Once again, I don't own InuYasha: A Feudal Fairy Tale. Nor do I own XxxHOLiC. I really wish that I did own one or the other, as that would easily pay for grad school, but alas, that is not the case.

Also, this is going to be the last disclaimer, as it's getting to be far more repetitive than necessary. Let it be known now and forever that I don't own these two. This extends to future chapters, as well.

- - - - - - - - - STORY BEGINNING- - - - - - - - - - -

Kagome did not like being sick. No, that was an understatement. She positively loathed being sick, down to the innermost core of her being. This probably had a great deal to do with the fact that a simple cold had graduated into life threatening pneumonia due to being forced to travel by a certain inu hanyou. That illness had resulted in an actual hospital stay, lasting just over a week, and given Kagome a mild case of paranoia about coughing diseases. Still, she was more than willing to stay in bed for a day or two due to the fact that she felt like someone was using a blast furnace in her brain and was apparently against her breathing properly. If nothing else, it gave her a chance to catch up on a bit of sleep. Besides, it wasn't as if something drastic would happen in a few days. It wasn't like this was the Sengoku Jidai, after all.

She found out how very wrong she was on Monday morning. She had just sat up to eat the oatmeal her mother brought her for breakfast when her phone rang. She picked it up, still a little bleary. "Hello?" she managed to get out before bursting into a fit of coughing.

"I'm guessing that means that you aren't going to be at school today." the voice on the other end of the line drawled after the hacking had subsided.

"Shizuka-senpai?" she asked, trying to keep her eyes open.

"Yep. You sound awful, Kagome."

"… Can't help it." She muttered, coughing a few times.

"I know. Sorry."

"Not that I mind, but-" she paused to turn her head away from the phone so he didn't have to be treated to another bout of coughing in his ear, "Why are you calling?"

Doumeki chuckled, sending a shiver down Kagome's spine. "Other than to talk to you? Mostly to ask how you are with curses."

She froze. "Casting, repelling, or removing?"

"Removing." He answered.

Her sigh of relief was interrupted by yet another bout of coughing, "I'm not bad," she gasped out, "But it's not my area of specialty."

"But you could probably remove an intermediate level one, right?" he asked, his voice tight.

"Most likely? The way it was laid would play in."

"I think it was because of this spider web I tore up." He said quietly.

Kagome's face went dead white, and her fingers wrapped so tightly around her phone that her knuckles went white. "Spider?"

Kukuku… Did you really think you could beat me, little miko?

"Yeah," Doumeki answered, "Watanuki stopped by a few minutes ago, and he got caught in a spider web. I had to all but destroy the web to get him out of it. It's the only thing I can think of that would get me a curse manifesting as a spider web over my eye."

"What?" She shrieked, despite the way it made her throat hurt and sent into more gails of coughing.

"Hey, hey, calm down," Doumeki said, "It's just a spider web over my right eye that's sealing it shut. Nothing dangerous, I promise."

"Alright…" she trailed off, then shook her head, "You're in luck. I'm good with cleaning up after spiders. A spider's curse I can take care of."

He heaved a sigh of relief. "Great. I guess I could have found a way to deal with Yuuko, but I have a feeling that it wouldn't be worth it. When do you think you'll be back at school?"

"Tomorrow or the day after. Not sure-" she broke of again with a choking noise.

"You sound really rough," Doumeki said, concerned, "If you want I can get your assignments and bring them by your shrine this afternoon." He paused, then added his voice much more nonchalant, "That is, if you want me to."

"I'd-" she broke off to cough again, "Like that. Thanks. It'll give me a chance to look at your curse, too."

"I'll see you then. Feel better." He half ordered.

Kagome choked out a laugh, "I'll do my best, Shizuka-senpai. Try not to let your eye-" she broke off to let out a cough "Attract too much attention. Especially not from Watanuki-senpai. He'd probably try to do something ridiculous."

"He would," Doumeki agreed with a snort, "I have to go if I want to get to class on time. I'll see you this afternoon."

Her lips curved into a smile, "Bye, Shizuka-senpai."

"Good bye, Kagome."

