Written Rivers

A Home Amongst Rivers

Chapter 8: Explanations

At their return to Chikatsuyu, Chihiro and Makoto heard a sparrow whistling in the breeze. It was a soothing song that crescendo into an urgent undertone, as if a warning to anyone who heard it that danger was around. From where they approached from the fields outside the village, Chihiro could see Rumi sitting beside the sacred stone next to the river. She looked at peace and graceful, her layered black hair was out of her braids and flowing in the breeze. Soon Chihiro realized that the song was coming from Rumi as they got closer.

When they finally approached Rumi, her song stopped, and she looked to her friend and the wolf. "I see my warning was correct." She smiled.

"Your warning?" Chihiro questioned as she slid off Makoto's back.

"Yosuzume are found in forest and are known to give wandering travelers warnings of wolves on their path. It is why us wolves have a distaste for birds. Especially sparrows." Makoto explained, looking very displeased at Rumi.

Rumi rolled her eyes, Chihiro noted that they were still a purple hue, so Yuuka was the one that was talking. "Please. None of those travelers would have tasted good anyway, we're just saving you the trouble of making poor food choices."

"Okay, as the only human in the group right now, I have to say I am offended on behalf of all those poor travelers." Chihiro said in the most serious tone she could muster.

Before she could bat a lash, Rumi's eyes turned mahogany and she doubled over laughing, causing Chihiro to guffaw and start laughing too. It felt good to laugh, it'd been a far too serious last hour. The trip definitely didn't take the turn they wanted but at least she was with her friends. Yes, friends.

Despite all this, Chihiro was still hurt and she needed answers. Why had they not told her? What was so dangerous about the Spirit World she couldn't even talk about it with them this whole time? What had become of the Bathhouse? How did they get there to the Spirit World? Her mind was going a little faster than she could keep up with and had to slow herself down, causing her to come off her laughing tantrum.

As if on cue, Makoto grunted and nudged Rumi, who promptly composed herself and her eyes glazed a purple hue. "Chihiro-San. We have explaining to do."

Chihiro heaved a breath and nodded.

Yuuka tapped her cheek with an open palm. "Where do we even begin, Toto-Kun?" She smirked as the wolf gave her a low snarl.

"How about we start with why you were sent to... protect me?" Chihiro said, sitting on a bench nearby, glancing briefly over her should to check for one of the shadow creatures.

"They won't come over here." Makoto assured her. He always had a way of reading her. After a moment, he cleared his throat. "After you left, Kohaku-Sama had his name back as you remember, and he stood up to Yubaba. After he renegotiated his contract, he went out in search of his river-"

"His river?" Chihiro interjected. "But that was filled in years ago? How could he get it back?"

"River gods often times have three forms." Yuuka answered. "Their dragon form and two rivers. However, the rivers are connected with each other, one in the same. One river exists in the Spiritual plain while the other exists in the Human World. The one Kohaku-San lost in the Human World is gone, however he has the river in the Spirit World." Her eyes suddenly shrouded. "But if he loses this river, there would be nothing for him to govern, and he would cease to exist."

"Or become eternally lost as a shadow spirit. A chaotic spirit with no purpose or will of their own." Makoto added.

Chihiro shifted uncomfortably in her seat, she didn't like the sound of that. She glanced back at the village where shadowy creatures walked about the village, minding their business.

"They're different." Yuuka said.

"Oh…" Chihiro nodded absently. "If there are only three forms, why is Haku human?"

Makoto chuckled, a deep rolling sound in his chest. "We gods can take on the form of humans. Humans have worshiped them for so long and it is a comfortable state to be in when interacting with humans. The humans do not run, and gods can walk freely amongst the Human Realm, as long as they have an anchor there." In that moment, Makoto turned into his human form, shaggy brown hair, black clothes and all.

"Humans make good hosts for trickery too." Yuuka snickered, admiring her host.

Chihiro grit her teeth and clicked her tongue. "Please don't speak about my friend like that."

