Haku emerged from the lake on the human side of the barrier, exhausted. The current had been stronger than the vision had led him to believe, and he had swum against it for hours. The sky on the human side was grey with the false dawn. Haku pulled himself into a clump of bushes and fell into an uneasy sleep.
Sunrise woke him. It was the wrong color, and the edges of the sun were soft, as if he was looking through a piece of glass or the wall of the palace. Haku shuddered and sat up. The air felt thicker. He looked at the surface of the lake and frowned. The water rippled. The ground was trembling. Is there a territory dispute between the local spirits? Haku wondered. Who could it be? The guardian of the lake? Then he realized he had heard no consciousness in the lake water. He shook his head and put the thought out of his mind.
The smell of human musk led him uphill through the woods, away from the acrid fumes of the road, until he could see a row of houses beyond the trees. He watched groups of children pass, younger ones and older ones. And then there she was, walking with a group of girls all wearing the same t-shirts and pleated skirts. He quickly stepped behind a tree to avoid being seen, and leaned against it. He was suddenly very aware of his own breathing. Her face seemed to be burned into his vision. It was no longer as round as he remembered; the delicate skin hugged the cheekbones more tightly now, but it was still familiar. Her face was shockingly pale, her eyelids and eyelashes a deep blue whenever she blinked, and her lips were flamboyantly red. It was as if someone had replaced her face with a flesh-colored canvas, and then had painted the features back on. She wore her hair in a bob that hung to her chin. One rose-gold lock peeked out from beneath her bangs by one ear.
Some young men turned a corner into the street, talking and laughing loudly. The two groups merged. A few couples moved to the periphery of the group and began to kiss ostentatiously. Haku withdrew his gaze in disgust, and his eyes fell back on Chihiro. She was bantering with a taller boy while smacking on a piece of gum. He said something Haku didn't catch, puffing his chest out as he did. Chihiro smirked and rolled her eyes in response, and the group shrieked with laughter. The boy backed off, disgruntled.
Haku suppressed the fear that was welling up inside and inspected the boys' uniforms. Easy enough. He waved a hand over his white knee-length kimono. It now looked like a black suit jacket and tie over a white collared shirt, with black slacks. His face had lengthened in the last few years, but he was still recognizable. Reluctantly, he reached up and tied back his shoulder length hair. The bridge of his nose rose and his eyebrows darkened and thickened. The color of his eyes deepened to a dark mossy green.
When the next group of boys passed, he left the shelter of the trees and followed them at a distance to the school.
With the help of a little magic, he talked his way past the school administrators and into the classroom. The time he had spent at the bathhouse as a witch’s apprentice had some use after all. He was disappointed to find that the boys and girls attended separate schools, but it wasn’t long before he heard someone mention Chihiro’s name.
Humans are so obvious, Haku thought. This should be easy. His nose was able to pick out each boy’s mood by scent. The odors wafting off them proclaimed each base emotion as if through a loudspeaker. It didn’t take long for him to insert himself into the most influential group of young men, a gang led by Kane, the boy who had spoken with Chihiro before school.
But by the end of the day, his sensitive nose and ears had been so overwhelmed that they felt numb. He longed to den up in a cave in clear, shallow water and wait for spring to come. He lagged behind as they left the schoolyard, cajoled into staying in the group by Kane.
And then there she was again, in the fenced lawn of the girls’ school talking to the long-haired girl next to her. Haku's heart thumped against his ribcage.
The salty metallic smell of human females filled his nose as the girls swarmed out of the schoolyard. The air around them grew warm with the heat of so many bodies crowded together. Haku lost sight of Chihiro immediately. The girls all looked the same in their uniforms, with their faces hidden behind the boys’ taller frames. He looked around. Kane had disappeared too. Everyone was talking at once. Warm bodies pressed in on every side. Haku imagined his senses frying.
Where is she? Haku scanned the faces around him, trying to hold off the dizziness. He finally spotted Kane, leaning against the cast iron gate. He had his arm snaked around Chihiro’s waist possessively and was whispering in her ear. She laughed and pushed his arm away playfully. Haku’s heart sank. He began to wade through the sea of flesh toward her.
