Written Rivers

A Home Amongst Rivers

Chapter 18: The Return Home

Chihiro awoke on her final morning in the Spirit World to a feeling of peace and of sorrow. She was finally at peace with the fact that she would be returning home to the Human World, but it didn't leave behind the feeling of wistfulness as she left her second family behind. She had missed the family she'd gained in the Spirit World and now she was to leave them again.

She rose a little after dawn, the yuna still slept soundly in their futons. She went to shake Rumi awake, knowing the consequences, and started shifting through her bag to make sure she had everything packed from the night before. Rumi was sitting up groggily, wiping the sleep from her eyes.

"Why do we have to be up so early?" She complained, quietly.

"So we can say our good byes and make sure we are prepared to leave." Chihiro replied without looking up from her task.

Rumi grumbled but nodded, stretching her arms with a yawn and reaching for her own bag.

"Leaving already?" A voice said from the other side of the room.

Chihiro looked in the direction of the voice and it was one of the yuna propping up on her elbows from her sleep.

She smiled at the yuna sympathetically. "Yeah, we have to head out before afternoon. I'll miss you." She gave a small wave.

The yuna smiled and replied, "I hope we see you again soon."

Chihiro brows knit together but she continued her smile. She didn't know if that was a promise she could keep or not. If fate and the great gods above allow, Haku had said. But that hadn't been a straightforward yes or no answer. But what could she do.

The yuna laid back down and Chihiro finished her packing alongside Rumi. They finished and headed down to the main floor where they met Rin and Makoto, in his human form, who seemed to be having a quarrel about something. The two stopped when they spotted them, and Rin trotted over to them.

Rin embraced them both. "Geez, I wish you guys didn't have to go so soon." She pouted putting her fists on her hips. "Sorry I didn't get to talk with you more, there's been a lot going on with the Bathhouse and all."

Chihiro tilted her head and chuckled. "It's fine, Rin. We know you had your hands full." She turned to Makoto who's green-blue eyes were rich with concern. "Don't worry about us, Makoto. We'll be fine."

His eyes narrowed in disbelief, then softened. "Please be careful. I would not want you getting into trouble when I am not able to come for you."

Makoto wouldn't follow them home until the next new moon, which wasn't for another week. It was times like these, Chihiro could feel the uselessness that Makoto felt about his heritage. Because of his heritage as being an impartial spirit, he was limited by how often and when he could traverse worlds to equinoxes, solstices, and specific moon phases. She could tell how disappointed he was from where she stood by his rigid stance.

She tilted her head again and approached him, encircling her arms around his waist. "We'll see each other soon, Makoto. Thank you for being there for me. I look forward to being in your care again." She leaned away and smiled.

Her words seemed to have an effect on him, because his body relaxed, and his lips curled up in a small smile. "I will see you soon." He nodded.

After saying their goodbyes to Kamaji and everyone that had awoken and started prepping the Bathhouse, Chihiro and Rumi made their way to the main entrance. It was midmorning and the rain outside had let up enough that it left a light drizzle, but that didn't look like it would last for long from the darkness of the clouds above. When they approached the doors that led outside, they were met with Haku and Ame. Chihiro grinned at the sight of the young spirit.

"Ame-Kun! I didn't think I'd get to see you!" She hurried over to the boy and embraced him.

He laughed in her arms. "It's good to see you too, Chihiro-San." His bright hazel eyes beamed up at her when she let him go. "It's been great finally getting to meet you! I'd heard so much about you before you returned and when I finally met you, it was like meeting a dream or a person out of a story. And now you're leaving and it's kinda sad, but you wouldn't want to get stuck here, there's too much going on, but but hopefully we'll see you again! I don't think Shishou will let you stay away as long as last time, but then again-"

"I think that is enough for now, Ame." Haku interrupted before Ame could talk until the tide of the river came back in. Chihiro raised an eyebrow suspiciously at the two of them, dawning a half smirk.

Ame blushed and stepped back. "Sorry." He bounced on the balls of his feet, smile still beaming.

