Chapter Two

She looked out along the train station. More people shuffled along in the station, like shades of what people should be.

Chihiro looked at the watch on her wrist. The train should be coming along soon.

Sure enough, the bullet train eased to a squealing halt in front of her, and she got into the train.

"Well, what d'you know, the Princess decided to grace us with her presence!" came a sneering voice. It was one of the boys from her school.

So much for the train ride.

Chihiro stepped off the platform and onto the train boredly. Her mother always told her that if someone bullied her, just to ignore them. She leaned against a metal pole and closed her eyes as the world whipped by outside the train. She was dimly aware of her schoolmate's taunting voice and thought she'd just leave well enough alone…

Until she felt a sharp YANK on her hair. Chihiro's eyes snapped open.

"What're you doing?" she asked sharply.

"Oh, so you DO speak. I'm so HONORED!"

Puuull…

Chihiro felt her hair band come loose and her straight brown locks came tumbling around her face. Her eyes widened in fear, and she puzzled to herself why she should be afraid.

"Give that back!" she said, reaching for it, but her schoolmate was much taller than she, and held it over her head.

"Why? Is a hair band so precious that the Princess can't live without it?" he taunted, dangling it, right over her reach.

"I need it!" Chihiro jumped and tried to get the hair band back. Something was unsettling her, and for some reason the hair band was going to fix it. Her heart hammered in her ears as she tried to get her precious hair tye back, but to no avail.

The lights on the train flickered.

For a small amount of time, a mere fraction of a moment, the whole train changed. The sky was dark, and the scenery around the train was all murky countryside. Chihiro felt her breath catch in her throat and she looked at the rest of the train. The seats were empty and worn leather, rather than the scratchy and fuzzy cotton seats. The floor was made of wood rather than the grimy plastic. And it was empty. More than anything, the train was empty except for her and then, a strange dark man wearing a mask. He turned to her and a second mouth opened in his throat and he let out a cry of surprise.

Then it was gone, and Chihiro was back in the grubby city bullet train. She lost her balance and crashed into her schoolmate with a cry. They toppled to the ground. Somehow the train was colder and darker than before.

The train's intercom announced her stop coming up and Chihiro grabbed her hair band and got off the train.

"Thanksalotbye!" she said quickly as she left. Chihiro quickly tied her hair back up and ran from the train. She'd never been so spooked in her life.

But she still couldn't remember the boy's face.

Chihiro was up late studying. Not that it was particularly calming, but it was easier to think about her geometry than to worry about what happened on the train. She didn't even have the heart to stargaze. Her parents called a half-hearted goodnight and she responded in turn, and then she got up and paced.

Why am I still spooked? She wondered as she paced. Chihiro threw open the window and looked at the sky. In her mind the face of the man in the mask floated before her eyes.

Suddenly another image invaded her brain. It was the image of the boy from earlier that afternoon.

"What are you waiting for?"

She could remember his face, but couldn't associate a name with it. He had bright green eyes and soft, dove-gray hair, and it looked like he actually took the time to take care of it, unlike other boys she couldn't really name. She remembered his peach-colored skin too, with a small tint of green in the shadows. She could remember he had a soft sort of growl to the way he talked, not threatening, but certainly enough to make her remember. And someone who could do that was rare.

I gotta see him again. Maybe not right now, but soon. I have to know why I remember him, rather than the face of the person who even harassed me today.

Chihiro went to sleep uneasily.

Water. TONS of it. It's everywhere and it's cool and refreshing. It swirls around Chihiro and whirls through her hair. She can feel small currents against her face, as natural as wind. She's holding onto something for dear life, and yet she's perfectly calm as whatever she's holding onto squirms and slithers beneath her. Strange green grass sways annd blows around in the water. She can hear it all around.

Then it is nothing but the green of a field. Grass and rocks carved into strange figures as far as the eye can see. She can hear her own voice, yet it is the voice of a child.

"Will we ever see each other?"

Chihiro woke up to the sound of her alarm clock.

What was THAT all about? she thought as she looked at her shaking hands. Her fingers hurt from gripping something so tightly. She took a deep breath and let it out again, and started getting ready for school. As soon as she put on her hair band the dream vanished from her mind, she could barely recall going to sleep.

Chihiro hastily ate breakfast as she ran to school. She knew that the boy from the other day went to her school. She looked around the train. She could make out even less about the people around her. People came, and went. She focused on the scenery instead, and kept her mind locked on the boy's face.

I can remember. I can remember!