Okay, okay, I'll admit it. I really REALLY want to skip to the end of the day. But, I think I have one more thing I want to put in the school day, even if I can't remember what it is! Just bear with me, okay? I'm trying so hard!

Thank you for all of the reviews, by the way! I wonder how long it will take to get into the hundreds? It it ever gets that far! Maybe a year, maybe a month? I hope only a month, because I should have the story up all the way by the end of next month. I hope. Maybe. I have no clue.

Anyway, I don't own Spirited Away. Hayao Miyazaki does! I love the guy! He rocks! His movies are so cool! Anyway, on to the 3rd chapter!

------o.o------

Chihiro and Haku ran around the track, steps taken in unison. Chihiro hadn't been kidding when she said he was in for pure torture. The gym teacher must have been in the military at some point or another. Not even Yubaba had worked him this hard. To maintain his dragon form, Haku had to exert energy in large quantities. He also had to have lots of stamina, and he built both by training privately with Yubaba. A twang panged in Haku's heart when he thought of the old witch. He had despised her when she had been alive, but if he had known she would one day die, right in front of him, he would have cherished the good moments they shared much more.

Haku faltered a step as his heart skipped a beat. He caught the concerned look Chihiro gave him, and was secretly proud of the girl. She was keeping up well, and she had definitely matured since they had last seen each other. Physically and mentally. Haku got caught up in all the memories they had made together, and he had to shake himself to pay attention to his running.

Chihiro had caught the falter in Haku's step and gave him a quick glance. Was something wrong? The boy's face held a pained look, and Chihiro had to look away again. It hurt her to know that one of her friends was troubled, and she was afraid that if she poked, she would make it worse. Chihiro shivered as the cold air hit the sweat that lined her brow and the back of her neck.

Soon, the whole class finished 5 laps around the track. Chihiro bent down and puffed cold air into her lungs, freezing them and making them hurt like crazy. Haku joined her, although his breathing was less labored, because he had the more endurance.

"Alright, you sissies! Pair up and do group stretches!" the teacher boomed.

"Mr Ibiki is evil!" Chihiro whispered to Haku secretly. (See if you recognize the name!)

Haku gave a short chuckle and stood up. "What are group stretches?" he asked after a moment.

"Oh, well, um, there are a lot of poses you do, like in yoga or pilates, but basically when you have a partner, you work like a muscle. One person is extending and stretching while the other is resting." Chihiro pointed out several groups that were already stretching and named the poses that they were doing. "We don't have to do the uncomfortable ones, though, because there are really some poses you should do with someone of the same gender!" Chihiro finished with a slight laugh.

Haku shrugged, he got what she was saying. "I can lead you through the poses, if you need help, though," Chihiro said reassuringly.

(Um, I don't really know any of the poses except for one, and that's the one you should REALLY do with someone of the same gender! Or a boyfriend/girfriend...so! We shall time skip!)

Once Haku and Chihiro were properly stretched, they joined the class in a line in front of Mr. Ibiki. "Okay then! Today we'll be playing soccer, boys against girls!" Half of the girls groaned; the boys were rough when they played soccer! Mr. Ibiki continued, reading off a list of names from his clipboard. "Ayame, Yuri, Sakura, Yoko, Dai, Etsu, Chika, Hisa, Riku, Kaide, and Chihiro! I want you all on the girl's team. Play any position you want! For the boy's team, we'll have Ringo, Kisho, Hatsuhara, Haku, Tomo, Yogi, Akito, Kyo (LOL, recognizing any names?), Takai, Mamoru, and Roni. Same goes for you. Rest of you, on the bench!"

The two teams jogged onto the soccer field and promptly filled all positions.Chihiro was worried that Haku wouldn't know how to play, but the boy looked confident. Looking at the boy's team, Chihiro's eyes met with Akito's, and the boy gave her a grin and a seducive wink. Chihro let out a sound of disgust and looked back at Haku. She was amazed at the boy's confidence. Where had he learned to play, really?

Mr. Ibiki checked the positions and then started the game with a blow of his whistle. Chihiro immediately shot forward and got the ball for her team, passing it back and forth with one of the best friends, Riku. Riku had kept Chihiro after school several days, just to play friendly games of soccer, and they had worked out maneuvers just for gym class.

Riku kicked the ball towards the goal, but it was stopped by Akito. The jock kicked the ball in front of him, relaying it to the other side of the field. But when Riku and Dai paired up to try and take the ball back, Akito unexpectedly passed it to Haku, who shot it towards the girls' goal and made it, scoring the boys the first point.

Chihiro gaped at Haku's good shot. When he turned, she waved at him and gave him the thumbs up sign, mouthing the words, "That was great!" Haku smiled and nodded. Chihiro just sighed when he broke eye contact to get back into the game. She supposed he was just like any guy...they get swept up in the game and nobody can break their concentration.

