Chihiro, see you later 1

Intro

Ghost World

Faceless

Mr. Lantern, could you shine your light here, the ground is rocky here, I hope you don't break the shovel! Ms. Jiniba will scold you very much if you do.
Mr. Lantern
You're right, Mister Faceless, you have to be careful when shining your light! Oh, what's wrong with you?
Faceless
I found something. Something hard, and it rings when I hit the shovel. Now I'll try to dig it up. Shine your light here, Mister Lantern!
Mr. Lantern
Yes, yes, I'll try my best! What is it, my friend?
Faceless
I don't know. But the shovel can't help me dig, I'll try with my hands!
Mr. Lantern
Maybe it's better not to? Let's wait until tomorrow evening. Let's start when it's still light!
Faceless
No. I don't want any junk lying around in good Mrs. Jiniba's field. Oh, my God! What's wrong with me?
Mr. Lantern
Mr. No-Face, what happened? Why are you silent? Here, I'll come closer, even closer, now you can see? What? What are you doing? Why are you doing this to me, we're friends! Stop! It hurts!
Mr. No-Face
There's so much pressure on my temples! It hurts so much. My head's about to explode, I need to relieve the pressure!

Part One. The Real World

Chapter One

School. Class is in session

— Chihiro, I'm talking to you, are you prepared for class?
— Yes, Mister Teacher.
— Why don't you answer when I call you?
— Excuse me, were you calling me, Mister Teacher?
— Yes. Please answer the question I asked the class!
- Okay, Master, if you allow me, I will answer the question you asked the class.
- Chihiro, there is no need to waste time. I am listening to you.
Chihiro understood that her parents would be unhappy today, because she would return from school with a bad grade for the lesson. The girl had indeed studied her homework, she had been studying it for so long that she had only managed to sleep for three hours at night, perhaps that was why she was inattentive now. Most likely, this was the case. However, Master would hardly be satisfied with such an answer. Yes, the homework had been done, but today's explanation of the new educational material did not fit into Chihiro's head. As they say, it went in one ear and out the other.

The situation was becoming critical, when suddenly the door creaked, and someone entered the classroom. However, when Chihiro looked up at the front door, it turned out that there was no one behind it. Master also noticed that someone knocked and opened the door, but did not enter. However, it was unlikely that this would have stopped the teacher, who was determined to wake Chihiro from her half-asleep state, but at that moment something else happened.
Despite the fact that the windows in the classroom were closed, a whirlwind suddenly swept through the room, scattering textbooks and notebooks to the sides. Even the tablet on which the teacher took notes and gave grades got hit. Chihiro's classmates reacted to the incident in different ways: some were scared, and some laughed. However, the teacher quickly restored order. He told the students that the air duct was probably being blown out, which is why this unfortunate incident occurred. Fortunately, the lesson ended there.
The students received a message on their tablets that the lesson was over, and there would be no next lesson, since the English teacher was sick. Chihiro was the only one who did not believe the teacher, because out of the corner of her eye she saw something unusual in the doorway. However, this vision lasted only a few seconds, and now, returning home, Chihiro tried to understand whether she had really seen something.

The way home ran past a park with stone sculptures - small gods that appeared in this town, where Chihiro moved a year ago, no one knows when. The history teacher, who taught the subject "History of the native land", said that these small stone figures of gods have been in this region for five thousand years. He urged Chihiro's classmates to take care of nature and not to engage in vandalism if they suddenly came across a statue of a stone god on their way. Vandalism included desecration of stone gods: drawing, gluing, spraying, as well as attempts to dig the god out of the ground and take it somewhere.
Chihiro wanted to tell the teacher that recently stone gods have been appearing out of nowhere. Just yesterday there was nothing in the flowerbed next to Chihiro's house, but in the morning she discovered a whole brood of stone gods. There were, it seems, six of them, and they were all different sizes. Next to each of the stone gods there was a house, because a god cannot stand in the open sun or rain. This is what Chihiro wanted to tell the teacher, but she did not, fearing the ridicule of her classmates.

Chihiro was a cheerful and sociable girl, but sometimes a strange state came over her when it seemed to her that she had forgotten something, and it was at these moments that she became unrecognizable.
Returning home, Chihiro refused to go with her parents to an amusement park with a huge open-air restaurant.

