A/N: Minna-san, konyanyachiwa! I've only just started to really be interested in xxxHolic, and ya know what? It never fails. I saw Watanuki-kun. Then I saw Doumeki-kun. My fangirl brain instantly took over and squeeled, "ZOH MY GAWRSH! DOUWATA!" And yeah. I'm kinda still a budding DouWata fan, as all I can see between them is sweet, fluffy shounen-ai.

ANYWAYS, about this fic: It was spawned while I was jogging around the track one Friday in 4th period Health/Physical Fitness. I ended up thinking about it and working it all out in my brain all day and all night. Then, the next day (Saturday), as I was lazing around on my top bunk in the cabin during free time (I was at a yearly orchestra retreat to Camp Glisson), when I finally decided that I had to write the fic down. So, I spent 4 hours (aka all my free time) doing that. And I LOVE the way it turned out (though I think I may have warped Watanuki-kun's personality a little...).

And, thanks to the fact that I was off in Ryokoland as my playing group and I were working on perfecting the Phantom of the Opera's "Music of the Night," Drunk Vash Muse turned my brain into crack, and I kept getting wierd mental images of Watanuki-kun wearing Christine's revealing little slip/dress and garter belt holding up the white thigh-high stockings underneath, Fay-Fay wearing the dress Christine wore in Don Juan (the one with the shoulder straps that kept falling down), Ashura-ou as Raoul, and Kuro-wanta as the Phantom (but don't worry; in Ryokoland, the Phantom and Christine live happily ever after).

Doumeki: (off-screen) And I was...who?

Me: Another Phantom. (tosses Phantom costume to him)

Kuro&Fay: (busy snogging in the corner)

Yuuko: (whistling and taking pictures)

Watanuki: (breathless) Why...the hell do I have to...have to wear this? I can't...breathe...

Me: Oh, quit complaining. It's just a corset. You'll get used to it.

Watanuki: (passes out, but is cought by Doumeki, who is now dressed as the Phantom)

Me: Or not...oops... (watches as Doumeki carries Watanuki off princess-style)

By the way, this takes place a little after volume 6. If you've read it, you'll know what I'm talking (or rather, writing) about. It's told in Watanuki-kun's point of view. As for warnings, there's a teensy bit of language and shounen-ai (DouWata). You like, you read; don't like, don't read. As always, please, no flames (constructive critisizm is loved, but please don't be too harsh), no claims, and any and all flames recieved will be used to barbeque Vicious, Karasu, Dr. Muraki, and Fei Wang Reed. And the evil spider. CURSE YOU, SPIDER! (shakes fist)

Of course, me no own. You no sue. Okeys? OKEYS! To those of you who haven't hit the Back button, read and review, onegaishimasuuuu!

- - - - - - - - - - "If Anything Were to Happen to You..." - - - - - - - - - -

With the shrill screech of the teacher's whistle signalling the end of PE, I set to work gathering up the soccer balls into their mesh bag. As I did so, I grinned to myself: Wow! All period playing soccer with Himawari-chan on my team! And no stupid Doumeki to get in the way! Could I ask for a better way to spend the period! With that, I hauled up the full bag up and over my shoulder, and was getting ready to go put it back in the storage room behind the gym, when Himawari-chan herself approaches me and calls, "Hey! Watanuki-kun!"

"Himawari-chan! I thought you were already in the locker rooms!"

"Yeah, but I wanted to ask you something."

"Alright! What is it?

"Would it be OK if I waited for you outside the locker rooms? Then, once you're done changing, we could walk to our next class together."

"Of course! That's absolutely fine with me!" Why would I ever say no to you, Himawari-chan?

"OK! I'll see you later, then!" She smiled before turning and running back into the building, her long hair gently bouncing around behind her.

Waaaah! She's so darn cute! I was so happy, I wouldn't have been surprised if I was floating across the ground instead of walking. I thought as I entered the dim storage room, Maybe we can walk home together, too! And there'd be no Doumeki to interfere, too, because he has a student committee meeting to go to! It'll just be me and...wait...

I dropped the sack of soccer balls as realization swept over me: Himawari-chan's a member of the student committee, too...

"DAMNIT, IT'S ALL HIS FAULT!"

