Disclaimer: Once is enough, right? Well, you _know_ I'm not the creator of Spirited Away, hence, I do not own it!
Original summary: Chihiro's lost her memories along with her parents in an accident. Living with her uncle, she goes by the name Sen and works for a secret organization that hunts spirits. Guess who's next on her hit list?
~*~*~ are dreams or flashbacks
-....- are mind-speaking
'...' are thoughts
Heavy breathing resounded through the dark forest. A frantic, yet majestic white wolf tore through the dense trees, only to stop and emit short, painful gasps. Craning its ears, and take a tentative sniff in the air, it growled. That cursed girl was still after him. A shuddering cough hacked in his body, causing spurts of blood to purge from his mouth. Not wanting to waste more time, he hurtled past the confining bushes and ignored the scratches gouging deep into his side.
A snarl rippled through the air. This was what he was reduced to! Running from a human! Whirling around with a jump, he planted his feet solidly onto the ground, crushing the autumn leaves. His fur bristled and his snarling grin revealed abnormally white, but sharp teeth and dripping blood.
The silent, running figure behind him skidded to a stop before the wolf's fiery eyes and the moonlight revealed a young girl of 16 dressed in dark clothing. Cold eyes displayed the emptiness and lost ideals within her. The wolf instinctively gave a shudder; her aura held an air of a tainted soul and burning hate.
Swinging the bow up with lightning speed, she drew back an arrow and stated in a dead voice, "Return to where you've come from, wolf-demon. There's no life for you here."
A sinister chuckle voiced deep in the wolf's throat. -Foolish spirit-hunter. Even if you manage to destroy me, there are more of us out there.- Thrusting off his feet, he snarled ferociously and leaped for her throat, dodging to the side when the arrow was loosed. The stinging pain embedded in his heart caused the wolf-spirit to cry a shuddering howl and he sank to the floor. In his thirst for human blood, he forgot that cursed dagger of hers.
Yellow eyes fluttered shut and he growled weakly. The last thing he saw was her hand wrenching the knife free from his heart, and he slowly drifted into darkness, his eyes set on the placid girl, the spirit-hunter. His body convulsed and after one shuddering breath, there was no movement. The wolf-spirit's body began to fade and gradually disappeared, leaving no trace of its existence except for a small, shiny bead.
The girl studied the transparent bead as she picked it up and dropped it into her pocket as she fished out a cell. Vehemently pressing some buttons, she waited impatiently and said, "That makes sixteen," and hung up. Rubbing her temples, she trudged a few steps, then groaned. It was long past midnight and she had forgotten to do her math homework. Muscles protesting every step, she hastily rushed home.
A meow greeted her when she slid the door open. A beautiful white cat with emerald eyes sniffed the air before pawing at her feet. She sighed. Walking to the kitchen, she washed her hands briefly, opened a can of cat food and dumped it into a bowl. The white cat gracefully leaped onto the counter and daintily began to eat. Plopping herself down on the chair, the girl took in the sight of scattered paper and opened books on top of the glass surface of the table. Jotting down the answers with ease, she slammed the books shut, startling the busy cat.
Crawling into her bed, she discarded her hair-tie and drifted into the comforting arms of sleep. A hand resting on the blankets revealed many of the transparent, yet milky white beads strung around the wrist, looping around it many times.
~*~*~
Opening her eyes, the young girl was puzzled to see the stretching waters and at the edge of the horizon, was a glowing town. Looking down, she saw a child with brown hair at the edge of some stairs descending into the water, staring with disbelief at the sight as well.
"This can't be!" The small girl squeaked out. Leaning on one leg, the other girl just watched.
The kid's face denied what her eyes showed her and she shut them, banging her fists on her head, shaking it side to side at the same time. "I'm dreaming, dreaming! Wake up! Wake up!" All the while, she had dropped to her feet, rocking back and forth, still muttering, "wake... up..." The rocking continued and the girl's forlorn voice whimpered, "It's just a dream, a dream. Go away... disappear. Disappear..."
The girl's brows raised. The kid's shoe was fading away, just like the wolf-spirit had done.
The child shrieked; she seemed to have noticed the same thing. Looking at her hands, she clearly saw through them and yelped, "I'm see through!" Rubbing one hand with the other and alternating in between, she began rocking again, whimpering, "It's a dream, it's got to be."
~*~*~
BRIIIIIIIIIIIIING!
