A/N- Yeah, I definitely meant to write this sooner, but… it's summer. You guys understand, right? Time sort of got away from me. Anyway, I've been watching a show called Fringe online lately. Oh and a TV show pilot based off of my favorite movie, Push, is being made! Fun times. Enough with me, on with the show! …You guys probably won't like this chapter.

Warning/Disclaimer- just the usual stuff.

Pairing- I've decided to change the fic from Domeki/Watanuki to Domeki/Himawari. …Just kidding.

Chapter 14- Matched

"Watanuki, what's wrong?", Domeki asked.

"Oh, nothing.", Watanuki lied.

'Argh, my head hurts! That premonition went on forever! Geez, I guess a vision of that length is tough on a newbie like me.', Watanuki guessed.

Domeki frowned, "Don't insult my intelligence. What's the matter? Tell me the truth."

Watanuki settled for a half truth, "I had a dream about Haruka."

"My grandfather?", Domeki asked, "What did he say to you?"

Watanuki also managed to tell half of the truth this time too, "Nothing."

Which he technically hadn't. Understandably, however, Domeki didn't seem very convinced. After all, it sounded like a lie, especially because he knew that Watanuki and Haruka conversed fairly regularly.

Watanuki caught Domeki's suspicious gaze and defended himself, "He really didn't! It was quite unusual for Haruka."

Seeing that he was telling the truth this time, Domeki backed down. They began moving forward again and they reached the outer area of the temple, though they hadn't passed the walls yet. Watanuki was glancing around, admiring the scenery a bit when he looked at a grove of trees outside the walls of the temple. It was the same ones from his premonition.

He started to get a shiver, but suppressed it in order to not worry Domeki. After all, Vincent had already attacked today, it was unlikely he would be assaulted again. Especially with Domeki nearby, whom Vincent seemed to cautious of.

They left the threshold of the temple and Watanuki felt less safe. To cover his fear he looked at Domeki, who happened to be glancing at him at the same moment. Watanuki blushed and looked away. Their hands brushed a bit and Watanuki reddened even more and mumbled an apology. Domeki sighed audibly. He reached out and grabbed Watanuki's hand, holding it in his own.

"Wha-?", Watanuki started, surprised.

He looked over at Domeki, but Domeki neither looked at him, nor offered an explanation. He just held on to his hand firmly. Looking at their hands, Watanuki smiled to himself and held on to Domeki's hand as tight as Domeki's held on to his.

The scenery slowly began to give way from residences to a more urban area. They were pretty close to the town now. As they approached it, Watanuki was assaulted with a sense of unease. As if his body was trying to tell him that something wasn't right. However, Domeki was exhibiting no unusual behavior, so Watanuki knew it wasn't a spirit. He decided to ignore it. After all, if it wasn't a spirit, then it wasn't Vincent, and if it wasn't Vincent then it could wait till after their date.

"I'm sorry to take you into town again.", Domeki began, "I couldn't think of anything else to do."

Watanuki was surprised that he'd put thought into it, "Oh, don't worry about. There's lots to do here! We just have to find something."

Domeki nodded, agreeing with him. They began to walk at a more leisurely pace, doing some window shopping. Well, Watanuki was anyway. Domeki basically stopped when Watanuki stopped and commented on the same things Watanuki commented on.

Before Watanuki got his empathy power and definitely before they began dating, Watanuki probably would have gotten angry at Domeki for all the work he had to do to draw him into a proper conversation. The guy had yet to be the first to say something since they got into town!

However, with Watanuki more in tune than ever to Domeki's emotions, he got the feeling that Domeki simply didn't want to say anything that Watanuki might find boring or disagreeable, so he simply talked about what Watanuki talked about.

'Well that's no good. He needs to be more comfortable with telling me things!', Watanuki decided.

So at the next window that caught his eyes, which happened to be a sweet shop, Watanuki didn't comment on anything and instead asked Domeki a question.

"What do you think looks good?", Watanuki asked, face neutral.

Domeki looked surprised, and Watanuki felt a touch of his nervousness, but Domeki had crushed it almost before it could register.

"I like the plain dark chocolates, myself.", he answered.

"Oh? Why's that?", Watanuki questioned further.

