The next few days were agonizing for Chinatsu. She could think of nothing but of this Lord Mimato. What would he be like? Would he like her? How should she act around him? Should she dress nicely? How will he treat her? What will he say? Questions flooded her mind and invaded her thoughts. She paced the room every night because she couldn't sleep due to these thoughts.

One such night, Rin awoke due to the girl's constant steps, and sat up with a jerk. "Dammit Chinatsu, get a hold of yourself girl! It's no big deal. Just calm down! If you're as fidgety as a butterfly he'll no doubt say you'll bring danger due to uncertainty!"

Chinatsu sighed. "I'm sorry… I suppose I'm worrying a little too much."

"A little?" the older woman repeated. "Now get to sleep. He should be arriving tomorrow."

"Great…" she muttered, laying back down on the futon. An hour or so later she was finally able to fall into a fitful night sleep. She awoke in the morning, slightly rested, but awake enough to emotionally deal with the thought of this Lord coming to the bathhouse for her and for her only.

"So when's he coming?" Chinatsu asked in the morning.

Rin shrugged. "Who knows. He'll come when he wants to, I guess."

"Where's Haku, anyway? I haven't seen him since he flew off that one day."

"Good question actually. He normally doesn't disappear for days on end without first giving an explanation."

"I see…" she mused, partly to herself.

"Well, we'll just have to see when…" she stopped in mid sentence when she heard a crash upstairs. Both her and Rin dropped their rags and ran towards the stairs. "What was that?" Chinatsu asked.

"We'll just have to see." Rin was shouting directions at employees to keep the customers calm and comfortable. Yubaba was out that morning on business, so Rin automatically took over control.

When they reached the fifth floor, in the doorway of one of the rooms shattered wood and glass stuck in the ground. Thrashing could be heard from within the room.

"Haku…?" Rin whispered.

"Haku?" Chinatsu repeated, glancing over at Rin as she followed her to the room.

Sure enough, as they peered through the doorway, a very injured Haku lay on the ground, attempting to stand on a hurt leg.

"Jesus Haku, what did you get yourself into this time?" Rin questioned accusingly, cautiously approaching the wild dragon.

As Rin and Chinatsu both took a step forward, Haku swept them back with a flick of his tail. They hit the wall with a hard thud.

"What the…?" Rin started, just as a huge flash of light hit the broken window and Haku, who went flying through to the complete other side of that floor.

"HAKU!" both girls screamed at the same time, as they uncovered their eyes from the bright flash. It was dying down and Rin glanced over at the source and there lay a small ball with some sort of creature in it, most definitely dead.

"A spell!" Rin gasped, standing up, seeming to think for a second. "One of Lord Mimato's!" and suddenly, as if forgetting Haku was there, suddenly remembered and darted over to him through the rubble, Chinatsu close behind.

"Haku!" Chinatsu cried as she saw the dragon now back in his human form, unconscious and bleeding, injured and broken.

"God dammit Haku… what did you do?" Rin wondered to herself, carefully examining the extent of his injuries.

Chinatsu had been unable to say anything except his name. Why was Rin so calm? Has this happened before? Finally she found her voice. "Why did this happen?"

"Lord Mimato has something to do with it. That spell that did him in was one of his. It was powerful… much more powerful then Yubaba's.

"What do we do?"

"Take him down to Kamaji. He's taken care of Haku before."

"This has happened before?"

"Not to this extent. Last time was when Chihiro was here…" she trailed off.

They were both quiet for a few moments before Rin shook her head. "Help me wrap up these gashes really quick and we'll take him down to Kamaji. His shirt will do… it's already ruined."

Rin gently tore off his shirt and began ripping it in strips. "Tie these around any place that has not stopped bleeding."

Chinatsu nodded and quickly began. Ten minutes later he was roughly bandaged and Rin gently lifted him up. There was such care in her touch with him if Chinatsu hadn't known them she would have thought they had something together.

Chinatsu followed Rin as she carried Haku down to Kamaji's, Lord Mimato's spell still laying on the floor. Chinatsu looked back over her shoulder for one last glance at the spell, now just a puddle on the floor with what looked like a slug sitting in the middle.

Haku's head was resting gently on Rin's shoulder. He looked just like he was sleeping; his face had escaped unharmed. Haku… what did you do? Chinatsu thought. Is Lord Mimato angry at you, or us? Is he here?

As the trio reached the basement storage room that led to the boiler room, Chinatsu spotted a figure standing in the shadows. "Rin!" she whispered fiercely. The woman stopped, and followed Chinatu's outstretched finger.

"Who are you?" Rin demanded.

"Not a smart way to talk to a Lord…" a deep voice trickled off.

Rin gasped and stepped back. "Lord Mimato!"