The girl herself did not understand her condition, she really loved to try a variety of dishes, but when she went with her parents to a restaurant or a cafe, fear settled in her heart. Two weeks ago in the park, her father, not waiting forseller, took a treat that Chihiro liked from the display case of a street cart. The father took the treat and put the money on the counter. It seems, well, what's so special about that? Everyone did it that way. The town where Chihiro lived with her parents was small, and almost everyone knew each other by sight. Sometimes, when the seller had to leave on his own business, he left the display case of the street cafe open, and a box was put on the counter, into which people themselves put the payment for the goods they took. That is, I repeat, there was nothing special in the fact that the father took the treat without asking the seller's permission. Turning to his daughter, the father wanted to give her the treat, but suddenly saw that Chihiro had turned pale. The girl's face was distorted by a grimace of fear, Chihiro tried to say something, but her voice did not obey her. Finally, she was able to squeeze out a few words.
 - Dad, put this food back, - she whispered, - otherwise Yubaba will turn you into a pet again.
- What are you talking about? - her father was surprised. - Who will turn me? What will he turn me into?
- Dad, just put this food back.
- Calm down, Chihiro, I didn’t just take it, I paid for the purchase.
The girl stood and looked at her father in despair, it seemed to her that her world was shaking and was about to collapse. It seemed to her that something terrible had burst into her life from the past, something was pushing in her memory, trying to tell her about what once happened to the girl and her parents. Suddenly Chihiro screamed: “No, put the treat back.”
Luckily, at that moment the seller returned, and everything fell into place. The seller got his money, and Chihiro got her treat on a stick. As soon as the situation became, in Chihiro's opinion, correct, the girl calmed down and took the treat from her father's hands. The girl's father was not one of those people who thought long and tediously about the situation that had just happened, moreover, it seemed that after a minute the father no longer remembered that Chihiro was screaming and crying. And then her mother returned, who had gone away for a few minutes on her own business.

Chihiro woke up, she was so deeply immersed in her memories that she lost track of time, and she still had to do her homework.
The next day, an interesting event happened. Sorry, I incorrectly called this event simply interesting, this event was explosive, epochal for the class in which Chihiro studied. During the first lesson after the bell, the curator entered the classroom, next to her stood an unfamiliar boy, the boy had green eyes. The curator sat her students down and announced that from today on this class had increased by one student. That is, there was a new student in the class. Yes, there was a new student in the class.

The last time something like this happened was a year ago, when Chihiro joined the class. The town where Chihiro had been living for a year was small, and new students rarely appeared there. Chihiro spent almost half a year getting used to the new class, and the class got used to her. And now there was a new student in the class. During the break, all the girls took out their makeup bags and jewelry. Yes, the new student was a handsome guy, and each of the girls dreamed of becoming his girlfriend. Chihiro was no exception, but it so happened that today she forgot her bag with makeup at home.

The third lesson on the schedule was physical education. Chihiro was not allowed to do physical education today, and that is why she was able to take a closer look at the new boy. Today, the boys were taking a test for the longest distance in running and high jump. When the new kid covered the running distance in record time, all the girls screamed with delight and clapped their hands. One of the girls, the most beautiful and best student in the class, tried especially hard. She did everything she could to get the new kid to pay attention to her. However, he only talked to the boys in the class and did not even look in the direction where the girls were doing physical education. The next three days were a national holiday, and there were no lessons at school. After the holidays, the class supervisor announced that it was time to change places. Once every three months, the supervisor held such an event so that the kids could get to know each other better. Suddenly, the new kid raised his hand and expressed a desire to sit next to our heroine. Silence fell in the class. Chihiro was well-liked by her classmates, but she was not the most popular girl in the class. Chihiro was surprised and looked up, the new kid was standing next to her desk and looking at her questioningly. The girl had no choice but to agree. However, this shining medal that the girl was suddenly given today had another side. During recess, Chihiro suddenly caught the eye of the best student in the class. I already told you about her. This girl was not only the best student in the class, but also the most popular student. Probably, the best student was used to getting the best of everything for free, but in this case, the best of the students, I mean the new guy, suddenly slipped through her net. Chihiro shrugged her shoulders, for all the time she studied in this class, she tried not to get in the way of the most popular classmate, too goodosho she knew how this confrontation would end. Chihiro turned her head to the empty desk. At this desk sat a girl who for some reason the star of their class disliked. The girl came home several times with bruises and contusions, now she no longer studied in their class, her parents transferred her to another school. To put it more simply, the best student of the class organized a gang of classmates who beat up students she didn’t like. Some fought back, some paid off with the money their parents gave them for lunch, and some were forced to simply leave the class for good. And now, it was probably Chihiro’s turn. Everything was crystal clear, and so that Chihiro wouldn’t think of making a mistake, the best student of the class made a face and showed her fist. Chihiro pulled her head into her shoulders. She became scared.
 
