The bath house was particularly busy this afternoon after a recent influx of new visitors, but the higher one ascended throughout the building, the more the dense throngs of bustling workers and relaxing spirits alike began to dissipate and give way to empty rooms and silence. On the lower levels, steam perpetually hung thick and warm in the air, and the aromas of crisp, clean bath water and their most luxurious soaps; but with every floor, the scents and sights of the baths were gradually replaced by cool, dry air and the musty smell of old books. The upper floors were much darker, too, without the floor-to-ceiling windows that were spread so liberally throughout the levels below. It almost gave the impression that the bath house had once been two separate buildings that were stacked lazily atop one another without anyone bothering to give them both one similar appearance.

The highest level of the bath house was home to Yubaba's office, though rather than just occupying one room, the entire floor seemed to be devoted entirely to her interests. This was perhaps the most opulent of each of the floors, with walls painted an elegant shade of crimson and patterned with gold, lit only by a few scarce lamps strategically placed throughout the nearly endless halls. From this high up in the bath house, the noise from below could not reach, giving the entire floor a vast and almost eerie silence. Other than Yubaba herself, this area tended to stay virtually deserted; the bath house workers (understandably) made it a point to avoid being summoned to the witch's office in whatever possible way.

Unfortunately, for one bath house resident, a talk with the intimidating woman who hid behind those doors seemed unavoidable.

Haku strode briskly around the corner and entered the corridor that led to Yubaba's office, a thunderous expression on his face. In spite of his quick, furious gait, his movements remained almost completely silent, footsteps muffled by the soft velvet carpet beneath his feet. Still, he felt certain that the witch would know he was coming; though his contract with Yubaba had long ago ended, she still made a point of keeping a watchful eye on him, forever suspicious of his motives and plans. The shift in power between them following the cancellation of his contract was significant, and for that much, Haku was grateful – these days, she remained more fearful of him than inclined to threaten, and as a result, dealings with her usually went so much more smoothly.

All that aside, he intended to tell her exactly what he thought of her handiwork this evening. It had been some time since he'd paid a visit to her office – it wasn't particularly what he would think of as something he wanted to do very often – but today, he found it completely necessary. The problem with Chihiro's memory had barely raised his suspicions from the moment she'd failed to recognize him just outside the tunnel, but the further they had traveled into the world, the more apparent it had slowly become that her failure to recall her time in the spirit world was not simply due to spending a long time away. Kamaji's discovery of the memory block placed upon her mind had only confirmed the steadily growing feeling of dread that had built up in his stomach all this time, and now, Haku intended to get to the bottom of it all.

He couldn't say that it shocked him; Haku had worked closely under Yubaba for years of his life, and by now, knew all too well just how conniving she could prove herself to be. With almost every curve she'd thrown at Chihiro eight years ago, the little girl had outsmarted her at every turn, and it would seem that the witch still hadn't recovered the shattered pieces of her pride ever since. Still, why continue to focus such a tremendous amount of energy upon her, even after she'd returned to the human world? Her vendetta against Chihiro wasn't necessarily surprising, but it did puzzle him, and he thought it best to take care of everything while it was still in the early stages, before it could advance into something monstrous and troubling.

As he drew closer to the pair of enormous, oaken double doors that marked the entrance to Yubaba's office, Haku couldn't help but take note of the palpable change of energy in the air. In all his time as an apprentice for one of the most undoubtedly powerful witches in the realm, he'd learned all too well how to identify the presence of magical power – he felt it as an electrical charge in the atmosphere, tingling at the tips of his fingers – and her office was crawling with it. There was nothing she enjoyed quite so much as an opportunity to flaunt both her power and influence, he knew, and so even now, years later, it seemed nothing had changed in that respect.

In spite of his misgivings, Haku knew that this was something that needed to be accomplished. Keeping the urgency of the situation in mind, he drew a deep breath, squared his shoulders, and used the massive, heavy knocker in the center of the door to announce his arrival. Just as he had anticipated, it was only a matter of seconds before the wrinkled, livid face of the knocker became animated, blinking and snarling up at him as though it were a living, sentient being.

