Queue Mushu rising from sleep: "I LIIVE!"
Hello, friends, it's me your absentee author. Today tumblr informed me that my blog for this fic celebrates its 1st birthday today, to which my head promptly near exploded.
Thank you for your continued patience, all the love and support.
As I've always said, this fic will be finished, I just have no idea when. Thank you for sticking with it. :)
All the best, please enjoy!
x
(little recap of last chappie: The gang is all together, Chihiro has explained the truth and the plan to convince the Kaonashi to enter into the spirit world and then a contract so as to put them with the Ruling Spirit's jurisdiction once again, and it has been confirmed that Ren is a conspiracy theorist and Rumi likes to take bets)
x
"You - you believe me?" shock has made my voice little more than a whisper.
Rumi turns to me with a bittersweet smile, "Too many times have I not listened when you spoke; too many times have I tried to force my own wants and beliefs on you. I know better now. And I know you. You're not crazy, and you're not a liar, so the only rational explanation left is that, well, you're telling the truth. So, yeah. I believe you, Chihiro."
I reach out and grasp her hands in mine, heartfelt tears gathering in my eyes at her incredible show of faith, but the moment is interrupted by Hisashi's incredulous snort.
"Oh man, if only you'd had the same confidence in us as Rumi has in you — I would have avoided many an unnecessary headache these last days."
"Shut up," I frown, kicking out and nailing him in the shin.
"Well it's true!" he mumbles, but Haku cuts him off with a hand on his shoulder.
I won't admit that Hisashi is right, or that I'm uncomfortably jealous of Rumi's trust in me. It makes me feel like less of a friend, in comparison, for having hung onto my doubts so fiercely, despite my insights, when she has accepted this story at its face value. Shrugging it off, as Hisashi does Haku's hand, I stand and clap my hands together as if in prayer.
"Okay!" I dive right in, "Now that we're all on the same page! When do we start?"
We stand there a moment in awkward silence, each of us looking from face to face, before Ren suggests, "Um. Now?"
"Yeah, now sounds good," Rumi nods. "What else are we going to do?" With a grin, she raises an arm into the air before holding it forward in front of her, palm down.
"Mm, what are you doing?" Hisashi eyes the limb disdainfully.
"Oh, come on!" Rumi rolls her eyes. "It's a hand stack!" she shakes her hand for emphasis, "Let's go, let's go, pile 'em on!" When nobody moves, she glares at her boyfriend, before he lets out a long suffering sigh and complies, placing his hand on top of hers with a harmless grimace. Ren, in turn, looks to me with a pitying face, and before long, I've joined the stack and bullied Hisashi and Haku into joining as well. Standing in a circle, now, shoulder to shoulder, our small group breathes the same air, anticipation and tension strumming through our joined fingers, despite the somewhat corny scene. "Okay," Rumi exhales, "okay. Shit is about to go down. It is about to get real. We will be shot at—"
"Well I don't know about tha—"
"We WILL be shot at," Rumi plows over Ren's interruption pointedly. "We are going to face a mob of angry spirits. A gang of ex-demons. An organized group of—"
"Rumi."
"Ehem, yes, so in all seriousness: things are probably going to get ugly. Some of us will probably get hurt. Maybe, well, maybe worse. We are going to be scared, and more than a little lost." Here she pauses, and I'm beginning to doubt she understands that these hand stacks are usually meant to motivate. "But we'll be scared together; lost together. Ren, I love you. Chihiro, I love you. Haku, I love you. Hisashi, I find you slightly more than tolerable."
"Ha. Ha."
"But my point is, no matter what happens, I know that as long as we are in this together, we will be okay, in the end. We make a kick-ass team, and we will do just that: kick ass. Also, I am incredibly reassured by the presence of Chihiro's mystical wind spook who seems to be very invested in her survival, and also strong, so here's to hoping that if shit really hits the fan, he can pull the plug on this suicide mission."
"Had us until the end, there, Rooms."
"Yeah, I know, reality is a bitch. But so is Karma. And the Kaonashi have a lot to answer for. Let's see that they do."
"Solid save."
"And you doubted me. Now, on three, are you ready?"
"Wait, wait, wait! On three or after?"
"After."
"Are we, like, yelling something, or?"
"Yeah, I'll feel kind of stupid if we don't have some kind of shout."
"Like a motto!"
"Because this whole thing hasn't been stupid from the onset?"
"Shut up and help us think of a motto."
"How about just 'go'?"
"That's so boring, though!"
"I mean, we're about to face enough excitement to balance it out, I think."
"Don't side with him!"
