Disclaimer: I do not own Spirited Away
A/N: Ok, well after doing some revisions to this chapter (should make it easier to read) I've realized this is a very long first chapter. I apologize for that but I didn't want to cut it. Anyway, to both new and familiar readers, I hope you enjoy.
To be together
Chihiro found herself alone in a black nothingness. Her eyes felt useless and her ears felt like someone had put cotton in them.
"Hello?" she called out into the nothing. No one answered, nothing moved. Suddenly a huge weight of loneliness came crashing down on her so hard she almost couldn't breathe. She crumpled to the floor and sobbed, the only sound to penetrate the dark. Hot, wet tears burned down her face leaving burning trails down her cheeks.
And suddenly Chihiro woke up. She was terrified and breathing heavily. Her hands felt clammy and her heart was racing. When she clamed down a bit, rational thought took over.
' You are too old for this Chihiro, you're in college now and you know better.'
Chihiro would get these dreams every now and then. Ever since she had told her parents about the spirit world and they had rejected her, she had no on to talk to. She had always felt lonely but now, she didn't even have her parents. Her thoughts then turned to a certain River Dragon.
'He said, we would see each other again, but it has been ten years, and I have almost lost hope.' She slipped into a silent reverie as she drew up her knees to her chest.
After she had left the sprit world, she didn't think about going back until at least a week later. She had gone for a walk down by the road they had accidentally turned on that day. She hadn't thought about actually trying to go back, but maybe she wanted to, somewhere inside herself. She reached the end but only found the queer little statue, smiling at her. At seeing the absence of the tunnel her, loneliness began and she had decide to tell her parents.
They had rejected it as a simple childhood fantasy and she had never mentioned it since. The need to talk about it with someone became desperate, but she had no on to turn to and she bottled it up inside. All this time of thinking about the Sprit World only made it worse. It was like keeping a beast locked up that kept threatening to get out, usually through her dreams. She sighed and lay back down to try and sleep. But the notion was soon forgotten when her roommate turned over and spoke.
"Can't you sleep Chi?" Chihiro sighed quietly again and replied.
"No." Her roommate woke up a little.
"Another nightmare?" Chihiro said yes and her roommate left it at that.
"Come on Chi, let's go out on the roof and look at the stars." Chihiro nodded and pulled on a sweater over her pajamas. Her roommate's name was Aneko, meaning older sister, which is exactly how she acted towards Chihiro. No matter when Chihiro had nightmare, Aneko always knew what to do.
They reached the roof and Aneko walked Chihiro over to their usually spot and sat down. Chihiro mindlessly swung her legs back and fourth and Aneko waited before she began talking.
"So Chi, which one was it this time?" Chihiro sighed, but knew Aneko was only trying to help.
"The one with the black nothing," Chihiro answered.
It was one of the worst dreams, it was so lonely and she always woke up crying. Sometimes it blended with a memory of everyone from the Sprit World surrounding her, but then it would fade into the nothing. Aneko nodded and hugged Chihiro with a sort of silent support. Chihiro was instantly comforted and mumbled a quiet thanks as Aneko let her go. Aneko knew that tonight Chihiro would sit there and think, and be unwilling to talk. But she also knew that she would need someone by her, just for reassurance.
They sat there until the first light of dawn crept over the skies. Aneko looked at Chihiro for an answer, and Chihiro nodded. She would now be able to sleep, at least until ten for her classes. She felt guilty, because Aneko had a class in two hours but whenever she told Aneko not to worry about her, Aneko brushed it off in an older sister type of way. Chihiro stumbled down the steps to their room, and fell into bed, she did not dream again that night.
A few hours later she woke up and got ready for class. She was mastering in English and had a Japanese literature class with Aneko in an hour. She went down to the Great Hall to get some breakfast. She sat her tray down at an empty table but was soon joined by Aneko.
"Hey Chi," Aneko said as she sat down. Chi nodded up to her but still didn't say anything.
" I think we should have a girl's night in tonight, don't you?" Aneko always knew how to cheer her up.
"I'll bring chocolate," Chihiro offered.
