The piece of paper that Chihiro had been given by Tanaka fell to the ground.

Well, either God or Fate hated her, for her Spiritual Mentor was Nigihayami-sensei.

This could not be changed; like the rest of her timetable, each unit was specifically tailored and only very limited spots were available in each one for particular times, to match with the rest of them. She had to meet with her Mentor every day at 7pm, after dinner, in the library.

How was this supportable? It wasn't, quite simply. The two days he had been here, she had encountered nothing but that which frightened and repulsed her on his part. Her blushing and shyness of him were utterly superficial in the face of his completely out of line behavior. He did not seem a man of God at all, but rather a champion of the occult - she had to repeat her parents words to her over and over again 'repel the fiery arrows of the evil one, and put on the armour of God' - 'the angels will be appointed in regard to you, they will catch you if you fall'.
Chihiro prayed vehemently that this imposter was taken from the college, that he would not try and insult her faith ever again. She prayed in to the night, and in to the night, she could not see the effects of her passionate whispers.

Before the realms of the many heavens and earth, came a bolt of white light, and a being with the face of a beautiful woman appeared before the dark shadowy figure upon the ocean shore.

Haku stood before the angelic creature, his traditional robes draping round him majestically; his long flowing black hair with sparks of green throughout shimmering down his back. He regarded the glowing winged woman with a curl to his lip and a glint in his beautiful eyes, but he said nothing.

'You know why I am here' the woman spoke, her voice deep and filled with dislike.

Still, the River Spirit said nothing.

'Very well, if you will not speak, you will listen' the woman paced irritably back and forth.

'Our daughter wants you banished back to the abyss and slavery from whence you came. You have no business here'

Haku replied with quick venom:

'It is no sin to watch over her'

The women halted her pacing to glare at him through fiery eyes, sparks coming from her mouth as she spoke.

'You know very well what happened to those other spirits, demon, who fell in love with human women! Eternal chains in eternal darkness! How dare you come here!'

'Do not lecture me! You cannot breach the law!' Haku's hair fanned wildly behind him and his eyes were like ocean maelstroms.

'Know this' the angel-like creature materialized suddenly in front of the Dragon God and hissed in his face; 'as long as her heart belongs to us, her soul will never rest with you' she spat on the ground in front of him. 'You WILL return to the other-world!'

Haku's face became a terrifying display, fangs growing from his mouth, his eyes turning in to veritable green hurricanes, swirling with rage; he raised a hand that was more claw than human, and flourished it before the white winged woman, as from his claw came a barrier of shimmering light, and the angel-like being screeched in pain as the force field surrounded her; beating her wings together she formed a great wind, attempting to break through Haku's powerful spell - but as quickly as her wings tore through his barrier, as quickly it reformed and pushed her back bit by bit.
Suddenly, he engendered the spell with a flourish of power from his other hand and she was shot through the sky, returned to the dimension from where she had come.

The winds that obeyed Haku silenced with a thunder clap and his barrier dissolved instantly. The ocean had been whipped in to a cesspool of foaming waves, and he flourished his hand with a movement as elegant and fluid as water over the sea, and the blue wastes became calm.

Who was this man, that even the winds and the waves obeyed him?

The sentence came in to Chihiro's mind as she woke up, and she did not know why. It sounded familiar, but had no connection to any of her memories. She did not want to face the day, for tonight was her first private session with her Mentor.
When the bleariness of sleep went from her mind, she looked at her phone and freaked.
It was midday. Rin must have just let her sleep.
Rushing, she tripped over about five times putting on her jeans, and threw on a shirt and shoes.
Chihiro glanced at herself in the mirror and grimaced at the bed-head monster that stared back at her.
She would have to take another few minutes to yank out those knots.
Almost as painful as looking at her own reflection, getting those knots out of her hair was a challenge not to be taken lightly.
When she had been a child, she hated the way her mother had pulled at it without holding the hair at the roots first, but even doing that did not relieve the pain too much.
She wrestled her thick hair in to submission - but as it was naturally a bit curly, it was now very frizzy.
Chihiro turned on her straightener and while she waited for it to heat up, she looked dispassionately at her face, making exaggerated expressions as she inspected her teeth and slightly blood shot eyes. God what did she even look like?