"How about Sen?"
"…"
"Like, Chihiro's contract name?"
"Yeah."
"…"
"Hell of a precedent, I suppose."
"I guess I'm okay with that."
"Oh, for shit's sake, just start the damn count down!"
"Okay, okay! On three!"
"Wait, now its on?!"
"Babe! Don't make me kill you! Okay, ready? One, two, three, SEN!"
We pump our arms before lifting them in a shout, the last syllable echoing through the shrine's clearing.
Sen. Just as I was forced into contract, so too shall the Kaonashi. They will face justice.
"That was the most absurd thing I have ever had to take part in, and I dated Chihiro." Hisashi near spits before stomping away, reaching into his pocket.
"Way to ruin the moment!" Rumi sticks her tongue at his back.
"Gee, thanks," I roll my eyes.
"Ashi, where are you going?" Haku calls after him.
"I have to make a phone call," he responds over his shoulder. "It seems we need to set you up an appointment. Ready yourself." And with that, he disappears around the corner of the shrine, while the rest of us sober under the weight of his words.
x
Despite 'Operation Sen's enthusiastic start, the next few hours are spent in disappointing inertia. Setting up a meeting for Haku is taking much longer than I expected it would. Rumi sprawls across the ground, not caring about the dirt and grass, playing idly with her hair, while Ren lounges near her feet.
Haku and I sit on the stairs, listening.
From inside the shrine, we can hear Hisashi as he dials, speaks a few words, and hangs up, only to dial another number and repeat the same process. Even though he extracted himself from the Kaonashi gang, he still has contacts on its very fringes, and he is now threading his way through their network, trying to work his way up until he is able to speak with someone who matters in the gang. Someone who can put the word out that Haku is in town, and looking for an audience.
Hours pass this way, and I'm starting to doze off against Haku's shoulder when a sudden quiet within the shrine startles me back into awareness. Sitting straight again, Haku and I exchange a silent look before standing, mentally preparing for the news we sense coming. Rumi notices our movement and stands, nudging Ren to join her as she comes to wait at the foot of the stairs.
Another tense minute of quiet, and then the door slides open, Hisashi emerging and looking terribly tired. Aged. My heart bleeds for what this re-exposure to the Kaonashi and their ways must be doing for his mental health and ptsd…I should stop this, tell him to leave well enough alone. And yet, if we don't do this, he might not even survive to worry about his psychiatric well being in the first place. So I silence the therapist in me, scold the friend in me into shifting priorities, promising both that I will keep as close an eye on Hisashi as possible, try to guide him through this. It is the only choice left.
"I got you an in," Hisashi rasps, scrubbing at his forehead with the back of one hand. The other still clutches his cellphone in a white knuckle grip. "Tomorrow at noon. I was able to get through to a foot-man who notified his captain. It'll be them you're meeting with."
"Where?" I choke out, nerves beginning to buzz along my skin, behind my teeth.
"A Mahjong parlor downtown. I know it, it's a cover for Kaonashi dealings."
"Won't that make it more dangerous?" Rumi bites her lip.
Haku shakes his head. "It doesn't change anything — this has to be done. And if we're on their own territory, they'll feel more at ease. That false sense of security can play into our hands."
"But what if it's a trap?" she counters.
"It won't be," Haku insists. "A captain is too low on the chain of command to make those kinds of decisions, and to be frank, I'm too big a fish for them to fry on their own."
"They'll try to intimidate him, maybe rough him up, but until he's met with the Oyabun, he'll be safe," Hisashi reassures. I try, in turn, to feel reassured. "We should leave tonight, get back to the hotel before it's too late. It has the two beds and a couch, we can all stay there, refine how tomorrow will proceed."
Mumbling agreements, we scatter briefly to collect our odds and ends, before gathering once more at the purification well. As the others begin their descent down the shrine steps, I pause and turn, taking in the place of worship once more. A thin fog slithers in, the distant sound of broken chimes plays, and now more than ever, as nature re-encroaches on these man made structures, moss and vine replacing wood and tile, the whole thing looks truly otherworldly.
"It's thin."
I jump slightly and turn to Haku who I didn't notice stop at my side. "What?"
"The Veil between worlds. It thins more and more each day, here."
"I remember. You said that shrines were bridges between worlds, places where they were closer together."
"This is different," Haku says quietly, turning away until I'm looking at his profile. "What happens when a bridge suffers too much use?"
"It needs repairing?"
"Yes, and if those needs are never met?"
"It falls apart; crumbles."
We're quiet a moment before he goes on, "28 years ago, this bridge's capacity was used to the point of abuse; it was not meant to sustain such use, and it broke."
