A/N: Hey everyone! It's me, ZareEraz! Sorry for the incredibly long wait, but I hope it's worth it! I finally finished this chapter and hope to be churning out some more of those soon! Thanks for all your support and enjoy! :3

Chapter Sixteen: The Gift and The Dream

"Mistress! Have a safe trip!" Maru called, as Yuko walked out of the shop's door, shrugging on a purple wrap over her white blouse. The twins were sweeping up the grounds and waved to their mistress as she left. Watanuki had disappeared with the Tengu just a short while earlier and in Yuko's appropriate haste, she'd sent off her cook without having had dinner, or even a snack, to tide her over. So she was going out to shop.

"Mistress, have fun!" Moro called out as well. The witch was checking her watch, the train schedule running through her head as she walked out of the shop's front gate and onto the street.

That was where she met her visitor.

"Well, hello there, Doumeki." The witch greeted the man with a smile. Doumeki looked trouble, which was saying something because Doumeki hardly ever looked like something. The stoic man was standing in the middle of the street, apparently waiting for someone.

"Are you leaving?" The archer asked. At this point, Yuko concluded that he was waiting for either her, or Watanuki, so it was best to inform him that they both were gone.

"Yes, I'm doing the shopping today since Watanuki is absent." The woman replied civilly, stepping forward to have a conversation with the young man. The fact that he didn't inquire as to where Watanuki was finished the woman's deduction for her. "Since you're waiting here…I assume you have some business with me? In this desolate place." Yuko could see what Doumeki was seeing, knowing just how her shop looked to those who had no real need of her services. The shop didn't exist at all, not even a breaking foundation or a sign that a building was there. The fence didn't exist either, only the two rotted main posts were still standing, acting like guards for the weed filled lot behind her. There was absolutely nothing on that lot that alluded to a shop, at least, nothing Doumeki could see.

"I don't see anything besides withered grass and weeds." He stated, staring at what he could see. And yet, Watanuki came here every day, to this spot that held nothing and for once, Doumeki wanted to see what she could see, even if it was frightening.

"Doumeki," Yuko continued. "You have no need of my shop; therefore you also have no need to see it. So…what business have you brought me, I wonder?" The woman's smile grew, intrigued by his actions.

"Will Watanuki's eye never return?" He asked, the question having been tormenting him since they'd lost the spell book to the book worm, and even more so since that afternoon when Watanuki had been so despondent about it.

"What would make you think that?" The witch asked, her voice even, her eyes steady.

"She was murmuring something about it at school," He admitted, his eyes changing from frustrated to worried. "While looking at her reflection in the window."

"I see." Yuko nodded. She saw the worry that the girl's actions were putting Doumeki through and she was a little worried herself. But no matter the outcome, it was inevitable. It was also Watanuki's choice. Futures had a funny way of shifting with the slightest actions, and this time would be no different. The two of them stared at each other for a moment, coming to a silent understanding. "Watanuki…she needs to understand, doesn't she?" Yuko murmured, her thoughts being pulled towards the peril that lay ahead for the girl once she reached her destination.

The swirling winds of the Tengu's fan whipped about Watanuki, obscuring everything within her field of vision…mostly because the tempest had yanked out the girl's hair tie and now her hair was plastered to her head. She kept screaming until her voice ran out as she was thrown about with the Karasu Tengu, unable to hold onto anything (or anyone for that matter) for a few long, breathless moments and then suddenly, the winds stopped. Watanuki was left standing on a hill with the Tengu, the winds of the fan billowing away now that their job was done, politely throwing Watanuki's hair out of her face as it did so. The Tengu had fallen into a heap behind the girl as she turned around, taking in her surroundings. They were in a huge field of rolling hills, and the only distinguishable thing there was was a huge, three story building in front of them, and it looked like it used to be some sort of light color, but the whole building was dark and dank, like someone had smudged it. The structure was kind of V shaped, with the front entrance at the angle, all the windows were smashed or completely missing and it had a huge fence around it. It looked like it had been a beautiful building at one point but it looked abandoned…and the air was thick with something…poisonous.

"Where are we?" The seer breathed, overwhelmed by the presence surrounding the building. The pipe fox wriggled out from in between the girl's small breasts, emerging from her jacket to hiss at the building, his little face screwed up in anger, fur bristling. "What's wrong?" Watanuki asked. "There's some kind of aura…"

"It's a malicious miasma." Keith supplied, breathing heavily as he and the other Tengu tried to regain their strength under the oppression of the aura.

"It's leaking out of the building." Another Tengu continued. The pipe fox slithered up to Watanukis neck and wrapped itself around her, still hissing and growling.

"She's in there, right?" Watanuki asked, having a feeling that Zashiki-Warishi was inside, waiting for someone to help her.

"That's right." Keith nodded. Watanuki nodded and started walking up the hill towards the building, her footsteps scuffing against the barren ground.

"Wait! The one who caught Zashiki-Warishi is…" A Tengu started.

"-Not someone you can fight against!" Keith finished, both still weak and unable to chase after the girl.

"You're probably right." Watanuki agreed, but she was determined to finish this job and save her friend, no matter how scared she was. "But Yuko sent me along…so there must be something I can do." Her logic was sound, Yuko was rarely (if ever) wrong about these things. The Tengu could do nothing to stop the girl.

Watanuki walked up to the building, her heart beating faster as she approached the aura, coming up to the fence's entrance but unable to go any further. I can't see anything…but…the girl brought her hand up and pressed it against an invisible barrier that blocked her way. But there's something here. She had to figure out a way to get past this barrier, but what could she do? She was only good for sensing spirits and getting in big trouble. Just then, the pipe fox started to move again, unwinding from the raven's neck and twisting his body around, growing bigger and unfolding into his true form. The creature took on his big appearance – that of a regal, nine-tailed fox – and stood by his favorite's side. The fox's slim snout opened slightly, fire licking at his teeth as the flames grew, burning hotly. The fox swung his head back and then threw it forward, tossing his flames at the building, the fire surging past the barrier and setting the walls on fire. The whole structure was ablaze, the orange flamed lighting up the diming sky of sunset with color unrivaled. The fox whined, looking at his person and Watanuki bent down to scratch his chin in gratitude. She could feel that the pipe fox's actions had gotten rid of the barrier surrounding the building.

"Thank you." She whispered, petting her loyal companion. Without saying a word, Watanuki started walking towards the dilapidated building, the pipe fox right by her side as they disappeared into the flames, passing by unscathed.

"The pipe fox broke the barrier." A Tengu whispered, impressed by the spirit.

"But if they go in…" Another said.

"She won't stay quiet." A third added.

"Even so, we much wait." The forth continued.

"For her to save Zashiki-Warishi." Keith finished, watching the pair vanish.

As soon as they were inside, the flames on the outside of the building ceased to burn, leaving it looking much the same as it had. The interior was just as messed up as the exterior had been: all the light fixtures were broken, most of the furniture was gone but what was left was falling apart and all the shattered window's glass was lying on the floor, getting broken underfoot as Watanuki walked through the lobby, the click of her shoes echoing in the huge space. The head of a broken statue was lying on the ground, pieces of the once beautiful woman's body scattered everywhere and Watanuki looked around carefully, sensing the ominous presence growing all around her. The spiritual aura is even stronger in here than it was outside. The girl grimaced as the smell of rot and death reached her nose. It was revolting, but with a sickly sweet after note that had her gagging, ready to throw up. Watanuki pinched her nose shut to keep out the smell but found that it made its way into her mouth, sticking to her throat and lungs. Begrudging used to being around these types of auras, the girl focused on finding the source of the miasma, that would lead her to Zashiki-Warishi. She could feel where the presence was strongest as she made her way to a huge stairwell, leaning over the rail and looking down into the depths of the mansion, white mists rising up from the darkness. It's strongest…

"Down there." She said out loud, grimacing against as she saw the aura physically waft up from the basement, the stairs themselves extending downward for three or four floors. She started walking down the stairs with the pipe fox, knowing that that's where she had to go, even if she was afraid to meet whoever had taken her friend, going deeper into the darkness as the natural light of the dying day gave way to the night. She made it down one floor before feeling the chill of the presence licking at her body heat, starting to freeze her hands. Watanuki brought her cold hands up to her mouth to breathe warm air onto them and them together, trying to stay warm. "It's like being in a freezer." She shivered. The pipe fox whined, concerned for his favorite. "I'm fine. Don't you worry. Let's go." Watanuki smiled at him and they continued walking.

She had to use the rail now to keep herself upright, the cold numbing her body and the aura pressing down on her consciousness. Her body felt heavy as she walked, trying to get her brain to focus on taking one careful step and then another, but despite that, she was stumbling. Her good eye was starting to slide shut, everything about this place enticing her to give in and fall asleep. She slipped on a step again, having the grab onto the railing with both hands and her eye snapped open for just a moment as she reached the second landing, the pipe fox already waiting for her. When did he get there? I thought he was right next to me. Everything was spinning down, her vision starting to go, she tried to take the three steps down to the landing one at a time, but she took them all at once, falling onto her hands and her elbows as she started to black out. Glass tinkled around her as she fell onto it and the cracking floor. The swirling got worse, morphing into a vortex of gray and black. She was going to pass out soon.

"Damn." Watanuki shook her head, trying to clear it, but that wasn't enough. "I'm going to pass out at this rate…I can't do that." There's only one thing I can do…to keep myself…from falling…asleep…The girl reached out, blindly groping for a piece of glass. She picked up a thick shard as long as her hand and pointed at both ends, holding one of the jagged sides against her palm. She took a deep breath, and squeezed her hand shut, using the other hand to add pressure. The glass bit into her skin, slicing open her palm and sending a rush of blood down her wrist and adrenaline through her system. The pain woke her up, keeping her drowsiness at bay for a little while longer. Watanuki stood up on shaky legs and started down the stairs again, holding onto the glass in case she needed to wake herself up again. Her eyes narrowed in determination as she stepped forward again. "I have to take her back with me. I'm going to save you." She whispered, her hand throbbing, her body cold.

Each step was a chore now, balanced perfectly between pain and numbness, neither giving her any respite. Watanuki descended the last two floors, her bloody hand on the rail, dripping blood onto the stairs, her other hand on the pipe fox to keep herself upright. Finally in the basement, the white mist that was floating in the air was starting to become like a fog, the concentration of miasma even stronger than it had been. The girl didn't know which was to go, the presence equally threatening in all directions. Thank goodness the pipe fox could sense better than the seer, considering the state she was in, because he turned to the right and growled, hackles raised, fangs bared as he pointed in the direction of the aura's source. There were two double doors at the end of the hallway, lit by and eerie light and Watanuki was thankful that she didn't have to waste energy searching all the rooms. The mist was seeping out of that room from the cracks under the doors. The girl slowly made her way down the hall, the fox at her side supporting her until she reached the door. Watanuki leaned all her weight into the door, pushing with all her might to force it open. It creaked and started to move. She pushed harder and the door moved a little more, the mists turning into a strong gust as it was released from the confines of the room. Watanuki shoved a little harder, moving the heavy door even further open, the gust getting stronger as well until the door was most of the way open. Once everything had quieted down again, Watanuki cast her eyes around the dimly lit ballroom that she'd found, decked out with Grecian pillars (crumbly though they may be) and found exactly what she'd been looking for.

"Zashiki-Warishi!" Watanuki ran inside the ballroom with the pipe fox, completely forgetting about her fatigue and stared up at the spider's web that stretched across the ceiling, the kimono-clad sprite strung up in the middle of it. She looked alright, lying on the webs like she was sleeping, her legs and arms dangling downwards, but she was unconscious and didn't stir to the girl's call at all. Her torso was completely caught in the webs, her kimono sleeves plastered with the stuff and from what the raven could see from her angle, her neck was wrapped in threads, so if she moved, the sprite would be strangled before she got free. Watanuki gasped, not believing what she was seeing, and she'd seen some scary shit.

