Where Are You?

Chapter 1- I Need Help

Chihiro was cold. No, she had past cold long ago, she was freezing. She didn't know what time it was, and it didn't really matter. She was soaked to the bone, and shivering violently. It had been raining all night, and it would probably rain all day. She didn't know if she would last that long. She was only wearing her t-shirt and shorts. She hadn't planned for this to happen.

She sneezed. Now she really needed a tissue, as the matter had become messy. Of course, she didn't have one, so she used the back of her hand. She kept going. She had been running for a long time now. She wasn't sure how long, but she knew that she was exhausted. She needed to find somewhere warm, and quickly.

Well, now you'll be wondering how she got into this state, won't you? Well, it all started a few weeks ago. No, it went back further than that; it went back to around 6 years ago, when Chihiro was 9. It was when they first moved to their new house. When Chihiro went to the spirit world.

Of course, no-one would ever believe her, so she never told anyone about her adventure. As time went on, she began to doubt it herself. She thought it must have been her imagination, maybe, or a dream. After all, witches and dragons and magic didn't exist, right?

But somehow, she still couldn't stop thinking about it, about Lin, about No-Face… about Haku. She couldn't help but believe they were real. It was all just too real to be her imagination. It was just too real to be a dream.

So she started her new school. It wasn't so bad, to begin with. Everyone was friendly to her, but she didn't have any friends yet. Everybody knew her name, and it was kind of scary. She had complete strangers saying hello to her, like they were old friends, and she didn't even know their names.

Eventually, she got a friend. Just one, but that was all she needed. Miroki was her best friend at the new school. They told each other everything. Well, almost everything. Chihiro never told her about Haku, and she wasn't planning to anytime soon.

And then Miroki fell for a guy from their class, Keika. Chihiro admitted that he was cute, but he was so full of himself. Miroki would not stop talking about him, it was Keika this, and Keika that, it was driving Chihiro crazy.

But then she lost her best friend, all because of Keika. It turned out, Keika liked Chihiro. He worked up the courage to ask her out; unfortunately, he did it right in front of Miroki. And it all went downhill from there. Chihiro turned Keika down, because she didn't want her friend to hate her, and because she really didn't like him that much. But Miroki wouldn't forgive Chihiro, even though it wasn't her fault. Chihiro blamed Keika, even though he didn't know what he had done.

So Chihiro was left with no-one. Keika tried to ask her out a few more times, but he was always rejected. Chihiro saw him as the reason for her problems, and didn't want anything to do with him. She hated him.

Then Chihiro started high school. She didn't know anyone at this new school, but it didn't matter. She wouldn't have any friends anyway. So she was silent and kept to herself. She spent most of her time in the library, but she wasn't reading. She was drawing. She drew Haku, mostly, but sometimes she drew No-Face, sometimes Lin, sometimes Kamajii, sometimes Boh, sometimes the annoying little frog that stopped Haku on the bridge. The spirit world was the only place she had real friends.

One day, one of her teachers, Mr. Kaki, found her in the library. He was a nice guy, fairly young for a teacher. Chihiro had him for art, but they only ever drew fruit, so she didn't try very hard. She had tired to hide her drawings, but he easily took them from her.

"These are really good," he had told her. "Why don't I see drawings as good as these in art class?"

Chihiro didn't say anything. He started to flip through the pages.

"These are really good Chihiro, especially the ones of the dragons. Do you like dragons?"

Chihiro shook her head. Her teacher was confused.

"Then why do you draw them so much?"

"I only draw one dragon," she said quietly.

"Okay then. Does this dragon have a name?" She knew he wasn't really interested, he just wanted to get her to talk.

"His name is Haku. He's the spirit of the Kohaku River." She didn't know why she was telling him these things. She never told anyone these things.

"The Kohaku River? Wasn't that built over?"

"Well, yeah. That's why he couldn't stay. So he went to that bath house where he signed a contract with Yubaba-"

"Yubaba?"

"Yubaba's a witch. Anyway, he signed the contract, and she stole his name. That's how he became Haku…" She trailed off when she noticed him smiling, almost laughing. "Are you laughing at me?"

"No," he assured her. "I think it's great that you have such a big imagination."

