Remember people: This whole story is just a WHAT-IF situation! D And I own no one except Kuro in this chapter.

The Imperfections We Weave

Chapter 4-Kuro's Solution

"LOOK!" Cried one of the Aogaeru, pointing a green, webbed finger towards a running figure. "It's a human girl!"

"Ko...ku..!" Fragments of her desperate screams were swept away by the rushing wind. "-aku...!"

"What's she saying?" Whispered one of the Yuna to another.

We all stared at each other in confusion.

"-haku! Kohaku!" Did she just say my name?

"Hey," Said Rin, who had deftly found her way to my side through the ocean of spirits. "That looks like-!"

"SEN!" I yelled as loud as I could, finally realizing.

Could it really be her? Could it be the only one that could save me from my plummet into this bottomless pit? The only one that understood. The only one that I had. The only one that never gave up on me. SEN! By the Gods-

"-How I missed you..." I was already to her side, feeling her lean, fragile body pressed against mine. There was no way I would ever let her go again. The first time was only a mistake.

"Chihiro..," I whimpered, completely out of breath.

"Kohaku!" Her voice was thick and wavery with unshed tears. Her hands roamed everywhere, my shoulders, my hair, my back; as if she didn't believe I was actually real.

"How long has it been?" I asked her out of curiosity, for she had definitely...developed. I blushed brightly at that thought, though she probably didn't catch it.

"For you days, maybe weeks; But for me... Kohaku, it's been nearly 7 years," She replied.

I pulled her away from me, and looked her up and down.

Her legs were long and lanky; she had the body of a woman now. Her hair had been cut at her shoulders, and was neat with a sheen to it. Her face had lost its chubbiness; her cheekbones aristocratic and sharp, highlighted by the glimmer of tears she was crying. But her eyes...her eyes were dead. She was pretty, but not the Chihiro I had known 7 years ago.

"Chihiro how...how did you find the portal? After you left, it was supposed to have disappeared," I explained. This was getting strange.

"I don't know. After I left the Spirit World, I kept searching for a way back in. I never gave up, and one day... I-It was just there..," She said, getting upset. "Why? Aren't you happy to see me? Why should it matter how I got back?"

"Of course I'm happy to see you, Ch-," I tried to say.

"Or maybe it was all a lie, maybe you were using me!" She accused. She was going hysterical! "Maybe you're a lie!"

And she pushed me. And I fell and fell and fell and fell.

"I hate you, Kohaku-," She whispered to me."Kohaku!"

Until I could fall no longer.

"-Kohaku! Kohaku! Get your lazy ass up!" Rin's voice could be heard though my door.

Suddenly I was fully awake.

It was all a dream?

I rushed over to the door and swung it open for her. For a second, she looked at me strangely.

"Kohaku...have you been-," Apparently Rin thought it was better not to ask her question. "Nevermind."

"What did you want?" I asked tersely, trying to hide my face within my emerald tresses (A/N: I know, that's kind of girly. Get over it.).

"Yubaba wanted me to get you," She said, then continued in a whisper. "There's some weird guy in her office that wants to talk to you."

I looked at her in confusion, and then walked off in the direction of Yubaba's office.

Scene

The boy looked about 15, but I knew better.

His dark hair was long and wispy, and mostly shielded his eyes.

The strangest thing about the cloaked spirit. His eyes held no color in them; the irises were just as black as the pupil. Every time he looked at me, I felt chills run up and down my spine. And he didn't just look at me; it was like he was searching for something. Searing through my flesh and digging for my soul and what secrets lay in it.

"Well," Yubaba's grating voice shattered my thoughts. "Don't be rude, introduce yourself to our guest."

She smiled in a sickeningly sweet manner at the boy.

"Kohaku," I announced stiffly. I felt that he understood I took no pleasure in being in this room and why.

"Kuro," He purred in a saccharine tenor. "May we go… else where?"

"Of course!" Yubaba blurted out loudly, shooing us off.

Kuro rose and led me out of the room.

He slowed when we reached the bridge.

'Kohaku…' Kuro purred inside my head, savoring the way my name rolled off his tongue.

A telepath.

'Get out of my head.' I demanded.

'Why? It's harder for others to hear our conversation within your thick skull.' He taunted innocently.

'I don't like it.'

"Fine," He compromised. "We can talk out in the open."

"What do you want?" I asked, somehow keeping my calm.

He took his time, walking around behind me and examining me.

"Your soul," He whispered in my ear from behind.

I whipped around and pushed him off of me. He laughed lowly and gave a jagged, toothy grin.

"That girl of yours-that woman of yours," He began slowly. "I doubt she would want you anymore. Look at you!"

'Filthy beast…' He whispered darkly within my mind.

"Look what you've become!" He continued. "A filthy beast."

He stopped and took a step back, seemingly to look at me. Then his ebony eyes met mine, and it was as if my gaze was frozen. I could look no where else but his eyes.

"I've been watching you," He said, almost sympathetically. Almost."I know the nightmares that plague you, and I know what you dream about…"

"No..NO! Stop it, you're wrong. YOU'RE WRONG!" I screamed, I could say nothing but that.

"Am I, Kohaku?" Karu purred. "Prove it to me. Prove it to me!"

Now it seemed like he was getting angry.

"She wouldn't want you anyway…" He repeated, his words quiet and his eyes going blank as he seemed to be taken in by a deep trance.

"If you want it to end…" Karu stopped. "If you want relief, I can give it to you. Just ask."

He edged closer to me, so close his chest was nearly touching mine.

"And if you want release, I can give you that too," He murmured teasingly, his breath tickling my ear. With that, he walked off.

And I have to tell you, right now, his promise of relief was exceptionally tempting.

Buthis promise of release was just creepy.

Scene

Wow, that one I got done fast! Do notcomplain to me about my character Karu, I like him (his name means black, dark). I've decided to add a few more chapters. Actually, quite a few. (sigh) It's only more work. I'm going to change the summary, so you guys tell me if it's better or worse. Okay? Okay!