I Knew It Was Real

by guessesandhunches

Chihiro has decided it was all a dream, but she can't shake the feeling that it really happened. What's worse, she's slowly beginning to forget the details, including all of the spirits of the bathhouse's names. On her first day of high school, she meets a boy uncannily just like the one in her "dream", and then everything changes from there. (OCs and their back stories.)

10. Chapter 10: I'm Going Back

Disclaimer: I own nothing in Miyazaki's movie. Everything else is mine.

Chapter 10 is here, and I thank you for being considerate with my slow posting; I'm over a two months late (school is not kind)... But this chapter is nearly three times as long as the others, so I hope that helps compensate for my tardiness! (Even though I still didn't get to edit this as much as I'd like to have.)

Thank you for all the reviews I have received! They keep me assured that it's enjoyed. :)

AUTHOR'S NOTE: As you may or may not have predicted, my story is going a bit slower than I wanted it to, so I have a short(ish) summary at the beginning here to sum up all the more so minor technicalities and transition periods for all the characters as well as what has happened over the last few chapters. This prevents an entire chapter devoted to transition periods, as chapter six was.

Thank you for reading!

---

A total of two months and three weeks passed since Haku's return. Kaito's past, purpose, and identity have been revealed to Haku upon his arrival at the bathhouse. All the bathhouse recruits are began training, and honing their skills in preparation for the pursuit of Nikushimi. Haku is still unsure of his feelings for Chihiro, and what emotions were accidentally stored into the necklace.

Erin in search of her anchor, consulted Sylvia, the seer, and was warped to the human world. There she came across Chihiro and Kyoya, explaining the full duties and purpose of an anchor to Chihiro, and deeming Kyoya the enemy while she and Chihiro were alone. Unsure why, Chihiro still set up living arrangements with Erin, saying she was a foreign exchange student. In the meantime, Kyoya and Chihiro have remained being friends, and Erin said so long as he didn't touch the necklace, she had nothing against Chihiro contacting Kyoya.

Now, Erin was enrolled for the second trimester after the summer break, only a week and a half before the fall equinox. During the summer break Chihiro and Erin learned a lot about each other. Chihiro learned Erin was incompetent in the kitchen, but could clean fine (bathhouse duties; everyone had to clean rooms at one point or another). Erin learned Chihiro was great at home economics, but knew nothing about fighting and defending herself other than randomly kicking and punching. Chihiro and Erin then all summer tried to teach other their skills. Erin learned how to make a bento as well as some more complex things, like fried rice, fried fish, and stir fry (note that everything is fried). Being around Chihiro, and the days days they'd visit Hana and Airi's houses she'd even begun smiling more. Chihiro learned how to successfully throw kunai with decent accuracy, learned a fair amount of hand-to-hand combat, and learned how to use a katana. She was still a bit clumsy with it, but Erin seemed satisfied with her work.

Also during that summer, Chihiro became excited because at the beginning of the year, she had received a notice that she was eligible for a school trip. Only the third years and a handful of second years were able to go and visit the shrines up in the mountains. Chihiro had diligently put together an art portfolio that had impressed the principal enough that she allowed her to partake in the trip. It would take place the day of the equinox, lasting for three weeks. So aside from cooking, cleaning, and training, Chihiro also began gathering her things into a pile for the trip.

That summer had passed by quicker than any other for Chihiro, and when the time for school came around, she was quite satisfied.

And above all of it, she felt completely happy.

...

"Erin, school is going to start in ten minutes!" Chihiro called up the stairs anxiously. Mrs. Ogino looked over her shoulder at her somewhat pained daughter, smiling inside. Chihiro had made a friend, one she was willing to sacrifice a fair amount for. It was the first step she had seen in her daughter in an attempt to take down her wall of protection and wariness. She left the kitchen to take care of the finished laundry.

"I'm coming down," Erin shouted back. However, when Erin came down the stairs she didn't quite look like herself. Sure, it was a standard navy blue skirt and white polo for a uniform; but as Erin continued in her usual manner, it was obvious she wasn't used to anything but pants She stood with her legs apart, sat with her legs apart, and continued her brisk walking.

She looked fine, but Chihiro could only wonder how she was going to keep stares off of her. Most girls knew how to act when in a skirt, whether they wore them or not. The fact that the school even allowed her late enrollment (Erin was very good at Japanese dancing) was surprising to real news she needed to break to her was that school didn't allow weapons; especially when they were displayed so conspicuously. Even with the weapons that were visible, Chihiro couldn't help but think that Erin had more hiding. She began wondering how she'd be able to do Phys. Ed. The wind spirit's arms and legs had kunai strapped with white bandages. Even though they were somewhat hidden, they were at "optimum grab angle", thus making the tips of the weapons showing. And despite all of that, Erin had walked down the stairs carrying her sword.

Chihiro wasn't not sure how to break the news to her friend. "Erin, since you're wearing a skirt, you have to keep your legs together, and also your wea-"

"Why?" Erin said, puzzled.

"Er, just trust me on this," Chihiro said, and smiled weakly. "It's etiquette."

"Oh, Don't worry," Erin said, thinking she understood Chihiro's main concern, and smiled. "I made sure to keep a pair of shorts on underneath." But seeing the look on Chihiro's face made her add, "Well, if you insist." She then slowly stood with her legs together. It made her feel vulnerable though. It wasn't a good position she could easily jump from at any precise angle in the desired amount of time.

"That's good," Chihiro said, relieved a bit. "But you can't have weapons strapped to your arms and legs like that," she stopped and remembered Erin's natural tendencies and caution. "At least not so conspicuously."

Erin looked over herself. "I suppose not," she sighed, and went back upstairs. She closed the door to Chihiro's room. She took out various pouches and undid bandages on her shoulders and arms that secured another kunai and set of senbon. Erin pulled up the kunai higher up her thigh, her other kunai up her sleeve, and slipped her last kunai inside her sock. She took off her other two kunai from her arm and other leg, and tucked a set of four shuriken and a took out the makibishi inside her leather pouch. She took off her shirt, slipped the strap of the leather pouch over her shoulder and under the elastic of her skirt. Putting her shirt back on, she slipped a set of sesix nbon in her socks, and counted her weapons.

"Kunai, shuriken, senbon," Erin sighed. She brought all the various kinds of weapons she thought she may need, but the overall quantity was about two-thirds of what she normally brought, minus the makibishi, and she had to leave her katana behind. She begrudgingly hopped back downstairs with a much lighter load than before.

"Alright, Chihiro, I've had to reduce my number of weapons, but can you tell any metal is hiding now?" Erin held her arms out.

Chihiro had to admit, Erin was good.

Just so long they don't do a random check. Chihiro thought rather anxiously to herself.

"You're good," Chihiro said, tossing Erin a rice ball, which she caught. "Now you're eating on the way; we're late."

...

When Chihiro and Erin walked in the gates, Erin seemed less nervous than Chihiro. She walked confidently, briskly, and kept her eyes forward. Chihiro walked quickly to keep up, and was constantly glancing around.

"Stop glancing around," Erin whispered. "You're drawing attention."

Erin held a less stern look compared to her previous natural look, and now her face was neutral looking, not looking cold anymore. Chihiro knew inside her bookbag was a small pouch held her anchor. Chihiro had asked why she didn't dissolve the anchor, and she simply said it was special to her.

Himeko, Otori, and another black haired, small boy Chihiro had never seen before stood behind the small group standing around Erin. As Erin began looking at the kids' faces, her gaze hesitated over that last boy's, but quickly returned the the rest of the group.

Was it Chihiro's imagination, or did Erin ever so slightly stiffen?

"You know," Hana said. The two looked over at the small crowd. "I thought she was pretty interesting when you brought her over to my house, but now that she's her it seems like she's from a whole other world."

Oh the irony, Hana... Chihiro thought to herself and smiled, going along with Hana's offhand comment. You don't know the half of it.

"I think she's cool," Airi grinned. "She walks with confidence, is friendly but doesn't come across as naive, and the fact that the school accepted her in the second trimester must mean she's really artistic."

Chihiro smiled. Yes, Erin was very special.

When the bell rang, she took Erin to the office to get her schedule, and every step they took away felt like a pair of eyes were on them. This caused Chihiro to walk a little faster, and Erin took no time catching onto her wariness and walked faster herself.

When they got to the counseling office, Erin's schedule didn't match Chihiro's much. Physical Education, History, English, and Art were all swapped. Chihiro's sixth period PE and fifth period Art were swapped with Performing Arts in sixth period and Physical Education in fifth for Erin. History and English, second and fourth periods were switched as well.

And those two periods were the ones Chihiro was worried about the most. She didn't know how Erin would conceal her weapons in either period. As the day slowly progressed and lunchtime arrived, Erin and Chihiro's shared a cautious feeling towards a black haired boy immensely grew.

