I deeply apologize for the delay in posting this chapter. Life knocks me down sometimes, but nothing a good visit to the nearby river couldn't fix. I will update next Wednesday as well, so I will be back on the alternating Wednesday schedule from that point forward. This chapter and the next are going to be slow as I set up what is coming up. I promise there will soon be plenty of action and ridiculously sweet romance as I set the stage for the impending cascade of events. My goal is to try and finish this story by the end of the summer, whether by making longer chapters or posting on some off days. Thanks again for your continued attention and support.

Chapter 11:

Pounding feet resounded across the blackness. Heavy breathing from exertion. She had been running for so long, trying to escape the horrors lurking after her. Pushing herself harder, she raced against the black tendrils reaching out behind her.

Chihiro could see the train station platform as she ran out of the tunnel entrance. It didn't matter how many times she tried to cross over, as long as she didn't have her clothes from the night she crossed over, she would not be successful. Darting out onto the platform, she felt the claws of the shadow that had been chasing her finally catch around her throat. As the air gasped out of her lungs, she prayed that the end would come quick as she struggled against the demon. Thrown to the ground, her arms were quickly pinned down by its weight and though she fought relentlessly, it was going to consume her. Twisting her head away, Chihiro could see out one of the platform doors. The sound of screams was echoing in the distance, not to be outdone by the raging fire taking down the bathhouse. Pushing the demon away with all of her might, Chihiro got enough space to lift herself partially up. The faceless black mass surged towards her and she felt a scream rip loose as she slammed back into the hard stone floor.

Jolting awake, Chihiro nearly screamed aloud at the presence of a weight pressing down beside her. Clutching the unfamiliar sheets harder, she jerked away from the pressure on her shoulders.

"Shhshh it's just me! You are ok now," Haku spoke breaking the pounding silence, "It was just a nightmare. I'm right here with you. You are safe now." Chihiro let out a trembling sigh of relief as he released hold of her shoulders. Memories of the night before trickled back to her and she slowly released the sheets. After finding the bathroom and his room empty, Chihiro had felt anxious. She had almost gone downstairs to sleep in Lin's room, but the reminder that Haku could return any moment in a weakened state and need her help, kept her there. She had sat down on Haku's bed to wait for him when she had fallen asleep.

Chihiro still trembled lightly from the fear leaving her. The nightmare had seemed so real. Lying down hesitantly beside her, Haku pulled her over to his chest and tucked her into the safety of his arms. Melting into his form, Chihiro felt her fear drift away. Patting her head gently, he listened to her ragged breathing calm. Part of her wanted to protest over the intimacy they were sharing, but somehow she couldn't bring herself to push him away. She liked the feeling of him holding her close more than she cared to admit. This whole friends thing was not going to last at this rate. Were they something more before?

"Where did you go? I went to check on you and I couldn't find you. I was scared so I waited here for you to return." Chihiro didn't have to explain why she was scared for Haku to understand. Frowning gently into her hair, he carefully tucked the blanket around her tighter.

"I'm sorry, Chihiro. I went to my safe place to rest." Her frown deepened in annoyance, but she had no right to argue. If she had a safe place, she probably would have headed there too after what they saw. Part of her wished that he had thought of taking her with him or at least warning her that he was leaving.

"How did you get there then? Cause you sure as hell didn't take the door." Haku chuckled in response to her sharp tongue. She had a point there, but it was easier to tease than be honest. He would tell her everything in time, but for now, he wanted her to think of him as more human than spirit. After all, he had been making an effort up to this point. Haku was doing his best to not lounge around in his dragon form, especially since controlling his feelings in that form was slightly more difficult, and he was trying to not use magic in front of her. Maybe if she saw him as less spirit like, she would be more likely to like him again and choose to stay here.

"Chihiro, you know there are other ways to leave a room besides a door. Windows, portals, trapdoors," Haku began listing off options as he watched her pout in annoyance. Of course there were other ways to leave, but she wanted to know how he had done it. From his tone and smirk, she doubted he would tell her. Instead, she lay there quietly and pouted. It was too early to get up, as evidenced by the still up sun, and though she considered sleeping right there, the idea of having a reoccurring nightmare was unappealing. Haku's chest was firm and comfortable, and the sound of his beating heart beneath her ear was calming. He drifted off his list with something about spinning walls before falling silent. "Will you tell me about your nightmare? You seemed awfully scared when you awoke."

Chihiro wanted to make a smart ass retort and be uncooperative, but his offer was too appealing. She began to describe it in detail, focusing in on the things that scared her most- the bathhouse burning and being unable to leave in an emergency. Taking her words with heavy consideration, Haku pondered her nightmare as if it were a battle scenario to be analyzed.

