A/N: ZareEraz here! Here's the next chapter and I'm sorry for taking two weeks to get it out! I hope you enjoy this as much as I did writing it! Don't forget to RxR! :3

Chapter One: The Job

Because this is inevitable.

"Inevitable?" Watanuki asked, watching the beautiful woman puff smoke into the air. She then really thought about how she actually got into this shop and the illogical occurrences did not make any sense whatsoever, but she tried to riddle it out anyway.

"This isn't inevitable. I shouldn't be here," she started. "I just happened to be running along by your place when I tripped, so I put my hand up against your fence, and then something weird happened to me." The whole time she was talking, the raven was miming her story, pretending to trip and put her hands against a wall, tipping her head sideways as she continued. The lady on the couch went on smoking, amusement flickering in her endless eyes that the girl missed as she rambled on. "And then I said to myself: 'Where in the world am I?' And all of a sudden my legs started moving on their own and I couldn't do anything to control them." This bout of miming had the teen dancing from one leg to another and then stopping to wiggle her arms around like she was being pulled. To anyone else, she must've looked ridiculous, but at the moment Watanuki didn't really care. All logic had been thrown out the window the second she walked into the strange house.

"I realize this might sound a little bit strange," she shrugged, finishing up her pantomime. She nervously put one hand behind her head and played with her ponytail. "But it's true." The woman on the couch just smiled, her eyes holding a mysterious glint now.

"The fence is a barrier of sorts," was all she said, a smile still gracing her lips. Watanuki expected her to make fun of her weird antics and strange miming, but the woman didn't seem to find it weird or funny…and that was weird.

"Well, anyway…I think I'll be going now. Sorry to disturb you." Watanuki gave a little bow, discreetly pulling her skirt down in the back (it had folded over itself during the course of being dragged into the mansion) and then turned to go.

"May I see the object in your pocket?" The woman asked, her voice getting louder as Watanuki took a few steps out the door. The raven looked back, startled and curious. How did she know I had something in my pocket? Is she a psychic?

"Quickly please." The lady fell back into her couch and held out her hand, her long fingers gracefully waiting. Watanuki paused for a second, considering just bolting for the door before things got even weirder, but she was curious. She just hoped her curiosity didn't kill her. The girl patted her skirt to find her pocket and then fished out what was inside as she walked back to the woman and deposited it in her hand. It was a bronze pocket watch with the image of two birds flying around each other. Watanuki unwound the chain and let it dangle out of the woman's hand. The woman stared at it for a moment.

"And your name?"

"Huh?" Watanuki asked, surprised that she didn't say something more extraordinary.

"I asked you for your name." The woman's voice shifted just the tiniest bit, going from completely seductive and mysterious to slightly impatient and peeved. I'd better introduce myself fast!

"Kimihiro Watanuki."

"Is it true that you were born on April First, Watanuki?"

"Hey!" The raven's arms shot up into the air along with one of her feet, her voice rising to what some people called her "annoying, high pitched, wail." "What the-?! How could you know that!?" Her foot came down as the girl stared down at the strange woman. She was looking at the watch, opening the timepiece, and studying the watch's face.

"Watanuki!~ Watanuki!~ Born on April First!~" The two weird, little girls were doing a little dance while they sang, the arms pumping into the air and then each of them clapping the other's inside hand as they stood side by side and then ran around each other giggling.

"So that is your birthday?" The kimono lady asked, looking up at the girl. Watanuki blushed suddenly and glanced away, embarrassed at her obvious name and obvious birthday.

"That is when I was born," she softly replied over the two girls singing, "Watanuki!~ Watanuki!~ Born on April First!~"

"What a foolish girl! I can't believe you actually told a complete stranger your real name and birthday!" The woman's voice became mocking as she snapped the watch closed, an amused smile on her face.

"Hey!" Watanuki stomped her foot, "You're the one who guessed it! I told you nothing!"

"By telling an enemy your name you are giving them an opportunity to capture your soul," The woman went on, packing tobacco into her pipe. Where is she going with this? Watanuki wondered because this tangent seemed really odd to her. "And then if they learn the date of your birth, they can find a way to own the paths of your past and your future." She lit a match and held it to her pipe, the small flame igniting the hair-like tobacco. Watanuki raised her eyebrow, skeptical of this whole conversation.

"Are you an enemy?" She asked doubtfully. The blue and pink-haired girls rushed to their "mistress" and cuddled in close to her.

"Do you want to know my name?" Okay, that didn't answer my question. (A number of Watanuki's questions went unanswered.)

"No thanks. I'm good." The girl waved her left hand in front of her nose to emphasize her denial.

"Yuko Ichihara," the woman replied instantly.

"And she tells me anyway," Watanuki grumbled, looking behind her as if to speak to someone.