---

"Kira, give me my doll back!" Aiko whined.

A bronze sword lay on the ground by the bench. It was late in afternoon, about sunset at the open field where Haku had nearly collapsed weeks ago. That particular day was more preparation than grueling work, but they each had a set of things to do, and Aiko had pushed her training as far back as possible.

"Nope," the girl turned her nose away, and held the doll with one hand behind her back. "Yubaba said you needed to practice your fighting."

Of course the little girl wasn't going to fight in the war, but they needed to make sure she could defend her self in case no one could come to her immediate rescue.

"I'll practice later!" Aiko whined again, and began jumping around Kira, who easily sidestepped, avoiding the small flailing arms. Kira inwardly groaned. Erin would normally be the one to teach Aiko, but she was out. Plus, Erin was so stubborn and intolerant of nonsensical behavior, that Aiko naturally just did as she was told. Erin appeared to not have a breaking point, or at least show she did, so Aiko had no idea when she could stop. The rest of them, however, especially Kira, could not hide their inward groaning and impatience from the little girl.

Thus the mule wars began.

"You're such a spoilsport!" Aiko huffed.

Kira rolled her eyes, and moaned. "Princess Pufflewink can finish her tea party after you learn how to use a sword decently."

It's Princess Pufflestar," Aiko huffed.

"Honestly," Kira muttered under her breath. "Whenever Erin is gone you act like such a child."

"I am a child!" Aiko said indignantly.

"You're spoiled," Kira retorted.

"Children should be!" the little girl turned her nose.

"Well when crunch time comes they end up being broken the hardest!" Kira stiffened as the words left her mouth. Both fell silent and Aiko stopped sulking. The small girl seemed a bit frailer as she approached Kira. Kira's rash words often gave an air of straightforward harshness.

"Kira," Aiko dared.

Kira looked sadly at Aiko. "I'm sorry I lost my temper," she pat her head gently and smiled. It was evident on the small girl's face she was sorry for what she did, whether she knew what she was sorry for or not. "But I promise I'll give Princess Pufflestar back for tea."

You're pitiful. Kira said to herself as she rubbed the small girl's head. You had to go and dig up the memories again. You're not that same person anymore. Feya took you under her wing, remember? Kira sighed as her hands dropped to her sides dejectedly, reminding herself the words she told herself when Feya took her out of her criminal acts.

You can't change what you did. So you may as well bury those feelings where they can't hurt you anymore.

Feya had said she could change, and Kira believed it too; but something she could never get over was the reality of what she did. She couldn't forgive herself for what she did to those children, as painful as it was for herself, too, at the same time.

"Do we really have to fight Nikushimi?" Aiko asked, brown eyes showing her fear.

Kira knelt down so she was face to face with her. It was both sweet and sad how children showed their emotions so clearly. They were innocent, and didn't hide what they felt or what they did. They were honest and optimistic.

Kira once had those eyes.

"Yes," Kira squeezed her arm gently, a loving and reassuring gesture. "She's mad at Yubaba."

"Why is she mad at Yubaba?" Aiko's large brown eyes were inquisitive. "What did Yubaba do? Can't we talk to her and make her not angry?"

Kira's heart hurt more.

"No, sweetie," she said. It felt odd, using sweet, intimate nicknames like that. She'd abandoned them long ago, and became similar to Erin in that sense. It reminded you of how much that something or someone meant to you, and how sad you would be to lose them. "I wish we could, but Nikushimi just doesn't want to talk about it."

"Why not?" Aiko's pleading voice reminded Kira further of the pain she inflicted on small children Aiko's age long ago. "Why doesn't she want to talk about it?"

"Because she's blind, angry, and filled with hate, and darkness," Kira said sadly, and trying her best to continue keeping a reassuring smile for the young girl's sake. "Then people can start to love and be better people."

"Why is she filled with hate?" Aiko asked. "Can't we make it go away?"

Kira hugged the little girl tightly. "They just have to choose to make it go away," Kira said, trying her best to steady her somewhat faltering voice. "And it will be especially hard for her, because it's in her nature."

Kira slowly let go, and smiled again. Aiko's eyes lit up. "But when she does choose," Aiko's voice became more hopeful. "Will all the darkness leave her, and she'll be happy?"

Kira hesitated. Aiko's questions were not applicable only Nikushimi, but herself as well. At Kira's lack of an answer in the moment, Aiko, the child she was, asked another question that quickly came to her mind. "Do you and Haku, and Seiji, Kaito-onii, and Feya-nee really have to leave tomorrow?" Aiko asked.

"Yes, Aiko," She squeezed her nose and Aiko pried her hand off. "But we'll be back soon, I promise. You need to promise me you'll be good for Yubaba, Lin, and Bartholomew. They'll keep you safe."

"But I can take care of myself too," Aiko added.

"No you can't," Kira said, shaking her head. "You still need to practice with your sword. Then you'll be ready to help out."

Aiko obediently fetched her sword from the bench.

...

"Haku," Kaito said, somewhat feeling sorry for his friend. "We're leaving tomorrow morning. Calm down." The two stood stood in the open hallway overlooking the flooded landscape before them. Haku's arms were crossed and resting on the wooden plank as he leaned on it, deep in thought and hunched over. Kaito's elbows rested with his hands folded as he did the same.

Haku had been uneasy ever since that night where his heart felt as if it were on fire, about to explode, and as if his entire being were to disintegrate all at once. How he'd even managed to cast a spell, an uncontrolled, clumsy, shaky spell, but a casting spell nonetheless in that state amazed him.

But what happened to Chihiro?

He'd consulted the seer so many times even she became slowly became unwilling to answer his question any further. He'd tried searching his mind an analyzing himself, but it was still no good. He was obviously happy to see Chihiro again after all that time, and he'd tried his best to remain calm while casting the spell...

At the time he'd frantically tried to remember everything Erin had told him about anchors and their nature. When making one try to be as emotionless as possible, being objective, no distractions. He wasn't distracted; his mind was spinning at the fact that he had finally gotten to see Chihiro again, and she actually believed the Spirit World wasn't a figment of her imagination. Objective? Haku thought he was; after all he was making an anchor, and casting spells requires concentration...

And that left emotion.

Alright, Haku would admit he was happy, but that small bit of happiness couldn't have caused a reaction that large without Chihiro being in serious trouble. Another possibility was that Haku didn't realize that a small amount of damage to an anchor could be that detrimental. But Haku didn't think it was him not being pain tolerant or misjudging the amount of pain that came from it. Besides, Chihiro was a strong girl when he'd seen her again; she'd endured a lot of emotional pain, and all that was left was a physical predicament.

In his most recent visit to Sylvia, she discovered a weak link in Nikushimi's plan. Sylvia was able to discover an anxiety in Nikushimi, and being able to listen in on twenty seconds worth of conversation with her lieutenants revealing she was close to securing something by the end of next week, and her win was sure if she got her hands on whatever it was. Consequently, the group of twenty and thirty year old spirits and seventeen year old human made it their goal to prevent Nikushimi getting her hands on whatever she needed before the end of the week.

Thus the next few days were spent preparing for their journey. Food, sets of clothes, temporary and portable living arrangements, an attack and defend strategy, and an outline of a plan. The seer had said they would encounter a special set of events before they could even think of succeeding against Nikushimi. But like all of the seer's answers, the answers to their questions were found in a cryptic rhyme.

"Kaito," Haku began somewhat uneasily. "Can I ask you about the anchor Nikushimi wanted you to find?"

Kaito looked up and at his friend, hesitating before he said anything. "Sure."

"What did it look like?" Haku asked.

"It's not Erin's," Kaito said, assuring Haku. "If that's what you're wondering. When Erin knocked some sense into me, she told me about her own search and how her anchor was a rock the color of her eyes. The one I was supposed to be looking for was a gold ring. Nikushimi told me it looked like a wedding band from the human world."

"I see," the two stood in silence, and moments later Haku asked his second main question. "How has your search for her been going for her?" Haku and Kaito stood facing each other in the hallway as the moon slowly rose higher in the dark sky. Haku's expression was one of compassion and concern.

"Not very good," Kaito admitted. His own expression morphed into one Haku often had whenever he came back without any leads on Chihiro. "When we were traveling towards the slaughter of the alkalines, the night before we were to attack I overheard that Megumi was being transferred to the North-eastern citadel.

General Markovitch was present at the time and had declared it lights out. I couldn't sleep, and decided to wander around. As I neared the edge of camp, I overheard the Major and the first lieutenant talking. They said that Megumi was being transferred to a cell three days before. I was about to go back and think of a plan to get an assignment near there, but," Kaito hesitated and sighed. "But she'd somehow managed to escape from their grasp. They had no idea where she was, and Nikushimi's orders were to keep me busy until they tracked her down.