"You again?" came the gravelly rasp of Yubaba herself, using the door knocker as a temporary means of communication between the two of them. "What is it you want? I'm busy."

He'd expected as much from her. Hostility had always been an unspoken staple of their dynamic with one another, but ever since his contract had ended, it seemed that both finally had an excuse to express fully what they thought of each other – no holds barred.

Still, Haku remained as carefully reserved and calm as ever as he answered, "Open the door, Yubaba." The words were spoken simply enough, and yet they fell from his lips clipped and cold, not a polite request, but a demand. "I need to speak with you; and don't worry, I have every intention of making myself brief." As if he would ever purposefully stay in her office for any longer than completely necessary.

There was a short pause, during which Yubaba seemed to be weighing her options. Even the knocker that bore her likeness furrowed its brow in concentration, though it looked no less thrilled by the prospect of compromise than the real Yubaba likely would be. It was a relief, he couldn't help but think – certainly not for the first time – that he no longer had to answer to her. She was threatened by his presence, knew of his power and his ability to deceive, and as a result, tended to be much more compliant these days. Haku had every intention of ending this as quickly and painlessly as possible, but in order to gain her attention, he didn't necessarily want to make mention of that right away.

" . . . Fine," Yubaba all but growled, just when the silence was beginning to persist a touch too long. "Come in – but make it quick, or I'll have you thrown out."

No sooner had the last syllable hit his ears than did the doors swing open, revealing another winding hallway – and several other sets of doors falling open far inside. This corridor was even more poorly-lit than the one that he'd traversed before it, with scarcely a single wall lamp to light the way. Still, Haku stepped forward, determined to remain completely relaxed – it was easier to hide oneself in the dark, easier to lie. Easier to pretend as though he were anywhere else in the world than here.

After what seemed like an eternity of navigating through endless hallways, Haku at last reached the archway that led into her office, hesitating only for a moment before walking inside. As he edged into the room, he took in the place's appearance, noticing almost immediately how distinctly cluttered it appeared. Yubaba, in spite of all her negative qualities, had always been remarkably thorough, and her office usually reflected her organized, on-top-of-things sensibility. Today, though, it seemed that several books had tumbled from their spot on the shelves lined on the walls behind her desk, and were now strewn across the floor, a few pages torn and lying in crumpled heaps on the opposite side of the room. Expensive paintings hung crookedly in their places on the walls, some of the glass fronts cracked and protruding from their frames.

Haku could only guess as to what had happened here, but he assumed that it had something to do with Yubaba's young child, Boh. As an otherworldly being, himself, Boh aged much more slowly than human babies, and only recently had begun to hit his "Terrible Twos" phase; his tantrums had become much more frequent, and it seemed he'd developed quite the habit of toddling into Yubaba's office whenever he saw fit and wreaking havoc upon the place. Typically, the sight of Boh's devastating effects upon her office tended to amuse Haku, but today, he only found it as another annoyance. He needed to speak with Yubaba now, and if she were too distracted by cleaning up her baby's mess, who knew what sort of answers – if any – he could glean from her?

The sound of Yubaba's voice from the far-right corner of the room successfully grabbed Haku's attention. He glanced over to the source of the noise, where he found the bath house boss emerging from a set of patterned curtains that led into Boh's room, brushing her disheveled hair back into its usual strict, impossibly large bun as she went. "– Yes, of course, sweetie pie –" she was saying, apparently not having registered Haku's presence yet. "Mommy just has some business to take care of, but she'll be back soon – mwah-mwah!" She wheeled around to face him at last, and immediately, the warmth and sugary-sweetness melted from her voice as she barked, "Well? What do you want? And snap to it! I'm in no mood to pander to you today, Haku."

