Tokyo Has Enough Weird Shops As It Is…
By: Mokona Midoki
Chapter One
In which Watanuki meets ANOTHER mysterious shop owner, and is almost eaten by a mystical demon
The small bell over the door tinkled lightly as the young man entered. He looked around the shop and blanched. Did Yuko suddenly move shops or something? I KNOW this can't be right!
At that moment a voice floated out of what seemed like no where. "Hello. Welcome to my shop."
Kimihiro Watanuki looked up sharply as someone stepped out of the shadows. It looked to be a young woman with short chin-length black hair, maybe their mid-twenties wearing an elegant Chinese style robe, but he wasn't sure. After all, the voice hadn't exactly sounded like a woman's but then again…
"Can I help you?" He, Watanuki had decided it was a man, asked. (After all, the sign above the shop had read Count D's Pet Store, and as far as he knew only men were called Counts, right?)
"Uh, well, my friend saw this store and was wondering about it." He replied. "Her birthday's coming up and I thought there might be something that would interest her here."
The man smiled. Watanuki tensed. There was something in the man's smile that reminded him of a certain employer of his. He had come to be wary of smiles like that. "Well of course we have a wealth of animals here to please anybody. I am Count D, the owner of this shop. Would you like to sit down and have some tea, and perhaps you could tell me what kind of person your friend is?" He motioned to a small, delicate looking table.
"Well, I, um, okay." He sat down, on the edge of the seat, ready to spring up at a moment's notice. As the Count moved over to a small corner where a tea pot sat, Watanuki waited. He felt extremely uneasy, and it wasn't just because of the strange proprietor, although that was a part of it. Watanuki could feel eyes watching him. And they weren't human eyes. They were something else. He shivered slightly.
"Are you cold?" A small voice asked somewhere near his middle.
Watanuki jumped. There standing at the arm of his chair, where there had been no one, was a small girl. She had curly blonde hair which had been pulled back into two pigtails, and wore a frilly dress, like something that Maru and Moro might wear. "Wh-what?"
She giggled. "Are you cold?" She repeated. "You were shivering."
At that moment, Count D appeared carrying a tea tray which held an elegant styled porcelain pot, two cups, and two slices of what appeared to be strawberry short cake. "Pon-chan are you disturbing our guest?" He asked her.
"Uh, no, she wasn't, I was just surprised to see her."
Pon giggled again, and ran around the table to the Count's side.
The Count appeared to be taken aback by his reply. "You can see her then?" He asked.
"Um, yeah. Is there a reason why I shouldn't?"
Count D gave him another unnerving smile. "Of course not." He set down the tea tray, and was about to start pouring when Pon tugged on his robe. "Yes?" He leaned down and she whispered something in his ear. "I see. Tell Tetsu that I'm with a customer, and that I'll deal with it once our guest leaves."
She nodded, and ran off into the depths of the shop.
"Is she yours?" Watanuki asked.
Count D looked at him, his mismatched purple and gold eyes going wide. "Mine? You mean as in my daughter?" He sounded incredulous at the thought.
"Uh, well yeah."
The Count laughed, but it seemed as though he was a bit annoyed. He began to serve the tea. "Certainly not, at least not in the way you think of family."
"I see." He accepted the offered cup, and took a sip. It was really good.
"So now, I don't believe I know your name."
"Oh I'm Kimihiro Watanuki."
"I see. Does that mean that your birthday is also April 1st?"
"Yeah. My parents thought it would be funny or something." Watanuki was surprised. The only person who had ever picked up on that so quickly was Yuko. More and more he felt as if he was speaking to his employer, and he didn't like it.
"So about this friend you mentioned. You said you were looking for a gift?"
"Ah yes. Well, she's very sweet and kind, really pretty, and I really want to get her something nice."
"Does she like animals?"
He nodded. "Yes."
The Count sat back in his chair. "Well usually, it is best for the customer to be here when a pet is picked out. That way, both parties are happy with the selection, and both the pet and the customer find the right match for them. I could make a few suggestions, but maybe you could bring her by later?"
