Forgotten


Author: NekoNemui

AN: Okay, so I was up all night writing this. I had a sudden creative flow, and needed to get it out of my system. Enjoy this! Read the bottom, as always, for more.

Disclaimer: Haku was mine, but when I tried to cut his hair in his sleep, he tried to kill me and went back to Studio Ghibli. ): Ah, there's only so much a girl can do.

Enjoy!


Chihiro's mind felt at ease. Every muscle was relaxed. All she knew was that she was in a peaceful place; far, far away from any reality she'd ever known. And it felt.. nice.

From behind her closed eyelids, the girl could see a slightly pink glow. If she had been in a different state of mind, she would have known what it was instantly. But at that moment, she didn't know anything. Couldn't feel anything, except for the energy that seemed to radiate off her body, sending fuzzy tingles down her spine. She decided to just focus on that, not really understanding the situation she was in at all. Not really caring.

And then something came to a stop, and the fuzzy feeling was gone. Too suddenly, the pink blur behind her eyelids made sense, and she opened them quickly only to squint as sunlight attacked her sensitively dilated pupils through an opened window.

For a single dazed second, Chihiro was confused. She didn't know where she was. Who's window was that? Why did her torso feel so damp when she clearly didn't remember taking a shower?

And then her chocolate eyes rested on her outstretched arms, and she remembered everything.

The window belonged to her; to be more specific, it belonged in her kitchen. Her top felt damp because of the experiment she was currently conducting. Yes, the experiment!

A sudden wetness at her feet made Chihiro glance down. Water was pooled beneath her soles, curling around the small curves of her toes. She grinned triumphantly.

The water was back. The water was back! The brunette could hardly believe her own eyes. She even went so far as to pinch herself a second time, and became all too aware of her thumping heart when once again, no change was made to her surroundings. The girl couldn't suppress the high pitched squeak that erupted from behind her tightly pressed lips. This was all too much.

What on earth was going on?!

Weird powers like this were ones seen only on television shows. That basically meant that the show itself was a computer generated animation or special effect added to a real-life movie. Things like this just weren't real. Weren't they? Chihiro wasn't so sure anymore.

Taking a long look at the discarded mop resting against the wall, Chihiro decided she'd had enough funny business for one day, and decided to clean the water herself; good ol' human style. Whether it was a pain or not, she was going to do it. After all, who knew if she'd wake up tomorrow and really had dreamt the whole thing? Maybe she was just crazy. Yeah, that makes more sense, she agreed mentally.

Just as the brown haired girl was finishing up, a sharp ringing noise blasted throughout the silent room, disturbing the peace that had settled within. Nearly jumping out of her skin, Chihiro hopped over the wet tiles and snatched her phone from the counter, flipping it open and holding it to her ear.

"Hello?"

"You. Are. Late." Came the immediate curt reply. The angry voice immediately formed a mental image of its' speaker, and Chihiro's jaw dropped open as she nearly dropped the mop she held in her other hand. It was her dance instructor. Her eyes flew to the clock on the wall, realising that she was indeed, very late. She was so flabbergasted that she'd forgotten her rehearsals that she cursed aloud without realising it.

"Excuse me young missy, what did you just say to me?!"

When she did realise it, her jaw snapped shut in horror and she babbled out a long stream of words that were meant to resemble an apology. Two, really, seeing as she'd made two slip-ups that day.

Her instructor sighed. "Chihiro. Just.. get here immediately."

Chihiro blinked. Had her dance teacher just let her off the hook without yelling or getting angry? Without a single lecture?

"Miss.. are you feeling alright?" She blurted out before she could chew the words down.

The silence that followed went on for so long that Chihiro began to wonder if she'd been hung up on. Unfortunately her eardrums weren't prepared for the enraged screaming that came shortly after.

"CHIHIRO OGINO IF YOU KNOW WHAT'S GOOD FOR Y-!"

"-I'm coming, I'm coming, I'm coming, I'm coming, I'm coming!"

In a terrified frenzy, Chihiro snapped her phone shut and slammed it down onto the counter. She had to bite back a laugh that was beginning to bubble from inside her throat. God, how she loved getting a rise out of her dance instructor. Chihiro knew that deep down, despite all the trouble she caused, the old woman loved her just as much as Chihiro did likewise. The two had known each other for six years, and even though Chihiro was almost always stirring the pot somehow, her instructor had not once punished her for it like she would for other students. And they all seemed to really hate her for so obviously being the favourite.