Classmate, and by the way, I think it's time to name the best student in the class, so, Chihiro's classmate, and her name was Malvina, was merciless to those she didn't like. The classmate's parents, professors at the local university, specialized in the study of Russian literature, maybe that's why they named their daughter after one of the heroines of Russian fairy tales. The beautiful Malvina, a girl with blue hair, was the heroine of the Russian fairy tale "Buratino". Surprisingly, the rebel Malvina had nothing against the name her parents gave her. And to match this name even more, she dyed her hair in a different spectrum from purple to blue. But most often her hair was blue. The teachers tried to fight this circumstance, but soon admitted defeat. Malvina believed that her hair emphasized her individuality and peculiarity. As for Chihiro, this girl, that is, our main heroine, tried, on the contrary, not to stand out from the crowd. She had a few friends in the class, and she treated them with sincerity and care. However, today, her friends were unlikely to be able to help her. Chihiro's friends were also afraid of Malvina and her gang, just like she was. However, what was about to happen could not be pushed aside in any way. Haku, that was the name of the new classmate, tried to talk to Chihiro several times during class, but the girl was afraid that the teacher would punish her, and did not answer. Finally, the new boy made a worried face and pointed to the tablet with his eyes. The girl followed his gaze. Well, now she understood, the new boy had sent her a message on the tablet. All the children from this class were in the same group chat, and it was not difficult for Haku to single out Chihiro's email address from the crowd. The girl put her finger on the tablet, and the message opened. "You don't remember me," the message read, "but I know you. We need to talk. I'll wait for you today in the gazebo behind the school." While Chihiro was reading this message, a million thoughts and assumptions burst into her brain, causing a whirlwind there. Chihiro also thought that she knew this boy, or rather, knew him before, but where their paths crossed and when it was, no matter how hard the heroine of our book tried, she could not remember. Haku looked at Chihiro questioningly, and the girl, after a short pause, nodded, which meant agreement. Lessons were over. And since children usually spend almost the entire daylight hours at school, Chihiro left school already at dusk. It was starting to rain, Chihiro bent over her schoolbag to pull out a raincoat, but then someone knocked her down. Then they threw something dark on the girl and, taking her by the hands, dragged her towards the backyard of the school. Yes, probably behind the school. Everything happened very quickly, Chihiro didn't even have time to comprehend what had happened, as she felt the first blow. Probably, the gang of cruel Malvina decided to deal with her. As you remember, Malvina did not tolerate when something she had set her sights on went to someone else. However, it ended with a few blows, suddenly someone scattered the girls, pulled off the fabric and pressed Chihiro to himself. In this school and in this class, it was not accepted for boys to interfere in conflicts between girls. When Malvina's gang and other girl gangs dealt with classmates, the boys preferred not to interfere in these conflicts. However, Haku, and it was Haku who saved Chihiro, did not want to obey the general informal laws of this school. Haku was waiting for Chihiro behind the school, as agreed, in the gazebo, when he heard screams and the sounds of blows nearby. Even if the victim hadn't been Chihiro, Haku would have intervened anyway, so in this particular case, his intervention in the conflict was logical. Seeing that the victim had escaped her, Malvina hissed and rushed at Haku, but Haku only extended his hand in Malvina's direction, and she couldn't do anything about it. Snapping, baring her teeth and promising all sorts of punishments to Chihiro, Malvina and her gang with multi-colored hair stepped aside for now. Oh, I forgot to mention, the girls who were part of Malvina's gang also dyed their hair different colors, that was the price for joining this gang.

The girls' parents were unhappy, the teachers were unhappy, but the discontent inadults were just a small price to pay to join Malvina's gang. Soon it became quiet behind the school. Chihiro was sitting on the ground and crying. Malvina hadn't managed to inflict too much serious damage on the girl, but she had taken her revenge on Chihiro's schoolbag. Before leaving, she had thrown Chihiro's schoolbag on the ground and bounced on it several times. The tablets were smashed to pieces. There were four classes today, and Chihiro had her own tablet for each class. These were the rules of the school.
Haku calmed Chihiro down as best he could, and then told her that he would walk her home.

