HITSUZEN

AUTHOR: fantasylover12001

RATING: PG-13

DISCLAIMER: I don't own xxxHolic or any of it's characters and am not making any money off of this. Please don't sue.

WARNING: There will be yaoi of the Domeki/Watanuki sort. No flames please, if you don't like it, don't read.

AUTHORS NOTE: Thank you all who have encouraged me so far. I know I'm being painfully slow about this but it's my first xxxHolic fic so I keep wanting to check that I have the right information and I have three other fics going on right now. As of this point, I have no idea how long this will be but right now I'm estimating about ten chapters plus, the prologue and epilogue.

On with the fic:

CHAPTER 3: UNEASE

Watanuki hadn't really been in Domeki's house before. He had been to the temple, but never to where he and his mother lived when they weren't taking care of the place. It was surprisingly warm and inviting. He wasn't sure why, but he'd thought that maybe the place would be as emotionless as Domeki himself. But then, Watanuki argued with himself, his mother probably was responsible for how the place looked.

From what he saw, Domeki's mother was the complete opposite of her son. When he followed Domeki inside, carrying the injured pipe spirit with him, she had already put on a tea kettle and immediately asked him how he liked his tea.

Then Domeki had to go and ruin his perception of him: he smiled. He actually smiled at his mother! Watanuki couldn't help but stare at how different he looked when it happened. Domeki unfortunately noticed this and the smile stopped and he asked, "What?"

"Nothing," he said quickly and glanced back down at his task of wrapping a bandage around the pipe spirit's leg. What he wanted to do was blurt out, "You CAN smile!" But he couldn't really do that in front of the other boy's mother; that would be rude. His mother probably had no idea how cold her son could be and it would be bad of him to disillusion her.

He was a little disappointed when Domeki didn't smile again after that. Smiling did wonders for the other's features. It softened his eyes; it made him look younger and not as cold and unapproachable. It also made Watanuki's heart speed up for some odd reason that he wasn't going to think about right now. Thinking about the reason would destroy the nice little bubble of denial he had built around himself and right now he had enough to worry about.

"Are you all right, Watanuki-san?" Domeki's mother looked at him in concern.

Watanuki jerked out of his thoughts and nodded quickly. "Yes, Ma'am. Thank you for letting me stay the night."

"It's all right. Hopefully with our extra wards those creatures won't attack you here."

"Yeah," the boy murmured. Then he frowned at Domeki's mother, "So you know all about spirits and everything?"

The woman nodded. "The ability to see and exorcize spirits has been in my family for generations. Though it's diminished a bit with me and Shizuka."

Watanuki glanced out the window outside to where Domeki was putting up wards on the temple's entrance. "How come?"

"Father married my mother who didn't possess any spiritual powers and I married my husband who was also powerless. Most of the time if you want the power to be stronger in the next generation, you marry another person with a power similar to yours. My father didn't care about that and so I ended up only being able to see spirits. Domeki ended up being able to exorcize spirits."

"Oh. I guess that would make sense." Then Watanuki frowned and asked curiously, "Um, may I ask what happened to Domeki's father?"

For the first time since he'd met her, Domeki's mother's smile faded. "I'm afraid he died when Domeki was very young."

"Oh. I'm sorry." He decided not to inquire further. It was obviously a painful subject.

Domeki came in before his mother could say anything else and sat down next to Watanuki. "I put up some extra strong wards. Nothing spiritual will be getting in here tonight. How is he?" He asked, nodding at the pipe spirit now curled up in Watanuki's lap.

"I bandaged his leg but I don't know how else to help him. I hope Yuko can help him tomorrow."

"Yeah. By the way, why did you come here?"

"Huh?" Watanuki looked up at the taller boy questionably. Domeki was looking at him with slight curiosity and something he didn't want to decipher.

"Why did you come here? Why didn't you go to Yuko's place instead? She probably would've been able to help you better then I could've."

"I-, " Watanuki started and then paused. 'Why DID I come here automatically?' He knew the truth but wasn't about to admit that he just felt safer around Domeki to the other boy. "This place was closer. I just wanted that thing off my back."

"Hmm..." Domeki grunted. He got the distinct feeling the taller boy didn't believe him.

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Later that night Watanuki found himself unable to sleep.

