A/N: It's been a loooong time since I've posted anything here. I haven't given up on my other story in the Saiyuki fandom realm, but I need to figure out where I'm going with that again... That was written on a whim, and I have to hunt down said whim again.

In any case, I found that challenge idea in this section, and I decided... Why not? I only did seven, howevever. I may eventually get around to doing the last three. It is very hard. But I think it's a rather fun, liberating experience as a writer. So... Try it. Listen to a song and write a short piece of fiction during the length of the song.

I like xxxHolic, though I'm a newer-made fan of the series. In the last three days, I have read all that I can of the manga online, and I intend to purchase it when I have the funds available. ; As it is, I have preordered vols 2 and 3 of the anime, so I'm excited to get those. dance I do hope you enjoy these little things. I'm not a big fan of the last one, but eh... Whatever. I needed to write.

Wizards of Winter

It was a shame, really, that not everyone could see the shop all lit up like this, Watanuki thought, standing on the sidewalk just outside the fence and watching the extravagant light display go off in sync with that jazzed up version of the Nutcracker Suite. It was chilly and the air was stinging his face. He wish he'd remembered to make himself a pair of mittens.

He brought his hands up to his face and blew on them, rubbing them together furiously. He about screamed when his hand was grabbed and rubbed between two moss-green colored, glove-covered hands. He looked up, intent on asking Doumeki just what the archer thought he was doing. But then he saw how the light cast soft shadows on Doumeki's face. And Watanuki could've sworn he saw a faint trace of a smile on Doumeki's lips. He shut his mouth and turned back to watch the shop, his hands still held in Doumeki's.

On second thought, Watanuki smiled, the rest of the world could find another light display to watch. This one was his.

Sleep

Doumeki watches as Watanuki sleeps. He watches, though he knows he should be sleeping, too. He should be home, at the shrine, but since he was able to enter Yuuko's shop, he can't find it in himself to leave. He could sleep here. He would sleep here, but there are too many pictures going through his head.

He watches the silvered moon kiss Watanuki's parted lips, and feels incredible envy. The evening hangs in the balance, he knows. If Watanuki fades, somehow, everything else will, too, even if it is just in his own life.

"Don't disappear." He finds himself murmuring. He thinks back to all that Yuuko has told him. And he remembers the wish he asked Yuuko to grant.

"What do you want?"

"To watch over his sleep."

"There is a price."

"Always."

And he had paid it. His limbs feel made of lead as he jerkily pulls himself to the bed. Knowing he'll wake to yelling and screaming about him being some kind of perverted oaf, he still stretches out beside Watanuki, his hand for the briefest of moments touching Watanuki's chest to feel the steady beating of his heart. His head meets the pillow.

Watanuki twitches and whimpers. Doumeki tenses, eyes flickering across the teen's face with worry. But then he relaxes as he sees Watanuki again surrender unto sleep.

The price for that uninterrupted, watched-over sleep….

… Well really. What are a few sleepless nights compared to Watanuki's peace?

October

Watanuki is late. He knows he is. Yuuko will surely make him pay for his tardiness, but it isn't his fault. Not really. But how could he be expected to pass up an opportunity to walk Himawari-chan all the way home instead of to the place they normally parted ways? He rushes past the park, nearly tripping on his shoelace.

As he stops to retie the laces, he feels as if he can hear music. It is melancholy and beautiful. He looks up to find the source. He sees nothing. Nothing except Doumeki… Watanuki finds himself wondering why Doumeki is here of all places. Unnoticed even by himself, he approaches the other teen.

He only realizes he is standing next to Doumeki when he reaches his hand out and touches him. Doumeki turns, surprised. There are leaves on the ground and falling down around them. It feels as if the world has stopped except for the leaves, the two of them, and that soft tune, which Watanuki knows has to be real even if Doumeki can't hear it.

