Spirited Away: Another Day in Paradise
A Fanfic by Viral Inque
Authors Note: My first Spirited Away fic. Well, one of my first in general. Any feedback, good or bad, would be greatly appreciated. More chapters coming soon. Hope you enjoy.
Chapter 4: A Long Night's Day
Chihiro rushed back the way she had come and headed towards the staff sleeping quarters. She found her apron where she had left it, in a small cubicle along a wall lined with them, where employees kept their personal belongings. Then she hurried to the entrance to the bathhouse, where Yu- Baaba had told her to meet her to help greet the coming customers.
The entire bathhouse was alive with activity, Yu-Baaba barking orders from a balcony. When she saw Chihiro, she jumped down to meet her.
"Come, Chihiro," she said, leading her towards the entrance, "They'll be arriving any moment."
The Ameki Spirits didn't look quite like anything Chihiro had imagined. She had pictured spirits with long, tree-like limbs and manes of green leaves. Through the open door of the bathhouse, she could see the spirits approaching. They were only about a foot and a half tall or so and were a translucent, ethereal white color. They seemed to glow in the darkness. They had simple, featureless faces with deep sockets for eyes, empty save for small, shining, red spheres that floated around inside them.
"This is a nightmare," Yu-Baaba whispered, watching the approaching mass of white closely, "It's not bad enough that there are so many of them, but they aren't the easiest spirits to cater to either. They have a very unusual diet, and they eat voraciously. Bothersome, there's so many of them."
As they drew closer to the bridge, marching in disorderly rows, Chihiro got a better look at the spirits. They didn't have any mouths, at least not any that Chihiro could see. A single stripe, a slightly off- color white then the rest of their features, ran from their forehead straight back over their round skulls. They had spaghetti string arms that swung uncontrollably at their sides. As they pressed forward, the bridge creaked under their collective weight.
"Okay, ready now," Yu-Baaba said as the first of the spirits reached the end of the bridge, "Back straight, chin up. Let's look presentable."
Chihiro did as she was instructed and waited to see what else she was supposed to do. Yu-Baaba cleared her throat, and when the Ameki entered the bathhouse she began greeting them warmly, directing them the baths. Chihiro followed suite.
"Welcome to Aburaya! Welcome! Right this way," Yu-Baaba repeated over and over as the Ameki flowed into the bathhouse.
"Welcome. This way please," Chihiro mimicked, bowing to the spirits as they passed.
This went on for an hour or more, the spirits pouring in, with no end in sight. After a while Chihiro and Yu-Baaba's voices started to give, so they just bowed. Finally, the last ten Ameki walked through the door. These ten struggled with a silver chest decorated with a crest on top. Yu- Baaba gasped under her breath at the sight of the chest.
The Ameki placed the chest down in front of Yu-Baaba. One of the spirits put its face up to the crest. The spheres from inside its eye sockets floated out and settled themselves into two grooves on either side of the crest. The crest glowed red for a moment, then the spheres removed themselves and returned to their respective sockets.
Chihiro and Yu-Baaba both watched patiently, Chihiro with wonder and curiosity, Yu-Baaba with muted excitement. At first, nothing happened. Suddenly, with a creak, the chest swung open. Inside the chest sat rows and rows of neatly piled silver coins, reflecting light blindly. Chihiro kind of thought it was a little too typical of what you might find in a chest, and was a little disappointed. Yu-Baaba continued to smile and didn't give away her reaction.
"Thank you sirs. This is too kind," Yu-Baaba said, bowing to the Ameki, "Please, go right on in and enjoy yourselves."
They watched the spirits walk off towards the baths. When they were gone, Chihiro and Yu-Baaba were able to speak freely.
"Is that a lot?" Chihiro asked, staring at the chest and its coins, which had begun to look more impressive by the minute.
"Well, it is a lot," Yu-Baaba sighed, calling someone over with a gesture and slamming the chest close, "It'll cover the cost of their stay, but not much more. I was hoping they would have been gold coins."
"Yes, Yu-Baaba?" Haku asked as he ran to them. He looked out of breath and beads of sweat rose on his forehead.
"Take this upstairs for me," she said, pointing to the chest.
