A/N: Thank you so much to that one reviewer! Here's the second chapter!
Chihiro walked into her house that she had been living in for one year. She hoped she could get to her room to do homework before her mother saw her and asked why her hair was a mess and why she had dried blood on her nose.
It didn't help much that Chihiro's mother was waiting right in the living room waiting for her daughter, a sullen expression on her face. The eleven year old girl stopped in her tracks and braced herself for the worst.
"What happened, Chihiro?" her mother asked crossing her arms.
"Nothing happened," Chihiro answered her mother shaking her head.
"Something did happen, the schoolmaster called. He said that you got in a fight with Arashi and Kim, said that you called Arashi some very mean names. Then you chased Kim and threw your shoe at her, and when she fell you yanked on her hair and pulled away her favorite hair-tie."
"That's not true! Arashi called me Spirit Head and stupid and a bunch of other mean names! And Kim threw her shoe at me and took away the hair-tie Granny gave me while she yanked on my hair. It's the complete opposite, Arashi and she probably told the schoolmaster that while I was waiting for my turn to tell him what happened."
Chihiro's mother rubbed her temples. "Why do you keep getting into fights, Chihiro? Poor Kim and Arashi, the schoolmaster told me what everybody else saw."
"What everybody else saw was a lie. No one likes me in that school; everybody follows Arashi like he is a God, and shuns me like I'm a monster from the Spirit World."
"Why do you keep going on about the Spirit World? It doesn't exist; it's only a religious belief - no wonder why things happen the way they do!"
Chihiro was taken aback. "Don't you remember eating the Spirit Food and turning into pigs? I saved you and Daddy from becoming pigs for slaughter! You should remember!" But they don't, she thought sadly. Their memory has been erased. They don't remember the Spirit World; all they remember is the tunnel and a grassy field. It's not fair!
"That's it Chihiro! We are getting you to a counselor; you just can't keep going on like this! You take everything out on your classmates at school so you can get into fights! It's not healthy." Chihiro's mother was angry. Her face was red and her hands were balled into fists. When Chihiro didn't respond, she said through clenched teeth, "Go to your room."
"No! It's not fair; no one sides with me when I've done nothing wrong! It's always Arashi and Kim, it's not fair! I've had enough of the Human World, I hate it here. I'm going back to the Spirit World where I at least have friends!" Chihiro was on the brink of crying, but she didn't. Instead, she set her backpack down slowly and then dashed out the door.
Chihiro ran as fast as she could before her mother had time to register what happened. Above her, clouds were densely packed together in grays and whites. In front of her, the neighborhood laid out endlessly, but Chihiro wasn't about to take that path, for she cut through the weeds and stumbled down the steep hill. Tears flew from her eyes, not from the wind but from emotion. It doesn't matter, she thought as she reached the bottom of the hill and ran in-between the trees. I'll soon see Haku, Rin, Jamajii, Granny, and No-face. They'll understand for sure.
Chihiro looked to her right; she saw the shrines so she ran faster. While running she gazed upward and saw vines, moss, occasional spider webs, leaves, and some birds' nest – she didn't stop then but only ran faster. Statues of Spirits stood at the side of the dirt road; once they had scared Chihiro but now they no longer did.
A few minutes more passed and Chihiro's legs and lungs seemed like they were going to burst or collapse; her heart thumped faster and faster; her throat felt like it was in a drought and desperately needed water; and her head felt like it was going to faint. She only stopped running when she spotted the statue that her father had almost run into when she first saw the Spirit World.
Chihiro sighed with relief.
Panting, she looked up to see the old, red tower. The tower seemed the same apart from more moss clinging to it and an occasional vine.
She closed her eyes and mentally thanked the Spirits.
Chihiro opened her eyes and looked at the pitch black tunnel. She didn't want to take another step but knew she had to or else she'd be in big trouble if her parents found out – not to mention if Arashi would find out, because Arashi's gang would never let her hear the end of it.
She took a step in without glancing back at the Human World.