"I get the popcorn and the sappy movies, and let's not forget the Kleenex." Chihiro laughed lightly and started to pick at her food. Her thoughts had turned to a certain river dragon. It wasn't always him, sometimes she thought about Lin, Kamajii, Zeniba and everyone else but today it was him. She wondered if he even remembered her, if he did, did he think about her? Aneko noticed her faraway look and her forlorn expression, she knew she had to do something. Chihiro had never told her about the sprit world, but she knew about it anyway. 'I have to do something,' Aneko thought to herself, her heart reaching out to Chihiro.
The rest of the day Chihiro just went through the motions, her hand had gotten lightening fast when she took notes, trying to keep up with the teacher's voice. Chihiro was exhausted by the end of the day and skipped dinner and went back to the dorm. Aneko, being the older sister figure who knew everything about you type, was already there and she had brought some dinner with her.
"Now Chi, you aren't allowed to brood, whine, ignore me or space out all tonight. You have to cry during the sappy parts of the movie and tonight you are going to eats tons of junk food."
Chihiro smiled at her sister, knowing she meant for the best. Chihiro sat down in front of the T.V. and watched sappy movies and ate all of her dinner. She tried her best not to let her thoughts wander to anyone in the sprit world, even him. She hardly used his name anymore; she felt that if she used it too much, the magic in his name would fade.
Aneko always noticed when Chihiro was thinking of the Sprit World, now was one of those times. She decided to talk to Chihiro about it tonight; somehow she would get the information out of her. For now, she just sat with Chihiro and watched the movie. Chihiro did all she was told, cried at the movie, ate dinner, ate junk food and appeared to not be brooding, whining, ignoring or spacing out. The truth was, that Chihiro had just gotten better at hiding her feelings and thoughts. After they had watched all of the movies, Aneko intended to talk to Chihiro about the Sprit World.
Aneko sat herself across from Chihiro and looked her in the eyes.
"Chihiro, what is wrong?" she decided to feign ignorance, but if need be she would tell her she knew. Chihiro shook her head, pretending again.
"Chihiro…" Aneko began warningly. Chihiro sighed and quietly spoke.
"I miss them." Aneko knew without being told she meant everyone in the Sprit world. But, to Chihiro she did not know of any of this.
"Your parents?" Chihiro's face hardened, and Aneko knew why but she was going to drag the information out of Chihiro if she had to.
"No, not them," she left it at that but Aneko was good at getting information and so she was going to try.
"What happened between you and them Chihiro? You never talk about them." This would hurt Chihiro to talk about, but it had to be done.
"I…" Chihiro's voice faltered and she looked lost.
"Do you really want to know?" Aneko nodded and Chihiro pressed on.
"My parents have never really listened to me. When I was ten, we moved to a different town, but I hadn't wanted to leave my friends and school behind. " Chihiro stopped as if deciding whether or not to tell Aneko the whole story. Aneko knew she couldn't help Chihiro if she didn't so she gave the human girl a little nudge, in her head. Chihiro took a deep breath and began again.
"We must have taken a wrong turn, because we ended up on this dirt road and my mother kept complaining we were lost. We turned the corner and dad almost ran into this squat little statue with a smiling face." Chihiro's words kept getting easier now, that she was finally telling someone.
"Behind the statue was a tunnel and my parents decided to explore it. We came into a lone train station and on the other side was a lush green field. We walked up the field and over an empty river. It was then that my dad thought he smelled something like food and so my parents followed the smell. We came to a deserted town that was made up of restaurants. We found one that had fresh cooked food but no one was there. My parents started to eat and they didn't stop, not even to talk to me."
Chihiro's eyes teared up as if to feel regret for not trying to stop them harder. As Chihiro spoke, Aneko nodded and listened carefully. She knew most of the story but it was interesting to hear it from Chihiro's perspective.
"And so I helped Haku get freed from Yubaba and gave him his name back, he helped me find my parents and get home, but he promised we would see each other again. We never did"
Finally Chihiro's tears came streaming down her cheeks and she sobbed. Aneko put her arm around Chihiro and spoke quietly.
"There, there Chi, you'll be alright." She rubbed Chihiro's back until Chihiro came to grips again.
"A week later," she began, ready to tell the rest, "I told my parents but they rejected it and ignored me. A year later, Aden came into their lives, my perfect younger brother. While I got good grades, was a model student and cleaned and was helpful around the house, I was ignored. I got an A on a test I got a pat on the head and a 'good job,' he got anything higher than a C and he had a party, and a raise in allowance." Chihiro moved away from Aneko a little, needing to deal with this. Her anger was rising a little.