Domeki looked at him. His eyes were unreadable to Watanuki, but his heart wasn't. He was a bit confused at Watanuki's sudden curiosity, as well as a touch worried that things weren't going well, but Domeki carried on as if he didn't have those feelings. His reason, as it turned out, was that dark chocolate was the first sweet he remembered eating, so it was special.

"Is that so?", Watanuki commented, "I'm the opposite of you. I like white chocolate the best. It seems like I know what it tastes like, but every time I eat it, it seems to have a slightly different flavor."

There was a silence as neither boy knew exactly how to continue. For Domeki's part, he didn't like that Watanuki had, seemingly by accident, steered the conversation in such a way that highlighted the fact that the two of them were quite different. Watanuki felt those emotions course through him and he sighed. Judging by his mood, Domeki was taking that as a bad sign.

"Look Domeki,", Watanuki began, "we're obviously very different-"

"Watanuki I-", Domeki interrupted.

But Watanuki cut him off, "Let me finish, Domeki. We're obviously very different, but… that doesn't mean we can't be together, you know? There's no way we'd have exactly the same interests and tastes. If we did it'd be weird. I'm expecting us to not agree on a lot of things so… you don't need to be afraid to tell me about yourself. On the contrary I want to know those things. I don't like seeing you closed off because you're worried I wont like you if we're different."

Domeki was absolutely shocked. He had no idea that Watanuki was so insightful. After a moment, however, he realized that Watanuki probably had some help from his power. Though the fact that he'd cared enough to say anything at all was a change in and of itself. Domeki's face didn't betray any emotions. His face was a carefully cultivated mask and nothing got through. But then, he didn't need to, because they both knew that Watanuki could feel exactly what was going through his heart.

"Thanks.", Domeki simply said.

"It was nothing.", Watanuki said back modestly.

And the two continued on their way.

The downtown area was much more crowded than the way their had been, and thus, Watanuki had become reluctant to display his affection. He was still kind of iffy about it when there wasn't a soul to be seen, so Domeki was less than surprised with Watanuki's sudden physical distance. They walked about for a bit, continuing their earlier activity of window shopping, when Watanuki saw something that caught his eye.

It was an aquarium. Truth be told, Watanuki couldn't quite remember their town ever having an aquarium, but then again he usually had to sprint through crowded areas as fast as his legs would carry him to avoid spirits, so he definitely could have missed it. It was only because of Domeki that he could stroll so leisurely through the town. Speaking of the archer, he didn't seemed the least bit disturbed by the aquarium's existence so Watanuki let it go without voicing his thoughts.

What he did do, however, was motion towards it with a sort of "Please?" look on his face. Domeki just shrugged and changed course towards the building. Watanuki smiled and allowed himself to be led into the relative darkness of the aquarium. As high school students, the price for entering was so cheap that Watanuki didn't even feel bad that Domeki footed the bill again.

They began walking around admiring the various forms of aquatic life. This place was apparently well known for it's penguin exhibit, one of Watanuki's favorite animals. In fact, the mascot for the place was a penguin. And, as one would expect, they had someone dressed up in a penguin suit entertaining children. Whoever was in there was taller than Domeki, so Watanuki figured it was a guy. The crowd of kids the guy was entertaining moved on and he looked around, seeing only the two teens. He headed right over.

"Hello!", He greeted cheerily, "Welcome to the Water Card Aquarium, Watanuki and Domeki!"

'Water…Card? I get the first part, but the second makes no sense.', Wondered Watanuki, 'Hey, wait a minute!'

"How the hell do you know our names!", Watanuki screamed.

"What do you mean? Oh. The suit.", The costumed man realized.

He took off the suit and revealed that he was in fact…

"Akira! What are you doing here!", Watanuki demanded.

Akira seemed confused, "I WORK here. Can't you tell by the penguin suit?"

"But you already have a job at the café!", Watanuki argued.

"Since when is it illegal to have two part time jobs?", Akira countered.

Watanuki ran out of steam, "I… guess it's not… I'm sorry. I was caught off guard by you suddenly appearing again."

Watanuki looked to Domeki for confirmation that it was unusual, but Domeki didn't seem to care one way or the other. Watanuki sighed and let it go.

