Coffee Chapter 3

I still don't own XxxHolic… what a surprise! xD

CHAPTER START!

Watanuki's day was crap. His coach tried to feel him up for the umpteenth time that week, and he was glad to go back to the surprisingly safe haven that he called his work.

Well, it was safer than being at home, where people watched him sleep.

Shuddering at the thought, Kimihiro almost passed the school gates without noticing his friends Syaoran and Sakura, clad in their foreign school uniforms.

"Kimihiro! KIMIHIRO! Jeez, what's with you today?" Syaoran asked in concern.

"Is there something wrong?" Sakura asked, an empathetic look in her big, green eyes.

"No," the bespectacled boy sighed, adjusting his glasses, "just the usual."

"The 'usual' usually means that something's wrong," Syaoran pointed out.

Kimihiro only sighed in resignation, before asking, "Hey, where are Kurogane and Fai? They usually come straight to the school with you two."

"Ah, they're already at the shop, serving customers," Sakura gladly explained.

How the top ER doctor in the country and a world-renowned kendo instructor had the time to both complete their jobs and have the time to work in a pastry shop was unknown to Kimihiro.

"Well, let's get there already; we don't want them to wait," Watanuki said, beginning his trek towards the shop.

"Hey, don't try to avoid what we were talking about!" Syaoran quickly caught up to the bespectacled boy, giving him a smack on the shoulder. Kimihiro, in turn, faced the other brunette and looked him squarely in the eyes.

"Nothing. Is. Wrong," the inky-haired student said, grasping the brown-haired one by the shoulders and giving him a light head-butt. "'Kay?"

"Fine," Syaoran pulled back, sighing, his face still worried. "But if something happens, tell us!" he said, pulling the catching up Sakura into his arm and giving him a serious look. The girl of the group only went beet red in the face, staying silent.

Three, Watanuki counted in his head, two…

"Oh my goodness, princess, I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have—" Kimihiro kept walking the rest of the way to Strawberry Wishes, blocking out the others' conversation and giving the two their privacy.

Sometimes though, he still wished that he could look back and see his actual parents instead of the kind, wonderful friends that were their look-alikes...

"Welcome!" called a lanky blonde man from behind the serving window, while a muscular waiter wiped off tables, giving the group a nod.

"Hey. Any new costumers come?" Syaoran asked his foster parents.

"Nope," Kurogane answered, "but I think they'll be here fairly soon. You guys should go get changed."

And so the three walked to the back of the store, where, after separating and changing, they went to their respective work stations: Sakura to the kitchen, and Syaoran and Kimihiro to the tables, mopping and sweeping, preparing for customers.

It was then that he had to walk in the door. He just had to come in and make Kimihiro's day even worse. "Exactly what are you doing here, Doumeki?" Watanuki spat, glaring. He just really didn't like that guy.

The archer only raised a brow, not seeming remotely surprised. "Is that how you welcome your customers?"

"Well, I—you!" Kimihiro yelled, flailing his arms, dropping his mop in the process. Syaoran gave him a thoroughly confused look.

"Strawberry cake," Shizuka said, not even bothering to look at the menu; how rude of him!

"Is there anything else you want, sir?" The black-haired waiter hissed, nearly crumpling his notepad.

"Tea."

The notepad was crushed with a depressing crunch.

As the annoying-as-ever Doumeki was inhaling his cake, Watanuki sulked in the kitchen, much to the other employees' amusement. It was then that the bell that was attached to the shop's front door rang for the second time, and as Watanuki glanced out of the service window, he realized that his day had suddenly brightened.

"Himawari-chan!" Kimihiro grinned, jumping around and nearly breaking delicate tableware his arms flapped so uncontrollably. The love of his life had entered the pastry shop! "What would you like today?" he asked, pen poised on his injured note pad, all of his attention focused on the girl in front of him.

"Hmm… I'd like that new special! It looks delicious," she smiled, before she glanced away at… Doumeki? Oh no. Something in Kimihiro's stomach told him that today would end worse than usual.

"Doumeki-kun! How are you?" Kunogi waved at the tall, stoic boy, much to the lankier waiter's disappointment. He decided to slink quietly away, and return later with ammo—the new chocolate-hazelnut cake that was selling like hotcakes.

Unfortunately, Watanuki had the great luck to trip on thin air. "Whoa!" called the voice that caught him mid-fall. "Are you okay, Kimihiro?" Syaoran asked, steadying his friend.

