Chapter 6.
He lies in bed and stared at the ceiling. His mind kept reliving that moment over and over again, but no matter how many times he saw it, he couldn't wrap him mind around the idea that Doumeki would do something like that.
He touched his fingers to his lips and felt the warmth again. He'd never known that a kiss could feel like that. Well, he'd never been kissed before so that was his first, but why had Doumeki kissed him? Just remembering the kiss made his face heat up and he felt the same warmth spread through his body.
'Why? Why is this happening? What does it mean? I don't even like him as a friend, but why do I feel like this?' he wailed in his head. He was ashamed to feel tears in his eyes and though he tried to fight it, one slide down his face. He'd never felt this way and it was confusing. His mind was running in circles.
He felt drained emotionally and physically. His eyes drooped, but his mind was still active. Turning on his side, he stared at his hand. He'd taken the bandage off and could see the scab in the dim lighting. It itched, but he didn't scratch it.
He dozed for a few minutes, but awoke when he heard a small noise. Glancing around, he saw something fluttering in his room. A small butterfly glided down and landed on his hand. As he continued to stare at it, his mind slowed its circles and finally stopped. His eyes drooped and he slipped easily into the black oblivion of sleep and the waiting nightmare.
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He stood in the street as usual, but the scene had changed. It was no longer pitch black. There was a huge full moon in the sky lighting everything into a pale brilliance. He heard the creature in the distance, but didn't run. It was still far away and would be a few minutes before he saw it.
He looked around and saw a tree leaning over one of the walls. It seemed to glow, even in the shadow it created with the moon. He walked towards it and stopped in front of it.
Reaching out, he brushed one of the leaves. It exploded apart into thousands of small glowing butterflies. He stared in wonder as the butterfly flew away. Looking back, he saw that the tree was gone, but in it's place was another butterfly. This one was different from the others. It was larger, and shown brighter. It looked like the one he'd seen in his bedroom.
He heard another roar from the creature. It was much closer and he needed to get moving. He went to shoo the butterfly away from the danger, but it was already moving down the road. He decided to follow it and ran to catch up.
He walked along next to it, but he barely noticed it. His mind was on other things. He thought he recognized where they were going, but couldn't put his finger on it. It seemed he'd come down this road many times, but the answer eluded his grasp.
He was brought back to reality when he saw the butterfly land on the wall that was always there. He looked where it landed and noticed a sign below it. "Shrine up ahead." A shrine, but why was there a shrine in his dream. The only shrine he knew of was Doumeki's, but that was on a different street. His street was 26th street and this was… He looked around for a street sign.
Seeing one, he looked closely at it. "26th street." 'Why am I on the street that goes to Doumeki's Shrine?' he thought to himself.
His name triggered memories of the moment earlier. He blushed when he remembered the kiss. "He doesn't even like me, so why did he do that?" he asked himself.
"Are you so sure of that? What about all the times he saved and protected you?" The voice was slightly feminine and was very light.
He glanced around and searched for the source of the voice. The only one around was the butterfly. "Yea right, he only did it to get free meals out of Me." he replied half-heartedly. He was starting to doubt that line of thought.
"But he never asked for them. You offered as payment for his help." The voice answered him.
He glanced at the butterfly; the voice was coming from its direction. "And why are you being so nosy?" He asked it.
"Because if you don't figure this out soon, that creature will eventually catch you and all that will be left is a lifeless husk without a soul." It's reply caused the hair on his neck to stand on end. It sounded like it was serious.
"But what is it that I need to figure out. All I know is that it's something to do with Doumeki… and other things." He blushed at the reference to the kiss.
"But why did he kiss you, you ask? You think he doesn't like you, but what if your wrong and he does. What is your thought on that?" she asked him.
He was going to answer, but was cut short when he heard the creature's scream called out. He started to walk again.
"Why would he like someone like me?" he asked her as they walked down the road.
"Why does anyone like anyone? May be something in you draws him to you, or you remind him of something he associates with love and liking, but that isn't what I asked. What is your thought on the fact that he might like you as more than a friend?" her reply was kind of impatient.
