A/N I can't believe it's almost been a year since I've last updated. Forgive me, but it's extremely difficult to find the time to write when you're juggling school and two jobs. Still, I hope you find this chapter enjoyable.


Chihiro didn't know what her expectations had been before she'd turned around, but the man standing before her certainly hadn't been one of them.

He stood only a few feet away, and while the more rational part of her mind wondered how he had gotten there without her hearing him, the bigger, teenage-girlish part was soaking in every inch of his appearance. He was probably the most physically attractive guy Chihiro had ever laid eyes on, and she suddenly became very self-conscious of her borrowed robe blowing around her bare thighs.

He was more than a full head taller than her, maybe just a little taller than Daisuke. His hair was the strangest shade of black, green, and blue, and while Daisuke's hair color was of an intense kind you'd find in a cheap hair dye, this stranger's managed to appear natural. It was tied loosely together with a piece of twine and cascaded over his shoulder, falling just past his chest. Stray strands of hair fringed either side of his face, and he leisurely brushed them out of his eyes as the wind continued to blow.

He wore a traditional black kimono with a neckline that dropped down to the top of his chest, revealing impressively hard muscle and sharp collarbones.

It was only until her eyes met his that she was struck with a jolt of recognition. It was strange to see something that had previously been solely in her mind now staring right at her in real life. She wondered if this was how book authors felt when their stories were adapted into films.

She couldn't believe she was capable of forgetting such a beautiful man, whom she knew at this point was most likely Haku.

An immediate thought was that he looked different, which struck her as odd. How could somebody look different when she couldn't remember anything about him, save for his eyes?

While she continued to stare at him like an idiot, he spoke.

"What are you doing here?" His voice was deeper than it'd been in her mind.

"I –" She swallowed to clear her suddenly hoarse voice. "I couldn't sleep, so I came outside for a bit…"

"No," he said, shaking his head and taking a step toward her. "What are you doing here?"

She involuntarily took a step back. "W-what?"

His eyes stayed fixed on hers, hard and unwavering. "How did you get back here?"

Then she understood. His question held more depth than she'd originally thought. He wasn't asking why she was standing outside on the bridge; he was asking why she was even in the Spirit World at all.

She suddenly felt uneasy. His eyes that had looked so familiar suddenly looked very different. There was a prominent degree of hardness in them that she hadn't realized was there before.

Was this guy really Haku?

"Are you Haku?" she outright asked, ignoring the fact that she'd never answered his question.

For the briefest of moments, he widened his eyes in what appeared to be surprise before recomposing his features back into a cool but disinterested expression.

"So she really was telling the truth…" he muttered to himself, distantly looking off into the sea.

It was then that Chihiro realized he was balancing a kiseru pipe upon an upturned palm. Wordlessly, he brought the kiseru to his mouth, inhaled deeply, and blew out a slow stream of smoke.

"Are you Haku?" she asked again, becoming more and more convinced that this guy was somebody else altogether. If what Lin had told her the night before was correct, then she'd expect someone whose life she'd saved to act a bit more gracious. She also hadn't expected her mystery guy to be much of a smoker, but that was beside the point.

Again he didn't answer, and he either didn't hear her or was ignoring her. Chihiro guessed the latter option, since his eyes flicked back to hers at the sound of her voice before turning back to stare broodingly across the ocean.

This conversation was going absolutely nowhere. They had yet to fully answer the other's questions.

Was every conversation she had in the Spirit World destined to become painfully awkward?

"Yes," he finally said, pulled back from wherever his mind had taken him.

Chihiro jumped, thinking he had somehow read her mind. "What?"

He pulled in another breath from the pipe. "Yes, I'm Haku."

"Oh."

Silence.

Well, this little trip was turning out to be quite the anticlimactic one. She'd left not just her home, not just her family, but her entire world just to find this guy. Now that she did, he didn't seem to care all that much that she was here. If anything, he seemed a little angry. Sure, she hadn't expected their reunion to be full of embraces and sunsets, but even a little more enthusiasm from the other party would have been greatly appreciated. What had she done to him in the past to make him act so indifferent towards her? Had she spit in his food or something?

Maybe she really did try to become friends with him in the past just so he wouldn't kill her.