"What're you carrying on about in the middle of the storage room? Aho." (1)

I wheeled around, fuming, and sure enough, there, dressed in full archery club uniform, stood Doumeki. I retorted with a finger pointed, "YOU! WHAT'RE YOU DOING HERE!"

"Putting away targets; what else?" The jerk held up one of the targets he was leaning against the wall.

"Oh yeah. You have another archery torniment this weekend, don't you?" No wonder he wasn't in PE today...

"Yeah." Having put away the last target, Doumeki stepped in front of me, and I suddenly felt the back of a hand against my forehead. He asked, "You feeling better now?"

"Fine, fine! Why do you care anyways?" I snapped, waving his hand away before picking up the almost-forgotten bag of soccer balls and carrying them over to the back wall, finally setting it down beside the other sports balls.

"You're lying."

I rounded on Doumeki (who apparently had followed me) and yelled, "WHAT MAKES YOU THINK THAT! I AM PERFECTLY HEALTHY! TEMPERATURE OF 98.6! NO COUGHING! NO PASSING OUT! YEP, I'M PEACHY-KEEN!"

"She's gone. Being all upset about it won't do you any good."

"Eh?" What's he talking about?

"If you'd kept going back to meet that woman, you would have wound up dead. You don't think I was about to sit back and let that happen, do you? Everyone's fine now, so there's no need to be so depressed."

"...you'd feel the same way if another person you looked up to as some sort of mother figure suddenly disappeared, too." I replied quietly, my eyes straying to the dusty floor. As much as I hate to admit it, Doumeki was right. The incident had occurred a few days ago, but I was still feeling really glum about the whole thing. I thought, Couldn't we have resolved it all some other way?

"If I hadn't shot her with that chi (2), you could've ended up dead; that's the last thing I want. If anything were to happen to you-"

"I know, I know; don't even get started on your stupid bento (3) or my 'stupidity'-"

"Baka (4). That's not what I'm talking about."

I looked up at Doumeki, my brain reeling; what could he mean? Then I finally realized that I had been standing against the wall the whole time, with Doumeki standing so close, I could've sworn I could hear our intermingled heartbeats. I licked my dry lips, unintentionally tasting my own salty sweat as I did so, and forced out, "W-What do you mean?"

"I mean, if something bad were to happen to you..."

I continued to stare up at him, my expression almost begging him to finish.

Now, it was an unusually hot, humid day, even for Japan. The storage room, of course, wasn't air conditioned, and on days like this, the room got really stuffy and swealtering hot. There was a bead of sweat trickling down my brow, almost ready to drip onto my glasses, and I was about to reach up to wipe it away, when I felt a corner of thick, smooth fabric slowly sweep across my forehead. Then, the cloth was pulled back, exposing Doumeki's hand as it came to a halt on my cheek. I could feel my face beginning to turn red, and was about to inquire as to what Doumeki was doing, but I never got the chance.

Suddenlly, I felt something warm and smooth press gently, then firmly against my lips. I gasped in surprise at the sudden contact, and, grabbing the opportunity, the lips that were pressed against mine parted and let its damp tongue run almost questioningly across my front teeth. My brain was a mess; I couldn't even hope to understand the flood of emotions I was feeling. Yet, through the mass chaos in my mind, I felt the tongue on my teeth and "mmh"-ed my consent, quickly shoving everything in my mind to the side for later examination. Wrapping an arm around my waist in reassurance, Doumeki finally let his tongue wander further into my mouth, slowly, skillfully caressing my tongue and teeth. I wanted to respond somehow but, as I've never really kissed anyone or been kissed (and my parents don't count), I didn't know what to do: I was totally new to this. However, once Doumeki hit some sort of "sweet spot" beneath my tongue, I gave up on thinking and completely gave in, soon kissing fervently back.

Sometime later, we broke apart for a breath, our tongues temporarily connected by a thin strand of mixed saliva. I wheezed between breaths, a small smile on my face, "...you...you're making my...my glasses fog up...and...why the hell am I blushing?"

Doumeki, his face inches from mine, replied, "Maybe you're...still a little sick..."

"Well...if I am it's all...all your fault."

"Heh..."

