Title: Dead Love Library
Author: Twelf Bell
Type of Writing: Crossover Fanfic
Summary: Yuuko sends Doumeki, Watanuki and Mokona to another Japan in which they meet the host club of Ouran Highschool! A lovely painting, a haunted library, a ghost maid... what will happen to the trio?
Note: Not much romance in this fanfic. I just wrote it for fun xD
Disclaimer: I do not own xxxHolic nor Ouran Highschool Host Club. Credits to the original mangaka.

- - - - - - - - - - - - Ch6. Day Three. Part Three.

The bespectacled boy was already at the end of the hall by the time Doumeki spotted him. He kept a distance, so that the one being stalked wouldn't notice his presence. But that was quite useless for Watanuki was not paying attention to his surroundings. He was thinking about how much he hated the archer. That stupid jerk! Who does he think he is, invading my privacy?! Then, Watanuki abruptly stopped – in both his thoughts and his walk. Behind, Doumeki stopped as well.

That's not right... it's my fault that I got this eye in the first place... he touched his right eye, where Doumeki's half-eye was. I was the one who got caught in the spider web... he was the one who helped me out of it, and he was the one... who got the spider's curse... and then I.. helped him regain his eye back.. by losing mine.. and then.. he.. he was the one who gave half of his eyesight for me... Watanuki was thinking positive, though he did not want to. Right then and there, Watanuki felt sorry and guilty. He didn't want to owe the stone-faced guy anything.

Doumeki watched as the boy's shoulders dropped low and as he heaved a sigh. What's he doing? he wondered. The different-color eyed boy resumed his walking with hunched shoulders, arms swinging on the side and head down. Doumeki thought he looked like a human pretending to be an elephant or so. He chuckled quietly at the thought.

"Watanuki!" a cheerful voice called.

Both boys looked up. It was Mokona. He was very giddy and hyper when Watanuki walked up to it and asked, "What's wrong, Mokona?"

"Nothing's wrong! Actually, something's right! I was about to tell you two something when I noticed everyone was gone!"

Well, of course, since you were too busy eating to notice... But then, Watanuki asked in confusion, "You said 'you two'?"

"Yeah, I did. Why?" Mokona cocked his head to the side (– or rather, his whole body), to indicate someone behind Watanuki.

Suddenly realizing that there was someone behind him, he turned around in a single movement, facing the smirking Doumeki. "You idiot!"

"Who's the idiot? You didn't notice me following you," Doumeki said simply.

Watanuki gritted his teeth and made his hands into fists at his sides. He was very, very, very angry, but once he thought again about the eye thing, he mentally calmed himself down by saying, Don't be angry. Don't be angry. He's the one who saved you. You shouldn't be angry all the time. Don't be angry. Don't be angry... over and over inside his head. He loosened his fists and inhaled deeply before exhaling out slowly.

"Well, that's an improvement, Watanuki," said Mokona. He was smiling though he rarely did. Watanuki wondered why. "And so, back to what I was going to say. Um... oh yeah! I sensed one of Sakura's feathers here!"

"Sakura's? Really?" asked Watanuki, raising his eyebrows in surprise.

"Yup, I checked and I'm positive that it's one of her fragments."

"Well? Where is it?" asked Doumeki, no emotion showing up on his face.

Mokona's smile dropped from his face and he said, "Well... um..."

Watanuki and Doumeki waited for the black manjuu to reply.

"It's actually... um... the scent is stronger and closer here on this floor... it's... in that library room..."

It seemed as if lightning struck Watanuki in the brain. He suddenly remembered everything in one big flash. "T-That's where the ghost is!"

"Yeah... and that's why I didn't really want to tell you," said Mokona in a low voice.

Watanuki knelt down to face Mokona eye-to-eye and gave him a warm smile. "It's okay, Mokona. I'm glad you told us. Now, we can definitely get that ghost, now that we know that one of Sakura's feathers are in there." He patted the black creature's head softly. Then, raising up to his original height, he faced Doumeki and said, "Let's go back."

