You have always been there, I just didn't know...

Chihiro ran out of their house one Monday morning to go to school. She walked out of the gate and called out a 'good-bye' to her parents. She started to walk down the sidewalk and met up with a few of her classmates in the corner. They were all chattering away but Chihiro kept quiet.

"Chihiro, are you okay?" her classmate, Momoka, asked. Chihiro looked at her blankly. "I'm fine. Please go on," she replied. Her classmates began talking all at once. Chihiro sighed deeply. She didn't want to tell anybody about what was bothering her. It was just that she had a dream...

She dreamed of the Spirit World. But it was empty. There was nobody in sight, not even the Faceless Ghost. She was running across it and the restaurants were all empty. It wasn't laden with the food for the Gods. The wind rustled beneath her feet and papers went through her parted legs. She went to the bridge and saw, finally, a living person. He wasn't facing her. His back was turned, but she recognized that familiar back.

"Haku..." she whispered. She reached for him. Her eyes filled with tears. She had missed him so much. She called to him again and this time he responded. He began to turn to her. "Chihiro...?" he said. But before he could look at her, he disappeared. Chihiro caught nothing but air and she began to cry as she knelt on the ground. The memory pierced her heart.

"Chihiro, you are so quiet. Are you sure there's nothing wrong?" Sakura asked.

Chihiro nodded and tried her best to smile. Her friends began talking about the upcoming dance. Chihiro joined along meekly. They passed by a woodsy path. It was full of trees and ferns and bushes. Chihiro stared at it. She remembered. It was the path to the Spirit World. It has been 6 years since she had gone through with her parents. For a fleeting moment, she wanted to run towards it and come back to see Haku. But she controlled herself. Haku promised they would see each other again. She would just have to wait.

They passed by an abandoned mansion. Nikken looked at it and turned to all of them. "They say that this mansion is haunted. Recently, people kept seeing the ghost of a kid. He was dressed like someone from Ancient China," she said.

Chihiro looked at the mansion. Her heart raced as she saw a figure in the window, which seemed to be watching them. It looked like...

But in a split second, he was gone. She blinked. She was seeing things again. Lately, her mind had been playing tricks on her. They reached the school and Chihiro started another miserable day.

That night, her mother prepared tempura and rice cakes for them. Her father bought some sushi and beef teriyaki. They ate in silence. Chihiro kept her head bent.

"Chihiro, is something wrong?" her father asked.

Chihiro looked up at him and shook her head. Suddenly, there was a knock on their door. "I'll get it," Chihiro said. She ran towards the door. She opened it and found no one. "Hello? Is anybody here?" she called out.

She couldn't find anyone. She was about to close the door when she noticed something beside her foot on the mat. She picked it up. It was a little gift-wrapped parcel. She looked at the card and it said, To Chihiro. She looked around again and closed the door.

"Who was it, Honey?" her mother asked.

"Nobody. Just someone playing pranks, I guess," Chihiro said, still staring at the parcel. She opened it and found a necklace. It was a beautiful silver chain but what attracted her most was the charm that dangled from it. It was a dragon. A white dragon with blue tufts of hair and it looked awfully familiar. Almost like...

"Chihiro! Come here and finish your dinner!"

Her thoughts were cut short and she pocketed the necklace. "Coming!" she said.

Chihiro and her friends walked to school together again the next day. Chihiro wore the necklace and her friends gushed over it. They said it was positively enchanting. Chihiro smiled. She was glad, for once. Even if she couldn't see Haku, she felt that when she wore the necklace, it was as if he was with her all the time.

They passed by the mansion again. Chihiro looked up, expecting to see a figure, but she wasn't able to see anything. "Chihiro!" she heard Sakura cry out.

Chihiro turned to her in surprise. "What?" she asked.

"Your Dragon Charm!" Nikken exclaimed. "It's glowing!"

Chihiro looked and saw that it was, indeed, glowing. And in broad daylight, too! It glowed a beautiful light blue. They kept walking, staring in awe at the glowing charm. Then, they reached the other street. "That's weird. It stopped," Chihiro said.

"Maybe it glows when it wants to," Momoka said.

"Yeah, maybe. Hey, Momoka, did someone already ask you to the dance?" Sakura asked. The two of them started talking all at once. Nikken tapped her shoulder. "Come on. Don't worry about it. It's probably battery-operated," she said. Then, she went and joined Momoka and Sakura in their talk. Chihiro stood on the street corner and held the dragon charm between her fingers. Then, she cast a look at the mansion.

"Chihiro! What are you waiting for? Come on! We're gonna be late!"

Chihiro ran towards her friends and turned in the corner after one last glance at the strange mansion.

