Forgotten

Author: NekoNemui

Rating: T

A/N: Updated version of Chapter 5.

Disclaimer: If you want me to just say it, I'll say it.. I don't.. own.. Spirited Awa- NO GAHD DAMN IT I WILL KEEP TRYING TO STEAL IT FROM STUDIO GHIBLI. I HAVE YOUTH ON MY SIDE, I WILL DO THIS. :laughs maniacally:

Chihiro panted. Her bag bashed into her side roughly as she came to a full halt. She'd been running for what felt like forever, and could only just make out the shape of the town plaza looming ahead. The brunette exhaled in annoyance as she slowed to a walk, completely out of breath.

When she discovered the time back at the river, she'd left so suddenly, leaving no time to put on clothes or pack anything properly. Now she knelt and stuffed all her belongings in, taking out her uniform skirt and top. She slipped the clothing on, not bothering to do up the buttons on her shirt. It was more comfortable that way, though she knew her father would never approve of the school uniform being worn so casually. She didn't know how people could go around with their top buttons done up – the feeling practically suffocated her.

After picking up her bag, Chihiro continued to walk down the dusty track. The evening sky gleamed with the colours of the sunset. Not having anything else to do, the brunette found herself listing them in her head. Pink, orange, a sliver of blue..

Maybe that was just her creative and artsy instinct talking. Chihiro had been good at art in school; hell, she was more than good, and she knew it. But she also knew that art would never take her down a successful career path. She needed to be serious, and that meant pressure from her family to do harsh subjects – like sciences. It was how she'd grown up; living beneath the will of her parents – being programmed to do the sensible things in life. So far she hadn't stepped out of line, and due to the way her mind now worked; she didn't want to.

She was too afraid to.

Chihiro knew her life was going to be plain and dull. Her subjects for the future years had already been decided; and she would be taking a whole bunch of difficult classes from the beginning of next year. So now the brunette tilted her head back and breathed in the summer air; relishing the moments of peace she had now, and soon would not.

Now entering the main part of town, Chihiro pushed her way through the bustling clusters of people, and took a right turn, finding herself on a very familiar street. The dance hall loomed ahead of her as she gathered enough energy to jog the rest of the distance.

The sixteen year old and let her fingers slide around the huge handles to the classy building when she reached the front entrance. She could hear the tapping of shoes within: the class had already begun.

Just as the girl was about to wrench the heavy doors open, a chill went up her spine; this time causing the hairs on even her cheeks to stand on end. The same feeling from before washed over her: Someone was watching.

Chihiro set her jaw; pressing her teeth together and clenching hard. Her grasp around the door tightened, yet she did not budge. She had imagined the feeling before, hadn't she? Maybe she was just being delusional – it was still warm out and she'd already had a pretty weird hallucination that day. Come on, sweat doesn't move. She had to be delusional – that was it.

And yet, the brunette turned around.

And there, in the distance, was a boy.

A boy with raven black locks that swayed when the wind passed it by. His eyes looked blue from where she was, but were they perhaps green instead? It was hard to tell, but Chihiro knew one thing for sure; brown eyes couldn't reflect the sun like that.

From so far away, she couldn't make out anything else, except that this boy was tall. Tall, and lean, too. The setting sun behind him turned his figure into a blackened silhouette, making her squint to even make out his shape.

Who.. is that?

"Chihiro!"

Chihiro hadn't even noticed when her fingers had been wrenched away as the door behind her swung open. The brunette flinched and spun around, coming face-to-face with her dance instructor. The quick movement caused her bag to swing roughly on her back; and because it hadn't been zipped up properly, an unnoticed item of clothing fell out and landed silently on the ground below.

The sixteen year old grinned. "Hi, miss."

"Don't you dare 'Hi, miss' me! Get inside this instant! You're late!"

Chihiro had already learned the hard way to never provoke her instructor when she was angry. So instead of letting a sarcastic remark leave her tongue, she chewed the words down and spoke calmly while hurrying past. "Yes miss. Excuse me, miss."

