Undying Love – Life Is Never Easy
Author's Note: Hey everyone! *grins* As you can see, I'm STILL alive, contrary to what so many of my readers believe. =O *hears many people gasp* LOLz. XD I'm so VERY sorry that I haven't updated since the summer. *pouts sadly* I've been having so much homework lately. The teachers have been practically drowning me with piles and piles of homework; it's amazing how I still have enough time to even get a couple of hours of sleep.
I was originally planning to release a new chapter before the summer ended. But, by the time summer did end, the chapter was only 3 pages long and halfway complete. Therefore, I decided to spend more time completing this chapter to the best of my abilities. I never expected that I would take THIS long to release my newest chapter, which is about 6.5 pages long on Microsoft Word, making this chapter my LONGEST one yet! *cheers*
I was supposedly was going to add a LOT more stuff to this chapter, but, after seeing so many reviews that requested a new update on my story, I decided against this. Though this chapter isn't as long as I intended, it is still a VERY long chapter for anyone to read. I apologize if this chapter doesn't have as much action/suspense that you've hoped for; I do promise that more juicy conflicts will come up in the next couple of chapters. *already has the whole plot mentally set in her mind* And as usual, please read and review! ^____^ Hope you enjoy this chapter! *hugz*
Chapter Dedications: I dedicate this chapter to the following people who have added me to his/her Favourite Authors list: Maria Colt, SilverStarWing, Ravengurlie149, Kirara1, Millenium Spirit Of Shadows, Magik Bunny Ball, CoolCat10, Sesshochan1, ditterdums, faye-faye14, alannalivandra, sweet-genie-16, Meiko M, Vireyda Magodaly, Ringtir, Sakura-Star3, FluffyLuver4Eva, Tael95, and SARSinjection. x! I would also like to dedicate this chapter to ALL of my supportive readers and reviewers as well! *grins happily*
Haku was currently walking home as he just exited the huge white school building five minutes ago, which was now behind him. Though Haku was somewhat bothered by the fact that he would soon have to face his own problems and try to solve them as much as possible, he was also silently thankful that he would not have to confront his greatest fears alone.
One thing was for sure, he personally knew that dealing things by himself was not the best idea ever, especially if that problem couldn't be solved by only one person. Haku shuddered violently at the thought of the previous man that he once was; a spirit that was always so prideful and independent. His pride and honor got the best of him in the past; he often tried to solve huge conflicts and problems by himself, without even asking for any help.
Haku knew very well that it was better to put the pride aside and ask for assistance and advice, than to deal things unreasonably by trying to handle things on his own. Haku knew this very well from his own experiences, like when he nearly died trying to steal the magical golden seal from Yu-Baaba's twin sister, Zeniiba. By venturing to a place where strong magic lurked, without assistance of any sort, he had nearly died that night, trying to complete a nearly impossible task by himself. In fact, if it wasn't for Chihiro, who had helped him conquer his near-death obstacles, he might not have been here today.
Haku, now being a changed man who was able to push away some of his pride when he knew he needed help, knew that there was no shame in asking for it. There was nothing wrong in asking for help when he knew he needed it; it was better to ask help and succeed, than to sustain unneeded pride that led to danger and failure.
In fact, Haku thought that asking for help when it was clearly needed was a smart and responsible thing to do, showing how much he had matured over the years. It was the logical and natural way of life that not all things could be solved by one person; he was thankful that he had other friends to support him when he needed help.
Haku continued his way home on the cracked cement sidewalks, as he casually slipped both of his hands on each side of his denim jeans. He quietly glanced at all of the various houses in the neighbourhood, putting on another one of his genuine grins. Around him, it seemed that the children and adults that were talking or playing happily with one another. Just as much as there were so many tragedies and crimes happening all around the world, it seemed that humans always found ways to enjoy life to its fullest. It was nice to know that although the world was seemingly a violent place at times, there was still space left for people to enjoy their lives.
