The Moonlight Serenade

"If you disappeared

Or even if you turned into a cat or a caterpillar

At first I'd cry a lot

But maybe eventually it would make a good story

So today, let's talk a little longer

On the phone than usual

I feel a bit guilty

So I'll be nicer to you...

If you and I became friends

And you gave me advice like you knew what you were talking about

I'd nonchalantly

Use it and then throw it in the trash

So today, let's take a walk

At night the streets are empty

The moonlight makes most things

Look prettier..."

The rain fell rapidly just as the weather was getting colder everyday. It was late autumn and the dark streets were almost empty.

Only one young man were on the run: Watanuki Kimihiro was running because he was late from his part-time work at Ichihara Yûko's house.He knew he was late, terribly late, just because he had stayed cleaning the classroom with Himawari-chan. He had enjoyed their time together so much that he hadn't even noticed how late it was already.
'Dammit, Yûko-san is gonna kill me for this, I bet she's already half-dead because of the hunger,' Watanuki thought to himself as he quickened his pace.
He didn't pay any attention to his hands, which were getting all red and sore because of the cold. He simply had no time for that.

When he finally saw the first glimpse of the fence surrounding Yûko's house, he immediately knew that something was wrong. The fence itself looked so rotten as if it had been abandoned long ago.
Then he noticed that the house itself and the garden surrounding it were lacking completely. There could be nothing seen expect the wasteland.
Nothing else.

The sight made Watanuki's heart sink and astonished, he stepped to the yard. It didn't change anything though, there were still barely wasteland to see.

"Yûko-san!" Watanuki called for his employer, but since nothing happened, he tried to call for Maru and Moro, and eventually even Mokona.

He was shocked and angry. If this was one of those crazy tricks of Yûko's, he wasn't amused.
Of course, they just want to make a fool out f me, Watanuki cursed to himself.

"Yûko-san, if you think this is funny, I'm not laughing!" he called angrily, but it had no effect either.

Then, a terrible thought hit him.Yûko couldn't possibly have sealed their contract without telling him first or saying something...?
It made him remember Yûko's peculiar behavior on the evening before...

Yûko was standing on the door, looking at him as he prepared to leave. She had a strange look on her face, if Watanuki hadn't known her any better, he could have sworen that she almost looked sad and somehow gentle.

"Is something wrong, Yûko-san?" Watanuki asked, puzzled to see his employer like that.

"Every person, every meeting, they have a significant, unique meaning. Those things will have an impact on you always," Yûko replied out of the blue.

Watanuki was taken aback because of the sudden lecture and was left wordless, for once.
Yûko simply smiled back at him and placed her cold hand on his cheek.

"¨You are such a good boy, you'll do just well.."

It all was just a one big surprise to Watanuki, who had no clue what to do or say. To make things even weirder, Yûko placed a soft kiss on his cheek. Watanuki practically felt his cheeks getting all red and he muttered quietly in order to hide his abashment:
"Well, I guess I'll be off then.."

So he went outside, still wondering about Yûko's weird behavior. As he turned, he noticed that Yûko was still standing on the door, watching after him.

"You were wrong about one thing," Watanuki called back at her.

"What is it then?" Yûko asked, a soft smile playing on her lips.

"I'm not a boy anymore," Watanuki replied and slightly smiled too.

Yûko laughed with her full heart before answering:
"You are right, you aren't a boy anymore. You have become a fine young man."

With that, Watanuki waved her goodbye and left.

But he couldn't see that Yûko was left standing on the same spot for a long time. Then she whispered quietly to the moon:
"Yes, it is the time... But I know will miss him though."

After sighing deeply, she finally went inside and closed the door behind her...

Upset Watanuki had left the place where Yûko's shop was supposed to be. He wandered along the quiet, moon lit streets as the thoughts were running through his head.
He couldn't believe that Yûko had just left him behind like that, it couldn't be possible. He felt so betrayed and even though he afterwards did realize that Yûko had said goodbye in her own way, it was hard to accept.
Especially because he hadn't noticed a thing.
It hurt.

It was painful to realize that being at Yûko's place had slowly become a daily routine to him, but it had come to its end now. It seemed like some exhausting but on its way, a good part of his life was totally gone.He had always imagined this moment, but instead of being happy and relieved, he felt somehow... Lost.

Watanuki slowly walked to his apartment, not even noticing the cold anymore. After arriving his apartment, he took a shower and then started to make some tea and onigiri to himself.
While waiting for the tea and onigiri to be ready, he went to check his mail. He only found the usual stuff, bills and so on...
But then he noticed something.

It was a simple piece of paper folded into two, but something about it seemed to catch his attention. His pulse quickened as he slowly took it and opened it.
He recognized immediately the strange, flowing handwriting of Yûko's.
Seeing it made him feel empty somehow, as if Yûko was already in a world completely different from his own.

There were only few words written on the paper and the bittersweetness of those words made Watanuki smile sadly.

"Your wish has been granted."

-A/N: I kinda imagine that this could be pre-Spring Flower (if you happen to know that fic of mine) but it also works as an independent story. I wrote this sometime ago during the last Autumn and I had forgotten about it almost completely, but then I happened find it again. I came to the conclusion that it wasn't totally hopeless, so I partly re-wrote it and I think it ended up being fairly good... At least my beta-reader Kiseki Gurl (once again, thank you so much for your help and patience!) said so, she told me she started to cry during this one...

The lyrics from the beginning are from Suga Shikao's 'Hachi Gatsu No Serenade' (I just love him and his songs, his so cool!). I think that song describes very well the mood of this fic.

Forgive me for ranting, but now I only want to hear your opinions, my dear readers! So pleeeaaase tell me what you think, okay?