Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

There are times where one should stand up to oneself, right now, however, is not one of those times.

"You Brat."

A yuna worker, about the age of 25, whisper-yelled at a young 15 year old who was shaking under the gaze of the mad lady. She raised her hand and slapped the teen across the cheek. Han felt the stinging pain on the right side of her face linger, pressing her palm against in hopes it would ease the sting a little bit.

She stood there wondering what she did wrong this time, that slap could be considered as a punch. The Yuna worker, named Guri, glared at her with raging eyes as if trying to instill in the young girl's eyes what she had done earlier was a sin punishable by death. Guri's face could compete with a pit-bull, her eyebrows were almost meeting at the center of her forehead, her nose crinkled up at the bridge.

Han felt herself quiver once more, On regular working hours, Guri would always bully Han in some way whether it would just be taunting her from afar to pouring food waste onto her right before bed. Even with all that Guri has done before, Han hadn't seen Guri be this angry.

"You've been getting on my last nerve for the past week but now you really crossed the line." Guri grimaced, Han was indeed terrified but she didn't even know what made Guri so angry, knowing this she calmed down a bit. Maybe it was a misunderstanding and they could fix it through talking, surely Guri would be willing to talk things through

It was then confirmed Han had lost all of her common sense to fear.

Noticing Han's shakiness diminish, Guri took a step forward. Han's fear instantly resurfaced once she did, for it only meant one thing. Guri wasn't willing to talk. She wasn't willing to listen to anything.

After being tormented by her senior ever since she was 10, Han picked up a few things, signals per se, to know what would happen next. An eyebrow twitch meant a verbal 'lecture', a head tilt meant public humiliation, and a step forward meant the worst of all. A series of punches and kicks that would go on far too long than Han wished.

Han could already feel the jabs hit her sides and her legs were shaking too much it was hard to stay standing. Han looked down but her eyes wandered across the hallway, wishing someone would appear from a post or from the corner. They don't need to step in, just show up. Guri would surely stop if someone walked in the hallway and that was all Han needed.

But despite her wishes, the hallway remained empty.

A snicker came out of the lady's mouth, "What? Hoping for your knight in shining armor to come save you?" Gur raised her hand once more, hitting the girl on the other cheek, twice as stronger than the previous one. "Then you should have thought first before you decide to talk back to me!" She shoved the poor girl out of complete anger, making her bump on a wooden post, dropping the basket of cleaning supplies she had in her hand and sliding down to the floor, refusing to get back up.

For what was the use, even if she could stand up to herself, things wouldn't change at all. It was already clear no one would come save her, even Haku, all she could do was stay silent and hope it'll all be over faster.

Guri took a handful of Han's hair and pulled it aggressively, lifting her head up to face her senior. "Well? Where was that snarky bitch from earlier huh? Where did she go?" She mockingly asked her, Han refused to respond, accepting the fact she had already lost. In fact, she was a goner as soon as she spoke.

"I didn't think so."

Guri dropped the bunch of hair, Han's head hanging low, she couldn't bother moving herself anymore. She stared at the floor, the cleaning supplies spread across the wooden planks. She let out a short breath and prayed that it was finally over.

Guri didn't have the same idea. She raised her leg, Han closed her eyes tight and waited for the next hit. But as she was about to kick the young girl at the side, a loud voice echoed across the hallway.

"Hey!"

A series of thunderous thumping came towards where they were, Han could finally breathe. Someone has come to save her, and she already knew who it was. "What do you think you're doing?!" Lin exclaimed, Guri grumbled and muttered curses under her breath before jogging away from the furious lady. She would rather leave than deal with Lin's nagging.

As soon as Guri was gone, Lin kneeled down to face the beat up Han, "Are you okay?" Han formed a weak smile trying to cover up the pain that was going through her body. "Yup!" placing a hand on her red cheek, Lin clicked her tongue. "This'll need an ice pack for sure." Lin muttered under her breath, "You think so? I don't feel any pain at all." Han stated, it was clearly a lie but what else could she do? She can't just tell her she was hurt, Han had to be strong. The last thing she wanted was Lin to worry too much.

"What do you take me for? Blind? Your face is as red as a tomato." Lin said, Han made a short giggle before trying to get back up, slowly lifting her body up but soon failing as the pain from her torso shot up. "Let me help."

Lin took one arm and slung it around her shoulder, helping Han get back up to her feet. "I swear She'll get what she deserves someday. I'll make sure of it," Lin exclaimed, making Han smile.

"Thank you for coming to save me." Han said in gratitude, if Lin didn't come any later Han would've been in a worse situation. Lin flashed a toothy smile, "I'll always have your back, kid." They continued walking across the hall and soon they reached the lift, curving to a corner leading to the stairs to the dorm.

"Wait, the tubs are that way." Han pointed at the opposite direction where the steam from the hot water was coming from, Lin shook her head. "Nuh uh, missy, you are going back to the dorm and get some rest." Han jumped at Lin's statement, "But I'm fine, Lin, I swear. I can do work." Lin sighed, stopping right in front of the staircase. "No, Han, you don't have to worry about missing out on work. I'm sure Yubaba will understand."

Han looked down, "Then you don't know Yubaba." She said in a quavering voice before forcing herself to get off of Lin, stretching her arms wincing every now and then. She walks ahead towards the tubs as Lin watched her friend force herself to go to work because of the cruel world that seems to gravitate towards her in the worst way.

Lin made a prayer right there and then for the first time in her life, She prayed One day, Han would get a good life, one that would make her forget her life in the bathhouse entirely.

Lin ran up to Han, jokingly fluffing up the junior's hair. Han let out a laugh before they went out to continue their job.

●●●

"We have to clean tub 22." Lin said returning from getting the cleaning supplies they forgot earlier, Han was sitting down on a wooden bench just outside the cubicles with the tubs. Han nodded and took the basket from Lin, despite her protests, and walked along the pathway to tub 22. Once they reached it, it was in the worst condition it could get.

The algae was all over the floor, making it slippery and there were remnants of dirt from the last customer who went here, which was possibly a month ago. The tub's marble rim had a blanket of algae and weird looking leaves, murky water was dripping off the edges of the tub and the walls were filled with stains.

It was going to take awhile to clean the entire place. Han rolled up her shorts even higher and tied her hair to a messy ponytail bun, "Alright time to get started." Han took time to stretch her arms and grabbed a bucket of water and a long brush.

Lin let a disgruntled groan and grabbed a wide brush to start cleaning the walls.

Han crouched down and started brushing away the algae from the bottom rim of the tub. Which was, unfortunately, the dirtiest part of the entire cubicle. One would wonder how they let the tub get this dirty, until you realize that tub 22 is a tub used for the customers who can barely afford going to the bathhouse. Usually when a customer arrives and pays a 'small' amount, Yubaba sends them to tub 22. Sounds like sending someone to jail, really.

If you think about it, the entire bathhouse is a jail. Well, to Han anyway. The bathhouse was a horrible place to go if you're searching for a job, once you sign the contract it's over. But in Han's case, there was no contract.

A tiny bell rang, signalling it was time to deliver Kamaji's dinner. He man's the boiler room in the basement, that makes the entire bathhouse function. Han stood up from her crouching position, pushing her back forward, hearing it pop and crack. Han checked the tub, seeing it shine. The black marble shone brightly, contrasting the shining white tiles below it.

Maybe she outdid herself, she thought. Lin walked over to Han's side and placed down the bucket with a thud. "Who's turn is it?" She asked, referring to the bell ring. Han picked up the basket of brushes and cloth, "Me, Can yo-"

Before Han could finish her sentence there was a ruckus all over the bathhouse. Workers were running around and shouting aimlessly around about a human in the bathhouse.

A yuna worker passed by us in a brisk jog, stopped by Lin. "Hey, what's going on?" The yuna worker said in a hushed tone, "You didn't hear? A human got in the bathhouse." She said, Lin gasped while Han stood there agape. "Impossible." She said in surprise, if there was a human in the house, It meant humans can go to the spirit world but the question now is how.

"I wasn't talking to you, busu." The yuna worker spat out with disgust, Lin's eyebrows created a wrinkle in the middle of her forehead. "Oi! Watch your mouth." The yuna worker rolled her eyes and jogged off. Lin spewed a short breath, "Is it really hard for them to shut their mouth." She complained before going to the wooden countertop, where stood the basket that held Kamaji's food.

