Chihiro and Haku, Melissa Nichols [readnow TXT] 📗

slowly. Chihiro was lost in her thought, running over everything she had learned from Haku. She was still a little freaked that she could be in danger, but she felt better knowing Haku was a sentence away. After the bath house closed, Chihiro did her part to clean the house. She scrubbed her tub, her toilet and helped with the dishes. Once everything was done, she went up to the scrubbers floor of the bath house to shower, wash her uniform and claim the spot where she wanted to sleep. But her mind was still racing from this evening’s lessons from Haku so she sat outside, nibbling on a dumpling. Just as she was about to head inside, Haku appeared from below, flying in his dragon form. He flew right up to her and nuzzled her in greeting. Chihiro laughed quietly and climbed into his neck. She laughed again as he flew away from the bath house and over the now-sleeping village.“Haku, I’ve been thinking about everything you said this morning.”

Do you have any questions?

"A couple. Does it take magic for you to transform?”

Not in the way you think. As a river spirit, my dragon form is as much a part of me as your mind is. I can transform as easily as you can form a thought. But it takes an inborn spell for me to shift that only I know because the spell is singular to me. However, it doesn’t tire me as casting a spell would so, in a sense, the answer is yes and no.

“I see. Why does the gate open and close? I thought spirits can’t cross the barrier and the gateway is so well hidden from the humans that the chances of another human wandering through is slim.”

The gate opens according to the sun and moon. When they are lined up just right, then the magic that created the barrier is lessened, so it opens. But the magic comes back once the line up s broken, and so the gate closes. The gate only opens when the sun is moments away from touching the horizon in the afternoon on the three days when the moon is full and on the human side. The shift of power from the dying sun to the rising moon is what breaks through the barrier. Without the gatekeepers, holes would appear in the barrier and they wouldn’t heal. The gatekeepers are a special breed of spirits that are sensitive to the barrier, the sun and moon and they open the portals at the appropriate time, channeling the strength throughout the barrier but letting their portal be weakened into opening. This way, the barrier remains intact and strong but the gates are opened.

“Why are there even gates and portals. Wasn’t the point of the barrier to keep the two species separate?”

That was the point, yes, but the sun and moon work together to create massive amounts of magic and energy. That magic sweeps across the land similar to a wind, renewing the spirit world. But, the human world can’t live without it so the gates were created to open in accordance with those winds, to let the magic continue into the human world. Over the years, the gates been a boon to us as well. As you’ve noticed, there are humans in the bath house. All of them were lost and crossed into our world without knowing it. But, by the time they realized there were spirits here, the gate had already been closed so they had to stay and make a new life for themselves.

“Oh. Why do spirits have magic and human don’t?”

Why do spirits have varying amounts of magical power? Its one of the great mysteries that may never be solved.

“Has a human tried to learn magic?”

In the old days, yes. Many humans tried. They memorized as many words as they could, the studied the gestures religiously, and they practiced spells over and over again. But to no avail. The words and gestures are useless without magic, and humans don’t possess it.

“You’re a river spirit. Your river is in the human world.”

Yes.

“So, with the desolation of the human world, how are the connected spirits affected?”

Like you saw on your first day, a spirit can be polluted just as their connection to the human world is, even if the spirit isn’t occupying it at the time. The pollution is worse when the spirit is occupying their connection at the time of the destruction.

“Your river was tampered with, yet you look clean and healthy. Why?”

My river wasn’t polluted like others were. Mine was simply pushed underground. I am clean and healthy because the water itself isn’t terribly polluted. Being underground protects the water from smog and toxins, and when the water is above ground, it travels through vegetation roots that cleanse it. But I am lucky. Many others connections were wiped out entirely, and most of those connections that remain are polluted so heavily that many of the spirits will travel to the bath house for cleansing. Pay attention like you did on your first day, and you’ll be able to differentiate between a true stink spirit and a connected spirit in need of help.

“I didn’t really notice anything until the spirit tugged me underwater and held my hand to the handle of that bike.”

