IMPORTANT PLEASE READ: Ok so this is my first Spirited Away fanfiction. I just got a book on mythology and it had a whole but of Japanese myths in it. Now I'm not Japanese so I don't know how accurate this all is and you may have heard different variations of the same myth. Also I'd like to point out that I read Myuzaki said he believed Chihiro did not remember her adventure so I'm going with that. Disclaimer: This is the first and last time I am saying this! I do not own anything! Ok? Good. Now enjoy!

The classroom fell silent as I entered, every eye on me. I heard the teacher begin the standard introduction but I was too captivated by the faces in front of me to pay much attention. As I stared into every face I felt the familiar longing to run and hide under a rock. I could tell by the searching looks however that my uneasiness did not show. I only took notice to the small balding man when he pointed to my seat. I nodded and sat down. Almost immediately the girl in front of me turned and began petting my hand in a way that she must have though as seductive.

"So you're Kohaku huh?" She purred, bold enough to not use an honorific. I was use to her type, they were all the same. Big breasted, a group of lackeys following their every move incase they brake a precious pink nail, popular only because they had unlimited access to Daddy's money. I turned away from her and looked out the window to the storm clouds above.

"Now there's no need to be shy. If you're worried about getting lost I can show you around." I got the feeling that the school was not the only thing she would be willing to show me.

"I'm not shy. It just so happens that I'm already bored with your pitiful attempts to seduce me." I said quietly enough for only her to hear. She dropped my hand and turned away with an angry flip of her hair.

"Talk about first impressions, I love the school already." I thought bitterly only to remind myself that it was my senior year. After this I would be free. I continued to search the sky trying to calculate the chance of rain. If it rained it was possible my mood would brighten and I'd be able to think more clearly. More energy would be nice too. Ever since I was little I was happiest when it was bitter cold and raining. When everyone else would be shivering inside praying for some sun I would be outside splashing in puddles, full of seemingly endless energy. I watched the clouds for about fifteen minutes before they cleared away, revealing the bright sun. The joys of having a seat by the window.

The rest of the morning went by in a similar way. Introduction, seat, attacked by a girl, and then boredom. By the time lunch had arrived I was more than happy to be on my own for any length of time. I sat down at an empty table with my meal of uneatable food and tried to organize my thoughts. I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see a couple of seniors staring at me with trays. The one who had tapped me smiled. "You're welcome to eat with us but that's my seat." She pushed brown hair from her eyes as I stood and took the one beside her. "I'm Chihiro." She said lightly as the others began to sit around us. "I know the food here isn't fit for humans but I'd eat it. You're going to need strength if you're going to put up with Ami and her gang." She motioned to the girl from first period as she took a bite.

"I'm Kohaku." I smiled back as I slowly took a bite of my own food. To my surprise it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been.

"First year?" She asked, eyes glittering. "You look as lost as one."

"What?"

"Are you a first year? You know, the little kids who come in here thinking they're so powerful until we beat them down into a nice pulp."
I smiled to myself. She talked as if she hated the younger teens but here she was sitting with someone who could possibly be one.

"No, I'm a senior." I replied taking another bite.

"Good, so are we." She motioned to the talkative group. "I guess you can call us the outcasts. Don't take it the wrong way, we're liked but we don't really fit anywhere. Not smart enough to be a nerd, not pretty enough to be preps. We're just us. Although I must say that you can easily be a jock if you try out for a sport." She told me with an apologetic smile as if she had insulted me in some way by accident.

"If it's ok I'd like to sit with you guys. A person is hardly an outcast if they're with other outcasts."

Chihiro laughed softly. "Alright Philosopher-san, welcome to the group."

She introduced me to everyone else. They were a wayward bunch but cheerful and accepting. Another boy, whose name I could never remember, drew me a map of the school so I wouldn't have to keep asking for directions.

"So where'd you use to go to?" He asked, patting me roughly on the back so that I almost choked on a mouthful of milk.

"No where you'd know," I replied. "I'm a foster child. I've been pretty much everywhere so it's a hard question to answer."

He became somber after that. "I didn't mean to pry…" He muttered.

"It's a natural question to ask to a new student. I've been asked it before." I smiled grimly to myself. "Let's hope this is the last."

After that the days passed quicker than I could have imagined into weeks and then months. Before I knew it winter had arrived bringing frost and hail. Ami and her friends, I discovered there was one of them in all of my classes, would randomly try to bait me into dating them or some other foolishness. At least I had my table of friends at lunch and the food was no longer making my stomach cramp. Chihiro and I became close, spending time outside of school together at her house. I would never let myself admit it but I was to embarrassed to bring her to mine.

A snowball aimed expertly at my head brought me out of my musings and into reality. I barely dogged and aimed one at the streak of brown hair. It came up short, missing by a few inches.

"To bad Haku-kun," Naomi whispered in my ear as she ducked down behind our fort. "I think Ken'ichi was hit…" She bit her bottom lip in worry over her boyfriend.

"I'm sure if he did he's fine." I tried to comfort her. Naomi was small for her age with short black hair in a ponytail under her infamous red hat. "Why did you wear that? It makes you easier to see." I pulled it slowly off her head allowing her to snatch it back.

"Ken'ichi gave it to me!" She explained for the millionth time as she tossed another snowball. "Yes!" She squealed as it made contact to someone on the opposing team. "Hey, we're running low. Make some more will you?" She motioned to the depleting pill of snowballs before running off.

