Rivers Never Die
by LadyRainStarDragon
Chapter 7: Where Am I And What's Going On?
Disclaimer: I don't own Spirited Away or any brand names. I don't own Inuyasha either. I do own BlowingWind, Ryu, and Koji even though I think Ryu and BlowingWind should stop being such spotlight stealers. Nushi and Ten my ideas too.
This and the next three chapters beat me up all night and during part of the kid's school day. It really wanted out, and I really hope Haku gets over whatever it is that infected him, even though the idea of he and Chihiro horsing around in the water is funny.
Corrected and expanded version, ffnet edition will remain in PG-13 format, R-rated for the uncut scene in chapter 19 will remain on affnet.
Character key at bottom.
On with the story.
:Zips off on broom-o-doom.:
Ryu caught the other flashlights and gave one to BlowingWind. He wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea of going down there, but he figured if he hadn't said something, Chihiro would have just gone down by herself. Similar stuff had happened before. Koji once said that Chihiro had been a rather whiny girl when young, but had changed drastically after her family had been found nine years ago. She had become more confident, and just did what she felt was right. Now, the poor mountain dragon would be swimming in a spring relatively unknown to him. He shook his head.
"Well, let's be off then."
BlowingWind entered the water gracefully as opposed to the huge splash Ryu decided to make. Taking a deep breath, everyone dove down deep after turning on their lights.
Cutting through the water, Chihiro passed up Kohaku and wondered if he was swimming so slowly on purpose. Maybe he was still mad at her. She'd have to do something later to make up for her little stunt. That she could do right after some Midol though. A current caressed her body, almost like a lover or long-lost friend, and she turned to find the source.
Kohaku had seen her pass him up, and followed her. Actually, he had let her pass him. The arrangement made it easier to keep an eye on her. He didn't know what to expect and he did not have many memories from his time with the river. There was nothing from before he had met Chihiro, and there was a curious blank spot where how his river died should have been. The spring itself belonged to another spirit, and he thought it was a friend but was wary because a lot can change. A big chunk of rock loomed up ahead of them.
Ryu pulled BlowingWind with him as she gripped his shoulders. She was rather buoyant and so needed the extra help. She used a tape measure that she had in her pocket to measure the rock. Chihiro noticed a gap, and so checked behind the rock to see if there was anything else back there. There! Something shined, a silver flash that she shouldn't have been able to see! Chihiro reached out and picked it up. It looked to be some sort of statue. She was running out of air so she signaled she was going up. The others nodded and headed up as well. Chihiro had a little difficulty as she was carrying some extra weight so the ascent was much harder.
Things began to get sort of dark and her movements slowed. Images flashed through her head of when she fell into the river and the mysterious thing that saved her. Later, playing with a man along the banks of a river, playing tag or dancing to a flute. Then images of a young boy with green eyes feeding her a berry, flashes of things too quick to register, and grasping the horns of a dragon. Then, things went completely dark. How strange that her lungs weren't even trying to pull in the water for air.
Kohaku was feeling fine since he didn't need to breathe down here, but he did notice Chihiro's movements getting weaker. Shaking his head, he gently took her and kicked harder for the surface. It looked like he was saving her from drowning again. She'd put herself there willingly as well!
When Chihiro woke up, she was on her back in a white room. The light was bright, and hurt her eyes. What happened? She remembered striking out for the surface, but the statue she was bringing up was heavier than she expected for such a small thing. Did she drown? No, her chest hurt too much to be dead, and Kohaku had seemed like he would be very determined to take her to the surface if needed. A soft moan escaped her. Maybe she should have listened to him after all. So just where was she?
Her head kept throbbing, and so she reached to hold it, but noticed something holding one hand back. Turning her head to look, she saw Kohaku, crashed out and using the bed as a head rest. Well, she saw the top of his head anyway. Outside, a cloud drew away from the sun, and the room brightened even more, causing her head to feel like exploding. Closing her eyes and wincing, she moaned louder. Unconsciously, her hand squeezed his tightly. Her cry and movement woke Kohaku with a jolt.
Kohaku snapped to attention as he heard a moan and pressure increase on his hand. He saw Chihiro holding her head. He drew a deep breath of relief. "Chihiro, you're alright."
Chihiro's eyes opened and he was disheartened to see them laced with pain. Then, she managed a shaky nod.
"Yeah, I'm ok. You saved me didn't you?"
