Forgotten

Author: NekoNemui

Rating: T

AN: Read the bottom, as always! c: Sorry for the wait!

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Haku had been reading in the tiny living room when Chihiro had stirred from her slumber. After his phone call with Yano, he'd called in sick for his shift and had moved the brunette to his room. He didn't want her to sleep in discomfort, so he'd taken the couch for the night instead of leaving her there.

At first he'd heard shifting noises from the other room; sounding a lot like Chihiro was moving beneath the covers of the bed. At first he thought nothing of it – after all, who doesn't shift in their sleep? But then the movements became louder and jerkier; and Haku had found himself move protectively closer to the door that separated her from him.

And then she'd woken up. He could feel it; the presence of an awakened mind. She drew in ragged breaths while Haku listened, not knowing what to do with himself.

He realised he had to be there for her if the drug was wearing off. She would most likely not remember anything that had happened; at least not at first. And how strange would it be to wake up in a stranger's bed? He had to be there.

He'd opened the door a crack and stopped when Chihiro's breath hitched in alarm. He swung it open slower and crept into the room. He purposely walked by the window; hoping that in the light Chihiro might remember that he wasn't a threat. That he was the boy from school who used up her breaks to spend time with her. That they were friends.

Friends.

He'd called out her name softly, though her only reaction was the slight widening of her eyes as they remained staring at him as he approached her. No, there was something else in her eyes – disbelief? Why was she looking at him like that? Had he suddenly transformed into a fairy or something?

Finally he reached her, and lowered himself to his knees to carefully examine her. She hadn't budged an inch, and her eyes remained fixated on him – dazed, yet unblinking.

"Are you feeling alright? Can you hear-?"

His words choked off as Chihiro slumped backwards; her head snapping back roughly as her muscles gave out. He swiftly caught her, supporting her neck with one hand, and her waist with the other. He realised with shock how skinny the brunette was as his fingertips brushed over the defined bumps of her lower spine.

The movement of catching the girl caused him to automatically pull her closer to him; and now their faces were only inches apart.

"Chihiro! Can you hear me?" He repeated; staring intently into her distant brown eyes.

He wondered if she was even here at the moment - mentally here. Her eyes definitely suggested that she wasn't making any sense of the situation; but the way she looked at him was almost unsettling. It was the type of gaze that made Haku want to run into the other room and put his shirt back on in embarrassment. Not that he would actually do that; his pride would never allow it.

He shut his eyes. Why is she looking at me like tha-

He was cut off mid-thought when suddenly she jerked forward, slipping out of his grasp. At first he was too shocked by her quick movement to realise what had happened; but then he felt it. The smooth touch of lips against his own.

His eyes flew open in bewilderment, not believing what his body was telling him. And surely enough, there she was. Barely a centimetre away from his eyes – her eyelids; squeezed shut as she firmly held her lips against his. His nose brushed her cheek as she deepened the kiss, pressing herself further up to reach his height. Chihiro was kissing him.

Chihiro was kissing him!

Haku didn't know what to do. For the first time in his existence, he wasn't sure what to do with himself. He'd never actually kissed anyone before. Nobody was ever closer than a meter's length back in the Spirit World, so even being close to Chihiro had been a huge step for him. But this? He had absolutely no idea.

A million thoughts rushed through his mind, but nothing stuck around long enough to form sense. He had been dragged from rationality; now all he could think about was this. Right now. This moment. Her lips on his.

And he didn't fight it.

Curling his discarded hands around her waist, Haku closed his eyes and leaned into Chihiro; deepening the kiss even further. A small noise escaped the back of her throat as he hovered over her; craning his neck to keep the contact between their lips. The noise only fuelled the fire that burned inside his chest. The longing.

The raven-haired spirit could feel a tickling on the back of his head, and he opened an eye slightly to see that Chihiro's hands had found their way into his hair; curling desperately around his dark locks and pulling him closer. He didn't resist her eagerness.

He had always liked Chihiro. Then he had grown to love her. But this.. this was a hunger. Something he needed – something he'd been craving without realising it for so long, until now.

Suddenly Haku jerked back, ripping his lips from hers. He staggered backwards, nearly tripping over his own feet as he scrambled away from the bed. Reality was sinking in.

