Hey there! I'd like to thank everyone for the reviews so far. There are only 8, but it's a good start. To reply to everyone would take too long, but I thank you all! Updating will be a tad harder to do, but I'll try at least 3-4 times a week. And no worries- fluff galore will definitely be coming up soon ;)

Oh, and I guess I have to add a disclaimer… So, the usual, I don't own Spirited Away or any of the characters from it- I only own my own characters and my plot. Happy?

"YEOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWW!" Chihiro heard Haku cry out from the kitchen. Then, she heard the sound of glass breaking. She sighed as she threw her school bag on her bed. 5 minutes at home and Haku's already screaming bloody murder. I knew I shouldn't have left him down there by himself… Chihiro thought to herself as she fast walked to the kitchen. The two were done with Haku's first day of school, and they had walked back to Chihiro's house, since her parents didn't get home until late.

"Haku, what happened?"

She walked in to see Haku with tears streaming down his bright red face. Then, she noticed the pile of broken glass on the ground with a green liquid all around it. "Haku, what did you do?" Chihiro asked him curiously. She was actually kind of worried. Haku closed his eyes tightly. "Hot… So hot…" he whispered as more tears streamed down his face. Chihiro walked to the pile of broken glass and found the label.

"Green Habanero Hot Sauce"

Chihiro face palmed herself as she walked to the cupboards to get a glass out. "Haku," she said, filling the glass with water, "What you just ate is something we humans call hot sauce. It's spicy, it burns, and, as you figured out the hard way, it's hot…" Haku took the glass gratefully and drank. Chihiro couldn't help but smile at Haku's mistake. "Thank you, Chihiro…" he said, taking a deep breath. "You know, you really should have asked me what you were eating. It could have saved you some pain and the loss of taste for a few hours," Chihiro said, picking up a dust pan to clean up the mess.

"No, wait."

Haku went over to the glass and hot sauce mess, and used magic to clean it all up.

"Oh, well, thank you, Haku!"

"Really? I was expecting you to say 'unbelievable laziness' like you usually do when I use magic."

"Haha, well aren't you funny?"

"I would say I'm absolutely hilarious."

Chihiro became extremely aggravated at Haku's cheek. "Ooh, you are really asking for it, Mister…" she said irritatingly, turning away from him. If he says one more sassy remark…

"I don't recollect asking for anything at all, actually."

"That's it, you're going down!"

Chihiro turned and began chasing Haku throughout the whole house. He laughed, which, to Chihiro's dismay, caused her to laugh too. He looked back, grinned, and said, "You know, you're not going to win." Chihiro managed to chase him out of the house; though after a few minutes outside, she realized was a big mistake. He had disappeared in thin air and was nowhere to be seen nor heard.

"Oh yeah, Haku, you're cool. Just use your magical spirit powers against my nonexistent human powers, why don't you?"

Chihiro groaned as she fell onto the grass. She had changed into black shorts and a white t-shirt with a light blue dragon on it. She sighed and looked up at the sky. The sun was bright and there were lots of fluffy clouds whose list of interpretations was endless.

"I think that that one looks like Yubaba's giant nose."

Chihiro jumped in surprise, but then laughed out loud as she looked over. Haku was lying next to her, beaming at her giggles.

"That one right there kind of looks like a soot sprite," Chihiro said, pointing to a round cloud. Haku nodded in agreement.

"You see that one there? The one next to it looks like No-Face!" Haku exclaimed, pointing to an upside down triangular shaped cloud. "It does!" Chihiro said. "And," she said, smiling, "The on above it looks like you."

"Excuse me?" Haku said defensively, sitting up.

Chihiro giggled and sat up too. "The blob above the one that looks like No-Face, see?"

"Oh really?" Haku challenged, a fierce glint shining across his emerald eyes.

"Yeah, don't you see? There's your hair and your arms and your puffy pants and-ahh!"

Chihiro never got to finish her description, for Haku tackled her to the ground and began tickling the life out of her.

"HAKU!" Chihiro whined as she struggled to get away. Haku merely grinned as he continued his attack. Then, an idea came to Chihiro's head.

"ABUSE!" she yelled at the top of her lungs.

"Wait, what?"

Haku stopped immediately.

"Not so brave when you're put on the spot, eh?" Chihiro smirked.

She was on her knees, very pleased with herself. She scooted a few feet away from him. Haku rolled his eyes as Chihiro boasted,

"I actually out-smarted you, Haku! I out-smarted a spirit!"

"Oh really? Not so brave when you can't move though, eh?" Haku replied, sending Chihiro the same smirk she gave him a few seconds ago. He inched himself closer to her again.

"Huh?

Then, Chihiro understood. He had used magic to bind her legs together and knees to the ground, just like five years ago, when she first arrived in the Spirit World. Her arms were forced to her sides; she was powerless. She was sitting between Haku's knees.

"Why you little-"

"Haku: TWO, Chihiro: ZERO. I can brag and rhyme at the same time…These magical spirit powers really do come in handy sometimes!" Haku taunted.

"Haku, I will kill you once this spell wares off," Chihiro said through gritted teeth.

Haku sat right next to Chihiro.

"Chihiro, spirits can't die. You're a smart girl, you should know that."

"Durrr duh derrrrrrr," Chihiro mocked, rolling her eyes.

"And besides," he added, putting his arms around her and putting his face really close to hers, "Why would you kill the boy you like?"

Chihiro's face went pale, then red as her eyes widened.

"What did you say?"

