A brunette stood at the entrance of a tunnel, one surrounded by a large red wall. She had been coming here every summer for 6 years now, but not once had anything been different, except for the wearing of the area, now covered in moss and vines. The figure looked down the tunnel and sighed; nothing. She should have known, she thought, that nothing would be different this year as well.
Chihiro walked back to her car, getting ready to drive off, by herself of course, she was already 16. It had been 6 years since she had been able to pass through the tunnel, 6 years since she had last seen the Spirit World, the bathhouse, her friends, and most importantly of all... Haku.
Chihiro knew that next year would be her last try, after all, she was moving to America to help further her studies in becoming a veterinarian.
"Chihiro!"
The mentioned girl had to hold in another sigh, she turned around and faced her mother, "Yes?", came the usual polite reply.
"Why do you go there every year?", pressed the mother.
Chihiro turned and looked out the window, a wistful smile playing on her lips,
"Because", she paused, "I made a promise", she continued on.
The elder woman made a puzzled face.
"What promise?"
The whimsical smile morphed into a much more mischievous smile,
"Oh, nothing", she replied with a little giggle at the end.
She looked over herself in the mirror, inspecting her clothes, it had been 7 years and yet she still managed to find in stores the exact same pair of clothing she wore when she went to the Spirit World for the first time. Chihiro thought that it would be fitting, to wear what she wore there the first time for her last time as well.
She stepped out of her room and made her way to the door, she saw her dad watching football on the couch and making a huge mess of the popcorn in his hands with all his cheering. She saw her mother in the kitchen, probably preparing dinner. Chihiro walked out the door and into her car, she got it for her 16th birthday.
It was a long drive, about one and a half hours as usual, before she saw the familiar large building complex. She parked in front of that old statue that was still there. Striding out of her car, the girl walked towards the familiar, dark tunnel. The brunette couldn't help the hope that swelled in her chest at the closeness, hope that this time something would be different, but just like every other year, she was already resigned to the failure and disappointment that the hope would always bring.
Chihiro closed her eyes and touched the red wall, recalling the past memories associated with it, the joy. She opened her eyes and braced herself for the disappointment, then she walked through the tunnel.
Nothing happened... As expected.
But that didn't stop the hurt that followed each time this happened. The girl hung her head sullenly, looking at her feet, before whispering a quiet goodbye into the empty grounds.
She turned and walked out back through the tunnel and made way for her car. That is before she felt something latch on to her wrist. Her first instinct was to scream, and that she did.
"Calm down." Said a fairly familiar voice, but she couldn't quite place where it was from. Chihiro turned back to look at her would be assaulter and yell something about how could be she be calm when she was probably going to get mugged. The 17 year old stopped in tracks though, when she saw the person. She pointed a finger at him and wanted to yell at him for a completely different reason now, was that really him? How was he here? Why didn't he come earlier if he could? Why now?
"You..." was the only thing that actually left her mouth.
There stood a tall male, approximately 5 10", a good 3 inches taller than her, his black hair now reaching his shoulders. It still looked so soft, straight and silky that it almost made her jealous, almost. He still wore the same old traditional garb that he donned the last time she saw him, though it clung a little tighter this time around but still gave room to breath. His face was more defined now, with sharper angels and the remaining ghost of baby fat that once lingered on his face was completely gone now. She couldn't help the memories of better times with a younger boy past through her mind.
"Me." Haku replied looking Chihiro fiercely in the eyes. She couldn't take it anymore, she broke free from the hold and full on jumped on Haku. Haku seemed a little, if not a lot, startled by the action, clearly not expecting this kind of reaction. Meanwhile, Chihiro was gripping on to Haku as if he were a lifeline, as if he were going to disappear at any given moment.
"Why are you here? Why didn't you come sooner?" She finally asked the questions that were clogging up in her throat.
"I had some business to finish up in the Spirit World,", Chihiro gave him an angry glare, "Well maybe a lot of business."
"Well that's for sure." Came a grumpy call from the girl.
"And as for the first question, I promised didn't I?" And then everything just broke loose, there were tears- mostly from Chihiro, but surprisingly some from Haku, hugs- equally from both sides this time, it was just like a mini hurricane but in the forms of two people.
After the whole mess of that thing they had. It was decided that Haku would go home with Chihiro since he didn't have anywhere else to stay and that Chihiro didn't quite trust him to fit in with her world just yet.
When they arrived home they... well let's just say if the two of them were like a mini hurricane Chihiro and her parents were more of a major earthquake, something that shook the whole foundations of the Earth. There were questions and accusations flying around the room, shouts, tears of disappointment, though they all melted down to hoots from her father and scandalized looks from her mother. Meanwhile, Haku was awkwardly standing in the corner of the living room, nonsensically fidgeting with his fingers in a hope to distract himself.
In the end they all decided that it was best for Haku to go to America with Chihiro, but her parents especially stressed their sleeping arrangement and how they would not be allowed to sleep in the same room. At first Chihiro was confused because she never really thought of their sleeping arrangements before, though when she got it, her face flushed a crimson red, one that was only second to Haku's own blush.
Chihiro looked back at everything that had happened in the last few years and this moment now and couldn't help think that this, everything in front of her, was worth waiting for.