Disclaimer: Nope don't own it. Ryuuko is mine though. Hands off.

Warning: Contains spoilers. So if you haven't seen the movie and don't want to know the ending don't read.My first Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi fic, so forgive me if I went a little overboard on the foreshadowing and déjà vu, ne? Constructive criticism welcome, flames will be dumped in the Kohakugawa. BTW, Kieru means "to disappear," and kaeru means "to return home."

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"Ryuuko! Did you finish your homework?"

The dark-haired child turned back just as she reached the door. "Yeah! I'm going out into the yard!"

"It's getting dark out," her mother's voice responded from upstairs.

"I know." Ryuuko slipped out into the back yard. It was quiet out there, no little brother making chaos, no school nagging from her desk, just the night air. She smiled, breathing in the smell of coming dusk and relishing the feel of cool grass beneath her feet. Somewhere a frog croaked to the stars. Kero…kero…kero… She considered calling back to it, but last time that had happened, one of the neighbors had overheard. With a sigh, Ryuuko sat down on the ground and closed her eyes. The rhythms of the night began all around her: the teasing breezes, the chirping crickets. She strained her ears, trying to hear the stars coming out. Her little brother had said he had heard it once, and she didn't quite believe him. Still, it was worth a try. They probably sounded nice and sort of silvery.

Then a new sound broke the pattern. It was soft and delicate, almost fitting in, but not quite. It was the slight cracking of twigs under furtively stepping feet. Ryuuko jumped up and found herself staring into another face. It was a boy's face, and he seemed quite as startled as she was. He had dark hair that didn't quite reach his shoulders and piercing green eyes. His clothes were of a normal style, a plain white T-shirt and light blue shorts. "Wh…who?" she gasped out. "What are you doing here?"

He slowly backed away, his eyes wide.

"Wait! What do you want?"

He stopped for a moment. His hand slowly touched his chest, just above his heart, and his eyes went sad. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but a sudden light from an opening door caught them both by surprise. "Ryuuko! Time for a bath!"

"Ye…yes…" Ryuuko turned to respond for a moment. When she looked back, the strange boy was gone. "That's weird…" She blinked at the place he had been standing for a moment, but he didn't reappear. She was about to go inside when she saw something. It was on the ground where he had been, but she couldn't tell what it was. It was smooth and white and hard, a sort of triangular shape about three centimeters to a side. She ran her fingers over it, the feeling that it was important growing inside of her.

"RYUUKO!"

She jumped and scurried into the house, slipping the thing into her pocket on the way. That night, while her hair still dripped a little from the bath, she pulled the thing she had found out of the pocket of her shorts before putting them into the wash. She stared at it for a while, puzzling. She clutched it in her palm and pulled the curtains away from the window. The moon was full, staring down at her and glittering on the surface of the swimming pool below. Slowly, she opened her hand. The thing glowed in the moonlight, so faintly that she wasn't sure if it was the moon or a light of its own. "I wonder who he was…"

The next day she walked to school with her friend Tomo as usual. "Hey, is there anyone new in the neighborhood?" she asked suddenly.

Tomo looked puzzled. "No, not that I've heard of. Why?"

"I saw someone I didn't know last night. He was about my age and size, dark shoulder-length hair…"

Tomo shook her head. "Never seen or heard of him. Where'd you see him?"

"He was in my back yard."

"No!"

"Yes. He seemed…scared almost, and maybe a little sad."

"How weird."

"Yeah."

"Well, I'll ask around if I think of it."

"Thanks. It's no big deal. He didn't seem like he'd hurt anything."

"Oh…what was he wearing?"

"A T-shirt, I think…white…"

"That doesn't help me much."

"No, sorry." Ryuuko fingered the thing she had found the night before. Why she had stuck it in her uniform pocket, she didn't know. It's shape reminded her of something, although she couldn't quite think what. Suddenly, it hit her. It reminded her of flower petals, the broad kind, only it was hard. For an instant, she thought she saw hundreds of the thing blowing in a strong wind past her, through her hair and into a delicious emptiness of pure air behind her. Then she blinked and shook her head, her ponytail flicking back and forth behind her. It all disappeared.

Tomo glanced at her. "What is it?"

"I…I don't know." She brushed a hand across her eyes. "It's nothing."

"You losing it?" asked Tomo with a laugh.

"Heh. Maybe."

"So we have a kanji quiz today, right?"

"Yeah. I'm ready. Are you?"

"Yep. It shouldn't be hard."

"Nah."

As they approached school and readied for the day, all thoughts of strangeness left Ryuuko for the time being. It wasn't until lunch that she remembered. She was sitting with Tomo and Asako when suddenly she almost dropped her chopsticks. "There he is," she whispered, her eyes wide. Standing at the other end of the schoolyard was the boy again. He was looking directly at her.

"Who?"

"The boy. He's standing over by the big tree."

Tomo and Asako both looked. "I don't see anyone."

"Me neither."

"But he's right there. He's got the white T-shirt and everything."

Tomo looked seriously worried. "Ryuuko, there's nothing there. Are you sure you're feeling fine?"

"I'm not insane! Can't you see him?" Ryuuko almost cried out, grasping Tomo's shoulder.

Tomo gently removed her friend's hand. "It's okay, Ryuuko. That test was a little harder than we thought it would be, wasn't it?"

Ryuuko looked back towards the tree. "But he's right-eh? That's strange… He's gone now." She sat back, her face still pale.

Asako put a hand to her friend's forehead. "I don't get it. You should be feeling fine, Ryuuko. You've never been like this before."

"Seeing things is not a good sign," said Tomo sagely.

"He was there…" was all Ryuuko said, though her voice was soft and no longer assertive.

She had some peace for a few days, until one afternoon when she was sitting on the back steps trying to figure out her math homework. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up, expecting to see her mother. Instead, she found herself facing two now eerily familiar green eyes staring into hers. She scooted back with a yell. "Who are you? Why do you keep showing up?" she asked hurriedly.

Slowly, the boy reached out his hand towards her. It was open and unthreatening, almost like he wanted to touch her cheek or her hair.

Ryuuko shrank back. "Stop…what's going on? What do you want?" He sighed, his hand dropping to his side. It was the first real sound she had heard from him. It was a terribly sad sound, sodden with as many hidden tears as flow in a river.

R&R Don't forget I love reviews. And as always flames will be thrown into a river.