He only nodded, eyes still full of the relief he felt that his best friend was okay. He really didn't know what he would do if he lost her.
"Thank you, Kohaku. I'm sorry I didn't listen when you tried to warn me." Her eyes started to fuzz over. "Green eyes. You have eyes just like I saw in the river when I was little, like the man with the flute by the river, and just like the boy in my dream, and the man at the spring this morning. Such strange, beautiful eyes. It just occurred to me that your name . . . is like the river. Kohaku."
"Go back to sleep Chihiro. We'll talk later. I'll get the healer and tell the others that you woke up for a bit. Rest." So his eyes were beautiful, huh? He'd never noticed. Kohaku thought it was probably just the air deprivation talking. He also knew that she remembered a bit. That was good.
Chihiro was losing the battle to sleep fast. "'Kay 'Haku. Tell the doctor I have a headache too."
"Rest well, my Chihiro." 'Just where the heck did that come from? My Chihiro? I'm saying that out loud now? I thought I'd gotten over that.' Kohaku quietly got up and shut the door behind him. As he walked to the desk, the relief evident on his face alerted the nurse that something good had happened.
"Miss Ogino wake up sir?"
"Yes, she went back to sleep though. She said she had a headache."
"Well, holding her breath as long as she did, I'm not surprised. This is the fourth time she's been in here for holding her breath too long. She's a good kid, but a little stubborn when it comes to her own limitations. It's good you and your friends were with her."
"You mean that she's done this three other times! When she wakes up, she's not getting out of my sight! I'm going to go tell the others she's ok. I will then return."
The nurse nodded and waited for him to leave, biting her lip to keep from laughing. When it was safe, she cracked up. 'Maybe he'll be the one to tame her. Kami only knows she needs someone like that young man.' She calmed down a little bit and made a note in Chihiro's file about her headache. Her thoughts then returned to the strange young man. 'I wonder what Shrine family sent him to the River Shrine?'
In the cafeteria Koji, Ryu, and BlowingWind were having a little discussion. Mostly it was around Chihiro and why would she try to bring up a heavy silver statue with the last of her breath. It had already been decided that the rock would definitely have to be moved by machine. The problem there was that they would need to wait for funds. Their grant from the government hadn't come in yet, so that was the hold-up.
Since the statue had been found, the spring was now definitely going to be safe from developers, and the Shrine planned to purchase that land to further protect it. Divers would go down (with oxygen this time) to see if there were any more finds before removal of what supposedly was the final rock. Archaeologists, geologists, hydrologists, and maybe a couple religious experts would get to go down. The topic then drifted to Kohaku.
"I find it strange that a young man bearing the name of the river basically just shows up out of nowhere and tries to prevent my grandchild from doing something where she ends up hurting herself. I wonder if this is the same young man she said she saw early this morning."
BlowingWind shook her head. "The world just works that way sometimes. I don't think it was the young man she saw earlier though. The surprise was too much for them to be the same."
"They might be related somehow though. The smell was kind of similar . . . but not at the same time. Next time she tries something like that though, I'll tie her up." Ryu's voice was low so as not to be overheard by anyone outside their little circle.
Koji made a thoughtful noise, then continued on another thing spinning in his head. "About this Kohaku, do we know where he came from? Chihiro took to him rather quickly, and there is something about him that just doesn't feel human. Also, he seems a little familiar for some reason. Why do you say he should be the groundskeeper anyway?"
"He's like me."
Koji nodded his head, he got it now. "So that's why. It would be good for the Shrine then."
Kohaku walked in and was waved over. "She woke up, but went back to sleep. I'll be heading back now."
Koji peered at the strange young man who had become such a good friend to his granddaughter in such a short time. His voice was low "Take good care of my granddaughter. She pushes herself too hard at times. Please help her find whatever it is that she is trying to find. First though my boy you will eat something."
Character Key
Kohaku - An aspect of Nigihayami Kohakunushi. Shares his name with his river. Can mean "amber" but can also be written in kanji using "small" and "white" together, which would make more sense for this character. Very protective of Chihiro (although still trying to figure out just why he pulled her into the water when that's where he did NOT want her anyway) and is slightly confused as to how she is so different.
Nigihayami - an aspect of Nigihayami Kohakunushi. The name means lively water.
