Notes: Hello! Well, I hope this fic is at least a bit interesting. Please review!
Disclaimer: I don't own XXX-Holic. I make no profit of writing this fanfiction.
Shadow Calls: Chapter 1(?)
Grown-ups never understand anything for themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them. -Antoine de Saint-Exupery
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Watanuki was taking dirtied dishes to the kitchen, mostly empty glasses, when the customer entered through the front door. Separated from the entryway, he heard Moro and Maru chanting, quickly dragging the client towards Yuuko's lounge room. Intense murmuring accompanied the rush of water filling the sink, and the small splashes of a dropped plate momentarily overwhelmed the low noise. Rolling back the sleeves of his shirt, he reached for a nearby rag as he dug into the foamy combination of soap and water, pushing curiosity to the back of his mind as he concentrated on scrubbing, rinsing, and drying. As he set the last cup on the drying rack, the whispering in the room descended into silence. Wringing his hands dry, he jumped at the sudden shout of "Watanuki-kun!"
Watanuki slowly stalked down the hall, his slippered feet shuffling against the wooden floor. He paused uncertainly at the doorway, eyes narrowed in contemplation. Sighing, he slid the door open; politely bowing in the direction the customer was sitting. Shifting into a kneel, curious blue eyes glanced across the room from behind a veil of onyx bangs. "Yes, Yuuko-san?" As he waited for a response, his mind processed what he'd seen in the brief glance across the room.
A pretty young woman sat on the opposite side of Yuuko, large, pale eyes lowered timidly to the floor. Her brown hair was pulled back with a thin butterfly clip, leaving her fine features uncovered. That was all readily apparent from a distance. Up close, her face was more worn, worried lines burrowed into the smooth skin beside her eyes. Her grey-brown stare was weary rather than timid, the pupils flickering with unease. Her slimly boned fingers were curled firmly in her lap, twisting the fabric of her off white skirt. Small tremors tore through the muscles around her mouth, red lips curling into a frown. "If you're done staring, we can get things moving."
Watanuki jumped, a small blush flashing into life as he forced his gaze away from the nervous woman. Seeming satisfied with his embarrassment, Yuuko's grin turned teasing. "Sorry, Tracey. Watanuki-kun just gets really taken with pretty girls."
"Yuuko-san!" A slender hand muffled her laughter, her dark red eyes glimmering. Spying a pending explosion, she waved her hands in a gesture of distraction.
"Setting that aside, Watanuki can do what you want done." Tracey's despondent stare glinted hopefully. "Now, on to the matter of payment…"
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"And then she said I would do it! She never bothers to ask me first!" Consumed in his rant, he flailed wildly, chopsticks brushing dangerously close to Doumeki's face. Without further encouragement, the tirade continued. "So now I have to go to Tracey-san's house and somehow help her! Without knowing what I'm supposed to be doing!" Growling to himself, he roughly speared a piece of sushi, shoving it angrily into his mouth. Chewing vigorously, he was unaware of the intent amber eyes tracking the flow of his moods.
Doumeki watched Watanuki's violent emotions, a semi-amused smile playing across his lips. When the other boy's expression switched from irritated to sulky, his smirk dissolved into a blank frown. In a blur, he had seized some of Watanuki's rice, swallowing loudly. Out of the corner of an eye, he could see the rising anger, blue eyes blazing in outrage. "Hey! What are-"
"She's foreign?" The sparking rage vanished from those blue eyes, dimming into confusion.
"Eh?"
"The woman, she's foreign?"
"Oh, yeah. I think so." Watanuki quickly lapsed into thought, not recognizing Doumeki's efforts to lift his mood.
"Hey!" Watanuki tensed at the address, fists violently gesturing as he wheeled to face his lunch companion.
"My name isn't 'Hey'! I made your lunch, so you can at least get my name right!"
"Hn." The dismissal made him bristle, his teeth clenched in indignation. 'Why couldn't Himawari-chan have eaten with me instead?' He sighed at the thought of the wonderful girl, his mood turning wistful. 'She would have appreciated my food, unlike this fool!' He glared heatedly at the archer, blue sparkling viciously.
Doumeki, showing no visible reaction to the mental daggers being aimed at him, just continued to eat. Finishing off his bento, his calm amber eyes flashed back over to the other teen. "Did she say anything else?" He anticipated Watanuki's bewilderment and elaborated without a prompt. "Yuuko-san, did she say anything else?"
"Actually, she did. Something like, 'Sometimes youth sees the truth clearer than age.'"
"Then it must have something to do with what Tracey-san wants you to do."
"Really? Do you know what it's supposed to mean?"
"Not a clue."
"Then why did you even bring it up!?" The rest of the lunch continued as usual, Watanuki ranting and Doumeki not paying any attention to it. The usual silence also descended when they headed back to class, the corridors filling with students heading swiftly to their classes.
