Spirited Away: The Kohaku River

Prologue

The night was dark as the brunette scurried back to her home. Despite Tokyo being a huge city with plenty of security, Chihiro's parents decided to live by the edge of the city and it made her daily transportation difficult but she had never decided to complain.

But security wasn't a problem. She wasn't running away from thieves, rapists or even killers. She was running away from the unseen. What was unseen to other humans was visible to Chihiro. She had always seen them since childhood.

Of course, she remembered her encounter at the bizarre bathhouse. She remembered the lady who helped her with her work, the old man who gave her a clue to her escape and everyone else she held dear.

She remembered only a certain someone's name. He was Haku. She remembered very little detail about his appearance but every night, she would murmur his name to herself and drift herself off to sleep.

She remembered how she felt so warm in his embrace and the way he spoke kept her so calm that she felt like she could walk on water.

Chihiro felt a shadow following her. She reminded herself that it could always be hers and not the spirits'. No one believed her when she told that she could see such things.

Except for one. Tsuchimikado Tsubaki. Tsubaki only believed Chihiro since she was an exorcist. She had inherited her family's duties and just recently encountered Chihiro.

Every time Chihiro met with Tsubaki, they'd avoid talking about anything spiritual. Just knowing they were somehow the same was comforting enough.

"....there is nothing...." Chihiro mumbled. "Just my imagination.....just seeing things....." She kept this belief that lying to herself would make her feel better. As if it would make any difference.