Shout out goes to the wonderful Fedski who gave me my first reviewer prompt! Three cheers!
Chapter Three
In the days that followed, their interaction became a game of sorts. The only rule was to never get caught.
As young as she was, Chihiro knew that if anyone found out her life would drastically change again, and not for the better.
And Haku knew—even without knowing about such things as mental hospitals and psychiatric wards—that it was human nature to fear the unknown. He had seen its result countless times before.
His little Chihiro would not be subjected to that.
Always they conversed in places away from prying eyes, the most frequent spots being Chihiro's room and outside close to the forest—never inside it, Yuuko made sure her daughter was always within calling distance from the house. Her mother had become more cautious after the events in the Spirit World.
After the first few days of this behavior, Yuuko began to wonder if the shock of the move might have damaged Chihiro's social skills. Before, her daughter was never happy unless someone was there to talk to or play with, but now she spent all her time alone, never leaving the property to meet their new neighbors' children; and somewhere in the secret corners of her mind she wondered if the change had something to do with those lost three days.
Whenever she tried to urge her little girl to go out and make new friends, Chihiro would find some way to decline, saying that she was fine with the way things were.
Akio was no help. He would tell Yuuko that as long as she didn't start seeing things or hearing voices, everything would be fine. She was probably still sulking about leaving her old friends behind. School would be starting soon and she would go back to normal then.
It didn't feel right, but it was all Yuuko could console herself with.
Word Count: 309
Prompt: "The Game to win all"
Prompter: Fedski
Questions, comments, concerns, opinions? All are welcome!
