Haruhi began her morning by cooking a hot breakfast. She may have gone a little overboard, though, considering she skipped out on dinner the night before, but everything was delicious and she had no trouble cleaning her plate. After cleaning up in the kitchen she tucked a large wicker basket under her arm and traveled through the house collecting all of the dirty laundry. She stopped off by the bedroom to strip off her nightgown and put on a corset and a pair of underwear. She also pulled on a slip dress – the length extended to her calf – over top. Nekozawa was gone for two days, so she felt no need to be completely dressed, especially on laundry day. Haruhi added her nightgown to the basket and retreated to the washroom where there was a separate tub for laundry. She pumped some of the magical water into a bucket and filled the tub. She nearly fainted at the amount of laundry she collected.

'This is going to take a while.'

So she grabbed some books to pass the time. It seemed that peace and solitude would grace her with their presence the next forty-eight hours, but what she didn't know was that's not what would be happening at all. A certain white wizard was making his way down to the swamp at that very moment.

For the next two hours Haruhi was scrubbing down various articles of clothing, wringing them out, and hanging them on a line inside the house. It'd be more practical to hang the laundry to dry outside, but it would've been useless if it decided to rain again.

'Shoot, the animals.' Haruhi had forgotten to feed them. Quickly she dashed into the bedroom and slipped on a pair of black ankle boots. She also slipped on a cloak from Nekozawa's closet – he offered, after all – and pulled the hood over her head. 'Dammit, I have to milk the cows, too.' Upon reaching the barn she tended to the cows first before passing out the food. The wind blew and chilled the barn. She pulled the cloak tighter around her. Haruhi saw some things jutting from the wrap around shelf at the top of the barn. She decided to move the poles to a more secure position for the animals' safety.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Kaoru had set out the night before with an entire bag of tricks up his sleeve. Literally. That cloak he wears is huge. Ahem, anyway, he was going to pay his visit to his rival, Nekozawa. And he was going unannounced as promised.

'I hope he's prepared,' snickered Kaoru, 'Because I don't intend to hold back.'

The enchanted swamp was almost within his reach. A few more feet and he would reach the perimeter. Then the tricky part would be finding a blind spot so as not to trigger the charm. But then again, it wasn't so tricky for someone as skilled as Kaoru.

'Got it,' he thought, 'ready or not, here I come.'

The stretch across Nekozawa's territory was clean in its own way, but still rather unpleasant to walk across, and the ever pristine Kaoru hitched up his trailing cloak until he reached more solid ground. Besides, the less evidence he brought back to the castle, the better. Kaoru felt his adrenaline pumping by the time Nekozawa's house came into view. Stealthily he peered into the back window just in time to see he cloaked friend exit out the front. Once Nekozawa was out of sight, Kaoru let himself in the back door to drop off his overnight bag in the kitchen. He snickered and congratulated himself for being so sneaky while he shrugged off his cloak and hung it on the rack. He then picked up his staff and left to follow Nekozawa's path out the front door, but he had to do a double-take when he passed the washroom.

'What the…'

Dresses and ladies' knickers hung from every corner of the room on a dryer line. Kaoru stepped in to take a closer look. He closed his free hand into a fist and bit his index finger.

'Daaaamn!' he hissed, 'How fair is that?! I wonder where she's hiding, or…I hope there's a girl in here. If not I might have to start questioning our friendship.' Kaoru shook that last thought from his head and backed out of the room. He could ask questions later after he got Umehito begging for mercy. Speaking of his shady friend…

Kaoru crept over to the front door and checked out the property from the window. He set his sights on the barn and swiftly made his way over there ducking behind conveniently placed objects and doing tuck rolls and elbow crawls to keep low and avoid unwanted attention. He reached the barn just in time to see Umehito finish milking the cows. Kaoru watched his frienemy feed the animals, and then climb the ladder to the upper shelf. It was then he decided to make his move.