"Well, it's been great talking to ya, but I gotta get back to work! Bye!", Akira explained as he walked off and cheerily waved goodbye.

Watanuki waved back weakly. He liked Akira, but he always seemed to put him off balance.

"That's twice now. I wonder if he's appearing on purpose?", Watanuki wondered aloud.

Domeki put his hand on the teen's shoulder to calm him down, saying, "Twice is a coincidence. Three is a pattern."

"I guess so, but if he shows up a third time…", Watanuki's voice faded into mumbled threats that no one apart from himself could decipher. Or take seriously.

At any rate, Watanuki also found himself quite taken with the sea turtle that swam in a sort of community tank where many different creatures swam together. Apparently none of them preyed on or were prey for any other sea creature in the tank. He was quite happy to watch the water dwellers (especially the turtle) swim round and round the cylindrical tank. After a good deal of time passed, Watanuki wondered if Domeki was beginning to feel a bit bored, but without turning around he could sense that the stoic teen was content with what they were doing.

It wasn't until Watanuki spied a reflection in the glass that gave him a view of the area behind him that he figured out why. It was true that Domeki was quite content, but not with watching the fish, but with watching him! Watanuki didn't know whether to feel flattered or insulted. He compromised and became indifferent. If Domeki wanted to watch him watch fish, by all means he could go ahead. After all, it's not like Watanuki felt any waves of lust coming off him, so he figured it was ok. Plus, he wasn't much better for staring at a bunch of fish swimming in circles for the better part of an hour.

Finally turning around, Watanuki asked Domeki a question, "Ready to move on?"

He said yes and they were off to the touch tank. Watanuki picked up a starfish and a few clams and Domeki did the same. However, a more memorable part of the experience was when they were on their way to another exhibit and they got a bit turned around and found themselves in a closed off area. Watanuki immediately started to turn back, but Domeki gripped his sleeve. Watanuki turned around to ask the oaf what his problem was, but he was caught by a kiss from Domeki.

Watanuki leaned into it a bit then recoiled, remembering where they were.

"Wha-What did you do that for, idiot!", Watanuki demanded.

"Because I wanted to. And I figured you wouldn't like it if I did it in front of people.", Domeki stated matter-of-factly.

THAT certainly got to Watanuki. He turned red and brought his right hand up to his lips.

"I-Idiot… Next time, just ask.", Watanuki said.

Domeki nodded and agreed, "Sure."

They looked at each other for a moment before Domeki began to walk off and Watanuki followed.

An hour or so later, Watanuki was tired but happy. He'd had a great time, despite himself. The teen felt as if he could spend forever in the place with Domeki. Unfortunately, they'd run out of things to see. They'd even paid another, though shorter, visit to the turtle.

"Well, I think we've seen everything, Domeki. Wanna head out?", Watanuki asked.

Domeki nodded his agreement and the duo headed out the doors. Though, not before waving goodbye to Akira. Speaking of, the man didn't seem to be feeling well. He was out of the penguin suit and taking a breather. He caught sight of Watanuki and Domeki and their waves goodbye, and began to respond when all traces of happiness left his face. It was suddenly replaced by a worried frown. Akira rarely worried. And he NEVER frowned. Watanuki could feel his strong emotions from all the way across the room. But Akira shook himself and resumed his cheery attitude, giving the two a ridiculously flamboyant wave. Which Watanuki laughed at.

"What was that about?", Watanuki wondered aloud.

"What was what about?", Domeki questioned.

Watanuki gave him a surprised look, "Didn't you notice? He looked worried and concerned for a moment there! I hope everything's all right with him…"

"I'm sure it is. He can always come to us if he has a problem.", Domeki reasoned, "Plus, you say it was just for a moment. Even that guy is bound to have his low points."

"I guess so…", Watanuki trailed off, not entirely convinced.

Domeki began to elaborate on his point, but before he could, a low rumble interrupted him. It was Watanuki's stomach. It was actually a bit of a surprise that neither teen had realized how hungry they were before now. After all, they'd completely forgotten about lunch while touring the aquarium. It was well into the afternoon now.