"Naturally it's an alias." Yuko turned behind her as if to speak to someone now, holding her hand up to her cheek. Watanuki's outraged face crept up behind her, all sharp teeth and cross veins.

"SO WHY TELL ME AT ALL?!" She shouted, pissed off at Yuko.

"And these girls are Maru and Moro," Yuko added, pointing to the devil girl first and then the angel girl. "Of course, their full names are Marudashi and Morodashi. Cute names, huh?" Yuko asked, her face lighting up. Watanuki lost it again.

"WHY SHOULD I CARE?!" She yelled again, her sharp teeth coming out again. Maru and Moro just laughed at her.

"Cute names!~ Cute names!~" The twins sang, clapping each other's hands again. Yuko laughed along with them.

"Al-right! I think I've had enough of this!" Watanuki grumped. She swung her arm back to the laughing trio, trying to be polite as she said goodbye. "It was very nice to meet all of you-"

"You're leaving?" Maru asked, leaning into Moro with her hands pressed to her cheeks.

"You're leaving?" Moro copied her twin, the girl's face sad.

"Yeah." The seer stated curtly. Then she heard a swish and a click from behind her, the sliding moon doors closing all by themselves as she looked behind her. "Huh?" The twins quieted, the atmosphere in the room becoming heavy and silent. Watanuki suppressed the urge to shiver when she turned around, and Yuko spoke again.

"I told you: this is inevitable." The seductive tone was back as she looked at the girl levelly. "This little meeting? It had to happen." There was a pregnant pause as Watanuki looked back at her, trying to keep her hands from shaking. "And it was always going to happen this way." Maru and Moro giggled, running to grab something. "I can see that you do not understand." Maru and Moro returned momentarily and placed a basin at the foot of the couch as Yuko knelt over it. She was holding some sort of disc in her hand and placed it on top of the water so it floated, making sure not to get her kimono sleeves or her huge yellow bow wet. Watanuki heard a ringing sound that resonated in her bones, crawling into her ear and echoing in her head. The ripple in the basin seemed to bubble with the ringing, as the air got hazier and hazier with each passing second. Yuko stared at the disc for a moment, the red eye in the middle and weird symbols etched into the surface all staring back at her.

"Kimihiro Watanuki," she dragged out saying the girl's name, like she was trying to follow an incantation or something, her voice echoing throughout the room. Then the disc started to spin without the help of any outside force and all Watanuki could do was watch. "From the day you were born, you have always been different from those around you. And for as long as you can remember, this difference has always followed you." It suddenly became smoky in the room, Yuko's hair floating and dancing to the sound of her voice. Watanuki felt her heart speed up, and if she hadn't already had been dragged in here by her own feet and have doors shut for no reason at all, she would've fainted. "It is born into your family…and it comes from a world that is very unlike this one." Yuko looked up from the basin and stared straight at the girl, a shiver passing up the raven's spine as the woman did so. She swallowed loudly, trying to hold the woman's eye. Where is she going with this? It's like she knows…she knows something about me that I don't want anyone to know about…

"Your secret is…" Here it comes, "You can see spirits." Crap. She does know. Watanuki leaned forward, shocked that this woman she knew nothing about, had guessed her greatest secret. It was a relief that someone finally knew, but it was the most horrifying thing ever at the same time. "This is because of the blood that is flowing through your veins. It is that blood, Watanuki, that pulls the spirits to you." The disc was spinning even faster now, creating a whirlpool in the basin that was hypnotic as Maru and Moro gazed into it. Watanuki was too busy looking at Yuko to pay any more attention than a quick glance.

"But why?" She breathed, half asking about the spirits and half-asking how Yuko knew.

"The answer is in your blood Watanuki."

"It lives in my blood?" Watanuki asked. Yuko's floating hair was making her nauseous, the black weaving and dipping waves were hypnotic in their own way, the way that made Watanuki want to throw up.

"Do you understand now?" Yuko's creepy voice echoed, her cranberry eyes staring deep into the seer. "There is no such thing as coincidence." Yuko's hair stopped floating at that moment and the echo in her voice disappeared.

"And now, of course, I'll be keeping your watch." She held it up in one hand.

"WHAT THE HELL!" Watanuki freaked out, karate-chopping the air and nearly hitting her head on her knee. "WHY SHOULD I LET YOU KEEP MY WATCH!?" She made a grab for her watch, but it disappeared into Yuko's sleeve and back out into her other hand before she could get it. She was definitely a witch.

"Why, as payment naturally." The witch said as if it was perfectly normal, pouting at Watanuki's behavior. She deposited the watch in a mirrored box and snapped the flowered lid shut. "When a service is rendered, compensation is needed to complete the transaction. The payment must be of equal value to the service. It can neither be too much nor too little. There can be no deficiency nor excess. Only perfect balance, and equivalence." She explained calmly. "Or harm will be done." Yuko's hand came up gracefully, pulling Watanuki's chin close to her own, almost like they were going to kiss. It was freaky, being this close to a woman who was certainly a witch and Watanuki hardly dared breathe for fear of accidentally hitting the woman's lips on accident. She wasn't ready to give up her first kiss.

