Frankly, I would not have been able to write the beginning of this chapter if my boyfriend hadn't shown up on my doorstep with a surprise bouquet of flowers and a bag of chocolates. After thanking him, I then proceeded to gush out all of the romantic ooze that tends to follow his random sparks of romance onto paper. I apologize in advance because now rereading it days later, I am gagging from the sweetness. I also threw in a small Easter egg of sorts in the romantic scene, so I hope some people are able to find it/appreciate it. Thanks for the continued support!
Chapter 10:
Chihiro's purple butterfly yukata fluttered in the wet breeze as Haku led her into the flower maze on the side of town. Behind her the fading light of sunset resounded with the sound of spirits awakening and the town beginning to come to life. Gently grasping his hand tighter, Chihiro followed Haku as the walls of pink, white, and purple flowers surrounded them. Dim lanterns hung in tendrils overhead giving the maze an overall festive appearance. He looked back at her and was pleased to see a large smile on her face. With her free hand she touched several of the flowers along the way.
"Would you like to wander through the maze for a while and see if you could find the center," Haku asked her gently as he let her begin to the lead them forward. Chihiro seemed to have forgotten that they were holding hands as she reached for the next flower that caught her eye and tugged him after her. He didn't need to tell her that the flower maze was enchanted so that those who enter could not find the exit or center without using a high level of magic or paying a hefty bribe. How else would the maze capture its victims and consume them? However it had been easy to convince it to play nice for the day with the promise of a rare fertilizer that Haku had acquired from a trader some time back. Chihiro pulled him along as she admired the roses, daffodils, sunflowers, irises, and countless other flowers growing along the path. Yes, the fertilizer was a worthy price to pay to enact his simple plan for their date. When Chihiro was tired of wandering around lost, he would simply use magic to notify the maze that they were ready and then lead her to the center where he had his own surprise in store for her.
Winding through loops endlessly, Chihiro couldn't help but wonder how big this maze was. She swore that she could see both edges of the maze when they entered, but now there seemed to be no way out. At least the flowers were plentiful and beautiful. She had always loved flowers and part of her yearned to yank off several handfuls to decorate her room with. A small voice in her mind mocked her for calling the guest room of Haku's flat "her room" but that was what it had come to feel like. After a few days here, she was already starting to melt into a comfortable routine. It was as if she was always meant to come here and be at the bathhouse...to be with the people who lived here.
Pointing out a very particular flower that she had never seen before, Chihiro looked back at Haku to ask what it was. However the words seemed to fall right off of her lips at the tender smile on his face and suddenly, she was aware that she was holding hands with the handsome young man beside her. Her cheeks burned red and she turned back around to examine the flower so he wouldn't see her face. She didn't want him to misinterpret her actions, after all they were just friends, but she liked the feeling of her hand in his. His slender long fingers seemed to cover and hold her hand as if he cherished the opportunity to touch her. She felt her heart beat pick up speed as his refreshingly cool hand adjusted to give her hand a gentle squeeze. Looking back at Haku, he smirked at her and answered her unspoken question, "It's called a dahlia." Chihiro nearly let out a sigh of relief that he thought she was awestruck by the flower and had stopped to admire it. What had really stopped her was the way he was looking at her. He was looking at her as if there was nothing else in the world but her, as if she stood there upon the center of his universe.
"It's quite beautiful." Haku stopped himself short of replying how its beauty could not compare to hers and following it up with a thousand other sappy romantic quips running around his head. Reminding himself that she wouldn't believe him if he said something like that anyways, he decided for a moment of honesty under guise.
"The moon tonight is beautiful, isn't it?" Chihiro looked up at the full moon above them and smiled.
"Yes, it is." Haku smirked at her quiet response, but decided it was time for the surprise. Pulling her forward, he sent a magical vibration to the maze to let it know to reveal the center to them.
As they turned yet another corner, Chihiro spotted the path widening up to a small meadow. A stone fountain gurgled happily in the middle and a picnic blanket prepared with a three tier bento box was laid out beside it. Paper lanterns hung in crisscrossing patterns overhead, giving a gentle light that balanced out the moonlight, and a sum of butterflies flitted around peacefully. Releasing her hand reluctantly, Haku ushered her forward towards the blanket. Chihiro plopped down gracelessly and began to open up the tiers as Haku gracefully sat on the opposite side. Preparing plates for both of them, she was impressed with the food he had packed.
