Welcome to Spirited Away. As I said in the summary, this is loosely based off the movie, Spirited Away. There will be some elements and I do use most of the setting from the movie, but it does not share the same exact storyline, just the basic plot of them being stuck in the spirit world and having to work in the bathhouse. Any scene I take from the movie will have their own twist to them, so that they don't follow the scene along exactly. The first chapter, I'll admit, does have many of these twisted scenes, but you will find a great many differences in them.

Also, you will NOT be seeing any of the original characters here. I intend to use yugioh characters entirely for this story. Some of them will be playing roles similar to the characters you see in the movie.

Chapter One: A Wrong Turn

"Jonouchi! You're going the wrong way! You were supposed to take a left!" Anzu yelled from the passenger seat. The short haired brunette had a map in her hands and their hotel directions on her lap.

"Oh relax, would ya? We came here on vacation to celebrate our graduation. So what if we're a little late to our hotel? It ain't going anywhere. Have a little fun," Jonouchi snapped back as he continued down the empty dirt road he had turned on. Three other teenagers sat in the backseat of the green car trying to ignore the bickering pair in the front.

The shortest of them all was a strange looking eighteen year old with golden bangs and black gravity defying hair etched in a deep amethyst color that matched his wide child-like eyes. He was sitting next to the window staring out at the random passing trees with his head leaned against the cool glass in boredom.

A white haired teen with gentle doe eyes sat in the other window seat, his attention appearing to be diverted by the book in his lap. Scrunched between the two smaller teens was a pointy haired brunette with a look of misery on his face. It was just his luck that he had lost the rock, paper, scissors bet with Anzu to get shotgun. She knew how to read the map better anyways, he thought with disappointment.

With a huff Anzu threw down the map and crossed her arms to look out the window. She blinked at the passing hills at the strange rock formations dotting the grassy knolls. "Hey . . . what are those? They're like little houses."

Everyone glanced out the windows to where Anzu was pointing, with the exception of Jou who was told off by Anzu to keep his eyes on the road. He muttered something under his breath that had the lone female of the group pulling his ear.

"They're stone temples," Ryou said quietly, causing Anzu to pause in confusion. "Some people believe spirits live inside them."

"Eh, who cares? It's not like spirits are real anyways," Jou chortled, before yelping as the road suddenly got rockier and rapidly headed down a steep incline. Anzu grabbed the dashboard, clamping her teeth shut to stop them from chattering from the bumpiness combined with the increased speed they were going. Yugi and Ryou had to hold onto their doors while Honda braced himself on the backs of the front seats.

A forest suddenly appeared around them, and a strange red and white building rose out before them with a large tunnel facing them. Jou was headed right towards the opening when Anzu noticed something he didn't. "BRAKE!"

Jou's foot automatically hits the brakes moments before their car slammed into the small gray statue the blonde hadn't seen earlier. Behind it, the huge building, built with Japanese facades, cast a dark shadow over them. The group let a shaky, collective sigh before blinking as Jou got of the car.

"Jonouchi? What are you . . . ?" Yugi followed his friend out of the car as he headed towards the strange building. Jou shielded his eyes from the glare of the sun, which was beginning to set on the horizon, and peered up at the building. Most of its red paint was peeling, and shingles were missing off the Japanese styled roof.

"Hmm. This place looks abandoned. Come on, let's check it out!"

Yugi shook his head as the rest of them joined the duo. "I don't think that's a good idea. What if this is private property? We could be trespassing!"

"Nah. We would've seen some signs way back there if it was," Jou said before striding into the tunnel. Honda shrugged before following his friend into the dark abyss with Ryou trailing meekly behind. Anzu crossed her arms and made an hmph sound. Yugi fidgeted nervously on the other side of the statue from her as he watched the others vanish into the darkness.

Leaves rustled as a strong breeze rushed past them. Anzu shivered at the sinister feeling the cool wind brought with it. Both she and Yugi glanced down at the eerie gray statue between them before shuddering. The ominous feeling just got a whole lot worst as they took in its grinning stone gaze. They could almost imagine it laughing at them. It's strange carved eyes seemed to gleam.

The wind blew again, this time more forcefully as the sun was hid behind a low bank of clouds. Yugi whimpered. He looked at Anzu, only to find her looking back at him with the same expression. They took another look at the creepy statue before running after their friends. The statue was laughing at them again.

