Thursday, March 6th
Dear Diary,
There was a new kid at the boys’ school today. Kohaku. Aki saw him on her way to school and would not stop talking about how hot he was. I laughed, but, to be honest, you can’t help but like him. He even came over to introduce himself to me. Of course Kane couldn’t help being an ass and Risuni was snickering the entire time. We went to Kane’s after school for movie night and none of the girls could shut up about Kohaku this and Kohaku that. It put Kane in a sour mood, surprise, surprise. I escaped as soon as I could and went straight to the library, and who do I run into as I’m talking to myself like an idiot? Kohaku. Of course. I’m don’t know how, but I’m almost certain Risuni set us up. And now he knows how much of a complete dork I am. Great.
That song he caught me reciting, though. He knows the tune! Or maybe, a tune. Who knows if any were written after the fact, though I’ve never been able to find any. And like an idiot I interrupted him so now I might never know how the rest of it goes. And he knows the Kojiki too, and insinuated that something was weird about this copy. Just who is this guy?
I finished Through the Looking Glass. When she "woke up" at the end and was back in the real world, I cried. Why? It wasn’t a sad ending. Wonderland is far from ideal and it has the most frustrating laws of physics, like a nightmare, the way you run as fast as you can and still end up within the monster's grasp. It's a nightmarish place, that's what.
Later. Nuclear meltdown at Onagawa on TV, thankfully far from here. It seems like a little boy crawled into the outflow pipe. The talking heads keep blaming his parents for not keeping a closer eye on him at the station and leaving him to watch the luggage. I feel terrible. I’m sure my parent did that when I was a kid, but they would be devastated if something like that happened to me. I wish we didn’t live so close to the Hamaoka reactor.
---
The next day, there was an addition to Chihiro’s group walking to school. Haku watched from behind a tree as he spelled his clothes to match the boys’ uniform. The new girl was small, with a pale, rounded face like a doll and large, dark eyes and black lips. She was surrounded by the other girls.
“Your parents let you wear that out of the house? I’m so jealous,” one sighed.
“Do you like it?” the girl simpered. “It’s the new Guerlain.”
There was a collective “oohhhhhh.”
“When did you move here?” Chihiro asked. “Where did you go to high school before?”
Haku frowned as he followed them quietly. Something wasn’t right. The ground still trembled occasionally, but that wasn’t it. It was the new girl. There was something off about her. He could sense the boys approaching from around the corner. That would give him an opening to join the group.
“Nowhere interesting,” the new girl said. “I’d rather hear about this place. Are there any cute boys here?” She snagged Chihiro’s arm and pulled her closer. “I bet they all fall for you.”
“Leave her alone,” Risuni snapped, pulling Chihiro away.
“Why?” the girl asked with a sneer. “She doesn’t belong to you. Right, Chihiro?”
The boys appeared, leading to a round of introductions. Risuni pulled Chihiro to the back of the group.
“What’s the matter?” Chihiro said. “You’re usually nicer to new kids. Like that tour yesterday with Kohaku...”
“Did you see the way she was looking at you?” Risuni whispered. “I don’t trust her. And I may not know makeup, but I’ve been your friend long enough to know that if that’s ‘Ger-lawn’, I’m a baboon.”
“You know I can’t afford Guerlain,” Chihiro said pointedly.
“They cater to old rich people,” Risuni said. “Not to the high-schooler fad of the day…”
A call from Kane drew Chihiro back into the center of the crowd. Haku caught up with the back of the group and fell in step next to Risuni.
“Who’s the new girl?” he asked casually.
Risuni glanced sideways up at him. “She calls herself Kiyo. And you know just as well as me that that’s no girl.”
Haku dropped his voice. “How do you know? And who are you?”
“I should be asking you those questions,” Risuni replied, keeping her eyes on the new girl, “but now’s not the best time for this conversation. You don’t seem to mean any harm. Unless… did you lead her here?”
“I’ve never seen her before,” Haku said.
