"Now, I'll need somebody to escort you back downstairs," Yubabaa sighed as she said that.
Sen suddenly perked up. Maybe… just maybe… it'll be Kohaku, like the last time. Unfortunately, luck wasn't on her side today because, instead of Kohaku, one of the male workers (who very strongly looked like a frog, in Sen's opinion) entered the office. He bowed to Yubabaa, exclaiming:
"I came to your call, Mistress Yubabaa!"
Sen's shoulders slumped, and she frowned slightly at the frog-man.
"Escort Sen back downstairs: then you can find somebody else to look after her," Yubabaa ordered him.
The male worker nodded, but then wrinkled his nose and put a disgusted face when he detected the 'stench' of humans. Abruptly, his gaze shifted to Sen, and he gasped.
"Sen's back!" he cried in astonishment.
"I realize that," Yubabaa snapped irritably.
At least people here still remember me… Sen thought, trying to cheer herself up at least the slightest.
"Of course you did, of course you did," the worker muttered in apology. He turned to the human and commanded: "Well? What are you waiting for? Follow me!"
Sen immediately bowed her head down and babbled:
"Yes sir!"
The worker smiled, satisfied. It wasn't everyday people around here treated him with the respect he deserved. Sen marched up to him, and he turned around and walked out of the office, making sure that the human girl was still behind his heels. He then got in an elevator, followed by Sen of course. When the doors were properly shut and the elevator was going down, he turned to the girl and said:
"I didn't tell you my name, didn't I? I am Aniyaku!"
Sen turned to him, a little surprised.
"Ani…yaku?"
"Yes, that's me!" the worker nodded furiously.
Sen nodded a little solemnly in return. She really didn't feel like talking now…
"Why did you come back, Sen? I mean… Yubabaa made it clear she never wanted to see you back the last time you were here… did you know that?" Aniyaku talked on. He was about to say something else when Sen interrupted him:
"Please no useless chattering: I'm sorry but I don't feel like talking now."
The elevator doors then swiftly opened, and Sen was about to get out to meet Rin when she heard Aniyaku mutter:
"Just like Kohaku..."
She stopped unexpectedly, and abruptly turned around, asking:
"Kohaku?"
But Aniyaku had already gone off to somewhere else.He was supposed to accompany me downstairs and hand me to somebody else, instead of just running off like that! Sen thought, a little annoyed. Thankfully, Rin told her where to meet after she got the job from Yubabaa. The girl started towards the direction to one of the yunas' sleeping quarters when she heard someone say:
"Master Kohaku! Where have you been?"
Then Sen heard the cool reply:
"That is none of your business. Anyway, what do you want with me, Aogaeru?"
The girl crept closer to the conversation, which was in the main hall where Yubabaa's workers usually greeted their guests. She walked silently into the central hall, but luckily, no one noticed her since there were workers bustling by every second… plus the hall was huge. It was so loud in the main hall that Sen wondered how she could even here the particular conversation. She turned her head to search for the voices and, all of a sudden, she saw a vivid green frog talking to a boy with penetrating moss green eyes. It doesn't seem that Haku even changed since the last time I saw him… Sen thought as she stared at the boy. Sure, he was now a little taller, but his face only matured slightly… so slightly it really didn't make a difference in his almost untouched appearance. Aogaeru fidgeted a little at Kohaku's last question, but still came up with a satisfactory answer:
"There's a human here! She was discovered quite a while ago, but now she just disappeared… but I still don't know why people here are so calm."
But at the sound of the word 'human', many workers and yunas gasped and turned around to search for 'it'. Then they started whispering to each other, and soon, the word was spreading through the entire bathhouse… again. But Kohaku didn't even blink as he said:
"Then search for her and hand her in to Yubabaa: I don't see why you need me for. If you were smart enough, you would have figured that out by now. Now tell everyone to calm down now. No sense worrying about a human at all."
He then turned his heels and left the main hall, leaving an embarrassed Aogaeru and many confused and alerted workers. This is my chance now… Sen pondered. But… what will they do when they see a human…? Even though she already had a job here, Yubabaa's staff wouldn't accept her that easily… She was still hiding in the crowd, crouching down so to not to stand out. But she really needed to find Haku to figure out what the dream meant… Urgh! The dream could have been just a dream, Sen! She told herself. It probably didn't mean anything at all! But as much as she tried to convince herself, she still felt as if the dream had to mean something. She sighed, put a determined face, got up, and dashed off to where Kohaku left. The reaction was immediate: the yunas started screaming hysterically (in which Sen had absolutely no clue why) and the male workers (frog-men) started to shout for her to stop.
"CATCH HER!" they all roared at once.
