After Chihiro got dressed, she exited the room. Haruto looked at her and smiled slyly. "You bring back such fond memories."

She looked at him quizzically. "What do you mean?"

His face rippled from what looked like happiness to confusion to a slight frown. "Oh, you just look like a worker here." She smiled cautiously.

"So what exactly happened here? Where is everyone?"

"Ah… well." He ran his fingers through his grey hair. He leaned against the faded wall and blew out some hair. His casual stance made her a little uneasy.

He licked his lips, "Well. The woman in charge, the head of this town you could say. She ran this bathhouse for the spirits. The big spirits. River spirits, Earth spirits, Horse king spirits. You name it. They came here to relax and get comfortable. Soak away their days in our baths. Her name was Yubaba-."

Chihiro felt her heart flutter at that name.

"Anyway, she had a worker here. A cute young girl who had come here by mistake. Anyway, Yubaba-." Every time he said that name, she felt her insides tighten.

"Had wanted to keep this girl. She was not like the rest of us. She was… er.. human. Like yourself."

This puzzled Chihiro. "How did you know that?"

Haruto wrinkled his nose. "Well, you." He looked for the words. "You smell."
I smell great, thank you very much.

"I smell? What.. I…" She sniffed her left forearm and then her hair.

"You have a distinct smell to you. Don't take offense. This girl smelled much worse than you did. You'll lose the smell in a few days, don't worry."

"A few DAYS? I don't want to be here for a few days. I… I should go home." Chihiro stumbled over her words, her hands started to shake. She bit her tongue and sat on the floor. Nezumi crawled into her lap and nipped her hands softly, comforting.

Haruto ignored her, "Anyway. Yubaba had a right hand boy. He was her slave. Her puppet. Yubaba could control anyone. That is, if she had the right tools. This girl was special to that boy. He wanted to help her get out. To get away from Yubaba. It cost him a lot in the end. That girl got out. She escaped. Now, when the boy returned, he… he paid dearly."

Chihiro had calmed down and looked at Haruto. "He paid? How? What could that… that woman have done to him?"

"Uh, well." Haruto stood up straight and started walking slowly away from her. "She sewed his mouth shut."