By hell or high water, I will finish this arc before the end of the year. It's taking a lot longer than I expected cause I get caught up in each scene I sit down to write and want to make sure that you as the readers can visualize what I see. Snickers the kitten has become a health young cat and is running around the house causing troubles. I think the most used quote of the year in my household is "Kitten! What are you doing?" in an exasperated tone. Work has been going well and it looks like I will be moving to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic by the end of the year to start my Spanish-immersion medical school. I have completed 5 out of 9 required school essays since the last update as well as another exam. In short, life is busy but good over here in my end of the world.
I would like to take a moment to say a special thanks to everyone who has private messaged me or left reviews since the last update. First off, we are past 100 reviews and I can't tell you how humbled I am by all of your kind words and support. More importantly though, each message makes my day and makes me excited to keep writing. When I get stuck at a scene and would rather go reread some mystery novel on my bookshelf, it is your messages that help me push through and keep at it. I save every message on my phone and when I feel stuck I read all of them again and feel re-energized. Thank you guys for making this story possible and supporting me in my writing.
Oh and good news, next chapter is the beginning of the long awaited festival. (puts on sunglasses and smirks) The party is finally getting started.
Chapter 30:
Chihiro startled awake from an unrecallable nightmare and laid frozen to the bed as the rain poured outside. The delicate music of a bathhouse at work began to soothe away whatever adrenaline had pumped through her and she began to ease the tension in her muscles soundlessly. Looking around Chihiro felt a sense of déjà vu. Shaking the notion away, she got up and began getting ready for the day. Now that she wasn't practicing for the ceremony, what would she do with her time? Yui was gone, probably until the end of the festival, and Lin was likely in the infirmary covering for her. Hana was still out prowling the bathhouse, which gave her few options of activity if she hoped to avoid pointlessly working like a dog. Stepping out of her room to head downstairs, Chihiro spotted a small box in front of her door and noticed Haku behind his desk working on paperwork diligently. Glancing up at her, their eyes met and he opened his mouth as if to speak but no words came out. Chihiro looked away from him and walked past the package towards the door. She didn't want presents from him right now, it only felt like bribes to make her stay. There wasn't much she cared to speak to him about either, not when she wasn't sure how she felt. It was complicated. Closing the door quietly behind her, she slipped through the sieves of the bathhouse and carefully made her way towards the infirmary.
As she had predicted, Lin was busy fussing about the infirmary. It was easy to tell that this was not really her element, but she was trying her best. As soon as Chihiro walked into the room, Hikaru nearly vaulted out of the bed. The noose upon his ankle would be disappearing any moment now and he had been planning to head straight for the portal the second it did. What was she still doing in the bathhouse? Hikaru and Lin both spotted Chihiro at the same time.
"What did I tell you about running about the bathhouse alone? I was on my way up to come get you," Lin scolded as she put her hands on her hips. Chihiro's eyes met Hikaru's confused ones and she gave him a short nod in greeting.
"I figured you would be down here and thought I'd save you the trouble. Where can I help out?"
"Nowhere. You aren't supposed to be down here."
"Are you really going to send me back upstairs with Hana hunting for me?"
"Lin-sama, we are down to two boxes of bandages and one box of poultices. We also need fresh rain brought down from the gardens," one of the other staff members called out from by the supplies boxes. Frowning at the news, Lin considered her options. With a sigh, she finally relented.
"Fine, you can stay, but only until I can finish getting this place back under working order. It would be a great help to me if you could work on creating bandages and poultices to restock the boxes while I rally some staff to collect buckets. Just promise me you will stay away from the patients. Many of them haven't been stabilized since they were brought in yesterday."
"Not a problem," Chihiro replied as she walked towards the boxes. She could see Hikaru making his way over towards her as Lin turned her attention towards organizing the other staff members.
"What are you still doing here," he whispered as he picked up a chunk from the pile of gauze and began making a bandage beside her. Chihiro kept her eyes focused on her work as she replied to him.
"Haku and I have reached an understanding of sorts. I'm going to be staying in the bathhouse for a while longer." Noticing her withdrawn expression, Hikaru reached out a paw to grasp her shoulder in support.
"Are you alright? Did he do something to you?"