Chihiro's long-haired friend elbowed her as Haku approached, and she turned around. Haku saw her gaze explore his face curiously. He was almost a full head taller than she was, and she had to tilt her head to see his face at this proximity. Haku looked from her long skinny legs showing below her short skirt to her lime green fingernails to her face, which was still painted, though not freakishly so. She looked so familiar, and yet… Are you in there,Chihiro? The air reeked of testosterone and sweat. He wanted to gag. He held his breath and bowed slightly. She blushed. "My name is Kohaku,” he said. “I'm pleased to make your acquaintance."
Chihiro’s eyes widened. For a second he allowed himself to hope that she had recognized him. But then she bowed back, and when she straightened, the moment of uncertainty had passed.
“My name is Ogino,” she said, raising her voice to be heard above the din. “Ogino Chihiro. Pleased to meet you.” It was hard to concentrate on her words. The voices of the crowd battered at his ears. Her words replayed in his mind. Her voice was so formal, so polite. The blond lock of hair swayed in the wind.
“Chihiro,” Haku began to say. He couldn’t bring himself to call her by her last name, after all she’d done for him, all they’d done together. He couldn’t pretend that he didn’t know her. It would make it real. After all the first time they had met she had, literally, fallen into him. If only he could explain, surely she would understand. Let me take you somewhere I can think straight. “I-”
Kane glared at Haku and interrupted. “Let’s go, Chihiro,” he said, and tried to pull her away. His body exuded the smell of adrenaline. Haku barely stopped himself from slapping Kane’s hand away from Chihiro.
“Don’t be a jerk, Kane. Let me talk to him,” Chihiro protested.
“Do you know him?” Kane demanded.
Any hopes her response had raised in Haku were immediately dashed.
“I don’t think so,” Chihiro said thoughtfully. Then, as if a switch had been flipped, her voice jumped up an octave. “Nope, definitely not. But he’s cute!” she teased. Her voice seared Haku’s ears. He mentally grimaced. She flashed a smile toward Haku while looking at Kane.
Kane ignored this jibe. “Then he has no right to address you by your first name,” Kane said. “Come on. We’re going to my place tonight, remember?”
Place? His home? What is she doing there? Haku's thoughts swirled. He couldn’t keep them coherent.
There was a slight hesitation - some subconscious thought passed, perhaps, like a cool breeze - but before Haku could do anything, Chihiro turned around and called out: “Yumi! Akari! Movie night at Kane’s, let’s go!”
A few of the girls and boys emerged from the crowd, bantering and chattering about home theaters and actors and clothes. Without the magnetism of the popular kids holding it together, the group dispersed in every direction. Haku was left standing there, shell shocked and ears ringing, looking in the direction that Chihiro had disappeared in. Her last words still echoed in his ears. She had not once looked back.
“Wow,” a voice said dryly. Haku turned around and looked down. It was Chihiro's friend, the long-haired girl. She was in the same uniform that the others wore, and she was the same age as the others, but there was something different about her. Is it because she isn’t wearing any make-up? Haku thought. But it seemed to be something more fundamental than that. Then Haku realized that the oppressive and musky smell of humans, which had nauseated him all day, was quickly diffusing to a more tolerable level. He looked at the girl in surprise. Who is she? And what is she doing here? She couldn’t be human. A local spirit? Haku thought, but what would a spirit be doing at a high school?
“You really shook her,” the girl commented, seemingly oblivious to Haku’s surprise.
“What do you mean?” Haku asked.
“I mean Chihiro, of course,” the girl said, nonchalant. “Don't think I didn't notice you staring at her that entire time. Her acting is usually better than it was today. I mean, did you hear her voice jump? What a mess.”
“Acting?” Haku asked, more confused than ever.
The girl laughed happily. “I’m Shinkono Risuni,” she said. She looked up and smiled a genuine smile at Haku. “You're new in town, aren't you? Shall I show you around?"
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