Everyone was born with one; a birthmark in some odd shape, the mirror image of which resides on someone else. The person destined to be your soulmate. It could be a stranger that lived thousands of miles away and it could be a best friend. Watanuki's rested on the curve of his right foot, not easily visible unless one was trying to look. The mark looked something like a feather, or maybe a leaf, and was only a few shades darker than his pale skin. He found himself staring at it more often after his parents' demise, hoping he wouldn't be alone like this forever, that he wouldn't have to look after himself for the rest of his life. As he grew the hope faded, though he still kept on a smile. He persevered and got through each day, no matter how grueling or full of spirits it may be. It was one of these spirit-filled days that he unknowingly found his other half. And he loathed him.
Watanuki rarely hated anyone, but a mere glance at Doumeki's face could send him into a fit of rage, somehow managing to push his buttons in all the wrong ways. He loathed that he was forced to spend time with Doumeki and being around Himawari was barely worth it.
"Hey," Doumeki said, not even bothering to look at Watanuki.
The sound of Doumeki's voice coupled with his stoic expression and the fact he didn't even look at Watanuki as he spoke made his ire rise for what felt like the hundredth time that day. "My name is not hey! And I shouldn't even bother responding to you if you don't even have the manners to look up when you speak!" Watanuki had started flailing about in a ridiculous manner as he spoke, glaring daggers at Doumeki's audacity to be so rude.
Doumeki just plugged his ears, bored expression on his face as usual. "Make manju for lunch tomorrow."
At this Watanuki gave him an incredulous look. "You can't have just manju for lunch!" He was flailing again and as a second thought he added, "And you can't expect me to cook whatever you want! I'm not your personal chef, you know!"
Doumeki looked entirely unaffected by the volume of the teen. "Then make onigiri too."
Himawari let out a soft giggle that had Watanuki practically swooning as she spoke. "You two are so funny together!" With a smile, she turned to Watanuki. "Onigiri and manju sounds like a good plan for tomorrow, Watanuki."
A dreamy smile on his face, Watanuki nods and agrees all too willingly. "Of course! Anything for you, Himawari." The next second he assaults Doumeki with a seething glare. "If it weren't for sweet Himawari you wouldn't even be getting lunch, you big oaf!"
Doumeki just shrugs and continues eating his lunch, letting out a noncommittal "Hm." in response to all of Watanuki's ranting.
Soon lunch was over and the trio parted ways, Watanuki happily getting away from Doumeki, though not really looking forward to being in class. He had to admit, though grudgingly, that being around the idiotic oaf helped keep the spirits at bay, which also meant that the near constant calls of "freak" and "weirdo" were kept at bay as well. No matter, he would endure like he did most days and when the day was over he would breathe a sigh of relief and rush home alone, spirits hot on his trail. Unfortunately, today was different from most as Doumeki didn't have archery practice. This meant that Watanuki was forced to walk with him in silence. This lasted all of two minutes before Watanuki exploded. "Augh! Why do you have to be so damned quiet all the time? Don't you know that it's rude to ignore people?" After a few beats of silence he spoke again, "Hey! What did I just say about-"
Doumeki interjected, one finger plugging the ear closest to Watanuki. "Too loud."
As soon as Watanuki was about to respond Doumeki turned, heading toward his family's temple and leaving Watanuki alone and more susceptible to spirits. It would be his luck that just as he was out of Doumeki's line of sight that spirits would swarm and attempt to devour him. Running as fast as he could, he made it home just as one of the big black and purple masses caught his left ankle, leaving a small scratch in it's wake before he stepped inside the safety of the wards he'd set up. He sighed and sat went to his bathroom to get some bandages because while the wound wasn't serious in any way, he's found that gashes made by spirits got infected easily. As soon as he finished bandaging his ankle he went to make food for his dinner as well as the food for Himawari, reluctantly including Doumeki's portion in as well.
Hours later, after doing homework and finishing all of his cooking, he sat down on his very small bed, sighing wistfully as he looked down at his foot, more specifically the mark that resided there. He wasn't generally one for getting his hopes too high up because he'd learned at a young age that doing that just sends them crashing back down, but he really did hope that Himawari was his destined one. He had surreptitiously searched the visible parts of her body, unable to find any abnormalities in skin tone whatsoever. While that fact often dampened his mood, it didn't make him lose hope completely, after all, his was practically invisible. Most people's were in very not obvious areas. Watanuki guessed it was because you weren't meant to find your soulmate that easily. Some never even found theirs at all and every once in a while Watanuki thinks he must be one of those people. He doesn't really have much to offer and can't see why anyone would ever fall in love with him. He could hope though, despite his fears and doubts. He had nothing if he didn't have hope. Yawning widely, he decides to stop all of this contemplating, knowing that it would do little to help and would likely make him depressed. He lays down and falls into a deep, dreamless sleep.
AN: Hello! I'm not exactly sure how to format seeing as this is my first story. There aren't nearly enough fanfictions for this fandom (and even less for this pairing) and i decided I should remedy that. I avoided writing for a long time and am very new to it so please be gentle in reviewing. (Also please actually review. My self esteem levels are in the negative and if nobody reads this I won't feel very inclined to write) If you want my tumblr or somethin' just message me I guess? Thank you for takin' the time to read this!