Chihiro and Haku, Melissa Nichols [readnow TXT] 📗

she wrote out orders for Chihiro’s workload tomorrow. One copy was sent to each head of the two departments that would be involved with her tomorrow. With both pieces of paper sent out, Yubaba sat back in her chair to chuckle to herself. Oh, how she loved this subtle game of poking and proding. She loved working the girl to the bone, and Yubaba would take pleasure in making sure that Chihiro didn’t sleep a wink in the next few days. When Chihiro hadn’t slept for five or six days straight, Yubaba hoped that Chihiro would break, or simply keel over. Chihiro was a spirited, brave young woman and had already caused a great amount of trouble for Yubaba. She had to break that spirit before the danger to her profits would be lessened.Also, Yubaba couldn’t wait to see how Haku would struggle to override her orders. By using Chihiro, Yubaba hoped to also bring Haku to heel once again. The boy was far too powerful for Yubaba’s taste, and he was the biggest threat to her gold.“You wanted to see me, Yubaba?”

“Yes, Haku. Come in.” The boy stepped forward, in front of the fire. “I have some training for you.”

 

The sun seemed to fall too quickly. No sooner had Chihiro fallen asleep than she was waking up.“Sen, wake up.” Rin was crouched beside her, shaking her shoulder. “It’s a new day.”Moaning in protest, Chihiro sat up and wiped the sleep from her eyes. “Already?”

“Sorry, I know you had a hard day yesterday. But, you have to get up.”

“Yeah, I know. Alright, alright.” She put on her apron and helped clear the room. She rushed through breakfast and morning prep, hoping to catch a shower before the bath house opened. Worried about time, Chihiro didn’t waste any time and washed only her body and face. She redid her braid while she rushed up the stairs to the department she’d be working today; cleaning the rooms of overnight guests. Since all of the flooring up there was wood, she would have to use a rag and work on her hands and knees. With her back already sore from yesterday, she’d have a tough time getting her work done quickly, consistently and well today. Oh, well. She’d just have to do the best she could and pray tomorrow would be easier.

Chapter Ten

 True to Yubaba’s plan, Chihiro’s workload increased every day. She was tossed around from department to department, given increasingly arduous tasks that left every single muscle in her body aching and shaking by the end of the day. After closing hours, the amount of work Chihiro was ordered increased. On her first day, she had cleaned a tub and the stall, a hallway and a toilet. Now, the only consistent work were two tubs and the surrounding stall, three hallways, four toilets and washing the dishes until all of them were clean, dry and put away in the evening. More work was added every night.Two weeks into her employment, Chihiro had had very little sleep in the last five days, crawling into bed a mere four hours before the sun disappeared for another work-filled night. The sheer amount of work, the difficulty of the tasks, and the decreasing hours of sleep had all conspired to drain Chihiro of energy, her muscles in a seemingly permanent state of pain. Chihiro had no idea how she managed to find the energy to continue her usual level of quality work, let alone to be civil to anyone who spoke to her. Chihiro was sure she could handle the physical work that was demanded of her, no matter how grueling. She just wasn’t prepared for how little she would see of Haku, and how much she missed him. She hadn’t seen him at all since she woke up in his apartment for the second time, and she was worried. She hoped he was alright.

Meanwhile, Yubaba was growing increasingly frustrated. “This is impossible! How can this troublesome girl be so determined? I’m working her as hard as I can, and yet still the quality of her work hasn’t diminished at all! What else am I going to do?!” She shouted as she glared at the reports she had collected in the two weeks since the girl’s arrival. All of the papers screamed at her, praising the girl for her consistency, friendliness, and energy, each begging Yubaba to lessen the workload for such a wonderful worker. Yubaba was furious and screamed as she flipped over her father’s desk, sending papers, jewels, gold, inkwells and quills flying.By the fire, the three heads stopped jumping around to look at their mistress, bewildered. It was a rare sight for Yubaba to be so very flustered. Wisely, they fled the room.“Mama, don’t you think Sen’s had enough?” Boh strolled into the office and leaned his tall body against the doorframe. “You’re working her mercilessly and her work remains unaffected. Wouldn’t it be in the business’ best interest if you stopped working her? At the rate you’re going, you’re going to kill her. The bath house needs workers like her. It’d be foolish of you if you were to let her die simply to soothe your pride. Not only would the profits hurt, but Rin and Haku would both be very cross with you. I doubt you’d like having a powerful river spirit angry at you.”

