Chapter 10
Sen Reunites with Haku
Green Hills Golf was quite generous with their new manager of professional talent. He was responsible for recruiting course professionals and ensuring they remained loyal and happy ambassadors of the corporation. His benefits package included a comfortable apartment in nearby Nakano and a car with driver. Chihiro and mom visited her father twice or three times a month on weekends. As the house in Gifu wasn't far from the Chuo expressway, mom preferred making the several hour trip by car. This time it was going to be a very short visit. They set out early Saturday afternoon after class and would have to be back by Sunday evening.
Ever since she was a baby, Chihiro hated long trips in cars. While she certainly would have preferred to take a train or fly into Tokyo, the regular trips in to see daddy were an exception. This time she had a doubly strong desire to make the trip: she also wanted to see the miracle river in Tokyo. Sen, in the meantime, was observing the highway road signs and looking at license plates. She was beginning to learn to read. Mom, being a careful driver, stuck to the speed limit. This gave Sen the perfect opportunity to read license plates as they passed by: [NAGOYA]... [NAGOYA]... [GIFU]... [OHMIYA]... [SHINAGAWA]... [TAMA]... [ADACHI]... [SHONAN] Chihiro reclined her seat back and started to drift off into a nap. Sen was still at it: [NARA]...[CHIBA]...[NODA]...[NAGOYA]. Chihiro, semi-conscious started to talk blankly, "Nara...Chiba...Noda...Nagoya..." Mom looked over at Chihiro, who was looking at the ceiling with her eyes rolled up slightly. "Why is she rattling off names like that," her mom wondered. Returning her eyes to the road, Chihiro's mom happened to catch the license plate of a Mercedes as it passed. Just then, Chihiro said, "...Shonan..." Another car followed shortly, "...Numazu..."
Mom panicked. "Chihiro!" Her mom in a very spooked voice called out.
"What?"
"How did you do that?"
"Do what?"
"How did you read those license plates? You weren't even looking at them."
"What are you talking about? I was taking a nap," Chihiro protested as she adjusted her purple hair band. "How much longer?"
"Maybe three or four more hours, depending on traffic. We're in Yamanashi." "Maybe she saw it all in a reflection," she thought to herself, trying to think of a rational explanation.
The rest of the trip was quite uneventful. Chihiro was alert with anticipation of seeing daddy again.
The next morning, Chihiro was anxious to get out. "Daddy, can we go see the Kanda River?"
"Sure, if you'd like. You know, of course, that the river has started to get dirty again. We can take the train. The best place to see it is at Ochanomizu--it's only three stops from here. Afterward, we can do a little shopping and find a place for a good meal."
The family got off at Ochanomizu Station. Chihiro ran ahead excitedly to the middle of the bridge and leaned over the railing to look down at the river. The water was still pretty clear. About a hundred meters away, Hideki was at his normal bench studying as always. Haku was interacting with the spirit of the Kanda River when he eyed the familiar shape of a young girl leaning over a bridge railing. He recognized her instantly. [SEN!!] [CHIHIRO!!] It was no use. Chihiro was too far away for her spirit to sense, and her spirit wouldn't be able to recognize Haku in any form other than as a river, a dragon, or the human shape he assumed in the spirit world.
[SEN!?] Haku began to repeat the name [SEN!?] [SEN!?]. The river spirit and the trees and the spirits of the humans on the bridge began to repeat [SEN!?] [SEN!?]. Sen perked up. Was she being called? [SEN!!] [SEN!!] She replied. The spirits echoed [SEN!!] [SEN!!] back to Haku. Haku repeated [HAKU!!] [HAKU!!]. Sen grasped the meaning: [HAKU HERE!!] [HAKU HERE!!]. Sen couldn't contain herself, nor did she have any desire to do so. [HAKU HERE!!] [HAKU... ...HERE!!!]. Chihiro was feeling excited again. Seeing the river, seeing her father, and... "Haku... ...here?" she wondered.
The two spirits couldn't communicate directly, but they knew where they were with respect to each other. Haku tried to pull himself toward Sen, but Hideki was totally oblivious to all except his studies. Sen, on the other hand, had a little more luck with Chihiro. Chihiro began to get the feeling that she could get a better view by moving to the north end of the bridge. 50 meters, 40 meters, 30 meters. They were in range. Sen and Haku literally wrapped themselves around each other, pulling Chihiro even closer to Hideki.
"Chihiro!" her father called out from the middle of the bridge. "Let's not get too separated. We don't want to spend this precious day looking for each other."
Sen lost her connection to Chihiro. "I won't get lost, daddy. Isn't this the most amazing thing?" Chihiro started back toward the middle of the bridge, pulling Sen away from Haku.
"Speaking of amazing things," mom said to dad as they watched her approach, "you should have seen and heard what I saw and heard in the car on the way over here."
"Huh?"
"I still can't figure how she did it, but..."