"Let's get a late lunch.", Domeki suggested, Watanuki immediately agreeing, "I have to stop by the bank, though. I don't think I have enough money for both of us."

Those last two statements are where Watanuki had a problem.

"Why are you always paying for stuff! I can pay my own way!", insisted Watanuki.

Domeki raised a brow, "How? With your zero dollars an hour paycheck at the shop?"

"Hey! I get paid! Just not with money…", Watanuki trailed off before gaining steam again, "That's neither here nor there, anyway! You don't have a part time job either so I can't imagine you make a lot of money."

"Running a temple has it's benefits.", Domeki explained.

"That doesn't clarify anything at all!", Watanuki exploded.

Domeki rolled his eyes, "You wait here. I'll go across the street and get money, then we'll go eat."

He was pointing to the blandly named K Bank. The shorter male, however, didn't like this arrangement at all. He wanted to be independent and to take care of himself. He didn't need Domeki swooping in to help all the time! While he was thinking this, Domeki had taken his silence as compliance, and had begun crossing the street. It was probably impossible to stop him now. Watanuki may have lost the battle, but that didn't mean he had to lose the war.

"Fine!", He shouted to the boy already quite a ways away, "But I'm paying for the next thing we do!"

Domeki slowed down and stopped. He stood still for a moment before continuing on his way without turning around. It wasn't exactly the outcome Watanuki had been shooting for, but he supposed it was good enough that Domeki heard his opinion voiced. In fact, a good percentage of the nearby population had stopped their activities to gawk at him.

This embarrassed Watanuki greatly. He knew how they probably took it, and even if they were technically correct, that didn't mean he wanted a bunch of strangers knowing about his relationship status. He stubbornly looked at the sky until most everyone had turned back to their shopping.

PING!

A text from Domeki.

It read: Sorry, but there's quite a line in here. It'll take longer than expected. Do you mind waiting?

Watanuki shook his head and immediately replied that of course he didn't mind waiting and that there was no need to rush.

He had just put his phone away when the wind picked up a bit. He figured it was just a bit of a breeze and didn't think much of it. However, the wind didn't die down. In fact, it's intensity only increased. The power of the gusts became so great that the sensible people of the shopping arcade were taking cover in buildings. Watanuki, on the other hand, was rooted to the spot by a familiar sense of paralyzing dread.

The wind reached a fever pitch as did Watanuki's fear. He looked around from left to right, up to down trying to find the source of the fierce gusts of air. It turned out he didn't need look very hard, because a sinister laugh came from directly in front of him.

Victor materialized out of thin air. One second there was nothing and the next he was there, looking the same when the had had their earlier encounter.

"Victor!", Watanuki spat out.

"Oh my! I'm not very popular, am I? Surprised to see me?", Victor teased, eyes glinting.

Watanuki growled his answer, "I'm surprised that you're just as ugly as I remember!"

Victor didn't like that one bit. He walked forward and slapped Watanuki to the ground.

'Owwwwwww! For a spirit he sure is solid!', Watanuki thought.

"Don't talk back.", Victor advised through thinly veiled hatred, "I may just lose my temper and kill you more painfully than I already intend to."

Watanuki smirked, even though he didn't feel as confident on the inside, "Oh? Have you got more easily dodge able blades again? That didn't seem to work last time."

Now Victor was smirking, "Well yes and no. As you can see I've gained control of the wind in this area. I can make it a soft breeze or… as sharp as a knife. It's not as powerful as my Grisly Blades, but it's MUCH faster and hard to see. Making dodges… difficult. You won't survive this time!"

Victor flew up into the air and began whipping the air into daggers. Watanuki could sort of see the difference between them and normal air, but Victor was right, they'd be tough to dodge, especially at speeds as fast as the winds around him. He thought about running away before Victor had a chance to attack with them, but when he looked for an escape route, he found that they were all blocked by forming blades of air.

Watanuki gave up. He decided that if his life would be given up in exchange for Domeki's, then it was a fair trade. Of course in his premonition, he was injured and Domeki was dead, but he got the feeling that it hadn't happened like this.

'He could die anyway, though.', a part of Watanuki reminded him.