"Right away," Haku said. "Helping us out tonight," he grunted to Chihiro as he hefted up the chest.
"Uh-huh," Chihiro nodded.
"I'll see you around then," he said, and left the room.
"Right then," Yu-Baaba sighed, looking into the bathhouse unsavorily, "Get to work Chihiro. Find Rin and help her out."
"Yes ma'am," Chihiro said, and ran out the room with a wave.
The drone of activity became a roar as Chihiro reached the baths. She hit a wall of people, both spirit and staff, trying to get from one place to another. The bathhouse was so full, there was just nowhere for anyone to go. Chihiro could see the Ameki lining up in front of baths of every size, marching into them one at a time until they were full.
Chihiro stood in her spot, waiting with the people around her for an opening to inch their way closer to their destinations. Slowly, as groups of Ameki got into elevators going to other levels, Chihiro was able to move across the floor. She didn't find Rin, and it was hard to look. Everyone was so overburdened with work, that Chihiro had to keep on stopping to help other staff members. Finally, she heard from a slug that she'd seen Rin in the kitchens.
So Chihiro pressed on through the crowd. Food had begun to filter into the baths for the Ameki. It was a foul smelling stew that had some leafy greens in it, but what else might be in it was a mystery. Just when the traffic had begun to lighten, Chihiro reached the kitchens, which were still teeming with activity. The smell of the Ameki's food was overpowering here, and it made Chihiro's eyes water.
She saw Rin, over by the ovens, ladling soup broth from a cauldron into serving bowls using a bucket. The cauldron was so big Rin had to stand on a stepladder so she could reach in and spoon out the broth. She wore a handkerchief over her face to avoid the pungent aroma of the brew.
"Chihiro," Rin said when she noticed Chihiro, "Come on, help me out."
"This is ridiculous," Rin continued, handing Chihiro a handkerchief as she approached. Chihiro gratefully took it and immediately covered her nose and mouth. "I always get stuck doing the worst jobs. My back is killing me," she grunted as she heaved another bucketful of soup into a bowl.
"What can I do?" Chihiro asked, trying to keep a safe distance.
"What did that Yu-Baaba do to you?" Rin asked, wiping the sweat off her brow, "She didn't harass you, did she?"
"No, it was okay," Chihiro answered, inching closer so Rin could hear her over the noise in the room. "What's in there?" she asked, looking into the cauldron, then quickly turning away as the odor seeped through her handkerchief.
"Who knows," Rin said, handing Chihiro a large wooden spoon, "Bunch of different roots and tree barks. They're boiled then strained out. I hate to do this to you, but if you could, just keep and eye out for any large pieces still in there and fish them out for me."
"Okay," Chihiro said, and tentatively looked into the cauldron.
It was like a particularly creative form of torture. Having to stick her head in from time to time to scoop out a piece of root, nothing could protect Chihiro from the noxious mixture. Her eyes burned constantly and more then once she thought she'd lose her lunch. She hoped that the workers would stop returning bowls to be refilled, but a steady stream kept coming.
A couple of hours passed before two slugs came to relieve Chihiro and Rin so they could take a quick break then swap jobs. Rin laughed out loud and wished them both the best of luck, which they didn't consider very funny at all.
Chihiro followed Rin into another kitchen, this one considerably more quiet and pleasant smelling. Rin served up a bowl of rice, two dumpling, and a cup of tea for each of them.
"Wait here for a second," she told Chihiro and shuffled off to speak with a frog. She whispered something into his ear, and he scurried away.
"Let's go outside, okay?" she said when she returned and they went through a door near the back of the kitchen and into the cool night air.
They walked until they came to a wide bench. Chihiro had been carefully balancing her food and was grateful that she made it without dropping anything. She slowly put everything down in one corner of the bench and sat in front of it.
"Don't start eating yet," Rin said as she arranged her food on an opposite corner and sat down.
"Huh, why?" Chihiro asked.
"Sorry I took so long," Haku said, approaching from behind a row of hedges. He was carrying something wrapped in a napkin. "It's pretty hard getting around the bathhouse tonight."
"It's insane," Rin agreed.
"Haku," Chihiro shouted in surprise.