"No, I'm fine. Just need to time to think through some things." Hikaru wanted to demand she tell him everything, but it didn't seem likely that she would open up to him in this mood. Giving her shoulder another gentle squeeze, he released her and turned back to the gauze in his hand. Together they worked in silence each deep in their own thoughts. Hikaru acknowledged the slight tingling sensation on his leg as the band released and disappeared. Glancing down to see his ankle empty, he breathed a sigh of relief. He could leave now whenever he wanted, but as long as Chihiro was still here working he was going to stay by her side. Lin kept an eye on them from afar and once the infirmary seemed to be in the late morning napping lull, she slipped out to check on the other infirmaries after a firm reminder to Chihiro to behave.
"Lady Sen, will you please bring over a white sage poultice for me," a yuna called from her position cleaning a wounded turtle spirit. The other staff had gone to fetch buckets in the downtime and Chihiro was the only other non-patient present.
"Of course." Grabbing the requested poultice, Chihiro began walking towards the end of the infirmary closest to the fire where the yuna was working. The turtle spirit was lying in the bed next to the coughing salamander Hikaru had diagnosed as un-savable. Chihiro unconsciously thought how strange it was that his constant hacking had been absent since she had arrived in the infirmary this morning. Yesterday when she was passing by, he had seemed on death's doorstep with a terrible coughing fit. Perhaps they had found a better treatment method for him this morning and he had finally stabilized. With her back to the salamander, the yuna sat beside the turtle working out shrapnel from his shell. Chihiro set the poultice on the edge of her work station and turned away to head back to Hikaru when a scream erupted from behind her.
Pure black eyes gleamed from the salamander's face as he released the vicious bite he had sunk into the yuna's neck. Effortlessly tearing the girl's head off of her spine and pushing the body aside in one movement, Chihiro felt a scream of terror come loose as she scrambled backward away from him.
"Chihiro, we've been looking for you," the salamander garbled as it made a lunge for her. Even armed with the knowledge that spirits could move much faster than humans, Chihiro attempted to put distance between them in the few seconds she had. The loud sound of magic crackling like electricity in displeasure met the salamander's attack and pushed him back a step. A blur of white overtook her position meeting the enemy full on. The fight only lasted a few minutes, but it seemed to drag on forever.
"You shouldn't have run away Chihiro. We will always find you. You're never gonna be safe again," the salamander chortled evilly. Hikaru finished the Tainted host with what looked almost like a caress across the neck with his claws. The salamander's voice was cut off as blood spewed forth in the wake of Hikaru's claws, showing just how deadly he could be.
The silence that followed was interrupted by the thud of the salamander's lifeless body hitting the floor. Blood smeared the white fur around Hikaru's mouth and paws. His tails hovered on alert surrounding Chihiro as if to pull her away in a moment's notice. The entire room seemed frozen as if encased in glass as Chihiro took a deep breath. The yuna's head lay almost completely detached just a step away from her and the puddles of blood on the floor spread ever closer to her splattered white socks. Looking back over his shoulder at her, Hikaru looked at her with suspicion and hurt.
"Whose protection are you under?" The sound of Lin shouting at them seemed distant as Chihiro soundlessly opened and closed her mouth in reply. His look of betrayal shocked her more so than the bodies at their feet. Hikaru's eyes darted upward and in an instant, a growl tore loose as he yanked Chihiro behind him. A crack of flesh upon magic barrier told of the force that Haku had slammed into the barrier that Lin had thrown up. His arrival had happened so quickly Chihiro hadn't even seen the door burst open as it shattered into shards.
"Make a decision," Lin screamed as Haku roared at her in anger. Glaring at him in rebellion, Lin stepped out of the way and let him by. It was as if he were torn some place between human and dragon form and in a righteous fury. Human on first glance the animalistic look in his eyes and the extended sharp dagger like teeth told otherwise. Releasing a roar he glared angrily at Hikaru as he stopped only steps away.
"Release her," Haku growled as he strained under the tension of remaining still. Chihiro clutched wordlessly into Hikaru's back as the seriousness of the situation hit her.
"Chihiro, I need you to let me go. I must pay for what I've done," Hikaru said calmly.
