A/N: Uh, HI! An actual chapter! Two, actually! Does that make up for it? (The song is "How Does it Feel" by Avril.)


Chapter One: Touch the Heart (For You, I Will Do/ Stay Away)

(I am small and the world is big/ But I'm not afraid of any thing.)

"There has to be a way to reverse the wish," Doumeki insisted, scowling across the room at Yuuko.

The woman blew smoke to the ceiling, her maroon eyes boring into Doumeki from the side. "As I said before, on several occasions, the wish that was made first overweighs the second. I cannot do anything unless Watanuki himself wishes for it. Until then… he remains emotionless."

The archer glowered, gritting his teeth. "He looked like he was about to break; I'd not call that emotionless!"

Yuuko sighed, slowly rising into a sitting position. "You've caught it?"

"If you mean the fact that you botched his wish, yes!" Doumeki growled, standing.

A small gasp emanated from the screened doorway, followed by a choked sob.

Doumeki turned slowly, his eyes resting on the tall, pale boy who stood, half-veiled, by the paper-screened door.

"Yuuko-san," Watanuki whispered, stepping forward. "I have been contemplating the same…"

The archer winced; this wasn't his Watanuki. His Kimihiro would scream and shout and pitch a hell of a fit for just even mentioning he wasn't getting what he paid for. But… then… he did get what he paid for, he just didn't pay for what he thought he was getting…

Yuuko exhaled slowly, shifting slowly, her silk and lace dress rustling as she stood. She straightened her hair, setting her pipe lightly on the table. "I wondered when you would notice, Watanuki."

"What emotion did you leave?! That was the only way to save him! That was the only way," the boy hissed, shaking all over. "What's going to happen to him?"

"Don't you care about yourself?" Doumeki snapped, stepping in front of Watanuki, glowering dangerously.

"Of course I don't," Watanuki replied flippantly. "I wasn't the one dying. Can't I save your life for once?"

The archer clamped his hands over the raven-haired boy's shoulders and shook him. "You could have done something differently!"

Watanuki's eyes slid shut, and after a moment he finally replied, his voice frail and sad. "Yeah," he whispered, "I could have let you die… "

Doumeki glowered for a moment, then pulled the raven-haired boy into a lip crushing kiss. Watanuki froze for a second, but soon pushed the taller boy off of him.

"Stop that! Stop!" he shrieked, tears pooling in his eyes. He turned away from the archer, staring at Yuuko. "What happened?" he whispered, "It hurts. Why is it like this?"

The woman crossed her arms underneath her chest, frowning. "Because it is part of your price," she answered. Yuuko uncrossed her arms, gracefully waving at Watanuki and Doumeki to sit. Once the boys did so, she slid back into her own seat.

"But Yuuko-san, I thought…" "You never said anything…"

The witch silenced both of their protests with an outstretched hand. In her palm, was a braided rope of silver string. "These threads are Watanuki's emotions. If you look closely, you will see that one is missing. … This missing string is pain.

"I could not take it because it was not part of your wish, Watanuki. You wished for the emotions that caused the empath to kill Doumeki to disappear. You felt no pain during the time that you were fed off of, therefore it was not included in the price."

"Now all I can feel is pain," Watanuki mumbled, shooting a watery glance at his once-lover. "And he remembers… This is why I wished your memories away, you!" he hissed.

Doumeki shrugged. "You figured it would cause less pain. … Bad planning on your part. But importantly," he continued, directing his words towards Yuuko, "How do we fix this?"

Yuuko grinned slyly. "I grant your wish, of course. And to do so, we must return Watanuki-kun's emotions."

"But what about—"

"If it so entails in what Doumeki wishes for, we will also kill the empath," the black-haired woman continued, leaning against the couch's backing. At Doumeki's slight nod, she laughed. "Well then! Let's get down to business! Watanuki! Get us some liquor!"

Watanuki sighed, rolling his eyes. Some things never changed, he reasoned. "One day… you'll die of liver cancer," he remarked, standing.

Once in the hallway, he stopped and leaned against the wall. Everything was eating away at him, and it hurt. He raised a shaking hand to scrub the tears away from his eyes.

Something was going to go wrong, he just knew it… And he was scared to death.