"Since the bathhouse is made of charmed, aged wood it would be fairly easy to burn it, but I don't think you should worry about that. There are many strong water spirits that reside here that would put out any fire that could arise. In regards to being unable to leave, if you promise to not do anything stupid I will show you where I hid your clothes." Chihiro nodded her head and Haku reluctantly slid out from underneath her. Offering her a hand, Chihiro gently took it and followed him back to her room. As he opened up the wardrobe, she couldn't muffle her snort of disbelief.

"It couldn't be in there Haku. I have been going in there for days-" she said before being brought up short. For lying in his hands were her clothes from the party. The modest black button up shirt, khaki skirt and low heels were folded neatly beneath the bra and panties that she had set aside the other day. "How could that…?"

"There is a hidden panel on the back wall of the cabinet. Feel for yourself, the latch is right here." Chihiro brushed past him to feel the small knot in the wood that she had overlooked. Looking up at him in amazement, she began laughing.

"Of course you would hide it in plain sight. It was there the whole time," she giggled. Haku smiled at her response and put the clothes back in their secret compartment. Herding her towards her bed, he folded back the cold covers and helped her in. Chihiro grumbled about how cold the bed was and Haku considered scooting in beside her, but decided against it. Finding her in his bed had been enough temptation as it was, better not to push anything. Tucking her in gently, he ran a hand through her hair before whispering goodnight and leaving. Chihiro found sleep shortly after and dreamed of nothing but darkness.

When Chihiro awoke, the sun had begun its nightly fade and the bathhouse was stirring with life. Clambering out of bed, she yawned as she walked to the door and pulled it open. A large bouquet of dahlias in a vase sat in front of her door, causing Chihiro to nearly stumble over it in her sleepy state. Picking them up, she noticed there was no note, but it screamed of Haku's touch. Smiling, she felt her heart warm at his gift and put them on her night stand before heading to the bathroom to get ready.

"Chihiro Ogino, get over here this instant!" Yui's loud voice instantly silenced everyone in the kitchen as they all turned to stare at her. Feathers ruffled and in a huff, Yui grabbed Chihiro from her spot in the prep line and began dragging her away. Calling her apology to the lunch staff, she tripped over her own feet trying to turn around and walk with Yui. Pulling her into an empty, corridor, she pushed her against the wall and held her there. "What the hell did you do to the fox in hospice," she whispered. Chihiro could see lines of exhaustion in her face and her usual clothes were stained with black and red. She had obviously arrived now that the rain was gone and been thrown into the mess that was the infirmary. If the stains were anything, her fox probably hadn't made it. Opening her mouth to say she didn't do anything, Chihiro felt Yui's piercing stare cut into her.

"Don't you dare try to lie to me, Chihiro! Just tell me what you did! You are the only one brave enough in this bathhouse to enter into the hospice ward when I'm away so don't try and say you didn't go down there while I was gone. I know it was you." Yui slammed her feathered wing above Chihiro's head in impatience at her silence.

"I'm sorry. I just thought I could help by cleaning his wounds and replacing the poultices while you were gone," Chihiro whispered looking down at her feet.

"You did something more than that. We tried that and he was unresponsive to treatment, that's why he was left to die. What else did you do," she pleaded.

"Why does it matter what I did if he is dead," Chihiro yelled back as tears began to pour down her cheeks. Yui looked at her confused before banging her forehead against Chihiro's.

"You baka, he isn't dead. He made an impossible recovery in the short time I was away! I want to know what you did!" Chihiro stared back at her shocked, but happily surprised. "And here you are keeping your mouth shut about it while others are suffering! Out with it, woman!"

"All I did was use the fresh rain water to wash him so he wasn't completely filthy and used the same procedure you showed me before. That is all I did." Yui stood back and seemed to be pondering her reply.

"Rain water, eh? Let me guess it was probably cold?" Chihiro shook her head yes and straightened up from the wall.

"Chihiro, you are brilliant," Yui said hugging her quickly and holding her away, "I've never seen a white fox this far south so I should have thought to use a cold treatment. White fox spirits are native to the Northern lands. The rain water must have been able to cool him off enough to regain his senses and fight the infection. You have to show me exactly how you treated the fox."

"I don't even know what I did Yui. I just went along with a gut feeling."

"Come now and you can show me. Everything else can wait." Yui moved to drag Chihiro, but she planted her feet and leaned back.