"Did you prepare all of this yourself?"
"Yes, I thought you would enjoy it." Biting into the onigiri, she felt a flash of familiarity and comfort at its delicious taste. A short flash of memory blinded her eyes and she saw herself eating onigiri, crying as a young boy that resembled Haku held her. There seemed to be flowers around them as well… "This isn't the first time you have made me onigiri, is it?"
"No it is not…" Haku felt himself startle at her accurate assessment.
"You didn't use magic to enhance this, did you?"
"No, but how would you know that?" It was a memory that only he and her would know, if of course she could remember their past.
"I just wouldn't put it past you. That seems to be the sort of thing you would do. You would do something nice for someone without telling them what you are sacrificing." Haku shrugged and bit into his onigiri. He didn't have the heart to correct her and tell her about the horrible monster that he was. She didn't know how he played judge, jury, and executioner on the docks, or the dirty work he did for Yubaba.
"It did its purpose and that's all that matters now."
Clouds slowly float by as they talk about everything and nothing at all. Chihiro found that Haku's sense of humor kept her laughing throughout the meal and when she would reply with witty retorts, he would laugh along with her in his intoxicatingly smooth voice. Both kept trying to make each other laugh, just to hear the other's laughter. At one point, their conversation was halted by the landing of several butterflies on Chihiro. Taking it as a good luck charm, she smiled and admired them before gently removing each with a finger. When they kept returning to her, she looked at Haku in laughter. Catching him staring at her, she put two and two together.
"Don't use magic on petty things like landing butterflies on me. You know there are much better uses for it," Chihiro scolded. Haku raised his palms up in innocence.
"I did no such thing. The maze here controls the butterflies, not me." Chihiro rolled her eyes in disbelief and let the butterflies continue their exploration of her yukata. Haku thought better of explaining how the butterflies were actually the souls of spirits caught in the maze's grasp- he didn't want to kill the mood. It seemed the maze had taken a liking to Chihiro after listening to her praise its flowers and shrubbery all morning. Once the maze noticed she liked the colorful butterflies trapped in the maze center, it had sent them over for her amusement. As their conversation renewed in earnest, a single drop splattered on Chihiro's arm. Looking down at her arm and then back up at the sky, she could see no clouds above. The sky above them was empty save for the moon and stars, but Chihiro held her suspicions. Moments later she spotted another drop on her resting chopsticks.
"Hey Haku, it looks like it is going to rain…"
"I don't feel anything yet and the sky is clear," he replied without looking up. He had spent most of the morning distracted by Chihiro, but surely he would have felt if there was any immediate threat of rain. He was a river spirit after all. Instead his mind focused on the way Chihiro looked here within the garden. Even in a plain yukata, she was stunning, like a radiant blossom that outshone every other beauty around her. The way she laughed and smiled as she explored the different types of flowers made him confident that he had chosen the right place for their first date. He would never forget this morning with her and wanted the date to last forever. However fate was not on his side for just as he finished speaking, a large fat rain drop splat on his nose and Chihiro snickered at him. Her laughter was stopped short in shock when the sky opened up and poured down on them. Standing up, Haku grabbed her hand and together they abandoned their picnic to the rain.
Pulling her through the maze as quickly as he could without using magic, Haku led her towards the nearby abandoned pig's keep. Yanking open the doors to the creaking wooden shed, he pushed her in and followed closely. Leaving the door open so they could have some light, Haku stood beside her as they both caught their breath. They were both soaked to the bone. Breaking down in laughter, the two of them leaned against each other.
"Your face was priceless," he whispered with a smile.
"So much for our picnic. You couldn't wait for a day without a forecast of rain," Chihiro teased as she attempted to wring out the sleeves of her yukata. Haku gave her an impish smile and wrung out his sleeves.
