A/N: Hehe, this chapter is kinda slow. It's just basically a filler, so you kinda get to know a bit more about Chihiro and her life before I jump into the major plot.

Sorry I haven't written for a while. Finals Suck. Starting new classes equals major homework. One of the cons of being on block schedule in high school. :(

No, Chihiro is not a cheerleader. I just don't know what you call those ruffly skirts so I decided to call it a cheerleading skirt so yeah...

Cecelia has caught me! Yeah, I know I said that Sakura is based on a friend of mine, but she does bare a remarkable resemblance to Sakura from CCS, so yes, it is the Sakura from there, more or less. But the fact that she came from that show has very little significance to my story. So yea... I'm a liar. -.-; She just looks like her, I say. :)

Just Another Day

Chihiro rubbed her temples in frustration. Sakura did not feel like shutting up today. And today was Monday morning. A very horrible Monday morning.

"So, Chihiro, when Yamato and I went to the park the other day, we got kicked off because it is apparently illegal to..." Chihiro continued to walk with Sakura to their destination, trying to tune Sakura and her incessant talking out. She frowned slightly as she realized her friend was incapable of keeping her mouth shut this morning.

Left foot. Right foot. Left foot. She had this horrible feeling in her stomach, as if someone was moving around her insides. It was the same nervous feeling she got about finals. However, there was something different about it, but Chihiro couldn't quite put her finger on it...

She sighed in relief as she saw their high school come into view. She could finally get away from Sakura until lunch. She really needed some time to think.

She loved Sakura; she really did, but sometimes... She just needed to learn how to shut up.

The brunette smiled at her friend as they exchanged hugs and went off to their first period.

Sakura lucked out. She had Basic Art first period. Chihiro... Well... Chihiro was not so lucky.

----

Chihiro's face flushed red as she continued to pump her legs, refusing to stop for a little walking break. The cold air nipped at her exposed flesh, and the chilly wind penetrated through her shirt and short fibers. She kept her focus right in front of her, glancing longingly at the water fountain every few seconds.

"Twelve." Chihiro said breathlessly, as she passed her Physical Education teacher. Mrs. Urase acknowledged her with a slight nod, and Chihiro continued to jog. Track laps were the worst part of the day, and she was sick of seeing the same ugly brick red path paved for them.

However, despite the horrible mood she was in, she couldn't resist the urge to smile as a figure jogged up beside her and poked her lightly in the side. She shook her head in mock exasperation and turned her head to her jogging partner.

"Yamato..." She said teasingly. Yamato flashed a charming smile at her, exposing his flawless teeth. Chihiro was a tad jealous. Yamato never had to go through two-and-a-half years of braces to correct his top row of teeth. So what if she had a slight overbite?

"Chihiro, you've heard about the upcoming Nadeshiko Festival, haven't you?" Chihiro adjusted her pace to a slower jog. She had to accommodate for the oxygen loss she was going to have. She simply nodded her head, already knowing what to expect.

"Well, I'd like to escort my two favorite girls to it, so... Chihiro Ogino, would you care to take my arm to this wonderful event?" Yamato stuck his arm out, waiting for her to entwine their arms together.

Chihiro giggled slightly at some of the girls who stared incredulously at Yamato while they jogged lightly passed them. Either they were busy wondering why Yamato wasted his time asking his best friend to the festival, or they were dumbstruck by his golden hair and admittingly good looks.

She liked to think it was both.

After a couple seconds of contemplating his question, she wrapped her arm around Yamato's and answered with a definite 'yes'.

Bad move.

As soon as she had, Yamato broke out into a full sprint, causing Chihiro to trip over her shoes and the little texture that the track lap field had. He continued to drag her around, and Chihiro had some difficulty catching her breath due to the sudden change in pace. She fumbled with every other step, desperately trying to loosen Yamato's grip on her hand.

It didn't work.

"Twelve and twenty-five." He stated effortlessly as they passed their PE teacher. She stared at them quizzically as he continued to drag his friend by the hand. Chihiro flailed her loose hand wildly, trying to gain some leverage over Yamato. However, her face flushed a tomato red as she realized she must've looked ridiculous in the current state she was in. So, instead, she continued to allow her friend to pull her around.

Young kids in love were always a complicated scenario. Something that Mrs. Urase couldn't quite comprehend herself. After all, she didn't have her first boyfriend until she was twenty-two.

---

Chihiro slipped her regular school shirt over her head, and adjusted its collar in the locker room. She slowly zipped her green and black plaid skirt up, and pulled up her knee high socks, taking care in making sure she folded the tops evenly on both sides. She placed on her black, one-inch heel shoes, fumbling slightly with the clasp.

After doing so, she picked up her PE shorts and shirt and folded them neatly, shorts first, then shirt. She positioned them in her locker gently, moving the binder inside to the left. She placed her tennis shoes on her clothes and smiled. She still had three minutes left.

Satisfied, she got up and made her way to the locker room mirror to brush her hair.

"Chihiro!" She turned her head to the side to see a raven-haired girl walk up beside her. Chihiro lent her brush silently to Rumi Ijini, and smiled as she graced her with a silent thank-you.