As if she didn't realize what she had been doing, Yuuka flushed, hiding her hands between her thighs. "My apologies…"

She grimaced and changed the topic. "So after Haku found his river, how did he get the idea to send protection?"

Makoto crossed his arms and averted his eyes. "When he found his river, it was nearly dead, but he revived it and tended to the land around it." He shifted his weight onto his right leg. "He actually found me there."

Chihiro blinked. "He found you?"

His green-blue eyes snapped to her, and she watched several emotions glaze over them. Angst, shame, guilt, hope, admiration. He obviously had mixed feelings about this tale.

He sighed, closing his eyes and sitting at his own rock. His posture was poise even when he was wearing such casual clothes and slouched with his elbows on his knees. "I was injured, I owe him my life. I could have died that day, but he nurtured me back to health."

"How did you get to his river?" Chihiro was leaning toward Makoto.

He scowled. "A war…"

"Territory war." Yuuka explained. "He didn't really win."

The Ogino swatted her. "Really?" She got a shrug in reply.

"The Spirit World is very unpredictable, Chihiro-San." Makoto said, ignoring the yosuzume. "Kohaku-Sama did not want you to be a part of that. Wars, rogue spirits, anti-human sects. It is all too unpredictable. He also-"

"Yubaba's also been on the fritz!" Yuuka interrupted. "Especially after you left. Wooh! She lost all control." She looked like she was enjoying the memory of chaos. Chihiro grimaced and had to wonder if Rumi was okay in there.

The Ogino pondered for a moment, her focus shifting. "So… You're still Rumi?"

Yuuka tapped her chin, her purple eyes dancing with mischief. "Yes." She answered slowly, as if thinking out her next words carefully. "I am merely using her as a host. You see, spirits need an anchor to keep them in the Human World. Gods usually have a river or mountain or even a specific shrine." She glanced up at the stone with script engraved into it, a rope surrounding the base. "Us… lesser spirits don't normally have an anchor like a river or a shrine, so we attach ourselves to living hosts or appear when the borders of the worlds are thinnest, ōmagatoki."

Chihiro recalled that topic during their mythology classes, in Japan, ōmagatoki was at twilight, where the creatures of the Spirit World came out to rule the night. It was the time of day where it was neither day or night and the two worlds came together, and spirits cross over to the Human World and humans got spirited away to the Spirit World. The spirits ruled the night until hinode, when the sun surfaced the sky once again and banished the spirits back to the Spirit World. It made sense why Yuuka started to freak out as it came closer to sunset. But that didn't explain why this hiking trip was so different from others.

"Okay. Ōmagatoki. But why did it matter this time? What was so different this time from all our other trips?" Chihiro sat forward, her elbows sitting on her knees, fully invested in their conversation now.

Makoto cleared his throat. "The equinox." He shifted in his seat. "The spring equinox started at the beginning of this week, and during the equinox the border between worlds is by far at its weakest. It normally lasts about a week. The ōmagatoki surely makes the border weak, however, during the equinox and solstice is it practically non-existent and humans are more likely to cross over during ōmagatoki, especially in such sacred grounds." He shifted a glare at Yuuka. "If someone had been paying attention during the planning of this trip, we would not be in this predicament."

Yuuka scoffed in reply. "Don't go shifting the blame on me, mutt!"

Makoto shifted into his wolf form and snarled harshly, Chihiro almost thought he was going to get up and pounce on her, but he didn't. "Do not call me such things!" His voice deep with contempt.

"Well it's true!" The spirit didn't seem to be afraid of him. "You're nothing but a mongrel, several generations deep in Human World heredity. You may be a descendant of Moro, but you are still nothing but a weak dog!"

"Enough you two!" Chihiro stood to her feet and placed herself between them, she could see the malice in Makoto's eyes and his muscles tensing, he was seriously holding back at the moment. She had to wonder how the two of them never killed each other back at the apartment, did they always get this heated? It explained a lot.

