Chapter 13

"All right, does everyone get the plan?" asked Zeniba. "While we stage the attack, you three." She motioned to Chihiro, No-Face, and Boh. "Sneak in. Got it?"

The sun had risen just hours ago, but they all stood in the clearing leading up to the swamp's train station. The bathhouse loomed in the distance and each of them looked towards it with derision. It was time. Time to take back the bathhouse, get rid of Minori, and put Haku back together.

"There's still the matter of getting into Kamaji's boiler room undetected," said Chihiro, rubbing at her eyes. "The passage to it is in the garden. And the garden is within…the bathhouse's walls." Getting only four hours of sleep after a tumulus night didn't exactly do wonders for her. She was just glad she didn't have to physically fight.

"I'll take you," said Haku. Any vestige of last night's events was invisible on his face. He seemed very set on their task. "I can fly Boh and you around the low perimeter and drop you off at Kamaji's door."

"What about the fight?" butt in Yubaba.

"You can start it without me," said Haku coldly. "This should only take me a few minutes."

"Sounds like a plan," said Zeniba. "We can only hope our combined powers can put a stop to Minori." She turned to No-Face. "Try to find those contracts as quickly as possible. Minori should be distracted enough by the invasion to not notice."

No-Face nodded his head, grunting eagerly.

"And what of the contracts after we regain control?" asked Haku.

"Destroy them," said Chihiro.

"Give them to me," said Yubaba at the same time.

Chihiro and Haku glared at her. Yubaba threw her hands up in the air angrily and unapologetically. "What?! They're MY contracts and MY employees!!"

"You mean slaves," sneered Haku.

"Employees get paid!!" added Chihiro.

"You—" growled Yubaba.

"Let's settle this later," interrupted Zeniba, waving a hand impatiently. "Right now we have a more pressing matter at hand."

Everyone grumbled their agreements and quickly got ready. Chihiro tied her hair in its usual ponytail with her special hair tie. Though it was warm weather she wrapped her sweater tightly around her. Zeniba had graciously lent her thread to sew up the tears Yubaba had made in it.

I'm coming for you, Sei, she thought to her little brother. Please be all right…

Yubaba and Zeniba transformed into their bird forms. Boh got a little teary-eyed at seeing his mother, but kept his composure. Haku remained in his human form for the time being.

"We're off!!" announced Yubaba as they lifted up into the air.

"The best of luck to you all!!" added Zeniba as they took off flying for the bathhouse.

No-Face watched them depart before bowing to Chihiro, grunting a little. Chihiro bowed to him as well. "Good luck, No-Face."

He nodded and disappeared into thin air.

"Let's go, too," said Haku. He transformed into his dragon form and motioned for Chihiro to climb onto his back. She complied, but he stopped Boh from following suit.

"Don't leave me behind!!!!" he wailed. All of a sudden he was crying hysterically and stomping his feet.

Haku growled a little in annoyance and took off into the air.

"Ha—" began Chihiro, but Haku circled back to where Boh was having a temper tantrum. As he flew past his talons latched around a beefy outstretched arm and took off back into the air.

"Whee!!" cried Boh, his tears quickly drying up. "This is fun!!"

Haku was sagging under the excess weight, but he still flew as quickly as he could and didn't show signs of complaints.

It's too bad his family won't help us, she thought grimly. It would've made a lot of difference.

She didn't like thinking about last night, but it still came back to her. She was the guardian of the Human World gate, along with Yubaba. She still wasn't quite sure how to deal with it, but she also knew she didn't have time to; no matter what her situation was, her world needed defending. And she would do anything to keep Minori out of it.

She looked down at Haku, wondering how he was feeling. He'd woken up this morning as if last night hadn't happened, but everything going on had to be stressful for him.

"Haku," she said softly. She released one of his horns to stroke the back of his head. "It's going to be a hard day. But I believe in you and I believe in our plan. Everything will work out; you'll be whole again and I'll have my little brother again. I don't like the idea of sending my friends back into enslavement under Yubaba, but we can get around that too. Don't you think?"

Haku couldn't say anything to her in his dragon form, but she could feel the tension ease from his body just a little bit.

"We're almost there!!" cried Boh, waving his free arm wildly. This caused all of the to shake violently, but Haku was able to keep upright.

"I don't see them," said Chihiro warily when they were about twenty feet away. Indeed, there was no sign of the twin sisters and the bathhouse was progressing as usual. She could feel the somber aura that had irked her when she'd first arrived there days before. Hopefully that would be gone by the end of the day.

