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(A Spirited Away FanFiction)

Chapter.2 – Hey You

Deserted…

It seemed even Kamajii had abandoned his boiler room. Chihiro surveyed the room. It was a total shambles. His desk was still there, but his drawers were broken, some of its contents sprawled across the floor. There were dried up, dead herbs lying all over the place. Chihiro sighed, looking at the drawers that spanned the length of the walls. Some of them were missing completely, whilst others left half open. Then something caught her eye. The area where the soot-balls walked across was completely clean, with no rubbish upon it. Chihiro rushed over, sitting on the floor in front of the holes in the walls.

"Hey, you in there?" she asked, peering into the small holes, looking for the soot balls. There didn't seem to be any sight of them, but she could see a large mound of debris and herbs at the back of the chamber, as well as some lumps of coal. She sighed as she remembered Kamajii's words from when she helped one of the soot-balls, explaining how they'd turn back into soot. She wiped away a tear, heading out of the boiler room, and back the way she came. She went back outside, looking at the completely deserted landscape. There was a breeze blowing through the horrid landscape.

"It's all gone…" she said to herself, another tear streaming down her face. She wiped it away, walking carefully across the bridge, trying to reach the other side.

"Holy hell, stand still!"

Chihiro stopped in her tracks, her eyes daring her to look around to the voice. She knew it came from behind her, from the bathhouse. With caution, she turned herself around, finding herself staring at a frogman. He looked almost comical. He wore a blue uniform with yellow strips running over his shoulders. She also wore a blue hat with a yellow strip around the bottom, and had a torch and a set of keys in his on a belt around his side.

"A human?" It exclaimed, acting almost as surprised to see Chihiro as she was surprised to see him, "What the hell are you doing here?"

Chihiro didn't answer, but stood still, unsure of what to do now. When she thought about it, she didn't know what she was going to do if she bumped into someone whilst taking another look at their world. The frogman sensed he wouldn't get an answer from her, and opted for a different approach.

"Who are you?" he asked, he then ruined it by forgetting the question and asking more, "What are you doing here? Human's shouldn't be here!"

"I've been here before," Chihiro said, trying to solve the heated battle that was beginning to arise, "My name's Chihiro,"

"Ain't never heard of no Chihiro," the frogman said, "Nope, nope, you shouldn't be here…"

"Well what about Sen? That's what everyone used to call me,"

"Nope, never heard of no Sen," he said, approaching her, "nope, nope, get out, right now, go, hop it,"

Chihiro watched as the guard came up to, pushing her across the bridge, being careful to guide her around the gaps, all the time complaining about how she shouldn't be here. Chihiro struggled free of his grip, turning around and facing him directly.

"Look here!" Chihiro said, "Stop pushing me around all right? If I need to go, then I'll go, but I need to know how to find Kamajii,"

The frogman looked at her oddly. It was obvious to Chihiro that he didn't meet many people in his line of work, and those he did meet didn't normally turn around asking ridiculous questions.

"The boiler-man Kamajii?" He asked her back, "You're looking for him?"

"Yes," answered Chihiro, "And Lin, a worker who used to work here, and Haku,"

The frogman scratched his head. This was too many names for him to remember. It was his job to guard the abandoned ruins of the bathhouse, not give intruders directions.

"Don't know what you're doing looking here then…" the frogman said, "Not sure about those others, but Kamajii has been living in Green's End for the last few years… You can get there by train easily,"

Chihiro's heart raced. She had a lead! She felt like hugging the frogman for his information.

"Where exactly? Where!" She asked.

"Number.8," the frogman said, "Just please, get going now,"

"Don't suppose you could do me a favour?" Chihiro asked, grinning.

"If it means you'll leave, then yes, anything,"

"Could you give me some change to get the train?"

The frogman sighed, digging into his pockets and taking out some small crumpled notes. He handed 3 of them over to Chihiro.

"Now get out!" He said.

"But I need to go through the bathhouse to get to the back door that's closest to the station," Chihiro said. The frogman ran a hand across his face, slowly becoming more and agitated. He sighed, walking back to the bathhouse and signalling for Chihiro to follow him. Chihiro smiled as she followed the guard back through the bathhouse, through some back-stairs and to the back door. He opened it, grimacing as Chihiro thanked him, walking out of the door and onto the ground.

"Thank you!" she called back, waving. The frogman grunted, courteously smiling back and giving a slight wave, but nothing more. Chihiro walked across the ground. Unlike last time, there was no water here, and the ground was an odd landscape of dips and slopes. Chihiro quickly found herself on the platform, and sat down at the bench, waiting for the train to come. She ran a hand through her brown hair, which she had allowed to grow long. She stretched her arms, yawning and waiting in anticipation for the train. She couldn't wait to see Kamajii again. Soon enough, the train came along, and Chihiro flagged it down, watching as the doors opened up, allowing her on.

"Hello, Green's End please," She said, handing over the crumpled notes to the conductor. The conductor took the notes, unfolding them and looking at them. He put them into his pocket, taking out 2 small coins and giving them to Chihiro. Chihiro thanked him as she took her seat by the window, staring out of it.

The beginning of her new journey.