| Chapter 3 |

Syaoran finds Fai and Kurogane lurking outside of Sakura's throne room as if they had known that was where he had been going next. He was glad to see them, of course, but did they have to to ambush him?

"I was going to see the princess," he says, trying not to let his irritation show.

They nod. "That's why we're here."

That's what he was afraid of. "So you actually just want to see me." Syaoran crosses his arms. "What is it?"

"We…" Fai looks at Kurogane and seems to lose heart—rare for him. "We noticed you were speaking rather harshly to Watanuki…" He turns to Kurogane for support. Kurogane just stares him down. He got himself into this, he can talk his way out. "Um," says Fai.

"I was upset," says Syaoran shortly.

"We know. Did Watanuki say something to upset you?" Fai asks.

"You were eavesdropping, weren't you?"

They shrug.

"He stopped his time for a full hundred years. Of course I am upset. Perhaps I shouldn't be surprised that the consequences of Fei-Wong Reed's meddling are far-reaching, but I had no idea that he suffered so much more than I for something I had done. That idiot never hinted. Not once. And now, if you'll excuse me, I need to talk to Sakura-hime." Syaoran takes strides forward, about to sweep past them.

He's hiding things. The boy certainly has grown up over the years. Kurogane blocks his way. Syaoran blinks at him. "I don't know if you've noticed," Kurogane barks, "but we are not stuck living in one place."

Syaoran is confused.

"We have realized that we…Fai-san and I…" Kurogane looks at Fai as he searches for words. "We haven't found the world we belong in, yet. There's no place we want to live. So we thought we'd go and check out his place for you. And maybe settle down."

"You'd do that?" Syaoran asks.

Kurogane snorts. "It's in our best interest anyway. If you're so concerned that you got angry about him, it's the least we can do to find out what's going on. You are close enough to him that you will have a hard time seeing the picture clearly. We do not know Watanuki as well as you do. And perhaps more importantly, he does not know us."

"That would certainly take a load off my mind…for the time being. Belated though the action is." Syaoran runs one hand through his hair. "It may be over already," he mutters to himself. The he clearly addresses his old travelling companions. "I know that it's not practical to go straight there as if I was really worried about him; he'd cover it up, and I would learn nothing. But if you guys go, you might notice something."

"Kuro-tan thought it was something like that," says Fai.

"Kurogane-san?" Syaoran looks at him. He nods.

Fai replies. "Big Puppy knows Small Puppy best." Kurogane turns away and tries to preserve his dignity by looking cool and pretending that he hasn't heard a word.

Syaoran smiles slightly.

Fai looks again at Syaoran, more seriously, and wonders aloud, "Well, since that's settled, should we leave now, or should we pay our respects to Sakura?"

Syaoran jumps. "Yes—well—by all means... Of course you should see Sakura! You won't stay long?"

"Not if you don't want us to." Kurogane clears his throat. "After that, we'll say our goodbyes and we'll have White Mokona send us to Watanuki's place, but she won't come with us; we'll leave the shiromanju with you so you can talk easily with Watanuki as the day approaches. Then if we decide to stay in Watanuki's world, that's all fine and good, because we won't need White Mokona—"

"I'm going to miss White Mokona," Fai mourns.

Kurogane coughs. "Quite. Anyway, Black Mokona can send us back here or anywhere else when we need to go travelling again. Black Mokona probably also has the translation ability."

"As I recall, Watanuki's world speaks Kurogane's language in a different form, so it shouldn't be hard for us to learn even without White Mokona," Fai says thoughtfully.

"The point is, we're leaving White Mokona with you," Kurogane says bluntly. "Because you need Mokona more than we do right now."

"Thank you," Syaoran breathes, amazed. "Thank you so much."

"No problem, kid," says Kurogane, ruffling Syaoran's hair, just like old times—although these days Syaoran's head comes up to Kurogane's shoulder. Syaoran is almost as tall as Fai, but not quite.

