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He looks like an idol.
There’s absolutely no other way to describe him.
He’s tall, and normally, Miho wouldn’t be into his hairstyle – straight hair that hovers right above his shoulders – but it fits him. And he has green eyes. Even this far away, she can see them, and see how the color just makes him that much more interesting.
He’s fit, too, as if he didn’t have enough qualities to make him the most attractive man she’s ever seen, and she would feel more embarrassed over her gawking if her other classmates weren’t doing the same.
She’s not quite sure what he’s doing at their school though; he’s wearing a school uniform, but she’s never seen the crest before. She would wonder if he’s waiting for someone, but he’s not fidgeting, and neither does he seem to care that he’s attracting a lot of attention.
She resists the urge to go search online if he’s an upcoming idol, and wonders which girl is going to gather her courage first to approach him. She would do it herself, but she’s way too shy.
“Do you know who it is?” Akko is looking at her with wide eyes when she tears her eyes away from the literal eye candy at their front gate, and she shakes her head.
They fall silent together, even though they should be heading out of school because school is over, but really, it’s much more important to drink in their fill.
“What’s going on?”
The new voice makes her turn, and Chihiro’s standing there, a towel draped over her shoulders. She’s come from archery practice, and Miho briefly wonders how many hearts her best friend broke walking over to the front gate in that get-up.
“There’s a guy – “ she starts, but Chihiro doesn’t seem to be listening. She’s staring over Miho’s shoulder, and Miho stops because well, the sight is probably explanation enough.
And then Chihiro is waving at him. She doesn’t care she’s gaping at the sight, because of course Chihiro wouldn’t be shy about approaching the hottest man she’s ever seen, has Chihiro ever been shy in her life?
Chihiro apologizes to them, and then runs past them, until she’s close enough to speak to the guy. She doesn’t speak though, she all but throws herself at him, and the guy easily catches her, his arms going up around her and steadying her.
“Haku!” she shouts, and she sounds so happy that for a moment Miho’s confused. Chihiro and her talk about boys sometimes, well, she guesses it’s mostly her talking about boys, but still. Chihiro’s never mentioned a Haku before in her life.
But the way Haku’s holding her and the way he’s looking at her, it’s obvious he’s as gone for her as the other boys in their school. His green eyes that had been so lifeless before are now shining with the love he has for Chihiro and it transforms his face, making him even more mesmerizing.
It’s unfair, Miho thinks, but still, she’s happy for her best friend.
Akari-sensei is nervous.
She’s usually not nervous meeting parents. Chihiro’s parents have never given her trouble before, but apparently, they’ve sent someone else in their stead today. And it’s not – usually this will be okay, but the person they sent is scary.
There are bodyguards behind this person, bodyguards wearing masks. They’re taller and wider than should be normal, but Akari-sensei tries her best not to look at them. It’s probably safer to pretend they’re not there.
Chihiro’s grandma – guardian? – is sitting in front of her, and she keeps calling Chihiro Sen, even though Akari has never even heard of anyone calling her student that name. She obviously gives not one care about Chihiro’s grades, and only leans forward when she talks about Chihiro’s Archery Club.
“Obviously,” says Chihiro’s grandma, “She doesn’t need anymore practice. And neither does she need to learn all of your useless classes. I need her for the rest of the school year.”
Akari-sensei nervously wrings her hands, “Chihiro needs to stay in class if she wants to graduate.”
“Does she?” she asks, and it sounds threatening enough that Akari-sensei leans backward in shock, and it gets worse when the bodyguards lean forward too. She’s pretty sure this is the end of her career, not even mentioning her life, when the door slams open.
“Granny,” says Chihiro, and for the first time, she actually sounds annoyed. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“You need lessons, Sen,” retorts Chihiro’s granny, and Akari-sensei almost faints when the atmosphere gets even more tense.
Chihiro doesn’t seem impressed, and she walks forward, pointing angrily at her supposed grandma. “I’ll take lessons after school.”
“Why do you need to learn all this silly stuff when you’re going to be taking over?”
“This is my life,” says Chihiro, and Chihiro’s eyes are glowing and that’s all Akari-sensei can remember because her eyes roll up and she faints.
It’s all over the school before long. Chihiro hadn’t closed the door when she had barged in, and now the whole school knows about the fight between Chihiro and her grandma.
“What is she even taking over?” Akko asks her, and Miho shrugs, not knowing any better than her friend.
Other people in the school won’t stop talking about it either, and Miho wonders if Chihiro cares that she’s the hottest talk of the school.
Knowing Chihiro though, she probably doesn’t.
“Honestly,” a girl in front of them is mumbling angrily under her breath, “if she wanted to me to come find her, she should’ve given me better directions.”
She’s wearing an orange kimino and obviously doesn’t belong in their school. She’s older than them, and Miho only hesitates a second before approaching.
“Do you need help?”
She turns, and she brightens. “Oh, you’re just who I was looking for. Miho, right?”
She takes a step back, narrowing her eyes in suspicion. “And you are?”
