An XXXHolic/Hikaru no Go X-over
By Lady Addiction
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CHAPTER 4: THE SEARCH BEGINSDoumeki sat like an oversized Buddha, legs tucked under him, arms crossed over his chest, as Shindou explained the situation. Watanuki sat next to Shindou and fought a strong urge to reach out and sucker-punch the bane of his life, becoming increasingly irritated the more he looked at that unresponsive mien. On the other hand, Mokona was happily making a comfortable nest in Doumeki's hair. From the twitching of Shindou's lips, Watanuki knew that the sight was also affecting him.
When Doumeki had at first asked why Mokona was clinging to him, Watanuki had replied coolly that touching Mokona would allow Doumeki to see and talk to Shindou. The bastard had stared at him for so long that Watanuki was getting irate, and then calmly ignored him in favour of conversing with the boy-spirit.
"I see," Doumeki said after Shindou's rushed patter ended, "but what are we going to do now? Do you have any idea of what kind of creature or spirit would be able to trap and hold onto a soul?"
Both of them turned to Watanuki, who blinked back bewilderedly. "Well, did Yuuko-san give you any advice?" Doumeki asked after a long pause. Watanuki flushed and gnashed his teeth, fumbling at his schoolbag. "Yuuko-san just told me to read this book," he replied through gritted teeth after taking several calming breaths. He placed the book at the center of the gathering. Shindou was looking between them bemusedly.
Doumeki picked it up without a word and began flipping through it. "Well, it looks like this is an indexed encyclopaedia of Japanese mythology," he said. "It appears that Yuuko-san suspects that we will be fighting a Japanese demon."
"You don't need to try and sound so knowledgeable!" growled Watanuki, "it's not as if you know anything more than we do!"
Doumeki gave him a dry look before opening the pages at the back of the book. "There are really only two ways someone or something can capture a sentient creature, even a wandering soul or a ghost. Either they tricked it in some way, or they overpowered it."
"And?" Shindou asked eagerly. Watanuki rolled his eyes and held his tongue.
"Since this friend of yours has already passed onto the next world, he is not a simple ghost or spirit that is still tied to the world of the living. That means, that for him to move across the barrier, he must have gotten some kind of permission from the gods," Doumeki concluded. "Only demon-spirits, like oni and kitsune, can go through the barrier with only their own power."
"Yuuko-san already said something similar," Watanuki interjected derisively.
Doumeki ignored him. "So if we assume that he is already protected by a powerful god, then few can overpower him. What is more likely is that he must have somehow been tricked by one of the lesser demons."
Shindou frowned. "Sai was kinda naïve. He lived only for Go, and I don't think he really paid much attention to anything else. A kitsune-spirit could have tricked him into a game of some kind."
Doumeki nodded. "That is what I think, too." He ran his fingers down through the index. "According to this book, there are three principal trickster-demons in Japanese mythology – the tanuki, the kitsune, and the tengu. Any one of these may be what we will face."
"But how do we know which one!" Watanuki exclaimed.
"Maybe the best way to go about it is to consider where this spirit would come from."
Shindou scowled. "Sai drowned himself in a river one thousand years ago. He never told me which one. The only other places I know are the graves of Honinbou Shusaku, who he possessed several hundred years ago. But I don't know which one he would be likely to have come from."
"Wouldn't it be more likely that he would appear from the river? The site of his first death?" Watanuki suggested.
"But I don't know which river it is or even if it still exists!" Shindou protested.
They all fell quiet, frustrated at their lack of progress. Suddenly a voice piped up. "Mokona is hungry for oden!" The black creature began bouncing on top of Doumeki's head.
"Oden? Wait!" Watanuki straightened up, his face lit up with excitement. "We can ask the kitsune at the oden stand!"
Doumeki and Shindou exchanged glances. "Kitsune eat oden?" Shindou asked, surprised.
"You've met kitsune before?" was Doumeki's query.
Watanuki flapped his hands at them. "Yeah, yeah, I don't really remember when it happened but I was running late and all I could think about was that I had to prepare dinner for Yuuko-san. Suddenly, I smelled something incredible and I found an oden stand! But the shopkeeper was a kitsune! And he had a cute little kitsune son there, too!" Watanuki smiled fondly in remembrance. "Oh yes, that was the night you won your archery competition, Doumeki, and you broke your arrow. I remember because I gave that arrow piece to the kitsune-boy in exchange for oden."
There was another hush as they processed that. "There was no special holiday that time," Doumeki pointed out.
"Which means that the oden-stand may still be there tonight!" crowed Shindou.
"Yes! But I'm not sure I remember where it is," Watanuki replied worriedly, biting his lower lip. "It was foggy and hazy, and all I remember clearly seeing was that well-lit stand."
"Mokona knows where fox-oden is!" The rotund being chirped. "Mokona can show the way!"
"Really!" They chorused incredulously. Mokona nodded, grinning, and waved his paws happily.
"Tonight then," Shindou said with satisfaction.
"Now that's done, make me some ramen, Watanuki," Doumeki ordered.
"Ooooh, ramen!" both Mokona and Shindou drooled at the thought.
"I'm not a restaurant, you know!"
WWWW
On to Chapter 5…
