Disclaimer: Spirited Away is owned by the genius Hayao Miyazaki and by Ghibli Studios. I am merely a fan of said movie and I do not gain any profit or whatsoever from making this story.
Dedicated to: Heart-fractured21 because she was too awesome for words and dedicated one of her chapters to me, which I may add, was a very kind thing for her to do. Not to mention, it made me grin like an idiot and my brother had to ask what was wrong with me. So anyway, Heart-fractured21, I heard you like dedications, so I dedicate this chapter to you because you dedicated one of your chapters to me and we all love dedications. (Sheesh that was long!)
(^.^)(^.^)
Chihiro found herself sitting cross-legged at the grassy plains of the Spirit World, with her back against the cold cemented side of the stairs that also served as the docking area for that huge, spirit-carrying ship. Already, said ship had arrived and Chihiro could hear the sounds of the spirits arriving and talking casually with one another while some of the stores' patrons were calling over possible customers to have a meal or two in their restaurants.
With her body clearly hidden from view, Chihiro wasted no time in trying to recall what had happened during the first time she had gone here accidentally. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on a particular memory of her ten-year-old self hunched over pitifully on that same area where she currently was. Her younger self had her knees covering her face and her arms were wrapped around her body. She was crying while telling herself over and over again that she was just dreaming. This was how Haku had found her when he appeared to offer his assistance. He also gave her a tiny berry for her to eat, all the while explaining patiently to the uncooperative girl that she would disappear if she ate nothing of this world.
Immediately, Chihiro's eyes snapped open and she hurriedly checked her arms and legs to see if she had gone see-through once again. Luckily, her arms and legs looked as solid as they normally were but Chihiro experimentally covered her eyes just to make sure. The fact that she couldn't see through her hands confirmed her observations that she really wasn't disappearing and Chihiro let out a soft sigh; not really knowing why she didn't slowly fade away like the last time but was very thankful for it either way.
And then, as if to test her luck, she turned to look towards the corner, hoping to see a young boy-dragon rushing towards her to help but sadly Chihiro found herself all alone on the area. Taking in a large breath of air, Chihiro slowly stood up and stretched her arms and legs when she was sure that all the spirits had left the area. She dusted off dirt and grass that had stuck on her skirt with her left hand and looked around just to make sure she wasn't spotted by any spirit, be it on the ground or hovering in the air like Yubaba's bird henchman.
She obviously needed to leave as soon as possible but as soon as possible but as far as Chihiro knew, the water will only subside once the sun has risen. That meant she had to wait and stay hidden until then or else she'll be captured and forced to sign another binding contract with Yubaba again. She heaved a long sigh at the thought of working for the witch again and then she gazed longingly at the corner, hoping yet again to find Haku before she realized what she doing and began chiding herself for being silly.
'Get over it!' She mentally screamed, all the while punching her head lightly with her tiny fists so she could forget about Haku for a bit and set her priorities straight. 'He's not here to help you,' her mind continued as it tried to convince her heart, 'Haku's not here, you're all alone in this!'
She blinked rapidly when the truth finally settled in and it took her a moment to gather herself. True enough, she was all alone this time around. Her parents weren't around and turned to pigs, a fact she was thankful for, but at the same time, there was no Haku to comfort her and lead her to safety. An overwhelming pain in her heart shot through her entire being that Chihiro couldn't help but clutch her chest to ease the sadness.
She didn't exactly know how long she stood there wallowing in pity but then she heard a distinct sound wafting through the air. Looking around, Chihiro saw nothing out of the ordinary but when she tilted her head up, all the color drained from her face as she recognized Yu-bird hovering around, looking for something.
Prompted by the natural instinct to flee from a prey, Chihiro ran as fast as she could towards the buildings, hoping that the bird had not spotted her. With the memories she remembered, Chihiro weaved through the numerous paths of the place, using the exact way that Haku and she used to escape the same bird's watchful eyes. Panting, she came across a wooden door that was locked when she pushed it and she thought really hard how Haku had opened it for them to pass through.
