Parasite

A/N: A work in progress. The idea had been swimming in my head for quite a while now, it almost felt as if I would lose a limb if I ever forget writing it down. This is not the only reason the Alpha and Omega is taking too long- sorry about that XD- but also because a certain school project is keeping me busy. Dx So anyway, this is basically a happy/drama fic, with a sort of Chobits atmosphere. Or something. Enjoy. xD

And oh, Kimi isn't really an OC. I think.

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Watanuki Kimihiro is not a happy man. Despite his current luck when it came to being protected by a certain jerk, and despite the fact that the said jerk offered his protective services for free (save a bento for lunch everyday), there is no visible reason to label himself as 'happy'. Being protected was one thing, stalked was another- and the precious fact that he was working for an alcoholic glutton Time Witch and a talking black manjuu ball, well, was he really deserving to be called 'happy'?

Or maybe it's the insistent vibe he gets whenever he falls asleep or when he sees the usual ayakashi- it's the kind of feeling long stripped of fear, but then again, the said emotion is still eminent in his actions. Differently, though, it mostly tells him to watch his luck- for as much and as high his current luck storage is to be, there was no denying that someday all that would be long gone.

It's never occurred to him, though, how fortunate it was for them to have him stumble across their lives. It's never crossed Watanuki's stubborn mind that Doumeki was very grateful to having met Watanuki, and the same with Yuuko and all the other not-so-obvious ones; he's never really the kind of person to count his blessings since, at the start of it all, it seemed that he never had any.

So when came upon a few disturbing sounds that night, he wasn't sure whether as to count this one as another obvious nightmare or file it under 'constructive and destructive realism'- he never knew for sure, for as it turned out, it was neither.

With a broom in hand, he came closer to the source of the sound, pounding gently at the thin walls that built his home. Most of the noise came from the slightly ajar closet in his apartment, and as the spirit seer came closer, the sounds didn't bother to cease- moreover, the squirming continued. It took every bit of his willpower to reach out a hand and open the closet door a bit wider- and an extra bit of nerve to stare into the darkness that dwelled within the cabinet.

Then something fell out, a human-sized something, and once it did the closet door closed again, and the sounds ceased. Watanuki, oblivious to the lack of sounds, screamed when the human-sized something brush his foot, and when he realized that the said thing was a human boy, and when he noticed that the human boy was actually his look-alike, save from the fact that the thing had antennae, and that it was naked.

His screaming caused him to fall back on his butt, and he stared wide-eyed as his look-alike raised his own Watanuki-head slowly to level his eyes with another blue-and-golden pair. The antennaed Watanuki had rounder eyes, and a more timid air about him- and the first thing he said, of all the words and sounds that existed in the world of reality, was "Nyuu!"

Watanuki wasn't sure as to whether be greatly annoyed or scared. It seemed very cowardly to do the second, obviously, and it was quite rude to be entirely pissed at something that looked so...innocent. Yes, he was quite aware the looks can be deceiving, having to have dealt with thousands of shape-shifting ayakashis and whatnot, but this particular spirit (or whatever) was in the entire world cute. The Watanuki-with-antennae tilted its head this way and that, antennae twitching as to feel, and smiling in a very innocent and embarrassed way that showed four long yet harmless-looking teeth peeking out of his little smiling mouth. And he wasn't wearing glasses at all.

The two stared at each other for a while, the only thing moving being a pair of antennae searching about. Somewhere at their side, the sliding windows of Watanuki's small apartment slid open, and in came the figure of a certain jerk Watanuki would have rathered gone.

Doumeki Shizuka was used to optical illusions. If one would spend most of his time with a spirit bait like Watanuki Kimihiro, the skill to optical illusion handling was something well-learned and well-kept for the rest of your living days. What he had before him was obviously not something to make him lose his cool, though- but it brought out a much gentler and dignified look of surprise.

He looked from the real Watanuki and then at the other with antennae, frowning. "I never knew you had a brother who liked cosplay." He said.

Watanuki whipped around to glare daggers at him, as if daring the archer to say anything else. Of course, Doumeki was also used to Watanuki's -harmless- death threats, and approached the much more harmless one to stare directly at.

He noted the slight differences in physical sight, reaching up to stroke one antenna with his left hand. The movement made the boy shrink back, blushing furiously, and mumbling what seemed to sound like "nyuu" again and again. Doumeki leaned back and glanced at the real Watanuki, the noisy one with no antennae.

"Cosplay?" He probed, but at that the spirit seer violently shook his head, pointing sharply at the cowering look-alike. "COSPLAY? I DON'T EVEN HAVE A BROTHER, YOU ASS--"

"Nyuu!" The other Watanuki cried, as soon as the words left the original's lips. It hid behind a nearby couch, and from where Doumeki and the real Watanuki sat, it was clear that the thing was trembling madly in fear.

