Oh no… he can't mean what I…! Sen reread the letter again, hoping it wasn't true. Unfortunately, it was. How in the heck would she be able to pull it off? If she got caught…. Oh boy, she didn't even want to think what would happen… She hastily rolled the scroll and put it aside, and that's when she realized that everyone was staring at her.

"What?" she questioned, trying to act clueless.

"Well… what did the message say?" one of the yunas asked curiously.

"Oh nothing!" Sen lied innocently, hoping to convince the yunas. "Just asking how I am and other unimportant stuff…"

All the yunas looked at her skeptically, except Rin, who knew that her human friend would fill her in later, but happily, the conversation soon moved on.

At last, everybody in the sleeping quarter was asleep, except for Sen and Rin, who were both on the balcony.

"I didn't know that the yunas could snore so loud," Sen stated, glad that they were outside, in the cool breezy air, where at least it was quiet enough to talk.

Rin stifled a giggle and nodded. The night was as black as ever, and only the stars shone bright. The vast ocean that blocked Sen from her own world was almost invisible at this time, although they could hear the serene waves roaring quietly. It was almost perfect, in Sen's opinion.

"So, what was written on the scroll anyway?" Rin then asked the main question.

The younger girl groaned, wishing she never had to cross that subject. She sighed and answered:

"Well… Bou wants me to visit his nursery to play with him. Somehow, he got the news that I now have a job here."

"With all that noise the workers made trying to catch you the other day; I wouldn't doubt that anybody within a hundred miles from this bathhouse would have heard!" Rin snorted.

Sen managed a small smile before stating her main problem.

"But if I want to visit him in the nursery, I'll have to pass Yubabaa's office and…"

But Rin already got the message.

"Oh boy," she said. "That is a problem…. Sen, you should know: you can't trespass Yubabaa's office anytime you want! Most of the workers here never even got a chance to enter the office again after applying for their job! And you were just lucky the last time…"

Sen groaned, already knowing that piece of information.

"Then how am I going to do it? I'm sure that, if I refuse to go, Bou'll keep sending me messages until he finally explodes and never speaks to me again!"

Rin sighed, but answered her young friend anyway:

"Well then, the obvious answer is to sneak in Yubabaa's office!"

Sen groaned again and asked desperately:

"Is there any other answer? I'm already on Yubabaa's bad side!"

Rin shrugged and managed a small forced smile:

"Nope. Sorry kiddo, but if you want to see Bou, that's the only way there is to it! Just hope that you won't get caught!"

The fourteen-year old child set her mouth on a thin, determined line before getting up and returning inside.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Rin whispered urgently after her.

Sen didn't turn around, but she managed to reply softly:

"If I want to sneak in Yubabaa's office tomorrow, I better get some good rest!"

Even though the conversation was over and Sen was now sleeping, Rin stayed on the balcony a little longer.

"Sooner or later…" she murmured to herself. "Sen will have to know about Haku…"

She sighed, thinking about Sen's reaction when she would find it... Maybe she already knows… Rin thought, but that was unlikely. Soon, she stood up and went back inside too. But not before whispering to the wind:

"Good luck, Sen."

"Where is that human child today?" one of the yunas asked impatiently as the looked around the bathhouse.

"Oh… I think she's working somewhere else today," Rin suggested.

The yuna gave her skeptical look, but all she said was:

"Well, she better be working hard today! Or else I'm reporting that human to Yubabaa!"

Even though she was listening from a floor higher, Sen could still perfectly see and hear what Rin and that yuna were saying in the main hall. She saw Rin nodding solemnly at the yuna's remark, and she hoped that Rin could cover for her as long as she could. Last night, Sen formulated a plan to visit Bou's nursery: it wasn't foolproof, but with a little bit of luck and skill, she could reach the place unharmed. But to perform the plan, the young girl had to skip work today, which was highly dangerous because Yubabaa would look for any excuse for her to turn Sen into a piglet -or worse: dragon chow. Sen shivered as she imagined Kohaku eating the chow without even realizing it was her… but wait a minute: did dragon chow exist? Well, it didn't matter because Yubabaa would then invent it anyway…

Enough stalling, the human girl suddenly thought. It's now time to put the plan into action!

She knew that Yubabaa's office was at the top level, so she first headed for the elevator. Too bad I can't take the stairs, Sen thought, but it's way too risky with all those people coming and going… As she ran out of the current hall she was in, she hoped that nobody would accompany her on the elevator: if anyone did, they would be suspicious and the worst that could happen was they would report her to Yubabaa. Fortunately, she was in luck: the corridor was deserted when she finally spotted an available elevator. Sen grinned quickly to herself before rapidly dashing into the small space. The door swiftly closed, and the girl pulled the lever. Hopefully, the elevator will still go to Yubabaa's apartments like the last time… Sen thought.

She had to smile when the elevator's doors opened: she was almost utterly convinced that she wouldn't make it this far! However, even though it was the floor of Yubabaa's apartments, it was a different section. Well, I should have known I wouldn't end up at the same place as last time….

Sen had to admit she was a little bit careless as she ran through the magnificently decorated halls to find Yubabaa's office. So careless that she didn't look where she was going and bumped into…

SMACK!

Sen landed on the carpeted floor abruptly.

"Ow…" the girl couldn't help but moan as she put a hand unto her aching head.

Wait a minute… did she actually bump whoever it was on the head! Or was it because she landed with her head…? Her head was spinning, so she couldn't concentrate very well, but she could still hear the awfully familiar voice asking:

"Are you alright?"

She didn't open her eyes at first, still trying to recover from her aching head. But when she suddenly felt a hand softly but firmly grip her arm, she couldn't help but open her eyes and gasp.

