Life hasn't been that easy for Chihiro either. Her mom died of cancer after she graduated from college. She hasn't found a stable job yet for her course (nursing, that's what her dad wanted her to take up) she's just working at a local call center for the meantime. Her social life isn't that intact. She haven't seen most of her friends lately because all of them had been busy.

Chihiro just recovered from a severe cold because of too much stress, her dad wanted her to take a break even just for a day and she gladly accepted. Her dad wasn't home because he attended some sort of convention in Tokyo and won't be back for three days, so Chihiro was left alone.. Her dad wasn't worried he knew Chihiro could handle herself well.

The following day after her dad had gone she woke up early, took a bath, ate breakfast and took off to ride a bus to her work. It would take a hour and a half to get to the call center she worked at. It seemed like a very long day for her, there was so much that had to be done in the call center. She hardly took any breaks, the only break she took was lunch and that was eight hours ago. The bell rang for shifts 'thank God.. I could finally leave this dump' she thought.

Chihiro hurriedly packed her things and went out. It was 8:30 pm when she arrived at the bus stop, lucky for her she still made it to the last trip going back to her house. Chihiro sat at the middle seat of the bus right next to an old woman (it was the only seat left). She closed her eyes for a moment and dosed off.

"Ma'am.. ma'am wake up" a guy said as he was shaking Chihiro's shoulder to wake her up

"Ma'am wake up.. this is the last stop." The guy said again, Chihiro opened her eyes, it was a conductor, she drowsily stood up and went out of the bus, she was the only remaining passenger left when she looked around.

She checked her watch, it was 9:30. 'It isn't that late' she thought. The streetlight flickered above the paved sidewalk she was standing on. It frightened her to think that she was alone walking on the streets. She heard a rackety sound behind her. She slowly turned her head back and gasped as she dropped her phone on the ground, she saw a figure, she stood still, too scared to think about what to do, as the figure moved closer.. it was only a boy riding a bike on his way home. The boy looked at her, aghast why she was acting scared of him like he was a psycho, and continued to move on.

Perhaps too much coffee had an effect on her, she thought. She picked up her phone and continued to walk through the dim streets. She had a bad feeling in her guts, why was she feeling like this? She walked these streets much later than 9:30 or 10:00 and nothing happened to her, why was she feeling anxious now?... She realized it was inevitable not to pass through the forest to get to her house. It was pitch black in the forest, luckily she remembered she brought with her a flashlight. She turned it on and continued to walk.

Chihiro felt more and more uneasy as she went deeper into the forest. Suddenly she heard a rustling noise by the bushes. She remembered hearing from the radio news about snatchers, killers and rapists coming out late at night. She walked a little faster. The rustling noises have stopped, but she heard footsteps behind her. Feeling more afraid than ever she ran as fast as her legs could carry her. She ran and ran and ran until she ended up in the middle of the forest with a closed tunnel with its walls covered with vines.

The entrance of the tunnel was piled up with stones. She heard the footsteps getting nearer and nearer, she dug the stones out as fast as she could. The tunnel was only half opened but she figured she could fit in so she decided to crawl in. It was very dark inside the tunnel.. she figured she had dropped her flashlight while she was running. She didn't think of coming back and get it and risk being killed. So she just continued to walk through the tunnel. She could hardly see anything. There was a soft light that shone on her face as she got out of the tunnel. She passed through a dried up river and ended up in a city/town that looked familiar. All she could see were dark apparitions, everything looked so familiar. Then it struck her, it was the spirit world, the exact same one she stumbled into when she was ten years old. She wondered if her old friends were still here, Rin, Zeniba, Bou.. and of course.. Haku. She passed through the bridge that lead her to a large bathhouse, she felt uneasy when everyone was looking at her and gossiping about her. She tried so hard not to breath and let anyone recognize her as a human. But she couldn't hold her breath any longer, she took a short breath and a frog spirit started a commotion "Human! Human! There's a human in our presence! " it screamed. Everyone looked at Chihiro and she smiled dopily feeling scared.

The news quickly got to Haku as a frog foreman informed him "Master Haku there's a human outside the bath house and it's such a riot outside." It said "Thank you, I'll go down right away." Haku croaked as he rode the elevator going down. He thought it could just be another human. As he made his way through the crowd that circled around the human. He saw a familiar beautiful face with russet eyes and velvety skin and soft brown hair that's tied back perfectly in a ponytail. Could it be?.. he stood there dumbfounded. " C-Chihiro?" Haku sheepishly said with teary eyes as the girl faced him and smiled.

A/N: hope u like it… pls comment :)))