A glimmer of light appeared in front of them, becoming brighter as they ran. They burst into the soft radiance and almost smacked right into their friends if Jou and Honda hadn't caught them by the shoulders. Yugi blinked as Jou let go of him before letting out a gasp at the light filtering through dusty windows made tinted glass. Multicolored light filtered down on them in the cavernous room.

Besides themselves, the only other things in the room were rows upon rows of dusty benches surrounding a small fountain glowing with soft bluish green light. A thin stream of water was trickling from the strange stone sea serpent that served as a water spout. There was another tunnel opening opposite of the one they had entered through and Jou headed towards it. The others followed close behind. They emerged to see blue skies and the sunlight.

"Huh, that's odd. I was expecting there to be more. What was that building anyways? With all those benches and that fountain," Jou remarked.

"It might have been part of a theme park. They were built everywhere in the late eighties before they all went bankrupt and shut down. This was probably going to be the entrance and they just abandoned it when their funds ran out," Ryou suggested.

"How do you know all that?" Honda snorted.

Ryou shrugged, "I read."

Jonouchi rapped his knuckles on the walls of the tunnel opening. "Yeah, but there's just one thing wrong. This place is made of wood, not plaster," he pointed out.

"Hey, look guys!" Anzu interrupted their debate on what the building and pointed her finger towards a low hill.

There was another statue similar to the one in front of their car perched on top of the grassy knoll and they headed towards it. On the other side, a line of identical statues led the way down a stone staircase to a tiny babbling brook with small stones sticking up out of water.

Across the brook was a cluster of Japanese styled buildings that looked fairly brand new. Jou sniffed before a grin lit up his face. "FOOD! I SMELL FOOD!" The blonde took off, hopping across the brook using the rocks as stepping stones with Honda on his heels.

Yugi shook his head as Ryou and Anzu let out a sigh. "Those two . . . always in a rush when there's food concerned," Anzu muttered in annoyance. Giving another weary sigh the three of them trailed after their friends only to find them drooling at a counter full of steaming food. There were tons of platters filled with every traditional Japanese dish they could think of.

Anzu pulled Jou away just as he was about to bite into a chicken leg while Ryou and Yugi dragged Honda back before he could touch any of the food.

"Hey! What's the big idea? I was gonna eat dat!"

Anzu whacked him on the head. "Jonouchi Katsuya! You do not just walk up to some random stall in the middle of nowhere and start chowing down! There isn't even anyone watching the stall!"

"I've got money to pay for it!" the blonde protested as the woman pulled on his ear.

"I don't care! The sun is about to set and we need to get back to the city before it gets too dark. Now let's g– Ryou? What are you doing?" Anzu paused in mid-step, one hand wrapped around Jou's wrist as she prepared to drag him back to the car. Ryou was walking off down the street, one head cocked to the side.

"There's water running somewhere. And that sound . . . a train?" Ryou murmured, not looking back as he wandered down the street.

Anzu glanced at Yugi, who shrugged, before sighing and pulling Jou with her as she followed their friend, Honda and Yugi at her heels. They caught up with Ryou as he stepped onto a wooden bridge, staring up at a large Japanese styled building.

"A bathhouse?" Yugi wondered aloud as he gazed up in confusion at it.

"Hey, come and look at this. . ." Anzu said. She had gone over to the railing and was now looking down. The others joined her to see a set of train tracks running horizontally beneath the bridge, at least a foot deep in water. There was a metallic whistling sound and they leaned over the side of the bridge to find a train passing beneath the bridge.

"Huh. There really was a train. You have good hearing, Ryou," Yugi complimented, making the doe eyed teen blush at the praise.

There was a soft sound of fabric swishing behind them and they turned to find a tall brunette dressed in black hakama pants with a deep sea blue uwangi tied with a white obi and traditional Japanese sandals. Anzu gasped, and ice blue eyes locked sharply on them. The sapphire eyes widened as he took them in before narrowing.

"Humans?!" he growled. "You are not supposed to be here! Go back to the river immediately!" He grabbed Honda's arm, who was closest to him, and shoved him towards the end of the bridge.

