Parasite

A/N: It took me so much time, but I'm happy with how this chapter turned out. And my writing is recovering from a serious scattered session- if you guys know what I mean. xD I still have no distinct plot for this, though, oh well, but a few filler chapters won't hurt. :D

-

Doumeki was used to walking over to Yuuko's shop early in the morning- around 6 am- every Saturday, ever since he realized he could finally see through the magical barriers that had once obscured the said shop from his sight. It was a rather peaceful and seemingly sunny day, and the streets were silent and calm, but as soon as Doumeki approached the two separate beams that resembled an arch leading towards the eccentric shop, the silence was broken.

It wasn't surprising- and never will be- to know that it was Watanuki making all the noise, though this time it wasn't ranting or anything- but the indignation was there, he supposed, and was about to journey all the way up to the front porch when something small and thin slammed into him.

He blinked his surprised as he stared down at the figure trembling against him, quickly abandoning the notion that it was Watanuki who did. No matter how much the resemblance seemed to be, this one had antennae.

Kimi.

"What's-" he was about to ask, but as he did the person he had been thinking about chose that particular moment to exit the house and scream with a broom in hand. Doumeki raised his gaze, expecting an answer to be shown- instead of said- his golden orbs resting on the spirit seer.

"The cockroach is gone, Kimi! There's nothing to be afraid of! AND YOU, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?"

It gave Doumeki a slight tinge of amusement when he realized that the seer was jealous. Instinctively, he wrapped his arms around the quivering figure still embedded deep into the front of his clothes, tempting another scream from the spirit bait standing a few feet away.

"I'm comforting him," Doumeki said, and it took every single vibe of his willpower not to smile at the look of exasperation on Watanuki's face; "You're scaring him."

"I AM NOT SCARING HIM, YOU JUST WANT SOME STUPID REASON TO HIDE THE FACT THAT YOU ARE MOLESTING THE POOR GUY!"

"What's this entire racket about?" Came a female voice, and with a tinkle coming from the wind chimes, Yuuko Ichihara came into view- with the usual extravagant outfit, of course. "Ah, Doumeki-kun. How nice of you to visit."

"Hn. I was worried Watanuki might scare Kimi away," He said nonchalantly, looking down to prove his point.

Kimi chose that particular moment to look up at him too, and once he did, their noses brushed. At first, the boy's whole face turned red, and as Doumeki wondered if it was even possible for anyone to look like a tomato, there came a somewhat ecstatic, strangled sound.

"Nyuu~"

"Hn?"

"Nyuuuuu...!"

Immediately, Doumeki bent down to better catch the fainting boy, and cradled him in his arms, looking befuddled. "What happened to him?"

"Ah, our Kimi-chan faints when he's overly excited," explained Yuuko, smiling at them with the kind that clearly stated, 'Ah-hah, I know something you don't'.

"How inconvenient," was all Doumeki could say.

"Yes, well." Yuuko waved her arm, several strands of her ebony hair elegantly caught in her fingers; "Kimi-chan, after all, is no ordinary human."

"Which is why we should be asking him what he's doing here," mumbled an annoyed Watanuki, and Doumeki took note at how uncanny this seemed- for in the first place, Watanuki had an all-too soft spot towards helpless strangers, even if the said 'helpless stranger' wasn't so helpless at all. And secondly, he couldn't help noticing how the creases between the spirit seer's brows increased after every second his look-a-like stayed in the archer's arms, and he couldn't help smiling at the sheer nerve of it.

As expected, Yuuko had also noticed the difference, and was smiling too.

"WHAT ARE YOU TWO SMILING ABOUT?" Yelled the bespectacled boy, even more pissed. To prove his anger, he threw the broom in his hand on the floor, sending speckles of dust flying around him in his rage.

"Mou, Watanuki-kun, not too loud! You'll wake Kimi-chan up!" Yuuko jibed childishly, feigning mock hurt.

But it was already too late. The small boy began to stir in Doumeki's arms, and as soon as the archer had gotten the boy back on his feet, there came another "nyuuu!" and the sight of a very red Watanuki in his arms.

"Say, I'll take him for a walk." said the taller boy, leaning back a bit as to avoid the searching antennae; "Yuuko, is there anyway to hide those things?"

"Ohohoho, it'll cost you," was the reply, but Doumeki was too used to it to even bother reacting. And once that point was clear, Yuuko clapped her hands and a bouncing manjuu ball jumped onto the Time witch's shoulder and stretched out its paw with something small and circular in it (almost blending in with the manjuu's color except the golden ornament hanging onto it), which Yuuko took and extended out to the stoic archer.

Doumeki was handed a small dark choker with a small bell dangling on the front, and as he carefully placed it around the smaller boy's neck, the antennae faded from view. Doumeki stood a couple steps back to admire his handiwork.

"Nyuu?" mewled the boy, looking up to where his antennae had been. "Doumeki-nyuu, where is..."

"It's gone," was all Doumeki allowed himself to say, before taking the smaller boy's hand and pulling him out the gate. "We'll be at the park." He called back.

"Hmhm, this will be interesting, right Mokona?" Yuuko asked, smiling mischievously at the manjuu on her shoulder, who also smiled back. "Obviously."

They failed to see their own Watanuki, already quiet and sulky in the distance.

-

No matter how much he thought he needed it, the silence between him and Watanuki- or rather, a look-a-like- was unnerving. Mostly due to the fact that he was accustomed to a talking, cursing Watanuki, and that he had once made the brave assumption that all Watanukis of any other dimension had the deformity of being noisy and the insistent urge to scream into the taller boy's ears.

