HAKU
Snow swirled around them, drifting down from the low clouds crowding the sky riding on frozen gusts. The whispering voices of the falling flakes hushed with eerie loudness in his ears for the rest of the world was silent and still, dark save for the sleepy lights of the houses perched on the hill. In the wan light spilling out the windows below the blanket of white enrobing the hill behind the Oginos' home grew increasingly unfamiliar beneath the piling drifts save for the hinoki. The elder evergreen remained unchanged. Haku, however, did not see the changeless tree. It was hard to concentrate on anything but the 20 feet of thin air beneath their feet.
Haku shivered violently as his quick short breath plumed again and again between his gritted teeth. Searing pain shot in digging stabs through the marrow of the bones in his newly mended forearm. Forcing himself to endure the taxing sensation, Haku clung to the handle of the umbrella with one hand as his other clamped like a vice around Chihiro's waist. Her back was pressed to his stomach and the messy thicket of her hair invaded his face as it caught in the wind, forcing him to repeatedly blow it aside as it tickled his nose and caught in his lips. With both hands occupied, Haku could only brace his feet against the wall, relying on her alone to anchor them to the second story window frame. Cursing beneath her breath, Chihiro struggled to keep them from floating off into the sky while simultaneously battling to pry free the screen on her bedroom window. It was a two handed task and her progress was painfully slow.
Unfortunately they could not enter by the front door. Although Akio was snoring so loudly Haku could hear him even now Yuko, however, was dozing fitfully on the couch in the living room. Burned, beaten, and caked in frozen mud, they were in no state to be seen by anyone let alone Chihiro's mother. After what they had endured in the valley of the Oni Rocks Haku could barely walk. What little strength he had left had been mostly spent on the motorcycle ride home. He could not risk using magic to hide their appearances. Even though it rendered him weightless already he was shaking with exertion from the simple act of holding the umbrella aloft. And so they were forced to seek entrance in other ways.
"Neh!"
The sudden wind of his surprise filled the fabric of the umbrella. As it lifted them aloft Haku left muddy footprints on the outside wall. Chihiro squeaked, scrambling to catch hold of the frame with both hands as the buffeting gale cast them away from the window. As she towed them back to the side of the building Haku glanced down sharply. The cat was a tiny blot of black as she crouched in the pristine snow. As he stared at her his insides produced an all too familiar dizzying flip that he would never have experienced had he still been a God. At the height the garden looked deceptively small. His mortal instincts knew only too well how quickly the ground would rush up to meet them should he let go of the umbrella. At once his palms went slick with sweat as his insides tightened with instinctive apprehension Haku found strangely absurd.
"Wot y'doin', neh!?" Okesa hissed in exasperation, "Aye cun jus' pick t'lock!"
There had only been enough room for two on the motorcycle now stashed away in his tatter cloak. But the cat was growing increasingly familiar with these hills. It took her on foot almost the same amount of time to travel what they negotiated by machine. Clinging to the underside of the window with one hand Chihiro vigorously waved the cat away from the door with the other.
"Mom'll wake up the moment you open any of the downstairs doors!" Chihiro hissed back, "She's got some kinda crazy built in bugler alarm!"
Pacing back and forth, cat produced a well packed rut between the back door and the middle of the garden as she glowered up at them. Sinking over her heels she hugged her middle, lashing her bristling tail while again hissing beneath her breath.
"Aye's no birdie, kiddo! Aye ain't gonna fly up through tha' window! How's aye s'possed t'git in 'cept t'door, neh!?"
Chihiro wheeled around to grab the window with both hands as they rose again.
"I'll think of something, okay!? Just let met get us inside!"
All at once the shake in his arm spread to his entire body as exhaustion consumed him. As the world became a ghost of gray in his vision they began to sink.
"Chihiro!" Haku choked as he struggled to endure, "I cannot keep us aloft…!"
Cursing again she dragged Sengen's knife from her pocket.
The sight of the bare blade sent a flash of cold terror through Haku's heart.
She nicked the screen and hastily stowed the blade.
Haku's skin crawled as the mesh dissolved into a fizzling ribbon of salt water.
Somewhere below Okesa yowled as it poured down into the yard.
But Haku did not see her. As Chihiro ripped the window to her bedroom open he spent the last of his energy on a breath of wind that rocketed them forward. Momentum forced them through the narrow space making the umbrella close. The weight of their bodies returned with stunning swiftness as the magic abated. They fell like stones, bouncing on the mattress tucked against the wall only to come to rest in a rude of tangled limbs atop her bed. Unfortunately the bed was too small for them both. Haku spilled over the edge and landed hard on the floor as the whipping gale circled the tiny space. The errant fingers of wind tore at Satako's drawings as they raked the wall only to upsetting several small objects. But as those several something's fell from their shelves to strike him squarely in the chest Haku barely felt it. He teetered on the edge of consciousness until the caustic buzzing bulb flicked on overhead. Fearing they had woken Yuko Haku struggled to find the magic to hide only to come up empty handed.