The girl breathed softly, "Harm to whom?"

"Harm throughout the universe, and harm to the soul." Okay, that was cryptic. "They both require a balance." Yuko's hand stroked Watanuki's cheek, almost pulling her closer. She smelled like jasmine and old things – like books that had that comforting scent when you opened them for the first time in years – with just a hint of freshness on her skin to hypnotize the senses. It was almost intoxicating enough to make Watanuki forget that the witch had swindled her out of her watch, but not quite. The girl blinked for a moment and then ripped her gaze and her body away from the woman.

"But I didn't ask anything of you and I didn't get anything from you!" Watanuki flailed and jumped around, completely pissed off by this point.

"Girls, please put this away." Yuko ignored the seer as she growled at her and handed Maru and Moro the box with Watanuki's watch in it.

"Okay!" The twins answered in unison, standing up and whisking away the box.

"Hey! Hey! Give that back!" Watanuki ran two steps after the fleeing girls and tripped, landing right on her face. Yuko laughed.

"I can see your underwear, Watanuki! Lace looks good on you!" The witch called, giggling. Watanuki's hands flew up to her skirt and pulled it down, a fierce blush blooming on her cheeks. The girl just wanted to melt into the floor by this point and had almost succeeded when she wailed, "What kind of place is this!?

"It's my shop," Yuko answered, lounging on her couch again as Watanuki snarled.

"Your shop!?"

"The merchandise here is…wishes." Watanuki peeled herself off of the floor and raised an eyebrow at that last comment. Wishes? Nothing here makes any sort of sense!

"It's a wish-granting shop!" Maru and Moro appeared by the door again, one on each side. "This shop can grant almost anything!" They replied together, dancing and then clapping their hands together.

"If our mistress approves!" Maru sang as Moro giggled.

"And I take my payment," Yuko added, taking a drag from her pipe. She blew smoke into Watanuki's face on the other side of the room. The girl didn't even know how she did that! She only made a face and waved the smoke away disgustedly. Yuko stood and sidled up to the seer, getting right in her face. "It's an exchange, you see. The payment must be equal to the wish." Yuko's hand was on the raven's chin again and she didn't like it. "I might, for example…take someone's soul."

"You would take someone's soul!?" Watanuki wailed, her eyes going wide and trying to take a step away. She tripped and fell on her butt only to crawl away backward as fast as she could. That is until the wall got in her way and she crashed into it. Yuko, Maru, and Moro burst into laughter as Watanuki rubbed her sore head.

"How funny!" The witch laughed. "You look like a drunken crab!" Watanuki kept shivering, gaping at the woman.

"You're gonna kill me!"

"Oh, please, would you just calm down?" Yuko asked, twirling that damn pipe in her hand.
"Death is a very heavy thing. I have no interest in killing anyone."

"It's heavy?" Watanuki was confused again.

Yuko walked back to her couch and flopped down. "Yes, there's no point really." Yuko walked back to her couch and flopped down.

"In what?" Watanuki watched her carefully, ready to escape at the first chance.

"In ending someone's life. Death… it can be overwhelming and it weighs on the universe. So those who know, don't kill."

"But you take souls!?" Watanuki pointed out, her voice climbing several octaves at once.

"The word 'soul' can also refer to something very precious to a person. In exchange for granting a wish, I expect something equal in value in return, but there's no need to kill anyone." Yuko's hand came up as if to pat Watanuki's head from across the room. "You feel better now?~" She mocked, flapping her hand.

"I have no wishes that need granting!" The seer retorted, thinking back to the issue of her watch but then her mind trailed to her spirit problem.

"But aren't you thinking that it would be nice not the see them? You're thinking how great it would be if they weren't drawn to you." Watanuki sat up, the witch's uncanny ability to practically know what she was thinking unfathomable. It took her a second to respond, slapping her hand on the ground.

"No, I'm not," she spat. Yuko's snake smile got bigger.

"I can make them leave." She held out a carrot to the girl, the idea tantalizing. Watanuki hardly dared hope for such a chance. It would be great if she could just live like a normal person, without the spirits, and finally not be labeled the crazy girl anymore. Her eyes narrowed.

"You can do that?" She asked. Moro walked over and knelt down by her all lady-like as the seer watched her.

"When the mistress says something can be done…" She started. Maru sat down on Watauki's other side, leaning back onto the wall, drawing the raven's attention.

"Then it most certainly can," the girl finished.

"Is that really true?" Watanuki looked to Yuko again.

"Do you enjoy their constant presence?" She answered a question with a question.

