As it was still just barely dawn, Haku decided to try and find Kii in his rooms before he went out to see his first client. Smoothing down his clothes and resisting the urge to check his reflection in a mirror, he went down to the bottom floor, then out the back door towards the boiler room.
The sea was flat and calm, slate-gray rippling with pink as the sun made its way over the horizon. The Train slipped by below the stairs, silent except for a gentle shhp-shhp-shhp as it forged through the water. Haku watched it go, letting his feet find their own way down the stairs, grown familiar after he'd traversed them so many times. Had Kii come to the bathhouse on that train? Did Yubaba have his real name locked away somewhere in her office? So many questions. Too many, Haku thought. But then again, why should I care? He does his work, and I do mine.
But does his work give him nightmares?
Haku thought of the ornate door he'd seen Kii coming out of the previous night. "He's a regular, and he brings the bathhouse a lot of money," Kii had said then. "He requests my services in particular." Haku imagined Kii cowering, wide-eyed, in the huge, black shadow of some hulking, ugly creature. He shuddered, pushing away the thought, as he opened the door to the boiler room and stepped inside quietly.
Kumaji was still asleep, snoring softly. Soot-sprites peeked shyly out at Haku as he tiptoed across the wooden floor to the hall on the other side. There, tucked behind a row of wooden crates and odd boxes, was the door to Kii's room: small and unmarked, the green paint was peeling off at the top and it looked like it might have once been a janitor's room or an extra storage closet. Haku knocked before he could lose his nerve; his fist on the wooden door sounded like a gunshot in the silence and Kumaji snorted and turned over… and the door creaked open four inches.
Haku stood and stared, dumbfounded, at the door, as if it had suddenly turned purple or come off of its hinges and walked away. In a few moments he shook himself out of his daze and pushed the door open a bit more, taking a deep breath before peeking inside.
Kii's red kimono hung on a stand in a corner, next to a window that looked out on the sea to the North. There was another kimono, longer and cut in a distinct feminine style, in a glass case against one wall. A wooden wardrobe stood against the opposite wall, and on the floor, not much more than a tangle of black hair at the end of a black futon patterned with red carp, was Kii.
Haku could tell by the shallow rise and fall of Kii's bare shoulder under his blanket and the sound of peaceful breathing that Kii was still asleep. Embarrassed, he started to retreat, but as he did he felt a splinter from one of the wooden crates stab into his own bare toe, and he let out half of a smothered yelp as he clapped a hand over his mouth, too late. Kii stirred, then sat up, his hair falling in a tangle over his shoulders. He was shirtless, and as his legs were still under the blanket, Haku couldn't be sure whether he was wearing anything at all. Kii blinked at him; his eyelids were still heavy with sleep and it gave him a sultry, seductive look. He quirked an eyebrow.
"I—" Haku began, but couldn't think of anything to say. His toe was throbbing with the pain of the splinter and he wanted to pull it out, but couldn't force himself to move, couldn't bring his eyes away from Kii's.
Kii stared at him a long moment, then asked, "Did you hurt yourself?"
"I'm sorry," Haku began at once, then stopped as he registered the question. "I stepped on a splinter; I didn't mean to wake you."
Kii yawned and brushed his long hair out of his eyes lazily. "You didn't? Then why are you here?" He waved away Haku's sputtered attempt at a response, then asked, "So what can I do for you so early in the morning?" A hint of a smile touched his lips. "Didn't you sleep well?"
"I didn't," Haku said heavily.
"And you haven't been sleeping well for some time," Kii said. He pushed the blanket away from his legs. Haku tensed, then relaxed as he saw that Kii was wearing a pair of loose cotton pants, faded blue and soft-looking. He looked nice in blue, Haku decided. He liked him in blue. Kii opened his wardrobe and pulled down a hinged square of wood, revealing a mirror and some assorted cosmetics. He picked up a hairbrush and said off-handedly, "If you want, I'll sing you another lullaby."
Haku looked down at the floor, thinking of the nightmares he had, and Kii said, "Alright then, I'll see you in your rooms tonight."
