That face
by: samthegreat
disclaimer: nothing new here
I had been waiting for some time for that date to arrive. Had it been a month or so sooner, I'd be bouncing off the walls, swooning with stars in my eyes. But that time has passed and I don't feel that way for her anymore. Don't get me wrong, Himawari-chan is my dear friend and I'm really excited for her seventh birthday, but I'm afraid to be too excited less it starts a fight with that person. Himawari-chan and my past obsession with her is a touchy subject with him.
Not that I really give a damn. It's his problem, not mine. I just want things to stay harmonious for Himawari-chan's birthday. Yeah, that's all. At least when I brought up possible presents for her, he didn't sigh and mumble about me being in love with her. "You have any ideas?" he asked as we walked to Yuuko-san's shop. "Not anymore. Nothing that would be appropriate anyways." He seemed satisfied, as if it was a test to see my true feelings for Himawari-chan. "Look," I turned to him and huffed, "Himawari-chan is a very good friend to the both of us and as such, it is our duty to give her a good birthday! So whatever bitterness you have, get rid of it! You have nothing to be jealous over. I don't like Himawari-chan that way."
He took this information silently. Then, "We'll get her nice gifts and maybe we could throw her a small party." I was so relieved and a little proud that he was so mature about it. "But the moment I see you giving her goggle eyes and start acting like a love struck fool…" "Damn it! I don't love her!"
The next day at school, Himawari-chan was in high spirits. "Doumeki-kun, Watanuki-kun! I want you two to be the first I invite to my birthday celebration!" She handed us pink envelopes that contained delicate-looking invitations. She blushed, "If the day is inconvenient for you, don't worry about coming. It's not a big deal at all." Doumeki and I met eyes. "No," he assured her, "We'll be there." She switched gears, "Great! It's going to be a huge party. My parents throw it every year and invite so many people. I wanted you two to be there!" This was perfect. Himawari-chan would have to visit with all of her guests meaning she would spend very little time around me meaning that he wouldn't accuse me of anything.
So all that left was her presents. I agreed to stay during his practice so we could talk afterwards about what to get Himawari-chan. "Kunogi is pretty girly. Something pink maybe." "That doesn't limit it much." "Well, what can you think of?" I thought for a while. "I could always make her something tasty." "And put both of our names on it." He nodded satisfied as if our present problems had been solved. They hadn't! "No way! I'd be doing all the work. Why should your name go on it too?" "I could help you," he offered. "No that won't do," I looked away and I'm sure I was blushing, "Besides, Himawari-chan might think something sinister if we gave her a gift together…like we were a couple."
"What's wrong with that?" I wasn't surprised that he said that. He had been saying things like that a lot lately. Once I would have been disgusted by a comment like that. Now, something whispers in me, 'Yeah, what's wrong with that.' He took my hand. He had been doing a lot of that too. I turned bright red and mumbled, "Not now," as I took my hand away. We were both quiet for a while. "You know, we should buy her some hair clips." I felt a tightening in my chest. "Oh, because she has cute hair," I said with just a little venom behind those words. He smiled at me in one of his secret ways. He was laughing at me. "Not that I would care," I added quickly, "It would get you off of my back finally." I caught his eyes and that smile within them spread to that tightening in my chest.
"Oi, what time should I pick you up for the party?" "What makes you think I'm going with you?" I hated he always assumed things before they were actually decided. "You don't want to go with me?" I sighed, "Us going there together would be suspicious. What would Himawari-chan think?" "Who cares what she thinks," he huffed. I had instigated the fight and now I regretted it. "Doumeki…" He turned to me. "I'll let you take me to the party on one condition." He was smirking, "And what's that?" "You can't act jealous of Himawari-chan or accuse me of still liking her in that way." He looked thoughtful and then took my hand. He gave it a squeeze, "Deal."
Maybe it wouldn't have been so bad to have let him hold my hand. And maybe if I had leaned in a bit, I could have found out just exactly what I am feeling for him. But, it didn't turn out like that. I'm too stubborn and too afraid. But I hear him ringing the door bell now so I don't have time to mope about what might have been if I had allowed it to happen.
Watanuki hurried to open the door. Doumeki was on the other side. "Oi." The taller boy walked into the apartment and looked around. It was very clean and simple. It suited Watanuki. "I just have to put the bow on Himawari-chan's present," Watanuki called to the other boy. He watched out of the corner of his eye as Doumeki walked around the living room, staring intently at each picture he came across. The shorter had to admit it to himself, the archer looked really good tonight. He was wearing black pants and a short sleeved, tight black shirt. He ducked his head and blushed.
