A/N: I'm sorry to leave everyone hanging like that. My computer died, then I lost my writing mojo. This next chapter is just me getting back in the swing of things. I hope you enjoy it. And yes, I will try to update again ASAP. I'm going to go for at least one a week. Please don't hurt me if I don't.


Chapter Eight: Day Three

It hadn't been easy finishing up the next two chapters that night, but Chihiro managed it. Of course, this led to her drifting to sleep in front of her laptop. It's soft beeping roused her from her fitful sleep. The battery was going dead.

"Oh no!" she exclaimed, hooking it to the charger. "Whew..."

She stretched and yawned deeply. It was time to start her day.

Then the day before hit her like a cold slap in the face. Haku...the picnic...the almost kiss. Something had gone wrong and that upset her. She still couldn't shake the idea that somehow it might have been her fault that caused him to pull away.

'Oh, Haku...'

He'd acted so strange. Well, he was already 'odd,' but something was very wrong. She'd have to get to the bottom of it, if at all possible. However, she had a gut feeling that it wouldn't be as possible as she'd like.


Haku found a spot on the floor to meditate. Sleep never claimed him again after his nightmare and he tried for most of the night to purge his more colorful thoughts. Luckily, he could survive for extended periods of time without it.

He realized that his deal with the Spirit Eater was weighing heavily on his mind. Five days with Chihiro in exchange for his soul. At the time it had seemed like a good plan, but now he wasn't sure.

She caught him off guard. He'd imagined how she could be over many nights, but still she surprised him. Forever the spoiled, yet a gentle hearted girl, but also the radiant woman he'd always longed for. How could he ever think that five days would be enough? A life time wouldn't be enough.

Haku shook his head. He needed to stop thinking in such ways. It didn't prove useful in the current situation. A deal was a deal. He could not break from it easily. The Spirit Eater could not be reasoned with. A promise was a promise; it was binding for all time. Now all he could hope for, once joining with the Spirit Eater, was to hold Chihiro's smile in his soul.

A soft knock sounded on the door to the guest room. With a heavy sigh, Haku opened his eyes, turning his face to the door.

"Come in." He said quietly.

The door slightly opened and that sweet face peeked into the room. She had a slight flush to her features, which he found to be rather common. It brought a slight smile to his lips.

"Good morning, Haku," her voice trembled a bit as she spoke

"Good morning to you, Chihiro."

The pair stared for a time. Both seemed to have words waiting to be said, but neither spoke. Eventually, Haku cleared his throat and immediately Chihiro flustered.

"Oh, I, um..." she stammered as she came inside the room

A small stack of paper rested in her hands that she held in front of her body, nervously. She didn't need to say what they were. He already knew. She had completed a few more pages through the night. Suffice to say, he was proud.

Haku rose from the floor to his feet. Slowly he moved to her, holding out a hand for the papers. She held the chapters out to him. As he took them, their hands met in a tender but accidental touch. Their eyes met the moment their fingers did. And neither of them moved. Neither of them breathed in that brief span of time.

Between the two of them, the pair couldn't figure out who moved first. It didn't matter. Suddenly their lips were mere inches apart, breathing each other's breath. Chihiro's lips opened slightly, nervously. Haku couldn't help noticing how those sweetly haunting lips pouted in waiting. How he wanted to taste them–to know their feel.

Their eyes caught again, intensely this time. Both agreed. They wanted this. They wanted the kiss waiting between their lips. Haku's lashes lowered as he stared at her. He watched her eyes close slowly as he moved in closer.

Less than an inch stood between them. Mere inches until the growing longing could be quenched. Chihiro felt the heat of his mouth as she tilted her face up to his. Something soft passed her lips, a gentle murmur.

"What?" he asked hoarsely into her mouth

Honestly, she couldn't remember what she'd said or had thought just moments before. The need to kiss him blocked out anything else she had to say. However, she panicked. It felt as though she had to say something.

"I haven't brushed my teeth..." she said

Haku thought he had heard her wrong and was about to ask Chihiro to repeat herself when she backed away. Her eyes were wide as she groped for the handle of the door. Obviously this wasn't what she wanted. Not if she was trying to escape like an animal in a cage.

"I..." he stood up straight and cleared his throat, "I'll read these for you."

"Thanks," she continued to watch him as she found the doorknob and turned, "I'll be in the shower." She made a quick exit shutting the door.

Once in the hall, she leaned against the wall. She looked up at the ceiling, feeling foolish. She had wanted that kiss so damn badly. Why did she open her stupid mouth! Disappointment and sadness welled inside of her.

"Get it together, Chihiro..." she muttered quietly.

It took too long for her to push off the wall and head to the shower. Lingering wasn't going to help the situation. Hell, she couldn't think of anything that would help the situation. Most likely Haku wouldn't try again, and she didn't have the guts to try.


Haku closed his eyes as he moved to the futon, sitting down on it. The prospect of kissing Chihiro practically had awakened something in his blood–no, not his blood–in his being. He'd never wanted like this before. No, that wasn't true. It was like his longing for home. Home was forever lost to him. Soon, so would Chihiro.

Her reaction gave him a very simple impression. This wasn't what she wanted. Perhaps he pushed too hard. He just did not have much of a choice other than rushing things. Since that was not working, he'd given up on the idea of such things. What she had given him was more important than physical need.

She'd given him friendship. That was all he needed from her. It is what he came to the human world for.

With a regretful sigh, he began reading her story.

EDS

(BTW: I don't own Spirited Away...I just likes it )