"Well, let's go see the princess, shall we? Together, right now? It would embarrass her if she got upset in front of us, so maybe we should leave first," Fai says. His tone is light but his face is serious. "That's what you were planning to do when we met you, right? She probably won't get angry, but she might be worried."

Syaoran takes a deep breath. "Thanks for the advice, Fai-san. I wasn't sure what to do."

"Yes, you're too honest for your own good." Fai winks. "Just like Watanuki, I would hazard, yes?"

"Very like Watanuki." Syaoran tries to smile.

"But unlike Kuro-tan, I've always understood Sakura better." Fai grins. "So, let's celebrate our reunion."

"Sakura doesn't drink these days," Syaoran reminds them.

Fai shrugs. "There are many ways to have fun. I, myself…" Fai looks at Kurogane carefully, "...am rather sick of getting drunk."

Kurogane grunts. "Pretending to get drunk, you mean."

"Yes, it is such a nuisance." Fai flicks his hair like a girl. "Glad that's over."

Kurogane makes a face, and Syaoran chuckles.

Fai looks over, and lets a trace of a smirk settle on his lips. "I haven't let spill all my secrets, Kuro-guro, have I? It wouldn't do to let them all out at once..."

Kurogane snorts. "Even if you didn't play your cards close to the chest, wading through those is going to take a lifetime, mage."

Syaoran shakes his head. "Well, come on in, then…" Syaoran leads them inside.

"Sakura-hime… Sakura!" Syaoran whispers, creeping closer to Sakura, who is mediating upon her throne. Fai and Kurogane hover at the doorway, quiet shadows.

Sakura slowly opens her eyes and tilts forward. "Syaoran?"

"What have you been seeing, Princess?" Syaoran kneels at her feet.

Sakura stirs. "Change."

Syaoran bites his lip. "For us?"

"A little. For us, and for our little one." Sakura's hand hovers for a moment over her belly, and then falls away. "But for another as well." She pierces Syaoran's eyes with her gaze.

"Who?" Syaoran says cluelessly.

"For Watanuki."

"Oh..." He's taken off guard.

"I must tell you that I saw the conversation you had now almost six months ago, when you first came home. But I didn't tell you then, for that would change the future. Because of that—just now it came to pass, did it not? There is a path available to Watanuki that there was not before," says Sakura, settling back in her throne. "There are new possibilities. I believe I did right."

"Then you knew of his fate?"

"Yes."

"Did the witch foresee this happening?" he asked.

"I cannot tell; but I would not underestimate her. Syaoran, will you forgive me for not telling you?"

"I forgive you," says Syaoran, easily, immediately. "Of course I do. I trust you."

"Thank you." Sakura slips off of her throne and rises to her feet, then looks down in puzzlement. "Now, Syaoran, as my husband, you don't have to kneel to me."

"I felt like it," says Syaoran simply, and a little defensively, and rises to his feet. "It's only proper, right?"

"Syaoran…" Sakura sighs sharply. "I appreciate the gesture, but there is more at stake here than just our relationship, which I would prefer to see becoming more equal, personally... And—there is also Clow to consider. I need you as King."

Syaoran's eyes widen, and he immediately scrambles to his feet.

"Yes, Princess," Syoaran says, a little unhappily. He winces and rubs his face, which is blushing with embarrassment. What she asks is hard; this is the way it has always been, the way he has acted with her from boyhood. He had them drilled into them from a young age, but now that those manners are no longer appropriate, it is hard to eradicate them.

Sakura squeezes his shoulder sympathetically. "I know this is hard to hear, but there is gallantry and then there is servility. Syaoran. We can be equals and you can still be gentle with me. I just need you to learn the difference. And not just that—I need you to learn about how your actions appear to our people."

"I know. I'll try, Sakura. It's a habit I'm trying to beat." Syaoran tries to smile. "The truth is, I hardly know where to start."

"Thank you. I know you will." Sakura smiles at him briefly, and then lifts her head to where Fai and Kurogane wait in the wings. She had known they were there from the start, but now she acknowledged them. "Fai! Kurogane!"

