This world may hold many mysteries...but no matter how strange, how bizarre an incident may seem, if people are not present, if people do not witness it, if people are not involved, then it is nothing more than a phenomenon, an affair that will simply pass. People, people, people…people themselves are the most profoundly mysterious beings in this world.
He woke, like so many other times, from a dream he wished were only a dream. A dream where shadows ensnared fragile butterfly wings and darkness gulped at a lovely face. Where the bitter sense of hopelessness and cold shock never failed to disappear, no matter how many times the dream would repeat itself. He woke from a dream where his reason for existence was lost to powers beyond his control.
After so long, though, he had begun, not to become numb to it nor even accept it, but to gradually start expecting the dream, unsurprised when it showed up once in a while. In a way, he mused, those depressing and desperation-filled dreams kept him going, renewing and damaging his resolve in waiting for the original owner to show. They were a smack to the face, a sharp reminder to what he had lost—though he still had Maru and Moro and even Mokona, life was not the same without the all-knowing Time-Space Witch around. He found himself, more often after the repeats of The Dream, spacing out and reminiscing distant pasts where her playful smirk and misguiding comments lead him round and round in circles. Yet, The Dream's purpose was not to serve as just a reminder.
"Maru, Moro," he called after a nearly undetectable pause in his cooking. "Come help me finish making the meal. Mokona, go get the door. A guest has arrived."
Kimihiro Watanuki, the current owner of the wish-granting store, had long surpassed the days where he would be caught unprepared in the arrival of a new guest. Gone were the green days of his rookie years, where he would be caught up in jobs way out of his league, measuring wishes with no eye for real, equivalent compensation and the constant injuries of inequivalent retaliation. He had grown much since her death, able to barter for rare dreams and rummage through the storage on his own. On the off days where he had customers, he would have already boiled the tea and made refreshments long before any potential patrons would have stepped out of their houses. It was rare, now, that customers would catch him off guard. Days like this, for example.
Stepping in front of the stranger occupying his front entrance, Watanuki offered a knowing smile at the man, gesturing to the hallway with a light sweep of his arm for him to enter. "Welcome, mister. It's rare for a male customer to show up. I hope Mokona has treated you well." The stranger stood there, with seemingly no intention of replying as he glanced first at the interior of the building then at Watanuki. "Of course I treated him well! Mokona only does Mokona's best, after all! So Mokona deserves some sake, okay?!" the little black manju jumped up and down, trying to catch Watanuki's attention before he signaled with a nod to the giggling girls to scurry him along. From his peripheral vision, Watanuki did not miss the long stare that was directed at the two little girls.
Facing the silent man again, Watanuki motioned for him to follow him. "I apologize for the ruckus and lack of provisions. Your visit was…a little bit unexpected. I really should have seen you coming, but it seems that I had ignored the signs." Rubbing his forehead, he sighed, remembering the dream within a dream yet again.
The man walked past him, straight down the hall without a single response, seeming to know the way towards the room intended for receiving customers. Watanuki was left standing in the entrance alone, looking after the intensely silent man. Rubbing his head, he allowed himself a small sigh. This feels a little like talking to an angry Doumeki. Giving a small, hidden shake of his head, he continued down the hall, after his new customer.
"I don't know why I am here today, or even the reason why I entered into this building," was the man's first sentence as he faced Watanuki, ignoring the freshly-placed cup of chamomile tea in front of him. His stare is intense, Watanuki mused absent-mindedly, his hands placed on his lap. Turning to look through the window, he recited the speech he gave to every confused customer that came his way. "The reason why you came to this shop today may not be known to you, and may not need to be known to you. But you are here and your being here is proof that fate has brought you this way. This is the inevitability of this world—'hitsuzen'. Only those who have a strong desire are able to see this shop." He closed his mismatched eyes against the evening sun and opened them again, turning his full attention toward the man. "Tell me, Mister Customer, what is this wish that you want me to grant?"
The pattern that usually occurs when Watanuki first gets to know his customers usually starts with confusion—why are they here, what store is this, who are you? The second reaction was usually, one, a wish they knew they wanted granted, or a problem they do not notice but wish for it to be solved anyway. This man was of the former, with his near instant reply after a moment of uncomfortable silence. "I would like for you to accept a child."