"All right, class, take out your notebooks and do these simple trigonometric exercises," their Math teacher instructed.

Chihiro took her notebook and opened it. Then, she hastened a glance at the window. She took her pen and then dropped it. What did she just see?

She looked at the window again. Now, it was gone. But she could've sworn she saw the same figure she saw at the mansion standing in the middle of the game court.

At lunchtime, Chihiro and her friends ate lunch near the game court where the boys were busy playing soccer. Chihiro stood up. "I'm going to get some water there at the fountain," she said. Then, she ran towards the game court and walked towards the water fountain beside the wash area.

"Hey, Chihiro! Cool necklace!" Yoshikawa, a soccer player, called to her. Chihiro smiled at him. "Thanks!" she called back. Then, she glanced admiringly at her necklace and her eyes widened. It was glowing again!

She started to run to her friends to show them. "Look, guys, it's glowing again!" she cried.

"Chihiro, stop tricking us. It's not glowing," Nikken said.

"But it is, look—" Chihiro stopped. It wasn't glowing anymore. She frowned. She started to arrange her lunch pack.

"Hey, you haven't finished your food," Momoka said.

"Suddenly, I'm not hungry anymore. I'll meet you guys back at the classroom." Chihiro took her lunch pack and headed towards their building. She looked sorrowfully at her necklace. It was odd. It kept glowing unexpectedly. Maybe it was just battery-operated and it was faulty. She passed by the faculty room and then—!

Chihiro's eyes widened. Her dragon charm started glowing again! She looked at the faculty room. Maybe...just maybe...the charm wasn't broken, that it glowed for a certain reason. She opened the door of the faculty room very slowly. It was empty. All the teachers have gone to lunch.

She entered the room and the dragon charm didn't stop glowing. Actually, it became more intense. What does this mean? Chihiro asked herself. She kept walking across the faculty and her eyes grew even wider. Her Dragon Charm started floating. She stared at it in shock. It floated up to her eyes and sort of led her. She began to walk along with it and it led her beside a file cabinet. It hovered in front of the wall. Chihiro looked at the innocent-looking wall and doubted. Maybe the wall wasn't just a wall. She reached out and her Dragon Charm released a more brilliant glow. Chihiro pressed her fingers on the wall.

She almost screamed out loud. Her fingers went through the wall! She looked at the wall again. She tried it once more. She closed her eyes and reached out her fingers. She started to follow with her head. Her face went through the wall and then her waist. She opened her eyes and she froze in shock. Half of her body was in the Spirit World!

She saw the familiar bridge. And then she pulled herself back to the real world. She panted, half-excited, half-scared. Her Dragon Charm was still glowing. She grasped it in her palm. This necklace detected portals that led to the Spirit World. But she never thought there would be other portals!

She wondered about the necklace. Who could have given it to her? Then, she remembered. It glowed in the game court and the mansion! There were hidden portals there, too. She's sure of it!

Chihiro didn't even wait for her friends. As soon as the bell rang to signal the end of the classes, she rushed outside in a deep hurry. She wanted to make sure that she was right.

She went down to the game court and in an instant her dragon charm glowed. It led her and she followed. She found another portal in an oak tree. It led to the piggery, where the humans who were turned into pigs were kept. She suddenly became worried. If these portals that led to the Spirit World are so scattered about in the city, then all the people were in danger of getting trapped as she did once.

But the oak tree was a very favorite hang-out. How come the students who come there aren't transported into the Spirit World?

Chihiro thought about it and then it clicked. She took off the necklace and placed it on the ground. She touched the tree where she found the portal. Her hand didn't come through. It was perfectly solid! She wore the necklace again and her hand went through. The necklace wasn't just a detector of the portals, but also a sort-of key that opened them. Perhaps the most open portal of all was the one where she and her parents went through. It wasn't even a portal. It was a path and paths are easier to go through than portals, which needs opening. But paths are harder to find. Chihiro looked at the necklace. It was so precious. Who could have given it to her?

She started to run again. There was no time to lose. She needed to go to the Haunted Mansion.

Chihiro ran like mad. She wanted to go to the mansion right away. If these portals were all around the city, then every chance possible is there for her to see Haku and be with him!

She turned on the corner towards the mansion and didn't look where she was going. She bumped into someone. It was Yoshikawa.

"Whoa, Chihiro, slow down. You might hurt yourself," he said.

Chihiro looked at him but she was in a hurry. "Thanks, Yoshikawa. Bye!" she said. She was rude, she knew, but she was so excited. She ran towards the mansion and she reached it. It was so big, she thought she'd have a hard time trying to find the portal if she wasn't in possession of the necklace. It was glowing again and Chihiro opened the broken gateway and went in.

