Author's Note: Here is the first real chapter that you all have been waiting for! For clarification purposes: this is a continuation from the epilogue, but it is NOT part of the epilogue. Please feel free to review, complain (with constructive criticism por favor), or suggest (a possible event that may enhance this story)!
~THE FATEFUL WALK~
"Chi-chan, it's been so many years; how long are you going to wait for him?" complained Miko. She took a deep breath and added, "What if he was not allowed to return; what if…he will never come and find you?"
Chihiro fidgeted with her fingers uncomfortably. After a moment of silence, Miko silently explained, "Chi-chan, it's not that I don't like Haku-kun…but I don't think you should waste the precious years of your life waiting for someone that might never appear!" Miko slowly stood up from her bed and sat down next to Chihiro. Putting her hand on top of Chihiro's long, slender fingers, Miko gently gave Chihiro's hand a little squeeze. "Today is the start of another school year, why don't you try to give other boys a try?" Miko spoke consolingly.
Chihiro's eyes were focused on the tiny dust particles resting on the carpet floor, "I know, Miko-chan, but I love Haku!" she thought. Looking at their intertwined fingers, Chihiro murmured, more to herself than to Miko, "But I guess you're right; I have been pondering the same thought over the past few weeks…" Then Chihiro looked up abruptly, her chocolate brown eyes brimmed with tears, "But it's so hard to give up someone so suddenly…after you've known him for so many years!" Holding her face in her hands, Chihiro sniffed quietly.
Miko's heart pounded uncomfortably. She had wanted to tell Chihiro to forget Haku ever since Chihiro started having nightmares about him two year ago, but she had never imagined that it would be so difficult. "Look, Chi-chan, I am going to go downstairs and eat breakfast; come join me when you can," whispered Miko. Chihiro nodded tacitly.
After she heard the gentle click of the wooden bedroom door closing, Chihiro lifted her face from her wet hands and wiped her face dry with the sleeves of her nightshirt. She then walked over to the white closet at the opposite corner of the room. Pulling the knobs with a firm grip, she opened the heavy doors of her closet and took out her school uniform, which consisted of a plain white blouse, a dull grey cardigan, and a checkered blue skirt, and changed into them. Chihiro told herself, "I will give up on him. I will."
But she could still feel an uneasy tinge of melancholy tormenting her heart.
After finishing their breakfast of egg and milk, Chihiro and Miko rushed out the front door and started on their way to school. Unfortunately, the weather also seemed to have an irresolute mind of its own. For five minutes, torrential rain would pour from the sky as if someone had decided to empty his five-year saving of bath water from high above. Then right afterwards, the raining would stop. About twenty minutes later, the whole process would repeat again. After going through what seemed like millions of this tedious cycle, Chihiro and Miko were becoming rather frustrated from having to pull their umbrellas in and out of their backpacks as they speed-walked. In the end, they resolved to just keep the umbrella out, despite the awkward stares they received from the classmates they walked past. Surprisingly, Chihiro was rather content with this unnecessary attention she was receiving from so many people, mostly because her thoughts were finally distracted from thinking about Haku. Miko, on the contrary, seemed to be extremely embarrassed, as her cheeks blushed a fervent pink, and she starting walking so fast that Chihiro had to run to catch up.
"Miko-chan, stop walking so fast," panted Chihiro. Trying to avoid the lumps and bumps of the road, she made her way through the slush toward Miko. However, Chihiro's foot suddenly got caught in an unusually large chasm in the ground, and she fell face-first into the slippery mud. As she struggled to rid herself of the dirt that had splattered all over her body, Chihiro could feel her own cheeks turn a humiliating crimson red. She was concentrating so hard on keeping her face covered beneath her hair that she did not hear the soft squish-squash of a pair of rain boots that had approached her.
"Are you okay?" asked a genuine concerned voice.
Chihiro's body jolted at the shocking familiarity of the sound that she hastily stood up from her knees, and she looked up into the face of a handsome boy.