"And the next day, Erin saw you in your state, somehow got into your mind and made you see sense." Haku finished, feeling an overwhelming sense of compassion for Kaito.

"And she made me see sense," Kaito finished with a melancholy sigh. "So I don't know where she is. I haven't known where she is. For all I know, she's dead with Nikushimi."

"She's not," Haku said, resolutely and then added onto his quick attempt at reassuring his friend. "If she's with Nikushimi she can't possibly be dead. And besides, if she's with Nikushimi, she would have tried to use her to lure you to her by now, right?" Haku shook his head. Nikushimi still needed Kaito. If she killed Megumi, she can't use her against him, and Kaito was as far as they knew the only human that she has control over. Was it possible that Nikushimi abducted another child from the human world?

They had no idea. Kaito almost regretted leaving the dark side some days. It was sad, how in the Spirit World, Megumi was both his driving force and leverage at the same time.

At this, Kaito shook his head. "You're not listening. Nikushimi doesn't have her anymore. As time grew shorter when I was in her service, Nikushimi began dispatching other spirits to get it. It turns out she only wanted me in her service because I was a human. If the anchor happened to be in the human world, I wouldn't die off as easily as her spirit cronies would. She originally sent me to look for it as a method of psychological warfare." he gave another pained exhaled.

"Sorry to say it worked. I was scared because I didn't know what she would do with Megumi, other than kill her if I didn't do what she told me to do. Eventually other threats came to pass, and I'd become a decent fighter so she said to leave the grunt work of anchor searching to the lower ranks and had me fulfill a quota." He looked up at beacon of the moon. "Even if Nikushimi did find her, for all we know, Nikushimi's abducted another human child and killed Megumi." he sighed. "And even if she wasn't, I don't know where she is. I can have a childish hope that she somehow made it out of here alive, but since she knows nothing about this world," he sighed, expression indescribably sad. "All I can do is hope she hasn't disappeared yet."

"Kaito," Haku hated to press the matter more and make Kaito think about it longer, "Why didn't you tell me this earlier?"

"It was two in the morning when I finished telling you how I got into the Spirit World and fell under the service of Nikushimi," Kaito raised an eyebrow. "And since then you've been so focused on grilling Sylvia details about Chihiro and sorting out your own feelings. I've been off settling minor disputes and doing small jobs for Yubaba in the meantime, and I never got to talk with you seriously for more ten interrupted minutes. At the end of the day, we're always so tired and crash to sleep. Then after things seemed to settle a bit, we found out Nikushimi's next step in her plan and events just went barreling faster."

Haku dropped the subject, and tried to formulate words to ask Kaito a question not relevant to anything but his curiosity.

"Haku, you look like to want to ask me a question, and if you don't get it out you're going to go crazy," Kaito's tone was flat and one eyebrow rose. "What is it?"

The question came fluidly, quickly, and Kaito felt like a boulder fell on his fragile bridge of mentality and stability.

"Kaito, what's Megumi like?"

It was interesting. Megumi was one of those indescribably wonderful people. The words 'kind' and 'gentle' could be used, but they didn't seem to do her justice. Feya, Kira, Aiko, Erin, Bartholomew, Lin, even Yubaba had asked him what this special girl was like. Now that Haku was back presumably for good (or at least a good long while) his curiosity finally had enough time to wander long enough to wonder about other things other than Chihiro.

Kaito told Haku what he'd eventually told the others.

"You're just going to have to imagine Feya's kindness, Aiko's innocence, Erin's rationality, Kira's ability to endure," he paused. "And someone as close to me as Chihiro is to you. That is Megumi." He closed his eyes, and the two let the cold wind of the night sift through their hair.

Haku stood dumbfounded. That must be one amazing person. Then a thought that made Haku's face go red entered. Kaito probably loved Megumi then. He probably loved her now. So if Kaito was saying Megumi was to him as Chihiro was to Haku himself...

"Come on," Kaito said, yawning and opening the sliding door behind them. The lights of the room shone on Haku's slightly flushed face, and he covered his eyes with his arm. Since the bathhouse uniform had many layers his face was able to hide in the shadows. "We'd best get some sleep. We leave at dawn."

---

After Chihiro got out of fourth period, she knew something was up when she saw Erin right outside the classroom door.

"Erin," Chihiro looked at her in surprise. "What are you doing here? Class just got out-"

"No time for that," Erin grabbed Chihiro's wrist and started walking faster that she usually did.

"Where are we going?" Chihiro tried to keep up, but Erin began walking faster than she thought was possible after seeing her speed up.

"I need to show you something," Erin said, sparing a look at Chihiro, and then around them. She began jogging towards the stairs leading to the roof, letting go. Chihiro had to legitimately sprint up the stairs to keep up.

"Erin, how do you know where the roof is?" Chihiro frowned. "I never got the chance to show you."

"Erin!" Chihiro looked horrified. It was her first day there and she was already skipping classes. Erin pushed open the door, and the sunny cloud-filled sky and wind welcomed them. Erin took a deep breath, and let the wind brush past her skin and hair. Chihiro did the same; it felt great.

"Now, Erin, what did you want to tell me?"

Erin stopped and turned to Chihiro, whose back was facing the door. "There was a boy I met earlier, he says his name is Yoshida Haruto," her eyes darkened. It reminded Chihiro of Erin's once-before serious demeanor, and made her realize that although Erin had changed quite a bit, years of living in the mentality and with the habits and personality she had would not be reversed over a summer, if they were possible to be reversed at all. "Are you sure Haku said Nikushimi recalled all of her henchmen? Was he acting strange when you were reconciling?"

Yoshida Haruto, Chihiro had seen him in a few of her classes, and did occasionally look up and around to find his gaze on her. However that eye contact was brief, and Chihiro had thought nothing of it.

In response to Erin's question, Chihiro nodded, and a part of her wondered why she used the word 'reconciling'. Chihiro went back to the matter at hand. "He did say all of her henchmen were recalled," Chihiro's lips went into a tight line. "Although he for some reason did get angry at me for the weirdest most pointless reason. He immediately apologized though, and I think he was slightly disoriented."

"Nejutso," Erin muttered. Her eyes narrowed, and her cold, serious, and now hardened angry expression fully formed. "He must have known, but how could he have forgotte-" Erin's eyes widened, and her head snapped up. She looked around, and Chihiro did the same. As they looked toward the very top of the building above the stairs, they saw a small figure dart away.

"I can't tell you now," she brushed past Chihiro's ear, and said quietly, "I'll tell you when we get home."

Somehow, Chihiro couldn't shake the feeling that that small figure was the boy from earlier.

…

Erin did not go to class after lunch. She left the roof so Chihiro would follow her, rather than staying up there with the wind to help her think better. Erin showed no facial indication that she was putting any thought towards the events that had played out. She hoped Chihiro wouldn't worry, and once the bell rang, Erin did not head for the gym after Chihiro was out of sight.

As her peers headed in her opposite direction, she waded through the students and towards the roof. Not a minute after Erin had opened the door, and taken a deep breath, Erin sensed a sinister presence.

The sky grew darker, and the winds became more erratic, blowing in all directions, leaving a piercing feeling on her skin. Her expression hardened lividly as her eyes fell on the one responsible.

The black haired, small boy sat on the roof and grinned. The facade was finally seen through, but it was already too late. "Hello, there, Erin," the very waves of his voice resonated with a loathsome feeling. The way he'd said her name mocked her younger self's foolishness, and it dripped with a disgusting, intimate familiarity. It resembled the typical evil stepmother in a fairy tale when speaking with her adopted daughter. His eyes glinted with a sense of glee. "It's been such a long time."

"I have no business with you, Nejutso," Erin spat, apoplectic, and Nejutso's eyes widened in mock surprise before his facetious, torturing, repulsive smile reappeared.

"I would have thought that your inactivity for revenge signified it was all water under the bridge," he laughed. It was despicable, hearing him laugh so mirthfully at Erin's grief from long ago. "Or is it perhaps a sign of weakness?"

That did it.

Despite Erin's maturity, normal self-control, calm, collected, straightforward cool-headed temperament, insulting Genesis' memory so wretchedly was just asking for a brutal wake-up call. She whipped out her senbon in a rapid, fluid motion, and Nejutso sprang from the roof as three senbon punctured the building where he sat. Wasting no time, Erin's other hand of senbon sliced through the air, lodging themselves in the ground where Nejutso had landed and again, had fled from.

Normally a cautious defense-only fighter, striking only when necessary, sparse when using weapons, had used all her shuriken and senbon in less than a minute. The minute felt like moments in her rage. Her shuriken pierced the walls where Nejutso fled to, one coming so close as to slice parts of his bangs off. Perfect amount of force, deadly if hit, but not one hit him. Eventually her senbon and shuriken were all lay sticking from the walls and in the floor.