Han handed the basket to Lin, taking the basket with her. "I'll try to be back before dinner is over." Han said, knowing that Lin might end up worrying about her again. "You better or I might eat your share." Han let out a brief laugh before walking to the lift leading down to the boiler room. As she was about to leave the backroom, Lin called out to her. "Han! Tell that old man I need those bowls back." Han looked back and gave a nod. Pulling the lever down, the wooden lift creaked as it descended. The gears spin round at one corner of the square wooden box, arranged similar to a pulley system, relying on a heavy weight attached to a thick rope. The concept of how it was able to go down still boggles Han's mind.

It was either the system is just too complicated for Han or she is heavier than the weight used to pull the box, hence why the box is descending.

Han shook her head, stopping that train of thought before it messed up her head. Instead she wondered what was prepared for Kamaji's dinner. Taking a peek at the basket, it was a bowl of rice, fried newt, and tempura. The savory smell of the tempura reached Han's nose, making her stomach growl.

The lift stopped at the lowest floor, the bottom of the bathhouse. The dim narrow path led to the light wooden wall, the sliding door placed right beneath it. The path was lit by a warm glow coming from the other side of the wooden wall, as Han walked closer to the light the heat grew immensely.

She crawled through the tiny door into the boiler room and the heat took her by surprise, despite the amount of times she has visited the boiler room, forcing her to lift the edge of her uniform above her nose. "Kamaji! dinnertime!" Han called out, holding out the basket. Kamaji, a thin man with multiple arms used to operate the bathhouse. He paused his work and went ahead to reach out to the lifted basket. "Thank you, Han." He said as he took out the bowl of tempura and rice.

"Oh, Lin wanted to remind you about the bowls. You know how she gets when a bowl is missing." Han said jokingly, Kamaji scoffed and handed her the two empty bowls from yesterday and the day before that. "That woman won't stop talking about it." Kamaji added, he placed the fried newt in the basket. "Take it as an apology to Lin." Kamaji said Han smiled knowing Lin would surely like it, although she wasn't sure if Lin would take it as an apology gift, but Lin would take it as a sign to not bring up the topic ever again.

One thing you need to know about the bathhouse, Bribery is easy. You can sway anyone with a few pieces of gold, make them shut up for just a small price of two gold pieces. Give a worker here money or anything fancy and they throw all hints of loyalty out of the window. Especially Yubaba, that is why you can never trust Yubaba.

Han grabbed another basket sitting at the thick wall that acts as Kamaji's armrest, inside this basket was the food for the sprites. Tiny black spots that work for Kamaji, they usually help around with the coal that heats up the water up top. "Hello there," Han called out, almost instantly the sprites gathered around her. Han sprinkled their food above them, making each sprite happy.

"Well aren't you guys a hungry bunch." Han mentioned, Kamaji hummed with his mouth full, "Working hard makes you hungry. How about you Han, Have you had lunch yet?" Han shook her head, she doubted she'd come back in time either. "My break isn't until later." It was a lie but what else could she say.

Han faced the blazing furnace that was constantly being fed with coal, the metal mouth open and shut in a rhythmic way. Han shuddered after she stared at the furnace far too long, believe or not she had grown a love-hate relationship with the ember monster.

Just a bit near the furnace was a figure, barely visible from the bright light of the heat. Their back pressed against the wall, the one Kamaji uses as an armrest, eyes wide like a deer caught in headlights. As Han looked closer, it was a young girl wearing a striped shirt and a pair of shorts. She had brown hair tied to a ponytail, and unlike the rest of the people in the bathhouse, who had either fox or frog eyes, she had round brown ones similar to Han's green ones.

Confused, Han spoke up. "You." She pointed at the girl. "What are you doing here?" She asked, Kamaji looked up from his nearly finished lunch and watched as Han confronted the stranger who looked afraid and confused, not being able to utter a single word.

"She is my granddaughter." Kamaji butted in, putting down the empty bowl along with the others. Han looked up dumbfounded at this piece of information, questions starting to build up in her head. First of all, she never thought Kamaji had a family, Second, she doesn't see the resemblance, and Third, How did it happen?

But the questions will remain unanswered as there was a bigger conundrum at hand, Why is she here.

"Okay, then why is she here?" Han asked, the girl walked forward, wondering whether this person was a good person like Haku and Kamaji or not. "She wants to work here but I don't need any more help. Could you take her to see Yubaba instead?" Kamaji asked, Han was not liking that idea at all.

I don't think she is Kamaji's granddaughter Han suddenly thought, no grandfather would think it would be a good idea to let their granddaughter work at a place like this. Han grew skeptical of Kamaji's answer.

This young girl was about to make a grave mistake. Han walked over to the young girl and noticed that she was a few inches shorter, she reached about Han's ears, forcing Han to slightly tilt her head down. "I don't think you'd want to work here. Where are your parents?"

The girl shook her head, "I have to work here. Please." She answered ignoring the question. Han sighed, It almost made Han laugh at how similar this situation was to when she arrived in the bathhouse, and boy does she regret insisting to work here now.

"I promise you kid, it's not a good idea to work here." Regardless of Han's warning the girl kept insisting, Han scratched her head and gave in, grabbing the basket of empty bowls and asked the girl to come follow her. She felt a growing pit of guilt in her gut as she walked to the door, she was leading a kid to live a horrible life, that was not something she wanted to live with.

The girl silently followed her, she noticed the girl had shoes on. "You won't need your shoes or your socks, you can leave them here so you can keep them safe." Han said, crawling through the door. "Also, you should thank Kamaji, he's going out of his way to help you." Han said, she was sure now that Kamaji was lying about the entire granddaughter thing, it was only right to thank him for making such a lie to help her.

The girl bowed to thank him and followed Han out of the boiler room. "Good luck!" Kamaji called out, he wasn't sure if it was the right thing to give Han, out of all people, the task but somehow it felt right to Kamaji.

They entered the lift and Han pulled on the lever. The young girl was a timid girl from what Han observed, with her twiddling with her hands and closed composure. Han decided to ease up the tension that was coming off the girl.

"I'm Han by the way, what's your name?" The girl looked up and relaxed when she saw the welcoming smile Han had.

"I'm Chihiro."

Chapter Text

Han thought Chihiro was a beautiful name, making her wonder what her name was before she started working in the bathhouse. She hoped that it was as beautiful as the name Chihiro. "That is a lovely name," She complimented the girl who blushed.

Before she could say a thank you, Han started to give out instructions on how Chihiro would convince Yubaba. "Be persistent. Yubaba will decline your wish many times but if you ask just enough she will give in and give you the contract."

Han paused for a second before holding Chihiro's shoulders, "Remember, do not ever forget your real name. If you do you'll be stuck here." Han held back on saying forever for she didn't want to spook the poor kid. Chihiro nodded apprehensively while Han let go of her. They reached the main floor of the bathhouse, but they had to go to Yubaba's which was at the tippy top.

Han grabbed Chihiro's wrist and led the way to the next lift but that also meant she had to navigate through a sea of customers and workers to reach it. Han hastily squeezed through big, thin, slimy customers. Hoping that no one would notice them. Chihiro tapped her shoulder, making her look back, afraid someone had noticed them and is now running after them. Fortunately it was the radish spirit, someone who Han was familiar with.

"Don't worry, he won't bother us. But stop staring, it'll cause suspicion." Chihiro followed her orders and they finally reached the lift. A group of spirits poured out of the lift, led by a frog, Han internally groaned as it was going to take a while to sneak into the lift.

"Well look who we have here." The frog said stopping right in front of Han, instantaneously she hid Chihiro behind her, taking her away from the frog's line of sight. "What are you doing on the second floor, aho." He hummed as if he was in the right, actually he is, but that doesn't justify his attitude.

"Am I not allowed here?" She asked, she saw the radish spirit enter the lift and so she pushed Chihiro inside. The frog was about to retort back when he lifted his nose, sniffing around. "What is that smell? It.." He took another sniff, "like a human, A fresh human." He added, clarifying that he didn't mean her.

"I think you're smelling something else." Han said making the frog swiftly turn his head to her in irritation for speaking up. She held up the fried newt up in the air, the frog's eyes sparkled at the sight of such a delicious delicacy. "Where did you get that? Give it to me." Han used her height advantage to hold up the newt out of the frog's reach.

She turned to Chihiro, "Go to the top floor." Chihiro nodded before the door closed. Han threw the newt up in the air, the frog following after it, giving Han a chance to sneak out of there.

...

After recollecting what just happened, Han rushed to find Lin to share this news. Lin was standing by the windows, cleaning the panes with a damp cloth. "Lin!" She called out, the older woman turned to her direction and her face transitioned to an angry expression.

"Where have you been? You missed dinner, I had to hide your share with me so that you can eat." Lin exclaimed as she pulled out of her pocket a bunch of rice balls wrapped with a piece of cloth, it was a surprise it was squished inside the pocket.