"You don't…" he began, "You really don't remember anything?" His voice sounded a bit more on the tender side, more like the voice she'd heard in her head. "Nothing at all?"

"Um…" The sound of his voice, stripped of its prior brittleness, caught her off guard. Everything about him up until this moment seemed so rigid, like he didn't at all like her and was afraid that showing her any kindness would result in her mistakenly thinking that they were BFFs for life.

And yet, here stood the same man, who was actually asking her if she remembered anything in what appeared to be a sign of concern.

How was she supposed to communicate with any male spirits when so far, the ones she had met seemed to have a serious case of bipolar disorder?

Haku shifted his weight to one leg in what she interpreted as discomfort.

Oh, right. He was waiting for her to answer him, and here she was reveling in his suddenly gentle voice and wondering whether or not his rigidness could be turned on and off like a light switch.

"Um…" she stupidly said again, recalling his question.

She debated whether or not she should say that she at least remembered him. Or rather, parts of him.

"Chihiro?" he prompted.

Her brows furrowed together in confusion. Huh. Chihiro? He'd called her that before when he'd first arrived on the bridge. She wondered why –

Remembrance hit her like a train.

"Chihiro!" she exclaimed. "That's my name!"

How could she have forgotten her own name? Sure, the witch had supposedly renamed her Sen, but she didn't think that she could actually forget the name she'd used for seventeen years, the name that her own flesh-and-blood-related parents had bestowed upon her. She didn't even like the name Sen all that much. She may have been Sen when she'd first entered this place, but without her memories, there was no Sen. As far as she was concerned, her name was and always had been Chihiro, and she'd somehow managed to forget that.

What was this place doing to her mind?

She realized a moment too late that her little outburst probably made her look like a complete imbecile. She sheepishly turned back to her audience. "Er, sorry about that. I, uh…" How did one begin to explain that she had forgotten her own name?

Haku, however, didn't look perplexed or weirded out like Chihiro would have thought. No, he looked angry, his eyes darkening and his lip curling back over his teeth. She subconsciously took a step back from him. It looked like the temporary window of him sounding like a decent person was now closed.

"You signed her contract," he said, his voice sounding strangely calm considering the clear-as-day fury written all over his face. "You signed her contract and now you're essentially stuck here until it is fulfilled."

Chihiro could only nod her head once.

"That damn witch…" Haku closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

So far, Haku was showing great skill in the mood swing department, and was equally great at making vague comments to himself that could make a conversation incredibly awkward. Chihiro was torn between asking him what the hell he was smoking and running back into the building when his eyes snapped open and he redirected his attention back to her.

"Chihiro," he said, and the way he said her name now sounded vastly different from the gentle way he'd said it before. "How could you let yourself be tricked like that?"

"Tricked?" she repeated disbelievingly. "How am I being tricked? Yubaba said she'd give me my memories back if I work here for a month, and that's exactly what I plan on doing."

"She said what?" he practically growled, his fury rising to a boiling point.

"T-that she'll give my memories back," she repeated, trying to put more confidence in her voice but failing miserably. "If I work here for at least a month."

"Yubaba lacks both the skill and the capability to do something like that, Chihiro," Haku said. "You're wasting your time here."

"What are you talking about?"

Haku exhaled sharply, like he was being forced to explain something ridiculously obvious. "Yubaba is lying to you. She is not, nor has she ever been able, to retrieve lost memories. While I am unsure of what it is she's scheming, I can tell you that you are being used."

Somehow, despite their supposed history together, Chihiro didn't quite believe him. In fact, Chihiro found herself more inclined to believe Daisuke. Yes, the incubus was an arrogant jerk, but she'd take his cocky attitude over Haku's cold one any day. Daisuke had saved her from being pulverized by a hoard of shadows, and all Haku had done so far was rope her into an unwanted game of hot-and-cold.

Surely Daisuke wouldn't have brought her to Yubaba if he didn't fully believe that the witch could restore the girl's lost memories. It was Daisuke she trusted, not Haku.

"I'm not wasting my time here," Chihiro insisted. "Yubaba said she'd get my memories back after my time here is done, and I believe that."

Haku raised a brow at the girl's show of defiance. "Is that right?"

Chihiro gulped. "That's right."