Haku looked serious now, looking back at Chihiro.

"A girl in our biology class gave me this after class. Smiled and told me that I should read it…"

Haku pulled a crumpled piece of paper out of his jacket pocket and showed it to Chihiro.

Chihiro mentally smacked herself when she saw the note. Haku had read it, and he knew everything.

Oh damn.

So is this the famous Haku you keep talking about?

Yeah, it is… I guess it's just a coincidence…

I'll say… You know, Chi, I'm sorry I laughed at your pictures the other day. He's soooo much cuter in real life!

He's matured a lot since I last saw him.

I didn't know him back in the days, but all I can say is that those abs are sexy.

Misa…

Sorry Chi…Alright, since you obviously don't like his beautiful muscles, what do you like?

I love his eyes… They're beautiful- the first time I saw him, I noticed his eyes. They're so fierce, but at the same time, so gentle and warm…

Hehe, you'll probably have better luck with him. You're definitely a whole lot more romantic than I. I'm just a fan-girl of hot guys!

You would…maybe… Haku's hard to get along with at first, though…

What do you mean? He seems really nice!

It's hard to explain.

Well, you still seem dazzled by him. And I saw you two walking together. You were laughing and talking… It was actually really cute- I almost cried.

Oh, Misa…

You seem like really close friends…you like him…why not ask him out?

Misa, he's one of my best friends. It'd just make things awkward.

But…you're like, in love with each other.

I wouldn't go that far. I like him a lot, yeah, but I wouldn't say 'love' yet. And he doesn't love me. We're just friends.

You are such a loser! I don't know him and I can tell he's into you!

Well, I guess this is where the saying "love is blind" would come in handy…

Whatever Chi… Uh-oh, Takahashi's coming! We'll talk later…Good luck with your macho-man ;)

And Misa gave him the note. She was in for some grief tomorrow. Chihiro was filled with confusion, anger, sorry, angst, betrayal… basically every kind of negative emotion.

"Chihiro?"

Chihiro barely looked over at Haku, whose emerald eyes seemed to bore themselves right into her heart.

"I can explain…" Chihiro mumbled, her face still beet-red.

"There's no need to," Haku replied softly.

"What?" Chihiro replied in a weak voice.

Haku's next action told her why. He unbound her legs and arms with magic. Chihiro sighed in relief and flapped her arms around like a bird. However, Haku pulled her close to him and whispered in her ear,

"You're beautiful, Little One."

And then he gently placed his lips on her cheek. Chihiro blushed even more. At that, she could feel Haku smile.

A few seconds later, he leaned back. Chihiro burst into a fit of giggles that really illustrated her girly side.

"Well, well, I can see that softened your mood!" Haku teased, smiling.

"Oh, shut up, you…" Chihiro snapped. But her laughing didn't make her command nearly as assertive.

Haku merely laughed at that.

"What are you laughing at?" Chihiro asked, beginning to calm down.

"Sorry, Chihiro, but I was laughing at you. Not in a mean way, just the fact that you were laughing at my actions… it was quite cute, actually; it made me chuckle."

Chihiro wanted to retaliate with a comeback, but she was in too much of a good mood to bother. Then, some thoughts came to her head.

Whoop-dee-doo! He likes you!

Who are you?

Me? I'm the Nagging Pessimist Voice in your head. Nice to meet you.

What do you want? Can't you notice I'm in a good mood?

Because Haku kissed you? C'mon, Chihiro. He called you beautiful and kissed your cheek. He didn't say he loved you or anything, and didn't even kiss your mouth.

So? It's still affection! He must feel something!

It's something, but it's probably not love. He's a sixteen-year old boy; hormones are flying around like crazy. Don't get too excited.

Whatever, I'm blocking you out.

Alright, Chihiro, but when something goes wrong, don't tell me I didn't tell you so.

How can I tell myself 'I told you so?'

'I told you so.'

Shut up.

Fine.

"Chihiro?" Haku's distant voice said.

"Huh?" she replied stupidly. Haku smiled.

"It looked like you were going to war with yourself. Anything on your mind?"

Chihiro thought about the little argument that she just had with The Nagging Pessimist Voice.

"Nah, guess I'm just a little out of it."

"Long day?"

"You could say that."

Chihiro and Haku looked at each other. After Haku's display of affection, she finally did notice how beautiful/handsome he really was. And, though she'd never admit this to Misa, he did have good abs.

"Do you have anywhere to stay?" she blurted out without warning.

"Curse you, Nagging Pessimist Voice…" she mumbled to herself angrily.

Hehe…

"I guess…" Haku replied awkwardly, putting an arm behind his head. He smiled weakly. Chihiro gave him a 'don't-you-lie-to-me-because-you-know-I'll-just-figure-it-out-sooner-or-later-anyway' look.

"Ehh, no actually… Not really. I've just been merging myself with this little creek right over there. It's quite nice, actually…"

"I could ask my parents if you could stay with us," Chihiro blurted out again.

Why must you do this to me? Giant piece of poop…

I want to prove you wrong. By the way- you basically called yourself a giant piece of poop.

Chihiro decided to ignore the Nagging Pessimist Voice inside her head as Haku said,

"That'd be nice, thanks, but I won't be mad if they say no. Besides- how do you explain why you want to keep a sixteen year old boy in your house without them getting suspicious?" Haku replied, smiling.

"Touché, touché…" Chihiro replied as they began walking back to the house.

Then, out of the blue, Haku said, "Nagging Pessimist Voice?"

Chihiro fell over laughing.