"Typical," she said under her breath.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing," Chihiro said, grabbing her sketch book back. "I've got to go, bye." She rushed off. She didn't really want to talk to him, because he was an adult, he wouldn't understand.

Chihiro stopped going to the library to draw after that, afraid that Mr. Kaki would find her. She locked herself in the toilet at lunch, and stayed there until the bell went, drawing. Mr. Kaki noticed, though. It seemed as though he was going out of his way to help Chihiro. Well, he might have thought he was helping her, but he was just being annoying for her. One day, he kept her back after class.

"I haven't seen you anywhere at lunch."

"So?" Chihiro was being pretty rude to him.

"Chihiro, I'm beginning to get the feeling you avoiding me," he said, leaning back on his desk.

"I wouldn't need to avoid you if you would just stop bothering me," she replied, wanting to get away from him. He made her feel like a girl with an over-active imagination, and she didn't like that at all.

"Chihiro, is there something going on at home?"

"No," She replied. Teachers always jumped to that conclusion.

"What about at school?"

"Look," Chihiro said, getting annoyed. "I don't see how my life is any of your business. I can handle my own problems. And right now, your one of them." Chihiro walked out, leaving a shocked teacher behind.

But then there were problems at home. Chihiro's dad lost his job. They had to live on a budget, and Chihiro started to take pack lunches to school, rather than buy from the canteen. And then Chihiro's mother was diagnosed with leukaemia, cancer of the blood. There was very little chance of survival, and the treatment was very expensive. They couldn't afford to buy anything, not even food. They were barely surviving, and most nights, Chihiro went to bed hungry. She stopped trying at school. She couldn't concentrate anymore. She even stopped talking. The only thing she did was draw. She was always drawing.

Inside, she hoped that Haku would come and take her away, and she would forget about her life here, like it was all a dream. But she knew it was only a dream, and one that had little chance of coming true.

A few weeks after her mother was admitted into hospital, her father came home late, and he was drunk. He started saying the strangest things, and he started blaming Chihiro fro her mother's illness. He told her that he wanted her mother to have an abortion when he found out about her. Chihiro said nothing, but she just stood, staring at him, filling with anger. He told her to get out, but she didn't move. He grabbed a handful of her hair and started to drag her. She opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out. He tossed her out of the house, out into the pouring rain.

And that leads us back to the beginning, Chihiro cold and wet, with no place to go. She didn't think she would survive.

She tried to dash across the street, but she didn't see the car. Luckily, the car was able to stop before it hit her. The headlight were on, so she couldn't see the driver, but he could see her.

"Chihiro?" It was Mr. Kaki. "Chihiro, what are you doing out here?" He quickly ushered her into his car. She was dripping wet, and it was obvious she had been crying. He gave her his jacket, which she was able to cover herself with completely. Since her clothes were clinging to her skin, Mr. Kaki noticed how thin she was. She looked like a twig, one that could be broken in half with little effort.

Chihiro sneezed, and Mr. Kaki handed her his handkerchief. She sneezed again. And again. Mr. Kaki worried she was getting a cold. Even though it was a short ride back to his house, Chihiro fell asleep.

Mr. Kaki carried her inside and laid her on the couch. He went upstairs and ran a warm bath for her. She was still asleep when he came back down. He gently woke her and lead her to the bathroom. He then went to find some clothes for her, which was difficult, as he lived alone.

Inside the bathroom, Chihiro slowly peeled her wet clothes off, and slipped into the bath. She washed herself slowly, and then washed her hair. By the time she got out, her fingers were wrinkled. She dried herself with a towel, and then cam to the realization that she didn't have anything to put on. A knock at the bathroom door made her jump. She quickly wrapped a towel around herself before opening it.

Mr. Kaki stood there with some old clothes. He looked at the ground, not wanting Chihiro to get the wrong idea. She took the clothes, and then closed the door. She changed quickly. The pants he had given her had a pull rope around the waist, so she could adjust them so they wouldn't slip down, but they were still much too long. The T-shirt swamped her, but she was grateful to have it

When she went downstairs again, Mr. Kaki gave her a warm glass of milk and some biscuits, which she ate quickly. He then made her a bed from the fold-out bed in the couch, putting as many sheets and blankets on it as he could find.

As she climbed into the freshly made bed, she looked up at him and said the first thing she had said in almost two months.

"Thank you."