Spirited Away: The Awkward Rom-Com After Chihiro and Haku's Reunion
A year has passed since Chihiro returned from the mysterious bathhouse, Aburaya. Now a high school student, she's bored out of her mind. The promise she made with Haku, the dragon boy, is a constant weight on her heart.
One day, a transfer student arrives. "Nice to meet you, Chihiro Ogino. I am Nigihayami Kohaku," he says with a dead serious face. He's definitely Haku, but he's acting all human and weird about it! And since he's super handsome, the whole school goes into a frenzy!
But for some
Spirited Away: The Awkward Rom-Com After Chihiro and Haku's Reunion - The sound of water in the culvert and the purple hair tie
Why is everything so boring?
Ogino Chihiro stared absently out the window. It was the second day of the new semester. The classroom at Mikasaoka High School buzzed with the lively chatter of classmates reuniting after the break.
Mikasa Town was an unremarkable regional city on the outskirts of the Kanto region. Population: forty-five thousand. From this high school perched on a hill, you could look down over the residential district and the winding promenade at its northern edge. Once, a small stream called the Kohaku River had flowed there. Now it was buried in a culvert, hidden beneath the asphalt.
But Chihiro felt like she could still hear the sound of its water.
A year ago, she had wandered into a completely different world through an old tunnel at the south end of town—the Mukouguchi. Aburaya, a bathhouse where gods and spirits came to rest their weary bodies. Her parents had been turned into pigs, her name had been stolen from her, and then—a dragon boy had saved her.
Eyes the color of amber.
White scales, gleaming and sharp.
A voice that had promised her: "I'll definitely come see you."
Chihiro let out a small sigh. Her black bob, cut neatly at her shoulders, swayed softly. Tying back her hair was a hair tie made of purple and yellow braided cord—the "Purple Knot" that Zeniba had given her. Without it, she felt strangely unsettled.
"Hey, hey, Chihiro!"
Suddenly, someone rapped on her desk, and Chihiro looked up with a start.
"[excited] Listen to this! Matsumoto-kun from the next class—he confessed to Saki!"
"[surprised] Wait, seriously? That guy from the soccer club?"
"[excited] Yes, yes! And guess what Saki said back?"
Her two classmates—Saki and Misaki—had commandeered the seats in front of her, getting worked up as if it were their own drama.
Chihiro nodded along, but half her heart was somewhere else entirely.
(*Matsumoto-kun... Oh, right, that tall guy.*)
(*Huh.*)
(*Saki seemed troubled by it, but maybe she's not entirely against it.*)
Thinking about things like that made her feel strangely grown-up, and she kind of hated it.
"[gentle] Chihiro, is there anyone you like?"
The question was suddenly turned on her.
Chihiro's strong-willed brown eyes wavered slightly.
"[surprised] ...Huh?"
"[excited] I mean, you never talk about that stuff! Even back in middle school, I never heard about you going out with anyone."
"[curious] So? Is there someone? Or not?"
Chihiro smiled vaguely.
"[sad] ...Hmm, it's a secret."
There was no way she could tell them.
*'Hey, I feel like I know your real name.'*
*'When Chihiro was little, she once fell into a river and nearly drowned. That river was my...'*
There was no way she could tell anyone about that day.
Even if she did, there was no way they'd believe her.
Chihiro shoved her hands into the pockets of her worn-out yellow parka. It was her favorite, worn over her sailor-style school uniform.
"[laughing] Ah, there's definitely someone! Who is it?"
"[laughing] There it is! That face!"
"[calm] ...I told you, there's no one."
Chihiro gave a wry smile and dodged the subject.
Outside the window, the spring breeze swayed the cherry blossom branches.
* * *
After school.
Chihiro walked alone through the Mikasa Shopping District.
An arcade about four hundred meters long. Fifty-two shops lined the street, making it the liveliest thoroughfare in town. But on a weekday afternoon, there weren't that many people around.
As she passed the used bookstore "Shioridou," the owner, old woman Taniguchi Hana, was standing out front with a broom in hand, looking up at the sky.
"[whispers] ...The air feels restless today."
The white-haired old woman murmured it as if talking to herself.
Chihiro paused, a little curious, but Hana had already lost interest and was heading back inside the shop.
(*Restless?*)
It was a calm spring afternoon. No wind at all.
Tilting her head in puzzlement, Chihiro headed for "Marutako" just ahead.
"[gentle] One order of takoyaki, please."
The moment she called out to the shop—
—*Ssss.*
The hair at the back of her head burned hot.
"...!"
Chihiro's hand flew to her hair instinctively.
The Purple Knot.
