Chihiro, don t be sad, see you again

Introduction

Ghost World

Faceless
Mr. Lantern, could you shine your light here, the ground is rocky here, I hope you don't break the shovel! Ms. Jiniba will scold you very much in this case.
Mr. Lantern
You're right, Mister Faceless, you need to be careful when you shine it! Oh, what's wrong with you?
Faceless
I found something. Something hard, and it rings when I hit the shovel. Now I'll try to dig it up. Shine your light here, Mister Lantern!
Mr. Lantern
Yes, yes, I'll try my best! What is it, my friend?
Faceless
I don't know. But the shovel can't help me dig, I'll try with my hands!
Mr. Lantern
Maybe it's better not to? Let's wait until tomorrow evening. Let's start when it's still light!
Faceless
No. I don't want any junk lying around in good Mrs. Jiniba's field. Oh, my God! What's wrong with me?
Mr. Lantern
Mr. Faceless, what happened? Why are you silent? Here, I'll come closer, even closer, now you can see? What? What are you doing? Why are you doing this to me, we're friends! Stop! It hurts!
Faceless
There's so much pressure on my temples! It hurts so much. My head's about to explode, I need to relieve the pressure!

Part One. The Real World

Chapter Zero
School. Class is in session
— Chihiro, I'm talking to you, are you prepared for class?
— Yes, Mister Teacher.
— Why don't you answer when I call you?
— Excuse me, were you calling me, Mister Teacher?
— Yes. Please answer the question I asked the class!

- Okay, Master, if you allow me, I will answer the question you asked the class.
- Chihiro, there is no need to waste time. I am listening to you.
Chihiro understood that her parents would be unhappy today, because she would return from school with a bad grade for the lesson. The girl had indeed studied her homework, she had been studying it for so long that she had only managed to sleep for three hours at night, perhaps that was why she was inattentive now. Most likely, this was the case. However, Master would hardly be satisfied with such an answer. Yes, the homework had been done, but today's explanation of the new educational material did not fit into Chihiro's head. As they say, it went in one ear and out the other.
The situation was becoming critical, when suddenly the door creaked, and someone entered the classroom. However, when Chihiro looked up at the front door, it turned out that there was no one behind it. Master also noticed that someone knocked and opened the door, but did not enter. However, it was unlikely that this would have stopped the teacher, who was determined to wake Chihiro from her half-asleep state, but at that moment something else happened.
Despite the fact that the windows in the classroom were closed, a whirlwind suddenly swept through the room, scattering textbooks and notebooks to the sides. Even the tablet on which the teacher took notes and gave grades got hit. Chihiro's classmates reacted to the incident in different ways: some were scared, and some laughed. However, the teacher quickly restored order. He told the students that the air duct was probably being blown out, which is why this unfortunate incident occurred. Fortunately, the lesson ended there.
The students received a message on their tablets that the lesson was over, and there would be no next lesson, since the English teacher was sick. Chihiro was the only one who did not believe the teacher, because out of the corner of her eye she saw something unusual in the doorway. However, this vision lasted only a few seconds, and now, returning home, Chihiro tried to understand whether she had really seen something.
The way home ran past a park with stone sculptures - small gods that appeared in this town, where Chihiro moved a year ago, no one knows when. The history teacher, who taught the subject "History of the native land", said that these small stone figures of gods have been in this region for five thousand years. He urged Chihiro's classmates to take care of nature and not to engage in vandalism if they suddenly came across a statue of a stone god on their way. Vandalism included desecration of stone gods: drawing, gluing, spraying, as well as attempts to dig the god out of the ground and take it somewhere.
Chihiro wanted to tell the teacher that recently stone gods have been appearing out of nowhere. Just yesterday there was nothing in the flowerbed next to Chihiro's house, but in the morning she discovered a whole brood of stone gods. There were, it seems, six of them, and they were all different sizes. Next to each of the stone gods there was a house, because a god cannot stand in the open sun or rain. This is what Chihiro wanted to tell the teacher, but did not, fearing the ridicule of her classmates. Chihiro was a cheerful and sociable girl, only sometimes she was attacked by a strange state, the girl thought that she had forgotten something, and it was then that at these moments she became unrecognizable. Returning home, Chihiro refused to go with her parents to an amusement park, where there was a huge open-air restaurant. The girl herself did not understand her condition, she loved to try a variety of dishes, but when she went with her parents to a restaurant or a cafe, fear settled in her heart. Two weeks ago in the park, her father, not having waited for the sale vca, took a treat that Chihiro liked from the display case of a street cart. The father took the treat and put the money on the counter. It seems, well, what's so special about that? Everyone did it. The town where Chihiro lived with her parents was small, and almost everyone knew each other by sight. Sometimes, when the seller had to leave on his own business, he left the display case of the street cafe open, and a box was put on the counter, into which people themselves put the payment for the goods they took. That is, I repeat, there was nothing special in the fact that the father took the treat without asking the seller's permission. Turning to his daughter, the father wanted to give her the treat, but suddenly saw that Chihiro had turned pale. The girl's face was distorted by a grimace of fear, Chihiro tried to say something, but her voice did not obey her. Finally, she managed to squeeze out a few words:
- Dad, put this food back, - she whispered, - otherwise Yubaba will turn you into a pet again.
- What are you talking about? - her father was surprised. - Who will turn me? What will he turn me into?
- Dad, just put this food back.
- Calm down, Chihiro, I didn’t just take it, I paid for it.

The girl stood and looked at her father in despair, it seemed to her that her world was shaking and was about to collapse. It seemed to her that something terrible had burst into her life from the past, something was pushing in her memory, trying to tell her about what once happened to the girl and her parents. Suddenly, Chihiro screamed: “No, put the treat back!”
Luckily, at that moment the seller returned, and everything fell into place. The seller got his money, and Chihiro got her treat on a stick. As soon as the situation became, in Chihiro's opinion, right, the girl calmed down and took the treat from her father's hands. The girl's father was not the kind of person who thought long and tediously about the situation that had just happened, moreover, it seemed that after a minute the father no longer remembered that Chihiro was screaming and crying. And then her mother returned, who had gone out for a few minutes on her own business.
Chihiro woke up, she was so deeply immersed in her memories that she lost track of time, and she still had to do her homework.
The next day, an interesting event happened. Sorry, I incorrectly called this event simply interesting, this event was explosive, epochal for the class in which Chihiro studied. During the first lesson after the bell, the curator entered the classroom, next to her stood an unfamiliar boy, the boy had green eyes. The curator sat her students down and announced that from today on this class had grown by one student. That is, there was a new student in the class. Yes, there was a new student in the class. The last time such an event happened was a year ago, when Chihiro joined the class. The town where Chihiro had been living for a year was small, and new students rarely appeared here. Chihiro had been getting used to the new class for almost half a year, and the class was getting used to her. And now there was a new student in the class. During the break, the girls all took out their makeup bags and jewelry. Yes, the new student was a handsome guy, and each of the girls dreamed of becoming his girlfriend. Chihiro was no exception, but it so happened that today she forgot her bag with makeup at home. The third lesson on the schedule was physical education. Chihiro was not allowed to do physical education today, and that is why she was able to take a closer look at the new boy. Today the boys took the longest running and high jump tests. When the new boy completed the running distance in record time, all the girls screamed with delight and clapped their hands. One of the girls, the most beautiful and best student in the class, tried especially hard. She did everything she could to get the new boy to notice her. However, he only talked to the boys in the class and did not even look in the direction where the girls were doing physical education. The next three days were a national holiday, and there were no classes at school. After the holidays, the class supervisor announced that it was time to switch places. Once every three months, the supervisor held such an event so that the boys could get to know each other better. Suddenly, the new boy raised his hand and expressed a desire to sit next to our heroine. Silence fell in the class. Chihiro was well-liked by her classmates, but she was not the most popular girl in the class. Chihiro was surprised and looked up, the new student was standing next to her desk and looking at her questioningly. The girl had no choice but to agree. However, this shining medal that the girl was suddenly given today had another side. During recess, Chihiro suddenly caught the eye of the best student in the class, I already told you about her. This girl was not just the best student in the class, but also the most popular student. Probably, the best student was used to getting all the best for free, but in this case, the best of the students, I mean the new student, suddenly slipped out of her net. Chihiro shrugged her shoulders, for all the time she studied in this class, she tried not to get in the way of the most popular classmate, he was too good and knew how this confrontation would end. Chihiro turned her head to the empty desk. At this desk sat a girl who, for some reason, the star of their class disliked. The girl came home several times with bruises and contusions, now she no longer studied in their class, her parents transferred her to another school. To put it more simply, the best student of the class organized a gang of classmates who beat up students she didn’t like. Some fought back, some paid off with the money their parents gave them for lunch, and some were forced to simply leave the class for good. And now, it was probably Chihiro’s turn. Everything was crystal clear, and so that Chihiro wouldn’t think of making a mistake, the best student of the class made a face and showed her fist. Chihiro pulled her head into her shoulders. She became scared. A classmate, and by the way, I think it's time to name the best student in the class, so, Chihiro's classmate, and her name was Malvina, was merciless to those she didn't like. The classmate's parents, professors at the local university, specialized in the study of Russian literature, maybe that's why they named their daughter after one of the heroines of Russian fairy tales. The beautiful Malvina, a girl with blue hair, was the heroine of the Russian fairy tale "Buratino". Surprisingly, the rebel Malvina had nothing against the name her parents gave her. And to match this name even more, she dyed her hair in a different spectrum, from purple to blue. But most often her hair was blue. The teachers tried to fight this circumstance, but soon admitted their defeat. Malvina believed that her hair emphasized her individuality and peculiarity. As for Chihiro, this girl, that is, our main heroine, tried, on the contrary, not to stand out from the crowd. She had a few friends in the class, and she treated them with sincerity and care. However, today, her friends were unlikely to be able to help her. Chihiro's friends were just as afraid of Malvina and her gang as she was. However, what was about to happen could not be pushed aside under any circumstances or in any direction. Haku, that was the name of the new classmate, tried to talk to Chihiro several times during class, but the girl was afraid that the teacher would punish her, and did not answer. Finally, the new boy made a worried face and pointed to the tablet with his eyes. The girl followed his gaze. Well, now she understood, the new boy had sent her a message on the tablet. All the children from this class were in the same group chat, and it was easy for Haku to single out Chihiro's email address from the crowd. The girl put her finger on the tablet, and the message opened.
"You don't remember me," the message read, "but I know you. We need to talk. I'm waiting for you today in the gazebo behind the school. While Chihiro was reading this message, a million thoughts and assumptions rushed into her brain and created a whirlwind there. Chihiro also thought that she knew this boy, or rather, knew him before, but no matter how hard the heroine of our book tried, she could not remember where their paths had crossed and when it had happened. Haku looked at Chihiro questioningly, and the girl, after a slight hesitation, nodded, which meant agreement. Classes were over. And since children usually spend almost the entire daylight hours at school, Chihiro left school already at dusk. It was starting to rain, Chihiro bent over her schoolbag to pull out a raincoat, but then someone knocked her down. Then they threw something dark on the girl and, taking her by the hands, dragged her towards the backyard of the school. Yes, probably behind the school. Everything happened very quickly, Chihiro didn't even have time to comprehend what had happened, as she felt the first blow. Probably, the gang of cruel Malvina decided to deal with her. As you remember, Malvina did not tolerate when something she had set her sights on went to someone else. However, it ended with a few blows, suddenly someone scattered the girls, pulled off the fabric and pressed Chihiro to himself. In this school and in this class, it was not accepted for boys to interfere in conflicts between girls. When Malvina's gang and other girl gangs dealt with classmates, the boys preferred not to interfere in these conflicts. However, Haku, and it was Haku who saved Chihiro, did not want to obey the general informal laws of this school. Haku was waiting for Chihiro behind the school, as agreed, in the gazebo, when he heard screams and the sounds of blows nearby. Even if the victim had not been Chihiro, Haku would have intervened anyway, so in this particular case, his intervention in the conflict was logical. Seeing that the victim had eluded her, Malvina hissed and rushed at Haku, but Haku only extended his hand in Malvina's direction, and she could do nothing about it. Snapping, baring her teeth and promising all sorts of punishment to Chihiro, Malvina and her gang with multi-colored hair stepped aside for now. Oh, and I forgot to mention, the girls who were part of Malvina's gang also dyed their hair different colors, that was the price for joining this gang. The girls' parents were unhappy, the teachers were unhappy, but the discontent of the adults were just a small price to pay to join Malvina's gang. Soon it became quiet behind the school. Chihiro was sitting on the ground and crying. Malvina hadn't managed to inflict too much damage on the girl, but she had taken her revenge on Chihiro's schoolbag. Before leaving, she had thrown Chihiro's schoolbag on the ground and bounced on it several times. The tablets were smashed to pieces. There were four classes today, and Chihiro had her own tablet for each class. Those were the rules of the school.
Haku calmed Chihiro down as best he could, and then told her that he would walk her home.
The girl was in no condition today to absorb the information that Haku's classmate wanted to tell her. Chihiro was crying, Haku was comforting her, and so they almost passed by a drugstore where they sold all sorts of plasters and ointments for bruises. Malvina and her gang knew where to hit so that the next morning there would be no traces visible, and the parents of their victims could not make claims. Usually, they hit the arms, legs and spine of their victims. Well, as you know, in this case, Malvina did not have time to hit Chihiro much. However, what she did manage to do was quite painful. Haku bought an ointment for bruises and told the girl to apply it to the wounds in the evening before going to bed. Malvina's parents were, as I already mentioned, professors at the local university. They were highly spiritual, well-read people whose entire lives were dedicated to raising the younger generation. Malvina's house was always crowded with young people, whom Malvina's parents helped with the difficult material of studying Russian literature. There is a Russian proverb "a shoemaker without shoes", in this case it was very suitable for Malvina's family. The girl's parents, who spent a huge amount of time raising other people's children, did not see what was happening to their daughter. Malvina's parents adhered to humane methods of upbringing, which included: the theory of non-interference in the daughter's personal life, the theory of non-interference in the daughter's educational life, joint trips to nature, long conversations on highly spiritual topics, and so on. However, what was happening to Malvina recently began to worry the parents. For example, today, today after school, the daughter refused to have dinner, and after all, joint breakfasts, lunches and dinners were so important in this family, moreover, after the girl went up to her room, the apartment was filled with the sound of a song, the melody of which sounded aggressive and which pressed on the ears. However, Malvina's parents could have endured all this if the sounds of music were not accompanied by the sounds of destruction. When the parents, unable to bear it, knocked on their daughter's room, they saw a room in which almost not a single whole object remained. Everything was broken and destroyed, and Malvina sat in the middle of this chaos and pounded the floor to the beat of the music. Do you think that humane methods of upbringing were forgotten in this family for some time? You have definitely made a conclusion. Malvina's parents were reluctantly forced to delve into their daughter's problems, which caused her condition to become inadequate. And where are Haku and Chihiro now? I don't know where Haku is, the boy prefers that I not know his place of residence for now, and Chihiro is at home in his room. Our heroine, as before, prefers not to involve her parents in her problems. She has pocket money, a small amount, which is still enough to order four new tablets. Fortunately, all the information about homework and lessons was saved in the Cloud, and it will not be difficult for Chihiro to put it back on the tablets. With your permission and with Haku's permission, I will tell you why he appeared in the class where Chihiro studied. I think there is no need to hide the fact that my story is a continuation of the story "Spirited Away", which you probably saw on TV or in theaters. I have probably re-watched this anime 30 times and each time I watched it as if for the first time. The anime was ending, and I was left with a passionate desire to find out the continuation. Many years have passed since the anime was released, but there is still no continuation. And so I decided to give the anime characters a chance to live on. So, if you are a fan of the anime "Spirited Away", then you remember how the story of Haku and Chihiro ended. Haku remained in the magical world, where the mistress of the bathhouse for ghosts Yubaba rules, and Chihiro returned to the real world with her parents. Before parting, Haku told Chihiro to go without looking back. The girl did so. However, the further the car took her from the gate to the magical park, the harder it was to remember the events of the last days. By the time the car with her parents drove up to the gates of their new house, the girl had forgotten almost everything. By the way, the magical park and the house where Chihiro now lived were located very close to each other. Remember, Chihiro's father, almost at the moment when they were approaching the new house, turned the wrong way. What it was, a navigator error or magical powers, we will not know now. For those who have not watched the anime, I will give a brief summary. Entering the gates of the magical park, The children and Chihiro caught the smell of something delicious. After crossing the river, the uninvited guests of the magical park found themselves on a street for ghost gourmets. Cafes and restaurants lined the street. However, the establishments for eating were closed at that moment, only one cafe had huge dishes of food on the counters. But there was no seller here either. The girl's parents did not find anything better than to load their plates with a variety of food and start eating. Chihiro asked her parents to give up the idea of dining in a restaurant where there was no owner, but the girl's father said that his wallet was always with them after dinner, he would pay. The girl cried and screamed, but no one listened to her. As a result, this is what happened: the parents, having eaten their fill of magical food, turned into a couple of fat, plump pigs, and the girl had to get a job with the sorceress Yubaba. Yubaba was the owner of everything in the magical park, which included restaurants, cafes, and a bathhouse where ghosts and phantoms could steam their bones. This story ended with Chihiro helping her parents return to their previous state. Haku and other magical heroes actively helped her in this. Before parting, Haku promised Chihiro that they would meet again. The boy planned to leave Yubaba's students and return to the real world. Yes, in Yubaba's world, Haku was a dragon, the master of the Keukugawa River.

