Alright, everyone! Just a heads-up! The next chapter is a REAALLY soft pr0n. This is not the last chapter!
Also, btw, I JUST finished typing this at...2 in the morning, and since I can never spot my own mistakes...well, get ready to see some in this chapter. As usual, point those mistakes to me, and I'll try and fix them as soon as I can. Anyway, enjoy!
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The braided-haired girl bowed at Doumeki, signing her respect and gratitude...
"I'll see you next time."
She walked away, leaving in the direction where Watanuki and Himawari had left. He was ready to sit back down, but remembered that he had yet to give the girl a flower. He planned to give all of the flowers out to each girl that he was going to kindly reject. He grabbed a flower and ran up towards her.
"I almost forgot to give you this."
She smiled at the flower, gently grabbing it from his hand. He slightly bowed to her.
"I'm sorry that I wasn't able to accept your feelings, but now that you have someone, all I can do is wish you happiness."
"Thank you…and I too, wish you happiness. I hope that one day, you will find someone to love and protect. Then again…the person you love might be right in front of you. You just haven't realized it…just as Hiro didn't realize he loved me."
She slightly bowed, and walked back towards her destination. To Doumeki, it was definitely a surreal moment. He felt he just went into the Twilight Zone.
"I see," Himawari laughed, "I guess that's okay. It is him after all. Are you planning on telling him?"
Doumeki noticed how close he was to Watanuki and Himawari, and decided to walk back to their lunch spot.
"W-What? No! At least…not now…argh, I don't know. I highly doubt he likes me like that. We're…good friends…we have done so much together. I …don't…want to make things awkward and have him leave, or anything."
Doumeki's body froze in mid step. His mind was telling him to keep going…it was not his business…so why won't his body cooperate?
"I see…well, I'm sure things will work out. You two are such good friends, I highly doubt he would end the friendship just like that. Your bonds are too strong."
Were…they talking about him? Part of Doumeki was thinking that it was someone else, but if he didn't recognize Himawari's ever famous "such good friends" line, he could have calmed down a lot more.
"I…I suppose you're right. Yeah, things will work out, but…again, I don't plan on telling him anytime soon!"
"Alright, alright…well, how about this? Why don't we go to the movies this Sunday? Let's celebrate the end of a crush, and the beginning of a new one!"
"I…I guess, but just to let you know…I don't like theatres that much…ghosts seem to hang around there."
Doumeki was only a few feet from their lunch spot, so when they came back to eat their food, they didn't find it strange that Doumeki was standing there, frozen in place. It was only when they both sat down that they were confused.
"Hey…idiotic statue! Why are you standing there like that?"
Doumeki looked down at Watanuki. The boy looked at him with a questionable eyebrow. Doumeki couldn't stand to look at him at that moment. The sudden knowledge that Watanuki liked him like that was just too much.
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Doumeki didn't know what to do. He stared down at Watanuki, speechless. The spirit just grinned, causing Doumeki's blood to boil. He wanted to help Watanuki. He wanted to free him from the spirit that was controlling his body. However, what the spirit said to him was true, the ritual that he was trying to perform would kill Watanuki.
"My, my…what will you do now?"
Doumeki's hands clenched.
"It's a tough decision. If you do this ritual, Watanuki would die. If you don't, Watanuki will still die. Not a lot of choices."
Doumeki made eye contact. The pitch black eyes that stared back at him didn't waver. Doumeki sighed, and moved from his position. As he walked up to one of the shrine maidens, the spirit straightened up from his seated position, curious as to what the man was planning next. Doumeki walked up to one of the girls, who was closer to the door, and whispered in her ear. The girl nodded and walked out of the room.
"Oh-ho!! So, sending in reinforcements?"
Doumeki looked back at the spirit, his face ever stoic. He walked back to where he was standing before, and sat down.
"I guess you could say that."
The spirit chuckled.
"Getting help from your friends, hmm? My, what a hopeless effort. Well, no matter. The outcome would still be the same."
Doumeki kept quiet. When he heard the door open, he sat back up. The shrine maiden returned, but this time, was holding onto a long case that was covered in cloth. Doumeki grabbed it from her hands, and started to set something up.
"Is that it? That object is going to help?"
Doumeki didn't answer. Instead, took a wooden, slightly curved stick from its case. A string was attached to it. He ran his fingers across the string, and placed the end of it to the tip of the stick. As he attached the string, the stick changed form and took on a more curved shape. The spirit raised an eyebrow.
"A bow?"
Doumeki looked back at him, noticing the slight concern and confusion that was planted on the spirit's face. He sighed, and then looked at all of the shrine maidens. With a clear voice, he finally spoke.
"Say the chant."
The girls nodded and started mumbling the words that were on the piece of paper. The spirit's face fell, shock was all that was evident.
"W-What? Didn't you hear me? Watanuki will die if you do this! What the hell are you doing?!"
Doumeki's expression didn't change.
"You said it yourself that Watanuki would die, no matter what I do."
The spirit shook in anger.
"You wouldn't…you wouldn't dare!! YOU WOULDN'T KILL YOUR OWN BEST FRIEND!!"
Doumeki just stood there, unaffected by his words.
"I wouldn't want to do this, but it's better than having my best friend be killed by a demon."
Something inside the spirit snapped, as he broke the rope that was tied around him with an amazing strength. One of the maiden's jumped up, frightened by the sudden anger.
"You…you…son of a….BITCH!!!"
He charged at Doumeki, rage blinding him as he ran across the room. It was proven pointless as he was knocked back on the floor. The seals that were protecting the maidens had acted like an electric fence, zapping Watanuki's body off the floor and landing on the tatami mats with a harsh thump. The girls screamed, jumping away from the circle that protected them from the attacker. Doumeki, however, was still standing on the same spot, unfazed by the sudden attack.