Snapping out of her miniature daydream, the brunette hurriedly ran to put the mop away and raced to her room to collect her dance bag.


Haku felt uncomfortable. The room was too noisy. There were too many scents in the air. Too many people.

This 'lunch bar' that Yano had spoken of had seemed like an okay idea at first. After all, what sounds so threatening about a lunch bar? Haku's eyes scanned the shadowed room he found himself in. There were no windows, only bright neon-coloured lights and a bar which seemed to be selling mainly alcohol. Haku had tried alcohol a few times before; it was a delicacy in the Spirit World only affordable to the wealthier beings. So he assumed that was why he found his eyebrows furrowing at the sight of it being handed out so freely for such stupid purposes like getting 'drunk'.

Yano, Haku and six others sat at table number seven. The room was too dark to make out their features, but Haku assumed they were the others from the basketball team. He could feel a prickling sensation on the back of his neck, as if someone were watching him. He tilted his gaze to the side and met eyes with a pair of startlingly blue ones.

Their gaze stayed locked for a short time, Haku's eyes narrowing to the point where he could barely see beneath his lashes. Suddenly the other boy leaned in, and the first thing Haku noticed was the smell of ash and smoke radiating off of him. His green eyes fixated on the thin cylinder between the boy's fingers- the cause of the horrid smell.

"Yano's had his eye on you for a while now."

Haku had to refrain from flinching away when the blue-eyed boy's breath turned out to be ashy smelling too. He instead looked back up at the other, and pressed his lips into a thin line. "Why?"

The boy shrugged. "Who knows? You must be worth something if he's inviting you out here with us. I was hoping you'd have a better idea."

The raven haired spirit blinked at the blunt arrogance in the boy's tone, once again becoming distracted by the stench. "Unfortunately, I wouldn't know."

A smirk danced across the boy's features as he noticed Haku eyeing the cigarette in his hand. He held it up a little higher.

"Want a drag?"

The spirit boy raised a delicate eyebrow. "What is it?"

"It's a cigarette, duh. What planet do you come from?" The boy shot him a funny look.

"What's in it?" Haku pressed, his gaze darkening.

"Tobacco. Makes you relax."

Drugs. Haku realised suddenly. He watched as the other boy lifted the cigarette to his lips and inhaled before exhaling to the side; releasing a lungful of visible smoke. Haku cringed at the thought of that awful smelling stuff being inside him.

The blue eyed kid held the cigarette out to him, questioning silently with his eyes. The raven immediately shook his head and abruptly stood from his chair; attracting the attention of a few others.

"I've got my shift at work soon, so I'd better go." He said, waving over his shoulder as he stalked to the entrance. He didn't care that Yano was shooting him a puzzled look, or that he was pushing past random people with slightly more force than necessary. He just needed to get out.

Finally, Haku stepped outside and took a huge breath of fresh air. Had it always been this.. clean? He'd never noticed so much until now.

"What was that all about?"

Haku wasn't the least bit surprised by Yano's presence. He'd assumed the boy might come after him, and didn't even bother to look back at his arrival. When Haku simply leaned his slender figure back against the bar's brick exterior instead of replying, the brunette sighed. "Too much?"

The raven quirked an eyebrow, but after a look from Yano which clearly said 'you aren't fooling anyone', he shut his eyes and tilted his chin up until his head came into contact with hard support. "Yeah."

"Sorry. For bringing you here, I mean. Should'a known this wasn't your thing."

"Mm." Haku didn't feel like talking; he just wanted to be left alone.

He didn't expect to feel Yano lean against the wall beside him, and when he heard a sliding sound, he couldn't resist the urge to feed his curiosity and glance down. The boy was sitting cross-legged on the concrete floor, his gravity-defying hairs looking even spikier from the new angle.

Said hair, however, was blocked from view when its owner's eyes locked onto his own.

"And finally, he looks at me. Rejoyce." Yano drawled sarcastically.

Haku laughed and rolled his eyes, a habit he had picked up since coming to the Human World. The action of laughing actually made him feel a little better; not quite so tense. He eyed Yano, wondering if that had been the boy's aim since the beginning- to make him laugh.

"Bingo." Yano said with a wink, obviously having seen the cogs turning inside the raven's head.

The green eyed spirit shook his head. "You're strange."

"Coming from you? That's rich."

When Haku frowned, Yano burst out laughing. Despite his pride, he felt the corners of his mouth twitch up. Soon both of them were throwing insults and laughing more each time one was thrown. When they finally settled down, it was Yano who spoke first.