Chapter One
The next day, when Chihiro came to class, Haku was absent. But Malvina and her gang were there. Malvina cast angry glances at Chihiro, but did not take any action yet. However, Chihiro was not under any illusions, she knew that Malvina never deviates from her plan. Haku came only for the third lesson. Chihiro shrank, she thought that Haku would be scolded, but for some reason what was not allowed for other students passed without a trace for Haku. The message from Haku came only in the evening, closer to the end of classes. Self-study. Girls and boys were doing self-study in separate classes, and therefore Chihiro had not seen Haku for the last two hours. Haku suggested that Chihiro meet at a cafe around the corner to eat ice cream and talk. Chihiro liked ice cream. However, she could not even guess what Haku wanted to talk to her about. When the ice cream in the bowl was finished, Haku bought Chihiro juice. But soon the glass of juice was empty. Chihiro pushed the glass away from herself and looked questioningly at the boy.
- You know, Haku, I ... - Chihiro began to say, but Haku interrupted her.
- Don't chatter idlely and call me Mr. Haku - the boy smiled and looked at the dumbfounded girl. - Does this dialogue remind you of anything?
Chihiro shook her head.
- Okay, - the boy suddenly stopped smiling and became serious. - And you're probably wondering why I invited you to the cafe today?
Chihiro nodded.
- I need your help.
- Help? - the girl was surprised. - How can I help you?
- First of all, I want to ask, do you remember me?
Chihiro hesitated, not knowing what to answer. There was a pause at the table. Finally, Chihiro quietly said:
- I remember you, but I can't remember why I remember.
- That's how it should be, - the boy summed up, looking into the girl's eyes. - After all, when we parted, I told you not to look back. Judging by the fact that you forgot everything, you did. You didn't destroy your memory, your memory is just sleeping.
- And when will it wake up? — Chihiro smiled timidly. — And what do I need to do for that?
— I would like you not to remember, but, as I already said, I need your help. And you can only help if you remember. I came up with something to jog your memory.
From the information that the school committee sent to the tablet, I know that tomorrow there will be an anime costume festival in the park, which is in the neighboring area of the city. I invite you, will you come with me?
— You probably don’t know, but tomorrow our whole school is going there.
The seniors will participate in the festival, and the juniors are going as a support group.
— Really? — Haku was surprised, — I really didn’t know, but all the better. I quickly
ran through the festival program and saw that one of the schools will be showing excerpts from the anime based on our magical story.
— Really? — Chihiro laughed, — what story are you talking about? And how can it be that someone knows about the story that involved me and you, and I don’t know about this story?
— It’s sad to say, but a traitor appeared in our magic park, it was he who leaked, that is, told the story that the scriptwriter then turned into an anime.
— How so, — Chihiro became alarmed, — a traitor is always bad. And did you find out who it was?
— No, but when the anime came out, Yubaba, the owner of our magic park, was furious. She was very unhappy with such popularity. Let’s start with the fact that schoolchildren and older kids climbed all the amusement parks to find our magic park. Fortunately, sometimes the owner can make the park invisible. But to do this, she has to put in a lot of effort, and it’s very difficult. But... Chihiro, you're not at all surprised by what I'm telling you, do you remember? remember everything?
- No, I don't even understand what you're talking about, but I really want to remember.
- Wow, - Haku looked at the street through the cafe window, - it's already so late. Let's go, I'll walk you home.
- Okay, - Chihiro looked at Haku and simply nodded her head. - Do you live far away?
- No, - the boy smiled, - I live not far from you. So, we'll meet tomorrow
in the park. Let's meet at the entrance, and then we'll find the dragon school team,
which will be showing costumes from the anime "Spirited Away".
If you didn't understand, the team of this school will be dressed in costumes from our story.

Chapter Two.
The morning was so cloudy that the girl had to turn on all the lamps that were in the room. But for some reason this did not help to dispel the darkness. When Chihiro pulled back the curtains, she realized what the matter was. It was going to rain outside. It was a shame. Chihiro was afraid that the festival would be cancelled. But it wasn't raining yet, so Chihiro grabbed a quick bite and slipped out of the house. The boy Haku was already waiting for her at the gate of the house, wearing a raincoat and holding two umbrellas in his hand.
"How does Haku know that I didn't take an umbrella?" Chihiro thought, but then her thoughts switched to something else. She saw that there were more figures on the lawn.
"How long have these figures appeared near your house?" Haku asked after exchanging greetings. "If it's been a while, then it's definitely a sign!"
"What sign?" Chihiro asked. "Are my parents in danger?"
"No, it means that they're waiting for you somewhere."
"They're waiting for me? That's strange. What a heavy rain!" Chihiro pulled her hood down deeper. "Is the second umbrella for me? If it's for me, then give it to me.
"I'm glad the umbrella was useful," Haku gave the umbrella to the girl. "It's just a shame if the rain ruins the festival."
Chihiro walked next to the boy and remained silent. She suddenly remembered a story she had seen or read somewhere about a boy who could stop time.
" Chihiro, why are you silent?" Haku couldn't stand it. "Are you upset about something?"
" Something happened to my memory, I keep confusing what really happened with what I read or saw in a movie."
" What are you talking about?" Haku suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. " Did some information pop up in your memory?"
" Sometimes I hear names of people I don't know in my head, and sometimes I remember situations that couldn't have happened to me, but for some reason remained in my memory.
" Could you share with me what's bothering you right now?" Haku continued to stand in the middle of the sidewalk. " It's very important right now.
— Haku, we'll be late.
— Don't worry, we'll get there on time. No matter how much time passes, we'll show up at the park when it all starts.
— Haku, that's exactly the story I remember. Some guy could stop time, he stopped time so I could run away from somewhere.
— Who was that guy? — It was obvious that the boy was getting nervous. — Please, try hard, remember!
— You know something about it, — Chihiro timidly looked up at the boy. — If it's possible, tell me.
— I know, — there was disappointment in Haku's voice. — But you have to remember it yourself. Okay, don't torture yourself, I hope your memory will return to you.
— The park was small in size. Maybe it seemed that way because there were too many young people in the park. All the schools in the city sent their students to the competition grounds. In addition to the contestants, there were a huge number of fans near each site, which was arranged in the form of a small stadium. The fans were dressed in the colors of their team. Chihiro wanted to go to the site where the senior students of her school were ready to show their program, but Haku pulled her in the other direction.
- Mr. Haku, but I must be near the site where the players from our school are competing, otherwise my supervisor will punish me, say that I just skipped today.
- Don't worry, Chihiro, we will return here at the moment when the festival begins.
- Okay, then where are we going now?
- You probably didn't listen to me carefully yesterday, we need the Dragon School. They are the ones who took on this responsibility to show an excerpt from the story where you and I were the main characters.
- Yes, Mr. Haku, I'm sorry, you already told me about this yesterday, but I forgot. — Chihiro, try to concentrate now, when you watch the show, don’t think about anything else, just watch and listen.
It was so noisy in the park that sometimes people standing next to each other couldn’t hear each other. Of course, the small space of the park was completely filled with schoolchildren who were talking, laughing, running after each other, standing in line at the cafe for food and drinks, telling each other something and admiring their peers dressed in bright costumes. Haku and Chihiro arrived on time. As soon as the girl and the boy took their place on the very top stand of the stadium, the show began on the stage that stood in the middle of the stadium.
Everything was as Haku said: schoolchildren from the Dragon School were showing an excerpt from the anime “Spirited Away”. If you have seen this anime, then you remember the scene I am talking about. Do you remember that scene that was almost at the end? Well, that scene when Yubaba offered lets Chihiro find out her parents. Don't remember? Well, let me remind you now: on that bright sunny morning, Chihiro was faced with six pigs, a difficult task. Chihiro had to answer the bathhouse owner whether her parents were among those six pigs. If Chihiro gave the wrong answer, her parents would remain in the form of pigs for the rest of their lives, until they were slaughtered for ham. As for Chihiro, the prospects for her were not bright either. If she gave the wrong answer, she would remain working at Yubaba's bathhouse forever.
This is the very excerpt that the students of the Dragon School were now showing.

Chapter Three
“I know how this story ended,” Chihiro suddenly screamed. “I said that my mom and dad were not among those six pigs.”
Suddenly, silence reigned on the stage, all the heads of the actors and spectators turned to the girl. - Oh, look, this girl looks so much like the character from that anime! - someone from the crowd suddenly shouted. - Girl, what's your name?
Chihiro opened her mouth to answer, but felt someone pulling her hand. Haku opened the umbrella over her and tried to lead her away from the stands as quickly as possible. However, it didn't work out quickly, voices were following Haku and Chihiro:
- Oh, look, and the boy is the spitting image of the anime hero, what was his name? Haku? Dragon Haku? His eyes are just as green!
Hey, where are you running off to? Talk to us!
- Why are you pestering people? - another voice reached Haku and Chihiro. - Didn't you get it, they just had plastic surgery to look like anime heroes.
The girl and the boy didn't hear what the first voice answered, they were already far from the stands of the School of Dragons.
Chihiro ran after Haku, and it seemed to her that this was happening more than once, she remembered the situation when she and Haku were running away from someone. Finally, she got tired of running and timidly said:
- Mr. Haku, let go of my hand already, we ran too far. I want to tell you something.
The boy stopped immediately.
- Forgive me, Chihiro, but it suddenly seemed to me that you were in danger, and I hurried to quickly take you away from that place.
- Haku, I remembered, what you were hoping for happened, watching the actors' performance, I suddenly remembered.
- Did you remember everything? - the boy looked into the girl's eyes with hope. - If so, then we are saved!
- Yes, I remembered almost everything, - the girl shook the water off her umbrella. — There are still some unclear things, some fragments of memory in my head seem to be under a layer of deep water, but they will definitely emerge.
— Well, that's exactly what I was expecting. I want to ask, are you hungry, perhaps? You were so excited, usually after that a person wants to eat.
— Yes, I would like to eat a bun. But Haku, have you forgotten that we need to watch our school's festival program? The teacher will punish not only me, but you too, if we don't come.
— Chihiro, you worry too much about things that you don't need to worry about. If you remembered everything, then you should understand that I stopped time. Our school's festival program will start the moment we reach the right point in the park. But to calm you down, let's turn in this direction and take a shortcut. If we go along the central alley, we will constantly run into other students.
Haku, as always, was right, the festival only started when the girl and the boy approached the stands.
Making herself comfortable, Chihiro waved to her classmates and received smiles and greetings in return, but the girl's smile faded when she saw the threatening look of Malvina and the girls from her company. However, unexpectedly for herself, Chihiro suddenly raised her hand again and made a welcoming gesture in the direction of Malvina and the other girls with multi-colored hairstyles. Malvina's mouth fell open in surprise, she was used to a different reaction from her classmates, and Chihiro's boldness confused her. Yes, yes, now that Chihiro remembered everything, she was no longer afraid. Is it possible to scare a girl who went through so many trials, saw so many terrible and magical things, was in such despair and sacrificed her life, is it possible to scare her now with simple human aggression? In the meantime, the festival program came to an end. The jury will announce its decision only tomorrow, the task facing the jury members was too difficult. There were so many teams, and so many interesting things happened on the festival grounds that the jury was confused. Haku went to buy a bun and a milkshake, soon the stands were completely empty, even Malvina and her gang left. Chihiro sat alone on the stands, but Malvina did not dare to touch her. Soon Haku returned, the boy was worried and told Chihiro that he would probably have to return to the magic park for a while.
Chihiro ate the bun, drank the cocktail, shook the crumbs off her skirt, and then touched Haku's jacket sleeve.
"Mr. Haku," she said quietly but firmly, "I want to go with you! But if something threatens my parents, then, of course, I will stay here.
- No, - Haku thought, - there is no longer a threat to your parents. This story was told to the end, and you did everything to free r parents. Yubaba can be anything: evil, greedy, envious, but she is true to herself in one thing, she always keeps the terms of the contract. The whole world of magical baths for ghosts rests on this.
- In that case, take me with you!
- No, you can't go now, you're not ready yet. I'll be gone for a few days, and when I return, and if you still have a desire, then you'll come with me. Well, the festival day is over, the rain is getting stronger, and you need to go home. Go, Chihiro, we'll meet again.

Chapter Four
The next day, when Chihiro came to school, it turned out that the seat next to her was empty. However, everything happened as Haku had promised. What surprised the girl most was the fact that no one noticed Haku's lateness and his absence, as if there was no such student in the class. Meanwhile, time passed, a week passed, two weeks passed, a month passed, but there was no news about Mr. Haku. And something else surprised Chihiro: it turned out that only she had seen the stone figurines and the houses attached to them. On Tuesday, she witnessed how her mother, while watering the lawn, stepped several times on the place where the stone figurines stood. According to all the laws of physics, her mother should have reacted somehow, stepping on the figurine of the little god. However, after walking on the place where the stone figurines stood, her mother did not comment on this circumstance. From which Chihiro concluded that for everyone except her and Mr. Haku, the stone figurines and their houses do not exist. Meanwhile, the jury summed up the results of the costume festival dedicated to anime heroes. This happened two weeks after Haku disappeared. Surprisingly, the first place went to the school that showed a theatrical performance based on the anime "Spirited Away", that is, the Dragon School. The Tiger School, that is, the school where Chihiro studied, took third place. And two weeks later, a strange thing happened: during the third lesson, Chihiro was called to the principal's office. The supervisor was unusually kind when she personally approached Chihiro and told her that the girl was expected at the principal's, but still the girl cautiously took hold of the door handle, behind which the school principal was. However, Chihiro was afraid in vain, because the principal greeted her with the same wide smile as the supervisor.
It turns out that this is what happened: the television company of the education department was looking for a girl named Chihiro. It cannot be said that this name was rare in this small town. Probably, every school could boast of two or three, or even four girls with such a name, but during the costume festival, an event occurred that gave the producer of the television company an idea. A rumor spread around the city that a schoolgirl of one school was the spitting image of a character from the anime "Spirited Away". Moreover, a bird on the tail brought the news to the producer that next to the girl during the festival was a boy who was the spitting image of the second main character of the anime "Spirited Away", whose name was Haku. It so happened that at the tiger school, Chihiro was the only student with such a name. That is why the director called the girl to his office today. However, after talking with the girl, who was desperately shy, the director decided that it was necessary to negotiate with the girl's parents. Chihiro had nothing against it. She did not quite understand the hype around her name, did not understand what was threatening her in connection with this circumstance and how this story would end. If Haku had been there, he would have quickly realized the danger that threatened the girl, since he had a magical sense, and would have forbidden her to participate in the show that was planned. Yes, I did not explain the problem that caused Chihiro to be called to the principal. The producer of the television company of the education department decided to put on a show, playing on the fact that a girl named Chihiro had plastic surgery to look like the heroine of the anime of the same name. As you and I know, our girl did not have any surgery. And it would not have even occurred to her. But the producer did not know about this. The school principal was flattered by the attention that was paid by the education department. The principal had already begun to hope for a promotion and for huge headlines in newspapers and in the information space, which would sound something like this: "Tiger School has a unique student." However, the principal was unhappy that there was no student named Haku in class today. The supervisor was called, but she could not comment on the boy's absence. The director blushed, began to beat the table and ordered to get the boy from under the ground. But, fortunately, the director and supervisor's work day was coming to an end, and the question of how to find Haku remained open. Chihiro was worried when she entered the classroom the next day. However, to her surprise, everything was quiet, no one said anything about the show, and no one was looking for Haku, but the silence lasted until the third period, during the third period, the smiling supervisor entered the classroom and told Chihiro that she was expected in the director's office. Chihiro, still timidly, approached the director's office, opened the door and saw, that the principal was wearing the same clothes today as he had yesterday. This was thought-provoking. Everyone at school knew that the principal, a short, skinny man, came to school every day in a new formal suit, the suits were made to add seriousness to the principal, and his high platform shoes were also made for the same purpose. Incidentally, the principal also changed his shoes every day. So, the first thing Chihiro saw when she entered the principal's office was that the man was wearing the same clothes as yesterday. However, not only were the clothes yesterday's, but also the questions that the principal asked Chihiro, as well as the conclusions he made from his conversation with the girl. You won't believe it, but when Chihiro glanced at the calendar that hung on the side of the principal's desk, she saw that the calendar had yesterday's date on it. Of course, this couldn't be true, but it was. And then there was more, after talking with Chihiro, the director, just like yesterday, called the curator and, flushed, banged on the table for a long time and demanded that the curator explain why the student Haku was absent from class. Returning home, Chihiro decided that the time loop she had gotten into extended to everything she saw around her. However, this turned out to be wrong, glancing at the lawn near the house, she discovered that there was absolutely no empty space left on the lawn. Now literally the entire lawn was cluttered with the houses of stone gods and, of course, the figurines of stone gods themselves, which were attached to them. Entering the house, the girl first glanced at the calendar that hung in the living room and caught her breath, the calendar on the wall showed the correct date. From which Chihiro concluded that the time loop was only in Tiger's school, in her school. The third day brought no changes, Chihiro had already memorized the topics of the first two lessons, however, it could not be otherwise, because for the third day she had been listening to the same explanations. And in the third lesson, or rather, a little towards the end of the third lesson, she suddenly began to put things in her bag, anticipating that she would be called to the principal again, and her premonitions did not deceive her. Everything was the same as yesterday and the day before. However, there were still some differences. The faces of the principal and the curator were haggard. The curator, a neat woman who was meticulous about fashion, had her makeup running and her lipstick had slightly dried on her lips, while the principal's face, apart from obvious signs of fatigue and exhaustion, showed no traces. However, when he began to pound the table, his fingers were shaking. As you know, our heroine was a kind and compassionate girl, and now she realized that these two people were on the verge of exhaustion. Having fallen into a time loop, the director and the curator probably did not eat or drink anything. Chihiro glanced sideways at the beautiful cup in which coffee was poured, and indeed, the coffee had cooled down the day before yesterday and was covered with a film. Meanwhile, a signal came to the director's tablet, just like yesterday and the day before, that the man's working day was over. The man rose abruptly, intending to leave the table, and almost fell. However, not paying attention to the dizziness, he smiled a forced smile at Chihiro and kindly advised the girl to go home. Chihiro knew that if she didn't take action, the man and woman would end up in the hospital, but something even worse could have happened, dehydration is a dangerous circumstance that can end in death. So the director turned to the door, intending to leave the office, the curator also began to turn around, when Chihiro said:
- My classmate Haku is not in town now. I'm very sorry that Haku's parents did not notify you about this. But he will definitely come back.
Chihiro could have sworn that after her words, something clinked in the director's closet, the curtains on the window fluttered, and the laptop that the director turned off before leaving suddenly turned on by itself.
The man reached for the door handle, but froze, the curator also stopped her movement, turning to the girl, and they suddenly asked at the same time:
- Who is Haku? Why did you come to this office without an invitation? And who gave you permission to open your mouth without prior permission?
Hearing a question that might have seemed dangerous and tearful to another girl, Chihiro smiled and, going around the director and the curator, pulled the door handle and left. No one was chasing her. The girl was not sure that she had brought the director and the curator out of the time loop; everything would only become clear tomorrow. Fortunately, tomorrow came with a new date on the school director’s calendar.

