A/N: Hey peeps! This fanfic came to me and I just had to get it out because it would not leave me alone! Its been a while since I last posted because of school and work and such, but I'm getting back into my writing groove so hopefully I'll be posting more often. This fic was inspired by the xxxHolic second ending called Kagerou by Buck-Tick and I suggest you listen to it because it's a good song and kinda fun and it gets suck in your head for a while (and that's a good thing). Kagerou is the Japanese word that used to literally name a type of dragonfly, but its connotation has changed to mean a fleeting thing, ephemeral and short lived (kind of like a bug's lifespan). Let me know what you think! :3
Kagerou
Watanuki walked up to the shop after school, steeling herself for the inevitable mountain of chose and cooking she'd have to do for Yuko. It was a normal part of her life now, but that didn't make it any easier to deal with every single day and every single day Yuko thought up new ways to keep her on her toes. It was a nightmare most days. The seer sighed, opening the shop's door and walking in, kicking her shoes off.
"I'm back!" She called, waiting for Yuko's call of welcome tack on with orders for food, sake, or both. She didn't get one. "That's odd." The girl walked into the shop, past the butterfly screen and slid down the hallway in her socks to the receiving room. She slid open the doors and looked inside. Only one light was on, casting deep shadows across the couch and table left in there. No Yuko. Watanuki peeked into the kitchen. No Yuko getting a pre-snack snack and drinking. Watanuki peeked out on the porch. No Yuko smoking and drinking. Watanuki peeked in the bath. No Yuko soaking and drinking. Watanuki peeked in the bedroom. No Yuko sleeping, passed out from drinking. The girl scratched her head, completely confused.
"Where's Yuko?" The seer asked, starting to walk back to the kitchen to get herself a snack. Then, she heard music coming form down the hallway. Watanuki stopped and looked towards where the music was coming from. "That's Maru and Moro's room."
She snuck down to the twins' room and opened the door just a crack to peek in. The twin's room was color coded, just like they were and all of Moro's furniture was pink and Maru's was light blue. They both had Western beds like Yuko and both of them were on opposite sides of the room. The girls' games that usually littered the floor were pushed to either side for their current activity, the cards and toys all laying haphazardly in piles. Maru, Moro and Mokona were blasting music, jumping around on the floors and the beds playing air instruments. Maru was on the bass guitar, her hips swaying to the thrumming notes. Maru was on the lead guitar, her head bouncing up and down to her own notes. Mokona was on the drums, pounding out the beat, its ears waving in the air. Watanuki smiled, watching them play out the last minute or so of the soft rock song that blared from their CD player. When the three of them finished, their last rifts fading into the quiet before the next track, Watanuki clapped, applauding the performance with a huge smile.
"Watanuki!" Maru exclaimed, running and glomming onto the seer's neck.
"Watanuki!" Moro squealed, latching onto the teen's torso and causing her to twirl around with the force of the hug, fumbling for her balance.
"Watanuki!" Mokona yelled, hitting the STOP button on the CD player and leapt at the girl's face, glomping onto her nose. That was the straw that broke the camel's back and Watanuki tumbled to the floor, talking the twins and Mokona down with her in a tangle of limbs.
"Ow…" Watanuki groaned as small, knobby knees and elbows dug into her rib cage. Her butt and back ached from the fall and the weight of the two small girls pushed the breath out of her lungs. She tipped her head up and yanked Mokona off her face. She looked at the twins and they stared back at her. They giggled. Watanuki giggled back, finding the whole situation funny. The twins laughed again and Watanuki laughed back. Soon, they all dissolved into fits of laughter, still tangled on the floor.
"Watanuki's back!" Mokona shouted, smiling hugely. "Now we can eat!"
"Watanuki!~ Watanuki!~ Food!~ Food!~" Maru and Moro sang, smiling as they picked themselves up and started dancing hand in hand.
"Yeah, yeah, I'll make a snack, but where's Yuko?" The girl asked, sitting up fully.
"The mistress is out!~" Maru clapped her hands together.
"The mistress is out!~" Moro repeated, clapping her own hands together.
"She's running and errand!" Mokona added.
"So we were playing!" Maru smiled.
"Yeah, playing!~" Moro agreed.
"Play with us, Watanuki!~" The girls skipped back to the teen and yanked her to her feet by her wrists.
"I thought you wanted a snack!" The girl protested as she was pulled into the middle of the room.
"Play first! Play first!" The twins sang, putting her right in front.
"You're singing!" Maru pointed to Watanuki, her face serious.
"I'm on guitar!" Moro added, picking up her air guitar.
"I'm on bass!" Maru picked up her air guitar.
"And I'm on drums!" Mokona finished, leaping into the back and flipping its air drumsticks in the air dramatically.
"But I'm not good at singing!" Watauki tried to explain.
"You're not good at a lot of things!" Mokona teased, snickering.
"What did you say!?" Watanuki growled.
"PLAY!" Maru and Moro shouted. Mokona hit the PLAY button and the next track came on. The opening cords that the twin's played were familiar to Watanuki, thankfully. It was one of the twin's favorite songs, Kagerou, and Watanuki had heard it a million times so she could pretty much pick out all the lyrics even if she did get lost a little bit. Fully roped into this now, Watanuki sassily grabbed her air mic stand and started tapping her foot to the beat as Mokona's drums started. She opened her mouth and began lip syncing to the song's first chorus.