"Well, no." The seer looked at her hand so she didn't have to look at Yuko's deep eyes anymore. "Lately I've been thinking more and more of how nice it would be if I could just get rid of them all." She sighed. "It would be just so good to be free." But it's only a dream.

"So that is your wish then?" Yuko asked. The girl and the woman looked at each other for a quiet moment, one waiting for an answer and one unwilling to give it, the act of asking it probably requiring compensation. Watanuki hadn't known Yuko very long, but she had a feeling that the witch was like that, taking what she was owed even for the smallest of things. But she needed to answer.

"Yes," she whispered, half hoping Yuko hadn't heard. The shop owner smiled.

"And now I know your true wish. So shall I grant it?" The air got heavy again as silence ensued. Watanuki's eyes got wide as the possibilities of having a spirit-free life opened up in front of her. "First, the payment," Yuko demanded, holding out her hand. Watanuki snapped again.

"What do you want?! My soul?!" The raven shouted. Yuko's open hand changed to one of pointing.

"I did tell you this was a shop." She reminded.

"It's a shop!~ It's a shop!~" Maru and Moro danced on by.

"And what about my watch?" Watanuki asked sweetly, holding out her own hand. Yuko looked at her skeptically, smacking the girl's hand down.

"That was that and this is this," she replied pompously.

"That was that and this is this!~" The twins repeated.

"No!" Watanuki sang back, bowing her head and holding up both her hands.

"I don't accept cancellations," Yuko informed the girl.

"It didn't want to be here in the first place!" Watanuki's ears started smoking in her anger, a cross vein popping out of her head.

"Why don't you work for me?" Yuko asked. Watanuki got smacked by conversation whip-lash and her anger evaporated in her shock.

"Huh?" She asked, a dumb look gracing her face.

"You can work for me here in my shop. And when you've done sufficient labor to counterbalance your debt to me, I'll grant your wish." Yuko answered, her eyes once again alluring.

"Part-timer!" Maru and Moro popped in between the pair out of nowhere and began doing Ring-Around-the-Rosies around Watanuki's legs.

"We'll start by celebrating your employment!~"

"Wait just a second; I haven't even agreed to work for you," Watanuki stated flatly. Maru and Moro were still singing, "Part-timer!~ Part-timer!~" in the background.

"Of course, you'll need to get some things for the party! We'll need plenty of snacks and a bunch of sake and maybe some colored streamers and confetti!" Yuko threw her hands up in the air happily. "Oh!" She then clapped her hand together as if she just remembered something. "And could you get something from my storehouse for me?"

"Your storehouse?" Watanuki asked, peeved this time. "And what do you want me to get from there? If it's my party then why and I doing all the work!?" She shouted clenching her fists.

Somehow the raven ended up in Yuko's storehouse (which was connected to the shop), the quietness unnerving in the dim lights. She was surrounded by so many strange objects and artifacts and Watanuki didn't even know where to start looking. She almost just started dawdling, the array of all the things crammed in the building interesting enough to keep her occupied for a long time. But she didn't want to get mocked by Yuko again when she didn't come back because there was sure to be a, "Did you get lost in there?" remark headed her way if she did. Watanuki sighed, already tired of dealing with the difficult woman.

Watanuki muttered to herself, "She said she wanted me to come here to pick up a guest," and then called out a louder, "Hello?" while looking around the shelves. "But who could she be expecting me to find down here?" The girl stopped looking where she was going by this point and tripped, her long arm reaching out to grab onto a shelf, but it tipped off the supports and she crashed to the floor anyway, sending a few objects rolling in every direction. Then something soft hit her head and bounced onto the floor in front of her face with a popping sound. Well, at least it was soft. Watanuki look over her glasses to see what it was. It was a black, fat, round, rabbit-looking thing with really long ears (one with a blue and silver earring), and a blue jewel in the middle of its forehead. "Is that a toy?"

"Haha!" The thing opened its black eyes hugely and its tiny arms went into the air before settling back into its closed-eyes, cuddly-thing position, its ears falling back down with it.

"Did it just laugh?" Watanuki asked, not quite sure how to handle this thing.

"It seems so!" The black ball replied, tipping to one side with a smug smile.

"This is the party guest?" Watanuki asked, peeved that she had been sent into the creepy storehouse to get a stuffed animal.

"Oh yay! A party!" The ears were back up and the thing jumped into the air happily.

"It's a talking toy-thing," the girl summed up as said talking toy-thing spun. Watanuki didn't care at this point and picked up the rabbit-toy and went back to Yuko. She deposited the furry creature into the witch's waiting hands.

"Hello, Mokona," Yuko greeted, holding up the creature to her face. Mokona yawned hugely, its mouth taking up nearly its whole body for several seconds.

"I slept well." For some reason, the thing decided it was good to crack its ears one by one, just like someone would crack their neck. Can you even crack ears? Watanuki wondered.

"What were you sleeping in there for anyway?" The seer asked, still confused.