They walk forward. "Here, Princess."

"What brings you?"

Fai turns. "Why don't you explain it, Syaoran?"

Syaoran coughs into his hand. "Ahhh... Let's put it this way. Sakura-hime, I am sending them to attend to Watanuki."

"I foresaw that might happen." Sakura smiles. "I wish the two of you good luck, then. But stay for dinner before you go? You may find Earth more to your liking, but Clow has its charms. I hope you remember apple paryu!"

The guests blanch before her eyes. How could we forget? Fai and Kurogane thought. Sure, it was delicious, but— How can one remember it without also thinking of the deaths of some of the people of Clow trapped in Fei Wong's spell? Or that poor boy...

A few seconds after the words left her mouth, Sakura seemed to realize what she'd just said. "Don't worry, it's not quite the same as you remember," Sakura anxiously reassures them, seeing their crestfallen faces. "I—I mean, there's been a popular variation of the dish going round that we've latched onto in the palace. We're trying to redeem our memories of that time and honor the dead. It's a good dish, and it's Clow's, it doesn't deserve to be tainted by the past. Don't you agree?"

They nodded, all feeling relieved. "Yes, Sakura-hime," they agreed.

"In fact—" She cheered up immediately. "I know! You can help me give the variation a new name!"

"A splendid idea," said Syaoran, quietly.

What presses upon all their minds is that the kingdom of Clow yet bears some scars.

"Why couldn't Kohane or Himawari-chan have left me a few descendants?" Watanuki grumbles a couple of days later, having momentarily forgotten which of the Doumekis he is with.

"You know why," says Shizuka, and he shuts his book abruptly. It's a hypothetical question, of course. Himawari-chan never bore children. Kohane, on the other hand, married Doumeki, so technically Shizuka was her descendant as much as he was Doumeki's, though he clearly didn't inherit as much from Kohane.

Watanuki missed his friends. He was lonely and had no other way to express it. But Shizuka was tired of it. "You can't have everything," he says bluntly.

"I know," Watanuki sighs, his tone more moderate than Shizuka expected. "I know. I know. I know. But I can't help wishing."

"I suppose that's true, but it sounds..." Shizuka replies, and completes the thought with difficulty. "...as if you do not appreciate what you have." He doesn't like disagreeing with Watanuki.

Watanuki is reminded of the way he used to act with Doumeki, and he blushes with shame. Same old problem; new angle. Perhaps Watanuki hasn't changed as much over the years as he thought he had. "I know," says Watanuki again. After a moment, he swallows hard and turns to his friend. "Shizuka."

"Yes," says Shizuka quietly, expectantly.

"It seems I have been remiss. I am thankful you are here. It is not just because if you weren't, I might fade completely into the dream world. You do much more for me. If I could, I would make it so that I wouldn't miss the old days as much as I do. My nostalgia is a hindrance to myself and to you. For that, I am sorry."

Shizuka is amazed. He never expected Watanuki to respond that way.

"But I am stuck for now." Watanuki looks out, over the garden, through the gap in the sliding shoji. "You are so like your great-grandfather, and so totally unlike. It is hard for me to distinguish between the two of you. When I forget, I find myself bantering with someone who doesn't exist anymore, and I hurt you."

"…Oh." That's what's been going on, Shizuka realizes. All along. And it makes sense. He just hadn't thought of it before. And then he realizes something. "But Watanuki—"

"I hurt your great-grandfather, too," says Watanuki quietly, "But I guess he was used to it. Or—well—I think Doumeki got to the point where he didn't expect anything different." He sighs. "I don't know why he saw fit to sign over his entire life to someone was worthless as I am. Someone who didn't even know how to give thanks even when it was very much deserved."

