Forgotten


Author: NekoNemui

Rating: T (Teenage) with possible M scenes in the future.

AN/Disclaimer: If I owned Spirited Away, I would so make another movie, but I'll just write my own story based on what happens after. I hope you guys like the plot!

Be nice to me! This is my first real story.


"Will we meet again sometime?" She asked the boy in front of her hopefully.

"Sure we will." He replied, a small smile lifting his features.

"Promise?"

"Promise. Now go, and don't look back until you pass through the tunnel."

Their joined hands parted as Chihiro Ogino turned and jogged hesitantly back towards the abandoned train station. She knew that where she was headed, she was sure to find the tunnel that separated the Human World from the Spirit World. The brown haired girl was thinking of her parents, hoping that when she found them there that they would each no longer be swine as Yubaba had promised. But deep inside her heart she couldn't suppress the overwhelming feeling of sadness. Because at that moment she was running away from the boy she loved, the boy who saved her.

Haku.

Her steps faltered as his face appeared in her mind. She didn't want to go, but it was too late now.
Besides, Haku had promised they would meet again, so she continued forward, away from him. She became fully aware of every step she took, for each one was further from him, and closer to them- her parents. The thought caused a dreadful amount of guilt to bubble within her, so she tried not to think of his presence beyond the field she'd left behind. She continued jogging into what seemed, an uneven landscape.

Finally, the ten year old reached the station.

"Chihiro!"

Chihiro gasped at the sudden shout and looked up. Standing not twenty metres away were her mother and father.

"Where have you been?" Her mother called somewhat desperately. "Hurry up!"

"Mum! Dad!" Chihiro exclaimed, finding a new burst of adrenaline and running up to them. She was so relieved – They were back to normal. The bundle of nerves within her began to relax as her mother continued to speak.

"You shouldn't run off like that, honey."

"You could get in big trouble." Her father agreed, walking into the station alongside Chihiro's mother.

"..Are you guys sure you're alright?" Chihiro asked, just to be sure. For all she knew, Yubaba could be playing some kind of cruel joke on her.

"Let's go, I don't want to miss the movers." Her mother said pleadingly, completely ignoring her child.

Chihiro stood still - frozen in place. About a million thoughts passed through her mind at once- thoughts of these being her final few moments in the Spirit World. On instinct, she turned her head as if to gaze back the way she'd come, but then remembered Haku's request to not look back until she passed through the tunnel. She quickly stopped the movement and snapped her head back in the direction of the station. The hairband Zeniba had given her glittered in the sunlight as the breeze swayed her short brown ponytail.

"Chihiro! Come on." Her dad called from inside the tunnel.

The girl blinked. When had they gotten so far ahead of her? She ran to catch up with them, and latched herself onto her mother's arm, ignoring the way she felt like the action was immature.

"Chihiro, don't cling like that, you'll make me trip." Chihiro's mother said as the family walked through the dark passage.

Still, Chihiro clung. Now that she knew her parents were safe, Haku filled her mind, and the grip on her mother's arm was all she could do to keep herself from running back. The thought of never seeing him again made her weak in the knees, but she knew she had to keep walking. She had a responsibility, didn't she?

'Haku..' She thought, somehow hoping that even from this distance he could hear her final message to him. 'Please keep your promise, and don't make me wait for too long', She continued. Then she sucked in her breath and held it as courage poured into her delicate words. '..I think I might lo-'

Her thoughts were cut off as the three of them came out of the other end of the tunnel, the sudden light temporarily blinding them all. Chihiro blinked in confusion. Had she just been thinking something? She couldn't remember. But she did remember one thing; Moving towns. Her heart sank as she thought of her friends back home and how much she'd miss them.

She was pulled back to reality by the sound of her father's voice.

"What happened?!" He cried, gaping at the family's parked car. Chihiro glanced up to see that the car was now covered in vines and leaves; as if they'd been on the other side for far longer than a few hours.

But that's ridiculous. She thought. We only stopped by for a quick look. There was nothing there, anyway. Just an old station and some fields.

"Is this someone's idea of a joke?" Her mother wondered aloud to nobody in particular.

Chihiro turned back to gaze deep into the tunnel. She didn't know why, but she felt as if there was something she was forgetting. Something very important to her. It was far more powerful than the feeling one might get when walking to school and wondering if they'd forgotten a textbook or something; this was really bugging her. But the blackness only swallowed her vision.

"Let's go, Chihiro. To our new home." She heard her mother say from inside the car.

"You're not scared are you?" Her dad teased.

To Chihiro, their voices were drowned out as fain background noises. She eventually tore her eyes away from the looming tunnel and jogged to the car, the feeling still lingering in her soul.


