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 - Rin Arrives! Takoyaki, Tears, and the Truth Behind the 90-Day Border Crossing
Saturday afternoon. The Mikasa shopping arcade was bustling as usual.
Maybe it was the spring weather drawing people out, but the holiday crowds were far thicker than on weekdays. Families strolled beneath the covered arcade, couples peered into shop windows, and clusters of students in uniform loitered about.
Ogino Chihiro walked through the crowd in a daze.
Inside her pocket, her right hand clutched a small wooden tag. The bathhouse contract tag Haku had dropped after school yesterday. The same kind of tag the Aburaya employees wore around their necks.
(*How am I supposed to give it back?*)
It wasn't as simple as just handing it over. Chihiro knew that. The moment she returned it would be the moment she faced Haku head-on. The moment she told Haku—the one who'd said *forget about me*—a firm *no*.
(*But... how do I even start that conversation?*)
Haku was avoiding her at school. Even when their eyes met, he looked away immediately. When they passed in the hallway, he walked by as if she'd turned invisible.
(*Did I... do something wrong?*)
There was no way. Chihiro had no idea what it could be. But precisely because she didn't know the reason, she couldn't grasp how to move forward.
She had reached roughly the middle of the arcade when it happened.
[angry] "Hot! Hey, what're you spacing out for?!"
At the sudden shout, Chihiro's head snapped up.
Before her stood a takoyaki stall—a tiny shop with a red lantern reading *Marutako*. Chihiro had passed by here countless times, but today was the first time she'd gotten a proper look at the face of the person working the griddle.
No—she *had* looked.
[surprised] "...Huh?"
A flashy orange ponytail. The ends were jagged and uneven, probably cut by the wearer herself. Sharp, upturned eyes gleamed gold, now fixed on Chihiro in a glare. A black choker around the neck.
Chihiro knew that face.
A year ago, at Aburaya.
Back when Chihiro was new and clueless, she'd taught her everything—how to clean, how to handle customers, how to escape when Yubaba yelled at her.
[excited] "Ri—Rin-cha—!!"
A completely ridiculous shriek burst from Chihiro's mouth.
Before she knew it, her body was already moving. She lunged over the counter, throwing her arms around Rin's shoulders and squeezing tight. Rin, spatula still in hand, lost her balance and reeled backward.
[angry] "Whoa, heavy! Hey, Chii-chan!? Get off, I said!"
Rin caught Chihiro with one arm while deftly setting the spatula on the edge of the griddle with the other.
Nearby customers turned to see what the commotion was. Chihiro didn't notice. She pressed her face into Rin's shoulder and yelled.
[crying] "Why are you here!? Rin-chan, since when!? How!?"
[angry] "Hey, too many questions! And you're too close—your face is way too close!"
Rin grabbed Chihiro by the shoulders and peeled her off with a firm push. Then she sighed, exasperated.
[sigh] "...Sheesh, you never change, Chii-chan. Are your only three modes crying, laughing, or yelling?"
[crying] "But, but...!"
Tears were already welling up in Chihiro's eyes. A reunion after a whole year. To think she'd run into Rin here, in the Mikasa shopping arcade, working at a takoyaki stand—she'd never even imagined it.
But then, the next moment.
Rin grinned and roughly wiped Chihiro's tears away with her finger.
[laughing] "Perfect timing, actually. I was just looking for you, Chii-chan."
[surprised] "...Huh? For me?"
[angry] "Yeah. You know where that bastard Haku is? He vanished from Aburaya without a single word—I'm not gonna be satisfied until I punch his lights out."
Chihiro blinked rapidly.
What Rin was saying didn't quite sink in at first.
(*Rin-chan wants to... punch Haku?*)
(*...Why?*)
Confusion, surprise, joy—all of it churned together into a mess, leaving Chihiro's face looking utterly dumbstruck.
Rin took one look at her and sighed again.
[surprised] "Ah, boss! I'm taking ten! Ran into a friend!"
She shouted toward the back of the stall and started untying her apron. A middle-aged man who seemed to be the owner poked his head out and tried to say something, but Rin had already grabbed Chihiro's arm and started walking.
[angry] "W-wait, Rin-chan! What about your job!?"
[laughing] "It's fine, it's fine. The place isn't gonna go under just 'cause I step away."
[surprised] "Th-that's not the point!"
Chihiro let herself be dragged along as Rin strode briskly through the arcade.
Inside her pocket, the contract tag gave off a faint warmth.
—
Café *Kotori* was a tiny shop tucked away at the edge of the arcade.
When she pushed open the wooden door, a bell jangled. The interior was cozy—just four seats at the counter and two four-person tables. An old clock and bundles of dried herbs hung on the walls.
The master, Kinoshita—a gentle sixty-two-year-old with graying hair and a past as a patissier—looked up from the counter.
[gentle] "Oh, Chihiro-chan. Welcome. With a friend today?"
[excited] "Kinoshita-san! Two of the special pudding, please! And coffee and—"
[angry] "Coffee for me too. Extra sugar."
[gentle] "Right, right. Coming right up."
Kinoshita smiled and retreated into the kitchen. Chihiro and Rin settled into the table by the window.
Through the glass, they could see the arcade. People ambled by at a leisurely pace, and in the distance, the sound of children laughing drifted in.
A quiet afternoon.
But—Rin's expression had shifted from the irritated look she'd worn earlier to something far more serious.
[serious] "Chii-chan."
Rin planted both elbows on the table and stared intently into Chihiro's eyes.
[serious] "How much do you know about Haku?"
Chihiro shook her head.
[sad] "...Almost nothing. He transferred to my school, but to me, he said 'nice to meet you.' He told me to forget about him. And then—"
[serious] "Thought so."
Rin drew a deep breath, then let it out slowly.