And with that, Kagome hung up, set the phone on her bedside table, and collapsed back into her pillows. She'd work up the energy to eat her oatmeal later.

- - - - - - - - - - SCENE- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Kagome woke up to a knock on her door and her mother's voice. "Kagome-chan? Doumeki-kun is here to visit you." She bolted upright, taking stock of her appearance. She looked ok, mostly. She had braided her hair the night before as she'd felt a bit queasy and wanted to avoid any accidents, so it didn't matter that she hadn't brushed her hair. Her breath wasn't the best, but she thought that was forgivable. At least, she certainly hoped it was forgivable. She wasn't exactly skilled in the ways of looking pretty and attractive to members of the opposite sex. Look at how well things had gone over with InuYasha. But she could be optimistic, right? Being sick would mean that Shizuka-senpai would cut her some slack on her appearance, right?

"Kagome-chan? Can I send him in?" her mother's voice called again, sounding a bit concerned.

"Yes, Mama!"

The door opened, revealing her mother and Doumeki, still in his school uniform with what looked like a folder in one hand. He had his head tilted so his hair just covered his left eye. He caught her glance, "Homework for the day," he explained with a wry smile, "Archery club got canceled, so I came over earlier than expected. I hope that isn't a problem."

"Not at-" Kagome broke off into a coughing fit, "All."

"I'll leave you two to talk," Kagome's mother said with a smile, shutting the door behind her.

Doumeki tossed the folder onto Kagome's desk, then pulled the chair in front of it over to her bed. He sat down, folding an arm over the chair's back and using it to support his left elbow as he continued to cover his eye. "So, how are you feeling?"

"Lousy," she muttered honestly, "I hate being sick, especially when it's a lung infection of some kind."

"Why the lungs especially?" Doumeki asked, brow furrowing, "It's always been stomach bugs that are the worst for me."

"Near death experience with a cold that developed into pneumonia," she explained, "I am now highly suspicious of anything that screws with my breathing."

"I see."

"Speaking of seeing," Kagome began, "Do you want me to take a look at your curse now? I guessing," her voice strained as she tried to hold back another series of coughs, "That's why you've been covering your eye?"

"Yeah. It wasn't bad enough on the way to school to merit a full-fledged eye patch, but by the end of the day… I really wish I had. It would have made life easier when I was dealing with Watanuki." He froze, "That's not good."

"What's not good? Not good is not good." Kagome asked quickly.

"It's not itching," he said slowly, "My eye, it's not itching. I've been using the 'there's dirt in my eye' ploy all day, and dodging the nurse's office, partially because it's felt like it's true- my eye's been itching all day, I think because of the spider web's filament. But it just stopped."

Her eyes narrowed, "So either your face is going numb, which is a really, really bad sign, or…" she trailed off and met Doumeki's eyes.

"Watanuki." They chorused.

"Let me see," she said, pushing herself up from her pillows so that she could get a better look. Doumeki leaned forward and moved his hand away. Kagome took one look and collapsed back on her pillows with a groan that concluded in a coughing fit.

"I take it we should be blaming Watanuki, then?" Doumeki asked.

"Got it in one." She agreed.

"And I'm also going to take a guess that if I go to school tomorrow, something will be covering his eye?" Doumeki asked drily.

"Assuming he asked Yuuko-san for help? I could be wrong, but it seems likely." Kagome said with a shrug.

"And of course, it didn't occur to him that we're both shrine brats, who have infinitely more ways to deal with a curse than he would." Doumeki muttered.

She sighed, hacking a little, "He isn't used to it yet," she reminded him, "We've grown up with the supernatural, at least in stories, if nothing else. We know that one of the best ways to get rid of a curse is to run screaming for the nearest priest or miko, preferably the latter. Watanuki still doesn't get either of our skill sets, or why they're important. He's been getting his training with Yuuko-san, who's a bit… unconventional in her methods."

"So he's clueless." Doumeki said flatly.

"He's getting better," Kagome tried to defend her co-worker, but faltered under the stare of her friend, and broke into coughs, "Ok, maybe not better enough, but that's life. Unfortunately."

"Well…" he considered for a moment, "Could you take the curse off of Watanuki?" he asked, eyebrows coming together.