"Oh! The idols herself appears! You're a cute girl, just like the rumor's say." A sickly sweet voice cooed. It was high pitched and light, but creepy enough to have the girl on edge as her head snapped in the direction of the voice. The pipe fox growled deeply as the girl caught sight of a beautiful woman sitting on a wall that seemed to be the edge of an orchestra pit, the blonde causally uncrossing and re-crossing her fishnet clad legs. She was stunning, a bombshell in a purple-almost black baby doll dress whose straps were falling off her shoulders and a red bow tied under her boobs with the ends of the ribbons tied around her ribcage and then fluttered behind her back where they cascaded to the floor. The dress was paired with fishnet stocking that clung to her pale calves and thighs and with matching sleeves that extended from wrist to bicep with dashes of lace at both ends. The woman's blonde hair fell to her mid-back, curling on the ends with a set of straight bangs at her forehead. The spirit's face was that of an angel: huge eyes with pupils so wide her eyes were almost black and full, red lips that looked like they were constantly puckered, but not obnoxiously so. One of the spirit's arms was draped across her thighs, and then other elbow was resting on that arm, her chin placed on top of the back of her hand, fingers dangling gracefully with a set of purple nails that could've gouged anyone's eyes out.

"Who are you!?" Watanuki demanded, allured and threatened just by the woman's very presence. The pipe fox was all riled up again, crouching low to the ground and growling even louder, his claws twitching like he wanted to tear her apart.

"A part of you already knows the answer." The spirit replied, sitting up straight and holding out her right hand. As she uncurled her fingers, Watanuki's vision split again and she was at once, watching the woman open her hand, and having the darkness of her right eye lifted so that she was staring at her own shocked in the woman's hand was her right eye, glowing in its own halo of light. Her eye didn't look like her eye anymore, but more like a luminous blue marble with white mist swirling around it. It was grotesquely beautiful.

"That's…" Watanuki gasped. The woman brought her hand up to hold her eye in between her index finger and thumb.

"Your right eye." Watanuki's bloody hand came up to touch her medical eye patch horrified that she could have her physical eye and that woman her actual vision manifested as a physical object. "It seems that everyone wants your right eye, so there is quite a struggle for it." The woman's fingers let her eye go and she caressed the halo of light gently, the eye moving with her hand depending on if it went higher or lower. She gazed at the eye with fascination and satisfaction. "A being like me can have their power increase exponentially by acquiring it…that' something that most treasures can't even accomplish these days." She said it so matter-of-factly! Like this wasn't a living person's eye she was talking about! Watanuki stumbled, the shock of seeing her own eye in the hands of a spirit, combined with the woman's malicious aura was too much for the girl. Shit, her energy is…

"I am the one who acquired it, especially since my patron deities are Yatagarasu and Fuuri (1). It took a lot of effort. But then again, it might be all going according to plan." The woman continued, her other hand coming up to pet her precious find while the other on held it from below. Watanuki huffed at the woman angrily, unable to do much of anything else while under the influence of her noxious miasma. "The spider whose grudge you fell under was one of my kinsmen."

"Kinsmen? Then that means…" Watanuki knew of a demon who was related to spiders and their kind. She was a..

"I am the one who presides over spiders." The woman revealed, a long silk thread dropping down from the ceiling silently next to her. The demon took hold of the thread and it pulled her upright as they both rose towards the ceiling, the woman's toes gracefully pinching the end of the string. She smiled with her eyes closed as she rose into the mass of webs that spanned the ceiling, her beauty becoming something truly terrible once she was in her element. "In the old days, people used to call me Jorogumo (2)." The pipe fox growled more fiercely at the mention of the woman's old name. The Jorogumo studied the fox with mild interest, as if she'd met him somewhere before. "Ah, the pipe fox is angry, isn't he? I had heard that he'd moved away from Ame-Warishi's place, but it seems like he still as an attachment to her friend, doesn't he?" Jorogumo had reached the height that Zashiki-Warishi was lying at, walking across the web in the air with no difficulty. She circled around the defenseless sprite and causally leaned over her prone form. "Zashiki-Warishi is, in a way, your patron deity, isn't she? She came to get this eye that had been passed onto me when she heard about it."

"It was quite amusing actually. She'd come to me while I was resting, bowing like her little good girl self had been taught to saying, 'Please, give me her eye. Please.' And I asked the sweet thing why she was asking for it: did she want it for herself or because she liked the owner of the eye? I left her quite unable to answer, I do that with a lot of people, but I came up really close to her, like this," the Jorogumo leaned down just a little closer to Zashiki-Warishi, each condescending word pricking at Watanuki's heart as she imagined just how much Zashiki-Warishi had to go through for her, "and told her that she was so cute, that she couldn't help but want to help her precious little girlfriend. And then I told her no. And when she asked why, her cute little face almost in tears, I told her it was because I was mean. She was quite unable to gather herself after that." Jorogumo gently caressed the sprite's face, resting her hand on the girl's head softly, continuing to talk, her voice continuing to become more and more annoying to Watanuki. "She must've known just how difficult meeting me within my miasma would be, and yet, she still came."

"Please…give it back…" Zashiki-Warishi's soft voice floated down, the girl still pleading, even while she was unconscious. Hearing those heartfelt pleas had Watanuki running before she even knew what she was doing, all she knew is that she had to save the girl who'd risked so much for her.

"Don't move." Jorogumo ordered as Watanuki ran towards the spot on the floor under the sprite. To back up her command, she shot a thick web of spiders silk at the girl, causing her to duck and stumble to dodge the attack. "Oh, my." The demon noted, having her threads whip back around to strike Watanuki's spine from behind, knocking the air out of the raven and causing her to nearly fall to the ground. Watanuki cried out in pain, that being all the air she had left in her body. Now that she couldn't move, a whole hoard of webs was headed the girl's way. The pipe fox was by her side in an instant, using his nine tails to whip the threads back and protect his favorite person as they attacked against and again. It all happened in an instant and Watanuki threw her hands up to protect her face as she caught her breath. The attacks paused for a moment, but the pipe fox sensed that it wasn't over and jumped to the seer's other side, protecting her again as the webs tried to strike her back again.

"Now, now, I just don't want you moving around." Jorogumo tsked, the web she was standing on starting to shoot threads out all around Watanuki, creating a cage lightning fast as the girl swiveled to find and exit in time. There wasn't one. She was completely trapped as the threads closed her in, one of them wrapping around her neck savagely from behind hind, choking the girl even as she tried to pull it off of her. More webs slung themselves around her, entangling her torso and chest, her legs and arms, until she could hardly move at all, her breath short again and her body aching in the vice grip it was held in.

"I caught you." Jorogumo's voice didn't change pitch or tone, but her words sounded excited. It was like Doumeki's voice – it never really changed, but you could tell by the slightest inflection what he was feeling, only hers was prickly and sweet at the same time, while his was flat. "A spider's web is strong; you won't be able to pull it off with your measly strength." The spider woman teased mirthlessly. Watanuki struggled to take in a single breath, wriggling against the threads as much as she could, but Jorogumo was right: she couldn't break free. Luckily, the pipe fox came charging by, his mouth full of fox fire, blasting it at all the threads around them, and at the ones holding Watanuki prisoner, burning the threads without causing any harm to the girl. Watanuki pulled what remained off of her and took a huge breath, filling her lungs, holding her tender neck and glaring at the spider woman. The demon giggled, her fingers drifting to Zashiki-Warishi's neck.

"Fox fire and a spider's silk never really did go together," She chuckled. She pointed her index finger at Zashiki-Warishi's throat, her nail lengthening and sharpening, her other hand holding the sprite's head in place from behind, the threat of death plain to see. "Stop the pipe fox." She ordered. Watanuki was backed up against a wall now, she had to do what the Jorogumo ordered, but she didn't want. Charging ahead blindly would get the sprite killed, and she didn't want anyone else to get hurt because of her…not Doumeki or Wari or Yuko or Zashiki-Warishi! Watanuki squeezed her eyes shut tightly, willing herself to make the best choice for everyone, but especially the sprite. She also didn't want to lose Zashiki-Warishi, she didn't want to lose her friend…The pipe fox was growling, his mouth brimming with more fire as Jorogumo's webs floated in the air, creeping towards the girl, ready to strike once she gave up.

"Pipe fox, stop!" Watanuki ordered harshly, knowing just what kind of situation she was in. The fox whined sadly, the fire disappearing from his jaws. The girl knew that he was confused because he was helping, he really was, but things had taken a turn for the worst. "I'm sorry for yelling." The raven apologized, sad that she had to do it that way.

"Thank you very much." Jorogumo smiled as her demands were met. "You're quite kind, you know?" The webs threw themselves on the girl, entangling her again and this time they wrapped her arms behind her, truly trapping her and pulling her up into the air, constricting her even more as her feet left the ground. "Those threads are called spider silk." Jorogumo explained, as if she were teaching a lesson. "It's because of those threads that spiders are able to leap wherever they want. It's the strongest type of thread." As Watanuki came level with Zashiki-Warishi, the spider woman retracted her nail and walked across her web like she hadn't a care in the world, not even holding onto anything as she came right in front of the raven. She sat down on another set of webs, the threads holding her weight like a hammock would. Watanuki had no interest in knowing anything that Jorogumo said besides what concerned Zashiki-Warishi, so she didn't reply.

"You're not interested?" the woman asked. "Too bad." She reached up and placed her hand on Watanuki's cheek, as if to caress a child.

"Please let Zashiki-Warishi go." Watanuki got back to the point of her coming, keeping a firm face now that she was directly facing her enemy. The spider woman's eyes widened in shock, showing some of the blue she had around the edges of her huge pupils, but the rest of her expression didn't change.

"Not 'Give me back my right eye?'" She queried.

"It was my fault for falling under the grudge," Watanuki admitted, thinking that she'd done the right thing for saving Doumeki. Jorogumo withdrew her hand as the girl spoke, watching her carefully. "So you can do whatever it is you want with my right eye…but please, give Zashiki-Warishi back."

Jorogumo giggled, demurely bringing her right hand up to her face and lengthening her nail again. Watanuki flinched at the threat, but the blonde just sat down next to the sprite and then leaned over the girl, tapping her elongated nail over her heart. "But you know…Zashiki-Warishi herself is quite the treasure in this world too." Watanukigrowled at the Jorogumo as she toyed with her emotions. "If you eat her heart, it is said to extend your lifespan by a hundred years." The woman gave her a look like she was thinking about eating the sprite's heart right now. Watanuki's heart leapt into her throat, the thought of losing Zashiki-Warishi after all the effort and worry she'd gone through was unbearable. She couldn't even begin to comprehend the sadness that would cause the Tengu, Ame-Warishi, the pipe fox and everyone else who cared about the girl. She couldn't let that happen no matter what! What could she give the demon that could possibly be more valuable than Zashiki-Warishi?!

"If-If my right eye is valuable, then what about the rest of me!?" Watanuki scrambled for a reason to change Jorogumo's mind. It was the only thing she could think of. The woman's eye narrowed, thinking the offer over for a second. Watanuki knew that she was offering to be blind for Zashiki-Warishi's sake, and that was scary, but what else could she do? She had nothing but the clothes on her back. "How about it?!"

"Well, of course, I'd love to complete the set if I could; that would be amazing." Jorogumo gracefully jumped to her feet, her spiders thread catching her like she was on a swing standing up, and she glided over to the girl again.

"Then I'll give you my left eye as well, so please…give Zashiki-Warishi back." Watanuki swallowed after she'd laid out her terms, still terrified but ready to accept the consequences. She didn't let her face show any of her fears as she stared Jorogumo in the eyes.

"Is she that important to you?" The blonde asked.