Chihiro only wore makeup occasionally, and today was going to be one of those days, because she felt gross enough without seeing her reflection and getting an additional fright.
She put on some primer and foundation, as well as eye liner and mascara over a base of matte beige eye shadow. After straightening her hair, she looked a bit more human.
Now what was she to do to confront this Nigihayami? She refused to be spoken to in the way he did, in such riddles and anger, even if he was a teacher. Already a pit of anxiety was forming a sickening knot in her stomach at the thought of being alone with him. That alone told her she could not continue dealing with him.

Chihiro made her way to get some food, seeing as it was campus lunch time anyway. The glimpse of the ocean beyond the trees refreshed her a little, and she noticed that the water was especially calm today. It was nice weather for a swim.

'You look nice' Rin greeted Chihiro as she came toward her with two plates of food. 'Already got yours, lets go to the rock'

'Would you want to go for a swim a bit later?' Chihiro asked Rin.

Her friend looked up at the sky 'yeah it's really nice, sure! So - how are you feeling?'

Chihiro replied 'still a bit spaced out from such a long sleep - but I do feel better, thank you. Who did you get for your Mentor?'

'Suzuki-san, she's part of the board. You?'

Chihiro visibly shuddered.

'Nigihayami-sensei'

'No!' Rin gave Chihiro a wide eyed shocked yet deeply humored look. 'You're not serious'

Chihiro's face confirmed the truth. Rin laughed.

'Looks like you've been told you have terminal cancer'

'It may as well be' Chihiro said darkly 'I do not like him'

'He's been here for three days, and you are that sure of how you feel? Hey, maybe you could get a pretty price for selling that Mentorship paper and swapping it with Risa-san. She is older than us by two years and has a massive thing already for Nigihayami-sensei'

Chihiro looked at Rin with a dawning hope in her eyes, but it just as soon faded.

'But the Mentorship has to work with our timetables' she said dully.

Rin remembered the lesson that if a friend should be experiencing despair, the most empathetic thing to do was to stay silent.

Chihiro thought it was a good time to tell Rin the very strange things that had happened between herself and their new lecturer.

Before she did, however, someone approached them.

'Oh so this is where you two go!'

Ito-san came up them and had drinks in his hands.

'Here you go, mind if I join?'

The girls nodded, and he looked twice at Chihiro.

'You look nice' he said.

'Don't believe it, underneath this mask is a pasty zombie' Chihiro laughed.

Ito smiled, looking at her, but said nothing.

'Ito-san how did you remember I love passion-fruit?' Rin exclaimed; he had brought her passion-fruit flavoured bubble tea.

'Good memory' he twinkled, and handed Chihiro the same. She preferred sweet cold black tea, but she thanked him, knowing it was hard to remember everyone's preferences.

'This is a really nice place' Ito remarked and the girls assented.

'It's why we come here so often. We were thinking of going for a swim a bit later, around 5pm after the last class if you wanted to come?' Rin asked.

Chihiro would've far preferred it was just the two of them, but if Rin wanted Ito-san there she couldn't stop her.

'Sounds good' he said. 'Who do you two have as Mentors by the way? I got the director' he made a face.

Rin glanced at Chihiro.

'I don't think Chi-san wants to repeat it, so I will for her - she got Nigihayami-sensei. I got Suzuki-san'

'What, you got the new guy? That's a bit awkward' Ito exclaimed to Chihiro.

'That is an understatement' Chihiro muttered.

Rin couldn't help but laugh at her friend's demeanor and tone. 'If he ends up totally destroying you, I am sure there is some way it can be changed' Rin tried to reassure her friend.

'Oh so I have to be destroyed first before I can be eligible for a change over?' Chihiro remarked acerbically.

Ito snorted 'I don't think someone who believes in God would destroy you, Chihiro-san'

Chihiro looked down but didn't say anything. Rin narrowed her eyes slightly and furrowed her brow at her friend. Something really was weird, but she couldn't force Chihiro to tell her. She'd have to wait.

'Well we gotta go back to class' Ito said, and the three got up and returned up the path to the campus.

When Ministry and Mission class finished, Chihiro met Rin back in their dorm.

