For the fourteenth time, I would like to establish that I own neither InuYasha: A Feudal Fairytale, nor XxxHoLiC. Seriously. The nifty iPhone I'm getting for Christmas is so nifty in part because it will be the first smart phone to ever come into my possession. Do you think that would be the case if I held the rights to either of these seriously popular works, and therefore received their royalties? No, my friends. No, it would not be. Thus, I do not own them, and life must go on.
— - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — -
It was a rather peaceful day at the store, Kagome decided as she dusted Yuuko's inner sanctum, wrinkling her nose at just how much pipe ash was in the storekeeper's ash trey. A wry smile flickered across her face as she carefully emptied it into the bin. After all, a large portion of the reason this afternoon was so peaceful was because Yuuko had a visit disguised as an errand with a friend on the other side of town, and took Mokona with her. Their lack of presence meant that Watanuki's torment was at an all time low, resulting in the presence of Watanuki's calmer, more stable personality, for once. Kagome reveled in it while she still could.
The phone shattered her reverie abruptly, blasting out two quick rings before Kagome could pick it up. "Hello, this is Yuuko's. How may I help you?" She rattled off in the polite, mildly interested tones that she had mastered at the age of six in order to answer the shrine's public phone properly. The same rules, she assumed, applied at a magical wishing store.
"Kagome-chan? It's Yuuko-san."
"Oh, hello, Yuuko-san," Kagome said with a smile, "Are you heading home then? What time should Watanuki expect you? I think I heard him say something about dinner..."
"Ehh, that's what I was calling about," Yuuko said, sounding a little apologetic, "The traffic's horrible on this side of Tokyo, and I don't do particularly well on the subway, even if I hadn't taken the car–"
"You have a car?!" Kagome yelped.
Yuuko chuckled, "I'll admit that I don't use it very often, but when I need to get across town in a hurry..." Her voice trailed off.
"Oh, yes, of course, I see." Kagome agreed.
"At any rate, I may not be back for a few more days. So, you don't have to come in tomorrow or the day after, as you were scheduled. Pass the phone to Watanuki, so I can let him know, too!"
"Yes, Yuuko-san." Kagome answered with smile before going to the door and placing her hand over the phone's mouthpiece and calling "Watanuki-senpai! Yuuko-san's on the phone for you! I'd get here in a hurry!"
"Alright!" Watanuki answered, "I'm coming!" Sure enough, the boy was there after a moment or two, panting a little bit more than he usually would after a run across the front yard. Kagome frowned slightly, her head tilting to the side as she passed him the phone. "Yuuko!" Watanuki said happily into the receiver, pausing for her response, then said, "Then I guess I'll have to roast potatoes with leaves some other time."
The answering shriek was so loud that Watanuki had to hold the phone away from his ear, allowing Kagome make out the response to that idea quite clearly. "WHAT?! I WANT ROAST POTATO!"
"MOKONA WANTS IT TOO!"
Kagome hid a smile as Watanuki warily brought the phone back to his ear, "Then I'll make it tomorrow." He paused again, then his eyes widened, "Is that so?" Another pause, this one accompanied by a nod, "All right." Yet another pause, "Thanks, take care." Whatever the response was, it had Kagome's coworker's eyebrows furrowing. "Eh?" He turned to Kagome, taking the receiver away from his ear. "She hung up on me." He told her as he replaced the phone in its cradle. He hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Did Yuuko tell you to take care, Kagome-chan?"
She shook her head slowly, frowning slightly as she took in her senpai. He was looking a bit more tired than he should have been, which, added to the fact that Yuuko, who always seemed to know when things were going to happen to Watanuki, was worried enough to tell her part timer to take care. Kagome did not find the combination to be particularly comforting.
— - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — -
"So, Watanuki was tired when he shouldn't have been, and Yuuko's worried enough to tell him to take care, when he didn't tell you to do the same?" Doumeki summarized what Kagome had just told him as he lounged against the shoe lockers as Kagome collected her archery gear from her shoe locker, already changed for club. Kagome was running late, as it had been her turn to clean the classroom this afternoon.
