Written Rivers

A Home Amongst Rivers

Chapter 22: The First of Many

To start, the dream started blank. Literally.

Chihiro glanced around the space that filled her mind. She was sleeping, she knew that much. She had just got home from a long day at the museum and an evening trip to the library to get books for her book. Last thing she remembered was coming into the apartment, putting everything away, cleaning up and falling straight into her futon. She probably said something to Rumi, but she didn't remember. Now she was in a blank space that went forever in every direction. It was rather disorienting.

"How strange…" Chihiro mumbled, trying to grasp her barring and wrap her mind around infinity.

"I apologize. I would have made it more elaborate but was trying to make a connection first."

Chihiro stiffened at the sound of the familiar deep, silk-like voice behind her. She didn't turn around, for fear that this was all just what it was: a dream. A figment of her imagination. She sucked in a breath and turned toward the voice, praying the source wouldn't disappear. When she turned, her eyes fell on Haku. Emerald eyes, dark mossy hair and all.

"Is this real?" She breathed, not moving from where she stood.

Haku tilted his head and smiled warmly. "Yes. And all thanks to you."

"Me?" Chihiro's brows knit together. "How?"

"You found me." His eyes had a twinkle in them. "You found my river and for that I am forever grateful." He got to his knees and bowed lowly.

Shocked by his behavior, she waved her hands about, flustered. "No! No! Raise your head!" She felt a sense of déjà vu. It had been a week since she made the shrine. "I only built a small shrine. I didn't do anything else of any importance…"

Haku rose his head to her in his bowed stature. "Chihiro." His voice had a sad undertone. "I do not think you realize what you have done." He smiled warmly once more. "You have saved me not once, but twice. That was not just a shrine, it is my anchor, my being. I am whole again, Chihiro, and it is thanks to you." He dipped his head once again.

Chihiro's face contorted, not sure how to respond. How was such a powerful being bowing before her? A god. Sure, he was her friend, but he was a god first, a powerful one at that.

She realized she hadn't moved and approached him. "Haku, please, raise your head. I'm not deserving of your praise…" She stopped in front of him, at least two feet away, her eyes downcast.

Haku raised his head, then rose and stood up straight. Chihiro couldn't see his expression but his voice said what she couldn't see. "You are not aware, are you?" His voice carried sorrow and empathy. He was concerned. Isn't that what she wanted? Her friend?

She hesitated. "Of what?" She titled her gaze up to him.

His eyes held concern and a sort of adoration she couldn't quite place. "Chihiro, I may not have expressed it, but I valued your time in the Spirit World. I always had an intention to see you again. The timing this time was just poor." He closed the gap between them and raised his hand, hesitated, then placed it on her head. "You are important to us, Chihiro. To Zeniba-San, Rin, Kaonashi, Boh, Ojii-San (Kamaji), Makoto, Yuuka, Rumi-San, me. All of us care and hold you precious, Chihiro, do not ever doubt it. We believe that you will make yourself a clear path that only you can lead." He lowered his hand to cover her forehead, touching his forehead to the back of his hand. The image of his river prospering in the Human World formed in her mind. Then an image of her sitting on a cliff, watching the sunset, a notebook beside her and a content expression on her face. "Your future is bright, Chihiro. But you must believe and strive for it."

As he leaned away, tears slipped past her eyes. "Haku…" She breathed, her lips quivering. She suddenly fell into his arms, hugging his waist, tears falling down her cheeks as she held back a sob. "There's so much that has happened, Haku… I… I didn't know what… what to do or who to turn to… And I couldn't get to you…" She cried into his kimono. "I was scared, Haku…"

He rubbed her back and head, shushing her. "It is alright now…"

"I… I remember everything that happened, Haku… I was so scared… I… I lost it, I couldn't tell the difference between spirit and reality, I couldn't control my own thoughts… my own actions! I-I…" She buried her face further into his kimono. "Haku… I wanted to die…"

Haku's arms tightened around her. "I…" He fell silent.

The two of them stood there in each other's arms, Haku smoothing Chihiro's hair as she let out the tears she'd been holding back since she remembered her lost years. At some point they sat across from each other and Chihiro let everything go. She told him everything that had happened and everything that she'd been bottling up inside for years, whether she had remembered it or not.

Haku sat quietly and listened, empathizing with her and giving words of encouragement. Chihiro felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off her chest. She felt like she could breath for the first time. Nothing in her situation had changed much, just a reconnection with her friend, but it made a world of a difference. Once everything that was needed to be said was said, they started talking about what was going on in the Bathhouse and how Chihiro's new job was fairing.

"Everyone at the Bathhouse misses you." Haku chuckled. "They have been giving me quite the challenging time since you left. I almost regret sending you back."

Chihiro glared at him mockingly. "I told you I shouldn't have left." She crossed her arms smugly.

