Chihiros World

6. Nothing comes free

''Well who do we have here?'' Chihiro could hear an old ladys voice say. She started to look around the room. It had not changed much, Yubaba must still have the same taste in home-decor. Then she saw her, The big witch which were larger than tall.

''It is me, Sen, I am back and I would love to work here again'' Chihiro said feeling anxious but tried to sound as calm and collected as she possible could.

''Why would I give you a job, I gave you a job once and I am not obligated to do so again''. The witch said with an evil smile on her lips. ''Well I recall that you were very happy about my services here'' Chihiro said trying to keep her head high. ''Yes, until you brought that nasty No face in here! that cost us a small fortune! You also stole my son from me and tried to deceive me with a fake son'' Yubaba said with a hit of anger to her voice.

''Well, I am older and I know better now''. Chihiro did not really know what to say to convince the witch and she knew that she had to think of something fast.
''Well I will give you a contract then but see yourself as lucky girl'' Yubaba said as a contract and a feather pen appeared in front of Chihiros face. This was good, she thought. But it was not what Chihiro wanted and she knew that she could not give up right away.

''Well actually i am not looking for a contract I want to work contract free''. Chihiro answered hiding the nervousness in her voice. She knew that she could not show any weakness in front of the witch, if she did she would lose.

''You sure have guts to ask me for that after I have been nothing but kind to you Sen!'' Yubaba said angrily. Surprised that the human dared to ask such a thing from her.

''Yubaba you should feel happy that i want to work for you again, to be honest I could just stay here without working''. Chihiro said trying to sound calm. ''What do you mean by that human? Without a job you are nothing and I can turn you into a pig and serve you as dinner to our guests''. Yubaba screamed at Chihiro. She was furious. The anger made the hair on her head rise. A lowly human dared to speak to her in such manners!

''In all honesty Yubaba, I do not think you can, both your sister and Haku would be very angry when they found out about it and that would put you in more danger than me, would you really want that?'', Chihiro were proud about herself for being able to think so fast though she was not sure that it was true, not about Haku at least.

''FINE!'' Yubaba yelled ''you can stay with Rin and follow her around for now but I will turn you into a pig if you ever bring the same misfortune you gave us the last time you were here, I do not care about what will happen to me then!'' Yubaba turned around and walked towards her desk. So frustrated that she had lost the battle. ''Nothing like that will happen'' Chihiro promised and walked out of Yubabas office feeling victorious.

Rin had been waiting for Chihiro by the elevator too worried to do any of her daily tasks. She was walking back and forth as she saw Chihiro. she felt a relief right as she saw her human friend walking around the corner.

''How did it go? Are you okay? Did you get away without signing any contract?''. Rin asked anxiously trying to look Chihiro up and down to make sure that she was not missing any body parts and that everything was human.

''wooow, one question at a time Rin'' Chihiro said laughing. ''I am working with you from now on, no contract'' Chihiro said with a huge grin. To her surprise Rin hugged her ''Oh Chihiro you do not know how happy I am to have you back!'' she burst out. Rin reminded Chihiro a little bit about Rumi. She was wondering if she had read her email yet and if she thought that Chihiro were crazy or if she did believe in her. She would definitely miss Rumi a lot. ''Well let's get you settled in before we start our shift'' Rin said and together they walked to Rins room.

She had her own room nowadays. Not much inside, just a wardrobe, table and a french balcony which Chihiro thought was very nice. She had tatami mats and Chihiro assumed that her futon was inside the wardrobe.

Rin went to the wardrobe and took out a pink uniform for Chihiro ''At least this will fit you this time'' Rin said as she handed the uniform to Chihiro. She changed quickly and they started their day.

Working was hard a lot of the spirits around them were not happy to work with a human. Some of them remembered Chihiro when she told them that she was Sen, but there were many new people in the staff and also some of the old ones were not so happy to have her back.

In the end of the day Chihiro and Rin sat in her room. They sat by the french balcony letting their feet dangle down, looking out the empty land beneath them. They both were eating an onigiri each and were talking.

''Why did they accept me the last time but no one likes me now?'' Chihiro asked Rin feeling a little down. She did not recall the staff being so cold towards her the last time she was there. ''It is not that they do not like you they just do not understand humans. The last time you were here you were just a kid and they knew you would return back to the human world as soon as you could but now they do not know if you will stay or not'' Rin said truthfully.

''Why did you accept me so fast?'' Chihiro asked looking at her spirit friend. ''Well we became great friends did we not Chihiro?'' Rin said with a smile. ''Yes...'' Chihiro said thinking back to her first time in the spirit world.

''Well I guess that I just have to change everybody's mind then!'' She felt more determent to do so as she put her mindset to it. ''I will get ready for bed now, good night Rin'' Chihiro said and walked inside the room.

Rin were surprised about how fast Chihiro had come to that conclusion, ''I guess the little strong girl I once knew still lives inside of her'' Rin thought and laughed to herself. The sun were starting to rise and Rin also went to bed.

Far away from the bath house, by his river Haku felt that it was time for him to return, something was calling him back to the bathhouse.