"No, I was too nervous you would disappear again before I could make good on my offer." Chihiro looked at Haku's wistful expression and felt her heart rock against the inside of her chest. His piercing green eyes didn't hide his honest feelings and she felt almost guilty that she was going to have to return. She had a life to return to, not much of one, but a life nonetheless. A small voice in the back of her mind whispered the obvious offer that she could chose to stay here. She could ask Haku for a job and stay with her new (technically old?) friends. At least she would not be alone anymore and was what was waiting for her on the other side of the portal really what she wanted anymore?
The distant sound of the wounded bell interrupted her thoughts. Haku and Chihiro faced each other, the first with a grim expression and the other with understanding.
"We are needed back at the bathhouse."
"Yes, since it was supposed to rain today I doubt Yui will be around. Lin will need to run the infirmary as best she can."
"I can manage the front of house while you two are busy. I don't mind." Haku nodded his head and looked out into the pouring rain. It had taken them almost an hour to get to the center of the maze after he sent the signal and it would take quite some time to return if they went on foot.
"Chihiro, I'm going to ask a favor from you. There is no way we could get back to the bathhouse before the wounded start arriving if we don't fly. I know you hate heights, but if you can just trust me for about ten minutes I'll have you back on solid ground in no time. You don't even have to look." Chihiro frowned, but even she saw no other way around it.
"Fine, tell me what I need to do."
"Close your eyes and hold out your hands. I will put my horns in your hands and seat you using my tail. Hold on tight and I will do the rest." Chihiro grumbled a series of explicative words under her breath, but the tolling of the wounded bell meant her insecurities would have to be set aside for the greater good. As she closed her eyes, Chihiro felt a swirl of wind push past as Haku changed forms. Cool, stiff horns were shoved gently into her hands and she held onto them for dear life. Haku carefully seated her behind his horns using his tail and quickly took off for the bathhouse. Rain drops whipped about them as Haku flew. Chihiro had to admit that there was something peaceful about flying, whether it was the way Haku's body moved fluidly through the air or the feeling of air surging past her. Keeping her eyes close, she snuggled into his warm fur and wrapped her legs around his body. Grumbling to her quietly, Chihiro could feel the vibrations beneath her. As Haku had promised, it felt like no time at all before they came to an abrupt halt. Using his tail, he gently tried to remove her, but she clung to him like a burr with her eyes shut. Rolling his eyes, he sauntered into the living area and proceeded to roll over, pushing her onto the sofa. Finally opening her eyes and releasing her death grip on his horns, Chihiro plopped off onto the sofa.
"Thanks for the ride, Haku." Grumbling in response, which seemed to be his favorite thing to do in this form, he threw a towel at her before nudging her off the couch and towards the door. Giving her a nod of his head, he sauntered right back to the balcony and flew off in the direction of the docks. There was work to be done.
Chihiro ran the bathhouse until closing time and then left the foreman in charge of the usual closing procedures. Making her way down towards the infirmaries, she could hear spirits still being brought in and the wounded bell had not yet taken a rest. There must have been a serious battle. Opening the door to hospice, Chihiro was not surprised to find the fox uncared for since her departure the day before. Swiping a rain bucket and repeating yesterday's procedure, she felt the tiredness of the day's antics rest upon her. Today the wounds had much less black puss oozing out of them and he seemed more responsive when she brushed out his fur. As each cool press of the wet comb ran through the fur on his head and neck, the quiet sound of a sigh could be heard beneath her singing. Finishing her task, she said goodbye and headed to the main infirmary to check on Lin. Lin was in the center of the storm, organizing teams and patient placement as best that she could. Spotting Chihiro entering, she put the staff on hold while she quickly moved to intercept her.
"Now is not the best time for you to be down here. Haku is at the docks and if he comes inside to take a break, he will see you. Head upstairs to bed. We are probably going to have to work through the night so I need you to run the staff tomorrow." Lin didn't give her a chance to respond and before Chihiro knew it, she was shoved outside of the infirmary with the door firmly closed behind her. Walking upstairs, Chihiro made sure everything was set for the next day's work before heading upstairs. Without Haku, the flat felt lifelessly empty. Taking a hot bath and curling up in her pajamas amongst the covers did not seem to dull the tension she felt from the ever ringing wounded bell.
