Spirited Away fanfiction

by TASHHHHH!

T rating for grown-up words; if you're under 13, pretend not to read them.

This isn't bloody enough for horror. I don't know what it is... drama? adventure?

Hey look, a story that uses Chihiro's parents as something other than an obstacle that needs to be heavily bullshitted in order to keep them from putting her in a mental institution! I'm proud to say it's mine :D

Chapter 4: Uotaa Emburemu: AkuSen no Nazo

Ogino Yuuko woke up at 4:30 am, got dressed, and quietly walked downstairs to the kitchen. She pulled a tub of powdered mix from a high shelf, some milk and eggs from the fridge, and set up the griddle to preheat. She knew the smell would rouse the other two members of the household soon, so she hurried to set the table. The pancakes on the stove were about ready to flip, but then Yuuko heard a stick crack and a small scuffing noise outside the kitchen window.

She nervously walked over to the window to the side of the table against the wall. Opening it, and looking around, but nothing was there. Inwardly she chastised herself for her childish imagination. She suddenly realized the pancakes were about to burn! She turned around and hurried across the room, but AkuSen chose that moment to walk into the kitchen and smell the burnt pancakes as well.

"I rise, I wash, I brush, and she greets me with BURNT CRAP FOR BREAKFAST!" Yuuko gasped and hurried to start new pancakes. "I-I-I'm sorry, I'll make some new ones immediately."

The older woman had barely managed to stop herself from bowing to her daughter in apology. At this verbal abuse, her face turned a deep red color, and she did her best to cook with the added stress. She occasionally peeked up in fear, but AkuSen was now busy going through Yuuko's purse. Yuuko said nothing as the girl took her pick of the various bills in the wallet.

AkuSen walked through the house, ready to go with all her school things on, including her outdoor shoes. She walked up to the stove and Yuuko stepped back obediently. She grabbed the spatula roughly, took all four of the cakes on the pan, and left the house quickly, happily avoiding Yuuko's husband.

Yuuko sighed in relief, and started to feel again like a human being, instead of an overworked horse. Her expression became one of grief, she stared at the counter aimlessly. The previous encounter with Chihiro having spoiled her appetite, she closed her eyes and tried to calm down, until she heard socked footsteps, and soon after found herself in a larger man's embrace.

She leaned her head to the side to rest on his arms. "Akio..." she breathed in comfort. "What are we going to do, Akio?" she started to cry the tears she had been trying to hold back. Akio didn't have an easy solution, and wished he could say something in comfort, but he had no idea what, so he took over the pancakes and started cooking for his wife while looking at her tenderly, silently encouraging her to express herself.

"Just now she left and took some money from my purse. I couldn't say anything to stop her. I have never felt so scared before, Akio! I've heard stories about parents abusing their children, but... I feel like I am being abused! It scares me to say it, but she's going to get in real trouble soon. Even though she's our daughter, she is who she is, but if we can't get her to change... oh dear, we'll lose her! She's getting worse, Akio!"

Akio set their breakfast out on the plates that were already on the table. "She's on the edge. Every day now, I wonder if it's the day when she will raise her hand against her own parents."

"Well, she's already raised her hand to another child."

"What? I didn't hear about that?" Akio's expression darkened, but he dipped a chunk of cake into some syrup and ate it. Yuuko's appetite had returned, now that the food had been remedied with the love of a husband, and took his cue to start eating as well.

"Well I got the call last night, but I didn't want to worry you. I have to tell you of course."

"It's alright, Yuuko, please tell me."

"I got a call... from the parent of another child. It was a man named Morinaka Kenta. He said, he said that Chihiro has beaten up his son. According to his son, she forced him to bring gifts to her, and when she didn't like them, she punched the boy and later vandalized their home."

"My god! We should be getting complaints from the police! That is, if they aren't already on their way here!"

Just then a knock on the door scared the couple out of their wits. The knocking continued while Yuuko and Akio nervously looked at each other. Before a round of "you-go-get-it" could begin, Akio got up and went to open the door. He looked through the peephole first, and then looked at Yuuko. "It's not the police. It's a couple of children."

Yuuko curiously walked up to the door. Akio opened it. There were two boys.

