Disclaimer: XxxHOLiC is owned by CLAMP.

Author's Notes: I present to you a HOLiC fanfic! Not just that, but a DoumekixWatanuki one! I really love this pairing, and they are one of my favorites. So, I can't resist not writing them together. This story, as the summary says, is about how 'fairy tale'-like HOLiC can be (if it isn't one already, I guess). I have read up to volume seven of the manga, but I'll try to prevent any spoilers from appearing in this story. I hope you'll appreciate this little gift I made for all you HOLiC and Donuts fans out there.

Warning: There is shounen-ai (boyxboy love) in this story. If you don't like that, then please don't read.

Notes: "…" denotes normal speaking. Italicized '…' means a person thinking.

The Castle with a Moat

Chapter One: A Glass Slipper

"Once upon a time, in a faraway kingdom, there lived-"

"A beautiful princess?"

"No, Watanuki-kun," Himawari disapproved with a gentle smile. "Not a beautiful princess but a poor servant," she informed in lieu.

Watanuki looked confused but he didn't voice it out. Instead he let out an "Uh-huh" to let Himawari continue. Besides, Himawari looked positively cute when she was narrating stories, not that she wasn't normally cute to Watanuki. She was always cute in his eyes, and her smile was absolutely charming.

"This poor servant worked day and night to help his mother and his young siblings, since their father had already passed away," Himawari continued, smile still in place. "Then one day, the handsome prince of the kingdom came to visit the town where the poor servant lived, and because of certain circumstances, they met."

Doumeki raised an eyebrow after taking a bite from his onigiri. "What 'certain circumstances'?" he asked after swallowing the food in his mouth.

"Shh!" Watanuki reprimanded, a finger pressed against his lips. "Don't bother Himawari-chan when she's speaking!"

"But didn't you interrupt her too?" Doumeki asked, temporarily stopping from taking a bite and looked at the blue-eyed boy in front of him.

Watanuki looked nonplussed. "Er… That was different!"

Doumeki shrugged and returned to finishing the food he was holding. Lunchtime was nearing its end, and he was maximizing the time by finishing the contents of his bento.

"Really, Watanuki-kun, it's alright if you interrupt. It means that you're interested in what I'm telling, after all," Himawari said with a slight crease in her brows.

The boy with glasses just blushed, and took a bite from his own lunch.

"As I was saying, 'they met under certain circumstances'. Let's just say that their first meeting was quite… interesting," the pig-tailed girl informed with a knowing smile, that to Watanuki looked pretty while to Doumeki, it looked suspicious. She continued, "But the prince, being a prince and coming from a rich family, wasn't able to understand why the poor servant would work day and night for his own family. 'The poor servant's mother and siblings weren't ill nor dying', the prince pointed out, 'so why should the poor servant be working all on his own?' he wondered.

"The poor servant, who grew up being poor, wasn't able to understand why he shouldn't work day and night for his own family. Because of their mutual misunderstanding of each other, the poor servant and the prince weren't able to get along very well. Although also because of this mutual misunderstanding, they strove to understand each other. After some time of spending with each other's company, they soon got along and remedied the misunderstanding."

"Um… Himawari-chan," Watanuki started, looking confused once again, "They spent time with each other's company and then they got along because of it?"

Himawari nodded, the curls in her hair bouncing with the movement. "Well, they became friends," she said matter-of-factly.

Doumeki, having finished the lunch given to him by now, tried to snatch the food on Watanuki's bento, which the other boy tried to prevent by swatting a hand. "Then, what happened?" Doumeki asked after he successfully snatched an onigiri from Watanuki, much to Watanuki's annoyance.

"Well," Himawari put a hand on her chin, "I guess they lived happily ever after."

"Just like that?" Watanuki asked, bemused. He kept glaring at Doumeki, and at Doumeki's hand, which was holding the stolen food. Honestly, wasn't the tall boy ever full?

Himawari answered with small hand gestures, "They got to know each other first, and they also encountered various obstacles and villains which they had to overcome. Also, the poor servant's mother turned out to be a fairy godmother of sorts, and seeing how nice the prince was to her son, helped them to get along. I think she used some kind of magic. After that, the poor servant and the prince solved their misunderstanding and became friends." She finished with a clap and a smile.

