Okay, this is from a person named Daremo:
"Sorry, been a bit slow reviewing." That's okay, I've been a bit slow writing.
"Things I would like to point out:
"Keru" has an official name, too. Miyazaki named him Aogaru." I'd have to have confirmation of that, but thanks. I'll look into it and change it if I have to.
"Kaonashi can't eat people if thy don't take something he has "made". In other words he could now eat Chihiro whenever he wants. ^_^'" Okay, this one isn't even referenced. I'd reeeally have to confirm this one. I've never encountered anything that described No-Face's exact qualities. Where did you get all this info?
"And if you make Chihiro/Kaonashi pairing, I'm gonna stop reading this! (It's very unusual for me to be fanatic about something, but...) :)" Go ahead! I won't force you to keep reading it.
Thanks for your review, Deremo and everyone else! I love ya'll! ^_^
Sakura Friendship
Chapter Ten
"Chihiro. Chihiro, wake up." Someone was shaking her gently . "Come on, Chihiro, it's sunset!" His voice was urgent. Chihiro opened her bleary eyes to see Haku looking distressed.
"Hmmm?" Chihiro muttered vaguely and looked around, then sat up in shock. "We're still in the boiler room!" She jumped to her feet. "Everyone, wake up! Sunset!"
The room sprang sleepily to life. Quickly workers started filing out the door.
"Let's go, Chihiro," Haku said, and shimmered into his dragon form. In this body he was white and green-blue, hauntingly beautiful in his unearthliness. As a dragon, Haku seemed wild, untamed, ruled by no man. Chihiro loved him this way.
She leaped swiftly onto his back, and he climbed into the darkness. They shot through dark inner wals and elevator shafts to emerge into Yubaba's room. Chihiro jumped off, and the momentum made her fall over. Haku returned to human form and dashed to the rug, starting to push it back over the hole. Chihiro looked around. The room was empty.
"No-Face?" she called cautiously.
"He's already downstairs," said the river god's voice. Both Haku and Chihiro whirled. He was crouched outside, on the balcony.
"Where were you?" the dragon demanded with a growl.
Chihiro looked at Haku anxiously. How much had the river god seen? Had he noticed the rolled-up carpet and the hole beneath?
Haku decided to gamble against it. "We were... just out in the corridors," he said.
"Indeed?" Slowly the dragon crept inside the glass door and stared down at Haku menacingly. "And what were you doing out there?"
"I... well... you know," Haku said. He put an arm around Chihiro's slim waist and gently pulled her close. "Sen and I just... wanted a little privacy..."
Chihiro felt her face grow hot and she knew she was blushing bright red. "Yeah," she managed to get out, "we just wanted some time alone."
The river god snorted in derision. "Alright, children, but playtime's over. Get to work."
"Yes sir." They both bowed deeply to him and hurried out into the hallway.
Chihiro was too embarrassed to speak as they trailed through the maze of mirrors and carpets leading to the elevator. She glanced at Haku, and his expression was serious as he stared straight ahead. Shyly she slipped her hand into his.
He stopped moving and looked at their linked hands, then at Chihiro. His eyes were so intense... Chihiro thought she might get lost in them.
"Look, Chihiro," he started, glancing around the mirrored halls first, "What I told the river god was a lie, obviously... but.. but I wish it weren't."
Chihiro blinked in astonishment. He was coming out and saying it? And he was completely earnest. Those green eyes were so beautiful...
"Chihiro," he said, "I lo-"
"No," she said quietly and put a finger to his lips. "Not yet. We aren't free yet. Just... just wait.."
At first his eyes were pained, but they softened, and he nodded in understanding. "Okay," he whispered. "Alright."
Chihiro turned away from him, and a moment later he followed. They continued through the corridors silently and out into the main floor, holding hands the whole time.
"Lin! Lin!" Keru hopped swiftly down the hall and into one of the bath rooms. Lin was sitting on the wooden floor washing green slime off of her hands and dropping it into a bucket.