He was wrong, obviously. The version he had with him was timid, naive, child-like (he makes sure to underline that point twice). He never stepped out of line, never bothered to speak for himself, and (probably the most uncomforting trait) never ceased nor failed to apologize (faulty or not). He remembered, earlier during their walk, that Kimi had bowed and apologized three times straight to a person he had accidentally bumped in the first place (the poor guy had nothing to say at all), and from whom Doumeki had trouble separating because of the simple reason of the boy's need to apologize about twenty more times. Doumeki had never been this rude before towards a stranger that meant no harm, but it was for both him and the guy's benefits should he drag the timid boy away to a less crowded spot.

Despite all this, though, Kimi was indeed amusing to be with. Besides being troublesome, of course. Simple things like the falling of leaves and the fluttering of butterflies amused the boy to an incredibly high level, and sometimes, Doumeki could catch himself just staring at the smaller boy with him, whose face was lit up with an innocent look of joy, a soft smile on his face.

Maybe he can get used to this.

They had made their way towards the park, and sat on a bench not occupied by any teenage lovers of the sort. As was his gesture, he stood to buy two cones of ice cream for the both of them, and it even made him smile secretly to himself when he caught the look of panic that crossed his companion's face when he stood to leave. It surprised him, though, that when he returned with the cold treats in both hands, to see the boy looking up at him in happiness and relief, eyes already swimming in tears.

He couldn't help but say, as he handed Kimi a cone of ice cream, "You're like a child," which earned him a curious look from the younger boy.

"A human child?" he asked, small voice so soft that it could be counted as a whisper.

"Yes," He replied, smiling; "A human child."

"A human child," repeated Kimi, face small and somewhat focused, with his eyes slightly reduced to narrower slits, and lips pursed as if he was pouting. "Ah, is that a bad thing, Doumeki-nyuu?"

The sides of his mouth twitched, threatening a smile. "No."

Kimi's expression changed to a less strained one, looking incredibly relieved. Doumeki could feel a sudden urge to reach out just then, longing to slide it onto smooth cheeks- so he fisted the one on his lap and tightened his hold onto the ice cream with the other. "Would you rather be compared to something else?" He asked gently.

"I- no," A soft rustling from the hand clenching at the fabric of his lap, "I would like to be something else, though." There was a somewhat distant, blissful tone in his voice.

A short pause, with Doumeki willing to keep any obvious emotions to himself, and then- "Eat your ice cream now, it's going to melt."

"I'm sorry- ah, nyuu!"

Yes, he certainly can get used to this.

-

When they returned, they encountered a very annoyed-looking Watanuki Kimihiro, glowering at them before the entrance gates of the Dimensional witch's shop.

The spirit bait's and the archer's eyes locked for a moment, one filled with exasperation and perhaps even jealousy, the other the usual calm hue. Kimi, entirely innocent yet sensitive to the emotions raging from the stare-off, chose that particular moment to give out a short cry-"nyuu!"- before disappearing behind the wide back of the stoic teen with him. The young look-a-like could feel threatening eyes follow his movement, and he pressed into the archer in fear of being murder with such a glare.

A second passed before the hurricane came.

"You guys took your time."

Well, a second or two anyway.

"We had some ice cream and walked around a bit." Was the Doumeki's nonchalant reply.

"Would it normally take you an hour, you big oaf?"

"Why are you so angry?" A change of topic, but then again, this was how Doumeki always won the verbal sparring.

"I-why shouldn't I be angry? It's almost noon! I have no idea what to prepare, and if you guys would eat here, and I still have to do the groceries!" Watanuki panted after his rant, exhausted and out of breath. "Maybe it would have been better if you had a date out instead."

"Oh? But wouldn't you only try to stop us?"

Watanuki had started to make his way past them, down the street, when the archer's voice pricked his ears. "Eh- What?"

"Wouldn't you get angry?"

Despite his best efforts, the spirit seer was certainly trembling, as if straining himself from saying something really embarrassing- and blurting out the truth. "I'm angry right now since you never told me you had plans in the first place."

"So it's not jealousy then?"

"WHY THE HELL WOULD IT BE JEALOUSY?" screamed a further indignant Watanuki, causing his twin to vibrate with small tremors behind the archer.

"I dunno," Doumeki replied, and then turned to the smaller boy cowering behind him, saying gently, "Why don't you just stay with Yuuko? It'd be healthier for your ears if you do that."

"DOUME-"

"Besides," Doumeki hurried on, overlapping whatever the real Watanuki had to rant about, "Watanuki might not take care of you very well, since he's so jealous of his little Kimi."

"N-nyuu, okay." Kimi nodded, obediently. "I'll stay with Yuuko-nyuu, if Doumeki-nyuu says so."

"That's alright then." The archer turned towards the now pouting spirit seer before him, daring to smile a bit, and successfully earning a more calming glare than previous ones. "Shall we shop for groceries now?"

Watanuki stared at him as if he had suddenly grown two heads.

"You- you're-"

Doumeki nodded Kimi towards the shop, who quickly followed after studying the other two, and Doumeki walked the small distance that separated him from the spirit seer. "Stop looking like an idiot," he said quietly, but his tone was so soft that it hardly seemed like an insult at all; "Let's get a move on, I'm getting hungry." He extended out a hand.

Blushing hard, Watanuki mumbled, "Bastard," but took hold of the offered hand anyway.

-

A/N: Someone was kind and thoughtful enough to get me the xxxHolic soundtrack collection for Valentine's day. That really helped me with my work, especially the tracks entitled "Shizuka no hibi" and "Deja view", for they were both soothing and sad at the same time. –wistful- aaah, sweet shonen-ai. :D

And don't worry, you don't have to order from ebay or anything else that may cost you if you really want to listen to these songs. You can download them from Kimihiro DOT net, heehee. xD