Chihiro finally let out a light chuckle. She then looked up at Haku, who met her eyes with a smile. They had made their peace the night prior, finally reconciling any unsaid feelings. She would miss her friends but knew it wasn't the end. She'd meet them again someday, some way.

"Bye Haku." She smiled.

"Bye Chihiro." He replied.

It was simple. Everything that needed to be said had already been said.

"Well." Rumi announced, hefting her backpack to adjust it on her back. "We better get going before the rain picks up again. From what Yuuka told me, with the way the storms have been, we can't guarantee that the river will stay receded even at this time of day."

"She is right." Haku agreed. "Ame and I will walk you to the river."

"Yeah! Yeah! We're going to the river!" Ame waved his arms in the air, his red umbrella swinging in the air, causing Haku to duck.

"Ame." The dragon spirit chastised, receiving a small apologetic chuckle from Ame in response.

The four of them walked out of the Bathhouse after Ame somehow procured three umbrellas out nowhere. They small talked as they made their way through the small town of shops outside the Bathhouse and to the drained river. Ame had a habit of running ahead and procuring clouds out of thin air and explaining what was going on with the larger clouds above before hopping on one and surfing down the streets on it. The playful energy astonished Chihiro and just caused her to laugh and wish she could have as much fun as the child spirit. When they reached the river, they lingered, not really wanting to say good bye. For the first time Ame showed signs of tears and ran up to Chihiro, hugged her, then ran back by Haku's side.

Haku patted the boy's shoulder. "This is not good bye."

Chihiro smiled in agreement. "You're right. It's 'see you later.'"

He nodded. "Remember, no matter what happens, do not look back."

"We won't." Chihiro waved and hefted her backpack, turning to face the river.

"Bye everyone." Rumi dipped her head with a smile and a wave, turning to follow Chihiro. "Let's go."

"Yeah."

The girls stepped across the river and over the hill to the large clock tower, its red body standing out against the dark skies of rain around it. They entered the clock tower and put down their umbrellas, looking around at the puddled train stop. Water dripped down from the roof and the stain glass windows showed a little light and reflected on the ground. At the opposite side of the room, there were five tunnels, three in the immediate center and two off to the sides near the corners.

"Does Yuuka know where the other four lead?" Chihiro asked.

Rumi didn't answer for a moment. "She says that they're gates to other parts of the country. This clock tower is one of four gateway points to the Spirit World, each are protected and overseen by a Holy Beast."

The Ogino blinked. "Then, which is this one protected by?"

"Seiryu…" Rumi answered.

"The dragon?"

She nodded.

"Oh…" Chihiro nodded. "Well… Let's go." She moved forward into the one she did as a child. The one that led home.


Needless to say, Ogino Akichiro and Ichiyuko were more than a little surprised to find Chihiro and Rumi, soaked to the bone, at their front door. They quickly ushered them in and implored they take a warm bath before they caught a cold. It wasn't until after they were satisfied that they were warm and comfortable did they sit down and have tea at the couch.

"What caused you two to come all the way back here?" Akichiro asked, sitting at the couch.

"Well, it was on our way from Kumano Kodo and I thought we'd pay you a visit." Chihiro smiled. She was lying through her teeth, Osaka was in the complete opposite direction, but how was she going to tell them they just walked out of the tunnel from the Spirit World. "I also wanted to get some stuff from my old room."

Ichiyuko blinked but nodded, setting tea on the coffee table. "I don't see why not." Then her nose wrinkled in confusion. "But we're in the complete opposite direction. The house completely out of the-"

"You are never out of the way, Oba-San!" Rumi said, as if astonished by the inquisition.

Ichiyuko smiled in a way only a mother could. "Oh. Thank you, Rumi-Chan."

Chihiro gave Rumi a look that said a silent 'thank you.' What were they supposed to tell them? "Hey, Oka-San, Otou-San. Remember that theme park we went to when we first came to Tochinoki? Well, we just came back from there and we just met all my spirit friends I told you about after we left eleven years ago! No big deal!" Yeah, that would have gone well.

Then she thought of something else.

"Hey, Oka-San. Do you still have those boxes of notebooks from when I was a kid?" Chihiro asked.