"28 years?" I wrack my brain, trying to come up with the significance of that time. "Wait. 28 years ago, that would have been when Hisashi was born…" I trail off, unsure, but Haku nods.
"This was the entry point of the Kaonashi. It became a place they loath and avoid — I don't think this is the first time Hisashi has come here seeking security, as a result."
I look at the shrine with new eyes, picturing a young, mistreated Hisashi hiding amidst it's dilapidated halls. "You said it broke."
"Yes. The banishment of such a large clan all at once was too large a strain, and the bridge between worlds was damaged irreparably, passage through made impossible. As it continues to collapse, the veil grows thinner; soon this shrine will not be here at all."
"Where will it go?" I ask, but I think I have an idea. I can see it in the corners of my eyes, now, a faint ripple I did not notice before, a leeching of color and shape.
"Between," Haku confirms my guess, turning and making his way down the steps at last. "It won't be long now. This might have been the last time Hisashi was able to see it, before it is well and truly gone."
I wrestle with that a moment, yet another loss for Hisashi; his one safe haven quite literally disappearing off the face of the planet. But then another thing Haku has just said niggles its way to the front of my thoughts.
"You said passage was impossible," I call after him, still perched on the top step. He stops mid descent but does not turn. "Then, how did Kaze come through?"
An emotion that I refuse to acknowledge is tightly bound within his words as he answers, "I have absolutely no idea," before continuing on.
One last time I turn to the shrine as a cold wind pulls through the clearing. Again, the chimes ring and the fog eddies, twisting and curling. If I look close enough, I swear I can see figures in its opaque billows, hear a child's laugh, the sound of feathers on scales.
I blink the image away with a swallow and spin, hurrying to follow my friends as quickly as possible.
x
Turns out Rumi and Ren drove here, taking ferries between islands, so not only do we not have to walk back into the center of the city, but I also know how they managed to bring a duffle bag of weapons with them, too. We make it back to the hotel in decent time, parking in its underground garage and hurrying to the elevator — another plus in all this is that the Kaonashi will not know to look for the tiny Toyota, so for now we have a relatively covert means of transportation.
"Dibs on the bed closest to the window!" Rumi pushes through the unlocked door before Hisashi even removes the key.
"Please. By all means," he comments drily before letting the rest of us pass.
"Thanks," Ren tells him in his boisterous girlfriend's stead. Inside, Rumi is already calling room service and ordering a random assortment of foods.
"Do you have any non-perishables?" she frowns. "Like some granola bars or, oh yes, that's perfect! Could you deliver some of those as well? Tomorrow is going to be a busy day, and I'm peckish. Yes, that would be lovely. Thank you!"
"Planning on going camping?" Haku smiles.
"No, but who knows how the next few days are going to go down. Better to be prepared! And while I brought extra batteries for a laser guided handsaw, I neglected to bring the kinds of batteries humans need."
"Good thinking, Rooms," I tell her.
"I know!" she responds brightly. Ever so humble, our Rumi is.
Dinner arrives on a series of carts which has Hisashi shooting daggers at my ambitious friend. "How much did you order?!"
"I'm hungry!" she pouts back.
"It's alright, we can pack up the leftovers into the mini fridge," I interject.
"See!" Rumi jumps on her defense.
"If there's even enough room for them all," I can't help but add, laughing as she visibly deflates.
As it turns out, Rumi had the right idea when she ordered this near feast; we all fall into the meal as if we'd been deprived for days, the only sounds to be heard the clink of chopsticks against porcelain, and the quiet chewing of five ravenous mouths. The mini-fridge ends up only half-full, and we agree that the leftovers will make a good breakfast.
I excuse myself to the bathroom where I change into pajamas, lending my extra pair to Rumi who changes with me. Hisashi is also kind enough (if rather begrudgingly so) to loan out spare sweats and t-shirts to Ren and Haku, who all take turns because they're too manly to be semi-naked at the same time, I guess. Rumi and I exchange matching snorts.
After, once we're all comfortable, we settle about the room, Rumi and I on one bed, Ren on the floor by our feet, Hisashi leaning agains the desk and Haku taking its chair.
"Soo, tomorrow's the big day," I say lamely before trailing off.
Hisashi coughs to hide his laugh and I shoot him a look. Haku's smile is indulgent as he agrees, "Yes. It would seem so."
"Well, how are we doing this?" Rumi asks, ever one to get to the heart of a matter.
"I will go to the parlor and meet with the Kaonashi captain. Hopefully he will believe me to be sincere, and secure another audience for me with the Oyabun."