"Mirtha!" yelled Kaoru, and a flash of purple light shot out of the top of his staff. The light hit Haruhi in the back of her right calf. She screamed in pain and fell backwards off the ladder. The wind was knocked out of her as soon as she hit the ground, and Kaoru's jaw dropped when the hood gave way and exposed her face. The cloak did little to hide the fact that she was indeed some strange woman, and not Umehito, as it only fastened below the chin. Kaoru stood dumbfounded as his eyes roamed over Haruhi's figure; her shallow breaths and hisses of pain brought him back to attention quickly enough. He dropped his staff to the ground and ran quickly to her aid.

"Miss! Miss? Oh, I'm so sorry!" he cried. Kaoru knelt down next to her injured leg. There was a rather nasty burn on her calf, but that could be dealt with later. Right now, he needed to get her breathing again. Kaoru gently pulled her upper body into an upright position and kept her propped by the small of her back.

"Just take deep breaths – slow, deep breaths," he instructed in what he thought was a soothing voice. Haruhi seemed to understand him and, with some trouble, drew in as much air as she could manage. A few minutes and a couple of coughs passed by and everything in the atmosphere seemed to have calmed down. Haruhi's breathing returned to normal and she looked at Kaoru with questioning eyes.

She said nothing.

"Are you alright?"

Haruhi slowly nodded.

"You need to have your leg looked at," he said, "I-I'm going to move you inside the house. Is it okay if I carry you?"

Haruhi looked a bit unsure, but the pain in her right calf begged her to accept his offer. Again, she slowly nodded. Kaoru clapped his hands and awkwardly lifted her in his arms. He cradled her close and stooped to pick his staff back up as well; he had Haruhi grab hold of it.

"This is my staff; I'm a wizard and this instrument is how I channel my powers. May I trust you to hold it until we're inside the house?" Haruhi nodded in reply and clutched Kaoru's staff until her knuckles turned white. This may have been because she wanted to distract herself from the pain in her leg. Once in the house, Kaoru situated Haruhi in a chair in the kitchen. He pulled up another chair for her to prop her leg on and give him easy access to the burn. Kaoru reached for his staff but Haruhi didn't look like she was going to be surrendering it anytime soon. So, instead, Kaoru fetched another chair for himself and a medicinal kit from Umehito's trunk. Swiftly he sat down and began his work.

"So," began Kaoru, "how do you know Umehito?" Haruhi's expression became crestfallen. "You do know him, right?" Haruhi nodded. "Er…my name's Kaoru…what is yours?"

Haruhi continued with her silent streak and made a point to not make eye contact. Kaoru sighed; this was getting him nowhere. She bit her lip when he began applying a mint-scented salve.

"Now, I'm no Umehito, but I'm fair enough in his field. I do, however, think I'm the better wizard, so he can be the better medic any day. I…uh…work at the palace." Surprisingly – to him – this piqued Haruhi's interest enough and she rolled her eyes to meet his gaze. "Have you, uh, ever been to the palace?"

Haruhi shook her head.

"Ah, well, you'd like it; it's very pretty. The grounds are lovely in every season, and this being early spring, well…you can only imagine. And, and the people aren't half bad as well, you know. I've got a brother who lives at the castle, too. He doesn't have much of a gift for magick, though."

"What does he do?"

Haruhi's voice startled him. She was starting to trust him, if only a little, and that was a good sign. He flexed her ankle to test the stress on her hamstrings and began wrapping her leg when she showed no physical signs of pain.

"My brother? Well, he's a knight," replied Kaoru, glad she had decided to join in the conversation, "but unlike him, who fights alongside the prince, I work for the prince, but then again, I'm granted freer reign. As far as everyone is concerned, I'm at the apothecary in the eastern islands." Kaoru finished wrapping her leg and set it down on the ground. He helped Haruhi stand up. "Do you feel any pain?"

"No."

"Good. Can you walk?"

"I think so." Haruhi handed the wizard his staff back and gripped the cloak around her body while she walked a slow, steady pace to the front door and back.

