--------------The Dragon and the Glass Tower--------------
Disclaimer—Spirited Away and it's characters belong to Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki. Copyrights are being infringed, but I, and all fans in every fandom everywhere, hope that no one minds.
A.N.-- Mr. Sato and Yumiko are original characters. It appears that long chapters intimidate me, so Day 3 has been broken up. Onto the fun! :)
----------Ch. 6--Morning of the Third Day----------
Kohaku waited across the boundary of the worlds, his body in the Spirit World, his mind fixed immovably on a posh condominium on the human side. Kohaku's green-fringed tail whipped the artificial blockade every five minutes, testing it. The sun was still low in the morning sky.
Mr. Sato could not know how close he had come to a dragon attacking him the afternoon before. Kohaku's restraint had been pressed to the limit as he watched Mr. Sato carry a limp and lifeless Chihiro into his condo, and then come back for his precious, shiny box. It was fortunate that Mr. Sato had not tried anything the two nights he had had Chihiro drugged in his apartment, or Kohaku would not be bothering with restraint this morning. No, if Mr. Sato had laid an inappropriate hand on Chihiro, his lifeless and slashed body would have been found in the river in several weeks, and Kohaku would have flown away with Chihiro on his back, blood still coating his talons.
But that was not how Kohaku wanted to win Chihiro. That was not how Kohaku wanted his Chihiro to see him the first time they met in so many years. That was not how he wanted it at all. Mr. Sato did appear to have some honor, as little as that may be. Kohaku reined his temper. He would be patient.
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Mr. Sato drove Chihiro and himself to work. They stopped by her apartment; she grabbed some fresh clothes, checked in with her roommates, and got back into his idling automobile. They drove off again.
Chihiro had been quiet all morning. Mr. Sato had been overly cheerful.
"Makoto?" Chihiro said quietly over the car's hum.
"Yes, dear?" Mr. Sato said.
"There is no way I can get everything done for the case by tonight. It's impossible. I think we should put off the wedding."
"WHAT!??" Mr. Sato almost swerved the car into on-coming traffic.
"Well, think about it! It's not like we'd really inconvenience anyone by rescheduling it. We are practically eloping anyways. All we have to do is call our parents and the shrine and reschedule. We don't even have a reception to worry about. I really think we should reschedule it for after this case is over. That way we can work hard on the case all this weekend, and when it is over and done we can have a proper honeymoon without an endangered lake hanging over our heads. Come on, what do you say?"
"But--but, this is our lives together here we'd be putting off! The case will go fine with what you already have. We don't need--"
"No, honey, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I have hours and hours of work left on it still to do. Vital facts to format for the court, presentations to organize. Yes, all the research is done, but it's not usable until I organize it."
"We can get one of the other girls to do those--"
"No, no one but me can make sense of my notes! And then I need to explain all the details to you so that you'll be ready to present...If I hadn't gotten sick, I would have been able to finish this evening and we could get married tomorrow. But now..."
Mr. Sato's hands death-gripped the steering wheel, and he braked a little too hard at the next red light. His teeth clenched; there were bags under his eyes.
Chihiro leaned over and kissed him gently on the cheek. He grip relaxed a little. "It's just a few extra days, Makoto," she said tenderly.
"I...I'll think about it."
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Kohaku's tail lashed. It went through. It was 11am, the block was gone. Kohaku rose up and flew.
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"Chihiro, I need to talk to you." Yumiko walked into Chihiro's office, moved aside a pile of papers, and shut the door.
"What's up, Yumiko?" Chihiro frowned. Yumiko was unusually serious.
"You're feeling fine now, right?" she asked.
"Uh, yes--" Chihiro began.
"But yesterday you fainted."
"Well, more like I got really really tired, all of a sudden--" she said.
"And the day before that you contracted a sudden stomach bug that kept you vomiting for hours."
"It wasn't that long--"
"But you are fine now." Yumiko stated.
"Yes," Chihiro said.
"I don't suppose you remember what you did right before you got sick? Like if you ate something strange or something?"
"Yumiko, I--" Chihiro was confused.
"Wait,"Yumiko stopped her, "first let me tell you what's been happening lately. For the last two days, Mr. Nushi has come, practically begging to talk to you. Mr. Sato has refused him both times. Sato's actually come up to the front and told him, in person, that no, he can't speak with you." Chihiro sat back, startled.
"Wha--"
"Mr. Sato always says you're too busy; that he doesn't want you interrupted."
"Oh."