"The only reason I got into this good college was because of a scholarship and because they wanted to get rid of me." Chihiro finished but the tears still flowed. The pain of being rejected by her own parents was deep.
"My life wasn't horrible, they didn't beat me or mistreat me, they just…" Aneko was there to finish the sentence.
"Ceased to care?" Chihiro nodded and hung her head. But now that Chihiro had told her what happened, she could help her.
"Chihiro?" Aneko asked, her voice firm. Chihiro looked up at her as a form of acknowledgement.
"Let's go there, to the Sprit World," she finished. Chihiro looked at her incredulously,
"What? You believe me then?" Aneko nodded and tried again.
"Of course I do, but if you are ever going to date this Haku guy, I am going to have to use my older sister authority and approve of him." Chihiro looked at like she was crazy and then protested, while choosing to ignore the Haku comment, for now.
"But Aneko, I've tried to get through numerous of times, and the tunnel has never been there again!" 'I bet you never tried two days before the Winter Solstice,' Aneko thought to herself.
"Maybe this time will be different this time Chi, besides I would love to see the Sprit World," Aneko pleaded.
"What about next week, when we have a break? But I'm warning you now it probably won't be there." 'Oh it will be if we get there two days before…' Aneko thought to herself smugly.
"But it will be fun anyway Chi! Let's make it a plan, we'll leave on Friday afternoon after classes are over for the both of us." Aneko wasn't giving Chi anytime to reconsider. She was going to end Chi's suffering in this world, she only hoped that Haku wouldn't do anything stupid. Chihiro sighed in resignation, knowing that nothing she could say would stop Aneko now. Aneko was rattling off plans and Chihiro smiled to herself, 'thanks Aneko,' she thought.
Thursday
Chihiro didn't dream that night and so both of them got a good night's sleep. Chihiro, try as she might could not forget about going to her old hometown tomorrow. Her heart felt like it would rip apart if she did not see the tunnel. Over the years, she had snuck out occasionally, hoping to find it again, only to be greeted by the squat little statue. She had been disappointed so many times when she had tried to find it. She sighed and got ready for her class.
At breakfast Chihiro sat by herself and started to read yet another book on dragons and myths about them in the Japanese culture. She had read all about them, and not many books contained any new knowledge, but this one was interesting. It was all about elemental dragons, land dragons, mountain dragons, air dragons and…river dragons. On the cover there was a river dragon, whit scales with green fur. Her heart skipped a beat every time she saw it. The eyes were black, not emerald. The cover is what made her pick up the book in the first place, because it reminded her of…him. She had been reading for some time, and she had read the sections on land dragons and had just finished the one on air dragons. The next one was about river dragons, she paused before reading on. She thought about what it would say, it read:
The mystery surrounding River Dragons is vast, not many have been researched. We could find no captured accounts, other than word of mouth and old stories written down, about this particular type of dragon. Although many claim to have seen them, no one has offered any proof. Like most dragon accounts, not much proof has been offered, but it seems to be particularly evasive concerning River Dragons. We have found that most accounts of River Dragons have been in, around or related to Kohaku River in southern Japan.
Chihiro shut the book, as soon as she read that sentence. Her heart was hammering against her chest and she felt like she couldn't breath. She finished breakfast and left the book where it was.
Aneko, unknown to Chihiro, was watching the whole time. She walked over to the book and picked it up. 'Ah, the famous dragon boy again,' Aneko thought to herself. She took the book with her, just in case Chihiro would want it again.
Chihiro met up with Aneko in her next class, history of Japan: the Feudal Era. It was an interesting class, despite the teacher's monotone voice. They were learning about the samurais that fought in the wars, a lot of them fought for the side that wanted to keep things the way they were, although a few traitors worked for the government who was trying to get Japan to industrialize.
The dates of births and deaths of famous samurais came up along with the battles they fought in. She was writing all of the dates down with her speedy hand; the teacher had a nasty habit of just having a test on dates, Chihiro had learned this the hard way.
As class came to a close, Chihiro started to think about Haku. Would he remember her? Would he even recognize her? She had grown much taller; she was about 5'5 now. Her used to be shoulder-length brown hair was now down to the middle of her back and ever so slightly wavy. Her features and grown up and her figure was that of a young woman now.