*Slam*
Rubbing her eyes, the brown-haired girl wearily opened them and blinked. A shattered alarm clock lay broken against the wall and she winced. "Kami..."
changing out of her clothes from yesterday, she donned the white and gray top and gray pleated skirt as the usual Japanese school uniform. Deftly tying back her hair with a glittery pink hair-tie. Normally, she hated pink but she had this for as long as she could remember. Ever since the accident, she was unable to recall anything before that and this tacky hair-tie served as the only link to her past and a odd source of comfort. A figure blocked her doorway, and she looked up with unreadable eyes.
"Oji-san." Giving him a curt nod, she grabbed her bag and tried to move past him.
A hand latched out onto her arm, but he didn't say anything. Giving a cold stare at the slightly muscular, overweight man in his mid-thirties, she said, "I have to go now or I'm going to be late."
"I'm gonna need the car today." His eyes regarded her. "Do you need a ride?"
Chills trickled down her spine from fear. "I'll walk."
The patchy, black-haired man gave a nod, caressing her arm in a way that gave her the creeps. She yanked herself away. Running to the car, pressed her head against the cool glass as she waited in the car as her uncle. The ride to her high-school was silent, but it always was. Pulling to a stop in the parking lot, the girl proceeded to get out but was stopped by a bruising grip.
"Stay out of trouble and from those damn boys." His grip tightened.
Fear screamed within her lips but she only muttered, "Hai." and climbed out of the car.
Her hands trembled as she tried to collect her wits and she smoothed out her face, concealing her hatred for that man. Adjusting her bag, she stepped out and slammed the door shut, coolly walking her way to class. Her hand flexed to smooth out the kinks and tension caused by her uncle's painful grip.
Taking her usual seat next to the windows, she barely acknowledged the greetings from various students, giving only a slight nod to show that she heard them. Her eyes strayed to the window now and then and she watched the serene view, taking in the fluttering leaves dancing in the breeze and the waving flowers among the shiny grass.
"Goodness, he's so cute, it's no wonder he's a math genius!"
Another giggled. "I should ask him for a private tutoring session."
The young girl rolled her eyes at the chattering girls. From the sounds of it, they've found a new, _handsome_, victim to prey their hormones on.
"Nigihayami-kun is so kind," someone sighed. "Unlike our sensei, he actually makes sense!"
A student next to the girl exclaimed, "Hey Sen, where were you yesterday? You totally missed the kawaii guy that just came yesterday."
Stifling a giggle, Sen rolled her eyes. It was only for so long that she could keep her distance before Chinatsu bust through them anyway. "I was... sick."
Waving her excuse off, Chinatsu tugged one of her braids and straightened her blouse. "Whatever, what did your gang drag you into this time?"
Sen's mouth twitched. "For the millionth time Chinatsu, I'm not in a gang. How else am I able to keep my grades up?"
Chinatsu eyed Sen and said wryly, "Explain the cut on your arm, then; I don't think that was caused by mere clumsiness."
Following her gaze, Sen's eyes landed on the scratch leading from her covered shoulder to her revealed arm. "Kuso...." she cursed under her breath. Seeing that Chinatsu was still waiting for an answer, she opened her mouth and closed it, uncertain of what to say.
Luckily, the bell rang, signalling woe for tardy students; they turned their directions to the teacher.
"Pst!"
From the corner of her mouth, she muttered, "What, Chinatsu?"
She answered by subtly pointing from under the desk to the guy sitting a couple seats away. Equally soft, she said, "That's him."
Resisting the urge to bang her head on the desk, she hissed back, "_That's_ what you wanted me to see? Some pretty boy with messy brown hair? Put your attention to your work." She absent-mindedly fingered her milky-white beads. Their full length was like a necklace, but she had wrapped them around her hand like a bracelet.
"Pass your assignments to the front and once it's collected, proceed in two lines to the rehearsal room."
Sen blinked. Fuck. She forgot about that. Digging through her bag, she fished out some paper and smoothed them out, passing them to the girl in front of her.
Chinatsu grinned knowingly. "You forgot it was Wednesday, didn't you?"
Rubbing her temples, Sen put on her well-known emotionless mask and muttered, "I was... sick."
Unperturbed, she shrugged. "You should have been sick on Wednesday, then. Just wing it; Sensei Daoimi won't notice."
"That's just it. She _will_ notice. That damn woman notices everything," she said with a grimace.