I stood up to grab some more snow when I noticed a shadow above me. I looked up to see Chihiro smiling at a fist full of the white stuff.

"Sorry Nii-san." She told me with fake sympathy. In two seconds she had my face in the snow and was sitting proudly on top of me.

"You're suppose to hit me not tackle me…" I spoke to the ground as I shrugged her off, unable to hide a smile.

"What's that? I can't hear you. Did you say something about rules? What are those?" Her brow wrinkled in thought.

Standing I flung a fistful of snow catching her in the arm. I had used all my strength, not realizing a stone was imbedded in the middle.

"Time out!" I yelled as she fell to the ground, gasping with the pain. "Sorry!" I told her picking her up supporting her knees and back, clutching Chihiro closely to me.

"It's ok Nii-san, no big deal. I don't think it's broken." She told me with a smile, clearly amused at my reaction.

I carried her up the stairs into her house and set her on a chair in the kitchen. Her mother, a nice woman in her late 40s, entered with the first aid kit.

"Ok who got hurt?" She sighed when she saw her daughter. "Naturally. So what happened this time Chihiro?"

"It was all my fault. There must have been a rock or something in my snowball." I replied hastily, not giving Chihiro a chance to answer. I bowed quickly, almost loosing my balance myself.

"It's ok Kohaku-kun, I know you wouldn't do it on purpose." Her mother answered with a chuckle. "Always so polite. It's nothing serious, just a bruise."

After wrapping the purpling arm we went back out. The snow was falling heavily now blocking our vision to some degree. The pathway to the backyard was covered in black ice making our journey even more perilous.

"I am sorry Chihiro-chan." I told her under my breath.

"Oh stop moping! It wasn't you're fault Nii-" She gave a small shriek as she slipped, grabbing onto me for support. If I had been expecting it I may have kept my balance instead of dunking us into the snow. I saw her blush as she noticed she was lying on my chest, her hands on either side of my head.
"Sorry…" She made to get up but I pulled her back, heart pounding. I didn't have any control over my body as I pulled her closer.

"N-Nii-san?" She asked, blush intensifying.

"Please stop calling me that." I told her, her hair in my face. It was nice smelling like some kind of flower.

"But why?"

"Because if I was you're older brother then what I'm about to do would be very wrong." I lifted her head, looking into brown poles filled with wonder and confusion.

"What are you-" I cut her off then, no longer able to resist.

I wasn't sure what made me want to kiss her, I hadn't even really noticed the feelings were there. It was awkward at first because I was the only one doing anything but once she got over the shock and kissed me back it fell into something natural that made my heart soar. When we finally pulled away she stared at me a bit.

"I didn't think you thought of me that way." She said breathless.

"I've thought of you that way since I met you." I closed my eyes waiting for her to slap me or whatever else was coming my way.

"Thank you…Kohaku." Was the only answer I got from her, my name slowly at the end .

My eyes flew open as all of my memories returned. I remembered my river, running away, Yubaba, Sen, my name, the deal to become human. Her calling me by my name had been the key to unlock it all just like it had been seven years ago.

"Sen?" I asked, seeing if it had any effect on her.

"Who?" Her face scrunched up with thought. My spell was still in place; her memories still locked away from her.

"No one Chihiro." I stood up and brushed myself, offering a hand to her. I pulled her up with forgotten strength almost falling once more as she crashed into me. "Sorry." I smiled at her trying to hold down my panic.

I was no longer human but a spirit. I could feel it in my very bones as the power came rushing back to me. I became acutely aware to all the water around me, making my head spin. We were walking back to the others when time seemed to stop. Everything was silent, no screams at a successful dodge, no snowplows or cars. Even the snowflakes had frozen in the air. Chihiro pressed her body against mine; shaking more with fright than the chill.

"What's going on?"

I shook my head but I knew exactly was happening. I had broken the deal and now Susano had come to drag me back to the spirit world.

After Chihiro had returned with her parents across the border to the human realm I returned to the bathhouse and announced to Yubaba I was leaving. Her anger surprised me and it was all I could do to protect myself from flying objects as I walked out. I knew what I wanted now that my river was dead and I was free. It took me five years to find Susano, god of the seas and the underworld, Yomi. I begged him to allow me to become human, stating that I had nothing left here. At first he had been reluctant to allow it but after some thought he agreed. There was a catch that he hadn't told me about until it was too late. In exchange for humanity I had to surrender all my memories of my world. That included who I was, my past, the places I'd seen, the people I had met, and even the deal. I had woken up in the orphanage with nothing but a name.

"You're lying." Chihiro shivered, hugging me even closer.

"Would you like your memories back?" I asked her, raising a hand above her frightened eyes and began muttering the spell. Before I could finish it though, the ground opened beneath her. It was all I could do to hold onto her hand as she screamed, seconds away from being lost in the darkness. I was pulling her up when the smell of decaying flesh hit my nose, bile uncontrollably rising in my throat. I heard her struggling for air as the putrid air choked her. I shouted as her hand slipped from mine and she was swallowed up, lost to me once more.

"Payment for my troubles." Came a voice that shook the ground.

"SUSANO!" I shouted but the hole had already disappeared. They were right. You never do forget your first kiss.