"You say that even though you are without your initial memories," Haku said, his voice irritatingly confident. "Tell me, Chihiro. Are you aware of what Yubaba once did to your parents?"

"Yes," Chihiro said without a moment's hesitation. She had Lin to thank for catching her up on her forgotten past. "Yes, I know that Yubaba turned my parents into pigs. But she did return them back to their human forms safe and sound. And they aren't even here this time, so what can Yubaba possibly do? I have no reason to worry."

Haku clenched his jaw, noticeably irritated by something she'd said, but what else was new?

"Even though you were much too young to tell the first time, I would have liked to have thought you could mature into someone who can tell when she is being deceived," he said. "That witch is no good, and it's a bit disappointing to learn that even now as a young woman, you fail to see that."

Despite the fact that she'd awoken feeling energized and refreshed, Chihiro was exhausted.

At first, she'd been relieved and even a bit thrilled when she finally found Haku, the owner of those unforgettable green eyes. Now, she felt nothing but regret. She should never have come to this unfamiliar world looking for him since evidently, he hadn't wanted to be found.

She didn't even want her memories anymore. What good would they do her now if they included this guy? She'd been living quite happily without them, and ever since she embarked to find them, she'd felt nothing but fear, anger, and resentment.

To think she'd come all this way for nothing.

"Alright, you know what?" Chihiro said, wiping her hands against her robe. "I'm sorry for whatever I did to you in the past, but I'm definitely not sorry for whatever's making you mad today. I think we've both clarified more than a few times that I don't exactly remember anything, so excuse me for not using my past experiences to guide me through the present ones. And just so you know, I'm mature as hell."

He didn't look at all apologetic like she'd wanted, but he did appear to be a bit taken aback. Good enough for her.

She brushed past, half expecting him to stop her. Luckily, he didn't.

She didn't know why he was the one thing she couldn't forget from this place, nor did she even want to know. He was probably a jerk to her back then just as he was being a jerk to her now.

"Oh," she said, stopping with her back facing him. "I never answered your question. The one about whether or not I remembered anything."

She waited for him to say anything, but when he didn't, she continued.

"I can only remember one thing," she said, "and that one thing is you."

She continued walking back into the building, not stopping once to see if he was still standing there. She had to pry her way through the entrance, ungracefully pulling at the heavy doors just to squeeze herself inside.

The bathhouse was still empty, and now, its silence accentuated the pounding of her heart through her ears.

Who the hell did Haku think he was? He knew Chihiro didn't remember anything, so who was he to lecture her about decisions and maturity? It was totally unfair.

All she wanted to do now was go home.

And she would, she decided. Right now.

She wasn't exactly sure how she could get to Yubaba, but she did know that the witch was on the highest floor of the building. The elevator in the far-left corner of the floor caught her attention, and she speed-walked to it, anger fueling her every step.

There weren't any floor buttons like the elevators she was used to, but there was a lever. She pulled it all the way up, and the doors closed in front of her.

She tapped her heel, already planning on what she'd say to Yubaba. She'd simply say she didn't need her memories anymore and that she was quitting. That would show the witch that she no longer had any incentive to remain here. She was so done.

The doors opened, and she stepped out into an empty corridor. At the end stood a set of large, ornately decorated doors, and she knew Yubaba was somewhere behind them.

She was about to pull on one of the crystal-encrusted door handles when the golden doorknocker actually began to talk to her.

"I see you still lack the decency to knock," it said, twisting its metallic face in a grimace. "I guess manners really are too much to ask for from you humans."

Still angry, Chihiro wasn't even all that surprised by the talking object. In fact, it hardly registered as anything more than an annoyance at the moment.

"You want me to knock?" Chihiro asked. "Fine. Is this good enough for you?"

She grabbed the doorknocker into her fist and pounded it three times into the door as hard as she could. She had to admit it felt good to manifest her rage into action.

"OW!" the doorknocker hissed. "Such temper. You've become quite the violent one, haven't you?"

Chihiro ignored it. "Just let me see Yubaba."

The doorknocker threw one more scowl at her before the doors parted, revealing the same long hallway that Chichiyaku had led her out of just last night.