Haku sighed at the thought, trying to remember his past childhood in the Spirit World, when he first arrived at the Spirit World as none other than a form of a little boy. Ever since he had lost his river on the Earth, Haku had immediately arrived in the Spirit World, the world where a few chosen ones are sent after they have passed away in their previous lives.
Once he had arrived at the Spirit World, Haku was immediately reincarnated into a river spirit that took form of a humanoid child, experiencing his new reincarnated life, like any of the other nature-related spirits who had lost their homes on the Earth long ago.
When Haku was still in his first few years in his young childhood form, he was still too young to work at the bathhouse at the time. Oh… those were certainly the days; the days where each minute seemed like a beautiful piece of perfection. Those were the days when he lived as a free spirit, one that roamed the grassy plains in happiness with other young spirits, spending his time enjoying what time he had in his life, instead of working at the bathhouse.
Unfortunately, once his body and mind had matured of age, Haku was immediately sent to work in the bathhouses like everyone else. His childhood memories and freedom was limited to nothing but a fantastical dream of the young Haku he once was. Unlike the rest of the other bathhouse workers, Haku was nearly on the top of the bathhouse management, working right under Yu-Baaba, as her so-called loyal apprentice. Being an apprentice to a powerful witch had its rewards; Haku learned to develop his own magical powers unlike many of the other spirits and bathhouse workers there.
Sadly, Haku was often given more dangerous tasks to accomplish under Yu-Baaba. These dangerous tasks often included stealing enormously powerful magic items from lethal and trained witches and wizards, who usually had magical powers that either equaled or surpassed those of Yu-Baaba's. As Haku completed each of the given tasks, he had greatly risked his life each time, returning to the bathhouse with many serious or life-threatening wounds. But, as Haku gradually completed his daily set of tasks, he greatly developed his magical powers and his well-built body, which now was able to withstand much physical pain and endurance.
Haku's rare and strong magical powers often left him highly respected amongst the spirits working at the old bathhouse. With his high position, he was the second main authority figure at the bathhouse, next to Yu-Baaba. Being Yu-Baaba's so-called "henchman", he often gave out orders to the bathhouse workers, which were given to him by Yu-Baaba herself. Any time Yu-Baaba wasn't present for some reason, Haku would immediately take over all management responsibilities at the bathhouse.
Though his job and position made him quite isolated from the rest of the workers, Haku still had two friends at the bathhouse, Rin and Kamajii, who were both bathhouse workers that had a lower position than himself. With Haku's journeys and duties every single day, he had little free time to himself, much less to make many friends. In fact, at the bathhouse, Haku had only bothered to make two friends out of all of the workers there.
Without any other river spirits such as himself or Raisuke, Haku had little prospects of making friends with the Aogaeru, the frog-like spirits that made up most of the male workers at the bathhouse, who had barely anything that was common or related to himself. On the other hand, the Yunas, or the female spirits with a humanoid appearance, were the only female workers at the bathhouse. With a similar situation with the Aogaeru and Raisuke, Haku didn't bother to make an effort with building any sort of a friendship with the Yunas as well. Not that the Yunas were bad-spirited people in any way, but the Yunas tended to uncomfortably stalk or corner him every chance they got.
Like the crazed female students at Haku's new school, the Yunas in some way had a close resemblance to them. The Yunas often stole glances at him when he was in their vicinity, and had the uncanny habit of spreading the most interesting rumors about him. The Yunas would often blush slightly at his present, as they "secretly" admired his physical and magical attributes. In some cases, this female situation got out of hand when the different annual festivities were nearing. Some of the Yunas would often see him personally and ask him out to be their date for the festival coming up.
As a result, Haku couldn't exactly be blamed for his current avoidance of any sort of contact with the Yunas. But, to his luck, the Yunas hadn't been stalking at him as much for the last couple of years, due to Raisuke's presence at the bathhouse. Though Haku personally hated everything that Raisuke stood for, he was barely glad that Raisuke did arrive at the bathhouse a few years ago, even though he failed to deny this fact to himself many times.
