Haruhi awoke rather early the next morning in order to retrieve Nekozawa in his post-ritual state. She found him passed out, face-up, in the bathtub and heaved him out before dragging him to the bedroom. From there she stripped him down and tucked him under the covers, and then she placed the cold washcloths on his forehead and around his neck. He seemed lighter than last time, and she wondered if he lost any weight since then. After Nekozawa was settled Haruhi's mind wandered to the events of last night and wondered if speaking directly with Bereznoff was a good decision based on Nekozawa's multiple warnings. She would tell him everything after he recovered, but Bereznoff, without a doubt, would get to him first.

'Well, if I'm going to get in trouble anyway, I might as well overstep the line a bit.'

Boldly Haruhi agreed with this decision and left the house to further explore the grounds. Now, Nekozawa had told her the charm alarm around his dwellings outlined his entire property. But where his property ended, she wasn't exactly sure.

Haruhi had studied enough magic to be able to detect such things as magical boundary lines: discoloration of the scenery, animal prints, drooping tree branches, etc., but putting theory into practice makes the practice significantly more challenging. Determined, Haruhi exited through the back door and decided to work her way around to the front.

From his house, the property line extended a good mile radius. Along the way she sloshed through the swamp muck and mud as the solid island dissipated the further away she walked. At least if Nekozawa asked, she could tell him she had been working in the barn the whole day. She certainly smelled like it.

She was halfway around the property line when she ran into trouble.

Haruhi was crawling on her hands and knees looking for the signs of the magical line and plunged headfirst into the swamp. She misjudged the support of the ground and crawled over a soft spot that was dry on top, but a wet pit on the bottom. Haruhi swam to the surface spluttering the tepid algae-coated water. She flung the locks of hair out of her face in a messy fashion and rubbed the water out of her eyes. She began treading water and spun around in circles taking in her surroundings. Right behind her there was a gator dipping below the water.

Haruhi panicked and swam for shore…which was a lot further away than she anticipated. She must have swum away from land while she was swimming up. The dress she was wearing was weighing her down, and her limbs were growing heavy. Haruhi was almost there when something suddenly jerked her down. Then she was released and tottered back up to the top. Needless to say, Haruhi was terrified beyond belief and merely treaded in place while coughing up water. Not long after she was pulled down again and then released. It finally clicked that this particular gator liked to play with his food. Without a moment to lose Haruhi broke out into freestyle toward land…of which the edge happened to be a good two feet above her head. She clumsily grasped for it and looked back to see the gator speeding towards her. His nose was a good six inches from her before his head snapped back as if he had collided with a brick wall. Haruhi held her breath and was speechless. All reasoning left her mind and she rapidly began wondering what happened. She couldn't say she wasn't glad when the gator snarled and swam away, but perhaps the scaly creature was a better fate than what came next.

A pair of strong arms had reached down and pulled her out of the swamp.

A shirtless Nekozawa pulled her to safety and held her against his chest. Haruhi listened to his surprisingly steady heart, and compared it to her own rapidly beating one. It was then she remembered that breathing was essential to her being and began gulping down much needed breaths. From there she was pulled to her feet and helped back to the house. Nekozawa led her through the front door and threw her down onto the floor.

"WHAT THE DEVIL DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING???" Nekozawa was furious. His eyes were livid and his nostrils flared. "You're really pushing my limit, woman! After everything I've done for you, you have the gall to continue disobeying me!" He fell to his knees and grabbed Haruhi's shoulders only to sling her to the side. Haruhi rolled on the floor and fell on her back. Nekozawa crawled over to her, perhaps to deliver another blow, but ended up collapsing on top of her in his weakened state. His head fell in the crook of her neck and his warm breath fell across her shoulder.

"You're still sick, Neko-sensei," said Haruhi in the calmest tone she could manage, "You need to rest in bed." Nekozawa gave a small cough and heaved his weight off of her form; he sat back and wiped the spittle off of his mouth.

"I'm fine! You…you-"

But Haruhi wouldn't hear it and helped him to his feet by slinging his arm around her shoulders. Nekozawa began blacking out and was reluctantly dragged back to bed. He took one look at her after she finished reapplying the wet washcloths and said, "We're talking tonight." Haruhi nodded and tucked him in. His eyes drooped and he fell asleep. Meanwhile, Haruhi left to take a bath and scrub the swamp stink off of her.