He looked at the girls who were huddled right at the door.
"You can leave now. He's already weakened."
They looked at him in shock, some were hesitant to leave. However, with Doumeki's determined stare, they nodded and left the room. Doumeki looked back at the boy sprawled on the floor, breathing heavily as he tried to get up. He walked closer to the barrier.
"Getting out of Watanuki's body would be my final offer, but I have a feeling that you won't be doing that."
"Ahaha….you figured right. I'll never…leave this body…"
The spirit finally managed to get up, his body hunched over from exerting himself. While in the process of getting up, he didn't notice Doumeki pulling on the string of his bow, aiming a nonexistent arrow at him. Doumeki let go of the string, and a bright light taking shape of an arrow flew straight at Watanuki. The spirit didn't move quickly enough, and the golden arrow pierced through his chest. As Watanuki's body once again hit the floor, another creature landed just a few feet away from him. It glowed a soft white light as the spirit's body finally revealed itself. As it tried to get up, small orbs of light separated from its body, hinting its end.
Doumeki heard himself speak.
"A White Fox spirit. Your kind is not known to injure humans, so why did you try to hurt Watanuki?"
"White Fox spirits are known to be mischievous and manipulative. We are also known to take possession of humans for personal gain…"
"Hm…so, you were taking possession of Watanuki for your own personal gain. You never planned on killing him."
"Ahaha……you know…you are one cunning bastard…even more than me…! How…did you…see through my lies? How…did you know…?"
"You faltered."
"…W-What…?"
"Right when I asked one of the shrine maidens to get my bow, you looked a bit concerned. That was when I knew you were lying."
The White Fox spirit laughed weakly, then with his last breath, exclaimed one last word to Doumeki.
"You better check up on that kid…I may have lied about the seals killing him…but I possessed him long enough…for him to be…in danger……"
With one last glow, the spirit was gone. Doumeki, thinking fast, went straight to Watanuki. He kneeled before him, checking to see if he was still alive. Doumeki's hand froze when he checked for a pulse.
There was none.
"Watanuki…"
He didn't give up. He shook Watanuki's body, called his name repeatedly; he even tried CPR, but to no avail. Watanuki was cold as ice. Doumeki's heart fell as moments with Watanuki were flooding into his mind.
"…argh, I don't know. I highly doubt he likes me like that."
Doumeki sat down beside him, staring at the boy, hoping that somehow, his eyes would open. He wanted to see those mismatched eyes again…those eyes that would always glare at him on a constant basis. Those eyes that shows struggle and grief when vulnerable…those eyes that, on some rare occasions, twinkle happily in his direction…
"We're…good friends…we have done so much together."
"You idiot…"
"I …don't…want to make things awkward and have him leave, or anything."
Doumeki reached out and touched Watanuki's hand…the hand that he used to produce such delicious food.
"Idiot…you haven't told me, yet."
"Yeah, things will work out, but…again, I don't plan on telling him anytime soon!"
"…How am I supposed to accept your feelings, when you haven't told me, yet?"
Doumeki sighed, not even surprised about his newfound affection for the boy. As he sat there in silence, it took him a couple seconds to realize that something was twitching against his hand. He looked down, noticing Watanuki's fingers that were against Doumeki's hand were twitching. Doumeki held his breath, straightened up, and hovered over the boy.
"Watanuki…"
Doumeki gently shook him, relieved that there was warmth seeping through Watanuki's clothes. The boy mumbled weakly, waking up from his near-death encounter.
"Watanuki!"
His eyes slowly fluttered open, revealing mismatched eyes. His vision was blurry, still unable to focus on the man that was hovering above him.
"Dou…meki? Wha......Doumeki?"
His vision was crystal clear when he saw the brown eyes that belonged to the taller man. He looked around, noticing how he was flat on his back, and Doumeki…was hovering right on top of him. Watanuki breathed in deeply, tightened one of his hands, and delivered a crack on the face.
"W-WHAT THE HELL?? DOUMEKI??"
For the first time in Watanuki's life, he had managed to punch Doumeki. What was even more surprising was that Watanuki wasn't even boasting about it. Doumeki got up, rubbing his jaw.
"You're welcome."
"WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?"
"I just saved you from a spirit possession."
"I…wait, what?"
Doumeki sighed.
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"So…really…all that really happened to me?"
"I wouldn't lie about it."
Watanuki gave another bowl of rice to Doumeki.
"No, no…it's not that I don't believe you. It's just…"
Watanuki stopped talking and stared at Doumeki, who was eating his third bowl of rice. Watanuki frowned as he realized that the rice in the cooker was empty.
"Doumeki…are you sure you're not full yet? I mean…"
The man stopped eating and stared at Watanuki. There was silence until Watanuki sighed.
"…Forget it. I'm talking to a man that has a black hole for a stomach. Why do I bother asking?"
"Hn…"
After dinner was over, Doumeki and Watanuki carried the plates to the kitchen. They put them in the dishwasher, carefully placing each bowl and cup on the rack.
"You know…" Watanuki stretched his arms, "After having so many near-death experiences, I believe I should live a little more…you know…take chances on the things that I was afraid to do."
"Hn…if anything happens to you again--"
"You would miss out on seeing an idiot in action?"
"No, that's not it!"
Watanuki stared at Doumeki, curious.
"I would miss eating your cooking three times a day."
"YOU BASTARD! IS THAT ALL YOU FREAKIN' CARE ABOUT??"
All he could do now was poke fun at Watanuki. He was going to wait until the day the boy was going to confess. However, even if he waited patiently, Doumeki had a stopping point. If Watanuki doesn't confess soon, Doumeki will.