Like Haku, Raisuke was one that was also respected and admired amongst the Yunas. Because of Raisuke's presence, the Yunas' stalking attention was often split between the two powerful and attractive male river spirits. Unlike Haku though, Raisuke loved to receive the undying attention from his loyal admirers, as he took the pleasure of enjoying every extra shred that he got. Thankfully, this helped relieve Haku of the annoyance and pressure that the Yunas were often putting on him every time he came to check up on their work daily.
He sighed softly; life as a regular teenager didn't seem so bad as compared to the other life that he currently left behind at the bathhouse. Not that life in the Spirit World was that bad or anything, but after experiencing two completely different lives, he definitely preferred to deal with the regular problems that any other teenager on Earth would have to deal with, than having to work at the bathhouse every single day. He was already beginning to enjoy the amount of freedom that he had on Earth in the form of a humanoid teenager; he honestly didn't want to go back to the working life he once had, devoid of much leisure time and freedom. Haku couldn't honestly comprehend why the other students at school were complaining so much about their lives; he'd trade his life at the bathhouse for anyone else's lives any day.
It was just that Haku would soon have to return to his life at the bathhouse; he was going to live out his time on the Earth as full as possible. Now that he was reunited with Chihiro, Haku would make sure that they would stay together in some way, for all of the years to come; he'd hope that the luck he had so far in his current life would hold out for the rest of the days that he would spend with his beloved Chihiro. Little did Haku know that Chihiro would be the reason that would drive another man to end Haku's current streak of luck.
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Koji Yukita had just exited the school building quickly, as he ran on the sidewalks that led to the nearest neighbourhood and to the so-called "haunted" forest. The so-called "haunted" forest was named Feikoru Forest, which the name derived from the first name of the girl that disappeared in that forest long ago. Ever since the disappearance of the young teenage girl, many of the residents that lived in the town kept away from the forest as much as possible. Not that there were any more disappearances in the Feikoru Forest, but many disturbing and super-natural sightings started to spur after the girl's disappearance in that forest.
Popular and unbelievable rumors from many of the town residents claimed that there was a hidden passage surrounded by two frog-shaped stone statues that led to who-knows-what. Naturally, the Feikoru Forest had been searched many times by the town residents and outsiders alike, but no such passage had been found officially. Koji had been hearing of those fantastical stories ever since he was just a young boy, and had even traveled to the Feikoru Forest himself, to see if the rumors were true; Koji found no such doorway that he had heard of so much about in those rumors that he listened to for years.
As a result of these rumors, the Feikoru Forest was also a common spot for disobedient teenagers to sneak out of their homes in the middle of the night and meet there to create wild parties or to complete mischievous dares. The Feikoru Forest was also a favourite spot for young couples to complete their not-so-innocent activities with complete privacy. Because of the many of weird sightings, not any of the town residents, including the many adults, bothered to stop the rebellious and inappropriate activities that were happening at the Feikoru Forest each night, even though it was common knowledge to everyone what always took place there.
Many people of different ages claimed that they had saw see-through or glowing beings on random occasions, wandering around in the forest, all having a remarkably close appearance to humans, as these mysterious beings often wore awkward-looking black and white pattern masks. The town residents believed that those mysterious beings were either ghosts or spirits of some sort, probably relating to the mysterious doorway that some people claimed led to some other magical world that was beyond the Earth.
Because of all of these rumors, the Peiko neighbourhood, which unfortunately happened to be the nearest neighbourhood to the Feikoru Forest, wasn't exactly the most favourable place to be living beside. This neighbourhood was also probably one of the most unpopular residential places to live in town. And wasn't it just a jolly coincidence that the new student happened to live there? Who in their right mind would live there, anyways? Koji was certainly getting a weird vibe from that Haku ever since he laid eyes on him; Koji wasn't blind, there was just something weird and mysterious about that new student.