'Can't wait to go swimming' Rin said, rummaging through her clothing. 'I am so sweaty'

'Same' Chihiro said, and dropped on her desk chair for a moment. 'Long day today. I'm thinking of just not rocking up at 7, Rin-san'

'But - '

'I know, I have to do this to pass my certificate. But is it worth it?'

'Of course it is! Look, why don't you try this; try and cut it short on both ends so you don't have to spend the whole hour with him. Like today, go there with your bathers on and a towel around you, then excuse yourself early because you're cold. It's genius!'

Chihiro went red at the very idea, and pulled out her swim suit.

'In this?'

Rin's eyes fell on a frilly pink Hello Kitty bikini, and she let out a single shout of laughter.

'Was that a sneaky buy when you were twelve?' She laughed.

Chihiro looked at Rin with dead eyes. 'Yes'

'Why haven't you bought new ones since then? I - I mean, your boobs are a bit too big for those now, they'll pop out' she spluttered with laughter again.

'It's why I didn't really want Ito-san there, in case - you know - '

Rin couldn't stop laughing.

'I'll see if I have anything else' Rin said; but she only had the one set.

Chihiro put on her bikini, but made sure to instill the certainty within Rin that under no circumstances, was that scary lecturer, ever going to see her in them.

She was resolved to ask him tonight just what he had meant when he reproached her for her love of God, and telling her that He was dead. She had power to blackmail him and tell the director what had passed between them, and he'd soon find himself without a job due to his faithlessness.
A part of her was scared of facing that keen young face and penetrating gaze, but another looked forward to perhaps threatening him.

The girls met Ito at the beach, and Chihiro absolutely did not remove the t-shirt over her bikini. Rin's chest was a lot smaller so she was safe taking off her shirt, without worrying that a slight stir in the water might uncover her entire chest.

They swam to the point before the aqua marine water turned to the deep blue of the depths, and rode the gentle on coming waves in to shore. The sun sat low in the sky and warmed them, while they were cooled by the water at the same time. They had easy conversation about class and general life things, though Chihiro hid her deep anxiety well as 7pm approached. She still could not believe a lecturer of the campus had ever said the things he did to her.
Maybe the director had just seen Nigihayami-sensei was from a very prestigious university, and took his confession of faith necessary for employment on face value, without digging any deeper.
It raised another question in Chihiro's mind; why would someone of such elite training and qualification want to do a guest lecturing term at Okinawa's bible college?

The sun descended lower, and their conversation turned to wondering what they would be talking about with their Mentor's, until it became a bit too cold to stay in the water.

When they got to the beach and looked at their phones Chihiro groaned. It was ten past seven. Ito had his appointment at 7:30 so he was fine, and Rin had hers at 7:40.

'Better get going Chi-san' Rin tried not to laugh.

'Are you kidding me, I don't even have time to change, by the time I get there it'll be nearly half past and he'll eat me for sure!'

'If he starts baring his teeth, please scream so we can come save you, Chihiro-san' Ito said solemnly and Rin giggled.

Chihiro could only roll her eyes, and try and swallow back her nausea.

She took off running, holding her boobs so they didn't go all over the place, at the same time as trying to hold her towel around her. It was a bit of a Herculean effort, and by the time she'd run up the sandy beach to the forest trail her calves were burning. She hadn't wet her hair or face but she felt as though she might as well have with all the sweat pouring off her face; the weather was still quite humid after all. All she wanted to do was go back to her friends and back in to the ocean and
the last thing she wanted to do, was not change at the very least for this damned mentorship. She got to the top of the forest path as the sun was showing its last light, and made to go across the lawn to her dormitories.

'Where are you going? Come here' Chihiro froze, squeezed her eyes shut for just a moment, and re opened them to see her 'Mentor' standing by the water fountain feature near the main hall.

She cursed inwardly, even though she knew that was a bad thing to do. She simply couldn't help it, and surely God would forgive her under the circumstances.
Why did she have to have a white shirt on? Cringing enormously, Chihiro walked like a chastised puppy over to Nigihayami-sensei.

'You are half an hour late' he said as she came in to the light, and looked from her face down to her very see through shirt soaked with sea water, perfectly outlining every bit of her womanly curves, and the Hello Kitty bikini. Chihiro tried to partially cover herself with her towel and hands, to not much avail.