Kagome closed her eyes, lying back against her pillow, and shook her head, "No, I couldn't. You didn't want to be cursed, which meant that the curse was impure. I can purify that which is impure, which is basically what I do when I remove a curse. If Watanuki took on a curse as a means of removing your curse, that means that it isn't impure- it's a voluntary acceptance. And if it isn't impure-"

"You can't purify it." Doumeki finished heavily, "Right." He paused for a moment, "Does that mean that if we found another way, we could make it work?"

"If it isn't dependent on purification?" she asked, "Shouldn't be a problem."

"I have a shed with a bunch of old scrolls." Doumeki said, eyes narrowed, "There might be something there."

"So do we," Kagome agreed, "I'll bribe Souta-kun to get started. He should be willing to dig through if I mention that it's a spider's curse."

Doumeki blinked at her, "Your family really doesn't like spiders, do you?"

"Mostly I don't," she informed him, coughing a bit, "But Souta-kun was around enough when I was in my 'spiders are the root of all evil' phase that he caught some of the dislike as well. My mother is mostly ok with them, and my grandfather is less than thrilled with them on principle. I'm the one who's borderline arachnophobic."

"You are?" he asked, surprised, "Really? You're afraid of spiders?"

Kagome hesitated, wrapping her arms around her torso, "Bad experience with a spider hanyou," She mumbled, "A series of bad experiences, I guess. Really, really bad experiences."

He nodded slowly, "Does this have anything to do with Hiyakkimori?" she nodded, "And you won't tell me how or why?" She shook her head with a smile. His eye narrowed, "Do you have any idea how annoying that is?"

She beamed at him "Absolutely. Isn't it fun?"

"No," Doumeki informed her, "No, it really isn't. You're going to have to tell me someday."

Her smile faded, "I really hope not." She said, "I don't want to talk about it. Ever."

He looked at her closely, his lips twisted into a scowl, "I can live with that. For now."

"You're going to have to," Kagome told him bluntly, "Because I don't want to talk about it."

He held up his hands in defeat. "Alright, alright." He reached back to the desk and grabbed the folder, "Your homework. Take a look. If you need any help, speak now, and we can deal with them."

With a sigh, Kagome opened the folder and started to read.

- - - - - - - - -SCENE - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Two days later, a completely recovered Kagome headed to school an hour early in the hopes of catching Doumeki at his shrine. She was in luck. Doumeki was opening the gate to his shrine when Kagome walked by.

"Feeling better, I take it?" He asked with a smirk, very calmly taking her book bag out of her hand.

She blinked, not entirely sure how to take this action. No one (well, ok, Hojo had that one time, but she tried to forget that time) had ever even tried to carry her book bag for her before. It was rather unnerving. In a good way, definitely a good way, but still. "Much, thank you." Moving on to the significantly less confusing subjects, she brought up the reason she was here, "So, how angry are we with Watanuki-senpai?"

"We're furious," he said flatly.

Kagome winced, "He asked Yuuko-san?"

"He asked Yuuko." Doumeki confirmed, "He didn't bother to ask me if I wanted him to 'fix' anything. Doesn't he get that taking my curse isn't 'fixing' anything? Yuuko said that she can't do anything to reverse it, because the price for my wish would be for me to lose sight in my right eye, and which would cause problems with Watanuki's wish. From what she said, his wish wins because he got there first. Which is ridiculous."

"Actually, it makes sense. In cases like this, there has to be some way to stop the cycle. Besides," she added dryly, "It's not like you being blind instead of Watanuki would make this any easier. We'd just be looking for a way to get your sight back instead of his."

"I know, I know," Doumeki muttered, "But it's insane. Watanuki said he took on my curse because it was his fault that the spider web got torn up, not mine."

"From his point of view, maybe it was. After all, he was the one who got caught in it badly enough you had to trash it to get him out."

"Yeah, and I was the one who didn't think that a spider would somehow be able to generate a hatred based curse, so I didn't kill it." He retorted, "Why doesn't he get that I didn't want him to take on my curse? Yuuko said that she told him what the price would be. If he'd gone and figured out some way around it, fine, but where does he get off on being some sort of sacrifice?!"