In the past, the Peiko neighbourhood was a popular site for people who either dealt or had some connection with illegal activities. Often, the Peiko neighbourhood was a favourite spot for criminals to hide out, or a place where people who had many disturbing secrets to conceal lived there. It was obvious that Haku wasn't the normal kid that he portrayed to be; quite a few of the residents of Peiko neighbourhood were known to be secretive or awkward in their ways of life. That innocence act of Haku's couldn't fool him; Haku was certainly hiding some sort of secret from everyone else.
Besides, what were the chances that someone would even buy a house in Peiko neighbourhood? Though the residents of Peiko neighbourhood often kept to themselves and stood out of trouble, the houses in that neighbourhood often took many months or years to sell. It was common knowledge, even to outsiders, that something disturbing and mysterious lurked there, making that neighbourhood one of the more avoided places to visit. And wasn't it just an amazing coincidence that the new student had to buy a house near the Feikoru Forest, when he could have bought better houses near the school?
Aside from the whole fact that Haku lived in Peiko neighbourhood, there were many other things that were disturbing about him. It seemed that every single time someone tried to ask about Haku's past, he'd try his best to covertly avoid the questions as much as possible, as though he had something to hide. Koji wasn't blind; he could see through people like clear glass. Didn't it make sense that Haku would be trying to cover up his past… because he had something valuable and crucial to hide?
Koji also couldn't accept the fact that Haku happened to come all the way from Misku, a city that was miles and miles away from here, which would be about a day or two's drive. It was known that Misku was one of the more popular places in Japan to live in, due to its technological advancements, many resources, and high-standard living and educational conditions. Moving away from the wonderful place of Misku all the way to Peiko neighbourhood was a highly-likely move that wouldn't be done by most people; there was just something fishy about this.
Not only did Haku live in one of the weirdest places ever, there were many other awkward circumstances that led Koji to question the validity of his honesty. Ever time that any one tried to unravel Haku's clouded past or wanted to personally learn about him, he'd have the wonderful habit of either looking down on the floor or up at the ceiling, as though either of them have suddenly turned into the most interesting thing on Earth. Koji had to give some credit to that Haku; his acting skills were pretty good. Oh, if he only got rid of that one bad habit, then his acting skills would be flawless, and there might have been a good chance that Koji himself wouldn't have known that Haku was lying to others to begin with.
With that secretive and dishonest nature of Haku's, Koji just couldn't leave Haku alone so easily. Well, to begin with, a person that he hardly knew about happened to be dating the lovely crush of his life. Being the cunningly deceptive and untruthful person that Haku was clearly being, Koji thought that Haku was far from the perfect or ideal candidate to be Chihiro's friend, much less a boyfriend, someone who had to be understanding, supportive, and truthful at all times. As far as Koji was concerned, Haku wasn't one to be trusted; Koji was going to make sure that he'd protect his Chihiro from the likes of deceptive scum like Haku.
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Haku was still walking home from school, as he saw the glimpse of his house at the far ends of the Peiko neighbourhood. Haku turned his left wrist slightly, as he caught the flash of his dark blue watch. He sighed in relief; it was still pretty early in the day as far as he was concerned, and the sun wouldn't set for about another two hours. Haku grinned to himself, as a small smile was plastered on his face; he was sure that about 30 minutes to himself in the Feikoru Forest would do him some good and help him to relax, since Chihiro wouldn't be arriving at his house for another three hours.
Haku checked his surroundings to make sure that no one was following or watching him, as he quietly and casually walked into the Feikoru Forest, the forest that was claimed to be haunted. It was common knowledge in the Spirit World that the Feikoru Forest was a favourite spot for many spirits, such as himself, to relax there. Haku recalled, with some embarrassment and anger, all of the interesting times when he performed some mischief of his own. By wearing one of those traditional white and black spirit masks, Haku started to scare the people away from the forest in his spirit form in the past.