"What's the title of this story?" the black-haired archer queried. He hadn't heard this story from his wise grandfather yet, which was a surprise. His grandfather liked narrating to him various kinds of stories, including fairy tales. When he was still a child, Doumeki once thought that he already knew all the stories in the world. But of course, he wasn't a child anymore.

"It's called 'The Center and Around It'," Himawari announced cheerfully.

"'The Center and Around It'?" Doumeki echoed. The title seemed weird to him. Aside from seemingly being unrelated to the story that Himawari just narrated, for a fairy tale, the title sounded like a novel instead.

"The story is great, Himawari-chan," Watanuki commented, a large grin on his face. Of course, something like a weird story accompanied by a weird title wouldn't stop Watanuki from complimenting Kunogi Himawari.

If possible, Doumeki noted, Himawari's smile just grew a fraction wider before she spoke, "Thank you, Watanuki-kun. A good friend of mine told it to me. It seemed she, my friend, also found the story quite nice."

Before Watanuki could say anything flowery back to the black-haired girl, his face turned a slight shade of red, but not because of the girl beside him nor because he was embarrassed.

"Will you stop getting my own food, you annoying grit!?" he exclaimed.

Doumeki placed a hand to cover an ear. "No."

"Argh! I already put extra food in your bento today and you're still not satisfied!?"

"Well, no."

"I hate you."

"Mm-hm."

Watanuki released a frustrated sigh.

Himawari smiled. "Watanuki-kun and Doumeki-kun are such good friends."

Another frustrated sigh was released. "Himawari-chan, you've got it all wrong. Doumeki and I are not good friends."

"If the two of you are not good friends, then you're the best of friends?"

"NO! We are most definitely not! And will you stop getting my food!?"

Himawari smiled, even though she was inwardly frowning. She continued to watch her two friends bickering with her head slightly lowered. Not meaning the question to be heard by anyone, she quietly asked, her voice carried away by the light breeze that passed through them.

"… then what are you two to each other?"

The black-haired girl only hoped that someday, Watanuki and Doumeki would be able to answer her question.

The sun was slowly making its descent. Its rays were casting an orange hue around the classroom. The students were half listening to the teacher in front, while the teacher herself was talking monotonously. The temperature in the room was not too cold nor too humid. All in all, it was a normal day.

In fact, today was so painstakingly normal, Watanuki thought that a catastrophe should be in order.

As he heard the teacher saying something about the origin of a children's story of some sort, he cast his blue eyes across the room. Watanuki could see that his classmates also thought that today was so normal, that they took the liberty of sleeping again, with their books in front of them, giving the impression that they were reading. Not that Watanuki could blame them. History class was a subject that was synonymous to Sleep class. The endless information was like a lullaby to students.

He turned his head to his left where a window was situated. He was glad that his seat was near the windows, it gave him a view of the clear sky outside. As Watanuki repeatedly tapped his pen against his desk, his thoughts wandered. Maybe a catastrophe like a storm wouldn't be so bad. An alien invasion would be amusing, seeing as Himawari seems to like superstitious stuff. Actually to him, any catastrophe at the moment was welcome, as long as it would stop their history teacher from saying anything further.

It's not like Watanuki hated History, he just couldn't stand the boredom any longer. Even a studious student like himself was bound to get bored when it was afternoon, and the setting – the warm atmosphere, the neat desk in front of him, and the lullaby that was his teacher's boring voice – was practically begging him to sleep. He couldn't risk falling asleep and getting caught, however, since he needed to get clean and high grades.

Slowly, he moved his right foot to tap against the floor, and simultaneous with the tapping of his pen. Soon, he was making a nameless tune, and even though it only sounded something like tap-tap, tap, tap, tap, tap-tap, he was glad. It gave him some distraction from the beckoning of blissful sleep.

Watanuki was imagining Himawari listening closely to her own teacher's lesson, while Doumeki probably flatly ignored his teacher's voice and was staring straight out at the window himself, when something suddenly connected with his head.

Robbing the sore spot on his head with a hand, he quickly looked down at what caused it. Just below his desk, a crumpled paper sat idly. He quickly snatched it and opened it with his hands.