When she did quickly run out, Nejutso held up his hands with a carefree, coy expression, clearly demonstrating that he was just teasing. It was cruel, making the death of her best friend an object of a dare to give into turbulent waves of emotion. Upon the sight of his continued scorn and contempt, she rushed forward. With a single kick off the roof's floor, she'd covered the seven foot distance and knocked the wind out of Nejutso; having jammed her knee into his chest, and dug the blunter edge of the two kunai into his neck without warning. Upon the rapid noise of flying metal and skidding shoes, some students that also skipped class froze in shock, awe, and horror as they peeked around the wall they'd been hiding. Hands covered open mouths, irises expanded, and trembling ensued from all but the two spirits.

"Not another word," Erin hissed enraged, paying the ignorant teenagers no mind. Her face was inches away from Nejutso's, and her discolored hair framed her angular face. This time, Erin didn't bother hiding her dolor behind a wall of lackadaisical blankness. Her pupils were constricted, her eyes were wide, movements jerky yet effective. She was incensed yet grieving at the same time. The impassive wall had served as a dam, and it had finally crumbled."You will not speak another word so help me I will break your ribs and render your arms useless. Don't say anything."

Erin reduced the force of her knee on his chest ever so slightly, and Nejutso knew the threat was just to keep him at bay through psychological fear. He took advantage of the space Erin gave him and struggled to get air back into his lungs, but he remained on the ground. Erin would never harm someone if she didn't have to, she'd proven that clearly enough. He didn't get up because he was Nejutso. Not evil, nor good, but neutral, and he did not press it. He did was not on any side, but was simply a temptation. He dropped the sinister, bad-guy act. Erin was obviously very hurt by the remembrance of that experience, and Nejutso decided to stop tormenting her. It would only cause her more agony if he tried to push the boundaries, whether she knew he knew she'd never harm him unnecessarily or not.

The kunai felt like ice against his neck, and Erin slowly withdrew the weapons. Nejutso knew better than to run away, so as soon as Erin's knee left his chest, he stayed down. When Erin straightened up, her expression had calmed down to pure fury compared to her constricted eyes displaying pain, anger, and sadness all at once.

"You," Erin said shortly, almost snarling, to no student in the ditching group in particular. "Get to class." Nejutso was surprised; he hadn't even noticed the presence of the students with their backs against the gate of the roof. It appeared they'd hidden themselves behind the building at the first realization they might die at the hands of her weapons. With one last horrified, open-mouthed stare, they ran, fighting for the door. Once the door slammed shut, she allowed Nejutso to stand up.

"Tell me what Nikushimi sent you here to do and why she hasn't withdrawn you. I will pose further questions depending on your answers." She spoke bluntly, and it was evident her nonsense tolerance level was at zero.

Nejutso obediently spoke. His pride and the unspoken rules of captivity were in play. Erin did not kill him, and so he had to follow one of her requests; it was the law of unspoken captivity. Even though Erin didn't have the repulsive evil in her to slaughter him, much less before the audience present, his pride would not let him flee like a coward. Erin's eyes bore into the young spirit's eyes. Nejutso was twenty-four, and somehow managed to pass as a fifteen-year old human.

"Nikushimi requested that I interfere with whatever Kohaku's business for returning to the Spirit World was. Nikushimi did withdraw all her henchmen; but I'm a mercenary. Not her deputy to be ordered around like a dog. Even after she withdrew her henchmen, she asked me to continue my information gathering of Kohaku because she wondered why and what was so urgent for Yubaba to send her apprentice to the human world for," he stifled a smile. "And imagine my surprise that the task requiring immense effort, sacrifice of comforts, and incredible risk of death was to reconcile with a girl.

"But I did as she asked," he continued. "And interfered with his business."

Erin's glare seemed to sharpen, her fists clenched at her sides, and her feet threatened to step forward. "You messed around during his anchor spell?"

Nejutso held up his hands. "Not exactly, he was unstable on his own, so I just messed with his emotions a little afterward."

And then Erin did something surprising; she retracted. She moved her weight onto her back foot, even though her shoulders were tense. She retracted subtly, but he saw the skepticism in her lowered eyebrows, turned head, and eyes revealing a running mind. He could tell she was thinking up scenarios, possible motives, and was weighing her options.

What a calculating girl. He thought. When Erin's expression finally, and slowly, returned to a neutral state (or as neutral as it could be for someone like Erin), he continued his answer.

"As for withdrawing me," his tone of voice became much more casual. "I'm returning at the dusk of the equinox."

Erin's next question was immediate. "Why didn't she recall you at sunrise of the solstice?"

Nejutso shook his head and shook his finger. "Only one request, as the unspoken law says."

"I said I would ask further questions depending on your answers," Erin countered.

"The law doesn't account for that," Nejutso had the guts to allow the corners of his lips to pull up.

Erin swiftly withdrew her kunai again, her cold expression hardening. "Even if that were a valid argument, you're still not one to talk."

"Alright, alright, point taken," Nejutso conceded,, indifferent to her advantage. "She didn't recall me because she can't. Her reward for me was in exchange for messing with Kohaku's goals in returning to the human world. The contract never included being at her beck and call after the deed was done. I was free to do what I wished once I fulfilled my end of the deal."

"Why didn't you mention that earlier?" Erin's tone still was unrelenting, intense, and a clear warning if he were to lie.

"Because," he sighed. "You're threatening voice is successfully getting to me, thus clouding my mentality a bit. And I hate to admit it, but you are a bit scary."

Erin looked rather astonished, but her eyes returned to their fierce expression as quickly as they'd been taken by surprise. "Why did you stay in the human world then?"

"Because I wanted to see what was so special about the girl."

Erin's expression turned sharp again. She continued her catechizing."And?"

"You know," he said offhandedly. "You've become much more expressive through your eyes. Was it perhaps the work of that girl?"

Again, Erin was surprised at Nejutso's attentiveness to her. Her face became emotionless as she mentally rebuilt the barriers in her mind. "Probably, along with other factors. But answer my question. You wanted to know about Chihiro, and you're leaving on the equinox in three days. What does that mean?"

"It means I'm leaving in three days," he said simply.

"No," Erin said, pressing him for more. "What are you doing with whatever you've learned of Chihiro? Better yet, what did you learn about her, and what are you doing with that information? Did you do anything to her?"

Nejutso sighed, and it was clear that he was tired of being questioned. He nevertheless complied. "I've deemed her a regular, average person, she has a few skills, one being art, but overall, she's nothing special. I'm returning to the Spirit World with the information that Kohaku has taken an interest in a mundane human, and I'm going to go back living a normal life. No, I didn't not do anything to manipulate her, I didn't even approach her. I simply observed her daily school activity, and have now deemed her to be nothing special. Does that answer all your questions?"

"No," Erin said flatly, and Nejutso sighed in complaint with obvious annoyance. "Are you returning to the services of Nikushimi? Will you serve out Nikushimi's services later?" More questions entered her mind. "Do you know what her next course of action is? If so, what is it?"

"No," he said. "I'm going home and resting. Living in the human world is exhausting. As for carrying out her services, probably not. Her next course of action is to secure a human girl that is on the run in the Spirit World. When I left, she pretty angry that she got away from captivity. She always referred to her as the blessed child whenever she was in a good mood." he rolled his eyes and muttered after, "She always gives obscure names for her goals and people she needs."

This seemed to satisfy Erin for a bit. He saw her eyes widen, and her hand touched her chin and mouth in a thinking expression. Her eyes were focused and sharp. After a bit, her hand dropped, and she slowly spoke again. "Last question, will you abstain in the war?"

"Yes," Nejutso said boredly, thinking it to be a rather anticlimactic last question. "I'm not one for fighting." With that, he began walking towards the green door of the roof.

"Wait," Erin said, and Nejutso stopped moving walking, but he did not face her. "Why were you so kind as to only mess with Haku minimally? Why didn't you do anything to Chihiro? And why did you give full and complete answers to all my questions?"

With this, Nejutso turned, and she looked into his eyes.

"Would you believe me if I said I pitied them?" he spoke in the same indifferent manner as Erin did. "I'm not a bad person you know. I'm neutral; I do what I feel like."

Out of all the things she predicted he would say, she did not expect pity.

He continued with a disinterested breath. "I don't know why I pitied Kohaku. Especially in their sign of weakness and incredible vulnerability on that isolated hill; I don't know why, I just did. Why did I give you full, complete, and truthful answers? I dunno, I felt like it." Looking at her unchanging interrogating expression, he saw that his answer was not sufficient.