"Uh, for about three years, I guess?" The ears were up again as Mokona answered.

"That's not what I meant-"

"Mokona, we're getting ready to throw a big party tonight to welcome the new help. How 'bout it? Think you're going to be up for it? " Yuko asked, smiling.

"Whoohoo!" Mokona jumped into the air repeatedly. "Party! Party! Party!"

"This is your idea of a party guest?" Watanuki pointed at the furball. "What the heck is a Mokona?"

"Mokona is Mokona. You count them one Mokona, two Mokona, and then you stop; there's only two." Yuko's hand fell on Mokona's head, stopping the jumping.

"That's supposed to be an answer?!"

"And now could the two of you go shopping for us? I'll pay you back later, okay?" Mokona left Yuko's hands and hopped itself all the way over to Watanuki's shoulder.

"You want me to go shopping?" The raven asked, clarifying that it was she and not the rabbit that was going to pay for the shopping.

"Good luck, part-timer," the witch smiled.

"Part-Time!~" The twins cheered.

"Okay! Fine! Whatever!" Watanuki conceded. She was just so tired of all this chaos. The girl stomped out of the room and down the hallway, putting on her shoes and grabbing the shopping back that Yuko held out of her. The seer scowled and huffed at her as she then stomped out of the shop and to the fence.

"Take care now!" Yuko called from the porch.

"Take care now!" The twins echoed. Watanuki turned the corner and left the shop, leaving its odd owner and two girls waving with handkerchiefs behind.

The chaos of the shop escaped, Watanuki felt a little drained, the strange afternoon starting to wear on her. The walk back to the shopping district really helped her calm down, that is, if Mokona would quit poking her and calling for snacks. After several "shut ups" and two furballs to the face, they came to an understanding and the fat rabbit thing stayed in the bag when they were around other people. Soon enough, Watanuki was walking amongst other shoppers, perfectly at home, but always wary of passing spirits.

"Oh look in her bag! It's so cute!" A group of passing girls pointed at Mokona (who thankfully pretended to be a toy).

"You're right! But isn't it kind of stupid to carry that sort of thing around with you? I mean, come on, she's not eight!" Another of the girls jabbed.

"Just perfect! Everyone's staring and I look stupid," Watanuki grumbled. "Why do I have to do the shopping anyway? Normally I wouldn't mind but it's different when someone's practically shoving you out the door against your will!" Watanuki's temper flared, her footsteps getting faster with her irritation as she grumbled. "I didn't agree to be her slave!"

"Going too fast!" Mokona called rolling head over heels in the shopping bag. "Slow down!"

"Oh, just quit your whining!" The raven hissed. Great, now I'm taking to the stuffed animal in public! "Why do I have to carry around this stuffed animal? It's bad enough that I already look like an eight-year-old, but why can't I just have some peace and quiet for just one minute?"

"Can you please pull this thing over?" Mokona asked from behind its hand, its huge eyes open again and filled with tears. It swallowed loudly, the immediate threat of throwing up clear.

"How can you get car sick in a shopping bag?!" Watanuki pulled the bag apart and stuck her head in. Mokona made a very threatening groan of pain and the girl started to panic. "Don't puke in there!" She leaped to attention, holding the bag secure so Mokona wouldn't roll around anymore, and ran to the nearest vacant place, which happened to be a park. Mokona then proceeded to throw up in the bushes and asked for a drink afterward. Watanuki and to hold the thing up to a water fountain as it washed its mouth out and when it was done it started bugging her for food again. She screamed at it a couple of times and then dashed off to the market before she buried it in the sandbox. When they finally made it to the store, all Watanuki could do was sigh "Let's just get this over with" and then started shopping. Mokona was very vocal about what it wanted to eat and the raven was surprised that no one noticed a talking stuffed animal rubbing itself on meat.

"Yum, yum! Yum, yum!" Mokona blushed as it sat in the cart with the groceries, still cuddling with the meat.

"This stuff is really expensive," Watanuki noticed, holding up a vegetable and then putting it back.

"But who cares? It's yummy! Heh, heh! Buy this!" Mokona climbed up her arm, across her small chest, and down her other arm to grab what the girl had just put back and throw it into the basket before hopping back in.

"Okay then, if that's how you feel I'll buy it. But you'd better eat every bite, do you understand?" Mokona wasn't listening to her and Watanuki was just about to smack it when a shiver went up her spine. She stood up straight, stock still, eyes wide as she sensed a familiar and disquieting presence. She turned around and saw a purple, worm-like spirit floating just above the aisles, waiting for her, its massive yellow and white eye opening and staring her down. Watanuki shivered again and walked away, the spirit following her. She checked out of the store and started walking to Yuko's shop, her gait turning into a trot as the spirit tailed her.