The game was pretty much that same move over and over again. A few times, a girl would intercept the ball just as Haku was getting prepared to kick it, but thpse times were rare, and the boys would immediately chase the ball back down and pass it to Haku, who would just shrug and score another goal.

When the score was 15 to 3, boys leading, obviously, Ibiki called the students in and put in the rest of the students to play a second game. Chihiro caught up to Haku and gave him a light hug. "That was great! Where'd you learn to play like that?" she asked, once she pulled away.

Haku shrugged and sat down on the ground, patting the ground next to him for Chihiro to sit down. She did, and Haku said, "I don't know, it sort of came naturally. Well, I was also watching out the window in first period," he admited shame-faced, "but besides that, I guessed."

"You're a good guesser!" Chihiro said, giggling. The two were silent for a moment, and Chihiro began to pick at the grass. In a solemn voice, she asked, "Haku, do you remember the grass on the first day we met? When we were hiding, and you gave me that little piece of candy to stop me from disappearing?"

Haku turned to Chihiro, a surprised expression on his face. Where had that question come from? Thinking back, he couldn't remember much of anything, besides the conversation they had had, and Yubaba flying in the air above them. Yes, he remembered they had been hiding behind a wooden fence, and he had brought a small piece of candy from the kitchens for her. But the scenery? He had been focusing on her terrified little face, while he watched and scouted for anything that might make their escapade complicated. "Not really," he said as an answer. "I was focusing on other things."

Chihiro's voice was soft, "I do. The grass was black when you look at it, because it was dark. The grass closer to the riverbank was shining with water, and the lights from the ferryboat made it look almost mystical. I don't know why, but it held my gaze longer than anything."

"You have a good memory," Haku joked. For some reason, the topic seemed uncomfortable.

Chihiro brightened, and a smile graced her lips. "Better than yours, oh water spirit?"

"Much better!" Haku laughed. He liked laughing with Chihiro, it warmed his heart. He also liked Chihiro's laugh solo; it had a special tinkle to it that made it specially hers.

Haku and Chihiro sat back and watched the second soccer match together. This time, the score was much closer, 7-5. The boys had won again, much to the girls' dismay. Ibiki ordered the kids to change and head back to the school building, because the bell would be ringing soon. Haku and Chihiro parted ways, promising to meet up back at Chihiro's locker.

Chihiro changed and went through the daily ritual of collecting the hairbands, put everything back into her locker and shut it, joining Dai and Riku as they walked back to the school building. Riku and Dai acknowledged her, but because she did not immediately say anything, they assumed she did not want to take part in their conversation, so they let her think on her own.

Chihiro listened to the girls chat about the game, and parted ways with them when she walked throught the school doors. She usually only walked with them to avoid Akito, who wouldn't bother her if she was with a group of other girls.

Haku was already waiting at Chihiro's locker, and she wondered how he had gotten there so fast. "One more period!" she said cheerfully. "What do you have?"

"History," Haku replied. His voice was plain, and Chihiro caught his eyes wandering to the people that walked by them.

"Really? I have that too! One moment," Chihiro opened her locker and grabbed her History book. Closing her locker, she looked at Haku's empty hands and asked, "Where are all your books, anyway?"

"I keep them in my bag," Haku shrugged.

"Which is where?"

"Right now? In my locker. I haven't gotten my History book yet, so I don't need anything from my bag."

Chihiro rolled her eyes. "Come on, follow me. Maybe we can get seats that are next to each other if we hurry." She stalked off in the direction of the Science room, and Haku just nonchalantly followed behind. When Chihiro opened the History room door, however, her wish of getting close seats was dashed. There were no empty seats in the room at all.

"What the?" Chihiro began.

"Mr. Imotsuke, what's going on?" one of the students demanded. They too didn't have a seat.

"We're going to be having a few student teachers in the classroom for the next week or so, so there will be a shortage of chairs. You three students may sit on the floor near the windows." Mr. Imotsuke pointed to the previously mentioned student, Haku, and Chihiro. Each of the students complied, taking spots next to each other with their backs to the wall. Chihiro caught herself squisked in the middle fo the two, and one of the students must have seen her face, because they giggled. Chihiro listened closely, and realized it was Rizu's giggle. Oh, that's right! Rizu has this class with me! Darn it! Why's she giggling, anyway? It's not funny! I'm being squished beween two guys!

Mr. Imotsuke started the class a moment later, totally ignoring the giggles that had erupted from Riku's giggle. He turned to the chalkboard and began writing important dates up on the board, and asked students to name 3 important events that had happened in each year. Chihiro could only think of 2 for each, and it annoyed her that the third answers were stuck somewhere in her mind.