'If I remember correctly,' Chihiro rambled inside her mind, 'Haku just waved his hand and the door opened by itself.' Nodding to herself, Chihiro took a step back, looked around to make sure nobody was around, and then waved her hand similarly like how Haku did before in front of the door, hoping to open it.
Nothing happened. The door refused to budge open and Chihiro flushed darkly in embarrassment. "Of course nothing would happen, you idiot Chihiro!" She mumbled, scolding herself for being foolish. With her cheeks still pink, Chihiro decided to look for another route, secretly thankful that no one had seen her humiliating stunt. She also cursed magic for making things a little more complicated.
She soon spotted a cramped alleyway in her search for a hiding place. She looked to her left and right to make sure the coast was clear before she unceremoniously plopped to the ground to rest. She was still panting from the run and as she rested on the dirt floor, she used this time to ponder on the situation and plan her next move since she was only acting out on pure instinct the moment she spotted Yu-bird.
"As far as I can remember," Chihiro murmured to herself as she began to randomly draw doodles on the dirt with a stick she just found lying on the ground, "Yubaba can't really do anything to me if I get a job." She paused and drew a quick doodle of Yubaba in the dirt, smiling a bit when she purposely made the nose a bit bigger.
"So if I get a job..." Chihiro continued, this time adding a plus sign next to her drawing of Yubaba and the word "job" was written next to it, "Yubaba can't harm me, right?" She finished her equation with an X mark and a smiley face, prompting her to chuckle just a bit.
Nodding, Chihiro muttered to herself an "okay" before wracking her brain for any possible person who could hire her for the night without the unnecessary contract. Furrowing her brows in thought, Chihiro continued to doodle more objects her mind would randomly supply for her. Examining her work, she realized she had drawn a cat wearing a gentleman suit, a huge wolf, the Radish Spirit, some sootballs...
"Sootballs!" Chihiro exclaimed and she instantly stood up, bumping her head in the process by a conveniently placed wood above her. Groaning in pain, Chihiro massaged her head, all the while scolding herself for being clumsy and for even forgetting about Kamaji.
After the throbbing pain was finally soothed, Chihiro immediately left to look for Kamaji. Though she was entirely not sure if Kamaji would help her like last time or even remember her for that matter, he was the only safe choice left for Chihiro. So with that in mind, Chihiro looked around once more, made sure to be as inconspicuous as possible, and made her way towards the bath house, hiding behind huge spirits in an attempt to hide herself.
Luckily for Chihiro, one spirit seemed to have noticed her plight and decided to help her by tucking the girl neatly to his side. Startled, Chihiro looked up to see her saviour and came face to face with a grey-furred, bear-looking spirit. He stood as tall as 30 meters and his single arm was huge enough to cover Chihiro. His other free hand was clasping what Chihiro thought was an umbrella and she couldn't help but wonder why this certain spirit was carrying one; especially since it wasn't even raining. She gave the spirit a questioning look and he replied with a wide grin, as if to reassure her that everything was going to be alright.
Soon enough, the two managed to reach the bridge that led to the bath house undetected; in Chihiro's case. She vaguely remembered Haku warning her about a single breath breaking a spell so as soon as her foot stepped on wood, she took a large gulp of air and held it, using her right hand to pinch her nose. Her companion looked at her worriedly but Chihiro only shook her head, trying to tell him that she was fine. The spirit tilted his head; even more confused that before; but continued walking towards the bath house, bringing Chihiro along beside him.
With every step, they were getting nearer to the entrance and Chihiro could already hear the various yuna and frogmen greeting their valued guests enthusiastically. As for Chihiro, she was only glad that she didn't have to hold her breath for long since she was already feeling lightheaded and her lungs were burning for oxygen. Her cheeks were also sore from keeping the air and her nose was getting slightly itchy as she felt the need to sneeze. Chihiro mentally encouraged herself to hold on since they were so close already...