"Hello, Chihiro," Haku said, and sat down between Chihiro and Rin, "Yu- Baaba hadn't planned for all the commotion, so she said it'd be okay for us to at least eat at the same time, so we can spend some time together."
"I'll have to thank her," Chihiro smiled.
Haku unwrapped the napkin he had been carrying and piles of food spilled out. He took two apples and placed one in front Chihiro and one in front of Rin. Then he sorted through the food in front of him and passed out several spiced cookies to eat of them.
"These," Haku said, pointing to the cookies, "Are from Yu-Baaba's personal stores. So, we'll keep this just between us. Shall we?"
"Itadakimasu," the three of them said at the same time, and they started eating in earnest.
"Thank you for the food, Haku," Chihiro said, trying one of the cookies. It had the same mysterious quality she had sensed in the cookies she'd had earlier.
"Yeah, thanks, Haku," Rin chimed in, in-between mouthfuls of rice.
"Think nothing of it," Haku said, turning to Chihiro, "So, how are your parents doing?"
Chihiro told them everything that was new in her life, just as she had done with Yu-Baaba. Haku and Rin told them more stories about what had been going on in the bathhouse. Chihiro was simply ecstatic, enjoying herself more then she had in her whole life. She didn't even mind having had to do all the hard work with the smelly soup. It had been all worth it to enjoy sitting and just talking. It seemed so mundane, but nothing was boring in the spirit world. Time passed quickly, as it does when one is enjoying themselves, and soon they were finished eating and were faced with having to go back to work.
"Oh, no way, can't we just relax for a little longer?" Rin whined.
"I'm afraid not," Haku laughed, "What's worse, the Ameki probably won't be leaving until at least tomorrow night."
"You're kidding," Rin screamed.
"Do you think you would mind staying that long?" Haku asked Chihiro, "The deal was that you could only stay the night. It's just harder to get you back at the time you left the longer you stay. But I'm sure Yu-Baaba would be happy to have you around to help. After the Ameki leave, maybe we'll have a moment to enjoy together without having to worry about work."
"I'll happily stay as long as I can," Chihiro said.
"Wonderful," Haku said, standing up, "Now, unfortunately, we have to get back to work. Let's go."
A Fanfic by Viral Inque
Authors Note: My first Spirited Away fic. Well, one of my first in general. Any feedback, good or bad, would be greatly appreciated. More chapters coming soon. Hope you enjoy.
Chapter 4: A Long Night's Day
Chihiro rushed back the way she had come and headed towards the staff sleeping quarters. She found her apron where she had left it, in a small cubicle along a wall lined with them, where employees kept their personal belongings. Then she hurried to the entrance to the bathhouse, where Yu- Baaba had told her to meet her to help greet the coming customers.
The entire bathhouse was alive with activity, Yu-Baaba barking orders from a balcony. When she saw Chihiro, she jumped down to meet her.
"Come, Chihiro," she said, leading her towards the entrance, "They'll be arriving any moment."
The Ameki Spirits didn't look quite like anything Chihiro had imagined. She had pictured spirits with long, tree-like limbs and manes of green leaves. Through the open door of the bathhouse, she could see the spirits approaching. They were only about a foot and a half tall or so and were a translucent, ethereal white color. They seemed to glow in the darkness. They had simple, featureless faces with deep sockets for eyes, empty save for small, shining, red spheres that floated around inside them.
"This is a nightmare," Yu-Baaba whispered, watching the approaching mass of white closely, "It's not bad enough that there are so many of them, but they aren't the easiest spirits to cater to either. They have a very unusual diet, and they eat voraciously. Bothersome, there's so many of them."
As they drew closer to the bridge, marching in disorderly rows, Chihiro got a better look at the spirits. They didn't have any mouths, at least not any that Chihiro could see. A single stripe, a slightly off- color white then the rest of their features, ran from their forehead straight back over their round skulls. They had spaghetti string arms that swung uncontrollably at their sides. As they pressed forward, the bridge creaked under their collective weight.
"Okay, ready now," Yu-Baaba said as the first of the spirits reached the end of the bridge, "Back straight, chin up. Let's look presentable."
Chihiro did as she was instructed and waited to see what else she was supposed to do. Yu-Baaba cleared her throat, and when the Ameki entered the bathhouse she began greeting them warmly, directing them the baths. Chihiro followed suite.