Chapter Five
Time passed, and Haku did not return, Chihiro began to forget what she had suddenly remembered one day. However, it seemed to her more and more often that she was not living her own life. Returning to class, she looked less and less often at the place where her friend Haku was sitting. Meanwhile, Malvina, as if waking up from hypnotic captivity, began to behave even more terribly. Malvina’s gang grew to 30 people. One day, an adult girl from high school volunteered to talk to Malvina. The result of the conversation was that the gang of old The schoolchildren recognized Malvina's right to rule in the junior school. However, nothing happens without a reason, the role that Malvina's parents imposed on her as a child gradually drove the schoolgirl crazy. In the morning, getting ready for school, Malvina increasingly began to discover wounds on her arms and legs, and sometimes on her body. The psychologist to whom Malvina's parents took her said that the girl was inflicting wounds on herself with a wooden pencil, but Malvina knew that this was not the truth. The truth was that the damned wooden boy was trying to kiss her and inflicting wounds on her during the kiss. On such days, Malvina behaved even more brazenly with her classmates and with the junior schoolchildren. We know that Malvina did not need anything, her parents-professors were rich people, but having gathered a gang, the girl, in order to remain the chieftain, had to act. And she acted, she extorted money, she beat up her peers, she disrupted classes. And she did all this only to drown out the terrible vision in which Buratino stretches his lips to her, and his long nose pierces her through. For some time, Malvina did not touch Chihiro, but Haku did not return, and the memories of his confidence and strength eventually faded. Soon no one remembered the boy with green eyes, the object of passion disappeared, but the hatred for the girl who dared to stand between Malvina and Haku did not go away. In addition, the legend that Chihiro was the heroine of the anime "Spirited Away" continued to excite the minds of the city's schoolchildren, and Malvina was furious that Chihiro was becoming popular. And then one day something terrible happened. But I will tell you everything in order. That day, Chihiro was late after physical education. When she took a shower and went to get her things from her locker, it turned out that someone had tried to open the locker, and now the key would not turn in the lock. With great difficulty, the girl still managed to open the locker. While she was getting dressed, drying her hair with a hairdryer and applying cream to her face and hands, someone turned off the lights in the gym and in the locker room. And then shadows began to dart about in the darkness. Suddenly, music and a loudspeaker turned on. It was the kind of music that stirs up a crowd to senseless actions, and then a calm female voice said: “Do you like pork? Let's roast this pig! Her parents are pigs, so she is a pig too! Let's roast a pig! Let's roast a pig!” The doors to the locker room were wooden, someone propped them up from the outside and set them on fire. Chihiro was hitting the door with her whole body, trying to open it, and the voice continued to say: “Is one pig enough for us? One small roast pig for the whole company is very little. I think we need to go and smoke two more big pigs! Am I right? " - the voice addressed the invisible fans. And immediately the speaker received support. Many voices began to shout words of approval. "Well then," the voice concluded, "let's leave this pig, let it smoke well, and it's time for us to go. We need to thoroughly pour gasoline on the pen for the two big pigs and set it on fire." "I understand what they mean," Chihiro thought to herself, continuing to beat on the door, "it's not enough for them to have me, they also want to set my house on fire so that my parents burn. Haku, where are you, Mr. Haku? You said that the terrible story that happened to my parents was over, but it turns out nothing has ended. And again I need to look for a way out myself to save my parents. What should I do? I need to go back to the pool! There is an emergency door from the pool, but to reach it, I will have to swim across the entire space of the pool, because the smoke has already penetrated there, into the pool, and it is completely impossible to breathe. I will not be able to reach the emergency door on foot. " Almost crawling, Chihiro moved towards the desired goal. Luckily, the door between the changing room and the pool was open. But the smoke had already penetrated there too. Chihiro was dragging herself with the last of her strength, it seemed to her that her body was becoming transparent again, but Haku, who was supposed to give her a magic pill against transparency, was not nearby. Gathering her last strength, Chihiro crossed the space separating the changing room from the pool and threw herself into the water. As soon as she did this, she felt a little better. However, suddenly the waters of the pool shot up, as if something heavy had fallen into the pool. Chihiro began to drown, but someone immediately came to the girl's aid. The sound of breaking glass was heard, and Chihiro felt fresh air. She could breathe! The city that never became her home floated beneath her in the light of the evening lights of the houses. Lying on the back of the dragon Haku, Chihiro said:
- You know, Haku, I don’t remember myself, my mother told me. Once I fell into the river, tried to get a shoe and fell, but someone saved me. Was it you, Haku? It was you. Haku, are you carrying me to my parents’ house? My parents are in trouble again, and you came to my aid again. Water dragon Haku, do you remember your name? You bear the name of a river that is no longer on the map. This river was paved over, and now there are houses in this place. But, fortunately, I remember your name and will say it now.
Dragon X At that moment, aku and the girl were flying past the house where Chihiro's parents were caught in flames. The girl and the dragon were almost level with the house when Chihiro said: - Dragon Haku, the river where you saved me was called Kuakugawa. You are a water dragon. As soon as Chihiro said this, streams of water began to erupt onto the house that was burning. Dragon Haku turned into a boy Haku. Holding hands, Haku and Chihiro ran to the house. Malvina and her gang tried to keep the boys away from the house, but Haku threw them aside, stretching out his arms. And Chihiro at that time was removing the locks with which Malvina and her gang had closed the door from the outside. Fortunately, Chihiro's parents were not seriously injured, the fire had just started. Soon the firefighters and the police arrived. Malvina was taken to the police station, and then, at the urgent request of her parents, she was transferred to a psychiatric hospital. Several members of the gang were also tried to be brought to criminal responsibility, but since the girls were still minors, they were punished in a different way, they were transferred to a labor school. After that, the gang dispersed. As Haku said, the story of the parents who turned into pigs in the magic park ended, but the story of Haku himself and the magic park was just beginning.

Chapter Six
When the excitement associated with the attempted murder of Chihiro and her parents died down, it turned out that some of those who obeyed Malvina were now eager to lead the remnants of the gang, but their desire remained just a desire. Haku returned to the classroom, and those who were beaten and insulted rallied around the boy and Chihiro. Gradually, peace and quiet returned to the classroom. No, the classmates did not forget anything, but, feeling the protection of Haku and the sincere care of Chihiro, the schoolchildren stopped being afraid. As I said, Malvina was now in a mental hospital, and her most ardent supporters were transferred from the Tiger School to a labor school, which was no better than a juvenile prison. However, as I said, the gang had recently numbered about 30 people, and these were not only Chihiro's classmates, but also girls from other classes. Sometimes, when Chihiro went to the cafeteria or to the self-study class, it seemed to her that the looks of the former gang members were burning right through her. Except for those cases when girls and boys had to be apart in class, Haku was always next to Chihiro. I tell you as if half a year had passed since Malvina tried to make an attempt on the lives of Chihiro and her family. But in reality, only two weeks had passed. After his return, Haku rarely expressed emotions, he was just there all the time. He was a caring boy and was always worried about Chihiro being fed and warm. When the sun was shining, Haku held an umbrella over Chihiro's head, when it was raining, he also held an umbrella over the girl's head, afraid that his friend would get wet. Haku talked about ordinary everyday things, and Chihiro supported this conversation, realizing that the real conversation was ahead. A week later, Haku disappeared, but fortunately, a day later, he returned again, and the boy's face was again worried. Chihiro asked several times what happened to the boy, Haku was silent for a long time, and Chihiro did not rush him. Finally, looking doubtfully at Chihiro, he still decided to have a serious conversation.
- Chihiro, - Haku showed the girl the basket, - shall we go on a picnic today? I will bring the basket with food, you will bring the blanket. We will sit on the blanket under the flowering tree, admire the water of the river and eat delicious things that are in my basket. - Okay, Haku, I agree, - the girl's cheeks were flushed, and her eyes were shining, - I love picnics so much, but I'm always afraid to go on such picnics with my parents. You know, my dad has a bad habit of taking food from the counter without permission.
- This is exactly what I want to talk to you about, - the boy said thoughtfully when they settled down under a flowering tree near the river.
- Okay, Haku, talk, I'm listening.
- What happened to you and your parents a few weeks ago was not an accident. I thought that by freezing your memory, I severed the thread that connected you to the magical park, but somehow the fate of the magical park is now connected to your fate.
- I've long suspected this, - Chihiro said quietly, putting her hand under a falling petal from the tree.
- Yes, that's right, if you were different, you wouldn't have been able to save your parents. You've grown up during this time, but you've remained just as brave and sensitive. Look, the weather has suddenly gotten worse, the wind has picked up. If you don't mind, let's pack our things and finish our food in that cafe that's at the beginning of the park.
- Haku, - Chihiro said cheerfully when they sat down at a table in the cafe, - do I need to go back to the magic park? Is it time?
- Yes, it's time, - Haku agreed, - you don't just need to, you have to go back to the park. Because the events in the real world, in this world of ours, and the events that happen in the magic park are interconnected.
- Do I need to tell my parents that I'm leaving?
- No, there's no problem with that. necessity. When the time comes to return, you will return at the same moment you left the real world for the magical one.
- Okay, Haku, I agree.
- Well, why don't you ask me what happened that made you need to return?
- I know. I saw Faceless in my dream, he was standing and crying near Jiniba's house.
- So, does that mean Faceless has already entered your dream?
- Is there anything bad about that?
- Yes. In the ghost park, everything is not as it seems.
- I have a question, - Chihiro looked trustingly at Haku.
- Ask your question. I promise to answer it.
- Haku, before we parted, you were planning to leave Yubaba's students, what prevented you from doing so?
- My mistake in the contract prevented me from doing so. Yubaba was not against parting with me, however, when she took out the contract, it turned out that I had made a mistake when signing my name, as you remember, this happened before we met and you revealed my real name to me. So Yubaba offered me this option: she offered me to extend the contract for another year, but this time I had to sign with my real name. I had no choice but to agree. However, Yubaba's attitude had changed, she could no longer push me around like before. In addition, the ghosts working in the bathhouse also began to treat me differently, but this was already thanks to you. The story of a living girl who fought with all her might for her parents excited the entire Magic World. You know, but you are very popular in the ghost park, and the glow of your popularity somehow fell on me. Sorry, I'm dragging my feet, I don't want to talk about the trouble that came to the Magic Park. But I have to.
But first, the backstory. Do you know who the Faceless One is?
- I don't know where he came from, I met him when he was already the way we know him. It so happened that I thought that he was cold outside, and let him into the bathhouse. Of course, I don't know who he is, but it seems to me that I feel him, there is some strange connection between us.
- Yes, the moment when the Faceless One appeared under the windows of the bathhouse is now fatal for the entire magic park.
- What do you mean? - the girl became alarmed. -
The magic park is in danger because I let the Faceless One into the bathhouse?
- No, it's a little different. The Faceless One is emptiness, he can be kind or evil, he can be generous or greedy, but by taking pity on the Faceless One, you became the source of his life. All this time, while you were away, Faceless behaved well, but as soon as you had problems with Malvina, Faceless went crazy.
In addition, there was the problem of the park's popularity. I told you that schoolchildren from all over Japan and not only Japan, one could say, children from five to sixteen years old from all over the world, poured into our country after the premiere of the anime to find this park. Their desire was so strong that Yubaba and Jiniba had a hard time maintaining the invisibility dome over the magical park. When the premiere fever ended, the popularity of the anime gradually began to decline. You know that anime is released in our country every day, they grow like mushrooms after rain. Some time passed, and the two main sorceresses of our park relaxed a little. The threat of exposure passed, but it was decided not to remove the invisibility dome. Trouble came from where it was least expected: as soon as you and your family began to have troubles, Faceless began to periodically grow to the sky and destroy the dome. It was like attacks. After the destruction, the Faceless One would shrink again and the next day he didn't remember anything. I'll tell you even more: for some reason, the Faceless One has the gift of foresight, his attacks began long before Malvina tried to beat you up. That's the situation in the park now.
- But, Mr. Haku, - Chihiro continued to smile, probably what Haku told her didn't seem out of the ordinary to her, - now everything is fine with me and my parents. Why does the Faceless One continue to harm the Magic Park?
- You know, the thing is this, - Haku suddenly stopped and began to listen anxiously, - the Faceless One does not belong to the Magic World, nor does he belong to the world of people, sometimes his motives are difficult to understand, even more difficult to calculate his steps and understand what he will do next.
- I wanted to ask you something for a long time, but I forgot, did Yubaba find the traitor?
— No, I didn’t find one, and I think that such a traitor probably doesn’t exist in the Magic Park. After returning to the human world, I reread many articles on the Internet and came to a certain conclusion. This conclusion is based on the words of the creator of our anime. Sometimes there is a special person among the scriptwriters. Most often, the team of scriptwriters does not start working until they find such a special person. This person has extrasensory abilities and picks up vibrations from another world. And then these vibrations are inserted into the script, turning them into letters. As the creator of the anime said, there was no ready script at the start of filming, the story was created on the go, ideas appeared as if out of thin air, and they were immediately written down. Do you understand what I'm talking about?
- No, I don't quite understand, - Chihiro timidly looked into Haku's eyes, - explain it to me more clearly.
- This means that there is no traitor in the magical land, information about the Magic Park was somehow drawn out of thin air by a special person who was on the scriptwriting team. Now do you understand?
- Yes. Now I understand. So what to do with the Faceless One? Why doesn't he want to return to his previous way of life?
- All the residents of the Magic Park are asking themselves this question now, but they can't find an answer. Therefore, Yubaba, with a heavy heart, gave me permission to go to the real world to explain the problem to you and persuade you to visit the Magic Park again. If I had a choice, I would forbid you to return. After returning, I will no longer be able to erase your memory. But, as you can see, I have no choice. The Faceless One's powers are growing. One day, when he fell into his strange state, he almost destroyed the railway. That is, the Faceless One can now move to the real world, and this is absolutely no good. In the magical world, everything that the Faceless One destroyed, the two sorceresses can immediately restore. But what is destroyed in the real world can no longer be restored.

Chapter Seven
It took a lot of letters to tell about the real world where Chihiro and Haku met. Well, this is the real world, where a person not only speaks, but during a conversation changes everything that is around him. Is this possible? Yes, in the real world everything is possible. Even if you make a mistake, you can always correct it. Only the end point of any person's life is unchangeable. Death cannot be corrected. It so happened that in the real world in my story there were only two people who communicated with each other. They were Chihiro and Haku. The rest of the world revolved around our main characters like a decoration. However, the second part of my book will be full of diverse characters. I will not dwell too much on the scenery of the magical world that will surround our heroes. I will try to build the second part of the book in a different format.
But now we are still in the first part of the book. Chihiro gave Haku her consent for them to go to the magic park together. But as soon as she was left alone in her house and in her room, the girl began to be tormented by doubts. She was not worried about herself, she was worried about her parents. For some reason, the roles of Chihiro and her parents have changed lately. A carefree attitude towards the world that surrounds them was a feature of Chihiro's parents. Her parents took everything lightly. However, Chihiro has been on guard all the time lately. The girl did not like the way her parents treated the world. Her parents were ready to take without asking the consent of those from whom they took. As you remember, this is what led to the trouble in the story that happened in the Magic Park. The parents couldn't draw any conclusions after that story, because they simply didn't remember anything. Chihiro had to draw a conclusion. Draw a conclusion and grow up. By and large, when Chihiro saved her parents in the Magic Park, she didn't do anything special. She didn't make loud speeches, didn't call them to fight. She just did what she was told, or did what she thought was necessary in a given situation. All her thoughts and aspirations were directed in only one direction. She knew that it depended on her whether her parents and she would be able to return to the real world. In those few days that Chihiro spent in the Magic Park, she matured unusually. It's probably logical, when you take on some responsibility, you change. While in the magical park, Chihiro made friends with some people, avoided others, persuaded others, and explained things, but by and large, all of her actions were aimed, as I already said, at survival. Only one magical creature touched her heart so much that she was ready to rush into battle to save him. Of course, you guessed that I was talking about Haku. Now that there was a real opportunity to return to the magical park again, Chihiro did not feel any anticipation. The girl had to put in so much effort to leave this park, and not much time had passed since that moment. However, now they were waiting for her in the park and asking for help. But Chihiro, as I already said, was in doubt. To put it simply, the girl did not want to return to the park. The girl asked Haku for one day to pack and think. With a heavy heart, Haku promised her to wait. But the more the girl thought about the upcoming separation from her parents, the less she wanted to leave her home. Chihiro and Haku agreed to meet in the morning at school. The day flew by, and in the evening, returning from school, Chihiro said:
- Haku, I thought about your offer and I want to say that I will stay here, I can’t leave my parents alone.
- Chihiro, I respect your decision, with your permission I will walk you home, but tomorrow, unfortunately, I will not be present at the lesson, I need to go back.
Chihiro and Haku were walking to the and quietly conversed, there was no talk of Haku being offended by Chihiro's refusal, no matter what the girl decided, he accepted her decision as the ultimate truth.
When there was very little left to the house, Chihiro stopped. She was waiting for her father to come out of the gate and wave to her. Her father always came home from work before Chihiro and waited for her yellow raincoat to flash in the gate of the house. However, this time, for some reason, her father did not come out to meet Chihiro, and looking closely at the silhouette of the house, the girl understood why. Chihiro's parents could not leave the house, from the foundation to the roof the entire house was walled up with stone figurines. No windows or doors were visible.
- What is this? - Tears welled up in Chihiro's eyes. - Haku, do you know who did this?
- No, I don't know. When you left the house this morning, was everything okay?
- Yes, everything seemed okay. I'm not sure when I left the house, and I didn't look back or look around.
- Most likely, - Haku summed up, - it happened at night.
- Haku, what should I do? How will I get home?
My parents are locked in the house, what if they run out of food and water, and I can't help. Oh, dad appeared in the window, he's waving at me, I'm going home.
- Chihiro, stop, you won't go into the house. Even I can't see any windows or doors. Probably, for your parents, the house and everything around it is the same as always, it's just our perspective that has changed.
- My dad somehow entered the house. What should I do?
- You have to decide for yourself. You can go with me to the magic park right now, or you can try to enter the house.
- Haku, how can I leave? My parents are in trouble, they're locked in the house. What if they need help?
- Do you remember what I said?
- Most likely, you don't. Chihiro, tell me what time it is?
- It's 10:00 PM.
- Yes, it's 10:00 PM and not a minute more. If you leave the real world with me now, you'll return at the same time. Time won't move for a second for your parents, they won't go hungry, they won't feel thirsty. You'll leave the real world at 10:00 PM and return at 10:00 PM.
- Haku, I don't like all this. Can you promise me that nothing bad will happen to my parents while I'm gone?
- Yes, I can promise you that, - Haku answered.

Part Two. Ghost Park

Chapter One

"Out of the Darkness
I can speak in many voices, but everyone thinks I am voiceless. My cloak hides many faces, but the girl thinks I am faceless."

