First off, a big THANK YOU to Tigeriss Lightwater and Kina-chan for reviewing. I realize that Tig was the reason I wrote this, but I never let her see the final copy. And thanks to her, I got another Grunty plushie!
Now then, I PROMISE THAT I WILL UPDATE MY OTHER STORIES. Please give me time. Now, enjoy chapter two of Bath House of Spirits.
Chapter 2: Staircases and Boilers
"A human! Human!"
Kurama just stood there in a stunned silence. When he had thought of Kuronue, he had subconsciously stopped chanting. In other words, all the spirits of the Bath House could now see him. Looking straight ahead, Kurama saw a troop of about five frogs heading towards him. Without a second thought Kurama sprinted straight at them.
His sudden movement must have thrown the frogs off-guard, for when Kurama approached them the frogs froze in place. Jumping on one of their heads, he catapulted over the troop and landed on the Bath House side of the bridge. Glancing from side to side, Kurama looked for a doorway or some other kind of opening to get him out of sight. Seeing a small door hidden in the fencing, he darted for it, slammed his shoulder into it and, in essence, got out of the sights of the spirits before they could recover.
As Kurama crouched down in the small garden the door had led him to, he heard the panicked shouts of the frogs and slugs. The wall above him had to be the Bath House itself, because that is where the screams were the loudest. Slowing his breathing down so his presence would be even more unnoticeable, Kurama looked around the garden for a way out.
Off to the far end opposite the door he came in was a staircase going down. From the bridge, Kurama didn't see that the Bath House went down about 20 stories to the base of the smoke stacks, and, below them, rolling hills of grass and a set of train tracks. The only way down was that rickety staircase that looked as though it was about to fall apart, and Kurama didn't see any other option but to take it. Standing carefully so no shadows would be seen through the Bath House screens, Kurama inched his way to the stairs.
The stairs, it turned out, were very steep, an almost vertical line all the way to the bottom. Kurama wasn't expecting that and slipped on the first stair. Grabbing onto any stair he could grab, he held on until he regained his footing. Slowly, he stood up and brushed himself off. Behind him, Kurama was almost sure that he had heard the stair he had held onto crack and felt it give a little. Not wanting to check if he broke it, he continued down the stairwell to the base of the smoke stacks.
As Kurama took his last step off the stairs onto the platform at the bottom, a sudden noise caused him to flatten himself against the nearest wall. Risking a look up, Kurama saw a frog smoking a cigarette out of an open window. Quickly darting around the bend in the wall, he found himself facing a long hallway leading deep into the Bath House. At the end of the hallway red lights danced across a far wall near a bend. His curiosity getting the better of him, Kurama started down the hallway.
The sides of the hallway were lined with various pieces of machinery, a good deal of them issuing steam of smoke at regular intervals. Kurama reached a hand out to touch a small pipe, but abruptly withdrew it when he felt the flash of heat. Ignoring the faint burning sensation on his hand, Kurama looked straight at the wall in front of him and walked to it. Approaching the wall of dancing red light at a much slower pace, Kurama peered around the corner.
A multi-armed man was sitting in the middle of a vast boiler room. The man was sitting on top of a large platform in the middle of the room, each of his six arms doing something different; i.e. giving him water, rolling a grinder, grabbing herbs and the like. Underneath the platform were little black, round, and fuzzy-looking things with long and spindly legs. These fuzz-balls were carrying coal into the large boiler on one side of the room. Upon tossing the coal into the fire, they floated back into holes along the wall opposite the boiler in order to get their next load.
All along the same wall as the holes were drawers stacked from floor to ceiling. Kurama could smell the dried herbs that had been placed into the drawers, but did not let his curiosity get the better of him. He didn't want his identity of a thief to be discovered just yet, and he got the impression that this man would declare thief to anyone who touched the drawers. Taking a deep breath, Kurama stepped into the room to confront the multi-appendage man.
Walking up to the platform, Kurama cleared his throat to get the man's attention. "Um...excuse me? What is this place?"
