Flaming Cherry Blossoms [ Littlebookthief x Dimitri ]

[Dimitri]

He could barely breathe. His chest ached and it felt like everything inside of him was shattered. He held tightly onto it with one hand, gasping for air. With his other hand, he held himself up on his weakened legs by the wall. He was covered in blood, and his wounds leaked fire. It looked like he was being consumed by it, though the fire didn't spread; it remained only on his open cuts and wounds.

He could vaguely make out other figures, though all were running or screaming for help. They were afraid... not for him, but of him. With the flames burning at his skin, he wasn't exactly someone you would want to be near right that moment. He gritted his teeth and lowered his head, blurry vision showing him the blood spots he left on the floor as he dragged himself into the bathhouse. He hoped someone here would know how to help him, heal him. Apparently not.

With bitter thoughts, he collapsed on his knees, feeling death approach rapidly. He wouldn't hold out much longer. It was also then he heard the famous voice echo through the corridors, and Yubaba's form materialized nearby. She seemed to be panicking, unable to do anything, even near him. He blinked slowly, ready to slip into eternal slumber.

[littlebookthief]

She went to the bathhouse for a revitalizing little holiday before she would go back to work. Every weekend was the same for her , the bathhouse was a place of tranquility , a place where she could think of the days to come. Sakura had a tough job after all , healing the dead trees from fires was not something to be jealous of , it took hard work and all her powers to just send their spirits away. Most days , by the time she would get to the tree she was too late , it wasn't able to be saved , she would have to help it pass on in peace. Helping the trees pass on was not something she enjoyed , but she had to do it , or they would be stuck in the human world forever.

She had just settled into her bath , the water was excellent. It was just what she needed , a warm bath , tranquility. Her water was just the right temperature , not to hot to scold her , but just warm enough to make her fall asleep. This happened often at the bathhouse for Sakura , she would fall asleep and wake up after an hour or so of beautiful dreams , dreams of her trees. Sakura of course could heal other beings, but she felt a connection to the trees , a connection she did not feel with anything else. She didn't feel the need to heal other things, of course when a sick person came to her for help , she would heal them , she was a kind person.

Out of nowhere she heard screams from the bathhouse. She awoke with not a bit of worry on her face. She knew yubaba would take care of it. Curiosity for what was making everyone scream got the best of her , she climbed out of her giant bath and walked towards the opposite direction of the people running. She saw yubaba standing next to a spirit , some form of fire spirit. He was bleeding fire , it was oozing out of him like real blood. Yubaba seemed to be worried , unable to do anything. " Yubaba ? Aren't you going to heal him?" she asked her. Yubaba seemed blank of any expression. It was clear no one knew what to do. She knelt next to the spirit."This won't take long" She said , putting her hands over his wounds. Her hands turned into a form of pink wind , surrounding him with pink. She closed her eyes and focused her powers.

[Dimitri]

The fire spirit clenched his hand into a fist, sure it were his last moments. He pitied himself for dying in such an unworthy way, unworthy place, but there was nothing he could do to change his fate now.

It was then that he realized someone knelt next to him. He had no idea who it was, as he couldn't see clearly anymore, nor did he have the time to ponder upon it. He gasped, and the pain in his lungs felt like it was too much. Just as he was about to let go of his life, something felt... lighter. His lungs were the first to feel relief, all the pressure gone and the pain melting away. He took a deep breath, filling them with fresh air. His vision was back almost instantly, and he realized he was being surrounded by what looked like pink.. wind? There was no other way of describing it. In front of him, a figure of a girl was all he could make out, hidden beneath all the pink.

The fire on his wounds decreased, until it disappeared completely inside of him, cuts closing up. The pain was now almost completely gone, and he was left feeling dizzy and blank of thoughts. The mask he wore over the right side of his face was the only thing that remained unstained by blood or the flames. All Hikitsu could do, was stare plainly at the person who healed him, as silence overtook the entire place. That is, until Yubaba recovered from her shock.