"Welcome to Aburaya! Welcome! Right this way," Yu-Baaba repeated over and over as the Ameki flowed into the bathhouse.
"Welcome. This way please," Chihiro mimicked, bowing to the spirits as they passed.
This went on for an hour or more, the spirits pouring in, with no end in sight. After a while Chihiro and Yu-Baaba's voices started to give, so they just bowed. Finally, the last ten Ameki walked through the door. These ten struggled with a silver chest decorated with a crest on top. Yu- Baaba gasped under her breath at the sight of the chest.
The Ameki placed the chest down in front of Yu-Baaba. One of the spirits put its face up to the crest. The spheres from inside its eye sockets floated out and settled themselves into two grooves on either side of the crest. The crest glowed red for a moment, then the spheres removed themselves and returned to their respective sockets.
Chihiro and Yu-Baaba both watched patiently, Chihiro with wonder and curiosity, Yu-Baaba with muted excitement. At first, nothing happened. Suddenly, with a creak, the chest swung open. Inside the chest sat rows and rows of neatly piled silver coins, reflecting light blindly. Chihiro kind of thought it was a little too typical of what you might find in a chest, and was a little disappointed. Yu-Baaba continued to smile and didn't give away her reaction.
"Thank you sirs. This is too kind," Yu-Baaba said, bowing to the Ameki, "Please, go right on in and enjoy yourselves."
They watched the spirits walk off towards the baths. When they were gone, Chihiro and Yu-Baaba were able to speak freely.
"Is that a lot?" Chihiro asked, staring at the chest and its coins, which had begun to look more impressive by the minute.
"Well, it is a lot," Yu-Baaba sighed, calling someone over with a gesture and slamming the chest close, "It'll cover the cost of their stay, but not much more. I was hoping they would have been gold coins."
"Yes, Yu-Baaba?" Haku asked as he ran to them. He looked out of breath and beads of sweat rose on his forehead.
"Take this upstairs for me," she said, pointing to the chest.
"Right away," Haku said. "Helping us out tonight," he grunted to Chihiro as he hefted up the chest.
"Uh-huh," Chihiro nodded.
"I'll see you around then," he said, and left the room.
"Right then," Yu-Baaba sighed, looking into the bathhouse unsavorily, "Get to work Chihiro. Find Rin and help her out."
"Yes ma'am," Chihiro said, and ran out the room with a wave.
The drone of activity became a roar as Chihiro reached the baths. She hit a wall of people, both spirit and staff, trying to get from one place to another. The bathhouse was so full, there was just nowhere for anyone to go. Chihiro could see the Ameki lining up in front of baths of every size, marching into them one at a time until they were full.
Chihiro stood in her spot, waiting with the people around her for an opening to inch their way closer to their destinations. Slowly, as groups of Ameki got into elevators going to other levels, Chihiro was able to move across the floor. She didn't find Rin, and it was hard to look. Everyone was so overburdened with work, that Chihiro had to keep on stopping to help other staff members. Finally, she heard from a slug that she'd seen Rin in the kitchens.
So Chihiro pressed on through the crowd. Food had begun to filter into the baths for the Ameki. It was a foul smelling stew that had some leafy greens in it, but what else might be in it was a mystery. Just when the traffic had begun to lighten, Chihiro reached the kitchens, which were still teeming with activity. The smell of the Ameki's food was overpowering here, and it made Chihiro's eyes water.
She saw Rin, over by the ovens, ladling soup broth from a cauldron into serving bowls using a bucket. The cauldron was so big Rin had to stand on a stepladder so she could reach in and spoon out the broth. She wore a handkerchief over her face to avoid the pungent aroma of the brew.
"Chihiro," Rin said when she noticed Chihiro, "Come on, help me out."
"This is ridiculous," Rin continued, handing Chihiro a handkerchief as she approached. Chihiro gratefully took it and immediately covered her nose and mouth. "I always get stuck doing the worst jobs. My back is killing me," she grunted as she heaved another bucketful of soup into a bowl.
"What can I do?" Chihiro asked, trying to keep a safe distance.