As Chihiro reached the final step, she stopped and looked back over her shoulder; hoping to catch one final glimpse of the person from before. But the boy was gone.

She could feel her brow wrinkling as she turned away and headed inside. Who was that? Why was he watching me?

Once inside the hall, Chihiro could see all the other students practicing movements to a steady rhythm. She ignored their dirty looks as she ran into the change rooms, slamming the door shut noisily behind her.

The raven haired boy froze. The sand beneath his feet was wet and squishy. The air around him was cool, yet stable. The necklace felt smooth beneath his fingertips.

He could feel. What was going on? Was this someone's idea of a cruel joke?

A sudden idea crossed his mind, and before he could think twice, Haku broke into an open run to the water; throwing himself into the depths of his own body. If it was a cruel joke, he would be able to re-form into the water itself. If it wasn't..

The spirit boy's sinus stung as icy water shot up his nose and burned his lungs. He kicked desperately back to the surface; which took a little longer than usual due to the shock literally freezing his legs in place. He couldn't connect with his own river?

The conclusion hit him as he dragged his soaked body onto the sand once more.

This had to be what Zeniba was talking about. Haku had never experienced anything humanly physical before, now here he was, doing just that. His poor lungs were definite proof.

He glanced back at the water. If that was true, then Gray's theory had just been proven false. So.. what had caused this to happen?

The green eyed boy brought a hand to his face and curled his fingers around his chin. The only way that something like this could have happened was if the Spirit Gate had opened. That had to be it. There was literally no other way.

The idea of the Gate opening so shortly after discussing it was so absurd. It was just.. impossible.

Haku decided to test the same water move he'd used to retrieve the necklace from the water; standing upright and raising his fingers once again. To the raven's surprise, it worked; the newly-formed bubble hovering mid-air. Then he raised both hands up and stretched mightily, and again, the water complied. Soon, he had made the water completely stretch to create a thin wall between himself and the water's edge.

Weird.

Slowly, Haku dropped the water and turned to face the river reeds behind him. He approached them cautiously, and pushed his body through. He felt the small spikes scratch at his lower legs, leaving behind tiny marks as he stepped around them.

He arrived at the point where he would be restricted to go further. Squeezing his eyes shut, he marched over the invisible line, bracing himself for an impact that would burn his skin and send him hurdling back to the Spirit World.

The impact never came. The raven opened his eyes and looked down, feeling the rocky path beneath his toes. In the midst of his utter bewilderment and confusion, he grinned triumphantly and sprinted forward a few paces. He was free?! This was completely new for him.

The boy stopped, and looked back over his shoulder to see that in only a few seconds, he'd travelled roughly thirty yards. Instead of being shocked, he found he was constantly distracted by the earth around him. Was this how it was to live? Is this what it felt like for humans?

Testing out one last power, Haku pushed his energy through his body; calling forth the dragon within. But something wasn't right; it was almost as if something was blocking his power.

He guessed it was confirmed now that he could use all his powers except connect with his river and become a dragon-spirit. They required a generous amount of spiritual energy to perform properly, and he figured he'd been stripped of a majority of it. What did that make him? Definitely not human; far from it, but not one hundred percent spirit, either.

Something.. caught in between?

The boy checked his body quickly for any signs of abnormality. He wasn't disappearing. Was there something he needed to do in order to stay? Surely he couldn't just walk around freely without having to ensure he would wake up alive tomorrow.

Then Haku realised that it didn't matter what the technicalities were. He was here, and she was here. Suddenly finding a new strength, Haku burst forward at top speed, following the path in which she had left. He almost didn't notice how much his feet began to sting as small rocks sliced into the smooth flesh. Despite that, he didn't care. He just kept putting one leg in front of the other; the world travelling by in a twisted blur of colour.

If he hadn't been in such a hurry, he probably would have stopped to enjoy the view. But he was pushed for time: how far away was Chihiro? Was he going to lose her?