She walked through it only for a brief time before she realized that she had no idea where she was going. The hallway broke off into intersections every few steps, so she was essentially navigating through a maze in which she'd only passed through once.

"To your right," came a distant voice, echoing through the corridors and reminding Chihiro of school announcements made over the monitors.

"Yubaba?" Chihiro called, recognizing the bitter voice immediately. She looked around her, but there was no visible sign of the witch anywhere.

"Go to your right," the witch said again.

Chihiro continued to look around. "Where are you? And how can you see me?"

"Are you going to go to the right or am I going to have to forcibly move you?" Yubaba demanded, her impatience leaking through her voice as it continued to resonate throughout the halls.

"Alright, alright," Chihiro said under her breath as she started down the hallway to her right. Were all spirits so incredibly impatient?

The trip took only a few more minutes with Yubaba guiding Chihiro every bit of the way before the doors to the office came into view.

Ignoring the fact that the witch had just helped her find her way, Chihiro angrily pushed the doors aside and stomped through.

"I quit!" she declared as she went right up to Yubaba. "My memories… I don't want nor need them anymore. I'm done here. I quit."

Yubaba looked up from the documents on her desk. "You're quitting? Even though you haven't even worked a single hour yet?"

Chihiro nodded. "Yes."

In a gesture that only fueled the girl's anger, Yubaba threw her head back and broke out into laughter, her bird-beak nose bobbing up and down. She even slapped her knee a few times, and the few sheets of paper she'd been studying fell to the floor.

Chihiro clenched her jaw. "What?"

Yubaba looked back up, her eyes still dancing with amusement. "You can't quit, Sen. You signed a contract."

"My name is Chihiro," she snapped, "not Sen."

To Chihiro's satisfaction, Yubaba frowned.

"How did you remember your real name?" the witch asked, narrowing her eyes in suspicion.

"How can one forget her own name?" Chihiro countered, not wanting to admit that she actually had forgotten her own name until she was not-so-kindly reminded by that bastard Haku.

"It was him, wasn't it?" Yubaba asked. "He's the one who told you."

"Who?" Chihiro asked as innocently as she could, but she knew exactly whom the witch was referring to.

"Don't play dumb with me. Haku has always gone out of his way to make me angry, especially when it comes to you. What else did he tell you?"

"Haku's a jerk," Chihiro said before she could stop herself, and the witch snorted in response. "He apparently likes to make me angry, too."

"Is that why you want to quit?" Yubaba asked, a sense of mockery present in the question. "Because you had a fight with your boyfriend?"

"That guy wouldn't be my boyfriend even if he was the last mood-swing prone bastard on this planet," Chihiro snapped. "And I'll have you know that I am quitting because I've come to the realization that I was leading a very happy life without my memories of this place. So, I'll not be requiring them anymore."

"That's cute," Yubaba said, "but you're still not quitting."

"And why not?"

"Because your little incubus friend has caused me a great deal of damage, and unless you can get him to work in your place, you're staying."

Chihiro wanted to rip her hair out of its roots. "That is completely unfair! I had nothing to do with the damages that he caused."

"Yes, but you're the one who chose to work here in his stead. You had the chance to walk away, and you chose not to take it."

Chihiro folded her arms. "So that's it? I really have to stay here for a whole month?"

"Gods, you're a slow learner."

"What if I just walk right out of here?" Chihiro challenged. "What could you do to possibly stop me?"

"Don't test me, girl," Yubaba warned. "I'm more powerful than you think, and it's a shame you don't remember that."

Chihiro rolled her eyes. Everyone kept using her forgotten memories as a weapon against her, and she was sick of it.

"Of course," the witch continued, "you're more than welcome to walk away, but until I say you're contract is fulfilled, you'll be unable to return to your world."

Chihiro searched her mind for any other way out of this, but found none. She hadn't the slightest idea how to navigate this world, nor did she even know where to start with getting back to her own. Overall, she knew nothing, and was at the complete mercy of her new employer.

She collapsed into a sitting position right on the floor.

"So I'm really stuck here?" she asked, still wrapping her head around the unfairness of her situation.

"Looks like it."

Chihiro groaned. "I'd rather not spend any time around that… around Haku."

Yubaba collected the fallen papers from her floor. "Join the club."