"Hey! What's the big idea?!" Jou snarled, jumping to the defense of his friend as he stumbled from the unexpected push. The blonde whirled back on the brunette just as the paper lamps adorning the bridge began to light themselves.

"Shit. It's too late. Yami, get down here!" the brunette demanded and a second later Yugi yelped as a figure landed lightly on the bridge railing beside him. Yugi stared into the vivid crimson eyes as they locked onto him. Golden bangs swept across the stranger's face, his long cherry tipped ebony spikes whipping in the wind as though they had a life of their own.

"Yami, take them to the river. I'll hold them off!" the blue eyed brunette commanded.

The crimson eyes flickered to the man, before he leapt off the railing and grabbed Yugi's hand. The strange teen took off at a run, dragging Yugi with him, making his friends scramble after them, protesting loudly. Honda was yelling something about kidnapping. Jou was screaming threats at the stranger, telling him to take his dirty paws off his friend before he introduced a fist to his face. Ryou kept muttering "Oh dear, oh dear," over and over in a half panicked mantra. Anzu was too busy trying to keep up to say much of anything.

Yugi found himself zipping past the restaurant stalls and strange ghostly apparitions. The scary thing was: they were getting clearer. He looked down at his own arm and almost screamed in panic when he saw it was going transparent. So were his friends. Lamp post and paper lanterns were lighting up everywhere he looked. If Yugi strained his ears, he could swear that he heard the ghosts speaking to each other.

They passed the stall where Jou and Honda had tried helping themselves and Yugi shivered at the sight of ghostly customers that were now feasting at its counters. Yugi almost tripped when the ground suddenly sloped beneath their feet, changing into a set of stone steps, but Yami held a firm grip on his hand and kept upright. The line of stone statues began again and Yugi knew that they had almost reached the river. That was when Yami skidded to a stop.

Anzu, Ryou, Jou, and Honda crashed headlong into Yugi, knocking him loose from Yami's grasp and tumbling forward into shallow water.

"What's the big idea?!" Jonouchi growled, detangling himself from the pile and grabbing the lapel of the stranger's red kimono. Yami did not answer. He merely stared out in the direction of the river.

"Um . . . Jou?" Ryou whispered in a frightened voice. Jou gave him a questioning look, and Ryou pointed.

They were standing on the banks of what had once been a shallow stream, easily crossed by stepping stones. Now they were standing on the edge of a vast lake, and a red Japanese styled building that resembled the theme park seemed to be shrinking away into the distance.

Yugi yelped as the water around him begin rising, and quickly scrambled out of the water into the safety of Ryou's arms. They held each other and backed away as the water began to overlap the shore, their friends also scooting back from the rising water. Yami had already retreated to the first stone statue and was watching the water with a distasteful look. The look soon turned into a scowl.

"Uh. Them again. It's never an easy night with them around. Always griping for more hot water."

"Huh?" Yugi frowned, before following his gaze and yelping in shock. A large ferry adorned with red lanterns and devoid of any people was fast approaching the banks. As it drew nearer, masks floated out of open doorways, casting shadows of people with elaborate hairstyles and closed paper fans and wearing what appeared to be kimonos or robes of some kind. As the boat nosed up against the shore, a plank lowered and the disembodied masks crossed over. As each passed over the wooden board, the masks suddenly gained a visible body. They glided single file towards the stone steps, silent and eerie.

"W-what are those?" Jou whimpered, hiding behind Anzu, who would have glared at him for being so cowardly if she hadn't been too afraid to take her eyes off the phenomenon. Yugi and Ryou were still clinging to each other for comfort. Honda simply stared opened mouthed at the scene.

"Kasuga-sama," he sneered, crossing his arms. Yugi doubted he really meant the "sama" part. It sounded like something he had difficulty spitting out. Something he didn't want to say it but was forced to. He glanced at the cowering humans and gave an irritated huff. "Just stay off to the side out of their path and you'll be fine."

He turned and started walking up the stone steps, on the opposite side of the stone statues of the masked spirits. Jou, despite his massive fear of ghosts, ran after him. "Hey wait! Where do you think you're going?!" he demanded. Yami ignored him, and he growled and lunged at him, intending to tackle him to the ground. Yami stopped in mid step as Jou passed clean through him. He crashed down onto the stone steps and whimpered as he realized for the first time the transparency of his body.