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The end of the school day saw him stomping off to Yuuko's shop, his face twisted into an agitated scowl. His body was tensed with exasperation, tendons scorching with the aggravated motions. His eyes were a fierce azure, deeper and more vicious than the sky above. He could see spirits wavering at the edges of his vision, twisting and dancing in the shadows of buildings. He paid them little mind, the forlorn familiarity of it refusing to provoke any of his infamous ire. He speeded past the front gates of the wish granting store, his form a black blur as he rushed by the soulless twins waiting to greet him. His shoes were thrown off with unusual carelessness, traded irately for worn slippers. His footsteps echoed off the walls, the heavy noise ringing oddly in his ears. His dark mood lasted as he blasted out onto a random veranda, Yuuko's trademark trails of smoke announcing her presence.
Deep magenta flickered over to Watanuki's angered stance, coolly regarding the flaming sapphire eyes burning at her from behind plastic lens. Taking a long drag from the slim pipe held in elegant fingers, her solemnly distant features morphed into knowing amusement. Mokona mirrored her actions, smiling widely with humor. "Something the matter Watanuki-kun?" She immediately turned to the magical creature sitting beside her, laughing eyes watching as her employee's remaining strands of self-control snapped.
"Doumeki! He just keeps getting on my nerves! No matter what I do, he's popping up behind me, from out of nowhere!" He contorted with energetic animation, somehow trying to convey his aggravation through vivid body movements. His message was never received. "He always acts so smug! He isn't all knowing!" More posing. More panting for breath. The witch simply waited for the rest of the smoke to blow itself out. "And today he insisted on coming with me to Tracey-san's house! I don't need his help on every job! I can take care of myself!" His anger had blown itself out, the fire disappearing from his stare. His slumped shoulders carried the apology to the woman, showing that he was sorry for having lost his head, yet again.
For once, the commonplace teasing was absent. Yuuko's gaze shifted from playful magenta to introspective crimson. Mokona jumped from her shoulders, leaping over to land on the top of Watanuki's head. Shouts of "Watanuki's so independent!" swirled around her as she stared off, the smoky lines from her pipe twirling around the strong profile of her face. 'Watanuki, you're so clueless. Doumeki-kun's actions say so much more than his words.' She sighed in bemused affection. 'I wonder when you'll realize just how much you've missed.' Shaking off the musings, her bright stare flashed to where Watanuki was plopping Mokona onto the floor, dashing off to the kitchen, mumbling about getting something prepared for an early dinner. "Don't forget the sake!" She giggled at the answering yell, Mokona chanting different brands of liquor in delight. "I wonder when Doumeki-kun will force him to see…"
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In the end, Doumeki was waiting for him when he left Yuuko's, his large frame a contrast to the drab outcrop of the surrounding buildings. He hissed beneath his breath at the sight, bright blue glimmering sharply. He carried some leftovers in one of his hands, the weight of the food increasing in his temper. Before the archer could even get a word out, he shoved the meal at him, briskly strolling by the taller teen. "Here. Yuuko-san said I should thank you for volunteering your company." His vehement disagreement to her sentiments was left unspoken. "Just take it and be grateful."
"Hn." Watanuki's thin shoulders tightened painfully at the sound, but he forced back the retort searing on the tip of his tongue. The sooner the job was finished, the sooner he would be able to get away from Doumeki.
Bland amber remained unaffected, simply staring down at the box that had been shoved into his hands. Readjusting his bow, Doumeki grasped onto the cloth wrapping, following silently after the still rampaging Watanuki. Though the other boy was going full out, he caught up with him quickly enough, quietly walking at his side. He could feel the brief glares thrown at him but paid them little thought. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary.
The rest of their journey was fulfilled in silence. They reached the destination just as dusk settled, the skies above them dusted with worn pinks and purples. The large house stood apart from its neighbors, a low fence dividing the territory into uneven plots of land. As they made their way closer, the nameplate above the door flashed in the twilight: Tsumamori. Watanuki took it in with a blink, just then realizing that he hadn't known Tracey-san's family name earlier. Shrugging off the bizarre surrealism settling along his senses, he marched towards the front door, Doumeki a silent shadow behind him.
The doorway was just as extravagant as the rest of the home, the foyer before the door littered with decorative stones. There was a kitsune statue positioned opposite the doorway, the carved eyes balefully glaring into the entrance. Though there was a button for the interior doorbell, an outdated knocker was still present, crafted into the twists of a Chinese dragon. A little stricken by the clashing ornaments, it took Watanuki a while to gather up the courage to reach out to ring the bell. Doumeki shifted closer as the loud gong-like noise filled the house beyond, silently offering the slighter boy protection. Watanuki steadfastly denied that he was grateful for the action.
It took only a moment for someone to cautiously pull the door open. Tracey's hunted eyes flashed out at them, something dark slithering to the recesses of her gaze as she wearily smiled. Without a word, she gestured for them to come in, moving back to grant space. She practically slammed the door behind Doumeki, jumping in fear at the resulting clamor. She nervously hid her shiftiness, grinning more forcefully at Watanuki. For some reason, she did her best not to look at Doumeki. It was as though something about the taller boy unsettled her. Watanuki didn't really notice that fact, but Doumeki did and he filed it away, amber darkening in suspicion.
