Written Rivers

A Home Amongst Rivers

Chapter 24: A Shift

Haku did not quite understand what drove him to invite Chihiro and her friends back to the Spirit World. But now that they were there, he felt at peace with his decision strangely. After they left, everything seemed to feel out of place. The day to day chores of the Bathhouse did not feel right and lost its luster. Whereas, with them back, things appeared better and energy seemed to flow through the building once more.

After everyone was settled in the following day after she returned, Haku took Chihiro into the garden maze and found a spot for them to look out over the water and just talk, like in their dreams. The skies were clear and Chihiro's long chestnut hair flew through the breeze, her brown eyes gazing out over the river.

"So, how were things in the Human World?" Haku asked casually. He was never one for small talk, but he was oddly comfortable with it when he talked with Chihiro.

Chihiro brushed her hair behind her ear. "Nothing that I haven't already told you in our dreams. I'm just glad to be back, though I'm not exactly sure what that means yet."

"What do you mean?" Haku asked, leaning on his propped-up knee.

"Well, I mean, unless something happens, I'm going back to the Human World… I don't know if my story is here or there." She confessed. "And… I can't tell whether you want me here or not."

Haku's brows knit together. "Why would you say that?"

"Well, honestly, one moment you're 'you do not belong here.'" She said imitating his voice. "Then the next, you're 'I want you to come for a visit.' How am I supposed to figure out my place if you don't even know if you want me here?"

He thought carefully. He was not aware he was part of her indecisiveness or the fact that he had not made it clear that this was only a visit. Him keeping his promise to seeing her again. "I apologize if I have confused you. That was never my intention."

"I know." Chihiro sighed. "I just don't want to catch myself half way only. Half here, half there. All held together by dreams and a hair tie…"

Haku sympathized. "Then think of this as closure. If you do not want to continue meeting in our dreams, that is fine." Something about saying that left a feeling he was not familiar with behind. "This can be our last meeting in the Spirit World if it will bring closure and the start to your future in the Human World."

When he looked to Chihiro once more, her eyes were wide with shock. "Haku, I-"

Suddenly, out of the garden maze, Ame poked his head out and waved. "Shishou- Ah! Chihiro-San! I didn't know you were out here." He grinned.

"I am sure you did not." Haku grumbled under his breath, slightly annoyed by the interruption. He could hear Chihiro restraining a laugh next to him. "What is it, Ame?"

"Hm?" The younger spirit blinked. "Oh!" He held out a letter to him. "For you, Shishou."

Haku took the letter and almost immediately recognized the parchment. He promptly rolled his eyes. "Is this what I think it is?"

Ame winced but nodded.

"What is it?" Chihiro inquired, looking over his shoulder, already distracted from the earlier conversation. Yet so was he.

Haku turned in a way so that she could not see and opened the letter. He paused. "There is going to be a shift in the Spirit World soon… and I am being prompted to be a part of it…" He sighed as his eyes scanned over the letter and he put it down, looking off into the distance.

"Shishou…" Ame murmured, his head lowering.

"What kind of shift?" Chihiro pressed, leaning forward. He could see the questions flooding through her brain from the look in her eyes? Was this what the old spirit, Genbu, had been telling her about before? He prayed that were not the case.

Haku looked at her from the corner of his eye, head still tilted to the sky, before closing his eyes and shaking his head. "Something you will not have to worry about… especially since you will not be staying here for much longer."

Chihiro huffed and puffed her cheeks. "I know, I know."

Haku chuckled. He patted her shoulder and rose to his feet. "Come. Shall we go back inside?" He offered his hand to her and helped her to her feet. "We can finish our conversation later.

"Sure." She smiled. "I need to go find Rumi-Chan."

When Haku returned to the Bathhouse with Chihiro and Ame, he expected the building to be silent as the staff rested since it was still early morning. But no. He was met with the Yuna in a scramble as they dashed around the main floor with food and supplies.

"What in the world…" Haku exasperated.

Chihiro whistled. "I haven't seen the staff move this fast, this early since Kaonashi went on a rampage during my first visit."

Haku grunted and went up to the foreman. "Who could be so important that the staff are all in a rush like this?"

The foreman stumbled over his words. "We- We had to! He was simply a guest we couldn't refuse!"

Haku's brows creased. There were too many names that came to mind that would scare his staff to the point of keeping them awake and busy this early in the morning. And not all the names were good. That, or the customer was rich beyond belief.

He stalked into the main floor and went up to the occupied bath to find the unsightliness of a recent visitor to his office. The spirit that occupied the bath was a man that would look to be in his early thirties by human standards, with pale alabaster skin and long black hair that met his mid back, tinted a shade of blue. His slanted eyes were a stormy grey filled with old wisdom and an impish smile played on his thin angular face. Haku resisted the urge to groan. Why was HE back?

"Tell me my eyes deceive me." He grumbled.

"Who is that?" Chihiro asked, her eyes moving about the scene as she dodged yuna running in and out of the bath stall.