'I know.', Watanuki agreed, 'But I believe that that won't be the case. That guy's definitely the sort of person who only needs saving once! I'll put faith in the future.'

"Are you ready boy! After I kill you, I'm definitely going to kill that friend of yours, so you won't die alone!", Victor cried, "Here I GO! WIND DANCE!"

Watanuki closed his eyes and waited for the daggers to strike him. When they didn't for awhile, he opened his eyes and found that he didn't feel the wind. In fact, he didn't seem to even be in the same place that he was a moment ago. Looking around he found that he was inside the bank! He desperately turned outside and saw Domeki outside. He seemed fine, but then his outfit tore in several places and crimson bloomed all over his body.

Watanuki cried out, and pushed the door of the bank open, running toward him.

'That idiot! He traded places with me using his power!', Watanuki realized.

Watanuki reached him, and even with his poor medical knowledge he knew Domeki was in bad shape. However, he was still clinging to consciousness.

"Hm. That's not exactly what I expected…", Victor stated tentatively before grinning, "Oh well! All I have to do is finish you off! A simple barrage of fireballs should do the trick! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

Watanuki heard Victor in the back of his head, but he was also listening to Domeki's weak words.

"I'm… I'm sorry.", He apologized, "I would… come sooner but… the wind was… pushing the doors shut… I couldn't…"

He trailed off into a coughing fit through which Watanuki tried to comfort him, saying it was alright, even though he knew it wasn't. In truth, the two of them were about to die. Despite all he'd seen and done, he couldn't prevent the fate that he'd most wanted to avoid.

"You… idiot,", Watanuki said, tears beginning to form, "I didn't want this… I wanted you to be…"

He was interrupted by Victor.

"Well it's been fun!", He exclaimed, "But now it's time for you kiddies to fry!"

He was holding his hands outstretched as if he was about to give someone a big hug, though his intent wasn't as innocent as that. On the tip of each of his fingers was a glowing orange orb, that Watanuki assumed was a fireball. It wasn't as big as he imagined, but he didn't delude himself into thinking they were less dangerous. Victor suddenly threw his hands back and then flung them forward, the orange balls hurtling towards their target.

Watanuki panicked. If Domeki sustained any more damage, he'd die for sure. And at the very least Watanuki would end up badly burned. He had to do something! He was the only one who could. He reached out his arm into the air. Seemingly grasping at something that wasn't there. In his mind, all of his feeling was concentrated on hoping that something would take care of the danger.

No sooner had he thought this than a transparent dome appeared around Domeki and himself. Domeki was out of it, but even his eyes widened a bit. The fireballs hit the dome, and the reflected back on their user. They hit Victor in the face, stomach, and legs. He cried out and writhed around a bit. Even though he was down, Watanuki could tell that he wasn't out. It was only a matter of time before he recovered and tried again. Possibly this time with less favorable results for the duo on the ground.

"H-How did you…?", Domeki began to ask.

"I don't know! It just happened!", Watanuki screamed while flailing about.

He stopped this, however, and took a glance at Victor. It was now or never! This was the only time he'd been vulnerable since they'd met. Watanuki looked down at Domeki, who was still awake, but fading fast.

"Ok Domeki, gather your energy in an arrow!", Watanuki commanded.

Domeki looked at him dumbly, "I can't, I'm too weak. Even if I could, I don't think it'd be strong enough to kill him."

"Well you have to try! It's our only hope!", Watanuki argued as he pulled his boyfriend to his feet.

Domeki was leaning heavily on Watanuki, but he managed to draw his spirit bow and the arrow ready to be released was feeding off of his power of Lifeguard, which was active because he wanted to protect Watanuki. It was the strongest arrow that Domeki had ever drawn. However, it would probably still be too weak to defeat Victor.

"Watanuki… I still don't see how-,", Domeki began again.

"Don't worry.", Watanuki reassured him, "I've got a feeling I know how to make it stronger."

Watanuki put his own hands where Domeki's were, making it seem as if they were both drawing the same arrow in the same bow. The size of the arrow doubled it's normal size, and judging by the swirling energies around it, it's power had more than tripled. Vincent, however, wasn't writhing quite as ferociously as he had been. In fact, he wasn't thrashing at all, rather, he had his right hand pinching his nose, as if he had a bad headache. The man didn't look seriously injured or even burned, Watanuki knew that this was probably their only chance.