Pretty quickly, Haku reached a little town. He skidded to a stop on a road and looked around the busy streets. A tall building above him read 'Town Plaza'.

A sudden noise blasted through the boy's ears, causing him to flinch at the unexpectedness. His head snapped in the direction of the noise to see a strange figure on wheels coming towards him. Two lights at the front of the thing shone harshly into his eyes as he tried to make out what it was. Smoothly, Haku jumped from harm's way and watched as the four-wheeled contraption rolled past.

Haku suddenly felt a little home-sick as he watched many more of the same things pass by; each one being a slightly different shape and varying in colours. There were people inside them. What were those things? They reminded him of the train in the Spirit World, but a lot smaller. Did people use them for transport?

He stood up straight and dusted his clothes. He noticed that he looked a little strange wearing his usual white uniform when everyone else who bumped past him was dressed so.. casually. A flicker of brown hair disappearing through a crowd to the left caught his eye, and hesitantly, he followed it. Was it her, or was he mistaken?

The raven haired boy found himself on a quiet street, with a giant traditional-styled hall at the end. But that wasn't what he was looking at; he was looking at a girl. He was looking at her.

And suddenly, she was looking at him.

Haku froze, nailed to the spot. He could see every detail of her face, even from this distance; nicely rounded lips, a well-defined nose, perfectly shaped eyebrows and a faint dusting of freckles on her upper cheeks. And those eyes – large and so full of life, but also curiosity as she focused intently on him. It was obvious from the look on her features that she was having trouble making out what he looked like.

Suddenly a darkened figure behind the girl came into view, and Chihiro spun away.

Haku took the moment of opportunity to dart back into the shadows. Why did he stare at her? He prayed that she hadn't been able to see his face properly; otherwise she might be a little uncomfortable if he came into contact with her again. He leapt upwards with power behind his stride and glided softly down onto the nearest rooftop.

He watched as Chihiro gazed back at the spot where he'd just been standing, before hurrying indoors to join what seemed, a group. Haku sighed, and returned to his spot on the ground without a single noise disturbing the silent air.

Just before turning away, something white caught his gaze. To be more specific, a tiny piece of fabric which had not been there before Chihiro had run inside. The raven swiftly covered the distance between himself and the item, and picked it up between his index finger and thumb, studying it from a safe distance.

It was a sock. He'd seen socks before, but like most people in the Spirit World, didn't own any because there was no need for shoes. He flipped the sock over and widened his eyes in interest when he spotted some small text on the side.

"Osaka Private High School." He read aloud, testing how the words felt on his tongue.

A grin spread over his face, shining in the darkened night. He knew where he would find her again.

"I'm sorry young sir, we don't have any open spots in our classes, and we don't take mid-year enrolments." The Osaka Private High School reception lady said; her voice kept monotone as she peered at the slim boy in front of her from behind her glasses with beady, watchful eyes.

"Oh," the boy said, casting his eyes to the ground, feigning disappointment. He then lifted his head and leaned towards the lady over the desk that separated them, bringing their faces very close together. His green eyes sliced through her muddy brown ones, purposely latching on to her gaze and contorting it in his mind.

"Please check again". He whispered, not allowing her to break the gaze.

The raven haired boy watched as the lady's muscles tensed, and without blinking, she looked down at the papers in front of her. After a moment, she looked back up at the boy, and smiled, closing her eyes a little too happily in the process.

"I apologise, I seemed to have made some kind of mistake." She said cheerily. "There happens to be an open spot in class 112."

"Really?" The boy said, acting surprised and hopeful. He inwardly smirked at the situation: this lady would take care of all problems standing in the way of his enrolment. She didn't have a choice now that she was under his compulsion.

"Yes. I have an enrolment paper here, too..", the lady said, fishing around in the top drawer of her desk. "Ah, here it is. And your name is..?"

A wide grin spread across the boy's features. "Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi, but.." He trailed off, locking his eyes back onto hers. "Call me Haku."

Chihiro released a breath she didn't realise she'd been holding. Her teeth were pressed together so forcefully that her jaw began to scream at her to let the pressure go. Her eyes narrowed darkly as the girl in front of her continued to speak.