Then, without warning, Doumeki's lips descended upon mine once more. In no time, I found myself gripping at the cloth on his back as this second kiss deepened and slowly grew more passionate, our tongues meeting over and over again, sending little thrills of icy fire down my spine. As he slid a hand up the side of my shirt and began feeling his way up to my chest, I began to feel some sort of odd fluttering sensation in the pit of my stomach, almost as if my heart had fallen down a little ways, and was beating somewhere behind my navel. I don't know why, but I began to get a little scared and, gripping Doumeki's shoulders, I hastily pulled my lips from his with a shaky, "W-Wait..."

"You alright?" Doumeki breathed, letting his hand retreat a little.

"Y-Yeah...just feel a little wierd..."

"Sure you're not sick?" He brushed his lips gently against my forehead, awaiting my reply.

"I'm sure..."

"Not feeling faint or anything?"

"Uh-uh..."

"Yokatta." (5)

And we stood there for a time, me totally relaxed in Doumeki's arms, reluctant to let go. For the first time, I was hesitant to leave him to see Himawari-chan; I just wanted to stay here wrapped in his arms forever. But I knew I had to go change, so I slowly let go of Doumeki and said appologetically, "I gotta go; I said I'd walk with Himawari-chan to her next class."

Doumeki nodded in understanding, but didn't let go yet. "Then I'll see you once you're done working at Yuuko's?"

"Alright!

After one quick final kiss, I ran out of the room and over to the locker rooms to change, all the while blushing madly like the virgin I proudly am. A few minutes later, as we walked to our class, Himawari-chan asked, "What took you so long, Watanuki-kun? And why is your face all red? Do you have a fever?"

"W-Well, I ran into Doumeki in the storage room, and we got to talking, and it always gets really hot in there on days like this, so that must be why I'm all red in the face." I explained quickly, blushing a few shades brighter.

"You and Doumeki-kun are such good friends!" She smiled.

"Y-Yeah...friends..." I laughed nervously. Thankfully, Himawari-chan didn't notice, and began talking about problems she had with her homework. I'm a little ashamed to admit that I didn't really listen; I was too lost in thought. I simply couldn't wait to get out of school for the day and get to Yuuko-san's shop to get some questions answered, and it took even more patience to keep from going crazy as I waited to finish up with work and get over to Doumeki's place.

Because now I think I know what Doumeki meant when he said, "If anything were to happen to you..."

- - - - - - - - - - owari - - - - - - - - - -

Translation Notes:

(1) "Aho" means stuff like moron, idiot, et cetra, et cetra. I think it's the Osakan equivallent of "baka." Apparently, if you call someone in Tokyo "aho," then it's more offensive than if you were to call them "baka." And in Osaka, "baka" is more insulting than "aho." I think. I'll have to check with K-chan on that...

(2) I think "chi" is basically something like spiritual energy. The only xxxHolic volume I had at the time I was writing this was volume 2; While I was writing that part, I was thinking about the part in the manga where Doumeki-kun shot the evil spirits behind the shoji screen 'cuz they were trying to take Watanuki-kun away.

(3) Bento's kinda like lunch/lunch box. If you didn't know already, Watanuki-kun has to make Doumeki-kun lunch as "payment" for something Doumeki-kun did (exactly what he did, I kinda forgot...).

(4) Ah, here's one we're all bound to know! But if you don't, "baka" means the same as "aho." Except the fact that it's a more offensive thing to call someone in Osaka.

(5) I believe "Yokatta" means "thank goodness" or something like that. I've heard it quite a bit in anime with Japanese dubs and English subs, and it was subbed as "thank goodness", so I'm almost positive I'm right.

Kuro&Fay: (still snogging)

Yuuko&BlackMokona: (having gotten bored of taking pictures, they've taken a seat at a table and have started drinking sake)

Watanuki: (still passed out in Doumeki's arms)

Doumeki: (fanning Watanuki in an attempt to wake him up)

Drunk Vash Muse: (running around wearing nothing but an ugly orange-and-green tie on his head and hearts-and-Kuroneko boxers) CRACKFICCRACKFICCRACKFIC!

Me: (chases DVM around the room with her red mechanical pencil of stabby-ness) URUSEI! CRACK FIC JA NAI YO! RABU SUTORI DA YO! (pegs him with the pencil)

Finally, LEAVE NICE REVIEWS AND/OR NICE CONSTRUCTIVE CRITISIZM, ONEGAISHIMASU!