"No shit, Sherlock, but what about the rest of us?" Ren sighs. Hisashi glances between Ren and Haku, no doubt shocked that the latter isn't insulted, and I realize that he would have no idea the two are actually good friends.
"It will probably be best if Hisashi stays here, out of sight. If you could drive me, Ren, we can get to the location early and scout out a good place where you can wait. If things go south, which I doubt they will, I'll get out of there as fast I can and you can drive us away to meet with Hisashi at a different location. We'll be able to adjust our plans from there."
"Sure, man, no problem."
"And me?" Rumi asks expectantly.
"You will join Chihiro at the studio," Hisashi answers before Haku gets the chance.
"What?" Rumi whines.
"What?" I protest.
"You're of no use to Haku," he says, and before I can get offended, plows on quickly, "The Kaonashi know you are in the city with me, thanks to the bus incident. Right now, we need to distract them from my presence and have them focusing on Haku's plan of redemption. If they see you, they will only come looking for me and everything will fall apart. Haku needs to ingratiate himself to the clan, get them to believe he has a way of returning them to the Spirit World and their seat of power — get them completely invested into this scheme before I'm even mentioned. It will be more difficult to convince them to allow me to be involved than to get them to agree to the plan in the first place. Ideally, I need to stay out of the picture for as long possible, so you do, too."
"If that's the case, then I can wait in the car with Ren."
"To what end?"
"Hisashi is right, Chihiro," Haku shakes his head slowly. "You would only be sitting there, and while nobody would think twice seeing Ren, if anyone glances in and recognizes you, it could still spell the end.
I thought Studio Ghibli was important to you?"
"It is!"
"You were willing to throw yourself into harm's way for it, before," Hisashi reminds me, "Why give up now all of a sudden?"
"I'm not - giving up," I throw my hands wide. "It's just, you - you all are too important to me. When it was just me, it was fine. But now that everyone is here…"
"So, as long as it was only you doing the dying it was okay, that's what you're saying?"
"Um. Yes?"
Haku winces and Hisashi dry washes his face with a muttered "suicidal idiot" before looking to his cousin as if to say Do you see what I have to put up with?
"Chihiro." Haku pats his suffering cousin on the back before turning to me. "It's okay. We've got this, trust us. These books are important to you, and all those kids out there whose lives you might save with them matter just as much as we do. You won't be doing any harm to our side of the plan by going, only helping your original cause."
"But what if somethings goes wrong?" I chew on my lip.
"It won't."
"But how can you be so certain?"
His smile is a little sad, "I just have to have faith that it won't."
"He'll be mic'd and so will Ren. If anything goes wrong — and it won't — Ren will call me and I'll make sure they both get out safe," Hisashi finishes.
"How?"
He doesn't answer.
"How, Hisashi? By sacrificing yourself? No way! Now who's the suicidal idiot?"
"Dude," Rumi lets herself fall backwards onto the mattress. I'm not sure if her frustration is with Hisashi for willing to be so reckless, or for his last statement only making me harder to convince. "This close!" she holds one hand up, finger and thumb centimeters apart. Ah, of course — she barely puts up with Hisashi; his self-sacrificing streak would hardly worry her. My continued arguing and unhappiness, however… I pick up a pillow and half-heartedly smother her with it.
"It won't ever come to that, Hiro, but if it does, we're all more or less screwed anyway, so my giving myself up might actually throw them off just enough to work in our favor. I just would rather not open with that particular act," Hisashi attempts to placate me.
I stop killing Rumi and fold my arms with a huff, thinking furiously.
As much as it pains me to say this, he makes sense.
These books and this movie are important, to more than just me. They deserves a fighting chance, one I have to give them. And I believe Haku and Hisashi to be telling the truth (yeah now they are, a cynical part of me I quickly shush butts in).
I have no choice but to, well, have faith.
"Fine," I finally, and grudgingly, accept, and Rumi cheers from under the pillow she hasn't bothered to move. "But if anything happens to you!" I let the threat fade off unfinished.
"Then you and Kaze will blow in and save the show," Ren grins almost deviously.
"Absolutely not," Hisashi snaps, and Haku, too, is shaking his head no.
"Uh, absolutely yes," I snark back. Rumi drops her arms from their cheer with a dejected moan and kicks out blindly, managing to get Ren in the head.
"Babe!" he whines, rubbing the spot.
"This close, Ren! This. Close!" she finally shifts the pillow to glare at him. "I am tired! I want to go to bed!"