"Thank you." Han took the food and started munching on one of them, "Also I have a good explanation." And so Han told Lin everything that happened within the span of dinner. "So you found out who the human everyone was searching for."

Han nodded as she popped the last bite of rice into her mouth. It took awhile for Han to ascertain her suspicion about Chihiro being human. "Well, let's just hope she doesn't get turned into a pig." Lin said casually, Han stood aghast for Lin wasn't wrong. There was a clear chance Yubaba would do so.

She prayed that Yubaba would be merciful today.

They finished all their work right on time before the bathhouse closed, everyone gathered in the backroom as they prepared to go to their dorms for a long awaited rest. Before that, Haku or, as everyone else calls him, Master Haku, went inside with Chihiro right behind him holding onto the edges of her shirt whilst looking down.

"This is Sen and she will be working with you from now on." The room was filled with murmurs and disgruntled groans, the frogs who sat at the counter all raised a brow before speaking up. "I don't care if Yubaba gets angry at us, we're not taking in another human." I leaned on a wood post as they spoke against Haku's orders. "She's already under contract." Haku stated, Han smiled in relief knowing Chihiro's mission went successfully.

Everyone else, however, gasped in shock, a few muttered a what. "Well we're not taking her in our department." One yuna worker said, a few hummed in agreement and another added. "She'll stink up the entire place."

"A few days of eating our food will take away her scent." Haku said, by then Han grew restless after the workers still refused to take her in their department. She raised her hand catching everyone else's attention. "She can stay with me." She stated, Chihiro breathed in relief when she saw Han, glad that someone got her back.

The entire room roared in laughter, "Perfect, an outcast taking in another outcast." A frog said, wiping a tear from his eyes. Han's hand went down slowly, Lin yelled out for everyone to stop laughing. Underneath all the laughter Haku's brow was twitching, clenching his jaw as everyone else kept tormenting the brunette.

"Quiet down." He ordered and like a gust of wind flew by, everyone fell silent. "It is settled, Sen will be under the care of Han and Lin." Han struggled to smile while Lin stood up in surprise, "What? Why me?"

Haku turned to her and with a serious tone, "You said you wanted an assistant." Lin stuck out her tongue as a way to show her thoughts about this situation, but Han already knew Lin was covering up her actual feelings.

Everyone dispersed and went to their respective dorms, Han and Lin grabbed Chihiro with and as soon as they were out of earshot started to talk to Chihiro. "I'm so glad you got the job." Han exclaimed in a whisper shout. Chihiro grinned as Lin led them back to the dorm. "When Han told me about you, I thought you were gonna get killed."

They reached the dorm where only a few were there, some must have purposely avoided coming back knowing Chihiro would be there. "Anyway, My name's Lin. If you ever need help you can always ask Han and I." Chihiro could only nod, hugging her stomach as Lin turned on the lamp with no regard for the sleeping workers around them.

Han dug through the folded pieces of uniforms inside the cupboard, and found an apron, trousers, and the blue undergarment. The only thing missing was the top for the pink uniform. When she handed them to the junior she noticed she was looking sick.

"What's wrong?" She asked as Lin dug through the wardrobe to double check whether there was a top for Chihiro. "I don't feel so good." She said as she hugged her stomach even more. "A little bit of food and sleep and you'll be fine."Lin said as she pulled a top and unfolded it, Han shook her head. "Too big."

"You wash the apron yourself, and the top- you're so small." Suddenly an idea popped up, Han got up and searched through her sheets and found her old top that she stitched herself to make it fit her. Zeniba helped her learn how to tailor them.

"I didn't know you still had that." Lin said as she arranged the unfolded uniforms while Han tested if it would fit. "It's about her size." She handed them to Chihiro who spoke up. "Do you guys know Haku?" Han froze at the spot at the mention of his name, why would Chihiro ask about him.

Lin noticed Han's reaction, "What about him?" She asked coming across as prickly. "There aren't two Hakus, are there?" Lin scoffed and Han loosened up, going to her futon. "Two? I can barely handle one. He's Yubaba's henchman, Don't trust whatever he says." She said, it was peculiar to see how long Lin could hold a grudge.

Chihiro crouched down and moaned in pain, "Hey, you okay?" Han patted her back. The worker right beside them got up and asked what was wrong, pissed at them for disturbing her sleep. "It's the new girl, she's not feeling well." Lin said, the worker only sneered before going back to bed. Soon enough, the other three did too.

●●●

Like any other night, Han couldn't sleep properly fearing if she closed her eyes far too long the voices would return. Instead, she sat outside watching as the sun started to rise. From the balcony she could see the flower garden, giving her an idea.

Getting up she changed to her uniform and started to walk over to the garden. It was placed right near a cliff, which was one of Han's favorite hiding places. The sun was peeking out of the horizon once she reached the cliff, the wind was cold and the smell of the flowers put Han into peace.

What she didn't know was Haku, who stood from the bridge, looked at her. He was fighting the weird urge to walk over and ask her how she was doing. He knew it wasn't a good idea to be talking to the person he was ordered to not talk to but strangely enough he wanted to with every inch of him.

Luckily, Chihiro was running in his direction, he'll take his mind off that tall brunette.

Han fell asleep on the grass, the wind rustling the bushes becoming her lullaby. Just across the tall bushes of flowers sat down Haku and Chihiro, after she visited the pigpen, handing her her clothes. "Hide them." Chihiro took the clothes and pulled out the card given to her by her friend. "Chihiro." She read aloud before remembering that was her name. "That's my name."

All of the sudden, the realization of her current situation came to her like a rock. Haku gave her a pack of onigiri and Chihiro cried out as she ate. Haku patted her back in comfort, all of this must be hard on her. As soon as she calmed down she spoke.

"I can't believe I almost forgot my name." She said, Haku nodded. "That's how Yubaba controls us, by stealing our names." He said, Han's words rushed back to Chihiro's mind. "So that was why Han told me to remember my name," Haku perked up at the mention of her name. How did Chihiro know Han?

He only thought Han volunteering yesterday was out of the good of her heart, did they meet before that?

"Han told you that?"

"Yeah, she was super serious too." Haku understood, it was definitely something Han would say. For someone who is cursed to not have a real name, she would know about Yubaba's trick.

Chihiro looked at Haku who was still deep in thought, "Do you remember your name, Haku?" He shook his head, "If I did I wouldn't be stuck here." He said, a memory resurfaced after Han was mentioned. "I do remember when Han and I used to guess what our real names could be, and one time we even gave each other nicknames of what we wanted our names to be."Haku smiled to himself, Han's nickname for him was adorable, before stopping. Why is he thinking about her again? He shook his trying to shake out those memories.

Before Chihiro could ask a question she was interrupted by a now awake Han who exclaimed in realization. "Spirits! I'm late!" Before running off to the bridge, worried that someone would catch her relaxing instead of doing her morning shift.

Haku sighed glad that Han didn't hear them and got up. "You should go now too." He said to a surprised Chihiro, she didn't know Han was there the entire time, before nodding. She walked to the bridge and looked back, Haku had transformed into his dragon form.

Back at the bathhouse Han was occupied with thoughts of Haku, ever since Chihiro mentioned him, she couldn't stop thinking about how maybe there was a chance to talk to him again. It was obviously impossible, Haku made it clear he didn't want to talk to her ever.

Han shook off those thoughts, the only thing in her mind and it is to finish all of her work quickly.

●●●

When night arrived, so did the rain. Han was already sure that the bathhouse would be extra hectic, along with the rain came a heap-full of customers soaked from the storm outside. All the workers rushed to help the customers, leading them to the rooms or to available tubs as soon as they found one.

Some ended up fighting over a tub and who gets to use it, eventually someone won and the losers would have to find another tub. Fortunately, Han was assigned to clean the rooms. Lin and Sen were busy downstairs cleaning the floorboards right beside the center of the bathhouse. Unfortunately, Cleaning the rooms meant Han had to deal with gross customers who thought they were better than everyone else in the bathhouse.

This pride usually ends up with Han getting involved in their gross antics.

"Looks like this room has an extra treat." Han's hairs rose up as she heard the voice, a voice she knew all too well. Behind her stood a cat spirit, dressed in a purple yukata, despite him being in his tamed form, his purple hair was still all over the place.

"Hello, sugar." Han felt like she was about to puke, she fixed the room and prepared to leave. She has too many encounters with this spirit and she doesn't want to add another. Before she could leave the door was blocked by him. "Um, excuse me sir, you're blocking the way." She said, He let out a disgusting chuckle, "How about staying a little longer, eh, sugar?" Han held back the urge to both puke and punch the spirit in the face, instead she shook her head and hoped this man would see she clearly didn't want to be there.

