Heheh. I know it's been a while since I had a story so I decided to send in this one! It's been 2 or 3 years since I worte most of this so sorry if my writing seems crapped up. I put this under xXx HoLiC because I got the idea from that, traveling from world to world, meeting new people.

But the two people you're about to read about are real, though our- uh- they're names have been changed. Everything about us during that time is all real the scars, personality querks, and our relationship (that's a whole different story), including a not so random voice in a young man's head. How is that possible without being insane? You may never find out...

With a sigh a young girl held the phone tightly in her hands after she had hung up. Walking to the kitchen to place the phone on the charger she wore a special smile thinking about the conversation she had just seconds before. She always wore that smile whenever she spoke with him, the boy she had become close friends with.

Only at the age of eighteen she stood 5' 5", the average height for a Korean American, though it was hard to tell she had any Asian in her at all. The only way you could differentiate her from any regular American was her natural year long tan and the slight way he eyes angled. Her chocolate brown hair, cut short to the shoulder and parted on the left side, she had gotten from her father. It wasn't thick as she would have wanted it but she was thankful she wasn't as bad as some others. Her eyes were as dark as her hair, the windows to her soul that were clouded so much with feelings of mistrust that no one was able to see through them. Black framed glasses outlined her eyes, giving off the look she liked, the look no one could describe.

Wearing her favorite Caffeine brand loose jeans with a tear in the left knee told everyone that knew that brand could tell she occasionally shopped in Hot Topic, a Goth lover. Her long sleeve maroon and blue stripped shirt with white collar and 63 on the back clearly stated she was a tomboy, seeing how it was a boy's shirt. Her glasses had finished her "look", giving off a sense that she was an artist both of word and picture. This was her. The name she was christened with, Crystal Ann White.

Sighing again Crystal walked up to her room, quickly regretting what she had to tell her friend, Keith Ryan Farrel. She was telling the truth when she had said she would need at least 8 hours of sleep that night for the following day, but she still wanted to talk to him during the night and throughout the wee hours of the morning. He had understood and insisted she get a good night's sleep for her health's sake. Smiling, she had agreed as long as he did the same.

Going to her room, Crystal quickly dressed into her Hello Kitty pajama pants and a plain gray t-shirt. Sitting down on her bed she set the alarm to the normal 5 o'clock in the morning and laid under the covers for warmth after turning out her light. Her eyes began to droop as she began to feel her hard day catching up to her. Turning her head to the right, she faced her desk that was facing the wall. Even though it was too dark to see she knew two pictures of Keith were hanging over her desk in plain sight. It made her sad to think that even after the long hours she would spend talking with him and the many months she had known him she has never met him face to face. The fact he lived in Arkansas and her in Ohio didn't help matters much. It seemed hopeless when the plan for Keith to spend the weekend at her house was shattered by the society's collar on man kind; work.

With a yawn Crystal turned over falling asleep just before a thought ran through her mind, I won't give up hope as long as there's hope to hold onto.

Laying on his bed, Keith continued to stare at his cell phone as he held it above him. He had just hung up after a lengthy conversation with Crystal, the promise he had given her still hung over her head.

She had explained that she had a hard day planned the next day and needed the rest of the night to rest, making him promise to do the same. Being a man of his word Keith stood up, setting aside his cell phone to pull his blue shirt over his head.

Standing at an impressive 6' 2" for a 19 year old, he was built to be a football player, guarded by 255 lbs of muscle. His face was covered by three scars; one just under his chin, preventing any facial hair to grow. Just under his right eye was a small horizontal scar as well as one above it that goes under the ridge of the eyebrow and turned upward through the edge of his eyebrow making it look like as though an eyebrow piercing had been and was ripped out and left to heal. His hair, a dark brown in color like his eyes, looked as through it had not seen a comb in several days, giving him more of a rugged look.

Taking off his pants, throwing it where he had placed his shirt, long scar on his right shin. Lying back down on his bed with nothing but his boxers, Keith placed his arm under his head, sighing to himself. He had felt slightly upset with himself, hearing disappoint in Crystal's voice as they talked about the upcoming anime convention. She had decided not to go because of the fact he was not able to, no matter how much he had insisted she enjoy herself. She had argued that going by herself would be no fun and ended the issue there.

"It's not my fault," he had said to himself. He knew Crystal had tried her best not to make him feel guilty about not meeting her but the feeling managed to seep through anyway. Turning over on his stomach, he closed his eyes to hear a voice in the back of his mind, nagging. Shut up Gabriel… he thought before finally falling asleep.

Tokyo, Japan

In the mass of large buildings of the great city stood a traditional Japanese house on the last piece of property that hadn't been unearthed. It was the last of it's kind, dwarfed by the forest of apartments and office buildings. In the backyard was a small glass table and held in place by the glass was an umbrella.