"You'll catch cold." Watanuki says, his voice feeling like an infringement upon this moment. He removes his own scarf and wraps it around Doumeki's neck. And if his fingers linger a little too long as they follow each side to their completion, Doumeki isn't saying anything.

"You'll come rake leaves tomorrow for making me wait." Doumeki says, and the moment is over. Watanuki stares after Doumeki's retreating back before running after him, yelling about how he would do no such thing and just what Doumeki could do with those leaves he wants raked.

Angry Young Man

He is remarkably well-adjusted, all things considering. His parents are dead, he lives alone, and he is indebted to the Time Dimension Witch. Overall, he has had fewer outbursts than he thinks most people would. But there is one thing that he can never seem to avoid yelling about. And speaking of that one thing…

"My name isn't 'hey'!" He yells. "And I've told you, I don't do orders!"

The other doesn't say anything, just plugs his ears.

"Hey! Listen when I'm talking to you!"

"My name isn't 'hey' either." The other says at last, fighting the smirk when he gets a stunned expression as an answer.

The fuming continues, silently.

"Why are you so angry?" The second asks. "Do you really dislike me that much?"

The pot is close to boiling over. "I'm not angry! And I don't dislike you!"

This gives the second teen pause. "So… Why do you always yell around me?"

The first says nothing, thinking about it himself. And when he realizes why he's always yelling, he blushes and starts walking faster. He'd prefer to be called an angry young man than to have that Doumeki know that the reason he yelled was because he wanted Doumeki to have no choice but to pay attention to him.

Everybody Loves You Now

Doumeki doesn't know why Watanuki thinks he's unpopular compared to the archer. In his opinion, Watanuki was much more liked.

Yuuko certainly couldn't seem to live without the bespectacled teen.

Mokona always looked sad whenever Watanuki was hurt or missing.

Maru and Moru… Well, he supposed that they really liked the boy, too. But it was hard to judge the feelings of soulless girls.

And Himawari… How could Watanuki not see that Himawari adored him?

Doumeki refuses to think about why Himawari liking Watanuki made some little part of himself die.

… But in his mind, these others didn't matter. He knows that the one who likes, no loves, Watanuki best… is him.

By the Sword

Watanuki would say he wasn't a fighter. Those who knew him would say that he most certainly was. He was always fighting – with Yuuko, with Mokona, with Doumeki… With himself. It wasn't necessarily his words that cut those around him like a sword. It was usually his actions. He just rushed forward, thinking only of how he wouldn't have other suffer for him, disregarding that those same others were cut more deeply by knowing he'd been hurt.

Doumeki had decided after his first mission with Watanuki that he would be at Watanuki's side as often as possible, fighting back, pushing against Watanuki until Watanuki realized that those who loved him weren't the enemy, but allies. And on the day that the teen with the mismatched eyes realized just how much damage he'd been causing, that he'd been fighting a war on two fronts, Doumeki had been satisfied to see that Watanuki had sheathed the sword of un-intention.

And then they were able to fight together.

Rose Red

Watanuki was like a butterfly. He wouldn't belong to anyone unless they could capture him. Until he'd met Yuuko, he had belonged to himself. Upon meeting Yuuko, he had had the first chain thrown around him. He protested it and fought it and hoped it was a lie. As he realized that Yuuko never lied, just never revealed all she knew, and that she only did that to keep the price she had to exact from being too high, Watanuki was able to accept Yuuko's chain.

The chains of Maru, Moru, and Mokona were subtle, and linked to Yuuko's. He never realized they were there.

Himawari's chain he forced upon himself. It was probably the only one he did.

Doumeki… Doumeki didn't have a chain. Doumeki didn't simply want a chain. He'd seen Watanuki give his innocence for wisdom, lose everything for perceived freedom, give his light for an understanding of darkness… And he'd seen how Watanuki was always hurt by everyone's concern. But Watanuki had to understand, that the beautiful rose red butterfly was meant for everyone to enjoy, belonged to everyone. That's why Doumeki caged that butterfly.