"Oh come on, Liven up, I came here to have a good time and I bet I can give that too." Han was about to respond when someone coughed just right outside the door, startling the cat spirit who turned around quickly. "Excuse me sir, She is required to come with me." Said the young master who stood politely in front them.

The cat spirit grumbled before letting Han through the door, quickly shutting it after she got out. Instantly, Han breathed out and smiled at her savior. Perhaps he really was her knight in a haori jacket and indigo jinbei. "Thank you for... I guess... saving me back there." Han said awkwardly, she didn't know how she should thank him, when it was mostly likely a coincidence that he was there at that moment.

"I was meaning to find you either way, it was just a coincidence." He said, Han nodded, she knew he would say that. He cleared his throat once more before leaving her at the ground floor, blending into the crowd of stressed workers.

Han stood there, so Haku didn't need her after all. A smile grew on the brunette's face, she felt so light she swore she could float. Her trance was shook away when Lin approached her with two bowls of dinner. "Han! Glad I saw you, I left Sen with the big tub and I'm kinda worried. Can you go ahead and check on her?" Han nodded and went ahead, when she arrived the water was overflowing out of the tub.

"Sen, the water!" She called out, Chihiro jumped up surprised and reached out for the water but slipped into the tub. Han dropped her basket of cleaning supplies and rushed to reach out on the rope, successfully stopping the water. Han tried reaching for Chihiro but the sludge spirit that was occupying the tub helped Chihiro out instead. Soon Chihiro noticed that the spirit was hurt.

"A thorn." She said, Han turned to her confused. "A thorn?" She repeated in question, Chihiro nodded and tried to reach for it. "It won't come out." Han reached into the grey-green gunk and felt a weird thorn sticking out and tried to pry it out.

"What's going on?" Lin asked from the entrance of the cubicle. Chihiro looked at her and yelled at the top of her lungs. "There's a thorn!" Han tried to pull the thorn once more and started to wonder, What type of thorn even is this?

Chapter Text

Once Chihiro said this it caught everyone's attention, Lin put down the now sullied food and crossed the flooding room filled with goop. Once she reached Han and Chihiro, she climbed up to the tub with no problem. "Where's the thorn?" She asked, Han tried to reach for it while Lin followed, finding the thorn immediately. She tried to pull it out with Han but still even with two people the thorn won't budge.

Yubaba descended from the second floor, pulling a long piece of rope for them to use. "Here tie it around the thorn and everyone will help pulling." She said, Lin and Han hurriedly tied it around the thorn, making sure it was secure. Then all the workers gather to take a hold of the rope with Yubaba standing at the cubicle wall holding two fans in each hand.

Yubaba raised her hand and as she swung it to the side everyone pulled. "Heave!" It only took seconds before everyone felt the rope budge, gradually the thorn emerged out of the sludge body of the spirit. While everyone was just expecting a big thorn, they wouldn't have possibly expected a bunch of junk to come along with the thorn.

They kept pulling nonetheless, most of them wondering how did all this junk stay inside the spirit's body. The pile was humongous, with pieces of furniture, bikes, and even lamps stuck together by what Han could guess is a fishing net but she could be wrong.

They continued pulling when Han's foot slipped, causing her to be washed down along with the pile of goop covered junk. She gasped as she fell, no one noticed her disappear from the edge of the tub, focused on removing everything that was stuck in the sludge. Metal items fell on her, crushing her and poking every bit of her body. She couldn't quickly move when more items were being pulled out and more items piled on top of eachother.

Han carefully clawed her way out, not realizing a sharp rod was grazing her calves. As soon as she emerged from the gunk she ran away from the pile and ran close to where Lin and Chihiro, who were still busy trying to pull everything out.

She went back to help and finally all the junk was out, everyone watched as Chihiro was being talked to by the spirit and then got up and flew out of the bathhouse, his laughter echoing across the bathhouse. Everyone cheered in victory as he left.

While everyone was celebrating, A worker noticed something amidst all the dirt, shiny yellow pieces glittering in the water. "Gold?" almost instantly all the heads followed his direction and looked down, saying the exact same thing.

Yubaba jumped as she heard that and hugged Chihiro overjoyed. "Thank you, Sen!" She said hugging Chihiro while still jumping up and down. "You got us so much money!" She exclaimed in excitement. Everyone cheered for Chihiro while Han watched from the back, Happy that everyone has grown to like Chihiro.

She tried to walk over when she felt something tickle her leg, she looked down to see blood drip down from a long gash that looked like it needed stitches. How did Han never notice this wound before? She felt the pain come in as she stared at it longer causing her to have trouble standing, this wound is going to take a while to heal. She slowly tried to walk out of the place so she could go to Kamaji to ask for some herbal medicine to treat her wound.

It was most likely infected after being in contact with rusted metal.

"That spirit was rich and powerful. Everyone, Learn from Sen." She turned around to face everyone, "Sake is on the house tonight!" Everyone hollered in joy, some jumping up and down, some clapped. Part of them was Han and Lin.

"But first give me all the gold you picked up." Everyone groaned, typical Yubaba.

After the big fiasco had passed, the men got drunk hard at the kitchen while the women, some women stayed with the men, went back to their dorms, exhausted. Han walked over to the balcony where Lin was laying down while Chihiro was sitting, legs dangling at the edge of the platform.

As Han sat down beside Chihiro, who was spitting something out, Lin handed her a pork bun. "Where were you? I was looking for you after I got some food." Lin asked as Han took a bite from her pork bun. "I had to go to the bathroom." Lin nodded and sighed.

"I thought Guri was trying to hurt you again." She said, Han let out a dry laugh, it was a surprise that Guri hasn't approached since a few days ago. When Chihiro came Guri stopped bothering her. She wondered what Guri is up to, knowing it was impossible for her to not be tormenting Han for more than 2 days.

Even so, Han was grateful she had peace for once. They could hear Lin sigh again, "What a day." She said taking another pork bun from the bowl. Chihiro looked down at the scary dark waves crashing against the red cement wall. "Have you guys seen Haku? He missed the whole thing." Chihiro said, bringing it up.

Lin groaned, "Not Haku again." Han wondered how Haku and Chihiro became so close, but Haku seems to be the first person Chihiro met in the spirit world so, it would make sense why she would ask for him so often.

"He just disappears sometimes. Rumor says he goes around doing Yubaba's dirty work." Lin said, her voice sounded like she was sharing gossip. Which it was, it wasn't right to talk about rumors, Han thought. Chihiro looked surprised and turned to Han, who, she thinks, knows Haku more than anyone in the bathhouse.

"Does he really?" She asked the tired brunette, who shrugged in response, finishing her pork bun. "It's just a rumor, no one really knows where he goes when he disappears." She answered, before she used to know. Haku always made sure to tell her when he left but now... He doesn't even speaks to her.

Chihiro then asked a question that poked a spot in Han's heart she never knew would get touched again. "Were you and Haku close?" Lin elbowed Chihiro knowing this wasn't a question she should be asking. Despite the memories that question brought up, Han answered with a melancholy tone.

"I guess we were at some point." Han stood up and went to bed, the lights went out seconds after that as everyone had the same idea.

Lin and Chihiro sat silently in the dark before going to bed as well.

●●●

To a stranger's point of view, Han looks like she is sleeping soundly but to Han's point of view she was struggling to shut her never ending thoughts. Chihiro's sudden question was still ringing in her head, despite Han's hopes that if she answered the question it would leave her head.

Apparently, she was wrong.

After that conversation, Han thought why did their friendship end in the first place. It has been awhile and Han almost couldn't remember the reason. Was it because Haku was too busy? That couldn't be it, Han observed Haku's daily routine once in a while when she herself wasn't too busy and it was always the same thing.

Supervise here, go outside, follow Yubaba's orders, keep the peace in the bathhouse, etc. There wasn't a time where his schedule would change, it was only when he did his usual trips that no one knew where Haku broke his routine. Perhaps she bore him out, to Han it made total sense.

Haku stopped talking to her when they were at the age they start maturing. Haku wasn't interested in games anymore and Yubaba was more demanding ever since Haku was able to do harder errands.

That must be it, Han was too boring and useless to Haku now, He didn't need to accompany her anymore. There was a pang in Han's chest, she sat up and clutched her hands together. She shouldn't be crying about this, it is done, over, Haku doesn't care about her anymore.

And I shouldn't too, that was what Lin would say if she heard what I was thinking but why can't I stop crying? She thought, her tears trickled down her cheek, staining her blanket. She tried to wipe away the tears as she held back a sob, it was a suffocating task, really. Knowing she couldn't stay longer in the air tight room, Han got up hastily and stood at the balcony, closing the door behind her.

