Chapter Ten: The First Day Back
Chihiro sat at the desk, taking a break from her drawing and staring out the window.
He said it! she thought. He said 'I love you.' She smiled to herself. At least I know my feelings are returned. But does he know that I feel the same way? I haven't told him I love him. I should. But what if—No, I know he feels the same way, he just said so!
"Alright, that's it," said Chihiro resolutely, standing up. "I'm going to tell him."
She crossed the room and walked out of the door. She strode down the hall until she came to the next door on the left. Chihiro drew a deep breath and knocked on the door.
"Yes?" came Haku's voice.
Chihiro slowly opened the door and walked in. "It's Chihiro," she said quietly.
"Chihiro," said Haku, standing and walking over to her. "Are you okay?"
At the sight of him, all of her determination fell away. She began to blush and looked down at her feet. "I-I'm alright," she stuttered. "I-I just wanted to…check in on you."
"Oh," said Haku, surprised. "I'm fine, just doing more paperwork. How are you?"
"Fine, just fine," she answered quickly. There was an awkward silence. She shuffled her feet before looking up. She reached out and touched his arm, then said, "Well, bye." She turned on her heel and ran out the door. It closed with a snap.
"What was that all about?" Haku wondered, returning to his desk. He remembered her blushing face, and thought he had some idea, but was not going to push it until she was ready.
Back in the hall, Chihiro's heart was thumping as she relived her embarrassing episode.
You idiot! she scolded herself. You wanted to check in on him? That is the most pathetic excuse I've ever heard! Haku must think you're a stupid, blithering moron! She sighed and walked back to her room. Telling someone you love them to their face is harder than I thought.
She had reached her room. As she opened the door, a thought occurred to her. "I wonder if Kamajii could help me? I'll go see him!"
And with that, she bound off toward the broiler as fast as her thin legs would carry her.
At first, Chihiro seemed to have back the energy she had lost six years ago. But halfway to the broiler room, she could feel her legs getting weak. She managed to make it to the stairs that led to Kamajii before they gave out entirely. She sat on the top step, catching her breath. When she thought she was strong enough to stand again, she rose. Chihiro tried to take a step, but instead tripped on her own feet and fell down the stairs, landing flat on her backside.
Kamajii heard all this commotion and turned around.
"Sen! Are you okay? What are you doing down here?" he asked concernedly, pulling her up off the floor with one of his arms.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," she assured him, brushing dirt and debris off of herself.
"Do you want me to call Haku?"
"No! I don't want him to worry. Besides, he told me to stay in the room," said Chihiro hurriedly.
"So, what brings you down here, when you should clearly be in your room resting?"
"I was wondering, Kamajii, have you ever been in love?"
The old man faltered a bit in his work. "What makes you ask that, Sen?"
"Oh, no reason."
"There is a reason for everything, Sen, but I will not ask you yours; it is clearly a private matter."
Chihiro was grateful that the old man did not wish to pry into her personal life.
"I have been in love before," said Kamajii, turning to face her. His eyes were glazed over at the memory.
"Did you ever tell her that you loved her?"
"Yes, eventually. But it was hard. I didn't know what to say to her. One day, it just slipped out. I was mortified, but then she smiled, and I knew it was okay."
"Did she tell you she loved you, too?"
"Yes, she told me later on. I don't know why she didn't tell me right away, but I was happy when she did."
Oh," said Chihiro, a little disappointed. Kamajii didn't know why his love hadn't told him she loved him right away.
She said good-bye to the old man and turned to leave. As she got to the stairs, she looked back at him and asked, "Kamajii, what happened to her?"
Kamajii gave her a sad smile. "She died; some kind of sickness. She had a high fever, vomited constantly, and always said she was cold. She died a week before we were to be married."
"Oh, Kamajii, I'm so sorry!"
"Thank you, Sen. Now, you better get back, before Haku notices you're missing."
Chihiro was walking to the elevator to go back to her room, thinking about what she should do, when she ran into someone she would rather not have.
"Sen!"
Chihiro flinched at the shrillness of the voice. "Yes, Yubaba?"
"What are you doing?"
"Going back to my room."
"Come with me," said Yubaba curtly.
Chihiro did as she was told, knowing what Yubaba could do to her if she refused.
"Here," said Yubaba, shoving a stack of towels into Chihiro's arms. "Make yourself useful and put on in every bath."
Chihiro simply nodded behind the stack of towels and tottered off. Thirty minutes later, Chihiro had delivered most of the towels and was on her way to drop off the last one. As she turned the corner, she almost ran into Haku. He grabbed her shoulders and hugged her.
"Chihiro, thank gods I've found you," he said, relieved. Then he pulled back, looking stern. "Where the hell were you? I've been looking everywhere for you! I told you to stay in the room."
"How did you know I was gone?"
"I went to check on you, but when I went in the room, you weren't there. I panicked and ran to find Lin, but she said that she hadn't seen you. Then I went to Kamajii, and he said it had been almost an hour since he had talked to you. So I've been running around everywhere, trying to find you. Where did you go?"
"I went to see Kamajii, and when I left, I ran into Yubaba. She told me to follow her, thrust a stack of towels into my arms, and told me to put them in all the rooms," said Chihiro, close to tears; she didn't like Haku yelling. "A-are you mad at me?"
"No," he said. "Not at you. Follow me." He took Chihiro's hand.
They found Yubaba, and Haku flared. He stepped in front of Chihiro and confronted Yubaba, his eyes reflecting his anger.
"I told you that I did not want Chihiro to work so she would not overexert herself, did I not?" he said darkly.
"Yes, you did—" started Yubaba.
"Then why," snarled Haku, "did you tell her to walk from room to room and deliver towels?"
"I—"
"You know that she tires easily and can only walk a small distance before her legs give out."
"Yes—"
"And yet you asked her to do something that would tax her. And after I personally told you that she needed to rest. If you will remember, I run the bathhouse now, so you must listen to me."
"But—"
"Enough," said Haku, closing his eyes. "Leave Chihiro alone. Do not ask her to do anything else. She is under my supervision, so don't bother bullying her into anything else. Now, good day to you."
Haku gathered Chihiro to him and walked off toward the elevator.
Back in the room later that night, Haku was staring out the window, thinking to himself. His sensitive ears heard the sound of light footsteps behind him. Chihiro came up behind him slowly and wrapped her arms around his neck. She pressed her face into his silky hair.
"I'm sorry," she said.
"For what?" asked Haku softly, taking her arms and pulling her to his front. She looked up at his face.
"For going off earlier today. I should've stayed in our room like you said."
"Well, yes, it would've been nice if you had stayed in the room, but I can't blame you. After all, you just came from a household where you were being starved and had all of your freedoms withheld; it's only natural that you would want to get out and explore. Don't apologize."
Haku picked Chihiro up and carried her to the futon. He laid down with her and cuddled her until she fell asleep, curling herself to his body and snuggling under the covers. She laid her cheek against his chest and he could feel her deep breath. He circled her in his arms as her scent lulled him to sleep.
Ooh, so close. Maybe she'll tell him in the next chapter? Who knows? You'll just have read and find out! Ps. I know that the first ten chapters have been focusing on Chihiro's first day back, but the pace will pick up. Thanks for reading. Pease review!--MF