Shizuka twitches. That was probably it right there: because Watanuki saw his life as worthless, and Doumeki couldn't condone that. Doumeki saw fit to make sure Watanuki's life wasn't wasted instead of lecturing to him about it, and waited for Watanuki to realize his own mistakes. To hear Watanuki say it out in the open like that— Shizuka twitches again. There's that foreign feeling whispering through his mind, the part that is like himself but not quite. "Watanuki."

"What?"

"It's just a feeling…but I think the old days are coming back again."

Watanuki looks down. He's been twisting Yuuko's kiseru between his fingers the whole time; a bad habit, as if he does it too much he might loosen the metal frame from the wood. He puts the pipe down with effort. "Yes," he says slowly. "I think so, too. Perhaps that is why the old troubles and worries and preoccupations have been coming back as strongly as they have."

Then he looks up. "But they're just that—echoes, and reminders. When I step outside again…I'll be nineteen, no longer immortal, subject to the rules of that age. Do you realize? For all my hundred years of experience, I will have aged only two." He seems to be asking Shizuka, but he's really talking to himself. So Shizuka refrains from speaking.

Early winter. That's the season right now. Outside, the wind blows, and enough of the freezing gust comes indoors that it almost seems to blow through them through a crack between the sliding doors. "I am going to shut the shoji now," says Shizuka, ever practical, and he does just that.

Yuuko's magic mandalas silently glide over the floor and ceiling. A pinpoint fold in space opens at their centers, cracks lengthwise, and expands just enough to release the world-travelers, Fai and Kurogane. They step out of the circles, and the magic mandalas vanish.

Watanuki is napping on the sofa; Shizuka is snoring lightly, slumped in a chair.

"I guess he's okay," says Fai quietly. "Look, do you remember, this one looks just like—"

Kurogane frowns. "He might at that. Doumeki?"

Fai is a little amazed. Kurogane usually forgets the names of the people they met on their travels and has to be reminded—unless they were Tomoyo-hime avatars, of course...

"What?" says Kurogane in response to Fai's staring, and Fai shrugs. There's nothing wrong with it. "When we visited, he just reminded me of myself, that's all…"

"Certainly his mannerisms and habits did reflect yours," Fai muses.

"You don't suppose he's my avatar? We haven't seen that before. It would be…weird."

Fai looks at the sleeping man. "No, I don't think so. You're just similar, in a lot of the ways that matter. Should we wake them up?" Fai wonders.

Kurogane shrugs and nudges Watanuki in the side with his boot.

Fai is so shocked that he calls the ninja by his whole given name. "Kurogane!" Fai hisses, horrified. "How could you do that?! They're our—" His voice drops, past the point where he can speak. "Hosts! HOSTS, you idiot!" He mouths, gesturing frantically.

Kurogane raises his eyebrows and steps away from Watanuki and back to Fai, raising up his hands. "Watch," he says, nodding to the boy.

Watanuki stirs finally and gropes for his glasses. Finding them, he puts them on clumsily, sits up, and peers around, blinking.

"Tomoyo-hime always reacted like that when we were little," Kurogane murmurs.

"Kurogane, you did that to Tomoyo-hime?!" Fai yelps. "To Princess Tomoyo?!"

Kurogane coughs. "Ah…yes. It was a long time ago. I was a bit upset at her for…it was immediately after my parents…" He coughs again. "Don't worry, she put me in my place. Anyway, all the farseers I know are deep sleepers. Sakura-hime was, too. You must have noticed on our journey."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Watanuki grumbles groggily, who has only taken in snippets of the conversation, and proves the point. Watanuki adjusts the wrap of his kimono to lie a little flatter and walks past them, into the kitchen. "Fai. Kurogane. When did you arrive? Stay for dinner?" Watanuki cracks a yawn. "I mean, welcome…"

"Of course. Actually, we're staying until Syaoran comes," Fai volunteers, following Shizuka into the kitchen, where Watanuki is randomly pulling open drawers and yanking things out of the cupboards and plopping them onto the kitchen counter.

"Dang it," Watanuki mumbles, as a pot tumbles out of his grip and clatters onto the counter. A moment later the sound shocks him fully awake. "Did Syaoran put you up to this?" Watanuki stoops down to pick it up.