'I see you prefer to shirk your learning and pursue pleasure instead' the tall teacher said, as his eyes raised themselves to see Ito-san crossing the lawn to the men's dorms in his board shorts.

'As you are so wet' he continued, raising an eyebrow at Chihiro, 'we can just sit at these tables' he motioned to the outside sets underneath the covered area attached to the main hall.

Chihiro felt mortified, yet again. This lecturer always seemed to be able to disarm her ammunition, because she was all too able to make a fool of herself in front of him, and give him the upper hand.

They sat down opposite each other, and Chihiro could not think of a word to say after an awkward pause.

'I have some questions I must ask you to begin with' his smooth, deep voice ran on. 'The first being - is there anything you would like to talk about?'

Chihiro could not believe this was happening, so much so she almost laughed at the absurdity. Instead, an irresistible smile forced itself on her lips and she shook her head slightly, looking down.

'Nigihayami-sensei, I mean no disrespect, but how am I to just chat to you normally when you have only ever frightened me?'

Did she just say that? She did. Chihiro waited with baited breath, still looking down, her question hanging in the air.

There seemed to be a shift in mood.

'Nothing frightens you, Chihiro - ' the voice was suddenly so gentle, that Chihiro's heart fluttered and her eyes raised - why was he saying her name so gently, like a caress, and without formality? Her chest rose and fell rather quickly, and Chihiro shivered as her gaze went from his slim, elegant hand to the muscles of his forearm and the veins underneath, and she rather fixedly noted that it seemed no colour of blood ran through those veins, but something else unknown - her breath caught in her throat as she saw the curious green shade to his black hair, and then to his Adam's apple and his elvish, sharp jawline - but she could not raise her eyes further than his throat.

'Who are you?' She found herself whispering, and she felt as though all her insides were turned to stone, her gaze fixed on the tendons and veins in his slim, pale neck.

She noticed he leaned forward a little, and opened his mouth slightly, but he seemed to change his mind, and said instead:

'You already know I am your teacher' he said, his voice curiously strained - almost, pained?

She could not know that it was not in his power to remind Chihiro of who he really was, even though she had come so close.

The moment passed, and Chihiro's eyes fell to inspecting her hands again.

'Sensei - you know - what you said to me yesterday could lose you your job here'

Haku stared hard at her.

'Are you going to tell on me?' He sounded ironic, as though he knew an inside joke, and Chihiro did not like it.
He remembered how he had guided her to safety in the Spirit World - and now here he was, in her world, yet she was thinking of exiling him already.
It was hard to keep his mind on the mentorship, when she sat there half naked with nothing but a soaked thin shirt covering the lovely curves underneath.
She looked like an image of desire to him, her thick light brown hair in a messy bun on her head and the vision of her lovely face.
Those wide brown eyes enchanted him; filled with tears or anger, he found them mesmerising.
And her soft pink lips, now slightly parted, would rend a groan from his soul if he didn't constantly hold it back.
When he had first seen her after so long two days ago, it had taken all of his restraint to not crush her to him in a hug.
None of this, she could know; Haku himself wished he could be rid of such desires - for he knew the risk he ran.
But years of trying to forget his love for her only provoked it to grow, and develop in to an all consuming desire that had led him here.
He had endured much to be incarnate on earth, to see his Chihiro again.

The lovely little woman raised her sparkling eyes to him and retorted:
'Why wouldn't I? I would be within my right'

Haku should have known she would have 'spirit'. It had made things very complicated, however, to find her on such a path in life.

'I did apologise for what I said' Nigihayami inclined his head. 'But believe it or not, part of my job is to test your faith and see how far you would go to defend it'

His eyes shimmered at her deceptively. Chihiro blushed, which Haku found fascinating. Did it mean she did love him after all - did her body betray her, or did it mean something else? He could never ask.

'A funny way of doing it' Chihiro mumbled. 'But, if you really want to know why I love God so much - it began - ' Chihiro faltered, not knowing if she wanted to share this information. She did not want this beautiful creature judging her, or making sarcastic remarks.

'Do go on' Haku spoke as softly as he could, despite his burning curiosity.