'Stop thinking about it Chihiro,' she told herself, 'the portal probably won't even be there.' She shook her head but a lingering thought came, 'But what if it is?" She immediately shut the thought out of her head not wanting to get her hopes up.
"Chihiro!" Chihiro turned around to see Alan.
He was a transfer student from England. All of the girls wanted to be with him, yet he had an annoying knack for hanging around her.
"So what are you doing for the break?" he asked her causally, looking hopeful.
"I'm sorry but my roommate is kidnapping me for the break and we're going on a road trip." His face feel and she felt bad.
In truth, she had never wanted to go out with any boys, only him. In high school she had been asked numerous times to go out to the movies, but she always refused, not wanting to get too close to anyone. She didn't even really have any friends until Aneko came along. They had met freshman year in college, when Aneko had walked in the door and started talking away while all Chihiro could do was sit there and look stunned. But now as juniors, her and Aneko had become very close, like sisters. But Alan kept on trying to get her to go out with him.
"Well, then would you go to a movie with me tonight?" She was about to say no when she spotted Aneko behind him nodding her head viscously and gave Chihiro a look that said, 'say yes, or else!'
"Um, sure." Alan's face lit right up.
"So meet me out front at eight, okay?" She nodded and he walked away beaming. Aneko was beaming at Chihiro.
"Why exactly do you want me to go out with him?"
"Oh, I have my reasons," Aneko said. 'Yeah, blackmail against that arrogant dragon if I have to,' Aneko thought to herself.
"I am almost twenty one years old, I do NOT need to be set up Aneko."
"I know, but you should go out and have fun tonight. I will pack for you so don't worry about staying out late," Aneko beamed. Chihiro simply rolled her eyes at her, resigning herself to the fact that she was going out tonight.
Chihiro made it back to the room with an hour to spare. She put her stuff down and went to take a shower. She decided to put her hair in a long ponytail. Aneko was not around so she would have to decide what to wear for herself. She put on a pair of jeans that had blue roses embroidered along the legs. The ivy on the roses wound around the legs and down to the bottom of the jeans into a finish with green and blue rhinestones. She put on a dark blue shirt with long bell sleeves that went to an inch short of her fingertips. The shirt had lighter blue rhinestones all over it and along the bottom of the shirt. The ones in the middle formed a rose. She put on a necklace with a single dark jade stone that was in the shape of, what else, a dragon. She finished of with a clear lip-gloss.
She was nervous, she didn't like Alan, not in that way but…she shook off the thought and grabbed her denim jacket and walked out the door. She saw Alan outside, in front of his car. He was wearing jeans as well, with a white button down shirt. He smiled when he saw her and spoke with awe.
"You look…beautiful." She blushed and mumbled a quiet thanks. He opened the door for her and helped her get in. On the way there she wondered why she was doing this, she didn't like him…so why? Well there was Aneko but…she could have said no. The ride was silent, and the tension was easily felt. When they got there, he helped her out of the car and led her to the theater. He bought them tickets and they got some popcorn. They found their seats and sat down. She noticed that he kept looking at her, but she was trying to avoid his gaze.
After the movie, he took her to a park. The stars were out and it was fairly warm. They found their way to the edge of the fountain, where they sat down. Chihiro knew that any girl would kill to be in her position, and Alan was being really sweet, but she really did not like him in that way.
"You know, ever since I first saw you, I thought you were really beautiful." Alan spoke to the ground, this time he was avoiding her gaze.
"I thought that cute, shy, quiet girl in the corner was something special. And you are, I'm glad you said that you would come with me, but you don't like me do you?" Chihiro's head shot up.
"I do like you but…"
"Not in that way," he finished for her. She sighed and nodded.
"Well, I hope who ever gets you, makes you happy. I'm just sorry it wasn't me," he joked lightly.
"I'm really sorry," she began but he stopped her.
"It's alright, don't worry," he gave her a sad smile.
"Come on, I'll take you back." He helped her up and she stood on her tiptoes and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"Thanks, you are way too nice to me," she said. He gave a shrug and a smile. They walked back, hand in hand, but as friends with an understanding.
He dropped her off in front of her dorm and she waved goodbye. She sighed before going upstairs, trying to prepare herself for the million questions she would get from Aneko. She put her key in the door and opened it.
"I'm back! She called into the room. Aneko emerged from the bathroom and as soon as she saw Chihiro she squealed.