Out of their seats, they made their way down the hall along with the other soft tittering students and Sen kept an eye on the teacher up front. Trudging inside the vast room, various students lingered to the bleachers at the side, some began to stretch and others asked frantic questions to each other.
Sen drifted into silence feeling cross but hiding it behind her mask of aloofness. Why did the high-schoolers have to do a stupid play? One that involved dancing no less? Well, at least it wasn't a ballet.
"Places, people! We don't have all day."
She glared at the teacher's perkiness. "It is too damn _early_ in the morning for this," she muttered to Chinatsu. She rubbed her forehead and snapped, "Why do I have to be one of the main characters, anyway? I wanted one of those minor scenes where you just blend in the background and do nothing."
Before Chinatsu could give a reasonable answer, Sen was snatched away by her peers to do one of their scenes. Tucking all her emotions inside so that only placid awareness showed on her face, Sen concentrated on the music and beats, careful to be on cue.
"No, no, no! Sen! Put more emotion to it!" Walking briskly up to the girl, she placed her arms on Sen's shoulders and moved them back and forth. "Like water, okay? Flow with the music and relax." Exasperated with Sen's unresponding attitude, she pointed to the crowd. "Nigihayami. You know your parts? Practice the scene with Sen." The teacher briskly walked away.
Sen's brown eyes met with green ones. It was that messy haired kid everyone was so in love with. His questioning face regarded her uncertainly and whispered, "Chihiro...?"
She blinked and he gave her a small grin. "Sorry, thought you were someone I knew."
"Let's just get this over with." Turning away from him, she got into her position and took a breath, calming her nerves. For some reason, she felt as if she knew Nigihayami. Lifting one arm over her head, she waited until he started counting the beats. She moved into a different dance step in each count as Nigihayami corrected her once in a while. With each passing second, Sen became angrier. Why did she have to play the Sakura? Her character was nothing but a ditz worried over boys and one of those boys had to be the one Nigihayami played.
Tossing her head on cue, Sen thought vehemently, 'I absolutely _hate_ love dramas.' Twirling to a stop, she sighed. It didn't matter what she wanted anyway. She had been taught to obey and never question authority, and now was one of those times. She was a servant, a bitch, an ungrateful ass, an idiot, and nothing more.
A/N: Well, how's that for starters? I'd like some intakes on what you guys think so review please! 10 reviews would be nice. ^_~
Original summary: Chihiro's lost her memories along with her parents in an accident. Living with her uncle, she goes by the name Sen and works for a secret organization that hunts spirits. Guess who's next on her hit list?
~*~*~ are dreams or flashbacks
-....- are mind-speaking
'...' are thoughts
Heavy breathing resounded through the dark forest. A frantic, yet majestic white wolf tore through the dense trees, only to stop and emit short, painful gasps. Craning its ears, and take a tentative sniff in the air, it growled. That cursed girl was still after him. A shuddering cough hacked in his body, causing spurts of blood to purge from his mouth. Not wanting to waste more time, he hurtled past the confining bushes and ignored the scratches gouging deep into his side.
A snarl rippled through the air. This was what he was reduced to! Running from a human! Whirling around with a jump, he planted his feet solidly onto the ground, crushing the autumn leaves. His fur bristled and his snarling grin revealed abnormally white, but sharp teeth and dripping blood.
The silent, running figure behind him skidded to a stop before the wolf's fiery eyes and the moonlight revealed a young girl of 16 dressed in dark clothing. Cold eyes displayed the emptiness and lost ideals within her. The wolf instinctively gave a shudder; her aura held an air of a tainted soul and burning hate.
Swinging the bow up with lightning speed, she drew back an arrow and stated in a dead voice, "Return to where you've come from, wolf-demon. There's no life for you here."
A sinister chuckle voiced deep in the wolf's throat. -Foolish spirit-hunter. Even if you manage to destroy me, there are more of us out there.- Thrusting off his feet, he snarled ferociously and leaped for her throat, dodging to the side when the arrow was loosed. The stinging pain embedded in his heart caused the wolf-spirit to cry a shuddering howl and he sank to the floor. In his thirst for human blood, he forgot that cursed dagger of hers.
Yellow eyes fluttered shut and he growled weakly. The last thing he saw was her hand wrenching the knife free from his heart, and he slowly drifted into darkness, his eyes set on the placid girl, the spirit-hunter. His body convulsed and after one shuddering breath, there was no movement. The wolf-spirit's body began to fade and gradually disappeared, leaving no trace of its existence except for a small, shiny bead.