"I thought she said she was going to grant my wish but they're following me just like always!" She whispered, shrugging the shopping bag onto her shoulder better. Mokona was just laughing in the bag, holding onto the food. "This is no time for you to be laughing!" The girl hissed, leaning over into the bag, "Do you hear me?"

"Of course, it would be better if I couldn't see them." Watanuki skidded to a stop as she caught someone else vocalizing her own desires. She caught the conversation of a group of girls in school uniforms different from her own. There were four of them in grey and white sailor uniforms, just walking along casually listening to the one girl who'd spoken. "It's a heavy burden. "

One girl asked, "What's it like?"

"Yeah, and how long have to been able to see them?" Another asked. "And why?" Watanuki followed behind them, listening in on the conversation.

"I don't really know," the first girl answered. "It's been like this for as long as I can remember. You think I'm a freak now, don't you?"

"No, of course not! We would never think that!"

"Yeah! It must be really cool. I don't have any talents like that."

"It's not cool," the first girl corrected. "Every day is painful." Watanuki finally got a good look at her. She was the brunette in the middle of the group, the one with her hair down.

"How so?"

"It's like having a terrible headache you can never get rid of. And that's not all: I can hear their voices."

"Voices?!" The three other girls exclaimed at the same time.

"They're never very clear, but I think they're screaming. Like they're in constant agony…or something else."

"Maybe they're angry," one of the girls suggested.

"Of course they are." The brunette girl went on. "They're still attached to this world but they've had to leave everyone they love behind."

"Aren't you ever scared? I know I'd be terrified!"

"Yes, but I have no choice. I'm the only one who can be there for them now." She paused. "They say that knowing me is like seeing a single light in otherwise complete darkness."

"Are there any here now?" The brunette stopped walking and was silent for a moment, the group stopping with her. Watanuki stopped as well, wanting to hear the girl's answer.

"Yes." The other three girls gasped and stepped away. The brunette girl moaned and grabbed her head, running to an empty part of the sidewalk by a building and squatting down.

"Are you okay?" One of the three other girls ran over to her, placing a hand on her back.

"What happened?" Another asked, following the first girl over.

"Can we do something to help?" The last one joined the group, all three girls huddling around their friend.

"I'm fine, just give me a moment and I'm sure it will pass." The girl's voice was strained, gruff, and pained. She had her hand pressed to her face like she was putting pressure on a headache.

"Is it because of something we said?" One of the girls asked, trying to get answers. Watanuki's eye was drawn to something on the girl's neck like there was a ring around it that no one else could see. She squinted, her face scrunching up in concentration. Whatever was plaguing this girl the seer couldn't quite understand nor explain, she just had a feeling that this girl was like her.

"I'm sorry if we made them hurt you!"

"Excuse me," Watanuki took a step closer as she spoke up. The three normal girls looked at her strangely and then the other girl turned around, gasping. "You're going to be alright," Watanuki said in a calm, soothing voice, clenching the handle of her bag tighter. "There aren't any spirits possessing you or following you or anything." She got a hard stare back in answer, but the raven just smiled back. "Trust me you're perfectly healthy, nothing's coming after you, certainly not spirit. So there's nothing to worry abou-"

"Shut up!" The brunette snapped at Watanuki. "How could you know what any of this is like? Every day is incredibly painful! I have to listen to moaning and screaming every second of my life!" Sounds like what I have to listen to, the raven thought to herself. "My body feels heavy my head throbs from the noise and I don't even know who I am some of the time because they're possessing me!" They don't possess me, but at least they don't fall on you in public and make you look like a freak and sneak into your house to trash it and then leave only to come back in the morning to cling to you on your way to school so everyone else you know starts avoiding you until no one talks to you or wants to be your friend. "I've had to bear this all my life and sometimes I don't think I can take it anymore!" The girl stopped shouting and cringed, falling to her hands and knees to hold her head.

"Sayaka!" The girl with the ponytail and glasses comforted her.

"Oh no!" The girl with black hair looked concerned too. All three girls turned hostile towards Watanuki, their eyes hard as they glared at her.

"Just leave her alone!" Ponytail girl hissed.

"She's had to suffer so much! Are you too blind to notice that this girl is special?" The second one accused. I noticed at about the same time you did, and what's ironic is that I know that you don't know I'm similar to your friend there.

"It's okay, I'm alright." The brunette said, her voice nearly a whisper.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, they've given me some peace for the moment. It's very difficult but sometimes I'm able to persuade them to let me rest for a while." The girl stood up, grabbed her bag, and turned to face Watanuki. "I don't know who you are, but it doesn't matter. A normal person like you could never understand my pain." You're wrong on that account, I'm just as abnormal as you, Watanuki wanted to voice this, but with the way the brunette girl was acting, it wouldn't have helped. "You don't know what it means to suffer like this." False. "So please leave me alone now." She finished with a hard voice.