[littlebookthief]

Sakura continued to heal the spirit with ease. She wondered why yubaba herself couldn't figure out how to heal him , she figured it was because he was bleeding fire and no one would want to try and touch him. She had the healing power to heal anything ,even fire. She took a deep breathe and blew out air from her mouth , it was pink. The air that came out went towards the fire spirit and entered through his mouth , going down to his lungs. It was the last piece of healing. It gave him his breathing back and he started to breathe on his own.

She stood up , as all the pink air came towards her. The pink circled around her , surrounding her so that no one could even see her anymore. She breathed in the air surrounding her , it slowly disappeared. She looked down at the fire spirit and knew he would be just fine now. She walked away from him , not looking for any thanks , going back to her bath was all she wanted. She slowly entered the small pool of water and let out a small sigh of relief. Yet another save by her powers of healing. She felt happy for helping , but wondered why there was no one in the bathhouse able to handle this.

Loud footsteps approached as Sakura tried to go back to sleep. "Darling Sakura , great job there " Yubaba said to her regular client. " I was wondering if you would like to join my bathhouse , become a healer here ? " She asked , trying to put on a convincing smile. Smiling did not suit her.Sakura considered her options. She could continue to heal trees or heal spirits ? Was she going to give up on the trees to help her own kind ? " How's the pay ?" Sakura asked. " You'll be well payed let me assure you" Yubaba said with a keen smile , this time truly happy because she was considering her offer.

[Dimitri]

Watching the girl leave, all Hikitsu could do was raise himself up to a standing position again. He still breathed quite heavily, exhausted from his experience. Yubaba remained in her place, mutturing under her nose, but he didn't listen. Looking around at all the Slug and Frog spirits, who now also began whispering amongst themselves, eyes glued to him fearfully, he cast his gaze downwards and turned around, ready to leave. I swear I'm never coming back to this useless place, he thought in anger.

"Darling, oh don't you leave!" Yubaba quickly grabbed a hold of his shoulder, turning him back around. He frowned. "You must be tired now, why don't you take a bath to relax yourself?" she asked in what seemed a kind tone, pretending to be concerned about him. As if. She just didn't want to lose a client. But, Hikitsu decided it would be foolish not to comply. He didn't have enough strength to leave on his own and it was starting to get dark outside. He'd just get himself caught again.

"Yeah," he murmured under his breath, and she shooed him away back inside, leaving him in the guidance of one of the Slug spirits, who lead him to his bath, while Yubaba left in the direction the girl who healed him had gone. Hikitsu didn't like her, that girl. She seemed to think of herself so highly, the way she walked off without saying anything after she healed him, humiliating him further. He hoped he wouldn't see her again. The fire spirit was anything but grateful.

[littlebookthief]

" Let us go to my office , we can talk further up there " Yubaba said , giving the girl a hand out of the bath. They walked towards the elevator and walked in. After a few more elevator rides they had reached yubaba's office. She told Sakura to sit down and she would get a contract from her desk. She walked back to girl and handed her a piece of paper for her to sign. She knew what yubaba was up to and did not sign it. " I will not sign this yubaba , I know your tricks " She said with an angry look on her face , laughing at the fact that she would even try to trick her into giving up her name.

" Fine darling , I will not ask you for your name , however I do need you to sign the contract " She said , " Just put an X there , and you can start work , you can see there the amount I will be paying you , I hope it is to your satisfaction ? " Yubaba asked her with a smile , seeing how smart the girl was. " Alright" She said, putting an X instead of her name , she signed the contract and was now working for her. " Good" Yubaba said. She called in one of her workers. " Take Sakura here and give her some clothes , find her a place to sleep as well" She said the the frog spirit.

She was lead away to some room. She was given a uniform to wear and she was told that she was to return to this room at the end of the day and sleep. She thanked the frog spirit and closed the door. She changed into her clothes. She was happy to have a job , but regretted that she could not help the trees any longer. She made her way back down to the bathhouse. " Sakura ! Over here , I have a client for you " The assistant manager said to her as he lead her to a clients bath. " It's the fire spirit you healed , He is still weak and we need you to heal him " He said smiling. " Alright" She said entering the client's room.