"Why was he so angry with me?" Chihiro wondered aloud.

Yubaba chuckled. "Your poor kids. I told him you'd returned without your memories, but as usual, he refused to believe me. He's wary of everything I say and do. It's annoying."

For once, Chihiro agreed with the witch on something. "Yeah, he is annoying."

"And of course," Yubaba said, stacking her papers into a neat pile, "I forgot to mention to him that you'd already agreed to work for me, but from what you've told me, I guess he's figured it out. About time."

Chihiro raised her eyebrows at that.

How did one owner casually forget to mention to the other owner that an amnesiac human was now working under their business? Did Yubaba purposely keep that information from Haku knowing that he'd get angry when he found out? That certainly explained why he didn't exactly seem to know about Chihiro's working situation. She couldn't help but wonder if Haku would still have gotten so angry with her had he heard from the witch beforehand about the contract.

Had Yubaba planned for them to fight?

"Yubaba," Chihiro began, curiosity forming the foundation of her words.

"What?"

"Are you really able to bring back my lost memories?" she asked, recalling everything that Haku had said about the witch.

"Of course I am," Yubaba said without skipping a beat. "What, do you think I'm lying? Like I said before, do not test me."

"Hmm," Chihiro hummed speculatively. Half of her wondered if Yubaba was lying to her while the other half wondered why she was suddenly taking Haku's accusations against the witch seriously. The last time she checked - which was approximately two minutes ago - she strongly disliked the guy and refused to believe a single word he said.

Just then, the human-shaped skull that had been sitting at the edge of Yubaba's desk began to ring like a phone. Yubaba picked it up and narrowed her eyes at the girl. "Now, if you're done here, go make yourself useful and get to work."

Chihiro stood up. "Yeah, yeah," she muttered.

She opened the office doors and left before she realized that she didn't know the way back. She stopped abruptly in her tracks and glanced back at the office, wondering if she could ask the witch for a map or something.

"How annoying," Yubaba's voice could be heard throughout the hallways once again.

As if an invisible hand had gripped the front of her robe, Chihiro was suddenly lifted a foot above the ground and hurled forward.

"Wha-?" she asked confusedly as she glided at a sickeningly fast pace. She tried to pry whatever it was that was holding her away, but her hands swiped uselessly at the air.

The sudden turning of sharp corners gave her whiplash, and the hallways rushed past her vision in a whirl of colors. It was like she was falling down one long kaleidoscope, one that was seriously giving her motion sickness.

By the time she was thrown out the entrance, her head felt horribly heavy and her vision was spinning, and she was about to fall over when a pair of arms caught her.

"Woah, there!" Lin said, trying to steady the girl. "Sen, what happened to you? Are you okay?"

Chihiro willed herself not to cry. This was the first time anybody was asking her if she was okay, and she was most definitely not.

From receiving a not-so-warm welcome from the guy she'd been searching for to being forced to work in another world for a whole month, Chihiro wasn't all that thrilled. And with that one question of "Are you okay?", it seemed that Lin was the only one here who understood that humans actually had feelings.

Still, Chihiro bottled up her frustration. She didn't want to show just how much she regretted every decision she'd made that had brought her to this point. The fact that Yubaba had somehow seen her without being nearby was a little unsettling, and Chihiro would not show any weakness now that there was a possibility that she was being watched.

So, she looked at Lin and said, "I'm fine."

Lin took a step away to scrutinize the girl. "What were you doing in there?"

Chihiro sighed. "I wanted to talk to Yubaba about some… complications that I was having this morning. But it's okay now."

She began to walk to the elevator before Lin could ask her any more questions.

"By the way," she began as Lin caught up next to her, "were you looking for me for something? Why are you up here?"

Lin gave a nervous chuckle. "Yeah, I almost had a panic attack when I woke up and you weren't there. For a second I thought that I'd only dreamed that you'd return. But people were starting to hear from Chichiyaku that you were here, so everybody was asking about you."

Chihiro pursed her lips, trying her best not to groan. After the morning's events, she'd forgotten just how awkward it had been to re-meet just a handful of spirits, and now she had to look forward to doing the same with a whole bathhouse of them.