Slowly, the man turned his head and looked down at Kurama. Kurama saw that the man was balding, wore think glasses and had a bushy mustache. The mustache was so bushy that Kurama could not see the man's mouth. "Eh?" the man said. When he spoke, his mustache moved and his voice came out weary and cracked with age. " A human? What are you doing here, boy?"
"I'm very sorry for disturbing you, but if you could tell me what this place is..."
Kurama was interrupted with an angry shout from the man. "Why should I tell you?! You're in the way, boy! Move it!" The man then pointed to the floor at Kurama's feet with one of his hands.
Looking down, Kurama promptly jumped back. The fuzz-balls were gathers behind his feet and chattering in confusion and anger. Apparently, they were like ants. When Kurama had stepped in front of them, he had blocked their path. Instead of going around him, they waited for the obstruction to be removed in order to follow the same path. When Kurama moved out of the way, they resumed their job as though nothing had happened.
There was a small step behind the platform, and Kurama sat on it. Gazing around the room, Kurama got an even closer look at his new surroundings. There was a door to his immediate right, but it would probably lead even further into the Bath House; not necessarily the best route possible. Looking at the drawers above his head, he counted 20 going up and 50 going across from floor to ceiling and wall to wall. From the smell of things each drawer held a different herb to use in the bath water. The one behind Kurama smelled of a very strong sage. Unable to resist the tempting smell, he turned and began to open the drawer.
"What the hell are you doing, boy?!" boomed the boiler man. His voice filled the entire crevice of a room and caused Kurama to clamp his hands over his sensitive ears to prevent hearing loss. Kurama could feel a hand grabbing the back of his shirt and yanking him abruptly back towards the platform. As the wind rushed past his ears Kurama could feel the arm flip him upside-down and held him by his leg as he faced the boiler man. Hanging with his head closer to the floor than he would normally like it, Kurama saw that the man's entire arm had stretched to the length of no less than two arms. Kurama assumed, for that was all he could do as he hung there, that the man's arms stretched so that he could reach the drawers from the platform without moving. The arm that held Kurama moved him so that he was an inch from the boiler man's face. Keeping his cool like he always does, Kurama answered the man's question.
"Looking."
"At what?!" The man bared down on Kurama in an attempt to scare him, but Kurama was never easily frightened. He simply stared back at the man. However, something about that stare must have startled the man because he dropped Kurama on his head. "D-do I...know you?" the man stuttered out.
"Huh?" Kurama got up and rubbed his head gingerly. It was throbbing where he had fallen on it. He looked up at the man and replied, "What do you mean, 'know'? If I knew you, I'm sure I would've remembered. But I don't recall ever seeing you in my life."
"Yes." The man returned to his work, but soon began muttering to himself, "Me? Know a human? Impossible! I am a slave to the boilers, never to venture out." He stopped working again and stared at Kurama. "Hmm...Something about you reminds me of an acquaintance I had once years ago. I'm entrusting you with my name, boy. I am Kumagi."
"Pleasure to meet you." Kurama bowed, "And I am..."
"Don't bother telling me your name, I'll forget it anyway," he went back to grinding the herbs for the bath water. "If you want to leave, go back the way you came. I recommend you leave right now."
"I can't. They saw me and the way I came in is most likely blocked."
"Then go through that door." Kumagi stretched one arm behind him and pointed at the door Kurama had seen earlier. "Follow one of the slugs from a distance and you'll eventually reach the front door. There's a path right off the side that's hidden from view, stay there until things calm down and then leave by crossing over the bridge."
Kurama did not tell Kumagi what was going to happen once he got into the Bath House, but simply asked, "Where is the person who runs this place?"
"Yubaba? Top floor. Go there, she'll make you sign a contract and work. Don't go."
"Well, thanks for everything." Kurama bowed, slid open the small door, and quickly entered the Bath House.
That's it. Please review. It will be appreciated. I promise I'll update others as soon as possible