Haku circled under the bridge towards the boiler room door. Chihiro looked around, but it didn't seem like anyone noticed them. She didn't like the silence, though. When the door came into view she was more than a little relieved.

Their feet had barely touched the ground and Haku changed back when it happened: a loud explosion. The entire building shook violently and Chihiro and Boh lost their balance and fell to the ground. Haku remained standing somehow, and he looked up at the bathhouse with a sullen expression. "It looks like they started."

"Do you see them?!" cried Chihiro frantically, her head turning this way and that. The gravity of the situation was starting to settle with her; it wasn't just some battle of the wits like when she was ten. The fighting was life and death and brutal and since someone like Minori was involved, any one of them could easily die. There was another loud explosion and woodchips and debris fell past them to the ground way below. Chihiro looked up to see a gaping hole in the building above, but she didn't see Minori or Yubaba and Zeniba.

"Mama!!!" cried Boh. Everything seemed to click for him too and he was suddenly very terrified.

"I have to help," said Haku. He looked down at Chihiro. "Get inside!! Make sure to stick to the plan!!"

Chihiro nodded; her throat had closed off and she couldn't make a sound. She stood up and walked over to Boh, though she felt incredibly dizzy. Boh was curled up in a fetal position on the ground, crying and calling for Yubaba. "…Boh." She forced the words out. "It's time to go."

He hadn't jumped into mass hysteria and despite his tears pulled himself to his feet and hurried towards the boiler room door. Chihiro turned to face Haku, who was staring right at her. Tears blurred her vision, but she blinked them away and ordered herself not to cry.

"Be careful, Haku." Don't die, don't die, please don't die…

Haku slowly nodded and turned around. Chihiro knew he was about to transform into the dragon. But for some reason he hesitated. It made her confused…and a little scared. "Haku?"

Instead of taking off, Haku turned back around quickly. He walked right up to her. Before she could even wonder what she was doing he cupped both his hands on her cheeks and was kissing her so hard she couldn't think or act. All she could do was stand there and stare at him.

He broke the kiss and looked straight into her eyes. "I want you to know that no matter what happens today, meeting you was the best thing that has ever happened to me. You're my greatest, truest friend, Chihiro, and I love you."

I love you. Those words echoed a million times in a matter of seconds throughout her mind. She was stunned beyond words, beyond thought.

Haku managed a very small, sad smile and reluctantly let her go. "Be careful." He turned back around and before she could blink he transformed into the dragon and was off flying.

Chihiro watched him fly around the bathhouse corner and out of sight. Her mouth was hanging open and she raised a shaking hand to her lips. She had very little experience with confessions, but never had she had one so upfront…and meaningful.

"Haku…" she murmured softly, though he obviously couldn't hear her. "Haku…I…"

Another explosion rocked the bathhouse.

"Sen, come on!!" cried Boh from the door.

Chihiro snapped out of her stupor and ran for the boiler room door. Even in her current state of shock a single thought entered her mind: He didn't stick around long enough to hear my answer…

--

As she expected, the boiler room was in chaos. Kamaji was trying and failing to issue order to the soot balls, which were hopping up and down and squeaking in panic. When he caught sight of them running over, he literally fell off his perch and upon the soot balls.

"Sen!!!" he cried from underneath the soot balls, which were now bouncing all over him. "What happened?! When did you get here?! What's going on?!"

"No time to explain!!" cried Chihiro. "Yubaba and Zeniba have arrived, along with Haku!! They're fighting Minori now!!"

Kamaji climbed back onto his perch, wiping away the soot covering his clothes. More soot balls produced from the excess dust. "So it's finally come to that, eh? We were worried, you know. After we sent you on your way we saw not a hair of you again. Rin was out of her mind with worry and grief, so sure she'd sent you to your death…"

Chihiro ducked her head, feeling guilty. She'd forgotten how they'd helped her when she'd arrived and how worried they must've been when she left to confront Minori. "But I'm here now and soon everything will be back to normal around here. Can you do me a favor?"

"Sure, anything."

"We need to evacuate the bathhouse. Minori is currently fighting Yubaba and Zeniba, and I don't want anyone to get caught in the crossfire. Can we hold them here?"

Kamaji shrugged his shoulders. "Be my guest. It's not like any work will be done today, anyways."

"Thank you so much!!" Chihiro bowed before turning to Boh. "Boh, I'm going up the employees entrance. You told me you know some secret passages here, right?"

"Yep!!" said Boh, nodding his head.

"Can you try to get people down them?"