"I'll come when I can, but not right now. I am supposed to be meeting Lin in the kitchen when you interrupted and it will raise suspicion if I suddenly disappear. Nobody else knows that I have been going down to the infirmary on a regular basis, let alone the hospice ward, and we need to keep it that way." Yui was too far gone in her mutterings of possible rain water applications in regular treatments to hear her. Chihiro felt guilty for not going with her immediately, but if he was as well as she was saying, his dressing change could wait until after she had finished her shift. She had already told Yui all that she had done, so seeing her in action should make no difference. They were interrupted by Lin skirting around the corner.

"What is going on here? I heard yelling when I was coming up the steps from the boiler room."

"Nothing, but a misunderstanding I'm afraid," Chihiro cut in as she pushed Yui away from her, "Are you ready to update the kitchen storage rooms and figure out what we need to order?" Lin nodded her head in consensus, but still stared at Yui in suspicion. Yui glanced at Chihiro and with a sigh, put space between them.

"I'll be returning to the infirmary. I hope that you will consider bringing over some supplies later this evening, after you finish your other duties of course." Following after Lin, Chihiro looked back over her shoulder at Yui who was staring after them. Yui gave her a short nod before hurrying off in the direction of the infirmaries.

Lin and the foreman discussed the staff adjustments that Chihiro had inducted in Lin's absence from the front of house affairs while Chihiro stared out the open door at the organized chaos outside. The meeting didn't necessarily require her participation anyways. Staff members ran to and fro doing their duties, but one particular spirit caught her eye. Haku had been standing across the main walkway talking with one of the regular patrons, a roaming black cat spirit, for the entire length of the meeting. This particular cat spirit was known for talking for days if you let him, and Haku made the mistake of letting him start.

"Oy Chihiro! If you are gonna keep starin' at him for the rest of the shift, you might as well go talk to him," Lin exclaimed breaking Chihiro's stare. Looking back at Lin to retort that he was busy with a customer and that she had nothing to say, she was surprised to find the foreman gone. "We finished up a few minutes ago, but I thought I'd give you a few more moments. He's pretty handsome, isn't he? Has quite the ass," she said with a confident smirk.

"Lin," Chihiro exclaimed as she swatted her, her face blushing instantly. If either of them had been looking at Haku, they would have seen him smirk at their conversation. After all, dragons have very good hearing.

"And look here, you are blushing like a school girl! Have you fallen in love with the master of the bathhouse," Lin mocked as she dodged Chihiro's next swat and her laughter poured out.

"Nonsense! He's just a good friend!" Lin dodged Chihiro as she circled around the table. Making a move to quickly get around the table and grab Lin, Chihiro bumped right into Haku as he walked into the room. Stumbling back, Haku caught her with a small smile before she could fall. Wagging her eyebrows at Chihiro, Lin slipped out the other door as she chortled, "You're done for the night so go enjoy yourself!"

"What was all that about," Haku asked feigning ignorance as Chihiro blushed madly and cursed Lin under her breath. Standing upright so Haku could release her, Chihiro found herself looking at her feet.

"I just wanted to thank you for the flowers this morning. It really made my day. You seemed busy so I was going to wait until later." Haku smiled at her awkward blush and shy appearance. Taking his hand, he gently brought her face up to look at him.

"If you are thanking someone, you should look them in the eyes so they know you mean it," he gently scolded. Biting her lip, Chihiro returned her eyes to the floor for a moment before looking right into his eyes.

"Thank you, Haku," Chihiro spoke quietly as she smiled up at him. The blush on her cheeks bloomed even further as she realized how he had angled her. Haku was leaning over her, just inches away from kissing her with the way he was holding her head up. Heck if she really wanted, she could lift up onto her tip toes and smash her lips against his. The flowers were the sweetest thing that anyone had ever done for her and the warm fluttering sensations in her stomach hadn't left since she laid against him earlier this morning.

"It was my pleasure," Haku said graciously as he bestowed a warm smile on her. Chihiro felt her knees get a little weak, but refused to admit how close she was to turning him from friend to something more. Could they be something more? The question echoed around in the back of her mind. "May all of your dreams be sweet as flowers in bloom."

Chihiro chuckled at him and he released her face. She felt the absence of his cool hand against her. The rest of the bathhouse seemed to fade away around them in her mind. Haku's smirk made her heart skip a beat. "You should get used to it though. There will be many more to come." His words confused her and she cocked her head in question.

"What do you mean there will be more to come?"

"I hear that keeping fresh flowers in one's room will keep away nightmares."

"You don't have to go to such lengths for me." Chihiro shook her head at the idea, but Haku looked at her seriously.

"I would do anything for you. It's a small price to pay in the scheme of things. You should see the price I just paid for two hundred bath tokens worth of white sage. That would leave you with nightmares," Haku joked lightly. Thanking him again, her voice was nearly lost under the call from the foreman. "I got to go, but I'll see you at dinner tonight?"

