The Horrifying Houseguest

by LMBiggs

Watanuki has an unwelcome guest out to get him, and will need to pay a price not to Yuuko but to Doumeki to have it removed. Slash. REVIEWS PLEASE.

A/N: How I know I've been on the internet too long: When I make a fanfiction with a reference to a meme.

oOo

At some point Watanuki was pretty sure he had ceased to be disturbed by spirits. He'd see them in the grocery, notice them on the street, and occasionally quicken his pace to escape them, but as of nowadays he very rarely gave them a second thought. They were simply a part of his existence and as long as he was around Yuuko and Doumeki he should have been alright.

"Himawari-Chan!" Watanuki smiled widely at the girl, coming up behind her on the sidewalk on his way to the shop. "How are you doing?"

"Oh, I'm alright, just on my way to the market." The young girl smiled brightly, continuing to walk as her friend caught up with her. "My parents need some nori and rice for dinner."

"Well how about I come with you?" Watanuki asked with a broad smile. "I need to go get Yuuko her usual as well." If he noticed the way that Himawari's face faltered slightly then he didn't show it as they continued to chatter and walk along.

"You really don't need to come with me, Watanuki." Himawari stated softly, looking up at the other boy with a serious expression. Watanuki's own smile faltered and faded as he stared at her, wide blue eyes blinking in surprise. "You know what happens around me. You shouldn't come along."

"I've made it this far with you and I haven't died or been horribly traumatized beyond repair yet." The boy smiled gently at Himawari, placing a long, slim hand on her shoulder. "I'll walk you to market and then we can part ways."

Himawari paused before nodding, allowing Watanuki to continue walking alongside her. "You know… Sometimes when things happen around me… You don't notice them right away." The girl whispered into the silence between them, the only sounds being their footsteps, the rustling of their clothing and the occasional sound of a car or bike passing them by on the relatively empty street.

"I'll be okay for a few more blocks." Watanuki smiled, letting his hand lightly squeeze Himawari's. Something dark and looming flickered at the edge of his vision and the boy paused before he shook it off as either an animal or a spirit going on its way.

As a matter of fact, the usual spirits he saw were not present at the moment. It was a relief and a worry at the same time. Usually they only vanished like that when something more dastardly than themselves were present. But he didn't feel anything, everything seemed relatively normal at the moment, which was saying something when you considered his daily life.

Perhaps being around Yuuko had begun to make him paranoid.

Yuuko was staring at him silently, in the way that said she knew what was going on when even he didn't know. She was not drinking as much of her beer and sake and Mokona was being less of an obnoxious pork bun than usual. However, Watanuki knew better than to ask what she was thinking, or even what she knew. She would either tell him or he'd find out himself when the time was right.

It was strange how he had found this acceptance of such a notion. Previously he would have demanded answers, harassed Yuuko while even knowing that he wouldn't get an answer, beg and try and trade off more years of work for something to fulfill his desperate need to know what was going on. He hated not knowing everything about his environment and being under the essential slavery of Yuuko made this difficult.

"Don't come in this week." Yuuko whispered softly as Watanuki prepared to leave. "And make sure that you have your wards in place."

Watanuki paused in the doorway, staring at the woman as she stood nearby, her teak pipe at her red lips as she took a long drag from the slender wooden implement. "You're not going to tell me what I should look out for?"

"I cannot tell you anything other than that you should have Doumeki come to your apartment as often as possible in the next week."

That meant a spirit was involved.

"I will." Watanuki whispered softly, for once genuinely wanting the exorcist with him.

The walk home was nerve wracking, the rain only making it worse due to the fact that not only could Watanuki not see properly, he couldn't hear the people approaching him along the street. When he got home, the boy hung up his coat, slipped off his shoes and placed his umbrella on the doorstep, checking the wards on his room before picking up his phone and dialing Doumeki's number, which was written on a scrap of paper that the infuriating young man kept putting up there whenever he came over.

"Mushi mushi." Doumeki's voice was as bland as ever and Watanuki took a deep breath through his nostrils as he braced himself.

"I… I need you to come over." The boy whispered into the receiver, listening to the silence on the other end.

"I'll be there." He would never admit to how comforting the other boy's voice was when he was scared like this, when he knew that he was helpless and needed someone to aid him.

"Yuuko's scaring me." Watanuki added softly, his eyes flickering around the room nervously. "She isn't telling me anything, but I have a feeling whatever it is… It's dangerous."

"I'll be there in ten minutes." And with that the line went dead and the dial tone could be heard. Watanuki took a deep breath and hung up the phone, staring down at the ancient piece of technology for a moment before he turned to his kitchen, making his way to the cabinets containing his tea set, deciding to keep himself busy while he waited for Doumeki to come over. Spooning some tea leaves into the strainer, Watanuki put the water on to boil on the stove, watching the pot as he gripped the edge of the sink.