"I think it's because he doesn't know any better," she said after a moment's consideration, "From what he's told me, he's never really had any close friends before, certainly not anyone who he would consider important, because of the way his spiritual powers acted up. After all, being chased by monsters that no one else can see isn't exactly a brilliant way to make a good impression."

The corner of Doumeki's mouth twitched, "True."

"You, Himawari-senpai, and I are his first real friends. He'd probably do anything for us, in his crazed, overly zealous Watanuki-senpai-ish way. But he hasn't learned that we feel the same way about him. He doesn't get that we don't want to see him hurt trying to fix our problems for us." She paused, letting that thought sink in.

"Yeah, that's what Yuuko said when I talked to her yesterday. And she made sure that I knew that being angry with him was actually a good thing in this case- he doesn't understand that we care about him, too, and maybe this would force him to realize that at least a little more."

"I've found that, frighteningly enough, Yuuko-san is usually right." Kagome said with a smile, "Besides, we can be even more furious because it's definitive proof that Watanuki-senpai hasn't been paying attention, and can't be bothered to at least check for better options than running to Yuuko-san. Or asking questions. After all, if he'd just asked then you would have told him that you were going to get me to take care of it after school was over. We have every right to be furious."

Doumeki grinned, "We do. Please, tell him that he's being an idiot. You usually don't, so it'll be a nice change of pace."

She beamed at him, "I'll even make sure to hold off on it until you're there to see it."

"Looking forward to it." He assured her as they walked through the gates of the school, changing their discussion to the much safer subject of archery club. "Really, you haven't missed much," Doumeki assured her, "The first year idiots have been permitted to touch a bow again, so everything's been slowed to a standstill in the name of 'duck and run for cover'." And wasn't this lucky timing for him? There were the two girls who sat three rows over from him in class, the ones whom the boys had collectively titled 'the gossipy duo'. He bit back a smirk. Word that he walked Kagome to school and was carrying her bag, would be all over the school by lunchtime. It would be nearly as effective as a declaration, and he wouldn't have to put in any effort. He did so love it when other people did the hard work for him.

"You're scheming." Kagome interrupted his thoughts. He turned to look at her, and she shook her head, a smile playing across her lips, "I know that expression. It's the one that means you're plotting something. What is it?"

"Nothing." Doumeki told her, not bothering to hide the smirk anymore, "Just noticing a couple of my classmates."

Kagome glanced around, eyes narrowing, "This 'nothing' wouldn't have anything to do with the presence of two girls who love to be at the top of the gossip chain, now would it?" She asked dryly.

"Why would I be happy to see those two gossipy harpies? And how do you know about them? You're not in our year."

"Gossip knows no bounds," Kagome informed him, "Besides, Yamanaka-chan in my class is your Nara-chan's cousin. It's part of her gossip network, same as Yamanaka-chan's older brother in third year. As I understand it, this is the traditional family school. They've been coming here since the Meiji restoration or something equally ridiculous."

"Oh." He considered this information, then shook his head, "I know you don't really have friends in your class, so how do you know all of this?"
"By keeping my mouth shut and listening." She answered, "Granted, I don't think Yamanaka-chan and her brother meant me to over hear them discussing their… displeasure with Nara-chan's fascination with the rumor machine, but, still. What can one expect from conversations in the hallway?"

"Gotcha." Doumeki agreed with a nod, then smiled again, "And, what do you know, we might not have to wait quite so long for you to go slap Watanuki for his idiocy. There he is." He jerked his shoulder in his best friend's direction.

Her lips curved into a smile that Doumeki knew meant trouble. "Yes, he is. And I did promise you front row seats, didn't I? Let's go." Kagome marched over to her coworker, determination in her stride. It took Doumeki all of three seconds to catch up with her. After all, this was one show he really didn't want to miss.

