This is the first part of a story centering around the character Tsuyuri Kohane from xxxHOLiC. I rather like her and her significance to Watanuki, so I decided I would try to get inside her head. Its hard, though, because we really don't know very much about her. Consequently, I decided to try to express the story in the style of Yumegari, an unfinished CLAMP work that is about a girl who is a yumegari (dream hunter) and her yumemori (dream watcher) who try to help people defeat the problems that lie within their dreams. I hope that this story, using the specific style, can capture some of the feelings Kohane feels.

Disclaimer: I DO NOT own anyone here, and probably have done a less than inspiring effort in the characterizations of each character. Thus, I hope the wonderful ladies of CLAMP, Shin Mashiba, and Lilu Bennett will forgive me for using their characters.

Notes: Italics indicate being within a dream, or thoughts of the characters. Text that is centered in the page are poems or songs. I also tried to keep to the original name order and honorifics as used in Japanese; it is slightly important for how Kohane thinks of Watanuki.

- Part I • Plum Moon-

The night is very clear. The stars are so much brighter than usual. Tokyo is not a place to see stars.

- The night is often bright here -

A girl is there, sitting by a stream, her feet in the pool. She is the one who spoke.

I see I am in a garden, with a tea house nearby. It must have a lamp lit in it; I can see a light flickering in it.

- I'm Koumi. Mumeshi Koumi. What's your name? -

"Tsuyuri Kohane," I reply.

She watches me. Her eyes are dark brown and big and round like a deer's.

- Who gave you a balloon? - she asks, pointing to my wrist.

There, the balloon wavers as if in a breeze.

"A friend. Watanuki-san."

- Oh, that one - she says, stepping out of the pool - He's a good child. I wish him well -

"Do you know him?"

- I have seen him before - She looks at me again, studying me. She opens her mouth to speak, but instead continues to look at me before asking - Do you know where you are? -

"I am in a dream."

- A dream - she says, her voice very soft - Have you been here before? -

I am confused; what does she mean 'have I been here before'? It is a dream. I have dreamt before.

"I have had dreams before."

- Ah, not so. You have never been to dream before -

What? To dream? It's not exactly a place, unless its some sort of spiritual place. I suppose that's possible.

Mumeshi-san looks at the stars before speaking again.

- I'm glad you could come now, when its nice here. Do you like this garden? -

"Its very beautiful."

- It is the dream eaters' garden; only dream eaters and their guardians are allowed here -

"Dream eaters..."

Kohane awoke. She looked at the ceiling, where she had let the balloon float when she lay down, and found it still bobbing up and down in the breeze coming in the window.

There was a knock on her door.

"It's time to go," her mother said, looking in at her, "We have to meet with the television crew."

"Yes," Kohane replied, getting up and straightening her dress.

In the car, her mother asked her where she had gone, but Kohane didn't answer.

"I don't like you wandering around," she snapped, "What if something happened to you, then where would I be?"

Kohane did not reply, or even try to talk to her mother after that. The rest of the car ride was quiet.

At the studio, the producer of 'True Stories' fretted over Kohane before walking off with her mother to discuss some recent plans. She walked towards the back of the set, where one of the crew members were still setting up. He seemed concerned about some of the rope holding up the lighting and was slowly coiling it up. She watched him as she walked towards him.

Something tripped her and she fell towards the ground until the crew member caught her.

"You should be more careful, little girl," the man said, looking around the set to see if anyone was paying attention, "What are you doing here today? Are you a star talent for the show?"

Kohane replied, "I suppose."

"Well, I've seen lots of stars come through this place. Many of them have had their dreams made through Star Tanjou! and others here. I hope yours can, too. Good luck."

"Thank you," she said.

"What's your name, so I'll know if you make it?"

"Tsuyuri Kohane."

"'Little wings'. That's a really cute name," he continued, as he pulled on the ropes, making them taut, "I'm Terada Satoshi. It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you, too," she replied. Looking over her shoulder, she noticed that the host of the show had arrived, "I should be getting back. We'll be starting soon."

