Spirited Away: The Return Home

Chapter 10

Voices.

There were people talking around me, but none of the words made any sense. 

They annoyed me.

All I wanted to do was sleep some more and they were keeping me awake; bothering me. Why won't they just go away? Doing my best to block them out, I soon find that it wasn't working. Ready to to start a fight, I rolled onto my side. Pain seared through my body, forcing me to stain put, clenching my teeth to not cry out. Every joint, every muscles,  every bone seemed to be on fire. 

Muffling a groan, I slowly opened my eyes, shutting then tight again when everything seemed just too bright. I couldn't even turn my face away from it for fear of more pain. Testing my fingers, I found that my right arm felt only moderately battered and bruised. I raised my hand and covered my face with it. 

The conversation around my died out, followed by someone moving past me. The curtain rail screeched and the brightness disappeared. I almost sighed in relief, lowering my hand with protesting muscles. After a second or two, I opened my eyes, blinking once, twice. 

There were three people with me in the room. The first one was Haku, standing awkwardly to the side, and the person who had closed the curtains was Lin. The third person was almost too small to see and it took me a while to realize it was Mina, the little girl whose hair I had braided.

My eyes settled on Haku as I tried to pull myself up again, failing miserably. He was at my side in a second, helping me into a sitting position. What I didn't fail to feel though was that, despite feeling half dead, his touch still left my skin burning.

And then the burning was gone, Haku once again out of my reach. 

Slowly, hesitantly, Mina stepped forward, her small hand resting on mine. There was some comfort in that touch. 

"Are you okay?" she asked, her voice a little unsteady.

My throat felt as though hot coals had been forced down it but I managed to croak out, "Just a few bumps and bruises." Slipping my hand from underneath hers, I softly wiped away some of her tears, wincing when my shoulder moved too far back. Mina instantly stepped away from me, offering me a small smile.

My eyes darted back to Haku, waiting for him to say something, anything. 

Lin seemed to catch on, putting a hand on Mina's shoulder. "Come now, let's let Se- Chihiro rest," and then they were out the room. The door shut with a soft thud, almost deafening compared to the silence following it. 

"Haku..." I started to say, but since I didn't really have anything other than that, I trailed off. Some strength had returned to my arms and I was just barely able to pat the open space on the bed next to me. 

He seemed to think about this for a moment, but finally he gave in and came to sit with me on the bed. To my surprise, he didn't sit on the edge as I had expected. Instead he scooted in close enough for our thighs to touch.  

"I'm sorry, I seem to be causing a lot of trouble for you lately," I said sadly, putting both of my hands in my lap and avoiding Haku's gaze, if he was even looking at me. The silence resumed, seeming to settle into my very bones.

When he didn't say anything for a while, I sneaked a glance, hoping to see what was going on and his expression sent a chill down my spine. His jaw was clenched tight, emotions raging in his eyes. It looked like he was having one hell of an inner battle. 

Slowly I reached forward and touched his cheek. His body went rigid beneath my fingertips and I started to pull away. Fingers slid over mine, keeping my hand in place as Haku rested into my palm. Although it didn't lighten the feeling of dread in my stomach, his actions at least relieved me to some extent. At least he didn't hate me.