I do not own any of these characters except for: "One-san", "Hiroshi", The Saiko family, and the places in this story are not real.

-this is my first entry so I will be looking forward to any comments, constructive criticisms, and suggestions

UNEXPECTED FRIENDSHIP

A slight breeze caused ripples among the Sunagawa, a manmade river replacing the Kohaku River, which had been buried under a massive neighborhood. This massive neighborhood was bordered with the oldest oak trees in the city, and with the biggest sakura tree, next to the path to the shrine. It was May, and it had been half a decade since the mysterious train station had been visited by little Chihiro, now 15. That adventure had been a distant memory for her, their names forgotten, but faces engraved in her mind. It was true that Chihiro had more of a picture memory, remembering everything she saw; and less of a listening memory.

It was Sunday, and it was time for Chihiro's weekly visit to the shrine. Since she was old enough, her parents had let her go there alone, trusting her to not get them worried. Chihiro got 100 yen for prayer from her froggy bank – after the incident when her parents had turned into pigs, pigs had become one of Chihiro's worst fears, so no more piggy bank. After a quick "See ya!" Chihiro was on her way to the shrine and doing what she usually did: kick a nearby pebble near the doorstep of her house and petting her kitty Mei. Not only did she do the usual things , but she also kept on seeing the usual sights: a cloudless sky, her neighbor bringing another one of his girlfriends into his home (a sight Chihiro hated to see), and a woman, looking 29, sitting against the sakura tree, looking up with worried eyes. Chihiro began to think it was strange that ever since she started her weekly routine she would always see that woman, wearing different clothes from time to time, but always wearing the same face. Of course, Chihiro never did anything about because it was none of her business. But now it was just getting bizarre, and Chihiro wanted to do something about it, but never had the courage to. Chihiro was on her way up to the shrine, ignoring the woman-but not trying to be mean-, and when she arrived at the shrine she gave her 100 yen in prayer to remember what she had forgotten, and one in particular, and this time, she had asked for the courage to talk to the woman by the sakura tree. She looked back and saw something see never had noticed before. Chihiro was never afraid of heights but she had never noticed how high and steep the hill under the shrine and under her feet was. It reminded her of something really risky she had went through, like tight-roping on a pipe 1000ft. above the ground and running for your life before the pipe breaks. She couldn't put her finger on it, but it was really familiar.

After a long walk down hill, she could see the woman still by the tree in the distance. Each step she took brought her closer to the woman and each step gave her a little more courage and a little less fear. At about 100 feet away from the woman, Chihiro practiced what she was going to say.

"Excuse me, but why are you here?" She thought that would be too mean.

"Ma'am, but you've been here for a long time, so what's the reason?" Chihiro thought that would be too rude.

"Excuse me, but whenever I go to the shrine you are always here." Chihiro didn't know how to finish that one.

Chihiro finally thought of something, something reasonable and also had a point. "This is it. Come one Chihiro, you can do this." She encouraged herself. "I hope I don't blow it." The feet that distanced the two grew shorter and shorter, until the feet turner into a foot.

"Excuse me ma'am. My name is Chihiro and um, I've gone to this shrine many times and, well, um, whenever I go you are always here and, um, it's getting me a little worried because, uh…, you always looked so sad. So, uh, can you please tell me why? I know I'm just a stranger to you, but………"

Thnx for reading and I hope you enjoyed it! - Please read the next chapter!