The moon was bright and round, providing her warmth while the cold breeze brushed against her cheeks in a failed attempt to wipe away those tears. Although she had stopped crying her thoughts did not, ending up in an unwanted place in her mind.

Why do I have to be so weak?

When were you not?

Han looked up in fear, it was back. The voices were back to haunt her once more and knowing what would come next, Han's heart beated faster. She hit her head twice in an attempt to rid the voice but none of her efforts worked. The voices then continued.

You were always weak, you always needed someone to come save you. You never once stood up for yourself.

She couldn't fight it back, it was right after all. Even to a voice, Han was weak against it. That was what she hated the most, everything the voices said were right but the intentions weren't always the best.

So? There was always someone to come save me, that means I am of worth.

Han retorted, she wasn't going to let the voices win this time. She was going to show the voices she wasn't weak. Han didn't know where the sudden motivation to fight back came from but she didn't complain about it either.

Really? Guess what, you're just a burden to them. They only help you because they pity you. They pity your weakness, they know you pay people back with loyalty. They are just using you.

Han shook her head, LIES, those are all lies! My friends would never use me, they care for me and love me. I am only doing the same.

Then why did Haku leave you.

Han fell silent, the voices continued.

It was because he got tired of you and soon enough the rest will follow.

Han couldn't answer back, her mouth was closed shut and her eyes were itchy and watery. Just like that the voices won again but the voices were greedy, they weren't satisfied with just a victory. They craved the prize.

Han's body, stuck in the trance, took a step forward, then another and then she climbed up the railing, and soon Han was spiraling down to the dark waters. Han was soon engulfed by the cold water, stinging every inch of her body from the impact.

Whether she could move or not wasn't the question, It was if she wanted to. The voices have stopped and her consciousness reentered, instantly she could feel the air try to escape through her nose. Han's eyes went wide open, getting irritated by the water. With all her might she reached out for the surface but the more she tried the further she went down.

Soon her lungs were burning and felt air escape through her ears, her throat threatened for her to open her mouth, the air in her longing to escape the cages of a drowning body.

Somehow, Han grew to accept her fate. In fact, no one would really miss her, no one would feel empty from her absence, likely no one would even notice her gone, some might even rejoice from her death. Her head grew lighter and she took one last look of the moon's comforting glow as she let out her last breath.

●●●

Chihiro woke up from a horrible dream, she saw her friends disappear into the darkness but that wasn't the reason why she was breathing heavily. She felt every strand on her body stand up while chills crawled slowly on her spine, like a ghost was spooking her. Afraid of the ghost, she ran to the balcony where she thinks she'll be safe.

Still the goosebumps continued, Chihiro rubbed her shoulders in attempts to get rid of it but no effort was working. What is going on? She thought, there must be a reason behind this. Chihiro suddenly had the urge to look down and so, not even questioning why, she did.

And was she horrified.

A body floated lifeless on the blue water, there was no blood, fortunately, but that didn't ease Chihiro at all. Her stomach churned and twisted at the sight, She peered closer at the body and felt dread wash over her.

"Han!"

From her outburst only Lin burst awake, hair disheveled and tripping over her blankets as she ran over to where Chihiro was standing. When she saw what Chihiro was looking at she let out a dismayed cry as she called out her name. Lin started to panic as she didn't know what to do, so she did the first thing that came to her head. They had to take Han out of the cold water. Lin rushed down the stairs, hoping she wasn't too late. Chihiro followed behind her.

They arrived at the boiler room, and Kamaji woke up from the loud rush towards the other side. He wondered why they were in such a hurry but then he saw the worried glint in Lin's eyes, Sensing something was wrong Kamaji rushed out with them.

Near the cement wall was where you could see Han's body floated. Kamaji felt his heart drop at the sight, what they have feared has finally happened. He walked ahead of the two girls and he reached out for her. Scooping her up from the water he could feel her cold skin, pressing his ear against her chest, he prayed.

Beat

Kamaji gasped while Lin and Chihiro waited for his response, both clasping their hands together." She's alive." Lin broke down from the news, glad that Han was okay, well they think she is. Kamaji then walked back to the boiler room to warm up the freezing child.

Once Han was peacefully sleeping in a comfortable position in Kamaji's extra futon, warmed up, and treated with medicine, her three friends sat down on the wooden platform in solemn silence. They tried to comprehend what just happened but their minds were fuzzy and struggled to think at all.

Chihiro however sat there in confusion, just a few minutes ago Han was thought dead and now the adults were just sitting there, staring at the floor, not saying a word. She thought by now they would have informed Yubaba or looked for Haku. What just happened was serious and people should know about this, thought Chihiro.

Why aren't they taking Han to a doctor was what confused Chihiro more. To clear out her confusions she spoke up, "What-" The only problem was she didn't know how to ask them, neither of the two budged from her voice and this concerned Chihiro, did she do something wrong with speaking up?

Lin let out a sigh and turned to Chihiro, knowing how the girl must be lost right now, she knew she had to explain what just happened. "You must be wondering what happened just now."

Once she was well rested in Kamaji's extra futon, the three sat quietly in the boiler room as they tried to comprehend what just happened. Chihiro looked at the two disheartened adults who barely were able to contain their tears. She couldn't handle the heavy air around them and so she spoke.

Chihiro nodded, she was partially surprised by this new side of Lin, a side where she could barely contain any of her emotions and looked like she was at the verge of crying again. Lin started to explain, "Han has a curse, well, we think she has a curse." She said, "She hears voices and then she-" Lin paused, Chihiro might end up asking more questions than she wanted to if she explained too much about the curse, "I mean, she goes into a trance and then-"

"It leads her to a path to death." said a voice from the door of the boiler room, standing in front of the morning light was a face Lin wasn't happy to see. "What are you doing here?"

"What happened to Han." Haku asked sternly.

Chapter Text

Lin glared at the shorter spirit, Haku narrowed his eyes staring back at the woman. Kamaji and Chihiro sat down as they watched the tension grow between the two spirits, not knowing who would win.

Admittedly, Kamaji didn't even know why Lin was being protective of Han from the boy but he knew it was a business he shouldn't stick his nose into. Chihiro as well was confused as to why this was happening right now. It was clear Haku meant no harm so why is Lin still blocking his way.

"You're in my way." Haku said as he tried to move away from the path blocked by Lin, who moved along to block his path once more. "I said what are you doing here?" She asked rudely, she didn't care whether Haku was higher in rank than her, she would not let him get close to Han.

"I saw you bring Han inside the boiler room." He said before muttering to himself, "I got worried." Unfortunately for him Lin heard every word. "Well, she's fine. You can go now." Haku did the exact opposite of what Lin hoped.

He swiveled around her and then went to check on Han, as he expected, sadly, Han's curse became worse. She was having a growing fever and Haku suspected her to have a dreadful headache as well. Lin was about to pull him away when Kamaji finally decided to stop her.

He could see that Haku had his reasons, Lin head whipped around quickly as she was being held by the arm by the older man before she could yell at Haku once more he held his hand over Han's chest, muttering words under his breath and seconds later he let out a heavy sigh. Looking at the people around him, Haku said in a soft voice, "She'll wake up soon."

That was what all he said before leaving out through the tiny sliding door.

●●●

And Haku was right, two days later, Han blinked her eyes open. "Irgh... my head hurts." She said as she raised a hand to hold onto her pounding head. Lin, who was sitting beside her in the boiler room, stood up in surprise as she woke up Chihiro, who fell asleep on the wooden floor.

"Han, thank goodness you're okay." Lin exclaimed as she carefully gave her an embrace while Chihiro rubbed the sleep from her eyes. When she saw her friend smiling at Lin she gasped. "Han!" She jumped into Han's arms, "I was so worried." She said, Han giggled and patted the junior's head in comfort.

"It's alright, I'm fine now."

Han sat up properly on the futon bed, realizing she has been sleeping in a different futon and she was in an entirely different room. "Um... why are we in the boiler room?" Lin looked concerned as Han asked this.

"You don't remember?" She asked, Han, indeed, remembered what happened. Well, she wasn't sure which memory Lin was referring to. Was it the voices incident or her argument with Haku.

Yes, Han was already awake at that time and she was glad she chose to pretend to be sleeping. She got to see a version of Haku that was closer to the Haku she once was friends with.

Either way, Han pretended to not know as she wanted everyone to just forget about it. It will only cause more worry than good. Han shook her head and stood up, her headache now completely gone, it must have been Haku heal enchantment. Lin was about to tell her what had happened in the past 8 hours but the younger girl interrupted her.