Sitting under it's protection was Yuko Ichihara, a tall thin woman with pale skin resembling the full moon and red eyes like rubies. Her eyes openly expressed years of knowledge and wisdom, though her face showed no sign of any aging. Yuko was clearly someone of unusual quality, sitting there sipping her tea with a sly smile she always wore, as though she knew a secret that was too obvious not to notice. Her thin, raven black hair was allowed to flow over the kimono she wore, easily reaching past her waist. Rose patterns decorated her kimono and was held by a large sash and tied into a large bow covering her stomach. Though her kimono was tied together it hung loose over her shoulders, shamelessly exposing too much cleavage and the top black lace of her bra.

As the sky rained down on the earth Yuko continued to sit outside as though patiently waiting for the rain to stop. Though standing next to her was a young man twirling a tray in his hands impatiently. His name was Kimihiro Watanuki

Still in his school uniform, Watanuki stood with a natural tenseness that never left him. His slightly mussed raven hair hung over his light blue eyes, which was unusual for an Asian. Over his eyes he wore wire framed glasses that easily gave him a look of maturity. Though he stood slightly shorter that Yuko he was still an impressive height for his age and still had some growing to do. At that moment he wore a frown as he looked into the sky, which was not an unusual thing for him as he's always seen angry or frowning unless his crush, Himawari Kunogi, was on his mind or with him.

To Yuko, Watanuki was everything but a slave to her. Offered to get rid of his curse of seeing spirits he had agreed, only to realize later that he was tricked into working for Yuko in order to pay off the cost of her services. Now he stood by her side, his eyes constantly moving from Yuko to the sky. The last time it had rained like this they had unexpected visitors, at least they were unexpected for him.

Standing behind him were two girls who seemed to be the age of ten, Yuko's first assistants. The girl to the left had hair tied in pigtails on each side of her head, long enough to touch the ground. She wore a long sleeved black and white dress that reached her knees, on the small of her were small dragon-like wings. Unless you looked for them, you could hardly tell they were there. Next to her was a very similar version of herself. A girl wearing a short sleeved long white dress stood in the exact opposite pose as her sister. Her hair was cut shirt with two small buns tied near the top of her head. On her dress were small white angel wings.

Wearing energetic smiles as girls their age should, they stood waiting like their mistress. Looking at them you would never tell they were soulless, children with only one purpose: to serve their mistress. They were Maru and Moro.

A lightning bolt flashed through the air making Yuko smile more widely, whispering to herself, "Here he comes…" Watanuki looked at Yuko then back towards the sky just as the it began to drip. Above the buildings a large bump formed in the air and grew larger like a drop of water hanging off a needle point. As the formation touched the ground it broke apart to reveal a young man with long black trench coat reaching down to his ankles. Under his coat he wore a black shirt that express the contours of his chest and straight black jeans, on his feet were new black boots, and his waist was a sheathed katanna. Opening his eyes, the young man looked around to see where he was, confusion clear on his face, his eyes quickly flashing a emerald green as they scanned the area around him.

Yuko stood and walked from under the umbrella and into the rain stepping closer to the man that had appeared in her yard. Instinctively he reached down for his blade, though he knew he would never use it against a female, hoping she would know not to take another step if she was indeed a foe.

Stopping in front of him, not caring that is was raining or that fact her kimono was open for all to see, she smiled at him and in a low, sweet voice spoke, "Hello Keith. I am Yuko Ichihara, and I welcome you to the world of anime."

Time for Keith stopped. "Yuko?" he asked uncertainly, as though he was not sure he had heard correctly. "As in Yuko-san from xxx HOLiC?"

Yuko gave a slightly nod to confirm his thoughts. "You know who I am, so you must know what I do."

"You grant wishes."

"And you are here to have a wish granted to you… at a price of course."

Behind her, standing under the umbrella Watanuki made a face of discontent, whispering loudly, "There she goes again, being a pushy salesman."

"Pushy salesman!" repeated Maru and Moro happily, as they always did.

Smirking with slight annoyance, Yuko turned her head to look at the boy from the corner of her eye. "We can hear you, you know." She had spoken through her teeth, irritated by Watanuki's new habit of speaking just loud enough to be heard by her customers. Turning back Yuko saw a serious look in Keith's eyes and for an instant, so fast you never thought it was there, she swore she saw them change to gray.

"I don't have a wish for you to grant, none that you can grant." He spoke slowly, choosing his words with great care.

"You know, a wish shared can be the greatest wish of all?" Speaking as though Keith had not, Yuko continued, looking into his eyes as though cutting into his soul. "Do you not wish to see with your eyes instead of your imagination? Hold a heart in your arms, even for just a second?" Suddenly her voice went to a low whisper and had it not been for his sensitive ears he would not have heard her say, "Do you not wish to have her here with you?"