"That's right," she confirmed, heading towards the locker room to change herself, "Watanuki seemed really confused by it, which makes me think that Yuuko-san might actually have been giving him one of her really vague warnings that he's too oblivious to pick up on."
He rolled his eyes, "That's what it sounds like. So, we need to be keeping both eyes on him, huh?"
"At least until Yuuko-san gets back," she agreed, "Since you know Watanuki won't bother to do it himself."
"Isn't that the truth. Oh, look," Doumeki pointed, "There he is."
"With Himawari-senpai." Kagome added with a grimace, noting that Himawari's aura was as warped as always.
"The cake looks like a tree stump; it's so cute!" Himawari gushed.
"And it has Santa Claus and reindeer on it." Watanuki agreed.
"Yeah!" Himarwari said with a bright smile, "I love it!"
Watanuki went into his usual spasms of joy at having seen Himawari's happy smile. Doumeki rolled his eyes, then smirked at Kagome. "Oi." He called, dragging Watanuki from his oblivion.
"What 'Oi'!" Watanuki snarled.
"Going home?" Doumeki asked.
"YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THAT?!"
"No, Watanuki-senpai," Kagome soothed, smothering a smirk of her own, "We're just curious."
"Are Doumeki-kun and Kagome-chan heading to archery club, then?" Himawari asked with a smile.
"Yeah." Doumeki answered for both of them.
"The archery club's been working very hard lately." Himawari noted.
"There'll be a competition soon." Kagome explained, smiling innocently as she effectively kept Watanuki from adding to the conversation.
"Can I come cheer for you again, Doumeki-kun, Kagome-chan?" Himawari asked brightly,
Doumeki shrugged, casting a smug glance at Watanuki, who was already heading into a silent variation of psychotic rant mode, "Sure." He told her, before turning back to Watanuki, "So, are you going home, or to your part-time job with Yuuko?"
"I don't have to go because Yuuko's not there." Watanuki informed him with a glare, but a distinct lack of concern, "She won't be home for a few days." Doumeki frowned, although Kagome thought that it might have more to do with Watanuki's lack of concern as to what this might mean for him. Watanuki did not seem to take it so well. "What?! You have an opinion?"
"Where's the pipe fox?" He asked abruptly.
Kagome opened her mouth to answer, but was cut off by her coworker. "It's at Yuuko's, sleeping in the pipe."
"You should carry it with you." Doumeki told him, turning to head to archery, Kagome less than a pace behind him.
"WHAT THE HECK?!" Watanuki roared after them, "WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!"
"Doumeki-kun and Watanuki-kun seem to get along very well." Kagome nearly choked on her own laughter at Himawari's assessment of the situation.
"Where'd you get that idea?!" Watanuki wailed.
"But seriously," Doumeki asked as they passed out of ear shot, "Is there any chance of getting Watanuki to carry the pipe fox around?"
Kagome grimaced, "None whatsoever," she answered, "Maybe it would be willing to hang out with him for a while if I asked it to, but Watanuki-senpai would never agree to it. He wouldn't see it as a precaution, like we do. I'm not sure what he would see it as, but he definitely wouldn't like it."
Doumeki sighed. "That's what I thought. And with neither of you at your job..." His voice trailed off.
"It gets that much harder for us to keep an eye on him. Yes, I know." She grimaced, "I don't like this," she murmured, biting her lip, "I don't like this at all."
"Hey," Doumeki put a hand on her shoulder, turning her to face him. "We'll keep him safe, somehow. We always will, even if there's only so much we can do when he walks into trouble all the time."
Slowly she nodded, and looked up at him with a smile. "Right. We definitely will." She agreed, and the pair continued on their way to archery club.
— - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — -
Warning bells went off in Doumeki's head the moment he heard Himawari's description of the woman with whom Watanuki had spent the previous afternoon speaking. Given the fact that the few times that he had seen his friend in the past few days of crazed archery practice Watanuki had been looking more and more exhausted with every glance that Doumeki had managed to catch of him, he had a very bad feeling about this woman indeed. His immediate reaction was to tell Kagome and get her take on the matter. "Has Himawari had the chance to tell you about Watanuki's new..." He searched for the right word, "Friend?"
Kagome grimaced, and nodded. "Yes, she has. I met up with her yesterday on the way home from her literature club meeting. She's really happy for Watanuki-senpai, but..."
"Bad feeling about it?" Doumeki asked, relieved.
"Very bad," she agreed, "I don't think it's anything malicious, or, at least, I haven't caught any signs of mal-intent around Watanuki-senpai, but..." She trailed off, shaking her head, "That could be because there's really no ill will directed towards him, or it could just be that there's not enough for it to make a major impression on his aura. And the latter one's all too likely." She tugged her fingers through her hair, "Why did Yuuko-san have to pick this week to vanish on us?" She asked, her voice plaintive.
He nodded in unhappy agreement. "Because she did," he answered, "And we get to pick up the slack."
Kagome bit her lip in what Doumeki was coming to learn was a sure fire indicator that she was worried, "Let's hope that we can."
Doumeki glanced around to make sure that everyone else was too focused on their archery to notice the two lurking in the background, then took one of Kagome's in his own. "Yeah. Let's hope so."
— - — - — - — - — - — -
Two days later, Himawari came running into Kagome's classroom during her classical literature class. The older girl was dressed in her gym sweats, indicating that she had come from gym class. "I'm so sorry, Ito-sensei," She panted, "But Watanuki-san collapsed, and the school can't find his contact information. The nurse wants to talk to Higurashi-san to see if she knows it, because the two of them are coworkers."
Kagome was already starting to push herself out of her seat as Ito-sensei nodded his approval. "Of course you may borrow Higurashi-san," he told Himawari, "Higurashi-san, you have my permission to stay with Watanuki-san until he recovers or is sent home. Remember to keep up with the reading assignments."
"Yes sir, Ito-sensei." Kagome said, bowing to her teacher before hurrying out the door behind Himawari. "What happened?" She demanded as soon as the classroom door slid shut.
"I don't know!" Himawari sniffled as they headed down the hallway, "Watanuki and I were talking about his new friend, you know, the nice lady who'd lost her child that I told you about? Anyway, we were talking about her, and then he started coughing. He made a joke about having managed to catch a cold, and then..." Himawari shuddered, tears spilling out of her eyes, "He just, just collapsed! I screamed, and Doumeki-kun and Touya-sensei came running. Doumeki carried him to the nurse, and said you might know who to get in touch with when the nurse couldn't find his emergency contact information. He's supposed to stay with him until he can go back to class."
Kagome nodded, and walked through the door, immediately going to Doumeki's side once she entered. "You were looking for me?" She said politely, interrupting his whispered conversation with the school nurse.
"Ah, yes, Higurashi-san," the nurse said, sounding relieved, "Do you happen to know who I should contact about Watanuki-san? His emergency contact information is a bit..." she hesitated, "Confusing."
"I'm not surprised," Kagome agreed, "His aunt and uncle are his guardians, but they aren't really involved in his life," she explained, biting her lip as she thought, "Normally, I would say to contact our boss, as Yuuko-san looks after him, but she's on vacation, so I would try them. I don't know what kind of answer you'll get from them, but it's worth a try." Quickly, she gave the nurse the information that Watanuki had given her just after she started working with Yuuko so that she would 'know where to send his body when Yuuko killed him'.
The nurse nodded, reading over the contact information that she had scribbled down. "Alright. I'm going to go call Watanuki-san's guardians. You three keep an eye on him. One of you come and get me if he wakes up."
"Yes ma'am!" They chorused. Himawari took a seat next to the bed while Kagome leaned against the wall next to Doumeki, and the three settled in to wait.