Nekozawa was currently chatting with Bereznoff.

'You son of a banshee,' he growled.

"Ah, master, I thought I was doing you a favor. If I hadn't alerted you that the boundary line had been crossed, you wouldn't have been there in time to save Haruhi. I never noticed what a fast runner you are."

'The only reason you told me about the breach was because you knew Haruhi would be punished, and if she didn't make it out alive you wouldn't be able to see that punishment administered.'

"Oh, I wouldn't say that. After last night I'd say she's growing on me; we had a lovely conversation."

'What about?'

"Now you calm down."

'Just get on with it, will you!'

"Yeah, that's what she said."

'Bereznoff,' he warned.

"Of course, master, but I think that, as attached as you are to the wench, no matter how nice you are she's still looking for a way out."

'What's that supposed to mean?'

"She was rather interested in your weak points and vulnerabilities. I wonder how she'll react when she finds out that she's your vulnerability."

'It's been a long time since I've felt so strongly about someone, and I don't need you ruining it,' he sneered, 'And as long as she smart enough to not tango with you then I have nothing to worry about.'

"Well, you might have your luck there; I tried to lure her out last night and she wasn't falling for it."

Nekozawa mentally breathed a sigh of relief. 'I'm still talking to her tonight. At least she half-listened to me. All I have to do is add the silent treatment to her list and you'll be fully ignored.'

"Go ahead and tell her! You can't get by sanely without channeling me, and once you do you're not there to stop me from scaring her…or befriending her."

'…You wouldn't…'

"Oh, but I would," cackled Bereznoff, "You see, I have a feeling she'll be warming up to me real quickly. I'll have her out of that silly bubble in no time, and then all you'll be able to do is watch while I tear off that pretty nightgown and sink my teeth into her skin. Even though it's me, it's still your body, and she'll never get close to you again…she'll never trust you again."

Nekozawa gritted his teeth and tried to block his specter out.

"And you'll get angry…because of past experiences…"

'Shut up…'

"And because of your anger…I'll slowly take over…"

'Shut up!'

"And you'll be thrust in the back while I gain control…and you'll have to watch while I take her again…"

'SHUT UP!'

"And maybe break a few bones…you'll guiltily heal her afterwards…"

'BEREZNOFF!'

"And the process will repeat…again, and again, …and again…"

Nekozawa remained silent.

And Bereznoff gave no more incentive.

As soon as night fell Nekozawa felt his power restore to full strength and healed himself of all abnormal – abnormal to him – maladies. He threw on a shirt and found Haruhi making dinner in the kitchen.

"Haruhi, sit."

Haruhi turned around and sat down at the table across from him. She sat up straight and listened patiently for what he had to say.

"What the hell did you think you were doing earlier today?"

"I wanted to explore the boundaries," she explained, "I remembered what you told me about the charm around your property in one of you lessons a few days ago and decided to test it out. I only wanted to see how far the property stretched so I would know the limits to where I could travel-"

"You were almost killed today!"

"But I made it out alright," and before Nekozawa could yell some more, "Thank you," she said. Nekozawa's face softened.

"You're welcome. Now that you know your boundaries I trust you will stay away from the water's edge as much as possible?" Haruhi nodded. "Well, then let's move onto another matter. I heard you and Bereznoff had a…swell time talking with one another last night."

"Oh," blushed Haruhi, "there was a 'thump thump' noise and it woke me up-"

Nekozawa interrupted, "I thought I specifically told you to ignore Bereznoff at all costs. What a surprise, you disregarded me, yet again." Haruhi looked down at the table. "Look at me when I'm talking to you." Haruhi's head shot back up. "And it looks like you're in for another punishment. My, my, when will you learn?" Nekozawa stood from the table and retreated to his bedroom. He returned with a pair of Haruhi's new stockings and the bandana from yesterday. He made Haruhi open wide and he stuffed the stockings in her mouth. Then, he tied the bandana around her head, over her stuffed mouth, and created an efficient gag. Haruhi tried not to choke on the material and immediately looked at Nekozawa. "You can take it off before you go to bed he said, but not before then. Perhaps this will teach you to hold your tongue."

Nekozawa smiled.

"I guess that means you won't be eating dinner this evening."

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Naraku's Phoenix: Thank you to all of my readers and reviewers. I love you all.