Anger flooded through him, hot and impulsive, turning the green of his eyes hard and steely. For the first time, his façade of expertly-crafted calm broke just long enough for his thin mouth to curl into a contemptuous snarl. Even so, when he spoke, his tone of voice remained just as soft and unaffected as ever. "I was under the impression," he began, his words smooth but cold, "that we had reached a certain understanding about Chihiro Ogino."

If his words struck any sort of nerve within Yubaba, she didn't let it show. "I have no idea what you're talking about," she responded, nimbly plucking a stray pencil out of her gravity-defying hair and using it to scrawl across a sheet of paper on her desk. "If I'd known you were going to barge in here just to waste my time, I would have kept the doors locked."

"Eight years ago, a girl came to your office to request a job," Haku elaborated, shoulders tense with the effort of keeping from completely losing his patience. "A human girl. Eventually, she found her parents and left the spirit world, but it would appear that she left at a price." He dared to advance a step forward, narrowing his eyes and scrutinizing her closely as he added, "Why have you placed a memory block upon her mind, Yubaba? What purpose could you possibly have had to use your magic against her? You assured me she would leave with no harm done to her, and while I do know better than to trust your word alone, I do seem to recall that we had a bargain."

This seemed to succeed in catching the bath house boss' attention. Yubaba froze where she stood behind her desk, her hands rested flat on its surface, innumerable ostentatious rings on her splayed fingers glinting in the light of the nearby table lamp. Making a point of avoiding looking him directly in the eye, the witch drummed her glossy red nails against her desk, either using the precious silence to debate her options just one last time or purposefully forcing him to wait – either was equally possible. The tension between them was palpable; Haku wondered if she was trying to decide if it would be worth it to start another feud with him, especially now that he no longer answered directly to her.

At last, she acknowledged him, lifting her gaze so that their eyes met, a sandpaper-rough laugh tearing from the back of her throat. "Is that right? Well, now . . . as it so happens, I do remember something like that." Wrinkled lips curving into a knowing smirk, Yubaba added, obviously relishing the moment, "I promised the girl that if she found her parents, she could go free. And she did. Without so much as a hair on her pretty little head coming to any harm, I might add." She advanced on him now, jabbing a thick index finger in his direction as she added, "But! I will be damned if I let her come back here as she chooses just to stir up trouble in my bath house! This is a place of business, and the last thing I need is her serving as a distraction again!"

Even as the words left her lips, Haku could scarcely bring himself to accept them. He knew Yubaba well, and had learned by now to recognize the subtle changes in her tone of voice. She had always had a commanding, generally loud disposition, but her voice always became higher-pitched when she was lying, and her movements gradually became more animated, as well. No, this was just another elaborate ruse, designed to trick him, pacify him so that he would turn around and walk out of her office, no further questions asked. He knew for certain now that she had indeed been the one to place the memory block upon Chihiro's mind, but her motivation still remained unclear. So long as that continued to prove unsolvable, they would never truly learn how to give Chihiro her memories back. Much as he loathed the very idea, Haku knew that he had to see his inquiry through to the end.

What sort of threat did Chihiro pose to Yubaba? Why on Earth would she have gone through all the trouble to place such a powerful spell upon the girl, especially when she had left the spirit world, presumably for good at the time? Only then, as he stared intently at the woman before him, did the truth begin to dawn on him.

"You're afraid," he stated calmly, simply, his voice just as casual as though he were discussing the weather. Only the barest hint of surprise in his tone betrayed the truth of his emotions. "You remember that Chihiro outsmarted you, and you're worried that if she knows what you did to her parents, she'll come back and try to usurp your position as the overseer of the bath house – or worse, you fear that she will help bestow that same position of power to me."

For a moment, Haku had the pleasure of seeing Yubaba look visibly stricken. After a beat of silence passed, she fought to rearrange the shock on her features into something more familiar to her – contempt – and snarled in response, "Don't start that! I'm warning you, Haku – I won't have you bringing that slanderous garbage into my office!"