Neat handwritten sentences occupied the white paper, and as he read it, he couldn't stop the curiosity that passed through him.

- Are you bored? History is a pain in the ass, after all. I just hope that something interesting will happen. Though, you probably shouldn't get your hopes up. Something interesting might happen, but it can also be a pain in the ass. -

Watanuki quickly scanned the classroom after he read the note. He didn't have a clue on who sent it. Seeing as almost everyone in the room was either sleeping or half-sleeping, it only added to his confusion. Sure, he had friends in the room, but none of them were close to him. He didn't see the point of being close friends with anyone. He grew up alone after all, and he had Himawari as a friend. He also had an annoying rival in the form of Doumeki Shizuka. To Watanuki, the two plus Yuuko were more than enough to spend his time with.

Before he could further think about the anonymous sender, his attention was captured by the teacher's voice.

"… and because we know just how everyone loves drama and acting, the higher-ups of the school and all the teachers agreed that instead of having your normal written examinations, we are going to have a play instead. Isn't that nice?" The young female teacher in front of the classroom was grinning. She knew that almost everyone in her class was asleep, and this would make them stir. What she just announced would also be the solution to the rapidly dropping grades of her students.

Sure enough, there were simultaneous exclaims of disbelief from the student population. The sleeping students were slowly waking up from their slumber, and sensing their fellow classmates' anxiousness and excitement, quickly asked what the commotion was all about.

The teacher pushed her glasses further up along the bridge of her nose, before she explained, "Not only will this be a joint project with other subjects, but this also be a chance to unify all of you. This project's aim is to promote unity and cooperation among students, and because of this, it will not be a 'per class' thing like usual projects. The play will include all the other students in your year level and thus, you will be able to interact with students from the other classes."

This earned various reactions from the students. Some of them were shocked, others were happy, and some were not-so-happy. Dorine-sensei, the History teacher, was pleased. At least, the students wouldn't jeopardize their grades anymore by continuing to sleep through classes, resulting in low grades. The play would be also perfect since this way the students wouldn't have to go through written examinations and risk failing.

For Watanuki, he was simply happy. This play meant that he wouldn't have to go through multiple boring days anymore and endure the boredom any longer.

The only thing that he was pondering on, when the teacher continued to explain and even when the bell already rang, was that if he would be able to see and talk with Himawari – and maybe Doumeki too but he wouldn't say that aloud, he'd be damned if he did - during the play.

Long and calloused fingers brushed the arched wood in a tender caress. It was a slow and tantalizing movement that only one with deep concentration and patience could execute. After a moment, the fingers gripped the arched wood in an achingly familiar way. The hand along with the bow it gripped was then being raised up in the air and in front of the person it belonged to.

The other hand was simultaneously raised up in the air. This hand, however, had already been gripping an arrow for a long time, evident in the light red line that marked the palm. The hand with the arrow went to its familiar position and together, they brushed the wood and went to its place in a precise motion.

Eyes belonging to a pale face focused on the target across the room. The person tightened his grip on both the arrow and the bow as everything - the position, the place, the tension, and the whole moment - went from familiar to accurate and exact.

When he realized that everything was perfect, like always, he waited for his hand to release everything, and like always, he hesitated. His hand holding the arrow loosened and after a moment, went to grip it again. He loosened his hold once more, 'and just how many times have I repeated this?' He finally asked himself.

Doumeki sighed, a sound that denoted yielding and weariness, with just a touch of annoyance. 'If I can't shoot, so be it,' he thought. Although even as he told himself this - that he should just quit and go home, since it was already late too - he didn't bulge from his position. His hands were still holding the bow and arrow, and the hand holding the arrow kept loosening its hold and then gripping it again.

He wondered what happened to him, and as he recalled the events of the last few days, he concluded that indeed nothing out of the ordinary happened. This new change in his archery practice that caused him to do absolutely nothing during club time earlier this day, aside from standing in position and aiming and just that - aiming, was somewhat disturbing Doumeki.

"Not to be intrusive or anything but, what the hell is your problem?"

Doumeki turned his head in the direction of the voice, and found Watanuki heading towards him with a questioning look, a slight smirk on his lips.

