For some reason unknown, there is something about going back to Chihiro Ogino's previous hometown that makes her insides churn in excitement. Is it because she misses her friends? But they've been seeing each other once in a while in the city. Or is it the vast meadows littered with different-colored flowers that call her to come back home, their wonderful scent hanging in the air and waiting to reach her nose? Or is it the fantastic view of the night sky free from smog and pollution that usually dim the bigger cities' skies?

No.

It's not like her family moved to an urbanized city. It's actually more rural. She has also seen more meadows and gardens full of hundreds of fragrant flowers in their current town than in the old and has counted several constellations on its illuminating night skies.

Chihiro knows -- she just knows -- that there is something else in her former hometown that she's missing. Though she doesn't remember it.

"We are surprised you didn't throw a tantrum when we said we'll be moving back to our old apartment." Chihiro's mother, sweet Yuko, looks at her from the passenger seat. The curled ends of her brown hair barely touch her shoulders. Being such a people person, she has become good friends with an owner of a salon near their house and receives discounts from them. One time, she returned home with a bright rainbow perm. Her father didn't like it. Yuko didn't like that he didn't. So they spent minutes of heated debate on whether it is 'appropriate' for Yuko's age to have such hair. That night, Akio slept on the sofa.

Remembering that, Chihiro almost smiles. It's not like her parents' quarrel gives her delight. It's just that, the next day, the two became even sweeter to each other, saying words of apology and affirming their love for each other. They've always been like that. Always together, understanding each other, and trying to be the best partner they could be. They're just so romantic and perfect that Chihiro wonders if she could ever find someone for her too. But maybe her parents have already exhausted the magic. That fateful love encounters are only once in a Blue Moon and because her parents already experienced it, it would already be almost impossible for her to experience the same.

"Chihiro?" Her father pulls her out of her thoughts, looking at her through the rearview mirror of their car.

She replies, "I'm too old for throwing a tantrum and I know dad's work requires a lot of moving. I'm just happy that we're back to a place we already know that's nice instead of moving somewhere else."

Yuko looks back at her again and smiles. "I remember when we moved houses when you were just a kid. You were pouting and complaining so much."

"Well, I'm not a kid anymore." Chihiro looks out the car's window, watching the houses, trees, and street lamps blend into abstract colors before her eyes, like a kaleidoscope. Then she sees something in the sky. What is it? An airplane? But it doesn't look like it.

The car enters a tunnel, covering her view of the sky. She waits until they exit the tunnel and looks at the sky again. But the 'thing' is no longer there. Was it just a figment of her imagination? Maybe. The purple hair tie around her wrist twinkles. She raises her hand and places the tie near the rays of the sun. She doesn't remember how the little tie came into her possession but it has always been dear to her. So much so that it became something like a charm for her.

A couple of minutes more and they arrive at their destination. The movers are already there. Chihiro looks at their old apartment, memories from her childhood flood her mind and she gets drowned in wave after wave of nostalgia.

The next day, Chihiro spends most of her lunchtime completing her requirements in the registrar's office. After class, her friends flock to her, eager to know how she has been, where in the town would she like to go together with them, what she wants to do, and if her family is really staying in the town for good.

"Yes, we are," Chihiro answers their last question. Her friends suddenly become quiet. They start to exchange meaningful glances, the atmosphere of the group clearly changing. Curious, she asks, "Is something the matter?" She tries to look them in the eye but they avoid hers, fidgeting or looking somewhere else.

Then, Haruka speaks. "Do you remember Baki?"

She does so she nods. She remembers him as an obedient and hardworking son of a boutique owner. Before leaving their town, she heard their shop was moved to the newly-built department store, attracting even more customers.

"He's dead."

Chihiro's eyes widen in shock. Baki? Dead? That young bubbly classmate of theirs not so long ago? How could he?

Haruka continues what she's saying, determined to finish her tale. "One day, he woke up vomiting, then he also started suffering from diarrhea. It wasn't food poisoning they said. No doctor could name the disease so there was no certain cure. They said it must have come from the water, but all the water sources were tested and they were all clean."

"I-I couldn't believe it" is all that Chihiro can say. She cannot imagine how a young life could so easily be taken away. It's sad and terrifying.

But Haruka isn't finished. There is more that Chihiro should hear. "That's just the beginning of it. Within the same month, there were other cases like Baki's. All of them vomiting and suffering from diarrhea. All of them with the unknown disease. Soon after, they all died. This started happening only almost a year ago, Chihiro-chan, but the hospitals already lost more than 30 lives and still receiving more people with the same disease, all dying after a couple of days."

And here Chihiro thought she'd be having a happy, peaceful life back in her beloved hometown. She didn't know that there would be a creeping horror waiting for her and her family here.

"What does the mayor say? The sickness... It's like some kind of a deadly plague." Clearly, the government should be doing something for its people.

Haruka shakes her head, her braided hair following her head's movement. "He says it could just be food poisoning and that we should just wash our food properly before cooking."

Unbelievable. There is clearly something wrong happening in the town. "But what do you think it is?"

The girls exchange glances once more. It's Airi who speaks up. "The elderlies are saying it's a curse. All who fell sick and died are from the town. No outsider ever got sick."

