Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from Spirited Away. However the plot is mine.

Happy reading! CN

Chapter 11: Distinguished guests

Haku's POV

I woke up with a jolt, only to fall back on the pillows. At the moment of the beating I didn't feel much, because I was more concerned with Chihiro. But now it feels like I've been run over by the train that passes underneath the bathhouse.

The second attempt at getting up didn't go any better, but this time it wasn't because of the injuries, but because someone pushed me back onto the pillows.

"Where do you think you're going, mister?" said Lin in a rather harsh tone.

"I need to... I... What happened?" I mumbled a little disorientated.

"What is the last thing that you remember?" She asked in a calmer tone.

"I took a whipping from Yubaba but she promised to reduce the term of my contract." I said feeling my head very fuzzy.

"Good. But now I have a question." She said in confusion.

"Shoot!"

"You took a whipping on the back..." She started to say but I cut her off rather rudely, my patience running thin.

"And what is the question, Lin?"

"Why do you have a burn on your left palm?" She asked in confusion.

Looking at my left palm I saw what looked like a burn mark and then I remembered: "Chihiro! Where is the hair tie?!" I asked in panic and tried to get up again, only to be pushed back by Lin.

"Here it is." She said pulling the hair tie out from her robes. "But isn't it a little girly even for you?" she asked in a cheeky voice.

"Lin... This is not what it looks like. Chihiro has one too. They were a gift from Zeniba. And a week or so ago I figured out that it was some sort of portal." I said as I reached for Lin's hand.

"A portal? So you can cross into the Human World through it?" She asked in a hopeful voice.

"Not exactly. But I can sense and see Chihiro when she touches her hair tie." I said in a tired voice.

"Oh, that's good. At least you can keep an eye on her." She added with a kind smile on her face, something that was very rare for her.

"Yeah... But that wasn't such a good idea on Saturday." I said not being able to hide the hurt in my voice, remembering what I sensed.

"Why?" she asked with a puzzled expression on her face.

"I could feel the hair tie trembling lightly at first, then faster. It started to thrash and water was coming out of it, which means she was crying really badly." I told her and watched her face fall.

"And what happened?" she asked in an alarmed voice.

"At the end I lost the connection with her. I think she wasn't conscious. That's why I need it. I have to try to contact her." I said and pleaded her with my eyes to not keep me waiting any longer.

At the last minute I remembered something I needed to ask her: "How long was I asleep?"

"Only a few days." She said and finally agreed to pass me the hair tie.

I took it from Lin and started to concentrate on Chihiro's face. Maybe this way I could trigger it and force it to wake her up. But nothing worked. What's worse is that I didn't even feel her near the hair tie. 'Oh, Chihiro... What happened to you?'

Seeing my mood sink through the floor, Lin started to speak: "Let's focus on getting you better..." She started to say and seeing that I wanted to protest, she covered my mouth with her hand and continued. "Don't argue with me. I know you want to help Chihiro, but if you're in a bad shape, you can't help her." She said with something that felt like compassion. I never knew she had it in her.

"I know..." I said knowing that, although I didn't want it, she was right.

With the last ounce of my strength I stood up and helped by Lin and one of the Yunas, Rigato, I managed to go to the bathroom and sink in the bathtub, letting the healing water work its magic.

"Lin..." I said as she was getting ready to leave.

"What is it?" She asked in a much nicer tone than her usual one.

"Thank you... for everything. I know I am a bit harsh sometimes, but until now I had periods of time in which I didn't feel like myself." I said feeling a little ashamed about my previous behavior.

"Don't mention it. Let's get you all healed up so that you can bring back our girl." She added in a comforting voice and with a kind smile on her face.

'What is happening to Lin? Maybe a spirit is possessing her.' I thought to myself but decided to ignore my worries. Lin was much nicer now and nobody wanted that to change.

The next day I was feeling as good as new, but Lin still didn't let me get out of bed. She even received a punishment from Yubaba for standing up to her when she wanted to send me to do her dirty work.

On Wednesday I refused to let Lin take another punishment so I barged into Yubaba's office to see what she wanted me to do.

"Well, well, well... Glad you could join us, Haku..." She sneered at me.

"What do you want Yubaba? What is my task for today?" I asked in a very irritated voice.

"We are expecting a few wealthy guests and I want the whole bathhouse to be really prepared." She said, and the prospect of making a huge amount of money could be seen in her eyes.

"We re always prepared and you know it. Why are these guests so important?" I asked in a more irritated voice than before.

"Because they are King Kokuo and Queen Joo." She added in the most calm and content voice I ever heard her use.

"The King and Queen of Kamikakushi?!" I asked not believing my ears.

"The very same. I want you to prepare them our very best room and hire the best employees to serve them."

"Ok. Is that all?" I asked feeling eager to start my task for our distinguished guests.

"Yes... And to think that Lin and the rest of the Yunas said I have no heart... See? I didn't give you a hard task on your first day back..." She concluded feeling very proud of herself.

Leaving Yubaba's office I went downstairs to the main lobby and gathered half of the staff, knowing that the rest would find out soon enough.

"I don't know if you heard yet, but today we have some very important guests coming to the bathhouse." I started to say but had to pause.

"Who?" "What?" "Important guests?" "Maybe they are wealthy!" started the voices all over the lobby, some whispering others almost shouting.

"Would you let me finish?!" I yelled a little more forceful than I wanted.

A dead silence fell over the lobby and I was glad they knew I was back on business.

"Our guests are King Kokuo and Queen Joo..."

Gasps could be heard all the way to the top floors. I knew that now I really got their attention.

"So we need to scrub the golden tub. Who thinks can take care of that?" I asked knowing that the job would have many who wished to fulfill it.

"I will do it!" came a voice from the far left.

The people in front moved to the side to reveal the speaker, but I already knew who it was: it was Lin.

"Lin... You should be in bed resting..." I started to say thinking of the punishment she took for me.

"No, Haku! I can take a punishment and you need some very good people today to pull this off. So you will not be sending me to bed!" She said in her usually bossy voice.

"Fine. Choose your team and you can go to work." I agreed knowing that I couldn't convince her otherwise. "As for the rest of you: Chef Yuki - I want you to be in half an hour in my office with the menu for the King and Queen; Makiko - choose your team of servers and I want you to bring the list to my office in 35 minutes; and Kimoshi - choose the maids that will be looking after the King and queen and bring me the list in 40 minutes." I said and everyone scurried off to do his or her tasks.

Giving orders felt good but it left me drained so I took the elevator up to my office for a little peace and quiet and also to see if I could see Chihiro through the hair tie. Half an hour passed but to no avail. The hair tie stood there in my hand but nothing happened, although I could feel it getting stronger by the minute. 'Maybe Chihiro is ok and she is getting closer to the hair tie...' I thought trying to reassure myself.

I didn't have time to finish my thought, because Chef Yuki came with the menu. It was an excellent one, fit for royalty. If I wasn't feeling like crap maybe I would have like to try a thing or two. After that, Makiko came. He did choose the best of the servers and Kimoshi did an excellent job as well at choosing the maids.

This gave me a little satisfaction, knowing that, although Yubaba was the boss, I was actually running the bathhouse. This gave me hope. 'Maybe I can run the bathhouse someday...'

A/N: Another chapter done. What did you think? I researched and Kokuo means "king" in Japanese and Joo means "queen". At least I hope I am right. If not, I am sorry :) Hope you enjoyed the chapter and I wait your reviews.