"Is it here?"

"Yeah. Just turn the corner and park on the curb. I'll get out and walk the rest of the way."

"What?" Ryu stopped the car and turned to face Doumeki who was sitting in the passenger's seat next to him. Thankfully, the road was empty or else he would have caused traffic... and another accident. "Why can't I drive you all the way? Do you not want me to meet him? Is that it? But since we're already here, I'm driving you all the way there." He started the car up into drive again. "Besides, you're still healing."

Doumeki looked at Ryu's stern face and then at Himawari who was sitting in the back. She smiled weakly in answer, not being able to say anything. No wonder she married him, he thought. He sighed and said to the driver, "Fine. Turn the corner and go straight down until you see a tall gate."

Ryu turned the wheel and the car turned the corner. They drove down the street until Ryu found the tall gate that Doumeki was talking about. He parked on the side of the road and turned off the engine. Doumeki got out first, then Ryu, and then Himawari. When he got out and stepped onto the sidewalk, he stretched as if he had been driving for four hours straight. It had only been an hour actually, but they had gotten a bit lost on the city streets due to the fact that the hospital that they were just at was really far from the store.

When Ryu looked glanced at the doorway of the tall gate, he was shocked. "Is this the right place? It's nothing but grass and dirt."

Doumeki looked at Ryu for a minute, and studied him. He gestured for the man to follow him. Ryu did as he was told. When they were at the doorway, Doumeki told the other man to stick his head in.

"Stick my head in?" Ryu asked, who was clearly confused. "In what?"

"Just do this," Doumeki replied, who was at least an inch from the doorway. He leaned forward then, his head disappearing into thin air. Ryu jumped back in shock, but then watched as Doumeki's adam's apple moved as he spoke to someone on the other side of the "barrier". When Doumeki's head nodded and came back out into 'reality', he said to Ryu: "Like that."

Ryu cautiously walked closer to where Doumeki was. He glanced at his wife, who nodded in reply. He gulped before doing what Doumeki had just presented to him. He closed his eyes and leaned forward, feeling a cold, jelly-like substance smother over his face but then cease as his face went in. He heard Doumeki's voice next to him saying: "Open your eyes."

He opened them slowly and carefully. The first bits he saw when slowly opening his eyes was pink and blue. When he fully opened them, two loud voices said in unison: "Welcome, mister!"

He jumped back in fright, causing him to back out of the barrier. He looked to Doumeki, but he wasn't there. So he looked at his wife who smiled at him from where she stood before coming to him and pushing him into the barrier. They both slided in with a small gloop!

"You're as forceful as ever, aren't you?"

Ryu had closed his eyes again, and to the sound of voices, he opened them.

The one who had spoken had a soft voice and was directing it at Doumeki, who didn't reply.

"Maru, Moro, you shouldn't scare..."

Ryu watched the kimono-dressed man lightly scold the twins. He stared until the man stared back. Ryu looked away immediately, as if he thought that staring at the colored-clothed man would make the man disappear.

Watanuki smirked a bit and then walked over to Ryu. He introduced himself to the man whose eyes were shifting back and forth, as if he didn't know where to settle them. "I'm Watanuki Kimihiro."

"Y-Yes, I know..." stammered Ryu, who finally settled them in Watanuki's mix-matched eyes. They seemed sad though strongly absorbing. It was as if you don't ever want to tear your sight from them. "My wife has been talking about you quite a bit..."

Watanuki looked over at Himawari who smiled weakly back at him. He gave a smile as to assure her that it was okay to talk about him, though it was somehow almost nearly impossible for anyone else to meet him... unless, that is, if they had a wish. The seer looked back at Ryu and nodded, in which Ryu took as a bow. He bowed back nervously for forgetting that he was supposed to have introduced himself back and so he stuck out a hand and said, "I'm Takami Ryu, it's a pleasure to meet you, Watanuki-san."

Watanuki looked at the hand for a moment before taking it with his own hand, and giving a smile of nostalgia. They shook hands and Ryu noticed that Watanuki's hand was surprisingly... warm, despite the fact that it was snow white. Their hands departed and immediately, Watanuki stated, "You've got an interesting gift."

"Eh?" Ryu was confused. Gift? He looked to his wife who stood next to an expressionless Doumeki. She had a questioning face as well. He stammered to Watanuki, "I-I don't know what you're talking about...?"

"Of course you don't," said Watanuki, giggling softy. "No one ever told you before, even though it's been passed down from generations."

Passed down from generations...? Gift? What does that mean? A present...? ...A power...?

Watanuki smiled at him when Ryu looked like he was going to explode with question marks that squished his brain like a cramped and crowded train. He said, "Follow me... and I'll show you." He gestured to the store and started walking to the doorway. Maru and Moro ran to the door and opened it just before Watanuki entered. Ryu, who was completely dumbfounded, stood where he stood, not knowing what to do. The store looked welcoming enough, that's for sure.

Ryu felt a pat on his shoulder and turned to see Doumeki walk down the path to the doorway as well. Himawari came around and took Ryu's hand with her own small one. She pulled him for a few steps toward the door before Ryu decided to enter after all.

)-()-()-()-()-()-(W)-()-()-()-()-()-(

It is a bit... surprising to see that Himawari married Takami-san, who has a special power. Inevitability is like a Christmas present. Sometimes you know what it is, and sometimes you don't. And when you don't know what it is, the present is always a surprise. It may be something you like, really like, hate, or really hate. When it's in between, like you're grateful for the present but you don't really want it or need it... you don't know what to do.

This time, when I touched Takami-san's hand, the Christmas present hit me like a bundle of clothes... not like a boomerang of a surprise. I kind of knew that she would choose one related to herself. It's like their small powers made them feel like they had a connection between them. For now, I know that he has a power, and that it is genetic... but I do not know what it is exactly. If it is a power that will turn against us, I must repel it from him before it strikes. But if it one that is not harmful to us in any way, then... I shall let it be for now. It may be so that Fate had Himawari-chan marry him, he who has a special power... so that he may be able to help us in the future.

I do not know just yet... but I hope the future will be a bright one.

)-()-()-()-()-()-(R)-()-()-()-()-()-(

He... was nothing from what I had imagined. Himawari had always spoke about him like he was a god, a king... anyone... except a bright- and clever-looking man in a kimono. Sure, when I first looked at him, he didn't look anything like a god, a king... not even a prince, perhaps... but he had the air of someone powerful.

Don't judge a person by his appearance... I feel like I've been doing that a lot. When I first met Himawari in our last year of high school, she was a sad, lonely person... so I didn't really talk to her. When she was with Doumeki, she was a bit cheerful and only those times when she smiled did I feel like she was the same as me, and that we had a special connection to each other. Doumeki, too. The first time I saw Himawari speaking with Doumeki, I saw him as someone like just a friend (I was right), but quite... unfriendly. He was stoic and expressionless all the time. This one time that I went to the archery club to see how good he was, I completely changed my mind. It was as if he was expressionless when facing simple matters. But he had quite an expression when he held that bow and hit bullseye on the target with a smooth motion.

I spoke to Himawari a few times after then, and those were only coincidences. Sometimes I bumped into her by accident, sometimes I needed to speak to her for something school-related. Those were the times that I felt that she was being herself, unlike the dull but pretty girl I always saw walking down the halls with her eyes to the ground. She began brightening up day by day, and once, while we were hanging out with Doumeki, I saw Doumeki manage a smile.

Himawari and Doumeki changed my world. Himawari changed my love life. Doumeki changed my friendship life. And now... this man... this man with his powerful aura, Watanuki... he has changed my ordinary life, just by the words: "Follow me... and I'll show you."