“Oh, I know Sen,” she says, and then purses her lips. “I mean, Chihiro. She wanted me to come find you.”
She’s suspicious, but really, Miho isn’t too surprised because it turns out this is the type of company Chihiro likes to keep. She wonders if she’s being too trusting by agreeing to follow, but well, she’s curious on why Chihiro needs her and it’s not like she’ll leave her best friend hanging.
“My name’s Rin,” the girl explains as they make their way out of the school. Her hips sway, and her hair is so long, and she’s almost as attractive as the man that had visited Chihiro earlier in the week. It’s only fitting that Chihiro keeps the company of people like this, considering the charm she herself had. “My sister’s waiting for you at the temple.”
She nods, and she’s about to ask why, when they’re rudely interrupted. She doesn’t recognize the boys that are loitering outside of their school, since they’re wearing a different school uniform, but they’re quite obviously delinquents judging by their hair color and the way they’re wearing their uniform.
She can’t help the fear that goes through her as they hoot and holler at Rin, and she watches in shock as Rin walks up to them, her hips swaying and a coy smile on her face.
The delinquent, obviously thinking Rin’s into him, reaches out a hand to loop around her, when Rin moves. She darts out a hand, grabs his, and then breaks his wrist.
It happens so fast that all Miho can do is stare in horror.
The delinquent is howling in pain, so loud that she’s sure everyone in school behind them is watching. Rin’s already running to her, her expression full of mirth, and she’s grabbing Miho’s hand – delicately – and pulling her along. “Come on,” she says, “Chihiro’s waiting!”
As they run, with the delinquent’s friends chasing them, Miho wonders just how many rumors this event is going to spark.
Chihiro’s waiting for them at Miho’s temple. Miho’s parents aren’t home yet, which means it’s Miho’s turn to sweep the grounds. Chihiro’s dressed just as Rin is, in the same color kimino with her lucky purple hairtie holding her hair up.
The insanely attractive guy – Haku – is there as well, and he’s standing next to Chihiro who is sitting, her legs swinging.
As soon as she catches sight of them, she jumps to her feet. “What took you so long?” she asks.
“Your sister,” Miho points out, “Broke someone’s wrist and then we had to run away. And then we got lost.”
“It wasn’t that bad,” interjects Rin, and Miho turns on her.
“There were five guys chasing us!”
“They’ll be taken care of,” answers Rin, flippantly, and Miho gives up, turning to face Chihiro.
“Is your whole family crazy?” she asks, because she’s met Chihiro’s parents before, but this past week has shown her that Chihiro’s granny and sister are obviously insane. Suddenly, the rumors of Chihiro being the daughter of a yakuza makes so much sense. She wonders if she should ask now, but decides against it, because really, what good would it do to her to piss off a yakuza clan?
Chihiro is staring at her, a bemused smile on her face when she says, “They’re spirits.”
She stares because she much rather believe Chihiro is the granddaughter of a frankly terrifying yakuza member than a person who deals with spirits.
Because if she is…
“You’re leaving,” she says.
Chihiro nods, “I’ve come to say good-bye. It’s not forever!” she promises, and she takes Miho’s hands into hers. “I’ll come back to visit.”
“Is he a spirit too?” she asks, gesturing to Haku.
“Yup,” she says, cheerfully, and before her eyes, the attractive man suddenly becomes a dragon. She stumbles back in shock, and watches as Chihiro puts an arm around the dragon’s snout in obvious affection.
Chihiro’s courting a dragon. Okay, good to know, and frankly unsurprising. No one else would do for Chihiro.
“What are you taking over?” she asks, before she can chicken out, and Chihiro’s eyes sparkle.
“The bathhouse,” she says, “the one in the legend you’re so fond of.”
It takes a while for Miho to understand, and then she catches on. Her family has texts upon texts of the supposed spirit world and one of them talked about a bathhouse for visiting spirits. It had seemed like a made up story to her, even when she dreamt of the bathhouse at night, and it was absolutely terrifying to find that first it was real, and second, Chihiro was going to be taking it over.
“You’ll visit,” Chihiro says, and it sounds like a promise.
Chihiro gives her one last hug before climbing on top of Haku. Rin follows suit, before suddenly grabbing Miho into a hug herself.
Before Chihiro disappears, she shouts, “Look for the tunnel!”
Chihiro’s absence is the hottest topic of the school for a long few months.
Miho wanders the forest next to her temple every day, enough so, that Akko asks her if something’s wrong. She hadn’t been to karaoke or to the café with them in weeks.
She almost gives up then, the temptation of cake far too difficult to pass up, but at the last second, she stays strong.
It’s months later she finally finds it. The tunnel is decrepit and old, and she stares for a long moment at it. She misses Chihiro. But she can’t bring herself to walk down the tunnel, not when she has no clue what’s waiting on the other side.
She comes back the next day. And then the next. She brings a backpack full of food and clothes and sits for an hour at the entrance.
It’s spring when she finally gathers the courage to go through.
Her footsteps seem to echo, and her heart won’t calm down the whole way.
When she finally clears it, Chihiro is waiting on the other side.