"I've only met her a few times, but I think she's a nice person," Watanuki explained. "And the Karasu Tengu dearly love her. That's why I have to get her back." Jorogumo kept staring at her, not saying a word. Watanuki was out of ideas. Jorogumo wasn't the kind of person who could be played for sympathy so the only thing she could do was to offer whatever power her body had. That seemed to be the only thing the demon was interested in. "If my left eye isn't enough…then the rest of my body…" She was asking to die for Zashiki-Warishi and that was not the scariest thing she'd ever done. If Jorogumo accepted…well, she tried not the think about that.

"I hate that." The spider woman answered immediately, but not with the answer that Watanuki was expecting. The girl didn't know what to say. "I hate things like that." Jorogumo sighed, looking bored all of a sudden. "You're throwing away your life, just like that." She swung closer to the girl, her hand coming up to pinch the raven's chin and yank her face up.

"Do you think that something you can throw out so easily can be exchanged for something important?" Her words hit Watanuki like a truck, forcing the girl to reexamine what she'd just done. "Even Zashiki-Warishi tried so hard to get you eye back for you, and yet, you're about to throw that out too, without a second thought. You must think that she'd a fool, trying to protect that which you treat as trash." The woman gave Watanuki a look that bore deep into her soul, her dark black eyes criticizing her actions, condemning them.

"Not true!" Watanuki shouted.

"Sure it is." Jorogumo argued dispassionately, letting go of her chin and leaning back on her web swing. "Just look, even the pipe fox is extremely worried for you sake." Both women looked down at the spirit and Watanuki's heart broke a little as the spirit paced back and forth, looking up at them and whining, obviously worried. "There are other too, right? People who care for you dearly?" Doumeki's face flashed through her mind first, then Yuko and Wari…Maru, Moro, Mokona, Zashiki-Warishi, the pipe fox and many others. "Without even understanding that, you don't place any value upon yourself. You dislike others being hurt and yet you allow yourself to hurt. You don't even know how much it hurts someone else who cares for you to see you injured." Doumeki's expression upon finding out she'd taken on the spider's grudge was the next image she saw, all the hurt plain in his eyes. She'd hurt him by doing what she'd done and then to top it all off, they fought and lost all hope for remedying the situation on their own. Watanuki realized that it wasn't just the spider webs that where holding her down, she'd entangled herself in a web of contradiction and betrayal by her own actions and 'd tried to betray all of her friends, the people she loved more than herself, by throwing away her own life. She'd tried to hurt all those people.

"I hate things like that." Jorogumo finished, watching the girl. I hate you and your way of thinking. That's what she was really saying. Watanuki's expression hardened, finally coming to an understanding of just what she'd done, what she tried to do again. If she didn't return, what would Zashiki-Warishi think? Would she think that she'd gotten Watanuki killed trying to come and help her? Would Doumeki blame himself for her death because he hadn't found the spell to save her eye sooner? Would Yuko regret granting her wish in the first place? "And so, your offer is rejected." Jorogumo smiled, like she hadn't a care that she'd caused so much suffering by taking Zashiki-Warishi and then lecturing her other prisoner. This woman thrived off of pain, Watanuki could tell. She hated things like that. And she wasn't going to stand for it any longer.

"Oh dear, did I make you cry?" The spider woman asked, as the girl's breathing grew heavier, sounding similar to a soft sob. She leaned in closer again, trying to see the tears. "Let me see your cute, crying face." The demon's finger tapped her chin again, forcing it up, but what Jorogumo thought she was going to see and what actually happened were very different. Without her knowing, Watanuki had freed herself from the spider's webs. She cut through the threads with the shard of glass that she'd kept with her and thrust her weapon and newly bloodied hand right into the Jorogumo's face, nearly cutting her as well. That was the first time the woman's face had ever shown true shock, her eye wide, her mouth open in surprise as she was threatened by the prey she'd captured.

"Please free Zashiki-Warishi." Watanuki asked politely, her threat in her actions and the webs fell away from her right arm. The look of surprise morphed into a demur smile.

"I like things like this." Jorogumo answered. Watanuki was done playing games and trying to suck to this monster. Jorogumo wasn't going to let them go easily if she could help it, so now it was time for force.

"Pipe fox!" Watanuki called to her ally and the fox leapt into the air, coming level with them in just one jump, shooting a fireball at the Jorogumo. She dodged the blast, her thread pulling her up above all of them, spinning smoothly as she retreated to the ceiling. With her bonds cut, Watanuki freed herself the rest of the way and used the webs holding her up to swing over to Zashiki-Warishi, slicing through the threads that held her and grabbing her waist. They fell towards the ground and as they did so, Watanuki glared at Jorogumo, taking back what was most important.

"How wonderful." The demon smiled again as the pair hit the ground. Watanuki's legs ached from catching not only herself, but the sprite too, the girl still unconscious in her arms. The pipe fox landed next to them, taking a spot in front so he could protect his favorite. "You rescued the princess. Fine, I'll give her back to you…but I am taking this." The spider woman held up Watanuki's right eye, the orb still glowing rightly in the dim light of the ball room, giving Jorogumo an even more ghastly appearance as it deepened the shadows on her face. Watanuki watched in morbid shock as the woman opened her red lips and swallowed her eye. The girl could even see what the inside of her throat looked like, the darkness and suffocating space. She wished it was her hands that were at the woman's throat, not her eye. But all too soon, the darkness was absolute and Watanuki knew that she'd never get her eye back. She placed her left hand over her lost eye, trying to block out the loss but she knew she never could.

"That was delicious." Jorogumo purred, loving the look of despair and pain on the girl's face. The pipe fox roared in anger, unleashing his fury at the woman who'd hurt his favorite person, letting volley after volley of fox fire charge at the woman, her hair floating elegantly behind her as the wind and fire roared around her. The Jorogumo's webs burst into flames, melting and burning around the woman and she sighed in disappointment as her beautiful web was assaulted. "Truly, spider webs and fox fire don't mix well."

"It's about time for me to go." She called down to the trio, holding onto her last thread as the fires swirled around her, closing in. "I'll see you again." She finished, ending on a threatening note as she disappeared, dispersing the flames easily with her escape. Watanuki watched her go, glaring at the spot where the Jorogumo had vanished, but just as quickly as she'd fled, the girl exhaustion caught up to her. She fell to the floor heavily, losing consciousness, Zashiki-Warishi falling with her. Before she passed out, the girl could dimly hear the voices of the Karasu Tengu floating around her and feel the pipe fox nudging her face, trying to get her to wake up. All the voices were talking about something…oh, the miasma disappeared…and…they were asking if Zashiki-Warishi was okay…and the pipe fox was whining again…and then…nothing.

The Tengu that burst into the room had been waiting for the moment that they could help, but there were others as well that had been waiting and that someone else was visiting Yuko right at about the same time that Watanuki entered the mansion's front door. That person rang the doorbell to Yuko's shop, her poofy dress casting a long shadow through the door's window panels. After ringing the bell, the girl didn't hesitate to step inside uninvited, she had announced her presence and that's all that mattered to her. She stomped down the hallway, mouth frowning, her red, curly ponytails bouncing angrily as she threw the doors open to the room where she'd heard someone inside. Ame-Warishi found Yuko, Maru, Moro and Mokona all sitting on a huge white sheet, working on building models, like they didn't have a care in the world. Mokona was singing a nonsense tune while it spray painted several model parts gray, a mask covering its mouth along with most of its stomach, the ties stretching around its body like an apron string. It was the first to acknowledge the sprite's entrance.

"Yo! Long time no see, Ame-Warishi!" The furball greeted the girl, its voice muffled a little by the mask.

"Welcome!" The twins called, looking up from punching out the bits that Mokona had to color. Yuko was working on painting and putting some pieces together of what seemed to be a ship, her white apron stained with little bits of gray and blue.

"Oh, did you want to help too?" The witch asked, pausing in her work. "We're doing a 1:200 scale Yamato. It's a battle ship and aircraft carrier of WWII. There's also a Nagato if you want that one instead."

"You've got free time?" Ame-Warishi questioned, narrowing her eyes. She was fairly certain that Yuko knew what was going on – the Tengu had said they were coming here for help in saving Zashiki-Warishi – but the insufferable woman was making models!

"You could say that, but you could also say I'm incredibly busy." Yuko responded to the sprite's harshness with a noncommittal statement. "Just as you are, right?" Her voice smoothed out, taking on that quality that suggested that she knew every reason that Ame-Warishi was here. The sprite sighed, knowing that Yuko had a point, and walked onto the sheet, sitting down in between Mokona and the twins.

"I'm not going to help, mind you." She huffed, holding onto her umbrella tightly. An hour or so passed in peace, four of the five people in the room working and the other sitting, waiting. Once most of the models were done, Maru and Moro started playing with each other, the blue-haired twin grabbing a blue Tachikoma (3) from the completely models and the pink haired twin grabbing the Yamato to play with, pushing the complex ship along the floor.

"Oh where could you be going, Yamato?" The robot asked the ship.

"I'm off for a trip to the sea! What about you, Tachikoma?" The Yamato asked the robot.

"I'm just going to quell some terrorist movements." Maru replied.

"My! How splendid!" To anyone else, the conversation was ridiculous, but to those two, it was the most normal thing. Yuko smiled as she sipped her tea, lounging gracefully in her chair at a small table Watanuki had left in there the last time she took tea in this room. Ame-Warishi was still sitting by the open doors of the room, near the porch, having been asked to sit on her customary reed mat to protect the floors from moisture, and for once, she didn't complain. She had much bigger things to worry about.

"The one who goes and the one who stays behind." Yuko mused, watching the sprite. They'd both worked and sat in relative silence the entire duration of Ame-Warishi's visit, but they were both in the same position essentially. "I wonder which one is more occupied." The Goth Loli didn't reply. "But it doesn't matter now. They seem to be fine." Yuko revealed that someone she knew that everyone was okay.

"They are?" The sprite said as sheturned to watch the woman's face, gauging if she was lying or not, her eyes hopeful.

"They will return soon." Yuko replied. Ame-Warishi leapt to her feet, ready to check on her friend's well being, but then she hesitated, and sat back down, her grip tightening on her umbrella. "What's wrong?"

"She said that she'd do it alone." Ame-Warishi answered, thinking about the fight that she and Zashiki-Warishi had gotten into, right before this whole mess had started. "Because I had said that I wouldn't help…I will wait…until everything is over."

"To go it alone, to cause less trouble for those around you…and to wait and endure the time spent apart because you understand that feeling…it must've been had for you both." Yuko's voice was soft and sweet, also understanding because she'd been on the waiting and going side many times in her long life.

"I'm fine." Ame-Warishi replied, knowing that that was the way things were.

"That's right." Yuko set down her tea cup. "Everything it split evenly, half-half. It is impossible for one said to shoulder everything, otherwise, the world would tilt to one side and everything would collapse." That was the order of the universe, and everything must be in balance for the world to continue as it was. That's the law that governed all living things, the law that Yuko adhered to in her life and her dealings with other people. And, even unconsciously, all other humans did the same as much as possible. That's just the way things were.

Ame-Warishi left soon after that, heading back to her mountain home to greet Zashiki-Warishi if she wasn't already there. Yuko had her own preparations to take care of, for the return on her own charge. She bid the sprite farewell and got to work.

Watanuki floated in the darkness for a while, not feeling anything or hearing anything. But that was okay. She had a lot of things to think about and this blackness allowed her to do so. She thought about Zashiki-Warishi and the Jorogumo, the woman's words about value and thinking of one's self floated around with her. She thought of Yuko, who probably knew this was all going to happen, one way or another and she thought about Doumeki too. She thought about what she was going to say to him, to apologize for all the pain she'd caused him, all the unnecessary hurt. She hoped that he would forgive her.

But suddenly, the girl's time in the darkness with her thoughts was interrupted by the feel of her actual body floating in something and something wet falling on her face. The girl woke slowly her eyes opening, but only one of them actually seeing what was in front of her, her patch missing. She was lying on Zashiki-Warishi's lap, the sprite cradling her head and neck, her other hand holding onto her bloody one. They were lying in the pond of Zashiki-Warishi's mountain – that's why she felt floaty and wet. But it was also because the girl's tears were falling on her face.