"What do you mean," Chihiro shrieked as he lurched forward. Grappling with his tails to keep him to her, his words froze her.
"You should have told me you already have protection under someone else. Were you laughing when I offered myself up for you?" Trying to keep him from walking forward, Chihiro yanked him back. "The dragon is in bloodlust from the attack and will kill me quickly. Release me to my fate."
"No! No, don't go!" Haku snapped his teeth in irritation and took another step forward as he eyed the tails surrounding her. He wanted to tear forward and rip the fox's throat from its neck, but she was too entangled in his tails to not be at risk. One false move and the fox could use a tail to finish her before Haku could reach her. "I didn't make any contracts. I'm just wearing a charm he made."
Quickly unpinning the buns, Chihiro ripped the hair pins out of her hair and offered them up in a raised hand into his line of vision. Breaking his stare off with Haku for a moment to glance at the hair pins, he felt himself sigh in a mix of relief and anguish. Haku noticed her semi freed position from the tails and inched ever closer.
"Haku, you can't be mad at him. He was just protecting me from being attacked," Chihiro pleaded as she turned her gaze towards him. His feral eyes looked none the less merciful with her words.
"Chihiro, I tried to force the completion of the contract on you when I saw I wasn't going to make it in time. It's only by luck that the charm repulsed my magic with enough force to push the salamander back giving me the time to get over here. I overstepped my bounds and must now pay the consequences. Step away now."
"Move away Chihiro," Lin pleaded as she opened her arms towards her from the side. Looking at how easily the weasel was willing to give him up to Haku's obviously lethal intentions with disgust, Chihiro turned to face Hikaru. She was not going to give up on him, not like everybody else. Grasping onto Hikaru's right forearm with her own and letting the hair pins fall to the ground at her feet, Chihiro could hear the shocked yells from Lin and Haku as she completed what she should have done nights ago.
"I accept your offer of protection and companionship until the day I release you from this contract," Chihiro stated boldly. Both gasped in obvious pain as their arms heated and throbbed as one under the magic. Silver strings appeared winding about their arms in an intricate pattern before searing into their flesh. As Lin yanked her away, Haku pinned Hikaru to the wall by the throat. Looking down at her arm, the strings were gone and in their stead a black tattoo ranged from the tips of her fingers to the place Hikaru had grasped her arm below her elbow.
"Haku wait," Lin shouted as blood started to run from where his claws had gripped too tightly into the fox's neck. Yanking Chihiro's tender arm upwards to get a better look at the contract mark, Lin frowned in concern. "It's too late. They're contracted. Release the fox."
Haku ignored Lin's command and stared deeply into Hikaru's eyes as he squeezed his neck tighter. Despite his better instincts to fight, Hikaru remained still though he grasped at Haku's hand and lifted slightly to relieve some of the pressure brought on by hanging at such an angle against the wall. The great dislike both men had for each other in that instant shown easily in their gazes.
"Haku, drop him. He's my friend," Chihiro demanded as she pushed off Lin and approached them. Haku's hesitation was obvious as he held on for several moments longer, debating the consequences of taking off the fox's head. There was no way to know what sort of contract they had made. For all he knew, killing the fox could kill Chihiro. Breaking his hold with a hiss of disgust, Haku let the fox drop to the floor gracelessly. Coughing to clear his windpipes and rubbing the blood away from the cuts on either side of his neck, Hikaru pushed himself to a standing position against the wall. Chihiro met Haku's hard gaze evenly as he brushed past her.
"My office, now."
Awkward staff meetings tend to drag on when you least want them too. Awkward staff meetings that have turned into firestorms last even longer. Chihiro ran a shaky hand through her brown hair and turned away from the fire as she tuned back into the conversation at the desk. Her position leaning against the bookshelf across the room did nothing to keep her irritation at bay. Like Lin who was perched in one of the plush office chairs, she was watching Haku's attempted interrogation of Hikaru. Though he seemed to be going nowhere, Haku continued in his attempts to get information out of the fox.
"Tell me the details of your contract."
"No."
"Can't you at least tell me if Chihiro's life is linked with yours," Haku retorted irritably.
