Chapter 2: Sentō (Bathhouse)

I stepped into the lobby of the bathhouse, half hoping that it would be empty, that those four days 15 years ago had been a dream. The other half of me was hoping against hope that it would be true. Those days, that experience, had gotten me through moving to Tochinoki - to a place where I didn't yet have friends. A place where I had to start all over. That time had helped me become a better person.

The second half of me was right. That strange little frog-man, the foreman, was sitting at the front booth as usual, minding the phone and the bath tokens. Several girls and women ran across the floor with damp cloths, cleaning. After a moment, they all looked up at me, noses pinched. I stood frozen in the entryway. Someone in the kitchen complained about the stink of humans. One of the girls was the first to move, peering closely at me like there was something she hadn't quite been able to remember. It took me a moment to realize it was Lin.

"Sen?" she asked. She hadn't grown much older. Must be the spirit world's magic again.

"Yep, it's me," I said. I hoped I wouldn't say anything weird.

"You came back," she asked. "Why? You must have gotten out before - I haven't seen you since you passed Yubaba's test!"

"Can we talk somewhere else?" I didn't want to distract everyone else from their work. Not that it made much difference. I could hear a lot of the bathhouse employees gathering outside the door as soon as Lin closed it. "I came back because..." Suddenly I wasn't sure what to say. "Because I missed all of you. It's been a long time, and I just needed to see you again." I could feel my palms sweating against my knees. It was true, but it was weird being here after all this time. I didn't mention that I'd convinced myself it had been a dream a few years after the fact. "It's changed so little."

"That would be magic." Lin grinned at me. "I still can't believe you're here!" She took my hand. "We should tell Kamaji before you do anything else." She hurried me off to the elevator, and down we went. Before long, we were ducking through the sliding door into the boiler-room.

The room was heavily scented with herbs and toasty warm from the furnace. Kamaji was sitting up on his platform, rubbing away at some formula for an herbal soak. "Lunchtime already, Lin?" he asked, surprised.

"Hardly," Lin replied. "Breakfast was only an hour and a half ago. I have a surprise for you."

Kamaji crushed the last of the herbs in a stroke of his pestle and sent up the formula. He craned his head around to see Lin, then came the rest of the way. He hadn't aged a bit. "Is that Sen?"

"In the flesh," I said. "It's good to see you, Kamaji."

"And to see you, Sen." Kamaji rubbed his forehead. "Been a long time, hasn't it? You could've visited sooner." I flushed, just a little embarrassed that I hadn't come sooner. Waiting seemed silly in retrospect. "So, what have you been doing all this time?" he asked.

"Not much," I replied. "I have a job now, helping run a gardening store. I paint, sometimes..." I trailed off. Frankly, my life was boring compared to everyone at the bathhouse.

"Well, that's fine." He lifted one long arm and touched my hair. "I never thought I'd see you again."

I smiled. "I never thought I'd see you either. Except in my paintings, of course."

Kamaji glanced at his watch. "I can't talk much more than this before I get a real break. This is the busy season, and Yubaba's been working us all to the bone lately."

"I understand," I said. "I'll leave you to it." So Yubaba did still run the place. Honestly, I wouldn't have been surprised if the baby was still around, too. I took a moment to greet the soot gremlins. They recognized me immediately - I could tell when they pantomimed having enormous strength and squashing slugs on the hard floor. I wondered if they had missed me when I left.

We took the elevator back to the main floor. "Lin, is Haku still here?" I asked. I wasn't holding my breath, but it did seem like the most likely option. This was the closest thing to a home he still had - unless he had gone to Zeniba's house.

"No," she replied. "He left not long after you did." I nodded. The elevator door opened. "Is that the real reason you came?"

"Well, that's the other part," I said. We stepped out into the lobby.

"I'll take the day off. I don't know what you see in that guy, but I'll help you look," Lin said. "I have a little money - it might be enough to get on the train."

I shook my head. "You should save that for when you leave for good." Then I had an idea. "We can use one of those boats. The water is high again, isn't it?"

"It'll be faster than walking, I guess." Lin dropped her cleaning cloth into the bucket with the others. "I'm ready to go when you are."

"Hang on, I'd better visit Yubaba."

Lin stared in disbelief. "You want to see her?" she asked.

"Sure," I said. "I'll just be a few minutes." I walked into the elevator again, pulling the handle to go up. At the stop, I changed elevators. A duck joined me for a few floors. Minutes later, the door opened and I was standing at the entrance to a tiled room, porcelain urns in every direction. 'Tacky,' I thought. The door was to the right. I knocked, trying my best to be polite. I never liked the woman, but she was scary if you rubbed her wrong. The knocker stayed mercifully silent, and the door swung open.