Interior. River
The river has become shallow. Because of this, grass has begun to grow through the stones. This place was once pleasing to the eye, but now it only causes disgust.
Previously, thanks to the river, it was possible to get to a small train station by boat. Now that the water has receded, the journey to the station has become long and inconvenient.
Interior. Alley of snack bars and cafes "Hunger and Food"
Evening. The buildings of snack bars and cafes are destroyed. Not a single light can be seen anywhere. Usually, the lights come on with the onset of evening, but judging by the state of the street, they have not been lit here for a long time. The chapel named "44" rotates around its axis, and the interior inside is changing.
Interior. Baths "Hot Water for Ghosts"
The surroundings are deserted and quiet, the bushes and trees that used to give off a wonderful aroma are trampled or broken.
However, life is in full swing inside the building. Smoke is pouring out of the chimney, and ghostly figures are scurrying back and forth inside the building - these are the staff of the baths for ghosts.
Chapel "44" makes a full turn again. And we find ourselves on the street "Hunger and Food" again.
Interior. Dark Alley
We walk along a dark alley, and it again leads us to the street of restaurants "Hunger and Food". Part of the street is destroyed. Signs are visible on restaurants and cafes: "Three Thousand Eyes", "Raw", "Fat", "Sky", "Hunger and Food", "Hunger is Behind", "Sky is a Man", "Intimate is Allowed". All the signs are in Japanese. There is only one cafe open in this alley, but its lanterns are dimmed so that the Faceless One cannot see it in the dark.
Interior. Bathhouse extension. Late evening
The boiler room door opens and grandfather Kamazi's long arm sticks out. The arm extends further and further. Something is clenched in the fist. Finally, the arm rises into the sky and the palm unclenches. There were 999 cranes in the palm. Multi-colored cranes fly across the blue evening sky. They are made of paper, but once they rise into the sky, they spread their wings and become huge. The size of the cranes is comparable to the size of a helicopter or an airplane.
One of the cranes, made by someone very carelessly, falls onto the meadow right into the grass by the gate.
Two people, a boy and a girl, come out of the gate that leads from the human world to the Ghost Park. It is clear that the boy feels confident, but the girl does not like it here. A curious crane lifts its head from the grass to see who is so brave that it dared to enter the ghost park, especially so late at night. The girl lifts her head, and the moonlight falls on the elastic band that holds her hair together. The elastic band shimmers with precious sparkles.
Girl
What will we do if Yubaba is unhappy?
Boy
Remind her of her promise hire everyone.
Girl
Am I going to get a job?
Boy
You've been invited to work as a security consultant.
Girl
Who invited me?
Boy
You were invited by Jiniba, Yubaba's sister. Jiniba is worried about the Faceless One and asks Yubaba to hold off on destroying him. Jiniba invited you, Yubaba will give you a contract to sign.
Interior. Green meadow
The green meadow shimmers with different colors in the moonlight thanks to the girl's magic hair tie, and the crane in the grass is clearly visible. The curious crane rises silently and smoothly above the meadow, and then flies into the girl's pocket, at first it is afraid, but then it becomes bolder and looks out of the pocket.
Interior. Sky over the ghost park
The sky lights up with a million bright colors, and ghosts arrive at the ghost park on cranes. The area in front of the "Hot Water for Ghosts" bathhouse suddenly turns into an airfield. However, the cranes land one after another, no one pushes, everything is decorous and noble, with bows. Workers are already waiting for the ghosts at the door of the bathhouse. Music is playing, the sound of tom-toms, loud conversations, laughter. The ghosts are escorted inside with bows.
The chapel with the inscription "44" suddenly stops being afraid of the Faceless One and allows itself to turn on its inner heart-lantern. The heart-lantern illuminates everything around and the dry river.
Interior
Bridge. The girl Chihiro leans over the railing of the bridge, trying to understand where the music is coming from, and, losing her balance, begins to fall. The boy Haku manages to catch her. Smiling, he shakes his finger at Chihiro.
Haku
I forgot how clumsy you are. In the real world, you were completely different!
Chihiro
What's under the bridge? Who's calling me?
Haku
This is Jiniba's concert agency. Jiniba isn't afraid of No-Face, so her team of performers can scream at the top of their lungs. After the hot baths, the arriving ghosts will have a concert. Yubaba's sister has three concert agencies, and they all compete with each other. I didn't tell anyone that you were coming to the ghost park today, but somehow the director of this concert agency found out about your arrival.
Chihiro
Haku, do you think it's dangerous?
Haku
Yes, until you make a contract, it's better not to advertise your arrival here. But since you're already here, and someone has found out about your arrival, there's no time to waste. Let's go straight to Yubaba's ghost bath. But let's not go through the main entrance, but through Grandpa Kamazi's boiler room. Let's say hello to Grandpa and his team at the same time.
Interior
Grandpa Kamazi's boiler room. The many-armed grandfather Kamazi performs the main function in the bathhouse for ghosts. He serves hot water with healing infusions. A signal is given, a sign with a request arrives, and the grandfather sends water with an infusion. To maintain the right temperature of the water, the grandfather is helped by the Black Blackies - nimble coals.
The grandfather sleeps and works on a special platform - a pedestal. On the pedestal is written in Japanese hieroglyphs "cleanliness". The name of grandfather Kamazi is translated as "grandfather-kettle" or "old stoker".
Haku
Grandfather, receive guests, your granddaughter has returned!
Chihiro
Yes, grandfather, I'm here again!
Kamazi
My granddaughter! Show yourself, have you grown up? Growing slowly! Have you returned to ask for work again?
Haku
Jiniba asked for help!
Kamazi
Really? That's why I hear people from her agency shouting Chihiro's name into the microphone for four hours already. They want to show you their respect, granddaughter!
Chihiro
They shout so loudly!
Kamazi
What do you want? It's not every day that girls from the outside world come to the rescue!
Haku
Grandpa, we brought gifts! You got a new shirt, and Chernushka got a ball. Let them train during the breaks!
Kamazi
We really pleased you! Even four sleeves were made in the shirt! The shirt was made with love! And a ball too! How can I thank you?
Chihiro
Grandpa, I don't need anything! You called me granddaughter, and protected me!
Haku
Let's go! We need to go to Yubaba, it's dangerous to be here without Chihiro's contract!
Kamazi
Come see me later, I have something for you.
Haku
Okay, Grandpa.
Interior
The elevator has the word "Higher" written on it in Japanese. The children go up to the floor where Yubaba's apartment is. The sorceress Yubaba's name means "old bathhouse attendant" or "old woman from the bathhouse."
Just like last time, the doors open one after another.
Yubaba
And here are my dear guests. Why did you take so long to get here? The cameras I installed all over the park showed you until a certain point, and then you disappeared.
Chihiro
Grandma, I'm back. Haku said that you have work for me again.
Yubaba
Don't call me Grandma. When you take on a worker, you become responsible for him. And I don't like that. However, my sister Jiniba and the other ghosts really asked me to give you work again. Well then, Sen? Are you ready to come work for me again?
Chihiro
Yes, I am ready, but my name is Chihiro. I don't know who Sen is.
Yubaba
Look how smart everyone is these days! Are you taking advantage of the fact that I'm in a hopeless situation?
Okay, let the girl Chihiro sign.
Chihiro
I have one more condition.
Yubaba
What is that condition?
Chihiro
After I help you, you will release Haku early.
Haku
But Chihiro, listen, we didn't agree on that.
Yubaba
I'm not keeping your beloved dragon here by force. He's free to leave then, to whenever she wants.
Chihiro
Ms. Yubaba, if the contract has already been drawn up, I am ready to sign it.
Yubaba
Magic contracts appear out of thin air. They appear quickly and disappear just as quickly. Here, sign here.
Chihiro
Yes. There, it is done. What do I need to do now?
Yubaba
You are now a security consultant. Dragon Haku will show you the house you will be living in. Now you cannot sleep in the same room with everyone else. But that will be later. Right now, you need to go up to the floor above, where my sister Jiniba is waiting for you in her apartment. She will tell you in detail what happened. Why are you looking around?
Chihiro
Where is my little friend, little Bo?
Yubaba
He is not here. As soon as the events with the Faceless One that you know about began, I sent him to school. I miss him very much, but it is dangerous for him to be here now.
Chihiro
Did the faceless one really want to hurt little Bo?
Yubaba
The faceless one was looking for my son and demanded that you appear before his faceless face along with him.
Haku
Ms. Yubaba, Chihiro is now your security consultant, and I hope that everything will be fine.
Yubaba
Go down to the first floor and get the key to the house where Chihiro will live.
Haku
We will do as you say.
Interior
First floor. As soon as Chihiro and Haku got out of the elevator, they were deafened by a collective shout of "Welcome back, Chihiro!" Someone was holding a banner that also said:
"Chihiro, we've been waiting for you! Welcome back," and someone was dancing and shouting: "Hooray, Chihiro is back, and now everything will be fine." Haku
Ms. Chihiro values each and every one of you and thanks you for the warm welcome! She signed a contract with Yubaba, and now her position is Security Consultant. Where is Llin?
Llin
Here I am! Chihiro, are you back? I missed you so much!
Haku
Talk some more! Llin, pack your things, from today on you are the personal assistant of Security Consultant Chihiro. Ms. Yubaba has given Chihiro a separate house, and Llin will be living with her.
Envious cries are heard from the crowd: "Lucky Llin, she will live in a separate house."
Chihiro
I didn't miss the ghost park, but I missed you, and I'm glad that I'm back. Ms. Yubaba told me to gather you all on the lawn near the gate tomorrow. There will be tables with refreshments on the occasion of my return. Shouts of "Hurray" are heard from the crowd.
Haku
Where is the administrator?
Administrator
Let me pass! I'm here.
Haku
Give me the keys to the house where Mrs. Chihiro will live.
Interior. Reception
A sign in Japanese on the reception desk: "The role of the father."
The administrator hands over the key with a bow, but when he hands the key to Haku, it is clear that the key is a rainbow worm. The worm is enclosed in a small transparent glass box.
Haku opens the box, takes out the worm and asks Chihiro to touch the worm with her index finger. Chihiro looks at the worm with doubt, but fulfills Haku's wish. The key to the house where Chihiro will now live is a key worm. After the worm takes its place in the keyhole of the house where the girl will live, she only needs to put her finger on the keyhole, the worm will check the information, and the door will open.
Haku puts the worm-key back into the box and turns to Chihiro.
Haku
Yubaba's sister is now on the fourth floor, her office is there.
Chihiro
Does she live there?
Haku
No, her office is there. Jiniba's house at the Bottom of the Swamp station. Right now, her temporary home is in a long house that is built in the shape of the Latin letter "A", on the first floor are Jiniba's concert agencies, and she herself lives on the second floor at the very top of the building. The heroes leave in the direction of the elevator. They need to meet with Jiniba.
Interior. The lower platform behind the bridge
On the lower platform behind the bridge, a rehearsal for tomorrow's celebration is underway.
Concert agency number one is preparing a festive presentation of those who the ghost park is proud of, and those who the park is afraid of. Behind the bathhouse there is a
rock with one edge shaved off, this edge of the rock today is an ideal
platform for projecting a presentation. The screen reads "Guess the hero by his characteristics".
Characteristics:
"One of this girl's qualities: if someone gives her advice or
directs her somewhere, she becomes brave, confident and will never back down, but
she herself is not sure of the correctness of her actions and the actions of her parents. Even
when she is desperately afraid, she still does not back down. She fights to the last, and gives
free rein to tears only after she achieves her goal."
"He is devoted to his girlfriend to the point of self-forgetfulness. When she was little, she fell into
the river, and he saved her. His full name is Nigihayami Kohakunushi - "master of the Amber River".
He serves Yubaba and learns witchcraft from her, but does not remember who he is and
where he is from. He believes that by regaining his true name, he can become free and human again."
"A girl, a worker at the ghost baths, a hot-tempered but forgiving
young girl. She is devoted to her friends and hates their offenders."
"An elderly lady, once swore an oath to hire anyone who
asked for a job. Her witchcraft is dark, she is full of suspicions that the workers
are lazy. Sometimes she is ruthless, but she has an Achilles heel: she madly
loves her son, a giant Bo. The lady thinks she doesn't love her twin sister
Jinibu, but when trouble comes, she calls her sister to the ghost park."
"A lone ghost, with a mind of his own. No one knows where he came from. His name is not in the registry
of ghosts. Greed, flattery, and backbiting are the qualities on which
he makes money, but when a ghost without a name meets a person with a pure soul,
a girl from the real world, he understands that she is the one he will follow to the ends of the earth."
"She lives..."
The first administrator of the game blows through the microphone.
First administrator
My friends, you are given a second to think. The winner is the one who names all the names
and makes an encrypted word from the last letter of the heroes' names.
Second administrator
What are you shouting about? We have a rehearsal for the game, we don't want everyone to find out
the encrypted word ahead of time.
First administrator
Are you picking on me again? I haven't read out the whole list yet. And anyway, it's not that easy to guess all the names in a second and make a word out of the last letters of the names.
Concert agency manager number two
Now is our time. Clear the stage. And between you and me, the second
administrator is right, you've already given away all the secrets of tomorrow's celebration. The whole intrigue
is ruined.
Assistant manager
Sir, the singer has disappeared. Everything is lost. What will happen tomorrow?
Manager
Calm down. Repeat again where the singer went.
Assistant
We were flying on a crane together, when suddenly she simply disappeared into thin air. What will happen now?
Mister Toad
My friends! Today is Monday, a shortened night, which means there will be no guests. Or rather, there were guests, but they have already left for the concert. This means that our bathhouse today is for those ghosts who work for its benefit. Yubaba and Tsiniba invite everyone who wants to wash before tomorrow's performance. Turn off your computers, microphones and other equipment and welcome.
A banner above the entrance to the baths: "Spirits and ghosts from all over the world rest in the baths."
Interior. Bathhouse for ghosts
Today it is not crowded, but calm. Today ghosts-servicemen wash, chat and eat here. The bathhouse service feels like kings today and has already completely driven the hired servicemen from the neighboring ghost park.
The booth at the end of the bathhouse is poorly lit, but there is someone there. A pleasant female voice reaches the assistant manager, who is washing in the next booth, singing a song: "I loved you so much, but you left. I can't live without you, but I don't know how to settle scores with life. Maybe I should drown myself or commit hara-kiri? Maybe I should be hanged or electrocuted? I will come to you after death. What kind of death should I accept so that I become ugly and my ghost scares you? "

The assistant manager is enchanted by the voice and the song and, having dressed quickly, waits under the singer's booth, afraid that she will leave and he will not find her again.
Chapter Two
Intro

Interior. Yubaba's office. Evening.

Little Bo is bored, but his mother does not let him go for a walk. Today is an especially large arrival of ghosts. Ghosts are arriving - members of the Congress "I died for my country".

Little Bo

Mom, who is this?

Yubaba

Where?

Little Bo

There, standing in the river!

Yubaba

Bo, now I will count and see! It just does not add up! According to my records, 1,000 ghosts visited the bathhouse in a month, and Trigolova's assistant reported to me that there were 999 ghosts.

Little Bo

Mom, come look!

Yubaba

Right now, right now! Right now... No, it's not working. Okay, I'll count it later!

Goes to the window

So, what did you see there?

Little Bo

Someone... Someone who looks like the Faceless One! Only... There are so many of them!

Yubaba

Bo, my little one, do you want to go for a walk?

Little Bo

Mom, I just wanted you to look at those people outside the window.

Yubaba

Why are there people in our park?

Opens the window

Hey, who are you? What are you doing? Why are you driving those pegs into the river?

Moves away from the window and shouts

Trigolovy, who are these people who lowered the river level?

Trigolovy

I don't know.

Yubaba

Then go figure it out!

Interior. River. Five minutes later.

Trigolovy

Give your permission!

Faceless Ghosts

Permission is far away.

Trigolovy

Why did you lower the river level?

Faceless Ghosts

The pressure is too high. He said there would be an explosion.

Trigolovy

Stop working! Yubaba is furious!

Faceless Ghosts

We've already finished, we'll be back tomorrow evening.

Trigolovy

Why are you coming back? The water in the river has gone.

Faceless Ghosts

We'll come back, but not here.

Interior. "Famine and Food" Street. The next morning.

Early morning. The street is empty, as the cooks work at night, and ghosts also visit the street at night.

The silence of the warm morning is shaken by explosions.

Faceless Ghost 1

I can't destroy the restaurant completely, the magic protecting it is too strong.

Faceless Ghost 2

What I did is enough. Now the pressure won't rise!

Faceless Ghost 52

The underground restaurant is protected by a triple ring of magic, the same with the restaurant located on top of a thousand-year-old tree!

Faceless Ghost 1

This is bad. The boss asked to destroy these restaurants first.

Faceless Ghost 99

I'm done. Not a single intact restaurant remains on the street.

Faceless Ghost 1

Crushed ie has dropped, but not completely. It's getting hot, we need to leave. But we'll be back.

Interior. Little Bo's room. The next night.

Bo is wandering around the room, bored. Yubaba's mother has gone out on business. Finally, he takes a book out of the closet and begins to read an old Japanese fairy tale. A picture book, with little text but many illustrations. Bo is gradually immersed in the story.

Suddenly, the book begins to turn the pages on its own. Bo is intrigued, but not scared. Finally, the whirlwind of pages stops the movement. In front of little Bo is a page showing a small dark house from a medieval Japanese fairy tale. The house is three-dimensional, and it's enough to pull the door handle for the house to open. Suddenly, Bo realizes that he is no longer in his nursery, but in a dark room of a fairy-tale house.

Bo

Where am I?

A quiet voice

Go to the ear tube.

Bo

Where is she, it's dark here.

Quiet voice

Go to the window.

Bo

I'm near the window.

Quiet voice

Look out the window.

Bo

Someone in a Japanese warrior mask is standing outside under the window.

Quiet voice

He wants to tell you something.

Bo

What to say?

Quiet voice

Say something important. There's an auditory trumpet under the windowsill. Reach out and get the trumpet.

Bo

I'm holding the trumpet in my hands.

Quiet voice

Put it to your ear.

Bo

I can't hear anything.

Quiet voice

Concentrate.

Bo

Okay.

Masked warrior

Why aren't you on the battlefield?

Bo

I'm still a child.

Masked Warrior

In hard times, everyone must protect their homeland. The war destroyed my entire village.

Bo

Are we at war? Are we at war?

Masked Warrior

The war has been going on for three years. Call me in.

Bo

Why?

Masked Warrior

If you don't call me, I'll kill your girlfriend.

Bo

You can't, because you don't know my name. Don't touch her!

Masked Warrior

Okay. Answer my questions. If you answer correctly, I won't kill her.

Bo

Okay.

Masked Warrior

Question one. How many people were in the carriage when she went to Jinba?

Bo

I don't remember. I think it was two people, maybe three!

Masked Warrior

So two or three?

Bo

Two people.

Masked Warrior

Wrong. Question two.

How many threads were in the elastic you wove for her?

Bo

I remember that. Eight threads.

Masked Warrior

Wrong. You had a chance to save her.

