The blaring, annoying noise woke her from her usual but hypnotic dream. Feeling her dream slip away, Chihiro Ogino rolled over, intending to hit the off button on her alarm, but missed. Still hidden under the covers, she hit the alarm again and once again missed. Growing increasingly agitated, her fist came down on the beeping device until it crashed to the ground. Thankfully, the impact shut it up. Chihiro sighed in relief, then resignation as she sat up to yawn and stretch as she faced her hand drawn memory of an old friend, his eyes as kind as they had been the last time she'd seen him.
Maybe today's the day he'll come for me. She thought, feeling hope and joy rise in her throat. I hope so. I miss him so much.
In the eight years since her return to the human world, Chihiro had prepared herself as much as possible for the day when Haku, spirit of the Kohaku River located in the human world, would fulfill his promise to see her again.
Being nineteen years old, she was now fully responsible for herself, and she was glad for it. After her parents' deaths a year after her adventure in the spirit world, Chihiro became an orphan and went into a foster home until a married couple took her as their foster daughter. Of course, she was moved away from the gateway, and away from Haku, but she had a plan. She worked her tail off for the two years she was with her foster parents, saving every penny she possibly could. With no friends to encourage her to go to expos and conventions, she was able to move out on her own and rent an apartment in the same town that held the gateway when she grew old enough. Due to her good standing with her previous employer, she was able to be transferred to a branch of the restaurant chain she had worked at that was closer to her new home. And this is where she's been ever since. Every day, she'd work until dusk, and when she got home, she'd take a nap and a shower before heading to her second job. She had enough money from her day job to pay the bills and keep her comfortable, but she couldn't stand to be in an empty apartment for more than a few hours, which is why she took the night job. As a child, the house was always full of laughter and love. The foster home and her foster parents' house had both certainly been full of minors and children, so there was always noise. Being around all of that for eighteen years, she couldn't handle the emptiness and quiet of her apartment. So, she avoided it as much as possible. Her apartment was not a home or a sanctuary, but a place to sleep and keep her stuff.
On the weekends, Chihiro took these two days to hang out at the gateway, hoping the gates would open, and she'd draw. She'd go home after a few hours and sleep for a long period of time each night, not getting enough sleep during the week. But, every night, she'd dream of Haku.
The dreams started right after her parents were killed by a tsunami while she was in America for the summer, and her parents were on the coast of Japan taking a vacation. When she got the phone call about her parents from an American government official, she dreamt of Haku that night. Just seeing his face, as impassive as it had always been but held a kindness, Chihiro broke down and ran into his arms, sobbing. He held her and listened as she explained what had happened, and he let her cry.
For months, she dreamt of Haku every night, talking everything out with him. She told him of her grief, her confusion at her parents' deaths, and then the resentment and further confusion when she was taken from the house that was familiar to her and was placed in an overpopulated foster home and wasn't shown any kindness. By the time the third anniversary of her parents' deaths came and went, Haku was no longer in her dreams. By then, she had come to terms with the deaths of her parents, helped along mostly by Haku himself. His being there, being her shoulder to cry on, was what made those three years bearable. By talking with him, someone she loved and trusted with her life, she was able to work through the tumultuous emotions that came after such a trauma.
When she turned fifteen, she got a part-time job and saved every penny she earned. Her foster parents gave her food money and an allowance. She spent those monies on necessities; school supplies, food, textbooks, and clothes, while saving up her money. Her foster parents paid for her school tuition and did their best to teach their foster daughter that, while studying and working were good, it was possible to overdo both of them. They tried taking her on vacations and weekend getaways, but they realized that when she didn't want to go, the three of them compromised. Chihiro would put down her books and working during the weekends and the three of them would do normal things and try to get along. They didn't push for vacations after that, but settled for going to the markets together and enjoying a picnic in the park.
Chihiro knew they understood. Her foster parents were kind souls who just wanted to help her get from where she was to where she could be. They knew they couldn't replace her parents, and didn't try to bond with her the same way she had been bonded to her parents. They just wanted to help her not sink into the despair and rage, and to teach her what her parents' could no longer teach her; how to live independently and responsibly. So, they provided her education, rides to and from school and work, words of advice and other things, but they never tried to control her finances or her grades. They decided that the best way for one to learn those lessons, was for the person to make mistakes and then learn from them. Chihiro had made some, of course. After being uprooted from her patch of the garden, Chihiro was very distraught. This caused her grades to suffer and her personality to shift into the bully type. But it wasn't long before Haku noticed the shift, commented on it and then Chihiro turned herself around. She began to get good grades again, became the kind Chihiro she had been, and took it one step further by getting a job. All the while, however, Chihiro had a plan. She would save up her money and move back to the town where the gateway was, minimize the number of roots she put down, and try to get back into the spirit world.
As cliché was it was, Chihiro liked being in the spirit world. There, she had changed from the spoiled brat she had been, into a mature, self-sufficient young girl. Constantly learning new things about a world she didn't understand had made her feel useful, when she hadn't before. In the human world, Chihiro now felt out of place. While she could deal in the human world, she wanted to feel like she belonged again, even if that meant putting up with Yubaba.
When Haku stopped featuring in her dreams, it wasn't cold-turkey. He had shown himself less and less over the month of the anniversary, repeatedly asking Chihiro if she thought she could handle life without him. Even though the thought of him not being her dreams anymore scared her, Chihiro never lied to him. He didn't deserve to be lied to, just so she could keep dreaming about him. She still felt silly, talking to a dream version as if he were real, but that's what helped her to cope. She was thankful that Haku had been there for her, dream or not.
Now, in the present, Chihiro looked around her room, covered wall-to-wall with drawings. Some were of a white and green dragon against a blue sky, or swimming through a river with a little girl on its back. Others were of faces of friends in the spirit world; Rin the worker who had been her mentor, Yubaba's son Boh, Yu-Bird, the spirit No-Face, Yubaba's twin Zaneeba, Yubaba herself, and, of course, Haku. Most of the pictures had only one face in them. He had emerald green hair, matching eyes, pale skin, and a triangular face that rarely showed emotion.
There was a life-size poster of Haku pinned to the ceiling above her bed. His face was the first thing she saw in the morning, a reminder of times past, and a symbol of hope, hope for a the future she so desperately wanted.
Tired to the bone, and with every muscle in her body screaming, Chihiro took a shower, letting the warm water soothe away her muscle pains and give her a temporary boost of energy. After her shower, she headed straight to her bed and took a nap. She was done working for the week. Tomorrow, she would go to the gateway.