- - - Back in the Library Room.

"Is she here?" asked Doumeki.

"... I don't see her," replied Watanuki, looking around the now-messy room. The wooden chair was where it was the last time he saw it, as well as a few drops of blood on the floor near it. He became sad when he reminded himself who's blood it was. There were shattered glass pieces laying on the floor beneath the chandelier and a book with pages falling out of it lay near the door.

Suddenly, Mokona's eyes went 'berserk' or so. "I can feel Sakura's feather!"

"Really, Mokona?" asked Watanuki, scanning the room quickly.

"It's... it's coming closer?!"

"Eh?!"

Watanuki's surprised cry was met with a bookcase crashing to the floor. Behind it stood the ghost girl.

"There it/she is!" Mokona and Watanuki pointed at the ghost. They looked at each other when they noticed that they were talking about the same thing. Was the ghost girl one of Sakura's feathers?!

The trio backed up when the ghost came closer. But suddenly, the trio's backs were met with a wall. The ghost girl drew closer and closer. Mokona hid behind Watanuki's legs. Though he met with spirits almost everyday, he was scared of this one. The look on the ghost's face was horrifying to look at; it was a face that no one could describe.

Without warning, Doumeki stepped in front of Watanuki, as if trying to protect him. The ghost drew closer still. Watanuki stared at the one in front of him. Did he want the protection? He wasn't sure.. but he definitely did not want Doumeki hurting himself anymore. Gathering all the courage he could, he put on a stern face and stepped away from behind Doumeki and in front of him. The archer was quite shocked when the boy did that.

The bespectacled boy had enough courage to step in front of Doumeki, but he did not have enough to speak to the ghost. When he spoke out, his voice rasped and shook. "Y-you gh-ghost girl! W-What is i-it that you w-want?"

The ghost stopped in her tracks and stared at Watanuki for what seemed like a long time. Watanuki felt goosebumps beginning to form on his arms, as well as a thousand pricks on his back. He was shaking very hard and he was about to collapse from the pressure when the ghost girl spoke.

"I..."

Watanuki suddenly stopped shaking of fear. He had noticed something in the ghost's voice. It was of sadness. Watanuki suddenly felt a stab in his heart – sorrow. He felt sorry for the ghost girl, for what whatever it was that she was sad from. He sighed heavily and then put a encouraging smile on his face. "It's okay. You can keep talking."

It seemed as if the ghost smiled shyly for her ears perked up like a dog and somehow, she was brighter – at least her face was.

"M-My name is Louise, sir" she said, curtsying after she introduced herself. She was speaking perfect Japanese but she had a hint of a French accent in her voice.

"U-Um.. I'm Watanuki," he introduced himself, bowing clumsily in reply.

"Watanuki, I am pleased to meet you... no,... I am very, very glad to meet you, sir."

The glasses boy looked at the girl as she muttered a few confusing things under her breath, as if trying to figure out what to say. She finally spoke. "I... have a request."

"A request?" asked Watanuki. He heard Doumeki intake a breath behind him.

"Yes... a request," she looked sadly but hopefully at him. "Will you do it, sir?"

Watanuki glanced at Doumeki and noticed he was frowning. He turned back to the girl and said, "It depends on what it is."

The ghost girl's eyes widened after a few minutes of thinking and said, "Oh no, I'm not going to hurt you or do anything to you, sir. I..." She paused. "I just want you to tell someone something..."

Doumeki let out his held breath and stared at the ghost girl. He couldn't really see her clearly, but he was positive that she really wanted Watanuki to do her request. Was she lying when she said that she wouldn't hurt Watanuki? That, Doumeki did not know. He noticed Watanuki glance at him again. He nodded in approval.

"Alright. I will," said Watanuki. "Who is it to?"

At this Louise blushed, or Watanuki thought. She said shyly, "Master Joshua Kyle Elbert, sir."

"Master... Joshua.. Kyle Elbert..?" asked Watanuki.