"Oh, thank goodness! I thought you wouldn't ever open your eyes." The sprite's face held nothing but concern for the seer, her hand tightening its grip on her fingers. Watanuki vaguely thought about how Zashiki-Warishi had taken off her pink, over kimono and was just sitting in her yellow under-robe, and it was getting wet in the pond and how her hand might be getting blood on the cloth, but her brain wasn't quite with her yet. "I was so scared…"

"You lost consciousness because of Jorogumo's malicious miasma." A Tengu piped up from the shore of the pond, drawing the girl's returning attention. All the Tengu and the pipe fox were sitting or standing on a rocky outcrop, Zashiki-Warishi's discarded kimono lying there as well.

"We bought you to our home mountain. The water from this spring has purifying powers." One of the other Tengu added.

"It has the power to wash out that miasma." A third Tengu continued.

"Use it for a while." Keith finished, his words punctuated by a whine from the pipe fox. He was probably saying something about resting as well.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Zashiki- Warishi apologized, crying even harder (if that was possible). "For not being about to do anything…your right eye has…" She couldn't continue, her tears thickening her voice. Watanuki gently reached up her right hand and brushed away some of those tears, making sure not to get any blood on the sprite's cheek.

"You don't have to be sorry." The raven whispered. "I'm the one…who's sorry." And then she fell back asleep again, carefully held by her friend as the rest of the miasma and dark energy of Jorogumo was purified. The pipe fox also took the opportunity to turn small again so he could cuddle up with his favorite in his favorite spot between her breasts, staying close until Watanuki was ready to travel home. An hour or so passed in quiet as the girl rested, and the Tengu and Zashiki-Warishi stayed by her side. When the raven awoke for a second time, her body felt much lighter and she could move again, having been freed from Jorogumo's presence. She and Zashiki-Warishi said their goodbyes as they recovered from the traumatizing day and Watanuki even said goodbye to the Tengu, who then vowed to kill her the next time that the seer made Zashiki-Warishi cry. Watanuki sneered at them and was about to leave, but then she realized she didn't know how she was going to get home.

"Oh, don't worry about that." Zashiki-Warishi replied when the girl voiced her concerns. "Yuko already told us that she was waiting for you. You'll just need to step into that pond." The sprite pointed to the pond that was surrounded by daffodils, the same pond that Watanuki had popped out of last time that she'd visited this mountain.

"Oh, great." The seer sighed. "I'm going to come out of that vase again, aren't I?" That had not been a pleasant experience

"Maybe." Zashiki-Warishi smiled. Watanuki just had to smile back and then stepped into the pond, waving goodbye to her friends. She fell through the pond quite unexpectedly, her entire body disappearing into the water as the pond's bottom vanished from under her feet. She lost her glasses somewhere along the way, but the pipe fox swam out of her uniform jacket and snagged them for her before they disappeared in the path between places. Watanuki hit the bottom of the path and started swimming upwards, just as she had last time, surfacing quickly to take a deep breath and wipe the water off her face. The warm water. That was surprising.

The seer brushed her messy, wet hair out of her face and took a look around, finding herself in Yuko's bathroom, the bath filled with hot water that felt nice after sitting in the cool pond waters for an extended period of time. "This is the bath at Yuko's shop," she said, announcing her presence to the witch who was just outside the doors. Yuko slid open the bathroom door and leaned against the frame, Mokona sitting on her shoulder.

"Well, welcome back." Yuko greeted her little servant.

"Yeah, welcome back!" Mokona waved.

"The water in the bath is mixed with the well water so it's connected to Zashiki-Warishi's mountain." Yuko explained, seeing the confused look on Watanuki's face. Yuko did this for me? She could've let my ass surface in cold well water, but instead she took time to fill the bath. And she granted my wish…and I tried to hurt her by sacrificing myself…

"Um I…" The girl started.

"You take your time and warm up in there." Yuko said with a smile, understanding what the girl was about to say. She turned to leave but Mokona had to put its two cents in as well.

"I got the first aid kit all ready for ya!" The pork bun piped off. Yuko slid the door shut behind her, letting the girl have her privacy. And that moment was when the pipe fox showed up, leaping out of the water like a little sea monster, the girl's glasses held in his little mouth.

The girl took Yuko's advice and got out of the tub, stripping off her wet uniform and dropping the clothes on the ground. The pipe fox found a nice little stool to set her glasses and then jumped back into the tub, swimming around happily. Watanuki sat down on a washing stool and got to work brushing out her hair and washing her body, trying to be careful not to get soap in the cuts on the right hand. She managed for the most part, rinsing off all the blood from her arm and then stepped back in the tub, relaxing into its warmth. Or she would've relaxed if the pipe fox hadn't been all up in her business. The little rascal was swimming around her body, diving underneath her knees and back and tickling her all over the place, probably trying to make sure that she was alright, and Watanuki laughed as she was tickled all over before smacking her head on the wall when he hit a particularly ticklish spot on her lower back. That's when she decided it was time to get out. Watanuki dried herself off and shrugged on a light blue yukata that Yuko had set out for her, putting her glasses back on, and then dried off the pipe fox before he slithered all over the floor and made a mess. Watanuki let the furry creature scamper up her arm as she walked around the shop looking for Yuko. The girl found the witch sitting on the porch in her favorite spot, looking up at the crescent moon. She'd taken her hair out and changed into a deep blue kimono with smoke patterns on it and patted the spot next to her as the girl entered the room. Mokona was there as well with the first aid kit and got to work bandaging up the seer's arm once she'd sat down. And to top it all off Maru and Moro had a cushion laid out for the pipe fox and the little spirit leapt at the chance to take a nap and fell asleep instantly as soon as he curled up.

"The pipe fox is sleeping." Maru whispered, holding her half of the blanket while they both covered the fox with it.

"He fell asleep." Moro whispered back. The two of them hummed softly as they kept the pipe fox company and Yuko slid the door shut quietly before returning to her spot on the porch. She'd even had the decency to get her own drinks this time and her glass of brandy clinked softly as she sat down once again, setting down a mug of hot tea next to Watanuki as well.

"It seems that even the mighty pipe fox is worn out." She mused, swinging her legs off of the porch. Watanuki's arm was returned to her as Mokona finished up, the bandages covering the cuts on her hand and the ones on her arm that she created when breaking free of the webs.

"He tried his hardest," The raven replied, holding her cup tenderly with both hands, taking a drink.

"Mokona will do it! And the bandages too! Put it away over here!" The pork bun sang to itself as it cleaned up the kit and then toddled off to put it away. Yuko sipped at her drink for a moment, waiting for something it seemed.

"My right eye was eaten." Watanuki said at last, finally admitting out loud what had happened (even though Yuko probably already knew). "It was kind of weird…feeling my eye enter her body."

"It will never return to you again." Yuko commented, her face serious. "It had been dissolved and disappeared into Jorogumo already."

"I know." Watanuki sighed. "I can feel the loss."

"That okay?" Yuko set her glass down.

"It's not okay," The girl started, "My right eye is gone…but there is something I have learned from it. Something important." The girl blinked, knowing that the right lens of her glasses would forever be useless the way she was. Yuko held out her left hand, closed in a light fist, her right hand pulling her kimono sleeve out of the way. Watanuki looked at her and watched as the woman opened her fingers, revealing a small orb of bronze. It floated in the air just as her eye had done in Jorogumo's hands, having its own light as well. But this orb was different in that it was half dark and half light, like the Yin Yang symbol. Watanuki knew what it was. It was…

"That's…" She whispered, not daring to believe what had been offered to her.

"Half of Doumeki's right eye." Yuko answered. Watanuki squeezed her eyes shut, completely floored by Doumeki's actions. She couldn't believe that he had done this…for her! After all she had done to hurt him, he still offered her what he had. It was selfless and stupid. It almost moved her to tears. That jerkass. "I'm the one who took it out. I took compensation as well, of course. He told me that he wanted me to give it to you if your right eye didn't come back. What will you do?" Watanuki opened her eyes, each of them filled with tears and already knew her choice. She reached out with her good hand and gently took Doumeki's gift. "Swallow it." Yuko instructed.

Watanuki stared at the wonderful thing in her hand for just a moment, gazing at the tiny light that looked like the sun, the tears running down her cheeks freely now. She opened her mouth and let Doumeki's eye pass by her lips, swallowing it. She felt it enter her body, and closed her eyes, feeling the warmth that little sun gave off before opening her eyes again. She could see, with both eyes now. Not very well, but she could see again. And when she'd look at herself, she'd find that her right eye was now a light bronze color, just like Doumeki's eyes.

The toll of the day, emotionally and physically, seemed to fall back on the girl and she gratefully collapsed under the weight of it, the gift the final thing she needed to set her heart at ease. Watanuki fell onto her right side, her eyes sliding shut heavily, her head landing softly on Yuko's lap. Her whole body went limp as the girl succumbed to exhaustion for a second time, and Yuko just let her be.

"Did she fall asleep?" Mokona asked softly, toddling back to the porch.

"She must've been tired." Yuko replied, taking the girl's glasses off carefully and handing them to her companion. Mokona would make sure they were put away properly.

"Watanuki tried her best too, didn't she?" The fur ball asked. Yuko nodded and gently placed her hand on the raven's head, stroking her hair like the girl's mother must have at some point in Watanuki's short life.

"You don't belong to only yourself, you know?" The woman whispered, knowing that some part of Watanuki was listening to her. "There isn't anything in this world that belongs to just you. Everyone has connections to someone else, and shares something with them through those bonds. That is why you can never be free. That is also why it is amusing…and sad…and very precious." Yuko smiled, closing her eyes and enjoying the cool evening, with her own personal lap warmer. She stayed on the porch for quite a while, softly petting her Watanuki's head, grateful that the girl had come to understand the lesson that she needed to learn. Maybe now, she could rely on others a little more and take better care of her own well being. That was the least she could wish for, at least.

The next morning, Watanuki was up bright and early, showing up outside of Doumeki's temple as he was beginning to walk to school. Her arm and hand were covered in bandages, which were concerning enough because as far as he knew, she'd gotten them getting involved with something extremely dangerous, but that wasn't what he was staring at. Watanuki was looking at him with one blue eye and one bronze eye, which was even more surprising. Doumeki's heart leapt and plummeted at the same time, if that was even possible. He was relieved that she'd survived the ordeal of the spider as Yuko had informed him yester day, and she'd accepted his gift he'd left her should her own quest end in failure. But he was also grief stricken over the fact that she'd lost her own eye forever, despite his efforts to help her. Neither of them had won and it hurt to think that they'd gone through all that pain to end up like they had. But she'd taken his gift and that was all that truly mattered.

The pair of them stared at each other for a moment, emotionless expressions on their faces, until Watanuki held up the bundle that always held her homemade bento boxes. The wrapping cloth was bigger than it usually was, holding at least one more box than normal and it looked heavy from what Doumeki could tell.

"It's lunch." Watanuki huffed.

"What about it?" Doumeki asked, still expressionless.

"I, the great Watanuki, have made a fabulous meal!"

"What does that have to do with-" The archer started, wondering where the girl was going with this.

"Because you eat like a pig, it weighs a fucking ton! So you can carry it to school!" The seer growled, annoyed by his lack of understanding right from the get-go. Doumeki looked at the bentos and finally got her point. "It's unfair if I'm the one who has to make lunch and carry it. So you should-"

Before the girl could rant some more, He leaned in, his empty hand coming up to pinch her glasses and pull them down to the tip of her nose. Startled, Watanuki closed her eyes, not wanting to get her good eye poked out if he jabbed her with the frame of her glasses. But he didn't and in the next moment she felt a soft warmth covering her right eye. Doumeki pressed his lips into her skin, delicately kissing the eye they sort of shared now. His sight was now part of hers, as tragic as the circumstances were, and he felt great pride that she'd swallowed hers to accept his help. Watanuki gasped as he continued to kiss her, all their arguments and fights over the last few days disappearing as his lips traveled to her other eyelid and left a kiss there too. Then Doumeki was leaning down further, taking her lips and pressing a little harder, deepening his embrace by pulling her into his chest. Watanuki's arms came up and hugged his broad back, still carrying her school bag and their lunches, and tightened them around his body. They shared that kiss for a few moments more, silently forgiving each other for the hurt they'd caused.