Sen Reunites with Haku
Green Hills Golf was quite generous with their new manager of professional talent. He was responsible for recruiting course professionals and ensuring they remained loyal and happy ambassadors of the corporation. His benefits package included a comfortable apartment in nearby Nakano and a car with driver. Chihiro and mom visited her father twice or three times a month on weekends. As the house in Gifu wasn't far from the Chuo expressway, mom preferred making the several hour trip by car. This time it was going to be a very short visit. They set out early Saturday afternoon after class and would have to be back by Sunday evening.
Ever since she was a baby, Chihiro hated long trips in cars. While she certainly would have preferred to take a train or fly into Tokyo, the regular trips in to see daddy were an exception. This time she had a doubly strong desire to make the trip: she also wanted to see the miracle river in Tokyo. Sen, in the meantime, was observing the highway road signs and looking at license plates. She was beginning to learn to read. Mom, being a careful driver, stuck to the speed limit. This gave Sen the perfect opportunity to read license plates as they passed by: [NAGOYA]... [NAGOYA]... [GIFU]... [OHMIYA]... [SHINAGAWA]... [TAMA]... [ADACHI]... [SHONAN] Chihiro reclined her seat back and started to drift off into a nap. Sen was still at it: [NARA]...[CHIBA]...[NODA]...[NAGOYA]. Chihiro, semi-conscious started to talk blankly, "Nara...Chiba...Noda...Nagoya..." Mom looked over at Chihiro, who was looking at the ceiling with her eyes rolled up slightly. "Why is she rattling off names like that," her mom wondered. Returning her eyes to the road, Chihiro's mom happened to catch the license plate of a Mercedes as it passed. Just then, Chihiro said, "...Shonan..." Another car followed shortly, "...Numazu..."
Mom panicked. "Chihiro!" Her mom in a very spooked voice called out.
"What?"
"How did you do that?"
"Do what?"
"How did you read those license plates? You weren't even looking at them."
"What are you talking about? I was taking a nap," Chihiro protested as she adjusted her purple hair band. "How much longer?"
"Maybe three or four more hours, depending on traffic. We're in Yamanashi." "Maybe she saw it all in a reflection," she thought to herself, trying to think of a rational explanation.
The rest of the trip was quite uneventful. Chihiro was alert with anticipation of seeing daddy again.
The next morning, Chihiro was anxious to get out. "Daddy, can we go see the Kanda River?"
"Sure, if you'd like. You know, of course, that the river has started to get dirty again. We can take the train. The best place to see it is at Ochanomizu--it's only three stops from here. Afterward, we can do a little shopping and find a place for a good meal."
The family got off at Ochanomizu Station. Chihiro ran ahead excitedly to the middle of the bridge and leaned over the railing to look down at the river. The water was still pretty clear. About a hundred meters away, Hideki was at his normal bench studying as always. Haku was interacting with the spirit of the Kanda River when he eyed the familiar shape of a young girl leaning over a bridge railing. He recognized her instantly. [SEN!!] [CHIHIRO!!] It was no use. Chihiro was too far away for her spirit to sense, and her spirit wouldn't be able to recognize Haku in any form other than as a river, a dragon, or the human shape he assumed in the spirit world.
[SEN!?] Haku began to repeat the name [SEN!?] [SEN!?]. The river spirit and the trees and the spirits of the humans on the bridge began to repeat [SEN!?] [SEN!?]. Sen perked up. Was she being called? [SEN!!] [SEN!!] She replied. The spirits echoed [SEN!!] [SEN!!] back to Haku. Haku repeated [HAKU!!] [HAKU!!]. Sen grasped the meaning: [HAKU HERE!!] [HAKU HERE!!]. Sen couldn't contain herself, nor did she have any desire to do so. [HAKU HERE!!] [HAKU... ...HERE!!!]. Chihiro was feeling excited again. Seeing the river, seeing her father, and... "Haku... ...here?" she wondered.
The two spirits couldn't communicate directly, but they knew where they were with respect to each other. Haku tried to pull himself toward Sen, but Hideki was totally oblivious to all except his studies. Sen, on the other hand, had a little more luck with Chihiro. Chihiro began to get the feeling that she could get a better view by moving to the north end of the bridge. 50 meters, 40 meters, 30 meters. They were in range. Sen and Haku literally wrapped themselves around each other, pulling Chihiro even closer to Hideki.
"Chihiro!" her father called out from the middle of the bridge. "Let's not get too separated. We don't want to spend this precious day looking for each other."
Sen lost her connection to Chihiro. "I won't get lost, daddy. Isn't this the most amazing thing?" Chihiro started back toward the middle of the bridge, pulling Sen away from Haku.
"Speaking of amazing things," mom said to dad as they watched her approach, "you should have seen and heard what I saw and heard in the car on the way over here."
"Huh?"
"I still can't figure how she did it, but..."