"I looked everywhere for you," Lin continued. "After I couldn't find you on any of the other floors, I figured you must have gone up to see Yubaba. That's when you burst out of those doors like you'd seen a ghost or something."

Chihiro sighed. "Yeah, I would have fallen on my face if you hadn't been there. Thanks for that."

Lin laughed as they stepped into the elevator and pulled the lever. "No problem."

The doors closed, and Chihiro rubbed her temples with her fore and middle fingers, easing away the tension and mentally giving herself a pep talk.

Just because Haku had turned out to be a bigger jerk than Daisuke didn't mean that she had to permanently sink to anger and depression. And just because she was forced to work here for a month didn't mean that she couldn't have fun. For one, she didn't have to worry about schoolwork or exams, and spending some time away from home would hopefully give her a newfound sense of independence. Similarly, her parents would not be here to breathe down her neck every time she let her room go untidy or stayed out past curfew.

She nodded to herself, feeling better and better about her situation. She would not let a few bits of disappointing news dictate the rest of her day.

And so what if all five-hundred-and-something workers knew she was back? They were bound to find out eventually.

She was hopeful that greeting everyone wouldn't be as bad as she initially thought. With any luck, she'd return to the main floor and everyone would be so busy with work that her presence would go generally unnoticed. Besides, there was no way that every single worker would react the same way Chichiyaku had. Her return really wasn't anything to celebrate.

And what was the worst that could happen? It wasn't like anybody was throwing her a surprise party, and Chihiro snorted at the thought.

"SURPRISE!" came a chorus of roughly five-hundred-and-something workers once the elevator doors parted.

Chihiro gasped, taking a step further back into the elevator. "W-what?"

The once-empty lobby was now completely filled with what Chihiro guessed to be every single worker in the building. Some were even hanging over the banisters on the upper levels, scrambling to catch even a glimpse of her.

Somewhere in the scene, a band of shakuhachi flutes were screeching above the commotion of the cheering workers. Those who watched from the levels above began to toss handfuls of cherry-blossom petals down over the ledges.

Red paper fans flapped everywhere, and hanging down from the ceiling was a long, red banner that had "Sen" scrawled into it.

This couldn't be happening.

Lin laughed at the girl's shocked expression. "We all wanted to throw you a little surprise party on your first day back. Isn't it impressive?"

Chihiro forced a smile, though she was certain it looked more like a grimace. "Well, that's one word for it."

One of the workers reached out and took Chihiro by the arm. Before she could object, she was pulled into the eager crowd, swallowed by a sea of red and noise.

Immediately, she was hit with a wave of, "Sen, you're back!" "Look how you've grown!" "We've missed you!" "How did you lose you memories?" "Do you still remember me?" "How about me?" "No, me!"

She couldn't even answer one question without another being thrown her way, and her anxiety levels quickly reached their peak. She was passed around from one group of people to the next like a piece of meat, too overwhelmed to struggle. She'd never thought that she was much of a claustrophobic, but were these few seconds proving her horribly wrong.

"Make way, make way!" came the voice directly next to her, and the sea of people backed up to form a small circle around her. It wasn't exactly comfortable being confined by a ring of people, but she was at least able to breathe normally again.

"Sorry about that, Sen," came the owner of the voice. Chichiyaku. "We're all just excited to see you." Then, to the masses like he was leading a pep rally: "Isn't that right?!"

The crowd cheered in agreement.

A man who, like Chichiyaku, had frog-like features stepped forward. Unlike Chichiyaku however, he had beady, black eyes and a brown rectangular mustache. He stood apart from the other male workers in the sense that he wore a light-blue tunic while the others wore beige ones.

"Sen," he said, coming over the take her hand in his. "Because I am told you have lost your memories, I am Aniyaku, the assistant manager here. We are all so very delighted to have you back!"

"Thank you for having me," Chihiro said, addressing not only Aniyaku but also the whole bathhouse. "I look forward to working with you… again."

The crowd chuckled, though she hadn't meant to be funny.

"Well then," Chichiyaku said. "Shall we continue the party?"

Everyone cheered. Well, everyone except Chihiro.

"Does Yubaba know about all of this?" she whispered into Chichiyaku's ear as the music started again. "Won't she be mad that we're doing this instead of work?"

"Don't worry," he assured her. "I called her and she said it was fine."

