Spirited Away: The Wait [ORIGINAL]

Confessions

     Lunch was peaceful and nice, in Chihiro’s opinion. They were at a more isolated corner in the mess hall, and it was only the two of them at a small table. Since there was hardly anyone close to them, Chihiro decided it would be a good time to corner Haku. He had nowhere to go now, she thought, snickering internally.

     “So,” she started, “how was the discussion with Shou?”

     Haku looked up briefly. “It went well.”

     “What were the two of you discussing about?”

     “Just some renovation plans to expand the shelter since more and more spirits are coming in to stay in the shelter.”

     If she didn’t know that he was lying, she would have bought it completely. That man was amazingly good at concealing things.

     Chihiro nodded. “That’s nice… was he at the office when you got there though?”

     Haku raised an eyebrow. “Why do you ask?”

     “Oh, nothing, because I actually had breakfast with him and we had a good time catching up,” she replied, pausing to chew her piece of chicken. From the corner of her eye, she noticed uncertainty flicker across his face as he remained silent and continued eating.

     “Fine, you got me,” he said after catching her expectant gaze. “I didn’t go to meet Shou. I was—”

     “Alone, right? Shou said you did this to him a couple of times back when you were in charge,” she smirked. Haku narrowed his eyes at her. “Since when did you get so mischievous?”

     “It’s not mischief; it’s wit,” Chihiro corrected. Haku only chuckled. “What’s so funny about that?”

     “The way you actually believe that.” Chihiro faked a look of outrage and reached across the table to give him a good knock on the head.

     Her arms were too short, though, which only tickled Haku even more.

     Grumbling to herself, Chihiro took her fork and began stabbing the meat on her plate. “You’re such a jerk, you know that?”

     “Lin tells me that only all the time.”

     She rolled her eyes and laughed. “But seriously,” she said, “what were you thinking about? During breakfast you seemed so disturbed. Is something bothering you?”

     Haku twisted his lips wryly and looked down at his now empty plate. “It’s nothing much, actually.”

     Chihiro sent him a flat look. “You know I’m not buying that. Do you want to talk about it?” When he did not reply, she placed her hand over his. “I’m here if you want to talk about anything, okay? But… I’d really like to know what’s bothering you,” she added slyly, making sure to tone her voice accordingly. “I mean, you know so much about me, but I don’t. That’s okay though, I mean, it’s your business, right?”

     For once, the woman thanked her mother for teaching her the guilt-tripping technique. It was working well to her advantage. She suppressed the smile creeping up her lips as she saw Haku wavering and the skin on his forehead crinkling in hesitation.

     “My business is your business,” the man said after a moment. “But it’s not much, actually. I was only thinking about my friends back in the Shugorei.”

     “Do you miss them?” she asked, intrigued.

     “I’ve worked with them for a few years. Not a very long period of time, but we did go through a lot together. Are… you interested to know more?”