Rain poured down throughout the night and the following day. By midday, the bathhouse was flooded with guests needing detoxification treatments from the pollution flooding into their wetlands and the wounded bell had been ringing nearly non-stop since the morning began. Managing the chaos, Chihiro kept the front of house running smoothly through the reorganization of manpower and tasks. Shortly after delivering lunch to the guests, a yuna came running up from the infirmaries seeking more supplies from Kamaji. Chihiro intercepted her and asked how the infirmaries were faring.
"I must get more herb supplies for Kamaji, but we are losing staff members left and right. The exhaustion from working all day and night on adrenaline is wearing out and they are collapsing." Chihiro frowned and let the yuna hurry on. Heading to the foreman, she discussed her plan with him.
Lin dragged the sixth infirmary worker that had collapsed off to the side. What they truly needed was a good three to four hour nap and some food to keep going, but there wasn't time. She could only give them a good half an hour before waking them. There were just too many patients being brought in and sorted into the different infirmaries. Walking towards the main infirmary, Lin nearly stopped in her tracks at the sight of eight yunas approaching from the bathhouse way. They had not been on infirmary shift this week.
"Mistress Lin, Chihiro sent us to assist you. She said to send eight of your weakest assistants back upstairs for a hot meal and a nap. We are going to rotate down other bathhouse workers that had time to rest last night so that those who worked through the night can rest."
"How? We need the staff above to run the bathhouse for our guests."
"She is shutting down the areas that required heavy staff presence and reorganizing our guests and staff so that we have people to spare." Lin thought it over silently before nodding her head slowly. With the bell continuously tolling, it wasn't going to be getting easier anytime soon. Waking those who had passed out, she ordered them to report to front of house as fast as possible, and then took those who were fresh into the chaos.
By closing time, Chihiro had rotated out most of the staff to the infirmary and sent those who came out straight to bed with supper. After saying goodbye to the last guest as he departed, Chihiro thanked the foreman for his help before heading down towards the infirmary. Entering into hospice, there were several new residents unconscious in their beds. Looking over the notes at the foot of each occupied bed, it seems that sorting staff had taken care of all of the new entries, leaving the fox untouched. Following the same routine as the day before, Chihiro cleaned the wounds and placed new dressings before brushing him with rain water. As she cupped one of his paws to wash it, the paw twitched and stretched its abnormally long fingers towards her. Somewhere between a hand and paw, his clawed, padded fingers tried grab onto her wrist weakly. Pulling her wrist out of his paw, she continued on with her cleaning as both of his paws gently contracted and opened. As she finished up, Chihiro could hear the wounded bell finally silence. Heading towards the main infirmary, she considered how unearthly silent it was, as if everyone had died. With a quick glance at the closed doors of the main infirmary, Chihiro walked past and followed the blood spattered path towards the docks.
Coming out into the fresh night air, Chihiro nearly stopped in her tracks at the sight before her. The moon shined down beautifully on the back dock, mocking the smears of black blood and screams of agony from the spirits below. Spirits with weeping black and red wounds clambered out of the wooden buckets that they came floating in upon. Before they could get far though a wall of water would crush over them. The spirits would scream out as the water forcibly purified some of their wounds and black blood would spew in retaliation before slowing into red blood. As soon as the spirits bled red, staff members swooped in and helped carry the spirit up into the main infirmary. Others were not so lucky. When the water hit them, their bodies crumbled down and gave up their life along with the shadows poisoning them.
Haku stood on a platform over everyone else, controlling the powerful water cleansing. He moved the wall of water through the spirits and when they failed to bleed red, he would use the water to end their suffering. The bodies of the unfortunate were shucked like husks back into the buckets and sent back across the river to be disposed of. After controlling the water for so long, his mind had emptied of everything else, focusing completely on the task at hand. Even after the last of the wounded were being taken inside, he stood there, eyes clouded and unseeing. The power of holding unfamiliar water for so long had been slowly consuming the line between them. Though he could feel his thoughts and feelings blur with those from the water, he couldn't stop as long as more wounded were coming. He could feel what the water felt, the joy it felt at expunging the impurities and the sadness it felt when ending another spirit's life. It wasn't his water, but he felt its desire to claim him and take him as its own. Like magic, water can be a greedy mistress that wants what it cannot have.
