Work Text:
To slip between
(...more than rules)
For some people it's easier to slip between worlds than for others.
Well, easy is not exactly the right term, because it's not as if they always (or ever) do it on purpose, and there are rules, conditions, that have to be followed. Though just what those conditions were is sometimes difficult to figure out. The rules were always different and there was no way to tell in advance just what they would be.
But still, rules were important, Chihiro knew that better than most. They could save you or condemn you.
(Don't take what isn't yours to take. Don't invite greed in. You need to eat or you will fade away. You need to work or you'll be considered useless.)
Those rules in the spirit world had made sense – and the crossing into that world had made sense as well. She had felt it; that they were going somewhere humans were not supposed to go, like an innate sense telling her something new and frightening was coming.
She had listened to those feelings. Her parents hadn't listened to her.
Adults could be stupid like that sometimes.
But thankfully Haku had been there. She hadn't been alone and in the end, that is what had saved her even more than the rules: friendship, love, hope and doing the right thing.
And Chihiro had saved him in turn, because that is how friendship and love both worked.
(We will see each other again.
Promise?
I promise.)
That was over a year ago. But even now, as she could feel her feet slipping in the wet autumn leaves, sending her tumbling down the slope she had been climbing… even as she could sense herself slipping from her world – she didn't doubt that promise.
Wherever they were, wherever she was, they would find each other again, somehow.
Someday.
Chihiro carefully sat up, rubbing the leg she had bumped against a tree. It wasn't too bad so she stood, absent-mindedly brushing off the dirt and leaves from her clothes, and started looking around.
There was still a slope, but surrounding and on top of it was a true forest, not just the few occasional trees that had been there only moments ago. And it was darker here, with most of those trees blocking out the sun.
She wondered what the conditions had been that made her end up here. And what the rules were for going back. They hadn't been too complicated in the spirit world.
(You need to cross the river, quickly! Go!)
The girl shrugged and climbed back up the slope. She looked around but saw no sign of what she should do. (Can you give me a hint, obaasan?)
Her hand went to her hair and rested upon her hairband. It was still as strong and shiny as the moment she had received it, despite the many months of constant use – she always wore it, usually in her hair, but when her hair was loose it dangled around her wrist. Because it's always better to be safe than sorry, and it's rude to not use a gift, especially a gift of friendship.
In the here and now there were no hints and no beings she could discern. So she started walking.
(No use in sitting down and crying, she had long since learned. If she wanted to go back, she would have to find the way herself. But then, that was nothing new – and there was no rule saying she couldn't find some sort of help.)
She walked and walked even as it got darker. There were no people and no friendly lanterns to lead the way and she started to worry and wonder if perhaps she should try to find some food – some berries maybe? Because what if she didn't find anyone to tell her any of the rules and she faded away?
These thoughts were ruminating in her mind when she finally came across something different than trees and bushes and fallen leaves. Smoke.
Without hesitation she walked towards it. (She is no longer the frightened child who clings to her mother's arm.)
Well, at least one rule seemed to work normally in this world: where there was smoke, there was fire. And near the merrily burning fire there was a person.
So far, so good. Chihiro thought.
The person was looking in her direction, despite the fact that she should still be mostly hidden in the shadows between the trees. She shrugged and stepped forward, so that the being could see her clearly.
"Excuse me for intruding," she greeted respectfully and bowed deeply.
When she straightened herself again, the strange-looking man was staring at her – his expression was hard to read on such an inhuman face. She was not deterred and smiled at him. "May I sit at your fire for a moment?"
The person raised an eyebrow and spoke in an amused voice: "Oh, sure, be my guest." His grin revealed white rows of sharp, pointed teeth.
Chihiro smiled in thanks and took a seat on the forest ground, sighing in contentment and she felt the fire warm her.
"Now what brings a tiny little civilian girl all the way out here, to the edges of Fire Country?" the blue-grey man drawled slowly when she was settled down next to him.
She bowed her head politely, "ah, sorry, but I got lost."
"I've never seen a lost child this far from any village. But then, if there had ever been a lost child in my general vicinity I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have walked towards me."
