Fan Fiction / Spirited Away Fan Fiction ❯ Spirited Hearts ❯ It's a Hard Knock Life ( Chapter 4 )

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Kingdom Hearts OR Spirited Away, so don't sue me.

(And by the way, I'm moving the reviews up here so this fic won't get removed.)

The Pezman- Okay, okay! I'll try to make the story not the same as the movie! Sheesh!

Alex Warlon- Thank you!

Charon- Cloud in Thomas the Tank Engine footy pajamas with a Teddy Chocobo? LOL!

Wolf E. Urameshi - Thanks! I'm glad I could inspire you! ^_^

Charles Xavier- not quite, but that person IS a Kingdom Hearts character that is similar to Sephiroth . . . (see fic)

Marissa- Thanks!

Chapter 4: It's a Hard Knock Life

Dark clouds covered the sky like a big gray blanket, bringing with it life-giving rain. Maleficent soared through the rain, a large bag of treasure clutched in her talons, and her faithful raven beside her. She landed on the balcony and returned to her original form before entering.

*

After waking up in the boiler room, Kairi rushed back to the bedroom to help Yuffie put away the sleeping bags.

"Where were you last night?" she asked Kairi

"Sorry, I just went out to take a walk." she replied.

"Well, come on, we have a lot of work to do today." Said Yuffie as she put away the last pillow. They went downstairs to get the baths ready for the guests. The place was all hustle and bustle as the workers cleaned out the baths. A few frog- men were cooking up meals for the guests, while many frog-women ran about carrying buckets of water. The frog-women ran back and forth across the wide oaken floors with wet rags. Kairi had some difficulty, since she wasn't as fast as the others weren't, who were already returning weren't as she was coming. (AN: Geez that's hard to describe . . .)

"Stupid girl," they jeered.

"Man you are slow! I bet you haven't worked a day in your life!" exclaimed Yuffie as she watched Kairi wring the water out of a washcloth into a bucket and carry it to the door. Just as she left, a foreman named Tidus came over.

"I have your orders for today," he said. "You and Umi have to clean out the big tub."

"The big tub!?!" exclaimed Yuffie. "That's not fair!"

"Look, I have my orders. Maleficent wants you to do it."

Yuffie groaned. She knew she was getting this work because of `Umi', but she had no choice. Not unless she wanted to be turned into a pig, anyway.

"Fine," she said.

Meanwhile, Kairi had opened the door, and poured out the water. As she looked around and saw the tall figure in black from before. He stared at her through deep blue eyes.

"Hello." She said. "I'm Kairi, but you can call me Umi. What's your name?"

The boy regarded her for a moment before replying: "They call me Riku."

(AN: And so the mysterious boy is revealed! I would have used him as Haku, but I like Sora/Kairi romances a lot more. Sorry about that.)

"What are you doing out here?" she asked. "You can come in the front way." Riku shook his head.

"I'm- really not into crowds." He replied.

Kairi was about to ask what he meant by that, but then she heard Yuffie calling for her.

"Well, I'll just leave the door open for you," she said. Riku smiled.

"Thank you very much."

As Kairi ran to where Yuffie was, Riku stepped inside, smiled . . . and vanished.

*

The big tub was used mostly for the bigger, dirtier, and/or richer customers, but at the moment, the area was strewn with what looked like grass. The bath stood in the middle of the room, looking more like a huge bowl then a bathtub. Its inside was covered with sludge. Yuffie frowned as she regarded the mess.

"Those jerks! They haven't cleaned this place in forever!" She turned her head at the sound of laughter behind them. Several other workers had stuck their heads in the doorway, and were laughing at their predicament. "Get out of here!" The other workers ran away, and she turned her attention to the bath. "Well," she said, rolling up her sleeves, "Let's get started."

They began by picking up the grass, and then they started to scrub the muck caked on the sides of the huge bath. "That's it," Yuffie exclaimed after a while, "This will take forever!" She then turned to look at Kairi. "Hey, Umi, why don't you go to the foreman and ask him for a bath token?"

"Ok," replied Kairi as she climbed over the side of the bath and hit the floor with a thump. As she headed towards the doorway, she looked at Yuffie and asked, "What's a bath token?"

Yuffie sighed. *What a dunce! * She thought, but instead, she replied. "It's what you get from the foreman if you want water for the baths. Just go get one and I'll show you what it's for." Kairi nodded and headed out the door.

*

In her office, Maleficent was counting her money when she stopped and looked up.