"Watch your tone, sparrow. Or next time I will have your head." He seethed. Chihiro shot him a look that said, "don't you dare while she's in my friend's body."

"Let's take a breather." Chihiro had put her arms up at some point, as if to keep both at bay. She put them down and took a deep breath before looking at Makoto. "Makoto you said Haku sent you? Well I'd like you to take me to him."

Makoto's body relaxed and he shifted his gaze to Chihiro before giving a soft smile. "That was always the intention, Chihiro-San. We just did not expect it to happen so soon." He stood and knelt by her, as if cuing her to climb on his back. Yuuka began her approach and he growled. "I will not allow Yuuka to ride."

Yuuka stopped and rolled her eyes. "Fine." She drawled and closed her eyes. Her posture suddenly changed and her eyes opened again, they were back to their mahogany color. "Can I ride?" The voice was soft and assertive, it was Rumi.

Makoto bowed his head in acknowledgement but still wasn't too happy about the idea. Rumi clasped Chihiro's hand and climbed on his back. Once everyone was situated, they headed north toward the Bathhouse.


The girls rode in silence on Makoto's back. Questions were still swirling in Chihiro's head, there were still so many things that didn't make sense. She glanced over her shoulder at Rumi. She knew it was Rumi present because of her mahogany eyes. Now that she took the time to really think about it, today wasn't the first time she saw Rumi with the dark purple eyes, there were several other occasions since middle school where Rumi would act out of character and her eyes would change color. Chihiro always thought it was the trick of the light or maybe Rumi had those eyes that changed color depending on what she was wearing, like hazel eyes do, but now she understood that that was Yuuka taking over her host.

Chihiro bit her lip and thought carefully her next words. "Hey Rumi-Chan… I'm sorry… I said some harsh things back there."

Rumi was silent for a moment, the sound of Makoto's paws hitting the ground the only thing audible. "I'm the one that should be apologizing, Chi-Chan… I kept all of this a secret from you this whole time, it hurt so much not to tell you, I made a promise though…"

Chihiro nodded absently. "I… understand, and I forgive you." She looked over her shoulder and gave Rumi a small, reassuring smile. "So… How did you become the host of a yosuzume spirit?"

Her friend averted her eyes for a moment, contemplating how she'd explain. "Well… to be honest Chi-Chan… I almost died on my way to Tochinoki with my family."

The Ogino knit her eyebrows together. She'd never heard of that, she turned toward Rumi with an incredulous look. "What?"

Rumi sighed. "On our way to Tochinoki, we got in a really bad car accident, I was on the verge of death when Yuuka approached me. She said that if I wanted to live and if I wanted to protect my friend that I would allow myself to be her host. I didn't quite understand it at the time, but I had the feeling that is was important and that there was trouble in the future. I don't know why but it was almost like I knew she was talking about you. I excepted her offer, I was healed, and we've been intertwined ever since."

Chihiro felt somewhat guilty, how could she have not known this whole time that her best friend almost died less than ten years ago. "I didn't know…" She paused. "Makoto mentioned that she tagged along. What did he mean?"

"Well, like he said, yosuzume are known for giving warning for the approaching wolves. Yuuka was partially acting on instinct, trying to give you warning that Makoto was near, but she also knows Haku. I guess she heard of you through the grape vine and followed Makoto to you, and when she found out I was your friend, she needed an anchor and I needed to live." Rumi explained.

"I… I see." Chihiro didn't know what to say. She was grateful Rumi was alive, but she couldn't help but feeling there was more. She shook her head, and reached her hand back and squeezed Rumi's hand. "I'm just glad you're here now. You'll get to see the Bathhouse and meet everyone."


Things couldn't have been worse. Well, actually the river god could think of plenty worse situations, but he didn't dare think about it. Haku was chasing a rogue witch throughout the Bathhouse, Yubaba had officially lost it. She was running around the Bathhouse making obnoxious complaints about nothing. She was turning over tables, yelling at employees and guests alike, she almost seemed possessed.

