XXXHOLiC fic, based on Chapter 07 in Volume 6. Spoilers. WatanukixDoumeki.

I don't own XXXHOLiC, in case anyone was wondering.

Making a Decision

I don't know why I like that guy. He's an idiot, a whiner, and a spaz. He's attractive (in his own weird way), incredibly hardworking, and is way too nice for his own good sometimes, but that's all he's got going for himself. Even still, somehow or another, this odd relationship we have going changed from me taking pity on him and getting some free bento in the bargain to the point where I'd go on helping him, even if he never made me another bento.

Am I in love with him? I don't know. I guess that's what you could call this. It's a good enough explanation for why I'm walking down the street, bow in hand, to save him yet again.

I turn the corner into the park, and see Watanuki on a bench, coughing blood, with that woman next to him, about to put her hand on his shoulder.

"Don't touch him."

They both look up at me. "Doumeki…" Watanuki manages to speak before another coughing fit takes him.

"I knew that no matter what I said, you'd still come to see her."

I look at the woman, and I'm not at all surprised to see that she is a spirit. "You really aren't human. I can see right through you." I calmly lift my bow and start to call on my powers, loading the invisible arrow.

It's simple, really. This woman isn't evil. She is lonely, and in that loneliness she wants to be with Watanuki. And Watanuki could never leave her to be lonely. But if she remains with Watanuki, he will die.

And I have decided that I do not want Watanuki to die. I've embraced my feelings for him, whatever they are. And so, I must get rid of her. Even if Watanuki never forgives me.

Watanuki somehow manages to muster the strength to stand in front of the woman, trying to protect her, yelling at me to stop. He begins to fall, too weak to keep up the effort. The woman rushes in front of him, throwing herself in the path of the arrow. I release it, and it penetrates her spirit.

As she fades away, Watanuki reaches out to her. He whispers, "Why?"

She gives a small smile and reaches out to caress his face. "Because I'm no longer lonely, even though I've only known you for such a short time. But you must also have someone who wouldn't want you to disappear."

Watanuki remains kneeling on the ground after she has disappeared, too dazed and weak to move. He looks at me, pain and anger- real anger, not the simple frustration and irritation that he shows so often around me and Yuuko-san. "Why did you have to attack her?" His voice is cracked as he speaks.

"It was only me making a choice."

He looks at me, his face filled with so many different emotions. He closes his eyes, and begins to collapse.

I sigh, not entirely sure how I'll carry both him and my bow back to Yuuko's shop.

I manage it, with him across my back and my bow under my arm. When I arrive at the abandoned lot that it all I can see of Yuuko's shop, I'm not surprised to see Yuuko herself standing there.

She smiles in that way that only she can as she takes him from me, cradling him like a baby. I never thought she was that physically strong, but once again I'm not particularly surprised. I don't think anything surrounding Watanuki could ever surprise me.

Before heading into the shop, she turns to me and say, "Thank you for taking care of our Watanuki."

I nod at her. She smiles even more widely.

"So… you made a decision tonight, didn't you?"

I nod again.

"Good."

And she disappears into that mysterious world that I'll never know, because I don't need to know it.

I turn around and head back to the temple.

Fin