The long awaited chapter nine is finally here~! Enjoy, my readers. It's summer vaca right now so expect maybe even a weekly update right now, haha!
Oh, and also, I do not own Spirited Away and it's characters but the story written here is mine, eheh
Kimiko woke up to the sound of screaming. And a wailing that was so high-pitched and so close to her sensitive ears that she thought she would lose her hearing. She sat up from her bed and quickly rubbed away the grogginess in her eyes so she could glare at whoever was making the awful noise. How dare they wake me with their awful loudness, Kimiko thought irritably as her sharp blue eyes focused on the small bundle that lay right by her side on the bed. Tears streamed from the eyes of the small baby girl as she wailed pitifully by her side. "A baby..?" Kimiko murmured just as the shoji doors slid open to reveal the small Hiro carrying a four-year old boy desperately trying to claw out of his arms.
"M-miss Kimi- I mean, oujo-sama! R-Ryuu won't stop screaming!" Hiro cried out just as the boy managed to wriggle his way out of Hiro's scrawny arms. "W-what's wrong with Emiko? Why is she crying?" Hiro asked as Kimiko cradled the baby in her arms, trying to soothe her.
"I don't know," the dragon woman admitted as she wiped the tears away with her thumb, careful to not scratch the soft flesh with her sharp nails. The irritation she had felt moments before melted away immediately once she knew the source was from the child.
"Emi-chan! Stay away from my sister!" Ryuu shouted once he noticed the baby in Kimiko's arms. He tried to lunge at them but Hiro caught him in midair.
"Ryuu! Calm down, don't you recognize me? It's Hiro, we were together with the Spirit of the North!" Hiro said as he tried his best to hold back the little boy.
"No! You're all strangers! Where's my nee-chan? I want my nee-chan back!" Ryuu cried but soon his small arms weakened and fell limp at his sides. The little boy panted as Hiro held him close to his chest. "I want my nee-chan back…"
"Ryuu, you're hurt and you're sick. At least, that's what Miss Kimi-, oujo-sama said," Hiro said, trying to calm the little boy down. He glanced at Kimiko who managed to quiet the baby, Emiko. "O-oujo-sama, it seems Ryuu doesn't remember me at all."
"Of course he doesn't. He's been reverted to his younger self. It's as if he never met you," Kimiko said matter-of-factly as she rolled her blue eyes. Though it is troublesome that he's looking for Chihiro...that girl is no longer here. I need to get this boy to cooperate for me, even if it's only a little while.
"I see," Hiro murmured as Ryuu stuck his tongue out at the older boy. "Uhm...your older sister isn't here, Ryuu. She's somewhere else...I think." He glanced at Kimiko for confirmation and the dragon woman nodded.
"Then where's nee-chan?" Ryuu asked stubbornly as he wriggled his way out of Hiro's arms again but this time, he just stood away from the older boy. Hiro bit his lip and glanced at Kimiko for help. Even Hiro's memories were a little distorted, and it seemed that Kimiko knew everything about the three humans.
"Your sister is most likely still in the human world, if she wasn't with you three in the Spirit of the North's kingdom," Kimiko lied smoothly. This made Ryuu squint at her in confusion. Not at the mention of the Spirit of the North, but at the dragon woman's guess at his sister's location. The other words that left the woman's mouth meant nothing to his young ears.
"...human world..? Where am I then?" Ryuu asked.
Kimiko sighed inwardly. This little boy was too smart for his age and his questioning was beginning to irritate her. Still, she plastered a smile on her face and reached over to caress his cheek. The boy shrank away from her touch but nevertheless Kimiko did not give up on getting him on her side. "We're in the spirit world, Ryuu."
At her words, his brown eyes widened and his round cheeks flushed in excitement. "The spirit world? The place that Chihiro-nee went to?" he gasped as he clutched at Kimiko's robes. "I'm really in the spirit world?" he asked again, unable to believe his own ears. Kimiko made a more truthful smile at this and nodded which sent the little boy jumping around the room with bursts of energy. "Woah! Woah! I'm in the spirit world, I'm in the spirit world! I wish nee-chan was here!"
Hiro let out a small laugh at this, relieved that the tantrum-throwing boy was now acting like a cute little kid. "I don't know, I'm pretty sure she wouldn't want to be a slave," Hiro quietly said to himself, earning him a glare from Kimiko. "Did I do something wrong, oujo-sama?"
"Don't mention anything about what happened the last few days. Just allow Ryuu to believe that he was spirited away, not enslaved. We don't want to ruin his health as it is," Kimiko ordered and Hiro quietly nodded. Luckily for me, Emiko is only a baby; I won't have to worry about her giving me any more trouble as it is, Kimiko muttered to herself and right at that moment, Emiko began wailing again.
Ryuu immediately stopped jumping and rushed to his baby sister's side. "Emi-chan! She's crying!"
"Yes, I know," Kimiko snapped as she tried to quiet the baby. "Do you know how to stop this horrible sound?"
