Cat Skin

a xxxHOLiC fanfiction by Wyrdley

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

Notes: PG-13 for violence and language. Release date – September 14, 2005.

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.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

Part 3

Yuuko-san was lounging on the veranda when he arrived at the store, clad in a gorgeous turquoise sari trimmed with gold and a deep raspberry color. Kimihiro's grip tightened on his bag of Indian groceries. It really weirded him out when she did things like that. He was pretty sure the fortuneteller did it on purpose, too.

"Good afternoon," he said, as the energetic duo of Maru and Moro materialized to take his bags. The two girls chirped:

"Watanuki is here! Welcome back!"

"Welcome back!"

Watanuki ignored them as they raced off to the kitchen. "Yuuko-san, I would like to ask you about something…"

Yuuko-san smiled at him from her comfortable position on the porch. "By all means." A few delicate bindi glinted from under her eyes and she released a gentle puff of smoke. "Please step up, Watanuki. Don't be a stranger—have a seat." Mokona was snoozing on her lap.

Kimihiro realized than he had been standing in the yard like a garden gnome and sat down, pulling his short boots off, his knee complaining. He could feel the cat clutching at his shoulders as his balance changed. He fumbled in his coat pocket for a second and extended the small bit of statue out towards the witch. "Doumeki and I discovered this on the way to school today."

Yuuko-san's face became thoughtful as she carefully unwrapped it. She glanced at him after a moment. "Oh, you brought a customer with you." Her red eyes focused on the black lucky cat. "I didn't notice you, little one."

Kimihiro blinked. "Huh? How could you not notice, I mean, it's the same color as my clothes, but—" Doumeki hadn't seen the bodies, which was understandable, but how could someone like Yuuko-san not notice a magical creature like a lucky cat?

The cat jumped down from his shoulders and landed on the porch next to Yuuko-san, its golden medallion glinting. Yuuko-san smiled at it gravely, laying the broken cat's paw aside gently. "This small one is in a great deal of danger right now, so she's been concealing herself." The cat nodded. "I had heard a rumor that something has been collecting the pelts of maneki neko a few days ago, but this is the first I've seen any proof of it."

Kimihiro stared at the small cat. "I found some bodies. They were—" He shivered. "Poisonous. That Doumeki"—he frowned at this—"actually recovered that piece from one of the sites. He couldn't sense anything at all."

Yuuko-san smirked. "Doumeki-kun? Did he walk you to school today?"

Kimihiro's temperature soared. "What's that supposed to mean? We ran into each other on the way! I have no wish to walk anywhere with a jerk like him!" He scowled at the thought.

"And yet, he was able to find this thing and pass it on to you," she said, gesturing to the paw. "It's not a coincidence, Watanuki."

The cat meowed in agreement. Kimihiro huffed sulkily.

"In any case, this little one has a request," the witch said matter-of-factly. "Do you need someone to stop the one responsible for the slaying of your brethren?"

Kimihiro started, a foreboding lump materializing in his stomach. "No, hold on—" His protest was cut off as the cat actually bowed, then abruptly jumped up to Kimihiro's lap, kneading at his leg. The boy reflexively steadied it with his hand and it—she—leaned into his touch, rubbing her face possessively against his palm. "She wants me to do it?"

Yuuko-san grinned, and puffed on her pipe. "This is a very expensive wish, little one." She let out a tendril of silver smoke. "I need your collar in exchange."

The cat became completely still against his hand, then slowly nodded, her golden green eyes closing. Yuuko-san reached down and carefully unfastened the collar from around the lucky cat's neck. Kimihiro's eyes flew open as the cat's body pulsed in his grip, then became still. "Huh? What happened?" The cat drooped on his lap, then tipped over. She would have hit the ground if his hand hadn't been resting gently on her back. Kimihiro cradled the senseless creature against his chest, his wide blue eyes fastening onto Yuuko-san's grave expression.

"Her collar was part of her power. She's less than she used to be. You'll have to be very cautious with her, because I doubt that she can hide herself the way she used to." The witch handed the collar to Moro, who scampered off with it, Maru in her wake. "I'm sure she'll wake up soon, and when she does, you'll be on your way with her." Yuuko-san's hand slid over the small feline's soft pelt, then carefully lifted her from Kimihiro's grip and laid her next to the snoozing Mokona.

Kimihiro touched the warm spot on the front of his coat. It was directly over his heart.

It was a bit later in the evening when Yuuko-san pulled him away from his chores. After removing the lucky cat's bright collar, she had sent him to the kitchen to prepare dinner, which Yuuko-san lingered over appreciatively when he served it to her. He hadn't done much in the way of heavy labor; his sore knee was actually becoming more of a nuisance instead of less than one.

Mokona bounded onto his shoulder just as he was placing the last of the dishes away. "Mokona is here to fetch Watanuki!" The black puffball hopped in place and twirled, the blue stone in his forehead glittering.

Hunching over the counter, Kimihiro removed his apron and kerchief, carefully folding them away. He walked stiffly to Yuuko-san's sitting room, where she was resting on her divan. The lucky cat was perched on the arm of the chair, but leapt off as soon as she saw Kimihiro, planting herself in front of him. He bent and reached out a hand, which the tiny cat stepped onto like a queen.

"What am I doing, exactly?"

Yuuko-san peered at him slyly. "First, you need an exorcist."

Kimihiro nearly threw the cat as his mood catapulted from "dread" to "aggrieved." "WHAT? WHY DOES HE NEED TO COME?"

