Chapter 3

Chihiro walked into her homeroom classroom. There was only a few minutes before the bell rang. The teacher sat at her desk completing some paperwork. She looked up when she saw her student walk into the room.

"Ah, Chihiro," she said, standing up. "We have a new student in our class. He transferred here today and since you were so ahead at your old school, I was wondering if you could help him get settled." Chihiro heard some noises coming from the side of the room by the window. All the girls and some of the boys crowded around the new kid's desk, asking him questions and stuff. She couldn't get a good look at him yet. Her friend, Yuri, stood in the way. She could see that Yuri's mouth was constantly moving, not giving the new kid any time to respond.

"Uh, what's his name?" Chihiro asked her teacher, looking away from the group. The teacher looked down at a paper sitting on her desk.

"Nobu Kobayashi," she replied. The younger girl nodded, agreeing to get him settled. Conveniently, his seat was next to hers, so she could talk to him without disrupting today's lesson. She started to her seat so she could put her bag down. Yuri broke away from the group around this 'Nobu' kid and joined her friend.

"This new boy is really cute, Chihiro!" she exclaimed as Chihiro put her stuff on her desk. "Come on! I'll introduce you!" Yuri grabbed her hand and pulled her over to the desk next to hers. The crowd had started to dissipate and they could see him in plain view. He was smiling, talking to another boy who was standing in front of him. Chihiro froze as soon as she saw his face. It can't be!

"Haku?" she said, out loud. The new boy stopped talking and looked at Chihiro. It looks exactly like him! The face was exactly the same as her old friend's. His hair color, black, was the only thing that was different, except that he was taller than she remembered. Yuri looked at her friend.

"Who's Haku?" she asked, confused. Before the other girl could answer, Yuri started talking again. "Chihiro, this is Nobu. Nobu, Chihiro." Nobu nodded towards Chihiro.

"Hello, Chihiro. It's nice to meet you," he said, giving off a charming smile and extending him hand. The girl still stood there, dumbstruck. That couldn't be Haku. There was no way it could be him. Suddenly, all the memories started to flood back into her head. Memories she was trying to get away from. She was supposed to start new here!

"Chihiro?" Yuri asked, shaking her friend's arm. Instantly, she snapped out of her trance.

"Sorry," she said. "Pleased to meet you, Nobu." Chihiro extended her hand and shook his. Before they could say anything else, the late bell rang in the classroom.

"Alright, class! In your seats!" the teacher called. Yuri wandered away and sat in her seat. Chihiro did the same. As the class got under way, Chihiro kept staring at the new boy. He noticed it early on, but didn't pay any attention until the middle of class.

"Is there something you want, Chihiro?" he asked her. She blinked and shook her head quickly. "Well, in that case, could you help me? I mean, you don't seem to be doing anything else." She looked around the classroom. The rest of the class was doing their quiet work. She stood up, dragged her chair to the side of his desk, and sat down.

"What is it that you need help with?" Chihiro asked him, trying not to think about Haku again. He showed her his paper. She looked over it and made faces. "This is all wrong!" she exclaimed. "Don't you know what you're doing?" Nobu shrugged, indicating that he had no idea. She sighed. "Alright, this is how it goes." She picked up his pencil and wrote down the steps for him.

"I'm sorry, Chihiro. I'm not so good at math," he concluded about himself. She nodded.

"I can tell." When she was done, she put his pencil down and gave him his paper back. "There. That should help you. If you need anything else, just ask."

"Thank you, Chihiro."

"Why do you keep adding my name to every sentence?" she asked him, curiously.

"It's just been so-," he started, but stopped himself before he said it. That was close. He'd have to watch himself now. He wasn't allowed to reveal himself to her. At least, not yet. He could tell that she was getting suspicious.

"It's been so, what?" she asked. He hesitated. 'Nobu' had no idea what to say. He knew what he wanted to say, but he wasn't allowed. If he did, the spell would break.

"Uh, nothing," he said. She frowned even more, not pleased with his answer.

"Are you sure you're not Haku?" He broke out into a sweat. She was really suspicious of him. He didn't know how long he'd be able to keep this up. All he wanted to do was see her, watch over her. But if she found out it was him, it would be all over for him. He'd have to return to that wretched place. He could always try again, but she would know and it wouldn't work.

"Who is this Haku you keep speaking of?" he asked her, trying not to show his nervousness. She glared at him for a few minutes.

"Don't worry about it," she said, finally. Chihiro picked up her chair and went back to her own desk to gather her stuff for the next class. The bell rang shortly afterwards.

"Whatever you didn't finish in class, finish for homework!" the teacher yelled as students started to leave the classroom. Before another word was uttered between Nobu and Chihiro, she was out of the room, with Yuri in tow.

"What are you in such a hurry for, girl?" Yuri asked her friend. Chihiro slowed down and let out a long held in breath. Before she could answer, though, Madison and the other two girls joined them. Yuri seemed to forget her question when she started to tell their other three friends about this new boy. Chihiro was relieved. She didn't want to talk about it now. She tried not to listen as she walked to her next class with the other four girls.

Nobu leaned back in his chair for a moment before getting ready for him next class. That was a close one. Maybe he should've changed his looks more than he had. But he was sure that everyone had a twin out there. Maybe he could still fool Chihiro into thinking that it wasn't really him. But how?

"Mr Kobayashi?" the teacher asked, walking up to him. He looked up at her. "You only have a few minutes to get to your next class, so I suggest you go. You don't want to set a bad impression on your very first day." 'Nobu' nodded, quickly packed his things, and left the room.