Unkind Mankind
Disclaimer: I do not own Spirited Away.
Chapter 10 – Perverted
It's trivial. I know that I shouldn't think these things, and I know that I'm just being negative, but I'm afraid to lose him. He was my first friend, and even though we haven't seen each other in eleven years, the fact that he's my friend still hasn't changed.
Change. Everybody comes across it at some point in their lives, no matter how big or small the change may be. Tradition changes, technology changes, and people change. Whether it is height or hairstyle, everyone changes in some way; even me, Chihiro Ogino.
I can certainly say that I've changed over the years; I've gotten taller, my hair's longer, and I have breasts now. But, I think the part of me that's changed the most is my personality.
I can proudly say that I am no longer the whiny, bossy, stubborn, lazy kid that I used to be. To think all that is thanks to my friends in the Spirit World; it's amazing. And Haku, he's the one who helped me the most; I mean, he's saved my life – twice – and without him, I would've surely been turned into bacon long ago.
Ah yes, Haku. He's changed quite a bit, too. He's so tall now; about a head taller than me. He's more muscular and lithe now, and his voice is deeper, but still so smooth. As for personality, though, he hasn't changed at all. No, he's still very much the kind, strong-hearted dragon boy that I'd met years ago. And for this, I'm glad.
But what does it all mean? Nowadays I can't so much as even look at him without getting butterflies in my stomach, and every time he smiles it feels like I could just melt into a puddle of pure bliss. I've started getting these strange feelings lately; ones I've never had before. All these thoughts roaming throughout my mind is making me confused; and I'm afraid. I'm afraid that he'll leave me behind, afraid that he'll leave me alone; afraid that he won't choose me.
I slowly open my eyes, blinking back tears. That he won't choose me? What was that supposed to mean? I shake my thoughts away, saving them to ponder on another time. I stand up, and realise that I'm still wearing nothing but a towel. I change into a pair of black jeans and slip on a purple tank top. It may not be the most fashionable and fancy thing to wear, but at least it's not covered in blood. I move over to the vanity in the back of my room, finding a hairbrush to untangle my knotty locks.
Once my hair is tangle-free, I slip out of the room and head towards the kitchen to make some dinner. As I walk past my bathroom door, I hear the shower running, and I feel my cheeks heat up almost instantly. 'I wonder what he's thinking…'
I open up the fridge door, and frown at what's inside.
"Looks like I forgot to go shopping. Again." I mutter. I sigh and move to the pantry to get some rice.
~o~o~O~o~o~
I study my dining table – set for two, of course – and smile at my efforts. Hearing the bathroom door opening, I turn to find Haku, clad in nothing but a towel.
I can do nothing but stare at the sight. I feel my cheeks burning; my eyes are wide, and my mouth agape. My face is aflame, and for some strange reason, I can't seem to take my eyes off of him. I think he says something, but I can't hear anything; I can only hear my thundering heartbeat inside my chest. I can't help but ogle over his gloriously soaked body, watching intently as the cold beads of water slowly roll down his toned abdomen. My eyes let themselves wander downwards, past his pectorals, down to his deliciously sculpted stomach. These devilish grey orbs of mine don't stop at his yummy abs, however, and keep stubbornly making their way downwards still. Following the streams of water yet again, I eventually reach Haku's hips, and find that he had put on the damp towel hastily, and very low on his body, at that.
I swallow thickly. Attempting to steady my unknowingly shaky breath, I continue my 'examination'. I spot the evident 'V' shape between his hips, which of course means that that would eventually lead my naughty eyes down towards his–
"U-Uh…" I sputter, immediately looking away after catching myself gawking at my dragon friend. That's right, he's my friend. What the hell am I doing ogling over him like this? What's gotten into me? "Um…"
"Chihiro? Are you okay? Your face is all red…" His face reads that he's genuinely worried about me, which in turn makes me feel extremely guilty all of a sudden. Haku approaches me slowly, as if to not scare me, hoisting up the damp towel slightly.
