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Chihiro was an odd girl. Naive, thick headed, awkward Kimiko knew it and everyone at Kimiko's school knew it.
Kimiko supposed part of it was that Chihiro was always tuning out of conversations, eyes sliding over the faces of others like water, only to settle just past them at empty space. It reminded Kimiko of her grandmother's cats. How sometimes they stared past her, as if there was something there that she couldn't see.
It was eerie sort of look and it was only made eerier on the face of a person.
Chihiro had never been a quiet or shy person, in fact Kimiko was rather envious of the other girl. She was very brave, almost as if she had seen scarier things in her short span of ten years and a new life at a new school in a strange new town was merely a mild nuisance. (Kimiko, in sharp contrast, was always scared, of dogs, of school, of living life.)
Chihiro was kind too, to everyone she met. Even to the people who whispered nasty things about her behind her back. And she was always solving the problems of others and stopping fights. So even if Chihiro was more than a little odd, and even if sometimes she seemed so pale as to be almost transparent, she was the most well known girl in the whole school.
Kimiko only felt more jealous as they started highschool and Chihiro blossomed into a pretty young woman. All the boys were always chasing after her, a fact which annoyed a good amount of the young hormonal female population. However, she never showed the slightest interest in anyone.
But everyone could admit, whether they liked her or not, Chihiro was hauntingly beautiful in the most otherworldly way. There was always a spring in her step, as if she were lighter than air and might blow away at any moment- as if she were a mere wisp and not flesh and blood and bone. There was a strange kind of mischievous glint always peeking out from behind her eyes as a faint flickering light at a dark window. And of course, there was that same purple hairband she wore everyday, either on her wrist or in her hair, glittering strangely in the sunlight as if it knew something they didn’t.
Kimiko supposed she should stop obsessing over Chihiro if she was making up a personality for her hairband.
But she couldn’t help it. After all, even her arrival at their town was shrouded in mystery. They'd bought a house and then the whole family had disappeared for an entire year, showing up out of the blue while the house's ownership was still being debated. Kimiko dimly remembered her parents saying something about amnesia, but she had seen one of the nastier boys interrogating Chihiro about it. The girl had only smiled secretively and pushed past him, confident, standing tall as she threw back at him, "Oh please. None of your speculating could be any more different than what actually happened."
Chihiro certainly remembered whatever events that had delayed them for an entire year, but she definitely wasn’t telling. Kimiko remembered the feeling of the other girl's eyes on her, when she'd seen her watching. They’d been piercing and cold and they made a shiver of alarm run down her spine, like cold fingers warning her away from looking too closely.
There was definitely something odd about that girl, and not in a good way.
However, Kimiko found her worldview was soon to be flipped on its head.
She was waiting at the entrance of the school, listening to the other girls talking about their newest student and watching the very same boy. He was their age, seventeen, and very tall, with the iciest green eyes Kimiko had ever seen. The school uniform didn’t look right on him, for some reason Kimiko felt that a more traditional and rich style of clothing would suit him far better. His strange green-blue hair hung to his chin, it’s cut straight and even, shifting in the wind.
The girl's giggled and waved, but his eyes passed right over them, as if they were beneath his notice.
Kimiko shuddered. There was something... off about him. His eyes. They were too old, too ancient - for his young face, and the way he shifted almost made him.... made him seem like he wasn’t used to his skin. As handsome as he was with his sharp features and bright sharp eyes, there was something almost frightening and foreign about him- almost like Chihiro. The feeling that while he walked in the world, he was not of it.
Speaking of, Chihiro was walking into the school's courtyard, brushing the strands of the long brown hair that had escaped their ponytail out of her face. She looked up and right at the new student, pausing mid-step.
Kimiko frowned, tilting her head. Chihiro didn’t look like she was breathing, her cheeks suddenly flushed. The new boy turned his head, as if he sensed her presence. Their eyes locked and for them it seemed time stood still. His eyes brightened, eyebrows lifting, mouth forming the other girls name.
Chihiro broke out of her frozen state, laughed, and cried out, Kimiko could see the tears on her cheeks, " Kohaku! " The girl ran and jumped, throwing herself into his arms.
The boy, Kohaku, easily caught her, twirling her in his arms, laugh so happy and warm and bright that Kimiko felt she would never hear something so pretty again, "Chihiro!"
His laughter felt like cool running water, and soft green grass and a warm spring sky. The pair folded against each other laughing and babbling, Chihiro cupping Kohaku's face between her hands.
Kimiko couldn’t understand what they were saying but their reunion was clearly one of joy and love. No wonder she’d never shown interest in any of the numerous romantic propositions she’d gotten over the years. She’d already found someone.
Even though she wasn’t close friends with the strange, yes, even frightening, girl, the sight made something warm and happy bubble up inside Kimiko.
Kohaku and Chihiro laughed, embracing after seven long years apart, as the world turned on.