A/N: I have upgraded the rating to T for 'romance' and 'humor'. Yes, I have decided to put in a romance. Or three. Or four. Or five. Okay, getting a little out of hand here. I've decided on the end of this story, and if I do not gat any more reviews, I will just quit! I will just end it and be like "goodbye, y'all are cruel people.' (Except for Nekkyo-chan.)

Disclaimer: I do not own anything that ain't mine.

Chapter 6: Shrinkelled

The next morning, Iku found herself staring into the eyes of a gigantic dustbunny. It towered over her, and looked at her inquisitively out of its beady eyes.

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!" She shrieked. "Heeeeeeeeeelp!"

"Iku, where are you?" Fumi's voice rang out, sounding as if it was on a loudspeaker.

"Get it off me! Offffffff!" Iku had apparently come to her wit's end.

A huge hand picked the dustbunny up gently. "Whoa, Iku. Got a little vertically challenged there." Koi put the dustbunny aside, and picked up her sister, who was about the size of the average action figure.

"Iku! Are you okay?" Fumi's worried face appeared next to Koi's; both were as large as billboards.

"Okay!Do I look okay! No! I am shrinking and I might just disappear before your very eyes!" Iku wailed, sitting down in Koi's palm with a thump. "This is it. This is the end. And do you care! Noooooo!"

"She's fine." Koi tipped Iku onto her bed, and lay on her stomach on the floor. "Iku, I don't think you'll shrink away into nothing. You only had half your cup of tea, so you won't just become an infinitesimal speck, or, at least, I don't think so."

"What should we do?" Fumi was anxiously pacing the room; it was deserted. All the other workers had already gone down to breakfast.

"Just take her to breakfast, give her some food, and then find the sorcerers. They ought to know what to do."

"Of course they will! It's they're fault I'm like this anyhow!"

"Hm. Good point." Koi handed her sister to Fumi. "You take her. I have to deliver this to Haku."

"Oh, they got it?" Iku tried to read the characters on the paper Koi held up. "Ko… Haku…Riv...Er…Kohaku River. Cool. Those dustbunnies really knew what they were doing."

"Did you see that look?" Fumi glared at the person pouring tea. "You would have thought I killed somebody instead of just taking two cups of tea."

Iku sat on the table, holding a piece of pork the size of her head, and a bit of bread off a pork bun. "Good thing you didn't show him me. He'd have a heart attack. So how am I supposed to get some tea?"

"I don't know. Maybe an eyedropper would work…Iku." she whispered quickly. "Turn around slowly."

Iku spun around, and stared at the two sorcerers. Who were staring at Fumi. Fumi quickly stood up and picked up Iku, who dropped her pork into her tea accidentally.

"Excuse me, but I have to talk to you." she snapped. "Alone."

"Which one?" Akio raised his eyebrows. In reply, she walked out of the room quickly, making Iku feel very seasick.

"How do you explain this?" Koi hissed at them, holding Iku out in her palm.

"Oh no…" Akio stared at Iku for a second, then turned to his twin. "You said this would work!"

"Maybe I shouldn't have left you to put it into action. You…imbecile!" Arata glared at his brother, who glared back at him.

"I don't suppose you have any antidote?" Fumi asked.

"Weeeeel…"

"Um…"

"You don't, do you?" Iku snapped.

"It takes a lot longer to make the antidote…"

"And we weren't exactly planning to have someone stay shrunk for that long…"

"So I'm supposed to stay shrinkelled?" Iku's face turned bright red, resembling a tiny cherry tomato.

"Well…"

"Well…" Both twins appeared at a loss, and Arata glanced up at Fumi, who was watching the proceedings with interest.

"Well…yes!" Akio sighed and gazed at Iku, willing her not to blow up.

"We have to either write to the leader of our order or brew one fresh, which is going to take a long time." Arata explained.

"What do you mean?" Fumi asked. "Won't it only take you a day, like the potion did in the first place?"

"No. It takes a long time." Akio told her.

"What do you mean? I can't be stuck in this shape forever, can I?" Iku's eyes widened, and she stared up at Akio as if he might be able to help in some way..

"No. Just for another month or so." Arata smiled grimly.

"Another month? Why don't you just coat me in brass and put me on a trophy?" Iku waved her hands around, not caring if she looked weird or not.

"Because who would make us laugh?" Fumi smiled sideways at her friend.

"That is a very good question." Iku did a little dance, and pulled on her friends finger. "Back to the food!"