Before he could answer, Rin turned to the three of them from her post in the door way with her arms crossed angerly. She stalked over to them, grumbling. "I told him he couldn't come in, but he just waltzed in like he owned the place and said that his dear old friend 'Kohaku wouldn't mind me coming.' Talk with your friend!" She demanded before stomping off.

"Ryujin, get out of my Bathhouse." Haku demanded as he walked into the man's bath stall, without even looking up at him. He pinched the bridge of his nose as if the worst migraine in the history of his existence entered his life.

Ryujin looked at him from inside the bath, his expression feigning hurt, "Why Kohaku, I am wounded. To think that you wouldn't let an old friend come in and relax after a good storm."

"Not when it disturbs my employees and after I have warned you time and again not to come in at this hour. I cannot believe they actually let you get this far." Haku stated in disbelief He eyed the yuna, who were both swooning and stressed from lack of sleep. Unbelievable.

"But it's always so crowded in here at night, I never get to see you. Running around like a headless tanuki." Ryujin pouted. "Now is good a time as ever to come visit my dear friend."

Haku rolled his eyes. "Everyone, will you leave us for a moment."

As the staff vacated the stall to be just in the hallway, the older spirit spotted Chihiro standing off to the side, out of the way of the staff. "And you must be the human girl that I've heard so much about?"

Chihiro blinked, looked at Haku and back at Ryujin, then pointed at herself. "Me?"

Haku sighed. "Chihiro, Ryujin. Ryujin, Chihiro. He is my mentor, god of the sea, and occasionally friend."

"Occasionally?" Ryujin feigned offense once more. "Well I am wounded. My dear, Chihiro, how do you stand to be around such a person. If is a pleasure to finally meet you."

"I'd have to ask you the same question if you are his friend." Chihiro replied from her spot in the doorway. "It is nice to meet you though. I wasn't aware Haku had many friends outside the Bathhouse."

Haku shot a glare at her, mockingly. "Haha. Ever the comedian."

She shrugged, playfully. "You mentioned you've heard much about me?" Chihiro asked. "From Haku?"

Ryujin grinned. "Yes. Since your first visit, I've come through to visit my fair share of times and he's mentioned you."

"I hope all good things." She replied, looking to Haku from the corner of her eye.

"Yes, yes. All good." He smirked, making Haku fear he would say something unnecessary. "I actually came to speak with Kohaku about some recent events."

"Well then, if that is the case and now that we are acquainted, let us talk in my office." Haku insisted to Ryujin, not wanting to further their conversation in, one, a stall, and two, in front of so much company. "Alone."


"I received another letter." Haku said as he led Ryujin into his office space, lighting candles as he went.

Ryujin clucked his tongue. "I warned you last time I was here that they'd be pursuing you more, especially after the prophecy."

"Well I want nothing to do with it." Haku almost growled. The topic of prophecy was really getting out of hand and old. Why could he not just be left alone? "There are plenty of other dragons."

"But none follow so closely to the prophecy."

Haku's brows creased as he let out a harsh sigh and stood over his desk, back turned to his friend. It was not him. It had to be someone else. Some other spirit.

From behind him, he heard Ryujin pick a book off the shelf and flip through a few pages. "Y'know, Kohaku… You're the first dragon I've seen in all my life to decline such a position in the Spirit World." He snapped the book shut. "And I've been around since the beginning."

Haku grimaced and turned to Ryujin. "Sake?" He gestured to a chabudai near the shoji windows that he opened with the swipe of his hands to let the morning air in. He felt this would be an extended conversation no matter how he wanted it.

Ryujin smiled. "I see no reason not to."

They both sat at the low rising table and Haku prepared two saucer-like cups for sake. He poured one for Ryujin before offering the bottle to him, so he could pour Haku's. After he finished pouring the sake, he paused to admire the pottery that held the sake.

"Such fine pottery you have here. This one seems new from our last sit down we had." He raised his cup in cheer.

Haku conceded a smile, tapping his cup to Ryujin's. "I learned the art of pottery from the best."

His habit for pottery collecting stemmed from Ryujin. No matter how much of a pest he was, Haku found Ryujin to be the closest thing to a brother he would ever have. He would never quite understand the mind of his brother like friend, his personality being far more energetic and much, much older than his own. Ryujin was, however, like himself: a dragon, god of the sea. He was old as earth itself, being one of the original children of the creation gods Izanagi and Izanami.

Ryujin started as Haku's mentor when he was still a young god, but as their relationship grew, he became more like a brother than anything. The older dragon never did seem to act his age and was always quite childish in his mannerisms for as long Haku knew him. Even during times of war, everyone would look to him for optimism and reassurance when everything seemed lost. Haku found his sense of unwavering optimism aggravating sometimes but it always kept him on his toes. Despite the way you acted around him, he never truly resented the dragon, he just never liked hearing the same news repeatedly. Especially when is came to the prophecy…

Ryujin laughed and tipped back his first glass of sake, letting out a refreshing gasp. "Fine sake too!" He offered his glass again and Haku refilled it, noting that he might have to retrieve more sake from the cabinet.