Watanuki looked back at the other girl, staying silent. The brunette blinked and looked at the raven again.

"You should be glad, that you can't see them." Wrong again. Watanuki knew what the girl was seeing, she'd felt the worm spirit twist around her during their conversation, having caught up with the seer. Even now she could feel its cold, purple body brushing against her own, its head nearly resting on her shoulder. But she didn't say anything, the air thick with tension.

"Time for some food!" Mokona popped out of the shopping bag and ran toward a food stand, the group of girls catching sight of it and gasping.

"A rat!" The tension bubble broke and Watanuki ran after the furball.

"Mokona!" Watanuki ran around the girls, her shoulder bumping the other seer. The raven stopped after two steps, feeling a change in the air. Mokona didn't matter in that moment. The three normal girls didn't matter. The people milling around the group of girls didn't matter. The air turned cold to Watanuki and she felt it. The worm spirit took notice of the brunette, its head swiveling to look at her. It moved. Watanuki nearly tipped over as it slid off her body and twisted around the other girl, its body enclosing her. Its head wrapped around the girl's neck, its huge red eye opening as it stared her in the face, unwrapping and spinning Watanuki around to face the girl.

"No…not her!" Watanuki breathed. The spirit obviously didn't listen to her and pushed its eye and then the rest of its body down the brunette's form, encasing her in its noxious presence, possessing her. Once the possession was complete, the spirit re-materialized, wrapping around her body like a snake. Watanuki watched open-mouthed as the girl grew pale as a sheet and called to her friends, her voice even weaker than it was before.

"Let's go," she sighed and the girls walked past Watanuki without a second thought as the seer stared after them in shock.

"Mokona is hungry! Mokona is hungry! It's time to eat now!~ Eat! Eat!" The furball went unnoticed for some reason as it jumped up and down at the food stand. Watanuki stood in place, her shock turning into remorse as the girls left. Her heart ached as the spirit who was supposed to be bugging her turned its head and smiled, its huge eye acting like a mouth, laughing gleefully. Watanuki's face fell, guilt clawing at her.

"But why now?" She asked. They've never left me before. Why now? Why?

"Time to eat! Time to eat!" Mokona called to the raven dancing around. "Fill my belly! Fill my belly! Time to eat! It's time to eat!" The furball was still shouting while Watanuki was still in a stupor. The raven didn't even remember buying food for the rabbit, nor did she recall walking back to Yuko's shop – still lost in her head and guilty over the other seer girl. Birds called outside the mansion but the raven took no notice, just walked inside and took off her shoes before heading towards Yuko, her steps heavy.

"How was the shopping?" The woman asked, her tone somehow sly and innocent at the same time like she knew something but was trying to hide it.

"Mokona is home! Yay!" The furball hopped out of the bag and tottered over to the witch, looking at the puzzle she was piecing together. Watanuki stared at Yuko hard, trying to reason with herself that Yuko knew something, that she had made the whole incident happen. The woman took notice.

"What's the matter?" She asked, "Aren't you happy it's gone?" She looked away. She knew!

"You knew that would happen," Watanuki stated bluntly, her eyes still hard.

"What would?" Yuko replied innocently. That ticked the seer off.

Watanuki's quiet anger flared. "You knew this whole time!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Yuko replied.

"You knew that that thing that was stuck to me would transfer to someone else!" Watanuki clenched her fists, barely reigning in her temper.

"Watanuki, I had nothing to do with it." Silence ensued as the girl mulled over that statement. "Why are you so upset about it?" Yuko didn't seem to care much, either way, calmly smoothing her kimono and placing another piece into her puzzle.

"I feel bad about it." That's an understatement.

"And why is that?"

"'Why is that?'" She snapped. "Look! I've been thinking a lot about how nice it would be to get rid of these things that are hounding me. But I never wanted to do that if it meant pushing them onto somebody else!" Watanuki shook her head, her ponytail smacking her neck as she tried to explain her frustration.

"You do realize that that spirit wasn't specifically yours." Yuko still wasn't looking her in the eye. "Spirits are always changing, always drifting to new places." Watanuki gasped softly, the thought never occurring to her because all the spirits she'd ever encountered had just glommed onto her and nobody else. "When a person wishes deeply for something, that wish has the power to call that thing into being." Yuko placed a piece into the puzzle on the floor. "And that's what happened to the girl." She finally looked up, her long hair falling around her. The revelation slammed into Watanuki, falling to her knees as guilt, frustration, and shock roiled in her again.

The seer whispered, "She wanted it that way? But why? There isn't a single good thing about seeing them." She nearly tipped over, placing her hand on the ground to steady herself. Yuko stood up slowly and walked over to the raven, kneeling down next to her and rearranging her robes.

"People are capable of wishing for anything they think they want," the witch placed her hand on Watanuki's cheek as if to comfort her. The girl didn't move. "It could be happiness…or unhappiness." The image of the other seer popped into her head.