So that's why the witch's phone, or rather skull, had rung before.

"So technically," Chichiyaku continued, "your first day is actually tomorrow. Isn't that great? That means you get to spend one day longer here!"

It took every ounce of Chihiro's being to stretch her mouth into a smile. "Yeah, that's great."

Inwardly, she was furious. Did Yubaba think this was funny? That keeping Chihiro away from her friends and family and world was one big game?

Her internal pep talk from before had been long forgotten. She'd only been lying to herself, anyway. Screw the fact that she didn't have to study or listen to her parents. Screw her independence. She just wanted to go home.

People continued to crowd around her like she was a celebrity, throwing her a barrage of questions that she had no idea how to answer.

One woman approached her and said, "Do you at least remember me? Thanks to you, I was regurgitated by that No-Face!"

Even if she did have her memories, how was anybody supposed to respond to that?

She'd long given up looking for Lin in the massive crowd. Though it would have been nice to have someone she was comfortable with by her side, it probably wouldn't have done much to help her out in the long run.

But she did get a lucky break. Eventually, a handful of workers emerged from a nearby room holding ridiculously large trays of hot, steaming food. As if this was a sign from the gods themselves, everybody averted their attention from Chihiro to the dishes.

Chihiro took this opportunity to bow out from the crowds, practically sprinting towards the empty corridor at the side of the lobby. She stumbled through it and threw a quick glance behind her. Luckily, everyone was still distracted by the food, and she found it a bit ironic that she, the subject of all the commotion, could wander away so easily unnoticed.

She continued to walk down the hall, the sounds of the party growing more and more distant. She wasn't sure where she was going, only knowing that she was escaping the shoving and the questions and the overall lack of privacy. And that was good enough for her.

Eventually, she came across the building's public restrooms, marked by the male symbol on one door and the female symbol on the other. She entered the girls' room, feeling the need to splash some water onto her face. Hopefully, it would help her re-organize her thoughts.

She entered quietly, figuring that at least one person would be inside. Fortunately, she was the only occupant.

Stylistically, the bathroom appeared to be quite modern compared to the general Japanese theme of other parts of the bathhouse. The floor was comprised of tan, shiny marble, and the walls were painted a deep gold with white floral-pattern. There were six bathroom stalls to the right, and four porcelain sinks to the left. A small, diamond-encrusted chandelier hung from the center of the room.

The place was sure nicer than where Chihiro and the other workers slept at night.

She headed for the sinks, turning the faucet on and letting the water pool into her hands. She gently splashed her face, letting the water cool her skin. It helped a little, leaving her feeling more refreshed and calm than she had been all morning. She grabbed one of the small, folded towels next to the sink and pat-dried her face.

She stared into the mirror, wondering how a mystery she'd been so eager to solve could turn into such a train wreck of rage and anxiety. Placing the towel back down, she gathered her hair into a ponytail, tying it in place with the sparkly hair-tie that'd been bound to her wrist.

With her new hairstyle, she continued to stare at her reflection.

What did the people here see her as? Was it this, the same way she'd looked as a ten-year-old?

She certainly felt like a different person than her past self. She'd always believed that it was the memories that made up a person. So without hers, was she somebody else altogether? Was she split into two separate entities, her past self and her current self? Was it her missing memories that held the key to bridge this gap?

She sighed, taking the tie out and placing it next to the sink. Though she'd decided she didn't even want her memories anymore, she didn't really have much of a say since she was essentially being forced into labor. And until her month was up, all she could do about her identity crisis was wonder.

Just then, the very last bathroom stall flew open, slamming so hard against the wall that it sounded like a bullet had been fired from a gun.

Chihiro jumped, spinning around toward the noise. Maybe there had been someone in here all along.

Standing inside the stall was a tall figure, completely hidden underneath a long, red cloak. Its hood was almost entirely pulled over its face, but Chihiro could see that it wore a white, expressionless mask. It glided over to Chihiro, looking like it was actually floating in the air like a sheet in the wind. It stopped just several feet away and stared at her through its mask.

Chihiro felt immediately uneasy. Well, she supposed any girl would if she was approached by a hooded figure in the bathroom.

"Hello," the figure said in a deep, male voice.