"What time is it already?" She asked, she was aware of the cold night but she had to pretend she knew nothing or else Lin would catch on to her trick. The trick was to avoid going to work today as her shift today was with Guri, and once Han saw the opportunity. She took it.

Chihiro answered, "It's already 10 pm, everyone has gone to bed." Han nodded and started to walk to the tiny sliding door, they needed to go back to the dorm so that no one would wonder where the two girls went. Lin didn't speak on their way back.

Han continued talking to Chihiro as if the voices never happened, as if she didn't nearly die just this morning. Lin looked at her friend baffled, concerned, happy, all sorts of different emotions came over her like a series of jabs and punches.

Although Lin was sure Han remembered what happened, she didn't bring back the subject as she was far more happy that her friend was awake again. They kept conversing on their way back to the dorms. Maybe one day Han will be able to trust her enough to tell her the truth.

Once they reached the dorm, it was dark and all the futons were laid out except for theirs, So they started to prepare for bed in silence, wary of the sleeping workers around them. They bid each other goodnight and fell asleep.

Well, they think Han was asleep.

After sleeping the entire day, Han felt refreshed and energized, her body refusing to even relax on her futon. She instead decided to sneak out her favorite and only book from a loose wood plank, where she had hidden it. Inside the gap shined a beautiful cream colored book with stains all over it.

It was a sad sight to see the stains but it wasn't exactly Han's fault, it was already this way when Han found it in Zeniba's bookshelf. The book had the title written in cursive Wonders of Kingsbury. It was pressed on the hardcover of the book with gold.

She traced the embedded words, still mesmerized by the beauty of this book. With the help of the moon's light, she flipped open the hefty thing, the pages tossed to a familiar page, as if the book knew it was the page she would flip to.

She ogled over the beautiful dresses painted in the pages, she wished one day she could wear a dress just like the ones in front of her. She imagined herself standing in a beautiful patio wearing an elegant blue dress, with lace at the hem of the skirt, and a magnificent edge framing the neckline, holding a book while looking outside a tall window.

Perhaps she could be in someone's arms, holding her tight but that was too far of a dream.

She traced along the drawing as she wished she could just grab it from the page and maybe feel the cloth. She wondered what it was like to wear such prepossessing dresses, to live a life with freedom and no worry. Han could only wonder about such things.

She sighed before putting back the book on the hollow space on the wooden floor, once she closed it she laid on her bed, staring up at the thin ceiling. Soon enough she had led herself off to her happy place, somewhere where she could dance in ravishing gowns, eat fresh sweet pastries, read books by a cozy fireplace and a delicious cup of tea right beside her.

Han fell asleep dreaming of a better life.

●●●

Days had passed by and Han was back working again, of course her absence was not taken lightly by Yubaba. She was given pigpen duty and additional clean work for the next week, because of this Guri had not missed the chance to torment and bully her. Constantly following her around with her accomplice, Jin, a 17 year old girl who seems to look to Guri, the reason why is a mystery.

Han groaned internally as she heard Guri and Jin's footsteps get closer, she was busy cleaning the pillars on the second floor, as Yubaba ordered her to, when Guri's laughter could be heard from afar. Han was already sure she was going to bother her in some way, why else would Guri be on the second floor?

Taking a huge breath in, Han prepared for the worst.

Guri and Jin stopped just right beside Han with their arms crossed, Han continued wiping the pillars hoping they would leave her alone, maybe today could be her one lucky day.

Nope, it wasn't.

"Yah! Who do you think you are to ignore me?" She yelled, pushing Han's shoulder to make her face her senior. Han avoided eye contact with Guri, who was now irritated by, what she considered, Han's defiant attitude. Her head tilted to the side as she clicked her tongue.

"Ooh, so you think you're all strong now, huh?" She leaned closer to Han's face, lifting her head by the chin to make eye contact, then proceeded to kick her in the shin, causing Han to fall landing on her bum, hitting the pail of water beside her spilling all the soap water onto the floor.

Guri and Jin laughed at her while she struggled to get up, once she did, Guri spoke up again. "That should teach you not to mess with me." What she said didn't make sense to Han, she couldn't recall 'messing' with Guri. What is going through her senior's head confuses Han.

Surprisingly after that, Guri and Jin left her alone. Han stood on wet ground and sighed, although she was partially drenched, especially around the rear area, she was glad she had been left alone. She picked up the empty bucket and brush walking downstairs to get some more water.

After a few more hours of cleaning the pillars on the second floor, Han was finally finished with her additional work, now onto her usual duties. She washed her face with cold water once she was in the backroom, feeling refreshed she tied her hair into a half bun half ponytail before continuing on to the tubs to start cleaning assigned cubicles.

Lin walked over to her once she saw Han, cleaning supplies basket in hand, Chihiro just right behind her. "Han!" They called out as they approached her. Han felt her spirits lift up at the sight of her friends, I guess there is a reason to live after all She thought.

She gleamed once they stood by her, they all walked over to the tubs and worked until night had dawned onto the bathhouse.

The calmness of today did not prepare them for the troubles tomorrow would bring.

●●●

When morning came Han was surprised to see most of the beds were empty, not one was fixed, it was only her and a barely awake Chihiro in the dorm. Where did everyone go? She wondered, it was quite too early for them to go to work. Chihiro walked over to Han in confusion.

"Where is everyone? Did they go to work already?" She asked, Han shook her head, "It's too early." She got up and folded her bed, placing it inside the wardrobe before getting her uniform to change into, Chihiro doing the same. "I wonder where everyone went?" Chihiro thought out loud, Han fixed her uniform and nodded.

They went ahead and started to go downstairs, curious as to why the dorm was empty. On their way down Chihiro started to talk, reaching to a topic about what had happened while Han was too busy doing all the extra chores Yubaba gave her.

Apparently, Haku had left for another errand right after his visit on that day. Chihiro continued talking then halted to question Han, "Why does Lin hate Han so much?" She asked, Han looked down at the kid while she thought of it. Ever since Haku had stopped being friends with her Lin had changed her attitude towards him, that could be it.

But it was not exactly something she'd want to say to Chihiro, seeing how she admires Haku, she wouldn't want to ruin his or Lin's image to the young girl. She shrugged as an answer instead. "She has always despised him, she hasn't told me why yet, maybe we should leave it be." She advised that Chihiro wouldn't ask Lin herself and knowing Lin, she wouldn't hesitate to bring Haku down.

Chihiro nodded and they continued walking, crossing with Lin who was in a hurry upstairs. "Sen, Han!" She exclaimed, taking a few steps down. "I was about to come wake you up." She said, Han could see the excitement in her eyes so she asked, "What's going on?" Lin smiled and held up a shiny piece of gold. Han peered closer to it, there was something off with it but she wasn't sure.

"It's actual gold, there's a guest that's loaded and he's giving away gold by the handful." She said in exhilaration, Chihiro looked over to the commotion happening all over the place. "Who's the guest?" She asked, Lin shrugged going down the stairs. "Oh who cares, come on before Yubaba wakes up." She said inviting them to come with her.

Han waved both of her hands, "I think I'll pass." She said she didn't like the idea of being squished by the crowd just for something like gold, even if she didn't mind crowds, she wasn't a huge fan of gold either.

Chihiro nodded, "I'll stay with Han." She said, Lin pouted before another worker called her over. "Oh well, suit yourselves, see you later!" She said before running off to the other girls.

"All this ruckus just for gold, sheesh." Han said before walking back to the dorms, Chihiro catching up to her. "Isn't gold important?" Chihiro asked, recalling one of her lessons back at school. Han hummed, "Well, yes, but it's not entirely a big deal like how they make it."

"They think you need gold to be able to escape this place, but no matter how much gold you save there is only one way to leave the bathhouse. That is to know your real name." She paused when she remembered a time when someone did leave the bathhouse through money but that was still a difficult and, for Han, displeasing.

"Well, you can also be bought by a customer but I don't like the thought of being bought like I'm an item." She said as she recalled the times customers tried to buy her off Yubaba's hands, most of the time it was the disgusting purple cat spirit. She knew she would rather live in the bathhouse than live with that horrible spirit.

Chihiro nodded in understanding, they reached the dorm and not knowing what to do they decided to stand by the balcony. Chihiro keeping a close eye on Han, you know, just in case.

As they conversed, from afar a certain something was battling against useable things. When Chihiro looked ahead she noticed something, squinting to see what it was. Once she could make it out she gasped. "Han, did you see that?" She asked.