They did not have long. Less than five minutes later, Watanuki's eyelid fluttered upwards. "What..." He asked blurrily, his hand going to his head, "Happened to me?"
"You fainted during P.E. class." Doumeki answered flatly. Kagome threw a glance at him, knowing that his voice went flat when he was at his most worried.
"Why are you here?" Watanuki grumbled as he looked around blindly.
"Doumeki-kun carried Watanuki-kun all the way here," Himawari informed him as she got to her feet, and headed to the door, "I'll go get the nurse." she told Doumeki and Kagome as she passed them.
The remaining three were silent for a moment before Doumeki spoke softly, "A cold?" He demanded.
"What do you think it is?" Watanuki responded sullenly.
"Have you got a temperature?" Doumeki rebutted angrily.
"Why do you want to know?" Watanuki blocked, before turning away and muttering what sounded suspiciously like "Why did it have to be him?"
"Do you feel anything peculiar?" Kagome interjected.
"No," Watanuki answered, pushing his glasses back onto his nose, "This hasn't happened in a long time." He fidgeted for a long moment under Doumeki and Kagome's relentless and slightly angry stares, "So what the heck is wrong with you?"
"I thought only idiots catch colds in the winter." Doumeki informed him coldly, coming to stand at the foot of the bed.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY!?" Watanuki shrieked before he fell back to the bed, coughing frantically. Kagome moved to his side, rubbing his back to help ease his cough. A touch to his skin, even through his outdoor gym uniform, told her that far from having a fever, Watanuki's skin was icy to the touch. She glanced to Doumeki and shook her head slightly to answer his question. This was most definitely not a cold. Kagome had dealt with enough of those to know better.
— - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — -
Kagome was not surprised when she got a call from Yuuko a few days later, asking her to get Doumeki and go to the shop to collect Watanuki in about fifteen minutes. Her senpai's condition had deteriorated to the point that he was having trouble walking on his own. "He might even be coughing up blood," she warned, "So tell Doumeki to be prepared for that. He's coming too close. If it continues, he'll disappear."
"I will," she promised grimly, "I'm sorry we let it get this far, Yuuko-san, but with the preparations and extra practices for the archery tournament..." She trailed off.
"Don't worry, Kagome-chan," Yuuko reassured her, "Watanuki's well fare is neither your primary concern, nor Doumeki's. You both are part of it, certainly, but you cannot prevent Watanuki from making foolish decisions on his own, particularly not when you are not right next to him." She paused for a moment, then added, "I trust you two have an idea as to what to do in order to get him out of it?"
"We're shrine brats from traditional lines," Kagome told her employer grimly, "What do you think?"
"That reassures me greatly." Yuuko told her, "Thank you."
"It's no trouble." Kagome reassured her, "Good bye, Yuuko-san."
"Good bye."
Kagome didn't hesitate for a second before she dialed the number Doumeki had given her ages ago. "Shizuka-senpai? It's Kagome."
"Hey. What's the news?"
"Yuuko-san just called me. We need to go collect him from the shop."
There was a moment of long silence before Doumeki spoke again. "It's that bad?"
"Yes. Yuuko-san said not to be surprised if Watanuki-senpai was coughing up blood, and that he definitely would not be walking normally." She bit her lip, and glanced at her clock. "I'm at home, so it'll take me some time to get there. Yuuko said that we would need to be there in about fifteen minutes. If you meet him there, I'll go straight to your shrine when I get off the subway."
"Alright." Doumeki agreed, "He'll probably be fairly out of it for a while after I drag him here." He hesitated, then added, "We pry information out of him, and... take care of the problem while he's out?"
Kagome's lips came together in a small, grim purse. "Absolutely."
"That's what I thought. I'll see you in thirty minutes."
"Yes. See you." She hung up, and ran to tell her mother that she had to go out for the evening, and might stay at Yuuko's for the night.
