In the bath house again.
Lin led Chihiro all the way down to the boiler room. Most of the guests at this time were asleep as the sun was rising. Chihiro was silent. After four years she meets Haku see find out she going to turn in to a no faced spirit. Yeah. Lin spent the whole trip saying the same the same thing.
"Momoko" she'd murmur over and over again as if tasting it. Lin led Chihiro to the boiler room and left her there with just a weak and distracted wave. From behind the door Chihiro could hear scuttling of little feet and the roaring of a fire. Slowly she opened the door and enter. Kamaji was exactly how she remembers him, six arms and all. Constantly crushing some strange ingredients and taking random gulps of water from a teapot. Little sooth balls were carrying coal and throwing them in the fire. He hadn't seen her.
"Excuse me" she shouted above the roar.
" Who's there?" he said gruffly not looking away from the fire. The soothe ball turned and began squeaking excitedly. "Get back to work or I'll turn you back to sooth."
" My name is Chihiro." said Chihiro. " Don't you remember me?"
The boiler man stopped his work and turned towards here.
" Chihiro-sen? Can it be really you?" said Kamaji getting of his pedestal and on all six arms crawled towards her. She stood there, stiff.
" It is Sen." shout the boiler man in joy. "Sooth balls get us some food, blankets pillows anything. I received a letter a few seconds ago saying she's staying here until she leaves. "The sooth balls in all their excitement began crashing into each other but finally scattered away to get what Kamaji wanted.
" Stand back. Let get a good look of you. Wow you've grown." he said looking her up and down. " Now tell me, what is going on?"
Slowly Chihiro told him, but already her human life seemed long ago. She couldn't remember were her old home was. Saying it aloud, it finally dawned on Chihiro what was happening. Her eyes pricked and she felt her face go hot.
"Now, now don't worry." said Kamoji. Taking the blankets from the sooth ball and putting on the floor near the furnace. "Haku, poor boy, has spent the last four years trying to find a way into your world again. He really missed you."
Chihiro made her way to the make shift bed and layed her head on the comfortable pillow. She closed her eyes but she heard him say "until the rain stops Yubaba wants you to work. So have a good night sleep." Chihiro closed her eyes but couldn't sleep she kept on trying to remember her home. Was it strange she couldn't remember her home town, or her best friends' name? Finally she fell asleep. She awoke with Kamaji shaking her.
"Wake up" he said handing her some porridge. " Yubaba wants you to work" after she ate she got of her makeshift bed. Near her pillow she saw a plain white mask. Just like no face. She squeaked.
"Did you do that there Kamaji" she asked hopefully.
"No never saw it in my life."
Chihiro gulped. "I'll place it in one of my herb cupboards ." he said taking the mask and putting it on the cupboard in the room. "Now of upstairs. They've got a job waiting for you"
The bath house was as busy as usual. Servants and cleaners ran around everywhere. A frog servant told her that they want her to clean the big tub. He handed her a Mr clean ultra clean Bath token Chihiro left grumbling the whole way. The tub was on a level all onto own. No one was there that day. Chihiro was all on her own. One look at the tub and Chihiro knew that the tub hadn't been cleaned since she left. So much slim and muck had gathered inside the tub mushrooms were growing. She made a gagging sound. She didn't even try to scrub it. She hung the bath token and pulled the rope. A pipe fell from the ceiling. She went and pulled the rope. Steaming water poured out. She was waiting on the edge of the tub when she saw it. The mask lay at the bottom of the tub. Chihiro had such a fright that she slipped and fell into the tub. During her fall she grabbed the rope of the water pipe. It tore. The water just kept on coming. Chihiro came out soaked. Mask in hand. She went to the window and threw it out. She turned to the tub water was beginning to pour out of the tub. She looked at the pipe. Not an inch of the rope was left. The water was reaching her ankles by now. She grabbed a bucket and began bucketing the water out of the window. Then she saw it. The light switch. The water was only centimetres below it. If it got wet she'd be dead. She began bucketing the water faster. She heard arguing outside.
" Her from all people" she heard a lady say " from all people. You remember what happened last time."
The door opened and a tsunami of water poured out of the room.
"Chihiro!" shouted the voice. It was Yubaba. " What in the world happened here?"
" The –the rope snapped." said Chihiro still bucketing.
Yubaba groaned. She waded through the water towards the water pipe. She hit the pipe. It went up and the water stopped instantly.
"How does that work?" said Chihiro.
"You just had to show the pipe whose boss. You silly girl." was her reply. " Follow me"
"Of course." murmured Chihiro. Chihiro marched behind Yubaba, while the latter barked orders at the cleaner girls so mop the water from the floor. Many of them gave Chihiro a dirty looks. Back in Yubaba's study Chihiro looked at her bare feet while she felt the which's gaze on her.
"I was planning of keeping you here for a few days." she said sternly. "However it seems your cleaning skills haven't improved one bit. You set off tonight, as you probably didn't notice, it has stopped raining. You're journey begins."
"Yes m'am" said Chihiro bowing her head. She was about to leave when Yubaba said.
"By the way, Chihiro, Zeniba found this on her way home this afternoon." she threw Chihiro a black and red bag- her school bag she had brought with her to study. "We found it on one of the little islands between this world and your world."
"Thank you" said Chihiro and left. In the boiler room Chihiro was waiting for Lin to call her. She wasn't taking anything with her, just her school bag. She sat there staring at the working sooth balls when she had the sudden curiosity to see what was in her bag. Unt9ied the knot and pulled out the first thing that came to hand. She screamed. In her hand, once again was the mask. She dropped it on the floor crushing four soot balls.
"What's wrong?" asked Kamaji. Chihiro just pointed to the mask. "ah, the no face mask again. You know what we should do? We should burn it. That way it can't come back."
He clicked his fingers and the soot balls reformed. The carried the mask and dropped into the furnace. Moments later all that was left was ash which on hitting the ground turned into a soot ball, grey not black like the other, which scurried away to hid, unnoticed inside Chihiro's bag. Chihiro gulped.
"Thanks" she said with a weak smile.
"Don't worry. It was nothing. It's the least I can do." he replied. At the moment Lin came into the room. Chihiro hugged Kamaji good bye before she and Lin made their silent progress towards the pier.