As he pulled away, Doumeki took the bento boxes out of her hand, leaving the girl with just her bag, carrying the new weight with ease, secretly pleased that she was relying on him more, even if it was just for the small things. Watanuki fixed her glasses that the archer had neglected to replace and took a moment to compose herself.

"Half for each of us right?" Doumeki asked and answered at the same time. He started walking down the street, knowing that Watanuki would catch up with him before he got too far. They were going to walk to school together, he wasn't going to miss that. Watanuki was stunned for a moment, Doumeki's blunt nature making her momentarily speechless, but then she recovered and started to nit-pick like she normally did.

"Oi!" She shouted, using her most hated expression. "You forgot to thank me, you jerkass!" The girl stomped and flailed around, throwing a mini-tantrum.

"I haven't eaten it yet." Doumeki shot back over the sound of her saying "Oi!" repeatedly.

"Fine! Once you do you'll have to say this: 'Thank you so much, Watanuki! I'll never defy you again!' And bow on your knees while you do it!" The girl got all dramatic, acting like a complete lunatic as she mimicked the exact words and actions she wanted Doumeki to do, placing her hands together and bowing over and over again. Doumeki ignored her, mentally rolling his eyes.

"You're the only one I want on her knees." He mumbled to himself.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" Watanuki snarled, her face heating up.

"Nothing at all. What are you talking about?" He countered, acting innocent. Watanuki fumed, knowing that she was banging her head on a brick wall when it came to Doumeki. But despite his rudeness, she still had a question to ask him.

"Hey, Doumeki." The seer started.

"Hm?" He replied, looking behind him. Watanuki dropped her head a little, her furious blush lightening into a cute one.

"Does it…look weird?"

"What looks weird?" He asked back.

"My eye, you moron." The raven grumbled, rolling said eye with its pair.

"Why would it look weird?" The archer held out his arm to stop the girl and take another look at her eye.

Suddenly halted and caught in his deep, intense stare as her boyfriend stepped in front of her, Watanuki blushed, certain that he was going to tell her that it did look odd. She'd had a good, long look at her face in the mirror that morning and she'd come to the conclusion that her blue eye looked horrible next to the golden bronze color that Doumeki's eye had given her. It had definitely been a shock to see that her eye had changed colors, but his eyes were amazing, unique – having a molten caramel shade that was incredibly easy to fall into, as she'd done many times when he caught her gaze. Of course, she'd never willingly let him know that she did that; it was embarrassing and would totally inflate his ego, but Doumeki's eyes were mesmerizing nonetheless. She thought her own blue eyes were lacking in that alluring quality that his had, but they were still pleasing to look at, at least. She just hoped that the two colors next to each other didn't make her look funnier than she already did. Doumeki was still staring at her, studying her face much more closely than he had that first time.

"No, it doesn't." He concluded. "It's lovely."

"Really?" Watanuki was a little startled, lovely was not a word Doumeki used.

"Yeah. But I'm mostly just saying that because it's my eye." Doumeki continued, devolving into his stone-faced teasing. "It'd be insulting myself if I said it looked weird."

"You ass!" Watanuki's eyes narrowed and she was about to smack him for being so rude, but then Doumeki spoke up again.

"But, I'm going to miss your blue eye. It was beautiful." Those words halted the girl again, and she blushed a little deeper. "They were deep but bright at the same time, like the ocean that night we were at the sea." And that's all Doumeki had to say about it, turning on his heel and continuing the walk to school. Watanuki ran to catch up to him a few moments later when she'd collected herself, wiping a few grateful tears off of her cheeks, and for once, they had a peaceful stroll together, all of their previous troubles with the spider's grudge swept away by the pleasant morning.

They'd fixed everything…both of them, together.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

Watanuki was standing on a dark street, the streetlights barely shining enough to discern the houses around her. She was waiting for something, checking her watch often while she stood there. Something didn't really feel right…the night was thick and really ominous to the girl. She really didn't want to be there, but she was waiting. What she didn't notice right away was that there was a darkness at the end of the street…inching closer and closer…shutting off the streetlamps one, by one as it crept along. It was like living tar, swallowing up everything in its path and it was nearly on top of the girl. She heard a kind of wailing, and looked over her should just in time to see the mass of black coming straight for her. She screamed and ran in the opposite direction, forgetting everything that she was supposed to do. The whole street melted away as she ran and then sprinted. That thing was still after her! It's got to be a spirit! Damn! I hate this! She was scared out of her mind and tried to pick up her pace, but then she realized that it was too late. Her foot was caught by the darkness and she was pulled to an unexpected stop. She looked up, terrified, and cringed at the sight before her. Her eyes were wide, her whole body tense as she stared at the monstrosity before her.

Above her head, riding on a massive eggplant was a giant Mokona! It was dressed in New Year's attire and holding a fan that could've squished Watanuki in a second and the girl screamed even louder as the giant furball descended upon her. She shot straight up in bed, screaming and flailing around before realizing that she was in her room and Mokona was not around to torment her. She sighed, and wiped some sweat off her face. Her breathing was still heavy and her body was still in panic mode from her dream, and she was pissed that Mokona could torture her, even in her sleep!

"Damn, that pork bun! What the hell is going on?!" The raven hissed, throwing off her blanket and rolling up her futon in a rage. There was no way she could sleep now – as wired as she was. So, even though it was four in the morning, she was going to get ready for school. The seer stomped around her house, miffed at her dream that caused her to lose sleep because whatever sleep she got around Yuko's whims and her adventures was precious. Not to mention Doumeki and his insatiable desire to being around the girl all the time. Seriously…ever since they started dating, every night that she wasn't at Yuko's place, he was over at hers- reading manga, nagging her for food, kissing her and anything else he wanted, basically. The girl was exhausted and all she wanted to do was sleep…and she couldn't do that because Mokona was haunting her dreams!

"GAH!" She shrieked, her furious energy escaping out of her mouth as she stomped off to shower and change. The girl got dressed and pulled her hair back like normal, but she'd had to add something new to her morning schedule: now she put a blue-colored contact lens over her right eye. It would've been super weird for her eye color to change all of a sudden, so the seer made some adjustments to keep herself as normal as possible at school. Everywhere else, it didn't matter to her. She just didn't want to be any weirder than she already was.

After getting ready for school, she made lunches for her and her boyfriend and then slumped at her desk, shaking some of Ka's food into her bowl. The little goldfish swam around happily, her scales shining in the early morning light. Watanuki sighed as her little pet ate her breakfast. "Well, at least you had a good night." She sighed. The raven left for school soon after that, walking the nearly deserted streets of her neighborhood as the sun rose in the sky. When she got to school, the girl slumped in her chair and let herself take a nap until classes actually started.

Watanuki dozed off during first period, her head bobbed tiredly in second and third and by the time her first break rolled around she was about ready to give up and go take another nap on the roof. Wari sat next to her and asked the girl why she was so tired that day. Watanuki explained the dream that she had and how it woke her up really early and then sighed.

"And that was the dream I had yesterday…" She whined.

"What a cute dream!" Wari replied cheerfully.

"Is that cute?" Watanuki asked, confused at her crush's response. It didn't seem cute to her at all…just terrifying and maddening.

"Yes, super cute!" The brunette sparkled, as if the sun was shining directly onto his perfect face. Watanuki couldn't handle the cuteness and swooned. Wari really is the best! And his smile is so divine! The raven continued her little fan-girl moment until Wari started talking again. "And since it was an eggplant, it must be lucky!"

"Oh!" The girl caught on. "Like the old saying about Mount Fuji, the two hawks and three eggplants? But isn't that only referring to the first dream of the New Year?" (4) Watanuki asked, mulling it over in her head.

"Oh, really?" Wari asked. "…I can understand about Mount Fuji and the hawk because they're kind of celebratory, but what about the eggplant?"

"I wonder..?" Watanuki got even more contemplative, but neither of them could come up with an answer for that one. Time to move on! "Wari, what kind of dream did you have yesterday?" The boy's happy face dropped, turning serious.

"It was kind of a scary dream." He whispered, his whole aura darkening.

"In…what way?" Watanuki whispered back, her mood darkening as well.

"It was similar to yours, Watanuki, up until the middle part." The boy continued. "I was walking through a pitch black place and could hear the sound of footsteps following me. When I sped up, the footsteps sped up too, and when I ran as fast as I could to get away and shake them off…it was impossible. Little by little, they got closer and when I noticed how close they were, there was a presence right behind me. Then, when I thought I was about to get caught, I looked back and – "

Wari stopped suddenly, and Watanuki was left hanging on the edge of her seat, worried about how this dream was going to end.

"Oh! I have to head to my committee meeting!" Wari chirped cheerfully, looking at his watch. Watanuki flopped over on her desk, completely surprised by the abrupt cut off. She had been so into it! She wanted to know what happened next! "Sorry about that – stopping in the middle and all!" Wari apologized.

"No, no, it's fine!" Watanuki replied, putting on a nice smile. "Oh, yeah!" Watanuki remembered that she wanted to give Wari something and rummanged around in her bag. "Here!" She held out a bag of French butter cakes tied up in the cute pink bow. "I baked these yesterday! They're Madeleines!"

"Aw! Thank you!" Wari smiled hugely. "I'm sorry for always being on the receiving end! I should get something for you!"

"That's okay! I'm always the one who's just making things anyway!" Watanuki blushed, scratching her head nervously and shyly. "It can be a thank you for letting me hear about your dream." The seer handed the bag over and Wari took them. But as the exchanged happened, the girl felt something strange in the air, like a michevious presence was hovering around her and Wari's hands. She was staring at her hands still when Wari walked away.

"I'll be off! See you later!" His call startled the girl out of her trance.

"Oh, okay! Have fun!" She waved and called out as the boy left the classroom.

"Hey," War stopped for a second and turned around to ask the girl something. "Can I give Doumeki som-"

"You don't have too!" Watanuki cut him off, kind of acting like a hissing cat. Wari was surprised at the reaction and quietly slipped away without another word. The rest of the day passed normally, but then Watanuki found herself in an office with Doumeki and he was rattling on about something...again…

"It was based off of olden times when it was hard to get good eggplants at the beginning of the harvest." Doumeki said, somewhat answering the question that Wari and Watanuki had had earlier in the day. Apparently, Watanuki had been explaining what happened during first break.

"Ooooooh, I see-" Watanuki jumped up from her chair and flailed her arms around angrily. "Wait! Why do I have to help you?!" She was pissed off that her after-school time was being taken up by paperwork and Doumeki of all people!

"You were the one who decided to help me instead of Wari." Doumeki replied honestly, holding back his desire to roll his eyes at his silly girlfriend.

"But that's only because Wari said that he needed to stay after school to make the committee printouts but a relative was coming over so he also needed to help around the house and then he asked me to help!"

"And you, being Watanuki, couldn't say no." Doumeki finished, organizing the printouts into orderly piles after he folded them in half.

"I said that I'd do it! Isn't that how you'd normally answer as a decent human being?!" But then the girl pointed an accusing finger at her boyfriend. "But I had no idea that it would be with you!"

"What's the big deal?" Doumeki asked.

"Who knows what you'll try to do with me when we're alone in a room together!" Watanuki folded her arms across her chest. "I have enough trouble dealing with you at home!"

"If you play around, we won't be able to go home as quickly." The archer said, pointing out that he did want to go home with Watanuki. But now the girl was stuck: she could either spend more time with Doumeki here at school, alone in a room or at home, alone in a room. Either way she couldn't win and probably end up with an embarrassing hickey…like last time!