Chihiro wanted to tell him that the men's bathroom was right next door, but she got the feeling this guy had put himself in here on purpose. And that was highly unsettling.

"H-hello…" she said, inching her way towards the exit. She wondered how fast this guy was should she start to run.

He took a step closer. "Red paper," he said, "or blue paper?"

Paper had been the key word, and Chihiro immediately knew what this guy was. Every Japanese student did.

He was the Aka Manto.

As an elementary-schooler, she'd learned through the general gossip of her peers all about the Aka Manto. It was said to haunt public and school restrooms, and would ask unsuspecting victims whether they wanted red or blue paper. Choosing red paper would result in the victim being sliced apart until his clothes were stained red, and choosing blue paper would result in the victim being strangled until his face turned blue.

But as Chihiro and her peers grew older, tales of the Aka Manto stopped circulating. It was, after all, just a silly urban legend.

But now, Chihiro wished that she'd taken the tales seriously, because she could not remember what to do or say that would let her escape unscathed.

The pace of her breathing quickened, and several beads of sweat began to form on her forehead. She was in a life-or-death situation, and she couldn't even rely on her fight-or-flight instinct. This required logic.

Obviously, choosing between red or blue paper was out of the question. She could flat-out scream for help, but in some versions of the stories she'd heard, screaming would result in an immediate death. The same went for running away.

She recalled something about choosing a different colored paper, but what did that result in? Was that the key to her survival, or did it just lead to an inevitable death like all the other options?

"Red paper," the Aka Manto said again, a little more desperation in his voice, "or blue paper?"

And what would happen if she just kept silent? If screaming meant death, would silence mean safety?

"You're time's almost up," he said, his voice both smooth and venomous. "You must give me an answer. Red paper, or blue paper?"

Taking a deep breath, Chihiro squared her shoulders. She had to have confidence that what she was about to say would be the right answer.

"I choose green paper," she said.

The Aka Manto took a step back. "Green paper… you say?"

Chihiro nodded once.

"I see," he said.

And then a dozen ghostly arms shot through the floor directly below her, breaking apart the marble like it was nothing. They grabbed Chihiro, wrapping around the entirety of her body and digging into her flesh. She screamed, struggling against the arms that were now pulling her through the gaping hole in the ground.

Her efforts were futile, and one of the arms covered her mouth to mute her screams. Haku entered her mind then, and strangely, she was utterly devastated that she would never see him again.

The last thing she saw before she went under was the Aka Manto's white mask. She'd previously thought it was expressionless, but now, she could see that it was smiling.


Haku stormed out of Yubaba's office in a rage.

The ignorant, conniving witch had failed to mention to him that Chihiro had already signed a working contract. Why? Because she knew he'd be furious.

And he was furious all right. He did not disappoint her in that regard.

After his encounter with Chihiro on the bridge, he'd tried to convince Yubaba to terminate the girl's contract. In actuality, he'd more threatened than convinced. But the witch never wavered. In fact, she enjoyed Haku's blatant fury, which nearly drove him insane.

The witch seemed to always want to forget that Haku was also the rightful owner of the bathhouse, and he had as every say in who worked there as she did. She was supposed to confer with him before they hired anybody, but this time around, she didn't. And since Chihiro already signed the contract, there was nothing he could do about it.

Yubaba was planning something, and he would not rest until he knew what it was.

He warned her that if Chihiro's safety was ever compromised under the contract, he would not hesitate to take physical action. He warned her. Still, the witch was not concerned. In terms of strength, she and Haku were equals. In terms of confidence however, Yubaba won, and she believed that she would be the victor in the event of a fight. Of course, that theory was never tested, but it very well would be should there ever be so much as a scratch on Chihiro by Yubaba's hand.

He decided then that he'd need to considerably cut the number of times he left the bathhouse. He would not leave Chihiro alone here, and -

He stopped dead in his tracks.

He heard it.

Even through all the music, all the talking, all the commotion in the lobby, he heard it.

Chihiro's scream.

His biggest fear was already coming true.


A/N I can't tell you when the next update will be, and I seriously don't want it to be so long again. But the semester ends soon, so I'm hoping some time will open up for me in the near future. Please review; the more feedback I receive, the faster I write :)