"Of course," Chihiro said as she watched him depart towards the foreman's station. Taking a deep breath, she watched him go before walking in the opposite direction. With Lin out of the way and Haku meeting with the foreman, now would be the best time to go visit the hospice ward.

The sticky incensed steam clung to Chihiro as she searched for Yui. Walking towards the supplies crates, she finally spotted her, busily washing blood off of her wings.

"Oh, there you are. I could have used your help ten minutes ago. Moving the bodies is difficult by myself. No worries though," Yui said as she turned off the water and dried her hands. Motioning for Chihiro to follow, they walked towards one of the beds closer to the door. "I moved him closer to the door earlier today and if he keeps improving, hopefully we can move him back to one of the other infirmaries in a day or two. All of the supplies you should need are there so I will just be observing."

As they approached the bed closest to the door, Chihiro could see the fox stirring slowly. Freezing at the bedside, she opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out. Clear blue eyes stared right at her with open curiosity. "I forgot to mention that he woke up when I was moving him," Yui's voice sounded quietly behind her. Chihiro held his stare for a few moments before directing her gaze downwards.

"Pardon us for disturbing you, but I need to change your bandages today," Chihiro spoke quietly in a firm voice. Inside she was quivering with nervousness, it wasn't like she had ever taken care of someone who was awake, but if she focused it should be fine.

"You are the one who called me out of the darkness." His tenor voice was smooth and lingered more as a statement than a question. Chihiro's lips quirked downwards as she thought of how to answer him without contradicting him; she did nothing, but care for him. If that was enough to help him escape the shadows corrupting him, then that's all that mattered.

"My name is Chihiro Ogino. I have been helping out in Watari-san's absence the past few days." Chihiro bowed to him before pulling the pail of rain water from the end of the bed to the bedside and beginning to prepare the supplies beside her.

"Chihiro Ogino," he whispered as if he savored her name on his tongue, "I have been waiting for you." She kneeled beside his bed and looked up at him in question as her hand hovered over his chest wound. Nodding once to her in consent, Chihiro removed the old poultice and set to work cleaning the wound. The amount of black ooze was near nothing and the open wounds had began to scab in a healthy color. Humming quietly to herself, Chihiro finished his chest, but then froze. His eyes had never left her as she worked and she suddenly felt embarrassed of helping him wash. Between Yui's scrutiny of her every move and his watchful eyes, she was starting to feel self-conscious.

"Would it help you if I closed my eyes," he asked with a small, pitiful smile as he realized what had caused her hesitation. Gritting her teeth she said yes, and he closed his eyes. Taking the comb, Chihiro washed the same areas that she had before. Moving slowly over his face and ears last, she was surprised when his eyes opened to look at her. The clarity in his eyes seemed to look right through her, as if he were looking straight into her soul. Pulling away, she tossed the comb in the bucket and made as if to stand when his hand grasped hers.

"My name…my name is Hikaru. You may call me that." Chihiro didn't understand why Yui gasped loudly behind her at his words. Giving his hand a squeeze, she stood up and gave him a weak smile.

"Thank you for bearing with it, Hikaru-san." Nodding his head in agreement, he released her hand.

"Tomorrow, I will be stronger than today. Please come again, Chihiro," he said as she handed off the trash and pail to Yui.

"Kitsune-sama, now that Ogino-san has shown me what she does for your treatment I can repeat it myself without her presence. She is the guest of the bathhouse master, not a staff member." Chihiro looked between Hikaru and Yui in confusion as the two seemed to stare at each other.

"I really don't mind coming down here when I can," Chihiro started, but the look Yui shot her stopped her speech. Something seemed to pass between the crane and the fox as Chihiro looked on in. Both seemed to be waiting for the other one to bend. Finally, Yui nodded her head with a small bow.

"Very well then. Chihiro, I hope you can find the time to continue your visits to the infirmaries for the duration of your stay." Turning on her heel, Yui stalked off towards the supplies crates. Giving Hikaru a short bow and excusing herself, Chihiro hurried off after her. Yui was dumping out the dirty rain pail and throwing away the trash in the bin as Chihiro walked up.

"What was that about," she asked as Yui put the bucket away. Putting her wings on her hips, Yui turned to face her.

"He gave you his real name." Chihiro's face scrunched up in confusion. Well yeah, he gave her his name, she had given him hers? She didn't see the importance behind that. Yui sighed exasperatedly before ushering Chihiro out of the infirmary and closing the door. "Fox spirits don't give out their real names to just anyone. They typically go by 'kitsune' or some variation of the kanji for kitsune. Only people of close relation or strong ties are given the right to call them by their real names. Apparently, he finds you worthy of this."