" Sir , do you need any extra healing ?" She said , not with a sad look nor a happy look. She was simply doing her job. She walked towards the bathtub and stood next to him. She was ready to heal him if he wanted her to heal him.

[Dimitri]

Once in the appropriate chamber, filled with steam and a single medium-sized bath -Hikitsu requested to be alone-, the Slorg spirit took his tattered clothes and promised to get them back to their old state. He shooed her away quickly though, and sat at the edge of the tub, dipping his feet in, letting his body get used to the temperature of the water. It was then that he felt something tickle his hand. Looking down, he realized it was his companion; a tiny fire spirit in the form a fluffy fox.

"Oh, Ne," Hikitsu's expression softened as he picked the tiny creature up on his palm. "I'm sorry, did I leave you with the Slorg?" he murmured, petting the fox's head with his index finger gently. The whole time, Ne had been hiding in his clothes, probably in one of the many pockets he had. Hikitsu was glad the foxy was a fire spirit too; otherwise the flames that previously engulfed him could've badly harmed him. He seemed to be perfectly fine, however. "Wait here, Ne, I need this bath," the spirit murmured, setting his companion back down onto the floor, knowing very well Ne despised water. The little fox squalled in a high-pitched tone, jumping off Hikitsu's hand and back onto the ground.

The boy slowly dipped himself into the bath, resting his back against one of the edges. He sighed, feeling Ne play around with his hair and occasionally jump on top of his head. He ignored the fox, knowing very well any attempts to make him stop would just push the behaviour further. The little creature could be such a nuisance sometimes.

It was then that the door to the chamber opened. Hikitsu looked up, and realizing it was the girl who had healed him, his fox ears shot up in alert. Tensing, he raised himself up to a sitting position, while Ne panicked and climbed atop his head, glancing up fearfully at the newly arrived spirit. The creatures was always scared of everyone, save for Hikitsu. The latter frowned hearing the girl's question.

"No," he replied firmly. "I can handle this myself." It wasn't the first time he was wounded or weakened, and it wouldn't be the last. He didn't appreciate any of this, and made no further comments to her, simply gazing at her, hoping she would leave.

[littlebookthief]

His reply was less than warm but she hadn't noticed it. She normally was emotionless so she never expected any emotion in return. It was from this that she didn't care if he was acting childish towards her. If he let her heal him he could be out of this bathhouse within minutes. She probably didn't heal him completely because of all the commotion around them. It distracted her , she thought.

She walked away from the bath to which he was in. She didn't care much for him , neither did he care for her. She walked to the assistant manager and requested another client to heal. He walked her to another room with a rock spirit. The rock spirit appeared to be cracked and because of this could not return to it's other form. No one knew how to repair him and so he had been living like this for a few months now. He had gotten used to being in his half human half rock form.

She took a look at him for a moment. " I will try , but I have no promises to give you" Sakura said to the rock spirit. " That's alright deary , I don't expect it to work in any case " The elder rock said to her. He was very kind to her , not expecting much either. She walked up to him in the bath and put her hands on his shoulders." Are you ready ?" She asked " Yes" He said whispering with a cringe on his face as if expecting the worst. Her hands dispersed once more , slowly her whole body became a pink wind. She would need more strength for this , it was a much more serious injury than the last one. Though it was not life threatening , it was spirit threatening , which was the worst kind.

Her mist moved around him like water flowing in a whirlpool. She worked quickly , healing the crack slowly but surely. It was not an easy job , to say the least.She Turned back into her human-like form and took a deep breath. " I believe I can heal you sir , but it will take a few tries" She said with not a single smile or charm to it. She was kind but not with a spark in her eyes. " Thank you young one" He said , looking at her " What does it mean a few tries ?" He asked curiously. " If you want to be completely healed I ask of you to come here once a week , it hard for me to heal you because it takes a lot of energy just to slightly heal you " She said , trying to explain. " I get it" He said , thankful she would eventually let him go back to spirit form.