"Why'd you stop looking at me?" Doumeki asked from over his shoulder. "I…I wasn't." The other sighed and flopped down next to the other. "Don't lie. I could feel you looking at me. I like your eyes on me." Watanuki turned bright crimson and shot straight up. Grabbing Himawari-chan's present, he said a little too happily, "We should get going. Don't want to be late to Himawari-chan's party."
They arrived at the celebration quickly. Himawari herself answered the door. "I'm so glad you two could come. Come in! Come in! Enjoy yourselves!" She danced off to a group of her party guests. The place was crowded and noisy. People chatted loudly and music was blearing in the back ground. The two pushed through the crowd until they found a suitable place to observe the party from. "You thirsty?" Watanuki nodded. The taller boy wondered off to find some refreshments.
Watanuki looked on as a cute girl stopped the other. She was short and had a curvy frame. She wore a short dress and was leaning heavily into the archer. He felt his stomach clench. "Um, excuse me." He turned to see a shy looking girl timidly smiling at him. "I'm Yuiko-chan." He nodded to her and gave his name, but was more interested in what was going on between the cute girl and Doumeki. "I'm Himawari-chan's cousin. Are you a friend of hers? Do you go to the same school." He tried his best to be social, but couldn't get a horrible image out of his mind. He imagined the cute girl leaning into the taller boy. Her smiling mouth meeting his in a passionate kiss. He shook his head. He had to stop imagining Doumeki with these different women.
He looked over and saw said boy walking away from the slightly shocked girl. "Oi." The bespectacled boy was so relived. The girl that was trying to talk to Watanuki seemed to shrivel up and blow away in the taller boy's presence. "So," the shorter boy began, "What did that girl want? To dance with you?" "Actually, she told me she was just a distraction." "Eh?" He grinned, "She said that her sister, that girl who was talking to you, was interested, so she was sent to keep me away for a while." Watanuki was bright red, "You don't say." "Yeah, she said something about her sister being attracted to dopey looking boys." Watanuki fumed, "She said what?" Doumeki got very serious, "Don't worry. I told her I was attracted to dopey looking boys too and I saw you first."
Watanuki looked away. "I need some air," he mumbled. "I'll join you." The two leaned against the fence that surrounded Himawari's house. "Are you okay?" "No not really." The taller looked down at the other boy tenderly. "Confused?" "Yeah, very much so. I…I can't believe you would say something like that to a stranger…a stranger who turned out to be Himawari-chan's cousin. What if she tells her? What will Himawari-chan say?" Doumeki bite his tongue as he remembered his promise to the other boy. "I'm sorry," he said softly, "It's just how I feel about you." Watanuki hardened his face, "I'm going home." As he began to walk away, he was met by the smiling face of Himawari.
"So here you two are. I wanted to open your presents to me with just the three of us." She held both gifts in her hands. "Hold this please, Doumeki-kun. I'll open Watanuki-kun's gift first." She removed the pink ribbon from the simple white box and ohhed and ahhed at the contents. It was a small personal-sized cake with sweet pink icing and white candles made out of chocolate. "Watanuki-kun, I don't know what to say. It's so pretty. I love it!" She took the other gift from Doumeki-kun and began removing the dark blue wrapping. "Oh, Doumeki-kun. I adore it! A picture of the three of us. How nice." Watanuki looked at the frame in Himawari's hands.
It was a picture taken by Doumeki at their mini-celebration after he had won that archery competition. It was an 8x10 in a simple black frame. In the picture, Himawari-chan had an arm thrown around the shorter boy, who was blushing madly. The other boy was to her side, looking over at her captive. He had noticed that. Doumeki was always looking at the shorter boy. "Himawari-chan, I'm glad you liked your gifts. We'll be going home now, though." She looked disappointed. "Alright, I suppose I should get back to the party anyways. Thank you for coming."
The walk to Watanuki's apartment was quiet. "Hey, Doumeki. When did you know you felt this way about me?" The taller boy looked surprised. "The night we told ghost stories, I suppose. Being able to protect you when those ghosts were trying to pull you into their darkness, I really liked that. It felt right. I realized that I always wanted to protect you." The shorter boy stopped and looked up at the other, "Recently I've felt something that I can not easily explain. I'm going to try this once, so don't think anything of it. And I swear if you tease me about it, I'll kill you." The archer noticed the murderous look on Watanuki's face. "Alright." Watanuki stepped close to Doumeki. He imaged those thoughts of the other with the girl from the party and the cute spirit. He gulped and leaned up. Doumeki leaned down and met him. That pain in his stomach was gone. All that was left was his lips on Doumeki's. And it wasn't so bad.
Watanuki made a mental note to pack away his journal. He didn't think he'd need to write about that annoying little spot in his stomach again.
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next chapter will probably be the last. unless tempted otherwise.