When she got to Doumeki's shrine, Watanuki was lying on a futon in an open room of the shrine. Kagome took a seat next to Doumeki, quietly setting the bag containing her bow and quiver down next to her. "How bad is it?" She asked him.
"Very. He couldn't even get to the door on his own. I heard him talking to someone who said that they couldn't leave the shop."
"Maru and Moro." Kagome explained, "They're animated dolls, of a sort. They don't have souls. I would imagine that the magic of the shop helps keep them alive."
"Maybe. I'd have to look into it to be sure."
"Mm." Kagome sighed, pushing her hair back. "He's not going to be happy with us."
"He'll get over it eventually." Doumeki assured her.
"I know he will, but still..." She trailed off, looking away.
"Kagome." Doumeki said, the tone of his voice making her turn to look at him.
She inhaled quickly. His face was much closer than she had expected, his nose almost brushing hers. "Shizuka-senpai?" She whispered.
"...Where am I?" Watanuki groaned, sending the moment up in smoke. Kagome and Doumeki jerked apart, Kagome blushing furiously.
"This is my house." Doumeki told him, sounding angrier than he had at any point of the incident.
"...What's going on?" Watanuki asked, rubbing his eyes with the heel of his hand.
"Kagome got a call from Yuuko." Doumeki explained, "She told us to go there."
"...What?" Watanuki asked, sounding slightly less foggy.
"It's to save you, Watanuki-senpai," Kagome said softly.
"What the heck is going on?" Watanuki demanded.
"Yuuko-san said," She continued, "That you'll disappear if this continues."
"In other words," Doumeki broke in, "You'll die."
"W-why?" Watanuki asked, bafflement and fear evident.
"Because you met that woman." Doumeki told him bluntly.
"But... she didn't do anything to me... and I don't feel uncomfortable in any way..." Watanuki protested.
"What other causes could there be, Watanuki-senpai?" Kagome asked quietly, shaking her head, "There hasn't been anything weird happening lately, has there?"
"But..." he hesitated, "That person... is not someone bad."
"That's hard to say," Kagome said gently, "She may not be 'bad' per say, but she is killing you. That's not exactly 'good' either. In some cases, 'not bad' isn't good enough."
"Even though that's the case," Watanuki said quietly, "I promised to meet in the park. I... promised..." With those words, he lost consciousness once again.
Kagome and Doumeki looked at each other over his sleeping form, and got their bows, Kagome with her quiver at her side.
"It feels like the park should look different or something." Doumeki muttered.
Kagome laughed grimly, "It never does," she told him, "At least, not until it becomes a bloodbath. Then it really looks different."
Doumeki's eyes narrowed. "How do you know..."
"Wait!" Kagome cut him off, pointing to a bench just ahead of them, where two figures were sitting, one hunched over and coughing violently, "There they are! How did he manage to get here so fast?"
"He knew where he was going. That, and determination. Right. You run faster, so I'll confront head on, while you run around behind them and get into position to cut her off if she tries to go that way."
"Alright." Kagome agreed and ran through the gate before turning and running behind the bench towards the opposite side. She nearly stopped when she saw the spirit raising a hand to place it on Watanuki's back, but Doumeki took care of it.
"Don't touch him." The words were colder than ice as Doumeki strode through the gate towards the bench, his strung bow in his hand.
"Dou...meki..." Watanuki gasped through his coughing.
Kagome could see Doumeki looking at Watanuki with just the slightest tinge of something that she thought might be regret. "...We knew that no matter what we said, you'd still come to see her." He said quietly.
"We?" Watanuki asked, confused, as Kagome came into her position, drawing an arrow from her quiver.
"We." She confirmed, drawing Watanuki's attention to her.
"Even if I can see you, you really aren't human," Doumeki murmured, "This woman... I can see right through you."
"I can't see through her," Kagome told him, "But that's only because I have the Sight. You don't. The fact that you can see her... you've taken a lot from Watanuki-senpai, haven't you?" In tandem, she and Doumeki drew their bows, Kagome with her arrow faintly glowing with purifying energy, Doumeki's exorcism capabilities twining around the limbs of his.
