Chihiro found herself unable to sleep, the nightmare still fresh in her mind. Something about the nightmare had felt familiar, too familiar. At first, the feeling was easily dismissed, it involved Haku and Hisashi after all. Still, after dismissing it and trying to go back to sleep, the feeling wouldn't go away. She found herself standing and began wandering along a short path in front of Lin, rubbing her temples as she tried to get rid of the feeling.

Why was she feeling this? She had never dated Hisashi let alone be engaged to him! Still… It was too much. She had brought her phone without thinking, but it was long dead by now, and she didn't think about packing batteries if they would even work after almost two weeks. She paused, sitting down next to Lin and closing her eyes tightly, letting her head fall into her hand as her elbows rested on her legs.

Then, it hit her. Chihiro finally understood why it felt familiar. The words were wrong, entirely wrong, but the scene wasn't. She started to remember clearly.

Mrs. Nishihara had invited the much younger girl to get a cup of coffee at a popular and new café. Chihiro had eagerly agreed, it had been a day off and she welcomed the excuse to get out of the house.

It had been a pleasant meeting, talking about the simple joys in life as small laughs pierced the air around the woman's table as they moved away from the café and into a nearby park. The coffee was delicious. Chihiro began feeling a pit in her stomach and suggested they should part ways when Hisashi showed up. Mrs. Nishihara eagerly greeted her grandson and Chihiro offered a polite 'hello' before turning to hurry off. Just seeing him caused her skin to prickle.

"Chihiro?" The young woman froze at Hisashi's voice. His grandma was watching him curiously as she slowly turned again and he approached her, "This is a bit awkward timing, but… Are you busy this evening? I have tickets to a movie, the friend that was going to go with me canceled last minute."

His voice was sweet, sweet enough to have Mrs. Nishihara squeals with joy and strangers walking by giving happy words of congratulations and joy.

They didn't see or hear what she heard. The sweetness of his voice was sickening, dripping with venom disguised as honey. His eyes were cold, solid like rocks. Like every encounter with him, her brain was screaming that she was in danger. A predator was staring her down, ready to strike, and she had to choose. Accepting would be way too dangerous, yet running was just as terrifying. Still… Running would mean she would live another day.

Chihiro gave a quick and clumsy bow before averting her eyes, trying to ignore the fact that his pupils began to remind her of a hungry snake-like they usually did when she upset him. "Sorry, I actually do have plans. I… Um… I'm having a movie night with my dad! And I'm not sure whether we're going out or staying home!" Her instinct was telling her to run and she didn't even look at Mrs. Nishihara's face before hurrying off. She couldn't sleep for days after that, feeling the pressure of eyes hungrily hunting her at every moment.

Chihiro snapped back to the present, the noises of the train and quiet snores returning to her ears. She scowled at the memories of Hisashi making similar requests once a week if not more, and no doubt Hisashi was trying to confuse her. Surely he would realize it wouldn't work? It didn't even work before he revealed himself as a literal snake instead of just a metaphorical one.

Rustling sounds filled the quiet train as Chihiro dug for the emeralds. One out of three had now cracked, causing a scowl to form on her face as she looked out into the dark wintry landscape. She still wasn't convinced she could forgive Haku, but time was running out. With all the time she's had to think, she started to realize what emeralds must be doing, or at least, the most logical thing they were doing. They had protected her from the venom in her side that should have killed her before this journey even began.

Stuffing the two unharmed emeralds back into her bag, she clenched the damaged one. It was fading but the warmth it emitted was still comforting. She closed her eyes and shifted into a more comfortable position, the pain in her side giving her another reminder of the falling hope. I will save you, Haku. I promise. And you better get rid of the asshole snakes venom once I do.

The train came to a screeching halt shortly after dawn. Lin and Aoegaeru Had barely begun picking up all their things when Chihiro jumped out of the train, still clutching the emerald that had now lost all its warmth, although it was still comforting. Chihiro bowed to the train attendant and wrapped her jacket tighter around her. It was so much colder than any winter she had experienced in Japan, and way more snow. The snow was at least a foot high if not two.

Chihiro admired the mountains that managed to block out the coldest wind. She soon noticed a road towards a small village, if it could be called that. Only a few log houses stood at the base of the mountain. As soon as she heard Lin and Aoegaeru talking behind her she started walking down the road. The pair following her scrambled to catch up, but she was too determined. She really only had two emeralds left, this had to end now. If she was lucky, the emerald that was too weak to be much help in a fight would last long enough that the two strong ones would still be at their strongest. She knew that despite everything she was still human, she needed to try to avoid fighting and free Haku so he could finish it off.

The human woman approached the first door she saw, knocking with no hesitation. After minutes with no answer and ignoring her travel partner's pleas to move on, she finally did. Approaching the second door, she knocked louder than she had on the first. A few moments passed, the fox and frog moved on but Chihiro persisted. Her persistence paid off as a spirit that looked like a cross between a horse and woman opened the door, gasping a little at the visitor.

"My! We never get strangers this far north! Come in, come in!"

The fox and frog hurried to follow Chihiro inside the small house. A fire was burning along the right wall and the smell of freshly baked bread hung in the air. A cross between a horse and man sat in a large overstuffed chair and was reading a book, seeming uninterested in the strangers.

The woman pushed Chihiro into a chair, "Please, have something to eat! You look frozen!" The three travelers exchanged a confused look and the woman gasped softly, "Oh my, where are my manners! My name is Ida, and my husband is named Eto. I'm just so excited to have visitors to this little town."

Chihiro cleared her throat and gave a warm smile, "It's no problem. I'm Chihiro, and this is Lin and Aoegaeru." Chihiro motioned to the two as she said their names, "We actually can't stay long, I just hoped someone here would be able to answer a question." Ida curiously motioned for Chihiro to continue, the human hesitating before doing so, "Do you know of someone named Nomura or Hisashi?"

A deathly silence fell as if Chihiro had gone deaf as Ida gave a strong and cold look to Chihiro, a look that caused her to freeze and go quiet as well. Despite the silence, this reaction had given Chihiro her answer, and it was far beyond a bad one.

You won't get tired of my apologies, will you?
It's been an embarrassingly long time. To be honest, if 2020 was a train, then 2021 has been a fucking Boeing 777. My creativity has taken a massive hit. Honestly, I'm not sure what the hell I'm doing with my life. I know a lot of people can relate. Don't get me wrong, some super amazing things have happened, but the bad has been... Overwhelming. I'm also doubting this project. I mean, the original plan was to dwarf the original and have it go twice as long with so much more. Still, I like it more than the original. I feel like the story I really wanted to tell has been done.

I hope ya'll continue to enjoy the next couple of chapters of this dumpster fire. Love 3