"Okay!! Let's get going!!" He ran for the door and shoved it open so hard it dislodged from the wall. He tried to crawl through, but got stuck. "Help, Sen!!"

Chihiro sighed heavily. "I'll see you in a little bit, Kamaji."

It took five minutes to dislodge Boh, and it included knocking down some of the wall. But Chihiro and him got through and went their separate ways. She watched him wobble away uneasily; silently praying she wasn't sending him off to his death.

She ran into her first big obstacle quickly when she found that the service elevator wasn't working. Dismally she realized if this elevator wasn't working none of them were. And she didn't know any other way up to Minori's offices where Sei was no doubt being kept.

I will save him, I WILL!! she fumed to herself as she took the stairs.

--

The bathing area of the bathhouse was in utter chaos. Most everyone was screaming his or her heads off, guest and employee alike and running all over the place in random directions. The only ones unfazed by this were the chick spirits who as usual were using the baths as if nothing was wrong.

Chihiro saw a few guests with obviously evil auras shoving bottles of soap and ointment into their pockets before disappearing into the growing panic. Several guests were just running for the main entrance with fistfuls of their own clothes, screaming.

The employees seemed at a complete loss what to do. Chihiro knew their contracts stipulated they couldn't leave the grounds of the bathhouse or they would die. They couldn't leave and they obviously couldn't stay. It seemed like a no-win situation. One of the girls fell to her knees and started sobbing hysterically.

A familiar face caught Chihiro's eye. She quickly ran after it. "Rin!!"

Rin quickly spun around, her face ghastly pale. But her eyes lit up immediately. "Sen!!" She enveloped Chihiro in a tight hug. "You're all right!! I thought Minori killed you!!"

Chihiro pulled away slightly. As much as she liked reunions, she didn't have time for this. "We don't have time!! Quickly Rin, we have to gather up everyone and get them down into the boiler room!! Yubaba, Zeniba, and Haku are fighting Minori right now!!"

"So that's what all those explosions were?" asked Rin, glancing around. She registered Chihiro's words. "Why down in the boiler room?"

"We can't get you out of here until we get the contracts!! At least in the boiler room you won't be affected by the fight!!"

Rin quickly nodded. "Sounds like a plan!! Let's get moving!!"

It took a long time to get through the hysteria and tell people to evacuate into the boiler room. It took even longer to get the chick spirits out of the tubs, and since they didn't seem inclined on leaving was forced down into the boiler room as well. A few of them recognized Chihiro faintly, but she brushed it off and herded them towards the stairs. It was tiring and she was hoping Boh was having a little more luck than her.

"I think we've got everyone," said Rin, wiping the sweat off her forehead. "Let's get going too."

"No," said Chihiro. "I have to see if I can make it to the top floor and save Sei."

"I'm coming with you this time. I'll be damned if I let you go alone again."

Chihiro knew there was no convincing her friend otherwise, so the pair of them headed for the elevators. They tried out each and every one, but as Chihiro feared none of them was working. She climbed a long staircase to get to the upper area to see if she could make it to the main elevator to the top floor. Though the elevator was ground, it wasn't working. She punched the door and the buttons a few times, screaming in frustration.

Rin clamped a hand over her mouth. "Shh!! You'll draw unwanted attention to us!!"

Chihiro freed herself. "Is there any stairs—"

"Only this elevator takes us to the top floor; no stairs. There's nothing we can do now, let's go down to the boiler room and hope Minori gets her ass kicked."

Chihiro felt less than hopeful as Rin dragged her back downstairs. How was she supposed to save her brother if she couldn't reach him?

Boh had already returned to the boiler room when they arrived. It was completely overcrowded with people, each of who were talking rather loudly. As usual the chick spirits seemed the most at home and curled up in a corner of the room.

Since the door was broken and there was a hole in the wall, people were stuffing extra articles of clothing to clog both with. But it was a difficult task with all the bodies packed in together.

"Be quiet!!!" roared Kamaji over the conversations. "Do you want to draw attention to ourselves, to alert Minori of where you all are?! We're in the middle of a battlefield, act like it!!"

This shut everyone up. Very slowly all the bodies moved to sit down where there was room. No one dared to talk now.

Chihiro and Rin stepped over the bodies to get to Kamaji, whom had the most space on top of his perch. Well, other than Boh who had plenty of space no one was going to argue about. "Good job, Boh."

Boh gave her a wide, happy smile. "Thanks, Sen!!"

Kamaji looked down at her as she took a seat. "Everyone is here now. What happens next?"

"Now we wait," she answered, drawing her knees up to her chin.