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The Boy in the Mirror
Chihiro sat up in bed with cold sweat falling down her face. She groped at the side of her bed for a glimmering elastic band as she pulled her hair back into a ponytail.
"That nightmare again," she whispered to herself.
Chihiro could hear her five-year-old brother Seiki down stairs talking to their mother.
"His voice is so loud"
She looked at the time. It was five minutes until seven and she would have to walk her brother to kindergarten soon or she'd be late for her first period high-school class. The girl pulled herself from the covers and swung her legs onto the floor and into her indoor shoes. She wasn't a morning person.
The doorbell rang and she heard the voice of a familiar young girl,
"Good morning Jukodo-Sama."
Chihiro's mother's voice answered,
"Good Morning Raicho-san,"
"Is Chihiro up yet?" she replied
"'Fraid, she's been sleeping in late. Maybe you could pour a bucket of water on her head, that would surly—,"
"I'M UP, I'M UP!"
Chihiro screamed down the stairs and ran back into her room for her school uniform. She tore her nightshirt off and forced on the skirt and button-up shirt. She left the bow in the collar and her shoes untied as she raced down to stairs into the kitchen. She grabbed her brother and stuffed the toast that was on his plate into her mouth. With a cry of protest from the boy tucked under her arms, she managed to reach the door in time before her friend decided that it was best to leave her and be to school on time.
"Chihiro, you look like a mess."
Chihiro lips parted to reveal a tongue geared at her friend. Then she frowned uneasily,
"Thanks for waiting,"
Her mom bend down to tie her shoes as her friend tied the bow that lay clumsily down her front. Chihiro waited impatiently as she noticed that the big clock in the hall read 10 passed 7.
"Lets go!" She said, grabbing Raicho's wrist and Seiki's arm as she ran down the winding, uphill street that led to her house.
"You are hurting me!" Seiki wined.
"Sorry," said Chihiro loosening her grip.
"Sleeping in again Chihiro? Are you sure that your alarm is working properly?" Raicho said with a sideward glance at her red-faced friend.
"I slept through it. I had that nightmare again." She replied quietly.
"The one with the blood in the bathroom. Scary. I wonder if it symbolizes something?"
Chihiro scrunched her small nose like a mouse,
"I don't think so."
The truth was that Chihiro didn't want it to symbolize anything. Her life was complicated as it was. Taking care of her brother all the time while she had a lot of homework was hard to balance. She didn't want stupid dreams to mess-up her focus or grades. She didn't want them to be important; but a voice inside was telling her that it was important. She had this weird feeling that she should recall something that had been long forgotten. Like a childhood memory; a flame that was extinguished. She felt a wave of sadness, like she had lost a light inside her heart.
But that was crazy, she was just a normal high school student, she would remind herself.
When the two girls had dropped the little boy at kindergarten they quickly ran to the bus stop to catch the 7:20 bus. And as they reached the corner, the bus pulled away in a cloud of dust.
"This sucks!" Chihiro yelled as she watched it round the corner and drive out of site. She looked at her friend who was trying to catch her breath.
"You and your silly dreams! What will we tell our science teacher? That we were robed by bandits… or that we were attacked by bears? I'll let you think of the lame excuse for today."
Chihiro pawed the ground uneasily, "I'm sorry Raicho, we can stop going in together."
"Don't be silly. I'd rather get thousands of detentions with the perverted Umeka teacher than to miss coming in with you. What kind of friend would I be?"
Chihiro smiled sweetly at her loyal friend, "thanks Raicho. You really are a great friend."
Raicho spun in a circle so that her thick, dirty blonde hair was lifted like a stream behind her and then settled on her back like golden air. Her hair was naturally wavy and went well with the freckles that were scattered on her face. She had eyes the color of evergreens that stood out against her fair skin. Chihiro was always amazed by her beauty and wished that she looked as beautiful.
"Yes, I know I'm a good friend," she said jokingly. "But don't bother thanking me now, you can give me part of your dessert at lunch? Okay?"
"Hey! No fair! Friends wouldn't do that!" Chihiro said nudging Raicho in the arm.
"Hey. That's the price you gotta pay for making me spend time with Umeka. You know how he his with high school girls. By the time you are done with detention, the rug is soaked with drool."
"Yuck! He is the lowest man, he belongs in a gutter somewhere. If I ever had a chance to, I'd kick him in the place it hurts most!"
Raicho Threw back her head laughing. Chihiro grinned widely at the thought of Umeka trashing on the ground in pain.
"He is nothing like Sonoda- Sensei who teaches science. He's a cool teacher. I actually like being in his class." Raicho said.
"Ah…" Chihiro shrugged. "I could care less about teachers. As long as they are reasonable."
15 minutes later another bus pulled up to the bus sigh and the two girls stepped on and flashed their bus passes. Homeroom would start soon and Chihiro and Raicho were feeling jittery to get to the first period class on time. But things weren't turning out in their favor; the road was packed with drivers on their way to work. Also, the inside of the bus was packed with people heading to downtown and the girls were plastered to the walls.