Behind the pair, the gang was having similar reactions as they too, noticed they had become see-through.

"W-what's going on?" Anzu whimpered, holding up her hands and still seeing the stone steps through them. "Why is this happening?"

Yami turned and gave her a bored stare. "You're fading, of course. You're in the spirit world now. Humans are not meant to exist here. When the sunset fades entirely, you will lose all physical form."

"Then you have to help us!" Yugi blurted out.

Yami snorted. "Oh yeah, sure. Help a human. That'll endear me to the bathhouse workers. It's not like they don't already hate the sight of me."

Yugi didn't understand what Yami was talking about. He only clutched Ryou tighter, though he did wonder how he was still able to touch his friend, and gave his strange look-alike a pleading look.

"Look, human," Yami snapped. "I'm in enough trouble already for being late to the bathhouse. I don't need the added trouble of being caught with a human."

"Please," Ryou whispered, staring sadly at Yami. He was barely visible now. Just a faint shimmering outline against the backdrop of the lantern light reflecting off the lake. He was holding onto Yugi for support now, barely able to stand. Yugi wasn't in any better condition. Yami glanced at them, and sighed. Seto will kill me, he thought to himself. He descended the steps and scooped Ryou into his arms.

"You, pointy hair, go fetch your other friend," he said, looking down at Yugi. Yami took off along the shore in a run, and Honda didn't bother arguing as he hurriedly picked up Yugi and ran after Yami, Anzu and Jou on his heels. They cut through a grassy knoll without encountering any spirits. Set into the hillside was a small Japanese traditional style house bordered by a garden that had waist high fencing. All sorts of exotic looking trees and bushes grew within.

Yami set Ryou down several yards away from the house and gave them a warning look. "Stay here and be quiet. And don't touch anything."

They watched as he ducked low, bare feet barely making a sound as he raced up the hillside. He carefully leapt over the fence, his kimono not even brushing the wooden fence, and landed in the dirt rather than the stone path. Stealthily, he crept over to a bush bearing strange red berries and collected a few, eyes on the house the entire time. He left the same way he came, and ushered them down the knoll, behind a clump of trees. He held out the handful of berries to them.

"Eat these, and then let's get out of here before we're noticed. And don't spit them back out. I'm NOT going back into that garden. Doing it once is risky enough."

The five friends gave doubtful looks at the berries, before nodding to each other and taking one each. Together, they lifted the berries to their mouths and as one; almost immediately spit them back out. Anzu, Honda, and Ryou managed to control their urge and swallow the berry, but Yami had to clamp his hands across both Yugi's and Jou's mouths to prevent them from losing them as they gagged from the bitter and sour taste. All at once, the trio felt a soft tingling in their bodies and looked down at their hands as they slowly lost their transparency and became solid again.

Ryou grabbed Yugi's hand reassuringly, and gave him a soft smile as the younger boy realized he was no longer see-through. He too swallowed the berry and the rest of them looked at Jou. Jou looked green in the face, but he managed to choke down the berry before ripping away from Yami's hand to dry-retch off to one side.

"God, that was fucking disgusting! Was that even supposed to be edible?"

Yami's eyes flashed. "Be careful what you say, human. You are in the spirit world now. Do not go around taking the word god in vain. You never know who you might offend."

Jou backed away slightly before opening his mouth to snap back an answer when Yami suddenly clamped both hands to his mouth and pressed him up against a tree, head tilted towards the leafy foliage above. Somewhere above them, there was the sound of some kind of bird screeching. Yugi caught a glimpse of a large bird with white plumage speckled with a dark color. He thought it looked like an eagle, but at that height, he couldn't be too sure. Eagles weren't that big, were they?

Yami cursed under his breath. What was he doing out? Unless . . . he glanced at the humans. With a final screech, the bird wheeled away and Yami removed his hands and glared at the blonde human. "I thought I told you humans not to touch anything?"

"We didn't!" Anzu protested. "Right guys?" She was met by a chorus of agreement.

"Well you must have touched something if he's out there searching." Yami pointed up in the direction the bird had flown. "Think, humans. Is there anything you might have touched since the sun set? Something your clothes or hair could have brushed against?"

Anzu frowned and shook her head. The others gave other questioning looks before they shrugged among themselves.