What was he doing? Chihiro was drugged and he was taking advantage of her. He had never hated himself more than he did at that moment. He was really no better than that creep from earlier. He glanced up at her – she was staring at him in shock again; except this time it was different.

Her eyes looked hurt, and her mouth kept opening and shutting again; as if she wanted to say something but the words weren't coming to her. Her hands that had frozen mid-air when he had torn away fell limply to her sides.

He set his jaw; grinding his teeth together until it ached. He had hurt her. But why.. why did she kiss him?

"Chihir-"

"-You.." Haku's eyes widened as Chihiro cut him off; speaking for the first time that night. His ears perked up as he shut his mouth. He wanted to hear whatever she wanted to say.

"You're.. the one from my dream."

Her voice was so soft that it was barely audible, but Haku heard it. He gave her a questioning look, and she simply stared blankly back at him with those foggy eyes once more. "Aren't you?"

The raven didn't understand what the girl before him was talking about. His green eyes searched hers – looking for something that could help him understand. But her eyes were emotionless; her lips slightly parted. God, those lips. Had he really just been kissing them?

His mind focused back on Chihiro's words. She didn't know him? He suppressed a frown as he spoke. "I wouldn't know, Chihiro." He tilted his head to the side, keeping his eyes locked on hers. "Am I?"

There. A flicker of something shot through Chihiro's chocolate brown orbs. Something he couldn't quite describe.

"How .. did you know my name was Chihiro?"

Her words shot through him like lightning bolts. He was having Déjà vu – He knew it. He remembered when she'd asked that before; six years ago in the Spirit World. Was it coincidence that she was asking him this again? Or was it.. on purpose?

Does she.. remember?

Sucking in a shallow breath, Haku took a chance.

"I have known you since you were very small."

Suddenly Chihiro's face changed. Her mouth hung open, her eyebrows shot into her hairline. Her eyes widened to the point where he could see white completely surrounding her irises. A strangled noise made its way through her pressed lips. It was clear now that he had answered correctly.

Which meant..

The raven quickly covered the space between them and placed his hands gently on either side of Chihiro's face, looking her dead in the eyes.

"Chihiro, do you know who I am? Do you remember me?!" Haku knew his voice was rising and sounded almost desperate, but he didn't care. He was desperate right now.

The only reaction Chihiro made was a slight wobble in her bottom lip. She was going to cry.

"No.. I mean, yes- but no at the same time. We.. have met before, haven't we? Why are you here? Where is here? Who are you?"

There was a crack in her voice, and a sob hacked through her mouth, sending a shiver of guilt through Haku's frozen body. This was all his fault. Everything was his fault.

But it was obvious now that the girl he was talking to was neither Chihiro from six years ago nor Chihiro from the present. She was someone caught in between – her mind torn apart like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. And there were a lot of missing pieces.

Sometime while her mind was weakened by the drugs, the sealed memories had leaked through. That made sense to Haku – it was the only logical explanation. However, it was clear that only a few memories had come back; leaving her with barely anything to go on. And in the process, she had forgotten him altogether. She didn't even know his name, after they had spent the past couple of weeks together.

Before Haku could think up a reply, Chihiro slumped backwards, her eyes rolling back as her eyelids slammed shut. Her face fell from his hands and landed softly against the cluster of pillows below.

She was out again.

Haku stood frozen in place, replaying the past five minutes in his mind. Five minutes. In such little time, so, so much had happened. He glanced down at Chihiro's now-sleeping figure – his eyes travelling slowly over her body; her empty shell. Chihiro's mind wasn't there. It was somewhere else.

He forced his tense muscles to move; tucking the sheets around her slender frame before standing and exiting the room. He knew he wouldn't sleep tonight.

The raven stopped in the doorway, his eyes watching the brunette from the back corner of his eye before silently closing the door behind him.

Who would he meet when she woke up again?

Chihiro wished that when she returned to consciousness that it could have been a more peaceful waking – with slow and gentle nudges in the direction of awareness. Instead reality hit her like a slap in the face.

Everything hurt – all her muscles felt as if they were on fire, and ached as she rolled over in her half-slumber. She cracked open an eye and winced as a throb racked through her brain. Why did she feel so.. immobile?

Her eyes moved to her clock on her dresser - but the clock wasn't there. The dresser wasn't there. The brunette propped herself up on an elbow, taking a good look around the little room. It had a large window, a tiny ebony closet and a double bed in which she was currently laying. The room was simple.