"The unspoken law and your pride account for your truthfulness," Erin eyed him suspiciously. "But is it possible that your pride is so unimaginably great that it also accounts for your full answers on the brink of nearly convincing me you may be turning on Nikushimi?" And as another somewhat painful thought entered her mind, she added, "And why haven't you tormented me further? You had all the means to do so and the law shouldn't interfere with it. Unless your pride really is foolish arrogance." She finished on a slightly unbelieving tone.

Her answer was not one he expected, and he chuckled a bit. It wasn't his previous tormenting chuckle, but just one of surprise. And so, he gave a reply in accordance. He turned his head to the door, getting ready to leave.

"I pity you."

And with this, he left a contemplating Erin on the roof, fully knowing she was done questioning him. He let the green door shut behind him, walked down the stairs, and down the white tile of the hall.

He knew that he tormented her, yes, to admittedly get a reaction out of her; but he didn't think she'd lose control like that. The knew that calling her lack of revenge weakness was her discretion and meekness, ultimately, maturity.

The fact that she was so expressive also meant she was slowly recovering from the blow of pain she suffered from the death of Genesis, the one who had held her anchor. He was her best friend, and they held each other's anchors when they left their home. They left with such an immovable resolve, too; they sought to bring hope to the village with none left.

He also knew that Erin's accuracy was flawless. If she really meant to pin down or kill him she could have done so with ease. Considering the fact that she allowed herself to nick off inches of his hair meant she had been indefinitely furious. But her first attack had surprised him, but after he thought about it, it made sense. She'd let him see the senbon for a split second so he could run. She continued to surprise him when her projectiles left less air between them, but Erin never allowed herself to hit him.

It was the same when she had him flat against the ground. Her slight reduce of force on his chest showed him that she gave something not many people gave him. It was something he'd never think anyone would show him with his jibes, mocking, sarcastic, and in some cases disrespectful attitude towards his enemies.

Erin had shown him grace.

In return he'd given her full answers and called it pity. He really had pitied her and her memories of Genesis though, but he had pity and something else; he didn't know what though. And he knew that Erin knew that he'd said 'thank you' in his own prideful way.

…

It that night as Chihiro and Erin ate dinner with Mr. and Mrs. Ogino while feeling like she had a family did Erin understand what Nejutso had meant by pitying her, and why he was so truthful and complete.

It was a thank you for not killing him, or even breaking his arms, legs, or even amputated one of his limbs. They both knew she had the capabilities. In fact, Erin was ashamed at her lack of control, and the fact that she went as far as to knock the wind out of him. She would never hurt someone unnecessarily. But and in return for that grace, she showed him, Nejutso helped her with her current goals. Not because he pitied her, and it wasn't even because he'd been a part of Genesis' death in the first place, though it was a part of it.

It was because the neutral spirit Nejutso had felt compassion.

…

Later that night, Erin had ignored Chihiro's pleas to quit skipping classes, and told her about the events of the day; going into detail regarding Nejutso.

It took her awhile, and by the time she had finished it was eight, two hours after dinner.

"You turned your weapons on Yoshida Haruto," Chihiro stated bluntly horrified. "In front of other kids, and you told them to scram and get back to class even though you were out of class yourself. Then you interrogated him and found out that Nikushimi is after my Kaito's best friend. And if that wasn't bad enough, Haku's anchor is unstable." Chihiro summed everything up. "How is it unstable?" she pointed to herself. "How am I unstable?"

Erin did not know how to answer that, and at her hesitation, Chihiro knew it was something big.

"Erin," she eyed the wind spirit. "How am I unstable?"

"You're not unstable," Erin said. "And, ah, it's not my place to tell."

And then Chihiro decided she would not quit asking Erin until she got a sufficient answer out of her. The fact that Erin made an "ah" sound meant she didn't know how to word it, and since she'd said "it's not my place to tell", it meant that it wasn't something immediately life threatening. But at the look that Erin had no intention of answering her, Chihiro asked another question that would hopefully answer it.

"The anchor owner can sense when the anchor is in danger," Chihiro began. "But can the anchor sense if the owner is in trouble?"

Erin nodded. "If the holder is a person, the anchor with vibrate, grow warmer, grow ice cold; it could be anything."

"Do certain things trigger certain reactions?"

Erin shook her head. "Not typically. Depending on the severity of either side's condition, the anchor or owner will feel the proportionate feeling. It's up to you and Haku to gauge and set the scale though. It's something he should have done before he left." Erin finished with an annoyed tone. "You and he will have to figure it out on your own."

---

Haku and Kaito had soon gone to sleep afterward, and on roughly five hours of sleep, woke up at dawn and roused the others. Once they finished eating a quick breakfast, Yubaba and Lin saw the ragtag expedition team off. Haku's face had a hardened, stuff expression. After all, it was critical to the bathhouse's safety.

"You sure you know where you're going?" Lin asked Haku cynically with a cocked eyebrow.

"Yes, I do," he said, returning with a slightly annoyed tone, and with it came a less hard and serious expression, and found himself smiling a bit.

He realized what she was doing, and he gave her a genuine smile. Thanks.

She gave a tilt of a nod, also with a knowing, almost motherly smile. No problem.

Normally, she acted like the teasing, and chiding, older sister, but as she set the young spirits off she couldn't help but drop the careless act despite her faith in them. She wanted more than anything to see the kids come back safe and sound; mission objectives completed or not.

"And so we head for the Lombard mountains," Kaito said somewhat grimly, and Feya walked up to him and gave an encouraging nod with an ever so evident comforting smile. As soon as Haku had come back from the visit to the seer, he'd written down every word of her resonating message.

Many will embark on a dangerous quest,

Failings, shortcomings, all put to the test.

Truth and time walk hand in hand,

All who proceed have talents in demand.

Hurt in adversity, hurt in love,

Hardship in experience is critical as well.

For many of the hardest lessons,

Pain and affliction in them dwell.

Tale of old, price more than gold,

A prince of long ago was bitter.

All the greed, a selfish deed,

Even in sight of all he had received.

Precious lost, precious cost,

Condemned to live alone and to plead.

Most important is to put others more important,

Watched over and protected will you be.

Accept the love of the one who gives freely,

And strength beyond yourselves is guaranteed.

It took them quite a while to try and decipher the seer's enigmatic message. It eventually all came down to being ready to be tested, to brace themselves for pain in experience, and putting others first. The rhyme unfortunately didn't tell them what Nikushimi was after, and none of them really understood why there was a verse mentioning the selfish old man. They knew it was important, but they had no idea what it meant, so for the moment they decided it meant "don't be selfish", and hoped it would become clear as their journey progressed.

That morning, Yubaba hadn't said much, but the stern yet apprehensive look on her face told them that she believed they could return with all objectives accomplished. Bartholomew set them off with a smile, and even little Aiko woke up early to say goodbye with a cheerful smile. She gave an especially long goodbye to Kira, warning her of any possible threat she could think of.

"Watch out for bear-dogs," Aiko said, continuing, "And the huge gorillas, and the plant piranhas,"

"We will, thanks, Aiko," she smiled and pat the small girl's head. She pat her head three times, and each time her hand softly landed on the girls soft black hair, Aiko blinked but said nothing. Kira found it adorable, but quickly retracted her hand. Don't get mushy, kiddo. Not a good idea.

"And mosquitoes," Aiko quickly added; trying to think of more to say to prolong their departure. "And, and...and the electric tornadoes!"

"The what?" Kaito turned around with a very nonplussed look. His eyebrows furrowed, and his dark eyes focused on the small girl's face.

"They don't occur very often," Kira explained, getting into her routine niche of giving out accounts, details, and explanations. "But they're in a sense, electrical, hurricane-moist storms that travel like tornados. They only form under very specific circumstances; I believe warm, wet places. An electrical force needs to be present, and extreme wind." She wrapped up her textbook summary. "Which is why they're so rare. The only place that naturally has all those elements are the Barren Hills. They're on the northeast border of the warm, southeast alkaline plains," she ever so slightly hesitated, "on the southern edge of the swamps, and east of the Junichi Desert. If there happens to be a thunderstorm, an electric tornado can form."

Aiko seemed to pale at the mentioning of her own "threat", and Kira smiled and pat her head one last time. "Don't worry kiddo, I think there's only been two in the history of the Spirit World, and they were always around the spring equinox. We should be fine."

After all, if they didn't learn the lessons she warned they'd have to learn, they couldn't count on being ready for Nikushimi. Speaking of the seer, Sylvia had come to wish them off as well, and offered them one last piece of advice.

"You must not stray from the objective," she warned. "You only have a week. Head for the Lombard Mountains and prevent Nikushimi from getting her hands on what she wants. If you are distracted, and if you do not know your own heart and admit your faults, you will not succeed." She said it with such a straightforward bluntness that rendered everyone speechless.