The sound of someone calling his name sounded like a tiny whisper in the back of his mind. It was like he was underwater, the sounds of the world around him faded away to almost nothing. His body suddenly jerked under a tight hold and the warmth of another body against his struck a note of familiarity. Focusing on the feeling, he once again separated himself from the water and released his hold on the magic tying him to the water. The water on the dock splattered down unsatisfied. As his eyes unclouded, Haku could see Chihiro holding him tightly as Lin stared at them both with a sad frown. Opening his mouth to ask why she was there, Lin beat him to it.
"You weren't responding anymore. Take her and go upstairs, Haku. I will manage everything down here." Taking a look at her tired appearance, Haku was tempted to argue that she didn't look to be in any shape to be continuing either. However, Chihiro's hold tightened on him to a degree and his attention was redirected to her. Like a frightened rabbit, she held onto him and he brought up a hand to pat her head gently. Lin gave them one last look before heading back towards the infirmary.
"Chihiro, I would deeply appreciate it if you could help me back to the flat." Nodding her head in response, she shifted from her hug to wrap an arm around his waist and drape his arm over her shoulders. She was a bit short to be carrying any of his weight, but it didn't seem like that was his intention. He wasn't leaning on her at all, simply keeping her wrapped close to him. Together they slowly made their way to the flat. Haku wanted to ask her if she saw what he had been doing, but he held his tongue. She didn't seem to want to talk about it and he didn't really feel like bringing it up. It had been a tough time after all. Getting back to the flat, Haku and Chihiro both stared at the bathroom door.
"Why don't you go take a quick bath and I'll wait here. I still have to eat dinner anyways," Haku said with a warm smile. Muttering yes, Chihiro nearly flew into the bathroom. Turning the shower water to scalding hot, she tried to scrub away all of the filth from the day. Images of the broken and dead spirits from the dock contrasted with the images of those suffering in the infirmary raced through her mind. Rubbing her skin harder, Chihiro felt herself panic. She couldn't get clean. All of the blood splattered everywhere, smears of black blood and forgotten bodies piled aside. Finally, slamming her hand against the tiled bathroom wall, Chihiro broke down and cried. No wonder the others didn't want her down there, the air seemed to reek of suffering and death. Pity for Haku filled her as she remembered how broken he looked staring at the dock. His eyes were glassed over and his body cold as if he too were joining the corpses in the buckets heading back across the river. When Lin's voice had failed to reach him, Chihiro had stepped up to hug him, hoping the physical touch of another person could ground him back from the sights he was seeing. If she was troubled over seeing the dock at the end of its work, she could only imagine how Haku and the others must feel seeing it regularly and watching the spirits come and go. Turning off the water, Chihiro dried off and got into her pajamas. Some part of her accepted that no amount of water could wash away what she had seen.
"You should head to bed now, Chihiro. I'm going to take a soak and go to bed as well. Don't stay up any longer," Haku spoke in a sleepy voice. His eyes were struggling to stay awake and he kept yawning. Chihiro nodded her head in agreement as she watched Haku enter the bathroom with a big yawn. Walking listlessly to her room, she got under the covers and waited for sleep to take her. Restlessness crept into her instead.
Chihiro waited anxiously in her room for Haku to leave the bathroom. He had seemed so sleepy when she had come out that she was worried that he might fall asleep in the tub. Could river spirits even drown? Surely it had been at least half an hour or longer since he had gone in, but there wasn't a clock around for her to check. The sun had come up in his absence. Finally deciding to check on him, Chihiro slipped out of bed and padded to the bathroom door. Knocking, Chihiro called out to Haku and asked if he was alright. There was no response from within and placing her ear to the door, she could not hear anything inside, not even the movement of water. Knocking again louder, she yelled for Haku, but there was no answer. Warning him that she was coming in, Chihiro opened the door. The water of the bath was as flat as glass and Haku was nowhere to be seen.