"Are you okay?!"
It took him a moment to see Chihiro bent over him seizing handfuls of his singed jacket. The material crumbled beneath her fingers. Her eyes were incandescent with worry. The silver curtain of her hair spilled over her shoulders was in his face again. He, however, was too tired to sneeze. All that mattered was they were inside and safe for the moment. He sagged in her grip, spilling backwards against the carpet in singing relief.
"Apologies, dear one," Haku murmured faintly, "May I lie here, please? I… I do not think I can stand."
Suddenly she was looking away listening intensely to the silence only to bite her lip as her pale eyes went grim. She held her breath as if Yuko could hear even that through the very walls and floor. But as the second ticked away into minutes nothing but the sound of the snow blowing through the still open window filled Haku's ears. Then a snowball sailed through the window. It exploded against the far wall spraying them with ice. Haku's lips quirked in weary amusement as Chihiro dove beside him only to have outrage spread across her face. Tugging his tatter cloak free of his pocket he pressed it into her fingers.
"There is a rope," he explained without explaining.
Even speaking proved an effort. Frowning at it in utter confusion Chihiro stood unfolded the wad of silky smoky fabric only to hold it up making ready to shake it out. Far too late he realized what she was about to do.
"N-no!" Haku gasped as he struggled to stop her hands.
He was far too slow. As Chihiro flicked the fabric the whole collection of his personal affects dropped from thin air, falling like rain against the floor of her bedroom. That included the motorcycle he had spirited away into the shadowy folds. Haku rolled aside only to become tangled in the ruffly pink skirting that adorned the foot of her bed as a spike of adrenaline motivated his aching body just enough to flee the mud caked tires of the Honda. The floor jolted and its shocks squeaked in protest as it dropped out of nowhere to land hard. Chihiro flew to her feet, knocking back against the adjacent wall as she stared at in astonishment.
As their eyes met across the leather seat Chihiro cringed and again they listened in trepidation to the silence filling the house. By some small mercy again they heard nothing. Glancing back at each other they stared wordlessly as they waited. Haku was surprised by the amused smirk that tugged his lips as again they escaped notice. He was not sure why he was smiling because this was not humorous in the slightest. Still, he was oddly giddy and apparently his grin was catching. Chihiro fought the upturned corners of her mouth as she searched the floor and snatched up the coiled length of rice rope. This she struggled to unwind as she came to the windowsill only to squeal and duck as another snowball whizzed over her head only to spatter on the door to her room. Peering up to the sill she hushed out the open window angrily.
"Knock it off, Cinna!"
Cagily feeding the end of the rice rope over the sill Chihiro held on as the line went taut, anchoring it with the weight of her body until the cat vaulted lithely through the open window. Okesa landed without making a sound only to shrink arching her back and bristling from head to toe as she encountered the motorcycle. The filthy cat shied again, clambering away to crouch beside him with a hiss as Chihiro hauled in the rope and lurched upright to yank the window shut. Immediately the room became warmer and his breath faded from sight. Scooping up a handful of the melting slush Chihiro hurled it at the cat and missed badly. Haku cringed as the glancing bits of ice spattered everywhere. Still glaring at the cat Chihiro wound up the length of rope only to stare down at the object scattered across the floor. The anger fled her face and was replaced with bright curiosity as she bent to pick up his compass.
"Did Onsen give you all this?"
Sinking back against the rug Haku nodded wordlessly.
"What's this?"
Chihiro picked up the gourd only to blink as the water sloshed loudly.
"It's hot!"
"S'water from t'camphor tree spring," Okesa explain as if all of this was common knowledge, "S'magic, kiddo. A'ah cure all: cuts, burns, bruises. Speakin' of..."
The cat snatched the gourd from Chihiro's hands only to retreat to his side, pulling the cork with her teeth as she foisted the opening at his mouth.
"Jus' ah sip, neh kitten? It'll add ah mite o' steam back t'yer giddy-up."
Haku choked as the cat forced him to drink a mouthful. Grimacing he struggled to swallow the bitter sulfurous liquid as it ran down his chin. It burned all the way down his throat making him cough and gag. Okesa thumped his back consolingly. Wiping his mouth Haku fell still as the warmth spread from his belly, coursing with his blood through his veins until he did not feel half so weighted with frozen exhaustion. Looking up at her, his gratitude cooled as he found the cat grinning wickedly.
"Tastes like mud, neh kitten?"
Haku looked to the side sharply as Chihiro plucked something from the floor.
