Summary: Kimihiro Watanuki has crossed a black cat, and you know what that means… bad luck! Yuuko-san offers him one way out…

Takes place before (SPOILER ALERT) Yuuko disappears and after the events of The Fourth Apprentice.

Disclaimer: xxxHolic belongs to CLAMP and Warriors belong to the authors collectively known as Erin Hunter. I own absolutely nothing in relation to either works, except for the idea to mesh them together.

Chapter One – White cat

"Why," I fumed, "do I have to clean your dark, stupid, dirty, dark, BORING and – did I mention dark? – SHED, Doumeki!" I was really thinking about smashing a hole in the creepy old building with my broom.

The other occupant of the shed turned and looked at me. "What?" he asked, looking and sounding unconcerned, "afraid of the dark, Watanuki?"

"No!" I cried. "But while I waste time doing this menial, back-breaking, boring work –" "You already said boring," Doumeki interrupted, going back to devouring the food I made – "requested by – no, ordered by – Yuuko-san, so that I can pay off what I owe you for saving my neck –" I was being sarcastic there – "cute Himawari-chan's spending two hours by herself with no one to comfort her! Think of how lonely and scared she must be," I sobbed, "being in the dangerous shopping district with no one she knows!"

"You should have mentioned that. I could've gone with her." Doumeki finished his soup and proceeded onto the fish.

He was being sarcastic. I hope.

I vented my anger at him anyways. "You?" I scoffed. "You think you're deserving of the honour of accompanying Himawari-chan to the sacred grounds of the shopping district? As if!"

"I thought you said the shopping district supposed to be dangerous."

"Aaaahhh!" I yelled, throwing up my hands in frustration. "It is soooo annoying talking to you!"

"Will you be quiet? I'm trying to eat here."

"And the food!" I continued, still ranting. "Every single day, I make food for you to eat, and it's always stuff that's hard to find or expensive! Just yesterday, you asked for shark. Shark! Do you know how much more Yuuko-san added onto my tab again for giving me the shark? I don't, and I don't want to know!"

Doumeki was sticking one finger in his ear and eating at the same time, and that only made me all the more angrier.

I continued: "Then I spend half the night yesterday cooking the shark, with Maru and Moro both trying to take a piece of cooked shark when I wasn't looking, and today, when you come over to eat, Yuuko-san says that the dinner wasn't enough, and I still have to clean you stupid, dark shed!"

"If you have any more left over, make me some more of this tomorrow."

"And still not even one word of thanks!"

"My, my," said an amused voice, "your over dramatization is quite interesting to see."

Doumeki snapped his head up, his hands moving towards his bow. I, unfortunately, did not keep my cool. I yelped, dropping the broom, and stumbled backwards, crashing noisily on the floor.

"Be quiet!" Doumeki hissed, already grabbing his bow and notching it with an arrow.

"Who's there?" I asked bravely from the floor, backing up slowly. "And why were you watching us?"

There was no answer. Doumeki did not relax. "Can you see anything?" he asked me.

My special vision, though unwanted, can see ghosts. Doumeki didn't have this ability, so it was up to me to see if the coast was clear. I took a careful look around, but I couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. I didn't know if that was a good or bad thing.

"N-Nothing," I said shakily. I repeated my thought. "I don't know if that's a good or bad thing."

"Do you know if any spirits could hide themselves from your vision?"

"No, and Yuuko-san never mentioned anything like that. B-But that's no guarantee that it can't happen." By now the old shed went up several hundred percent in the creepy scale. "I-I think the shed's clean enough to call it quits for today. Let's go."

Doumeki showed no signs of moving. His eyes swept over the contents of the shed – me, the broom, a couple of crates (that held wine), the dust-filled other half of the room that I hadn't gotten to yet, and finally me again. He spoke with no emotion: "Who's there? Show yourself now!"

I saw a flicker of movement in the shadows. Doumeki immediately turned and fired. Twang!

There was no arrow in his bow.

"What…?" Doumeki muttered, distracted. I was surprised too.

"Oh, great, Doumeki, just the time to forget to notch an arrow," I said sarcastically. But I knew the truth, and so did he.

Both of us immediately started backing up to the door while Doumeki notched another arrow.

"You know, it already made one arrow disappear," I pessimistically reminded him. "Most ghosts I encounter can only attach themselves to someone and bog them down. If it's that powerful, we may as well make a run for it."

Doumeki looked uncertain for a moment, and then agreed. Both of us dashed out of the shed.