"Aw, Chihiro you look so cute!" Chihiro rolled her eyes as Aneko continued.
"So how was it?"
"It was fine, he was really sweet, and we went for a movie and walk in the park."
"Did you kiss?" Chihiro shook her head and Aneko's smile fell a little. 'She still cares for Haku…. poor thing,' Aneko thought to herself.
"Well, did you have a good time anyway?" Chihiro nodded and then Aneko decided to take her mind off of it.
"Go and get comfortable and then come help me pack." Chihiro nodded and left the room.
When she came back, she found the room in disarray. Clothes were flung all over the room and two suitcases were by the door.
"Aneko?" Chihiro did not see her until she heard her.
"Ouch!" coming from underneath the bed.
"What Chi?" Aneko asked rubbing her head.
"If we do get there, which I doubt, how do you expect to carry two heavy suitcases through the Sprit World? Won't it look odd?" Aneko looked thoughtful and then realization dawned on her face. She knew there'd be plenty of clothes in the Spirit World anyway.
"Oh! Yeah, your right, then maybe just a couple of backpacks then…" Chihiro nodded and started to clean up, leaving out some clothes along with toothpaste, toothbrush, and a hairbrush, those sorts of things.
Chihiro and Aneko laughed about jokes and imitated teachers to amuse themselves while cleaning up, this resulted in them getting done at one a.m. They collapsed on the floor, exhausted and overtired.
"Okay, so in the morning, I'll put the stuff in the car and after our last class, we'll hit the road!" said Aneko enthusiastically. Chihiro just laughed at her and closed her eyes. She wanted the tunnel to be there, she had dreamt about it many times she knew it so well yet she hadn't seen it in almost eleven years.
"Chi, go to bed," Aneko said almost motherly.
"Whatever," Chi mocked and as an answer she got a pillow in her face. The two fought with pillows for a while before finally going off to bed.
Friday
Chihiro woke up and dreaded having to go through the whole day. She was excited about her trip, but also nervous. The butterflies in her stomach would not go away so she just skipped breakfast. Her morning classes seemed to be about three hours longer each and the time just dragged on. Chihiro already felt drained when it was time for lunch.
"Hey Chi," Aneko said motioning Chihiro over to the table. Alan was there to and he smiled as she sat down.
"So what are you doing for break Alan?" Aneko asked him.
"Well, I'm going home for a couple of days but then I'm going to my friend's house."
"So Chihiro tells me that you're kidnapping her for break." Aneko giggled.
"Of course! We are going on a girl's road trip and I am going to annoy her the whole way!" The three of them laughed, after Chihiro made a face and spoke mockingly,
"Oh, you are, are you?" They continued to talk about break and classes and at some point Chihiro fell silent again.
"Hey, Chihiro! Earth to Chihiro!" Chihiro snapped out of it when she saw Aneko's hand waving in her face.
"What? Oh, sorry I guess I spaced out a bit."
"Only one more class and we are out of here, now come on!" They said goodbye to Alan and walked to the last class of the day: Mythology of Scotland. Chihiro had chosen this class because the Scottish had many myths surrounding dragons. It was not that she was obsessed with dragons, just that sometimes it helped her forget about him in an odd sort of a way. But even though this was on of her favorite classes, she had a hard time concentrating today.
The professor was currently talking about water sprits today but not dragons. Chihiro started to daydream about her time in the Sprit World. After telling Aneko about the Sprit World, she had felt so much better and she had not had a nightmare since. Her heart felt lighter but her stomach was still full of those nervous butterflies. She wasn't sure how she would react if the tunnel weren't there. Aneko acted like it would be and somehow Chihiro had gotten her hopes up a little bit, she only hoped that they wouldn't be dashed again.
She sighed and somehow dragged her mind back to class; the teacher was talking about some of the more famous water sprits. Chihiro glanced at the clock and was shocked to discover that there were only five minutes left in class, she must have been spacing out for a while. After closing with giving them an assignment for writing a three page paper on some lesser-known water sprits the teacher wished them a good holiday and dismissed the class. Aneko practically dragged Chihiro out of class and to the car waiting out front.
"Okay, I have all sorts of CD's, junk food, maps for when I get lost, our backpacks, and the cooler is in the back," Aneko rattled on about having everything and it made Chihiro laugh. Aneko smiled and was glad she had been able to let Chihiro forget about her nervousness for however long.