"What about this?"
She held out the flint iron and its jar of pitch. The cat sniffed at it before smacking him in the side of the head with a flick of her tail.
"Makes Godfire."
She blinked, reassessing the unassuming objects before offering a small pouch.
"And this?"
Again the cat snuffled loudly, lifting her chin as her ears perked with interest.
"Salt. S'good fer all kinds ah things."
Now Chihiro was looking at the cat askance.
"How do you know so much about all this stuff? I thought it was supposed to be human magic?"
The cat shrugged diffidently.
"Aye lived in lots o' human places, kiddo, an' aye seen lot's o' human things."
"What about this? Is this special?"
She held up the sheaf of ancient paper Haku had almost forgotten. Never once had he come to call upon it for help. He knew not of what the paper was capable. The cat regarded it with a sagely expression before she crossed her arms solemnly.
"Aye got's no clue."
Chihiro wilted in exasperation before tossing the paper onto the foot of her bed beside the gourd and his other treasures. Bending again, this time Chihiro did not ask as she laid his sword, bow, quiver, and cloak on the coverlet. But then she paused, straightening slowly with something held ever so carefully in her hands. Her face wiped smooth with awe as she stared at the opalescent face of his mask. It flashed in the light like the glinting scale that hung around her neck. Haku drew in a sharp breath and shivered as an eerie sensation climbed through the marrow of his bones as she ran her thumbs against the surface. Glancing at him sharply her face flushed bright red as she realized he was watching her. His insides tightened with confusion as she threw her eyes away from his. All at once Chihiro became strangely distant as she looked at the door. Standing awkwardly she shuffled from foot to foot as if terribly anxious.
"Look, my mom will seriously freak if she finds you in my room."
Okesa pulled a moue and tossed her head at the motorcycle.
"An' she's nae gonna freak 'bout t'Honda?"
Chihiro glared at the cat.
"Will you just help me get him into the guest room?"
On her feet in a blink Okesa displaced Chihiro from the foot of the bed in a move so swift it set her stumbling backwards to a rude seat in the chair at her desk. Furling open the fabric Okesa whirled his cloak over the motorcycle, making the mechanical beast fade and then disappear. Stunned, Chihiro looked on in silence clutching his mask as the cat wadded the fabric in the crook of her arm and shoved his possession back into the mysterious folds. Okesa came up short as if finding something missing. Craning her neck she searched the floor then appealed to him where he lay on the carpet.
"Where's t'glasses an' yer finny clicky watch thingy?"
"Destroyed."
Haku breathed the word soberly. The loss was great indeed. The stop watch and glasses were immensely powerful. He would miss their benefit sorely. All the same, the bespelled objects were nothing compared to their lives. The cat made an unhappy moue as she searched the floor only to squat and peer under the bed's pink ruffle.
"An' t'camphor leaves an' sticks?"
Haku gritted his teeth as he was forced to recall Aki's thievery.
"Stolen."
Okesa tossed her hip to the side as her black velvet ears swiveled incredulously.
"Who'd wanna steal ah bunch o' twigs, neh!"
Chihiro was pointing.
"You forgot something."
As the cat plucked the magazine from the floor Haku found himself struggling upright reaching for it as every ounce of his blood flooded his face. As he tried to snatch it from her fingers the cat danced aside. The wicked grin was back in her ruby eyes as she held it out of his reach, taunting him.
"Y'keepin' dirty mags up yer sleeve, kitten?"
The cat hissed as Chihiro snatched it out of her fingers. It fell open to the well worn pages that carried the article about her and Onsen, betraying the hundreds of times he had opened to the very place within its folds. Again her face went pale and inscrutable as she tucked his mask into the corner of her arm so she could look at the pages.
"Why'd you keep this?"
Her bewilderment made him even more uncomfortable. He struggled upright to sit on the edge of the bed, fidgeting with his crumbling jacket. At once feeling extremely exposed Haku looked away. His voice sounded so very small in the silence.
"For the longest while it was all I had of you and our home."
Looking up sharply Haku watched as Chihiro took the cloak from Okesa, carefully adding his mask and magazine before neatly folding the whispering fabric. This she returned to his hands before sweeping the hair from his face. Lifting his chin he caught the bare expression of wordless affection she poured down upon him. Relief flooded his chest inspiring a painful prick in his throat. Haku leaned into her touch as he found her hands were as gentle as her voice.
"Do you think you can stand now?"
It would be useless to lie. He was far too heavy and she would undoubtedly try to catch him. They both would end up on the floor should he stand and fail.
"No."
At once Chihiro was appealing to the cat.
"Get his other arm, Cinna?"
Without hesitation Okesa fitted herself under his opposite shoulder and with their mingled strength they hoisted him.