Ryuu scrunched his small eyebrows together as he tried thinking. After a couple of moments, his face lit up and a huge grin made his cheeks even rounder. "Emi-chan is hungry! She needs milk!"
"Milk..?" Kimiko repeated. She didn't know that babies needed milk. Human babies that is. When she was a younger dragon, she couldn't remember drinking milk when she was hungry. Now that she thought about it, what did she eat-
"Kimiko? Is there anything wrong in there? It's been rather loud inside your suite," came Haku's voice from outside the hall. "I'm coming inside." Before she could protest, her youngest brother walked in the suite and straight to her bedroom, freezing by the shoji door at the sight of the two unknown guests. "What's going on in here?" Haku demanded as little Ryuu stomped over to the dragon and stopped right in front of him. The little boy crossed his arms and stared up at Haku's face before suddenly blowing a raspberry and skipping off behind Hiro.
"M-mister Kohaku, I can explain," Hiro began to stammer just as Kimiko rose from the bed. She placed Emiko into Hiro's trembling arms and walked over to Haku, draping her arm across his shoulders.
Kimiko gave him a smile as she forcibly led him to the front room, shutting the shoji door behind her. "Good morning, Kohaku. I see you have rested well."
Haku narrowed his eyes at her as he shrugged off her arm. "Kimiko, what is the meaning of those children? They were not accounted for in the guest registry. Don't tell me they're another servant of yours."
"Oh, Kohaku, of course they're not. I just merely rescued them from the Spirit of the North's chains out of the goodness of my heart," Kimiko said in a sincere voice. "You see, Hiro and the other two were human slaves. I felt pity for them, so I-"
"Wait. They're humans?" Haku repeated, his emerald eyes growing in surprise.
Kimiko gave him a sarcastic look as she flipped her long hair over her shoulder. "No. They're frog-spirits. Yes, they're humans! You should've noticed with their scents."
"They didn't reek of pollution like other humans," Haku muttered defensively.
"They've been here for quite a while. Do you not recall that they were slaves for the Spirit of the North?"
"Yes, but I never heard of spirits keeping humans as slaves."
"The Spirit of the North just found them. They're one of the few humans who managed to stumble their way here into our world," Kimiko said while examining her sharp nails. "One of them is only a baby, Amaterasu knows why the Spirit of the North didn't kill her off, and requires milk. Go get one of those yunas to fetch some for me, won't you, little brother?"
"Of course but I'm still rather confused about this situation. In fact, I am downright suspicious of you, Kimiko," Haku said, gazing at his sister with contempt. If he remembered correctly, Kimiko disliked humans and she had a habit of playing games whenever she was bored. "Why would you, of all spirits, care for mere humans?" Haku asked as he took a step closer to her.
"I did it on a whim. They looked so pitiful that I thought it would be amusing if I had them under my care," Kimiko flippantly. "Whatever happens to them is none of my concern. If Ichirou or our lord Ryujin discovers them and decides to put an end to them, so be it."
Haku let out a low laugh and shook his head. "I've forgotten how cruel you could be, Kimiko. Playing with their lives and giving them false hope. But," he added, looking into her blue eyes, "I suppose you wouldn't mind if I just dealt with them myself."
At his words, a smirk sneaked its way on her ever-red lips. "Go ahead, I would love to see you try. I'm sure it will guarantee everyone's trust that you are not an ally of the humans, Kohaku."
"Of course. I won't be like our Father," Haku said after a moment's hesitation. The fact that there was unrest due to his connections with humans still nerved him and he was caught off guard when Kimiko mentioned it. Nevertheless, he had to play the game right in order to win. Haku started heading for the door to the bedroom as Kimiko watched in silent amusement.
"I see you're quick to fix your mistakes, Kohaku. I'll let you do as you please," the dragon woman said with a quiet laugh.
Haku gave her a glare but he kept going for the door with steely determination. He had to prove himself in front of everyone in order to calm down the kingdom. He reached out his hand towards the handle of the door when it suddenly slid open and the large brown eyes of a four-year old boy looked up at him. Haku froze as he held Ryuu's gaze and slowly the little boy's face began to register in his mind. He recognized this boy from somewhere. He saw these brown eyes before. They were the same warm, chocolate color that Chihiro had- Chihiro! Haku widened his emerald eyes as stared at Ryuu. The human boy's face was thinner than he remembered, and there were scratches here and there but he still had the same round cheeks that Chihiro had, even the button nose that he would watch Chihiro poke through the images of the fountain. Unable to shake out of his shock, Haku knelt on the floor as he reached out to touch the boy's cheek. "Ryuu..?"
"Hiro-nii! Why does this onii-chan know my name?" Ryuu asked in his loud voice at Hiro who still cradled the baby, Emiko.
"Kohaku, you know this boy?" Kimiko exclaimed, alarms suddenly blaring in her head. She had never thought that Haku would know Ryuu or Emiko. Her game might be put to an end before she could finally be amused.
"...Yes. He was the younger brother of an old friend," Haku finally answered after several moments. He kept staring at Ryuu as questions filled his head. Why is this boy here? Could Chihiro also be-? "Kimiko, how did this boy get here?"