Bo

Stop! There were eight threads, I remember that clearly.

Masked Warrior

No. Wrong. There were seven threads, the eighth was pulled too tightly and snapped.

Bo

No, there were eight threads.

Masked Warrior

It's too late. Look at your friend, she's dead, do you see her body hanging on a branch? Do you recognize her yellow sneakers? And now it's your turn, little Bo!

Bo

No! Who told you my name?

Masked Warrior

I know not only that, I know that you didn't close the door behind you, and I'm already walking through it! I'm getting close, little Bo! Are you shaking? Are you scared?

Bo

No!

A quiet voice

The pressure will drop as soon as you die! The pressure will drop as soon as she dies!

Bo

No. This story is bad!

The boy screams loudly and tears the book. Finally, he stops and looks at the pages of the book. And then he looks around. He is in his nursery, and it is safe here. But little Bo continues to scream:

"No, don't touch her! The pressure cannot be lowered that way!"

Chapter Three
Interior. Bathhouse for ghosts. It is still night.
The manager hesitantly knocks on the door of the booth.
Manager
Sorry, I thought I heard a voice from here.
Someone was singing very beautifully. And I really liked the song. Was that you singing?
No one answers the manager. After a
short pause, he speaks again:
We are looking for a singer. Millions of ghost fans will
adore your voice. Tours, performances, photo shoots - all this will be at your
service if you agree to cooperate with our concert agency.
Madam, do you understand what I am talking about?
Suddenly, a high-pitched female voice comes from behind the booth door.
Female voice
What is the name of your concert agency?
Manager
We don't have a name. Jiniba, our owner, calls us "Concert Agency Number Two". We specialize in finding talented ghosts who knew how to sing and dance in their past lives. Your voice touched me to the depths of my soul. You have the opportunity to perform tomorrow.
Have you ever sung with an orchestra?
Female voice
I must have been a singer in my past life. Although, I'm not sure about that. But for some reason, I always want to sing. The lines of songs are constantly spinning in my head.
Manager
Your face is probably as beautiful as your voice. Could you please get dressed and come out of the booth so we can get acquainted?
Female Voice
What will I get if I agree to your offer?
Manager
Anything you want, including a separate house in the ghost park. However, if you wish, you can live in a house that is made in a rustic style, similar to the house that Mrs. Jiniba has at the Bottom of the Swamp station.
However, we are already looking too far ahead. Let's start with introductions.
Female Voice
I'm not ready yet. I just entered this booth recently. I need a good steam bath to get myself in order. Could you come see me in half an hour?
Manager
Mistress, in my case, time is ghost money. Concert t will take place tomorrow night. If you meet all our requirements, then there are still many formalities to be sorted out. In addition, we will need to choose a style for you, adjust the equipment to your voice, and, of course, choose a concert outfit.
Female voice
This all sounds wonderful, but, as I have already told you, I need to get myself in order. In addition, I need meditation. And you are knocking me off the right wave.
Manager
I feel that you are a subtle creative person. Okay, madam. I will leave now, but I will be back in half an hour.
As soon as the manager left, a dark shadow moved out from around the corner. The shadow did not ask permission, but simply darted into the crack between the door and the jamb of the booth.
The manager returned, as promised, in half an hour. To his surprise, the woman with the beautiful voice responded immediately as soon as he asked the question: “Madam, are you ready? I have already notified the administrator, and he is looking forward to meeting you.”
Female voice
Yes. I'm leaving.
The beauty of the woman who came out of the booth exceeded all the manager's expectations. Clouds of steam rushed after the slender silhouette, a bright light came from the woman's eyes, her lips were so red that you wanted to kiss them. There was nothing special about the woman, but the charm came from within. Coming out of the booth, the woman staggered. It even seemed to the manager that she had split into two. The two shadows of the woman, light and dark, moved away from each other, and then intertwined again.
Woman
Oh, what's wrong with me, I feel like I'm in a dream, as if I'm not myself, as if I'm two people. I need to lower my blood pressure!
Manager
What?
Woman
I'm saying that the infusion in the bath today was amazing! I feel so light.
Manager
Madam, if you're ready, then let's go to the office of our agency. It's in the next building, not far from here.
Woman
But after the bath, you can't go out into the cold street.
Manager
What are you saying, madam, you don't need to go outside. The elevator will take us up to the tunnel, and another elevator will take us down to the desired floor of another building.
Chapter Four
Interior. Chihiro's House. Five o'clock in the morning.
Llin
Mistress Chihiro
Chihiro
Llin, call me as before, just Chihiro. Do you like the house where they settled us?
Llin
Yes, I'm delighted, I don't remember my past life, but it seems to me that in my past life I lived in a common room too. And now sometimes I even feel uncomfortable and scared. But then I feel joyful. I just can't believe that this room is mine, only mine. How did you live, Chihiro? Haku said that you forgot everything, and he had to put in a lot of effort to make you remember.
Chihiro
Yes, that's how it was. After I left the ghost park, sometimes scattered facts popped up in my memory. With my inner vision, I saw you, little Bo, and Mrs. Yubaba, but I couldn't remember your names, and it seemed to me that they were elements of my dreams. Well, now, of course, I remember everything.
Llin
You can't imagine how happy I am that you've returned. Even if we still lived in the same room with my friends, I would still be happy.
Chihiro
Llin, I want to ask why you never left here? You said that a little time would pass and you would leave the ghost park. Maybe Mrs. Yubaba didn't want to let you go?
Llin
I remember our last conversation. I remember my feelings, in these feelings there was both the bitterness of separation and hope for the future. One day, I asked Haku to put in a good word for me with Mrs. Yubaba. Soon Haku came with an answer. He said that Mrs. Yubaba was ready to let me go. As you know, Mrs. Yubaba thinks of us all as freeloaders, that is, she thinks that we eat a lot but work little. However, regarding my specific request, this is what happened. Mrs. Yubaba sent her answer through Haku. She said that she was ready to let me go and break the contract if I told her my full name.
Chihiro
Why did you go silent? What happened next?
Llin
And then there was nothing. I don’t remember my full name. I know that my name is only part of my full name, but I can’t remember. Although sometimes it seems to me that the memories are already here, close by, on the tip of my tongue or on the tip of the pen with which I signed the employment contract. But nothing moves beyond these feelings.
Chihiro
How sad it is.
Llin
And not sad at all. If I remembered, I would have left here long ago, and we would not be talking now.
Chihiro
Maybe. Don’t you want to sleep?
Llin
Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot that you came from the real world. In this world of yours, you sleep at night and are awake during the day, but here it's the other way around. Now I'll make your bed for you, and you'll sleep.
Chihiro
Why? I can do it myself.
Llin
Have you forgotten Mrs. Yubaba's main rule? In the ghost park, everyone must work. I don't quite understand what my job is yet, so I'll come up with work for myself for now. Oh yeah, you're already asleep, let me help you into bed.
Chihiro
What are you going to do?
Llin
I noticed that there are a lot of books in the room behind the living room. Is this probably the library room?
Chihiro
Yeah, I probably haven't had time to look around the whole house yet.
Llin
So, while you're sleeping, I'll choose the most interesting book about love and read it. If it's a melodrama , then I will sympathize with the heroes and cry. You see, Chihiro... Chihiro! She is already asleep. Well, until tomorrow, my dear friend.

Chapter Five
When morning came, Chihiro found Lynn sleeping on the floor, her head on Chihiro's bed. Now it was Chihiro's turn to see Lynn off to bed. While her friend was sleeping, Chihiro decided to walk around the house. The house had three bedrooms, a living room, a library, a study, and a kitchen. There were paintings on the walls. And in the courtyard of the house there was a small garden, in which many fragrant flowers grew. Chihiro spent only half an hour to look at everything. And then she got bored. She entered Lynn's bedroom and checked if everything was okay with her friend.
After making sure that Lynn was asleep, Chihiro decided to go outside.

Interior. Ghost Park. Morning

The girl only vaguely understood what she had to do as a security consultant, and decided to walk around the ghost park just in case. Chihiro wanted to see Haku, but she knew that now that she was being watched by many eyes, she couldn't communicate with him informally, like in the real world. It took Chihiro about two hours to walk around the entire park. She walked slowly, trying to visit all the places that she hadn't managed to see during her last visit to the ghost park. The last point of her walk was the ghost bathhouse. And, fortunately, she met Haku there. Just like Chihiro, Haku tried, when he had the opportunity, to live in a normal human mode: sleep at night and do things during the day, but he didn't always succeed. Haku was happy to see Chihiro.
Chihiro
I wanted to see you.
Haku
I know, I've been watching you from the balcony and I've seen you looking thoughtfully in the direction of the ghost bath several times. You're not sleeping in vain. Tonight will be a sleepless night.
Chihiro
Why?
Haku
Have you forgotten that there will be a reception tonight, a grand reception in honor of your arrival?
Chihiro
No, why not, I remember. However, I didn't think it would take all night.
Haku
The officials from Concert Agency Number One and Concert Agency Number Two came to me and gave me the script for the upcoming celebration to read, so I can tell you that the celebration is scheduled to last all night. I'll finish my business now and go to bed, I suggest you do the same.
Chihiro
Actually, I wanted to ask you.
Haku
Ask your question.
Chihiro
I wanted to know what I should do as a security consultant?
Haku
First of all, you must cast aside your carelessness. You must be attentive
and observant. You must be especially attentive to those ghosts who
hang around Miss Yubaba and Jiniba.
Chihiro
Should I stop trusting all ghosts?
Haku
No, you must be attentive to those you don't know, to those who have appeared here
recently. But your main enemy, unfortunately, is No-Face. You probably don't know, but Mr. Lantern, the one who has served Mrs. Jiniba for centuries, is now disabled. When No-Face lost his mind, he tore Mr. Lantern's head from his body.
Chihiro
How horrible. Mr. Lantern is alive?
Haku
Yes, he is alive, but he can no longer serve his mistress Jiniba. That's why I ask you to be very attentive to everything related to No-Face.
Chihiro
Where is he now?
Haku
Nobody knows where he hides. As you know, the ghost park consists of five huge parks, five huge parts. He hides somewhere in one of the parks.
Chihiro
I always felt sorry for him.
Haku
I know that. But now you should forget about pity. The situation is aggravated by the fact that the Faceless One can divide into 99 parts, moreover, he can take the form of any ghost. True, in the morning, in the light of the sun, he can no longer deceive anyone. But the problem is that ghosts usually communicate with each other at night. Only you and I can walk freely in the light of the sun. By the way, how are you feeling? Do you feel tired?
Chihiro
Yes, it seems to me that my body, like last time, is thinning and becoming translucent, and I am also very hungry.
Haku
I want to invite you to the restaurant that is on the top platform of the thousand-year-old tree, but I will wait for you there in the evening. Right now I want to treat you to a bitter grass ball, it is probably not the treat you were expecting, but you need to swallow the grass ball now.

Haku puts the grass ball in Chihiro's palm. Chihiro shakes his head, but then gives in and swallows the grass ball.

Chihiro
Yes, everything is repeating itself like then.
Haku
Go to sleep. And when you wake up, everything will be fine.

Chapter Six
Interior. Meadow near the gate to the ghost park. Midnight

The party in honor of Chihiro's return to the ghost park began at midnight. The stage was arranged in a circle, with tables in the middle of the circle. There were passages between the segments of the stage, they looked like rays. However, the passages were not very wide, no more than two or three ghosts could pass at once. However, the ghosts who were invited to this party were not going to leave anywhere. They were comfortable, They ate, danced to the music coming from the speakers, and waited for the heroes of the evening to appear on stage. It was decided to place the stage and tables on the meadow near the entrance to the park. The organizers of the holiday considered this place symbolic. This was the very place where Chihiro came out of the gate. During the preparation of the holiday, the organizers complained that then, a year ago, cameras were not yet hung around the entire perimeter of the park and, unfortunately, there was no photo or video footage of the events when the parents and Chihiro entered the park and headed towards the gastronomic street "Hunger and Food". However, regrets never lead to anything, and the organizers of the holiday now made full use of the idea that the girl from the real world had returned and now everything would be fine. The ghosts enjoyed delicious food, danced, answered questions in various quizzes, received prizes, participated in competitions and were absolutely happy. As I said, the party started at midnight, and at 3:00 a.m. fireworks went up in the sky, a fanfare sounded from the speakers, and Chihiro came out on stage accompanied by Haku. The girl's entrance was accompanied by a show on huge screens that were suspended above the stage. It was 3:00 a.m., the girl wanted to sleep, maybe that's why she didn't look very happy. From midnight to 3:00, they put on her makeup and picked out her costume, and she also tried to memorize the ceremonial speech that the scriptwriter wrote for her. The speech just didn't fit in her head, and so in the end it was decided that Chihiro would say the greeting in her own words. The fanfares died down, the traces of the fireworks melted into the sky, and all eyes turned to the little girl, who for some unknown reason returned to this place where she was surrounded by ghosts. However, the girl's confusion lasted only a few seconds, the guests of the party were sincerely happy for Chihiro, and each of her words was accompanied by unceasing applause.
The warm welcome touched the girl so much that she relaxed and began to speak from the heart. Then she passed the microphone to Haku, who also said a few words. Yubaba and Jiniba were not present at the party so as not to embarrass their subordinates. A video message was recorded, which was shown on the screens after Chihiro and Haku's speech. And after that, it was announced that the party was continuing. Haku gave his hand to Chihiro, and they went down the steps, which were covered with a red carpet, to the table where Chihiro's friend Llin was already waiting for her. For a while, the music died down, only the hum of voices, laughter and exclamations could be heard. Chihiro tried to remind herself that she had come here for a reason, but to ensure safety and protect everyone present from the insidious plans of the Faceless One. However, she soon relaxed too and went to lead the long round dance, in which the organizers of the evening decided to place everyone present. It was noisy and unusually fun. Chihiro, a slightly sullen and withdrawn girl in real life, was now among friends and felt genuine happiness. The girl did not even suspect that so many people, or rather, so many ghosts loved her or treated her with sympathy and concern. It was 4 o'clock in the morning when the music began to sound again. First, the corps de ballet appeared on the stage, beauties in oriental costumes were so beautiful that their appearance was met with shouts and a roar of applause. When the welcoming exit was over, the corps de ballet members froze on the proscenium, their faces turned to the audience, and their hands pointed somewhere into the depths of the stage. Suddenly it became completely quiet, the spotlights began to blink, shimmer, and then froze, forming a circle in which a woman's figure suddenly appeared. The stage received its queen, its star, its prima. The girl was so beautiful that it was impossible to tear your eyes away from her, it seemed that she could conquer the audience with just one look. However, when the girl began to sing, it became clear that, in addition to her beautiful appearance, she had another quality that could captivate the audience. She was a professional singer who, in addition to her voice, also had acting talent. Her low, velvety voice penetrated the very hearts of those who listened to her. The audience even began to breathe in time with the song that the ghost girl performed. The songs she sang were imbued with sadness, passion and carried a deep meaning. When the singer decided to congratulate Chihiro and asked the audience to come closer to the stage, no one even thought of resisting. It seemed that the ghosts, enchanted by the beautiful singing, even forgot for a moment who Chihiro was and why she needed to be congratulated. However, the memory lapse lasted no more than a few seconds, and those present burst into thunderous applause. Chihiro wanted to sleep, it was already approaching dawn, and there was no end to the holiday. Her eyes were sticking together, and the excitement gradually faded.
The girl looked around: those present, hypnotized by the singer, moved towards the stage in a single impulse, even Chihiro's friend Llin tried to push those present to get as close to the stage as possible. Only Haku and Chihiro remained sitting and a table, but this fact did not surprise anyone. Those present completely forgot in whose honor this party was organized. The singer performed three more songs. After that, she once again asked Chihiro to go up on stage to greet her personally. The sleep passed, but an unusual irritation appeared. Chihiro did not understand why this entire army of ghosts was breathing, moving and singing in time with the singer's songs. However, she could not refuse, in the crowd of ghosts there were already dissatisfied exclamations addressed to Chihiro, who for some unknown reason ignored the polite invitation of the star of this evening, this beautiful singer, who was a revelation. Chihiro decided that she would not go anywhere, but Haku quietly shook his head. Well, there was no choice. The girl did not understand why she was desperately resisting the polite invitation, she simply did not have time to think about this circumstance, the guests of the party hurried her, clapping in time to the music, and cheering her on. Chihiro went up on stage. It became quiet, the singer began to say something, and then fell silent, it seemed that something had worried the girl, she tried to congratulate Chihiro again, but suddenly she coughed and her speech suddenly became slow, and Chihiro suddenly heard a voice from the past. This voice was not the singer's voice, but it was familiar to the girl. The voice uttered several unintelligible words, the tempo of the voice began to speed up, and Chihiro suddenly heard words that surprised her very much: "We need to lower the pressure," the singer said, the girl was acting strangely, it seemed that she was on a ship and was rocking from side to side. In the light of the spotlights, it was clearly visible how dark shadows were hovering around the girl. Suddenly, the singer took a few steps towards Chihiro and began to strangle the girl. The girl began to lose consciousness, the last thing she heard were the words that the singer repeated: "Wish, wish, wish." Suddenly, someone tore the girl's hands away from Chihiro's throat, and the girl fell onto the stage. However, the singer was determined to deal with Chihiro, she was rushing towards the girl. Llyn, who was the first to react because she was closer to the stage, was able to tear the singer's hands away from Chihiro's throat. However, she herself was immediately injured, the singer with superhuman strength lifted Llyn above her head and threw the girl into the crowd.
And then she moved towards Chihiro again. This time, Haku intervened, standing in front of the enraged girl, he stretched out his hands in front of him. Haku was a strong sorcerer, but for some reason he could not restrain the singer for long. It seemed as if a whole army was crowding behind the girl and pressing on Haku. Fortunately, at that moment the ghosts came to their senses, and about twenty ghosts rushed to Haku's aid. They surrounded the raging singer. And at that time, Haku was taking Chihiro away. At that moment, the sun rose. The sun could not harm the ghosts, they were not afraid of its rays. But the singer suddenly lost consciousness. At that moment, it became clear that the Faceless One was standing behind the singer and directing all her actions. One of the ghosts jumped up to the Faceless One and pulled off his hood. The Faceless One screamed, and it seemed that the earth and sky shook from his scream. At that moment, the sorceress Jiniba descended from the sky. As you remember, she knew how to deal with the Faceless One. But that was earlier. Now the hoodless ghost was raging and pounding the ground with his fists, and the earth began to crack under his palms. It is unknown how long this would have continued if the sorceress Jiniba had not thrown the hood over the ghost again and, having pulled it up, lowered the edge of the hood over her eyes. The noise died down. The Faceless One's hands drooped like whips, and he followed Jiniba without resistance. As soon as the Faceless One was taken away, the singer came to her senses. The girl did not remember anything, her voice was hoarse, and she spoke in a whisper. However, Chihiro and Haku did not see all this, all their attention was riveted to Llin. The girl was dissolving in the air, she stretched her hands to Chihiro and tried to say something. But the disintegration was happening very quickly, Chihiro ran up close and tried to slow down the disintegration on her side, but Llin suddenly said

Llin
I remembered, I remembered my name. My name is Angellin. I came to this world to meet you someday and become your angel-savior. Now my function is done, and I'm leaving. If you want to see me again, let me say a few words to the dragon Haku.