He hadn't bothered to turn on the lights of any room other than the kitchen, the dim glow illuminating only a small amount of the area as he stood within the ring of light. Blue eyes became glazed and breaths became shallow without Watanuki's knowledge, the tingling sensation of eyes on him making the boy glance around nervously.

Someone was in the apartment and it wasn't someone friendly. The boy flicked on the light to the living area, striding purposefully into his bedroom and turning on that light as well, throwing open curtains and frantically looking in closets and behind anything that someone could lurk. Yet that feeling prevailed that he was being watched and Watanuki's quick breaths became even more alarmed.

A breath, warm and rattling ghosted past his ear and the boy screamed as he turned, catching sight of sunken, beady yellow eyes before he cried out stumbled backwards, his legs catching on the table in his living room and sending him crashing downwards. "Watanuki." The boy screamed and struggled as he felt hands on his wrists, throwing his head back and kicking his legs when he felt himself being lifted.

"Watanuki!" Another scream and the boy felt those hands grow stronger and his body was upright now and he could fight, his eyes clenched shut as he tried to kick and hit his captor. "Kimihiro!"

Blue eyes snapped open and Watanuki gasped in shock at the sight of Doumeki, rain drenched and beady eyes wide in concern as he stared at the smaller boy. Watanuki blinked before jerking his wrists away from Doumeki, holding his hands to his pounding chest for a moment before he pressed his temple to Doumeki's chest, shivering as he tried to recover from the scare.

"The wards are up." Watanuki spoke softly, cutting off anything that his companion might have said. "The wards are up in my apartment, in my own home, no spirit should be able to come into my home with wards up." Blue eyes looked up at Doumeki frantically, the slightly taller boy placing his hands on thin shoulders. "Why was a spirit in here?"

"I don't know. But I'm here now. It's not coming back so long as I'm here." Doumeki released Watanuki gently. "I'm staying here for as long as you're not with Yuuko."

Watanuki nodded, taking a deep breath before he made his way to the kitchen. "I was making tea, is there anything you'd like?"

"Shrimp tempura and miso?" Doumeki sat at the table and Watanuki nodded, walking into the kitchen in a trance like state as he began murmuring what he'd need to dig up from his kitchen.

Watanuki blinked, opening his eyes when he felt something touching his foot, sitting upright in his bed and casting his gaze around blindly in the dark. Picking up his glasses he placed them on his face and attempted to let his gaze adjust to the darkness. Something cold and thin wrapped around his ankle and Watanuki cried out in terror, tugging his foot out of the grip and covering it with the blanket, shivering as he looked around the darkness frantically.

"Doumeki?" No response and the thin boy stood, blankets wrapped around his trembling frame as he padded out of the bedroom and into the living room. "Doumeki, where are you, you idiot?" Watanuki hissed, blue eyes peering into the darkness. "Doumeki!" He hissed.

"He's not here." The horrifying voice from earlier brushed past Watanuki's ear and the boy jerked forward, letting out a cry of terror as he raced to the front door of his home. He made solid contact with a thin, skeletal frame and surprisingly strong hands grasped his thin wrists. "Just me." Watanuki struggled against the grip of the spirit, leaning back when he was able to get a good look at the skeletal face, skin pulled taunt over the sharp, elongated bones, crooked, yellowing teeth pulled into a wide grin as the monster leaned forward, grinning maw opening slowly as it spoke. "You're going to be mine now."

"No!" Watanuki shoved the thing away, stumbling backwards and racing into the bedroom, locking the door and turning on the light before fleeing into the closet, leaving the light off as he sat crouched on the floor, his breaths shaky and heavy as he pressed both hands over his mouth, eyes staring ahead silently. After a few moments the boy relaxed, letting his eyes close as he rested his head against the back wall of the closet.

"I'm in the closet, Watanuki."

Before Watanuki could scream hands were over his throat and chest, pulling him flat against the closet wall, the boy struggling and tugging the hand over his neck away so he could scream, struggling as he did so.

"Doumeki!" Light flooded the closet and warm, large hands that were familiar and strong pulled Watanuki from the grip of his assailant. Watanuki shivered and tried to pull back, still shocked from the sudden attack in his own apartment once more. "What does he want?" Watanuki wailed, grabbing the larger boy and pressing his face to Doumeki's neck. "Why is he doing this?"

"You know why."

"But they never come into my home!" Watanuki looked up at Doumeki, infuriation and despair mingling on his face. "Why did he come into my home? How did he come here?"