Gazing unflinchingly back at her, the dragon boy answered, every syllable icy cold, "Then consider this a warning of my own: Tell me how to remove the block from Chihiro Ogino's memory, or perhaps I'll find it necessary to retaliate." He hardly ever used outright violence or threats to negotiate a point, found it barbaric and oftentimes overly cruel, but with Yubaba, ultimatums were the only bargaining tool to which she would answer, and thus he had to be a bit more forceful than usual.

Yubaba's nostrils flared and, huffing like a winded bull, she advanced around the side of her desk until she stood directly in front of Haku, leering up at him past the slope of her enormous nose. Though the sight alone was undoubtedly intimidating – much as he despised it, he knew that he couldn't entirely rid himself of old apprehensions, not yet – he made a purposeful endeavor to refrain from flinching, knowing that even the slightest display of weakness was enough to satisfy her. This still wasn't the angriest he'd ever seen her, after all, and he was willing to bet that if he played the situation correctly, he could diffuse the conflict between them before it had the chance to truly develop any further.

Just as she drew a breath to say something else, though, their conversation was interrupted by a tremendous crash, followed by a series of footsteps so heavy that Haku could feel the floor trembling beneath him. The rage on the witch's face changed to surprise, and when a loud wail issued forth from the direction of Boh's bedroom, she wheeled around and immediately scurried over.

"Now look what you've done," she hissed, only giving him a throwaway glance before disappearing into her child's playroom. He hardly had time to argue that it was likely her screaming, not his own actions, that had woken up her baby before he heard her speak up again, this time obviously addressing Boh. "I'm here, Sweetie Pie! Ohhh, what is it? Poor little thing – were you sleeping? Oh, Mommy's so sorry for waking you up."

"Mama!" Boh cried from wherever he stood behind his curtain, still incredibly loud in spite of being completely out of Haku's line of sight. "Why is it so noisy in here?"

Instantly contrite, Yubaba answered, "W-well, Mommy just had some business to take care of, little one. Haku came to visit, so I have to talk about just a few things. But I promise it won't last long!"

This did not seem to mollify Boh, who only gave a long, despairing sob in response. There was a short but loud slamming sound, so forceful that it shook the few paintings still left hanging on the walls; Haku could only presume that he was witnessing the beginning of the very worst sort of temper tantrum. "No!" the baby complained. "Make him go away, Mama! I wanna take a nap right now!"

"Now – dearest, you know Mommy can't just do that," Yubaba cajoled, though her effort sounded halfhearted at best. "Just – ssh, shh, sweetie, and I'll go finish up in my office. Don't worry, we'll be very quiet so you can sleep."

A few seconds passed in silence before Yubaba walked back into her office, a few flyaway strands of hair coming out of its bun, but otherwise relatively unharmed. She gave a weary sigh and plucked a pen from the surface of her desk, sitting down and scrawling what looked like instructions or a recipe of some sort on a sheet of crumpled paper. Haku supposed he ought to count himself lucky; it would seem that she had given in, and he couldn't necessarily blame her when dealing with Boh.

"Here," she said, once again defeated by her child's persistence. "You'll need a restorative draught to give the girl back her memories," she explained, resting her chin on the heel of her hand and lazily sending the sheet of paper floating towards Haku once she had completed filling it out. He caught it in midair and lowered it to examine for himself as she said, "I've listed all the ingredients you'll need. All of them can be found here, though I won't tell you where. Now, get out of my office, before I change my mind, Haku."

Haku furrowed his brow and gave a short, quick nod, tightening his grip on the paper. He supposed that the issue of the memory block had been solved for now, yet one problem still persisted in his mind. "Before I go, I'm afraid I've one more question to ask of you."

"Oh – yes, yes – what, already?" she hurriedly snapped in response, exasperation oozing from every syllable. "Haven't you wasted enough of my time?"

Paying her objections no heed, he responded, "When I attempted to return Chihiro to her home earlier today, there was an invisible barrier over the tunnel that would not allow her to pass through. Was that your doing, as well?"

This caught Yubaba's attention. Perking up from where she'd previously been sinking into the chair behind her desk, she gasped, "What are you talking about? Of course I'd never do something so completely foolish! Why in the world would I want that spoiled brat of a little girl traipsing around in the spirit world?"