"Hm? Oh, yeah, I'm okay… just need to get some of that new cake! Then I'll be able to get her back…" muttered the boy evilly to himself, not noticing that Syaoran's hand was still on the small of his back (In a completely brotherly way.). The black haired waiter also failed to notice the cold stare of his supposed rival, who seemed to be pouting.

"Doumeki-kun? Are you in there?" Watanuki heard the lovely Himawari-chan ask. Wow, he really hated the guy now. He hurried back into the kitchen to fetch a slice of the newest cake.

Considering his lovely Himawari-chan, he carefully placed the largest slice from the fresh, warm cake on the bone-white plate he was carrying. For his beautiful Himawari-chan, everything had to be perfect! He imagined the angelic smile on Himawari's face as she thanked him, and his spirits were lifted past the ceiling!

Back out in the front room, however, his spirits quickly crashed from the ceiling and onto his head. She, Himawari-chan, his beautiful angel of light and innocence was sitting… chatting with…him. And he dared to have a bored expression on his face!

Shizuka Doumeki was a dead man.

Kimihiro approached the table with a smile on his face, specially reserved for his adorable crush. He set down the plate with his signature grin, before he whipped around and turned to his rival with a scathing glare. "Is there anything else you want?"

Doumeki shook his head, the same expressionless expression on his face. What was this guy, a robot? "I'd like some of the cake she's having."

"Oh! Doumeki-kun, you can have some of mine. I think my slice was a little too big for me to eat anyway," Himawari sighed, pushing her plate over to the tall boy. Watanuki felt like slithering into a hole right then and there.

So, he went back to the kitchen, not noticing a sniggering Syaoran and Kurogane following him in his miserable wake.

"It's alright Kimihiro, we'll try again next time," Sakura cheered, trying to comfort the dejected Watanuki.

"Aww, first loves are always hard, Kimi!" Fai, as usual, smiled.

"Yeah… it's… uh," Kurogane cleared his throat in an obvious attempt to stifle his laughter, "you'll be fine." And with that, the black-haired man was back in the front room, serving new customers.

Syaoran just stood far away from the group, covering his face. His shoulders were visibly shaking with laughter. Kimihiro Watanuki narrowed his eyes dangerously.

PAGE BREAK

Finally, after Himawari left the premises, and Doumeki was still only half finished with his cake, Watanuki decided to slip back into the main room.

Kimihiro was serving other customers, who seemed to be arguing about something,

("See, Light-kun? I told you that this cake was delicious," A pale man with unruly black hair and who sat hunched in his chair told the brunette man across from him, who was looking away with his arms crossed, pouting.)

When Yuuko, the owner of the very shop he worked in, stepped gracefully down the stairs from the second floor.

Yuuko actually taking care of the shop? Kimihiro used his large serving platter to shield himself from the sky that would inevitably fall, getting strange looks from his customers.

The busty woman made a beeline, clad in only her loose Kimono, towards the tall Shizuka Doumeki, who only raised an eyebrow and continued to eat his cake.

The woman slammed her hand down on the table, resting the other on her hip. Glass rattled and Shizuka's cake wobbled a little, before white frosting fell off the side.

Kimihiro had a bad feeling about this one.

"You," Yuuko drawled, quite obviously inebriated, "how would you like a job here?"

No. NO. NO! Watanuki Kimihiro would not let that happen. He slammed his own hand down on the table, mirroring Yuuko's stance, and gave Doumeki, his evil, spiteful rival that would laugh if Watanuki got hit by a car, the fiercest glare he could muster. "No."

Doumeki only raised an eyebrow at the two. Yuuko then slipped a folded piece of paper into his hands, smiling in that sweet, Come-child-let-me-give-you-spiked-candy sort of way she did.

Shizuka unfolded the letter, and gave a quick, confused glance at Kimihiro, before giving Yuuko a curious look. "Really?" he asked, as if he didn't believe whatever was on the parchment. Yuuko gave him a slow, mischievous nod.

Kimihiro's bad feeling got worse.

Besides, what was on that paper, anyway? And why did Doumeki give him that look?

"Then I'll take the job," Doumeki said, facing towards Yuuko, though his eyed were trained on Watanuki.

Even the kitchen didn't feel safe anymore.

Phew! Another chapter down! I hope you enjoyed it! And, no, Watanuki did NOT kiss Syaoran, they just had this brotherly head-bump kind of thing. They've known each other since childhood, so I figured that being close was kind of normal for them… Yeah.