Yo everyone! I'm back! W00t! I'm sorry I haven't updated in a very long while. But I have been keeping up with all your stories! (I think…eep…)

By the way I'm past the 100-review mark!

By Saturday, Rin had totally forgotten about Oukami's strange behaviour that night. She had gone shopping earlier and had decided that human clothes weren't too bad at all. Now she was standing in front of a dusty mirror trying on different combinations. As far as she knew, she was the only one at home – Kohaku had gone to get them lunch before they went to Chihiro's house, and Oukami, well, he could be anywhere.

Rin shook her head at her reflection. A pink blouse and an electric green skirt did not match. She pulled off the blouse and fumbled through her bags for another top, when…

"Yo."

Rin squealed and bent over, trying to shield herself. She glared up at Oukami leaning against the door casually and blushed as his eyes never left her. He must have sneaked up from behind, and her colour deepened as she realised he could have been standing there for who knows how long. Becoming angry at herself and him, she snapped, "Get out!"

He grinned broadly and said, "Did I ever say you were pretty? Much better than most. Well, at least from what I've seen."

Her eyes widened as she realised what would be running through his head now, and she stuttered out, "You pervert!"

"Just a hobby," he shrugged.

"Just – just get out!" Rin yelled. The colour in her face was unlike one he had ever seen before.

He backed off, saying, "Fine, fine." He turned to leave, deciding that he had made the right decision. Who knows, he thought, she might have burst a blood vessel in her brain if I hadn't left.

- - -

Chihiro's sleepover party was actually fun, Kohaku realised. He thought he would have been too old for these things, but from the time he, Oukami and Rin had arrived in the afternoon (with Rin looking rather flashy in a yellow blouse, dark blue skirt and crystal earrings) to now, after dinner, he was having the time of his life. Perhaps it was the mere presence of Chihiro that made him feel good, and he pondered that idea for a while.

"Okay!" Chihiro yelled, standing up on the sofa to get everyone's attention. "We're going to watch a movie, so what do you guys want to see?" She held up the various DVDs.

They ended up watching Tonari no Totoro, and by the end of it all of them wanted their own real Totoro, especially Naruko.

Afterwards those who couldn't stay the night began to leave, until at last it was just Naruko, Rin, Oukami, Kohaku and Chihiro.

Oukami was staring at the picture on the DVD box when he asked, "These Totoro things, they're spirits, right?"

"I guess so," Chihiro replied.

He looked up at her and asked, "Are they real?"

"Well…" she trailed off.

"Of course not!" Naruko said. "They're cute little made up things."

Oukami grinned. "I don't think so. I think they're real, and they live everywhere, like out in the garden, in the forest, possibly even under your bed."

"I've never seen one," Naruko declared.

"Maybe that's because…" Oukami pretended to think, "they're invisible to us because they don't want us seeing them. What do you think of that, Rin?" He stared at her meaningfully.

"That…that sounds pretty good, I guess…"

Kohaku caught on faster and said, "Maybe they're all beyond that tunnel in the middle of the forest."

"You mean that spooky place?" asked Naruko. "I don't like it there. They've got weird shrines and strange double-headed statues." She shuddered.

"They probably have spirits in them then." Oukami grinned. "Hey maybe sometime we can go take a look all together and check it out. How's that sound?"

Naruko pouted. "If you're thinking of scaring me, don't, 'cause it's not going to work! Only you get scared."

"Oh yeah? I'm all grown up already you know, I don't get scared."

Rin's eyes flashed and she said loudly, "Yeah right."

He waved aside her comment and continued, "How about tomorrow you and I go to the forest and take a look?"

"Fine!" Naruko yelled. "I can't wait to see you scared!"

"I won't get scared."

"You will!"

"I won't."

"You will!"

"I won't."

"You will!"

"I won't."

"You will!"

"You won't."

"I will!"

"Ha!" Oukami shouted triumphantly. "I win!"

Rin laughed at how childish they could be, especially Oukami. She looked at Kohaku to see if he found it funny too but he was looking at Chihiro. She was deep in thought, and he wondered when it would be time to break it to her.

- - -

Chihiro lay on her back, staring up the ceiling but not seeing it. The conversation from earlier was still ringing in her ears, making her expect to see a little totoro pop up from nowhere, or worse, a spirit with an oversized head with a beaky nose decked with cheap imitation jewels. Wait, where did she get such a complex image from?

She sighed and twirled the glittering purple hair band between her fingers. There was something bothering her, something important. And the worse thing was that she could not remember it.

Out of the corner of her eye a figure moved along the wall slowly, stopping every now and then to pick up something from the shelf. Chihiro watched quietly for a while before sitting up. The other turned around and stared at her with his emerald green eyes shining from an unknown source of light in the semi-darkness.

"What are you looking at?" Chihiro asked quietly.

Kohaku held up a framed photo in response.

Chihiro rose and carefully jumped over the sleeping form of Rin to get to him. She squinted her eyes to try and make out which one he was looking at.

"Who's the baby in the picture?" he asked.

"Oh." Chihiro grinned, remembering what her mother had said. "That's me, and you see that necklace my mum's wearing? Well apparently I made her lose it because I pulled it off when we were walking in the city."

Kohaku shook his head. "You were naughty."

"Well, yeah." She smiled a little. "The necklace was really expensive too. I think the pendant was a real diamond."

He chuckled softly and set the photo back down and picked up another. "What about this one?"

"That was when we went on a picnic next to a river. See the pink shoes? I've still got them somewhere in the house. My dad thinks it's a miracle that I emerged from the water completely unhurt after going under and almost drowning. I even got the little pink shoe back." She grinned and pointed at another photo. "That was earlier on the same day. I was trying to read the kanji on the sign – the Kohaku River. It took me ages to figure –" she stopped and stared at the boy next to her. His green eyes gleamed with a strange hunger mixed with hope and the need to tell her the truth straight out.

"Do…do I know you?" Chihiro asked tentatively.

Well, is that a cliffie or what? Anyway, please review!

Reposted 22/11/05 to remove review responses