Sen stopped for a second to reply at the top of her lungs:
"I HAVE A JOB HERE! MY NAME IS SEN!"
Most of the workers stopped, confused at the mention of Sen, but a few kept chasing her. They are annoying… the girl thought irritably as she left the main hall in search of Kohaku. But her chasers were still hot on her tail, and she knew that any moment now, she would be caught. That's why she suddenly ducked into a small closet, a closet so small she could just barely fit in, and waited until she was utterly convinced that all of the workers were gone. She was about to get out of her hiding place when swiftly, the closet slide door slid open by itself… or so it seemed till a hand reached out. Oh no… am I caught? Sen wondered, already half-petrified, until she looked up towards the owner of the hand. Then she sighed of relief and grinned.
"Rin! I'm so glad it's you!" Sen cried happily.
"You and me both!" Rin laughed back. "I thought for sure you were toast… either by Yubabaa or by them!"
Of course, she was talking about the workers who were just before chasing her, and both of them giggled in unison, knowing that for now, the small danger had passed.
"I can't believe you can actually fit in that closet!" Rin then cried. "Let me help you out since I doubt you can do it yourself!"
Sen smiled weakly and let her help her out, for indeed, it did prove very hard to get out of this small space.
"What were you doing anyway? I thought I made it clear to you that you should meet me right after you got the job!" Rin then put her hands on her hips and frowned.
"Well…" Sen answered. "I was about to do that when I saw Kohaku… and I thought maybe you could wait a little longer while I… find him?"
She expected Rin to scold her for thinking of Kohaku more than her, but instead, something strange happened: the young woman's face turned dreadfully pale, but she still managed to ask Sen:
"But… you didn't talk to him yet, did you?"
"No, because I lost him when I was chased by those workers," Sen replied, now a little irritated by Yubabaa's staff for making her lose Haku.
Rin sighed of relief, and appeared to have returned to normal, because she then scolded Sen:
"Next time you want to wander off like that, tell me! No sense making me all worried like that!"
The younger girl smiled weakly and nodded. But in her mind, she was still wondering why Rin acted so weirdly…
"Now, let's get back to our sleeping quarters!" Rin then declared. "I have this feeling that tomorrow will be a busy day… or night!"
Sen nodded and they both headed back to the familiar place where Sen slept the last time she was trapped in Majou No Sekai. When they arrived, Rin immediately started looking for Sen's appropriate clothes' size.
"Let me see…" the young woman mused as she took out a small shirt. "Is this for you?"
She compared Sen with the shirt, and then shook her head:
"That's too small!"
She then took another shirt out, this time a huge one.
"What about this one?" she asked, and quickly scanned Sen before shaking her head. "That's too big!"
She tossed that shirt away as she took another one, but she almost immediately discarded it.
"Way too big!" Rin muttered to herself.
Ten Minutes Later….
"That's the perfect size!" Rin finally exclaimed happily as she gave the pink shirt to Sen, along with the other pieces of clothing.
The younger girl inspected her clothes, and then stated to Rin:
"They look like the same thing I wore the last time I came here…"
"Of course, you dope!" Rin answered. "It's not like Yubabaa care about her workers' clothes fashion!"
Sen nodded and sat down on the floor. She was glad that, for now, the yunas' sleeping quarter was empty… except for her and Rin, of course. Rin seemed to notice that too, since she sat down with Sen and whispered:
"Hey! Can I ask you something?"
"Sure," the human girl replied back.
"I heard that you lost your memory when you crossed the tunnel… how come now, you seem to remember everything perfectly?"
Sen hesitated for a moment before answering:
"It's because I had this strange dream… and a pretty confusing one, too! I kind of dreamt of meeting Kohaku, but he didn't seem to know me… but then the dream moved on, and he was still there: but this time, he seemed to know me. I asked him why before, he couldn't remember me… and he said…" Sen thought for a while before continuing: "He said something like he chose to forget me… and that's about it."
She didn't want to mention herself being swallowed by the shadows (which was the main reason the dream was a nightmare), and the other part… before she fell into the dark pit (which was personal). She looked up and was quite astonished that she found Rin fidgeting uncomfortably on the floor.
"Are you okay?" she then asked her, a little worried.
Rin looked up, realized that she was fidgeting, and shook her head, reassuring her:
"No, I'm just fine." Then she hastily said: "We should get some sleep now! As I said before, tomorrow, I know, it's going to be a busy day!"
Sen didn't argue with her, but now, she was definitely quite suspicious: she had the feeling that Rin… and maybe Kamajii too… were hiding an important secret from her… a secret about Kohaku.
