my name, hereby curse, the person's name, for I know his/her fear, the fear, and will use it against him in punishment.

Finally, on a Saturday afternoon, Megumi decided it was time for my second lesson. "Today, you're going to learn how to interpret others fears, by entering their mind. It will help, because knowing a fear can help make a curse more powerful." He picked up a small cage that has been lying precariously on his messy desk. Inside the cage was a small white mouse trying in vain to scurry away from Megumi's hands.

"There aren't any humans we can practice on," he said holding the mouse firmly but gently in his hands, "so we're using the most available mammal we have."

"Why does it have to be a mammal?" she asked out of interest.

"Mammals have a more dynamic brains and give us a bigger challenge than, say, a fish or a insect."

"But still, it's only a mouse, wouldn't a person be so much more challenging. What are mice afraid of? Just bigger animals if you think about it. People have so many other fears."

"Well, we don't have any other people."

"What about you?" As soon as I said it, I knew it was a mistake. His face became harder, he was all of a sudden rigid. "I don't think that's a good idea," he said, but his voice was hollow. He turned his back on her and began fiddling with the mouse.

"I'm sorry," I said. "That was a stupid thing to say." I knew Megumi didn't want anybody penetrating his mind.

He turned around, smiling slightly, and I knew she was forgiven. Still I wondered why he was always so defensive, always so closed. I really would have liked to have seen Megumi's mind. Was that creepy? Maybe. It's definetely not something I should be focusing on.

"Now think of the mouse, concentrate on it."

I tried.

"Soon, you will be inside it's mind. Find it's fear," he said. But I was concentrating on Megumi and his mind more than anything, and that's probably why it happened.

The room became black, and I expected to see the mouse's field of vision, but instead, I was seeing a girl. The girl was tall with black hair and grey eyes, and looked a bit like a female version of Megumi. Why would a mouse be thinking of a girl? What had happened. And that's when she realized.

I'm not in the mouse's mind. I'm in…Megumi's.