June…

Monday Morning…

It was for that reason that I'm sure you'll understand my confusion when I woke up. My body which as far as I was aware had been burning was now pain free and fine. In fact the only thing that hurt me at the moment was my head, where a migraine was happily drumming away.

Shaking my head I sat up.

Why was I in a bed? Where was the forest I had been in? What had happened to the spirit of Urado who I had been trying to kill? Opting to look around and see what I could find out about where I was I was shocked to find that I was in a room I vaguely remembered. It had been almost twenty years since I have been in this room. This was my old apartment from when I was a teenager and working for SPR, to my left was the desk that still had my school books from junior year on the chair was the uniform that I remember wearing there was a bottle shaped stain on the breast pocket that my friend Esaki has put there one day when she had run into me in the hallway.

How was it that my purifying ritual hadn't worked? I had seen it eat away Urado so why hadn't it done that to me like it should have.

"Mistress Mai…"

My head snapped up in shock. That had sounded like Yukimaru one of my Shiki… he was an ice demon that I had found in a village near Osaka ten years ago he had been a powerful spirit that I had taken over after much struggle. Yukimaru had set himself to causing a small village to become winter all year round, he had frozen many people to death before I had found my way there and stopped him. Now he was my guardian and one of the more powerful spirits under my control. He was also my closest companion.

"Yukimaru?" I called out praying it wasn't just wishful thinking that made me hear my Shiki's voice.

"Yes Mistress Mai… I'm here."

"Yukimaru where are you? Why can't I see you?" I asked. Yukimaru had always been rather found of taking physical form, he was a little trouble maker as well his sent was all over this I just knew it.

"I couldn't let you kill yourself, Master Lin told me to protect you. I couldn't let you die by my fire! When the evil one was gone all of you that was left was your spirit I took it to your former form. Time has no meaning to spirits so you see as you were it was easy to bring you here." Yukimaru said.

My former form? What was Yukimaru talking about? And where was he hiding anyways?

"Yukimaru where are you?" just as I said that a very small weak orb floated before me.

"I had to use all my power to make sure that you lived Mistress Mai for you and only you would I make such a sacrifice." Said Yukimaru as he glowed weakly with each word he said.

Reaching up to cup the spirit of my once formidable Shiki alpha I started to cry. My poor Yukimaru, what had he been thinking to reduce himself to this weak little glowing orb of no power. I wasn't worth saving if it meant the ruin of my best and most loyal friend.

"So the fire worked then?" I asked the little glowing globe of spirit light still in my hands.

"Yes, Mistress Mai, we destroyed the demon. The other Shiki did not survive the burning I'm all that's left of them, they gave me the last of their power to save you." Whispered the little spirit as its glow dimed in despair and my hart clenched in loss for my little Shiki we hadn't started out the easiest but in the end we had been all good friends. Looking around the room of my old apartment I felt so lost, what was I going to do now?

"Yukimaru what do I do now? And what did you mean my former form?" I asked my Shiki.

"We were spirits at the time Mistress, and I was infused with not only your power but the power of the other Shiki as well. I was able to find my way here to the past; time is of little importance when you're trying to save your friends life."

"So I'm in the past? Oh Yukimaru… now I have to kill that thing all over again! I'm going to have to watch everyone I love die again!" I whined to the little glowing orb that was resting in my cupped hands.

"I know Mistress but it will not be as powerful this time, there for it is my belief that you won't have to die killing it. The demon Urado is still imprisoned in the Manor is it not?"

"Yes your right little one. I'm sorry for whining at you… I never thought anything like this would happen to me I was supposed to die Yukimaru! And look at you now you would have been fine had you not done anything." I whispered at him but I was glad for having him with me I would have been truly lost without my Shiki.

Looking around at the room once more I knew I needed to find out what time Yukimaru had stuck me into. Nodding to myself I had finally found myself a direction in which to go in. I got up and went to desk off to the side of the room, knowing myself as a teen I was never a vary tidy girl everything I would need would be on that desk or so I hoped. Something Naru had complained endlessly about the state of my desk for years he used to say that my desk was not a trash bin and that I needed to take far more pride in my work space.

I wish now that I wasn't so messy the desk top was a disaster zone! It would take me an hour just to go through all this god damned paper.

"Mistress you sure are messy!" whispered the glowing Shiki.

Looking at the glowing orb with something close to distain I tried to remember what made me think becoming an Omyouji was a good idea? Lin, he had once said that my powers were ideal for that type of magic and that my potential was just amazing. That's right I blame having this annoying little Shiki being a smartass on Lin the freakishly tall Chinese man.

Sighing I looked back to the desk before me, well Lin's fault or not I was now stuck with the glowing useless orb for a Shiki, what was the use complaining about it now that he saved my life and all. God damned Shiki I couldn't hate him for long if I tried. Nodding to myself I started to shift through all the papers on the desk. Old middle school books and homework an old apple core, the list when one till finally I found an unopened envelope, why hadn't it been opened? I was almost always to curious to leave mail unopened for long well whatever it was I was going to open it now.

I stared at the sheet of paper like it was the most shocking thing in the world, of all the times Yukimaru could have sent me back to it was this! The letter I was looking at was my acceptance letter to high school! I was a whole ten months before I ever met Naru and Lin! Good god I was thirteen again.

"Yukimaru I don't know if I want to hate you or love you for this!" I said, my voice was full of shock even I could hear.

"Well as I was the one to save your life, I vote for loving me Mistress!" stated the glowing orb as it hovered above my head.

Ten months! I didn't know if I could last that long without noising my way into some ghost hunt or another. It was far too long to do nothing for. I didn't think for a moment I would last until I met Naru and Lin, but at the same time I was practically powerless just like my Shiki. Although I knew my powers would return with time just like Yukimaru's powers would one day return to him. I had made a living out of hunting ghosts but as I looked at it now I didn't think I would be able to do it at the moment god the only thing I would be able to do would be warding magic!

"Well Yukimaru we have ten months before the shit known as Kazuya Shibuya enters our lives and it all hits the fan. I need to regain a little of my former power and so do you my friend and if that means that I got to make you cannibalize a few fellow spirits then so be it. Omyouji, that's what they called me, well by the end of these ten months they'll be willing to call me that once more… even if I plan to keep it on the down low." I said staring at the once mighty Shiki, "Think we can do it, Yuki?"

"Mistress… I would rather not eat sad pathetic low level spirits if you don't mind but yes I think we can do it." Yukimaru said as his glowing self, spun around the room in what I hoped was excitement.

"Well with enthusiasm like that I don't know what will stop us!" I smiled for the first time in a week I had lost my friends but now I would get them all back along with the love of my life. I wasn't going to let anything hurt them again and if that meant making me stronger than even Oliver Davis then so be it! I was game; ten months to save my world some would say it was impossible, just watch me do it!