"What did that Yu-Baaba do to you?" Rin asked, wiping the sweat off her brow, "She didn't harass you, did she?"
"No, it was okay," Chihiro answered, inching closer so Rin could hear her over the noise in the room. "What's in there?" she asked, looking into the cauldron, then quickly turning away as the odor seeped through her handkerchief.
"Who knows," Rin said, handing Chihiro a large wooden spoon, "Bunch of different roots and tree barks. They're boiled then strained out. I hate to do this to you, but if you could, just keep and eye out for any large pieces still in there and fish them out for me."
"Okay," Chihiro said, and tentatively looked into the cauldron.
It was like a particularly creative form of torture. Having to stick her head in from time to time to scoop out a piece of root, nothing could protect Chihiro from the noxious mixture. Her eyes burned constantly and more then once she thought she'd lose her lunch. She hoped that the workers would stop returning bowls to be refilled, but a steady stream kept coming.
A couple of hours passed before two slugs came to relieve Chihiro and Rin so they could take a quick break then swap jobs. Rin laughed out loud and wished them both the best of luck, which they didn't consider very funny at all.
Chihiro followed Rin into another kitchen, this one considerably more quiet and pleasant smelling. Rin served up a bowl of rice, two dumpling, and a cup of tea for each of them.
"Wait here for a second," she told Chihiro and shuffled off to speak with a frog. She whispered something into his ear, and he scurried away.
"Let's go outside, okay?" she said when she returned and they went through a door near the back of the kitchen and into the cool night air.
They walked until they came to a wide bench. Chihiro had been carefully balancing her food and was grateful that she made it without dropping anything. She slowly put everything down in one corner of the bench and sat in front of it.
"Don't start eating yet," Rin said as she arranged her food on an opposite corner and sat down.
"Huh, why?" Chihiro asked.
"Sorry I took so long," Haku said, approaching from behind a row of hedges. He was carrying something wrapped in a napkin. "It's pretty hard getting around the bathhouse tonight."
"It's insane," Rin agreed.
"Haku," Chihiro shouted in surprise.
"Hello, Chihiro," Haku said, and sat down between Chihiro and Rin, "Yu- Baaba hadn't planned for all the commotion, so she said it'd be okay for us to at least eat at the same time, so we can spend some time together."
"I'll have to thank her," Chihiro smiled.
Haku unwrapped the napkin he had been carrying and piles of food spilled out. He took two apples and placed one in front Chihiro and one in front of Rin. Then he sorted through the food in front of him and passed out several spiced cookies to eat of them.
"These," Haku said, pointing to the cookies, "Are from Yu-Baaba's personal stores. So, we'll keep this just between us. Shall we?"
"Itadakimasu," the three of them said at the same time, and they started eating in earnest.
"Thank you for the food, Haku," Chihiro said, trying one of the cookies. It had the same mysterious quality she had sensed in the cookies she'd had earlier.
"Yeah, thanks, Haku," Rin chimed in, in-between mouthfuls of rice.
"Think nothing of it," Haku said, turning to Chihiro, "So, how are your parents doing?"
Chihiro told them everything that was new in her life, just as she had done with Yu-Baaba. Haku and Rin told them more stories about what had been going on in the bathhouse. Chihiro was simply ecstatic, enjoying herself more then she had in her whole life. She didn't even mind having had to do all the hard work with the smelly soup. It had been all worth it to enjoy sitting and just talking. It seemed so mundane, but nothing was boring in the spirit world. Time passed quickly, as it does when one is enjoying themselves, and soon they were finished eating and were faced with having to go back to work.
"Oh, no way, can't we just relax for a little longer?" Rin whined.
"I'm afraid not," Haku laughed, "What's worse, the Ameki probably won't be leaving until at least tomorrow night."
"You're kidding," Rin screamed.
"Do you think you would mind staying that long?" Haku asked Chihiro, "The deal was that you could only stay the night. It's just harder to get you back at the time you left the longer you stay. But I'm sure Yu-Baaba would be happy to have you around to help. After the Ameki leave, maybe we'll have a moment to enjoy together without having to worry about work."
"I'll happily stay as long as I can," Chihiro said.
"Wonderful," Haku said, standing up, "Now, unfortunately, we have to get back to work. Let's go."