The Dragon Charm led her into the mansion itself and not on its grounds. She opened the creaky front door. It was eerie inside. It made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. A frightening sensation went through her spine as she ascended the stairs where the charm was leading her.

She went from hallway to hallway, room to room, until finally, the Dragon Charm pointed to a particularly eerie room. She opened the door and went in. It was a large, fancy room. She was surprised to see that nothing from the large poster bed to the tiniest accessories on the dressing table was either stolen or moved. The place was untouched and the cobwebs and thick dust on them told how many years have passed since it was last used or cleaned. She looked out of the window and froze in surprise. She was standing in the same room where she saw the figure!

She paid attention to her Dragon Charm again. It pointed to the wall underneath a small painting of angels. She did the same thing as she did in the other portals. This one led in one of the gardens at Yu-Baba's place. It was the nearest one to Haku!

She suddenly decided to go through the portal. And she did. The next thing she knew, she was standing on the grounds at Spirit World. She looked around. She had missed it, especially the companions she once had. The wind brushed her hair. It felt so good. Her Dragon Charm was still glowing and pointing to the portal. Chihiro touched it and her hand went through, next she stepped in and she was once again inside the mansion. This was great! Anytime she wanted she could go to the Spirit World and come back in a flash.

She decided to go back home. For the first time since she left the Spirit World and Haku, she was truly delighted.

For the rest of the week, Chihiro used the different portals to go to the Spirit World. Secretly, she looked for Haku and hid out of sight. She didn't want to be seen without Haku. But she couldn't find him!

One Saturday morning, her mother asked her to go to the grocery store and buy some things for their lunch and dinner. Chihiro accordingly went. She found the grocery store and went in. Instantly, her Dragon Charm glowed. Chihiro stared at it with wide eyes. She couldn't believe her eyes and she kept asking herself, There's a portal here?

She decided to ignore it than look for it. She did her grocery shopping. After picking every item on the list her mother gave her, she went to the counter.

"Well, well, well," the counter boy said. "If it isn't Chihiro!"

Chihiro looked up. "Yoshikawa?" she cried in disbelief. There he was, behind the counter, wearing an employee's uniform and smiling at her.

"I didn't expect to see you here," Yoshikawa said as he took the prices of the things she bought.

"Me? I surely didn't expect to see you!"

"I know!" Yoshikawa said, while laughing. "It's my part-time job. I'm helping my grandparents to pay for my tuition fee."

Chihiro smiled. "Really? That's good of you," she said.

"Nah. It's the least I can do."

"I remember in first year, we were classmates and I asked you where your parents are and you just shrugged," Chihiro said.

"Yeah, I remember that, too. And now we're graduating. Funny how time flies, huh?"

"Yeah, funny," Chihiro said. "Well, thanks for ringing these up. Here's my pay and that's exact. I'm off. Bye!"

Yoshikawa waved at her and Chihiro left the grocery store.

After lunch that day, Chihiro went outside and started to run for the mansion. It was the nearest one to her house and the nearest one to Haku. She reached the gate and saw that it was open. She looked at the mansion. Why was the gate open?

She went in and felt the place for any kind of activity going on. She didn't sense any. She went in. As soon as she got in, she heard an unmistakable clutter of something falling on the second floor. She quietly rushed upstairs.

She reached the hallway and listened for the noise again. She heard footsteps and she began to walk across the hallway, listening hard to find out which room the intruder was. And then, she heard him. He was in the room where the portal was! Chihiro's heart raced. She saw a long piece of wood lying on the hallway's floor. She picked it up and got ready to knock out the intruder. She opened the door cautiously and tiptoed in. The intruder wasn't looking at her, he had his back turned. Chihiro walked nearer and when she was near enough, she got ready to hit. She raised the piece of wood and brought it thundering down the intruder's head and knocked him out.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Chihiro cried as the intruder started to stir. She held his hand and looked worriedly at him. "I'm glad you're awake!" she said.

"Wha—what—" the intruder mumbled.

"I'm really sorry!" Chihiro cried and she pressed her cheek against the intruder's hand. The intruder sat up with a start. "Chihiro!" he said. It was Yoshikawa.

"I didn't mean to hit you. I thought you were stealing something, I didn't know it was you—honest! Please forgive me!"

"Chihiro, I'm all right. Stop crying." Yoshikawa pressed a finger against Chihiro's cheek and wiped away her tears. Chihiro looked at him and then her eyes welled-up with more tears. Yoshikawa had a hard time trying to comfort her.

But after a few minutes, Chihiro was quite calm again. She looked at Yoshikawa. "By the way, what were you doing here?" she asked.

"I should probably ask you the same question," Yoshikawa commented.

"I was just exploring it. There's nothing wrong with that."