"Yes," she replied.

Watanuki turned to his group. "Who's he?" he whispered.

"Never heard of him!" said Mokona.

All four eyes went to Doumeki. He looked like he was thinking. Then, he said, "Ah." as if finally remembering something. And he did. He said to Watanuki, "That painting you saw. That's him."

Watanuki raised his eyebrows. "How do you know?"

Doumeki looked behind the boy and at the ghost girl. She was fidgety and was wondering greatly on what they were talking about. She had a worried face on, though her cheeks were... pink.

The archer explained. "Even though I don't think you noticed but there were letters on the painting's frame. It said 'Joshua K. Elbert' on it. He's also dead, it seems, since it also said 1859 on it."

"Eh? Really? B-But wait... how did you notice when I didn't?"

Doumeki smirked but did not reply. Watanuki frowned, but then eased it off. He turned back to Louise. She noticed him watching her pace and stopped where she was. She asked, "Well, sir?"

Watanuki did not know what to say. "U-um.. I think I'm afraid... that I can't help you with your request."

Louise's eyes widened and then relaxed. Her whole body relaxed as she let out a long, slow sigh. "I thought so..."

"I'm sorry... Louise... but I would have helped you if it did not concern Elbert..." said Watanuki, trying to figure out what words were good to say.

"...Why, if not Master Joshua, sir?"

"Elbert is dead," said Doumeki.

Louise looked at him. A tired smile spread over her face. "Of course I know that, sir. It's the 21st century already, is it not?"

Doumeki did not move a single face muscle. Watanuki said, "Then, how will I give him the message that you have?"

"Oh. Well, um... I thought that... if you can see me, you can see him too..." said Louise.

"It depends on if he became a ghost like you or a wandering spirit," Doumeki said. Mokona nodded.

"Then... I'm afraid it's impossible... is that what you're saying, sir?" asked the ghost girl.

Watanuki looked down at his feet. "I'm afraid so."

After a few moments, Doumeki let out an "Ehem."

Watanuki looked at him once, and then back to his feet. But after some thinking, he looked back at Doumeki and exclaimed, "That's it!"

Louise was already teary. "What is it, sir?"

"Him!" he pointed at the stone-faced Doumeki. "He could get Elbert here!"

"Eh?" the ghost was confused. "Whatever do you mean, sir?"

"He--!" Watanuki was really excited that he couldn't explain clearly. "He's someone from a shrine! If he could eliminate spirits, he should be able to--- be able to.. um.. get a soul.. visitor or something!"

"You mean, sir, that he can call Master Joshua down from the heavens?" asked Louise with sparkling eyes.

"Y-Yeah! I think," said Watanuki, with a big smile. He turned to Doumeki and whispered, "You can do it, right?"

Doumeki stared at him and then smirked. "Yeah, I guess."

Watanuki gave the guy a happy smile. Boy, did that surprise the stone face or what?!

- - - After the Ritual.

Doumeki had called down Elbert as he said he would. The noble man was a little angry that he was called down by poor commoners, but when he saw Louise, he softened up. Louise told him what she wanted to say. It was a confession. She told him that she had always loved him, even when she died in her bedroom (the library they were in) of pneumonia – in which was common in those early days. Master Joshua accepted her confession for he said that he 'could not bear life without her in it'. He had died a week after she did, from stress and a lost love, he said. The couple then thanked the spiritual trio and said goodbye. Louise said that she could rest peacefully now. Elbert also said that he could rest more peacefully with his love now.

Before she went away, Watanuki asked Louise why she had attacked him and Doumeki. She simply said, "I was in an anger fit." She laughed heartedly and apologized. Before she was finally gone, she winked at Doumeki. Watanuki wondered why.

A/N: Well! I skipped the ritual thing or whatever because I totally did not have a single bit of info on it, nor do I want to look it up and whatnot. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! The next chapter is the last I write for this fanfic, for my three day trip is tomorrow. PLEASE DO REVIEW!~

-TB

(**EDITED OUT)