"-so, yeah, I'm so sorry, Chihiro!"Aya finished, not looking the slightest bit sorry at all.

It was the morning after Chihiro had had her necklace taken from her. And she'd just been told it'd been lost. She knew the news shouldn't have been so surprising, but somehow she'd thought Shannon might actually keep her word over something she knew was so precious to Chihiro.

"But, -but it must be there somewhere?" Chihiro spluttered, hating the desperation that crept into her voice.

"Someone would have picked it up for sure. I mean, who wouldn't? Just let it go already." Aya said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"Won't you look for it?" Chihiro spat out through clenched teeth.

"Of course not. It's yours, not mine. Plus, I have a very tight schedule."

Chihiro would have sunk to the ground if it wasn't for her locker handle keeping her up. Tears welled behind her eyes, threatening to fall as she watched Aya's turned back disappear down the hall. The brunette tried to blink them back, but then saw Shoko and Miyuki making their way down from the opposite end of the hall, and inwardly panicked. She couldn't- no, wouldn't let them see her like this.

She quickly gathered her things and half-ran down the hall, keeping her head down in the process. She could see a second hallway to her left up ahead, and made a beeline for it. She pressed her lips tightly together when a tear escaped the corner of her right eye and rolled down her cheek.

Why did people need friendships? Why?! Friendships are stupid bonds between people who need the support of others because they're too weak to be independent. Weak. They're weak, she was strong, right? Because she didn't have any real friends. The closest things to friends Chihiro had had were stupid groups that for a short period of time she'd called 'friends'. Where are these 'friends' now, huh? Who knew? She sure didn't. That's why, friends were stupid.

Chihiro hated everyone for making her feel this way. For making her feel like it was just easier to not care anymore. To shut everything out and be done with it.

'Why does it have to be like this? Why do I have to conceal myself from everybody? Why don't I feel like I belong-'

"Ah!" Chihiro cried out as she collided with something hard. Her eyes darted up to see a boy regaining his balance on the wall. A boy she'd never seen before.

"I'm so sorry!" She exclaimed, her voice cracking from the negative emotions pouring out of her.

He lifted his head; eyes still closed with a smile that lit up his features. His eyelids opened as he spoke, his green eyes focussing on her face. "That's all ri-" He cut off as his eyes met hers, the smile vanishing from his face. His eyes only grew wider as he stared.

Chihiro flushed furiously, embarrassed as another tear slipped down her cheek. She ducked her head and darted around his unmoving body. Whoever that was, she'd just made a huge fool of herself. Crying like a child? What sixteen year old did that these days?! Come on Chihiro! she urged herself, Grow up!

She continued to run blindly until she found herself out in the magnificent school gardens. She slowed to a walk, and made her way over to a bench behind a huge tree. Nobody would be able to see her there, and nobody would come looking because class had already started for the day. She knew she was skipping but that was someone else's problem right now, not hers. She was finally going to crack apart, and wasn't going to handle the classroom while it was happening.

Chihiro sat upon the wooden planks, wiping beneath her eyes in the process. She examined the back of her hand she'd used to do so. Black streaks of mascara stained her fair skin. She sucked in a breath, and held it; not trusting herself to relax enough for more tears to fall. She searched her pockets for something to wipe her eyes with, and let a sob leave her lips when she found nothing.

Something lightly tapped her shoulder.

The brunette whirled around, locking her gaze on green eyes. His green eyes. She could almost picture what she must look like to him- puffy eyes, red cheeks, blotchy mascara; a crumpled mess. She cast her eyes towards the ground in front of her, her bangs falling over her face as if veiling her from him.

A soft pair of hands carefully lifted her own, opened them, and then returned them to her lap. The movement had been so swift that by the time Chihiro looked up, it looked as if he hadn't moved at all. She unwound her fingers to find two very soft, and carefully folded tissues between her palms.

"Thank you.." Chihiro whispered, turning her head to where he was.

