Spirited Away Fan Fiction ❯ The Other World ❯ A Rainy Morning ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Spirited away.....Hayao Miazaki does.

 

DS: Well, here goes my first Spirited Away fanfic....Actually, my first fanfic EVER! Yay!

I got started on this right after I saw the movie(and LOVED it), but I only JUST found this site. Here goes!

 

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Chihiro looked out through the back window as the car sped away from the tunnel…the gateway between worlds. Would she ever pass through it again? Would she see the spirits, the bathhouse, Zaniba, Lin, Noh-Face, or…Haku, ever again? Would she once again be `Sen'? Part of her hoped so.

“I think I'll learn to like it.”

 

The words echoed through her memory as Chihiro awoke. It hadn't been a nightmare, or very disturbing at all, but it was the eighth time she had re-enacted her adventure in the spirit world in a dream. She looked at the alarm clock next to her bed: 2:28am. She sighed and tried to sleep again, but it wouldn't come.

The rain pattered rhythmically on her window. Chihiro grinned, having a sudden urge to fling open the window and let the rainy breeze blow into her room, cool and moist, dampening the curtains and spraying her face until she was calmer. She got off her bed and walked to the sill. The moon shone between her curtains and through the rain like a beacon.

She remembered the time it rained at the bathhouse and she helped clean a polluted river god. He had given her a gift which had saved both her and Haku.

Haku…

She imagined his face, smiling and happy as they were free-falling after discovering his real name. She wondered how he was getting along, what he was doing all this time? It had been about three years - that long? - but the memories were still crisp and fresh in her mind, every detail sharp and clear.

 

Chihiro turned away from the window, sighing once again. She decided to give up sleep and dress. She slipped out of the faded, overlarge T-shirt she'd slept in and tugged on the blouse of her school uniform. Instead of the uniform's blue skirt that reached just above her knees, she pulled on some of her mother's old sweatpants.

Once she'd gotten her clothes on, she tip-toed into the hall and past her parent's door. She could hear her father snore loudly inside. She made her way down the stairs of their two-story house to the back door, on the far side the kitchen. She gazed out at the small field that was her and a few other neighbors' backyard…and to the woods behind it. The very woods with the hidden trail, and the tunnel.

Is it still there? She wondered. She hadn't gone back, as she promised herself. She wondered if she could find it again, now that she was older.

She thought about that. Haku was about twelve or thirteen when she'd been there last…if he WAS a river god, than wouldn't he still be the same? Wouldn't she be a bit closer to his age now? Well…at least closer-looking. He couldn't have really been only twelve.

She thought of all that had happened in the last three years. She had learned to accept her new house, her new school, and new neighborhood. She'd even made some friends. She told only some of them about her adventure, though, and only as a mere story.

However, she had told her best friend Sakura the entire truth. She could tell that Sakura wouldn't abandon her as a lunatic, and she was right - the girl had believed every word. She just wanted to see this other world that Chihiro spoke of so much - when they were alone, anyway.

Chihiro had promised her that some day she'd take her into the woods to try to find the tunnel and go back. She felt a little guilty, though, because she didn't think it would ever really happen. Nevertheless, she didn't want to let her friend down. How could she make sure that they could find it?

She checked the time. 2:58…The morning was still young. Why couldn't she just take a peek? Just to see if it was still there, that they could find it again.

Chihiro made up her mind. She'd only take a quick look, and her parents wouldn't even know she had gone anywhere. She scrawled a note to them just in case, saying that she'd gone for a morning walk. She didn't think she'd even get very wet, for the rain was calming down and the trees would provide some shelter.

She pulled on her boots and jacket, then zipped on a poncho; it was very chilly. She got a small umbrella from the coat rack. After a thought, she shoved her camera into a pocket before she left.

Only a peek, she reminded herself, only a peek.

She stepped out into the night.

 

Chihiro looked over her back lawn, taking in the gardens and clean, green grass of her neighbors' yards next to hers. It all made one wide, grassy field with a small brook on the other side, separating the field and the Hill's forest. Chihiro started across the field to the brook.