"Valued guest, there seems to be something wrong with your friend," spoke one of the frogmen as he peered at Chihiro curiously. Gasping in surprise, Chihiro let out a strangled yelp when she realized that a tiny frog, coincidentally the same frog that had surprised her years back, was addressing to her and the spirit who was helping her.
At Chihiro's cry, the frog also took a step back in surprise before blinking rapidly and tilting its head to look at Chihiro; now fully exposed from everyone on the bridge. "Ah, she looks fine now," said the frog as he examined Chihiro up and down, "For a minute there, her face looked a little bloated."
He continued to assess Chihiro and, feeling a little conscious with the sudden attention she was receiving from the guests and the bath house workers, she immediately waved her hands to dismiss the issue. "So- sorry..." Chihiro stuttered as her hands continued to wave back and forth, "I was just thinking, that's all." And as is sensing her discomfort, her bear-like spirit companion waved his hands back and forth at the curious frogman as well before taking Chihiro in his arms again, gently tucking the girl to his side, and continued to walk as if nothing happened.
Once they did get inside the building, Chihiro immediately looked for that little garden where she and Haku had hidden themselves while the bath house was in an uproar due to a human sighting and "Master Haku's" sudden disappearance. She bid a goodbye to her new friend as soon as she spotted the garden and bowed by the waist to show her appreciation. Her new friend, in return, gave her a huge smile and a pat on the head before waddling away to get himself settled in a bath.
After making sure that no one was observing her, Chihiro immediately made her way towards the garden and hid herself behind the flower bushed, silently thankful that the staff was too busy to even see her open the wooden sliding door that led to the garden. She also made sure that no one had noticed or followed her and was beginning to head for the backdoor that led to Kamaji's boiler room when one of the yunas closed the sliding door with a bang; demanding to know who was dumb enough to leave it open.
"We'll never know if that No-Face thing shows up again!" She exclaimed angrily, her voice muffled a bit as the door was already closed. Chihiro bit her lip, not really sure if she was happy that they didn't forget her (sort of) or embarrassed since her mistake was what they didn't forget even though six years had already passed.
She counted to ten before quietly sneaking off towards the back door. She made her way without any hitch until she reached the dreaded stairway leading downwards. Chihiro gulped and her body shook a little, remembering a certain memory of her younger self making a mad dash towards the end of the stairs because one of the steps gave in when she stepped on it. The run ended with her body colliding with a wall but at that time, she was more concerned of not alerting anyone of her presence than to notice the pain.
Now her body ached, as if to remind her how it hurt the first time. But she also knew she needed to do this and as she gave herself a determined nod to steel herself, Chihiro slowly descended down the steps one at a time, using the wall for support. Annoyed and a little concerned for her safety, Chihiro wondered if the other spirits ever used this route and felt just as anxious as she was. However, when Chihiro reached the middle of the dreaded route, she immediately recognized that one of the steps was missing; a clear indication that nobody had passed this way since she stumbled here in this world. 'That or they were too lazy to fix this,' Chihiro thought to herself in an attempt to lighten the mood.
Having finally reached the end of the "hell road", Chihiro released the breath she didn't know she was holding and resisted the urge to squeal in victory. With a burst of newly found energy, Chihiro sprinted off to the boiler room, hoping to find Kamaji there. She also hoped that Kamaji would accept having her around for the night, unlike before when he endorsed her to Yubaba.
(^.^)(^.^)
Like all boiler room were supposed to be, the place was as hot as a furnace and as Chihiro opened the door, the feel of scorching heat and the smell of burning coals greeted her. Her skin began to sweat, having been exposed to the warmth the water vapour was exuding, making her uniform stick to her body like second skin, and her hair also stuck to her forehead and at the back of her neck.