"But then Mr. Nushi will pull out something amazing. Let me tell you, amazing. Stops both me and Mr. Sato in our tracks. No, really. The first day he pulled out a DVD of that He-Man/Power Princess movie everyone has been buzzing about."
"So?" Chihiro was confused.
"Girl, that movie hasn't even been shown in the theaters here yet. I don't think it's even got an American DVD released yet, let alone a Japanese one. But there it was, in Nushi's hands." Chihiro was still not clear. "I'm sure you know how much Mr. Sato loves those types of flicks."
"Well, yes..."
"Mr. Nushi said he would give him the DVD if Mr. Sato would let him take you out for the afternoon. And Mr. Sato accepted."
"He what?!"
"And yesterday, after Mr. Sato had taken the DVD, and didn't give it back even after you got sick and had to go home, Mr. Sato refused to let Mr. Nushi see you, again. So Mr. Nushi pulled out a PS3. A PS3!"
"A Play Station?"
"The brand new one! Not supposed to be released till May! And get this, included with the game was Final Fantasy 15. That game is totally still in production, as far as I can find out about it. But there it was. And there was Nushi, waving it under Sato's nose."
"Did...did Makoto accept?" Chihiro asked, timidly.
"Practically ripped it out of his hands. But that's not all. Mr. Sato told him that you were out to lunch and that he would send you out to speak with Nushi after you got back."
"But I didn't take a lunch yesterday!"
"Exactly. Mr. Sato took the Play Station, ran out of the room, and less than an hour later you were fainting to the floor, too weak to stand."
Chihiro slumped, considering. "He promised that I would go out with him?"
"I think yesterday Nushi was willing to settle for just a chance to talk to you."
"You know," Chihiro said, half-distractedly, "Makoto did have a new game yesterday. He was playing it as I slept. It woke me up a few times."
"You went to his house again last night?"
Chihiro blushed bright scarlet. "He took me to his house!" She was quick to defend herself. "He said it was to make sure I was well cared for. At the time, I was too out of it to care. Both times," she acknowledged. "He put me in his bed and he slept on the couch."
"Ah."
"Yes! Except last night I don't think he even slept. I think he played his game all night."
"Humph. Well, back to my question. Did you eat or drink anything just before you got sick?"
"Wait a sec, let me get this straight. You are telling me that a handsome stranger," Chihiro colored a bit at this, "has come in two days in a row, asking to see me, and Mr. Sato has refused to let him..."
"'Vehemently refused,' would fit here..."
"But then the young man has pulled out something to bribe him with, and my fiancé has agreed both times, took the bribe and said that he would send me out to meet him?"
"Yes."
"But then before I hear anything about this, I become violently ill, and have to be taken home..."
"Yup."
"And the man who accepted the bribe in exchange for me not only still has the bribe, but is the one driving me home..."
"Uh-huh."
"And still has not mentioned a word of this to me, even though we are supposed to get married tomorrow."
"You got it."
"And he lied about me being out for lunch!"
"Yup."
"That...that...UGGH!!!" Chihiro was livid. Her face flushed and paled as she sat staring at the wall, implications rushing through her brain. Slowly, Chihiro's calmed her breathing and her body tensed in determination.
Yumiko cautiously said, "So...what did you eat?" Chihiro glanced at her sharply, and took a slow breath.
"Yesterday...yesterday, I had some ramen."
"Did you make it yourself?"
"No, Makoto made it and gave it to me."
"And the day before..."
"I had...I didn't eat anything...I had tea."
"Did you make—"
"No, I didn't, Makoto made it and brought it to me."
"Ah."
"He...He's been poisoning me!!!" Chihiro shouted.
"Shhh shhhh shh," Yumiko shushed her quickly. She caught Chihiro's eyes and held them, "So, what are you going to do about it?"
"I...I'm not going to marry the jerk."
"Good, what else?"
"I...we've got to prove it."
"How?"
"Blood tests?" Chihiro groaned, "The stuff is probably mostly through my system already. And if I know Makoto, it's probably all over-the-counter medicines anyway."
"We've got to catch him," Yumiko said.
Chihiro looked at her sharply, "You think he'd try it again? Do you think that guy will come again?"
"I don't think that guy will stop trying till he sees you. I think there is a very fair chance he will come again today."
"And if things play out the same..."
"You keep whatever Mr. Sato gives you as evidence, don't eat it, and we catch him."
Chihiro's eyes hardened and she nodded. "And then I'm going to give them both a piece of my mind. My ex-fiancé and that Nushi fellow!" she growled. Her eyes flashed.
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