It was perfectly understandable, he reasoned with himself. He'd just been attacked by some crazy thing, of course he wouldn't be able to sleep. His mind kept wandering back to when that creature had grabbed him and he'd felt like he was being drained.

'It was pulling something from me, but what?' He wondered in the dark. It wasn't blood, he knew that much because there was no puncture wounds from where the fingers had gripped him. But whatever the creature had been draining it was enough to make him feel sleepy.

He sighed. 'There's no use worrying about it, I'll probably find out when I talk to Yuko tomorrow. I bet she knows what that thing is and how to get rid of it.'

He turned over and fell asleep.

xxxHolicxxxHolic

Yuko frowned as she looked in one of her mirrors.

This was not supposed to happen. Not now of all times.

"I'm going to have to tell him soon," she murmured quietly. Sometimes she really hated her life.

xxxHolicxxxHolic

"...Then Domeki shot his bow and the thing disappeared," Watanuki finished his tale with a deep breathe and then looked at Yuko. "So?"

"Domeki-kun, you could see this creature?" the woman asked.

Domeki nodded. "It wasn't as scary as Watanuki is making it out to be though."

The boy in question scowled at him. "What are you talking about! It was so!"

Domeki just shrugged nonchalantly causing Watanuki to scowl further. He hated it when he acted like major things were no big deal. It was annoying. Didn't anything break through that stoic shell of his?

It had been a slight surprise when Yuko had shown up just as Watanuki and the Domeki family were settling down for breakfast. The woman had of course immediately ordered Watanuki to make them all breakfast. He started to protest and Domeki's mother had started to say something until her son mentioned what a great cook he was and then the woman suddenly said it would be nice to have a break from cooking. Though he didn't think all the instant stuff that was in the kitchen could really be counted as cooking. Instant seemed to be what the family lived on. No wonder Domeki was always mooching bentos off of him; it was probably the only real food he ever got.

When he finished cooking and sat down he immediately proceeded to tell Yuko about what happened last night. Maybe it was his imagination but she seemed slightly distracted. Of course that could be because Mokona was talking into thin air on her shoulder. It seemed as though the other Mokona traveling with Syaoran and his group had decided to call up.

To his surprise though, Yuko didn't know what the creature was.

"What do you mean, you don't know!" he shouted, feeling oddly betrayed.

"Even I don't know every creature in the universe, Watanuki," Yuko answered calmly. "But it seems to want something for you so I think it's best if you stick close to Domeki and keep the pipe spirit with you at all times."

"He's welcome to stay here," Domeki's mother piped up suddenly. She had been enjoying the food and had been silent up until then. "Especially if he cooks more meals like this."

'Oh great, another meal moocher' Watanuki thought in exasperation. 'Now I know where Domeki gets it.'

Out loud, and politely as possible, he shook his head and said, "That's fine, I'll be okay in my apartment."

"Actually, that might be a good idea, Watanuki," Yuko said.

"What! No!"

The woman smiled slyly. "Well, if you don't want to stay here, you could always stay at my store. Of course I'll have to take the charge out of your pay."

"I'll stay here," he muttered. He didn't want anything more taken out of his pay. If there were more charges he'd be working for Yuko for the rest of his life.

"Great. Now that that is settled, I have some things to do. Watanuki, I'll see you at the store later today." Before he could protest that it was supposed to be his day off, she was gone.

He sighed and muttered, "What did I do to deserve this?"

xxxHolic

Yuko was just about to reach the temple's entrance when a voice said behind her, "Hey."

She blinked and turned to Domeki who had followed her outside.

"You know more then you're saying," he said bluntly.

She smiled slightly. She had always liked Domeki. He was blunt and highly perceptive. Not to mention he was highly devoted to her son, though Watanuki seemed to be in denial about that.

"What makes you say that, Domeki-kun?" she said calmly.

"Unlike the idiot, I notice things. You said you didn't know what that creature was, your face was saying something else."

"You're imagining things, Domeki-kun."

A raised eyebrow told her he didn't believe her for a second.

Yuko sighed. "Young people. So doubtful nowadays. If you'll excuse me, Domeki-kun." She started to leave but was stopped by a question.

"Something big is happening, isn't it?"

She glanced back at him. "Yes. That's why you have to keep him safe."

"I will."

Yuko smiled. "I know."

Then she left.

AUTHOR NOTES: I really hope these honorifics are correct. If they aren't, please let me know. PLEASE REVIEW!