Haku found that he was satisfied with her answer. Though it was in Yubaba's nature to be cunning and deceitful – particularly wherever he was concerned – he could hear the truth ringing through her voice, and it did make sense, in any case. Her biggest concern was keeping Chihiro out of the spirit world – hence, the block she'd placed upon her memories. That begged the question, though, of what had caused the barrier to appear, if not her magic.

That much, he supposed, he would have to figure out for himself.


Chihiro had considered the idea of staying in the boiler room without Haku to be the slightest bit unsettling at first, but as the minutes dragged on, she found herself continually discovering that Kamaji was certainly entertaining company to keep. Actually, for the most part, she'd just tried to stay out of his way; he looked like an incredibly busy man, always firing on all cylinders, and she didn't want to intrude upon any important work. So she'd found a place to sit just off to the side, careful to keep her feet out of the way of the little soot balls as they dutifully carried their lumps of coal from one end of the room to the fire stoked on the opposite side. They were much stronger than they looked, and terribly cute, and to pass much of the time, she'd simply watched them scurry about.

"What are these little guys?" Chihiro asked, resting her chin lightly against her knees. "How did you get them to carry those rocks like that?"

If she were being completely honest, it distressed her that she even had to ask. Her thoughts kept returning to the discovery Kamaji had made – the memory block that apparently had been draped like a veil over her mind. She wasn't entirely sure if she believed it or not yet; the possibility remained that all this could just be an elaborate dream, brought on by little more than her anxieties about going away to college. And yet, in spite of the fact that she couldn't remember this place, something about it felt painfully familiar, like she'd always been searching for it and it had remained out of reach until now. If there were a memory block on her mind, it would certainly explain why she couldn't shake the feeling that she'd been here before. Haku with his distant but gentle guidance, the little black soot sprites, and even Kamaji the work horse felt as close to her as family, and she'd only just met them.

Well, actually, it would seem that she had, once before. She just wished she could remember what had happened . . .

"They're the susuwatari," said Kamaji at last, his gravelly voice bringing her out of her reverie and into the present. Pausing just a moment to hit a tiny hammer against the stone laid out before him, calling the sootballs to work, he cleared his throat and added, "They've been enchanted, in order to help me run this place. Not that the lazy good-for-nothin's are ever any use." At his last words, spoken in a dismissive grumble, a few of the soot sprites squeaked and immediately hurried over to collect more coal, as if determined to prove the boiler man wrong.

"Oh." They certainly seemed hardworking enough to Chihiro, but she wasn't about to contest it. Instead, she thought it best to ask, "Kamaji?"

"Yeah?"

Now that the opportunity had been presented for Chihiro to express what was on her mind, she almost wasn't sure if she actually wanted to say it aloud. What if this was just an incredibly vivid dream, and nothing more? Wouldn't she feel foolish when she awoke, for investing so completely in something that was not and never would be real? Still, at the same time, she couldn't take the risk; if she really had been here once, she had to know what had happened to her, and had to understand what everyone here meant to her.

Swallowing hard past her apprehensions, she finally said, "Haku . . . when we met outside the tunnel, he looked at me like he knew me. And this whole time, he's been acting like I'm supposed to recognize him, too. Did we . . . meet the last time I came here?"

Strangely enough, Kamaji seemed more amused by her question than anything else. With a gruff laugh, he answered, "You could say that. Why, as a matter of fact –"

He didn't get to complete his sentence before the door to the boiler room creaked open, noisily announcing the arrival of none other than Haku, who looked irritated and windswept but none the worse for wear. Chihiro leapt up from her seat beside the soot sprites, hurrying across the room to meet him where he stood nearby the turning wheels of Kamaji's contraption. His facial expression was stony and aloof, but as she drew nearer to him, his gaze focused on her and something in his countenance softened just by a fraction.

"Chihiro," he said, a strange, sad sort of pity in his eyes, "how would you feel about staying here for a while?"