Fai grins. "We put Syaoran up to it."

"Oh really?" Watanuki's gaze drifts to the floor, and then settles on Fai's feet, and moves over to Kurogane's. "Oh, great... You came via White Mokona, didn't you? She deposited you in the house? But Mokona stayed in Clow? Oh—aaargh." Watanuki scrubs his eyes.

"Yep. Problem?" asks Fai.

"It's not a—a really big deal, you couldn't avoid it because you transferred right into the middle of the house, but—look, the floors are delicate, and they're antique. I try hard to keep them clean. Could you step into the genkan and take off your shoes there?" Watanuki asks politely. "It's down the hall, that way." Watanuki points.

Horrified, Kurogane looks down at his booted feet and hastily turns on his heel to take them off. "Kuso, I forgot. We've spent so much time traveling I almost forgot my own home customs. I'm so sorry, Watanuki-kun, I should have been more careful. Fai, customs here are similar to my homeworld's, if you remember…"

"Thanks, Kurogane-san." Watanuki goes back to contemplating the contents of his kitchen, but he's not getting anywhere. His head is empty. What to eat, he can't think of anything… When Kurogane and Fai return, shoeless, he asks them, "What would you like to eat?"

They shrug. "Anything is fine."

"But surely you haven't had home food in a while," Watanuki protests. "I could make some for you."

Fai thinks a bit. "You probably won't recognize my kind of food," he says reluctantly.

"Have a try anyway."

Fai shrugs and complies. "Okay, um. Krupkakkor, plätt, köttbullar, blåbärssoppa, laufabrauð, kleina, or skyr. Do you recognize any of those?"

"They're not translating..." Watanuki shakes his head. "I don't recognize them, so we'll do them another day. I'm too tired to re-engineer a recipe right now. Maybe if you can write down the names… Kurogane? You're from a version of Japan, aren't you?"

"How about feudal udon?" Kurogane offers hopefully.

"Not you, too?" Watanuki clutched his head. He thought he heard the last of the griping for feudal udon with Doumeki's death. "Is it really that good?" He asks. Then he sighs, remembering who Kurogane is: a ninja. "Just so you know, that used to exist but it's supposed to be extinct here. So I can't make it unless you can teach me first," Watanuki reluctantly admits. Having had a feudal ninja under his nose for quite a few years, now he regrets that he didn't learn in time to stun Doumeki a good one… "Assuming we have all of the ingredients. Assuming that the recipe doesn't actually include something extinct or otherwise unobtainable. Assuming... Although I suppose I could send Shizuka out for groceries."

"No problem. Where do you keep the aprons?" Kurogane asks. Watanuki hands him one.

They discuss the basic ingredients and come to the conclusion that the dish is doable, and when they're done, Watanuki's mind turns to other topics. "Is Fai any good in the kitchen?" Watanuki asks Kurogane.

Kurogane shrugs and replies, "He's good at tea, cookies, and pastries. Otherwise, not so much—his main courses are lackluster."

"I see." Watanuki waves to Fai, who has been lounging by the door for a while, and suggests, "Why don't you go and wake up Shizuka?" by way of getting rid of him. Kurogane and Watanuki will be fairly busy, and Watanuki needs space.

"Sure thing," Fai whistles, and he whisks himself out of the room.

"Any questions you have to ask of me?" Watanuki inquires of Kurogane in a low voice while Kurogane fetches vegetables from the cooler.

Kurogane looks thoughtful. "You call Doumeki by his given name now? I remember him, you know, a little, when we visited that one time."

"That's Doumeki Shizuka's great-grandson, also named Doumeki Shizuka. And now they look so alike I can hardly tell them apart," Watanuki says quietly. He gets out the chopping board. "Shizuka was younger than Doumeki when we first met. But now—" he shakes his head. "It's as if Doumeki never..." He doesn't finish.

"I see." Kurogane rifles through the drawers, looking for the knives. "So why did you stop your time? I never understood that."

