Good evening!

I'm so happy to see you all here at chapter 5! I wasn't sure I'd be able to post this today because I was super busy with work all day (my day job is one of those that's busiest when 9-5ers aren't working) so I'm pleased to have pulled it off.

Other than that there's not much more to say about this chapter, it's just more building, more information, more of Doumeki's awesome cover story, but I hope you all enjoy it regardless!

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to xxxHolic and I'm making no money off of this.

"Welcome to the Aihana Couples Retreat!" exclaimed the smartly dressed older lady at the front of the open air dining room, clapping her hands together. "My name is Dr. Tsubaki Hanada, and I'm the founder and leader of this retreat. I'll be looking forward to meeting you all over the next few days!" Watanuki, who was sitting at a round table with Doumeki and another couple (not the couple of interest, they were seated a few tables away) muttered darkly under his breath. "If there's anything that I or my colleagues can do to make your time here better, please don't hesitate to ask. You'll find individual schedules back in your rooms after dinner that include therapy appointments-" ("That include what?!" "Be quiet please.") "-but in the meantime, please enjoy your dinner and drinks, the staff has done an incredible job!"

The room broke into applause, and the doctor stepped down to join her colleagues. Immediately, hotel staff appeared at Doumeki and Watanuki's table with a gorgeous selection of local fare for dinner. Suddenly starving, Watanuki dug in at once. It was all delicious, especially since he didn't have to cook it.

"Yours is better," Doumeki muttered to him, apparently having the same thought.

"You just like putting me to work," Watanuki shot back, resentfully. Across the table, the young woman giggled into her own dinner, and Doumeki and Watanuki looked up.

"Sorry!" she exclaimed, blushing, "I just-"

"It's all right," Doumeki cut across her, graciously, "it's a small table. Easy to overhear." She smiled gratefully, and Doumeki's lip twitched for a second.

"I'm Sumire, this is my husband, Fujito." Fujito nodded at Doumeki and Watanuki, who both said hello and introduced themselves.

"How long have you two been together?" asked Doumeki politely.

"Together for ten years, married for seven," replied Fujito, and Sumire nodded. Neither of them seemed to take particular pleasure in saying it.

"We met in high school and got married shortly after we took our college entrance exams," said Sumire, and pleasure was scarce in that too.

"Oh? So did we," said Doumeki, and Watanuki's face burned as he resolved himself to what was about to happen.

"I was going to say, you two seem way too young for something like this," said Sumire, and Fujito rolled his eyes.

"We started dating our second year of high school," said Doumeki, composedly, and Watanuki was again surprised by how ready he was with the story. "Unfortunately, our families didn't approve of our relationship when we told them after graduation. Threatened to disown us if we stayed together and everything." Sumire gasped and clapped her hands to her mouth. "So that night I proposed, and we eloped."

"Wow…" Watanuki glared across the room, his face as red as the setting sun outside. Did he have to go into such detail?!

"I didn't have a ring, obviously," Doumeki continued, because apparently he did have to go into such detail. "I wasn't planning on proposing for a few more years and only after we'd discussed it, so I pulled a stray thread from my shirt cuff and tied it around his finger."

"What?!" cried both Sumire and Watanuki at the same time. Doumeki, whose expression had not altered a whit from his usual deadpan boredom, faced Watanuki expectantly, as if he'd just continue on this absurd fairytale. Sumire, and now Fujito, were watching keenly, and he knew he had to say something. Trying to contain his rage, he said, very awkwardly,

"Y-yes! And then-" but at that moment Doumeki placed his hand tenderly on Watanuki's wrist. He felt the touch white hot up his arm and it took all of his already worn down self control not to scream and jerk his hand away. He glared at Doumeki, who just stared back, his expression still the same as ever.

"Hey. Breathe." His tone wasn't one Watanuki heard often: soft and easy, but it did nothing to calm him. He closed his eyes, willing himself not to snap as he took a deep breath in through his nose and sighed it out. He then forced his eyes open and faced the other couple so he wouldn't have to look at Doumeki or think about the fact that he was still touching him.

"We took the train south and got married the next day," he said, quite calmly given that he was practically gagging on the words. "We moved into an apartment together once we got back home."

"Oh my," said Sumire, her eyes huge.

"Do you speak to your parents?" asked Fujito, and Watanuki could discern sympathy under his hard tone.

"No, unfortunately," said Doumeki, "part of why we're here is to try and bridge that gap. We thought professional help would be a good idea." Both Sumire and Fujito nodded. Finally, Doumeki took his hand off Watanuki's wrist, while at the same time Fujito put his arm around the back of Sumire's chair. Watanuki's heart skipped at Sumire's surprised smile, and the four of them finished their dinner in silence. Dessert was served shortly after, and under their server's elbow, Watanuki caught sight of Yuriko getting up and making her way to the large rectangular table where all their drinks were served.

Seizing his chance, Watanuki snatched up his glass of water, got to his feet and approached the table too, draining it surreptitiously so as not to look suspicious. Close up, he could see just how tired Yuriko looked. She picked up a set of metal tongs and began to put ice cubes into her half empty water glass, then started when she caught sight of Watanuki beside her. "Oh, I'm sorry, did you want these?" she asked, extending the tongs. Watanuki smiled and took them, and in the few seconds they were both holding them, he felt a searing pain in his chest. Yuriko let go of the tongs, leaving him gasping. "Are you okay?" she asked, her eyes widening, but Watanuki waved the words aside as he caught his breath.

"I'm fine, sorry! I just, I just got dizzy for a moment."

"Right," she said, holding her glass of ice water tightly in both hands. "Well, I'll, I'll see you around." She turned and walked back to her table, looking sadly into her glass.

Watanuki waited for his heartbeat to slow, then filled his own glass with ice and water and went back to his table. His dessert was waiting for him, and though it looked beautiful, he was suddenly feeling rather sick. "Do you want to go back to the room?" Doumeki asked under his breath, apparently picking up on his distress at once. Too queasy to be annoyed about that, Watanuki just nodded. "It was nice meeting you, have a good rest of your night," Doumeki told Sumire and Fujito, and they bid them goodnight. Doumeki helped Watanuki to his feet and led him to the door with his hand on his lower back.

"That's making it worse!" Watanuki hissed, even though proximity to Doumeki was already making his symptoms abate.

"It's just to look convincing until we get out of here," Doumeki hissed back, and the moment they were out in the hallway again Watanuki scuttled away from him, shaking himself like a wet dog. Doumeki rolled his eyes, but followed him down the hallway and out into the courtyard. It was completely dark now, and the lanterns were all lit, their red orange glow mixing softly with the blue black night. "Feeling better?" asked Doumeki, as they made their way along the stone path.

"Yes, now you've unhanded me!" snapped Watanuki.

"That was the lady you were talking about?"

"Yes," replied Watanuki, flinging open the door to their suite, "if you'd just been paying attention earlier, I wouldn't have-" but on the threshold he stopped dead in his tracks, his mouth hanging open, the sight inside making him feel even sicker than before. "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!"

I'd say "oh now what's making Watanuki freak out like that?!" but so many things make him freak out like that it's not a great question.

Ahh well, we'll find out next chapter I suppose! Let me know what you think of this one in the meantime!

I think of reviews when I summon my kekkai, leave me some!