“That doesn’t mean you didn’t lead her here,” Risuni commented. “Look, if you’re going to maintain the popularity that your looks got you, you should be up there in the middle of that group, not talking to me. They got used to me being Chihiro’s pet weirdo years ago, but if all the popular kids start talking to me, they’re going to start suspecting me. So go on. We can talk later.”
Haku took her advice and went to instigate himself in with the “cool” kids. Behind him, he felt Risuni’s gaze continue to observe the group’s dynamics intently.
---
“Did’ja see the new girl?”
“Course! New blood, man.”
“Did you spend all of math class drawing her, bro? Lemme see that. Guys, check it out.”
“Hey, give that back!” the boy protested.
“That’s actually not bad,” another boy commented, examining the stolen notebook. “I didn’t know you could draw.”
“How ‘bout you, Kane? New girl?”
“Look at all of you. No loyalty at all,” Kane said in disgust.
“Still Chihiro all the way?” someone teased.
“She’s still pretty, bro. We’re not saying she ain’t.”
“Cold, though. She’s never gone for anybody. We might actually have a chance with this one.”
“Maybe she doesn’t swing that way,” the boy with the notebook said, shrugging when Kane glared at him. “It’s possible. Just sayin’.”
“That’s not true,” Kane said.
“How come she never agrees to go out with you then, huh? Don’t kid yourself.”
“Maybe she an’ Shinkono. They’re always hanging out after school.”
“Do you think they do it?”
“Gross, man.”
“What! I know I’m not the only one thinking it.”
“Kohaku, I saw your eye on her yesterday. We should warn you, she’s never liked anyone. Don’t get your hopes up.”
“I’ll keep it in mind, thank you,” Haku said to hoots of laughter.
Haku spent the rest of the school day closely studying the interactions of the boys around him. A touch of magic meant that the teachers never called on him to speak during class, and left him free to mull over what Risuni had said that morning.
The absence of a human scent on Kiyo had been even more clean than it had been with Risuni. She had covered it well with a strong perfume, and if he hadn’t gone through the same thing with Risuni the previous day, Haku doubted he would have noticed. There were other clues, too. She was too graceful to be human, and the timing was too convenient to be coincidence. And she seemed unusually interested in both him and Chihiro.
If Risuni was right, and he had led Kiyo here, then he may have caused exactly what he had feared. Did Akuma send this girl? Why is she here? For that matter, why am I here? Soon enough, the school day was over.
---
“Ugh, I can't believe we have to read this whole thing before school’s out.”
“And write a paper on it,” Chihiro added.
“It's so stupid. No one’s going to need to know myths once finals are over,” another girl exclaimed. “And what’s with them making us read a stupid children’s book in English? Half these words aren’t even real.”
Risuni caught Chihiro’s eyes and smiled as Chihiro stuck her tongue out.
“Hey, Chihiro, Akari,” Kane called from the depths of his gang. “We’re gonna grab ice cream from that new shop.”
“Sweet,” Akari replied, joining the group.
“I can’t,” Chihiro said, grimacing. “I’m already behind on this reading and my parents are getting on my case about my grades.”
“You have, like, the strictest parents ever,” one of the girls complained. “You’re doing way better than I am.”
The new girl, Kiyo, pouted at them from where she stood next to Kane, practically clinging to him. “C’mon, Chihiro,” she said. “Don’t be such a killjoy. Besides, you said you would help me catch up on this history project.”
Chihiro waved. “Next time,” she promised. “And maybe we can meet up to talk about the project when you guys are done? Text me.”
One of the young men elbowed Kane. “See, bro? She’ll never agree to go out with you.”
“Shut up,” Kane said testily, shaking Kiyo off him.
“Kohaku, wanna join us?” Akari offered. “Yumi? Kaito?”
“Don’t even bother with Yumi,” Aki said, watching them kiss. “They won’t be coming up for air for at least a week.”
“I think someone’s jealous,” Kiyo teased. Aki just rolled her eyes. “How about you, Kohaku-san?”
“No, thank you,” Haku said. “I’m expected at home.”
“So polite!” the girl next to Akari whispered. “You never see boys like that around here.”