Her mother lowered the cup of tea she'd been sipping thoughtfully. "I believe so. We left the boxes in your old room and we haven't touched anything in there since you left. We keep it as is in case you want to visit."

"I see. Thank you." She replied. "I was wondering cuz I wanted to take some home with me."

"That's no problem." Ichiyuko said.

Akichiro eyed his daughter suspiciously. "You're not looking into that spirit world nonsense again like you did when you were a kid right?"

Chihiro felt a small prick at his words. Her father was never that sensitive with his choice of words when it came to the topic of the Spirit World she'd "imagined" when she was a child. That time of her life didn't have the best memories she could think of and it resulted in a lot of trips to the psychiatrist and a lot of bullying at the new small-town school she attended at the time. But that whole part of her life felt a bit hazy, which she always thought was because it was around the time she really started forgetting about the Spirit World.

"Noo…" She drawled, not really wanting to further the topic. "There's a book I'm planning to write. It's about the correlation between how the habits of those in the past that practiced Shintoism devotedly and how it effected the environment and how modern society habits has affected the environment. It's a book to bring awareness of human habits on the environment." She wasn't lying.

Ichiyuko clapped her hands together in excitement. "Wow! Look at my little girl, fulfilling her passion!" She covered her proud smile with both her hands, as if to hold back tears. "My baby girl, you've come so far."

Chihiro's eyes smiled at her mother. "Oka-San." She breathed.

"Hrm." Her father grunted, as if unconvinced but then he grinned. "My girl! I'm proud of you!" He stood from across the coffee table and took her in his arms to give her a bear hug, smothering Chihiro in his shirt and cologne.

"T-to-San…" Chihiro gasped, wriggling in his arms.

"Oh, you're fine!" With that he squeezed harder, earning a laughed yelp from his daughter.

Rumi laughed from where she sat, watching at the display of family affection in front of her. Akichiro finally placed his daughter down and sat at his own coach. Chihiro gasped for air as she plopped into her own seat. She glanced at her proud parents and smiled. She was proud to call them her parents. They were rough around the edges, but they loved her all the same. Akichiro owned a car dealership in the small town and was one of the only ones for miles, so they got good business. And despite is gruff personality, he could talk anyone into buying a car and even into selling their arm and leg. Ichiyuko had taken up teaching grade school after Chihiro hit high school, resolving her "empty nest syndrome" early before it could start. And even if they didn't quite understand it, both of them had helped her through the rough patch in her life that started with them being spirited away, whether they remembered it or not.

"Well. As much as we wished we could stay, we have to head back to Osaka." Rumi stood solemnly.

"Oh, so soon?" Ichiyuko asked, leaning forward with a dejected expression. "Why don't you stay the night. That way you're rested for your trip back home."

Chihiro glanced at Rumi and shrugged. "It wouldn't hurt."

Rumi went to protest but decided against it. She turned to the Ogino parents. "Of course, thank you, Oba-San, Oji-San." She smiled at them with small bows.

After some tea and dinner, the girls retreated to Chihiro's room, giggling like they were school girls again. Chihiro's room hadn't changed since she last left it, in fact it was stuck in her high school days with band posters and old polaroid photos on the walls. The room was simple, the walls painted a mute gray almost white, a twin bed with a trundle in the corner, a simple light wood desk with books, art supplies and photos stacked high on the surface. She used to keep plants in the room but since she moved out she wasn't there to take care of them, so the room was sparse of any plants. Along the walls were string lights and two large bookcases loaded with all sorts of books. Books on mythology, old manga, some of her old textbooks from university, some classics, it was all there.

"It's crazy how are childhood rooms tend to just freeze in time." Rumi looked around reminiscently, setting her bag down and opening it so she could organize it.

Chihiro chuckled. "I know, right?"

She set her backpack down next to the closet door and ran her fingers across the books. A lot of the mythology ones spanned different cultures and different times. She flicked through the pages of one of the books she plucked off the shelf and fell on a page with an image of a great serpent wrapped around a large bell, spewing fire about the bell. Chihiro read over the pages titled the "How a Monk of the Dōjōji in the Province of Kii copied the Lotus Sutra and Brought Salvation to Serpents". She narrowed her eyes as a she examined the pictures of the woman that turned into a beast because the one that she loved denied her and drove her into a jealous rage.