She continued to say that the stanzas were more ambiguous than they already seemed. Meanings were sometimes, but not often to be taken literally; whatever said may be a hint of what was to come, a warning, a fact of life, or even two or three things at the same time.

With a cloudy road ahead of them, the four spirits and the human shouldered their bags, and gripped their hangliders. Boots, coats, thick pants, and gloves were insisted upon and given by Zeniba. They gratefully accepted, and were especially thankful for them that morning. It was a chilly, cold, yet glaringly sunny dawn. On three, the group ran off the landing, and with one encouraging, powerful spell from Yubaba, they sailed on a mixture of her false wind and the natural air current over the giant body of water before them.

After they had stabilized themselves, the five shared apprehensive and supportive grins as they glanced over at one another. Their formation was well in order, almost instinct as Yubaba had them work together on particularly difficult missions over the past years. Only Haku remained in front, his eyes trained on the horizon. Nikushimi's forces were growing stronger, and if they didn't stop Nikushimi's next step in her plan, they wouldn't stand a chance.

They had to succeed.

---

The next few days Chihiro could tell Erin was on edge. She was looking around, glancing in all directions and utilized any reflective surface to its full potential.

"Erin," Hana's tone made it clear she demanded an answer rather than requested one. They sat in a circle at lunch, and Erin was sitting with a rather antsy air about her. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine," she said, looking up, and allowed herself to take a bite of her bento. They were twenty minutes into lunch and Erin had not yet finished half her lunch.

Airi looked at Chihiro pointedly; seeming to ask her if this was the same Erin who ate five bowls of rice and meat at dinner. If this was the same girl that would drink three bowls of soup and eat two fried fish in a little under ten minutes.

"You sure?" Hana asked, also raising her eyebrow. "When we had picnics over the summer you gobbled up your food in five minutes, and then broke into whatever you brought along for a snack."

"I suppose I've just lost my appetite a bit," Erin responded fluidly, nodding.

"For a week and a day?" Airi's eyebrow rose. Silence followed, and the two girls glanced at Chihiro. Erin took another bite of rice, and Chihiro shook her head, trying to give her friends a reassuring smile. It's fine.

Or at least that was what she hoped they'd gotten from her quick shake of the head.

Even after school, Erin was glancing around, cautious and wary of everyone but Hana and Airi until they boarded the bus.

"Alright Erin," Chihiro placed a hand on her hip. "What's going on?"

"What do you mean?" Erin asked. She didn't look like she was hiding anything; she wasn't one to lie. If she didn't want to tell you something, she would put up a mask of indifference and not answer you.

"I know it's besides the lack of the school's confrontation about your incident a few days ago," Chihiro said lowly, glancing around herself. "I have a feeling that there's something more than what you've told me. What is it?"

"The equinox is in two days."

This wasn't really a subject Chihiro was expecting. "What do you mean?" she asked. "What about it? I've got the resignation papers all ready and filled out. The letter from your parents is taken care of, too, if that's what you mean." It had taken a while for Chihiro to think up a complex enough story plausible to her parents and at the same time able to be used with the school.

Erin shook her head. "That's not what I meant. I'm leaving in two days. I know Nejutso is going back to the Spirit World, but what if Nikushimi sends out spirits? Now that Nejutso is going back to the Spirit World, what if he tells Nikushimi that the anchor is in the human world? Will he tell her that the anchor is unstable? How will she attack Haku in response to this?" she looked at Chihiro. "What about you?"

Chihiro closed her mouth, not having an answer. Even without a change in tone or expression, it had hit Chihiro a lot harder than the other rhetorical questions she had rapidly fired off.

"Well that's why I'm not going to stay here," Chihiro recovered, realizing what she had to do. She gave her response rather blankly. She always knew she was going with Erin back to the Spirit World, but somehow, she'd lost track of time after her world had become brighter, more colorful, and stayed that way. She continued with a perplexed tone, "I thought you knew I was coming with you."

"No you're not," Erin said quickly, tone insistent, but her eyes were not hard.

Chihiro's eyebrows furrowed, now truly confused. "Yes, I am."

"No," Erin looked into Chihiro's eyes, her gaze still lacked a hard look. "You're not. You need to stay here in your world."

"I, I want to help," Chihiro protested. She couldn't believe that Erin was going to deny her this.

Erin shook her head. "The gesture is kind, Chihiro, but I can't let you do this. It'd be safer if you stayed here, and the last thing Haku needs is an anchor in danger. If you come in at the equinox, just think of the commotion that will cause for your parents. And besides, I'm already in enough trouble with your school as it is. They'll eventually learn I pulled weapons on a student, even if the student was Nejutso, who is also uncannily leaving on the equinox. Other students had been ditching on the roof like me. They'd like nothing more than for me to be gone. Besides," she gave Chihiro with such a look of kindness and compassion she'd never seen before. "Haven't you been looking forward to this trip the entire year?"

Chihiro for the second time in five minutes closed her mouth at a loss for words. She hated the fact that she could see Haku in a matter of days, but had to pass it up for safety. All she could do was trust that they would succeed, and wait patiently there.

"Fine," Chihiro finally conceded, regretfully. "But if anything changes, if I feel that anything is wrong, I'm coming with you." she held out her hand. "I'll drop the subject, and not come with you as long as long as the anchor doesn't do anything to even give me the idea that Haku is in trouble. Deal?"

Erin sighed, pondered this for a moment, and slowly shook Chihiro's hand.

"Alright," she eyed her. "Deal."

---

The way their journey began, Haku could tell it wouldn't be the most pleasant. Once they reached 500 yards beyond the bathhouse, they'd realized they missed a turn. So for the moment, they sat down and stayed stationary while they tried to figure out a plan.

Kaito was as unmotivated as could be, Feya was trying her best to help solve the problem, but it wasn't working, and her continuous murmuring was beginning to drive Haku crazy. Seiji was off to the right, doing his own thing, and Kira had been behind in one of her moods, and Haku thought he'd had enough to worry about.

"Well, do you remember the location spell, Feya?" Haku asked again. He didn't have any other ideas, and them thinking to themselves in silence wasn't helping any of their nerves.

"No, unfortunately." She shook her head.

"From the humid, hot, and muggy air," Kira was leaning on a tree in the shadows of the treetop canopy. "I'd say we've been traveling east five hundred miles too far." She broke open her canteen. Sudden crunching came from the right, and when all eyes turned to the source, they found Seiji to have been rolling a fair sized tree trunk toward them. Twigs snapped underneath the weight of the log that was rolled over them.

"What're you doing?" Kaito asked from where he sat in the tree.

"I'm trying to create a makeshift raft." Seiji said, not looking up. "Haku, can you slice this?"

Haku frowned, and stared at the log. "I think so," he stepped in front of the log and everyone stepped back as he began to hold his hands up. "Or, at least in theory. Yubaba didn't teach me anything specific."

He tried using the roots, prefix, and only until he added on a suffix to the end of his experimental spell did the log wobble unsteadily, and then split into two with a slicing sound.

The log didn't split evenly. It went through straight; but at a slight angle, and one could tell the two sides were lopsided.

"Sorry, they're not even," Haku apologized, staring at his empirical work.

"It'll do," Seiji examined it for a moment. "Now that I know this'll work, I need you to help me get more logs. Kaito," he turned to the figure in the tree, finding him to by lying down on a branch. Kaito twisted himself upward and met their gazes. "I need to see if you have the physical capabilities to do what Haku did."

"Split the log?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "Why do you need a raft?"

"We need a flying raft," he replied in the nonchalant manner again. "Haku, do you have enough strength and stamina to make it fly?"

"I should," he nodded, looking at his calloused, pale, sweaty hands. The longer he looked, the more he realized they were shaking.

"Good," Seiji said with an even tone despite the beads of sweat on his head. They all wiped their brows periodically; the sweat dripped of their foreheads in the humidity. He continued walking towards an area more thickly packed with trees. "Feya, stay here with Kaito. Kira, come with Haku and I. We're going to need your help if we run into any of Nikushimi's rodents."

Even though Seiji was not the formal leader, Haku complied. He currently wasn't able to think clearly in the humid head, and if Seiji had a plan, he wasn't going to go against it.

…

After much dragging, tying, scraping of shins and knees, the small team of spirits and human assembled a flying raft satisfactory enough to Seiji.

The rest of the fallen trunks were split by Kaito, far more evenly than Haku's first attempt; and the and Seiji's large roll of twine was now gone and used on the makeshift platform. By the time they had finished this, half a day was gone, and only six and a half days remained.

"Alright," Haku wiped his brow, and everyone was sitting down and propped up against tree trunks. "Everyone should get on about now."

Slowly and tiredly, they picked themselves up, trying not to drag their folded hangliders from the trunks they rested on. They took a few steps to the medium sized platform, and sat down again, throwing the hangliders into a messy heap in the middle.