"You should just be glad that you can't see them."

"We are all free with wish without limitation." Yuko went on, "We can even wish for things that will harm us. You will soon learn that there are very few boundaries in my line of work." Yuko stopped talking. Maru and Moro just watched from the corner. Watanuki was lost in thought, thinking that she couldn't participate in a job that could potentially harm people, even if they wished for it. I don't want a repeat of today, I can't work for someone like Yuko if she's just going to let things like that happen because someone wants it to. I can't do that. Watanuki looked away and stood up, walking out of the room and leaving her shopping, multiple puzzles (physical and not), two small girls, a furball, and a seemingly unfeeling witch behind. She was leaving it all behind. She didn't plan on coming back.

"You're going home are you?" The seer had passed through the doors and into the hallway when Yuko spoke. "Kimihiro Watanuki." At the sound of her name, the girl stopped in the dim hallway. "Just remember: our meeting was destined."

"Destined?" The girl repeated softly, not understanding completely what Yuko was saying.

"Already the ties are forming. And we cannot stop them. It does not matter how brief the encounter is: When two people meet they affect each other. The meeting will change their lives in some way and ties will form between them." Witchy nonsense. Watanuki stayed silent and started walking again. "There is meaning to every event that happens in our lives, however small it may seem." Yuko kept speaking to her, her voice echoing throughout the shop. Watanuki had reached the end of the hall and picked up her school bag which was resting by the wall. "And so there was meaning in our meeting today. Try to remember that."

Watanuki sat down to put on her shoes without another word from Yuko, tying the laces tightly before standing up to brush down her skirt. Her shoes clicked on the stone entryway, the shop's door squeaked softly as she opened it, and clicked shut with finality as she took one last glance inside before closing the door.

"Mistress, she left." Maru and Moro wrapped themselves around the witch, sadly stating the obvious. Yuko smiled.

"But she'll be back. The ties that bind us simply won't disappear." At that moment, Yuko knew that Watanuki was one of those people who would wish for unhappiness for herself if it meant the benefit of someone else. "What a troublesome girl," she sighed before hugging the twins.

Watanuki walked home quietly, the sun just barely hiding behind the horizon, the brilliant orange rays seeping into dark purples and blues before fading to black. She made it to her apartment without any problems – supernatural in nature or not – and silently ate dinner, did her homework, and went to bed, her thoughts still lingering on her odd day and her meeting with Yuko. She also thought about the other seer girl and how her unhappiness was Watanuki's own unhappiness, in a way. Those were the thoughts which she fell asleep to, her dreams fitful and dark, along with She forgot to pay me for the shopping…

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

Hardly without her noticing, the next day had Watanuki staring at Yuko's shop, tucked between two high apartment buildings. The cherry trees were still swaying in the breeze happily, birds still chirping like her whole world hadn't just been tipped upside down and shaken yesterday. Watanuki was staring at the fence, trying to muster up the courage to go inside.

"I'm only going back to get the money she owes me for the shopping!" She justified as if her being there was out of her control and not just an excursion for compensation. "And then I am really leaving! Okay!" Watanuki nodded resolutely and stomped down to the gate and into the courtyard, her skirt flying behind her before opening the shop door and clicking it shut.

"Watanuki!~ You're back!" Yuko called happily, spiriting into the entryway in one of her elaborate kimonos (this time in purple and pink with blossoms sewn into the cloth).

"I'm only here for the money you owe me!" The girl stated resolutely, holding out her hand for the money she was owed.

"Come now! Don't be that way!" Yuko walked up to the girl and grabbed her chin, getting almost close enough to kiss her again.

"Why don't you stay a little longer than that? We still have that food you bought…wouldn't you like something to eat?" Watanuki glanced sideways, the offer tempting because she was a little snackish. No! You're just here for the money! She told herself. But she'd offered a snack! What's the harm in staying a little longer? She argued with herself. No! You need to get out of here before she pulls some more witchy crap on you! But it's food!

"Fine. I'll stay for a little snack and then I need to go!" Watanuki relented. Yuko smiled, her cranberry eyes holding devious ideas. Watanuki shivered.

"Perfect!" The witch clapped her hands together and smiled brightly.

"Perfect!~ Perfect!~" Maru and Moro skipped in and danced around the seer. A few minutes later Watanuki was wondering how the hell she got into a cooking smock with her hair tied back making the snack she had been offered.

"Damn that Yuko!" She screamed, flipping the meat in the pan and checking the sauce on the stove. "How did I get in here?!" She heard Yuko laughing in the other room with the twins as Mokona bounced around the kitchen singing about food. Watanuki cringed inwardly and sighed, flipping the meat again. What have I gotten myself into?!

To be continued...

A/N: There you go! I hope to keep updating on a fairly regular schedule and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! See you next time! :3