But the boy was now gone.

Chihiro had taken some time to recover from her emotional incident, and was now wearing the best 'bored' expression she could manage. She'd chosen to sit away from Aya and the others, and was a little hurt to see that they didn't even seem bothered by it. She sat alone on a two-seater table at the back of the classroom by the window. She gazed out of it, glancing down at the ground from two storeys high.

"Alright class, settle down immediately!" The sensei roared as he entered the classroom.

Every student in the class became silent. They all knew too well when a sensei wasn't in a good mood.

"Good. Now before we begin, I have an announcement to make." He continued, removing his glasses from his nose and rubbing the lenses with a cloth. "We have a new student here with us today; Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi, would you care to join us?"

Chihiro's heart lurched so violently that it caused her hands to fly up and clutch her chest. That name seemed awfully familiar somehow, and there was no point in denying it. But where, where had she heard it before?

The classroom door slid open, and in stepped the same boy who'd given her the tissues. Chihiro stared at him, taking in every feature. His emerald eyes, his sharp and angular face, his thin lips, his midnight hair. Handsome.

"Everyone, be sure to welcome him to the school." And then the sensei turned to the boy. "Please seat yourself in a place you feel will be comfortable."

The boy didn't seem nervous to be the new kid at all; in fact, he looked more like 'nervous' wasn't even a word in his dictionary. He stood tall and confident, yet laid back. Chihiro realised immediately that she liked that about him. She became so caught up in her thoughts that she barely noticed him making his way towards her desk.

"Okay! Let's begin!" The sensei exclaimed, beginning to ramble and scribble things on the chalkboard at the front of the room. As always, Chihiro found herself tuning out. She knew all the things they were going to learn, anyway, thanks to her parents making her study during school breaks.

"Chihiro Ogino?"

Chihiro's head flipped to see the boy standing beside her desk. She eyed him carefully before raising an eyebrow in silent questioning.

"May I sit here?" He asked, motioning to the empty chair next to her own.

Chihiro nodded, and watched as he slid smoothly into said chair. "How did you know my name?" She asked, not meeting his gaze. She was still embarrassed about the earlier scene she'd made.

She noticed the boy didn't reply, so she finally decided to sneak a look at him. Their eyes locked.

"That's better." He said, smiling. "You have nice eyes."

Chihiro felt a blush creeping up her cheeks. She ducked away, yet again embarrassed. Did he have to go and say distracting things like that? Who did this guy think he was, anyway?

"I know your name because it's written on your work book." He continued, leaning back in his chair casually. If he saw her blush, he didn't comment on it. She was thankful for that.

"Oh! I guess so." Chihiro mumbled, feeling a little irritated that she hadn't guessed that already. "Nice to meet you er… Nigiyo.. no, Nigiyana? Um.." She shot him an apologetic glance. "I'm bad with names."

She watched as the boy chuckled and pushed his bangs out of his eyes. "It's Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi." He murmured softly, obviously not wanting to disrupt the sensei. "But for short, you can call me Haku."

"Haku.." She let her mouth taste the word, rolling it over her tongue. She liked the way it came so naturally to her; feeling right as she thought it over. "What does Nigihayami Kohaku Nusho mean, anyway?"

"Nice try, you're getting it. It's Nushi." He winked at her. "It means 'God of the Swift Amber River."

"Hmm, a god, huh?"

He pursed his lips and feigned shock. "Aren't I godly enough for you?"

Chihiro covered her mouth as laughter bubbled in her throat; muffling the sound. "Ah, you might have to work on that. Haku, then?"

"That's right." The raven said, grinning so big that it exposed his magnificently straight, white teeth.

Chihiro's heart fluttered a little at the sight. She dismissed the feeling almost instantly before she turned her eyes to the front, and tried desperately to focus on what the sensei was saying.

Reviews are always appreciated. Go ahead and leave your thoughts here; I'd love to know what you think of my story. I'm cool with constructive criticism too, so if you have any advice, go for it.

Thank you! xoxox