Chihiro almost cried when Rin shook her awake. She'd fallen onto the first quilt she found, regardless that both halves of the two quilts she laid on were occupied already, little more than an hour before. And now, she had to wake up and do yet more work.
"Sen, you have a message from Yubaba."
"Yubaba?" She asked and accepted the envelope. Opening it, she read the letter once, and then again and again. It was difficult to believe that this had all been the test for her employment and that she had passed.
"What does it say, Sen?"
"I passed her test. I'm ordered to sleep today and tomorrow, and report to her office the day after tomorrow for my reassignment orders."
"Reassignment? You're being reassigned?"
"I guess so. But I don't know where. I passed her test so it must be one of the departments higher up than this. That was the deal for my employment. If I pass, I'm promoted. If I fail, I'm demoted. But I don't know where she'll put me."
"Well, then you'd best sleep. You're going to need your strength for your new assignment." Rin handed her a bed and pointed to the corner Chihiro tried to grab whenever it was available.
Chihiro nodded, accepted the bed, and curled up in the corner. She was asleep immediately.
Two days later, Chihiro found herself in front of Yubaba, receiving her new orders.
"I must say, Chihiro, I'm impressed. Not many pass my tests."
"Thank you. You didn't make it easy."
"Good. Now, you have worked in every single department. You know what expectations I hold and you know the work involved. Therefore, you're going to be joining management. You'll be in charge of the scrubbers. Is there a problem?" Yubaba had noticed Chihiro's shocked face.
"No problem, Yubaba. I've just never been a manager before. But I'm ready to do my best."
"Good, then. Off you go. Oh, here." She handed a paper to Chihiro. "Your predecessor's orders for demotion. See that he gets it."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Then be gone with you."
Chihiro scampered off, rushing downstairs to the other scrubbers. First, she had to find the manager and hand over his orders. Then she'd see about settling into her new rank.
The manager being demoted, understandably, was not very happy at being replaced by a human, even one he had lavishly praised. It took a force of three security guards to escort the frog away, though none of them could do nothing about stopping him from cursing Chihiro and swearing revenge. A coldness swept down Chihiro's spine but she turned away and set about correcting the chaos and getting everybody back to work.
That evening, Chihiro ate and slept well, her body grateful for the removal of the outrageous demands. But, it had been a positive experience. Her muscles had developed, which means they could handle more work and were stronger, and Chihiro now knew her limitations.