Finally the bus turned the familiar bend and the Akihiro Arakawa high school came into view. Raicho and Chihiro pushed themselves off the bus and onto the pavement where they sprinted up the wide stone stairs towards the large oak doors. Panting, they looked at the clock. 25 minutes late… They were both going to get a detention!
The girls marched down the empty hall passing the doors full of students already in their classes. When they reached classroom number 204, Raicho turned the knob slowly and cranked open the door. She peered in; the students were all looking attentively at the board and taking notes. The teacher was facing the board and was scrawling facts down as the scratching of pencils followed after.
"The coast is clear. No one's looking." Raicho whispered and they both stepped in to find their seats. Raicho's seat was easy to get to in the back of the room, but Chihiro's was towards to front. She weaved herself through the rows of desks till she reached hers. And as she stood above it, she took a big sigh of relieve as she was about to sit down…
"Eh-hem…Jukodo-Chan, don't pretend like I don't see you."
Chihiro bumped her leg on the desk she was going to rest under in startlement and winced in pain. The teacher glanced at a sheet on his desk and continued talking,
"I see that this is a third late for you this week so you will serve detention with Umeka on Saturday."
There were some giggles and some concerned faces that renounced through the room at the thought of a detention with Umeka. Chihiro's knee hurt too much to worry about the detention.
"…And you miss Raicho Okawa, I saw you too. And don't assume that you will spend a detention with your friend. What kind of punishment would that be? You will spend a detention will me. Is that clear, Jukodo-Chan and Umeka-Chan?"
"Yes sir." They said in unison.
"And miss Jukodo, please go clean yourself up. Since you have already missed most of my class, there is no point in worrying about missing the rest. You can just skip hearing my frightening voice so early in the morning and scaring yourself to the point of a bloody knee."
Laugher spread through the class and Chihiro turned beat red.
"I hope I don't scare anymore children or I might have to get a different job."
Chihiro removed herself from her desk and left the classroom. She disliked Sonoda-Sensei since the beginning of school but didn't tell Raicho this. He had always given her a hard time, with his dry wit and youthful charm. She thought he was too young to be a teacher. He was barely out of college; but he had proven time and time again that age doesn't count when it comes to the capacity of ones knowledge. He had said,
'It's all about the desire to learn when comparing how smart a person is. And knowledge is not measured in age but in devotion.'
And Raicho really admired him for that. But Chihiro wasn't thrilled with him; he was just a teacher with too much of an attitude.
She headed for the girls bathroom as she held her bloody knee to keep it from dripping on the hallway floor. She was suddenly reminded of her dream as she apprehensively opened the door to the girl's bathroom.
The girl's bathroom was rather big and had two separate parts to it. The first room had five faucets on the left and five on the right and one long mirror above both. This caused whoever looked into the mirror to see an endless passage as the to mirrors reflected themselves time and time again. The bathroom was rather ominous and sent a chill down Chihiro back.
There was a doorway at the farthest wall led to the bathroom stalls. The bathroom was apparently empty and Chihiro appreciated her time alone. She grabbed a brown paper towel from the tin box and turned on the water to the tab. Then she dabbed the stinging cut.
"I'm so clumsy! Another thing to add to the list of dullness."
She glanced at the mirror and stared in stock. There were her rosy checks, and her brown hair hanging around her face, and her wide eyes staring back at her, but there was something behind her. A boy in a gray and blue kimono with piercing eyes reflected stiffly above her. Panic, confusion and anger filled Chihiro's head, as she stun around saying in a shaky voice,
"This is the girl's bathrrr…"
Her voice faded as she realized that there was no one behind her but the taps and the reflection of herself and the passage. But the boy was still reflected above her. Chihiro gapped in wonder at his sad but forceful stare. The sound of her heart beat heavily in her chest as the sound of the singular faucet rang through her ears.
Do I know him? Why is he in the mirror? Why can't I see him? Why do I feel such sadness and happiest at the same time?
The boy in the mirror had a youthful face of around 14 or 15. His skin was watery and pale and his features looked sad but urgent. His silky, dusty black hair was cut perfectly and straight in line around his shoulders and his bangs reached the tip of his slanting, green eyes. His eyes were staring contently ahead at any task he faced. His nose was long and skinny and sat upon a thin mouth. It opened briefly to say,
"Chihiro…please remember what happened long ago. I am waiting for you."
A chill had filled the cold walls of the bathroom and goose bumps had surfaced the pale skin of the Chihiro who had sunken to the floor. Her hair was released from the shining band as it skid across the tiles and her hair seemed to flow like water around her face. All the faucets seemed to vibrate with a sudden force as the boy in the mirror evaporated into the walls. The sound of the water running behind Chihiro was joined in by the 9 other taps around her. Chihiro felt like she was drowning in her own head.
Thank you for reading part 2! If you liked the story so far, please review and I will continue. I will continue even if I get one review (they inspire me a great length!.) Flames are welcome because then I know what I did wrong.
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