Six Years Later:

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Chihiro Ogino groaned and rolled over in her bed, opening one eye groggily. She glared at the alarm clock on her dresser before smacking the top of it, putting it on 'snooze' mode, or in her mind, 'shut up' mode.

"7:05.." She muttered, the words muffled due to her face being half mushed in her pillow. The arm she'd used to hit the alarm fell lazily over the side of her bed. She felt her fingertips brush the wooden boards that covered the floor space in her room.

It was a school day, she knew that. Monday. Chihiro hated Mondays, more than anything- They were so boring and seemed to go on forever after a fun and relaxing weekend. Not that Chihiro had a fun and relaxing weekend, as she spent hers finishing a few assignments. But at least she got to sleep in, right?

"Chihiro?" Her mother popped her head around Chihiro's bedroom door. Without knocking.

The brown haired girl frowned. "Yeah?"

"Oh, good. You're awake. Now get up, you have school today."

Thanks for reminding me. Chihiro drawled sarcastically. She could hear her mother's footsteps echoing down the stairs of their double-story house, and pulled the covers back over her head. She could sleep for five more minutes..

"Chihiro!"

Brown eyes flew open in surprise at the sound of her mother's voice coming from downstairs. Could the woman see through walls or something?!

"I'm up!" She yelled, not moving in the slightest.

"Yeah, right. Get up now, or else I'll use your weekly pocket money to buy a facial set I've had my eye on for a while."

"You're mean!" She hollered back, feigning anger.

Chihiro had created a comfy spot in her bed, and didn't want to move out of it, but still she threw the puffy duck-feather sheet off her and stood up. The moment she did, she cursed and sat back down with a splitting headache.

"Stood up too fast." She grumbled, massaging her temples to ease the pain. She assumed this was God's way of telling her to not leave the bed; and she immediately felt the urge to comply. She tsked to herself as the headache slowly disappeared. Oh, how she wished.

Once it was gone, she once again got to her feet- a little slower this time. Her bare skin touched the wooden floorboards, which she found were very warm. Well, what did she expect in the summer? The air felt heavy and hot as Chihiro made her way to the bathroom across from her room. She pulled back the bathroom door and stepped on the tiles, which were cooler and somewhat soothing.

That's better. She sighed, resisting the temptation to sprawl across the tiles. Then she caught sight of herself in the mirror to her left. Her eyes widened in shock.

"GAH!" She squeaked, taking in her appearance.

Her hair needed some serious brushing- it was all teased up and bits were sticking out everywhere at impossible gravity-defying angles. She needed to wash her face as it looked like she hadn't slept in days and was a walking zombie. And on top of that, last night she had forgotten to remove her mascara, and now it had melted down her cheeks. (1)

"This is going to be fun." She mumbled, grabbing her hair brush from the counter.

Almost an hour later, Chihiro waddled back over to her own bedroom, feeling fresh and clean. She opened her closet and selected the Osaka Private High School uniform- Which for girls in summer, was a skirt and blouse with the school logo and colours on them. She also opened a cabinet to reveal her swimsuit, and pulled that out as might decide to go swimming after school, and she wanted to be prepared.

Chihiro peeled off her night-gown and dressed herself. As she was doing up the buttons on her blouse, she turned to face the full-length mirror on the back of her door.

She looked very smart, but also very pretty. Her loose brown hair came down to her lower back, and her skin was dewy-looking and smooth (thank her Asian genes) with a small tan from all the hot weather. Over the years, Chihiro noted how much baby-fat she'd lost, making her body and face appear longer and leaner. She gave her reflection a toothy grin; flashing small, pearly teeth.

"Chihiro!"

Chihiro jumped slightly at the sound of her mother's voice. Again.

"Yes?" She called back, wondering what on earth her mother wanted this time. Wasn't threatening her allowance enough already?

"How long do you plan on taking?! Do you want to have breakfast or not, because I made egg onigiri. You'll be late, darling. School starts in ten minutes, and it's a fifteen minute walk."

Chihiro's eyes flew to her alarm clock. It was now 8:20am. She squeaked and grabbed her already-packed bag and bolted down the stairs. Thank god I decided to pack it last night. She gave herself a mental thumbs-up.

"Chihiro-"

"Sorry mum, I have to go." She said, giving her mother a quick peck on the cheek.

She hurriedly snatched some of the onigiri her mother had prepared and flew out the front door, running down the street as fast as her legs would allow.


Haku was perched on top of the bath house roof in his human form. One of his legs dangled over the edge of the building, the other was tucked up beneath his chin, which was rested comfortably on his knee. He was watching the dying sun disappear behind the horizon and, as always, he was thinking of her.