"STOP!" Watanuki screamed, running in front of the spirit, trying to block her from both Doumeki and Kagome's powers. Kagome looked at Doumeki, nodded once, and shot at the exact moment that Doumeki did.
Instead of cowering behind Watanuki, however, the spirit darted forward, through Watanuki, to meet the two bolts of power, leaving the boy staring at her in horror as she faded away. "Wh...why?" He asked, reaching out for her.
The spirit smiled at him, albeit a little sadly, "Because I'm no longer lonely." Her voice whispered as she continued to fade, "Although I've only known you for a short period of time, but you must also have someone..." she reached out a hand towards Watanuki, and he reached a hand back towards her, his solid fingers brushing her insubstantial ones, "Who does not want you to disappear." And with that, she faded away completely.
Watanuki fell to his knees, tears dripping down his face as he brought his hands to his lap. "Why did you have to attack her?" He whispered, anger and pain softening his voice.
"It isn't because she's not human," Kagome told him, coming to stand before her grieving friend, "No one knows better than me that being inhuman isn't a reason to kill someone."
"We were only making a choice." Doumeki told him, joining Kagome, his bow in his hand. Watanuki stared at them for a moment before his eyes rolled up into his head, and he toppled backwards. Doumeki looked at Kagome with a sigh. "Let's get him back to the shrine."
"Actually," a voice said from behind them, "Perhaps it would be best to take him to the shrine. There's no telling how he'll react to the two of you after this, you know."
Both whirled, bows coming up before they realized who it was. Kagome heaved a sigh of relief. "Yuuko-san!" Kagome said with a smile, lowering her bow, "You're back!"
"Not too soon." Yuuko agreed, looking down at Watanuki's prone form. "Our Watanuki just can't seem to stay out of trouble. Now, if Doumeki would carry him to the shop..."
"Sure. And it's not too late, Kagome. You should be able to get home before ten if you catch your train. I'll walk you to the station after we drop him off."
She smiled up at him, a bit of concern for Watanuki lingering in her eyes, "Yes, thank you." With that, Doumeki hauled Watanuki onto his back for the walk back to the shop. Kagome and Yuuko walked on either side of him in silence. Yuuko brushed Watanuki's hair out of his eyes with a fond smile, and Kagome remembered that she had something she wanted to ask. "Yuuko-san, what have you been doing for the past week and a half?"
Yuuko smiled, "A ceremony to create gods. It has to do with retaliation for the Kou. Don't concern yourself with it." Kagome nodded, and turned to look forward once again.
After leaving Watanuki in the care of Yuuko, Maru, and Moro at the shop, Kagome and Doumeki walked closely together as they headed back to the subway station. Kagome's bow was tucked back into its bag, and Doumeki's was carried loosely in the hand further away from Kagome. The pair was relatively quiet, until Doumeki broke it. "The choice that we had... it wasn't really a choice at all, was it?"
Kagome shook her head. "No. It really wasn't."
Their fingers brushed together, leading Doumeki to take an action that he sincerely hoped wasn't incredibly stupid. He turned his hand slightly, and locked his fingers with hers, holding her hand loosely. Kagome's eyes widened and she looked down at their hands, then up at his face without a word, and he thought that he could see the beginnings of a blush forming across her cheeks. Internally, he smirked. Kagome was letting him hold her hand without protest, even if only for the block before her subway station. He was making progress.
— - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — -
The next day, Kagome and Doumeki were walking to class after a morning archery practice when they heard a commotion a little bit further on down the hall. "Himawari-chaaaaan!"
"Well, looks like he's just fine." Doumeki murmured.
"Yes," she agreed, a smile spreading across her face, "It really does. I'm glad- I'd started to miss his Psychotic Rant Mode."
"Heh."