"Something's coming," she said,

*

Meanwhile, Kairi was having with the foreman, named Wakka, who seemed to be giving Bath Tokens to everyone but her.

"I'm sorry," he said, handing a token to a frog-woman. "But I'm very busy."

"But-" Kairi protested loudly.

"No buts," Wakka said. "Now get out of here!" Then, a phone-like thing started ringing, and Wakka picked it up.

Just as Kairi was about to stomp off, a flash of movement caught her eye. She whirled around to see Riku in the corner. She saw him reach over the desk and into a bucket of Bath Tokens, then hand one to her. "Thank you!" she said, then ran off. Wakka looked up.

"Hey!" he shouted, but a voice over the phone cut him off.

"What?!"

"Er, nothing!" he shouted.

*

Kairi ran as fast as her legs could take her over to the big tub.

"Here," she said, handing the Token to Yuffie. "Sorry it took so long." Yuffie looked at the Token.

"Wow, this is a good one!" She exclaimed.

"But what's it for?" she asked.

"Let me show you," Yuffie replied.

She went over to the wall, and Kairi followed her. Yuffie grabbed a small handle and pulled up the board to reveal a chamber with a rope that had a clamp on the end. "Now pay attention," said Yuffie. "First, you attach the token to the clamp," she said as she did so, "Then pull it hard." She gave the token a good tug, then it sprung out of sight. "It goes to Cloud," she continued, "Who heats up the water, adds a certain ingredient to it, then sends the water here." Just as she said that, a sluice fell out of the wall and fell over the bath. Hanging from one end was a rope. "Now," Yuffie added, "All you have to do is pull the rope." She did so, and a stream of water flowed out into the bath. "Then, you just pull the rope when it's done filling up." Kairi peered into the murky water.

"What is this stuff?" She asked. Yuffie walked over to her, and wrinkled her nose due to the smell.

"It's powered slugs," the older girl replied, "It's supposed to be good for the skin, or something like that. At least you can't see the bottom." Then she turned away. "Tell you what, I'm going to get us some breakfast. You look after the bath." Kairi nodded, and Yuffie headed off.

Suddenly, Kairi realized she wasn't alone. Looking behind her, she saw Riku, with his arms full of Bath Tokens.

"Thank you, but I don't need anymore," Kairi said. Riku did not reply, but suddenly vanished into thin air, leaving only the Bath Tokens, which clattered noisily to the floor. Kairi stared at them for a moment before remembering the water was still running!

*

The bathhouse workers were surprised when Maleficent came rushing down the stairs.

"Something is heading the bathhouse," she said. "It appears to be a Stink Spirit." Turning to Wakka and Tidus, she asked, "Is anyone doing anything?" Tidus was the first to reply.

"Y-yes your evilship, b-b-but it's smell is so horrendous, no one can stand it." Maleficent groaned.

"Very well then, let's just give it a bath and let it loose." And with that, she headed off towards the direction of the baths.

"M-Maleficent? Where are you going?" Asked Wakka.

"I'm choosing a person to wash the Stink Spirit," she replied.

*

Kairi had just managed to stop the water flow, and collect the Bath Tokens in a bucket, when Maleficent appeared at the doorway.

"Umi!"

Kairi was so surprised she nearly dropped the bucket. "Y-yes?" she stammered.

"I need you to take care of a guest, so come on."

Kairi nervously put down the bucket and followed Maleficent to the doorway, as the air was filled with a horrible stench that smelled like rotting garbage. Kairi immediately put her hands over her face. "Put your hands down," Maleficent hissed, although she looked like she was fighting the temptation to cover her own nose. "You'll insult out guest."

They watched as a huge, hulking mass of gray-green slime with hollow pits for eyes made its way through the door. The ground around it was covered in slime. "Welcome to Aburaya," said Maleficent, sounding as though she'd rather not be here. "What can we do for you?" The blob said nothing, but just held out a slimy tendril. In the mass of slime, a glitter of gold could be seen. Maleficent turned to Kairi. "Umi, could you take the nice customers money?" Kairi slowly held out her hand, and the money- as well as some slime- fell into her hand. Kairi shuddered at the feeling.

"This way," she said, walking towards the big bath. Around her, customers and workers alike tried to keep out of her way. Yuffie happened to be coming back with two bowls of rice, when the Stink Spirit's swept by, turning the rice brown.

"Oh crud." She moaned.

Kairi led the Stink Spirit into the huge tub, as a wave of mud and sludge swept over the ground. Above her, Maleficent watched amused. Wakka and Tidus stood beside her looking nervous.

"This should be interesting." She said.