Before Kimiko could even say a word, Emiko began crying again. "Ah! Ah! Emi-chan is crying! Hey, the onee-chan with black hair! Where's Emi-chan's milk?" Ryuu asked as Hiro hurriedly rocked the baby back and forth in his harms. He was beginning to feel rather drained from all of this crying, shouting, and questioning.
Kimiko, on the other hand, was relieved for the interruption. "Kohaku, I do insist you get some milk for the child. You can ask more questions after she's been properly fed." After a few more moments of mind-numbing wailing, Haku reluctantly left the suite to request for some milk. Once he returned with a makeshift bottle of milk, he found Ryuu hugging the baby carefully in his arms.
"It's okay, Emi-chan. Your nii-chan is right here," Ryuu cooed to the baby as she clutched the collar of his ragged shirt.
"She's your sister?" Haku asked Ryuu as he handed him the bottle and and the boy nodded. Haku pursed his lips as he went deep into thought. I don't recall Chihiro ever having a baby sister. And it's only been a few weeks since I last saw her. There can't be that much change in such a short amount of time. But he couldn't suppress that nagging feeling in his gut so he dared ask Ryuu, "Do you happen to have an older sister?"
Ryuu nodded as he concentrated on holding the bottle for Emiko. "I do, she's the best nee-chan anyone could ever have! But she's stuck home. That's what the onee-chan over there told me, she did!"
A cold feeling began to trickle down Haku's spine as he asked his last question. "Is her name Chihiro?"
"How did you know, onii-chan?" Ryuu asked as he tilted his head up innocently at Haku.
A surge of rage and fury suddenly shook the dragon's body as he shot up and grabbed a fistful of Kimiko's robes. The sudden change in the dragon's disposition shocked the woman as she trembled in fear- something she hadn't felt since her Father had gone missing. "What did you do to her?" Haku yelled. "What did you do to Chihiro?"
"M-mister Kohaku! Don't hurt oujo-sama!" Hiro cried out as he tried to wrench Haku's vice-like grip off of Kimiko. Haku swept his arm and send the scrawny boy flying across the room and Hiro landed with a painful thud against the wall. Ryuu held Emiko closer to his chest as he shrank away into the corner of the room as rage consumed Haku's entire being.
"Did you hurt her? What did you do to her? Answer me, Kimiko!" Haku roared as his teeth began to sharpen to resemble his dragon fangs. His nails slowly grew longer into claws and Kimiko felt so utterly helpless; it was the first time she had ever seen Haku act this way.
"Kohaku, calm down," Kimiko tried to say in her usual commanding tone but her voice failed her.
"You did something to her. If you hurt her, I swear I'll kill you right now. Answer me, Kimiko," Haku growled as he slammed her against the wall. His grip went to her neck and Kimiko tried to claw off his hand but she was so frightened she couldn't. "Where is she? What did you do to Chihiro?" he demanded again just as Yanagi burst into the room, Yachiru right behind him.
"Kohaku! Let go of Kimiko right now," Yanagi yelled, as he leapt across the room and knocking Haku down to the floor. Kimiko fell on all fours as she gasped for air, Yachiru kneeling beside her and examining the bruise forming on her neck.
"Let me go, Yanagi," Haku snarled as Emiko began to cry again.
"I won't until you calm yourself, Kohaku. What's gotten into you, attacking your own sister like that?" Yanagi snapped as he held Haku's arms behind his back.
"She did something to her, Yanagi! She did something to Chihiro," Haku said in a dark voice as he began transforming into a dragon.
"Shit-" Yanagi managed to say before he was knocked over. He was thrown off of Haku and landed right next to Ryuu and Emiko.
Yachiru stood in front of Kimiko who was still recovering from her attack. Yachiru spread her arms out with a fierce look in her mint-green eyes. Haku tried to ram right into her but she grabbed him by the horns and pinned his head against the floor again. "Get yourself together, Kohaku, before you wake up our mother and lord Ryujin!"
"Not until she tells me what happened to Chihiro," Haku growled as he struggled to break free from her grip but to no avail. Yachiru did, after all, have the strongest grip in the dragon family.
Kimiko coughed and wheezed just as Hiro came to. He blinked his brown eyes before rushing towards her side. He knelt beside her and held her shoulders. "Ojou-sama! Are you alright?" Hiro asked.
"I'm fine," she snapped as she finally caught her breath. Kimiko glared at Haku with icy blue eyes. "Would you really like to know, Kohaku? She's dead. That human girl of yours is dead."
Author's Note:
Do you guys hate me right now? Do you? Well too bad. You'll have to wait for the next chapter, hahahahahahhahahahaaha/gets shot
Until the next installment of *announcer's voice* THROUGH THESE EMERALD EYES!
UPDATE
If you ever catch any mistakes for example, "Kimiko's eyes were green one chapter, and then blue the next!" please tell me. I sometimes don't catch those mistakes. What's even more difficult is the time frame of this story, it takes a lot of rereading for me to make sure that I didn't mess up too badly, haha