Haku quietly sipped at his own sake. He really did not want to restart the earlier conversation, but he was not going to try and beat around bush no matter how much he wanted to. Before he could start, Ryujin started it the conversation for him.

"I see the girl is back."

Haku visibly flinched at the mention of Chihiro. Why would he flinch? What would cause him to flinch? Why did he flinch?

"Yes." He stated, calmly, taking another sip. "And?"

A knowing smirk played at the older spirit's lips. "Well, a little fish told me that old man Genbu paid her a visit during her last trip her. She must be special if he personally came to visit her and give her a prophecy."

"It was not a prophecy." Haku glared over his cup of sake, before tipping the contents back and offering his cup for a refill, to which Ryujin complied.

"Call it as you want, Kohaku, but if Genbu took the time to pay her attention, you have to acknowledge the fact that she's part of all this. What were his words?" He paused as though trying to recall the words. But Haku knew better, the spirit had an uncanny memory. "'You must find your path and follow it without falter. Your friend will have to make a decision soon and you will have to be their anchor. You must convince your friend of their duty.' I have to wonder which friend he's speaking of?"

Haku's grip on his cup tightened and the sound of a chip forming echoed between there silence. "Enough, Ryujin." He growled. He was ready to steer the conversation away from anything related to Chihiro or any prophecy.

Ryujin's smile faded as a thunderous storm danced in his eyes. "Kohaku… Whether you like it or not the prophecy states a dragon will take up the position of Seiryu within this century. Naoyuki-San won't live forever, his reign over the east is coming to an end. You will have to make a decision and if what Genbu says if correct -as it always is- this girl you have invited back is meant to be-"

"I said enough!" Haku slammed his fist on the table, his cup broken in his fist and blood seeping through his fingers. Anger steamed within him, his hand numb to any pain. "Chihiro has nothing to do with this." He seethed. "It is just a coincidence."

Ryujin rolled his eyes after recovering from a mournful look at the now broken porcelain. "We both know you don't believe in coincidences."

"That may be true, but Chihiro is not part of any of this." Haku insisted, as if just willing it would make it true.

"Then why do you keep letting her get involved?" Ryujin inquired, a brow raised.

Haku's face contorted, anger still dancing in his eyes. "I beg your pardon?"

The older spirit swirled his sake in his cup. "Come now, Kohaku, if you really didn't want her here or want her involved, you would have sent her back the moment she showed up at the Bathhouse and you wouldn't have kept in contact with her all this time and invited her back to the Bathhouse for a visit. Face it, Kohaku, you don't want her to leave."

The tension in Haku's body faltered, the grip on the broken glass loosened and the sound of clinking glass echoed in the silence. The sound of the staff bustling about to get ready for the day sounded quietly in the distance below as the silence dragged on. Of course, he did not want her involved, that was why he protected her. That was why he kept her close. Right? And then she had also been a significant help to him, he owed her that much for saving him on more than one occasion. Though, he did save her when she fell in the river. Then there was the promised he had made. What did Kamaji call their bond?

Suddenly, Ryujin started to laugh, startling Haku out of his thoughts. "I have never seen you so bewildered or obtuse in all the time I have known you!"

Haku stared at him until he got his wits back and composed himself, narrowing his eyes. "And what do you find so comical?"

"That you're so blind to yourself." Ryujin chortled, whipping a tear from his eye. "You really don't know?"

"I would not be asking if I did…" Haku gritted, rising from his seat to retrieve a bandage for his bleeding hand, though it would heal soon enough.

The older dragon eyed him as if he would not be able to handle what he was about to tell him. "Love." He stated.

Haku just stared at him mid-bandage, not quite processing his words. "My apologies, I do not think I heard you right… did you say 'love?'"

"Am I speaking German or English? Of course, I said love." Ryujin said sarcastically. "My, you are dense."

Haku shook his head, tying off his bandage. "I think you misunderstand. We are friends. Just as you have become like a brother to me, she is a friend, a sister, to me. I will not have you mock our relationship."

"Ha!" Ryujin scoffed, tipping back the last of his sake. "Never heard that one before."

Haku bent down and refilled the cup with more sake. "Sorry to disappoint, but we are just that: friends. And I will not have you saying otherwise." With a wave of his hand, the spilt sake and broken cup were cleaned up and gone as if nothing had happened.

Ryujin raised his hands in surrender, shaking his head. "If you say so. But I'll keep no promises though."

Haku deadpanned him. "Typical…"


A/N:

Ryujin! I love him! He is such a fun character to portray and I've been waiting FOREVER to introduce him. :D And then his relationship with Haku! XD I love them!

by the way, Ryujin is the same spirit that visited Haku in his office a few chapters back... just in case you guys didn't catch that...

A shift in the Spirit World is approaching! What does this mean for Haku and Chihiro?

Chabudai is the low tables traditionally used in Japan. Usually used with the cushion seats called zabuton.

Thanks for reading and don't forget to review! And for those that do review, I thank you a bunches!

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God bless! KawaChou