"Feya," he turned to the least directionally challenged person on the team. "Do you know where we are?"

"Kind of," she said, peering over as much as she dared off the flying raft. "We're some bit west from where the alkalines used to thrive. Regarding our goals, I think we're a bit southeast from where we need to be." She pointed to a waterfalled cliff, it seemed so small from where they were. Small flecks of reflected light could be made out against the black rocks of the mountains. "See that cliff? We have to get there by the end of the day if we want to make it to the Lombard mountains. Not to mention we still need to find out what it is Nikushimi is looking for."

"Well," Haku said, his sore muscles seemed to cry in protest as he lifted his hands up yet again, a motion his body had learned to both appreciate and dread. He spoke the words, and the spell came into effect. Haku immediately felt energy drain from him, and fresh beads of sweat slid down the sides of his head. "We'd best get going before-"

His words were interrupted as a cylindrical storm of blackness alerted it's presence when its enormity overshadowed them, and with the screams that erupted from it as it tore through everything in its path.

---

Chihiro awoke with a start in cold sweat. Her palms were sweaty, and at her waking, her face filled with hot with blood rush. Her muscles had tensed, and it took effort to calm them down. Even a good amount of time after she woke up, her heart still beat furiously in an anxious, almost frightened manner.

"Erin," Chihiro whispered to her right, still trembling as she peered at her friend sleeping in the futon on the air mattress. "Erin!"

Erin showed no sign of stirring, so Chihiro decided to shake her a bit. Her arm emerged from underneath the warm, red comforters, and approached Erin's shoulder. Only a moment after Chihiro's hand grasped Erin's shirt did her sharp, green eyes fly open. Instinctively, Erin's right arm gripped Chihiro's wrist, and she let go with a yelp.

"Oh, sorry, Chihiro," Erin rubbed her eye. "What are you doing up at this hour?"

"I, I woke up sweating," Chihiro held up and looked at her palms. The shaking had calmed down significantly, but it was still evident they were quivering. "I-my heart was pounding, like I was scared, I wasn't dreaming. I just woke up in cold sweat and-"

Chihiro noticed Erin's eyes were staring at Chihiro's hands, but once they looked up, her green irises became alarmed as they locked onto Chihiro's necklace.

Chihiro had no time to ask what was wrong as she saw that the place under her chin was glowing with a blue-green light. The dull glow sharpened and became considerably brighter, as if a cloth had been removed from the bulb of a flashlight. Chihiro tried to pick it up, but once her pale hands touched the dragon charm, it sent a shock through her arm. It didn't shock her body, but it lay fixed at her collarbone even if Chihiro swayed back and forth. The light continued to illuminate her dark, moonlight bedroom, but in an instant, it vanished.

Moments passed after the light faded.

"Erin-"

"You should go back to bed Chihiro," Erin began to re-situate herself under the covers of her futon. Chihiro couldn't believe it. She was going back to sleep!?

"Chihiro," Erin said sternly. "It would be best for you to calm down right now, and go back to sleep, alright?" she turned her head to meet her brown eyes. "He should be fine, but you staying calm and collected will help his mentality on the other side of the anchor, alright?"

Uneasily, Chihiro tried and succeeded in falling back into a relatively peaceful slumber. Erin lay quietly with her eyes closed, but very much awake. She'd never read or seen any anchor signal like that before.

She had to think.

…

As expected, the events of early that morning had not been off her mind once, much less had gone away. Chihiro couldn't focus at all. Math was a series of mumbled numbers, functions, and variables, and English had been a passage of murmured words.

"I'm fine, trust me!" Chihiro had smiled really big at nutrition, quickly have been jerked out of her thoughts. Erin winced a bit. It was obvious to her that her mind was still heavily latched onto the events of early that morning, but to the concerned Hana and Airi, she was just off in her own little world.

Chihiro walked with Erin to third period, and Chihiro sat in her seat by the window slowly. Erin eyed her and then proceeded to take her seat across the room with Airi. The first half of science was a plant diagram and some vocabulary she couldn't remember.

"Chihiro," the teacher had barked, and Chihiro less than subtly snapped into the present. "Why do plant cells need both the chloroplast and mitochondria?"

"Er," Chihiro racked her brain. She'd gone ahead in the book with Erin the night before, so she knew the information lay somewhere in her brain. "Plant cells need both mitochondria and chloroplasts because..." Endosymbiotic theory, needs both sources of energy, photosynthesis... "It needs both the mitochondria and chloroplasts because at night, the non-cyclic cycle comes into play because it needs to make energy when there is no light able to be used for photosynthesis."

"And why can't it just make enough energy during the day to sustain itself through the night?" He continued.

"Because," Chihiro once again searched her brain for any information. ATP...What do I know about ATP... "Because ATP only lasts for roughly forty-five minutes."

"Very good," he nodded, satisfied with her answer. Chihiro breathed a sigh of relief. Her gaze looked back up to the board, and her eyes briefly met with Kyoya's, who had turned around. They grinned at each other, and as Chihiro's mind began to wander again, she was sharply brought to her senses by the burning feeling on her neck.

Aurgh! Chihiro bit back a scream as she quickly hunched over. She slowly pressed her cold fingers against her skin. What was that!?

She didn't need to look down to know that it was the anchor. The dragon itself was radiating a layer of heat. After a moment, the anchor suddenly became very heavy, and the heat left it within the second. Chihiro's heart raced with panic, and her shaking fingers gingerly tapped the silver dragon, and her heart fell into her stomach. The anchor had become ice cold, and as Chihiro cupped it in her hands, her hands began dripping with water as she realized a thin layer of frost was forming around it. The boy next to her realized that something was very wrong with her necklace, and raised his hand, wondering why Chihiro hadn't done so herself already. But once he did this, the anchor returned to it's normal state only for half a second before it began vibrating furiously. The boy's eyes widened even more as the necklace continued it's supernatural behavior.

"Yes, what is it Tsukimori?" The teacher looked over from the blackboard, and the boy was jarred out of his shock. By now, Erin, Airi, and Kyoya had realized something had happened to Chihiro, and as they turned their heads, Erin felt that Chihiro couldn't draw any more suspicion to herself. If the class wasn't already staring in wonder and confusion, the dragon began to shine from the inside out as it had in the middle of the night. Moments later, it became a beacon of light; a blazing, glowing sphere enveloped the dragon, and it began to float.

By now, absolutely everyone in the classroom went still, gawking in surprise and fear, when a second later the light faded, and it fell back onto Chihiro's neck, a blazing silver, and a clear indent across the dragon's torso.

"Excuse us, Morishita-sensei," Erin had leaped out of her chair with a stern, hard look, but panic was evident in her eyes. She made no eye contact with the teacher as she jumped out of her chair. As soon as the first words had left her lips, Chihiro had also jumped out of her chair, and began walking as quickly as she could, going across the back of the classroom to the back door with Erin.

"No," the teacher said in shocked disbelief. "You may not-"

The door slammed shut, Erin and Chihiro stared at each other with wide eyes, and the sprinted to the roof.

"Chihiro," Erin's eyes were wide and her pupils constricted. "What was that!?"

"You mean you don't know!?" Chihiro's heartbeat quickened considerably as an even firmer wave of panic embedded itself in her voice. Her hands flew to her head. They always habit of doing so when she was in a confused frenzy.

"I mean, a reaction that large has never, I mean it's never, happened before in the history of anchors, Chihiro," Erin's clear eyes displayed a true sense of alarm and bewilderment. "And look," she said sharply, walking over, "the dragon has a new indentation!"

Chihiro snatched up her anchor, and strained her eyes to look down at the dragon due to the chain's shorter length.

"Never, not ever in the history I've read about," Erin began pacing with large, powerful steps across the roof. "If the anchor grows warm it means they're cut and bleeding, frost means they're conscious, light means whatever happened was intense, and the amount of light shows it on a spectrum of how severe..."

"It was vibrating, too," Chihiro said, still trembling with apprehension and worry for Haku.

Erin paled. "Vibrations mean a storm. I don't understand this."

"I need to go to the Spirit World with you now," Chihiro said, trying to fill the silence. It also meant she would also miss the trip. She shook her head, trying to get rid of the thought. Haku was in danger and she was thinking about her art? That wasn't right...she wanted to go so badly as well...but it just wasn't right. She had to go help save Haku in whatever trouble he was in. And besides, she mentally slapped herself harder than she ever had before. Hadn't she been so excited about getting to go on the trip? Now she felt horrible; torn between duty and what her dreams had amounted to.

"You'll have to," Erin agreed grimly. "But right now we need to get you to the nurse. Say you're sick, and your parents can come get you. Once you're in your room, start packing."