Haku was following her around at this point cleaning up every mess she made, apologizing to guests as they left in a gruff and tried to keep damage to the Bathhouse to a minimal. It had been several weeks since Yubaba had come out of hiding and suddenly he wished she never came out. The night had started normally and what little business they were getting was going somewhat smoothly. It wasn't until Yubaba came storming down from the top floor that things took a turn for the worst. She took one look at the guests that were currently present, and she went off. She started to yell at them that they weren't going to provide enough money for her Bathhouse, that she wanted them gone! She turned her attention to any staff that dared get in her way and would explode in their face about something wrong that really wasn't. It was chaos. Haku attempted to console her several times but to no avail.

The dragon was losing his patience at this point. He ran into Rin and stopped his chase for a moment. "Rin…" He said, slightly out of breath. "This is absurd."

Rin had been running around taking care of the staff, she was just as or maybe more winded. "What in the world is wrong with that witch? The staff is a mess!"

"I know just as much as you do, Rin. I can only imagine what Boh has been going through up there, with his mother like this." He looked towards the wrecked trail left behind by the storming Yubaba. "We need to stop her though."

Suddenly, a piercing shrill came from a lower level. Haku and Rin looked at each other and sped down the stairs to the foyer area. Haku got there first and found a mad-eyed Yubaba, her hair in complete disarray and her dress disheveled. She was breathing frantically, and her eyes were wide with… fear? What was she afraid of?

"I can't stay here anymore!" She shrieked. "I have to get out! I have to get away from that thing!" A few staff stood around her, trying to calm her, but it was no use.

"Yubaba! Enough!" Haku commanded, irritation flickered in his emerald eyes.

Yubaba silenced, as if frightened. "I have to get away… I have to get away…" She murmured.

Was the Bathhouse stressing her out? The Bathhouse did have an insane effect on Kaonashi not long ago, but could she be affected by it too? Was there something about the Bathhouse that Haku didn't know about?

"Yubaba, you must stop this madness, you are killing the Bathhouse. What are you trying to get away from?" Haku said for the umpteenth time.

Disregarding his question, Yubaba's eyes fell on Haku. "Take it."

Haku blinked, astonished. "Excuse me?"

"Take it. Take it all! Until I return, it's all yours!" Her voice quivered with restlessness. There was seriously something wrong, but Haku didn't get to question it. Yubaba shook the staff off her and stormed out of the Bathhouse main entrance, Haku and staff bellowing after her. When they caught up she was gone.

Rin stepped up next to Haku, her eyes staring out into the night sky. "Did you just inherit the Bathhouse?"

Yubaba had just left him with a Bathhouse in chaos and near bankruptcy, with no guests to return as far as he knew, and an oversized toddler. Haku swallowed dryly, still in shock. "I believe I just did."


A/N: Hey guys! Yet another chapter done! Everything seems kinda sporadic, but all will make sense in do time! I'm happy to see that some people noticed Makoto's heritage. :D I'll admit, I have a love for Makoto and can't wait to see where he goes. :) I also kinda like Yuuka's personality, it's a personality I don't usually write about. At some point I actually want to go back and do a short story on Rumi/Yuuka and Makoto's perspective during their time with Chihiro before getting spirited away!

Thank you everyone for your support thus far! It really encourages me to keep writing. I was wondering, I haven't done much in responding to reviews, would you guys like me to be more responsive there? I don't know how other writers do it, then again that could possibly get overwhelming at some point… hmmm… Well for now, Thank you! If ya'll have any questions about the Spirit World thus far, I'll see if I can answer some in the next chapter A/N, but if I don't respond to your question, it'll probably be explained in the story shortly. Soooo yeah! OKAY, end long A/N!

Thank you for the reviews from: Amidstsnow, Firetail Finch, Prismae, Picklesisadeadcat and guests!

God bless! KawaChou