People actually like this, so here's chapter 2!

Thank you for giving my OC a chance!! It makes me so happy!!/cries/


"AAAH! THIS DAY SUCKS!!" Watanuki was not having a good day. First he had cut his finger while making breakfast, then he had failed a test because he had been so distracted thinking about that thing in the sidewalk, Himawari-chan couldn't eat lunch with him, forcing him to eat with Doumeki(the jerk), and finally He'd been harassed by the new kid who turned out to be a door-to-door salesman in training!

"Ugh! That prick! Trying to rip off people who have real problems! He just ticks me off!!" Watanuki fumed as he ran to Yuuko's shop. Doumeki had late archery practice and couldnt' come with him, so he was running at top speed today.

He hated to admit it, but having the annoying boy around really gave him a sense of safety. Something he had craved since his parents passed away. In fact, sometimes when Doumeki was being serious, he could actually be..kind of-

"ACK!! BAD THOUGHTS! BAD THOUGHTS!" The boy spazzed, causing the passerby to stare. There was no way he had just thought that Doumeki was attractive!

GAH! I like Himawari-chan! The sweet and innocent Himawari-chan. Not that perverted, demanding oaf!!

While Watanuki had been mentally reestablishing his oriantation, Yuuko's shop had come into view.

He shook off his frantic thoughts, and entered. Maru and Moro greeted him as he crossed the threshhold, chiming happily.

"Watanuki's here!"

"Watanuki's here!"

"Oh, there you are Watanuki! Hurry up and make us some snacks!" The Dimensional Witch crooned as she lay on some cushions drinking some sake, her hair cascading over the pillows like slippery ink.

"Snacks! Snacks!" The twins cheered.

"Feed me!" Mokona yelled.

Watanuki growled in annoyance. How making snacks and running errands paid his fee, he would never know. Perhaps just the effort of putting up with them was the payment in itself. It sure would explain a few things.

Either way he went to make their snacks as he always did, grumbling and spazzing about evil taskmasters and slavedrivers. Yuuko answered his complaints as only she would. "Why Watanuki, some of those things you're saying remind me of something I read in my manga! Have you been going through my stash again?" Said boy choked and turned an interesting shade of puce at the mere mention of the witch's yaoi manga.

"W-WHY THE HELL WOULD I BE READING YOUR PORN?!" Yuuko snorted.

"It's not just porn; it's porn with plot...and pretty boys." She said with an obscene leer. Watanuki screamed in horror and frustration, disapearing into the kitchen. He didn't return until Yuuko whined for her precious snacks.

Watanuki set the tray of goodies on the table between him and the witch, watching irritably as they vanished off of the plate. He was still slightly red in the face from her previous comments. Somehow his thoughts had returned to the tall archer, and..derailed from there. Flushing again, he burried his face in his hands with a distressed moan. Since when had he become such a pervert? Is that why Himawari-chan kept spurning him?

'it's supposed to ward off unwanted sexual advances..'

'guess that amulet of her's does work..'

"GAAAHHH! I'M NOT A PERVERT!!" He screamed as he yanked on his hair. Maru and Moro answered.

"Pervert!"

"Pervert!"

Mokona looked up from his cookie with an unholy grin.

"Maybe you just need to get laid, kid." It was a marval of nature that Watanuki didn't have an aneurysm on the spot.

"I DON'T NEED TO GET LAID!! I'M NOT A SEXUAL DEVIANT!! THAT'S YOUR JOB!!" Yuuko daintily sipped her sake.

"What ever you say, Watanuki-kun." It was so much fun to watch him dig himself into a deeper pit. However there was a more pressing matter." By the way, what's that in your pocket Watanuki?" The boy paused his rant.

"Huh? My pocket?" He searched both sides and felt something..silky?"What?" He pulled it out. It was the amulet that Hiruma had tried to sell to him! That jerk must have slipped it in when he wasn't looking!

"Grrr! That bastard!" Watanuki began to fume again, reminded of the source of his earlier freakout. Yuuko 'hmm'ed with an unusal amount of interest.

"Let me see it." Watanuki handed over the crimson satchet with a huff.

"You can have it! I don't want some fake-" As he began a new rant, Yuuko was closely inspecting the small, silken amulet.

"It's not a fake, Watanuki-kun. In fact, it is very well made." The boy's eyes widened in shock."The best I've seen in a long time. It's a basic omamori made to ward off the weaker spirits and demons. I'm surprised that you didn't notice, with Doumeki not coming with you." The boy twitched. He had ran all the way here out of habit, not noticing that nothing had bothered him along the way.

"Hmm, well it's not quite enough for your problems, but it will help." Yuuko turned it over and stiffened. Her burgundy eyes darkened and narrowed at the trio of hexagons. Watanuki gulped at the scary look on the witch's face.

"W-What is it? Is something wrong?" He flinched as her gaze snapped up to meet his.

"Who gave it to you?" Her voice was eerily calm, and it scared the crap out of him.

"A-A new kid at school. H-Hiruma Manatsu." He stuttered, hopind he hadn't screwed the other boy over. Even if he was annoying, he would never wish the wrath of the Dimensional Witch on anyone.

"Hiruma." Her eyes took on a steely edge as she looked away. "I see..So it's one of his..." Her lips pursed in deep thought. Watanuki nervously interupted.

