Dedicated to my best friend and sole inspiration, Shakeda-san ...-starry eyes-...I love you! And VinVal, best reviewer and XXXHOLiC fanfiction idol!
As Watanuki made his way to the gym during lunch, he told himself again and again that he would definitely not be doing this, had Himawari-chan not attended council meeting today. After all, who would trade eating bentou one made yourself with an arrogant, stoic oaf, who never said thank you, nor commented on the act of generosity it was that you, on top of preparing it, carried it to school for him yourself when you could enjoy it in the company of the most adorable girl around? Nor did he ever say anything interesting or in any way heart-achingly cute with a glittery smile that could make you forget all about the effort of getting up at 5 o clock in the morning just to make inari sushi but instead urge you to do the same as often as possible, just to enjoy the result. No, unlike Himawari-chan, the only thing that could be expected of Doumeki was an expressionless stare; perhaps a grunted "delicious", or "perfectly filled", followed by an insulting remark which made sure you weren't sinking too deep into your own pride. And yet, it was that impolite, ungrateful creep that Watanuki had decided to spend his lunch with, due to the circumstances…
It didn't occur to him that, even though Himawari-chan was otherwise engaged, he wasn't obliged to spend his lunch with Doumeki. He didn't have to sit there and wait until the silence finally broke, get annoyed by one of his comments and take it as a valid reason to puff himself up like a teased kitten with no claws. And he most definitely didn't have to make bentou for him at all. Only, no matter how often this revelation arose, he did nothing to change his daily routine. There was something precious about it, even though it was often hard to accept. And that was precisely the reason why he found himself at his destination a few minutes later, grip tightening involuntarily around the cloth that secured his stack of bentou.
As if his feet had somehow come to dislike the idea of entering, Watanuki remained glued to the spot in the open door of the gym. No one really came to notice the boy amongst the line of archers, each set of eyes fixed on their target, limbs composed with precise determination. Neither did Doumeki, even as he lowered his bow and strode over to an isolated bench against the wall, stretching his arms. Which meant the act of ducking out of sight and almost throwing over a group of passing freshmen in his frenzy had been completely unnecessary.
Once Watanuki had gained control over the colour in his face –and the offended students were safely around the corner- the time had come to take action. Squaring his shoulders and setting his jaw like someone getting ready to charge an enemy trench, the tousled boy marched over to the bench, slammed the stack of bentou down next to the archer and plopped down beside him, arms crossed and head turned as far to the left as mortally possible. Doumeki blinked.
"Just so you know… I'm only here due to unforeseeable circumstances beyond my control." Watanuki snapped, with the intension of pushing any other fleeting thought the archer might have for the motive of his presence out of his head as soon as possible.
"You're an idiot?"
If it had ever been considered impossible to turn a dark shade of purple, it wasn't any longer. At least not for Watanuki. The cheek of that creep! Doumeki watched in amusement for a while as the boy tried to bring his blood pressure back down and then resumed to focus his attention on the stack of boxes next to him, occasionally distracted as Watanuki flailed his arms in all possible directions, once narrowly missing his head. It was quite some time before it could be considered safe to start eating.
"So, why are you really here…?" Doumeki inquired, attacking his share of inari sushi with his chopsticks and taking the other boy by surprise. Being asked so directly, Watanuki realized he wasn't all that sure why he was here after all. The excuse about Himawari-chan failing to attend didn't seem quite as reliable as he thought and, grinding his teeth as he kept his gaze as far away as possible from his companion, Watanuki contemplated the question in his mind, trying to find a safe answer. He was sure he wouldn'thave ever nursed the idea of coming here, hadn't Himawari-chan attended business of her own but somehow it was a natural gesture all along. Sitting here in the emptying gym, eating bentou and talking to Doumeki; it just seemed normal. And there was something comforting in that, something that had lured him down here all along and was causing him to blush now.
"….you didn't eat anything yet, did you?" Watanuki asked the wall, arms still tightly crossed and hoisted up in dignity. There was no way he was going to look at Doumeki now, especially not after he had surely noticed that today, his share of bentou was slightly more than usual.
"Yeah," Doumeki replied, his voice thick with sushi. He swallowed. "Never thought you'd notice though…"
"Well, that just goes to prove how low you think of me!" Watanuki spat back, finally turning around to help himself to some of his own, a small scowl playing on his face. "Training going ok…?"
"Mmm…Kunogi's got a council meeting today, huh?"
"…Yeah"
"So you decided to eat here instead…?"
Watanuki didn't answer but tried to focus on his bentou, hair falling over his eyes to hide yet another blush. It was almost annoying how frequently they seemed to occur.
"Why don't you act like this all the time?"
"H-HUH?!" Watanuki's blue eyes shot up and fixed themselves for the first time in the amber ones of the boy next to him, his own wide with confusion and embarrassment. "W-What do you mean, 'like this'?! Am I acting any different from usual?! I'm not, I tell you!!! I'm always the same!!!!"
"It's obvious that your attitude towards me is different than normal lately…"
Now this was too much for him to handle. Struck down in shock of being discovered, not only by Doumeki but by himself too, Watanuki felt his face turn hot with blood circulation, urgently fleeing into denial. It- it wasn't true. He treated Doumeki the same as always, just like he always had. Bringing him bentou had nothing to do with it! He still hated him, his stoic expression, his irritating annotations, his shrewd look. Why would he ever feel any, any reason to change his behaviour to suit him?! He wasn't! He couldn't help it if he just felt accustomed to sitting with him in lunch, making one portion of sushi more every morning, carrying a stack one box heavier every day. He couldn't help it that it had become routine, something he had learned to cherish, to enjoy.
"I'm always the same, got it!? Especially in front of you!" Watanuki blurted out, his blush deepening dangerously and wildly gesticulating with twitching arms. "SO YOU CAN STOP IMAGINING THINGS AND GET USED TO IT 'CAUSE NOTHING HAS CHANGED EXCEPT FOR THE FACT THAT I HAPPEN TO TOLERATE YOU MORE THAN I USED TO AND I FIND THAT I KINDA LIKE IT T—"
The boy froze in mid-sentence as the weight of his words began to sink in, the effect almost choking him. Doumeki had unplugged his ears and was looking at him in a mixture of amazement and shock, eyes slightly wide and penetrating, as if boring into him. Not that he was the only one right now. The echo of his words was still bouncing off the gym walls, making everyone turn around to stare at him in accusation, eyebrows raised. Some of them were grinning. Reflexively, Watanuki crossed his arms once more and glared holes into the wall next to him, face burning as Doumeki's mouth curved into a smirk.
"I have to practice some more but you're welcome to watch." He stated, picking up his bow as he got up. "We do allow spectators during practice if they happen to be friends."
"WHAT MAKES YOU THINK I WANNA WATCH?!" Watanuki flushed a deeper tone of scarlet under the tufts of hair but remained seated. Apart from the statement his now second little outburst had implied the volume of it had attracted the attention, once again, of more than one archer in the otherwise peaceful gym hall, all of whom were now examining him with increasing interest. Jeez, why didn't they go back to their targets already?!
"Well, then leave if you want." But even as Doumeki turned around to retake his place at target practice, the ruffled boy lingered on the bench, turning slightly to watch whilst resting a thin elbow on his knees. Why he was still here was a mystery to him but with a simple explanation tucked down securely under folds of denial, within reach to him whenever he was ready to dig it out.
It was that fleeting sensation somewhere in his chest, that shivery tingle of pleasure when the dark haired archer, now standing a few meters away, pulled the bowstring back and looked over his shoulder for a moment to flash him an amused smirk before taking aim and letting go.