Eyes gone wide, the name of the girl he had just spoken to just minutes before had come to mind: Crystal. Opening his mouth to speak, he was interrupted as he tried to say one word. Yuko's hand was held up, her face pointed to the raining sky.

"Here she comes now…"

Again, a lump appeared in the sky, lowering down until it touched the soft grass just to the right of Keith. Breaking apart, the piece of sky that had dripped down revealed a young girl hidden under a black, hooded sweatshirt that looked three sizes too large for her. Below that she wore average blue jeans, emphasizing the length of her legs. On her feet were black and white converse shoes. Though what was interesting about her was that on the back of her hoodie was a silver independent symbol.

Opening her eyes, Crystal looked around, unsure of her surroundings. They seemed too familiar. Eyes widening, she did a double take. There she stood staring at the young man from the picture on her bedroom wall.

"Keith?" she asked, feelings of nervousness, anxiety, and hope mixed into her voice.

Keith, unable to speak, smiled softly and took a step towards her only to be stopped by Yuko, who had stepped up and placed her arm between the two. She knew these two had feelings for the other but she need to have business finished first.

Seeing Yuko surprised Crystal to say the least. Taking a step back she looked at the house behind her and realized where she was. "Yuko…san? What's going on, this can't be real."

Taking her arm back, Yuko acknowledged them both. "You both had a wish, to be here with each other. Because the both of you wanted it with your hearts the wish is ten times more powerful." She had paused to see no surprise on our faces at the fact we wished this to be so. "But because the wish is so great this is only half of what the wish brings. It has brought you together, yes, but there is more to come."

"What is it?" Keith asked, speaking for both him and Crystal.

"I cannot tell you, you need to trust your hearts and decide whether to pay for this wish."

Taking a look towards each other, Keith and Crystal took little time to think. They've always wanted this, they weren't going to let this chance slip through their fingers.

"What's the price?" asked Crystal, amazed at how strong and sure her own voice was. She was, though, slightly nervous. She knew that Yuko's prices only matched her wishes but by the way she spoke of theirs…

Extending her hand, Maru, holding a gold feathered pen, and Moro, holding a sheet of parchment looking several years old, walked up to Yuko. After giving her the items they remained standing behind her, waiting patiently.

"Your names." She said, so suddenly Crystal jumped slightly, Keith blinked in surprise. "Your price is your names."

"Excuse me?" asked Keith, sounding as though he had heard pigs were flying above his head.

"You heard me correctly. Your names you will give to me in exchange for names I will give you." She held out the paper and released it, only to have it remain floating before them and extended the pen at them. "All you must do is sign."

It took all of Keith's willpower not to snatch the pen from Yuko's hand. Taking one look at Crystal, he signed his full name on the sheet, his signature shone bright red before disappearing.

As the letters disappeared all of his memories about his name disappeared along with them. He looked up at Yuko, nervousness in his eyes. For all he was worth he could not think of his name!

Taking the pen from his hand, Yuko gave her usual smile. Still standing behind the rest, Watanuki looked on, a worried look on his face. He did not like the look on Keith's face until finally he understood. He was Keith no more, had given his identity to Yuko.

"Thank you… Akira." He heard Yuko say to him.

Akira. It echoed in Keith's thoughts, somehow knowing that was his new name. Looking up he saw Crystal take the pen from Yuko. He watched as she wrote down her name and had the same thing happen to her. A small voice in the back of his mind screamed at him to stop her, but in his heart he knew that would be an impossible deed.

"Akira and Kiyoko," said Yuko. "No longer do your old names hold against you, no longer do they make any difference." Now having a look of seriousness, Yuko having taken the pen and paper, looked at them for several seconds, until she spoke with a voice a great solemnity. "You will only be able to return home when you have granted your own wish, with the assistance of others such as myself. When you are able to do this, you will be sent home as though nothing has happened and you will have earned back your true names."

Before any questions could be asked a circle surrounded each of them. Too surprised to move Bryan and Christine stared down at their own circles. Hearing a yell, Keith looked up to see Crystal's circle become a wall of green, surrounding her.

"Kiyoko!" He yelled, surprised at himself for calling her that because he knew in the back of his memory that was not her real name. As he began to take a step to help her his own circle grew into a wall around him and engulfed him a dome. Both domes began to grow smaller as they pulled themselves back into the ground, pulling Crystal and Keithalong with them.

Yuko remained standing in the rain, staring at the two spots the young couple had been standing. In a soft whisper, she had to herself, "I wish you the best and luck… you will need it."

So whatcha think?! Think I did good staying OC? Knowing Yuko she would ask for something like that... Tell me what you think!