"Maybe it would help if you gave us a few suggestions . . . in case we're overlooking something?" Ryou suggested meekly. Yami sighed.

"Anything that would have spiritual aura. The bridge and the town streets, along with the stone steps by the river are fine. They were made by humans long before spirits claimed this place. These trees and any other plant on the grassy knoll are neutral too, as they're out of the bathhouse's control. Anything else falls under its jurisdiction."

Yugi raised his hand meekly. "Um, does that include the river? I-I fell in," he explained guiltily.

"Before or after sunset?"

" . . . After."

Yami threw up his hands in utter defeat. "Great. There's no way he doesn't know you're here now. He'll be on the lookout. I won't be able to sneak you into the bathhouse without getting caught." Yami was half-muttering to himself, looking irritated. "And I just snuck into that damn witch's garden for nothing. What a waste."

"Who knows we're here?" Anzu frowned.

"The owner of the bathhouse, of course," Yami stated impatiently, as though it was perfectly obvious.

"Okay . . . so why exactly do we need to sneak into a bathhouse?"

"Because, you idiots, the only way for a human to survive here is to make a contract with the landlord of the bathhouse. You're going to be stuck here for months, and those berries won't last you a week. You need protection, or else you'll start to fade again, or worst, you get eaten, and the only way you'll get that is by working in the bathhouse."

"Oh, I guess that makes sen- wait, did you say . . . months?" Honda demanded, paling.

"You took the wrong time to get stuck in the spirit world. It's the summer solstice, you won't be able to cross the river until the winter solstice," Yami explained slowly, as though he was talking to a four year old. "That's over five months away, if you didn't know."

"Well, how wuz we supposed to know dat!" Jou yelled, making Yami slap another hand over his mouth.

"Quiet, you idiot. Do you want to die a painful death?" He sighed. "Look, human. I've gone as I can to help. My absence must have been noticed by now. I can't lead you inside the bathhouse. You have to get there on your own. If you make it to the boiler room, I can help you the rest of the way."

"What happens if we don't make it to the boiler room?"

"Then you weren't worth my time to begin with," Yami said. "Come along. I will take you as far as the bridge. Then I must go. Perhaps you will get lucky and they bathhouse will be too busy with my arrival that they will not notice you."

He led the way down the grassy knoll, keeping an eye on the sky, and through the town. None of the spirits crowding the food stalls gave the humans a second glance. A few of them graced Yami with a glare before going back to ignoring him. Soon, the bridge was back in sight, as was the slow flow of bathhouse patrons crossing over it, being greeted by its staff all of whom were wearing traditional Japanese clothing. Yami pulled them over into a side alley before they could get within reaching distance of the bridge.

"Here is where we must part. It would not be good to be seen with me. Now listen closely. When you cross the bridge, don't look anywhere but straight ahead, and hold your breath. Normally, spirits can smell your mortal scent, but the berries I gave you should cover your smell for a while. If you don't breathe, they won't notice you're human. At the end of the bridge there is a garden. Go out the back gate. There will be a set of stairs. Go down the stairs and you will reach the boiler room at the bottom. Do you understand?"

The group nodded. "Good. Wait until I cross the bridge and enter the bathhouse. They'll be distracted by my presence and won't notice you too much, hopefully. I will be waiting in the boiler room for you. Don't disappoint me."

With a small sigh, he stepped away from the group and out into the crowd. The bathhouse patrons shot him dirty looks and created a wide berth around him. Yami ignored them, holding his head high, and walked across the bridge as though he actually belonged there.

Anyone have any idea who the owner of the bathhouse is? There was a major hint in the beginning. Also, keep in mind the spirits' reaction to Yami. This is a key part of this story, and one that doesn't exist in the movie. He is not like No-Face.

Also, about Seto's outfit. An uwangi is a type of jacket that appears slightly similar to a kimono, but is worn with hakama pants. Hakama is a long pleated pair of pants that resembles a skirt whenever you stand still. An obi is the wide cloth belt you see on kimonos and other traditional Japanese clothing. If anyone has seen the anime/manga Rouroni Kenshin, this is basically the outfit Kenshin is wearing. It is the type of outfit that is commonly worn by someone in a dojo (where swordsmanship is practiced) or trains in the martial arts.