The hair tie Zeniba had made for her was radiating heat, as if it had been thrown into a fire.
(*What is this—*)
At the same moment, the air warped.
The arcade of the shopping district. The scenery beyond it shimmered like a heat haze.
(*This is...*)
Chihiro held her breath.
The same sensation she had felt a year ago at the Mukouguchi. A tear in the "boundary membrane" separating the human world from the spirit realm.
(*Haku...?*)
Her heart gave a violent leap.
A presence from the spirit realm. No doubt about it. And what's more—it was close.
"[angry] Wait!"
Forgetting all about her takoyaki order, Chihiro broke into a run.
The presence was to the north.
Toward the site of the Kohaku River culvert.
Her small, toned body sprang into motion as she dashed through the shopping district. The hem of her parka fluttered behind her.
" Haku! Is that you, Haku?!"
She raised her voice, but there was no answer.
The presence was fading fast.
By the time she rounded a narrow alley in the residential area and burst out onto the asphalt-paved promenade—she couldn't feel anything anymore.
"...Hah... hah..."
Chihiro put her hands on her knees, breathing heavily.
The heat of the Purple Knot had completely cooled.
The promenade was deserted.
Two benches. Some roadside trees. And, near the middle of the path, an old manhole cover.
Chihiro stood on top of it.
She strained her ears.
*Whoooosh...*
From beneath her feet, she could hear the faint sound of water.
The Kohaku River still flowed under this promenade. A 1.2-kilometer culvert. The sorry remains of the river Haku had once guarded.
Chihiro crouched down on the manhole cover.
"[whispers] ...You're there, aren't you, Haku?"
No answer.
Only the sound of water echoed endlessly.
To her, that sound felt like Haku's voice.
(*This is the one and only place that connects him and me.*)
A year ago—
Aburaya, the bathhouse.
Her parents turned into pigs, herself worked to the bone under the name "Sen."
The one who had saved her, when she was falling apart back then, was a white dragon.
*'It's all right, Chihiro. You can make it back.'*
*'...Haku, your real name is Nigihayami Kohakunushi, isn't it?'*
*'—Yeah.'*
The moment he was freed from Yubaba's contract, he returned to his boy form and smiled.
*'Thank you, Chihiro.'*
And then she had come back to reality.
When she passed through the tunnel, Haku was already gone.
But he had promised.
"I'll definitely come see you."
(*You said... you'd come see me.*)
Chihiro bit her lip.
(*Why won't you keep your promise?*)
(*Why—haven't you even tried to contact me, not even once?*)
A sharp pain squeezed deep in her chest.
But still—that presence just now wasn't an illusion.
It was the first time the Purple Knot had ever gotten that hot.
(*Haku is nearby. Maybe—he's already here in this town.*)
Chihiro stood up.
She stared hard down at the manhole cover.
"[firm] ...Just you wait, Haku."
"[angry] I'm absolutely going to find you. And then I'm going to grill you thoroughly on why you never got in touch!"
Chihiro's voice echoed across the promenade.
Of course, there was no reply.
But—she felt like the sound of water underground had grown just a tiny bit louder.
* * *
Night fell.
Chihiro was in her room at home, sitting by the window.
From this second-floor room, she had a good view of the promenade.
Asphalt lit by streetlamps. Not a person in sight.
Even here, she could faintly hear the sound of water from underground.
"[whispers] ...Where is Haku right now, I wonder."
Chihiro gently traced the Purple Knot hair tie with her finger. The texture of the braided cord felt pleasant against her fingertip.
"[teasing] When we finally reunite, the first thing I'm going to say to him is—"
"[angry] 'You're late! Idiot!'"
She laughed quietly.
But her face quickly turned serious.
(*That presence today wasn't a coincidence.*)
(*Something is... about to begin.*)
Chihiro gazed out the window.
Stars twinkled here and there in the night sky over Mikasa Town.
(*I can't just keep waiting.*)
(*I'll go to him myself.*)
It was the same as a year ago.
Back then, because she had taken action herself, she had been able to remember Haku's name.
So this time too—
"[determined] ...This time, it's my turn to save Haku."
With that resolve, Chihiro gripped the Purple Knot tightly.
The sound of water flowing underground seemed, somehow, to echo stronger.
It was almost as if—
It sounded like the growl of a dragon.
Chihiro gave a small nod.
I want to see him.
I want to see him right now.
That single feeling alone burned hotly, achingly, in her heart.
Novelia is an AI-powered platform to read original light novels and fan fiction, create your own in just a few taps, and chat with the characters. New, illustrated episodes arrive daily — free to start.