They followed her into a surprisingly small den, three of the four walls filled with heavy bookshelves. Strangely, there weren't that many books. Instead, most of the shelves were piled with bizarre knickknacks, such as a pair of cat figurines, which looked as though they had been fossilized in granite. There was a small crystal wolf, its inset jade eyes burning with startling lifelike quality. That particular piece made Watanuki uneasy. Actually, now that they were inside, everything about the house unsettled him. There was a buzzing along his nerve endings, the inherent instinct that told him something was wrong here. It wasn't the vibrant sensation of alarm or warning, but it did make him tense. He really didn't want to be here.
Tracey seated herself on a loveseat, leaving the couch facing it open for her two guests to use. She fidgeted as they moved to sit, her pale stare drifting frantically from trinket to trinket. Once they were facing her with curious and bland expressions, her own countenance morphed into desperation. "Do you know what to do?" The flash of denial in bright blue answered her question. She sighed in hysterical disbelief, slim fingers twitching in painful frustration. "I suppose I need to tell you." Taking a deep breath to steel herself, she plowed onward. "A couple of months ago, my son stared seeing…things. I just thought he was making up stories. He's still young and he doesn't really have too many playmates. So, I mostly ignored what he told me. After a while, though, I began to notice them too." She shivered in remembrance, grey-brown bordering into a near charcoal. "I thought we were both going crazy. Then, I just couldn't take it anymore. That's when I passed by that shop. I was drawn in and Yuuko-san said you could help me." She had stared at her feet for the course of her relatively short narration and she glanced up at the ending, sharp hope brimming as she regarded Watanuki.
Watanuki's senses had sharpened as her story went on, the shadows seeming to deepen as the recounting continued. He jumped when she abruptly stopped and stiffly smiled as a dull ache settled into his temples. "We'll do our best." He didn't care if he was speaking for Doumeki. The archer had done it for him a lot of times. "Can you tell me what they looked like?" While the vague tale had answered a few inquiries, it also opened up a lot more questions. Tracey hadn't really helped him to figure out what they were going to be dealing with. But he was pretty sure she wasn't insane. The increasing ache in his head said that there were supernatural things here, though he was uneasy that they hadn't shown up yet. He would have thought his presence would have drawn them out.
For the first time, Tracey consciously glanced at Doumeki. For some reason, the sight of his intense amber eyes made her tremble. Biting back the need to wince, she turned back to Watanuki. "They don't look like much of anything. They're just…shadows, I guess. They sort of seem to be a lot of things at once. Like sometimes, they're kind of a blend of a cat and a rabbit, or something equally weird. Its like the shadows are trying to make them seem like something else." She flinched at her own words, the same darkness skittering across her gaze.
Doumeki's brow rose in bemusement. The woman's descriptions were unhelpful, childlike. And where was her son? If he were that young, wouldn't he be home? His earlier suspicion rose softly, tension settling smoothly inside his stomach. Taking advantage of her fear of him, he didn't let Watanuki confront what she had just said. "Where's your son?" He didn't care if his tone was accusatory. He wanted to know what was going on, and he wanted to know now.
Watanuki jumped at the archer's condescending voice, turning swiftly to take in Doumeki's expression. Of course, the taller boy was still expressionless. He gritted his teeth in affronted anger on the woman's behalf. Knowing that reprimanding the other boy would lead nowhere; he turned to apologize to Tracey-san. He didn't make it a half-turn before the pain in his skull skyrocketed. Gasping loudly, he clenched his eyes closed, curling slowly in on himself. If the sparking pain hadn't been so strong, he would have waved off the concern visibly assaulting both Doumeki and the frightened woman.
Doumeki was moving at the second the agonized gasp left Watanuki's lips, shifting to sit on the floor beside the shaking teen. He placed a large palm on top of the shorter boy's head, trying to comfort him. He already knew it wouldn't work. Gently petting through the afflicted boy's dark hair, he snapped amber eyes onto their host. Tracey instantly cowered at the heated look, her hands twisting around themselves in guilty fear. "What happened to him?"
Grey-brown shivering, she desperately shook her head. "I don't know! I-this hasn't happened before!" Tracey's words were choked at the end, tears glistening in her anxious eyes. Any other person would have felt compassion at the exposed, raw terror on her face. Doumeki only felt a flare of indignant anger. Dutifully repressing his rising temper, he turned away from her for a split second, his strong arms scooping the still quaking Watanuki into his arms. Without explaining himself, he sat back down, drawing the other boy back, so that he lay against his chest. Silence reigned after that, the two of them simply waiting for Watanuki to say or do anything.
Watanuki's eyes were still pressed closed, his head instinctively burrowed against the warmth of Doumeki's chest. Hissing hollowly, he raised shaking hands to tangle in the archer's clothes, twisting them so tightly his hands flashed bone white. He whimpered lowly, tremors tearing through his body in long, quivering intervals. Even through the daze of sensory bombardment, he could sense quiet growls along the edge of his sensory horizon. Trying to distance himself from the noise, he cautiously cracked pale blue eyes open. He was greeted with the fuzzy image of Doumeki's face, peering down at him with confusion. He managed a rasp of "Dou-" before his world faded into grey.