All these uncomfortable sensations she paid no heed as she slowly approached Kamaji. Speaking of the old, spider-like spirit, he didn't seem to have noticed her since he continued to work, diligently spinning the gear beside him and crushing herbs to mix with the water. A slight "ding" was heard and moments later, a token appeared before him which he took and examined a bit. Then he scratched his head and one of his arms reached to one the cabinets behind him to retrieve some ingredients, not even bothering to look behind as he had already memorized the shelves to where the herbs were placed.
Below him, tiny sootballs were scurrying around, carrying with them coal to feed the fire with. Not one noticed Chihiro standing by the side to observe them and she knew better than to disrupt them during work. She patiently waited as Kamaji dropped the crushed herbs to the water and then he pulled the string attached to the token. Another "ding" was heard and the string with the token was pulled up.
Then using a tiny hammer conveniently placed in his side, he knocked it on the gear he had been turning moments ago. Immediately, the sootballs hurried back inside to where they took the coals they were carrying and never came out again. Chihiro understood that this was her time to make herself known and explain everything to Kamaji.
Said spirit turned to her, examining her behind huge glasses that he wore. There was a moment of silence as Kamaji stared at her and Chihiro stared back. Then in a gruff voice he snarled, "What do you want?"
Quite used to the tone he used, Chihiro held her ground and spoke clearly, "I was hoping if you could give me a job here please." She waited for Kamaji to reply but all the old spirit did was give her a scoff.
"I have all the help I need. Now get out!" Was the grumpy old spider's reply. He turned away and proceeded to pound more herbs despite not receiving any orders. On cue, the sootballs reappeared and fed more coal to the engine's roaring fire.
Chihiro rolled her eyes and wondered to herself just how many times Kamaji did get any job requests because frankly speaking, his speech about not needing any more help and the way he dismisses people was just too perfect; almost like he's been doing this for many years now. Honestly, he acted too much like a heartless boss when in fact he was just a big softie on the inside that Chihiro resisted the urge to snicker and tried a different approach.
"But... Haku told me to get a job here," Chihiro reasoned out again, hoping that Kamaji would take a hint. Chihiro mentally cheered when she saw the old spirit freeze for a bit and then turn to face her again.
He adjusted his glasses yet again and peeked at Chihiro curiously. "Now where and how did you meet Haku?" The old spider-spirit asked and this time Chihiro did snicker, glad to finally have his attention.
"I met Haku here in the Spirit World," Chihiro started, "In fact, I met all of you here in the Spirit World when I first came here. I think you even told Rin I was your granddaughter?"
Once Chihiro finished her little impromptu speech, the room had gone oddly quiet except for the occasional clinking of gears and the loud hissing of steam. Even the sootballs had stopped their work to look at Chihiro and then at each other. Then Kamaji snapped out of his shocked state and moved out of his tiny cubicle to engulf Chihiro in a tight hug.
"Sen!" Kamaji screamed jovially, crushing the girl in his embrace. "Is it really you?" He released her from his hold a bit to have a good look at her, his hands lightly clutching her shoulders, "My, have you grown!" He hugged Chihiro again and the girl couldn't help but laugh lightly in his hold as he began spluttering apologies about not recognizing her immediately.
"It's okay Kamaji," Chihiro reassured him, "I'm just glad you never forgot me." She wiped a few tears from her eyes; tears she had shed due to the overwhelming happiness and relief that Kamaji still knew her.
"I could never forget my cute little granddaughter," Kamaji said as he patted her wet cheeks with a handkerchief before reluctantly going back to work. Sometime during their little reunion, two bath tokens had arrived, making that annoying "ding" sound to announce their arrival. "But granddaughter was not supposed to remember us..." continued Kamaji as he started working.
What he said piqued Chihiro's curiosity and she tilted her head a bit, "I wasn't supposed to remember all of you?" She asked innocently.
"Aye," Kamaji answered, not looking at Chihiro. "It was to protect you and our world, child. Had you and your parents remembered anything of this world, the people in your world would have found you insane for believing in spirits. Or, there was also a chance you might come back..." He turned his attention to Chihiro after making sure that the tokens were finally taken care of.