"How can that be true? Curses aren't real." Haruka disagrees. "Whatever it is, let's just hope they find a cure."

"Chihiro." Misa points at an empty chair in the classroom. "Sayuri just caught the sickness. We're going to her house to visit her. Wanna come with us?"

"Sure." Sayuri is not a close friend of hers but she knows her and is worried about her. She arranges her things and puts them into her bag as her classmates do the same.

The walk to Sayuri's house is just a few minutes from their school. The path is lined with bushes and grass and wildflowers. Before, there are not many cars nor houses in some parts of the rural town, including this path where they're at, but now, there are more houses and stores here and there. A car is sometimes seen, perhaps fetching a student from the school.

"Here we are." Misa presses on the doorbell beside the wooden door of Sayuri Hashimoto's house.

A middle-aged woman with shoulder-length graying hair peeks through the window. "Who is it?"

"Hashimoto-san, good day, it's Misa. We came here to visit Sayuri." The teenage girls greet the woman and bow at her.

Immediately, Hashimoto-san opens the door. Her appearance almost frightens Chihiro. Her graying hair is so messy and greasy. There are dark circles on her reddened eyes and her chapped lips are so pale that they don't look like they belong to someone alive. She stretches her scrawny arms to touch Misa's shoulders. "Thank you very much for thinking about my child, Misa-chan." She regards them all. "Haruka-chan. Yumeko-chan. Airi-chan..." She looks at Chihiro.

"I'm Chihiro Ogino, Hashimoto-san. I was a classmate of Sayuri back in elementary. My family moved out of town when I was 10 but we just moved back here again. I hope Sayuri will recover soon."

There is obvious sadness behind the mother's smile. "Thank you for coming, Chihiro-chan. Come on, everyone. Let's go inside."

Sayuri's house is mostly made of wood. It's designed like a traditional Japanese home with tatami floors and sliding doors. It's beautiful. But what catches Chihiro's attention the most is their wooden kamidana (a shrine for a god), adorned with different flowers and leaves.

Though the windows are closed, Chihiro feels a rush of wind touch her back and push her towards the small shrine, the purple tie on her wrist tingling.

Hashimoto-san notices Chihiro. She walks near her and says, "This is the shrine for the river god Nigihayami Kohakunushi. They say that, many years ago, he's the god looking after this town and that he was residing at the river not too far from here."

"The river that they drained and where they put a department store?"

"Yes. Our ancestors were once living there, serving him."

Chihiro glances back at the altar and then at the mother. This close, Chihiro can see the many lines drawn on Hashimoto-san's face. She looks very old and weary. "And you believe he's still helping you, guiding you?"

Hashimoto-san doesn't look at her. "Does it matter whether I believe?" She leads the group to her child's bedroom and knocks on the door three times. "Sayuri, your friends are here to see you."

"Let them in, mama." The girl's voice is weak. And when the door to her room slides open, the group almost gasp in shock to see her form. According to her mother, she's been becoming too thin in a matter of days. Right after she first vomited her meal. "Could you fetch me some more water, mama?"

Hashimoto-san has tears in her eyes. She nods and goes to the kitchen, leaving the group of girls with her sick daughter.

"Thank you so much for coming here. This might be the last time you'll be seeing me."

Upon hearing such words from Sayuri, the group goes near her saying "No" and "Don't say that".

Sayuri sighs. "But it's true. They say that those who get the illness soon die once they feel dehydrated. I've been feeling thirsty today than the last four days." She looks at them, so sad and frightened but no water comes out of her dry eyes. "I'm scared." Misa, Haruka, Yumeko, Airi, and even Chihiro walk toward her to give her a warm hug. They stay like that for a long while until Sayuri stops trembling. But, immediately, she leans toward the pail beside her head to vomit. The smell is strong but the girls don't mind, their hearts aching for the girl.

Sayuri needs to rest so they leave her, promising that they will soon return.

Even after Chihiro reaches her house, the image of Sayuri still haunts her. Another life that is yet to bloom is in danger to be taken away. Too soon. She cannot imagine how devastated Hashimoto-san is.

"I'm home!" Chihiro announces as she walks to the kitchen. It's filled with black smoke, rising from the stove. The smell of burnt food permeates the air. In the middle of the kitchen is her father, Akio, wearing an apron and cooking something Chihiro cannot describe.

"Welcome home, Chihiro."

"What are you doing in the kitchen, Dad?" She picks up the scattered eggshells on the table and throws them into the nearest bin.

"I'm cooking dinner." He smiles and waves the wooden spatula like a wand. "Egg fried rice."

Chihiro scrunches her nose. That burning something in the wok on the stove is definitely not egg fried rice. "Where's Mom?"

Her dad goes back to putting things in the wok. "She can't cook. She's sick."

"Sick?"

"She's been vomiting after we return from the department store."

Chihiro pales. Dead Baki flashes in her mind. Then Sayuri's sickly form. Her heart beats inside her chest loudly and rapidly. She drops her bag on the floor of the kitchen and quickly makes her way to the master's bedroom. There, her mother lies weak on the bed. "Mom..."