When Watanuki was a foot or so near him, he stopped. He crossed his arms and prodded, looking at him straight in the eyes, "So?"

The taller teen grunted, and finally sat down, placing the bow and arrow beside him. "None of your business," he replied bluntly, and looked back at the target as if it would tell him what was wrong.

"Well, it most certainly isn't, but since Yuuko-san told me to tell you that she has a mission for us a week from now, and since your archery is going to be our weapon against whatever monster that's going to devour us when the time comes, I think it would be my business to know." Watanuki replied smugly. He also sat down to point out that he wasn't going to leave until Doumeki answered his earlier question.

"Hn."

'Ah, so that's why', Watanuki sarcastically thought. But really, wasn't Doumeki going to tell him the reason? He was honestly curious as to why Doumeki hadn't shot any arrows at all. He had been watching the taller teen for a few minutes now – and no, he wasn't spying, he was just wondering. Watanuki was just passing by the archery hall when he saw Doumeki repeatedly clenching and then unclench the arrow in his hand again.

"You know, club time's already over. You should be going back home," Watanuki said, "Besides, your parents might be worried." 'No, I am not worried about him. I am just stating a fact,' Watanuki reasoned to himself.

Doumeki glanced at him, and his eyebrows drew together. "What about you? Shouldn't you be working at Yuuko-san's?"

Blue eyes widened and became unfocused for a second. When it rested on brown ones, it glistened with humor and amusement.

"I don't always have to work, Doumeki. Today is my day-off," came the brisk reply.

"Then you should go home. It's getting dark-" Doumeki suddenly halted his sentence. He mentally slapped himself. 'Damn.' He almost mentioned that.

Watanuki caught the unvoiced statement. His humored eyes turned dark, and suddenly they were filled with sadness. 'I miss them…'

"Don't bother. No one's waiting for me," Watanuki stiffly replied.

Suddenly, a mirthless laugh resounded in the room, the sound grating and disturbing. When Doumeki turned to look at the source, he was perturbed.

At that moment, Watanuki looked disheveled - his usually wild hair looked messy, and the rings under his eyes became apparent - Doumeki swore the insufficient lighting in the room was the cause. Watanuki looked like he hadn't eaten in days, which was ironic since they ate lunch together early this day. His always fiery blue eyes were cold and empty, and it unnerved the older teen. Watanuki looked very pale and fragile in the dim lighting, and if he lied down on the floor, one might think that…

In a flurry of motion, Doumeki quickly stood up, and roughly ran a hand through his hair. He cursed under his breath and quickly mumbled, "I need to go home. Shrine duties."

Watanuki jerked from his trance, slowly going back to his lively self. He looked up at the jumpy teen with questioning eyes. It seemed as if he wasn't aware of his surroundings. "Huh?" was all he could come up with.

Doumeki grabbed his bow, and dusted imaginary dust on his clothes. 'He looked… Just now, Watanuki looked like-'An image of a pale body on the ground flashed in his mind. The once exuberant body now lifeless, his blue eyes totally empty, and Doumeki stood on the background, doing nothing but staring as life flittered from him. A shiver passed through Doumeki, and he cursed again. He willed the image to go away. 'Watanuki wouldn't do that,' Doumeki reassured himself, 'he just wouldn't.'

'But what if he did?'

Before Watanuki could fully comprehend what Doumeki had said, Doumeki was already walking away in long strides. Watanuki slowly and unsteadily stood up. He reached a shaking hand in Doumeki's direction and meekly uttered, "Uh, wait…"

But the taller teen was already gone.

A glint caught Watanuki's eye, and he glanced at its direction. He huffed and crossed his arms. He honestly didn't mean to just space out like that. Missing one's parents did that to a person. What happened was instinctive, 'like sleeping and waking up, or-or… shouting and flailing, yeah.' He scratched his head in frustration as he quietly muttered an afterthought, picking up the glinting object he saw.

"… Idiot, you forgot your arrow."

I wonder if the title of the chapter was confusing, or wasn't easy to understand. Well, I think the fairy tale that was hinted here was kind of obvious (the chapter title was a giveaway). If you have any question, feel free to ask. Comments are very much welcomed, may it be a compliment or a constructive criticism. Thank you so much for reading.