He drew away when he heard her gasp, but he still kept his eyes on her strangely familiar honey-hazel ones… He could clearly see that the girl –the human girl- was startled, but she managed to utter the words:

"Kohaku, is that you…?"

For once, he couldn't come up with a proper answer, because it suddenly hit him: this girl was the same intruder who prevented him from completely closing the portal of Majou No Sekai. He closed his eyes, trying to think: this human girl… how did she do it? How did she resist his efforts? How could she break the energy field…? When he was performing the spell to entirely shut the gates of the Spiritual World, he could feel someone pushing against his magic, against his efforts, against him… At first, it was easy to push back: he kind of knew that his opponent was a human, and she/he was weak. But then, the intruder pushed harder, and he thought that he underestimated the human, until he realized that it was weakening. He was about to win the unusual fight, when…

When what? Why did I stop when she screamed 'Haku'? It isn't even my name! But… somewhere… I feel as if there is a connection… somewhere… between… what? Is that why I stopped and she then broke barrier? Is that why I wasn't strong enough to sustain her? He wondered.

"Kohaku…"

He blinked as he came back to reality. He also then realized that he still had his hand on her arm, and he let go instantly. He stood up, and noticed that the small (according to him) girl was looking at him, with an expression of mixed hope and curiosity. He glared back at her, wondering why he even stayed that long beside her: he usually didn't do that!

I shouldn't let my senses get confused… he thought.

"It's Master Kohaku to you," he then replied coolly to the human child.

She was only starting to get up, and when she heard what he said, she looked up, surprised, then confused, and suddenly, it seemed that she realized something, because she ended up with a hurt expression as she whispered:

"You don't remember, don't you…?"

He had no slight clue on what she was talking about, but the question still nagged his mind. What don't you remember? Are you really who you think you are? Forget, remember, forget again… Why won't you remember…? Questions swirled in his mind, and the last one seemed to mock him. Why was this question taunting him? Many workers used to ask him what kind of missions and tasks he carried for Yubabaa, and he always refused to answer them. These questions never came back to haunt him… why did this one did?

"I don't remember ever meeting any humans personally," he answered to the girl. "And you shouldn't ask useless questions. Next time, move out of my way immediately, instead of wasting my time."

He then turned his heels and left.

Sen watched sadly as she watched him leave to an unknown destination. So the dream was right… she thought bitterly. That's what Rin and Kamajii didn't want to tell me… But how? Why?

She pushed these unwanted questions to the back of her mind and once again set off to Yubabaa's office, this time walking. Sooner than expected, she reached the two huge intimidating doors that led to Yubabaa's office. The first thing that caught her attention was the magical doorknob: although it wasn't active yet, Sen glared at it. She really didn't want to make a conversation with it (or should she call it 'him'?), but she didn't know if Yubabaa was inside… Maybe, just maybe, she could trick the doorknob by telling her if the old sorceress was there at all… Tentatively, Sen reached out for the small, golden knob, and almost instantaneously, it rolled its eyes in an appalling way and glared at her, asking in a gruesome voice:

"What do you want now, you puny human?"

Sen gave him an irritated look, but answered calmly:

"Oh… I just want to see Yubabaa, that's all. But tell me: is that any of your business?"

This clearly angered the doorknob, because he gritted his teeth and hissed:

"Of course it is my business! If Yubabaa isn't in her office, like now, I take messages for her! And you'll be sorry for asking that insolent question: she'll come back soon and when I tell her…. Oh, aren't you going to get it!"

The human girl just smiled, triumphant. And without another word, she grabbed the doorknob and opened the door with an immense force.

"HEY! What do you think you're doing!" the flabbergasted doorknob demanded.

But Sen had already dashed off towards the nursery. I really hope that Yubabaa won't come back soon: if she does, I'm in for it! She thought as she ran past other unimportant rooms. Finally, she reached Yubabaa's office's doors. Of course, they weren't as big as the previous ones, but they still had an intimidating aura, probably to tell you that trespassing here could cost you your life. Sen hesitantly opened the doors, and peeked in. To her relief, nobody was there. She then slowly crept in and looked around. There was the huge desk in the middle, with stacks of papers and scrolls on the desktop. Behind the expensive desk was an immense window, showing the clear blue sky. Underneath Sen's feet was a stunning carpet, with rich dark colors.

The fourteen-year old girl briefly wondered why she never contemplated the room better before… the whole thing was amazing. Well… she thought, it is Yubabaa's office, she's bound to decorate it the best way she can…

She then searched for the door that would lead to the nursery, which wasn't hard to find because she spotted it in less than a second. Unfortunately, it was a little too late because Sen then heard loud footsteps coming closer, and the familiar groans and mutters such as:

"A human? In my office! How despicable! If what I hear is true, the intruder will pay dearly for its deed!"

Sen gasped and rushed towards the nursery door. She grabbed the doorknob and tried to pull the door open, but… her efforts were in vain: it was locked! Why did Yubabaa lock the nursery door this time? She thought bitterly. If she didn't hide soon, she would be dead meat… literally!

As she kept trying to open the door, Sen could hear Yubabaa's footsteps coming closer, and she knew that anytime now, the witch would open the office doors and discover a filthy human in her office… or that's what she thought until suddenly, from inside the nursery, the door slammed open and a huge, thick arm grabbed Sen inside. The human girl had no time to gasp or to scream: but she did have the time to be grateful that Yubabaa wouldn't turn her into a piglet or dragon chow; not now… not yet.

"I could have sworn I heard something in here," Yubabaa grumbled as she opened the big wooden doors to her office.