Chihiro smiled to herself. She looked at Haku, who was scanning the classroom. His eyes met Chihiro's, and he grinned. "Mrs. Nakimura, if you don't mind, I volunteer myself to help Ko- sory, Haku, around the school," Emiko Sato said smugly. She looked at Chihiro and smiled sweetly. But Mrs. Nakimura said, "I'm sorry, Emiko, but I've already appointed someone. Chihiro, will you raise your hand?" Haku's eyes brightened as he said, "Chihiro?" "Haku. May I see your schedule? Thanks, Mrs. Nakimura!" Chihiro said as she left the classroom with her best friend, feeling all the burning glares of jealous girls. Once the door closed, Chihiro flung her arms around Haku. He was a little startled at first, but then hugged back. "I can't believe you pulled it off!" she said, grinning. Haku shrugged. "I have my ways," he replied casually, laughing. "So, what's your schedule?" Chihiro asked, grabbing the paper again. She scanned it carefully:
Homeroom: S. Nakimura
Biology I: H. Takahashi
Geometry: K. Ueno
Lunch: /
Japanese (enr.): T. Ishiyama
English II: Y. Yamaguchi
Gym: A. Iguchi
World History: S. Yamamoto
Chihiro looked at Haku, who was smiling. "You're joking," she said, trying to stay calm. "No, not really, I-" "-Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi, you are a genius!" Chihiro said, handing the paper back to her friend. "You just realized that?" Haku replied, laughing. Chihiro grinned happily. "I have a question, though," Haku said as they began walking around his schedule. "Why haven't you yelled at me yet? I thought you would have been mad at me for taking five years. Why?" It took a minute for Chihiro to think of a reasonable answer. "Because, Haku," she started, "You don't really deserve to be yelled at. Am I annoyed a little? Yes. Was I sad? You betcha. But you saved me and my parents, and I still remain so grateful. And besides…" Chihiro paused for a few seconds before saying, "I know what a jerk Yubaba is." Haku nodded, obviously understanding and accepting everything Chihiro had said. "So," Chihiro said in a chipper voice, "This is your, well, our biology class with Hiroki Takahashi." They stopped in front of the classroom. "What's biology?" Haku asked curiously. "Oh, Haku, so much you have to learn… biology is life science. You study a little about the human body, lots about nature things, and, well, life. The prefix 'bio' means 'life', and the suffix 'ology' means 'the study of', so biology is 'the study of life.'" "Ooh, sounds fun. I love nature," Haku said, sounding excited.
Chihiro showed Haku around the rest of their classes. She had to explain each one. "Okay, let me recollect the information of all the classes. Biology is the study of life. Geometry is the study of shapes. Japanese is our native language. English is a foreign language. Gym is exercise class, and history is, well, history." "Yes! You're getting more and more knowledgeable about the human world!" Haku beamed.
Homeroom hadn't ended by the time Haku and Chihiro returned. Mrs. Nakimura asked some more questions. "So, tell me, Haku. Who are your parents?" Chihiro saw Haku tense up a bit. She understood why- he didn't even know. "Um, my mother's name is Yubaba. And my Dad's name is, uh, Kamajii." Chihiro stifled a laugh as Haku looked around nervously. No one seemed to notice, though. "Do you have any brothers or sisters?" Do not say Bôh, do not say Bôh… Chihiro thought desperately. "I'm an only child," was Haku's smart reply. Chihiro sighed to herself. 1 point for Haku Haku walked back to his seat next to Chihiro. He lightly punched her shoulder when she burst out laughing. "Yubaba and Kamajii? I nearly broke a rib trying not to laugh!" she said. "I didn't know how to answer!" Haku mumbled. "It's fine. Yubaba and Kamajii. Yubaba and Kamajii…" Then, Haku and Chihiro looked at each other, and they knew that they had thought of the same thing. "Eww…" they said in unison. Then, they laughed together. "I've forgotten how much I really miss you," Chihiro said quietly to herself. "Pardon?" Haku said. "Oh, what? Nothing…" Chihiro replied. There was a pause. Then, Haku said, "When's lunch?" "4th period, why?" Chihiro replied as they got ready for biology. "Let's just say that I have a lot of explaining to do. Much has happened in the past five years…"