"I'm not the one who plays around! You are!" The girl sat in her chair, deciding that it was safer to be at school with Doumeki than at home and started folding papers slowly. Mostly, she was still trying to figure out how to be that jerk's girlfriend and alone time with him could be really awkward…at least on her part. Doumeki seemed to be doing fine with anything and everything they did, but Watanuki was still jumpy and nervous even after this whole time. "Hey! Take your time and fold them more neatly!" Watanuki nagged Doumeki as he folded.

"You just want to waste time." Doumeki pointed out, figuring out what the girl was doing.

"Gah! I, uh…" The raven went back to her own papers, hiding her blush and the fact that she'd been caught in her work. The girl folded papers until she heard Doumeki chewing on something, a familiar smell wafting through the air. Her head shot up and saw a Madeline in her boyfriend's hand as he made satisfied chewing noises.

"Hey! Isn't that…" Watanuki pointed to the sweet, not believing that Wari had given Doumeki one of her Madelines. "One of the ones that I made?!"

"Can't you even identify something that you made?" Doumeki asked in a dead-pan. "I can, from about a mile away."

"And that's why everything I make is eaten by your fat mouth!" The girl shouted. "And how did you even get one?!"

"Wari gave it to me." The archer replied, not even fazed by the girl's foul mood. The raven slumped to the floor dramatically, her lack of sleep and high voltage personality wearing her out.

"Even when I told him that he didn't have to share…" She mumbled, fat, dramatic tears falling from her eyes. She just had no control over her own life and it was exhausting to deal with.

"That reminds me, my grandfather and a horse appeared in my dream last night." Doumeki went right on munching and talking as if nothing had happened.

"I'm not listening!" Watanuki shouted, still mad that Wari shared the treats that she'd made just for him. It wasn't like she didn't make special things for Doumeki (she did…ALL THE FREAKING TIME because he had such a refined pallet and stubborn personality) but this was meant to be just for her sweet, sweet Wari!

The raven flopped back into her chair and started folding papers again, just wanting this whole ordeal to be done so she could go home and sleep. But then one of the other committee members came in with more flyers, so they had more work and then Doumeki wanted a drink after eating his snack. The sky was dark and cloudy by the time they got out of there and Watanuki just wanted to be home as she stomped down the street. The streetlights came on earlier because of the dim evening and the girl passed under their circles of light quiet quickly because of her pace.

"God! That asshole Doumeki! He even made me pour him coffee! I feel like such a servant sometimes!" The raven was hissing like a cat, venting out her anger while waving her school bag back and forth. "How did I even get roped into any of that?! And then he had the nerve to try and kiss me afterwards when I was pissed at him! And another thing-!" The girl cut herself off, skidding to a halt and looking behind her. The street looked too much like the street in her dream. The lights were still on, thankfully, but everything seemed a little wiggly; like a mirage. Watanuki didn't want to hang around and find out what was going on, so she started walking again. And someone started walking after her. The sound of footsteps echoed behind her, ominous and threatening. Someone is following me! The girl's pace picked up, her heart rate increasing from fast walking and from panic as she tried to get away from whatever was following her.

This was not a dream.

It was still coming…the footsteps quickening to Watanuki's pace. The raven started running, fear turning her into a somewhat frightened rabbit as she fled the threatening presence. Her feet pounded on the concrete, and the footsteps mirrored her perfectly in pace and intensity. It was getting closer and closer, whatever it was. Watanuki felt it at her back, creeping up her leg. All of a sudden, she jerked to a halt, her foot glued to the sidewalk. She couldn't move and couldn't run as a mass of darkness overshadowed her. Then she saw it, the spirit that was hunting her. It had one, massive, red eye, the sclera a disgusting yellow color instead of white. Its body was a black and purple, writhing mass that looked like slime, and it dripped and slunk and reformed every few seconds, circling the eye. The seer was frozen in place watching the eye pulse and lock onto her terrified face. The spirit dripped its essence on the ground, slime pooling around the girl as it continued to get closer.

"Damn…it's a big one." Watanuki managed to choke out one sentence, running through all her options of escape…which were very few.I haven't met a really dangerous spirit lately, so I let my guard down. Shit. Suddenly, the girl had the strongest urge to run and using all her strength, she broke away from the spirit and ran as fast as she could, swearing up a storm. If it catches me…I'll be eaten! Just as Watanuki was almost out of immediate reach, the spirit whipped out a tentacle and wrapped it around her leg lightning fast. Watanuki yelped, crashing to the ground hard, scraping up her hands, cracking her head on the concrete and feeling exactly where she was going to have bruises after this…if she survived! Her head ached, and she nearly lost consciousness, but she used all her mental capacity to stay awake, and pulled herself up enough to look at the spirit. She glared into its single eye, gritting her teeth and wished that she hadn't been so pissed at Doumeki…wishing that he was here with her.

In one last desperate attempt to stay alive, to see Doumeki, Wari, and Yuko again, Watanuki stumbled to her feet and took a hurried step. But it didn't work. The spirit reached out again, grabbing her arm and whipping her back. Then another tentacle grabbed her shoulder and chest, jerking her roughly and making her drop her school bag on the ground. The thought that her bag might be the only sign of her disappearance flashed through the raven's head, as she was pulled into the slimy spirit's body, struggling all the way. Her vision was darkening, the spirit's slim covering her face. This is it…damn…

Then, out of the shadows came and unexpected figure. And a horse. The white animal neighed, galloping up to the girl and the spirit and then rearing to a stop. The girl was almost gone, but she heard the familiar sound of a bowstring straining and then snapping, the whisk of an arrow giving her a sliver of hope. Twack! The spirit stopped pulling the girl and froze, beams of light shining in the night. Then there was a huge whooshing noise and just like water running down a drain, the monster was sucked out of existence in the matter of a few seconds. Something clanked to the ground next to Watanuki and the girl barely had enough strength to notice it. But she tried to lift her head anyway and got the shock of her life: Doumeki was sitting on a horse, the animal pawing at the ground. He was wearing his archery uniform and had his bow hooked under his arm pit. Her vision was blurry, but it was definitely him. Since when did he know how to ride a horse…? Does he have a horse…?

"Dou…me…ki…" She whispered softly, calling to him before losing consciousness. Everything went black as Watanuki slumped to the ground.

She didn't know how long she was out, but Watanuki was yanked out of her state of unconsciousness by a heavy weight landing on her back, crushing her organs and waking her up.

"If someone rolls around on the ground in the middle of the road, they're going to get sat on!~" A disturbingly familiar, sweet voice chided. Watanuki flailed around, having difficulty breathing with Yuko's body fusing her spine and belly button together.

"YUKO! Why are you sitting on me?!" The girl bared her fangs, glaring up at her boss. Yuko was wearing a green coat with a red skirt and all of her hair was hidden up in a yellow cap (Watauki had no clue how she did that because the hat was not as big as it should be to hold all that hair) The witch's heeled boots tapped on the ground happily as she sat on her employee and read some girly, booby manga, her eyes sparkling. Watanuki got distracted as she realized that they probably weren't the only ones here. The girl's head snapped around again to stare in front of her, searching for Doumeki and his horse. Her eyes scanned the streets, but he was gone. What the frick? The spirit and Doumeki are gone! This doesn't make any sense. First, why was he here? Second, why was he riding a horse? And Third, why did he leave me lying in the middle of the road?! What kind of boyfriend does that?!

"Wasn't there a spirit and Doumeki here…?" Watanuki asked, looking back at Yuko to make sure that she'd seen them too.

"That was a dream." The witch smiled, playing with the signature locks of hair that framed her face.

"You mean that thing that looked like it was going to eat me and Doumeki on a horse were both part of a dream?" Watanuki didn't quite believe her…it had all been a little too real to discount as something insubstantial as a dream. "Then why am I lying in the road? Weird dream." Yuko stood up, freeing the girl.

"No." The witch responded, pointing to the ground. Watanuki turned her head to the left as she was getting up and saw what Yuko was pointing at. There was an arrow with a strange prong on the end instead of a point, and it was lying in the road. It gave off a weird energy, not something bad but not really good…just kind of neutral. "It's a fulfilling dream." Yuko let the girl get up as she walked over to the arrow, lightly picking it started walking away, calling for the girl to follow her. Watanuki had more questions than answers as the woman strolled away, so she scuttled after her boss. They ended up in the park and they both took a seat on the swings, and Yuko, being Yuko, handed off her manga magazine and the arrow off to Watanuki, so she didn't have to carry them. The girl slumped down in her seat, mulling over the information that Yuko was giving her.

It was about fulfilling dreams. Fulfilling dreams are dreams that become real, or, to be precise, dreams are the same as what happens in reality. They have a close relationship, the dream molding reality and reality making the dream concrete. They also leave some sort of evidence of their existence, even after the dream has ended. Yuko had been rocking back and forth on her swing happily as she explained all of this, the chain squeaking with every swing.

"But I didn't have a dream about being chased by a spirit or about Doumeki saving me." Watanuki pointed out.

"What about other people?" Yuko's swinging came to a stop as she asked her question. "Did anyone else have a dream like that?" Watanuki's mind flipped back to her conversation with Wari, realizing that he'd had a dream about being chased by a spirit.

"Wari said something about having a dream about being chased by something." Watanuki answered. "But that was his dream, not mine."

"Wari's dream became a fulfilling dream, then."

"Why?"

"Because you bought that dream from him, Watanuki." Okay, now the girl was confused.

"But I never gave him any money." She countered.

"What about other things? Did you give him something else?" Yuko asked. Watanuki thought about it for a moment and then remembered that she gave Wari Madelines as a treat for telling her about the dream.

"Oh! The Madelines!" She answered.

"So you see, Watanuki, you bought a dream." Yuko's voice took on that creepy, know-it-all tone that she used every time she was right. "You heard the contents of the dream and paid the price for it, making the dream your own. Then, the dream became real." It may have sounded silly, but what had happened was actually very serious. If you could buy dreams and bring them to life, lots trouble could happen to many people. Dreams were unpredictable and people were too.

"So the dream where the spirit came after me was Wari's…and the white horse and Doumeki was…" Watanuki continued.

"Doumeki's dream, right?" Yuko smiled knowingly, resting her head on her bent wrist. Watanuki's mind flipped back to the moment in school where she and Doumeki had been doing the flyers, and while her boyfriend had been eating her treat, Doumeki had told her about the dream that he'd had about his grandfather and a horse. And if it hadn't been Doumeki in the dream…then that meant…

"So it was Doumeki's grandfather in my dream?" The raven asked.

"It's a good thing that you gave Doumeki a Madeline too, wasn't it?" Yuko smiled teasingly. Watanuki blushed, once again getting unexpected help from her boyfriend. He was seriously tangled up in everything.

"It's not like I did it!" The girl blushed furiously, trying to act tough. Yuko just laughed at her and started swinging again.

"Valuable dreams are normally the staple of dream buying, but it's rare for someone to buy a nightmare." The witch giggled again at her stupid, little, slave.

"What was that?!" Watanuki growled, her fangs showing. "It's because I didn't know! If I had, I would've never bought a dream with something like that in it!" Yuko took a few more swings before flying forward, jumping off gracefully and landing in the sand softly.

"That's true." The woman replied, softly, her cranberry eyes focused on something in the distance. Watanuki was always surprised by Yuko's moods, switching from calm to playful to serious in the course of a few moments. It was enough to give one whiplash. "Well! You've got that arrow to sell now!" The witch pointed out happily, throwing the mood of the conversation off again. Watanuki looked down at the arrow in her lap, even more confused now.

"Sell it to…who?" She asked.

"The Dream Buyer." Yuko answered, before she started walking out of the park. Watanuki jumped out of her swing and dashed to catch up to her employer and followed her out onto the street.

"Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…I wonder where he is right now?" The woman mused, tapping her lips with one, pale finger. She turned towards the seer and pointed to the arrow in her hands. "Let's have the arrow find him for us." The witch ran her pointer finger and thumb down the shaft of the arrow, a bright blue-white light eminating from where her fingers bushed the arrow. It light up from point to feather and then floated in the air all by itself, scaring Watanuki as she fumbled with the magna from when the arrow left her hand.

The arrow floated in the air, surrounded by a sphere of light and spun around and around and around. It spun and spun until it halted suddenly, pointing towards the nearby telephone pole.

"That way, huh?" Yuko mused, watching the arrow. A huge question mark hovered over Watanuki's head. She was still in the dark about how all of this worked, but okay. She looked up at the arrow and saw that it was pointing down the street. So, she shrugged and started to walk in the direction of the arrow. "You can't go that way." A hand snaked out and grabbed the girl's collar, yanking her back.

"But that's the way the arrow is pointing!" Watanuki argued, pointing her finger in the same direction, now really confused.

"And that's the problem." Yuko's finger swiped to the left, pointing out one thing that the girl overlooked. "Over here." She stated, indicating that the arrow was pointing in the same direction as Watanuki had been going, but it was pointing behind the pole. The girl raised an eyebrow at her boss and then poked her head around the pole to look at the space in between the pole and the fence it was next to. The space was about as wide as her head, no more than nine inches wide.

"Why it is such a narrow space?" She asked, moving her hand between the wall and the pole. "This way is much wider!" She pointed to the street side of the pole again.

"We have to go through here." Yuko replied, evenly, slipping between the pole and the wall without waiting for the girl.

"Huh?! Why are you being so stubborn about this?!" Watanuki growled, and then her eyes flicked up to the arrow. It seemed to have a personality of its own because it was wagging its feathers at her playfully, as if daring her to go behind the pole.

The seer sighed and gave it, walking towards the gap and pushing her way through. She got stuck, and then wondered how Yuko didn't get stuck with her giant boobs and then how it was so unfair that she didn't have boobs like Yuko, and by that point in her thought process, her body was struggling to get out of its cramped position. She pushed and wiggled and squirmed, growling, groaning and grumbling for a few moments before popping out of the space. She she did so, the girl felt some sort of pop and ripple, like the very fabric of the world had shifted.

"I felt something weird." She told Yuko as she brushed off her jacket.

"This is another world. It's different from our own." Yuko gave the girl a sly look, like a cat that ate a canary. The arrow popped in front of Watanuki and its light dimmed before dropping to the ground. The girl caught the arrow before it hit and held it gently. "And that's because of this. He's here." Yuko directed the girl's attention to the sky, pointing at something shining in the distance.

Watanuki took a moment to focus in on what she was pointing at, blinking a few times to clear her vision. What the girl ended up seeing was much different from what she was expecting…but she really should've expected the unexpected at this point. She saw the most ridiculous thing up in the sky: there was a stocky, hippo-man holding onto a bunch of shining – like literally luminescent – balloons, just casually flying through the air. It looked like something straight out of a circus. The hippo-man was even wearing pants, shirt, shoes and a coat and a hat and scarf!

"What's the heck is that?!" Watanuki shrieked, her eyes wide, mouth gaping as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing. Clearly hearing her scream, the hippo-man turned to look at the commotion and spotted the pair. He waved with his hand – well, if you could call it a hand because it still looked like a hippo's foot still – and floated his way over to where the ladies were standing.

"He's the Dream Buyer. His business is buying dream, raising them and reselling them." Yuko explained, smiling cheerfully and waving back at the hippo-man.

"He buys dreams?" Watanuki ask, still very much in shock that a dressed, hippo-man traveling by the means of balloons was flying towards them. It sounded like some sort of Disney movie! The Dream Buyer touched down on the pavement in front of Watanuki and Yuko, smiling and tipping his hat.

"Yuko-han! It's been quite a while since I've seen you!" He was very polite when he spoke, his voice cheerful. He had a funny way of speaking but Watanuki recognized it as the Osaka dialect (note 5).

"How's business going?" Yuko asked, striking up the conversation.

"I'd like to say that it's been going steadily but these days, there are very few people who have dreams of value. So I have no idea how it'll go! " The Dream-Buyer checked the knot on his balloons, making sure they were secure. Suddenly, his ears perked up and he looked at Watanuki. His eyes were fixed on what the girl was holding and he ran over to get a closer look. "Miss…that…that…that…!" The hippo-man at her hand, gesturing for something the girl was holding. Watanuki had the arrow in her hand and also the sleazy magazine that Yuko had made her hold. He opened right up to a centerfold with a sexy woman in a bikini. The Dream-Buyer was giggling as he lay on the cement, kicking his feet in the air like a playful child. And then he snapped out of it.

"Wait! Not that!" He jumped up and pointed to the arrow in the girl's hand. "That arrow!"The Dream Buyer jumped up and down, trying to grab the arrow out of the girl's hand. "Is that your dream?!"

"Well…not exactly…" Watanuki replied, going through the events of the day in her head. She had the dream about eggplant, and Wari told her about his nightmare, so she got that one and then Doumeki traded his dream for food…so technically it was Doumeki's dream.

"Please sell it to me!" When the girl looked down the Dream Buyer's eyes were huge and shiny…like a puppy's eyes or something like that. "Please sell me that piece of a dream!" Watanuki looked at the arrow, confused as to why this thing was so precious to him. "That's the kind of dream that so rare lately! I just have to have it!" The hippo-man suddenly turned around and squatted on the ground muttering to himself.

"What the…" Watanuki breathed.

"Ah, I guess you can't sell it that easily…Ah! It can't be helped!" The Dream Buyer jumped to his feet and fished two strings out of the bundle he had. He pushed them towards the girl, the purple and blue balloons glowing brightly in the night. "These are my super-specially-reserved and valuable dreams! And two of them!"

"Ah…but…" Watanuki didn't know what the hell was going on…she didn't even know how dreams could be balloons or how much one, or two was even worth. Still…it wasn't the weirdest conversation she'd ever had.

"Is this still not enough?!" The Dream Buyer squeezed his eyes together, grimacing and acting all dramatic. (It probably wasn't acting, though.) "Then three!" He threw his hands in the air, the balloons bouncing and swaying with his movements.

"Like I'm trying to say…" The girl started, about to explain that she had no clue what was going on, but she got cut off by Yuko's savy haggling skills.

"A Dream Buyer of you caliber should be able to recognize the worth of this dream arrow." Yuko started, flattering and putting the hippo-man in a corner at the same time. The raven and the Dream Buyer both stood still for a moment, waiting for what happened next. Yuko knelt next to her colleague, put her arm around his shoulders and then gently tapped his snout. "If you let it go here, you might not get another chance to buy it!" She coaxed, her voice taking on the sweet and teasing voice that one uses to talk to children. Watanuki watched as her boss started to break down the hippo-man.

"You corrupted merchant!" Watanuki hissed, adding guilt-trip and haggling on her list of Yuko's move devious talents. "Alright then! Let's see…" Yuko stood up, knowing that she'd caught the buyer and had him right where she wanted him. "We'll take that one…and that one…and that one…and that one…and that one! Five altogether!" Yuko pointed at five balloons and then clapped her hands together cheerfully.

"Those are the super special dreams I raise so carefully!" The Dream Buyer gasped.

"That is exactly why they are a suitable price for this arrow!" Yuko replied, a Chesire cat smile on her lips. The hippo-man sputtered, groaned, cried a little bit and Watanuki was getting nervous that he was going to break down in the street.

"Um…" She started, still holding the dream arrow and looking very confused and concerned at the same time.

"TAKE THEM, YOU ROBBER!" The Dream Buyer shouted dramatically. He jumped up and took the arrow from the girl's hand while simultaneously shoving five balloon strings into that same hand. Watanuki looked up, mesmerized by the balloons. Yuko had picked out a green, light blue, yellow, purple and dark blue balloon – the two that the Dream Buyer had offered and then the other three. They swayed gently in the moonlight, their strings glinting softly, their own radiance adding to the beauty of the night. "I just can't compare to you, Yuko-han!" The Dream Buyer cried, kneeling on the ground as his tears hit the pavement.

"It was a good bargain, wasn't it?" Yuko pointed out, interrupted the hippo-man's pout. He nodded and then jumped onto his feet again. Suddenly, and orange balloon was in his left hand (or whatever you wanted to call it) and the arrow was in the other. He poked the balloon with the arrow's tip and Watanuki covered her ears, expecting a loud pop to ensue. However, there was no pop and the strangest thing happened. The arrow entered the balloon without damaging it, the long length of the projectile somehow fitting into the smaller balloon and seeming to disappear inside effortlessly. Then, a string appeared and the Dream Buyer let the new balloon float up into the air. As it reached the end of its ascent, the balloon burst into light, the radiance rivaling that of the noon-day sun. The whole street was lit up as if it was day, the earth having its own little sun.

"It definitely was, that's Yuko-han for you! You are quite the connoisseur." The Dream Buyer was in awe, but not in as much awe as Watanuki was. The raven gaped at the beautiful display before her, wondering how on earth balloons could produce their own luminescence and wondering if she could keep on for herself. "It really is a great dream," the hippo-man continued, "I can't help but look forward to raising it!"

"Since you're the one who's going to raise it, I'm sure that it will become an extremely valuable dream, able to dispatch any nightmare or evil omen." Yuko replied, giving out a genuine compliment this time.

"Even if you compliment me, you won't get anything more out of me!" The Dream Buyer pointed out, giving Yuko the stink-eye.

"Oh, dear! What a shame!" The witch chuckled, knowing she'd been caught. Watanuki looked at the balloons in her hand, their bright light adding to that of her dream's light.

"I was able to come by this wonderful dream, so today was a great day!" The hippo-man smiled brightly, his face beaming just like his wares. "I'm going to close up shop a go celebrate at the Kitsune Oden Noodle Shop! What about you two?"

"That is quite the gracious invitation," Yuko started, bowing her head respectfully, "but it's almost time with the path between the different worlds to close. We don't want to get stuck on this side, now do we?" She asked her companion and Watanuki nodded vigorously.

"Oh, if you don't hurry, you won't be able to get back!" The Dream Buyer exclaimed, starting to let his friends go on their way.

"Is the Kitsune Oden Noodle Shop the one that the fox father and son own?" Watanuki asked, hoping that it was.

"Oh, then you know it, little miss!" The Dream Buyer confirmed her inquiry.

"I've eaten there before, and I also got into some trouble with the demon parade and the little fox dug me out of it. Oh!" Watanuki had the best idea. She grabbed one of the strings and held out the blue balloon to her new friend. "Will you give this to the little fox for me when you see him? Tell him its thanks for saving me during the demon parade." The hippo-man stared at the raven for a moment, blinking in surprise.

"A human thanking a fox?" He asked, as if he was confused why anyone would do that. Under normal circumstances, it would be weird, but not by Watanuki's new life standard since working for Yuko.

"Am I not supposed to do that?" Watanuki asked, now confused. Had she done something wrong?

"So the owner of a rare, valuable dream is also the owner of a rare heart…" The Dream Buyer mused to himself and smiled. He reached for the balloon, tying it into his bunch. "I'll take care of it! I'll make sure that the Oden Shop's boy gets it, so don't worry! Goodbye!"

"Ah…okay…" Watanuki mumbled as the balloons started to float, pulling the Dream Buyer right off his feet and up into the sky. Yuko waved at her friend as he left, the light of the dreams shining in the sky until it disappeared in the distance. "Yuko…did I do something weird?" Watanuki asked.

"Nope, you were praised." She answered.

"For what?" Watanuki didn't think that she did anything special, other than give a magical dream balloon to someone else…besides the magic part, it was pretty normal.

"Well, then!" Yuko interjected, cutting off the raven before she could say anything else. "Shall we go back to our world?"

"Ah! Through that tiny space between the pole and the fence again?!" Watanuki groaned in dismay, pointing at the tight squeeze.