"I won't tell you anything about the contract. If I tell you that her life is not at stake, you'll kill me. If I tell you otherwise, I could only imagine the verdict you would give me. You are after all keeping her imprisoned in this bathhouse, no?" Haku growled ferociously and Hikaru sneered back with a cold glare.
"Enough," Chihiro interrupted loudly, "If the two of you can't talk this out like respectful adults, I'm going to beat the both of you back to hell."
The two in question looked back at her with different expressions. Haku raised an eyebrow in mocking disbelief, but Hikaru had the nerve to smile back at her. It was almost as if he enjoyed the idea of her beating him. Or perhaps he was more intrigued at her spunk for threatening two spirits far superior in strength and speed and still expecting them to bend to her will.
"As if you could possibly do that," Haku muttered.
"Look, I don't need your sass right now lizard. There are more important things to be doing than fighting over petty details. The contract doesn't matter at this point. What's done is done."
"The details of the contract are important."
"Yes they are, but that is between me and Hikaru. You have no right to ask about it. You are acting like a jealous boyfriend Haku, which last time I checked, you are not. We," Chihiro motioned between herself and Haku, "have nothing between us."
Lin sunk deeper into the cushions of the chair trying to keep her face neutral. The irony of this whole situation was hilarious and frightening all at the same time. She almost pitied the stinging blows that Chihiro was landing on him. He was going to be licking that wound for a while. Chihiro was right that technically he wasn't her boyfriend, no by spirit world standards she was his fiancé, but without flat out telling her what was going on there was no way Haku could soothe his pride. The conversation was interrupted by the sound of knock on the apartment door.
"Master Haku, master Haku, Hana-sama requires your presence." Haku groaned loudly and slammed his fist against the desk top as he moved around it. "She says it's regarding which kimono she should wear for the opening ceremony."
"Not now," he called back, "I'm in the middle of something."
"So what now," Lin asked quietly. She knew the details of the situation on both sides, at least to some degree. Haku grimaced and Chihiro could tell that he was about to open his mouth and say something incredibly stupid.
"Watari-san has released you from the infirmary and as far as I know, you have no money to stay here at the bathhouse even if we did have the availability to house you. Perhaps if you were more loose-lipped with the information I seek we could have made some sort of arrangement for you to stay, but for now you are not welcome inside the bathhouse." Chihiro rose in indignation, but Hikaru seemed unphased by his response.
"That's fine. I can stay with Taka at the nearby bar and come visit you during the day."
"No, that's not ok. If it's a matter of money then I shouldn't be staying here either. I definitely don't have this world's currency and I don't want to be indebted to the bathhouse."
"You are my guest Chihiro, of course you are welcome here."
"Then he is my guest. Isn't he then by default welcome here as well?"
"There are no available rooms for him to stay in."
"I don't need my own room. Since I won't be straying far from Chihiro, the foot of her bed would do just fine."
A hiss sounded from Haku's lips and Hikaru sat back with a challenging smirk. It was easy to play on the dragon's uneasiness when he was being apparent with his feelings on the situation. Hikaru was not surprised that he wasn't the only one with feelings for the human. Chihiro rolled her eyes misinterpreting Hikaru's vie for her as a childish jab. "I don't think the foot of my bed is quite necessary. Surely there is an extra futon floating around the storage closets that we could pull out for him to stay on."
"Unacceptable."
"Then give me some better choices here. I'm not sending him away." Chihiro stared Haku down as he slanted his eyes at her.
"There's no need to be so uptight dragon. We have the same interests in mind. All you need to know is that I'm going to protect Chihiro, especially from that menace YOU invited into the bathhouse." Haku raised an eyebrow in question, but Hikaru did not hold back in the slightest. "Don't think I haven't heard of her even down in the infirmary. The whispers of the servants travel further than the confines of the bathhouse."
"I have a solution if anyone feels like listening," Lin spoke up making everyone look at her. "Haku, it sounds to me like these two imbeciles made some sort of protection contract. As much as it irks you, set it aside to look at the bigger picture for now. We need help protecting Chihiro and if he is willing to provide security, it would be smarter to keep them together as much as possible. That being said, I know we are completely booked and obviously the only non-reserved room is Chihiro's. Why doesn't the fox stay in Chihiro's room so he is on hand and Chihiro can stay with you in your room?"