2. Temptation.

T: Having realised that the first chapter doesn't really give you too much of an idea of what's happening I thought I'd be nice and give you the second chapter today rather than on Sunday. Warnings remain, for the moment, the same and it's still not mine.

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Yuuko had taken the change in his manner in her stride and, after talking to him a little of his new life and introducing him properly to the boy he had trapped in the sakura, she had told him,

"There is a way to change all of this, Subaru."

"Perhaps and yet it comes at a price, does it not?"

"Everything has a price, Subaru and yet sometimes the reward outweighs that cost."

"What would my 'reward' be, Yuuko-san?"

"It would be your choice." She had remarked as he had passed him a small vile of pink hued liquid. "This liquid allows the one who drinks it the chance to fulfil their deepest wish."

"And what would the price be for such a chance?"

"It would depend on the wish."

His fingers had tightened, a moment, about the vile and then he was pushing it back towards Yuuko.

"I have no want to participate in such things anymore, Yuuko-san."

"I do not think you should dismiss this so readily, Subaru." She remarks as she had again handed him the vile.

He had found that he could not again lease the vile and though he had talked to Yuuko of destroying the thing he had know, even then, that such a course of action had been lost to him.

After returning home he sat for an hour simply looking at the object, contemplating the many things he could do with its power and then he had left to feed the tree.

The job was as countless others and, but an hour after he had left, he was again returning to the dark sanctuary of his apartment.

The vile remained where he had left it, the pail rose of the liquid inside all but sparkling in the moonlight.

Somehow the thing comes again into his hands, the weight of it as the one fixed certainty in this whole affair.

Yuuko had said that the liquid allowed its drinker a chance to 'fulfil their deepest wish' and yet what was there left for him to wish for?

Kamui had won the final battle and the world had moved on…had become a 'better' place.

All those he had loved, or truest, were either dead or someone other than they had been.

And finally the one thing that he had wished for had been stolen from him and twisted in such a way that it had become as his greatest nightmare.

If he drunk this liquid would he have chance again to fulfil that want? Might he be able to stop that hurt before it even occurred?

Before he can stop himself he has un-corked the liquid and the sweet, intoxicating, scent of the thing is so enticing that he can do nothing but consume it.

For a brief instant there seems to be no effect, then a sharp pain flairs across his forehead and the world passes, momentarily, into darkness.

He awakes beneath the shelter of the tree, this change in location the first sign he has that something has, indeed, been changed by the liquid. However, it is only when he feels the tree reaching out to him in curiosity that he has the first inclination of what this change might be.

Having no want to jump to conclusions he searches out and purchases a newspaper.

In small print near the top corner of the paper is the date 'March 18th 1999'

He has managed, somehow, to travel back in time.

………………………………………………………………………………

He spends the last yen in his pocket on a cup of coffee and sits in the relative quiet of Ueno considering what his next step was to be.

Clearly he would have to find some form of employment, something that would give him yen enough to live on and that would keep him as much out of the way of his other self as possible.

He opens the paper he had purchased in order to prove, or disprove his hunch and, after reading a few of the news articles, he settles onto the employment pages.

After an hour he remains still in the same predicament and he is just considering the possibility of informing his grandmother of his situation when an add, at last, catches his eye.

Edged in butterflies the add was worded in such a way that it quickly became apparent that it was written specifically with his own self in mind. Indeed so precise were the requirements that, upon calling the number, he was little surprised to hear Yuuko's voice answering on the other end of the line.

"How did you know that I would go back, Yuuko?"

"It was Hitsuzen."

"You believe that you might be able to help me?"

"No. I can help you, Subaru, yet that aid will be added into the final cost of this wish."

"Tell me."

"There is an apartment in the Shinjuku high rises that have set aside for you.

"It is held under the name of Yuji Kimoru and as far as your neighbours are aware you are an aspiring novelist.

"Inside the apartment I have left you an identity card and the means to access you clan's bank account without drawing attention to yourself.

"To that regard, I think you need to work on scaling down your aura, you are, after all, a little 'conspicuous' at the moment."

"I shall do what I can, Yuuko."

His new apartment is situated only a floor above that which he had occupied throughout 'The Year of The Bet' and thus he feels at home almost the very instant that he opens the door.

He works, a while, on calming down his aura and then he sets out again for Ueno.

The tree listens to his explanation with an intrigued fascination and agrees to keep his connection to it quiet as long as Subaru supplies it, every now and again, with an additional meal.

He is just heading back towards his apartment when a familiar voice enquires,

"Might you have a light I could borrow for a moment?"

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T: Do I need to spell out who the owner of the voice is? No? Good! A few things before I toddle off…

Yuuko's become a little OOC I'm afraid, but I needed her to play a very specific role in this fic and to do that she needed to change a little from how she is portrayed in XXXholic. Hopefully fans of the series will forgive me this liberty!

Yuji Kimoru is the alias Subaru uses in 'I wish' and is used again here because I like it and because it didn't really get much of an airing in that fic!

As to Subaru's new profession…it was either writing or modelling and as Tanuki-dono has done such a good job of Subaru as a model in 'Illusionary Tandem' I decided to go with writing.

Basically this profession will allow him monetary stability with the least amount of commitment as far as time is concerned. Also it will give him the excuse to do a little snooping should he have wish!

Oh and Tree-san is not being nice, it's merely getting the most out of an odd situation.

Next chapter on Sunday but until then R+R…you know you want to!