Spirited Anew

Chapter 9

"Am I too heavy?" Chihiro asked, being carried on Uma's back as they made their way back to the bathhouse. The sun was slowly beginning to set as they walked through a field of grass.

"Well now that you mention it..."

Chihiro puffed her cheeks. "You have no manners when it comes to women, do you?"

"Take a joke." Uma sighed. "If anything, you need to gain a few pounds. Seriously, what do you eat on the other side? Seaweed?"

"On sushi sometimes..."

"You're not helping your own case."

"Hey! I always have a balanced meal! I eat rice, eggs, fish, and vegetables!"

"Really? You came across as someone who stuffed their face with sweets. I mean, those puffy cheeks and all-"

Chihiro groaned and hit her head against his shoulder. Whatever happened to last night? Was a spell casted on him or something that just stopped working the next morning? At this rate, it seemed that Um would never be nice to her.

"Hey..." She started, releasing her arms from his neck and placing her hands on his shoulders. "Zeniiba said she was going to send a letter to Haku, right? So why are we walking there? What if he rushes to her place?"

"He won't receive the letter that quickly. We may as well stop him from stressing now than later."

Chihiro rested her cheek on his shoulder. "I suppose..."

It suddenly became very quiet between the two, when Uma perked his head up at the city up ahead. "We're here."

She opened her brown eyes and looked over him, smiling as they crossed the bridge and made their way to the bath house. Honestly, Chihiro was a bit nervous about Haku's reaction. What if he barely worried at all? That would suck in a way...

Uma was more worried about being chewed out than unacknowledged. As he spotted the bathhouse in front of him, he sighed stressfully, and then propped Chihiro up in his arms. "Hold on."

"What?"

Uma suddenly dashed towards the front doors, blowing them open with the wind. Chihiro shrieked in surprise.

"Sleep!"

"In a minute, Rin-"

"No! You either stay on that couch, or I'll tie you to it and knock you out myself!"

Haku narrowed his eyebrows at her. His eyes were baggy, and his lack of sleep was making him very snippy. It didn't help that Rin was yelling at him, a girl, who was below his authority. But still, he could understand that all of the workers at the bath house were concerned about him; so he finally complied.

"Alright, I'll take a nap."

"Good! I'll go get you a blanket!" Rin walked by the window and stopped when she heard a sudden squeal. She backtracked a few steps and peered through the glass before her eyes widened. Haku had just begun to lay down when Rin ran up and screamed at him.

"Kohaku-sama! Now's not the time to sleep!" She ripped the pillow on his couch out from under his head.

His head hit the leather and he sat up. "Make up your mind, Rin-!"

"It's Chihiro and Uma! They're right outside! They're coming up to the office!"

"What!?" He jumped off of the couch and darted down the hallway without another word. Many thoughts flooded his mind. Concern; anxiety; was she okay? Were they both okay? Haku turned a corner and stopped himself when he saw Uma running in his direction down the hall with Chihiro on his back. Uma stopped abruptly as they locked eyes.