A/N: OK, so I know I should be working on my "Lord Of The Flies" story now, but I wanted to put this up. Basically, it's been eight long years since Chihiro left the spirit world. Yubaba retook Haku's name soon after she left. Now two sixteen-year-old girls stumble across the spirit world, and Haku feels he owes it to Chihiro to help them. Will romance bloom with either girl?

Disclaimer: I own nothing from Spirited Away.

"Hey, what's this?"

Issy and her best friend Mercedes had gone out for the night, and before the nightclubs opened, Issy had driven around the outskirts of the town, and the two girls had ended up in front of a strange tunnel.

"Shall we go in?" Issy's brown eyes sparkled with excitement. "It's not like anything I've ever seen."

Mercedes shivered. "I'm not sure. This is kind of scary. Have you noticed the creepy statues?"

"Come on, Merc." Issy coaxed. "If it's a total non-event, then we'll go back."

"OK." Mercedes said reluctantly. "I guess. But if something happens, it's your fault."

"What could happen?"

The two girls walked into the dark tunnel, and found themselves in what looked like an old amusement park. Issy led the way, Mercedes causiously following. Then something caught her attention. "Hey, what's that aroma?"

"Since when did you start talking like a descriptive piece of writing?" Issy giggled at her friend's language. Then she sniffed. "Though, there is something."

The girls found a few food counters, but no one was there. "What is this stuff, anyway?" Mercedes asked.

Issy shrugged. "Korean food?"

Mercedes giggled, then said "Nah. It's probably obscure Asian dishes. Korean food is much more recognizable."

"Shall we buy some?"

"No one is here."

"They'll be back."

"I don't want anything. Do you actually want anything?"

Issy thought about it. "No, not really. I thought I could get something for later, but then again, I think I'll save my money for the clubs."

The girls walked on. They came to a bridge, with a majestic building. It was red and gold, and traditionally Japanese. It was unmistakably a tradtional Japanese bathhouse.

"Oh wow, that is so cool." Mercedes breathed.

Issy nudged her friend. "Look at that hot boy!" Mercedes looked, and sure enough, a cute boy was standing on the bridge. He gave a little gasp, then stepped towards the girls, with an emotionless expression.

"It's getting dark. You two need to leave, quickly. Go back, now!"

"Why?" Issy demanded. "What's the rush?" She smiled flirtatiously at the boy.

The boy didn't smile. "I'm serious. You shouldn't be here."

"Come on, Issy, let's just go." Mercedes begged. "I'm sure there's something weird about this place."

Issy gave a sigh. "OK, but we have to come back sometime."

The boy gave her a little push. "You have to leave! It's serious."

As the girls obeyed and ran for it, the lanterns the stalls were lined with began to light up.

Mercedes shivered. "They're lighting up all by themselves." She kept running. Issy had stopped, staring around.

"Issy!" her friend yelled. "We have to go! Remember what that boy said?"

"Those shadows..." Issy murmured.

"Let it go!" Mercedes cried. "Run!" She grabbed Issy's hand and ran. But the shadows Issy was staring at were not normal. They looked like...people.

Suddenly, Mercedes heard splashing below her trainers, and a cold sensation fell over her feet. She stared down.

"The rocks have become water!" Issy screamed. Mercedes gasped, then she froze, staring at Issy.

"I-I...I can see through you!" she whispered. Issy gave another scream as the two girls clung to each other, wishing this was just one of their pretend games from when they were little. But at sixteen, the girls no longer played those games, and this was real.

Their terror was so great that they didn't see the boy from earlier coming towards them until he was less than a metre away.

Issy was the first to try and swallow her fear and speak to the boy. "Tell us what's happening!" she demanded, trying to sound fearless. Mercedes was not in a position to back up her friend. Already tears were trickling down her face. The boy gave a sigh. "I told you to leave. Now you're stuck here until the gate reopens. It could be one day or one month."

"What gate?" Issy asked. "Why are we fading? What is this place?"

The boy didn't answer her questions. He held out two berries. "You each should take one of these. If you don't, you'll fade to nothing."

"Why should we?" Issy challenged. "How do we know that those aren't poison?"

The boy gave her a serious look. "You could disappear, or try it."

Mercedes looked at the boy. Something told her that he was trying to help. She took one berry and ate it. She began to calm down and stop crying as she became solid again.

