-Catgirl-of-Bavaria- : Yay, thank you everyone for reviews! I got some cleaning done for my party next weekend, but my house is still a mess! T.T Anyway, I just wanted to keep the story moving, so here's the third update of the day! Lol. Gomen, this is turning out pretty long…I have no one to blame but myself! Ah well. This and a fair few chapters to come were all made in that bout of insomnia earlier mentioned, I wrote a lot that weekend! Lol, anywho, enjoy and review, I love feedback!
Chapter 9 – A Human Girl in the Rain
Thunderclap woke Chihiro up from her deep sleep as she lay in her bed. She looked around at her plain room, coming back into reality. Her clock told her she'd slept until noon again, but it was nowhere near sunny outside. Her floor was bare, as she had seen Shizuka off a few hours ago before catching back up on her sleep after her midnight journey into the forest.
Shizuka hadn't appeared to suspect anything, but Chihiro was still worried that she'd seen the scratches up and down her arms and the scrapes on her knees. Shizuka was a sharp girl, so she must have just been polite and not mentioned anything.
Chihiro took to her ritual of getting up to look out the window. The panes were drenched in hours of rain, and lightning flashed through the watery haze, followed by loud thunder rolling across the town and vibrating through her house.
Her parents had already gone to work, she had seen them off after Shizuka had left, so she was all alone.
She'd had another dream about the dragon, but this time it was disturbing her. She blankly stared out the window, remembering it and suspecting that it had led to a great deal of tossing and turning.
She was in a familiar room full of color, many colors that clashed horribly. A fireplace stood, cackling away to her left, a mahogany desk to her right.
He was in the center of the room, collapsed on his knees on the loud crimson rug, colors swirling around his head, which he was holding in pain between his fists. She could hear his screams, begging for it to stop, his whole body cringing from invisible pins and needles.
Chihiro watched there, helpless, watching sweat and tears pour from his face, and stain his long dark hair that cascaded over his head and into a heap on the ground below. It was amazing, however awful and terrifying the sight before her was, his hair was mesmerizing and beautiful, even in the heat of torture.
She wanted to call out to him, to run to his side, but she could only watch helplessly in this dream, tied back for some reason.
"This is awful…" Chihiro whimpered quietly, burying her head in her arms, unable to shake the vision from her mind. "I still can't remember his name, and he needs help. He's being tortured by Yubaba, I know it!" She cried into her scratched arms, making the only possible conclusion from the colorful and tacky background.
It was her office, the same place she'd stood and begged for a job. She had stood where his sweat and tears were now staining the carpet. It sent an unpleasant chill up her spine to think of it. Bringing her hand to her forehead, she felt a layer of cold sweat, another symptom of the horrifying nightmare.
Turning from the window, she made her decision. She was going back to the spirit world, now.
She got dressed, pulling on a long-sleeved purple top and the same pants she had worn out that morning, still ripped and grass-stained. She completed her outfit with her black hiking boots. Without a second thought, Chihiro snatched the silver bracelet on her shelf and jammed it into her pocket.
She quickly scrawled a note to her parents, telling them that she'd gone out, she wouldn't know when she'd be back, and that she'd probably spend the night at Shizuka's house. Her parents would buy it, they were barely ever home, and even then they knew Chihiro was often out with Shizuka. Chihiro left them notes like this all the time, and they wouldn't be suspicious if they didn't meet Chihiro at home for a good couple of days.
Chihiro had a pretty free life, and now she was most grateful.
Posting the note to the refrigerator, she hurried out of the back door. She didn't want the neighbors to see her exit the house and give witness to her parents. The point was to not have them know exactly when she left.
Slipping and sliding down the newly muddy hillside, Chihiro again managed to fall down and stain her knees with more grass and mud. She rushed through the small gap in vegetation, refreshing and re-opening her scratches on her exposed arms—she had rolled up her sleeves on the way down the hill— mixing traces of blood with the rain that was soaking her as she ran down the forest trail.
Finally, the little statue, the Welcome Woman, as she had nicknamed it earlier, greeted her in front of the vine covered plaster building. She walked past the Welcome Woman, giving the stone a gentle and friendly pat, and paused at the tunnels side, leaning against the wall for support as she gasped and heaved to chase away the fatigue of running all out through the forest.
Chihiro's hair was plastered to her back, and her bangs to her forehead. Her cotton shirt was soaked and clinging to her slim figure. The only part of her that felt reasonably dry were her feet, which were protected quite well by her hiking boots. Her breathes were still coming in short gasps as she stood there, gathering her strength to cross the barrier. The injured dragon flashed through her mind, making her wince as she remembered his cries.
She looked back at the Welcome Woman, who sat there smiling. The rain pattered mercilessly on both of their heads.
"He needs you." The Welcome Woman seemed to say to her, coaxing her on.
Chihiro gave one last smile to the small statue and turned to face her fears. Collecting the damp air into her lungs, she breathed out and took a step forward. A great and rainy gust followed her into the tunnel again.
She walked through the echoing darkness, seeing a small arch of light at the end. The teen kept her footsteps calm and steady, her eyes forward and determined, focusing on that light and forcing herself to remain composed.