Kairi trudged though the slime and picked up the bucket.

"Who gave her all those Bath Tokens?" Maleficent asked.

"I-it wasn't me!" Wakka protested, holding up his hands.

Meanwhile, Kairi managed to make her way to the wall then pulled it open. She struggled to attach the Bath Tokens to the clamp, dropping a few in the process. Finally, she managed to put one on, and pulled on it. The sluice fell over, and she pulled herself through the muck and pulled the string, causing the water to cascade over the Stink Spirit's body. Suddenly, Kairi lost her balance and fell in, but she felt herself being pulled upward. She leaned forward, and her fingertips brushed against something hard. Then she heard Yuffie shout:

"Umi? Where are you?"

Poking her head out of the water, she shouted, "There's something stuck in here! Like a tree branch or something!"

Maleficent frowned. "A tree branch? I think that this might not be a Stink Spirit after all!" And with that, she leapt over the railing, and hovered beside Kairi. "Here, use this," she said, holding out her hands and creating a rope, which she threw over to Kairi. "Tie it on," she told her. Kairi did so, but couldn't get it tied until Yuffie helped her.

"It's on!" Kairi yelled when they had finished. Various other workers grabbed the rope and began to pull until they managed to pull out . . .

"A bicycle?!" Shouted Kairi as she examined the object that was removed from the creature's side.

"Aha!" Exclaimed Maleficent.

They watched as tons of junk spilled out in an avalanche, filling the room.

"Umi!" Shouted Yuffie, "Umi!"

Kairi just stared as an image appeared in her mind. She saw a large pool begin to ripple as a draconian face rose out and whispered in a voice only she could hear,

"Not bad, not bad at all."

Then as quickly as it had come, the image had disappeared. The water washed away the muck, and several glinting objects could be seen.

"Gold!" Somebody shouted. Immediately, nearly everyone scrambled to get some gold pieces.

"Get back!" Maleficent hissed, "Our guest is still here!" Suddenly, the water began to bubble as if someone had lit a fire underneath of it, and out burst a huge serpentine creature made out of water. It's face looked as if it was made of silver.

"Open the doors!" Maleficent commanded. The workers did so, and the creature rocketed out through them with the force of a speeding train.

Kairi was surprised when Malefcent grabbed her and held her at arms length, saying, "Umi, you did it! That was a rich and powerful River God, and he rewarded you by giving you all that gold!" Letting go of Kairi, she turned to the workers and announced, "There will be Yakitori and Sushi for everyone, as soon as you give back the gold you took."

There were lots of complaints, but Kairi didn't hear any of it, as she was busy examining the mossy ball that had appeared in her hands.

(AN: Yakitori is like Sishkebob, only with chicken. And I bet you know what sushi is.)

*

Later, Kairi sat on the edge of the balcony, looking out at the sapphire ocean that stretched across the land. The rain had long since stopped. Behind her, several frog-women were busy gossiping. Yuffie came over and sat down next to her.

"I got you some Yakitori," she said, handing her a dish with the food on it.

"Thanks," Kairi said, taking the plate. She turned to look at the water as a train slice through it.

"You know, one day, I'm gonna get on that train and leave this place," Yuffie said wistfully. Kairi didn't pay attention she just looked at the gift the River God had left her. Experimentally, she took a bite, but immediately spat it out.

"Hey, are you okay?" Yuffie asked. Kairi nodded furiously and devoured the Yakitori.

*

In the darkened bathrooms, the dark being (Who we'll just call Kage) crept into the large bath area and started picking through the floorboards with a stick.

"Hm . . . nope . . . " Suddenly, something fell in front of him. Kage dove for it and peered at it. "Wow! A gold nugget!" He looked up and saw Riku standing in front of him, an eerie grin plastered on his face. "Huh? What are you doing here?" Riku said nothing, only held out his hands and several gold nuggets appeared. "Wow! You can make gold?" asked Kage. Riku only nodded silently. As Kage greedily reached for the gold, Riku's hands turned into black tentacles, grabbed him by the neck, and flung him into a newly formed gaping mouth. Just then, Wakka came in.

"Hey! What's going on?" he shouted. Just then, he heard a voice say,

"I'm only waiting for some service." He looked around and saw Riku, but he did not see a white-haired teenage boy dressed in black. What he saw was a humanoid figure made out of darkness with red eyes that looked like glowing coals. "Now if you would be so kind, I would like to take a bath and get some food." He held up a handful of gold and continued, "In fact, why don't you wake up everybody?"

~ End Chapter ~