Yuuko-san exhaled a tendril of smoke. "Listen up, I have a few things you need to know…"

xXx

The sun was starting to set when Shizuka heard the doorbell ring. "I'll get it," he called as he padded through the hall, his hakama making a swif swif sound. He passed the living room, where his mother was reclining on the floor, watching the television. She turned her eyes to him briefly, then re-focused on whatever scandal the person on the news was blathering on about.

His father was out. Shizuka preferred it that way, especially of late. The man was too eager to discuss his future these days and, though he never said it outright, he had hinted that Shizuka was becoming just a tad too involved with certain people. He wanted his son to have a sterling reputation and Shizuka's recent penchant for mysterious injuries was just a tad suspicious.

Shizuka didn't care much about other people's opinions, but his father's were a bit hard to ignore at times. For now, avoidance was fine. He could deal with the rest later.

He opened the door and there was the idiot, scowling in the failing light. He had a lump of something on his shoulder and his arms were crossed at his chest. Shizuka watched a puff of vapor appear at his mouth.

The lump blinked and stretched, resolving itself into a cat as black as Watanuki's hair. Its eyes were same shape as Watanuki's, too. Shizuka stared at the creature for a moment.

"You have a maneki neko on your shoulder. Explain."

Watanuki's face contorted as if he was chewing on something bitter. "Get your bow. And arrows. This cat is Yuuko-san's customer—"

"Hm," Shizuka grunted. "Bow? And arrows? Sounds a little more dangerous than what Yuuko-san usually has you do." He stepped back and let Watanuki and the cat into the entryway, then stepped up to the closest to grab a happi jacket.It looked a bit cold outside. He toed on his sandals, and walked out the door. "What are we doing exactly?" He wanted to be off the temple grounds before his father came home—which reminded him: "I'm going out, mother," he called back into the house.

He heard the faint "Come back safely" as he shut the front door. He ignored the suddenly blank face that Watanuki was wearing and marched briskly around the front of the house towards the temple. Watanuki trailed behind him, quiet.

"Well?"

"Huh?" the smaller boy said intelligently. "Oh, uh, the job. Yuuko-san needs us to find out what's been hunting the lucky cats in the area." He hurried to keep pace with Shizuka, who liked to make the twerp work a bit.

"What else?" He approached the side entrance to the temple, which led to a small storage room that held his bow and practice target, amongst other things.

"What do you mean, 'what else?'" Watanuki snapped as Shizuka unlocked the door. "Like she ever tells me anything!"

Shizuka didn't respond to this, stepping out of his shoes and entering the temple. He heard Watanuki fumbling with his boots, then felt the floor vibrate with the force of his stomping gait.

The cat hissed and both boys froze. Shizuka turned to look at Watanuki, who was silhouetted in the doorway, the cat facing off to the side—

Watanuki lurched sideways and fell out of sight outside the doorway. Shizuka flew out the door, where he saw Watanuki scrabbling against something the size of a motorcycle that just wavered on the edge of Shizuka's vision. It had him pinned to the porch and he was holding his arm up, like he was warding something away.

Shizuka tackled the whatever-it-was, wrapping his arms around it and squeezing. He felt the thing turn on him and was knocked back, rolling to his knees.

The thing was a bit clearer now, but the sun was completely set now and the moon's light was on the other side of the temple. It seemed something like a wolf, but maybe with the head of a boar. Its eyes were the only thing he could really understand: the murderous glint as it pawed the ground made that all too clear.

Watanuki was flat on his back behind the thing, but he was conscious; Shizuka could hear the boy groaning. "Get my bow! It's in the first room as you go in!"

The monster charged and Shizuka dodged out of its way, spinning to kick it in the side as it passed by him. It snorted and Shizuka could see a wisp of shimmering air graze its side where he had hit it.

Useful. Shizuka backed up a few paces and grabbed one of his sandals, then hurled it as hard as he could at that black gaze. It erupted like a tornado as it impacted the thing's eye and a jet of white air glowed out of the hit. The thing shrieked and shook its head, staggering.

Shizuka picked up his other sandal and was about to throw it when Watanuki banged into him from behind. Shizuka lurched, unbalanced, and the thing charged again. He found himself flying to one side as Watanuki pushed him out of the way, straightening just in time to see Watanuki being slammed up against the porch, an unstrung bow falling from his grip.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

To be continued…

Reviewers:

Spellcaster Hikaru: Not much of Yuuko here, and she's a bit subdued. She'll show up again later, but for now, this is Watanuki and Doumeki's show. Hope you like.

JWM: I have a note posted about lucky cats posted at the end of the first chapter now, as well a few links listed on my profile page.

Laurus Nobilis: I'm so happy you like this!Update "Blend" again soon!

Tatsumaki, Karma826645, Samthegreat: I'm so glad you're enjoying the story! I'm aiming for 12 parts, so stick with it.

TheViolentTomboy, Hakunamatata: I have a note posted about why Watanuki was annoyed by Yuuko calling him "Watanuki" instead of "Watanuki-kun." Please read it. Also, please look at the link I have posted about Japanese names on my profile page. I know the links are broken, but the entire web address is there, so you can paste it into your web browser. If you're going to read manga, knowing a bit about how Japanese refer to each other and the significance of those references will give you a great deal more insight into the interpersonal relationships of the characters. Hakunamatata - I'm not going to continue or respond to anymore comments about Watanuki's surname. I actually read the manga in Japanese, so telling me that Watanuki isn't his surname is like telling me that water isn't wet. Please do the research. No hard feelings, but this point has made me irritable from slapping myself in-between the eyes in disbelief.