Chihiro was crying out loud, but she only nodded in agreement and stepped aside when Haku approached Llin, who was only a shadow left. Llin said a few words and, pleadingly folding her hands, asked Haku for something, and he nodded. After that, the girl's silhouette disappeared completely.
Chihiro's eyes grew dim, and she lost consciousness.

Chapter Seven
Interior. Meadow before the exit from the gate to the ghost park

Chihiro thought she had been sleeping for a very long time. But in fact, she woke up after 30 minutes. Jiniba told her not to disturb the girl, and Chihiro remained to sleep right there on the meadow. Haku brought a blanket and a pillow, and they laid the girl on it. When the girl woke up, there was almost no one left on the meadow. Only Haku was giving instructions to the yawning to the ghosts cleaning the meadow. Soon there was nothing to remind them of the past holiday and the tragedy. The grass of the meadow glistened cheerfully with dew drops in the rays of the rising sun.
Chihiro
Haku, where are you, Haku?
Haku
I'm here! I was busy cleaning, but I didn't go far from you!
How are you?
Chihiro
Where is the Faceless One?
Haku
Lady Jiniba ordered to throw a dark cloth over the Faceless One. Now he's like in prison.
Chihiro
Didn't they offend him?
Haku
No, everyone was afraid of him. They tried not to approach him. That's why Jiniba's personal servants led him to the room that would serve as a prison cell until the trial of the Faceless One.
Chihiro
Will there be a trial?
Haku
Do you still feel sorry for him?
I know that there is some strange connection between you. But I am sad that the relationship ended so tragically. Yes, there will be a trial. Lady Jiniba said that it is necessary to understand what happened to Faceless. He was a great assistant and best friend of Mr. Lantern, and then tragedy happened. Sorceress Jiniba now very much regrets that she did not put out a search for Faceless back then; if she had done so, today's tragedy could have been avoided. But at that moment, she was confused, and her task was to ease Mr. Lantern's suffering as much as possible.
Chihiro
Llyn left?
Haku
Don't you remember?
Chihiro
I hoped that I had just dreamed it all. So it all really happened, and Llyn saved me.
Haku
Yes. We were lucky that Llyn was there and reacted immediately, otherwise you would have died.
Chihiro
What should we do now? I turned out to be a bad security consultant. I couldn't even protect my own life, because I was careless, my friend died.
Haku
No, it's my fault. You have a sixth sense, and you categorically refused to go up on stage. You felt threatened, you just couldn't formulate this feeling, the general joy, excitement, noise did not allow you to concentrate. In order to understand what was really happening, you needed at least one minute of silence, but they pressured you, persuaded you, even, as far as I remember, threats began to come from the crowd of ghosts. I had to listen to you, and I listened to the mood of the crowd.
Chihiro
What will happen now? What will they do with the Faceless One?
Haku
Jiniba and Yubaba will call an extended meeting in the evening, when everyone wakes up, you and I must also be present at it. It will be necessary to select 12 jurors from among the ghosts.
Chihiro
Should these be the ghosts who were at the celebration?
Haku
I don't know. When evening comes, everything will become clear.
Chihiro
I need to go home. I'm worried. How are my parents?
Haku
My parents are fine. Their life stopped at 10 on the dial of your
home clock.
Chihiro
Yes, you already told me that I would return the same minute I left. But I'm
worried.
Haku
You will return home soon. I promise you.
Chihiro
Haku, tell me, what did my friend Llin tell you before she disappeared?
Haku
I can't tell you now. She made me promise that I would tell you everything only when you finally decided that it was time for you to
return to the real world.
Chihiro
That's not fair. You have to tell me everything now. This will calm me down a little and
give me the illusion that my caring friend is still by my side.
Haku
Do you want me to break my oath?
Chihiro
I'm sorry I put you in such an awkward position. No, I take back my
request. But I really hope that when the time comes, you will tell me everything.
Haku
Don't doubt it, it will be so. How are you feeling? I brought two stuffed
buns, when you eat the buns, don't hold back, you must cry, otherwise the pain
and anxiety will paint your heart black.
Chihiro
The buns are so delicious. I'm sorry I have to dilute their taste with salty tears.
Haku
After you eat the buns, go to your house, you need to sleep. I'll
show you off and then go inspect the grounds. I need to understand the extent of the
destruction. Some things can be restored with magic, but not everything. I
suspect that in a few cases real repairs will be necessary. Are you ready to go home?
Chihiro
I would not like to be alone now, this is not my home. If you allow it, I will go with you.
Haku
I understand you. If you wish, then let's walk around the ghost park for a while, and then you will still have to go back home, since your arrival at the ghost park your routine has been disrupted, and you have not slept much. Besides, the events of yesterday's festival will remain in your memory for a long time. So, of course, I will take
you with me. Did you eat the buns?
Chihiro
I ate the buns and washed them down with my own tears.
Haku
The first destination of our walk is the ghost gourmet street "Hunger and Food", of course, all the restaurants are destroyed and closed, but one of the restaurants specializes in what works during the day. It serves treats for ghosts who can't sleep during the day.
Chihiro
What, are there such ghosts?
Haku
Yes, and there are actually quite a lot of them. Why are you surprised? Don't you ever feel like getting up at night and having a drink or a snack?
Chihiro
Yes, sometimes it happens, but rarely, much more often it happens my parents.
Haku
Well, you see, sometimes you wake up at night to eat or drink, and the ghosts who can't sleep peacefully go to the underground restaurant to have a snack or drink during the day.
Chihiro
Is this restaurant underground?
Haku
Yes. Underground. However, to enter it, you don't need to walk under the scorching rays of the sun, it's still bad for the ghosts' skin. This restaurant is connected to the main building by several underground passages, bridges, tunnels, this is designed for those ghosts who like to take a walk during the day before going to bed. Those ghosts who just want to eat and drink something, and then go to bed again, can use the small subway that connects the main building and the restaurant. When No-Face split into 99 parts, he almost destroyed the entire street "Hunger and Food". However, the restaurants that are above ground and above ground inside the thousand-year-old tree, and he could not destroy. These are the oldest restaurants that were the first to appear on the Earth of the Magic Park, they are protected by triple magic and were not strong enough for the Faceless One. Chihiro, do you hear what I am saying? What is wrong with you?
Chihiro
Are you asking me to enter the underground restaurant?
Haku
You are as perceptive as always. I want to treat you to the juice of the flower of oblivion. If you drink this juice, you will not be able to forget everything, of course, but your pain of loss will subside a little. Besides, you just need something to wash it down with after eating two buns. Do you mind visiting the restaurant? I am sure that the dishes you see will amaze you, and perhaps you will agree to me ordering you something else for breakfast.
Chihiro
It feels like a heavy bag has been hung on my heart. And the heaviness is growing, I feel anxious and scared. So if there is anything that can help my pain subside a little, I am willing to eat or drink whatever you offer.

Interior. Underground restaurant of the ghost park. 10:00 AM

When Haku and Chihiro entered the underground restaurant, nothing was visible at first. But as soon as they stepped over the threshold, the light flashed. Soft music began to play, and a polite male voice said:
"Thank you for deciding to honor our restaurant with your attention. Welcome!"

When Chihiro and Haku sat down at the table, the voice sounded again: "Dear guests, I would like to clarify in what form would you like to receive the menu for today's breakfast? The menu can be projected on the wall in front of your table, on the ceiling, under the dome of the restaurant, on a tablet, or in regular paper form." Haku wanted to choose a traditional menu, but Chihiro beat him to it, asking for a menu projection to appear on the wall. Chihiro was a child of the 21st century and loved everything that could be scrolled with a finger.
The invisible maitre d' immediately fulfilled Chihiro's wishes. However, the abundance of dishes immediately confused the girl. The invisible assistant scrolled page after page, and Chihiro could not choose. When the choice of dishes exceeded 2000, Haku decided to take matters into his own hands. Besides, Chihiro had simply laid her head on the table and fallen asleep.
When Haku raised his hand, the flickering of the page stopped.
Immediately, a beautiful male voice sounded again: "Have you made your choice yet?"
Haku shook his head, and then added: "I have a request for you. Change the music. Let it be a lullaby. I want Chihiro to sleep for at least half an hour. After she wakes up, serve her porridge with the seeds of the Awakening grains and three drops of ginseng tincture added. I would also like to add to the selection of food and drinks a chocolate stick that gives energy and juice with the grass of oblivion."
"Is that all?" the male voice clarified. "What will you eat and drink?"
Haku
I will not eat anything. As for drinks... Just give me strong coffee.
"Do you want a triple espresso? " the invisible maitre d' asked again.
Haku
No, I need coffee raised to the power of nine.
"Okay," the invisible interlocutor agreed, "your order is coffee raised to the power of nine. The espresso will be here soon. But, if you allow me to say, I will remind you that such coffee is harmful to the body." "I thank you for your concern," Haku laughed and answered softly, "but I can assure you that I rarely drink such coffee, but in light of the events that happened last night, I simply need such a drink now."
"Yes, I understand you," the invisible interlocutor supported the conversation. "Unfortunately, I was not among those invited to this fateful celebration, since I was busy preparing the celebration in the kitchen of the bathhouse for ghosts, but I know about the tragedy that occurred when dawn was approaching. I offer my condolences to Chihiro." "I'll be sure to convey your condolences to Chihiro when she wakes up," Haku said quietly. "But I have to go now. If my friend doesn't wake up in half an hour, don't wake her up, she needs to sleep. She might be scared when she opens her eyes. So when she wakes up, turn on the lights, all the lights in the restaurant, and let some soft music play. Or, no, you can turn on a movie on the side or ceiling screen. In short, do everything so that my little friend doesn't get scared. discomfort. And of course, serve her the dishes I mentioned earlier. With your permission, I will leave for now."
"Excuse me," the voice of the invisible restaurant manager was heard again. "I would like to clarify how long it will take you to return if Chihiro asks about you?"
"I will return in half an hour. — Haku placed the flower, which an invisible host had served on a tray, on the table and resolutely left the restaurant."

Chihiro was asleep, the music had changed to a lullaby, the lights in the restaurant had slightly reduced their intensity and began to softly blink in time with the lullaby. It seemed that for a while everything in the restaurant froze in immobility. However, someone you probably forgot about decided to go on reconnaissance to find out if there was a threat to his little mistress. The Paper Crane, who had been hiding in his pocket all this time, decided that his time had come. The Crane had excellent eyesight. Of course, he had only recently been born, and the gloom that reigned in the restaurant now was no obstacle for him.
Let's follow him and examine everything in this ancient underground restaurant. Let's start with what you probably already guessed: the restaurant was not just huge, it was was endless and boundless. The restaurant was underground, but if you wanted, you could go down a few more levels. The restaurant was divided into many segments that were connected by tunnels and passages. The ghosts that came to the park of the same name came here from all over the world. The ghosts had different preferences in cuisine, that is, in the choice of drinks and food. Some ghosts demanded that the service that the waiters provided them be similar to the service they received in their homeland during their lifetime. The more technology developed in the real earthly world, the more choice the underground restaurant could provide for its ghostly visitors. The blood vessels connecting the real world and the ghost park transferred information regularly. Information came from the ghost park at night, these were dreams, visions, insights. Information from the real world came to the ghost park during the day. The witch Jiniba actually had three agencies. One agency was responsible for the holidays, the second agency was responsible for show business, and the third agency, which Jiniba did not like to mention, was responsible for information technology, which the employees of the third agency simply took from people in their sleep without any permission. Thus, the ghost park received video cameras, which now hung every few meters along the entire perimeter of the park, tablets, computers, in the space between several parks there was even its own observatory. The employees of the third agency did not just use the information that they downloaded from sleepy people in their sleep, they were also engaged in developing the knowledge that they received without any permission. Well, as I already said, the witch Jiniba was a little embarrassed by the fact that knowledge about the new was usually obtained without any permission, and therefore few knew that in the house in which she temporarily lived, not two agencies occupied their place, but three. But let's return to our Paper Crane. As I have already said, the territory occupied by the underground restaurant was boundlessly huge. The territory was divided into segments, which served exactly those dishes, that is, dishes of the cuisine that the ghosts loved in their earthly life. The segments of the restaurant were decorated like movie pavilions. For example, if a ghost who used to be English was blown into the underground restaurant by some wind, he had the opportunity to eat as if he were in one of the London restaurants. Chinese ghosts could, after a hearty meal, wander through the halls of the Forbidden City in Beijing, which were recreated with amazing accuracy in the underground restaurant. That is, if we sum it up, we can say with the proverb "For your money, any whim." The huge restaurant had a beginning, but no end. It was endless, like our Universe. The Paper Crane even got tired trying to examine all the wonders of the underground restaurant. When he felt tired, he remembered that it was time for him to go to his mistress; according to his calculations, the girl should have woken up by now. However, when he returned, Chihiro was still asleep. The Paper Crane decided that it would be a good idea for him to get some sleep, too, and slipped back into the girl's pocket. However, he immediately heard a voice and left the pocket again to inquire what was going on.
"Sir," said a polite voice, "will you be ordering anything? You can't leave our restaurant with an empty stomach."
Paper Crane
And what can you offer me?
Invisible Waiter
I can offer a fairy tale about a thousand paper cranes. This will be the first course. For the second course, I can offer a legend about lovers who communicated with the help of magic cranes. If you don't remember this legend, I can give you a brief summary. He went to war, she waited for him, and in order not to die in separation, they sent each other magic cranes. The third course will be a story, real I am a story that actually happened, when a paper crane that looked like you stopped a war between clans. A beautiful girl spent sleepless nights embroidering this crane on a silk scarf and threw the scarf between the two warring clans. The war was stopped. In this way, she saved her father's life.
Paper Crane
I like the choice of dishes. I agree. And what drinks can you offer me?
Invisible Waiter
Well, I thank you and am very glad that the choice of dishes met your expectations. As for drinks: if you do not mind, then as a drink I would like to offer you the story of how the river was created, which, as I know, you tried to revive a few days earlier.
Paper Crane
Thank you. I really like the drink that you want to give me in addition to the dishes. And now, with your permission, I would like to start breakfast.
Invisible Waiter
Would you like to receive your food and drinks electronically or in paper form?
Paper Crane
Sorry, I haven't mastered the alphabet yet because I was born so recently, is it possible to receive all these dishes in voice form?
Invisible Waiter
Everything is possible in our restaurant. Now, on the side screen, you will receive a video that will give you a choice of headphones. You will have to choose the type of headphones, otherwise you will not be able to fully enjoy your dishes. Your hostess is sleeping, and the stories you chose for breakfast may wake her up.
Paper Crane
Thank you for such a subtle understanding of the current moment. I am ready to choose headphones, and in the meantime, you prepare my dishes.

Chapter Eight
Interior. Underground restaurant of the ghost park. Noon

Haku returned not in half an hour, as he promised, but in two hours. He was worried that the girl had woken up and probably couldn't figure out where she was while she was asleep.
However, when he crossed the threshold of the restaurant, he realized that Chihiro was still asleep. The lights were dimmed and a lullaby was playing. As soon as Haku entered, an invisible voice greeted him:
"Sir, you look tired. Would you like to take a bath with an original infusion that gives you energy? Lady Chihiro is still asleep. You will have plenty of time to enjoy an invigorating infusion in the bath before dinner."
Haku
Yes, my clothes are dirty, my face and hands are covered in dust. I will gladly take a hot bath. In the meantime, you should arrange for my clothes to be washed and ironed.
"But, sir," the invisible interlocutor objected, "as far as I can see, your clothes are of an outdated style and the fabric is worn out. If you allow me, I will take measurements of your old clothes and order you a new suit. Especially since, as far as I heard, there will be a meeting in the evening, two owners of our park will be present. It is not appropriate for you to come to this meeting in an old suit." Haku
"That's a great idea," the boy quietly slapped his palm on the table, "I would like my suit to match the color of Chihiro's dress. Could you take visual measurements of my friend and order her a dress too?" "Your last words made my heart happy," the invisible interlocutor laughed softly, "you know, the more we work for the benefit of the ghost park, the happier our life will be when we return to the world of people."
Haku
Yes, you have once again reminded me of the main commandments of our ghost park. Well, as you suggested, I am going to the bathing cabin. Are the infusions for the hot baths in your restaurant also served by Grandfather Kamazi, or is there a separate boiler room for your baths?
"No, the infusions are selected automatically," it was clear that the invisible interlocutor was very happy to speak out, probably not every day a visitor appeared who wanted to know so much, "there is a relay in the bath that reads the degree of pollution from the visitor and supplies the necessary infusion. Between you and me, such a relay could be installed in Mrs. Yubaba's bathhouse, but then Grandfather Kamazi and his assistants, the Black Blackies, would be out of work, so Yubaba would not "is in a hurry to modernize his bathhouse."
Hearing the last words of the invisible maitre d', the Paper Crane became worried. He thought that if they order a new outfit for the girl Chihiro to replace the old one, then the new outfit might not have a pocket, and then there would be a problem: if there is no pocket, then where will the Paper Crane hide?
But after thinking about it, the Paper Crane realized that not all is lost. He liked the polite invisible maitre d' more and more. As soon as Haku went to take a hot bath, the Paper Crane left the special shelf-seat under the ceiling and, gently gliding onto the table where Chihiro was sleeping, addressed the invisible interlocutor.
Paper Crane
Sir, I accidentally overheard your conversation with Mr. Haku and am a little worried. If possible, when creating an outfit for Mrs. Chihiro, please plan a pocket on the skirt or the blouse of the dress. It would be better, of course, on the blouse of the dress, so that I could hide there from time to time.
"Your worries are unnecessary," the invisible interlocutor chuckled, "taking visual measurements from Mrs. Chihiro, and anticipating your desire to sometimes retire in her pocket, I have already included information about the t om, that there will be a pocket on the blouse of the dress. Moreover, there will also be two pockets on the sides of the skirt. This is in case Mrs. Chihiro suddenly needs the top pocket, then you can safely temporarily dive into the bottom pocket."
Paper Crane
I am captivated by your foresight and courtesy, probably in life you were a very worthy person, true to your principles and very sensitive. - The crane soared to the ceiling, and then softly landed on the table again. - My lady is sleeping for a long time. I am afraid that the shock will affect her health.
"Please do not worry," the head waiter's voice was soft and convincing, - if the girl got sick, I would immediately receive information. A temperature sensor is built into the table top, this is necessary in order to know the temperature of which drink should be served to visitors. If the customer is hot after the bath, we serve him a drink two degrees cooler, if, on the contrary, the customer is cold, the drink is served as hot as possible. The lady is simply sleeping because she is very tired. As soon as Mr. Haku returns, a slight vibration of the tabletop will wake up Mrs. Chihiro. I could have woken her up long ago, but I decided that she needed to get some sleep. You probably don’t feel it, but the chair she is sitting on vibrates softly, creating the feeling of a cradle for a baby. That is why the girl sleeps so soundly."
Paper Crane
Is there anything you don’t know? Is it really that the visitor’s entire life and all of his feelings are suddenly wide open to you?
"No, such difficult work is not part of my duties, no one asks me about it. I just want my work to be done 150%. — The voice of the invisible interlocutor became anxious: — Do you think that I am exceeding my authority?"
Paper Crane
Did I say such a thing? On the contrary, I admire your foresight and attentive attitude towards the visitors.
Suddenly the conversation was interrupted, because Haku returned to the restaurant and at the same time Chihiro raised her head from the table. Paper Crane realized that the conversation was over and quickly slipped into Chihiro's pocket. Paper Crane's breakfast had long been over. While the girl was having breakfast, or rather lunch, the maitre d' took visual measurements, and soon the clothes for Haku and Chihiro were ready, which turned out to be a pleasant surprise for the girl. Paper Crane immediately flew up and hid in its new house. The pocket in the new dress was spacious and smelled wonderful - of fabric that had just been ironed. While they were trying on the suits and adjusting them to size, time It was going on, and when Chihiro and Haku left the underground restaurant building, the sun was about to set behind the mountain, evening was approaching. This evening was special. This evening, for the first time in a long time, the signs on the gourmet street "Hunger and Food" finally lit up. However, Chihiro did not yet know that the river had also returned to its water. Everything was returning to normal. Everything that the Faceless Man had destroyed during the year that Chihiro had not been in the ghost park had returned. There was no point in returning home, the meeting that the two witches had announced was to begin in an hour. Therefore, Haku offered to show Chihiro several beautiful places in the park that she had not had time to see during her last visit. When it became completely dark, a small bird of an indefinite color flew up to Haku and landed in his palm. In its beak, the bird was holding a blue envelope. Haku didn't even open the envelope, and it was clear that the two sorceresses were notifying everyone who would be present at the meeting that it was time.