The girl studied the transparent bead as she picked it up and dropped it into her pocket as she fished out a cell. Vehemently pressing some buttons, she waited impatiently and said, "That makes sixteen," and hung up. Rubbing her temples, she trudged a few steps, then groaned. It was long past midnight and she had forgotten to do her math homework. Muscles protesting every step, she hastily rushed home.
A meow greeted her when she slid the door open. A beautiful white cat with emerald eyes sniffed the air before pawing at her feet. She sighed. Walking to the kitchen, she washed her hands briefly, opened a can of cat food and dumped it into a bowl. The white cat gracefully leaped onto the counter and daintily began to eat. Plopping herself down on the chair, the girl took in the sight of scattered paper and opened books on top of the glass surface of the table. Jotting down the answers with ease, she slammed the books shut, startling the busy cat.
Crawling into her bed, she discarded her hair-tie and drifted into the comforting arms of sleep. A hand resting on the blankets revealed many of the transparent, yet milky white beads strung around the wrist, looping around it many times.
~*~*~
Opening her eyes, the young girl was puzzled to see the stretching waters and at the edge of the horizon, was a glowing town. Looking down, she saw a child with brown hair at the edge of some stairs descending into the water, staring with disbelief at the sight as well.
"This can't be!" The small girl squeaked out. Leaning on one leg, the other girl just watched.
The kid's face denied what her eyes showed her and she shut them, banging her fists on her head, shaking it side to side at the same time. "I'm dreaming, dreaming! Wake up! Wake up!" All the while, she had dropped to her feet, rocking back and forth, still muttering, "wake... up..." The rocking continued and the girl's forlorn voice whimpered, "It's just a dream, a dream. Go away... disappear. Disappear..."
The girl's brows raised. The kid's shoe was fading away, just like the wolf-spirit had done.
The child shrieked; she seemed to have noticed the same thing. Looking at her hands, she clearly saw through them and yelped, "I'm see through!" Rubbing one hand with the other and alternating in between, she began rocking again, whimpering, "It's a dream, it's got to be."
~*~*~
BRIIIIIIIIIIIIING!
*Slam*
Rubbing her eyes, the brown-haired girl wearily opened them and blinked. A shattered alarm clock lay broken against the wall and she winced. "Kami..."
changing out of her clothes from yesterday, she donned the white and gray top and gray pleated skirt as the usual Japanese school uniform. Deftly tying back her hair with a glittery pink hair-tie. Normally, she hated pink but she had this for as long as she could remember. Ever since the accident, she was unable to recall anything before that and this tacky hair-tie served as the only link to her past and a odd source of comfort. A figure blocked her doorway, and she looked up with unreadable eyes.
"Oji-san." Giving him a curt nod, she grabbed her bag and tried to move past him.
A hand latched out onto her arm, but he didn't say anything. Giving a cold stare at the slightly muscular, overweight man in his mid-thirties, she said, "I have to go now or I'm going to be late."
"I'm gonna need the car today." His eyes regarded her. "Do you need a ride?"
Chills trickled down her spine from fear. "I'll walk."
The patchy, black-haired man gave a nod, caressing her arm in a way that gave her the creeps. She yanked herself away. Running to the car, pressed her head against the cool glass as she waited in the car as her uncle. The ride to her high-school was silent, but it always was. Pulling to a stop in the parking lot, the girl proceeded to get out but was stopped by a bruising grip.
"Stay out of trouble and from those damn boys." His grip tightened.
Fear screamed within her lips but she only muttered, "Hai." and climbed out of the car.
Her hands trembled as she tried to collect her wits and she smoothed out her face, concealing her hatred for that man. Adjusting her bag, she stepped out and slammed the door shut, coolly walking her way to class. Her hand flexed to smooth out the kinks and tension caused by her uncle's painful grip.
Taking her usual seat next to the windows, she barely acknowledged the greetings from various students, giving only a slight nod to show that she heard them. Her eyes strayed to the window now and then and she watched the serene view, taking in the fluttering leaves dancing in the breeze and the waving flowers among the shiny grass.
"Goodness, he's so cute, it's no wonder he's a math genius!"
Another giggled. "I should ask him for a private tutoring session."
The young girl rolled her eyes at the chattering girls. From the sounds of it, they've found a new, _handsome_, victim to prey their hormones on.
"Nigihayami-kun is so kind," someone sighed. "Unlike our sensei, he actually makes sense!"