That is exactly what connected spirits will do. Stink spirits, however, won’t. In fact, now that I think about it, it’s doubtful you’ll have to face a stink spirit. Many of them know that they’re unwanted, though they can’t smell, and will stay away from anyone but other stink spirits. But even if you happen across one, they’re usually quite friendly and don’t mean to harm anyone so I doubt you’ll be in much danger.

“Hmm. Why did you want to be Yubaba’s apprentice?”

Well, back then, I just wanted to learn as much about magic as I could. All of the masters in the schools had already taken on apprentices so I had to look elsewhere for the knowledge I wanted. Yubaba and Zaneba come from a very old family and even though their powers aren’t as grand as their ancestors’, the knowledge is still passed from generation to generation. I hoped to learn what I could from Yubaba.

“Is there a particular reason why you wanted to learn about magic so much?”

Not especially, no. I just knew I was powerful and I wanted to learn my limitations, see exactly how much I could do.

“Oh.”

 

For a couple more hours, Haku and Chihiro flew through the air around the village. Haku answered every question Chihiro asked to the best of his ability. By the time Haku decided it was too late for him to be flying safely, Chihiro had already fallen asleep. As he had the previous morning, he took her to his apartment, tucked her into his bed, and fell asleep on the couch.

Chapter Eight

When Chihiro again woke up to the same noise she had yesterday, she didn’t even try to reach out for the missing alarm clock. Instead, she sat up and yawned. Haku was already up by now and snapped his fingers when he saw Chihiro was getting out of bed.“Evening, Chihiro.”“Hey, Haku.” She stretched and nodded her head toward the bathroom curtains. “Is that offer of the shower still open?”“Of course it is. Help yourself. You’ll find fresh towels in there, too.”“Great, thanks.” She got up and shuffled to the curtains and passed through.

After a rushed but luxurious shower, Chihiro climbed out dressed and feeling quite clean. Evidently the shower was enchanted so every time Chihiro reached for a product, it was right there.When she came out of the bathroom, her long brown hair already combed back and braided, Haku was gone. She was quite disappointed. She’d hoped to talk with him a little more. Oh, well. There was little doubt in her mind that she’d see him after work was done.Chihiro made her way down to the scrubbers dorm floor and helped everyone else clear their shared room. She stuck close to Rin again, still pretty cautious after Haku’s warning yesterday.“So, Rin, you know how I’m used to the human world being awake during the day. Well, do you call the evening 'morning' or is it still evening?”

“For us, the morning is the human evening.”

“Oh, okay. Hey, why do humans work during the day and the spirits don’t?”

“I don’t know, Sen. That’s just the way it is.”

The day was rough on Chihiro. Not only did Chihiro and Rin have to clean the Big Tub, which had somehow been left untouched for three days, but Chihiro was separated from Rin and had to work in the kitchens; ‘Orders from above’ was the gruff explanation she received. Clearly, Yubaba was testing her, making her do duties that scrubbers didn’t normally do, to see how she worked.Working in the kitchens was a torture unto itself. The big frogs were bossy and loved to shout orders at her, making her fetch an ingredient and then making her take it back when it was wrong. At the same time, she had to watch the dishwashers and wash dishes by hand. All in all, it was a very fast-paced, exhausting day and Chihiro was dead on her feet when the bath house closed. But, unwilling to let her work suffer for her exhaustion, Chihiro put every scrap of energy into helping to clean up and prep the bath house for the next day.As soon as she was done, she grabbed a bed and claimed a spot in the corner, where she fell asleep.

 

Chapter Nine

 While Chihiro slept, Yubaba was reviewing the reports she was getting from the heads of each department Chihiro had worked in so far. The girl had proven to be driven, with a strong work ethic and did what tasks she was given to the best of her ability at all times, regardless of any exhaustion, dislike for the job or muscle soreness. Twice she had not reported for bed in the scrubbers dorm but she suspected Haku had taken pity on her and let her sleep in his apartment. Well, that doesn’t matter. All she cared about was how Chihiro performed during operating hours. By getting details on the girl during the day, Yubaba hoped to figure out a good test for her. Yubaba could not hold her parents over her this time, and her employment was guaranteed. So what could Yubaba use against her? She’d need more information. Grabbing a pen and a slip of paper,