"Watanuki-kun!" Himawari greeted him, "How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine now!" Watanuki assured her with his usual enthusiasm, "I made bento! Let's eat lunch together later!" He looked up as Kagome and Doumeki passed them, both refusing to look at him. "Hold on." The pair stopped, glancing at each other before turning to look at the boy they had rescued the night before. Watanuki refused to look at them as he spoke, "You two can come at lunch if you want, too. But I'm only eating lunch with Himawari-chan, so you two'll really just be the third and fourth wheels!"
Their eyes widened, then Doumeki's expression slid into its usual smirk. "...Did you make inari sushi today?"
"NO! YOU STUPID INARI SUSHI IDIOT!" Watanuki shrieked, whirling to yell at Doumeki as if the evening before hadn't happened, "Today is tricolored riceballs!"
"Whatever." Doumeki said with a sigh.
"DAMN YOU AND YOUR BIG MOUTH!"
Himawari giggled as Kagome came to stand next to her, hiding a giggle of her own, "Watanuki-kun and Doumeki-kun get along so well!" She chirped to Kagome.
"They really do, don't they?" Kagome agreed.
"There's no way, Himawari-chan!" Watanuki declared, a little too emphatically.
"Tricolor, eh?" Doumeki asked, "Is there salmon in there?"
"STOP TALKING WITH SUCH AN ARROGANT TONE!" Watanuki scolded at full volume. Behind her hand, Kagome smiled. Everything was going back to normal.
— - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — - — -
Welcome to your biannual installation of The Price of Hitsuzen! This one was actually more or less on time; it's been a little over six months since the last installation. Due to the fact that college happens, this is about as good as it's going to get during the school season. Also fun is the fact that due to the timing of this release, I offer the chapter as a Christmas present to all of my regular, devoted readers. Merry Christmas/Happy Channukah/Happy Solstice/Happy Kwanzaa/Happy Everybody-Else-Gets-Presents-Around-This-Time-Of-Year-So-Let's-Get-Them-Too!
Now, there aren't a lot of notes to go with this chapter. However, there are a couple. Here they are:
1) Roasting potatoes in leaves- this is actually a really big treat in Japan called yakiimo. It's made with a variety of sweet potatoes common to Japan known as satsumaimo. These have a purplish skin and a yellow interior. The potatoes are roasted in the burning leaves, which provide a dry heat. Yakiimo can be made without the burning leaves, of course, by roasting the sweet potato in a pan over an open flame, but the leaf variety is more of an event. Yakiimo is incredibly popular during the autumn, where it serves as a mid afternoon meal, rather like tea in the United Kingdom.
2) Why does Kagome need an arrow when Doumeki doesn't?- it has previously established in canon (or at least, canon up to my cut off point in InuYasha) that the two archers have different capabilities. Kagome is a miko. She can purify that which is impure, particularly if its energy is at odds with hers, as would be the case of a youkai. I would imagine that she might not have quite as much effect with a spirit that was at one point human, as was the spirit preying on Watanuki, but due to the fact that she was harvesting the energy of the living, Kagome's purification would probably still do more than a little damage to her. Kagome's purification power requires a physical medium to take effect, in this case an arrow. Doumeki, on the other hand, is an exorcist. His power is centered on this ability, and, probably because his power is used primarily against incorporeal threats, he does not require a physical medium to be effective. My personal thought is that using the bow to 'shoot' a spiritual arrow is more of a means of focusing his energy towards his target in a way that he understands. Thus, when Kagome and Doumeki go after the spirit, Kagome has an arrow, but Doumeki does not.
3) Kagome's shock at Doumeki holding her hand- this is... something that is Not Done in Japan. Public displays of affection are not common. At all. As in, you don't see them. Ever. They are considered impolite in the extreme, as I understand it. Even a little thing like holding hands is a big deal, one that under the circumstances of this story, Doumeki only thought he could get away with because it was late on a street without heavy traffic. I'm not an expert on Japanese culture, so I'm not positive about all of the ramifications of the hand holding, but it's meant very much as a declaration of interest in this case.