Usube ni midarete
Manatsu no yo no yume yume
Tobitatsu kagerou
Koikogarero
"Watanuki, are you singing?" Mokona said condescendingly in the short pause before the actual verses started.
"Of course I am!" The girl shot back and then it was time to sing again.
Me ni utsuru no ga Tada ima dake wa Kuroshii dareka no namae kuchisuzamu Usube ni minarete Anata wo oboe wa
Warui yume nara
Me wo tsuburu no wa
Warui kuse na no
Yoishirete itai
Ramushu no umi ni
Shizumu taiyou
Nante suteki da kono yo wa yume da
Anata to yume deaeru
Manatsu no yo no yume yume
Tobidatsu kagerou
Koi kogare'ru
Yume ni yume ni yume ni'ru
Afureru yorokobi
Towa ni towa ni
"Watanuki! Your lips are off!" Mokona shouted, critiquing the girl's singing in the short pause between verses.
"No they're not! You can't even see me!" The girl wheeled, glaring at the little fur ball.
"Sing!" Maru and Moro called, swinging their heads to the beat. Watanuki rolled her eyes and started singing again. Kuroshii dareka no omokage yurete iru Usube ni minarete Anata wo oboe wa Itooshii anata wo omoi yami kakeru Usube ni minarete
Moetsukite yuku
Yume no kagaribi
Nami no kirameku
Inochi no zanshi
Maiagaru you ni maichiru you ni
Anata to yume de odoru
Manatsu no yo no yume yume
Tobidatsu kagerou
Koi kogare'ru
Yume ni yume ni yume ni'ru
Afureru yorokobi
Towa ni towa ni
Tobira ga hiraku sekai ga hiraku
Kono yo ni ikita akashi
Manatsu no yo no yume yume
Tobidatsu kagerou
Koi kogare'ru
"And the bridge!" Mokona called, going crazy on the drums. Maru and Moro were dancing now, jumping up on their color coded beds and waving their heads around. Maru's pony tails swayed to the music and Watanuki couldn't help but smile, losing herself in the song too. She swung her body around, threw her hands in the air and shook her butt, completely uninhibited for the fleeting moment spent in this room, this song.
It was a beautiful song really, crooning about the fleeting moments of dreams and love. Intoxicated, that is what this song made her feel like, like she was drowning I the midsummer night's dream of tangled red and pink. In that moment she soared, scattered and danced just like the lyrics compelled her too, completely free to just be for this moment. Her hair flew out of its pony tail, the ribbon falling somewhere among the abandoned toys as she whipped her head up and down. Sweat rolled down her spine, the heat in the room growing hotter with all the jumping and dancing of the frantic girls.
"And we're back!" Mokona's voice pulled the teen out of her frenzy and poked her back into her role as lead singer. Watanuki grinned, ready for the next verse, the next chorus, the next moment she could lose herself in.
Anata wo oboe wa Usube ni minarete Anata wo oboe wa
Yume ni yume ni yume ni'ru
Afureru yorokobi
Towa ni towa ni
Manatsu no yo no yume yume
Tobidatsu kagerou
Koi kogare'ru
Yume ni yume ni yume ni'ru
Afureru yorokobi
Towa ni towa ni
Again and again and again, she repeated the haunting dream within the words. By the end of it Watanuki realized that she was actually singing the words, the notes rising out of the throat raw and passionate until they tapered off at the end, whispering of the disturbed, pale red, midsummer night's dream…
Usube ni minarete
Manatsu no yo no yume yume
The final chords and beats faded away, leaving the four people in the room drained of their passion, but ecstatic from their performance. Maru and Moro threw their guitars into the air, and Watanuki let her mic drop to the ground. Mokona cackled gleefully, flipping and twirling its drumsticks again before completely discarding them. Watanuki panted, breathing heavily from singing and dancing. It had been fun. Really fun.
"That was fun!" Maru cheered, skipping around the room.
"Really fun!" Moro cheered, echoing Watanuki's thoughts.
"And now it's time to eat!~" Mokona yelled, jumping onto Watanuki's head.
"Now you want to eat!" The girl snarled, poking the fur ball in what counted at its head.
"YES!" The twins and Mokona yelled, giggling afterwards.
"Fine." The girl sighed, opening the door to the hallway. "Let's get a snack. And I'll make some for Yuko too, whenever she gets back."
"Yay! Snack time!~ Snack time!" Maru and Moro clapped their hands together with each other and ran down the hallway as Watanuki followed after them, smiling at the silly girls.
Hours later when Yuko returned to the shop she found it completely clean with Watanuki's usual flair, but the shop was completely quiet. The witch walked around, checking all the rooms much like Watanuki had earlier in the day. She couldn't find anyone (but she did find her dinner in the fridge along with what had been left of the snacks) and wandered down the hallways to the bedrooms. The light was on in the twins room and the woman slid it open a crack to peek in. In a pile of blankets and pillows, Maru, Moro, Mokona were draped across Watanuki, all of them sleeping peacefully. The witch smiled and shut the door quietly, not wanting to disturb their dreams.
A/N: And there you go! You can find the English lyrics of Kagerou online, but I couldn't transcribe them to rhyme or to fit the musical tone of the song or anything fancy like that. Hope you liked it! :3 See ya!
