Doumeki knew.

He could tell by the way Watanuki looked at him. He could see the hurt and betrayal swimming around in those tear-filled eyes of his.

Their "friendship" was over.

Watanuki would never forgive him.

Though, to his credit, Doumeki could understand why. While he didn't know that much about Watanuki's past, he did know that the boy's parents had died when he was very young and was forced to live by himself. It was probably one of the reasons why he was such a great cook. But to go that long without the love of a parent, it was no wonder that Watanuki stubbornly went out to meet with that woman. He needed her. He needed a mother.

Yuuko could probably be considered the best alternative in Watanuki's life for a mother, but she was too strange and not motherly enough for what Watanuki desperately needed. Yuuko was a very precious person in Watanuki's life though. What someone as emotional as Watanuki needed was loving and comforting physical contact. He was like a child that needed to be hugged.

It was one of the reasons why Watanuki tended to get so emotionally involved with the customers that came to Yuuko's shop. That need of his wasn't fulfilled elsewhere in his life so he subconsciously tried to fulfill it himself. He himself certainly wasn't the person to give that to Watanuki, and while Himawari seemed the more obvious candidate, she cared about him too much to do so. Her bad luck would end up hurting him more.

So she would give him encouragement from a distance, trying to do what she could with kind words and smiles to lift Watanuki's spirits. Doumeki could see the stress she felt at wanting to touch him. It would frustrate him to see them both in such pain but there was nothing he could do about it.

That woman—whatever she was—gave Watanuki the love he craved. She wasn't blunt like he was or as demanding and conniving as Yuuko. Despite the fact that her presence nearly made Watanuki disappear she was a wonderful surrogate mother. Even through he looked as sickly as he did there was no denying the happiness that Watanuki felt when talking about that woman.

And now that happiness was gone. All because of Doumeki.

But he would do it all over again if he had to. He wouldn't hesitate. Doumeki felt no regret when he lifted his empty arrow and pointed it at the woman. He had already made up his mind as he was walking over to where Watanuki was. When his bowstring snapped and fell to the ground, Doumeki just knew. Wordlessly he had left the school grounds, leading his teammates to believe he was trying to find some replacement string, and set out after Watanuki.

He made a choice.

Doumeki knew that after he got rid of the woman that Watanuki would never forgive him. That he would hate him forever. Not that it seemed like Watanuki cared too much for him anyway. And no matter how much he tried to deny it, that fact saddened Doumeki. He knew that after hanging around Watanuki for so long that the boy considered him to be somewhat of a friend, but it didn't seem like he cared too much for him. He was always complaining about Doumeki and saying how much he hated him being around whenever he was with Himawari.

Did he not understand that Doumeki only did that for his sake? The idiot couldn't tell that Himawari had the bad luck that she did and that it affected him. Doumeki and Himawari had silently come to an agreement to have Doumeki around as often as possible because that was the only way she and Watanuki could meet together safely. Somehow he was able to repel her bad luck and make things easier so the girl would have less to worry about.

No matter now. Watanuki truly hated him.

"Shizuka, is everything all right?"

Doumeki blinked and turned to one of his teammates. It took him a second to understand what he was referring to. The boy glanced at his target and was startled to see that all five of his arrows were way off center. He didn't make a single one. That was quite unlike him.

"Maybe you should go home early," another teammate suggested.

"Get some good rest so you can be ready for tomorrow." Doumeki nodded curtly and left without a word. He knew none of the teammates really cared for him either. And it wasn't entirely their fault—it's not like he went out of his way to make friends. They mainly worried about him because he was the best on the team and he imagined they were still bitter about what happened during the last tournament.

An hour later found Doumeki standing in front of Yuuko's shop—or at least where it was supposed to be. He still couldn't see anything but an empty lot, yet he knew Watanuki was there. He wondered how the boy was doing.

"Resting at the moment, if you'd like to know."

Doumeki glanced to his left and saw Yuuko leaning against the fence, adorned in one of her many ornate robes. His expressions betrayed his feelings but it did rather unnerve him how she seemed to be able to read minds. That and how she was able to get there without him knowing.

"That's good."

"You did the right thing, getting rid of that woman." Doumeki nodded. Yuuko smiled and leaned closer. "But you don't want your relationship to change with Watanuki."

Doumeki sighed. "You and I both know that my actions will have a serious impact on my relationship with him."

"True—there is no denying that it has been changed because of what took place tonight. That doesn't mean that it will change for the worst though." Doumeki remained silent.

Yuuko looked up at the stars and they stood there in silence for a moment. "Watanuki has changed. The old Watanuki would probably never forgive you, but now he has changed. Given time, he will be able to understand why you did what you did. He'll understand that all you wanted to do was prevent him from disappearing."

Doumeki folded his arms and averted his eyes. Yuuko chuckled and lifted a finger to Doumeki's chin, lifting it up until he was looking right at her. "You care about Watanuki." Doumeki said nothing to defend himself, because there was no denying yourself in front of that woman. Yuuko smiled and left go of Doumeki's chin.

"He's lucky to have a friend like you. Someone to remember him to prove his existence." Doumeki frowned at the woman's cryptic comment. Why did Watanuki need proof of his existence? Yuuko returned her attention to the moon. "Don't worry about Watanuki—he'll come around soon enough. Just continue to be there for him."

"Watanuki needs you more than you or he realizes."


Doumeki lay awake in bed two days later. Yuuko had just called a couple minutes ago, telling him that Watanuki had woken up and would be at school the next day. It wasn't that he was nervous or anything . . . he was just—concerned. He had never seen Watanuki so hurt before and hoped he was all better. Knowing Watanuki, if he were all better then he would be fawning over Himawari and dancing around her like the lovestruck fool that he was.

He would just have to wait until tomorrow to find out.

"Himawari-chan~!"

That idiot. He could hear him all the way down the hall. Why did he have to be so loud?

Here goes. Watanuki was in his sight. He was staring at him. Doumeki continued walking, all the while waiting. Waiting for Watanuki to say something.

Nothing happened.

Doumeki's heart sank as he passed Watanuki and still the boy didn't say anything. Really, how was it that he talked off Doumeki's ear whenever they were together but now he couldn't say a thing? It looked like their friendship really was over. As much as he tried to deny it, that fact tore at Doumeki's heart—

"Hold up."

Doumeki slowly ceased walking, unwilling to hope as he turned his head.

"You can come too . . . to lunch."

What?

"But Himawari-chan's still the guest of honor!"

Doumeki was unable to prevent the look of surprise on his face. He was . . . forgiven? By Watanuki?

He smiled. Time to make things back to normal.

"You better have Inari-sushi."

As Watanuki blew up at him and Doumeki placed a finger in his ear, he couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of happiness and relief. He never had a real friend before, and he was glad he hadn't lost the one closest one he had.

When they sat down to lunch Watanuki loudly gave Himawari her share like always. As Doumeki prepared himself for the angry retort that he usually had to suffer through, it never came.

"Here you go." As Watanuki held out the bento he smiled warmly at Doumeki. He returned the smile and took the food.

Things were going to be all right.

What do you think? I find Doumeki as a fascinating character and so I wanted to try my hand at getting into his head. Comments are appreciated!