Han hummed in question, looking out to the water where Chihiro was pointing at. "See what?" She tried to search the horizon of what Chihiro might've seen. A familiar dragon came into view, coming closer by the second. "That!" Chihiro exclaimed. "Is that Haku?" Han said, Chihiro was jumping up and down in excitement, "It's Haku, Han, he's back!" She exclaimed, shaking the senior.

Han noticed the turquoise dragon struggling to fly in a straight line, constantly flying upwards and then downwards, trying it's best to pry away from something she couldn't see. Chihiro noticed Han's silence and observed Haku, "Are those birds?" She asked, Han shook her head, if they were birds she would know.

"I don't think those are birds."

Haku flew closer to the building, bumping onto the wall just right under the balcony, Han was starting to worry, she could see red around his mouth as he flew by. He went back down again, Chihiro cheered Haku on, while Han noticed him flying too close towards them.

"Chihiro, duck!"

They ducked right in time, when Haku crashed into the dorm, staining the walls with blood. They ran inside while paper like floating things scratched them, Han and Chihiro got inside, "Close the door! Close the door!" Han ordered, they closed the door in time before the rest of those flying papers flew in.

At the other end of the dorm, Haku was growling in pain. He coughed blood out, staining the futons and the floor.

Before they could even reach his side, Haku already flew out of the dorm, breaking the doors and the railing. Han observed the amount of blood stains in the entire dorm, the amount wasn't good.

Han ran to the balcony where Chihiro stood worriedly, "He's losing a lot of blood, we have to go find him before he bleeds too much." Chihiro nodded, "He was going to Yubaba's" She said, Han took note of her words as they rushed to go to the closest path to Yubaba's

Just hold on, Haku.

Chapter Text

The way to Yubaba's was crowded with workers, almost everyone was gathered by the hallway. They held up baskets of food and open palms as something big was walking at the center of it all.

They tried to sneak through the side but Chihiro bumped into a frog worker, who got agitated easily by this. "Hey, what are you doing?" He asked once he saw who she was with, Han wasn't known to be wandering around.

Chihiro answered casually to the frog's question, "Going upstairs." This irked the frog worker, thinking this was Han's influence. "Wha- no you're not." He stated, gripping Chihiro's wrist tight as he thought of punishing the girl for her rude actions.

His thoughts were cut short when he noticed the blood stains all over her palm. His eyes widened in shock and disgust, letting her go like she was a disease. Taking this opportunity, Chihiro went to a random direction her legs led her to, not realizing she was running to the center of the crowd.

"Chihiro, wait!" Han called out but she was too late, the young girl was already gone into the crowd. Chihiro stopped right in front of a black spirit, who seemed to be the person everyone was cheering for. The crowd went silent as the black spirit stared at Chihiro far too long, then they held out a handful of gold and shove it in front of Chihiro's face.

Although she liked the shine of the yellow pieces, Chihiro knew it would be no use for her. So she tried her best to politely decline the offer. "I'm sorry, I don't want any." She said, almost everyone gasped. The spirit tried to push the offer by, in fact, pushing the gold further to Chihiro's face. She looked away as she wanted to run off already. "I'm sorry but I'm in a big hurry." She said before deciding she'll just have to run. She dashed as the spirit dropped all the gold pieces on the ground, surprised.

Right by the entrance of yet another narrow hallway, waited Han. Chihiro ran over as they ran forward, the hallway led them to a familiar window. Han stopped to a halt, trying to remember what it was that made her avoid this window.

It had no ledge whatsoever.

Han was too late, Chihiro had already gone out of the window. Luckily, Chihiro was able to jump onto the roof in front of it. Han then jumped over, completely forgetting her still healing wound in her leg.

"Ah, ow!"

She held onto her right leg as she fell on her side once she landed on the metal roof, Chihiro crouched down beside her in worry. "Are you okay?" She asked, Han nodded as she forced herself up. She held up a thumbs up to reassure Chihiro as they continued onto their journey. They reached a long metal pipe that led to a ledge on the other side, where a ladder was placed right beside it.

"Okay, You go first." Han said, Chihiro took a deep breath and ran fast along the pipe, Han on her trail. The pipe groaned and swayed before slowly falling apart, they hurried their pace and once Chihiro was already on the platform the pipe gave up, falling onto the water.

Han jumped, reaching out to the ledge, her fingers gripped tightly on the edge as she was pulled up by Chihiro. She got on breathless, that could've ended differently.

They started to climb up the thin metal ladder, Han feeling tired and sore all over her body. Chihiro led the way and they ended up in a window with barely any space to stand. Chihiro tried to push the glass window open without breaking it, before resorting to using her butt and her entire body weight. The window burst open, causing Chihiro to lean, falling inside.

Han slowly got in, realizing they were in Yubaba's office. "We're here." She stated as she looked around, it was still filled with multiple shiny trinkets. They went forward to another room that was filled with pillows, the floor was made of cushion and the walls had a mural of beautiful scenery. "This looks like a nursery." She said.

A voice was speaking just right outside the curtain doors, Han approached the velvet curtains, peeking out. Yubaba was talking to someone over the telephone, Han heard bits of the conversation, it seems so Yubaba was informed of the wealthy guest and that it was a scoundrel spirit called No face. Yubaba put the phone down with a groan.

She walked over to a bleeding Haku, "Haku's bleeding all over the carpet." She complained as she ordered the three goblin heads what to do, "Get him out of here, He'll be dead soon anyways." Yubaba then started to walk over to the nursery, Han immediately backed away from the curtains.

"Hide."

Han jumped into a mountain of pillows, Chihiro panicked before she decided to jump to the second pillow pile, Just right before Yubaba entered the room. She then spoke in a baby voice towards what Han assumed to be her child before shutting off the lights and left the nursery.

Once Han could no longer hear any footsteps, she jumped out of the pile, a second longer in there and she was sure she'd suffocate. She whispered to the pile before her where Chihiro was hiding. "Chihiro, you can get out now." Chihiro's head popped out of the pillow pile before she was pulled back in.

Han tried to reach for her when a tiny voice spoke up, it was too soft and there were too many pillows for Han to be able to understand what the person was saying. She waited until she heard Chihiro. "I'm not a germ, I'm a human. Now will you please let go of me." Han waited for a response but she still couldn't hear anything.

The tall brunette decided to peek out of the curtains, looking at Haku's wounded self, surrounded by the three goblin heads, nudging at him. What are they doing?

Soon Chihiro jumped out of the pillow pile and they both dashed to Haku, right before he was about to be shoved into a dark pit just inches apart from him.

Chihiro crouched down and caressed Haku's snout while Han kicked the three green gigantic heads away from them. She stood beside the younger girl as she checked on Haku. "Haku, can you hear me?" Chihiro asked but he only responded with a low growl.

A crow then swooped down, clawing at the girls' hair. "Get off me!" Han exclaimed as she tried to wave the bird away, the raven kept clawing her hair, it's black feathers flying everywhere in the room making it difficult for Han to see anything.

When she thought things couldn't get any worse, the ground started to jump as something took heavy steps closer to them. The crow stopped bothering the two girls as a humongous baby plodded towards them. Han stood there already knowing what was to happen as it was approaching them with teary eyes and a runny nose. "I'm not afraid of germs, if you don't play with me I'll cry." The baby stated.

Han was struggling to process what was happening at the moment, perhaps it was the effects of the constant clawing the crow had done to her head, Han wasn't sure of anything anymore, While Han was just standing there, the baby walked a bit closer to them.

Chihiro was in a state of panic knowing the baby meant her. "Please, Don't cry, just wait." She said as she held onto Haku, "I want to play now." The baby demanded this time, Chihiro was growing more anxious by the second as she couldn't think of what to do anymore. She looked at the tall brunette asking for help. "Han, help me." She whispered to her and Han immediately went out of her trance.

"Uh... uhm... How about we play?" Han said as she approached the big baby, literally, hoping her offer would quiet down the baby. The child picked up Han and inspected, as if trying to determine whether she was worth playing with or not, apparently she was not of his taste. He threw to the other side of the room with incredible force, saying a loud, "No!"

Han felt like she was about to faint from the impact, surprisingly she didn't, instead she felt her head pound and her entire body throb in pain, any movement hurt at that second. She stayed still, eyes half open as she saw Chihiro completely panicked. "Han!"

Before the big baby or the three goblin heads could approach Chihiro something slid out of Han's shoulder, a thin piece of cutout paper similar to a stick man. From the piece of paper appeared a translucent version of Zeniba. Bringing Han more relief than one could imagine.

"Zeniba!" She said in joy, knowing things will go easier from her, well she thought it would anyway. The old lady looked at Han as she called for her, surprised at her current state. "Han, what happened to you?" She asked out of worry, Han only smiled and shook her head. "Don't worry, I'm fine."