The group split, one clump headed toward the mall; the others dispersed. Risuni appeared at Haku’s side. “Did you see how angry she looked when Chihiro said she wasn’t going?” Risuni nodded toward the new girl. “And then she had to go and give her an opening.”
Haku nodded slightly. He walked toward Chihiro. “Would you mind if I walked you home?” he asked quietly.
Chihiro’s face turned bright red. She glanced at Risuni, standing behind Haku, who gave her a thumbs up. After a moment of silence that Haku didn’t comprehend, Risuni walked up to them, eyebrows raised. “C’mon, Chihiro. Let’s ditch this loser.” She grabbed Chihiro’s arm and started dragging her down the street.
“Don't call him that,” Chihiro protested.
“Do you want him to walk you home?” Risuni asked.
Chihiro shook her head.
“Well then.” Risuni continued to pull Chihiro away. “See you later,” she tossed at Haku.
Haku watched, flabbergasted, as they walked away.
---
Chihiro dreamt. She was riding a dragon. They flew through the bright sunlight with the wind caressing her hair, and she could feel its scales beneath her fingers, warm and smooth, as she talked to it. Him. The dragon was a him. He shook out his green mane and his muscular body rumbled in laughter at what she had said. Her mouth moved, but she couldn’t make out her words. She could only feel the pleasure and freedom of flight.
Then the sky grew dark. She was standing on the ground and the dragon was above her, flying fast. He rammed himself against an invisible wall in the sky, over and over, until he shook with pain and exhaustion. Stop! Chihiro cried to the dragon, You’re hurt! Stop! but she made no sound, and could only watch helplessly as the dragon thrashed, its mane matted with blood and torn scales, and fell through the air. The dream drew her away; the white dragon shrank into a white dot, still falling, too far away for her to help. She thought she felt a broken thud as he hit the ground.
Chihiro woke with tears in her eyes and a sharp ache in her chest. “Stop,” she whispered. But she couldn’t remember who she was talking to or what she was trying to stop. A bad dream. It was only a bad dream. She slept.
---
“Do you have it?”
Haku produced a strand of hair - it was one of Chihiro’s, he knew, though it was pale and had been stripped of its original color; it still smelled of her - and handed it to Zeniba. The sun was just rising over the swamp.
“Have you seen any sign of the charm?” Zeniba asked, taking the hair from Haku carefully and feeding it into the spindle.
“No. Her hair is too short to tie up now,” Haku said.
“Well, if she going to have any chance to get her memories back…”
“I know, Granny,” Haku said. “There’s something else though. I’ve been feeling these tremors just on the other side of the border. Have you heard anything?”
“What do you expect? The explosion at Onagawa has set everybody off.”
“What do you mean?”
Zeniba raised her eyebrows at him. “I’m surprised the humans didn’t mention it. It was in their news. The nuclear reactor at Onagawa had an incident. A child blocked one of the outflow pipes. It leaked quite a bit of material into the surrounding soil. Emigrants are flooding across the border.” Her eyes narrowed. “It’s not an accident. That’s the second one this week. Be careful, Haku. His power is expanding over there in the Human World.”
The window opened again in the air, showing the messy room beyond. Two of the walls were taken up by two full bookshelves. The other two were plastered with posters of boy bands and actors. A large traditional Japanese bed heaped with furry plush animals took up most of the floor. Chihiro was bent over, scooping up the silk-bound copy of the Kojiki from next to her pillow. She turned and grabbed a leather bound journal from her desk, pushing aside tangled piles of jewelry, and slung her backpack over her shoulder. The window followed her into the kitchen and then out into the still-grey morning.
She walked toward the woods by the highway, where a familiar narrow track led her through the trees. The fog still hung like a heavy curtain over the branches. Little cinderblock shrines, built when the town was only a farming village, lined the track, and as she followed it, they could see stout statues peek out from between the gaps in the trees. The track ended in a small paved clearing with one of the statues standing in the middle, as if guarding the place. She sat down, leaning against the statue, and pulled out her breakfast and library books.
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