"Cut it some slack," Doumeki said quietly, getting to his feet and approaching the cowering other. "It's clearly frightened."

The arched knelt before the trembling Watanuki-twin, and noted that it was also something else.

"It's naked."

In other words.

Watanuki quickly strode away, just to return with a really large polo shirt he had randomly taken from his drawer. He didn't bother with underwear, though, for even if the thing did look a lot like him, what he used to clothe his privates are not to be lent to anybody else. Period.

Doumeki took the shirt from his companion's hands, buttoning it open and slipping the now confused and very embarrassed Watanuki-like into the shirt. Once it was closed, however, the little thing seemed to enjoy the comfort and warmth the shirt gave him, and his worried face contorted into a cheerful smile.

The original spirit seer sat beside Doumeki, watching his twin play with the hanging sleeves and nibbling on the cuffs. "Can it talk?" He asked quietly.

"Probably," Was Doumeki's reply then thought about it, adding: "But it'd be a lot better if he wasn't as noisy as you are if it could."

Immediately, Watanuki spazzed out, but Doumeki ignored him and focused his attention to conversing with this quiet version of Watanuki Kimihiro. He, a person who rarely spoke, wasn't quite sure what to begin with- and he settled to telling the little look-alike basic information like, for example, their names.

"I'm Doumeki Shizuka," he started, pointing at himself. He then brought a hand and placed it on the real Watanuki's shoulder. "And this is Watanuki Kimihiro, who you look a lot like."

The antennaed being tilted his head, eyes first exploring Doumeki's stern features, then at Watanuki's pent up face. After a while, it said happily, "Doumeki-nyuu! Watanuki-nyuu!"

Watanuki blinked. Well, that was unexpected.

"Huh. So it can talk." Doumeki commented beside him, crossing his arms. With a quick gesture that almost resembled a slap across the face, "OF COURSE IT CAN TALK" was heard from an easily indignant Watanuki.

Though the remark was intended to unnerve Doumeki of some sort (never once did it work though), the Watanuki-lookalike took it as some sort of threat, and trembled in fear once more. The real spirit seer blinked at his cowering twin before palm facing himself and mumbling about a certain stupid jerk and his lack of mannerisms towards others, as to which Doumeki replied, "You're the one who keeps scaring it," resulting to more spazzing attacks.

Doumeki turned to the quieter version of Watanuki with one finger plugged in his ear. "You better hide your antennae, Kimi." He shifted a bit towards the little twin; "You won't be able to leave this place if you walk around with them peaking out."

All too suddenly, the spazzing had stopped without Doumeki's notice, and as the newly-named Kimi chirped with another cheerful "nyuu!", the archer turned around to see what had finally got the spirit seer to shut up.

Only to be met with a Watanuki glaring daggers at him, a face mixed with disbelief and indignation (again).

"...what did you call him?"

Doumeki thought it best to answer honestly, and shrugged. "Ah, it's Kimi."

"KIMI-"

"You know, as in Kimi - Hiro. Since he looks like you and all."

Watanuki threw his arms waaaay above him- the same way a cat bristled and stretched to show how frightening it is- and screamed into the other boy's ear, "WHY THE HELL SHOULD WE USE MY FIRST NAME THEN?"

"Because 'Kimi' suits it," was the archer's monotonous answer.

It was one of those times when Watanuki would have gladly poured poison into the taller boy's throat, or hot scalding water into his nostrils. It's also one of those scenarios that clearly showed how unhappy Watanuki was, despite the benefits the big oaf offered him. The spirit seer thought it to be a good reason for all his despair, because putting up with a stone-faced bottomless pit was something any normal people can't handle. And the fact that he wasn't the only bottomless pit around.

"Let him stay with you," Doumeki advised him, getting to his feet. "Bye."

Watanuki could only scream at the archer's back as he left through the window, and disappeared into the night (taking note to purposefully forget putting soy sauce into the jerk's bento), before turning to sigh at the sight of Kimi playing innocently on his coach.

It felt like he had gotten himself into another mess with a seemingly innocent ayakashi again.

"Maah, Watanuki-nyuu!" Said his twin happily, on all fours and looking dangerously adorable; "Watanuki-nyuu! Watanuki-nyuu!"

Watanuki threw the pillow beside him angrily at the wall. Destiny was probably mocking him now. In fact, he could almost hear the jibes Yuuko was going to give him the next day. And it was around 1 in the morning, with school tomorrow! Voice still volumed to a deafening extent, Watanuki screamed his anger to the sky- with the first thing that pissed him all too much.

"IT'S WATANUKI-KUN! USE KUN!"

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A/N: Well, chapter one is up then. It's too short to start with, but hopefully the next few will be longer. Sigh. I'll get to work on A&O now, before anybody sues. Reviews are always welcome, my beautiful people! xD