"Yubaba."
His voice was cold as ever.
The old witch grinned. The boy was so proud, so confident. She knew that he thought having his name back was all that mattered. Perhaps he has forgotten the importance of rules in this world.
"Yes?" She kept her voice sweet, knowing that he unnerved him. Unfazed, he shrugged and stated flatly.
"My name is Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi. You know as well as I do that I am free from both the contract and the apprenticeship."
Mockingly, she asked. "What are you going to do now? Chase after your little human girl."
Dangerously, she whispered. "I think you forgot our deal. I send Chihiro and her parents back, and you? You pay the price." Still smiling, she spat. "I'll spare you the effort. I'll send you after her."
Her hands moved too fast for the spirit too follow, and a second later, Yubaba was once again sitting in her easy chair. The letter was written on fine parchment, and in her elegant handwriting, and a curiously red script, she penned. "Here is a present for you, Sen."
Cackling madly, she put the letter into the package with the present, pressed the wax imprinted with her extravagant seal, and magicked it away.
She had just returned from school, and was contemplating on the day's events. Sitting with a bunch of gossipy girls and boring teachers truly made her appreciate Lin, and Kamaji and Haku…
"Chihiro! You have a letter!" Her mother called affectionately.
As her mother handed her the creamy white package, she had a forbidding premonition. Something bad was going to happen, she could tell. "Go on, open it. Seems like you must have already made some friends. Pretty nice penmanship too." Her father encouraged. Steeling her resolved, she flipped it over, and felt her blood run cold. She would recognize the name anywhere.
Sen.
Why? Who wrote this? With trembling fingers, she tore open the flap, shuddering as she ripped the ornate seal in half. It was Yubaba's seal, and they had not parted on the best of terms.
Sliding the letter out, she read it, colour draining from her face. The queasy feeling in her stomach grew, and she began hyperventilating.
Dear Sen,
I see you have returned home safely. In accordance to the rules in our world, a deal is a deal. Someone has paid the price for you to return home, and I thought to send you proof.
Sincerely,
Yubaba.
The old witch was obsessed with gold and payment, yet she had a feeling that it was far worse than that. And the red on the paper frightened her. It seemed to be a viscous liquid, far thicker than the black ink Yubaba had used on her contract. Oddly, it resembled the blood Haku had gotten all over the bannisters when he vomited blood everywhere. The memory only served to heightened her paranoia. The dark wood box, having fallen out of the package, taunted her in the package, gleaming the light. Her hands were trembling badly, and her parents looked worriedly at her.
"Chihiro, what's wrong? Go on, open it. I'm sure your friends wanted to welcome you."
Swallowing hard, she gripped the box tightly, the knuckles showing white. "It's probably nothing." Chihiro thought to herself quietly. "She probably just wanted a last laugh at me."
Like how one would rip off bandages, quickly to end the suffering, Chihiro dragged the lid off the box. And upon discovering its contents, she screamed in horror. There were bits of pale skin and muscle and blood all over inside.
But worse of all, was the pristine lock of dark green hair, and a single eye, with the greenest iris she had ever seen.
