Heart Eater | Spirited Away

III.

油屋
the bathhouse

IT WAS A BATHHOUSE — grand and red and horribly familiar. For some reason, this was the place Haku didn't want her to see. She could tell right away by the edge to his eyes.

She had been here before. It held a special place in her heart — a fondness she couldn't quite explain. A fear, too, but she could tell this place was important to her. Or at least it had been at one point.

They stood at the far end of the bridge that led up to it, awash with what little daylight remained. Chihiro was surprised. She hadn't realized how late it had gotten. It would be night soon.

"I'm going in," she told Haku. "Will you come with?" She looked at him.

He avoided her gaze and said nothing.

Chihiro hesitated, nonplussed. "Okay..." she murmured. "Then, here goes."

Anticipation crept up her throat and her skin crawled with it. She didn't know what she was going to find inside, but she was almost certain that it had something to do with the dreams she had painted so often growing up.

Her hand rested on the screen door, but she couldn't bring herself to open it just yet. Something told her that once she opened this door there would be no going back.

Everything would change.

"You can still leave," Haku murmured gently. He was right behind her, his head bowed close and eyes soft.

Chihiro held her breath, her stomach twisting. She thought about it. Maybe he was right. After all, there must be a reason that he was so insistent on her leaving. Was it really worth the risk?

She thought of the sketchbook in her back pocket.

Chewing on the inside of her cheek, Chihiro looked at her feet. "I would never be able to forgive myself," she said softly. "It would eat away at me — it has eaten away at me."

Then, before she could second guess herself, she flung the door open and held her breath.

She stared.

There was no one.

Chihiro frowned. "Is it abandoned?" she asked. She thought it was too clean to be truly abandoned.

Haku looked away. She bet it wasn't and he was just hoping she would think it was and leave. She huffed and stepped in, straightening her top and marching forward.

"Chihiro, please," Haku said, trailing after her. "You don't understand the danger you're putting yourself in."

She glanced back at him briefly, not stopping. "Then tell me," she said, then added, "and don't just say I'll start to disappear. I already know there's a solution to that."

She peered around curiously, wondering where everyone was. The baths were empty and she saw no one to fill them.

"You're human. You aren't supposed to be here."

"What does that me—" Chihiro turned a corner and jumped about three feet into the air, shrieking softly in surprise.

A frog, but not quite, stood in front of her, and Chihiro thought it looked about as shocked as she. It stood on two legs and, peculiarly, it wore a little blue robe. It was much larger than a regular frog.