Chihiro frowned slightly, playing with her fingers.

'Y-yes. I used to love - Shintoism, and believe in it with all my heart' she began, and quickly glanced up to see if he had a critical expression on his face. She blushed deeper when she saw a genuine interest reflected in his gemstone eyes.

'But, my parents converted to Catholicism when I was younger, around twelve or thirteen. They would tear up my books and punish me for being interested in what they called the occult. But, in high school, I started to think more for myself, and I tried to have more of an open mind towards my parents faith as it meant so much to them. I - I love them very much and - please do not judge me for this, sir - I just wanted to do what most other children want, which is to make their parents proud of them.' She looked with naive shyness up at him to see if he was catching on.

Haku wanted to kiss her then and there, showing such an adorable face and appealing manner, but he was not an ancient spirit well studied in human behavior for no reason. He knew how to wear a mask, even in the face of his desire.

'S-so I began taking the Bible a bit more seriously, and there was a lot I genuinely liked about it. By the end of high school, I'd made up my mind to come here - and it was perfect - ' Chihiro seemed to stare in to the distance ' - because I missed the water so much'

Haku's ocean-green eyes widened, and his heart rate increased at her words; the great spirit was a prisoner to every syllable that fell from her tongue, and he thirsted to hear more from the lovely little woman.

'Why did you miss the water?' He breathed, water itself rushing through his voice. He saw Chihiro look at him curiously again, as though she was trying to remember something. He had already discovered that a very impenetrable force blocked her memory, when he had stared deep in her eyes on that sleepless night of hers.

Chihiro was feeling all sorts of giddy - she could hardly trust her voice, and the way he was looking at her, made her feel like covering herself with anything at hand; she could not banish her blushing - Chihiro felt as though she was under the scrutiny of a hunter looking at his prey - a very beautiful hunter, and a very bedraggled, soaked prey. She was amazed she had been able to tell him the brief story, and that she had even chosen to. It did not make rational sense to her in any way, any of this. But, neither did any interaction with this man, so it would seem.

'The water - ' she tried her best to answer his insistent question; 'the sound, the smell, the - taste - of it, reminds me of something - it is so familiar to me, but I don't know why - '

Chihiro looked at him with a very naive, puzzled, despairing look, and Haku wished to do things to her that he was forbidden to do.

If only she could remember, and know - that he was the answer to her question - right before her.

Her expression changed, and she seemed to close off.

'I - I'm sorry - I don't know why I am saying any of this - I'm sure it doesn't have anything to do with the - ' she motioned to the buildings around them.

'Religion' Haku finished for her.

Chihiro looked in a sort of guilty shock at him, but didn't deny it.

She still wanted to ask him how he had moved that snake, but the way he was following her every move and looking at her with such hooded, piercing eyes, she could not bring herself to interrogate him. He was disturbingly alluring.

'So - ' he continued 'what fears do you have, and how do you deal with them?'

Chihiro wanted to go far from here, and never have to answer any of these questions to this man again. But she had to.

'Fears - ' she thought out loud, her voice feeling more and more constricted in her throat ' - that I'll never gain the full love of my parents' she admitted. She had never really thought of this so exactly, and the truth of the statement hit her hard as she said it. She looked down to hide the unasked for tears in her eyes. For goodness sake not now, Chihiro chided herself.

But Haku was water - and he knew whenever his desire had tears in her eyes.

'And you deal with that by continuing to try' Haku finished for her.

Chihiro nodded, not trusting herself to speak. Her teacher's voice was so unexpectedly soft, that it threatened to shake the welling tears from her eyes.

His claws dug deep in his palms in an attempt to stop himself from reaching out for Chihiro.

She made an effort to regain herself, and succeeded.

'Something else I fear, is never knowing what it is I lost, in my memory' she seemed to look inward, but to no avail. 'I have tried therapy to deal with it, but I don't think anything but remembering what it is I've forgotten will fix it' she finally met his eyes, and met an emotionless, considering look.

She only felt more and more uncomfortable around this man the longer she stayed - her heart had undergone too many palpitations already. Why did she have to get the handsome, mysterious, very strange guy for a private mentor?