"If you're here to patronize me," she said without looking at him, "Don't. I've got a bucket of acidic green sludge and I know how to use it."
"That's not what-"
But Lin continued, "Do you know what this stuff does? It hardens if you leave it dry for five minutes, then grows until it completely covers your body, then it eats away at your flesh." She turned to look at him, irritation on her face. "I shouldn't have to put up with this!"
"Keep washing your hands and listen to me," Keru said. "There's a customer assigned to your bath with.. um.. special requests. He demands a certain kind of water, and as he's washing, his fur can't be rubbed the wrong way, and he can't damage his claws in the water... he's very high-maintenance."
"Great." Lin finished with the green acid from her last customer and stood up. "That's just great. Where is he?"
"Getting a room right now. I just wanted to warn you."
"Thanks a lot, frog," she said,
"Anything for you, weasel." He winked at her then hopped away.
Minutes later, a thick padding noise alerted Lin to someone entering the bath room. She turned around to face the biggest cat she'd ever seen. He was a sleek Siamese, easily the size of a large dragon, standing at almost twice Lin's height. One of his ears was pierced, and his blue eyes sparkled.
"H...h... hello," Lin squeaked out. Her throat was constricted and she was having a hard time trying not to run for her life.
"Good evening," the Cat rumbled pleasantly. He sauntered over to the tub and leaped gracefully into it. Sitting down in it was all he could manage; he was too big to lie down. "Well, this place hasn't changed much in a hundred years. You still don't have any bigger tubs."
"Th...this is the biggest we have," Lin stuttered.
"Indeed." The Cat tilted his head and looked at her with one eye. "I wonder if you use soft water. Will it damage my claws? The house's quality has seem to have gone down since I was last here."
"That.. that's cause.. Yubaba's not here anymore."
"So I'd heard." He stretched a paw leisurely. "Those dragons can't do anything right, can they? Well am I getting a bath or not?"
"Y..y..yes, sir. I was t-told you had a request concerning the water?"
"Indeed. Half of the herbs put in should be mint, of course, enough to mask my scent when I hunt." Lin visibly quailed at that remark, but he didn't seem to notice. "Then a third should by thyme. One sixth should be rosemary, and the other sixth chamomile. You know, like the tea? Oh, and a dash of oatmeal. It makes my fur thicker."
"I... uh... I'll have to go personally to the... to Kamaji so he can mix all that."
"I'll go," said a soft voice from the doorway. Lin jumped, startled, and turned to see No-Face.
"Oh, No-Face, you scared me. How long have you been there?" Lin asked, irritated that she now didn't have an excuse to leave the Cat's presence.
"I was just passing and I heard his request. I'll go give it to Kamaji," No-Face said simply, and disappeared.
Silence descended in the room. Lin slowly became aware of the Cat's eyes watching her intently.
"You have the scent of a rodent," he said. "Are you a stoat? A mink?"
Now Lin was really afraid. This god of cats was her predator, now he'd identified her.. would he try to kill her? "I... Uh..."
He laughed. "I'm not going to eat you, little one. I'm just curious."
"Weasel," she said, slightly relieved. She was willing to bet on the word of a god such as him. "I'm a weasel. My name's Lin."
"A pleasure to meet you, Lin," he said. "I am Oneko." He held out a huge paw, and Lin did her best to shake it.
Suddenly the water spout detached from the wall and lowered to the tub. Lin scurried to the edge of the tub, inches away from Onkeo, pulled it, and scurried back down. The green herbal water started to pour down on the Cat's head.
A deep, guttural, vibrating sound filled the room. It took a moment for Lin to realize that the cat god was purring.
When the tub was full, Lin stopped the water and looked at Oneko expectantly.
"Alright, Lin," he said, "take this comb and comb my fur. Start with my neck, if you would be so kind. Be sure not to comb it the wrong way." A comb appeared in his paw and he handed it to Lin. She took it and sat down on the edge of the tub. As she started to comb the fur, the tiny bristles came to life and started destroying any dirt or grease in their paths. Oneko started purring again.