She walked away , tired from her hard work tonight , the assistant manager told her to go to her room and rest. She desperately needed to rest so she listened to him and went to her room. She fell asleep quickly and dreamed in her sleep of a forest on fire , burning up.

[Dimitri]

Hikitsu was glad the girl left so easily. He was concerned she might be like those Slorgs or Frogs; constantly bugging him to do something, to stay somewhere. But no, she was gone and he sighed in relief once the door closed behind her. He helped Ne back to the ground from atop his head, and then decided his mood had been worsened, so he got out of the bath. Drying himself off with the nearest towels, he allowed Ne to climb his shoulder and left the bathchamber.

He quickly found himself in hall full of other spirits. Luckily, none recognized him now, and he was treated just like anyone else. Finding his way to the manager, he asked for his clothes. Having been given them, he walked off to the side and quickly put them on, then returned the towel. "Sir, will you be staying for the night?" the head Frog asked him, putting the towel away. Hikitsu paused.

"No," he murmured finally. "I have no money." The Frog blinked, but then smiled. "Not a problem, sir, here, I'll write out a note for you saying how much you owe us." Hikitsu nodded, and so the Frog quickly jotted down a few things, then handed the paper over. Hmm, the bath price surely had gone up since last time he visited. Had they been faring this well?

Without a word, the boy turned around and walked towards the exit, putting the note into one of his pockets. He probably wouldn't be back for a while, especially now, he was sure Yubaba didn't want any more trouble around and the times were difficult for the fires now. It was dry season in the human world, and that always brought disasters and forest fires. The times were so bad for the fires that they fought amongst themselves, trying to escape the clutches of humans. Those who didn't survive would be trapped with them. It was one of those he had been through earlier today, and though he had won, he surely would've died. Still, death seemed better than being a slave to humans again.

Crossing the bridge, he let Ne out from one of his pockets, setting him on the ground. "Ready, little one?" he murmured. Ne squeaked at him the way a baby fox in a playful mood would. Hikitsu raised himself up and with a swift movement of his left arm, slashing through the air, he transformed himself into his true form, leaving a cloud of flames behind. They dissolved into the air, raising upwards, and the dust died down, but the Fox wasn't there anymore. He already took off, though he was visible, seemingly a moving flame through the darkening night.

[littlebookthief]

Sakura was sleeping soundly when she felt this strange feeling in her stomach. She woke up and went to window for some fresh air. She had a nightmare , that a whole forest had caught fire , a whole forest gone forever. It was an uneasy feeling she had in her stomach. She didn't want to feel it ever again.

She looked into the sky to find some form of relief. It was then she saw a ball of fire in the sky flying away ? It must have been that fire spirit from before. She was glad to see him leave , it meant he was in good health and that he could fly on his own. She was glad that he found strength to leave. It was a strange feeling for her , being glad. She only ever had feelings for her own kind , trees. She felt happy when one was planted , she felt sad when one was cut down. Now she was glad for a fire fox ? It was odd to say the least.

She went back to her bed to sleep. She was hoping this was all a dream , the fire spirit and the forest on fire. She was hoping she could go back to sleep and forget all about the day that had passed. She wanted to pretend it was all just a dream. She fell back asleep having the same nightmare. This time she didn't wake up , only panicked and shivered in her sleep. It was not an easy night nor day for her.

She awoke in the morning , the rest of them still sleeping from the night they had spent working at the bathhouse. She went for a walk outside of the bathhouse , she found a garden. She stopped to smell the flowers, she loved that smell. She wondered if there was anyone else awake in the bathhouse. The bathhouse was a night creature , it worked during the night and slept during the day. It was that way for a while. Since the spirits worked during the day , they would want to relax at night , relax at the bathhouse.