"Do..you know him or something?" Yuuko looked at him in a calculating way.

"In a way." She tossed the sachet back to him." You should keep this. It is a handmade omamori from the Hiruma clan. This Manatsu-kun is from a long line of elite spiritualists. You shouldn't burn bridges with him; go make friends. His help may come in handy later." She murmured the last part to herself.

Watanuki gaped. That pushy, annoying weirdo!?

"Do I have to?" Yuuko smiled mysteriously at him. She seemed to have come back to herself.

"No, of course not. But you should at least pay him for it. From your expression earlier, I'd say he slipped it to you." Watanuki twitched. Oh great. More debt.

"When he tried to sell it to me, he offered a 30-day trial, and for only 2500 yen." Yuuko laughed.

"How awfully cheap! He's far too nice. That little sachet should be at least 5000 yen."

"No way!!"

"Yes way. I'm sure you'll see if you walk home tonight. The weak spirits should leave you alone. Oh, and you should probably make him one of your delicious bentos. He may just wave your fee." She said with her ever annoying smile. Watanuki sighed.

"..fine."

/

Yuuko watched him leave from the entrance. That amulet came just in time. Watanuki would be in for a nasty shake up on the way home, and would need all the protection he could get. She hated this part of her job. She couldn't just stear him out of harm's way; he had to face it for himself.

As for the source of that pretty little satchet...Perhaps a visit was in order.

It was a good thing she hadn't told Watanuki about the Hirumas' history with her, or he might have scared the other boy away, and that just wouldn't do. She grinned evilly.

Afterall, she couldn't just let such an opportunity for revenge slip through her fingers, now could she?

"Hitsuzen."

/

Elsewhere...

CRACK!

"Ah! Oh No! My homework!"

A ponytail wearing teen frantically lifted his papers away from the desk he was working on.

His teacup had cracked, spilling its contents all over his working space. He shuddered as a slithery feeling washed over him.

"What was that?" There was no answer. The silence of the room was his only companion.

He cleaned up the spilled tea with a cloth. /sigh/ what an ominous sign. As he picked up the cracked porcelian he frowned.

The tea dregs that remained in the nearly empty cup had created a picture. They were at the bottom. A warning.

A question mark. I need to be cautious...

He swirled the cup three times. The leaves shifted.

A...butterfly formed with loosely curled leaves. Butterfly means fickleness, but it could also be a symbol for someone. And loosely curled leaves represent a female.

"So, I need to beware of...a fickle woman or a female butterfly?" He mumbled uncertainly. He'd never been any good at reading. That was his sister's thing. But he couldn't just ignore it either.

He threw out the leaves and disposed of the ruined cup.

Somehow he just knew his clan was to blame for his future misfortune.

Huh! Let's see if I ever burn incense for you guys anymore!

He wearily returned to his homework.

"This is so not fair. How can they assign a new student so much work!?"

/

As Yuuko instructed, he walked home. Slowly. Not running. Okay, so he walked quickly, but he was walking. And so far...nothing had happened. It was like having Doumeki with him but five times better. The spirits didn't just hover at the edges of his senses, but they were fleeing from his circumfrence of awareness.

It really worked.

Watanuki pulled the amulet out again to look at it. The crimson, embroidered silk was cool beneath his fingers, and smelt faintly of sage. It really didn't look like much at all, but it was effective.

"I guess I really do have to pay him." He muttered reluctantly. I wonder if I can still get that twenty percent discount?

He was only a block away from his apartment comlex when a sudden chill ran down his spine. Watanuki whipped around.

Something slithered out of the the shadows. He gasped in horror.

It was disgusting to look at. It had the look of an emaciated animal, with its black skin stretched taught over spindly bones. Three-toed claws cracked the sidewalk, and white orbs seemed to rip into his soul.

It gave a liquidy hiss and launched at him. It was so fast!

Watanuki ran for his life, while cursing the fact that he had let himself fall into a false sense of security. Damnit, I knew it was too good to be true!

Luck was not on his side tonight, as he tripped over a thick crack in the ground. He hit the dirt hard and skidded to a stop. The next thing he knew a black shadow blurred in front of him. The demon towered over him. It was close enough so that he could smell its putrid breath. This was the end!

It raised a gnarled claw to impale him as he threw his hands out to brace himself for the impact-

That never came.

A flash of light exploded from the sachet, forming a shield in the shape of the amulet's crest in between him and the demon's claw. With a pulse of energy, the light blasted the creature back about fifty feet. It howled in pain and disapeared into the shadows. All was quiet again. Not a sliver of dark aura remained.

Watanuki lay on the pavement, trembling in shock. He gazed down at the amulet which had returned to its normal state as though nothing had happened. It sat innocently in his hand, the golden crest glittering in the moonlight.

Somehow he managed to get home. He bathed and bandaged the scrapes on his arms, while trying to regain his sense of mind. He went through his nightly habits, preparing food for tomorrow and such to soothe himself.

By the time he had calmed down, it was nearly eleven. He sat down on his futon and looked at the tiny amulet. How could something so tiny be so powerful?!

If that was just the merchandise, how strong was the producer?!

Yuuko's words echoed in his head.

You shouldn't burn bridges with him.

Watanuki chuckled weakly.You aren't kidding.

Perhaps he would bring Hiruma a bento tomorrow.