"Yeah, maybe." Watanuki was starting to feel more and more uneasy. It was everything about this place. From the Count, to Pon-chan, to the tea he was drinking that just screamed at him supernatural. Then again, maybe he shouldn't be drinking the tea. There might be something in it. He set it down.
"Watanuki."
He looked up sharply as the Count spoke his name. "Yes?"
"Is there something wrong?"
"N-no! Nothing's wrong."
"You seem uneasy. Is it something I said?"
"No not at all!"
A new, male voice reached his ears. "Heh, the kid is lying Count. Can I eat him?"
Both Watanuki and the Count looked over. There lounging on one of the couches that had been empty was a young man wearing baggy white silk pants, a vest over his bare chest, and had wild red hair. It wasn't the hair, or the clothing that caught Watanuki's attention though. It was the pair of curly goat horns that poked out of his head. The young man looked at him and smiled a carnivore's smile. He had very sharp teeth. "He looks really tasty."
Watanuki now noticed other forms he hadn't before. Another young man with a long braid wearing an assortment of punk clothing, a woman with tiger pattered ears and tail, a girl with exotic clothing and a pair of huge blue and gold wings sprouting from her back, a man with a rack of antlers coming out of either side of his head, and countless others all stared at him.
Watanuki's eyes went wide.
Pon came out from behind the couch. "Count I told him, but Tetsu wouldn't listen! I'm sorry!"
The red haired man snorted. "As if I'd listen to you, runt." He fixed his eyes on Watanuki again. "So I can eat him, right?"
Watanuki was smart enough to know danger when he found it. He stood abruptly. "Thank you for the tea. Excuse me!" He bolted.
As the door to his shop shut, Count D turned his violet and gold gaze upon the animals who lay all over his couches and chairs. It landed on the red-haired goat like creature. "Tetsu! You just lost me a customer! That was extremely rude of you! I already told you, NO you cannot eat our guests!"
"But he was lying Count. Something was up with him. You know it, I know it, heck even Pon-chan knows it!"
The little girl put her hands on her hips. "Hey! Are you implying that I'm stupid?"
"He's a customer Tetsu. No matter what he was acting like, customers have been few and far between these days! You could try to be a little more polite."
Tetsu let out a 'hmph' and turned away.
The punk-clothed kid snickered.
"Shut up Ten-chan!" Tetsu told him.
Count D sighed. "There was something about him though…" He smiled. "It seems that she's here as well. Who would have thought?"
Pon looked over curiously at D. "Who's here?"
"An old friend."
"What is she like?" The small raccoon pestered him.
He looked over at her. "She's a witch."
Footnotes: Hello! Thank you so much for reading! This was originally going to be a one-shot, but it's evolved into at least a two chapter fic! Gah, me and the plot bunnies! They just won't leave me alone. Anyway, this is a combination of two of my favorite series, xxxholic, and Petshop of Horrors. They are amazing. Clamp and Matsuri Akino have such beautiful art. Plus Count D and Yuko are just so much fun. I really think they would be friends if they ever did meet. (Either that or they would be infuriated by each other!)
Count D's Pet Shop: A shop of pets run by the mysterious Count D. He sells most any animal, even mystical ones.
The animals: If you have special powers like Count D, or Watanuki you can see the animals in their 'true forms'. These are varied depending on what animal it is, and from where in the world it originated.
Pon-chan: A raccoon. She has been one of Count D's shop throughout the series. She appears as a bright and lively little girl with blonde curls or as a raccoon (Go figure).
Tetsu: He is a totetsu, or a mythical Chinese demon which eats people. He once tried to eat Count D, but after being saved by him, he became a loyal follower of D. He appears in animal form as a red goat like creature. In human form he appears as a young man with wild red hair and goat horns. An all around punk who likes to threaten to eat people.
Ten-chan-The nine-tailed demon fox of legend. Not a psycho as he is in Naruto. He dresses in punk/goth clothing, is very laid back, and can have a foul mouth. As an animal he looks like a small white fox with multiple tails.
Other animals mentioned-These are original, but would probably show up in Count D's shop. Can you guess what they are?
THANK YOU FOR READING!! PLEASE REVIEW AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK!!