'Sir - do you mind me asking you a question?' Chihiro asked, not looking at him.

'No'

Chihiro said in a quiet voice; 'What colour are your eyes?'

Haku gazed at her.

'Why don't you look at them?' He answered.

Chihiro still did not look up.

'B-because I thought they were green - but yesterday - they looked yellow - and before that - grey - ' she trailed off.

Haku laughed softly.

'All of the above' he murmured.

Chihiro looked at him then, and saw his expression was insidious, like a snake. How did he change so extremely, so quickly? He was harsh and rude, then he could be honest and very kind - then all at once turn around and seem bewildering and deceptive. He changed - like water.

'Th-that's not possible' Chihiro almost whispered. 'No one can change their eye colour'

Haku paused a split second before saying 'of course. I suppose it's just the changing of the light. I didn't know you studied my eyes so closely, Ogino-san'

Chihiro looked away immediately, going very red.

'Oh - I, couldn't help, but notice such changes - '

'Just so' he said, with a slight incline of his head. His manners almost seemed aristocratic.

'Sir, please forgive me for saying, that you seem very - different - to most people'

Haku smiled inwardly. He wished he could say 'because I am not a human'. But his tongue was tied on the topic.

'Forgiven. Each of us have peculiarities. You don't need to apologize for having a keen sense of discernment, Ogino-san. There is one last question. If you were to marry, how could you honour God in your marriage?'

Chihiro looked at him in confusion.

'Is that really one of their questions?' She asked. Haku merely nodded. 'Alright' Chihiro sounded evidently doubtful of answering such a query.

'Well - I suppose the only answer is, to find someone who loves God as much, or more, than I do, so we can build each other up in the faith'

'Sounds like an answer from a text book' Haku leaned back, his voice silky.

'Is it wrong?' Chihiro asked, more as a challenge than an inquiry.

Haku leaned forward again swiftly and looked hard in to her eyes. 'Do you not think you could honour God more with passion?'

Chihiro's face again fired up at his predatory stance and expression, the sudden intensity to his voice.

'P - passion can come and go, like the wind - faithfulness lasts forever and is a fruit of the spirit'

Haku knew very well the fruits of the spirit.

'Yet, Ogino-san' his keen eyes pinned her to the spot; 'would you - you, marry without passion?'

The question seemed highly inappropriate, and she was ashamed at her arousal toward him. Haku could smell her scent, and his face truly became dragon-like, his mouth filled with saliva.

'I think' Chihiro desperately tried to grasp on to her senses 'that someone like Ito-san would be wonderful, he is a dedicated, nice man, and would give me a good life, centered around God'

Haku immediately withdrew at this cold sentence.

'Dedicated', 'nice', 'good', you say' his voice sounded bitter, and Chihiro was utterly perplexed at the passion in her teacher's tone. 'You might as well lie down under six feet of earth now, and experience as much love and life in the grave as you would with Ito'

That was extreme, and Chihiro immediately stood up, forgetting that she only wore a very skimpy amount of clothes - she realised this whole time she had been feeling hot, but her body was still cold, and she began shivering as the cool night air blew around her.

'I won't listen to your insults anymore. Now, I need to do these in order to pass my qualification, so, sir, I would appreciate it if you could refrain from being personal, and not make such cruel, anti-christian comments. Or I will report you'

Haku gazed at her, a veritable storm of emotions marching through his kaleidoscopic eyes. He wanted to say and do very differently to what he did next.

'I - I am sorry. I will not speak to you like this again. I only pray, one day, you will see why'

Chihiro didn't know she had tears streaming down her face.

'What do you mean, sir? Why do you talk to me in riddles? How have I only known you three days, yet you have tortured me? Who are you?'

Haku cried with deep grief and agony within his spirit, but outwardly he wore the old mask. His desire, Chihiro, was begging him for answers that he could give her, if he would - but knowing they would mean nothing to her, he did not.

'Because you don't know' he replied to her impassioned entreaty with cool aloofness 'you cannot know' and he rose, turned, bowed, and left.

Chihiro was broken, and spent at least an hour in emotional and mental agony sitting at that bench, her soul utterly wrung out.

Deep red blood dripped from Haku's palms as he walked away, where his claws had dug and pierced deep.