[serious] "Listen, Chii-chan. What I'm about to tell you is stuff Haku would absolutely never say to you himself. So I'm gonna say it. Because... you probably need to hear it."
Chihiro held her breath and waited for Rin's next words.
[serious] "You know about the Boundary Crossing Law?"
[confused] "Boundary... crossing...?"
[serious] "A spirit can only stay in the human world for ninety days max. If they go over that—their spiritual power vanishes completely. For a river guardian, that means losing their connection to the river they protect and disappearing entirely. Existence and all."
Rin's words echoed inside Chihiro's head.
Disappearing.
Existence and all.
[scared] "...Disappear? Haku?"
[serious] "That's right. It's already been seventy-eight days since Haku came to the human world. Twelve days left. In twelve more days, he'll—"
[angry] "Wait, hold on!"
Chihiro slammed her hand on the table. The cups rattled.
[angry] "Why!? Why would Haku—why would he stay in the human world until it's that close!? He could just go back to the spirit realm! Go back to Aburaya—"
[sad] "...He can't do that."
Rin said it quietly.
[sad] "He never planned on going back in the first place."
The strength drained from Chihiro's hands.
Both hands resting on the table began to tremble faintly.
Kinoshita brought over the pudding and coffee, but Chihiro didn't even register it. Rin wrapped both hands around the steaming coffee cup.
[whispers] "...I overheard it. In Yubaba's office."
Rin's voice dropped even lower.
[whispers] "The real reason Haku went to the human world. He went... to seal away your memories, Chii-chan."
[scared] "...Seal my... memories?"
Chihiro's voice shook.
[serious] "It's a forbidden memory-sealing art. Once it's cast, it can't be undone. The target loses all memories related to the caster. Everything Haku said to you, the time you spent together, what happened at Aburaya—all of it. It'll be like it never happened."
[scared] "Why... why would Haku do something like that..."
[sad] "Because he doesn't want to hurt you."
Rin lowered her eyes.
[sad] "Before he disappears, he's trying to erase every trace of himself from your heart. So you won't suffer from the memories of being spirited away. So that even after he's gone, you can live a normal life."
Chihiro's vision warped and blurred.
(*Forget about me.*)
Those words Haku had said.
(*Nice to meet you.*)
That cold voice.
(*That's all in the past.*)
All of it—all of it—
[serious] "That's why he's been so cold at school. The sooner you start hating him—the sooner you overwrite your memories with him as just some unpleasant transfer student—the easier the sealing art will take effect."
Chihiro hung her head.
The pudding spoon clinked against the plate and slipped from her fingers.
[whispers] "...Wait. Just a second."
Her voice came out hoarse.
[whispers] "Sorry, just—bathroom."
Chihiro stood up. The chair scraped loudly. She opened the bathroom door at the back of the café, stepped inside, and locked it.
Inside the stall.
She closed the toilet lid and sat down.
Pressed her hand over her mouth.
—The next moment.
The tears spilled over.
She killed her voice and cried, shoulders shaking. Tears slipped through the gaps between her fingers and fell onto her uniform skirt, forming dark spots that spread wider.
(*Are you stupid?*)
Haku's words surfaced in her mind one after another, then faded.
*"Nice to meet you, Ogino-san"*—that cold gaze.
*"That's all in the past"*—that dismissive voice.
*"Forget about me"*—his back as he turned and walked away.
All of it.
All of it, all of it, all of it—
(*So I'd hate you.*)
(*So I wouldn't get hurt.*)
The tears wouldn't stop.
(*Just because you're going to disappear—just because you alone are going to disappear—*)
(*You thought you could just erase my memories too, without even asking—*)
(*That's just—*)
[crying] "...Are you stupid?"
She murmured it aloud.
[crying] "Are you stupid, Haku, you idiot...!"
She wiped her tear-streaked face with her palms. But no matter how much she wiped, fresh tears kept welling up.
—After a while.
Chihiro stood up.
She stood before the mirror above the sink. The face in the mirror was a mess—eyes bright red, nose bright red.
She ran the cold water and splashed it on her face. The chill felt good against her burning cheeks. She splashed again and again, then dried her face with a towel.
She looked at herself in the mirror.
Red eyes stared back at her.
She squeezed the contract tag in her pocket.
A faint warmth seeped into her fingers.
(*I will absolutely—never give up.*)
That was Chihiro's answer to what Haku had tried to do for her.
If Haku was trying to protect her by erasing her memories, then Chihiro would protect Haku—resolve and all—right back.
[firm] "I will absolutely never give up."
She said it out loud.
As if telling the version of herself in the mirror.
She gripped the contract tag tight one more time, then opened the bathroom door.
—
When she returned to the table, Rin looked up at her with concern.
[gentle] "...Chii-chan, you okay?"
[firm] "I'm okay."
Chihiro sat down and pulled the plate of pudding toward her.
[laughing] "Want some pudding?"
Rin offered her own pudding.
[hungry] "Yeah."
Chihiro grabbed her spoon, scooped up a huge bite, and shoved it into her mouth. The bitterness of the caramel and the sweetness of the pudding mixed together, making the back of her nose sting.
[firm] "Rin-chan."
Chihiro swallowed the pudding and lifted her head.
[firm] "I'm going to talk to Haku directly. I absolutely won't let him seal my memories."
Rin set down her coffee cup and stared hard at Chihiro.
[serious] "...That alone won't stop it."
[surprised] "Huh?"
[serious] "The law is applied mechanically. The enforcer, Ubara—she's this old woman in a white kimono—will start forcibly draining Haku's spiritual power in twelve days. Whether Haku agrees or refuses, it doesn't matter."
Rin's voice rang cold.
[serious] "If you want to stop Haku from disappearing
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