"He's a very powerful spirit and he wants you… I don't know to what ends or means, but I know that he won't stop unless we do something drastic."

Watanuki stared at Doumeki, taking in the exorcist's words before he whispered softly. "You know what this is?"

"I was getting a book from the temple. I'd heard about something like this before."

"Show me! What is it? How do we get rid of it?"

The book was resting on the table, a bookmark shoved between yellowing, worn pages that Doumeki carefully flipped through until he found what he had marked.

The title of the page was "The Houseguest", depicting a skeletal creature standing at a good six or seven feet tall with sunken yellow eyes, a crooked, compacted nose and protruding, yellowing teeth, the naked skeletal body hunched and adorned with long legs and arms, thin, spidery fingers permanently curled in a grasping shape.

"That's it." Watanuki whispered, tracing the illustration. "What do we do?"

"It says here that the Houseguest is a spirit that was expulsed from a home, usually stalking those who have an attraction to powerful forces before they find a more vulnerable or desirable victim." Doumeki trailed his finger over text, frowning as he continued to read. "They thrive in darkness especially and are known to claim bodies and souls in the night. They have an aversion to beds and usually snatch people off of them by grabbing any limb that is no longer on the bed and dragging their victim into parts unknown." Doumeki looked at Watanuki with a frown. "What happened today, when you first left the school?"

Watanuki bit his lower lip, thinking over what he had done. "I didn't see many spirits so I went with Himawari to the market without going to pick up the pipefox."

"First mistake." Doumeki breathed in frustration, but Watanuki ignored him as he continued.

"I think that was when I first noticed something off… And then Yuuko's behavior… And when you came the spirit had just appeared."

"What about what happened before I found you in the closet?"

"I… I woke up because something grabbed my foot." Doumeki nodded, returning his gaze to the book. Watanuki leaned forward, staring at the text as well. "I don't care what it does, I just want to get rid of it."

"Easier said than done." Doumeki sighed, pointing at a block of text. "The Houseguest is obsessed with possessing the person that occupies the home it haunts… Unless you become claimed by someone within the first night of the spirit being here, you're going to remain with it for the rest of your life. Which, knowing you, would be very short."

Watanuki made to say something snarky about that last sentence before he paused, realizing something slowly. "Claimed?"

"Yes."

"Like… Slavery?"

"Like a romantic claim. A claim on mind, body and spirit. A binding contract between you and someone else." Doumeki tried not to spit out the last sentence as he thought about someone else touching Watanuki. It was not his place to be jealous or lustful towards the young man, seeing as it was his duty to protect him without distraction.

"I… I don't know anyone I'd do that with…" Watanuki whispered, wrapping his arms around his knees as he let the shock of his situation sink in. "I… I'm going to be haunted by… By that thing…" Tears came to Watanuki's eyes and the boy pressed his face to his forearm, shivering in horror at the thoughts whirling in his mind.

The phone rang at that precise moment and watanuki stood, stumbling over to answer it. "Hello?"

"Watanuki."

"Yuuko." Watanuki sighed in relief, pressing his fingers to his lips. "Please, I need help, the spirit is going to stay here if I don't find someone to claim me, but who would be willing to do that?" He whispered the words, his voice unable to raise to another decibel in his worry.

"Watanuki, the answer is right beside you and as usual you can't grasp the obvious." Yuuko sighed. "Doumeki has been by your side through many trials and will always protect you." The older woman paused, letting her words sink in. "You have tonight to accept him and only tonight."

Watanuki stared ahead in silence, his shoulders hunching as he pursed his lips before speaking again. "And the price? There is always a price."

"The price is that you will never be able to remain in your own home alone. Doumeki will always have to be with you when you are there, whether you like it or not. If you send him away once, the Houseguest will return and will claim you as its own."

Watanuki stood in stunned silence as he digested those words, hanging up the phone slowly before returning to the living room and seating himself on the floor next to Doumeki.

"Wata… Kimihiro…" Blue eyes looked up into brown and Doumeki felt his will fading as he stared into those infinite orbs, licking his lips before he took a deep breath. "I've protected you for two years now… I've known you longer… And I consider you… Beyond a friend." A large hand hovered over Watanuki's before grasping the thin fingers gently. "I've accepted that I'll never be able to remain with anyone for as long as I shall have to remain with you." Doumeki swallowed at the dawning understanding on his friend's face, blue eyes widening in surprise. "I would be… willing… pleased… honored… to claim you as my own…"

Watanuki looked away for a moment, but didn't pull back from the larger boy's grip, not realizing that he was being pushed gently onto his back until Doumeki's broad chest was pinning his own thin frame to the carpet beneath them. "Doumeki, I…"

"Shizuka." Doumeki whispered as he laid a gentle kiss on Watanuki's lips, silencing all protests tenderly as the younger man reached up and placed his hands on the backs of broad shoulders. "Kimihiro…"

Watanuki closed his eyes, letting out a shaking breath as he thought about what he was doing, what he was allowing to happen. He could, honestly, think of worse fates and over the years he had come to enjoy Doumeki's company and his friendship, despite the occasional things that would set him off. But he had lived with them for this long and under pressured circumstances, so why would this make it any harder or easier to live with the other boy?

