Chapter 2: "Belong"
Every Sunday, I work at a restaurant to earn some money. I'm the one who photographs their new food and put it in their menu. Sometimes I become a waitress for extra money. I live alone now since both of my parents live on a very far place. It's pretty hard to survive in a place when you don't feel like you belong. All I know is that I belong in the spirit 's all I need to know...
The squawk of the chicken that lives in my neighbor's house woke me up. Since it's Sunday, I have to wake up early. Believe it or not, I'm a working student. That's right, I do a part-time job for food, shelter, clothes, tuition, and things I need personally. It's a busy life but what can I do?
As I entered the restaurant, I saw my manager glaring at me with fiery eyes. I have been always late when I come to work because of crying too much at night. It's pretty hard to fix my swollen eyes every morning. I was so afraid that I might get fired. She looked at me and sighed.
"Chihiro, you're late again..."
"I'm so sorry Miss Ashida. I promise I won't do it again..."
"You had too many promises and you never kept them. Promises are meant to be kept. I don't think this is gonna work, Chihiro."
"Please don't fire me Miss Ashida!"
"Fine, but this will be the last time you will be late for work."
"Thank you for your consideration!"
"Ok, let's get back to work people!"
'Promises are meant to be kept', I thought to myself while holding the order of a young man who keeps looking at me. "One hamburg steak and iced tea, large!" I shouted to the chef. Even while cleaning the tables, the strange, young man kept looking at me with sparkly eyes and roses around him. It's kinda annoying so I talked to him straightforwardly.
"Mister, I sincerely apologize about what i'm going to say right now. Please stop looking at me it's kinda annoying."
"Oh, I'm sorry about that. It's just that i'm interested in you that's all."
'Who does this guy think he is?!' ,I thought. "Sir, may I ask your name?"
"My name is Kawa Haku."
"Oh...umm...I'm sorry but i'm not interested in you. I like somebody else."
When I turned my back at him, his order was already cooked. I went back to his table holding his Hamburg steak but he vanished into thin air. I was so creeped out that my hands were shaking and accidentally fell the tray. Again my manager was angry at me and scolded me about this and that. At least I wasn't fired. After a long day of working, I called Hime and asked her to come with me in a bathhouse.
~At the Bathhouse~
"Why did you ask me to come with you in this bathhouse?"
"Because I hate being alone?"
"No! That's not what I meant. What I meant was, why did you suddenly think of going to a bathhouse?"
"Stress..."
"Oh I get it..."
"Hey, i'm not very good at japanese so i'm asking you this. What is kawa?"
"It's river, like water flowing. Why'd you ask?"
"What?! How could have I missed that? Just when a river is very important to me... I think i'm going crazy..."
"Hey! Don't fall asleep in a whim! Chihiro! Chihiro! Chihiro!"
Again I fell asleep. Hoping that I will see Haku in my dreams again.
"H-Haku? Are you there?"
"I'm here..."
"Haku! Thank God that I saw you again!"
"Yeah..."
"Haku? Are you okay? You feel so weak? What's the matter?"
"I used too much of my powers today just to see you..."
"W-What do you mean?"
"See you again, Chihiro..."
"W-Wait..."
What Haku said got me thinking. 'Is he the young man who kept looking at me at the restaurant. Judging by the man's name, if you think about it... Kawa Haku is the same as Haku river. If it was Haku I would've regreted everything I said to him...'
"Hey Chihiro! Earth to Chihiro! Earth to Chihiro! Snap out of it!"
"Oh! I'm sorry Hime. I'm just thinking about something..."
"What is it? Maybe I could help..."
"Thanks but no thanks..."
"Whatever you say..."
~The Next Day~
Before we have our Christmas vacation, we were all assigned to take at least one hundred pictures. So even if classes ended, some of us went on different places and just kept on taking pictures. For me, I went back to my hometown and took a lot of pictures. Of course, I took pictures of the Kohaku river.
When the sun was almost about to set, I took about thirty photos of the sparkling, crimson sky and there I saw an unidentified flying object. Little did I know that it was already Haku.
The white dragon came closer and closer from where I was. When he landed, he turned to his human form and hugged me. His face was blurred from my vision because of the tears that was coming out of my eyes.
I was happy because he finally kept his promise...
"Haku... how did you find me? How did you come here in the human world"
"Didn't I promise you that I will be the one to find you? Did you miss me?"
"How could I not?! Thank you! We finally met again."
"Would you like to see them?"
"Very much! I miss them so much! How are they?"
"See for yourself..."
Haku turned into his dragon form again, I sat on his back and we flew into the orange sky seeing the sun set. For me, what happened today will be the most unforgettable moment of my life.
We landed infront of the tunnel. We both walked together inside, holding hands... After walking, we finally reached Yubaba's bathhouse.
"How nostalgic... I miss this place so much. I hope they remember me..."
"Of course they will remember you. You were a good friend to them and to me..."
As we both opened the door to Yubaba's bathhouse, everyone was there, waiting for us. They were all happy, I was happy. A feast was waiting for us. Everyone kept muttering and shouting.
"Sen is back!"
"Is that Sen?"
"I know that stinky smell!"
"It's Sen!"
"Finally she's back!"
"It took a lot of years before we found a way to the human world."
'What does they mean by that' ,I thought. Then Lin answered, "All those ten years weren't wasted. Haku kept searching for a way to come to the human world. Since Yubaba made a barrier. We all helped just to see you again, Sen!" After hearing what happened, I hugged Lin ang thought, 'All those years, Haku had been keeping his promise all along."
"Where are all the customers?" I asked.
"The bathhouse is closed for today since Yubaba has a long trip."
Everyone didn't forget me and made a feast just for me. I always knew and will always know that this is the place that I belong.
I knew that I will never be alone again.
Because I finally arrived to the place where everyone will accept me.
I belong to the spirit world.
But how?