"Well, that was supposed to be the plan... erasing your memories and all..." Kamaji continued and he scratched his head, "Which remind me child, how did you end up remembering after all? And even coming here in the Spirit World, no less!"
Chihiro shook her head, not knowing how she could explain herself to Kamaji. "I just had a dream about this place and I just remembered," she said, her voice sounding lost and unsure. "But anyway, could you give me a job please? Just for tonight, I'll leave immediately once the sun is up."
Startled by her request, Kamaji asked, "Why are you asking me for a job?"
"I... uh, I remember Haku telling me that if I get a job, then Yubaba won't be able to harm me," was Chihiro's answer.
"Ah yes," Kamaji said, stroking his moustache, "that may be so, but I don't think Yubaba will be able to track you as easily as before." At Chihiro's puzzled stare, Kamaji added, "You don't smell like a human, Sen."
Still perplexed, Chihiro waited for Kamaji to explain some more but the old spirit only shrugged. "Maybe it's because I've been here a second time?" Was Chihiro's wild guess and the old spirit mumbled a soft "Perhaps", before going back to work.
"You don't have to work for me Sen," Kamaji spoke up as soon as Chihiro bent down to grab a coal. "For now, you rest up. You look tired." He pointed at his own messy futon and a few blankets, his way telling Chihiro where to sleep. With her adrenaline slowly disappearing, Chihiro found herself suddenly tired from today's happenings and her body screamed for sleep.
Before lying down on the futon though, she turned to Kamaji and asked worriedly, "What about you? Where will you sleep Kamaji?" The spider-spirit only laughed in reply and told her he'll just sleep inside his cubicle.
Nodding, Chihiro crouched on the futon, her eyes immediately closing as she felt the soft lull of sleep invade her sense. She didn't even notice when Kamaji reached out for one of the blankets and neatly tucked her to bed. The boiler room tended to get freezing after he finished his work.
(^.^)(^.^)
Up above the bath house, she glanced at the windows, taking in the sight of the many restaurants built around the place. She took a large inhale from the pipe in her hand before exhaling the smoke using her abnormally huge nose. She didn't exactly know what it was, but for a second there, she felt a powerful wave of negative and malicious energy before it disappeared without a trace.
She immediately sent her scout to investigate the problem but the bird returned with no news to tell her. She took another huge puff from her pipe as she continued to stare outside and beyond. Her gut was telling her that something didn't feel right but she didn't exactly know what, so she decided to patiently wait for it. She decided to sit in front of her office table and counted the gold pieces and the stacks of jewels neatly placed in the table. Counting money had always been sort of a stress-reliever to her.
(^.^)(^.^)
Word Count: 3819
Author's Notes:
Well... –looks around shyly- here goes my Chapter four. I apologize if the story's a bit slow-boiled and that Haku hasn't made an entrance yet, but he'll eventually come, I promise. I just have no idea when though but please don't hurt me!
Also, Ghibli characters have decided to show themselves in the story again. Can anyone point them out?
Anyway, huge thanks to Animeow, Team tahnobotdf, DeaththeKID20, Heart-fractured21, and Gizmostoys for leaving me such awesome reviews. And to crimeson-plasma for adding my story to her faves/story alert. Seriously guys, it's your continued support that's giving me the urge to write. Ah, and as usual, since I cannot reply to anonymous reviews, I'll do it here!
Animeow: Well, here's the next chapter for you! Hope you enjoyed~
Team tahnobotdf: It's good that you got the cookies! I was afraid mister mailman might have eaten them secretly! And wow, having my story as one of your favourites is really touching. So thank you!
DeaththeKID20: Wow, I didn't think anyone would actually spot Kusakabe-san! Nice one!
Ah, and lastly... both Heart-fractured21 and Gizmostoys have their fan fictions of Spirited Away too! Do check it out because I assure you, both people are wonderful writers and you'll definitely have a blast reading their stories. I know I did. =)