"Shizuka." Watanuki whispered as he pressed his face to the other boy's jaw, kissing the skin there gently before he pulled back and let his fingers drag down firm arms. Blue eyes tried not to meet the older boy's as Doumeki tried to will Watanuki's shyness away, staring firmly at the soft, delicate face as he gently nipped and kissed the soft lips presented to him.

Watanuki shivered as a hand slid into his shirt, unbuttoning the fabric after a long, luxurious stroke was given to his chest and stomach. His pale chest was soon bared to the other boy and Doumeki kissed the collar and breastbone of the area, gently pushing Watanuki to the floor as he did so. Watanuki moaned, grasping the short strands of Doumeki's hair as that mouth moved up to his neck and lips, opening his own mouth to allow the exorcist access, moaning softly as he did so. He was surprised by his own actions, shocked by the fact that he was getting hard from the tender kisses and touches alone.

He would admit that he had always been envious of Doumeki and his handsome features, but he had never been particularly attracted to the other boy. Perhaps it was because now he had no other option than to be attracted to him, seeing as he would be spending quite some time with him after the claiming. "Stop thinking." Doumeki growled softly, emphasizing this statement with a sharp nip to pale skin. "You'll try to convince yourself that you shouldn't let this happen."

"Quite the opposite." Watanuki whispered, gently kissing Doumeki's lips. "I'm convincing myself that this is for the best."

Doumeki captured Watanuki's mouth viciously, passionately, conveying every pent up emotion that he had ever felt for the weaker boy as he moved to straddle the thin body beneath his own. Watanuki gasped at the sudden change in position, looking uncertain but simply tightening his grip on the other young man, encouraging him to continue.

"I love you, Kimihiro." Shizuka whispered gently, placing a tender kiss to soft lips. "I won't let anything happen to you."

Kimihiro nodded and pressed his mouth to Shizuka's, firmly placing his hands on his strong archer's shoulders, squeezing the muscle beneath fabric before moving to remove the shirt hiding skin. Hands fumbled and groped and soon they were both moaning, naked on the floor with Shizuka tugging long, thin legs about his own hips. Kimihiro whimpered and grasped hold of a large hand, biting his lower lip in nervousness before he let out a low breath and pressed the other boy's fingers to his entrance.

Shizuka got the message, gently pressing one then two fingers into the tight ring of muscle, adding a third when Kimihiro's body adjusted and his moans began to die down. The renewed sounds reverberated through the room and apartment until Shizuka removed the digits, causing Kimihiro to gasp in shock and loss as he lifted his hips wantonly. "Shizuka, please, keep going." Kimihiro whispered as he clung to his protector, who obliged the demand and grasped his own length before burying himself in tight heat.

Kimihiro's scream mingled with another and Shizuka hunched over the thinner boy's body as a harsh wind whipped over the two, Kimihiro's thin legs curling over Shizuka's thicker thighs, their bodies anchored together. Clawed hands grasped at Kimihiro, as if to tear the boy from the grasp of his protector. Dark eyes looked up and Shizuka caught sight of the shriveled face and the yellow eyes, the teeth bared in a snarl as the monster flew from the room, darkness engulfing them as the power flickered out. Kimihiro gasped and tightened his grip on Shizuka at the darkness, but the larger boy gently kissed him and stroked his body tenderly.

"He's gone… It's alright… You're safe here… You're safe with me."

Kimihiro nodded, clinging to the other boy as Shizuka began moving his lips pressed to Kimihiro's softer set as he drove the younger man to the ragged edge, both of their bodies writhing together. Kimihiro gasped and arched as he let the coil in his stomach snap, his hips jerking as he arched against Shizuka, who groaned and bit the delicate shoulder of his new lover, causing Kimihiro to let out a cry of surprise followed by a moan when Shizuka came within him, licking the soft skin he had marred.

They laid like that for a few moments before Shizuka pulled back, staring down at Kimihiro's dazed face. "I can see why the spirits always want you," Blue eyes looked up at Shizuka in confusion, blinking slowly. "You practically glow you're so beautiful."

Kimihiro blinked before he smiled and leaned up to kiss Shizuka. "I guess you'd know better than me."