Not to mention the student to her left kept fidgeting, and it was causing her to rub up against him a lot. She tried to huddle closer to Haku, but the student kept scootching closer, and that made it even more cramped. Haku was being deathly silent, and Chihiro was just getting plain annoyed with both of the guys. She thought quickly of jumping up and stomping over to Riku's seat and claiming it as her own, but she only humored the thought for a moment before throwing it away.

Thankfully, the last class of the day was always the shortest, and the bell rang, blissful to Chihiro's ears. She jumped up and hurried out of the classroom, back to her locker to gather her everyday-take-home items. Haku appeared right as she shut her locker. She jumped when she turned and came face to face with him. "U-um, are you s-still coming to my house today?" Chihiro asked, unable to keep the stutter out of her voice.

Haku only nodded. He had a small black bag at his side, and Chihiro wondered how he had managed to get it out of his locker so fast. Come to think of it, she didn't even know where his locker was. Chihiro grabbed Haku by his sleeve and pulled his into the throng of students heading towards the front door, and ultimately, home.

Once they were out in the open air, Chihiro let go of Haku's shirt. She had been afraid of getting seperated. It had happened to her several times before, when she had been talking to her friends and then suddenly couldn't find them. She and Haku walked side-by-side, down the street leading to Chihiro's house.

"I don't know how long you can stay," Chihiro finally said. "My mom said that she and Dad were going to be late, but I don't know exactly how late."

"That's fine," Haku replied. An awkward silence, and then Chihiro asked, "So, have you thought of where you are going to spend the night?"

Haku sighed. That had been a particularly troubling question. "I thought about it, but couldn't come up with anything."

Chihiro nodded her head. "I couldn't either, so that's one more thing we must thing about when we get to my house." Haku agreed, and the two walked down the block in a more comfortable silence.

-------o.o--------

Chihiro sat down at the kitchen table, placing a ham sandwich in front of Haku, and taking a bite of her own sandwich. "Alright, let's think," she said, determined to get at least one of their issues solved. "You need a place to stay the night, and we have to find a way to get either Zeniba or Boh into possession of the bath house. Let's start with the first one."

Haku took a small bite of his sandwich and chewed while he thought. "I could camp out in the woods behind the school, where the entrance to the Spirit World is," was his solution.

"That would work. I could get a tent for you, and a sleeping back and food and stuff. I'm sure my mom wouldn't notice if a few of the older blankets and pillows went missing too."

"I wouldn't need all that stuff," Haku said. "The more things I have out in the woods, the better the chance of someone finding me out there. And then we'd have an even bigger issue. It doen't seem like it's going to rain any time soon, so I'd be fine just sleeping up in a tree or something."

Chihiro made a face. "A tree? Are you sure? That doesn't sound very comfortable."

"I don't need to be comfortable," Haku retorted.

Chihiro was about to suggest another idea when she heard the front door open and shut, along with her mother's cheerful greeting. "Chihiro, honey, I'm home!" Chihiro froze, she could hear her mother's heels as they clicked along the wooden boards and entered the kitchen. When the odler woman caught sight of Haku, she blinked a few times, and then asked in her peppy voice, "Oh? I'm sorry, I don't think I recognize you! Mind if I ask what your name is?"

"Haku Nushi," Haku replied, his voice calm.

Mrs. Ogini just smiled and said, "Well, Haku, what brings you here?" Turning to her daughter, the lady chided, "Chihiro, you should have told me you were bringing a friend home!"

Chihiro stuttered her reply in a haste to get it out. "O-oh, w-well, it was sort of...unexpected. You see, Haku's house caught fire yesterday, and his parents told him to see if he could spend a night at a friend's house until they could get the repairs done. And, since no one else offered, I thought he could at least stay here at the house until he found a place to stay the night."

"Oh," Chihiro's mother sympathized. "Well, you can stay here, all right? I'm sure your father wouldn't mind, you have friends over all the time!" Mrs. Ogini gave her daughter a knowing wink, and Chihiro blushed. Sure she had had friends over, several at a time, even, but never a boy.

"Chihiro, later you should get the futon pad out from under the bed. You can just place it at the end of your room, if there's a clean spot."

Chihiro pouted. "Mom! I keep my room very clean!" Chihiro's comment was true, she had picked up the cleaning habit from working at the bath house, and she had never gotten rid of it.

Mrs. Ogini winked as she turned to the stove. "Sure you do."

Chihiro was furious. Grabbing Haku's wrist, she mumbled, "Come on Haku, let's take our conversation up to my room." Haku just followed behind obediently; he had been doing so ever since the beginning of the morning.

Mrs. Ogini yelled up the stairs at them, "Don't do anything you might regret!"

"MOM!!!!!!"

-----------------

LOL! Chihiro's mom is like, the perfect mom. My mom doesn't mind if I bring guys over, as long as she knows they're coming over, and we can't go in my bedroom at ALL. Plus, she won't let them spend the night! How boring is that?

Hopefully, this chapter is a little longer. I wanted to approach it differently, but hey, whatever works.