"Well, I was just exploring, too." They were silent for a few minutes. Then, Chihiro noticed Yoshikawa smile. "That's really a great necklace. Does it glow that often?" he asked.

Chihiro looked at her necklace. She had forgotten that she was in a place where there was a portal. "Oh...uh...yeah. It's battery-operated," she said.

"How do you turn it off?"

"What? Uh...well...actually, it's like this...uh..."

"Is it solar-powered?"

"Yes! It is!" Whew! Chihiro sighed with relief. She didn't know how to turn it off because it wasn't battery-operated! And she can't tell Yoshikawa. For a long time, they didn't speak to each other. It was weird. Chihiro never expected Yoshikawa, of all people, to be in the mansion. But, lately, he keeps turning up, unlike before because then she hardly noticed him.

She remembered in first year, he was a shy boy but then his confidence started to build up especially when he was discovered to be very good in soccer and most sports. But he never let it go to his head. Chihiro remembered, too, the time when he had asked her to dance with him during the acquaintance party.

"What are you thinking about, Chihiro?" Yoshikawa asked, cutting her thoughts.

"Oh, nothing. It's just—" Chihiro stopped. She looked at Yoshikawa and noticed that a part of his shirt was glowing. It was light blue, like the glow of Chihiro's necklace. "What's that?" she asked.

Yoshikawa took one look at his shirt and covered it quickly. "N-nothing," he stammered. He started to get up. But Chihiro's hand was quick. She grabbed it and out it came. It was a Dragon Charm necklace just like hers!

Her eyes wide with disbelief, Chihiro stood up and stared at the necklace, then at Yoshikawa. "You—you're—" she started but she couldn't find the words. She was in too much shock.

"Chihiro, let me explain—"

"Explain what?" Chihiro shouted.

"Chihiro, it's me," Yoshikawa said with a smile.

"No...it can't be! It can't!" With that, Chihiro ran through the portal, trying hard to escape from Yoshikawa—or whoever he was! But he followed through.

"Stay away!" Chihiro cried. They were in the garden at Yu-Baba's bathhouse. Yoshikawa looked at her with pleading eyes. "Don't be afraid, it's me," he said.

"Who? Who are you?" Chihiro cried.

Then, in front of her very eyes, Yoshikawa changed his appearance and he became...

"It's me," he repeated.

Chihiro couldn't quite believe her eyes. "H-Haku?" she asked cautiously. He nodded and smiled. He reached out a hand to her. Chihiro's eyes filled with tears as she reached out to take his hand.

Their hands met and Haku drew her nearer. Chihiro looked into his eyes and she felt her tears starting to fall. She remembered the time when they were falling from the sky and holding hands, their faces close to each other. And it was the same. She felt Haku's forehead against hers and she closed her eyes. "It's you," she whispered. "But how?"

Haku pulled away from her and smiled. "It's a long story," he said.

"We've got plenty of time and I don't want to leave!" Chihiro said. Haku asked her to sit down and he sat beside her. He started.

"Ever since you left and came back to your world, I've missed you so much that it became unbearable. Then, I got the idea to pretend to be a student in your school so that I can watch over you and see you. Remember in first year, I was always late? Because it was hard to go through the old path, it consumed much time. I thought of plans to make things easier. I got the idea from a few files in Yu-Baba's room. It was then I discovered about the portals.

"I had a hard time on learning how to create a portal that led from the Spirit World to the real world. And I had to keep others from finding them out. So I thought to make a key that would detect the portals and open them. It wasn't easy to perfect the portals. Once I was transported to the South Atlantic. The only time I was sure it'd be safe for you to use was the day I gave you the key."

"So, all along that house that you said where you lived wasn't your house?"

"It was. I was able to create grandparents with my powers. And then, I created a portal in the grocery store where I applied for work so that I'll always get there on time."

"How many keys did you make?" Chihiro asked.

"Two. It's just for the both of us. You see, it's not just a key..." Haku took both of Chihiro's hands in his and looked her straight in the eyes. "It's a connection between two people. When you wear this, you'll be able to be with me even if I'm not there and you'll be able to talk to me. Listen..."

Haku closed his eyes. Chihiro didn't know what he was going to do but then, she heard his voice inside her head. Chihiro...I love you...

Chihiro blushed. Haku was talking inside her head. She closed her eyes, too and replied. I love you, too.

They just sat there, talking in their minds, holding each other's hands.

Chihiro, it's so good to finally be with you...

Yes...we're together at last...

Can you forgive me for pretending and lying?

What's there to forgive? You haven't done anything wrong...

Yes, I did. I didn't tell you that it was me all along...

Ssshh... let's just say that you have always been there, I just didn't know.