She was running frantically through the bushes, as if she was being chased by someone dangerous. It was midnight now, and the bright, clear moon was full. As she ran, Sen found herself in a huge, green forest. The trees blocked her way, and she could hear the menacing footsteps coming closer, but she somehow managed to find herself out of the dense trees, and into a calm, quiet clearing. There was a small, peaceful waterfall beside her, its fresh, transparent water trickling into a small pond. And there, on a huge, granite stone in the middle of that pond, was the most beautiful scene Sen had ever seen.
A long, graceful white dragon, with a flowing, sea green mane, was curled onto the granite stone… sleeping serenely without a care in the world. It caught her breath away. Suddenly, she felt as if she was in the safest place in the world: in this small, calm clearing… with him. The intruding footsteps suddenly faded away as the girl stepped into the water to join the dragon. Sen climbed onto the huge stone, and found herself right next to the fearsome beast. She caressed his mane, which was soft and silky to the touch. She could also hear the faint thumping of his heart beat, and his breathing was quiet and steady.
"Kohaku…" the girl whispered into his ear.
The dragon slept on. The girl wrapped her arms onto his slender neck, and the dragon merely grunted in his sleep. She closed her eyes in pleasure, even though she had no intentions of sleeping herself. Seconds ticked by… which turned into minutes…and eventually hours. Suddenly, the mighty creature groaned and started to wake up. Sen's eyes flew open as she gazed at his eyes… which were slowly starting to open… but before they were opened completely…
"SEN! WAKE UP!"
"Wha…?"
She rubbed her eyes as she slowly sat up. When she was properly awake, she found a very irritated Rin in front of her.
"You overslept, Sen!" Rin snapped at her, fractious. "In the bathhouse, oversleeping is going to cost you a lot! Now up and at'em!"
It took a few moments before Sen knew the situation: she was stuck in Majou No Sekai, in the bathhouse, and now she worked here. And the dream… she groggily stood up, making sure she still remembered her real name (which she did easily since she actually signed her contract with the name 'Sen'), and changed herself into her work clothes. Then she followed an already annoyed Rin to start her first… and most… horrible day at work.
"Rubbing, scrubbing, sweeping, cleaning, running, washing and working… is this going to go on like this everyday from now on!" Sen complained at the end of her dreadful day while stuffing herself with her supper.
"Yep, and you better get used to it!" Rin answered happily.
A few yunas nodded in agreement with her. Sen groaned in frustration as she continued eating her bowl of rice and fish. (A/N: Hey, just to tell you, I'm not Japanese so I don't know what they eat, okay? But I can get a faint idea since I am Asian too! And I come from the country very similar to Japan… or not… you would know if you read my profile ) She, Rin, and a few yunas were all now eating their supper in their sleeping quarter, and soon, they would be getting ready for bed.
"So, have anyone of you seen Kohaku today?" Sen then asked her most common question.
Several yunas just rolled their eyes, and one of them said:
"That's Master Kohaku to you!"
Then they all (except Rin and Sen) started to giggle. Sen scowled fiercely, and Rin ushered them to quiet down.
"Why does it matter so much to you anyway?" another one of the yunas then questioned.
Sen didn't want to answer that question at all, and thankfully, before she even could, there was a knock near the entrance of the slide door.
"You get it, Sen!" a yuna told her, and all of them (including Rin) nodded in agreement.
"Thanks a lot," the girl muttered as she got out of the room to greet the knocker.
It was Aniyaku, the same worker who was supposed to get her downstairs and to hand her to somebody else (namely Rin) yesterday. Sen frowned slightly at him, which made him fidget nervously on the spot. He cleared his throat and said:
"I carry a message for Sen."
"That's me," the girl replied, and then asked. "Who's it from?"
Aniyaku shrugged.
"I have no idea, to be honest."
"Fine, then can you please give it to me?" Sen asked after a small sigh.
"Of course!' he fumbled in his pockets to hand her a large, expensive scroll (probably one from Yubabaa's office, Sen thought).
"Thank-you," the girl said, and with the message now in her hands, she turned around and headed back to the sleeping quarter.
"So… who's it for?" a yuna asked her as soon as she got in.
"For me," Sen replied.
"From whom?" Rin questioned.
"That's what I'm going to find out," Sen declared as she unrolled the scroll. At once, she exclaimed: "It's from Bou!"
Several yunas gasped.
"You mean… Yubabaa's baby?" they all asked at once. "I didn't know he could write!"
"Yep, that's him! And I bet he just dictated this message while somebody else actually wrote it for him," the human girl answered happily. "I wonder what he wants…"
She quickly read through the message (after correcting the misspellings in her head), and gasped.