Terada-san smiled at her and shook her hand, "I hope you do well."

"Thanks," she said as she walked back towards where the host of the show and her mother were talking with the producer.

"Where were you?" her mother said.

"I was waiting over there," she replied, pointing across the stage.

The host laughed, and asked, "Yeah, I saw you there when I came in. Who were you talking to?"

"One of the stage crew, Terada-san."

"Terada?" the producer asked, "It wouldn't have happened to be Terada Satoshi, would it?"

"Yes, that was his name."

The producer and host looked at each other quickly.

"Terada Satoshi was the stage crew head back in the seventies, especially during that talent search craze," the producer said.

"Yeah, wasn't he around for Star Tanjou! when it was on?"

"I think so," the producer said, with a slight laugh as he thought of the current issue, "Are you sure he said his name was Terada Satoshi?"

"Yes."

"I don't think that's possible," the host said amicably to her, "He retired fifteen years ago."

The producer put a hand on the host's shoulder, "You don't think that..."

"It's possible," the host replied, shrugging his shoulders, "Did you know that just a few days ago, he..."

"Oh, do you mean the fact that Terada-san is a ghost?" Kohane asked, "I knew."

The producer went white and the host began laughing in that 'heroic-but-obviously-scared' way that he always did when things really went weird. She couldn't understand why people loved it so much.

After that, the producer seemed a little afraid of her and shoved her off on some poor overworked assistant so he could talk more with her mother.

They did the show, tried to forget about the dead stage crew member, and then she went home with her mother. On the way home, Kohane noticed she seemed to be shaking more than usual. What did she really think of Kohane's abilities? Shouldn't she care, since she's her mother?

Her mother. It was odd even thinking about her as such, as she never really thought about Kohane really as her daughter.

Kohane ate dinner, the purified vegetarian meal that had been made for her, and thought absently about Watanuki. What was he doing? Was he safe?

Afterwards, she went to her room. The balloon was still floating in the corner, its red color unlike the plain white of the walls and her bed. She sat down on her bed and fell asleep.

Ten days passed without anything but the usual - appearing on the television, performing exorcisms, and listening to her mother bargain for money with producers, directors, writers, and broadcasting executives.

She had been out that day at an old ramen shop that was haunted by a former patron who had loved the food there when she had met a boy. He had appeared behind her just as they were about to leave. No one else saw him.

"Did you send him off?" he asked, fiddling with the cane in his hand.

"Yes."

"That's for the better, I think," he added. He fiddled in his pocket for a moment, then handed her a letter, "My cousin asked I give this to you."

Your cousin? she thought, but decided not to ask.

"When you see her next will you tell her that Hiruko sends his greetings?"

"Of course," she replied.

She looked at the letter, and began to walk to her mother's car.

"Oh, and Tsuyuri-chan, don't open that until you go to bed."

Kohane nodded, put the letter in her coat pocket, and climbed in the car.

It wasn't until she had eaten dinner and gone to her room that she even had a chance to look at the letter again. It was on a stiff paper, almost like washi. She opened the letter and read the contents:

Only slight taste of it
Spring makes its debut
With plum blossoms and the moon
- Basho

Plum blossoms and the moon... it reminded her of Mumeshi-san and her home. The garden of the dream-eaters.

- When everything has faded, they alone shine forth -

- Encroaching on the charms of smaller gardens -

I can hear someone singing.

- Their scattered shadows fall lightly on clear water -

- Their subtle scent pervades the moonlit dusk -

It is the garden again that I am in, but there is a bright moon above. Mumeshi-san is by the creek again, and she is the one singing.

- Snowbirds look again before they land-

- Butterflies would faint if they but knew -

Does she know I came back?

- Thankfully I can flirt in whispered verse -

- I don't need a sounding board or wine cup. -

The moon is so bright.

