"Class, we have a new student," the entire room, minus one girl, looked up at Chihiro with judging eyes,"this is Ogino Chihiro."

Chihiro bowed politely,"Hello."

"Please find a seat."the teacher, a young woman with cropped red hair and big green eyes smiled at her.

Chihiro looked around and sat down in a seat next to the window in the back of the room. She looked at the girl next to her. There was something familiar about her. Her waste-length dark red, almost black, hair fell loosely in her pale face, and her eyes were hidden behind black sunglasses.

"Alright, class,"the teacher smiled,"as you know we are starting our study on ancient myths, such as spirits. To start off the semester all of you will be doing team reports on the myth of your choice." a round of moans and groans went up around the room. "I will partner you off, but you can chose the myth. It can be an old legend, some kind of spirit, or something else that I forgot to mention. And the teams are," she picked up a clip board on her desk, "Mina and Lauren, Serena and Darien, Kira and Link, Jason and Eric, Yui and Tori, Sakura and Li, (I'm watching Card Captor Sakura, so sue me!) Ryouga and Ranma, and Chihiro and Zero."

The girl next to Chihiro suddenly sat up,"Excuse me?!"

"Zero, please, I don't want to go through this again. You have to have a partner."

Zero gave an annoyed grunt,"Did you have to stick me with an A Crowd wanna be?"

"She's new, if anyone can show her the ropes of this town, miss Ryorei. Now please, don't start."

Zero muttered something inaudible under her breath,"Yes, Sensei Minlo." She went back to what she'd been working on.

Miss Minlo smiled,"Thank you, now, for the rest of class you will be partnered off and begin working on your reports. Move you desk together with your partners."

Chihiro gave a wary look towards Zero, who returned it with a cold stare. She blew a strand of hair out of her face,"Come on, might as well get this over with."

Chihiro got up and slid her desk up to Zero's,"So....what do you want to do for out report?"

Zero glared up at her,"What do you want to do?"

Chihiro thought about it for a moment, then Haku popped into her head,"What about river spirits?"

Zero grinned for a moment,"River spirits? Why do you say that?"

"Well, I grew up next to the Kohaku River, and, a few years ago, my shoe fell off while I was on a boat. When I tried to grab it I fell in. I didn't know how to swim, so I should have drowned, but, something carried me back to shore, with my shoe. I just think it may have been the sprit of the river that saved me."

Zero eyed her through the black suglasses,"The Kohaku River, I see. Didn't they fill it in a while ago?"

"Yeah, then my parents made me move here. I loved playing by the river, as long as I didn't fall in. I miss it so much, and my old friends."

Zero fingered something gold around her neck. Chihiro realized that it was half of a gold amulet shaped like a dragon's eyes. "Alright, river spirits it is."

"You....don't think I'm crazy?"Chihiro asked.

"Crazy?"Zero chuckled,"The rest of these freaks might think so, but what people beleive is their business, besides, someone who grows up on a river like the Zeroku has to beleive in spirits."

"The Zeroku?"

"I'm suprised you haven't heard of it. The Zeroku River runs on the edge of town, it's said to be the Hohaku's twin because the two begin and end at the same point. They start at a huge waterfall about fifty miles north of here, and they end at the Sea of Japan. Both rivers are exactly three hundred miles long and run exactly parallel to eachother the entire time."

"Would that mean the spirits are twins too?"Chihiro asked.

"Alot of people think that the river spirits are twins, Zeroku literally means 'Dark Half'."

Chihiro glanced down at the paper Zero had been idly drawing on. It was a sketch of a crystal clear waterfall that fell down into a river that very quickly split into two. "Is that the waterfall you told me about?"

Zero nodded,"Bright girl. You might not be such a pain after all."



"Mom, I'm home!"Chihiro slipped her shoes of and walked into the kitchen,"Mom!! Where is she?"

She walked into the living room, where she saw her mother asleep on the couch. There were boxes scattered around the room, waiting to be unpacked. Chihiro shrugged and decided to go out and explore. She walked back outside and pulled her shoes on,"Maybe I can find the Zeroku river."

She got on her bike and began to peddle through the town. After about half an hour she came to the edge of town, and began riding through the forest. It was dark, and a little creepy, but she kept going. It felt like she had been riding forever, but it felt good, being away from the city. She thought about everything that had happened in the last week, especially meeting Kohaku. Maybe, if she did ever get to the Zeroku River, she'd meet the river spirit there. He'd probably like to know that his brother is ok.

Suddenly she veered off to the left for no reason. She began to go faster, and several tree branches slapped her face. Suddenly she burst into a clearing and, though she tried to stop, ran right into a river. She fell to the bottom, unconscious. A claw suddenly reached into the water, and picked her up. It set her down on the river's edge. Chihiro's eyes fluttered open for a minute. For a fleeting moment she thought it was Kohaku staring down at her, but then she realized this dragon was different. Instead of silver scales this one had black and its mane was blood red, but the eyes, they were exactly like Kohaku's.

"Are you Zeroku?"Chihiro asked weakly. The dragon nodded. "Kohaku is alive."

The dragon's eyes went wide,"Kohaku....where is he?"

"Yubaba's bath house."Chihiro sighed,"He saved me from Yubaba."

A light grin spread across the dragon's face,"Thank you, Chihiro. I've been very worried about Kohaku. He gets into more trouble than I do. Now, go to sleep."



"Chihiro, Chihiro, wake up."

Chihiro's eyes fluttered open to see Zero sitting on her knees next to her,"Zero?"

"What are you doing out here?"Zero asked.

"I fell into the river,"Chihro shook her head,"Zeroku saved me."

Zero grinned,"What is it with you and falling in rivers? Well, since you're here, why don't we get to work on our report?"

Chihiro sat up,"You still believe me?"

"I saw Zeroku pull you out of the river, of course I beleive you."

"Thanks."

Zero rubbed her amulet again,"If you want to fit in around here, I suggest you don't mention this to anyone popular."

Chihiro thought about it,"But, shouldn't you be able to tell your friends anything?"

"That's the down side to being popular,"zero shrugged,"and that's why I keep to myself. There's no one in this city that's trust worthy."

Sudenly something snapped behind them. Zero jumped to her feet as a pure white centaur with pale skin, red hair that, if it were any longer, would have touched the ground, and huge angel wings at the point where his body changed from horse to human. Zero went wide eyed and bowed very low,"Great Forest Spirit."

The spirit looked down at Chihiro,"What is she doing here?"

"She fell in the river, and Zeroku savd her."Zero explained, straightening herself,"And, a few years ago she was saved by Kohaku aswell."

"That does not matter, Zero, humans are not allowed in this forest, you know that."the centaur stamped his foot,"The punishment for trespassing here...."

"is death, I know, I know."Zero finished,"Please, Kohaku and Zeroku saw something special in her, please, spare her."

Chihiro was mortified. She was standing in a clearing listenign to the only person in town who'd shown her any kindness since she arrived arguing with a centaur nearly three times as big as her, trying to save her life.

"We have no choice,"the spirit growled,"the forest is cursed, the moment she leaves she will die. Only spirits and guardians are allowed in this sacred place."

"Then make her a guardian, you have the power."Zero retorted,"She has magic in her, and, I'm guessing she has the sight because she certainly doesn't look very calm right now."

Chihiro looked around, they were completely surrounded by animals and spirits, all of which looked ready to pounce and kill the two girls,"Oh god."