Interior. Conference room in Ms. Jiniba's office building

The meeting began with Yubaba Trigolova's assistant turning on a video showing footage of the Faceless One attacking Chihiro.
"Before passing judgment, we need to hear the Faceless One's final statement," Jiniba said, and Yubaba just nodded her head. "Are there any objections to this?"
"There are no objections," Mr. Toad took the floor. "However, wouldn't we endanger those present if we invited Mister Faceless One to the conference room?"
"Yes, there is such a danger," Haku confirmed. "But that is precisely why we gathered here, to think through and calculate all the dangers that could await us if we allow Mister Faceless One to defend himself.
- Sometimes you are all so ignorant and backward, and why do I keep you here? You have no idea how to keep up with the times, - Yubaba laughed. - Why invite No-Face here and put yourself in danger when I can show you a conversation with him later as a video recording?
Hearing Ms. Yubaba's voice, Mr. Toad stirred and began to approvingly clap all four limbs, the rest of those present who worked for Ms. Yubaba supported Mr. Toad.
- What do you think about this, Chihiro? - Jinba interrupted the flattering exclamations and applause. - Why are you sitting there and saying nothing? It seems to me that you feel sorry for No-Face, even though he tried to kill you?
- Yesterday was so fun, - Chihiro said completely out of place. - Thank you for organizing called this holiday. And I'm sorry that now we are sitting here and thinking about how to punish Mr. Faceless. I haven't interacted with this ghost very much, but I know that he doesn't do anything for no reason. I ask you, if there is even the slightest chance to spare him and not destroy him, let's try to give him a chance. I thank Mrs. Yubaba for giving me the opportunity to return to the ghost park, and I am very sorry that I was unable to do my job.
- No, - Yubaba laughed again. - In fact, you turned out to be useful, you were able to lure the Faceless and unwittingly helped us catch him. Of course, it's a pity that as a result of all this I lost my best worker Llyn, but the consolation is that she went to a better world. However, time goes by, and we are still beating around the bush, if there are no objections, then I suggest recording Mr. Faceless' confession on video. We have already discussed this with Mr. Faceless, and he said that he does not mind.
If you wait for about half an hour, then soon one of my assistants will turn on the video recording on the screen.
Of course, everyone present agreed. Half an hour flew by very quickly, but when the recording was turned on, it turned out that the recording was not suitable for playback. Yubaba's assistant returned to the room where the Faceless was and recorded the interview again, but, unfortunately, the result was the same. Such strong energy waves emanated from the Faceless that it was simply impossible to record him. Or rather, everything was fine during the recording, but interference appeared during the playback of the video.
There was nothing left to do but think of some other way to communicate with the Faceless. They called one of the employees who worked in the third agency of Mrs. Jiniba. As you remember, this agency was responsible for technical innovations that were transferred to the ghost park from the human world. This ghost showed great promise and was well versed in technical matters. Fortunately, he was able to find a way out of this situation. It took him no more than 15 minutes to create something resembling a communication device. The communication device was placed between the conference room and the room where Mr. Faceless was. Now that those present were not in any danger, it was possible to begin the interrogation or, as Ms. Jiniba insisted, to begin a conversation with Mr. Faceless.
The interrogation protocol is attached.

"Ms. Jiniba
Mr. No-Face, my friend! What happened to you that made you want to harm the environment and the ghosts around you?
No-Face
I need to lower my blood pressure.
Haku
With your permission, I would like to ask a question as well. Mr. No-Face, for the past year I have often heard it mentioned that during the destruction of the street, your 99 assistants kept calling for lowering the blood pressure. Could you please explain what this means?
No-Face
The girl Chihiro must wish! I know that she is next to you, and I ask that she begin to wish.
Yubaba
This is outrageous! Why won't you answer our questions? You were asked a question, and you must answer it. You owe me a debt, it was because of you that I had to send little Bo to a school far away from here. You scared him so much that little Bo did not get out from under the blanket for three days. That time, you for some reason leaked into a picture book and began to demand that my baby lower his blood pressure, otherwise, as you said, Chihiro would die, and he himself, my little Bo. Answer! I need answers to my questions, will you answer?
Faceless
We need to lower the pressure.
The conference room became noisy, and it became clear to those present that Faceless was not going to answer their questions. Finally, a thin voice of a girl named Chihiro was heard amid the noise.
Chihiro
Mr. Faceless, I am not offended by you and I want to ask, will you talk to me?
Faceless
Yes, I will tell you everything. Thank you for asking. It all started when I went to a distant field with my friend Mister Lantern to dig up the earth. Ms. Jiniba had been asking me about this for a long time, but there were always other things to do, and my hands never got around to it. That evening, it turned out that all the work had been done, and I called Mr. Lantern with me to work on the distant field. We exchanged remarks and jokes while working, when suddenly my shovel hit something hard. Mr. Lantern and I became interested, we did not expect anything like this when we started digging in this field, but the unknown object did not yield to the shovel, and then I decided to try to dig it up with my hands. I did not dig for long, but as soon as I touched the oblong object, which under the layer of earth resembled a stick, I was struck by lightning. I immediately felt that I was suffocating, and found myself inside someone's body. It was a soldier who was on the battlefield. In his hands was a rifle, which I dug up. For convenience, the rifle was hung on the soldier's neck, the battle lasted a long time, the rope on which the rifle was hung pressed on the soldier's neck, from this his blood pressure rose all the time, pulsated in his temples and his head ached, but as soon as the soldier took off the rope to start shooting his rifle, the pressure began to drop. The fighting lasted for over a year.
The battle would die down, then pick up again. All this time, the soldier's body was adapting to wearing the rope. Eventually, one thought took root in the soldier's brain: the more enemy soldiers he killed, the faster his pressure would drop. How many people died from the soldier's rifle then, cannot be counted. It seemed that the soldier had become an appendage to this rifle and it was no longer he who controlled it, but it controlled him.
I felt uncomfortable in this man's body, his mind was clouded, and I did not like killing. But I could not separate myself from his body. Finally, I heard Mr. Lantern calling me, and I was able to break free from captivity. However, the rifle remained in my hand, I wanted to throw away this piece of iron, but my mind suddenly went dark. When I came to, you saw that you had irreparably harmed your friend, Mr. Lantern. I felt pain and fear. But I couldn’t let go of the rifle, all I could do was scream as loudly as I could. I called out to Mrs. Jiniba and was sure that she would hear me. And so it happened, the lady immediately appeared in front of us. As I expected, she was very upset, because Mr. Lantern had become the closest member of the family over the long years of service. While the lady was talking to Mr. Lantern, who was seriously injured because of me, I simply left. I wanted to throw the rifle away. I hated this oblong piece of iron. I cried when I tried to shake the rifle out of my hands, but I could not do anything. I had to leave Mrs. Jiniba’s house, which had also become my home, and leave. I felt like a criminal and a vagabond. However, as I said, I could not do anything. And suddenly I remembered that I had already been in a similar situation, that time the black mind also blocked my head, and I swallowed several ghosts. But that time you, Chihiro, and little Bo were nearby. It was you who were able to change me, because you were pure in soul and there was nothing in your thoughts that the black mind could cling to. Having gotten into trouble, I decided that even in this tragic situation, the girl Chihiro and little Bo could save me, make me better. All my further actions were subordinated to this, I wanted Chihiro to return to the ghost park and save me. However, time passed, and I was getting worse. I wanted to destroy, annihilate, kill. From time to time I felt a wave of hatred for everything living in my body rising, and then I urgently needed to reduce the pressure. I was able to overcome myself, throw away the rifle and even bury it, but this did not change anything. From time to time, my body would split into 99 parts, and each part wanted one thing - to destroy. Having learned that Chihiro had returned to the ghost park, I secretly returned. I needed to get to a party thrown in Chihiro's honor. I merged my dark shadow with the light shadow of a ghost woman who sang beautifully. I came to when I saw Chihiro's frightened eyes in front of me. The hands of the ghost woman, in whose body I was, wrapped around the girl's throat and strangled her. You probably think that you were able to defeat me? But in fact, it was I who, with my fading consciousness, was able to order myself to stop. The eyes of the girl I adored closed, and that was the scariest thing. And then one of the ghosts pulled my hood off, the sunlight burned me, and I screamed. That's the whole story.
- What kind of fairy tale were you telling us here? - Lady Yubaba laughed sarcastically. - I know you, ghosts. What lengths you won't go to justify yourself.
- Miss Yubaba, - Chihiro's voice was still quiet, but firm. - Forgive me for interrupting you, but some of what Mr. Faceless was telling me, I saw in my mind's eye at the moment when he was strangling me with the singer's hands. I can't answer for the whole story, but the part where the soldier is standing on the battlefield and being strangled by a rifle rope is true.
- Look how smart you are, who taught you to interrupt your elders? - Yubaba got furious. - Besides, you interrupted the man who gave you a job.
The conference room became noisy, everyone started talking at once. Finally, the second sorceress, Miss Jiniba, took the floor. "Sister, calm down," she said gently. "I understand that you still can't calm down after that incident with little Bo. But we can check if such a rifle really existed." The conference room became noisy again, this time Haku said something that acted like cold water on a hot body.
"In the real world, there is this thing called the Internet. If you ask a question, you will immediately get an answer. The more difficult the question, the faster the answer. Will you be able to connect to the Internet from the real world that is near the ghost park?" Haku turned to the ghost who worked in Jiniba's technical department.
"Yes, it is possible," the ghost answered after thinking for a moment. "If I set up my my energy in resonance with the energy of the Internet waves, I will be able to ask a question and get an answer. What question are you interested in?
- I want to know if such rifles really existed in the Japanese army. That is, if there really were rifles that were hung on the necks of soldiers.
- Yes, - after a long pause, Jiniba's assistant answered positively. - Such rifles existed. Now I will read you the answer.
" In medieval Japan, when it comes to samurai weapons, the first thing that comes to mind is the katana - a curved sword with a fascinating pattern on the blade and a recognizable handle. However, in the middle of the 16th century, a new weapon entered the country, which quickly became popular due to its simplicity and effectiveness. Although the sword remained a symbol of honor and valor, firearms became an important part of the arsenal of Japanese warriors. This innovation was the arquebus. In 1543, a Portuguese ship was wrecked off the coast of Tanegashima Island. The Japanese saw firearms for the first time. One eyewitness described the arquebus as follows: “In their hands they held something two or three feet long, straight on the outside, but with a hole inside. A channel runs through it, closed at one end. There is another hole on the side for igniting gunpowder. To use this weapon, you need to fill it with gunpowder and lead balls, set a target on the shore, take stand and, closing one eye, bring the fire to the hole. The ball hits the target directly. The explosion resembles a flash of lightning, and the roar of the shot is thunder." The Japanese knew about gunpowder since the 13th century, when the Mongols tried to conquer their country. But then these were only primitive explosive bombs, which the Japanese did not use. Real firearms came to Japan thanks to Portuguese traders. Arquebuses were light and convenient, which immediately attracted the attention of Japanese warriors.
Daimyo Tanegashima, Lord Tokikata, bought two arquebuses and ordered his blacksmith to copy them. However, the blacksmith encountered difficulties. For example, he did not know how to close the back end of the barrel. Soon he was helped by a Portuguese sailor who agreed to teach him gunsmithing in exchange for marriage to the daimyo's daughter. A few months later, the blacksmith's workshop began to produce arquebuses that were not inferior to European ones. In six months, the blacksmith produced about 600 arquebuses, which the daimyo sold throughout Japan. This allowed information about the new weapon to spread quickly. Soon, many blacksmiths in Kyushu and Honshu mastered the production of arquebuses.
In Japan, arquebuses were called teppo. They were also called hinawa-ju (matchlock gun) and tanegashima (after the name of the province where they began to spread). Japanese arquebuses were smooth-bore with a matchlock. They ranged from long rifles for infantry to short carbines and even pistols for horsemen. For example, the jitte-teppo is a gun with a ring at the end of the stock for hanging it around the neck. The Japanese did not simply borrow the design of the arquebus, they improved it.
To ignite the gunpowder, a smoldering hinawa match was used, which was soaked in saltpeter. The fuse was clamped in an S-shaped trigger, the hibasami, which rotated on an axis. When the trigger was pulled, the spring pressed the serpentine against the hizara powder pan, which ignited the priming powder.
Some guns had a hole in the stock through which the fuse was passed. This was necessary to keep it smoldering throughout the day. The length of the fuse had to be about 1.8 meters. The Japanese believed that keeping the smoldering fuse just two centimeters from the powder pan was too dangerous, so they added a special device to the design that served as a safety device. This was a rotating cover of the powder pan, which, when closed, covered the priming powder while the shooter prepared to fire. When the cover was thrown back, the shooter pulled the trigger, and the smoldering fuse ignited the powder. The barrel of a Japanese matchlock gun was often lacquered or decorated. This was an old way of decorating the surface of a weapon - silvering or gilding. The most beautiful examples of weapons were obviously not intended for combat, but for ceremonial occasions. They were placed on stands or carried in front of important people. The decoration on the weapons was quite modest and included heraldic mon symbols, dragons popular in Japan, and sometimes inscriptions. Some guns had the signature of the master on the breech of the barrel, but since most guns were not produced in a single copy, but in large batches, many of them remained unsigned. All firearms, including cannons, were equipped with square sights with slits or grooves. As a rule, the front sight saki-me-ate was located at the muzzle, and the rear sight ato-me-ate was located at a distance of one third of the barrel length from the breech. Most of the rear sights had a notch or a combination of vertical and transverse notches, suggesting that they once had removable sighting attachments for different ranges. However, none of these attachments survived. They may have been placed in brass-plated recesses found in some gun barrels. One surviving gun has a silver bead on the back of the front sight that becomes visible when looking at a dark target. This device is still used today. The gun's red oak stock extended almost to the end of the barrel. The barrel was attached to the stock with bamboo sticks that passed through holes in the stock and special lugs at the bottom.
Large muskets had additional straps that wrapped around the stock and barrel to keep them from moving.
All guns had a simple wooden or bamboo cleaning rod that was located under the barrel. Unlike European guns, there was no special tang.
The square part of the barrel was inserted into a recess in the stock and secured with a brass strap. This helped prevent the stock from being destroyed when firing. There was no butt as such, instead there was a curved handle that could be pressed against the cheek.
After firing, the weapon was thrown back and down due to the heavy barrel.
The decorations on the stock were simple: sometimes there were decorative washers around the holes, and sometimes there was a brass trigger guard. These parts protected the weapon from rust and did not require complex finishing. Some guns were decorated with brass patterns.
There were two types of gun locks. The first lock had a spring that was tensioned when the trigger was pulled. The second lock was more complex: in it, the serpentine rotated inside the board and was fixed with a special button.
All the parts of the locks were attached to the board using brass or bamboo pins. The locks were held in the stock using pointed brass pins that were inserted into the holes. Most gunsmiths made an extra hole to make it easy to disassemble the gun.
The Japanese used a smoldering fuse that ignited the gunpowder in the gun. European gunsmiths understood that the fuse could go out, so they made powder pans with special patterns. Brass springs in Japanese guns moved the fuse with enough speed to fire the gun. In Japan in the 16th and 17th centuries, there were three main groups of gunsmiths. They worked during the Momoyama period (1573-1603) and at the beginning of the following Edo period. Although many other gunsmiths also made guns for different rulers.
The first group lived on the island of Kyushu and were known as Tanegashima. They made guns with beautiful black wooden stocks, sometimes decorated with crests or scrolls. Their guns were popular not only in Kyushu, but also in neighboring areas.
The second group of gunsmiths came from the village of Kunitomo in Omi Province. They began making guns in 1560. At first, they were not very good at it, but then a European helped them by telling them how to make gunpowder and shoot a gun. Thanks to this, the Kunitomo began to make good guns, which they used in the Battle of Nagashino. Their guns had light wooden stocks and octagonal barrels. The gunsmiths carved patterns on the barrels that looked like bamboo and decorated them with cherry blossoms. But sometimes they made poor quality guns, which they called "udon-ju" (noodle guns), because their barrels bent when fired. The third group of gunsmiths lived near the city of Sakai, not far from Osaka. They began making guns in 1554 and were famous for their locks and brass decorations. Their guns were also octagonal, but covered with silver patterns and with a bell at the end.
The guns of that time were not very accurate and could only shoot 300 meters, but that was enough to hit a crowd of enemies. After several shots, the smoke made it difficult to see each other. It took about two minutes to reload the gun, but the soldiers were trained and did it faster.
The arquebusiers (shooters from guns) were given two powder flasks: a large one for the main powder and a small one for the priming. The powder flasks were made of wood or papier-m;ch; and decorated with bone lids. Some commanders even wore a sling over their shoulder with paper cartridges that already had measured out powder. The arquebusiers tied a box for bullets, a spool, and a spool with a wick to their belt. To reload the gun, it was necessary to pour the powder from the cartridge into the barrel, insert a bullet there, and tamp it with a ramrod. This took only a few seconds. Much more time was required to pour the powder into the powder pan and prepare the fuse. The fuse, wrapped around the left hand, was inserted into the gun's opening, then blown up, and pressed against the powder. Ammunition, such as powder and bullets, was carried on the back in iron boxes by specially trained people. The use of early guns was highly dependent on the weather. The powder pan helped keep the powder dry, but only if it was closed. Guns were carried in boxes on the waist or in bags. Screens made of stiff paper were used to protect against wind and rain, but this interfered with reloading. In damp weather, various methods were invented to protect the fuse, for example, impregnating it with a special compound or attaching a waterproof shield over the ignition hole. One and One of the recipes for "water wick" included boiling the wick in saltpeter and coating it with varnish.
Firearms were first used in battle in 1549. In 1571, Takeda Shingen ordered his commanders to make guns the most important weapons, reduce the number of copies, and test soldiers for accuracy. Japanese craftsmen also produced pistols, which they first copied from European models and then gave them their own look.
In addition to regular pistols, they made double- and triple-barreled ones, small pistols that were worn instead of netsuke, and combinations of pistols with bladed weapons. Pistols were often disguised as daggers or short swords so that people who were allowed to carry only a sword or dagger could defend themselves. Samurai avoided such combinations.
Among the household items that pistols were disguised as were brush cases and smoking pipes. In the first case, the weapon was called yadaro-teppo, and in the second, kiseru-teppo.
In 1551, Otomo Sorin received two cannons as a gift from the Portuguese, but with the technology of the time, they were difficult to copy. Therefore, the Japanese used massive arquebuses of large caliber. The arquebus became popular because it was easy to use by ordinary soldiers called ashigaru. Ashigaru did not need a lot of training, like samurai with a sword or bow. In just a few days, a peasant could be taught to shoot an arquebus as accurately as an experienced warrior. This made the ashigaru almost as strong as samurai, but without the long years of training. As armies grew in size and new types of weapons appeared, ordinary people began to play an increasingly important role in them.
Different groups of people used weapons in different ways. Ashigaru got close to the enemy and fired volleys. The samurai arquebus was used to shoot at important and noble opponents.
At first, the arquebus was often used together with archers. This allowed the archers to continue shooting while the arquebusiers reloaded their guns. Usually, a squad consisted of ten arquebusiers and five archers.
The commanders of the arquebusier squads were called teppo-ko-gashira (lieutenant of archers). They knew how to shoot quickly and accurately, as well as how to remain calm under fire. They had a bamboo tube covered with red lacquer, which served as a spare ramrod in case of breakage. The commander, like the others, had a wick wound around his left hand.
Famous Japanese warriors, such as Ieyasu and Hideyoshi, also used arquebuses. For example, in 1573, one of the samurai of a besieged fortress fired an arquebus into the head of Shingen, a great commander. The samurai often used arquebuses, but for a long time they did not understand how powerful a weapon it was.
It took thirty years before Oda Nobunaga figured out how to use arquebuses properly. He realized that they had shortcomings, such as a short range of accurate fire and a long reload time. So he ordered the arquebusiers to fire in turns, in volleys. This allowed two rows of arquebusiers to reload while the first row fired. In 1575, at the Battle of Nagashino, Nobunaga defeated the Takeda forces using this method.
Arquebuses became very popular, and blacksmiths had many orders to make them. After Toyotomi Hideyoshi defeated the Asai prince, he rewarded the head of the blacksmith shop, Kunitomo Tojiro, with an estate. In 1578, the Japanese military leader Oda Nobunaga began using large guns on ships. These ships were made of iron so that they would be difficult to sink. The guns were like large muskets, but were called "wall guns." They were very long, about three meters, but they were difficult to use on ships because of the size and features of the boats.
By the end of the 16th century, guns had become the main weapon in almost all countries. But each country used them differently. For example, in 1592, the Japanese sent an army to Korea that included archers, soldiers with guns, and warriors with spears. In 1600, another Japanese army consisted of the same types of troops, but the ratio between them was different.
When the Japanese attacked Korea, they realized that they needed more soldiers with guns. The Koreans and Chinese also began to use these weapons. One of the Japanese commanders wrote to his father that it was necessary to take as many guns as possible and use them even for the samurai.
There were many blacksmiths in Japan who made guns. One blacksmith, Kunitomo, became very rich because his guns were bought for the army. In 1615, during the war, the blacksmiths from the village of Kunitomo helped the Japanese army, and in return they were relieved of some duties and their income was increased.
The Japanese knew that cannons could be useful, but they did not know how to make them themselves. They bought cannons from Europeans. In 1600, the Englishman William Adams sailed to Japan on a ship. The Japanese took his ship and cannons, but these cannons were not used in battles because they were for ships, not for land.
In Japan, there were no cannons that could be transported by horses or carts. Cannons were used only for sieges of fortresses. Several such cannons have survived to this day. They were made of iron and fired large projectiles.
On one In one of the drawings from that time, you can see a cannon standing on a pile of rice sacks. This shows that the Japanese did not know how to make special stands for cannons and used what was at hand. Another interesting weapon, similar to small cannons, was called hiya-zutsu. It was not used for combat, but for launching fireworks and fire arrows during holidays.
During the Shimabara Rebellion in 1637-1638, the Dutch helped the Japanese government by providing them with their cannons and ships to bombard Hara Castle, where the rebels were hiding. But this did not help much. After that, the Japanese realized that they needed more powerful weapons. The Dutch offered them mortars that could fire large bombs.
In 1639, the Dutch showed their mortars to the Japanese. It was an impressive sight. The bombs exploded with great force, destroying everything around. The Japanese realized that such weapons could be very useful in the event of another uprising.
After the expulsion of foreigners from the country in 1640, Japan remained isolated. But even then, the Japanese continued to buy weapons from the Dutch. Japanese craftsmen knew about new types of weapons from Europe, although they could not make them themselves.
During the Edo period (1603-1868), flintlock guns were popular in Japan. The Japanese also knew about the bayonet, which was inserted into the barrel of the gun. Other unusual types of weapons were made in Japan, but they were used only in parades.
All of these weapons were rare because the government did not allow them to be produced. At the end of the 18th century, orders for weapons in Japan almost ceased, and weapons production decreased. What they heard shocked those present so much that the office remained silent for a long time, until Yubaba's grumpy voice was finally heard
-And there was no need to read all this to us, it would have been enough to tell us about that gun that was hung around the neck, what was it called?
- Jitte-teppo - a gun with a ring at the end of the stock for hanging around the neck, - Mr. Toad immediately reported, who was afraid that someone would name the gun before him.
- So, the Faceless One was telling the truth, - Haku thoughtfully summed up the meeting
- Yes, - Haku Jinba picked up the tone, - but now the question arises, what should we do with this truth? And what should we do next with Mr. Faceless One?