"Nope!" Yuko answered, looking around and squatting on the ground. She pointed her magazine at the space between the bottom of the face and the sidewalk, the space no more than half a foot wide. "This time it's here!" She grinned at the girl's dismay.

"That's impossible!" Watanuki wailed, but somehow, once again, Yuko was able to shimmy right under than fence…even with her giant breasts! She took the balloons with her too and then Watanuki had to shove and squeeze and wriggle her way back to their world…and she didn't even have any boobs! How was that even possible?! Yuko must have some witchy spell that makes it possible!

By the time they got back to the shop, it was way too late for Watanuki to go home, so she just crashed at Yuko's place. The witch designated a room for her and then had Watanuki get her own futon and sheets out. Yuko took off with two of the balloons as well and left the yellow and pink one with the girl. Watanuki muttered and complained her herself as she got ready for bed.

"For crying out loud! What a horrible experience! Not even a cat could've gotten through there!" Watanuki pulled a tank top over her bare chest and yanked her ponytail out. She shook her head, letting her hair do whatever the hell it wanted and then pulled on her pants before turning out the light. She flopped down on the futon, tired and grumpy. She stared at the balloons as they floated next to a painted screen. She'd tied them there because there wasn't another place to put them without letting them bounce freely along the ceiling. "Yuko went off with two of the balloons...I wonder what she's doing with them? What do dream balloons do anyway? Yuko said that they dispel bad dreams or evil omens…but I wonder how they do that?" As the raven was riddling it out, she yawned feeling incredibly sleepy.

"Man, I'm tired. Bedtime." The girl took off her glasses, setting them next to her futon and threw the blanket over herself, snuggling in for the night. "Ah damn…Yuko told me to make breakfast too…" She sighed. "Forget about that Kimihiro. Go to sleep for now." The girl rolled to one side and then to the other, settling down and closing her eyes. After a while, she noticed that a breeze was drifting into the room. I swear that I closed the doors…Watanuki opened her eyes and saw a man sitting on the porch outside of her room, the moonlight silhouetting his body. He must've opened the door. The raven sat up, and gasped, realizing that Doumeki had snuck into Yuko's shop in the middle of the night! But wait, she thought, Doumeki can't see the shop…he can't enter…so who…?

"Doumeki…?" The girl whispered, watching to see if the man really was her boyfriend. He turned, looking at her. The same face was staring at her, it was Doumeki's face, but he was smiling, something he never did without a very good reason. As Watanuki watched her visitor, she noticed that this man, even though he was the spitting image of her boyfriend, was leaner, held himself with more grace and had a presence that Doumeki didn't have. And he was smoking a cigarette, something that Doumeki never did. He was Doumeki…but he wasn't. "You're not him." Watanuki stated simply, concluding just to ask the man who he was. Then, the raven remembered something: in her fulfilling dream, a man who looked like Doumeki appeared in front of her on a horse, according to Doumeki, that was his grandfather…so was this man him?

"Are you Doumeki's grandfather by chance?" She asked finally. The man's smile grew wider, grinning with Doumeki's face. That was way strange to see, but nice too.

"Is Shizuka hard to deal with?" He asked. Shizuka…it was still strange to the girl to hear her boyfriend's first name when she'd been calling him "Doumeki" since forever, it sounded foreign even when she said it herself. That would change with time though.

"Well, I don't know if you could call him "hard to deal with," but I do feel like I don't understand him a lot of the time." Watanuki answered honestly, kneeling on the tatami mats to show respect for her elder. "Even now that we're dating…it's even more different than before. He always ticks me off, and always gets himself halfway involved with my problems and then ends up helping fix things – which pisses me off because I can fix my own problems!" Doumeki's grandfather just kept smiling as the girl talked. Watanuki's hand drifted up to her right eye, remembering just how much Doumeki had and would sacrifice for her. "Even this eye…he did that too."

"That's something Shizuka chose." The man replied. "I can see why, though. You're so cute! Shizuka has good taste." He winked at her and Watanuki blushed, completely caught off guard by a Doumeki that could flirt.

"Stop that! Even if he did choose that, for someone to put himself in an unrecoverable situation for anyone – including me! – I don't like it." Watanuki still felt horrible that Doumeki lost some of his vision because of her, because she couldn't fix the problem herself. She knew what happened to his eye because she shared the same result and it made her sad.

"Shizuka is tough." Doumeki's grandfather said, snuffing out his cigarette on the ground with his foot. "After all, when he was young…" He continued, pulling something out from his yukata. Doumeki's grandfather showed the raven a picture…there was a little girl in the picture…dressed up in a kimono…but wait…that face…! Watanuki was so startled by what she saw that she woke herself up, the dream disappearing in an instant. She sat up, looking around, realizing that it all had been a dream.

"That was a dream! I met Doumeki's grandfather in a dream!" Watanuki reviewed the dream quickly and realized something a little disturbing. "Gah! And he flirted with me! That creep!" The girl got distracted when she noticed that one of the balloons was missing. The yellow one was still tied to the screen, but the pink balloon had popped sometime in the night, the dreamless latex flopping lifelessly on the floor.

"That's right, it was a dream." Watanuki's head snapped towards the voice and found Yuko standing at her door in her yellow sleeping yukata.

"But…why? Why did I have a dream about Doumeki's grandfather?" The girl asked, grabbing her glasses and putting them on. "And I remember seeing him from when he saved me from that spirit on the street…"

"That's not quite right." Yuko interrupted, walking over to the balloons. She picked up the string of the popped, pink balloon and held it up. "You saw the dream that was inside this balloon. Nothing more, nothing less."

"What?"

"The valuable dream inside this popped balloon was probably something Doumeki's grandfather sold to that Dream Buyer a long time ago." Yuko replied.

"Wow, that's really coincidental to get a dream from him!" Watanuki exclaimed.

"In this world, there is no such thing as coincidence." Yuko replied ominously. "There is only…"

"Inevitability," Watanuki finished, knowing this teaching of Yuko's by heart. "Then in the dream I just saw…"

"Hm?" Yuko asked, waiting for the raven to continue. "What kind of dream was it?"

"We just talked, he smoked and he showed me a picture. He said that Doumeki was tough and then showed me a picture of a young girl wearing a kimono…"

"That was probably Doumeki when he was young." Yuko finished.

"I KNEW IT!" Watanuki cackled, jumping up and scouring the floor. "Where is that picture?! I can poke back at him now for all the things he pokes at me for!"

"It's probably not here." Yuko interjected, pausing the girl in her search.

"What?!"

"Did you take the picture in the dream?" Yuko asked, walking over and bending down to take the girl's chin in her hand.

"I woke up before I could." Watanuki replied, looking into those deep cranberry-colored eyes.

"Then it's gone!" Yuko concluded, standing back up straight.

"Damn it! That was a priceless treasure! How am I supposed to tease him about that now?!"

"Should you really be maliciously teasing your boyfriend? Yuko asked, amused by the girl.

"You should if it's Doumeki!" Watanuki shot back. "And now I know about his embarrassing past! He dressed up like a girl when he was younger! HAHAHA-AH!" Watanuki started laughing, but then she was attacked by behind, falling onto her futon as eggplants rained from the sky.

"I went to get some eggplants! Just like you told me too, Yuko!" It was Mokona. That black fur ball had a giant basket fully of eggplant and several of them had been thrown at Watanuki for good measure.

"Hello, Mokona!" Yuko cooed, welcoming her little devil back.

"Hey! It took me a little longer than expected, but let's have an eggplant banquet!" Mokona cheered and jumped up on Watanuki's back, weighting her down with its weight and by the basket full of eggplants.

"That sounds great!" Yuko blushed, thinking about all the yummy food they were about to eat. "Eggplant Tempura, skewered eggplant, and stewed eggplant! Yummy!~"

"And don't forget the sake! Sake, sake and more sake!" Mokona chanted, jumping up and down on the raven's back. "This will be a big job! We need to have lots of banqueting! Drinking!"

"Yep," Watanuki grumbled, remembering that Mokona had also attacked her this morning in her eggplant dream. "This was in my dream too…ug…"

"Watanuki! Get up and start cooking!" Yuko ordered.

"Yeah! Watanuki! Get up!" Mokona added, jumping all over the girl with the eggplants. Watanuki's hand searched blindly for her watch and the girl rolled her eyes at the time.

"IT'S FLIPPING THREE IN THE MORNING! GO TO SLEEP ALREADY!" She screamed, not excited about having to cook for two gluttons at this hour.

"Oh, Watanuki, you're no fun!~" Yuko teased, pouting.

"I'm not fun because I'm supposed to be sleeping! Get out!" Watanuki pushed herself to her knees and then stood up, making Mokona tumble all the way down her back and onto the floor, eggplants and all. She shooed both annoyances out of her room as fast as she could and slammed the door in front of their whining faces.

"Watanuki! So mean!" Yuko teased.

"No fun! No fun!" Mokona added.

"I'll cook the eggplants in the morning, alright?! Good night!" Watanuki shouted through the door.

"Technically it's 'good morning,'" Yuko pointed out, correcting the raven.

"I don't care! Go to bed!" Her shouting sent Mokona and the witch down the hall with fake shrieks and giggles as they headed to the kitchen to open up a nice bottle of sake to lull them to sleep. Watanuki sighed and flopped down on her futon once again, after turning out the light. I hope I have another good dream…she mused as she drifted off to sleep, the problems of tomorrow on hold for just a moment.

To Be Continued...

Note 1: Yatagarsu is commonly known as a three-legged crow and can be found in various Asian cultures. In Japan, the yatagarusu is a great bird that is evidence of the will of Heaven or divine intervention in human affairs and is a mark of rebirth and rejuvenation and guidance. In XxxHolic, I'd attribute the deity Yatagarsu as Jorogumo's sign of rejuvenation, since Watanuki's eye will increase/replenish her own power. A fuuri is a yokai that is about the size of an otter, looks like and is the size of a monkey, with red eyes and has a blackish, leopard-like pattern on its blue fur. It is said to feed on spiders, so that's possibly why Jorogumo respects and has such a creature as a deity, out of fear as a punisher, maybe.

Note 2: Jorogumo (meaning entangling bride or whore spider) is a type of yokai that can change its appearance to that of a seductive woman. When a spider reaches 400 years of age, it gains magical powers and can transform into a beautiful woman to seduce and eat men. In another version, the spider can turn into a woman with a baby, which would be the spider's eggsack. Antoher spider demon similar to Jorogumo is the Tsuchigumo, which can either be the male version of the Jorogumo, or just a giant, man eating spider.

Note 3: The Tachikoma toy that Maru has is based off a spider-like robot/artificial intelligence in Ghost in the Shell, a manga and anime written by Masamune Shirow. Awesomely enough, The Ghost in the Shell Realize Project has been developing a half size Tachikoma for use in customer service and the robots will greet customers and handle products and purchases. The robots will be controlled by customers' smartphones through and app.

Note 4: Watanuk and Himawari are referring to the first dream of the New Year, or the Hatsuyume. This superstition encompasses Mount Fuji, the hawk and eggplants as lucky symbols – Mount Fuji because it is Japan's highest mountain, the hawk because it is a strong and clever bird, and eggplants because the word eggplant (nasu or nasubi) refers to doing or achieving something great. No one really knows where this superstition comes from, but it is very common. A person who has this dream on the night of January 1st is considered very lucky and will receive good fortune.

Note 5: The "Kansai dialect" or "Osaka dialect" is a way of speaking Japanese that is described as being both more melodic, friendly and harsher that the standard Japanese. The Japanese spoken in Tokyo is a standard for the nation, but each prefecture has its own way of speaking. It was labled the "Osaka Dialect" because the major city of the region is Osaka and the speakers there gained the most media exposure through the years. Even the different towns in the Kansai region speak differently, but the dialects in the Osaka region are categorized together under Osaka's name.

A/N: And there you go! I hope to be MUCH better about updating now that I'm back! I hope you all enjoyed getting this chapter in it's entirety :3 See you next time!