It wasn't hers.

Chocolate brown eyes flew open as the realisation sank in. Where was she? Why wasn't she in her room? She squeezed her eyes shut and pinched her arm. She had to be dreaming. She had to be.

And then memories of the night before began to rise from the dead. The drinks. Miyuki and Shoko. Oh god.. that man. Her nose wrinkled. Any more than that was blank. What happened after the man caught her? Did she get away?

Her heart dropped into her stomach. She didn't escape. It all made sense now; he caught her and brought her here. Wherever here was.

Chihiro threw the sheets off her and jumped from the bed in terror. Her head whipped in every direction – There had to be someone else here with her. She needed to get away without anyone noticing.

The wide eyes girl slowly crept across the wooden floorboards of the room, and wrapped her fingers around the metal doorknob on the thin door. The coolness of the metal seeped into her fingertips, sending an icy shiver down her spine.

In one quick, smooth motion, Chihiro heaved the door open and decided to make a run for it. She was greeted with what appeared to be a small living area; with a small couch and television set. And there, on the far side of the room; directly opposite from her, was the front door.

The brown haired girl ran towards it, and stumbled as her legs wobbled beneath her. Her elbow collided with the corner of the little table beside the sofa; sending a wave of fuzzy tingles up her newly deadened arm. She winced as she realised she'd made a huge noise by doing so, and quickly dived behind the sofa in case someone were to come and investigate the sound.

Nobody came looking.

As silently as she could, Chihiro gathered her bravery and stood from her crouch; continuing her mission towards the door. When she was a foot or so away, she jumped at the handle and twisted it; an unknown thrill of triumph coursing through her veins.

Said triumph, however, was crushed when the handle didn't budge. The brunette frowned; fear once again taking over her senses. How stupid could she be? She should have known it wouldn't be so easy to get away. A small creaking from behind her made her whirl around in fright. She ducked down and concealed herself behind a bend in the wall; hoping that in the dimmed light nobody would be able to notice her if they walked in.

But after a good five minutes of crouching in the dark with her heart racing in her chest, Chihiro let herself relax. Maybe the creak was just a door on its old hinges or something. The sixteen year old couldn't help but wonder if there was anyone here at all. Maybe they had gone out – locking the door in the process. That seemed pretty believable at this point.

Taking a leap of faith and ditching her stealth; Chihiro crossed the room and strode into the little kitchen. If there was a spare key, the kitchen was a good place to look for it. The brunette pulled open the first draw she could get her hands on – which turned out to be a cutlery drawer. She noticed that there were only two of each utensil. Ignoring it, she closed the drawer and went to the one below.

The other drawers turned out to be completely empty. How many people lived here? It couldn't possibly be more than one at this rate. Even assuming there were two would be pushing it.

Once Chihiro had thoroughly searched all the reachable points of the kitchen, she turned to face the more.. unreachable places. A few cupboards were placed quite far up on the wall – above the tiny stove and microwave. With her height, there was no way she could reach them. Her captor had to be tall to be able to reach those handles, she'd give them that.

Deciding to check around for a stool she could use, Chihiro opened the pantry. She didn't find a stool, but she found something useable; a broom. Grinning mentally at herself for her genius idea, the brunette walked back to the cupboards and reached up with the stick; holding the end while she extended the handle.

Just as the cleaning tool was about to make contact with the cupboard, Chihiro heard a door open from somewhere. Somewhere close.

Her fingers suddenly became rigid; her fingers clasped around the broom as if it alone was her life source. There was someone here. There was someone here. Chihiro's blood began to race through her veins. Her heart began to take on a new rhythm; one that was roughly twenty times faster than normal.

She forced her legs to move. Gently and silently, she crept outside the kitchen door; crouching low and keeping the broom raised in front of her. It may not be much, but if she hit hard enough, a broom could knock someone out, right? She hoped it could - it was all she had to work with.

Chihiro slid her body against the wall next to the bend of the narrow hallway. The noise had come from down there, she was sure of it.

Suddenly, there was another noise. So quiet she could barely pick it up over the thumping of her heart. It sounded like steps; headed right her way. Time seemed to freeze as the steps grew nearer; each second becoming painfully longer than the last. The suspension was threatening the brunette.