"Very well, your highness." Fumi nodded at the twins. "If you'll excuse me?" without waiting for an answer, she spun very pointedly, and walked back to the noise of where the rest of the bathhouse attendants were eating. Most people were filing out, to go to their respective jobs.

"Darn. I didn't get my tea, did I?" Iku crossed her arms and tried to look prim, which was hard as she was only about four inches tall. In a few seconds, her posh demeanor dissolved, and she started to giggle uncontrollably. "Did you see that, though? That Arata one definitely likes you."

"No, he doesn't." Fumi glared at Iku, and tried to ignore the blush creeping up her cheeks.

"Aw, how cute." Iku sighed romantically.

"He doesn't!" Fumi refused to meet Iku's eyes; she stared at the table fixedly.

"You like him too! Isn't that cute!"

Koi looked around. The room was completely deserted. "Haku?" she called.

It was no use. The room was deserted.

Argh! she thought. I forgot he was a dragon. Of course he's gone to Zeniba's to see Chihiro. If I wasn't so annoyed, I'd think that was sweet. she sighed. Where should I leave this?

Three dustbunnies came running out of the shadows.

"Can I help you?" she asked them.

They looked at her strangely. One, which Koi recognized as Mitsu, the smallest, trotted forward. She held a scrap of paper. On it were a few hastily scribbled characters, saying: I have gone to Zeniba's to be with Chihiro. I believe that Yubaba is going to kill me for this, as she still controls my name, but I do not care, I have to see her face again before I die. I love her more than life, and

"That's so sweet." Koi looked at the piece of paper she held, then folded it, and ripped it in half. Tearing it until only shreds of paper remained, she dropped what was left of the contract. A wind blew…it soared around Koi, ruffling her hair, and making the dustbunnies clung to her ankles. "Go free Haku." she said quietly as the wind blew out the window. She took the note, and wrote on the back. Go Haku. I found your contract and ripped it up. Go to the human world with Chihiro before Yubaba can find out that it's missing! Or… Koi looked up at the ceiling, remembering what Fumi had said once. Or get on the train and go into a golden sunrise.

"Deliver this to Haku, all right?" she asked the three dustbunnies. They nodded.

"You're right!" Fumi squeaked. "I believe that Arata feels some affection for me. He stopped me in the hall today."

"Really!" Iku jumped up and did a small victory dance.

"Please don't tell me that you did something stupid." Koi asked pleadingly.

"I didn't, don't worry. I simply asked him if it would be improper to speak without a chaperone present.

"Like that." Koi slapped her hand across her eyes. Iku stopped in the middle of her victory dance.

"You didn't, did you? Really? No you didn't. This is the 21st century; I hope you know. It is okay for a person to be alone with a member of the opposite sex."

"It is?" Fumi would have said more, when Tantou rushed in.

"The worst possible thing has happened!" she shrieked, sprinting to the window and staring out. "My brother's coming!"

"Your brother." Koi blinked at Tantou.

"Yes!" the cat spirit squealed. "His name is Tanzel, and he's the patron cat of France. He's not half as smart as I am, and has nearly no clairvoyance. He can read minds though." she admitted.

"And what's so bad about this?"

"Don't you get it?" Tantou ran around the room, frantically looking out the window to see if they were lighting the lamps, which they were. "Agh!" she moaned, and sprinted under the bed. "He's here."

"Ouch. We should go down and meet him though." Fumi had the politics of the matter at heart.

"No!" Tantou moaned, hidden under the bed.

"Yes, Tantou." Koi hopped up, ran her fingers through her hair, and held out her hand to her sister, who climbed on and held onto her pinkie.

Fumi reached under the bed and dragged the cat out by her tail. "Come on, Tantou. You have to greet him someday, you know."

"Who says?" Tantou held onto the floor, creating two sets of claw marks on the floor. "I can just stay here and go home tomorrow."

"No you can't!" Fumi picked the anxious cat up in her arms, and marched out of the room.

The quartet made their way down to the train station, where a train was just arriving. Tantou squinched her eyes shut.

The door swung open…the stairs were rolled down…

A foot appeared out of the opening. A very small foot.

Tanzel.

A/N: Now you know the drill! Review, review, review! Anything! I welcome flames, even. (They make me laugh. And I am so desperate for reviews, that anything will work. ANYTHING!)

Here's my ultimatum: I will not post again until I get at least one more review. ONE! PLEASE!

A Desperate Writer