Rumi was a sweet girl, but she had such a horrible temper when she was mad. Chihiro guessed the reason why she liked her so much was not because of her kind demeanor, but because of the fact that she had the same name as her best friend when she was growing up.

She had a slight resemblance to the Rumi in her past as well. It was rare to see a woman of Japanese descent with true, jet-black hair. It was one, out of a few things, that both Rumi's had in common.

"So, Chihiro... You and Yamato... Do you guys have anything going on?" Chihiro smiled politely at her, realizing where their conversation was going.

"No Rumi. We're just friends. I've told you that before." As if in relief, Rumi smiled back, and handed the brush to Chihiro. She acknowledged Chihiro's answers with a slight bow and turned to leave, leaving the brunette by herself near the restroom stalls.

Chihiro shrugged nonchalantly and combed her hair back. She pulled out a violet hair tie and put her hair in a ponytail, leaving a few strands of hair to frame her face.

---

Chihiro giggled as Yamato asked Sakura to the Nadeshiko Festival. Sakura was... ecstatic, to say the least.

They continued to chat about their plans for the festival for a couple of minutes before Sakura stated she had to go home before her mother discovered the unwashed dishes in their sink. Yamato gave each girl a light peck on the check as they bid their farewells.

"So... Chihiro... I can tell that Yamato really like you..." Sakura trailed off airily, a smile tugging at her lips, "So... I think you should go out with him." She shrugged her shoulders as the two came closer to their destination with each step.

Chihiro simply glanced at her, and shook out her reply. She really did not need a boyfriend right now. Her brunette friend let out a sigh of defeat, tired of repeating the same conversation every afternoon. She simply admitted her downfall as she wordlessly turned onto her street.

They waved to each other silently, and Chihiro merely stood at her current location. She eyed Sakura until she disappeared behind the corner. Afterwards, she walked to her house in silence. The rest of today would be really quiet.

---

"Goodnight Dad." Chihiro stated quietly as she lightly placed a kiss on her father's photo on her nightstand. She took off her hair tie and slipped it on her wrist. Something that she had recently started to do over the past few weeks.

She turned off her lamp and simply lay in bed, unmoving. Her body refused to give into the opiates of sleep, and a million things were running through her mind, refusing to let the darkness subdue it.

She had a horrible gut wrenching feeling and she refused to rest until she figured out what was causing her such grievances.

But sleep is inevitable, no matter whom you are.

"Sen... I need you..." The light flicked on and off, casting a light shadow over Chihiro. Petrified, she refused to speak, moving her eyes from left to right to find the source of the voice. The voice was feminine. Old and full of wisdom... It came from a woman who had her fair share of cigarettes.

"Chihiro... Come back..." She imagined this one belonged to a powerful being. It was rich and held power, but it did not have the same ancient wisdom implanted into it as the previous voice had. Chihiro noticed a light from the corner of her eye and she whipped her head to face the source of it. She caught a quick glance at face, but it was gone.

She opened her mouth to speak, but could not will the words to come out.

"Sen... Please... It's not going to be open for much longer... Come soon... Chihiro... We need you..." She spotted a shadow looming over her head and immediately turned around. But the source of the shadow vanished.

Desperate for answers, she felt her voice come back to her.

"What's not going to be open for much longer?" She grabbed her throat in surprise. The voice that came out of it was not her voice. It was that of a little girl, sweet and filled with many unanswered questions about life.

"The gate..." The woman's old voice croaked out. What happened to the man's?

"The gate Chihiro! You have to make it back here soon!" The voice urged her. What was she talking about? Two shadowed hand grabbed her shoulders, shaking them vigorously. As soon as they started, a loud ringing sound emitted from all around the dark crevices of the room.

Running away from the hands, Chihiro clutched her ears to prevent the noise from entering her brain. The flickering light followed her, until it slowly went out.

Chihiro could feel herself falling, and she screamed. A shrill, loud and terrified scream.

"It's no use... We lost her..." The rich and powerful man's voice was the last thing she heard aside from her own shrieks.

A hand blindly reached out on the nightstand, searching for the device that disturbed its owner from her sleep. She grabbed her cell phone, still ringing, and sat up straight. Text Message. The screen glowed fiercely in the dark, and Chihiro felt slightly blinded by it.

"Dumb phone..." Chihiro opened it, happy to silence the ringing bells. She silently cursed at whomever though it was a good idea to send a text message at such an early time in the morning. She rubbed her eyes, still sleepy, and took a glance at her cell phone screen.

4:37 AM.

She moaned in exasperation and she buried her head in her purple pillow, willing sleep to befall her again.

Damn... And it was only Tuesday.

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A/N: Well, I hope you guys like it. :) Took me a while to write. Don't worry. There will be some Chihiro/Kohaku romance late on. I just need to get to it.

I've been in 'depression' as of late because my download of the Spirited Away movie pissed me off. I was getting it off of Limewire to watch again, and lo-and-behold, I get to 73 and then Limewire decides to go dumb and change 'the file to save it in' just because I haven't continued the download in like, a week. I've tried to change 'the save it in this folder' thing back, but it starts off at 0 every time. :(

And I have stupid AOL dialup so... you know how it is.

Don't forget to review to make me feel better:)