Sucking in a deep breath, the sixteen year old lifted the broom and set her jaw. When the footsteps were close enough; so close she could feel them; she darted out from her perch against the wall and ran at her captor, swinging the broom handle as if it were a lethal weapon. In any other situation, the thought of doing such a thing would have been amusing. But now, it didn't matter. She was going to get out of this place; and she was going to do it now.

The arm she had used to swing suddenly didn't feel right. She couldn't push it any closer to the dark figure standing before her, and panic began to fill her veins. It wasn't until she glanced down that she realised her arm had been caught by a strong, steady hand. She pulled back automatically, attempting to wrench herself free of the grasp with a small shriek.

Chihiro wasn't prepared when the hand let her go; she had been expecting that the person would hold on to her and not release the grip without a struggle. The brunette let out a loud gasp as she stumbled backwards and fell against the back of the sofa with quite a bit of force. Her already strained muscles screamed as they were bruised by the movement.

The brunette snapped her head up; refusing to let the pain get to her as she hissed away some of the ache through her teeth. Her captor was no longer in the hallway.

Suddenly her eyes were attacked by a blinding whiteness. It took Chihiro almost a full ten seconds to realise that the sheet of white was actually sunlight coming through from windows that had been curtained before. She waited impatiently as her sensitive eyes re-adjusted to her surroundings, and when they did, she scrambled to her feet. She had to get away.

"Chihiro."

Chihiro's eyes widened as she forced her head to turn towards the voice that had just addressed her. Her captor knew her name? How much worse could this get? How much did they know about her?

Her breath hitched when she saw the person. No, the boy. Jet black hair, pale skin, and green eyes that seemed to glitter as they reflected the sun's harsh glare. Haku.

Haku.. in a towel.

Chihiro felt a blush creep into her cheeks, and tried to force it back out. Her body was betraying her, the damn traitor. But luckily for her, the embarrassment was quickly overridden by her surprise.

"Haku?!"

Her voice sounded raspy, like she needed to clear her throat a few times before speaking again. But she wasn't going to do such a thing in front of Haku, so she swallowed a few times in attempt to dampen the dryness; if only a little.

The raven before her hardly seemed fazed by his lack of clothing, and she inwardly cursed at him for it. How on earth could someone be so confident?

She watched as he lifted a finger to his pursed lips, watching her in deep thought. "It seems you don't remember much."

Well. That was both obvious and unhelpful.

"Quit joking around already. Why am I here? Where is here? What happened to me?"

She watched as Haku breathed out, brushing a few stray hairs from his face in the process. "You might want to take a seat. It's a long story."

"So.. I was drugged?"

Haku knew that the Chihiro he was facing was the present one. And it seemed she had known nothing of the situation – or at least, didn't remember how she got to his place.

"Yes. Then you told me you didn't want to go home, so I brought you here. I couldn't think of anywhere else to go."

Chihiro tapped her chin with her index finger. "Seems pretty believable. I know for a fact that I wouldn't want to face my parents in that situation, so I know you aren't lying about that." She glanced around the room. "So, this is what a school dorm looks like, huh? I've never been here before. Are we in the school?"

He didn't miss Chihiro's eyes as they swept over him in the process of checking out the room. He suddenly felt ridiculous with just a towel around his waist. Well, it's not like he could help it; he'd been on his way from the shower to his room to grab fresh clothes when Chihiro had attacked him.

"No, the school has dorms outside of school grounds, too. I managed to get one to myself; most people would have to share with a roommate. Think of it as an apartment of sorts. There are a few other people staying in this building, but not many. I share this floor with only three other people."

"You don't stay with family?" Chihiro asked, letting her eyes finally rest on his. "Now that I mention it, where is your family?"

The raven clenched his jaw. He hadn't prepared for questions like that. "I ..moved here alone. For a better education."

She looked thoughtful, but seemed to know that Haku wasn't going to go into the details. "I see. So.." The brunette trailed off, looking down at her hands which were folded in her lap. "Nothing.. happened to me.. right?"

Haku could see her cheeks reddening, and wanted to embrace the girl before him. But he couldn't do that- he was in a towel for god's sake! She didn't need any more traumatic experiences. Instead he spoke, trying to sound as comforting as possible.

"No, Chihiro. I made sure the creep would never bug you again." He smiled at her, and was pleased when she returned the expression.

