Spirited Anew

Chapter 8

"Zeniiba!"

"Chihiro, darling!"

"Sup, granny-"

BANG!

Chihiro had thrown her arms around the good witch and she did so as well. The two smiled as they smothered each other with long awaited affection and giggles. Uma on the other hand had a binder imprint on his forehead as he lay on the ground. Where the heck did that book come from?

"I've missed you so much, Zeniiba!" Chihiro cheered happily. Zeniiba pulled her back lightly before placing her big hands on the adolescent's soft cheeks.

"My, you've grown into a pretty young woman, and your hair has gotten longer! Tell me, dear, how old are you now?"

"Fifteen."

"My, has it been that long?" She traced her sparkling pupils down to Chihiro's slender wrist and the sight made her grin stretch even larger. "Oh, you kept hair tie I made you? Well don't I feel honored."

Kaonashi took a side-step behind Zeniiba so he would be in Chihiro's line of vision and gave a slight smile before pointing to himself. "Ah~?"

Chihiro giggled. "Yes, Kaonashi, I remember you too." That is when her excitement and adrenaline from the whole situation she just went through finally began to settle down once again and her knees caved in from the pain of her broken bones. Uma immediately ran up behind her and caught Chihiro with his arm around her waist.

"Careful, bonehead! You can't afford to be reckless right now."

Zeniiba blinked at Uma and then squinted her eyes at Chihiro. "My my... You're covered in bruises! Tell me, my sister didn't do this, did she?"

Uma raised a brow. "Zeniiba, you knew we were there. Which means you knew what the heck that entire place was. How?"

She placed a finger over her lips. "I'll explain that in a minute, but first we have to get you fixed up Chihiro. Uma dear, can you set her down on the chair over there?" The nice old lady pointed and he nodded. Carefully lifting Chihiro from the ground, she floated over and placed her in the rocking chair.

Zeniiba had just finished jotting down some ingredients on a piece of paper with a feather pen. "Kaonashi, could you get me these things? I need them to create an elixir for Chihiro's pain." She handed it to him. He nodded with a small moan before turning and exiting the door. Zeniiba rose from her seat and walked into another room.

"Now - where did I put that healing cream..."

Uma and Chihiro listened to her footsteps fade away into a farther part of the house before looking at each other. They stayed in silence for a bit until...

"Sorry... Uma..."

He looked up at her in confusion. "For what?"

"... For all of this... It's my fault. If I had gone home when Haku told me..." Tears began welling up in her eyes again. She was so tired of crying, and she was exhausted over everything. But, the poor girl couldn't help it.

Until she felt Uma flick in her in the forehead.

"-Ow!" She placed her hand on it. "What? What was that for?"

"Are you stupid?" He simply asked with a deadpanned expression.

"... W-what?"

He sighed in frustration. "Look - the truth is, none of this would have happened if I hadn't kidnapped you." He reluctantly admitted to his mistake and looked away. "And none of this would have happened if that wind spirit hadn't took you away. For whatever reason... I don't see the appeal as to why it would want YO-"