"Good morning, Ogino-san," the older of the two spoke to him politely. "We're sorry for disturbing you so early in the morning, even before the sun has risen. However, we had to wait until your daughter left, and then talk to you before you could leave for work."

Akio was impressed by the boy's manners and answer him likewise, "Well, would you like to come in and have some breakfast while we discuss whatever it is?" He was suspicious that this might have something to do with Yuuko's phone call, and so was inclined to make a good first impression with the strange children.

"Thank you very much, Ogino-san. We will come in." They sat down at the table and Akio got them some plates and utensils.

"I'll get right to the point then. I am the one who called you last night. Morinaka Kenta was just a made up name. As you can see I am clearly not this boy's father."

"Hi, I'm Shimai! AkuSen beat me up." Shimai replied with a grin that didn't match his statement.

"AkuSen?" they asked.

"Oh," replied Shimai. "It's our new name for the evil Chihiro. Kohaku says she's a kind person, so I believe him, and we don't like to use our friend's name for her."

Yuuko replied, "But why AkuSen? What about AkuChi?"

"AkuChi means 'impure blood'," explained Kohaku.

Akio thought a moment. "And you thought 'ill-gotten money was more fitting?'"

Yuuko said, "Well, I am so sorry for my daughter's actions! What can we do for your kids? And do your parents know you are over here?"

"Please calm down, Ogino-san. You are not in any sort of trouble. We are not involving the police with this. You see, we are not merely victims in the situation. I am an old friend of Chihiro's, and I have known her since before she became... like this. I do not know whether or not she has ever told you about me, and I don't think she should know that we are meeting. My real name is Kohaku."

Yuuko and Akio looked at each other. Akio replied, "no we've never heard of you. What is your last name? And your family? You two are brothers? And Shimai, isn't that's the name of this town?"

"Slow down, we'll get to all that, one at a time. I promise I'll tell you as much as I can, but I need you guys to do the same if we're going to get to the bottom of this. Any little details could help, because at this point we know very little."

"We're gonna be detectives!" Shimai announced.

"Well," said Yuuko "We should take some notes like good detectives, there's so much new information going around."

"I'll tell you about how I first met Chihiro. Please just hold your questions until the end. I know there are parts of it you won't believe, but I can prove it to you, so just let me finish."

Kohaku started by explaining that he was a river spirit, not a human. Then he told them the story of how he saved Chihiro from drowning when she was four.

"Ummm..." said Akio. "Hmmmm" said Yuuko. Shimai sighed, "I'll go make some tea."

The four sat there for several, very awkward minutes until. Shimai handed Akio a cup of hot tea, and he sipped some, which seemed to start his brain working again.

"You're right. I have no idea what you're talking about. If you're a river I'm a volcano." he joked quietly.

"And I'm a dragon," said Kohaku. Akio laughed, then realized Kohaku wasn't joking. Both adults started at him in disbelief. "Aw... Is this gonna end with me transforming in the living room?"

"Yep," said Shimai.

"Dragon rides for all?"

"Probably."

Well, Chihiro's parents thought Kohaku's dragon form was the most awesome thing ever. He was very relieved when they finally stopped acting like teenage fangirls and put the focus back on the matters at hand. At this point they readily accepted that Shimai was also a river spirit. Although he was not a dragon, they still thought he was cool because he was so adorable.

Yuuko and Akio called in to their workplaces, deciding that the crisis with their daughter was far more important, and a day could be sacrificed.

Next, Kohaku turned to question the parents about Chihiro/AkuSen.

explanation of japanese jokes: Title is a reference to the game title "fire emblem: monshou no nazo/mystery of the emblem". AkuSen and AkuChi if you don't get the meanings, look them up on WWWJDIC. click the checkbox for romaji search if you don't have japanese typing.

Shimai is written 姉妹 it means "sisters" (even tho Shi's a boy lol). AkuSen's pet name for him "'gawa-chan" comes from the word ogawa 小川, which means a creek, or a small river. AkuSen looks like 悪千

To my epic reviewers: Hope you guys don't die of suspense while I get the next few chapters up. I think i'll reveal what happened to Chihiro probably in the chapter after the next, so that I can get going and hike up the action a bit. Thanks for reading btw ^^

This story is a fan-based work, not affiliated with studio Ghibli or any of the production team of the movie Spirited Away, not published for any commercial purpose.