Finale
Interior. Conference room. Eight o'clock in the morning

The conference room was silent again, but 5 minutes passed, then 10, and no one could find a way out of the situation. On the one hand, it became clear to everyone present that Mr. Faceless was not to blame for the situation that had arisen now, but, on the other hand, everyone understood that it was impossible to let the Faceless go free.
The Faceless One heard all the arguments, all the arguments that the ghosts and people in the conference room were making, but he was silent, and the girl was silent too after the sorceress Yubaba angrily rebuked her. However, most likely, this was not the case. Chihiro, along with everyone else, was looking for an answer, but she could not find it. Finally, Haku made a proposal.
Haku
Mr. Faceless, I know that you hear us. You hear everything and worry, the fact that your face is covered with a mask does not mean that your soul is cruel and dead. I would like to ask, do you have any ideas for a way out of the situation? What do you want? Now that everything is back in place, would you like to relieve the pressure once more?
Faceless
No. The gun rope no longer weighs on me, but I understand that I cannot be forgiven. You asked what I want? I want to be with Chihiro. That is my only wish. If I am with this girl, the fire of madness will never touch my mind again. I had few friends in this world, but I managed to harm even those friends. I am very sorry for inflicting such a terrible injury on my most important friend, Mr. Lantern. I have nothing more to add.
However, the repentant speech affected those present in the conference room in different ways. Lady Yubaba and her followers demanded that Faceless be punished with all the severity of the law that was passed in the ghost park, Lady Jiniba was not so categorical, but she did not have a solution to the problem. Only Haku and Chihiro were silent. At this point the meeting was over. It was approaching dawn. Everyone wanted to sleep and was tired.

Interior. Chihiro's temporary home. 9 am.

When Haku and Chihiro parted at the house that had become Chihiro's temporary home, Haku asked:
"Why are you so depressed? Did Mrs. Yubaba offend you?"
Chihiro sat down on a bench that stood near the house and did not answer for a long time, stroking the boards of the bench, warmed by the sun. Finally, seeing that Haku was waiting for an answer from her, she said:
"No, Grandma Yubaba is kind, she is simply worried about her little Bo. I understand her and am not at all offended. Yubaba, as well as Jiniba, are at a loss. They understand that Mr. Faceless is not to blame for what happened to him. And yet he did so many bad things that now everyone will be afraid of him." Chihiro slept for a long time, almost until three o'clock in the afternoon, until she was awakened by a gentle knock on the door. Haku was standing behind the door, waiting for her.
Chihiro
Is everything okay? Or is something wrong again? was happening while I was sleeping? Is Mr. Faceless all right?
Haku
Nothing special happened while you were sleeping. However, Yubaba and Jiniba, who, as you know, never sleep, held a private meeting and made a decision.
Chihiro
Wait, before I fell asleep, I had an idea that I'm afraid I'll forget. Let me tell you what the idea is, and then you can tell me what the two sorceresses decided.
Haku
Yes, let's do as you ask.
Chihiro
I want to go to the Bottom of the Swamp station again. I want you and Mr. Faceless to go with me. No matter what anyone says, I'm sure that Mr. Faceless is harmless now. The purpose of the trip I'm planning is to bury the gun where it was, or even deeper. But I can't do it on my own, so I want you to come with me this time. You have great powers when you're in the body of a dragon. I want you to burn a hole in the body of that field, create a hole, and in that hole we'll bury the gun. We'll bury it so deep that no one will ever be able to dig it up. If only all the wars on Earth could be buried like that! That's all I wanted to tell you.
Haku
You won't believe it, but two sorceress sisters approached me with the same request. You can probably sense thoughts now. I think it happened after you crossed the line between life and death and almost died. In any case, I'm glad that the decision to go to the Bottom of the Swamp station is your own, and not imposed on you by someone from the outside.
When do you want to set off?
Chihiro
Anytime, even right now.
Haku
It won't work right now, because you need to have breakfast. I suggest we have breakfast at the restaurant that is located on top of a thousand-year-old tree.
Chihiro
Yes, I agree.
Interior. Street "Hunger and Food"
When Haku and Chihiro passed by the street "Hunger and Food", Chihiro sighed with satisfaction, the street took on its former appearance, and nothing anymore reminded that only a few days ago it was lying in ruins. Chihiro even saw the restaurant from which her parents ate food without permission a year ago. However, those events seemed distant to her. Suddenly, she realized that she really missed her parents, and she realized something else. She realized that she would no longer be so strict about her parents' mistakes. When her parents made mistakes, Chihiro began to feel embarrassed by them, but once upon a time, her parents themselves taught her the rules of behavior. In general, Chihiro was ready to forgive her mom and dad everything, just to be with them again. But it was too early to think about it now, the girl had unfinished business. She needed to go to the Bottom of the Swamp station. There were no more train tickets, Kamazi's grandfather had given away all the tickets a year ago, and so it was decided to go riding on the dragon Haku. But let's get back to breakfast.

Interior. Restaurant on the top of a tree

As I already mentioned, this time it was decided to have breakfast in a restaurant that was located on the top of a thousand-year-old tree. The elevator took off like an arrow, but 5 minutes passed, then 10, then 15, and the elevator continued to rise and rise.
Finally, the cabin jerked slightly, and the bell rang. This restaurant differed from the underground restaurant primarily in that no one talked to the visitors. There was a board on the door of the restaurant, the running line of which offered the guests of the restaurant to choose a menu. The menu was complex, but consisted entirely of vegetarian cuisine. Needless to say, the entire restaurant was covered with vines. The restaurant was not as big as the underground one, but above all it captivated with its coziness, four exotic trees stood on four sides of the restaurant, flowers hung from the windows. One could say a lot about the restaurant, but Chihiro was in a suitcase mood, and the wonders of the restaurant did not affect her. Haku was a little disappointed, but did not show it. When breakfast was over and the elevator lowered Chihiro and Haku back to the ground, four ghosts from Jiniba's retinue brought the Faceless One. The Faceless One still had a hood over his face. He could not take it off, only the one who lowered it could raise the hood. That is, now only the sorceress Jiniba could do this. They settled in this way: Chihiro sat near the head of the dragon Haku, and the silent ghost sat near the tail. The journey took only about 15 minutes, it was possible to fly even faster, but the dragon Haku was afraid that the air pressure would harm Chihiro. Finally, the descent began. The Faceless One tried several times to correct the landing of the dragon Haku. It was necessary to land not far from the field where the gun was found. Finally, all three found themselves on the ground.

Interior. Lady Jiniba's distant field

Haku was in no hurry to take on the form of a boy. He did not yet trust the Faceless One very much. According to a preliminary agreement, the Faceless One, together with Chihiro, went to where he hid the gun. To prevent everything from happening again, Jiniba gave Chihiro a magic bag, on which a strong spell was cast. The mittens with which the Faceless One had to take the gun and put it in the bag were also subjected to magic. No more surprises would happen it happened. Everything happened as planned. Not even five minutes had passed when Chihiro and Faceless appeared from behind the nearest hillock, Faceless holding a bag. When they approached the dragon Haku, he showed them a hole that he had burned in the ground with his fire. All that was left was to bury the cursed gun in the hole. And they also had to fill the hole. Haku dealt with this problem as well. He asked Chihiro and Faceless to move away and created a wind. The wind dropped a pile of stones that Haku had prepared in advance. The stones buried the bag with the gun under their weight. The deed was done. After that, there was no point in staying in this field. Soon the travelers were flying back. When they were already approaching the ghost park, Chihiro suddenly spoke:
- I don't remember, but my mother told me that once I fell into the river, I reached for a shoe that flew off my foot, and you, the owner of the Amber River, saved me.
However, if the girl was hoping for a reaction from the dragon Haku, then this time, a year later, there was no such reaction. The dragon continued to descend. When the dragon completely landed on the ground and the Faceless One and Chihiro descended, it turned out that no one was meeting them. The ghosts were still very afraid of the Faceless One. Only Jiniba was not afraid of anything, she raised the hood from her eyes.
Chihiro knew that it was time for her to leave. Before leaving, she visited Kamazi's grandfather together with Haku. The grandfather asked to visit him before Chihiro left the ghost park forever.

Interior. Kamazi's grandfather's boiler room.

Chihiro
Grandpa, you look so handsome in that shirt! You even look younger!
Kamazi
Yes, I always get a little younger when I see you and Haku.
Haku
Grandpa, what did you want to give Chihiro?
Kamazi
I wanted to give this elastic thread that Jiniba, Bo, and No-Face wove. I know there were eight threads, but now there are seven left because one broke. This thread, - Grandpa stretched out his long arm to the cabinet, - I saved it all year. Take it and don't lose it anymore.
Chihiro
Thank you!
Kamazi
Before you leave, teach the Blackies how to play ball. They have a ball, but they don't know how to play it.
Chihiro
Okay, Grandpa.

Interior. Yubaba's office. An hour later.

Yubaba
The contract is terminated. You can go home. That's all.
Chihiro
No, not all. You promised to let Haku go.
Yubaba
I already told you that I'm not holding him. He remembered his name, but he has nowhere to return to. His river is no longer there, its bed is covered in concrete.
Chihiro
And if I find the source of the river?
Yubaba
Then Haku will leave the ghost park right away.
Chihiro
Remember, you promised!
Yubaba
Yes, witches always keep their promises!

Interior. Chihiro's temporary home. Street

Chihiro
Mr. Faceless, help me weave the torn thread into the elastic. You remember how you did it, right?
Faceless
Yes, I remember. Give me the elastic and the thread. It's very simple. Everything, it's ready.
Chihiro
No, not all. Do you want to leave with me?
Faceless
Yes.
Chihiro
I thought of something. Close your eyes, imagine that you are a long thread or a river. Does it work?
Faceless
Yes.
Chihiro
When I say, "I wish for you to stay with me," you will turn into a magic thread, and I will weave you into an elastic band. Do you want that?
Faceless
Yes, I do. I want to stay with you forever.
Chihiro
So be it. "I wish for you to stay with me!"

Interior. An hour later. The gate before the park exit.

Haku
I will not go with you. Once you go through the gate, you will be home.
Chihiro
I know.
Haku
I have something to tell you.
Chihiro
What about?
Haku
I will tell you what Llyn told me.
Chihiro
I have been waiting for this.
Haku
You will see Llyn in a year.
Chihiro
See? Where?
Haku
In two months, you will return to your old city, and you will go to study at your old school. In a year, you will have a sister. Be kind to her. Your sister will have Llyn's soul.
Chihiro
I will be kind to her! I will be kind to my Llyn! But Haku, what about you, will we never meet again?
Haku
Wipe a tear from Chihiro's eye.
Don't be sad, Chihiro, we will see each other again! We will definitely see each other! I did not erase your memory.
Now go and don't turn around!
The girl walked to the exit and counted her steps. She wanted to turn around, if she had turned around, she would have seen how the Paper Crane, which used to live in her pocket, flew out and landed in Haku's pocket.

Interior. Chihiro's house. 10 p.m.

Chihiro
Mom, dad, is something wrong?
Dad
What could have happened?
Mom
Chihiro, what's wrong with you? Chihiro, don't hang on me! It's hard for me!