This, of course, was after Rin convinced him… or more like blackmailed him, to take part in her daily set of "beneficial" activities. By threatening to reveal all of his precious secrets to Raisuke, including all of the wet dreams that he had of his darling Chihiro, Haku finally gave in to Rin's cunning plans. Between living thorough some childish horror and revealing your deepest secrets to your worst enemy, the first choice was certainly better.
Haku cringed strongly at the thought of being caught in his own mischievous acts; it certainly wasn't going to be the best of circumstances if he got caught. Haku also shuddered violently at the thought; what if this embarrassing information got into the wrong hands, such as Yu-Baaba, or even worse… Raisuke? His reputation would surely never heal, and the bathhouse workers would surely lose respect for him as well. Not only that, Yu-Baaba would surely punish him severely; and knowing her, she would always find the most interesting ways to torment the pitiful workers out of their misery.
And as for Raisuke, Haku hardly wanted to know how Raisuke would use this information to his sick amusement and pleasure. Raisuke surely wasn't the good-natured spirit that he made most people believe; he was also ambitious, self-centered, arrogant, prideful, and determined to use anything to bring down anyone who was standing in his way of being supremely the best. With Raisuke's quasi-evil and complicated mind, it wasn't surprising that Raisuke always found some way to satisfy his amusement, through the means of playfully torturing others through embarrassment. If there was one thing Raisuke loved most, it was certainly humiliating Haku, finding anything he could use to always prove that he was better than the other competitive river spirit.
Both Haku and Raisuke, being river spirits that worked in the bathhouse, the natural rivalry that was created between them surely wasn't unexpected. Spirit rivalry was always one of the more common things that happened in the Spirit World; spirits there were always prideful and proud of their family backgrounds, accomplishments, and skills. Spirits prized the idea of competition and rivalry; life was always a competition of being the best, better than any other spirit in the Spirit World. This competition and rivalry had been passed down in families through many generations; it was as though it was a natural trait between all spirits ever since childhood. Even the female spirits were quite heated in the idea of such rivalry; therefore, an intense rivalry between Haku and Raisuke, who were both coincidentally river spirits and males, wasn't uncalled for.
Haku sighed softly; these thoughts about life at the Spirit World brought him back to his previous predicament … how would he still be able to spend time with his Chihiro when he would have to return to his working life at the bathhouse? Even after getting the Amulet of Life, it still didn't solve the fact that Haku still lacked the time and freedom to cherish loving moments with his lover. Haku inclined his head slightly, somewhat depressed by this disappointing truth that he was facing.
Haku shook his head, as if to relive himself of some disturbing thought that was lingering in his mind. He glanced at his watch again, he still had 20 minutes to himself before he had to return back home; it was enough to take off the Amulet of Life and the human-form spell that was cast all over his body.
Not that taking human form was such a horrible ordeal, but Haku still preferred his spirit form over the one that he currently had. In his spirit form, he was a lot more carefree in terms of his movements, and he was able to even transform into his dragon form. With his dragon form, Haku would always bring himself to take some time to enjoy what the beautiful sky had to graciously offer to him.
He was quite eager himself today; Haku purposely wanted to leave some time to roam the skies that were on Earth. From many of the other river spirits who had secretly used the ancient doorway to travel to Earth, Haku had heard much praise for the beautiful skies and the perfect view that Japan had to offer. Haku wanted to experience these pleasures for himself, and make his own personal opinion about such things.
Haku slowly reached under the amulet that was loosely hanging on his neck, as he softly grasped it and prepared to bring the Amulet of Life above his head. As Haku was halfway taking off the precious necklace, he heard a violent brush of wind. The alarmed river spirit released his gentle clutch on the amulet; as immediately turned to see what had made the noise, startlingly coming face-to-face with a powerful fist that was intentionally aiming for him.