Domeki started to try to speak again, "Watanuki… if this doesn't work-"

Watanuki cut him off again, "It WILL work. When we work together, we can't be beat!"

Watanuki sounded pretty optimistic, but it was only surface level for Domeki's sake. He was terrified that they would die here together. On the other hand, it wouldn't solve anything to give into his fears and have a breakdown. That would definitely make the situation worse.

"Ok, on the count of three?", Watanuki suggested.

Domeki nodded in agreement.

"One…", Watanuki began.

"Two…", Domeki said.

"THREE!"

The last one they shouted together, releasing the arrow at the same time. Victor had just removed his hand from his face, and was looking for the boys so he could finish them off. Before he could, though, the arrow struck him square in the chest. It's momentum carried him backwards a bit. He grabbed and clawed at the arrow, trying to get it out, before he succeeded.

He was in a lot of pain, but it didn't seem to have killed him, unfortunately.

"HA HA HAAA! You two thought you could kill me with THIS!", Victor taunted, "I've had bug bites that stung more!"

He was laughing and crushing their hopes, but the two boys below him didn't react. In fact, they were looking at him, but not in the eyes. Their respective gazes were directed to his chest, where the arrow had struck. There was a hole there, not surprising since he had been struck with a huge arrow. Although there was something strange about it. He couldn't tell at first glance, but after a moment it dawned on him. It was growing. And fast. It was eating away at his body at a quicker and quicker rate.

"No. NO!", Victor shouted, even as he dissolved.

Victor started to flail about, trying to stop his disintegration, but didn't have any luck. Watanuki and Domeki merely watched as Victor struggled, awed looks on their faces.

"Why? Why did it end like this?", Victor asked no one, "I just wanted us to live forever… so we wouldn't have to say goodbye…"

And with those cryptic last words Victor faded into nothing. As soon as he did, Domeki lost the strength to stand. He collapsed to the ground, and Watanuki followed, hovering over him. The wounds looked bad and they were still bleeding. It was a miracle that Domeki had managed to stand at all, let alone for so long.

"Haa… haa…", Domeki panted, "I'm not long for this world…"

"Don't say that!", Watanuki cried, "You'll be fine! I'll get you to a hospital and you'll be fine!"

"Watanuki.", Domeki said, eyes shining.

Watanuki grabbed his hand and responded, "Yes?"

"I know we haven't been going out that long, but I… think I…", Domeki started to say, before he grimaced and began coughing.

"I know. I know.", Watanuki assured the boy, tears falling from his face, "You don't have to say it."

Domeki smiled and nodded. His eyelids drooped and he seemed to be quite out of it. A siren was heard in the distance. It seemed that someone had seen Domeki collapse and called for help,

"I'm pretty tired. I think I'm gonna sleep.", Domeki tiredly stated.

"Ok. Why don't you take a nap, and I'll be there when you wake up.", Watanuki said, knowing he was lying.

Domeki didn't respond. He closed his eyes, and was completely unresponsive to anything Watanuki said or did.

Watanuki started crying even more ferociously than before. Even if he had wanted to say something else, he wouldn't have been able to.

All he could do was cry.

A/N- So yeah… one chapter left. Ah ha ha, please don't hate me! The next chapter is like an epilogue but not really. I'm sure you don't quite know what I mean, but you will when I get the next chapter up.

- Yeah, I actually considered that, but I feel that it would have unnecessarily lengthened the story, by bringing in Haruka, so he could explain to Watanuki what was going on. For that Watanuki would have had to be asleep, and it definitely would have taken longer than Victor just being aware of this fact from the beginning. As always, thank you for reviewing!

James Birdsong- Thanks again. This chapter then one left! Thanks for sticking around for so long!

Eilonwyn- Thanks! I enjoyed writing them, they were probably my favorites. Yep, I thought that feeling what others were feeling was just a good fit for Watanuki, so I'm glad you agree! Did the climax surprise you? Honestly I've had this in the works for awhile, but I wasn't sure how effective it would be when I actually wrote it.