He rolled his eyes with a smirk. "Not this again." His eyes glazed endearingly. "I can never thank you enough, Chihiro."

"Once is fine." She blushed, looking the other way.

Haku laughed. "If you insist."

Chihiro looked off into the blank space. "I should thank you too." She looked back at him and smiled.

"And why is that?" He asked, intrigued.

"You listened. You reached out. That's all I ever wanted."

Haku smiled, but he grimaced. "I wish it had not taken this long." His voice was knit with concern and remorse.

"Somethings can't be helped…" Chihiro shrugged, but it wasn't quite convincing.

"We can start over." He gave her a renewed smile. "This time, we will not leave the other behind."

Chihiro studied him for a moment then nodded, her lips twitching into a smile. "Yeah, I like that."

"Good." Haku beamed. "However…" He rose to his feet and extended his hand to her.

The Ogino eyed him once more before taking his hand and rising to her own feet. "Hm?"

"It is getting late; the sun shall rise soon, and you will wake. For now, we will have to say good night."

Chihiro pouted and gripped his hand tight. "We'll see each other again, right?"

"Yes. I promise." His voice was sincere. "Now that I have an anchor, I can come to you whenever you need me."

Chihiro grinned. "Good. Then. Until next time."

"Until next time."

Their images began to fade from the blank world as the dream ended. Chihiro gripped his hand a little tighter as she waved goodbye. Haku then seemed to remember something and returned the hold on her hand.

"Oh, if I remember correctly, a little bird told to tell you, 'happy birthday.'"

Chihiro gapped, blushing. "Wait! How-?!"

Haku chuckled and faded away with the rest of the dream.

Best birthday gift ever.


Haku walked around the Bath House with what some would call a "pep in his step." Nothing would dissuade his mood after getting his chance to talk to Chihiro the night prior. So much had happened over the course of the last week. His river restored to him, the Bathhouse regaining some major guests, and then his visit with Chihiro. He did not realize how much he had missed his friend until he met her face to face. Or maybe dream to dream…

The only thing that disheartened him about their conversation, was her confession of hurting herself and wanting to die. He knew the effects the Spirit World had on humans who managed to return to the Human World, he just never knew how much it would affect her young mind at the time. She seemed so much stronger when she left that he forgot that she was still just a child having seen things beyond her years. As she was now, he was grateful for Yuuka's actions, no matter how the involved parties felt. It saved them both from death. After their interaction the night prior, Haku hoped Chihiro would have a newfound faith in herself and future. He looked forward to the next dream visit. His contentment helped him go through his daily rounds without a care or ill temper.

However, all of this seemed short lived when he turned a corner into the main bath floor to find two large oni, one red one green, glaring daggers into the other's skulls. They had scars decorated across their bare skins, clothed in only a loincloth and carrying their Bathhouse provided robes in hand, leaving Haku to assume they had come from being side wars in the main war between the god brothers. The was had not effected much of the what was now Haku's territory, other than harsh weather, but it got spirits that came through to rejuvenate after a long day of spectating or participating in the war. Which meant rivals in the war would pass through more often than not.

These two, he was assuming, were enemies on the field and ran into each other at the neutrally established Bathhouse. How convenient.

Haku had established the Bathhouse neutral territory after the first three fights that broke out in the middle of the bath floor. If there was so much as a spark of war within the walls of the Bathhouse, they would be removed from the premises immediately. Spirits tended to listen, oni and demons of the nature on the other hand tended to be far too headstrong and would not leave as easily as the others. Now was such a time.

Haku let out a sigh, more out of disappointment of his ruined mood than anything, straightened his back and walked over to the rivaling oni. As he drew closer, their size should have been intimidating, standing well above the average height, but he had grown used to over-sized intimidating spirits over the years, especially since he had fought with these types of yokai in his younger years on the daily. He was pasted that phase in his life, regardless.

When he stood next to them, the hostility that exuded off them was repulsive. Moreover annoying. It was the same thing at least once a week and unfortunately, because of his title as god and owner, he was the only one that could really resolve these matters and get a respectable response. Most of the time…

Haku cleared his throat at the oni that stood towering over him. "If I can be of some assistance to your stay here, I will. However, if you chose to fight and bring your battles into my Bathhouse, I will ask you to leave."

The red oni turned to him and scoffed. "And who are you?" His voice was gruff and mocking.

"The owner of this establishment and one of the great dragons of the east. And in case you were not aware, this is neutral ground, a place of relaxation and renewal for spirits to get away from their strenuous lives and the war. You bringing the war here defeats the purpose of the Bathhouse and if you cannot follow such a simple rule, I will have to ask you to leave."

Something about Haku's tone seemed to cause the red oni's resolve to falter, even the staff around them seemed hesitant. The blue oni glared, attempting to loo menacing, but made no move against the dragon. The red oni stepped back and regardless of them being known to be far more aggressive and forthright, he walked away toward a different part of the Bathhouse. The blue oni stood astonished.