"Okay, you're a bit too prepared Aneko," Chihiro commented.
"Well, you know me I just have to be on top of everything!" Aneko joked. They laughed for a while, neither one knowing why it was so funny, but then maybe it was just the nerves. The put in a CD and started to sing along, loudly and off key. Hours of this and many, many miles later, Chihiro started drifting off and finally fell asleep.
When she woke up, it was dark and Aneko looked a little fried. Chihiro yawned and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.
"What time is it?' She asked Aneko sleepily.
"It's about eight," Aneko answered.
"I'm sorry I feel asleep on you, I guess I was more tired than I thought." Aneko smiled and shook her head.
"I know, that's why I let you sleep." Chihiro could hear the tiredness in her voice.
"Would you like me to drive?"
"Would you mind? I'm pretty tired."
"I'd be happy to drive, just pull off over there." Aneko pulled off and the switched places. As soon as Chihiro started the car, Aneko had dropped off to sleep.
Chihiro smiled to herself and began driving. She noticed how quiet it was on turned the radio on low. The sky was really clear and she could see all of the stars and constellations. She took a deep breath and tried to let the anxiety go. What would she do if the portal were there? Find Haku and tell him…. tell him what? She shook her head and decided she would cross that bridge when she got there.
After a while the sky started to get lighter and Chihiro could tell it would be a beautiful sunrise. When the sun was up, at about eight, Aneko finally woke up.
"Well good morning sleepy head," Chihiro greeted Aneko. Aneko yawned and grinned sleepily, slowly waking up.
"How far away are we now?" Chihiro checked the road signs.
"We're about an hour away now I think." Aneko nodded and sat up. The roads were clear and they were both quiet. Aneko was thinking about what she would do with Chihiro when they got to the Sprit Word. If her memory served her right, and they still held it, the Bathhouse held a Winter Solstice Ball every year. She remembered that Haku attended them every year, and she really hoped that the ball would be a good place for them to meet, but she was unsure of how she would get them to not see each other. It would be nice if Haku was off somewhere, but she couldn't guarantee that it would be the case.
Chihiro was thinking of him as well, but in a different way. Her mind had taken her back to the worried thoughts about him. Would he even notice her? Sure, she could walk up to him and say 'Hey, Haku! I don't know if you remember me, but I haven't stopped thinking about you at all for the last ten years!' Yeah, that would go over well. Chihiro shook her head slightly, and sighed.
The closer they got to the forest, the worse it got. All of the thoughts of the Sprit World broke through their blocks she had put it so many years ago and all of the torment from the last few years came along with them. Her tears were stinging with tears she refused to let fall.
Chihiro panicked when she saw the turnoff, she slowly drove up the road and the both of them watched up ahead with baited breath. Chihiro stopped just one turn short of reaching where the tunnel should be.
"I can't do this," she said aloud. She didn't notice Aneko's worried face.
"Chi, come on, we'll walk from here. You can do this!" 'You have to!' thought Aneko anxiously. If she didn't, all of this would be for nothing, and the portal was only open for today.
Aneko got out and helped the dazed Chihiro out. Aneko went and got the bags while Chihiro just stood by the car trying to find the will to move. Aneko took Chihiro's arm and lead her up the road. Chihiro stared at the ground, unwilling to look up.
"I see the statue!" said Aneko in relief that she also saw something else but she did not say so. Chihiro nodded and then fought with herself over whether or not to look up.
On the one hand, if she walked away, she might be spared the hurt but she knew she would never forgive herself. On the other hand if she looked up, and the tunnel was not there, well she wasn't sure what would happen. Aneko watched as Chihiro waged a private war with herself.
"Just look up Chi," she said in a pleading tone. Chihiro waited and she felt the wind brush past her towards the statue. Suddenly a thought occurred to her, if the wind was going that way then…Chihiro looked up. What she saw brought tears to her eyes. She ran towards it and put her hands on the rough plaster. It felt solid underneath her hand and she let her breath out, along with tears she had been holding for so long. There it was, after all this time, the tunnel stood before. It looked just the same as it did all those years ago, paint peeling here and there and just as creepy.
"Well are you coming or am I going by myself?" Chihiro laughed a little, a teary laugh, but a laugh nonetheless. She followed Aneko and took her first step into the tunnel, the tunnel into the Sprit World.
A/N: Please review and let me know what you thought!