A student next to the girl exclaimed, "Hey Sen, where were you yesterday? You totally missed the kawaii guy that just came yesterday."
Stifling a giggle, Sen rolled her eyes. It was only for so long that she could keep her distance before Chinatsu bust through them anyway. "I was... sick."
Waving her excuse off, Chinatsu tugged one of her braids and straightened her blouse. "Whatever, what did your gang drag you into this time?"
Sen's mouth twitched. "For the millionth time Chinatsu, I'm not in a gang. How else am I able to keep my grades up?"
Chinatsu eyed Sen and said wryly, "Explain the cut on your arm, then; I don't think that was caused by mere clumsiness."
Following her gaze, Sen's eyes landed on the scratch leading from her covered shoulder to her revealed arm. "Kuso...." she cursed under her breath. Seeing that Chinatsu was still waiting for an answer, she opened her mouth and closed it, uncertain of what to say.
Luckily, the bell rang, signalling woe for tardy students; they turned their directions to the teacher.
"Pst!"
From the corner of her mouth, she muttered, "What, Chinatsu?"
She answered by subtly pointing from under the desk to the guy sitting a couple seats away. Equally soft, she said, "That's him."
Resisting the urge to bang her head on the desk, she hissed back, "_That's_ what you wanted me to see? Some pretty boy with messy brown hair? Put your attention to your work." She absent-mindedly fingered her milky-white beads. Their full length was like a necklace, but she had wrapped them around her hand like a bracelet.
"Pass your assignments to the front and once it's collected, proceed in two lines to the rehearsal room."
Sen blinked. Fuck. She forgot about that. Digging through her bag, she fished out some paper and smoothed them out, passing them to the girl in front of her.
Chinatsu grinned knowingly. "You forgot it was Wednesday, didn't you?"
Rubbing her temples, Sen put on her well-known emotionless mask and muttered, "I was... sick."
Unperturbed, she shrugged. "You should have been sick on Wednesday, then. Just wing it; Sensei Daoimi won't notice."
"That's just it. She _will_ notice. That damn woman notices everything," she said with a grimace.
Out of their seats, they made their way down the hall along with the other soft tittering students and Sen kept an eye on the teacher up front. Trudging inside the vast room, various students lingered to the bleachers at the side, some began to stretch and others asked frantic questions to each other.
Sen drifted into silence feeling cross but hiding it behind her mask of aloofness. Why did the high-schoolers have to do a stupid play? One that involved dancing no less? Well, at least it wasn't a ballet.
"Places, people! We don't have all day."
She glared at the teacher's perkiness. "It is too damn _early_ in the morning for this," she muttered to Chinatsu. She rubbed her forehead and snapped, "Why do I have to be one of the main characters, anyway? I wanted one of those minor scenes where you just blend in the background and do nothing."
Before Chinatsu could give a reasonable answer, Sen was snatched away by her peers to do one of their scenes. Tucking all her emotions inside so that only placid awareness showed on her face, Sen concentrated on the music and beats, careful to be on cue.
"No, no, no! Sen! Put more emotion to it!" Walking briskly up to the girl, she placed her arms on Sen's shoulders and moved them back and forth. "Like water, okay? Flow with the music and relax." Exasperated with Sen's unresponding attitude, she pointed to the crowd. "Nigihayami. You know your parts? Practice the scene with Sen." The teacher briskly walked away.
Sen's brown eyes met with green ones. It was that messy haired kid everyone was so in love with. His questioning face regarded her uncertainly and whispered, "Chihiro...?"
She blinked and he gave her a small grin. "Sorry, thought you were someone I knew."
"Let's just get this over with." Turning away from him, she got into her position and took a breath, calming her nerves. For some reason, she felt as if she knew Nigihayami. Lifting one arm over her head, she waited until he started counting the beats. She moved into a different dance step in each count as Nigihayami corrected her once in a while. With each passing second, Sen became angrier. Why did she have to play the Sakura? Her character was nothing but a ditz worried over boys and one of those boys had to be the one Nigihayami played.
Tossing her head on cue, Sen thought vehemently, 'I absolutely _hate_ love dramas.' Twirling to a stop, she sighed. It didn't matter what she wanted anyway. She had been taught to obey and never question authority, and now was one of those times. She was a servant, a bitch, an ungrateful ass, an idiot, and nothing more.
A/N: Well, how's that for starters? I'd like some intakes on what you guys think so review please! 10 reviews would be nice. ^_~