"Apologies…"
Haku muttered as he dropped his head in embarrassment.
"S'okay, kitten," Okesa returned softly, "We's just glad yeh's lettin' us help."
Blinking rapidly to forestall the spreading burn blurring his eyes, let them carry him to the doorway of the cavernous bathroom he had used once before. Bracing himself in the frame he reached after Chihiro unconsciously as she left him pull open the next doorway in the hall. Okesa batted at his hand throwing him a surly moue.
"She's gonna come back, neh?"
Ignoring the cat and Haku struggled with the panic her absence inspired. Too much had happened in a very short amount of time. He found it difficult not to jump and flinch at every tiny sound. His heart was racing as he craned his neck to look after her. But all he caught was a glimpse of tasteful blue wallpaper and the scent of clean linen as it breathed out of the room on a rolling gust of heat as the furnace kicked on in the distant bowels of the house. Haku's knees when weak with respite as Chihiro emerged. As she did she held out his green silk kimono and an indigo belt that was undoubtedly Onsen's. These Haku accepted in grateful astonishment.
"Though you might like something familiar. I'm gonna go clean up in the little bathroom then I'll get my mom off the couch. Need anything from downstairs?"
At once that cat threw herself at Chihiro, leaving Haku to list against the door frame. Wrapping her arms around her waist as Okesa sank to her knees appealing with wide round eyes ringed in red.
"Somethin' t'eat, neh! Aye's starvin'!"
Chihiro snorted, fighting a smile as her pale eyes flashed like mirrors in the gloom.
"Want anything Kohaku?"
His blood sang in his swelling heart as she used his true name. It was all he could do to shake his head. She did not seem convinced and a deep line formed between her brows as she studied his face. Her concern was incongruous with her frightful state. She looked as if she had been dipped in fire then rolled in mud. Indeed; she had.
"You sure?"
His voice escaped him in a toadish croak.
"Something warm to drink?"
She nodded, seeming pleased that he had asked for something. Again the wild urge to catch hold of her coat and drag her back to him set him fidgeting. She crept down the hall with a caution that seemed unnecessary only to disappear around the corner. As he lost sight of her a spike of dread struck him as if set by a hammer deep in the pit of his chest. But then again, Chihiro had been ripped from his grip by an ogre this night. Grinding his teeth he went sick and faint with the memory of the arrow standing up from her shoulder. With mercilessly he was forced to see again in his minds eye as her blood ran in rivulets from her fingertips!
All at once he found it difficult to breathe as it became painfully obvious to Haku that what had happened in the oni rock canyon still had yet to sink in. He clung to the door frame as wind still surged in his veins. In its wake apprehension circled his heart with thickening clouds. They left him cold as they eclipsed the sun of his calm. And he was shaking again; shaking so hard his teeth chattered! Then Okesa hoisted him onto her shoulder. Carrying him like a child she guided him into the bathroom. With a hooked flick of her foot she shut the door with her foot. Sitting him on a stool in the middle of the room she took him by the arms and shook him firmly. He jolted, dropping his things and flinching in her iron grip as his arm seized with a blinding flash of pain. Then naught but Okesa's ruby red eyes filled his vision. Her slitted pupils dilate in the dark until they reflected the dim light like endless black opals.
"Breathe, kitten! In 'n' out, neh! Breathe!"
He dragged in breath after breath as he appealed in wordless terror for explanation. The cat opened her arms to him. Haku hugged her as if his life depended on it as terror rattled in every inch of his body. All the while she soothed him by purring loudly, explaining in her casual way as if all this was perfectly normal.
"Yeh's havin' ah panic attack, neh?"
He found no solace in her words. They meant nothing to him.
"What is a panic attack!?" Haku choked hoarsely.
She was hugging his head now, rubbing her cheeks back and forth across his head.
"S'ah human thing. Yer body's fet up an' it don' know how t'cope."
He clung to her in stunned silence before spitting the words most crossly.
"I do not understand!"
Okesa tossed her head as her purring intensified.
"Tch! Wots not t'understand 'bout gettin' yer ass handed t'yeh by a lousy human? Wot's not t'understand 'bout scramblin' 'round in ah rain o' rocks while a big old oni tries t'kill yeh?"
Haku found himself frowning as pride kindled in his gut.
"That was no ordinary human, Okesa."
She uttered a short humorless laugh as she turned her cheek to reveal the bruise the fujo's bow had painted across the delicate curve of her jaw.
"Ain't aye know it!"
Worry stirred and scrambled inside his chest as he noticed the mark for the first time. Lifting his hand to touch it his face contracted in lines so deep they hurt. She batted his hands away with her claws as her eats folded and her tail lashed about.
"Hurry up an' git yer shower, neh? Aye wants t' git t'mud outta my fur."