Zeniba, of course, knew she wasn't fine but there were other matters to take care off. Zeniba made sure to note to check on Han later. She walked over to the injured Haku and the petrified Chihiro. For someone who has been working in the bathhouse for a while, Chihiro was still surprised to see things like projection, which was what Zeniba was doing.

It is a complicated spell to do and even harder to maintain, Han had read about it countless times and Zeniba had demonstrated it before as well. To this day, she is still amazed at how effortless Zeniba does the spell.

She turned to the big baby and clicked her tongue in disappointment. "Brat." She said she couldn't believe her own twin sister had raised such a spoiled being. Then again, she and her sister have always been so different from each other.

The baby looked at Zeniba as if he had recognized her, confusingly he asked, "Mama?" Zeniba looked at him in shock but she wasn't surprised, "Pea brain, can't you even tell me apart from your own mother?" Zeniba then looked at him and a loud ting echoed across the office.

Han recognized this sound substantially well, a certain spell she once wished she could someday. Naturally, she couldn't do it because you need to be born with magical ability to cast spells and Han, may I remind you, is a human.

But Han's train of thought was cut off when she saw the once big baby now turned into a tiny pink mouse that was about the size of her hand, Zeniba laughed at the tiny confused mouse. "Now you have a body to match your brain." She said, which made Han giggle, before looking around the room.

"Let's see what else we can mess with." Then with a flick of her hand she turned the annoying crow into a tiny bird that was close to being an insect and with another swish the three heads transformed into the big baby, looking confused and somewhat lost in their now form.

Han then was able to stand up, with a slight limp in her step, she reached the end of Haku's tail while Zeniba looked at the petrified Chihiro, "This is our little secret." She said holding a finger above her lips, Han looked at her with a smile before a question came to her.

"Why are you here"

"Who are you?"

Chihiro and Han asked in unison, Zeniba smiled as she answered Chihiro's question first, to clear up any further confusions. "I'm Zeniba, Yubaba's twin sister and this kid stole something very important from me." She answered, She walked closer to Chihiro as she gave Han something along the way.

Han sat down to inspect what was in her hand, it was a red cloth bag tied by a drawstring with something written in silver writing, 薬 or Medicine. Han smiled knowing that Zeniba cared, she'll have to use it later.

For now she had questions, like how did she sneak in with that flying piece of paper, what did Haku steal that was so important, and there many more but Zeniba didn't seem to be in the mood to answer. She continued to talk to Chihiro, "It was nice of you to lead me to this dragon." Zeniba said as she tried to reach for Haku but Chihiro jumped in the way, "What do you want with Haku? He's badly hurt." She stated.

"I'm pretty sure-"

Han was cut off with Zeniba retorting back a quick response, "Too bad, He stole my golden seal. It is a magical item and I need it back." She said this with little to no pity about Haku's current state which didn't sit right with Han but Zeniba had her reasons to be angry.

Chihiro looked surprised as if she hadn't heard Zeniba telling them the point of her visit. "Haku wouldn't steal. He's a good guy, right Han?" She asked her senior expecting her to agree but Han wasn't exactly sure about that, one thing the young kid doesn't know is that Haku isn't as innocent as she thinks he is.

Even Han would admit that.

Han couldn't answer the young girl's question as she was contemplating whether she should say yes or no, she was inclined more to no but yes would make Chihiro glad and she didn't want to explain why she wanted to say no.

"Yeah, he wouldn't"

Although she said this, it was clear she was hesitant with her answer, not because of the long time it took for her to respond but her tone of voice. Well, nonetheless Chihiro was satisfied with her answer.

Zeniba, on the other hand, knew the truth. She then responded back to Chihiro's statement.

With a smirk she gave shocking news to the young girl. "Oh really? Do you know why he's Yubaba's apprentice? It was to steal her magic secrets and now he wants to steal mine as well."

"He's a greedy little thief. There's nothing good about him." Zeniba stated while Chihiro and Han sat in silence. Han would've begged to disagree if she had forgotten that she had told the old lady what had happened between her and Haku.

Haku was neither good nor bad but he was certainly not evil, in other words he was not perfect. He was just like the rest of them, a lost child who got tangled in one of Yubaba's traps.

Han could state the time where Haku was good and tell almost an equal amount of time where he was naughty or stirred some trouble but it was what made him such a great person to be with.

Well, whenever Han tells this to Lin or anyone, which was nearly impossible, they'd stare at disbelief . Apparently, it was either Han was imagining things or she had met the wrong Haku.

The only person who would believe her was Chihiro, the only person that seems to get on the good side of Haku. Which left a painfully harsh throb in her chest, was this an effect of her being thrown across the room? Perhaps.

But there was another reason why.

Haku always seemed to be gravitating towards the young brunette, it made Han wonder why? Could it be the youthful smile she has? The round sparkling eyes, maybe? Or could it be it was none of those and he liked her for her spirit and courage. Now, it made sense to Han. Looks weren't the reason at all, it was how Chihiro was brave and never hesitated to fight.

Things Han could never be.

Wait, why am I thinking about this right now? Haku could be dying and Zeniba is angry and I'm thinking about feelings?

Han felt disappointed in herself. As she regained herself from her subconscious thoughts Zeniba was about to finish speaking.

"-and anyone who steals it will die." What? What did Zeniba just say? Han was flabbergasted as she heard Zeniba's words.

Who's dying? What is it Zeniba is talking about?

Chihiro was just as horrified as Han, taking another inch closer to Haku trying to protect him from the old lady. "No you can't!" Chihiro exclaimed, although Han was sure Zeniba wouldn't hurt Haku, she was still terrified of what she might do.

Before Zeniba could speak the ground jumped and loud thumps were heard across the room, the big baby was trying to squish the baby mouse and the tiny crow who ran towards Han and climbed up her shoulder, trembling in fear.

Zeniba walked to the big baby, "Idiot, what's your problem? Keep quiet, I don't want my sister coming up here." While she was distracted Haku woke up with a loud growl and with his tail swiftly cutting the paper Zeniba was projecting from in half.

Zeniba was cut in half along with the paper, "Oh, a paper cut." She said before fully disappearing. Haku had fainted once more as if that action had drained all the energy he had. He was too close to the deep hole and as he tried to lay back down to the ground, he fell down along with Chihiro.

"Han!"

Chihiro screamed as they spiraled down, Han was dragged along with them by Haku's tail. She screamed as they went further into the darkness, the wind whistling through her ears, walls changed from dark wood to scrap metal pieced together, and waiting at the bottom were squiggly black things reaching to them like they were their next meal.

Chihiro whispered to Haku and suddenly his eyes lit up and he regained consciousness, leading them away from the squiggly things and shot upward, going through a tunnel that was dim and in front of them was a slow turning fan.

Han's heart beated faster by the second, Haku doesn't plan to go through that, right? Knowing she was hanging only by his tail and her other hand was holding onto the baby mouse and tiny crow. Today might be the day Han becomes spirit food.

They crashed through the big fan and into the boiler room, where Han and Chihiro were safely caught by Kamaji while Haku splattered blood all over the medicine draws. He laid down on the wooden floor as more of the red liquid dripped from his mouth.

Chihiro and Han walked their way to him, worried for his condition. The tiny crow could barely hold the baby mouse and Han was right where they were just in time before the tiny crow dropped the mouse. Once she caught the baby the crow sat at her shoulder.

It's weird to think that the crow that was clawing at her hair a few minutes ago was now resting on her shoulder.

Chihiro crouched down holding Haku's mouth, inspecting the blood. Kamaji took a long look at his condition and clicked his tongue in worry. "This looks serious." He said as he tried to search for medicine. "Is he dying?" Asked Han, Kamaji hummed before responding, "He looks like he's bleeding from the inside." As he said this, Chihiro pulled out something from her pocket, a dark green ball made out of compact herbal medicine.

"Where did you get that from?" aske Kamaji as soon as he saw it, he must be familiar with the medicine as he was astounded at the sight of it. "I got it from the river spirit." Chihiro answered while trying to feed it to Haku, who refused to open his mouth.

"Come on, Haku, you need it." Han said but still the dragon refused, Chihiro had no choice but to pry open his mouth by force. Once there was a small gap, Chihiro shoved the medicine down his throat and tightly closed his mouth shut, Han helping her keep his mouth closed.

"You can do it, Haku." Han said, hoping the medicine would take effect sooner than later, it was hard to keep still a squirming dragon. Soon Haku started to calm down and his bleeding stopped, he let out a growl before he spit out the golden seal. Along with it, sitting at the top of the seal, was a worm-like black thing that seems to be alive.

"What the-"