"I'm sorry, I truly am," said Kaoru, "I-I had no idea Umehito had a guest. Um, where is he, by the way?" Now, it may have been Haruhi's imagination, but Kaoru may have started to sweat.

"How do you know Neko-sensei?"

Kaoru furrowed his brow and gave her a confused, questioning look before bursting out in laughter.

"Neko…SENSEI? Oh, you've got to be kidding me!"

"I most certainly am not!" said Haruhi, now furiously blushing, "He's my teacher; I'm learning magick." At these words Kaoru stopped laughing and stared at her very seriously.

"So, you're learning the art of sorcery, are you?" It was a rhetorical question. Kaoru sidled up next to Haruhi and inspected her very closely. "Well, you've got the spark, there's no doubt about that." He stepped back and cleared his throat. "Now, back to my original question: is Umehito here? I must apologize for harming his, er, student."

"Neko-sensei is gone for the day; he went to my village to pick up supplies."

"…Your village?" asked Kaoru curiously, "How did you say you became Umehito's apprentice, again?"

"…I-I didn't."

Kaoru's eyes narrowed. "Perhaps you should."

"Maybe you should leave," Haruhi shot back.

Sensing the hostility that began emitting from Haruhi's aura, Kaoru changed the subject.

"My name is Kaoru," he quickly repeated.

"…Haruhi," she finally replied.

"And how long have you been here, Haruhi, with Nekozawa?"

"A little over a month."

"I see," he said, and then a thought struck him, "It was your calming potion that was on the stove the other day, wasn't it?" Haruhi nodded. "You say you're learning magick? Well, it's obvious he wants you to be trained in the art of Healing, but what else is he teaching you?" Haruhi relaxed her stature a bit.

"Oh, he's taught me lots of things, like proper reading and writing. We've been studying mathematics, as of late, though."

Kaoru stared at her for a moment before bursting into laughter. Haruhi's face grew hot with embarrassment.

"I'm sorry," said Kaoru, "I probably should have clarified. I meant to ask what sort of magick you are learning. No offense, but I can't see you learning anything dark."

"You would be right, then. He offered to teach me white magick in its place."

"Well, now I'm offended!" exclaimed Kaoru, "White magick is my specialty, and anything Umehito teaches you in that field, he probably learned from me."

"I think it would be best if you left, now, Kaoru-san. If Neko-sensei made me hide the first time you visited, then he probably doesn't want me talking to you." Haruhi spoke firmly to Kaoru. Kaoru stared back, and another thought, a terrifying and exciting thought, ignited in her mind. "Neko-sensei didn't leave too long ago…if he sensed you crossing his property line, then it should only be a matter of time before he returns home…"

Kaoru snatched an apple from the counter and slouched in his kitchen chair while propping his feet up on the table.

"If there's one thing you should know about magical boundaries, Haruhi, it's that they always have a blind spot." Kaoru stopped fidgeting with the apple and sat up when he noticed he had Haruhi's undivided attention. He took a bite. "Hmm…I wonder why he never told you."

"Can you show me?" she asked, almost whispering.

"I most certainly can!" replied Kaoru.

Haruhi's heart jolted.

"But that doesn't mean I will," he finished. He gazed at Haruhi and said, "No offense, but I'm not my brother; I don't fall for the damsel in distress. Besides, Umehito is a good friend of mine. I'd sooner poke a sleeping dragon in the eye than go against his wishes, and from the looks of it he wishes to keep you all to himself."

Haruhi gripped the oversized cloak around her smaller body and turned her head to the side. "Leave…Now."

"Now, that won't do," responded Kaoru, "I can't leave; not now, anyways. You'll just follow me to the point at which I entered and get the information you want, and that sly bastard will have a fit!"

Haruhi threw him a hard stare. Kaoru got up and made his way over to Haruhi.

"Sorry, but I'm not expected back at the palace until late tomorrow evening. If I leave now and return so soon, they'll know something's up."

"Then camp out!"

"Sorry, girl, but I packed my bags to stay."