“No! She hasn’t suffered enough yet.”

“What else can you do? You’ve had her working in every single department, adding more and more chores to her afterhours workload. The best thing you can do right now is accept defeat and back off, let her rest and recover.”

“No. She has to break. If I back off now, she’ll never be as tuneless as the rest of the workers.”

“Tuneless? You mean to make her no more than another worker?”

“Yes, of course. Once her spirit’s broken, she won’t let in anymore NoFace spirits, or anything as destructive.”

“Oh, Mama, I thought you were over that.”

“How can I be? Do you know how much gold she cost this business? Everything had to be cleaned up, supplies restocked, doors repaired, beams replaced. And then she managed to remove Haku’s slug so now he thinks for himself and is a danger to me. That dragon can rip this business to shreds until it’s no more than a pile of splinters on the meadow if he sets his mind to it.”

“And that’s exactly what he’ll do if you let Sen die. It’d be much better for you if you let her live. The bath house will still profit, and Haku will have no need to tear it down.”Yubaba sighed. She had to admit, her son was right. What she was doing now was purely self-destructive. If she pursued this, it’d mean only disaster for her business, the source of the gold that she coveted.Accepting defeat, Yubaba dismissed her son, righted the desk, and wrote out Chihiro's orders for tomorrow, as well as a note to Chihiro herself.

Chapter Eleven

Chihiro almost cried when Rin shook her awake. She’d fallen onto the first quilt she found, regardless that both halves of the two quilts she laid on were occupied already, little more than an hour before. And now, she had to wake up and do yet more work.“Sen, you have a message from Yubaba.”

“Yubaba?” She asked and accepted the envelope. Opening it, she read the letter once, and then again and again. It was difficult to believe that this had all been the test for her employment and that she had passed.“What does it say, Sen?”

“I passed her test. I’m ordered to sleep today and tomorrow, and report to her office the day after tomorrow for my reassignment orders.”

“Reassignment? You’re being reassigned?”

“I guess so. But I don’t know where. I passed her test so it must be one of the departments higher up than this. That was the deal. If I pass, I’m promoted. If I fail, I’m demoted. But I don’t know where she’ll put me.”

“Well, then you’d best sleep. You’re going to need your strength for your new assignment.” Rin handed her a bed and pointed to the corner Chihiro tried to grab whenever it was available. Chihiro nodded, accepted the bed, and curled up in the corner. She was asleep immediately.

Two days later, Chihiro found herself in front of Yubaba, receiving her new orders.“I must say, Chihiro, I’m impressed. Not many pass my tests.”

“Thank you. You didn’t make it easy.”

“Good. Now, you have worked in every single department. You know what expectations I hold and you know the work involved. Therefore, you’re going to be joining management. You’ll be in charge of the scrubbers. Is there a problem?” Yubaba had noticed Chihiro’s shocked face.“No problem, Yubaba. I’ve just never been a manager before. But I’m ready to do my best.”

“Good, then. Off you go. Oh, here.” She handed a paper to Chihiro. “Your predecessor’s orders for demotion. See that he gets it.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

”Then be gone with you.” Chihiro scampered off, rushing downstairs to the other scrubbers. First, she had to find the manager and hand over his orders. Then she’d see about settling into her new rank.The manager being demoted, understandably, was not very happy at being replaced by a human, even one he had lavishly praised. It took a force of three security guards to escort the frog away, though none of them could do nothing about stopping him from cursing Chihiro and swearing revenge. A coldness swept down Chihiro’s spine but she turned away and set about correcting the chaos and getting everybody back to work.That evening, Chihiro ate and slept well, her body grateful for the removal of the outrageous demands. But, it had been a positive experience. Her muscles had developed, which means they could handle more work and were stronger, and Chihiro now knew her limitations.