"Take it, Is." she managed to say through her lessening tears. Issy looked at her solid friend, and obeyed. She went back to normal, and then turned back to the boy. "Answer my questions, please."

Mercedes tilted her head to one side, staring at the boy. Finally, she asked "Are introductions necessary? Cause if you want to know, I'm Mercedes, and this is Issy." She was blurting out things, because of her fear.

Issy shoved her best friend. "This is hardly the time!"

"But I suppose it's fair." the boy said. He sighed, thinking about how he once was given his name, lost it, remembered it thanks to one girl...and lost it again. He felt that he owed it to that one girl to help others who did the same as her family had. "You can call me Haku." he told the girls. "Now we have to go. If you two want to survive here, we must leave. Come on."

He took Mercedes' hand, and she took Issy's, somehow knowing she was supposed to. Haku began to run faster than anyone could possibly run. The two girls ran after him, only able to because they were holding hands with each other and Haku.

When he finally stopped running, they were near the bridge that led to the bathouse. "How could you possibly run so fast?" Issy asked.

Haku again didn't answer her question. "We have to get across the bridge without anyone seeing you two. If they do, you'll be turned into an animal. Someone would've seen you sooner or later if I wasn't here, and you wouldn't still be human now."

Mercedes gasped. "You mean the thing about this is...magic? "

Issy noticed something in Haku's voice. "You sound like you're not human. Am I right?"

"You could say that, both of you." Haku answered. "Okay, both of you have to hold your breath as you cross the bridge. If either of you let it go, everyone will see both of you. Just stick close."

The girls went across. "Take a breath...hold it." Haku quietly reminded them as they stepped onto the bridge. Issy had taken singing lessons since she was ten and as a result could hold her breath for a long time. But Mercedes wasn't interested in learning any music, and was having trouble not breathing. The minute they stepped off the bridge, Mercedes let her breath out in total relief.

"Did we do okay?" she whispered. Haku didn't answer until they got to a secluded place of the garden outside the bathouse.

"You two both did better than I expected." he told them. "But it's only a matter of time before someone else finds out you're here."

"Why is there a problem with someone finding us?" Issy exclaimed. "I mean, if there's no problem with you?"

"Most of them hate humans." Haku explained.

"So what are you?" Mercedes asked shyly.

Haku sighed, but answered "Spirits."

Mercedes stayed unusually calm, asking "But why would spirits hate humans?"

"Because some humans are destructive, they cut down forests, angering forest spirits, and other things." Haku told the wide-eyed girls.

"Can't we just get out of here?" Issy asked.

Haku gave her an annoyed look. "The river is blocking the path, remember. I'll try to get you out of here as soon as possible, but meanwhile, you'll have to get a job here, otherwise Yubaba-she rules the bathouse-will turn you into something, most likely a pig or a lump of coal."

Mercedes trembled at the thought.

"What do we have to do?" Issy asked.

Haku put one hand on each of the girls' foreheads, showing them exactly what they had to do in their minds. It was quicker than explaining everything. When he moved away, the two girls had different expressions. Mercedes looked scared and was blushing. There was a smile hovering on Issy's lips, but she didn't let it go any further.

"So let me get this straight." she said. "We go-"

"Um," Mercedes interjected. "Haku, can I ask, has this happened before? You're acting like you've gone through this before."

"A human girl wandered in here years ago." Haku admitted. "I'd met her ages before, and her parents had been turned into pigs for eating the food at the stalls down there." Mercedes sent a look to Issy that said "Told you we shouldn't have gotten anything."

"I told her to get a job." Haku continued. "Kamaji couldn't give her a job, so he sent her to Yubaba, and she got a job here. I had to get her out of contract. Oh, and just in case it comes to that-" he got out a piece of paper and a pen and ripped it in half. He gave the pen to Mercedes first, and gave her one half of the paper. "Write your name down, and put it somewhere safe." he instructed.

My name is Mercedes, the girl wrote neatly, although she was puzzled by why she'd need her name written down. Once Issy got her paper and the pen, she did the same.

"Now I have to leave." Haku said to the girls. "I've got my job to attend to. But don't forget, I'm your friend. Just trust me on that, OK?" Then he left.

A/N: This may seem too much like the movie, but I promise there will be differences. Also, I promise Mercedes won't be so much like Chihiro, and neither girl will be Mary-Sueish.