"To meet Yuuko again," Watanuki says shortly. "And to escape Fei-Wong Reed's curse. But my time is not stopped anymore."

"How is that?" Kurogane tests the edge of a blade and decides it's quite fine enough to use—a good sign; Watanuki instantly earns a token of respect for his skills. Kurogane is as picky as any swordsman about the sharpness of a knife's edge, and even good cooks that he met on his travels sometimes neglected to sharpen them properly.

"Because I stepped foot outside the house boundaries, and I met Yuuko again. You'll meet her soon. Her name is Kochoushu Tekona." Watanuki takes down a large pot and plops it in the sink.

"Butterfly master." Kurogane smiles faintly. "That does sound like what her true name would be. Her sigil was the butterfly, wasn't it?"

"Yes. Rather obvious, isn't it?" Watanuki fills the pot with enough water. "Anyway," Watanuki says abruptly, lugging the pot of water over to the stove, "I will be training Kochoushu the same way Yuuko trained me."

"Will you be all right?"

"I should be. It's her that I'm concerned—at least initially— I've never taught anyone before. I don't want to do her a disservice."

"Watanuki-sama," a voice says softly. The voice is younger than the voice of the Doumeki Kurogane remembers. Shizuka appears at the doorway and yawns impressively.

Watanuki whips around. "For goodness sake, I told you not to call me that!"

"I know, but I thought you wanted to remember I was different from Doumeki," Shizuka says, somewhat apologetically.

"I'm glad you tried, but that's really not the kind of thing that helps. Didn't I tell you about my childish high school fantasies?"

"You did, but—"

"Please, just let it rest," Watanuki warns him, his voice strained. "I don't deserve the title. I told you, it makes me think of things that I really shouldn't—that I don't like to remember."

Shizuka shrugs, and exits the kitchen. If Watanuki won't take the bait, he won't push the issue.

"Why won't you let the kid to call you that?" Kurogane asks Watanuki in a low voice. "He adores you."

" 'The kid'?" Watanuki blinks.

"Shizuka-kun, I guess you call him." Kurogane takes over the sink and washes the vegetables one by one.

"He's an adult," says Watanuki, bewildered. He puts on the burner.

"But in comparison to you, he's just a kid. He hasn't got a fifth of your experience yet. He doesn't know everything about you or remember anything Doumeki did. He can't possibly understand what happened between you unless you explain it to him." As Kurogane finishes with one vegetable type, he carefully piles it next to the cutting board.

"I—I know, and I have been. A little at a time." Watanuki swallows. He puts the lid over the pot.

Kurogane clamps one hand on Watanuki's head and smiles broadly. "Then you are already doing well. You have only to continue."

Watanuki ducks slightly. He hadn't expected that.

Kurogane washes his hands again, finishes the rinsing, and begins chopping the vegetables.

Nervously, Watanuki runs one hand through his hair. "I should be over it. It's been one hundred years, so why—?"

Kurogane pauses slicing. "Fai and I had similar misunderstandings when we were first getting to know each other on our journey," he says finally. "I'm not sure if this helps, but I was probably playing the part of your Doumeki. Maybe it will help if you understand the other side."

"How—how did that feel?" Watanuki asks hesitantly.

Kurogane grimaces. "Uncomfortable. Fai kept coming after me from all these different angles I didn't expect, and I didn't know how to react. He frustrated me often by making fun of me or doing ridiculous things and making bad first impressions on people on purpose. After a while, I sensed he wasn't as happy as his antics would have me believe. I had to watch him carefully; then I realized there were things in his past that bothered him that he never told anyone about. I started piecing the clues together, and eventually I was rewarded with the truth. It was enough to convince me that he needed me at his side.

"Once that happened, he wasn't a nuisance anymore, but a true friend. I could tolerate his eccentricities and enjoy them a little. Sort of like you, he figured out how to poke fun at me in such a way that we could both laugh at ourselves. But that took time." He added, as an afterthought, "I suppose it's nice to hear that the other side agonized over their actions as much as I did." Kurogane has finished cutting the vegetables.

