Cat Skin

a xxxHOLiC fanfiction by Wyrdley

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Notes: PG-13 for violence and language. Release date – August 25, 2005. I'm sorry for being so slow with putting these out, but I have a lot going on in my life right now – good stuff, mostly, but it's been hectic.

IMPORTANT: If you read the first part once already, please go back and read it again. It has been revised and expanded.

Disclaimer: I do not own xxxHOLiC, but I do own any original characters that may appear in this story. Please read the original books by CLAMP, because they rock.

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Part 2

Kimihiro was terribly distracted in his classes that day. At lunchtime, he picked at his meal. Doumeki didn't mention the morning's events, but he rarely spoke of he and Kimihiro's misadventures whenever Himawari-chan was around.

Himawari-chan, being a kind person, was trying to cheer him up. So far, it was the only bright point of the day. He hadn't mentioned the cat thing to her either, because that wasn't the kind of talk a guy wanted to say to a girl he desperately wanted to impress.

They were eating lunch on the staircase leading to the roof of the school and she was sitting on her folding chair. "Is your stomach upset, Watanuki-kun? I have some antacids, if you want. It's not good to miss lunch when you have to work later." Her large round eyes were wide with concern and she leaned towards him, one of her long, curly ponytails falling down her chest. Kimihiro resolutely kept his eyes on her dainty chin.

"Um, I'll be fine!" he managed to chirp. He sipped his tea to prove his point. Really, he just didn't have an appetite. Peeled and maimed cats tended to make folks a bit finicky. At least, they made him finicky – even if he had made the food himself. The smoked salmon wrapped around his sushi was less appealing now than it had been several hours ago. It was the orangey-pink color.

Oh, great, he had managed to gross himself out again. He drooped over his bento. I really have to stop thinking…

"Watanuki-kun, here!" Himawari-chan tilted her head cutely and presented him with a baggie full of club crackers. "These always help me when I can't eat!"

Kimihiro couldn't help himself. A brilliant smile managed to emerge from his gloom. "Thank you! That's very nice of you!" He wasn't going to push his luck by hoping she had made them herself. He accepted one with a slight bow. "They're very tasty." He said after chewing one of the dry things in his mouth. He chased it down with a gulp of his tea, but it left a clinging sensation in his throat that made him doubt he would be able to gag anything past it.

"I'm so glad!" She smiled, her dimples showing. Kimihiro felt the lump of crackers dissolve from the force of his heart flying into his throat. He beamed at her in response.

Doumeki shot Kimihiro an indiscernible look out of the corner of his eye, then hoisted a pickle into his mouth and chomped down on it. Kimihiro thought, ungraciously, that he could at least compliment the meal the he, Kimihiro, did not have to make for him, but did anyway. His smile slid a bit, becoming a bit plastic.

Damn Doumeki, anyhow.

Something caught the corner of his eye and his head swiveled to follow it. It had moved near the top of the steps, but he couldn't see where it went.

Doumeki thrust his chopsticks down into the bento and caught another pickle, the chopsticks making a deliberate clack as it hit the bottom of the lunchbox. He stared at Kimihiro as he stuffed the pickle into his maw. Disgusted, Kimihiro gave him half a shrug, shaking his head slightly.

It was gone and there was no telling what it could have been.

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The last bell rang and Kimihiro was neatly packing away his books and papers when Doumeki unceremoniously plunked the wrapped remains of the lucky cat statue in the middle of his deskspace. "What was that thing at lunch?"

"Beats me. I might have imagined it," he grumbled. "You're so nosy."

Doumeki's face was bland. "Too bad. Let me know what Yuuko-san says." Without further words, he left the room. Kimihiro grimaced at his back.

"Bossy, too. He's not the one Yuuko-san is going to charge for this…" he muttered as he pulled on his gloves. He gingerly picked the fragment up and placed it in his jacket pocket. Apparently spending the day in Doumeki's pocket had purified the nasty aura clinging to the battered bit of ceramic, because it just felt like a lump of dry clay.

He made his way out of the school, nervously watching for any sign of cat death. So far, so good. He glanced up. The afternoon was overcast with faint clouds and the moon could be seen on the horizon, full and pale in the sky.

A full moon. Not good. His weird life tended to get much weirder on nights of the full moon.

"Groceries!" he said out loud. Ick, he still didn't want to deal with food. "Something vegetarian tonight…" That sounded better. "Maybe some paneer with almonds… Chai, a bit of naan… Where's an Indian grocer around here...?" He managed to become absorbed in his menu, planning what to feed his unpredictable employer tonight.

He found a small deli near the green grocer that specialized in foreign cuisine. Kimihiro made his selections distractedly and when he was paying for the groceries out of Yuuko-san's allowance, he couldn't help but stare at the large lucky cat statue settled solidly next to the cash register. Its gold paint was a little worn, but it was in excellent condition otherwise.

The clerk noticed him staring at it. "Oh, you've heard about the thefts?"

Kimihiro started and looked at her directly. "Excuse me?"

The older woman sighed as she counted out his change. "The lucky cat burglaries. Several businesses in the area were hit last night." She shut the cash drawer aggressively and looked at the golden cat on her counter. "The only thing stolen was each business' maneki neko. It's a very strange thing, because there were much more valuable items to take."

"Oh, that's very odd," he said politely. Yuuko-san's hitsuzen again. Why did he have to find the shop with the talkative cashier? He didn't want to know these things, but he could feel a great deal of pity for the bold cat sitting on the counter.

The lucky cat blinked at him and it's gaze shifted to the pocket that held the paw.

He managed to exit the store without running, feeling the cat's golden eyes on him the entire time. "I don't want to know what can skin a cat spirit. I don't want to meet what can skin a cat spirit," he mumbled.

Kimihiro tripped over something on the sidewalk and fell with a screech. He managed to save his groceries at the cost of banging his knee on the sidewalk. "DAMN IT." He sat awkwardly in the middle of the walkway, clutching at his bruised knee. Wincing, he found the thing he had fallen over.

It was a small black cat no larger than a softball. It meowed at him conversationally, a golden medallion shining bravely from the red collar around its neck.

"Oh, hell, no."

The cat meowed again and climbed onto his sore knee, which he had pulled against his chest, and touched his nose gently with its own. Kimihiro found the feather-light weight of the cat something of a nuisance on his hurt knee, so he carefully scooped it up in one of his hands.

"You're a maneki neko, right?" The cat nodded patiently. "And you're here, why?" The feline looked at his pocket, just as patiently. "I was really afraid of that." It purred.

Kimihiro stood, suppressing a groan as his knee twinged. The cat climbed up his arm and wrapped itself around his neck. Just what I needed, another boa. At least it's a different color, he thought cynically. He managed to flex his knee and began to hobble.

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To be continued…

Reviewers:

Larania Drake, JWM, Tatsumaki: Thank you for reviewing. I'll be putting more up, but it will be a week or two. I'm going to be out of town, so please be patient.

Violent Tomboy: Actually, Watanuki's first name really is Kimihiro. Japanese usually call each other by their surnames; only family and very intimate friends address each other by their personal names.

MmindloveM: Please read the guidelines on my profile page for in-depth critiques. I'm not familiar with Rurouni Kenshin, so I wouldn't be very useful for your story. Thank you for the review.

Spellcaster Hikaru: Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it so much. As for Yuuko, don't worry: she'll be in the next chapter.