- - - - - - - - - - - SCENE- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Kagome was astounded at the efficiency of the Kawabata Gakuen's gossip network. By lunch, she had heard seven variations of how she had punched or slapped Watanuki-senpai, and, more importantly, twelve variations as to the exact reasoning behind her punch. She had heard everything from the logical 'she punched him because of something that happened at their part time job' to 'she slapped him for cheating on her with Himawari', although the general consensus on the latter was that it was highly unlikely- there was no way that Himawari would be dating Watanuki. However, the theory that was by far the school's favorite, which may or may not have been encouraged by the fact that Doumeki had done an admirable job of getting under Watanuki's skin as he usually did just after the slapping incident, was the height of sensationalism and insanity. For this reason, Kagome was positive that it was the one that would stick around. It also guaranteed a need for massive action to preserve the tattered remains of her reputation (although the slapping had made for a good beginning), and might necessitate the need for Watanuki to look into a school transfer. If Kagome ever found out who had come up with the idea that the reason she had slapped Watanuki in near tears was because he had 'taken advantage' of her and dumped her in a ploy to get Himawari's attention, there would be another round of rumors due to impromptu slapping. Doumeki's outburst was, of course, attributed to his well-documented crush/infatuation/love for Kagome. He would naturally be furious on her behalf.

Kagome's confidence in the intelligence of her schoolmates had plummeted in the past four hours. Seriously. When had she ever indicated that she would be receptive to Watanuki in that fashion? He was entirely too much like Kouga for her taste, at least in terms of romance. This may have contributed to her feelings of grim satisfaction every time her fellow students broke off their whispered conversations to glare at her coworker. Perhaps universal hatred would be sufficient motivation for him to stop making needless and unwanted sacrifices. Then again, she'd been a little bit too worked up to actually tell him why she had slapped him, so perhaps not. Still, it was worth a hope.

- - - - - - - - - - - END NOTES - - - - - - - - - - -

This has not been a good year for me and writing. No seriously, it hasn't. I don't know if it's because grad school, or just because my brain has decided that it doesn't feel like being pals with writing for a while, but anything other than academic writing has not been doing so well for me this year. I would ramble on in dark mutterings about how Nanowrimo back in November didn't work out very well, and after that, nothing else seemed to either, but that would be making excuses. So, to the people who have been waiting for this patiently, I am multiple levels of very sorry that it has taken this long to get out, and that it is not quite as long as I had hoped. I was planning on getting all the way through the photo scene before I stopped this chapter, but eventually concluded that it was better to get up what I actually had done, particularly as it ended on a strong point.

I will make one, somewhat unrelated comment that I feel really must be made. Back in August, I was getting started on another fanfiction project (which is also suffering due to writing not going well this year, but that's another story). Then I remembered that I had gotten an early chapter in for The Price of Hitsuzen, and wouldn't it be nice if I got another chapter out? Plus, it might ease the pressure get the winter release out early. I was just about ready to start writing when I got this review:

"Will this update?
It's been forever and a day
WAKKKEEEE UPPPPPP"

It was the second review of this variety that I'd gotten in a fairly short span of time about The Price of Hitsuzen. And suddenly, the will was gone. I went back to my other project, and pounded out a chapter for it. Readers, I know that you want me to update. I really do. I want me to update. However, I have a life. Right now, it makes me use my brain a great deal, as it involves grad school, looking frantically for a Graduate Assistantship for the next semester, a Teaching Assistantship for the next month, and other fun parts of life. I am not a machine, and if you tell me that I HAVE to update right now, or imply that I have not updated in much too long (and let me stress that I received those reviews in August, when I was still well within my established 'you get a chapter in spring, you get one in winter' schedule), that makes me want to write for this story less. As I have at least one other project in the works and another stuck in my mental development Hell at any given time, I will go work on one of them instead. Or I will be a productive member of society and go work on my Master's Thesis. I have options. I am not obligated to write for this story. Please do not try to make out that I am.

Ok. Rant over.

That being said, I really am sorry for the lack of recent updates, and I really hope you enjoy the chapter. It's part one of the Spider Demon Arc, which will prove to be quite…. Interesting, I believe. I'll try to wrestle with the next installment so that I can get back on schedule, but given that I'm teaching a class and doing research this summer, I'm making no promises. Thanks for your patience, and I bid you happy reading! I don't think that there are any notes for this chapter, but if there are any questions, let me know, and I'll do my best to answer them.