"I'm really sorry for causing you so much trouble. I guess I'm just lucky you were there, aren't I?" She laughed weakly, and Haku could easily tell it was forced. She was obviously still shaken up from the previous night's events. Who wouldn't be?

One thing was very clear to Haku at this point: She didn't remember the kiss. He wasn't sure if he was relieved or disappointed about that.

"But anyway," She continued, shooting Haku a small smirk. "I think someone should go put some clothes on now, hmm?"

Haku couldn't stop the blush that appeared on his face, dusting his cheeks a fine shade of pink. Chihiro giggled at the reaction, and shooed him away with her hand. "Go already. I'll try and make something to eat. It's the least I can do after what you've done for me."

An hour or so later, Chihiro stood before Haku apologising once again for nearly setting the kitchen on fire. She said she'd been trying to make pancakes when some of the oil spray had ignited the flame on the stove; sending the entire cooktop into a burst of flames. Luckily it had died out soon after and no real damage was done, but Chihiro obviously still felt guilty about it.

To Haku, it was amusing to discover that Chihiro had slipped up from making something as simple as pancakes. It reminded him of the old Chihiro; ten years old and very, very clumsy. He watched as Chihiro fiddled with the charm dangling from her phone as she apologised again; and the action gave Haku a small reminder. Ah, he kept forgetting about the damn thing, didn't he?

"Chihiro, I got a phone." To prove his point, he rummaged into his pocket and pulled it out; holding it slightly too far away from his body as if it were contagious.

"Wha- really?" She said, sounding surprised. Was it really so surprising that he didn't have one to begin with? Obviously it was a big deal. He listened as the brunette in front of him continued to speak. "Here, I'll give you my number."

Before Haku could even blink, Chihiro had snatched the phone from his hands and was already tapping away at the buttons. Well, at least she knew what she was doing with the thing.

"I don't really know how to use it." He admitted, not the least bit embarrassed by it. Why would anyone want to master using such a complicated thing anyway? He didn't, that was for sure.

"That's fine." Chihiro mumbled, still caught up in the little screen. "You'll get it eventually."

She snapped the lid shut and handed it back to Haku with a smile. "If you don't, I'll have to teach you, won't I?"

Haku couldn't help but stare at Chihiro's grinning face. She looked so beautiful like that; with the corners of her eyes crinkled in and her lips curved up. It really brought a whole new light to her features, making her stand out even more than she already did.

He decided he was disappointed that she didn't remember the kiss. Very disappointed.

The raven cleared his throat. "I'll walk you home."

Chihiro looked up at him, seeming surprised. "Huh? Oh! No, no, it's fine, really. I know where to go – besides, my parents would ask questions about a "boyfriend" if they saw you, believe me."

"Oh." Seemed like a decent argument. He shrugged. "That's fine. But, Chihiro.."

The brunette looked up at him as she turned the front door handle, which was now unlocked. She paused, waiting for him to continue.

".. Come to me if you ever need anything, alright?"

Something flickered through Chihiro's eyes; and he instantly recognised it as the same indescribable thing that had passed through them the night before.

And suddenly, she reached up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his cheek. The action was only quick, and there was no body contact; but still Haku could feel his cheeks turn hot as Chihiro pulled away and smiled at him as she opened the door.

"Thank you."

And then she was gone, leaving Haku alone with the silence of his dorm and a raging tidal wave of emotions.

Hey guys! Sorry it's been a little while since I last posted - almost a week already hahah! I've been on holidays and took some time to recover. Sometimes I'm just not in the mood to be writing, you know? I need to be really feeling creative to actually sit down and write a chapter, or else it'll turn out crap. So for the past three days I've written this very, very slowly. I hope it's okay, hahah.

Next one will be up shortly, I'm hoping. I might have to start weekly updates because of my really full schedule. I'm going away again - this time for nine days, so I won't be posting until I get back. I leave on the 13th of January. That gives me a week until I go, so I'm going to try to get a new chapter out; but I'm really desperate to get my older ones done first. I need to get them off my shoulders, you know?

AND I KNOW YOU ALL WANT TO KILL ME FOR MAKING HER FORGET AGAIN OKAY I'M SORRY BUT I KNOW HOW SHE'S GONNA GET THEM BACK SO JUST BEAR WITH ME OKAY? :cries dramatically:

Thanks again for reading xoxox