Biology and geometry seemed to last a lifetime. Haku had a hard time understanding science that didn't relate to Earth's nature. "I don't get it. Why do we have to learn about such useless things? I don't need to know about the parts of the sun- it's not like I'm ever going to live there…" he grumbled. Then, after geometry, he complained some more. "I don't understanding this at all. Who cares about the length of the, oh what was it called, the hypotuse?" Chihiro had to smile. "The hypotenuse? But, I do agree. I don't get why we have to learn half the stuff we do here," she replied. The two walked to the cafeteria. "This," she started, "is the madhouse. I usually eat here, but we can sit outside." Haku seemed to like that idea. "Do you have lunch?" Chihiro asked Haku as they opened the back door. "Yeah, I brought something just in case," he replied, looking up at the clear blue sky and bright yellow sun. they sat under a shady tree by the school. Haku unpacked his lunch, which consisted of a few rice cakes (the same ones that he had given to her five years back…), some fruit, and an empty bottle of water. Haku smirked and said, "Where's a source of water?" "Well, there's a water fountain over by the school, see it?" Chihiro replied, pointing to the fountain. Haku shook his head and filled it up via magic. Chihiro stared at Haku. "What? Am I not allowed to do some simple magic?" he whined. :Haku… That was unbelievably lazy. The fountain was 50 feet, if not less, from here!" she replied. "Oh, hush. I just realized that I didn't really want to get up. Besides- you humans work too hard," Haku snapped back casually. "Ooh, you've developed some serious attitude, Mister. You may be a spirit and…and a river god… and…" Chihiro dwindled off due to Haku's standing up. "I'll just shut up now…" she mumbled. Haku grinned. "Nah, I was just stretching," he replied, walking around. Since when did Haku get up, just to stretch? Just when he complained about not wanting to get up? Chihiro didn't realize this quickly enough, for Haku quickly kneeled behind her and put his arms around her waist. She laughed as he said, "Don't question my authority." Chihiro laughed as she said, "Of course not, oh might Dragon River Spirit Human Thing!" Haku loosened his grip a little, obviously pleased with her reply (even though he didn't notice the hinted sarcasm) Haku then began explaining everything. "After you left, I quit being Yubaba's apprentice. The whole bathhouse was sad after you left; they still miss you. Yubaba got extremely stressed out and decided to take an extremely long-term vacation. She hasn't returned since." "But that was years ago. How do you know…" Chihiro trailed off. Haku knew what she was thinking. "Oh, she's still alive. Every now and then, she'll write Zeniba a letter. That's where she dropped off Bôh, and she wants to know how he's doing. Her messages are usually quick and snappy"- "-Like your old attitude…" Chihiro mumbled. "Sorry, what was that?" Haku said gently. "Oh, nothing, continue," Chihiro replied in a normal voice. "Well, they're still letters. So…If Yubaba is gone on break and Zeniba is taking care of Bôh, who's in charge?" Chihiro asked. Haku grinned. A few seconds passed and she then understood. "Oh my gods, Haku!" she said, getting loose of his grip and turning around to hug him. They fell to the ground, due to their momentum. Haku laughed. "And Lin's my apprentice. She's been helping me a lot lately." "Oh, I'm so happy for you!" Chihiro exclaimed. A long pause followed. Chihiro got up and they sat again. Then, Chihiro asked quietly, "How did you get to the Human world?" Haku sighed. "I should save that story for another day. It's complicated," he replied in the same hushed tone of voice. Chihiro sighed sadly, but didn't persist. Instead, she asked, "So how are Lin, Kamajii, and Bôh? No-Face? Granny Zeniba?" "Slow down, Little One," Haku said, covering Chihiro's mouth with his hand. Chihiro shut up. "Now, one at a time. Granny Zeniba is doing very well. I've visited her a few times since you left. She really misses you. I don't really know what NO-Face has to personally say, but when Granny asked if he missed you, he said "ahh ahh", which she assumed to be a 'yes'." Chihiro sighed. "I feel so bad…" she said quietly. "Don't worry, Chihiro. You did the right thing," Haku tried to soothe her. "No I didn't, Haku. My home was there. I like her and all, but I just… feel like I belong with you guys." A pause. Then, the warning bell rang. "C'mon Haku. Japanese awaits us," Chihiro said, getting up. Haku held up his hands, as if expecting her to help him. Reluctantly, she did, while mumbling, "Once again, unbelievable laziness." Haku smiled sweetly as he followed Chihiro back to the building.