"You're a pretty interesting guy, Haku. I don't care what they think," He jabbed a thumb towards the bar, obviously motioning the team, "but I like ya."

Haku thought back to what the blue-eyed boy asked him earlier. "That's it? You're asking me to join your team because you think I'm interesting?"

Yano shrugged. "Yeah, why not? Everyone's the same these days. It's hard to find someone who doesn't lack originality."

Haku nodded in understanding. He could feel a strange bubbling in his stomach- relief?

"So," Yano held out his palm, similar to how he did two weeks earlier, "friends?"

Friends? Haku hadn't had many friends before. Chihiro was his best friend, but she didn't remember him. Sure, there was Lin and Kamaji, but that was about it. Now that he thought about it, he wasn't exactly close with the two. So no, he didn't really have any friends, besides Chihiro. And here was a human boy, asking to be his friend. Suddenly whatever negativity Haku had been feeling before was gone, and everything was replaced with a grin that he could literally feel threatening to split his cheeks. He took the hand in his own and they shook.

"Friends." He confirmed.

Yano smiled genuinely. "Great. You'd better go, now. Don't be late for your shift."

"Oh, right." Haku hadn't exactly been lying when he said he had a shift – he did have one, it was just later at night. When he'd told everyone he had to go, he'd been desperate to just.. leave. Now he had to play along with his tale. "I'll see you around, then."

"Yeah.. Oh, wait!"

Haku turned back around on his heels to face the spiky haired boy again. Something dark was flung at him, and when Haku's speedy reflexes reacted and caught it, he was surprised to discover he'd nearly left without his new phone.

"I put my number on there in your contacts. Shoot me a text whenever; we'll hang out."

The raven haired spirit blinked in surprise. "Sure."

"A'ight. Now go already!"

With a small smirk and a flick of his hand in goodbye, Haku turned and walked back the way he'd come with Yano a few hours earlier.

He was really thankful for his photographic memory; it made the tricky task of manoeuvring through the town a very easy one. With full confidence in his turns and crossings, Haku wondered where exactly he would go with so much time to spare. He eventually gave up on the idea of being social (he'd already passed his limit for the day), and decided it would be fun to get himself lost instead- it'd be interesting to explore and memorise new sections of the town.

So when he came to an intersection, instead of taking a right which would take him back to the phone store, he took a left, wandering into a completely new and unrecognisable area. In fact, the path he took ended up leading him to a hill outside of the town, with many coloured houses dotting it in neat rows. There was a forest to the eastern side of the hill, with a canopy so wide it seemed to stretch on for miles. The dark haired boy decided he liked the feel of the air - it was much different from the town; with an almost homely touch to it.

Haku's relaxation was interrupted, however, when a figure running through his vision snapped him out of his trance. His sharp green eyes zoned in on the movement to his right, watching as a brown haired girl ran down from a road on the hill and disappeared from sight as she entered the town; a large looking bag bashing around at her side. He'd have known those slender, tanned legs anywhere. Chihiro.

Abruptly abandoning his plan to explore, he decided to go on another adventure, and followed the girl; curious to know what exactly she did during her everyday routine.

He weaved through crowds with ease, never once letting his gaze on Chihiro drop. He didn't want to lose her like he had the first time he'd come to the town. He hung back a little, just enough so she wouldn't notice him trailing if she happened to look behind her. And suddenly, Haku began to recognise the area: They'd crossed through the town completely, and ended up on the side which Haku had arrived from. Having a feeling he was experiencing Déjà vu, Chihiro took a sharp turn to the left, entering a street he vaguely remembered. The one where she'd dropped the sock.

Just like last time, Haku concealed himself from view; this time hopping silently between buildings and stalls as he edged closer. When the brown haired girl disappeared within the walls of a huge hall, Haku stopped moving and sighed in disappointment. I was hoping I'd be able to see more of her today.

And almost as if a greater power had heard his request, he spotted a young girl with black pigtails exit the hall from the side. She was dressed in a bird-like costume which flared out at her hips to show off her legs wrapped in white stockings beneath. A crown of white feathers was positioned on her forehead, moving slightly whenever the girl spoke or tilted her head. The girl had a strange pair of shoes on – with a long front and ribbons which were tied criss-crossily around her calves. She was by far the strangest thing Haku had seen since arriving in the Human World.

After shifting somewhat closer, he noticed that the dark haired girl appeared to be on her phone. And judging from the expression on her face, she was annoyed with whoever was on the other line.

