Hey y'all! So I wanted to do this for a long time since I wanted to know how it would end up if everyone in the bathhouse grew up. Like, Haku is now 20! And Chihiro is a hormone raging teenager! Such fun! Enjoy!
Chihiro sat in the plastic chair outside her house. Her collage friends had come over for the summer. The guys were playing netball, the girls sitting and drinking juice. The house was free since her parents had gone for a vacation to Brazil. But Chihiro felt weird. She wasn't exactly sad but there was a weird longing in her heart ever since she came back home. It had been exactly seven years since Chihiro moved to her house, so she thought she just missed her old friends, even though they were all seventeen now, like her, and probably didn't even remember her. Chihiro closed the book she was attempting to read.
'I'm going for a walk. I'll be back in time for the barbeque.' She announced, scraping her long, brown hair in a bun and shaking her head with a smile when her friends offered to go with her. She wanted to be alone. Maybe walking would get rid of that feeling.
She walked farther then she ever had. She knew a lot of the forest that stood at the edge of her blue house but she never went farther then the shrines her mom had once said little spirits lived in. During her walk, Chihiro wandered about the day she moved to her house. She was only ten and it was long ago but she remembered stopping at a strange, abandoned theme park with her parents and after that – nothing. Lost in thought, she walked farther and farther into the forest until she didn't know where she was. Unconcerned, Chihiro continued walking until she spotted something. There was a freaky, grey stone statue of a frog like man with a wide mouth standing in front of a tunnel. Chihiro blinked. Wasn't this the entrance to the theme park? It sure felt familiar.
Chihiro shivered when the wind hit her, as if propelling her forward. Taking a deep breath she entered the tunnel which was so dark she couldn't see her hand if she stretched it in front of her face. Maybe walking through it would get rid of that feeling? On the other side, it was a completely different world. The tunnel behind her was painted orange, with some kind of a tower on top. There were green, rolling hills blooming with flowers and tiny houses dotting the horizon. If Chihiro stood on the balcony of her house she could see this place – but it always seemed less vast and she didn't remember the cluster of stalls that separated her from what was farther out. Chihiro didn't believe in magic and yet she felt as if she was there for a reason. Chihiro squared her shoulder and walked forward, past the empty stalls and out onto the hills. The wind was there; cool but not cold on her face and a pleasant relief from the sun beating down on her back. The girl let her eyes fall shut and stretched her hands out, letting herself relax.
That is, until her foot slipped.
'AHHH!' Chihiro screamed when she tumbled down, landing hands first in an ankle deep stream. She winced when the cold water hit her scraped knee. She was about to go back when she looked up. In front of her was a bridge. It was empty but looked well kept. And on the other side of the bridge was a house. As if in a trance Chihiro moved forward, towards the bridge. She was sure there was no house this big in this area and yet there it stood, right in front of her house. Slowly she stroked a finger along the sun heated red rail of the bridge and walked forward, towards the house. Maybe it was an abandoned swimming pool? Maybe not.
'OH MY GOD!' Chihiro screamed again and took a quick step back. In front of her, jumping a foot in the air was a strange little toad with a pointy hat.
'Sen!' The toad said. 'It's Sen! How have you been Sen?'
'W-what?' Chihiro took another step back. 'I-I'm not Sen! I'm Chihiro!'
'But Sen…' The toad jumped towards her. Chihiro looked over her shoulder, panicked, and her eyes widened when she realised the stream she'd fallen into had now changed into a full fledged river. The sky was no longer a summer blue but slowly turning dark, night falling rapidly. She couldn't see the other side of the river, the tunnel, her house…nothing.
'Where am I?' She croaked.
'Why, the bathing house for the spirit.' The Toad said in a duh tone. 'Here, let me take you to Yubaba.' The Toad hopped closer again. Chihiro did the only thing she thought of as reasonable in that situation; she smacked the toad out of the air and following her instincts ran, down the side of the bathhouse, not even hesitating before going down the many, many stairs. Finally, at the bottom of the stairs she stopped, heaving slightly. She ran her hand through her hair and took a deep breath.
'It's okay Chihiro. Calm down. You have to find a way out' She told herself.
Slowly, she extended her hand towards the only doors around. As soon as she opened the doors hot air hit her face. She peered inside and noticed a large oven, with blazing fire. Silently she stepped inside, closing the doors quietly behind her. She promised herself she wouldn't scream, even when she saw the strange man with a huge moustache, sunglasses and half a dozen hands. Somehow she wasn't scared of him; she felt like she knew him. Behind the man were shelves upon shelves with mysterious content. The floor was littered with a few hundred tiny suds that each carried a black coal towards the oven.
'Um…excuse me…' Chihiro spoke up, slowly walking towards the man. The man sighed, stopped whatever he was doing and started turning towards the girl.
'What is it? I don't have time tod-' He stopped. Looked her up and down. Did a double take. 'Sen! Oh my God, Sen! It's you!'
'Wha…I'm not Sen, sir! I'm Chihiro! And I wanted to ask how I can get out of here.' Chihiro said quickly but the man ignored her, ringing a bell loudly.
'LIN! Lin, come here quick!' He bellowed. The sliding doors on the other side of the room opened and an annoyed looking woman in a pink uniform stomped in, flinging her brown hair over her shoulder and placing her hands on her hips.
'What is it, Kamaji? You know I'm busy, with night on our heels and the spirits wanting a proper bath.' Lin said, annoyed. Kamaji pointed towards Chihiro. Lin stared at Chihiro for a few seconds before covering her mouth with her hands, her eyes filling with tears. In a flash she jumped on Chihiro.
'SEN! Oh my God, it's really you!' She yelled, hugging Chihiro tightly.
Chihiro blinked.
'Um, who are you?' She asked slowly. Lin pulled away quickly.
'Did you forget me already? I'm Lin, the weasel spirit. You were my assistant seven years ago when you worked in this bath house.'
'I worked here?' Chihiro looked at the ceiling, trying to remember.
'I don't think she remembers us.' Kamaji said calmly, going back to work. 'Take her to Yubaba.'
'Right' Lin smiled at Chihiro. 'Come with me. And leave your shoes and socks. You won't need them.'
TA DAH! Tell me what y'all think! Reviews are so, so appreciated! Mwah :*