Heart Eater | Spirited Away

IV.

蜘蛛
spider

THE COOKIE TASTED LIKE LINT and soap, but it did the trick. Color returned to Chihiro's skin and she became solid once more.

"Come on," Lin said, setting the towels aside and grabbing her arm. "Kamaji will want to see you. He still calls you his granddaughter sometimes by accident—" she leaned close "—I don't think he's got any actual granddaughters, so you're the closest thing."

Chihiro trailed after her obediently, trying to remember just who Kamaji was. "Spider..." she murmured.

"Huh?" Lin glanced back at her. "What'd you say?"

Chihiro said louder, "does he look like a spider?"

"Oh." Lin pulled her into an elevator. "He has arms sort of like a spider, but don't let him catch you saying that. He stuck his neck out for you last time you were here."

Chihiro nodded slowly. "Can you tell me more about him?" she asked softly, embarrassed. "I don't want him to think I didn't care enough to remember."

Lin pulled a lever and they began to descend. "He's the boiler man — he sends up hot water for the baths. He was the one who sent you to Yubaba for a job so you could stay long enough to save your parents. He gave you a train ticket, too, which is a feat amongst itself. Those things aren't cheap."

"I remember a man with long arms and a mustache."

Chihiro stared off thoughtfully, then pulled out her little sketchbook and flipped through the pages until she found what she was looking for. A halfway finished smudged painting of who she thought must be Kamaji stared up at her. One of his long arms reached into a jar.

She showed it to Lin who squinted. "Yeah," she said. "Looks sorta like him."

Chihiro flipped several more pages and turned the sketchbook around so Lin could see. It must have been of her, though it was difficult to tell. Lin blinked, surprised.

Closing the sketchbook and looking at her feet, she folded her hands behind her back shyly. "I didn't totally forget," she mumbled.

Lin stared at her for a long moment, then smiled a little. Reached out to ruffled her hair. "I know, kid. I know."

The bathhouse woke slowly, and, as they made their way down to the boiler room, they passed half a dozen spirits who sniffed after them, frowning vaguely.

Chihiro ducked her head and used Lin as a shield, not wanting to draw any unnecessary attention.

The path they took was familiar in a strange deja vu kind of way. Lin slipped through a crawl space door, and Chihiro crawled after her hesitantly. Blinked against the sudden brightness of the furnace.

It was hot, very hot, but Chihiro hardly noticed, twice as preoccupied with the little balls of blinking, scurrying soot and the man with six arms.

Lin cleared her throat. Waited a moment and did it again when she was ignored, frowning irritably as he went about her work unbothered. "Kamaji!" she finally snapped, losing her patience.

The man grunted a little, not looking away from his work. "I'm not giving you anymore special soak tokens."

"I've hardly asked for any recen—" She shook her head, exasperated. "Never mind — would you just look over here?"