Almost as soon as she had arrived, the girl suddenly snapped her phone shut and straightened out her skirt before disappearing through the side of the building once more. Haku's keen eyes picked up what he hadn't been able to before; a well-concealed back door plastered over with concrete. A grin lit up his features. He was going in.

Moving swiftly with inhuman speed to the door, the green eyed spirit wrapped his slender fingers around the rusted handle, and tugged it open a fraction. When he was greeted with only darkness beyond, he slipped inside and let the door close silently behind him.

The first thing he noticed was the smell. Whatever it was, it was eerily close to smelling like leather. His hand reached automatically for a light switch on the wall, but stopped himself in the nick of time. He didn't dare turn one on and run the risk of getting caught. No, thank you. He was going to stick to the shadows.

The second thing he noticed was the noise – soft at first, but after moving soundlessly closer through the darkened room, found it was getting louder and louder. His fingertips brushed over many wooden frames – Painted props, he realised as he glanced down to take them in. Though it was dark, Haku's well-trained eyes could see very well. It came naturally as part of being a dragon spirit.

There were several chairs stacked on top of one another, and a few abandoned in the centre of the room. If Haku had been a different person, he was sure he'd have tripped over them. Frowning, he wove his thin legs around the four legged pieces of furniture and continued on through the ongoing room. How big can one room be? He wondered silently.

As soon as the thought had left his mind, Haku spotted another door looming in front of him. Finding a new source of adrenaline from the sight, he hopped over the remaining random items blocking his path, and reached it within an instant. The light peeking in from beneath the door suggested that there could be people on the other side. Taking a deep breath and possibly an idiotic leap of faith, he pushed the door open a crack and poked his head out. An embarrassingly shaky exhale that he would deny to his dying day left his lips in relief when he discovered the dimly lit corridor was empty.

Gliding through the door completely, he continued to follow the source of the noise. He rounded a corner and almost yelped when he nearly stepped on a small child. The complete shock of being carelessly spotted made Haku's jaw hang open, and he glanced horrifically at the group of children lounging in the hallway; their big eyes growing wide at the sight of him. He guessed they were around five or six years old. Gathering his composure, Haku slid down into a crouch and held his index finger to his lips.

"Shh." He breathed with a wink, and disappeared before any of them could even notice he had been there at all.

The raven's ears perked at the sound of applause, and the noise he'd been following died out. He frowned as he realised he'd lost his sense of guidance, but didn't stop moving in the direction he'd been headed. All too suddenly, the applause died out, and a new tune took to the air. A violin, he recognised through his slight shock. Was that a piano, too?

Breaking into a run, Haku bolted around a left turn and took a sharp right, following the guidance of his trusty ears. He skidded to a stop when a dark curtain came into view, and noticed immediately that he couldn't tell its colour because all the lights in that particular room were out. He tangled his fingers in the stiff material, and pushed it gently to the side; just far enough so he could see through.

And there was the piano. There was the violin.

There was her.

Bathed in the glow of a single spotlight, the dancer tossed her thick chocolate hair out behind her as she leapt into the air. Her body twisted and turned in elegant motions, her limbs gliding around her almost effortlessly. She wore a bird costume much like the girl from before, except this one was a dark strapless dress with a skirt made from a beautiful ruffle of black feathers. Red jewels delicately scattered the hem, and Haku noticed the girl wasn't wearing any stockings, but was wearing the same ribbon shoes as the black haired girl. When she twirled magnificently on the very tips of her toes, he saw the dark mask placed over her eyes and the bridge of her nose, and couldn't suppress the widening of his eyes at her shocking beauty.

If it was even possible, Chihiro Ogino was more stunning than she had ever been before.


She dances! Yes, this dance scene is one I originally wanted in the story, so I'm glad it worked out okay. I think I'll keep writing this story, I've gotten into it a lot lately. I updated yesterday, so here's another for today. There might be another tomorrow, but don't count on it. I'll try really hard though, okay?

I've also started re-writing some of my older chapters. I've finished chapter 1 and 2, so I'll be re-uploading those later on, but yes, soon all of them will be completely polished to fit my new writing style. The plot won't be different, so no, you don't have to re-read them, but if you wanted to check it out, go for it.

I wanted to fit more into this chapter, but before I knew it, I had written to my chapter word limit and decided to post where I was at. I've already started chapter 10, so it will be a goody! There might be a slight M scene in it, though. I won't spoil, you have to wait and see! c;

Reviews are always appreciated! Thank you xoxox