"Babe," he frowns, equal parts apologetic and still milking his new injury. Rumi rolls her eyes at him and sits up.
"If not Chihiro and Kaze, then who? Because I'm not letting you losers be captured by a bunch of ne'er-do-wells, and especially not this loser here," she pokes at Ren with her foot again, and he latches onto it, hugging her calf to his chest and near pulling her off the bed. She tries to play it off, but that's hard to do when half your body is suspended in mid-air. She gives it a valiant effort, though. "Well?" she pushes, voice half-strangled, as she struggles to keep herself upright.
"I have an emergency contact. If things really go to shit, you will contact her and she will help you."
"Who is she?" I ask.
"A friend," is all Hisashi is willing to reveal. I frown at him, but he only looks stoically back.
"Okay, now that that's settled, can we please go to bed?" Rumi breaks our impasse with a beg before letting out a surprised whoop as Ren finally yanks her to the floor with a crash. Before she can retaliate, he stands, scoops her up, and flings her onto the bed by the window with a bounce. She blinks, takes in her new bearings, and smiles. "Thanks, babe!"
"No problem, babe!" And then Ren is flinging himself next to her.
I look at the bed I'm sitting on, and then at the single couch, and then at Haku and Hisashi. "Um?"
"That's gonna be awkward sorting out," Rumi snickers sotto voce before Ren shushes her, but with a non-too subtle snicker of his own.
"I'll take the couch!" I nearly shout, standing abruptly. "You're family, you can share the bed. It's not weird, right?"
"Uh, I guess not," Hisashi slowly permits, but he doesn't look too convinced. Haku on the other hand looks fine with the arrangement, if not a little disappointed. I pretend not to notice, and refuse to imagine why, already fighting a blush.
I march over to the other bed and yank off its coverlet. Rumi shrieks, "Hey!", as I pull it over my head and shoulders before waddling over to the couch and falling on to it, the ends of the blanket closing around me like a burrito.
"That's what you get, instigator," I hiss at her through narrowed eyes.
"Fine, whatever, at least I have a man to keep me warm instead!" she does the title of instigator justice, before Ren rolls on top of her with a whimpered, "Please just shut up. What if she sicks the wind woo-woo on you?"
Now I'm snickering. "Really, Ren? Woo-woo?"
"You shut up, too," he humphs.
"How about we all shut up and get some rest?" Hisashi interjects. He and Haku are under the covers, now, back to back, though they haven't awkwardly placed themselves on extreme opposites of the bed, I'm glad to see.
Varying sounds of affirmation echo through the room, and then it's just the occasional rustling of sheets as one of us shifts into a more comfortable position.
I'm still worried about tomorrow, that something could go wrong. It was my idea to approach the Kaonashi gang in the first place, and I can't stop the feeling of responsibility from making my mind whir through potential devastating outcomes. Slowly, though, despite my nerves, my brain begins to still. And as my eyes flicker shut to the final thought of my friends embarking on this undertaking with me, there is a smile on my face.
x
In the hotel room, we all pause just over the threshold, the door clicking closed behind us, and in the early morning light, we wait. We don't wait for anything in particular. We stall, just for a minute; this one, short moment before it all begins. Like children approaching the top of the high-dive, we are simply taking a steadying breath before plunging into the deep end of the pool.
My knees shake, my heart beats sickly against my ears and in my temple.
I am…scared. Unsure.
Will this work?
My plan?
If it does not…
Fingers, hesitant, brush against my own. Then again, with more confidence, before firmly clasping tight in reassurance. Haku.
And on my other side, shoulder solid against mine, a steady presence. Hisashi
Behind me, two more touches on my back, warm, comforting. Rumi and Ren.
No. Not my plan.
Our plan.
And it will work.
We stride down the hall.
x
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That last scene I listened to the song 'Jack's Dream' from the Oblivion soundtrack.
I'll be trying to make playlists for the rest of the chapters I write, as much to set the mood as you read as to bribe you into forgiving how long it takes me to post new material haha!
Reminder that I also have a pinterest (/kalipeda) featuring cool imagery to help you picture every main character, relationship, and plenty of scenes/moods.
And my tumblr (also /kalipeda) where I am much more likely to respond to questions etc. Fanfic confuses me with their messaging/commenting system :( on that note: IF YOU LEFT A COMMENT I NEVER RESPONDED TO, PLS LET ME KNOW BECAUSE IT WAS PURELY ACCIDENTAL. I try to respond to all comments, but sometimes they get lost because the way this website organizes them all on top of each other, with no indication as to which have been replied to or not, is hella dumb.
Okay, thank you, you all rock!
xo