"Yuuko-san's shop should have protective wards on it!" I shouted at Doumeki. I hope it's strong enough, I added silently. Both of us quickly passed by his house, ran down the street, and fled to the general direction of Yuuko-san's house where, hopefully, protection and answers were located.

I was scared. I didn't know what I had encountered. I turned my head backwards constantly. No one is chasing us, no one is chasing us… I thought constantly, trying to believe it.

"Almost there!" I breathlessly shouted at Doumeki. I faced forward again, and no one was in sight. "Doumeki?"

I stopped. I was still scared. It was made worse by the fact that this was a street I was completely unfamiliar with. The walls on either side of the street seemed especially menacing in my situation.* *(a/n Remember, the setting is in Japan, it is common for personal property in suburban areas to be surrounded by a stone wall.)

"Doumeki?" I called out again, trying to sound brave. There was no response.

I briefly considered climbing up the stone wall and risk crossing someone else's property, but decided that was behaviour befitting Doumeki. I instead decided to retrace my steps, hoping now more than ever that whatever happened at Doumeki's shed was nothing more than a trick of the eyes and ears.

It was starting to get dark; I did some quick arithmetic in my head. I had arrived at Doumeki's house with him sometime around six-thirty PM; worked to death for about fifteen minutes; and that meant it was sometime around six forty-five PM. I had to find my way back quickly, but my backwards progress was hindered by the fact I was feeling more and more lost. I almost didn't want to go back; whatever talked to me and Doumeki today was definitely powerful.

I eventually encountered a fork on the road. On one hand, I had turned many times in my desperate attempt to get away, so turning to the right might bring me back to a familiar street. But on the other hand, I definitely feel like I've seen the street straight ahead in the past. I even thought I had seen one of the houses before. It was an enticing thought to walk up to the house and check.

Naughty Watanuki! Yuuko-san's voice rang in my head. Of course the house would feel familiar if someone cursed you to enter the house.

I gulped and chose to go right.

After several seconds of walking when nothing was becoming familiar, I got more frustrated. I decided the next time I turn I would peek around the corner and, if nothing still was familiar, I would go back and take my chances with the "enchanted" house (gulp!).

Almost hesitantly, I reached the intersection and peeked past.

Bingo! This street I was definitely familiar with. I hurried forward now, sure of where I'm going, turned to the left, and tripped over a black cat that tried to run away when I approached.

"Ow!" I yelped angrily as I landed on my hands and scraped them. The cat ran away.

I turned to glare at the cat but froze. The house! It was just to the right of me, the gate open slightly.

Now I'm really freaked out. The black cat, the open gate, the house appearing magically in front of me twice? I really was cursed!

I got to my feet and flew like the wind.

I pretty much sprinted into the shop with my shoes on.

I collapsed in a heap, huffing and puffing, besides Doumeki and Yuuko.

"Oh look, the idiot's finally here," Doumeki said.

"Great! We can finally have snacks!" Yuuko-san said joyously. She turned to someone I didn't know; a customer? "Do you mind speaking to me tomorrow? There's a bed prepared for you down the hall."

"Don't forget the alcohol!" Mokona, the tiny, black rabbit-like thing with a big mouth, chirped as the stranger left.

"I…" I tried to speak while wheezing and clutching my sides. "I think …I'm …cursed."

Yuuko-san laughed delightedly and clapped her hands together. "From what Doumeki tells me, the visitor you had in your shed is a friend of mine. Don't worry, he won't hurt you."

"If Watanuki need protection, Mokona will protect you!" yelled Mokona.

Normally I would've been extremely annoyed at that. Today wasn't normal, even by my standards.

"No…" I said, still gasping and clutching my sides. "Coming… back… there was… a house… appeared twice in front of me… and it even had a black cat…"

Yuuko-san looked up, serious. "A black cat? Did it cross your path?"

She misunderstood. "No! Well, yes, but I think I've been cursed to go into a house that appeared twice in front of me!"

Yuuko-san examined me carefully, and said: "Whatever you said you've been cursed with, the black cat's curse is affecting you badly. It's even possible that the cat's curse has taken precedence, if you were already cursed."

The way she spoke drained my face of all colour. I could tell because I became light-headed. "What… what's the price for removing the curse?"

Yuuko-san smirked. "Luckily for you, you don't have to ask me to get rid of this curse. It's fairly easy for such a powerful curse. Doumeki can tell you."

"All you need materially is a living white cat," Doumeki said, "if you can find one, of course."