The girl was in no condition today to absorb the information
that Haku's classmate wanted to tell her. Chihiro was crying, Haku was comforting her, and so they almost passed by a drugstore where they sold all sorts of plasters and ointments for bruises. Malvina and her gang knew where to hit so that the next morning there would be no traces visible and the parents of their victims could not make claims. Usually, they hit the arms, legs and spine of their victims. Well, as you know, in this case, Malvina did not have time to hit Chihiro much. However, what she did manage to do was quite painful. Haku bought an ointment for bruises and told the girl to lubricate the places of the blows in the evening before going to bed. Malvina's parents were, as I already mentioned, professors at the local university. They were highly spiritual, well-read people whose entire lives were dedicated to the upbringing of the younger generation. Malvina's house was always crowded with young people, whom Malvina's parents helped to master the complex material of studying Russian literature. There is a Russian proverb "a shoemaker without shoes", in this case it was very appropriate for Malvina's family. The girl's parents, who spent a huge amount of time raising other people's children, did not see what was happening to their daughter. Malvina's parents adhered to humane methods of upbringing, which included: the theory of non-interference in the daughter's personal life, the theory of non-interference in the daughter's educational life, joint trips to nature, long conversations on highly spiritual topics, and so on. However, what was happening to Malvina recently began to worry the parents. For example, today, today after school, the daughter refused to have dinner, and after all, joint breakfasts, lunches and dinners were so important in this family, moreover, after the girl went up to her room, the apartment was filled with the sound of a song, the melody of which sounded aggressive and which pressed on the ears. However, Malvina's parents could have endured all this if the sounds of music were not accompanied by the sounds of destruction. When the parents, unable to bear it, knocked on their daughter's room, a room appeared before them in which almost not a single whole object remained. Everything was broken and destroyed, and Malvina sat in the middle of this chaos and pounded the floor to the beat of the music. Do you think that humane methods of upbringing were forgotten in this family for some time? You have definitely made a conclusion. Malvina's parents were reluctantly forced to delve into their daughter's problems, which caused her condition to become inadequate. And where are Haku and Chihiro now? I don't know where Haku is, the boy prefers that I not know his place of residence yet, and Chihiro is at home in his room. Our heroine, as before, prefers not to involve her parents in her problems.

She has pocket money, a small amount, which is still enough to order four new tablets. Fortunately, all the information about homework and lessons is saved in the Cloud, and it will not be difficult for Chihiro to put it back on the tablets. With your permission and with Haku's permission, I will tell you why he appeared in the class where Chihiro studied. I think there is no need to hide the fact that my story is a continuation of the story "Spirited Away", which you probably saw on TV or in theaters. I have probably re-watched this anime 30 times, and each time I watched it as if for the first time. The anime was ending, and I was left with a passionate desire to find out the continuation. Many years have passed since the anime was released, but there is still no continuation. And so I decided to give the anime characters a chance to live on. So, if you are a fan of the anime "Spirited Away", then you remember how the story of Haku and Chihiro ended. Haku remained in the magical world, where the mistress of the bathhouse for ghosts Yubaba rules, and Chihiro returned to the real world with her parents. Before parting, Haku told Chihiro to go without looking back. The girl did so. However, the further the car took her from the gate to the Magic Park, the harder it was to remember the events of the last few days. By the time the car with her parents drove up to the gates of their new house, the girl had forgotten almost everything. By the way, the Magic Park and the house where Chihiro now lived were located very close to each other. Remember, Chihiro's father, almost at the moment when they were approaching the new house, turned the wrong way. What it was, a navigator error or magical powers, we will not know now. For those who have not watched the anime, I will give a brief summary. Entering the gates of the magical coupleka, the parents and Chihiro caught the smell of something delicious.

 After crossing the river, the uninvited guests of the magic park found themselves on a gourmet street. Cafes and restaurants lined the street. However, the eating establishments were closed at that moment, only one cafe had huge plates of food on the counters. But the seller was not there. The girl's parents did not find anything better than to load their plates with a variety of food and start eating. Chihiro asked her parents to give up the idea of ;;;;dining in a restaurant where there is no owner, but the girl's father said that his wallet is always with him and after lunch he will pay. The girl cried and screamed, but no one listened to her. As a result, this is what happened: the parents, having eaten their fill of magical food, turned into a couple of fat, plump pigs, and the girl had to get a job with the sorceress Yubaba. Yubaba was the owner of everything in the magical park, which included restaurants, cafes, and a bathhouse where ghosts and phantoms could steam their bones. This story ended with Chihiro helping her parents return to their previous state. Haku and other magical heroes actively helped her in this. Before parting, Haku promised Chihiro that they would meet again. The boy planned to leave Yubaba's students and return to the real world. Yes, in Yubaba's world, Haku was a dragon, the master of the Amber River.