The rain pittered down into the stream and across the bank, making it muddier than she needed it. Chihiro started to run. She ran along the edge of the brook until she got to a small, old wooden bridge. It had always been there…she didn't know how old it was. There were only faint traces of green paint along the rough railings.

This was Chihiro's favorite spot. With the calming canopy of willow and aspen trees, a peaceful old bridge and the lively brook, the area was a perfect place just to stop and daydream. Yet it seemed sort of…excited, this morning. As if everything was waiting for something.

Chihiro ran across the bridge and along the pine needle-carpeted path, on a shortcut she'd found to the beginning of the road. The first things she recognized were the tiny shrines. She remembered them as miniature houses, and they still resembled them.

“…They look like little houses…”

She slowly walked down the path made mud by the rain. The slowing shower pattered against the leaves, some strays hitting her umbrella. Her boots sank into the earth and got sucked up again with each step. She looked around at the greenery. How had she ever feared this place? It was so beautiful.

She passed the spirit statue half-hidden in the bushes, now looking more friendly and happy to be in the rain than the menacing omen it once was. Her car had bumped and sped right through here years ago…she could almost imagine the tire tracks still in the mud. A few frogs darted past, leaping over one another. Chihiro giggled, thinking of the toad-people in the bathhouse, and bowed jokingly to them.

“And how are you today, Toad-san? I see you've brought your family along…”

Chihiro giggled again and followed the hopping family further down the road, copying their zig-zaggy pattern and trying to keep up. She stopped dead in her tracks. The frogs had stopped jumping at the feet of a short, stubby, very familiar statue.

Chihiro slowly lifted her head. She gazed up at the old plaster tunnel, its mouth open as wide as ever, yet no rain could hit the inside. Damp ivy still clung protectively to its sides. Chihiro felt a shiver vibrate up her spine as she stared shakily into the looming maw of the cavern-like gateway. The door between worlds.

“…No,no! I don't wanna go…”

“Come on, Chihiro. Just a quick peek inside…”

A quick peek. One that led them to be trapped for days in the Spirit's World. A quick peek…Just another peek…

The wind picked up a bit, howling eerily through the tunnel, although no rain was swept in. This was only a quick peek. She had found it. Take the picture and go home…but something rooted her to the spot. Did she dare step in, as the wind demanded?

“The wind…it's pulling us in…”

Chihiro took a deep breath and stepped back a bit. One foot, then another…stepping back…yet she still couldn't bring herself to turn from the tunnel. She was so close…

She raised her camera and quickly snapped the shot. The flash lit up all around the tunnel, but the inside stayed as dark as ever. Chihiro shivered again.

She was about to turn away, glancing warily back at it, when a sudden sound came from within. She jumped about a foot into the air and spun around.

What was THAT?!

Chihiro stared into the darkness, breathing heavily, eyes as big as spoons. The tunnel was silent, but the sound still echoed in her mind. It had sounded like a voice, but it wasn't a word. It was more like an exclamation, as if someone inside had stubbed their toe and cried out.

 

The rain had stopped. The woods were very quiet, the only prominent sounds being the dripping of the last raindrops off the leaves and Chihiro's startled breath. A bird chirped once a little ways off. Chihiro glanced down. The frog family was still there, staring buggily up at her.

She then came to her senses and turned, running as fast as she could back toward her home. She felt as if something was watching her go, as if something was following her, but she didn't dare look back.

It's probably the frogs, she thought. Just the frogs…

She burst out of the trees and ran across the field to her house. The sun was almost up, but not yet peeking over the mountains. The horizon was tinted grey. What time was it? How long had she been gone?

She stopped short at her back door and, glancing back only once, went in and locked the door behind her. She peeled off her wet clothes and quickly, but quietly, went upstairs to her room. Flopping onto her futon, she stared at the wall, her mind racing.

What had happened? Why had she run? It was only a sound.

…Wasn't it?

 

 

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DS: Cliffy! I think......anyway, please, please, please please please please PLEASE review this!! *is begging on her knees* Please? *echo* Anyone? Helooooo? *echo, echo, echo*