She shrugged at his biting sarcasm. Despite being a little rough around the edges, this man seemed nice enough. At least he hadn't shouted out 'human' and tried to eat her. And he looked far less frightening than some of the inhabitants of the spirit world, even if he did have something that looked like a really big sword, all wrapped up in white bandages. That was rather strange, but then, from the sound of it, she seemed rather strange to him too.
"Where are you from?" the man continued his questioning, his voice, strangely enough, was not curious at all – more like he was already bored with the conversation. But if he wasn't interested, then why would he ask? Well, she supposed he might be hiding his curiosity. Chihiro knew a little about facades by now, about hiding your true feelings. She wasn't any good at seeing through them, and couldn't really do it herself, but she was no longer confused when someone acted differently in different situations.
(Are there two Hakus?)
Either way, he had asked and since she was imposing it was only polite to answer, "I'm from Shōwa."
"Shōwa?" he repeated dubiously.
"It's a village."
"Never heard of it," the large man said flatly.
Chihiro giggled softly, she was not surprised. She seemed to have landed in a different world again, after all. It would have been surprising if he had heard of it.
"What?"
She waved her hands, "Eh, it's nothing."
"You're a very strange girl," he informed her, as if it was a conclusion he had just come to.
She couldn't help but beam at him, because she had heard that many times before in her life – especially after her time at Yubaba's bathhouse. But she had never been told these words by someone who looked very much like a mixture between a human and a shark. "Ah," she nodded in agreement. "My name is Ogino Chihiro, nice to meet you."
"Hoshigaki Kisame," was his brusque reply.
They sat mostly in silence after that, for what felt like hours. The night had fallen upon them in earnest now, but autumn was not as cold here as it had been back home and the warmth of the fire was a blissful blanket.
She lay back, looking up at what stars she could see between the trees. The night was pretty and she hummed a soft happy tune, feeling as if she was on a camping trip. She could practically feel his eyes on her, but it didn't bother her. After all, it was likely that she was the strange-looking one here – and she couldn't exactly cast stones in that area anyway… how she had stared at some of the bathhouse guests! Lin had to scold her for her rudeness.
(Don't stare at him like that!)
But, she didn't think the man cared much about rudeness, so she didn't mention it. Besides, everyone was nice in their own way. Hoshigaki-san let her share his fire and didn't seem to mind her company, even if he seemed a bit gruff. That was good enough for her.
Chihiro yawned. This world was still very much unknown and the rules still eluded her, but the solid presence next to her was a reassuring enough feeling that she had no trouble drifting off to sleep.
Having someone at your side was always far more important than the rules, anyway.
Kisame watched the kid drift off to sleep and shook his head in bemusement. He had crossed paths with many civilians in his days, stupid ones, suicidal ones, utterly ignorant ones, but never any so utterly fearless, innocent and warm as this one.
The girl looked at him in a way people didn't look at him.
Like he was human.
It was ridiculous. She was ridiculous. What a foolish girl to share his fire.
He snorted scathingly and she mumbled in her sleep and shifted closer.
Yes, Kisame was sure, there was definitely something wrong with that girl. And her survival instincts. If she'd ever had any in the first place, which is something he was starting to doubt.
She looked very small and very young in the flickering firelight. An innocent. A civillian. Completely out of place in the wilds. Completely out of place in his presence.
He didn't cover her with his own blanket - didn't brush the hair out of her face. He was a shinobi, moreover he was a missing-nin, a criminal even amongst killers and liars and manipulative thieves.
So he didn't reach out to her in any visible way.
But he watched her for a long time with something he would have called scorn and any who could see his face might have likened to anything from anger, to surprise or hate.
Not many people could read his face.
And even if someone could, they would not dare call it wonder.
Because that is as ridiculous as the girl – Chihiro - who slept the deep, restful, relaxed sleep that only civilian children in their own safe homes could manage. And she slept it here, out in the dark night air, completely lost and utterly alone.
Alone, defenseless, at his merciless mercy.
The girl sighed in contented dreams not a stone's throw away from him.
And Kisame could not stop staring at her (in scornful awe).