"What about you?" Chihiro reached for the green roof door. "The whole school is going to-"

"I think," Erin said dourly. "That it's time for me to mysteriously disappear. I'll pick up your sketchbook from the Art room, I have a feeling you're going to want it. I'll turn in my resignation form and the letter to the school tomorrow morning. They can't interrogate me further because I'm on a plane back to Europe, and you," she looked at Chihiro, and opened the door. "You need to spend today and tomorrow packing clothes, food, water, and get your mind in the right mentality. I'll stay one more night before I turn in the resignation letter. I'll drop by a couple hours before sunset on the equinox to get my weapons and we'll get to the gateway. Understood?"

Chihiro finished the plan in her mind. She'd tell the school that she couldn't go on the trip tomorrow morning. The morning if the equinox, she would leave by herself (Erin would be "gone" by tomorrow), and leave the window unlocked. She'd shove the suitcase back up in her room and into her closet with Erin's help through the open window, and lock it on her way out. Then Chihiro would check in, saying she got on the bus. Then she would enter into the Spirit World that evening with Erin, and once they defeated Nikushimi on the solstice, Chihiro would be back in time as her schoolmates would return that afternoon. She'd figure out everything else on the way.

Chihiro could only nod as Erin walked through the open door, and Chihiro followed suit.

…

Erin and Chihiro proceeded to the nurse's office, and Erin called Chihiro's mom at work. She wasn't mad or exasperated at all. They waited for a while, and Chihiro's mom picked her up. Of course, Erin didn't go to History, there was only fifteen minutes left anyway. Instead, she proceeded to walk towards the art room. She wasn't sure why, but she had a feeling that Chihiro would need something to take her mind off of everything that happened, and Erin was pretty sure that there weren't any sketchbooks in the Spirit World.

She hid behind a corner until the lunch bell rang ten minutes later, and once the classroom had cleared, Erin walked in.

"Hello, you're Erin, right?" Suzuki-sensei smiled, and then her smile toned down to a soft, worried look. "I heard about the supernatural commotion in third period."

Erin's heartbeat instantly sped up, and she was rendered speechless.

"It's alright," she gave a warm, knowing smile. "I believe you and Chihiro have things to do, right? Her sketchbook is on the third back table to the right. She's quite the talented student. You should take a look at her sketches in the back; they're quite, unique."

"Thank you," she quickly walked over to the table and located the green sketchbook under the piles of others. Unique. Erin repeated to herself, and made a mental note to look through them later.

She was about to walk out of the room when she and Suzuki made eye contact one last time. Her last statement sent a chill and a freeze through Erin, who dashed out of the classroom after.

"Say hello to Sylvia for me, will you?"

...

It was about one o'clock when Chihiro got home, and she went straight to bed without lunch. Despite her increasing hunger, she suppressed it and proceeded to pack a share of clothes. She knew she only needed one, and would have to change into Spirit World clothes later, but she packed a few changes of clothes anyway. She packed pencils, a sharpener, and eraser, too; Erin would be bringing her sketchbook and she had begun dreading weekends a little when she had to part with it. She brought other things she might need as well, popping in and out of the garage, peering over the hall corner to make sure her mother was still typing in the office. In her ivory tote bag, she fit two changes of clothes, her drawing things, rope, a Swiss army knife, flashlight, a waterproof picnic blanket, and a regular blanket. She "packed up" "Erin's clothes" from "her suitcase" back into Chihiro's closet. She gathered Erin's weapons into a semi-neat pile on her desk, and actually decided to get some sleep. She'd do the water and food tomorrow.

No less than ten minutes after Chihiro climbed into bed (she may as well get some extra sleep while she could), did her mom come knocking and peering through the door saying it was time for dinner, and that Erin came back home with her sketchbook.

The next two days passed quickly, and the equinox had come.

…

The day passed quickly. For some reason, she felt the need to say goodbye to Shizuku-sensei. She and Shizuku-sensei did not speak much as they usually did, but she smiled, and her teacher wished her the best on her adventure. Chihiro had furrowed her eyebrows, but she didn't pay much attention to it.

She still had to kill the rest of the day, so she decided to have some ramen. In her mind, she was running plans through, and doing her best to conjour up as many realistic scenarios she could. Well, as realistic as things could be in the Spirit World. Because of that, most of her scenarios were as to how she'd react when she saw Haku again. And Yubaba, Lin, Zeniba, and the rest of the new recruits of course, but mainly she thought about her reunion with Haku. Chihiro shoveled a large mouthful of noodles into her mouth with her chopsticks, and munched heavily. She'd felt very sad when he'd left. She often found herself dismally gazing into the sky, imagining he was flying again.

On another note, she wasn't sure why Erin didn't want to spend the day with her. Not that she minded, she enjoyed and needed her alone time to think. Around one, she boarded the bus again, simply staring out the window indifferently, and delicately fingered the dragon. She figured she could go visit Haku's river before she saw him in the Spirit World.

She silently trekked up the hill and to the river, smiling a little when she saw it. She ran over, and went on her knees, plunging her hands into the cold water. She let it flow past her forearm, and stretched her arms farther in, and her upper arms were submerged in the river as well. The sensation was so wonderful that the cold didn't matter.

Chihiro spent two hours like this, sticking her feet, ankles, arms, and her face in the almost freezing water. Chihiro thought she was sure to get a cold, but she hadn't been able to visit the river much since Erin had arrived. It doesn't matter, Chihiro grinned as she slipped her calves into the water. The wind bit at her wet arms, and she shivered.

Soon, the sun had grown dangerously close to the horizon, and Chihiro had to sprint from the bus back home. Luckily, Erin had just arrived herself, (oddly not punctual, but Chihiro didn't think of it any at the time) and the two retrieved their things from Chihiro's bedroom. Then back to the bus, they sprinted to the red gateway, and the sun touched the horizon like a tangent.

"We got everything?" Chihiro huffed as they reached the top of the hill, and went through the gate.

"Too late now," Erin said, huffing herself. "Come on, let's go."

As they crossed the bedrock of the dried river, the two saw Yoshida Haruto. They bounded up the steps, and realized why he hadn't entered yet. There was no bridge into the forest yet.

"Nejutso," Erin acknowledged him. He gave a slight nod in return, barely acknowledged Chihiro with a quick look, and resumed his gazing into the dense forest.

They stood there in silence and apprehension, anticipating what may await them on the other side. Suddenly, the world blurred, and Chihiro felt like she was swept away with an exceptionally powerful gust of wind. Her head began to pound, and she stumbled away from Erin and Nejutso, who had remained still with their eyes shut. She staggered over to the red, cracked, clay pillars of the gateway, and she let it support all her weight. She shut her eyes tightly, willing as much as she could for the agonizing headache and lightheaded feeling to leave her. Once the dizziness faded and the wind died down, the wooden bridge leading into the swamp had appeared.

"Well, I guess it's time," Chihiro shook a little in nervousness.

"Yep," Erin said firmly, and began to take a step. "Let's go-"

"Chihiro, wait!"

Chihiro spun around at the abrupt yelling of her name. Erin did the same, and Nejutso continued walking along the bridge. Chihiro's eyes widened, and her mouth fell open.

"Chihiro, I knew something was wrong with this gate!" Kyoya was bounding across the dry bedrock and up the steps. Erin wrinkled her nose. She obviously didn't like the way Kyoya described the Spirit World gateway. "What are you doing? Are you going in?"

"Ah," Chihiro blinked, and tried to stall. "Um, I-"

"I was wondering when you'd get here," was Erin's easy, impassive reply. She turned to Chihiro, "I was talking with him while you were sick at home, and then today to see if he really wanted to come." Erin glanced over at Chihiro while she looked pointedly at Kyoya, and sighed a little. "It appears he's dead set on it. Are you prepared?"

He nodded, coming up the steps himself, and Chihiro noticed he was holding a sack as well. She opened her mouth, "You mean you know-"

"It's where my brother disappeared off to, after all." He said hollowly. "I'm not stupid either, and I pay attention. Gateways don't just appear four days of the year, and then disappear again."

Chihiro bit her lip, and slowly nodded. "I guess Erin prepped you yesterday?"

He nodded. "It's my first time going in."

"I hope not your last," Chihiro finished, and looked homeward wistfully. "It's a nice place when it's normal."

"We need to get going," Erin warned, bringing their attention to the setting sun. "We have approximately three minutes. We need to run through to make sure we're not left behind when the bridge starts to disappear."

With that, Erin stalked down the bridge, and Kyoya silently followed. Chihiro turned around, and looked through the gateway one more time.

Bye mom; bye, dad, Chihiro thought, and smiled with a few tears at the edges of her eyes. Chihiro broke into a confident, determined run after Erin and Kyoya.

I promise I'll be back soon.

---

Again, I want to thank everyone for their reviews. The support has been encouraging!