by harrypotterfan867
beta-read by Tifa (website: riku.nu)
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Chapter One
Chihiro Ogino stared sadly out of her window. It had been two whole years since she moved to her new house. She was not miserable, as she had predicted. Her schoo was actually pretty great, she had new friends, and her new room was painted her favorite shade of yellow. She asked her parents to fix up her room so it looked like a bath house room. It would remind her of Abura-Ya… Chihiro sighed as she remembered the bath house of the spirits. How she missed it there. She tried to forget about it, but she couldn't. She had friends there: Kamaji, Lin, Baby Boh, No-Face, Zeniba (or Granny), and, most of all, Haku. She missed Haku so much, it was like having a constant stomachache. She remembered the way she rode on him in his dragon form, how he helped her save her parents, how he had escaped death at the last minute. Every night before she went to sleep, she pictured Haku's kind face when he remembered his real name, The Kohaku River. Chihiro would almost be glad to see the greedy, sharp-tongued ruler of Abura-Ya, Yubaba just to be sure it hadn't been a dream. She knew the way to Abura-Ya, but her parents never went back there. They had forgotten all about that place. Chihiro got up and dragged herself to bed, thinking of Haku's last words to her.
'I promise we'll see each other again. I promise.'
She cried herself to sleep.
The next morning, Chihiro went downstairs, ate her breakfast, and dragged herself around the house. It was summertime, and she was allowed to go wherever she wanted for as long as she wanted, to a friend's house, to the Ramen House fast-food place, even to the public bath house, all by herself.
'It's good to be twelve,' Chihiro would sometimes think.
"Mom! I'm going on a bike ride!" she called upstairs.
"All right, be back at six!" called her mother. "We're having your favorite, dumplings and ramen!"
"Great!" cheered Chihiro. She ran out and climbed onto her new bicycle. "Bye, Daddy!" she called into the garage. She pedaled down the hill, feeling better than she did last night. Suddenly, her bike swerved off the road and hit a rock. She bumped off the path to town, and bumped into the woods.
Bumpbumpbumpbumpbumpbump...
"AIIIEEEE!!! HELP!!!" screamed Chihiro, as tree branches whipped her face and tore her shirt and pants. Rocks made holes in her tires, making the ride even bumpier. Then her front tire hit a boulder.
CRASH!
"Oooohhh…" Chihiro moaned as she steadily got up. Her bike was beyond repair. Her clothes were dirty and almost torn off her body. She had cuts and bruises all over her face, arms and legs. Where was she? She looked around; she was on a stone path. It looked oddly familiar. Then she saw it, a round stone statue of an old lady, lodged in the trees. Chihiro almost cried out in happiness.
She knew where she was! She took off running down the path. Soon, she reached the tunnel. She didn't stop running, and ran right through it. She ran over the green hills, past all the restaurants, and found it… Abura-Ya!
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Sorry the first chapter is so short. I hope you like the fanfic so far, I have it all written out already. If you want to read more, please review! Thank you! ^_^