"So tell me," he said, "What has been going on here recently? No one seems too happy working here anymore."
"You really wanna know?" Lin asked.
"Absolutely."
So she told him.
That morning in the boiler room, everyone was tired. Several Yuna and Frogs had even skipped the meeting to go to bed, so the only ones there were Kamaji, Lin, Keru, Chihiro, Haku, Aniyaku the foremand, and a couple more Yuna.
"Tonight was so busy," Aniyaku complained.
"Hey, don't you be whining," Lin told the foreman. "You didn't have to clean anyone."
"It's always busiest on the weekends," Haku said.
"I know, but still..."
"Can we get started, please?" Chihiro said plaintivelye. She was in a bad mood. She'd had to bash one of the workers, right in front of a customer, a big cat with sharp teeth. It had taken her a while to make up a believable story to explain herself to him. It didn't help that all day she'd been thinking about Haku and what he'd almost said last evening. She glanced at him. He was looking at her. Quickly she turned her head away and looked pointedly at Lin.
"Yeah, sure, sorry," Lin said.
"What's our next option for getting into Yubaba's room?" Kamaji asked.
"Welll..." Lin said hesitantly. "I was talking to someone today and I got a different idea. We could get him to come to us.
"What? How?" Keru asked.
"Well.. maybe we could get some of the customers to help us," she said.
"Yeah right," said Keru. "How could they help us?"
"Well.. maybe.. they could be, I dunno, bait or something," Lin replied.
"Whatever. Do you know any of these customers who would ever go out of their way for us like that?"
"Well, actually-" Lin started, but just then the sliding door opened. A black shape entered quickly and looked at them all.
Chihiro jumped to her feet. "No-Face!" she cried. "What are you doing here??"
"Hey, you can't come in here!" Aniyaku said harshly.
"But I-" No-Face started but was interrupted.
"You might eat us all!" Lin said.
"I-"
"You don't belong here," Keru said. "Do you know how much we-"
"Be quiet!" Chihiro yelled. She could almost feel No-Face's pain for herself. How could these spirits be so cruel? Didn't they know how sensitive he was? She went over to him and took one of his hands in her own. "What is it, No-Face?"
"I...I... eh..." Gazing at nothing, he started to fade away and become insubstantial, but he looked at Chihiro and seemed to snap back into reality, both mentally and physically. "The river god is awake!" he said intensely.
There was a pause, then everyone panicked.
"We're dead! We're so dead! He's gonna kill us!"
"What're we gonna do??"
"Everyone!" Haku immediately took charge and jumped onto the boiler seat. "Quickly and quietly go back to your barracks! He doesn't know who is here! You won't be killed if you leave now."
There was a mad rush for the door. The workers started to crowd out.
The ceiling suddenly smashed into chunks and shards of wood that came whistling down, thudding into the ground. One fragment shot right through No-Face's hand. He cried out loudly in pain and fear.
The river god smashed down upon them, his tail narrowly missing Chihiro and No-Face. He roared in fury and thrashed around dangerously. No-Face pulled Chihiro close. Clinging to him, she could hear his quick heartbeat coincide with her own.
The was a short bark. chihiro looked up to see Haku, as a dragon, hovering just above them.
"Climb on!" Chihiro yelled, and jumped up to grab Haku's fur. Using it, she pulled herself up, then reached a hand down to No-face. He grasped her hand, and Haku took off, up into the air. Chihiro pulled No-Face up next to her as they flew, and she held him close. They flew toward the gaping hole the river god had created in the ceiling.
"Come BACK!" the dragon roared behind them. Haku came to a sudden halt in mid-air that nearly tossed both Chihiro and No-Face off, then turned around and floated back, as slowly as he could.
The river god was below them, seething. As soon as they came in range, he whipped out a paw and swatted them out of the air. Chihiro's scream came to an abrupt end as she smacked her head on the wall and fell into unconsciousness.