"Shall we put those in the pot?"

Kurogane nods. "But the udon goes first."

Watanuki comes to himself with a start. He hadn't even realized that the pot had just started boiling. "Yes, of course."

Ding, dong... pin, pon...

Watanuki winces and nearly drops something hot. He doesn't usually let himself startle in the kitchen. Kurogane looks at him sharply. "Who is that?"

Kochoushu Tekona walks into the kitchen. "Watanuki-san, how can I help?"

Watanuki squints at her. "I didn't ask you to come on weekends."

"Watanuki, I want to clear my wish as soon as humanly possible. Of course I'd come on weekends."

"I see. I need to find some work for you..."

"I thought you lived alone, except for Shizuka... Who is this?"

"I do live alone! Shizuka just visits. This man's name is Kurogane," says Watanuki. "He's a friendly traveller and a former customer of the wishing shop. Not that the relationship ever really goes away. Kurogane, this is Kochoushu Tekona, my student."

"Nice to meet you," says Kurogane.

"Likewise," says Kochoushu.

Fai and Doumeki stick their heads inside. Kochoushu ducks her head; Fai nods back.

"And this is Fai, my partner," Kurogane says casually. "We have traveled together a long time. Actually, we're looking for a place to stay."

Kochoushu blinks. Fai edges into the room and creeps behind Kurogane, close enough that he could be breathing over Kurogane's shoulder. Kochoushu can't tell what he's thinking.

"You can stay with me," says Watanuki, frowning. Barely breathing, Kochoushu takes a step backwards, towards the wall, not wanting to be caught in their argument.

But Kurogane is reluctant to go along with his idea. "I meant long-term," says Kurogane, drawing himself up to his full height and looming with a slightly dour expression. He turns his head over his shoulder and eyes Fai, who for some reason is still hovering close enough to be breathing on his neck.

Watanuki shrugged. "For the time being... What you're looking for will be difficult to find in this economy."

"The point is, our stay with Watanuki is temporary," says Fai mildly, draping one arm over Kurogane's shoulder. With Fai there, Kurogane's height ceases to be intimidating. "And we surprised him after all. It would be rude to impose."

"I could do it," Watanuki says.

Fai shakes his head. "Vampire magics react badly to the shop. Although those powers are largely dormant, I can't stay more than a week." To demonstrate, he holds out one hand. His eyes flash gold and his fingernails grow long and curved; that's normal, but then raw, red sparks fly forth, causing Kurogane to flinch.

"He's a vampire?" Kochoushu asks, curious, leaning away from her spot by the wall.

Watanuki sighs heavily. "Yes. One kind, anyway...I forgot about that. I should have known, but vampires aren't common on this world. There are rules that apply to them."

Kochoushu asks, "What rules?"

Watanuki shakes his head, and explains to her, "There is a conflict that is created when vampires, as unclean beings, visit the wishing shop which is a holy space, set aside from evil, impurity, and decay. While the shop wards are advanced enough to permit vampires with consciences to enter the shop, the use of unclean magic will impair ordinary spells or cause unexpected or chaotic effects that are usually harmless. Such as the sparks. If a vampire stays in one place too long, it is possible for it to corrupt and warp the wards through the leakage of magic alone; it is also possible for the shop's magic to overwhelm and stricken the vampire."

"Interesting explanation. Whether it's accurate..." Fai shrugs. "I know what I felt." Kurogane looks at him carefully.

Watanuki nods. "So, you'll stay a week, then?"

Fai scratches his head and looks at Kurogane. Tired of arguing, Kurogane nods. And then they both agree.

I don't want to run anywhere else

Somebody, please, say "YES"!

Because I can't go back to the place of yesterday

The place where I was with you.

Even when I reach out, no one is there.

For nobody knows the answer.

—"Nobody Knows" (Shikao Suga) [translated]