'Haku wait up! Wait for me!' Chihiro called out to the black haired boy walking away from her. He twisted around and faced her, his jade green eyes sparkled and suddenly the ground deteriorated away and Chihiro fell into the dark and dank abyss that was beneath the bathhouse.
Chihiro bolted awake and shook her head quickly, her brown hair going in her face.
"Calm down…. It's been a year since I saw him; I won't see him again…." Chihiro said in a callous manner that further weakened the affinity she had for him.
"Chihiro wake up you need to get to school!" Her mother called from the kitchen. Chihiro sighed and got out of bed and put on her blue and white school sailor uniform, pulled her hair back into a ponytail with a small piece of rope her friends had made for her and she walked to the kitchen.
"Good morning Mother!" Chihiro said calmly.
"Cut the candor attitude!" Her mother replied in her usual drunk state.
"But I didn't!!" Chihiro said which made her receive a slap to her face, which caused her to fall to the ground.
"Get up and go to school!!" Her mother said before sitting down in a chair and passing out. Chihiro held back the tears that were coming and ran out of the house with her hand to her cheek, she continued to run until she reached the gate to the school.
"Chihiro….are you okay?" Her best friend Lin asked.
"Yeah I'm fine!!" Chihiro smiled lightly before walking into the school with her friend. They walked into the classroom and saw the teacher not there as usual.
"Chihiro stop spacing out!!" Lin said piqued.
"Oh sorry Lin…." Chihiro said calmly.
"You're to calm, I need to go now!" Lin said walking to her desk on the other side of the room; Chihiro's desk was all the way in the back next to the window. The teacher walked in then and called for attention.
"We have a new student; they just transferred here today so please give a warm welcome!" The teacher said. "Haku you can come in now…." A boy with black hair and clear jade green eyes walked into the classroom wearing the boy's uniform.
"Hello my name's Haku Nigihayami; it's a pleasure to meet all of you." He said calmly. Chihiro was spacing out and hadn't heard the teacher or Haku introduce himself, she was fighting a loosing battle against the tears that were in her eyes, she continued to look out the window and replay everything that had happened that morning. Her mother had never hit her, even when she was extremely drunk like that.
"Haku you can sit next to Chihiro in the back." The teacher said. People started whispering and a pair of girls started laughing.
"Poor guy, he has to sit next to that freak!!" One said loudly, causing Chihiro to slightly come out of her daze when she heard the word 'freak'. More tears appeared in her eyes and a few even escaped. Haku nodded at the teacher and glared at the girls, he walked over and sat in his seat. The teacher then began class, he started math and when ever he came across a question to ask the class he would always call on Chihiro who always got it right.
"Alright, who knows the answer to this question?" The teacher asked. "Chihiro what is it?" Chihiro stood up and looked at the board.
"I don't know sir…." She said. Everyone started laughing except for Haku and the teacher.
"Chihiro I am very disappointed." The teacher said.
"She's such a dunce!! She couldn't even solve that simple question!!" The one that had said she pitied Haku for sitting next to her. Chihiro looked at everyone and ran out of the classroom and from there out of the school and to the nearby forest that had the Kohaku River in it.
"Alright class settle down…." The teacher said once Chihiro had left. The bell rang to signal the end of the school day. "You all are dismissed…." He said while leaving the room.
"Hey Haku…." The girl that had made fun of Chihiro said while walking over to him and sitting on his desk. "You want to hang out today….?" She asked.
"No sorry…. I need to go find Chihiro!" He said standing up and leaving the school. He looked up and saw dark clouds gathering up ahead. He hurried until he was running towards the forest he had saw her disappear into, he heard the murmuring of the river and raced towards it. He saw Chihiro sitting on the river bank with her knees pulled up to her chest and her head on her knees, she was crying. "Chihiro…." Haku said when he sat down next to her; he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.
"Haku….!?" Chihiro said shocked. "When did you get here?"
"I've been sitting next to you since school started!!" He teased her.
"Oh….then you saw everyone…." She said as more tears appeared in her eyes.
"Yeah I did….but its okay because I still love you!" He smiled gently at her. Chihiro looked at him lovingly; she glanced at her wrist where her watch was.
"Oh I need to leave now! I have a curfew!!" Chihiro stood up frantically and started racing to her house; she was several minutes late for her curfew. She was thinking so hard she didn't realize Haku was following her. She raced into her house and shut the door behind her, oblivious to Haku who was peeking through the window; she walked into the kitchen where her mother was waiting very much drunk.
"Where have you been?! Your five minutes past your curfew!!" Her mother said while slapping Chihiro across her face hard enough to make her fall.
"Mama it was just five minutes!!!!" Chihiro said panicked as her mother grabber her shirt and lifted her up. "Mama stop it!!"
"You little girl!! YOUR CURFEW IS YOUR CURFEW, NO EXCEPTIONS!!" Her mother yelled as she threw Chihiro against the wall. Chihiro regretted giving her mother the workout video for her birthday a year before she started indulging in drugs and alcohol.
"Mama….that hurt…." Chihiro said while rubbing the back of her head. Her mother walked over to Chihiro with a belt in her hands.
"Naughty girls must be punished!!" Her mother said while raising the belt above her head.
"MAMA STOP IT!!" Chihiro yelled as her mother swung the belt down. Everything happened quickly, one minute Chihiro is cowering beneath her mother and the next she's outside in Haku's arms bridal style.
"Chihiro are you okay!!?" He asked her.
"I'm fine….but how did you…." She asked in a daze.
"Glad that I had track practices everyday now?" He asked her with a small smile on his face.
"Yeah…." She smiled at him.
"Chihiro you get back in here!!" Her mother yelled while walking outside.
"Mama…." Chihiro looked at her mother in fear, she hugged Haku tightly and refused to let go.
"Chihiro its okay I won't let her get you I promise to protect you!" Haku promised while hugging her tightly as well, he started running away from the house.
"Where are we going?" She asked him as he carried her.
"To my apartment…." He explained. Within minutes they arrived at the apartment building, he set her down and they walked hand in hand up the stairwell and outside a door with the number 13 on it. He opened the door for her and she stepped inside, he followed her in and shut and locked the door behind him.
"We're safe here?" She asked.
"Yeah I promise!!" He said while hugging her close.
"Haku I've missed you!!" She said while hugging him back.
"As did I….how long has your mother been hitting you?" Haku asked her while hugging her even tighter.
"The day after you left!" She said.
"Oh…. Why does she do that….?" He asked.
"I don't know….but she just started drinking and hurting me!" Chihiro said.
"Well it won't happen anymore I promise!!" Haku promised.
"I trust you…!" Chihiro said getting close to him, he leaned in and they kissed, a gentle and happy kiss.