Spirited Away: The Return Home

Chapter 26

I don't remember what happened after Shadōri's death. Apparently my wounds took its toll on me and I passed out. I wasn't all that surprised either, I knew I was pushing myself simply by keeping my eyes open.

Once I came to, the first thing I noticed was the soft matrass beneath me. I kept my eyes closed for a moment longer, not exactly sure where I was.

"Chihiro?" a voice asked, noticing that I had woken up.

"Please open your eyes. It's time for dinner," the voice said again. The thing that woke me wasn't the mention of food, but rather the realisation that it was my mother talking to me.

My eyes flew open and I stared at her.

"Honey?" she asked, touching my cheek. "Are you okay?"

I looked at her and then at my surroundings. I was in bed, or in my own bed in the human world to be exact. "How..." I started to say, but I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted to ask.

"You know what, you get some more sleep. I'll put your food in the microwave so you can heat it up later," my mom said, giving me a kiss before she left.

I sat up straighter, trying my best to make sense of everything. How was I back home?

A knock on my window caught my attention. I turned to see Haku floating outside, asking that I let him back in. Without wasting a second, I pulled the window open, the crisp breeze flowing in along with Haku. Together we shut the window and sat down on my bed.

"What's going on?" I asked him, still very much confused.

Haku opened his mouth, but the words seemed to be frozen in it. Instead he ground his teeth together and turned his gaze to the ground.

That was all it took for me to figure it out.

"You planned on leaving me here," I whispered, my voice barely audible.

Strange enough, I wasn't mad. I was hurt. More than that I felt betrayed. The fact that he planned on leaving me, even after everything we went through, was like a dagger to my newly healing heart.

Instead of yelling at him I simply stood up on me bed and opened the window again.

"Fine, go," I said, my voice completely dead. "Just know this Haku. If you step out of this room, I will never come looking for you again. It will be the end."

Slowly Haku stood up, turning towards the window. I wanted to cry, I wanted to cry more than anything, but that would give me an unfair advantage.

Still, I couldn't stop one single tear from slipping out Haku's hand reached for the window, gripping it next to my shaking hands. Slowly he started to close it, his eye not leaving mine for a single second.

We stood like that, even after the window was shut.

In a way we were challenging each other, seeing who would break first, and I was pretty damn close to breaking. To my surprise, Haku wrapped his arms around me as he dropped us to our knees. I didn't waste any time after that.

I pushed him away a bit and pressed my lips to his, clutching at him as we kissed. We fell backwards, or limbs tangling in the process.

My hands clutched at his shirt desperately, and his own tangled themselves in my hair, as if it would ensure us always being together. I didn't want to let go, not now, not ever.

Eventually we broke apart, gasping for air, not really wanting to stop.

Haku forced himself back. "Guess I have a few things to explain."