On a cold, dark night, a young man was dashing hurriedly to his apartment. His breath came out in pants, and sweat dripped from his face. His mismatched eyes glanced behind him quickly, then back to the sidewalk.

'Man, for once I wish that jerk Doumeki was here...' the man's glasses slid down the bridge of his nose, threatening to fall off. he quickly shoved them back in place, wiping some sweat from his brow as he did so.

He looked behind him once more and yelled angrily, "I TOLD YOU TO LEAVE ME ALONE DAMMIT!" The looming glob of shadows didn't respond. But it did reach out towards the boy's legs with a dripping tentacle. With a cry, the boy sped up, running faster than humanly possible.

He gave a cry of joy as he saw his apartment come into view. 'I'm saved!" with a final burst of energy, he reached the safety of the compound and ran up the steps, grabbing hold of the doorknob and shoving himself inside.

The door gave a deafening bang as it slammed shut, keeping the monster out and the boy safe inside.

Watanuki Kimihiro slumped against the door, resting his tired limbs and burning lungs. "If... it wasn't... for Yuuko-san..." he gasped, "I... wouldn't have... had to... leave late... and get in this mess!" Reassured that it wasn't his fault by that thought, he stood wearily and prepared for bed.

When he crawled into bed and snuggled under the covers of his futon, Watanuki discovered that he couldn't sleep.

he sat up and looked around his small bedroom with a tired sigh. The walls were pretty much bare, and everything that was there was organized and clean. But he couldn't help but feel like something was missing.

He looked to the wall and watched as light danced from the beams of passing cars. It was a little fuzzy since he didn't have on his specs, but he didn't mind. After all, it wasn't necessary to see the light.

He looked to his right and smiled.A small picture of his parents smiled back at him. Watanuki stood and walked over to the photo, taking it in his pale, slender hands. he laughed to himself. "Man, if you were alive, I bet you wouldn't believe what I've gotten myself into." His laugh faded into a soft smile. "but I'm doing fine, I assure you."

For a moment, he just looked at the photo, tracing the edges with his hand. Then he held it to his heart, a memory coming back to him. "It doesn't matter how much time passes. When you lose a loved one, you never forget it! And you never get over the loneliness!"

He frowned, a cold feeling grasping his heart. "I hope you got to see your son again..." He whispered, thinking of the ghost whom he had comforted and had almost died from.

he also remembered how much it had hurt when Domeki had shot her with the arrow. He remembered how sad he was, how much his heart ached when she said her final goodbye with a happy smile.

It still stung.

he returned to the futon, crawling back under the covers as weariness overtook him. Watanuki curled under the sheets, a tear dripping down his face. he opened his amber-and-blue eyes and looked out the window, looking towards the dark sky.

"You were right..." he whispered, closing them again, sleep crawling into his system.

"It still hurts."

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First xxxHOLiC fanfic. For real. Not the best, but I deemed it 'good enough'. Let me know what you think.