Mumeshi-san looks up at me.

- Tsuyuri-san, come and join me. -

She moves so that I may sit down next to her. She is drinking from a cup, a flat dish of bright green. The liquid in it is purple in the moonlight. She pours more from a jar into the cup and offers it to me.

- Would Tsuyuri-san care to taste? -

I take the cup and drink it. The liquid is sweet. It smells of plums. I close my eyes and take another sip, then feel hands take the cup from mine.

"Thank you, Mumeshi-san."

- Call me Koumi. It is easier to say. -

"Thank you , Koumi-san."

Koumi passes the cup between us, looking at the bright moon above. Eventually, the jar is empty and the cup is set aside.

- Do you want to play a game? -

"A game?" I say absently.

- Don't you ever play games? - Koumi asks, her head tilted to the side as she looks at me with wonder. - Never mind. Let's play a game. There are so few people to play with these days. -

So few people, I think, what does she mean by 'so few people'? Doesn't she play with people when she's awake?

- Shall we play Yut? We'll need sticks if we're going to play that game. -

Koumi stands up quickly, shaking her feet dry of water, and slips straw sandals on her feet.

She offers her hand to me, saying - Come on, let's go look for sticks. -

And off we go, into a bamboo forest that is just a behind us.

- I'll look over there! - she shouts enthusiastically, and bounds off into the forest.

I look about in the forest and find that I can see despite the darkness, because the moon is so full and bright. I pick up two long sticks and walk back toward the garden.

There is something in the forest. It is not Koumi. I can see its eyes glittering in the dark. I walk faster.

I can feel its breath on my neck. It does not seem friendly. I am not sure I can turn around to confront it, so I continue to walk back to the garden.

It is still behind me. I can smell its breath now; it smells of rotting leaves. What should I do? It is following me and there is no way that I can run away from it.

Is this what Kimihiro-kun feels when he is chased by spirits?

I begin to run towards the garden. Was it so far away to the garden before?

I contemplate calling for Koumi, but what can she do? She is only a little girl like myself.

It pounces upon me, its claws catching in my pajamas. It turns me over on to my back with a rough paw. It is a large thing with a body like a dog, but a head like a cow.

I begin the words for protection, ones I have occasionally used during exorcisms. This only seems to annoy the dog-cow. It snorts in my face and the stench of its breath nauseates me.

I can see something gold in the darkness, with red spots on it like a fawn or yearling. The gold thing throws itself against the monster, knocking it off of me. Before I have a chance to even get up, the gold and red yearling - it really does look a bit like a deer - has killed the monster and begins to devour it. By the time, I get to my feet, it has devoured all of the monster.

It walks over to me and I realize it has a long snout like a baku. It must be a dream-eater. It pushes me towards the garden, all the time keeping one of my hands on its back. Its fur is soft like a kitten.

When we reach the garden, the dream-eater walks to the stream that passes through the garden and submerges itself. From where it is beneath the water, Koumi, drenched from head to foot, reemerges.

"Koumi-san? You're a dream eater?"

- I told you that only dream eaters and their guardians can come into this garden. It is the Umetsuki-en, my home. - Koumi looks unhappily at her clothes, but then looks up at the moon. It has moved very far in the time that has passed. - If you are ever in danger again in a dream, just say, 'Baku, baku, come eat my dream!' and I will come to your aid. -

I open my mouth to to thank her for saving me, but ...

Kohane awoke to the early dawn light coming through her window, its dull grayness invading her room. For an instant, she wished that she could always stay in the dream.

Ok, I realize that there were some errors in this and that I left out a few references that people might not recognize.

1) The first poem is by Basho, as is noted by Koumi. The song she is singing is actually a poem by Li Shangyin, a Chinese poet from the period of the late Tang dynasty.

2) Yat is a Korean stick game also known as 'Four Stick Game'. Usually it is played with four people, but it can occasionally be played by two.

I think that's everything.

Ok, if you don't mind, please review.