She sighed, still tense from the sudden shock. "Lin! You shouldn't randomly spring out of bushes and-"Lin clapped her hand over Chihiro's mouth again. She shook her head.
"Not now. We don't have the time. Come with me. And please hurry it up! You humans are so irritatingly slow!" She grabbed Chihiro by the wrist and dragged her down the hill and around the back wall. Chihiro looked about, remembering every detail from her last visit. She couldn't help but smile. The red wall, the blue-ish flowers, the gently sweeping grass tickling her knees. Lin looked over her shoulder. "When did you get so tall, runt?" She said with a smirk. Chihiro smiled back. "It's been pretty dull here without you. Well, up until now that is." They rested for a bit at the top of the terribly steep staircase, breathing roughly.
"What exactly is going on?" Chihiro asked, brushing a stray strand of hair from her eyes. "I only know that it's urgent." Lin wouldn't meet her glance.
"That's all you need to know." Lin said, her voice grave. "We need to hurry up and get in there. The sooner the better." They started down the stairs.
Yubaba sighed in relief. The girl was here, in the bathhouses somewhere. She peeked in the doorway at the spirit who remained sprawled across the floor, stairing into the starless night sky. She pushed the door open, wincing at the horrible squeal from it's hinges. He remained motionless, giving her none of the satisfaction.
"Hey. Haku." She crooned, her voice almost leaking with anticipation from the secret that she kept. He looked over his shoulder, a mournful scowl on his delicate features. "I think it would be in your best interest to clean yourself up. Come on, change into some new clothes. Come on. Get up. Get dressed. You'll feel better."
"..." Haku rolled his eyes at yet another of Yubaba's desperate attempts to make him do something, do anything other than lay there on the floor. But that's all he wanted to do. So she'd just have to deal with it, he decided. He turned his face back to the window. Far away, in the distant sky, there was one visible star in the navy velvet sky. He cracked a smile and a tired laugh escaped his lips.
"What's so funny?" The elder asked, looking around for the source of the humor that'd finally brought some emotion to the ill boy's figure.
"Look." He raised a weak arm and pointed. Yubaba's eyes followed his motion up to the sky and rested on the little white star. "You don't see those very often here."
An almost wicked smile curled across the older spirit's face. "Something tells me that won't be the only thing you see tonight that'll surprise you."