'As more than a friend…' he thought to himself. This was not something he was expecting. He didn't know what to think. He'd never had a crush except for Himawari-chan, but that was just because she was so cute. He'd never known love, couldn't even remember if he'd loved his parents. He had nothing to compare it with.
"I don't know. I don't think I'm repulsed by it, but… I just don't know. I've never been in this situation." He answered her. He glanced behind him to see if the creature was in sight, but the was empty.
"You say you're not against it, but what about your feelings towards him? Are they just as a friend or more than what you thought they were?"
"I don't know. I… every time he looks at me my heart speeds up, or I get warm. I don't know what it's supposed to mean? I guess the kiss was nice, but I've never been kissed before so I don't know if it was just him or me or if they all feel like that… I… I don't know why he does all this to me!" He yelled out. "I don't know why he's always saving me? Or why he kissed me. I just don't know. Please tell me why?" he pleaded with her. He'd stopped walking and stared at her.
"Maybe because he loves you." she answer softly. "Maybe because he loves you enough to look over your faults and still love you."
He was taken aback. Why would Doumeki love him? He stood there and went through all the memories of the last few weeks. All the way to that failed mission. He remembered the look of pain on his face as the illusion worked on him. His worried voice. He also remembered his strength, the way that no matter what the situation, he always felt safe with him.
"He loves me," he muttered to himself. He let the thought sink in to his thoughts. Changing him as it slowly to root. He felt his heart swell and beat faster. "He actually loves me?" he was talking out loud, but she answered him anyways.
"Yes, but the next comes the hard part. Do you love him?"
He question threw him off balance. Did he love Doumeki? He thought it over. He… yes he thought. I think… no I know I love him. Something clicked in his mind, as if the final piece of a puzzle had finally been found. He turned to he. "Yes, I love him." His voice sounded overjoyed at the knowledge he had just gained.
"Than, you can go on now. Quickly, before it comes. You know the way you need to go." she replied, her voice fading as she disappeared.
He looked ahead and saw the entrance to Doumeki's shrine. He started to run. He heard the creature race after him. It screamed in defiance as he neared his safe place. And there was Doumeki, in his shrine outfit with his bow aimed at the creature. He let loose and the creature screamed once in defeat and faded.
He was about to run into him, but he awoke and stared at the ceiling. The butterfly was gone. He knew what he had to do. Swiftly, he got out of bed. He didn't even hurt from his fall. He grabbed one of his yukatas that Yuuko had given to him and put it on. It was still hot and humid outside even with the sun down.
He glanced at his clock, 12:30 PM. He had been asleep for about 8 hours. He left his room and walked towards the front of the shop. He didn't even meet Yuuko as he walked down the hall. The shop was quiet. He left the shop and walked down the path towards the two stone fence posts.
He stopped in front of them and took a breath. This was going to be hard without Doumeki there to keep the spirits at bay. He took a step out side and heard a scream.
He froze. It had sounded just like the creature of his dream. He turned and there it was. Exactly the same shadowed creature. He took a step back and ran.
He heard it chasing him down the road, but he knew the way by heart, as if he had a tracking device on the one place he wanted to be.
He turned a corner and there it was. The shrine was still light up slightly and there he was. The same as his dream and he was armed with his bow. His heart soared at the sight of him.
He reached him just as he fired. The creature screamed and as it's scream faded, another voice called out to him, "Your welcome Watanuki, now it's all up to you." It whispered to him and as he turned he saw the butterfly floating away. He could see it clearly now. It was black and white with a checkered pattern.
He was still shaking when he noticed that Doumeki had his arm around his shoulder. " Come inside." He steered him towards the shrine.
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Yay, chapter 6 is up and running. I got a sudden need to finish this story and so now I'm really putting some effort into it. Yay, it's finally out in the open. His subconscious just had to scream loud enough to be heard. I'm nearly finished with this story. It has 1 maybe 2 chapters left so look forward to the end. And who was the butterfly? I'll explain it later. I'm near about to finish this story, though I've already been working on it in my head for the last 6 months. o_O and as always enjoy and please comment on my story and give any helpful advice if you have any to improve my story.