It had been six years since Haku had seen Chihiro. He remembered the last time he saw her little face- It was when he'd told her to leave and not look back after she's passed her test against Yubaba. But, he also remembered his promise to her- that they'd see each other again.

Guilt washed over him, eating at his nerves. Those words, those final words he'd uttered to the girl had cast a spell on them both. Haku had left it up to Chihiro to decide whether or not she would stay with him, or return to her parents. All she had to do was disobey him, and look back. If she had, he would have immediately run to her and confessed his feelings. He would have asked her to stay with him forever. But she didn't. She'd believed in him too much, and didn't look back. He was convinced it had been easy for her to decide, and was somewhat heartbroken at the time. The moment she had passed through the tunnel, the spell had been locked. Sealed in place.

As a result, she permanently lost all memory of ever coming to the Spirit World…

A soft breeze blew through the spirit's dark hair. His brilliant green eyes remained fixated on something in the distance. Haku had thought this over many times before. It haunted him every day. But the one thing that really wrenched his heart, were the final words she'd reached out to him with. He closed his eyes as the memory washed over him.

"Haku.."

The sound of her voice had been like electricity through his body. Though the voice was crackly from distance, he knew it was her, and she was trying to tell him something. And he wouldn't miss it for the world. He'd spun on his heels and run with inhuman speed towards the abandoned train station, hoping to have reached her before she passed.

"Please keep your promise.."

Desperately, Haku had scrambled down the rocky hill. The station was only yards away. He'd gripped her words, held them tightly to his heart, using them as adrenaline.

"..And don't make me wait for too long. I think I might lo-"

He'd heard her cut off un-naturally, and he then knew deep in the depths of his soul that she was gone. He'd been at the tunnel's entrance when she'd been cut off, and the Spirit Gate had dropped a barrier between the two. He'd been sent flying backwards as his outstretched hand collided with it, but soon was back, scratching at it, and hitting it with wild magical forces. But the Spirit Gate rarely opened, he knew that, and it was a possibility that it may never open again…

"Master Haku! Master Haku!" He heard various voices from the bath house screeching his name. His false name. They dragged him back to reality. The reality he hated so, so much.

Haku pretended not to hear them, hoping they would eventually go away, but the chances of that actually happening were very slim. The voices continued on, but he drowned them out, only thinking of Chihiro. He knew that soon he had to find her. He wanted her to remember. He wanted her to finish her cut off sentence.

Slowly, he closed his eyes, lost in thought.

She was just.. different. Everything about her had reeled his attention in. For someone who hardly had a care in the world, this was a big deal. She was a big deal. Her determination and originality had been so overwhelming that he'd found himself wanting to be part of it. To be like her. Everything he was simply.. not.

"MASTER HAKU!" A feminine voice screeched, dragging him out of his thoughts. The voice was alarmingly much closer than before, so Haku found no time to be annoyed, only surprised.

The raven haired spirit frowned and opened his eyes, which narrowed as he sensed incoming footsteps to the rooftop. Just as the small trap-door behind him was flung open, Haku leapt from his perch and into the air. He felt gravity push him down at an alarming speed, but he felt no fear towards the feeling. His keen eyes watched as he passed numerous lit windows, coming to him in a conjoined blur. The bridge leading to the bath-house passed by in a second, and Haku estimated that he was only metres from the warm spring-waters below. He shut his eyes and reached for his inner spirit form- his dragon.

The transformation happened within an instant. Haku's eyes flew open. He could feel his round human pupils taking the form of snake-like slits, and could feel the change in his body. He no longer was the Spirit he was moments ago; now he was the Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi- Dragon spirit.
Haku positioned his head downwards as he plunged into the steamy water- the rest of his long body following almost soundlessly.

Haku was used to being beneath the surface of water, he was a river spirit, after all. This brought his thoughts back to Chihiro, for she had been the one to help him remember his true identity. The guilt returned. The regret.

She had been the one to save him from Yubaba's control. She had been the one to save his life from certain death. He owed her too much to have decided her fate so selfishly. She was worth more than that, and all he wanted was to make things right. To find her, and make her remember.

He twisted around in the dark waters so his chin was pointed up, and with a mighty flick of his powerful tail, was sent bursting through the water's surface and into the starry night sky.


I will be back with the second chapter soon. Sorry this first one wasn't that great- It's the introduction. :smiles nervously:
In the next chapter, much more interesting stuff happens.. I think.
Please follow my story, and review to tell me what you think so far!

(1) I was so tempted to finish the story right there and troll you all. :laughs evilly: After all, she forgot to remove her mascara. And the story's called 'Forgotten', so.. Yeah, okay, not funny, I know. Moving on~!