Finally she met the light, in the little room that was furnished only with bird baths and park benches. She could glimpse the damp grass just outside the door in front of her. Chihiro shivered, knowing that in just seconds she would be back into the relentless rain.
She finally reached the final doorway to the spirit world, and just barely saw the little spirit town through the haze of rain. She couldn't help but to smile as she tore up the dirt pathway to the grey stone steps.
This was where she had last seen the boy, when he saw her off after regaining her parents' humanity. She stopped at the very top of the flight, next to the frog statue that was a fountain by night.
"This is where he promised me…that we'd meet again…" she whispered, remembering his hand slipping from hers, the last time she had felt his closeness, his warmth that he only shared with her. She remembered the sun beating on them as the rain continued to beat on her.
She tried to place his smile, his eyes, but they were still lost. Even standing at this memorable spot.
She swallowed her sadness and plowed on, running through the streets, under dormant restaurant signs, up small flights of stairs, past a single café that had piping hot and inviting food that invited her human senses with its aroma.
'A human trap, that's what it is,' she thought as she recalled how easily her parents had been drawn to it, how easily the spirits spell took affect on them.
She looked just ahead of her, and there it was. Looming far above her in the mist and rain as she slowed to a halt, was the bath house. Several memories came through her mind looking at the massive building. Still none carried the name of the dragon, or his face.
Was it really this easy to forget someone she obviously cared so much about?
Chihiro wiped some rain from her face, and slowly headed up the steps, calling up the directions to Kamajis boiler room.
Haku tossed and turned, unable to get any sleep in Kamajis boiler room. True, he wasn't asleep, but it felt like he was having terrible nightmares. The pain and torture he'd endured in Yubabas quarters kept revisiting him, tensing his muscles and reviving and strengthening his headache, throbbing in his bandaged hands.
Then there was also that question that refused to leave; still wait for Chihiro or give it up?
A roar of thunder vibrated through the entire building, only contributing to the river spirits insomnia. He sat up and glared at his dark surroundings. He could see the glow of the heater, the outlines of herb drawers, and Kamajis sleeping form that was mercilessly emitting snores.
Hugging his knees, the dragon tried to calm himself. But now he found that the whole room smelt of coal and soot. As a spirit connected to the nature of the world, this was no place for him. It was practically suffocating him, but he truly didn't want to shun Kamajis hospitatlity or Rin's sacrifice to keep him hidden from Yubaba They wanted him to heal properly, and it was the first friendship he'd experienced since Chihiro had been there.
"Chihiro…" He whispered her name to the darkness.
He pictured her in his mind. Her beautiful eyes, her amazing smile that was even enough to melt Haku's cold and heartless demeanor that he so often displayed to the other employees. How special she had made him feel. Her human scent. She was a bit of a klutz, but he found it cute. He found everything about her cute.
Then he realized. If he had any clue about the aging of humans, than she'd be sixteen now, of course, the age that humans mostly matured. She'd be beautiful by now. He smiled as he longed to see that. A beautiful Chihiro, matured into a young woman.
Thunder grumbled loudly outside again, sending another shudder through the bath house just as Kamaji emitted a giant snort as he tossed just a little in his futon, distracting Haku suddenly. He felt his face grow slightly hot, realizing what he'd just been thinking about.
"I need some air…"He muttered, suddenly feeling suffocated by the machinery that surrounded him and by his own emotions.
He silently collected the blankets to his feet, stood up on his still shaking legs and silently padded towards the back door. Maybe he'd go to the bridge. He didn't care about rain, but rather invited it. He needed natural air to help him think things out, the rain to help ease his achy muscles.
His mind told him it was logical to move on, but his heart was still standing firm. He actually thought that his mind was going to lose the battle, and he'd find himself back out on the field as soon as tomorrow.
He silently shut the door, just glimpsing a couple of sootballs bouncing happily in their little pen that must have heard him leave. Ignoring them, he moved on up the stairs, careful not to slip on the drenched bottom few that were simply bits of stone that jutted out of the wall. He knew if he slipped, his magic was too weak for him to turn into a dragon and save himself from the fall.
He made it to the wooden stairs and he was completely drenched in the rain. He felt more confident on these stairs; they were a bit more stable, especially in the rain. It felt like forever going up the stairs at his slow pace, but he made sure to reconnect with all of the nature around him before he got down to the hard thinking that he was going to subject himself to at the bridge.
He finally reached the wooden deck at the top of the flight that connected by a door to the garden on the side of the building. The same garden that he'd sheltered Chihiro in so long ago when the bathhouse was in total chaos from her arrival.
Haku opened the door as he wiped the rain from his weary eyes, and turned back around to ensure that the door would close silently behind him. He saw the door shut and click into place with a small clack, and took in a deep breath in preparation for what he was about to contemplate.
As he took in breath, however, he caught a familiar smell.
A scent that he hadn't smelt in years. He heard the squeak of a door behind him.
Haku's eyes widened as they remained hooked to the door jam.
-Catgirl-of-Bavaria- :Haha, my first cliffie! Huzzah, next update soon!