My towel.
'Stop it, Chihiro! What the hell's wrong with you?!' That's right; I mustn't think such perverted things as this. It's not my towel, he would've used one of the spare one's I always leave in the bathroom… Right?
But even so, I still own that towel; and to think it's currently wrapped around his naked body like that…
I involuntarily shiver, suddenly feeling very hot.
I hadn't realised that Haku had walked across the hallway, and is now standing about a foot away from me. I snap my head up to his confused features.
'Don't look at me like that…' His gaze is so intense, but yet so soft. My cheeks burn and a pang of guilt hits me; he's genuinely worried about me, seeing me in such a state. My face must be so red, Haku probably thinks I'm sick or something. And what was I doing? I had been practically drooling over him! An expression so soft I feel weak in the knees, and a hand comes up to cup my cheek with a touch so gentle I could break down and cry at any given moment. Another pang of guilt.
'Please… don't look at me with those eyes…' My lip trembles, the emotions already prickling at the corners of my guilt-ridden eyes. 'I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to…' I turn away from his warm body, unwilling to meet his eyes any longer.
"Chihiro?" I take a few deep breaths to calm myself. He absolutely can't find out this new perverted side of me, and I certainly won't let my guilt get the best of me. "Did you hear what I said…?"
Turning back around, I smile gently up at his handsome face. "Sorry, I must've spaced out or something…"I laugh nervously, rubbing the back of my neck. Haku just chuckles slightly, placing his hands on his hips.
"I said, that since I have blood all over my clothes, I don't have anything to wear anymore." He quirks an eyebrow, and my cheeks start to feel a little warm again.
"Oh… Oh, sorry about that!" I say, fighting back the blush I feel trying to spread across my face. Again chuckling, a small bemused smile crosses his features.
"Would it be alright if we found something other than this towel for me to wear?" Smiling back, I feel both mentally and physically relieved that the awkward situation has finally passed.
"Let's find you something to wear then, shall we?"
~o~o~O~o~o~
A/N: Wow, that was surprisingly difficult to write! Or maybe I just have writer's block…? Either way, I'm glad this chapter's finally finished after about two weeks of only having about 500 or so words. Sorry that it's shorter, but if I were to take some out of chapter 9 then this chapter would be longer.
*IMPORTANT – PLEASE READ*
My computer's saying that all of my fic files are corrupted, which obviously isn't good. My school laptop (the one I use to write/store my fanfiction) is currently being repaired, so I backed everything up to this chapter. But like I said before, apparently all the files are corrupted or something. Luckily I had previously given a copy of this chapter to Heartz4Jesus, which means that I thankfully don't have to rewrite this chapter. Although because everything is lame and hates me, I'm probably going to have to rewrite chapter 11 :( *sigh* So yeah, that's why this chapter's a little late in being put up. Also, for some reason I can't access my emails, I'm not sure what's going on there either. Sorry for the inconvenience, guys.
But yeah, as usual, tell me what you thought about this chapter!
Thanks to those awesome people who reviewed last chapter! Those people are:
Ialiceiamagodness, Heartz4Jesus, diety, WhiteTiger246, buttercupnbutch4ever, Chihiro no Ryuu and chaostheory1989!
And because this is the tenth chapter, I thought it might be nice to thank everyone who favourited and followed me and my fanfiction!
Thanks to talicinx, shad0wd3ath, ralucix, michelle88222, manganime fangirl23, darkstar2010, .731, chaostheory1989, The Beast in Repose, Raphs No.1 Girl, Lexi4545, KagomeGirl021, IndianaJolee, Heartz4Jesus, Chihiro no Ryuu and Baby Peach for following!
Thanks to ralucix, diety, darkstar2010, The Beast in Repose, Meep99, Lexi4545, IndianaJolee, Cheerhappy998 and Avasinclair123 for favouriting!
I'm not sure if I'll be able to update next Friday like usual, but let's see what happens :)