Disappearing Act

Haku exited the portal between the two worlds in the same forest that Chihiro and her family had become lost in five years earlier. Though it took him a little time, he was eventually able to discover the way out and into town. To be on the safe side, he'd had Zeniba make him a pair of khaki shorts and a dark blue T-shirt to wear as a disguise; after all, humans didn't tend to dress like him on an average day.

But he soon learned that he'd picked a bad day to come into town. Apparently, there'd been a kidnapping or something and the police were everywhere; scouring for the criminal and missing teenager. About five different times, he'd found himself being questioned by officers as to whether or not he'd seen a suspicious person around town or near the forest as of late; Haku was thanking every Great Spirit in existence that his disguise made him blend in with other human teenagers. And every time, he said no.

'I wonder why they didn't ask me if I'd seen a certain person,' he questioned himself, 'I mean, I'd think that humans would use that device of theirs, the camera, to take pictures of whomever they were searching for in order to show everyone who might have information. Perhaps they just forgot about it. But why do I get the feeling that something sinister is afoot here? Almost as if a powerful Spirit has paid the Human World a visit and wreaked some havoc? Everything is so strange; so out of the ordinary.'

While Haku wasn't a scholar in the art of human lifestyles, he did hear many things during his time as lord of the Kohaku River. The police were forever checking his river whenever a murder or disappearance had happened in the area, hoping to find out whether or not the body had been dumped there. And there were times where they'd be questioning suspects or witnesses right near his banks.

But all of that took a backseat to the more pressing task of finding Chihiro and getting her to realize that he was her friend. She would no doubt be frightened with news that a teenager had just vanished into thin air. He hoped that this incident wouldn't be a cause for her no longer to trust strangers.

'I think she said that her house was a blue one that lay on a hill; I remember asking her that question shortly before we arrived back at the bathhouse following our trip to Zeniba's. Hopefully, she hasn't moved since then. If she has, then I'm going to have to play detective for a long time,' he thought.

S...S

Haku noticed the police presence greatly increased the higher up he climbed. Finally, when he was near the top, he saw a trio of girls crying in each other's arms. Obviously, these were friends of the missing person. All of them seemed to be around Chihiro's age; though he didn't see her anyone who looked like it might be her among that gathering. He hoped she had been able to make friends in her new school; that had been one of her major worries. Perhaps these were girls from another class altogether.

As he walked past, a girl who wore her raven hair up in a ponytail inquired of one that wore her brown hair down past her shoulders, "Kana, do you think she's going to be ok? I mean, we've taken that forest path a ton of times together and never seen anything dangerous. Perhaps she just fell and was stunned for a minute. She'll come walking back home any time now and we'll all have a good laugh."

The second girl shook her head. "Rei, please be a realist. The police have combed the path over and over again. From what I heard, they actually found signs of a struggle. But the strange part was that only one pair of feet were seen; a teenage girl's. What I think is that her attacker obviously was strong enough to pull her off the ground and was pushed a bit when she tried to escape. It was probably one of the girls who didn't make the cheerleading squad and felt jealous because Chi became the captain."

"None of those girls could have fought Chi off," the third girl stated, "Remember, the four of us are all blackbelts in Judo. The girls who didn't make it were all the drama queens who sit and powder their faces in the bathroom all day; the ones who spent tryouts conversing with one another and barely moving their arms when they were asked to." She fiddled with her long black hair; almost as if it to relieve stress.

"But what else could explain it Sakura? The sneaker prints were that of a teenage girl of about the same size as Chi. So it would have to be someone around our age. Who do you know that could pick her up and fight with her if you're so smart? If it wasn't one of our classmates, then explain how there was only one print shape of the same size?" the young girl named Kana quipped back at her friend.

At this point, Haku was beginning to have a sinking feeling in the back of his head. He left the area at once and hid in an alley far from police presence. Then, the youth transformed into a dragon and soared above the clouds to be unseen. Soon, he found the forest in question and snuck in before he became a boy once more. Now, all that was left to do was find the scene and investigate it with senses.

It wasn't long before he discovered it. Just as the girls had described, there were footprints all over the area, however only one set of prints could be seen. Also, when he smelt the air, he only sensed that one human girl had been in that direct spot; the police had kept back to avoid contaminating the area.

But as Haku looked around, something shiny caught his eyes. It was a small, circular object near the rock on the edge of the clearing. Trepidation filled his heart as the young Spirit stepped forward to inspect his finding. He had a good idea of what the object might be; it was filled with an extraordinary yet familiar Spirit Energy. Haku picked it up and cleaned off the dirt, only to reveal Chihiro's favorite hair tie.

The former guardian of the Kohaku River wept bitterly; after getting out of the way in case the police came back to work on the case some more. Five years of hard work had all been for naught; someone had caused Chihiro harm before he could return and protect her. He wondered, 'Did Yubaba orchestrate this in any way? No, because I don't think she'd want to make her son angry; he was quite attached to Chihiro and demanded that his mother not hurt her. Everything that has happened here seems so bizarre. I can't take in another human's scent save that of police presence. And only one set of footprints that belonged to Chihiro are around. But why would any Spirit want to kidnap a human?'

S...S

He did not return to the bathhouse; no way he wanted to have Yubaba gloat at how right she had been. Instead, he went to Zeniba's to immediately hold a conference with her and figure out if there was a way of tracking Chihiro through the hairband. Sadly, the old witch told him it was impossible; if a Spirit was involved in some way, they were skilled enough to mask their presence from any means of detection.

Dejected, Haku would constantly hang around town; telling anyone who wondered where he came from that he was simply visiting an aunt that lived in a cottage nearby. Everyday it was the same exact story; Rei, Kana, and Sakura would talk and cry, the police would stand around baffled, Chihiro's mom and dad would be trying to hold up a brave front and fail, and Haku would curse himself for not completing the training sooner. Even asking the local Forest Spirits what was going on did no good; they had been at a small party around the time in question. After a year, the case was closed due to lack of evidence; much to the dismay of everyone who knew her. Haku then left to find himself a new home.

For the next thousand years, stories were circulating on the foundation of what had once been the Kohaku River. They spoke of a Dragon that would roam the area at night; crying and moaning over the grief of his loss. All of the boarders in the apartments left out of fear of the River God, and no one dared to go over there anymore. That sat well with Haku; he could live alone and shed tears for Chihiro. And by the end of that timeframe, the river was once again whole; sorrow re-creating his true home.

However, around the same time, a maiden stirred from a long sleep. She would awaken to many frightening things that her short life never prepared her for. Her only hope would be in friends that she did not yet know; five who had also suffered like she and had one another for support, and her one true love.

Teefa's Last Words...

Don't worry, I didn't kill her off. You'll see what happened to Chihiro in the next chapter. Most of the drama has been done with and now we're onto the humor; with some romance thrown in for good measure.

In more important news, we did get the names for Chihiro's friends from other Anime; well, from ones more geared towards children since I still watch children's shows thus I'll be able to stomach watching TV with my kids when I get married. Though we didn't copy those characters' appearances because they aren't supposed to be parodies of those people. Kana is the best friend in Hamtaro, Rei is from the Japanese version of Sailor Moon, and Sakura from Cardcaptor Sakura.