Haku - Kohaku's name at the bath house. By itself can mean white or fade, which would be a good reason that Yubaba gave him that name after he was trapped. In my overanalyzed hypothesis, the arrested pre-adolescent/adolescent aspect Notice the word arrested here, a.k.a. suppression. My theory is that by digging the river back up, he's now having to deal with stuff that he should have taken care of already. I'm a psychology major so part of the whole thing was what damage was done to him mentally with the loss of his river since when they met in Spirit World he's the equivalent of a twelve-year old. Stuff can get really messed around.
Nigihayami Kohakunushi - The healed and completed Kohaku. Means "Master of the lively and swift-flowing small white river" or "Master of the peaceful and swift-flowing small white river" depending on translation.
Chihiro Ogino - great depth, nicknamed "Chi" by her friend BlowingWind. Was known as "Sen" at the bath house. Placed as the Japanese speak it would be Ogino Chihiro. She is a shrine maiden through the urging (read here, insistence) of her grandfather and was "touched" by the River God himself when she was but a young child and again at 10. Disappeared into Spirit World for three weeks as time counts in the Human world. She possesses no conscious memory of her time there, but may have developed her yearning for "the old ways" due to her time there. Still feeling indebted to whatever saved her as a child, this may be a possibility as to both her devotion to restoring the river and as to why she agreed to serve at the River Shrine. Is the key to healing the River God, yet has no "magic" of her own, except what we came to know as "pure love" in the animated feature Spirited Away. Doesn't completely believe in spirits (yet) but still feels there is more to life than what we see.
Ryu Take - Dragon Mountain. Take (pronounced here as ta-kay) Ryu is a mountain dragon that BlowingWind met, possibly as one of the first true "friends" she made in Japan. Take meaning mountain, ryu being dragon. BlowingWind's boyfriend and self appointed protector (hence why he's traveling with her). He gets called a "scaly coyote" by his girlfriend for being a dragon that acts like many of the stories of Coyote that she heard as a child.
BlowingWind MountainChild - name is fairly self-explanatory. Half Apache and half Irish, has a foul temper at times (which may have rubbed off just a touch on Chihiro, or maybe it's just stress from the stuff she put on her plate). Left America due to personal reasons, unknown as to why she went to Japan. Has the rare prophetic dream and can 'see' a spirit being. Has Ryu for a "scaly coyote" boyfriend.
Koji Ogino - In this, Chihiro's grandfather. One of the elders in the community who wished a Shrine in the area. Believes in spirits and gods. Who raises Chihiro during the summers as her parents got increasingly irritated with her wishes of living and dressing in the traditional manner. Due to some unknown misunderstanding with his son's wife, they are estranged, possibly why such a fuss was made about Chihiro's developing childhood tastes. Koji can mean tradition.
Ten - Guardian of the Sacred Spring that feeds the Kohaku River. Would most likely be near the base of a mountain geologically. A friend to Nigihayami Kohakunushi from before "the incident". Provided a home for the part of Kohaku (Nushi) that is forever tied to the river. The word can mean legend. Lives in a cave connected to the spring, which he keeps an eye on through the use of a special mirror.
Nushi - Master or Guardian. The part of Kohaku that was not able to go to the Spirit World due to currently unknown (to him) and unfinished business. Where most of Kohaku's memories as the guardian of the river reside. Has extreme fascination with Chihiro (possibly due to the "purity" thing mentioned by Ryu in one chapter, but has no direct memory of his own of Haku's time at the bath house. Saved her when she fell into the river as a child (one of the few memories he shares with his aspects that went to the bathhouse.
Yubaba - Ruler of the bath house. Literally means hot water woman
Zeniba - Twin sister to Yubaba. Means uncontrolled virtue.
Lin - Sen's friend and co-worker at the bath house. Had a mental breakdown after Sen/Chihiro left and deals with the pain of losing her friend through attempted pranks on Haku, who Sen had been close to. By using it's other spelling (Rin), companion. She is an itachi or weasel spirit according to Miyazaki.
Kaonashi - No face
Mr. Ogino - Chihiro's dad.
Mrs. Ogino - Chihiro's mom.
For where I got the information on Haku that is not a product of my personal ruminations, see "Tea with the White Dragon" under the section "Naming of the Gods". Direct translation of Haku and other Japanese words/names from an on-line English/Japanese dictionary.
As to fluff, yes, there will be a bit. Not a lot though as they are just starting out as far as Chihiro's memory is concerned. It will be back in chapter nine or ten, when Chihiro wakes up again.
