Disclaimer: Sorry 'bout that, but I do not own Spirited Away.

Fond Memories
by Uenki

Chapter Two – Familiarity

He strolled through the endless pools of flowers bushes with a girl of 16 following closely behind; a frown was evident from the girl's face. "Jotto matte yo, Haku!" she cried, waving her hands to signal for the man to stop, but he did not, he walked on and on, till he reaches on the top of a hill, a very familiar hill with the tall oak tree sitting by the side it. Gently, his placed his fingertips onto the rough surface of the tree bark, brushing across it. A small smile graced his lips, and the girl's eyes widened in astonishment for she, Densai Liruku, had never ever seen his smiled for the past three years, when she stumbled onto this world as a spirit. She pointed her finger at him, eyes as wide as saucepans.

"You…! You actually have emotions after all!" she exclaimed to her mentor, even though she named him her mentor herself, and her mentor looked at her, his smile fading. A blank look reached his face with strange hardness in it. He pulled back his hands, and latched them onto one another behind his back.

"Can't you just leave me alone for a moment?" he questioned, harshly and coldly. The bubbly girl gave a smile and bounced, tagging alone side with him, going red on her face, it was all too obvious actually as she admired her mentor, very much so. She does not mind his harsh words and coldness, even though sometimes, she still wondered if her mentor was just a blank shell with those fabulous look but no feelings, but that peculiar night proved her wrong.

[Flashback]

She saw his mentor walking on tiptoes, as if he was afraid to wake the other occupants of the bathhouse up. She went hiding from pillars to pillars, and soon, he saw that he was turning into a corridor, a deserted corridor. Even though it was just a corridor, the workers of the bathhouse just could not step in there, or him, Bou-sama, now-the-boss of the bathhouse would threaten you, or simply, just turn you into something impossible… But how could just her mentor walk in, without even triggering off the magical barrier that was put there?

By a mistake, she accidentally crossed the magical barrier, and the sirens went off. She gasped in surprise when all the occupants of the bathhouse came running through, but she that had never crossed her mind that even the though-grumbling-yet-friendliest Rin would gave her a glare.

"Never did I told you," her voice was low and dangerously so, "you are not supposed to step into this corridor?" Rin was the one that was in charged of the female workers and supervising them. She gave Rin an innocent look, hoping that she would take the look in, and to forgive her about the whole matter. But she was wrong, so wrong indeed. Bou-sama came into the scene immediately, his eyes darting around. Bou-sama was a little boy of 8, even though he was not physically matured, he often consult the advice of her mentor, and often did the right things.

Liruku was horrified when she saw the oncoming snap from Bou-sama fingers, she remembered that last time, when a worker was going into the corridor, and he had turned the worker into a slug. She was rooted to the ground, frozen. But there is always space for one to hope, right?

Just then, her mentor came into view. "It's alright, Bou-san," he started, while Bou-sama has a look of protest, "It's alright. I knew that she was coming, and I let her be. It's only Chihiori's room, that's all." Bou-sama quieted down and nodded his head, like a kid that had just lost his Christmas present. He reassured Bou-sama by giving a soft pat on his shoulders.

"I am in there, if you need me, Bou-san." The boy gave a nod and dismissed all the other fellows, while her mentor stared at her, and she gave a sheepish smile. "Come in then," he soothed the fear in me; it was the first time she had heard him in such a gentle voice.

Timidly, she followed him into the corridor, and he slide the shoji door opened. She was surprised; this place was one hell of a mess. It had paper-shaped cranes with that went sticking onto the wall, and blood stain everywhere. But the blood stain looked dry, and it seems not to be a fresh blood.

"Ew, this place's dirty!" she complained - commented, while her mentor said nothing.

"Who is this Chihiro person?" she asked, curiosity aroused. Suddenly, her mentor gave her a hard push, causing her to stumble back and went out of the room.

"Leave me alone! Out!" he cried, chocking on his voice. It sounds like a boulder in his throat. But never did she know, when he slid the door close, a few drops of salty waters stained the floor of Chihiro's room. From that day onwards, she tagged like a dog to her mentor, promising to herself that she would find out who this person was, and why does she have such an effect on her mentor and the person she admired, Haku-sama.

[End Flashback]

Her mentor's pace was fast, that was how he walked normally, and she lagged behind him, panting. Suddenly, his speeding figure that was far away from her halted to a stop. "It had been so long ne, Haku?" a soft, gentle voice said, and she could barely make out who the voice was from. And she quickened her pace; soon, she reached to the end of the bridge.

She almost forgot to breathe. Her mentor smiled again, not though small smiles that she has seen, but this was a wider smile, the smile that was filled with warmth. It was a woman that looked matured, with tiredness etched on her face. But there was something… The smell lingered onto her nose, and she gasped… That woman was a human being, yet why was her mentor so close to her? Didn't he know that human were not allowed to be in the Kamikakushi and it doesn't seems to be possible.

She felt a tinge of jealously, that sour feeling. Storming in, she grabbed hold of her mentor's arm which caused shock and surprise to both the woman and her mentor. "Excuse me," she said, coolly, "but why are you, a mere human, allowed to step into the Kamikakushi?"

The woman gave a small embarrassed flush and stepped back, bowing apologetically. "I'm sorry, I didn't know that you and that girl… Haku… I'm sorry." With that, the woman turned back, and her mentor went to grab her arms, but she jerked it off harshly. A look of despair came into his face, Liruku's mentor turned back, and pulled his arm off her… and he ran towards the woman.

"CHIHIRO! IT'S ALL AN MISUNDERSTANDING!" Haku yelled, and she stopped… Now, she realizes that she had did something wrong, something very wrong indeed.

A/N: Oh, by the way, the paper shaped cranes are the one from the episodes, meaning that the room was not cleaned after Haku, as the form of the dragon came in wounded… and you know the rest right? Sorry for my grammar and thanks for reviewing. =D

Love,

Uenki.

P.S. Liruku is quite an important factor in the story. =)