A/N- Yeah it took awhile, but it's a bit longer so try not to hate me too much, yeah? I actually really like how this chapter turned out. Except I had to write So. Much. Dialogue! I think my dialogue sounds awkward and forced, and I'm never confident that I'm using the correct grammar rules for it, so I don't like to write it. Anyway, full steam ahead for chapter 4!

Disclaimer- Not Mine

Pairings- Dou/Wata

Warnings- Same as before

Chapter 4- Of The Loop

Watanuki blinked in shock before reverting to his usual internal response, 'That idiot thinks he knows why I walked into the street before I even do!? I don't think so. I'll hear him out just so I can laugh at him.'

Domeki raised his eyebrows at Watanuki's rather superior looking grin. He was used to Watanuki yelling at him, but that 'I'm better than you' grin seemed out of place. He put it aside because, like it or not, he knew the reason for Watanuki's strange behavior. Domeki raised his coffee to his lips, taking a small sip, he seemed to be in no hurry whatsoever.

Watanuki waited, feeling a certain tension in the air. His face started off smug, then grew expectant, before growing confused, and, finally, irritated. Domeki was apparently NOT going to offer the information without some prodding.

"Well!?", Watanuki asked with hints of both irritation and curiosity.

"Well what?"

Watanuki nearly slammed his face onto the table in front of him. He hadn't expected the moron to not even know what he was talking about.

"Well, are you going to elaborate how you know why I walked into a busy street twice in one day?," Watanuki probed.

Domeki's only reaction was to explain to Watanuki his reasoning, "We're waiting for Kunogi, so I don't have to say it twice. How's your drink?"

'How's my drink!? Why, that jerk! Something that could possibly end my life and he asks me how my drink is! That's it, I'm shouting at him no matter how guilty I feel!', Watanuki thought, preparing to release his full volume, but before he could do so…

"Mr. Watanuki? Is there a Mr. Kimihiro Watanuki here?"

Watanuki grimaced at the effort of holding in his rage and turned towards the voice. It apparently belonged to one of the employees.

"Um… that's me."

She walked over to the two boys with a smile. She reached the table and immediately began to talk, "You have a phone call from a Ms. Himawari Kunogi. I can lead you to where the phone is, if you like."

Watanuki looked quite surprised, but nodded. The girl gestured to an area closer to the back of the café and began walking over. Watanuki followed her and Domeki decided to wait for Watanuki's inevitable return.

The waitress smiled again and handed the phone over to Watanuki. She left to continue her work and Watanuki put the phone to his ear.

"Hey, Himawari? It's Watanuki."

"Ah, hello there Watanuki. Are you doing well?", Himawari said in a tired voice.

Watanuki nodded before realizing that Himawari couldn't see him and responded, "I'm doing ok, considering everything that's going on. Me and Domeki are waiting for you at Same As It Never Was Café. Are you calling to say you'll be late, or possibly change the meeting place?"

"About that…," Himawari paused for a moment before continuing, "I won't be meeting you at all."

There was a silence between them as Watanuki fought to process this information.

"Y-you're not coming!? I'm sure whatever you are doing instead is important, but we have some very serious matters to discuss! Are you sure you can't rearrange your schedule so that we could meet, if not now, then later on?"

Another pause.

"You're not understanding me Watanuki. When I say won't be meeting you at all, what I mean to say is I won't be meeting you ever again. That is, I'm cutting myself off from the rest of the world.", Himawari, on the verge of tears, could barely keep her voice under control.

Watanuki barely registered Himawari's tone of voice, and instead tried to figure out the meaning behind the words themselves, "Why in the world would you do that!? If you did that, I'd miss you forever!"

Himawari took a deep calming breath, sounding harsh and artificial over the phone. She then used all her willpower to put strength in her next words, desperately trying to get Watanuki to understand.

"All I ever do is cause people pain! Every time I get close to someone, something horrible happens to them! Well, I won't let my curse be the reason you and Domeki are unhappy. All the times you two have been involved with me, you've been hurt. Even this time, with the feather! All I did is touch it and now who knows what's going to happen to us!"