Chihiro flipped through a few more pages and placed the book back on the shelf. She looked at some of the higher shelves and a box on top of the bookshelf caught her eye. She cocked her head and tried to reach for it, but do to her lack of height, she had to resort to retrieving the chair from her desk, Rumi giving her a skeptical look as she went. When she managed to pull the box down without falling, she placed it on her bed and sat cross-legged next to it. She pulled the lid off it and glanced inside. Inside sat some of her old drawings and notebooks from when she was younger, probably back in elementary school. She placed the lid on her pillow and reached in and grabbed a hand full of papers containing crayon drawings of mythical creatures. She flipped through the pictures and spotted one that looked familiar.

"There he is." She muttered under her breath, in awe.

Rumi came over from organizing her bag and looked over Chihiro's shoulder to see the picture. It was a drawing of a white eastern dragon with a green mane and gold eyes. It drawn in crayon but Chihiro could make out what it was supposed to be. She guessed she drew it back when she was five or six.

"Wow. I remember these." Rumi took the top one and examined it closely, then glancing down at the next one underneath. "It really is him."

Chihiro nodded and flipped through a couple more pictures and found the dragon again this time in more detail and in color pencil. The sketch was much more fluid and elaborate so she could tell this was when she learned to draw better later on when she was about ten or eleven. This dragon had long flowing whiskers, horns, a turquoise mane, and bird like legs.

The more she looked through the pictures, the more her resolve to return to the Spirit World became. This dragon, Haku, had been a part of her life for a while and she highly doubted that it would end with just a week visit. If only there was a way…

Her eyes widened and placed the pictures back in the box. "That's it!"

Rumi recoiled, seemingly startled by her sudden outburst. "W-what?"

Chihiro looked at her friend with fierce determination in her eyes. "I know what I have to do."

Rumi blinked and gave her a hesitated smile slash laugh. "Heh… O-oh really now? And that would be?"

She smirked. "You'll see! But for now, let's go through the boxes in my closet."

"Oh… right…" Rumi deadpanned.


Chihiro pushed open the door to the 1LK apartment and slipped off her shoes in the doorway, balancing her backpack and the box she'd brought from her parents' home as she did. Rumi followed not long after, going past her and into the living room area, where she gracelessly dropped the box she'd carried in a corner and disappeared into the bedroom. The train and taxi ride home had been tiring and long, the need for sleep was there and Rumi was not going to let anything come between her futon and her sleep.

They had decided to spend the day with Chihiro's parents after they stayed the night, taking a four-hour train ride to Osaka afterward. It was refreshing getting a chance to spend time with them since the graduation party. It seemed like far longer than a week since graduation had happened. It probably didn't feel like a lot of time to her parents, but it had felt like weeks, maybe months, since she really sat with them.

In the late evening, Chihiro took her box and placed it on the coffee table in the living area and sat cross legged on the couch. She stared at it for a moment then leaned forward and ripped it open, pulling out the first notebook she saw. She flipped it open and scanned the contents, stories of the spirits filled the pages. She ran her fingers over the pages, following the words of everything she wrote as a child, where her love for mythology stemmed and blossomed.

She placed the book down in her lap and twisted her body across the couch to reach into a side table drawer and withdrew a pen, highlighter and paper pad. She wouldn't sleep well tonight, despite her long journeys. Instead, she curled up on the couch and started reading and taking notes on her journals.


A/N:

Some of you thought that I wouldn't send her back… well I did. She's still got unfinished business in the Human World. ;)

We're finally getting to the part I've been waiting for and thanks for sticking around this long to get here. I've been doing a lot of writing in notebooks about the scenes to come recently and I can't wait to share them!

Thanks for reading and don't forget to review! And for those that do review, I thank you a bunches!

Thank you for the reviews from: Amidstsnow, Firetail Finch, Prismae, RSBCS, Sofrick16, Rosettaxfantasy, Spirited-PKMN Ranger, Luin-fanel, Sillica, Picklesisadeadcat and ChristieWind!

God bless! KawaChou