"You coward!" He growled, bloodlust filling the room. "I don't care about your petty rules! He will die!"

Haku acted immediately as the blue oni charged at the red one, shifting to a dragon and sliding between the two, snarling. "You will leave this place, or I will have you head!" He snapped, baring his teeth.

The blue oni stumbled back and glowered back, the red oni in a defensive stance behind Haku. He was no longer the problem, it was just the blue one. Haku's main concern was his staff and guests, the blue oni was going to have to leave. He snarled again for good measure.

The blue oni, growled in the back of his throat but stepped down. "There're plenty of other bath houses. One's that don't expect cowards or fools." With that he snarled one last time at red oni and left.

Haku shifted back and turned to the red oni and glowered. "Bring your problems into my Bathhouse again and I will not hesitate to take your head."

The oni nodded and turned to his stall.

Haku let out a sigh and ran his fingers through his hair. It was not the first time it got violent like that and he was thankful it did not escalate beyond threats this time. It almost seemed too easy. He grunted and went on with his daily routines, grumbling about his now sour mood.


The Tohoku Earthquake and tsunami had been the first of many, many storms that would hit the Asian Pacific coasts. Over the next few months, there were typhoons and tropical storms that plagued the Pacific waters. Chihiro found herself at more than one outreach to help others at hospitals and donation clinics alongside her job at the museum. The storms weren't out of the norm, but now that Chihiro knew why they were happening, she felt a sudden tug to action. Her prayers for the war between the god brothers seemed to fall on deaf ears or upon the ears of those who couldn't do anything about it.

Since her first dream with Haku, they had started meeting in their dreams once a week to keep each other in the loop of what was going on in their respective worlds. Their meetings were always a comfort amid the chaos of storming wars. They no longer met in a blank space sometimes it was the Bathhouse gardens, sometimes a café where they didn't actually eat the food just imagined they did, sometimes it was a hiking trail Chihiro had explored at some point. Where ever it was, they were just content to be in each other's company.

Haku told her that amid the warring gods, business went up. Gods and spirits wanted to get away from the war and refresh after a day of battle or watching it. Even though it caused turmoil in the lands and Human World, some spirits looked forward to the warring brothers as entertainment in some twisted, demented way. He told her that some spirits lived for so long, war was the only entertainment they had left because they didn't always know the outcome. Chihiro didn't like it but she could understand vaguely the boredom of immortality. School, work, and sports were similar, no?

Haku had become her closest friend, rivaling Makoto and Rumi, and that was hard to beat. She was able to talk with him about anything, well, not everything, she had her limits when talking to her guy friends but still. There was something about talking with Haku that left her at peace and that she could trust him.

Chihiro found herself on the more hiking trips those days, almost every weekend. She took a stack of books and her notebook with her and would just sit and write. Write every idea that came to mind, every idea she had for her book, every feeling that surfaced. The trips were comforting and quiet, leaving her alone to her thoughts. Makoto usually accompanied her, occasionally Rumi joined, but she normally had her own work to take care of.

The bond between the three of them had definitely strengthened after everything was cleared and out in the open. It had taken some adjusting but they had all come an understanding and instead chose to grow off the untold tales of the past that had surfaced instead of holding bitterness. Even for Yuuka, who seemed to have had done the most damage.

But now, Chihiro sat on one of the trails back in Kumano Kodo, Ohechi trail. It was a trail in the southern part of the peninsula, looking out over the ocean from a cliff side. Makoto lay beside her enjoying the ocean breeze, the smell of sea salt in the air. The warm mid summer day left Chihiro in a good mode and in good peace with herself.

So, she wrote, she didn't know for how long, but she wrote. Wrote for the difference she hoped would one day come. Wrote for the day she would meet her future.


A/N:

Ya'll, I have stumped myself with the way I made Haku talk. It gets exhausting sometimes. .

Soooo many insecuritiesssssssssssss…. I empathize Chihiro, I truly do. Before you can find who you will be, you have to come to terms with you have been and who you are now.

BY THE WAY, Chihiro's birthday is May 27, 1990 (in this story at least). She is now 22 years old in the story. Just to give you reference to how much time has passed. Which is coming up as of this chapter! Happy Birthday, Chi-Chan!

Also, I apologize for the tardiness, the last two weeks have been very busy and I didn't get it done in time last week before problems started arising out of nowhere in real life. I'm working on it though and I've also been working on exerts for Book 2 when it happens. So know that there is a lot for this series in the future. I always feel bad cuz when I'm a reader and I find a story I absolutely love, I'm the type that knows the author's usual posting time and sit patience for it to update. So I understand the disappointment!

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, and Picklesisadeadcat!

God bless! KawaChou