"But if I never got to see you again, then I wouldn't be nearly as happy as I am now! Do you remember what I said? That meeting you was one of the happiest things in my life? I still mean it! Please don't cut yourself off from the world!", Watanuki cried into the phone.

"I'm sorry Watanuki, but that won't work this time. Goodbye."

*click*

Watanuki froze, the words he was going to say dying in his throat. The dial tone in his ear seemed unreal. He silently put the phone back in it's cradle and wandered past the counter back to his seat. His head was down and his bangs covered his eyes.

"Watanuki, what's wrong? What did she say to you?", Domeki asked.

Watanuki looked up. He was crying silently. He tried to stutter a response, "D-D-Domeki! She, she said that she wasn't going to see either of us ever again because she causes us pain! Why would she say that, I-I think of her as one of my best friends! What could she possibly be thinking!?"

Domeki's brow furrowed in confusion. He stayed like that for several moments before opening his mouth with and "ah."

"Hey, do you know something? Tell me! I'm tired of having no idea what's going on!," Watanuki demanded.

Domeki sighed and looked straight into Watanuki's eyes, "I'll tell you my theory, but try to keep an open mind and interrupt as little as possible."

Seeing that Domeki was totally serious, Watanuki nodded. He was a little more open to Domeki's ideas after his surreal conversation with Himawari.

"Your and Kunogi's unusual behavior is caused by the feather fragments. You've noticed it yourself. You said that you didn't know why you had been acting so strangely, well this may be the cause."

"Well, what makes you think that the feather is causing it? I mean, it IS a stressful situation, a few abnormal actions are almost expected.", reasoned Watanuki.

"True," Domeki agreed, "but both of your actions are extreme to say the least. They are also quite illogical. You walked into the street, thinking you were invulnerable. Kunogi has locked herself away. Even if neither of you were aware of it when you made those decisions you are both about to basically commit suicide."

"Suicide!", Watanuki exclaimed, "That's ridiculous! I wasn't trying to commit suicide, and how is Himawari being alone suicidal?"

Domeki gazed out the window before answering, "As I said, you aren't aware of it, so it isn't suicide per se, but rather something close to it. As for Himawari… she has decided to never leave her home. How will she get food? Or get medical attention for an illness? Sure, her parents will try to help her, but at some point she may even reject them. If she keeps that thinking, she WILL die because of her own choices."

Watanuki couldn't come up with a logical argument to refute this claim, so he merely asked a question, "So you think the feather shards are controlling us and making us want to commit suicide without realizing it?"

"Hmmm, not quite. They're taking a quality or emotion of a person they have infected and enhancing it." Domeki started to explain, "It's just in your's and Kunogi's particular cases, the end result seems to lead to your own self destruction."

Watanuki nodded before questioning Domeki again, "If that's the case, then what are mine and Himawari's enhanced traits?"

"Well, have you noticed that Himawari tends to avoid people when she causes them pain?", Domeki asked Watanuki, who nodded, "Well, she's merely taken it to an extreme and shut herself away from the world. You on the other hand…"

Domeki trailed off. The teen seemed reluctant to continue. Watanuki figured it was probably because Domeki didn't want him to have to hear it.

"Domeki. I need to know."

At this the archer nodded and spoke again, "You have had a sudden increase in pride."

The café was buzzing with activity, but Watanuki could only hear his own thoughts. 'Pride? I don't have too much pride! He must be mistaken.'

"I'm sorry Domeki, but the only one acting strangely is you!", Watanuki said, smiling kindly, "I don't think I've been affected by the feather, but that you have instead."

Domeki looked a bit surprised before he gathered his wits and answered, "Be careful. That's the pride talking. This 'I can't be hurt' or 'I can do it alone' attitude is a common symptom of prideful people, and yours way out of control."

The smaller teen frowned and considered what Domeki had said. 'That IS true. Those are pretty prideful thoughts and they're similar to the ones I've been having. Could he actually be right?'

Seeing that Watanuki was beginning to be convinced, he pressed his advantage and cautioned the boy again, "You need to be careful and fight those feelings. You're no good to anyone if you can't cooperate."

'It's annoying to hear him say it, but I guess it's true I really do need to- Hey wait a minute!'

"Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, before I go taking advice from some stupid Domeki, what's your supposed emotion or quality or whatever!? There's no way it isn't affecting you by now, so tell what it is!", Watanuki screamed.

The entire café went dead silent. Every single patron of the store was staring right at them, mostly at the person who had shouted. Watanuki was huffing angrily and wait for a response from Domeki, who sat there for a few moments. What happened next caused Watanuki's eyes to go as wide as dinner plates.

Domeki blushed!

Not a 'light dusting' or a 'rosy tint', but a full on crimson blush! Watanuki was dumbstruck and Domeki looked incredibly uncomfortable. He sat there and glanced everywhere but at Watanuki who couldn't seem to form a coherent sentence. He suddenly stood up, and grabbed both his and Watanuki's cups and went to the register for refills.

He apparently needed time to regain his composure. That was fine with Watanuki, who didn't think he'd ever forget that face. Domeki came back a few minutes later with drinks in hand. Black coffee for him and white hot chocolate for his friend.

There was an awkward silence before the both grabbed their cups at the same time and took a tentative sip. The atmosphere in the café seemed to have returned to normal, although people still sent them glances every now and then. Watanuki waited surprisingly patiently for Domeki to begin the conversation.

They sat in silence for a half an hour or so. The two teens had almost finished their respective drinks before Domeki broke the silence hovering over them

"I can't tell you."

Watanuki nodded and surprised both himself and Domeki by asking in a calm voice, "Why not?"

Domeki took another sip of his coffee. It was clear he didn't want a repeat of his earlier reaction and wanted to take the conversation slowly. Watanuki took a sip of his own drink, silently agreeing to Domeki's slow conversational pace.

"If I told you… that would prompt a particular… reaction from you. And if that happened I'd no longer be able to fight it.", Domeki elaborated. His face remained calm and composed.

Now Watanuki REALLY wanted to know what the feather was doing to Domeki, but decided to just let it go, because he just knew that Domeki was telling the truth. Even if his emotions were running rampant, he had actually managed to stop Watanuki from hurting himself twice, so he hadn't been consumed by the feather yet.

Domeki again spoke up, "So what we need to do now is focus on our next move. Two feather shards are MIA and we know the people that three of them inhabit. Where do we go from here?"

"Well, Yuko can probably take care of herself. In fact, it would probably be a good idea to bring the infected people to Yuko's house until we can find them all," Watanuki reasoned, "We should probably gather the feather shards we know about and bring them to Yuko's, and then search for the others. I think Himawari should be our first stop."

Domeki nodded solemnly and voiced his own opinion, "I agree on all counts except the last one. Kunogi is not a danger to herself or others right now. We should head towards the feather fragment we have no information on."

"Kohane!", Watanuki shouted in understanding.

"Exactly. We need to find out if her feather will cause her to become destructive or not. And either way bring her to the witch's shop," Domeki said, "Kunogi should probably be our last stop."

"Ok!", Watanuki exclaimed, smiling, "We may not be out of the woods yet, but it feels good to have most of the information and a plan! Let's finish our drinks then head to Kohane's house."

Domeki showed his agreement by taking a sip of his drink. Neither boy would finish their drink, however, for at that moment the two of them felt something familiar. The presence of a feather besides their own.

The duo didn't utter a word to each other, but merely sprang up and exited the café as quickly as their legs would carry them, heading in the direction of the feather shard's aura.

It didn't take them long to reach the center of the unusual energy. However, there was something odd. The entire area was thick with spirits. Though they were outside, the air was stifling for the teens. Domeki, being the less affected of the two, grabbed Watanuki's hand and led him through what could only be described as a miasma.

The spirits were NOT happy. Clearly something was stirring them up. Suddenly they heard a scream. Not so much a scream, as a roar of inhuman anger. The spirits started to move quickly and the wind gained great speed. If it hadn't been for Domeki's ability to repel spirits they'd have been turned away by now.

They came across an alley, where they felt pulsing waves of power from the feather fragment. Due to the roar, many people had gathered at both ends of the alley and appeared to be gawking at something in the middle of it.

Inside the alley, there was a teenager that was probably around Watanuki's own age. He was tall and well built, he was also wearing a school uniform, though it wasn't the same uniform as Domeki and Watanuki. Those, however, were not what was drawing people's attention.

