The further away they got from the bathhouse, the clearer Miku's memory of it got. She remembered everything that happened to her a year and a half ago, from her parents being turned to pigs, to leaving Deku with a soft kiss and a promise to be back one day. Except for Deku's real name, which was on the tip of her tongue. The spirit beside her also slowly faded back into himself, the cloak and mask literally disappearing. Miku found out that it was actually Kirishima, who has been cursed to go a little, for lack of better phrasing, insane, when near the bathhouse. He'd returned because he'd felt that someone entered the spirit world- it used to be his job to alert Yubaba or Yaoyorozu when there was a breech- and he was sure it was her.
He let her in on more details of what happened. He explained that Onuka had snuck into the bathhouse one day while Yaoyorozu and Deku were out. Kirishima told her they were probably looking for a way for Miku to come back, since no one was really sure if the same way would work twice. That's also why when they came back, only Yaoyorozu came and she was too distracted to notice a witch. Meanwhile, Onuka had slowly poisoned the waters, forcing Yaoyorozu to close down the bathhouse to clear it all out. Then while there were no spirits to witness it, Onuka came out and caused enough chaos to convince most of the workers to leave. Most of those who had stayed, all close friends who decided to help, suffered. This part seemed to be a sensitive subject, but Kirishima still explained what happened to those who led the uprising.
Yaoyorozu and her right-hand women, Hagakure and Jiro, all managed to escape. Iida, the head frog, as well as Mineta, a regular frog, had their memories erased. Deku was forced into entering a contract. Ashido, the cook, was turned into a hamster. Tokoyami, the scout, was cursed to permanently stay in bird form. Uraraka, the head lay spirit, was turned into a doorknob. Kaminari, the resident elevator engineer, split into three idiot heads. Asui, the former bath manager, was turned into missing tile in a bath. And of course, it was obvious what had happened to Kirishima.
"Woah." Miku breathed out, petting the small hamster on her shoulder. "That's insane. So everyone besides Sami was literally cursed."
Kirishima gave her a confused look. "Sami is alive?"
"Uh, yeah? Why wouldn't she be?" Miku said. He went completely silent. "Kirishima. What aren't you telling me?"
Kirishima squirmed in his seat before saying, "You remember the boiler man?"
"Yeah, Kacchan, right?"
He smiled a bit, wincing. "Yeah, Kacchan. Well, he was the one who led the whole rebellion. So, uh, Onuka made an example of him. I kinda just assumed she did the same to Sami, since I hadn't heard anything about her."
Miku's jaw dropped. "You mean she killed him?" At Kirishima's slow nod, Miku gave him a half hug. "I'm so sorry."
Kirishima shrugged her off, clearly trying to keep up a strong façade. "It's been a while. But thanks."
The next stop was theirs. They got off and followed the path in silence. Kirishima was still lost in thought from the train, and Miku didn't want to overstep her boundaries. This silence continued until Kirishima suddenly pulled to a stop. Miku turned around to see him squinting at something in the distance. "Is it just me... Or is that light coming closer to us?" Kirishima asked slowly. Miku looked in the direction he was looking. There was indeed a light approaching them, which at first she'd written off as them getting closer to it, but now that they'd completely stopped, it was still advancing.
However, it was a warm light, and it seemed familiar in a way. When it finally reached them, they could see it was a lantern on a lamp post. It bobbed up and down, seemingly gesturing for them to follow it. Miku and Kirishima glanced at each other before shrugging and trudging on. The lantern led them to a small hut. Miku knew without a doubt it was Yaoyorozu's. Once they got close enough, the lantern curled up on an arched wire gateway, making it a hanging lantern.