He was holding a rather large shard of glass in both hands. He was gripping it so tightly that his hands were bleeding. His face was twisted in rage. He seemed to have lost all reason, and he looked as if he could attack the crowd at any moment.

Spirits swirled around him, clearly feeding off the angry energy that had been enhanced by the feather. They had been quiet up until this point, but they began whispering in his ear.

"SHUT UUUUUP!", He screamed at the crowd, clearly unable to see the spirits and assuming that it was their voices that he heard.

Watanuki didn't know exactly what was going on, but he knew those spirits weren't trying to help. If things continued like this, that man would attack the crowd and get sent to jail, where he would try to kill people in anger until he himself was killed.

Watanuki didn't thought quickly and reached a decision. Without consulting Domeki, he pushed his way through both the crowd and the oppressive aura of the spirits. He ran straight at the angry teen and wrapped him in an embrace.

The stranger tensed and raised his arms, possibly intending to strike Watanuki with the shard of glass.

Watanuki, however began to whisper "Please calm down, please calm down, please calm down" with fervor. The teen slowly lowered his arms and dropped the glass fragment. The sea of onlookers, Domeki included, breathed a collective sigh of relief and began to disperse.

A few of the people looked wary and wondered if they should really leave that small kid alone with that unstable person, but when Domeki showed up next to them, those people left as well.

Watanuki hadn't had the courage to look up into the other boy's face to see if he was safe or not, so he just kept whispering his line, over and over.

The boy smiled slightly and patted Watanuki's head, before breaking the embrace and taking a step back. At this moment Domeki made his entrance and checked Watanuki over for any kind of injury. Watanuki blushed, but stayed still and instead studied the person in front of him.

He was even taller and more muscular than Domeki. He had brown hair and bright green eyes. He smiled at Watanuki, but immediately frowned afterwards, seemingly in deep thought.

"Um…", Watanuki said, drawing everyone's attention, "I'm Kimihiro Watanuki and this here is Domeki. Are you alright?"

The boy smiled a bit and said, "Name's Akira Kisaragi, please call me Akira. I'm very sorry for what just happened. I've been feeling angry for most of today, and it seems that I just couldn't keep it in check any longer."

"About that…" Watanuki started, earning a glance from Akira, "I know why you've been so angry lately."

"Really!? Why's that?"

"Well I don't know if you'll believe me but you've absorbed a piece of an item with great power. If you concentrate, you will be able to feel the same power within the two of us. Anyway, the power struggle between your soul and the item is causing one of your emotions to be become extreme. In your case, it's anger."

Akira opened his mouth to comment, but Watanuki also had one last thing to say, "Also, that 'whispering' you've been hearing? It's ghosts. They're were all around just a moment ago, but now they are gone. I can't imagine why they were harassing you."

Akira let out a big hearty laugh. He laughed so hard and for so long that he got a glare from both Watanuki AND Domeki, who had yet to say anything.

He saw their glares and attempted to explain himself, "It's not that I don't believe you, trust me. I do believe you. It's just I'm so happy to finally have an explanation for all of this. I thought I was going crazy! You would not believe the day I had!."

A/N- How was that? I thought it was pretty good. Yeah they were both kinda OOC, but now you know the reason, right? Now you, the reader, have a decision to make. I have a side story for how Akira got to the point where he met Watanuki and Domeki, but it isn't vital to the main story. I can skip it if you want. For those of you who review, do you want to know more about Akira or not? Lemme know, it's up to you!

And now I respond to reviews!

asagohan-no-bento- Please feel free to correct my stories at any time, I mean we don't get better if we don't know what we're doing wrong, right? Thanks for reassurance on the car thing, I just don't want it to become a fallback, like "what should I do now? Have someone almost get hit by a car!" that would get old fast.

If you do draw that comic, then please let me know, I'd love to see it!

I hadn't any plans to bring her back, but if you liked her… maybe she'll make a cameo.

James Birdsong- Thank you!

EchizenRyomaLover- Frankly, I'm just glad that people are reading this at all! So please don't worry about reading quickly, I mean I take forever to get chapters out so I can't complain too much.

Aww, maybe I'll do something like that… anything's possible!