Disclaimer: Neither xxxholic nor Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles nor Naruto belong to me. They are solely from CLAMP and Masashi Kishimoto respectively.
Chapter 2: Fei Reed Enterprises and Clow & Co.
Night had fallen over Tokyo city.
On the last floor of 'Fei Reed Enterprises', a man, tall with broad shoulders stood at the edge of the World. His World, he thought.
The glass pane that separated him from the city below felt thin beneath his coarse hand, and yet, he knew he couldn't break through it because, even if something looked fragile, it hid many surprises beneath itself. It was shock proof glass of the best quality.
The city below alighted with millions of lights. Advertisement panels flashed neon over the spider webbing of tall buildings. But no building was taller than his, except…
He smiled knowingly, brows furrowed in thoughtful malice.
-'Clow & Co.,' he said, testing the words in his mouth, marveling at the way they awakened a sense of dutiful spite in his mind's eye.
He kept staring down at the city, even when three knocks resonated through his office.
-'Come in.'
The door was quite as it slid open, the footsteps from his agent muffled against the thick carpeting of the office as he came to stand at the center of the room, his black suit monotonous against the dark backdrop.
-'What news do you bring, Kyle Rondart?'
Fei Wong Reed watched from the glass's reflection as the slim man bowed, a constant smile stretching his lips, though it never seemed to reach his dark eyes.
-'I have located and brought you the man you have been searching for,' Kyle replied, straightening up. 'But, he has refused to give me his real name.'
-'Oh? And what does he call himself at the moment?'
-'Taka Shiryoku, sir.'
He gave a small laugh. Hawk Sight… Interesting enough.
-'That does not matter at the moment. Bring him in.'
Kyle bowed once more and exited the room.
It wasn't that it didn't matter; it was just for the best if he was the only person to hold that man's name. Well, it applied if one believed in those kinds of myths and Fei Wong had always believed in those traditions. If he hadn't, well, he wouldn't be hiring this man. He wouldn't even be striving so hard for his brother Clow's company in the first place.
He turned to face the entrance just as a young man came into the room.
Though the lights were out in his office, the boy's vivid red kimono layered by black hakama pants stood out in the darkness. A Kamishimo outfit without the haori jacket; it made Fei Wong smile knowingly as he recognized the traditional outfit of the Senso-ji Budo practitioners, emphasized by the fact that the boy carried a yumi in his hand, the Japanese bow standing at the same height as him. But, he knew that it wasn't the boy's only weapon…
-'Your kind has been around for many eras now. No thanks to the fact that, your ninja clan has always been hidden within the walls of a revered Buddhist Temple,' he smiled broadly at the young monk's impassiveness to his words and gave a short laugh before moving on. 'I have need of your services. Yours in particular since, you come from a special bloodline.'
He paused, starring up at the young man, waiting to see if he had anything to say, but he remained cool, his face a dead pan mask of stoic perfection.
-'Taka Shiryoku? What a fitting name for you and your ancestors…
There is a young boy in this city that possesses the Second Sight. He also has a bloodline trait. Watanuki Kimihiro is his name. Where he is exactly, I do not know since certain people made sure he conveniently disappear. He has become even harder to track down recently, since Winter I should say.
Your bloodline is famed in the most silent parts of our World as having a kin eye for magical beings and those who can see them. My wish is to have this boy's life ended, he stands in the way, though probably unknowingly, of a bigger desire that I have held for quite some time.'
At last, his soon to be assassin spoke up in a monotonous, deep voice.
-'You want me to kill a boy who can see the Other World?'
-'Is there a problem with that?'
A dark shadow passed over the young monk's eyes before he spoke again.
-'No.'
-'Then, you can begin tonight.'
He bowed his head in approval, ready to exit the room just as Fei Wong spoke up with a sly smile.
-'Will you not give me your name?'
-'Taka Shiryoku.'
-'No, you're true name.'
-'That is unnecessary,' the boy said, flashing him a stern look. 'Our contract does not necessitate such a bond.'
-'I see'
He watched as the man walked out into the bright hallway, shutting the door behind himself.
Fei Wong returned to his desk, the city momentarily forgotten as he stared down at a picture of the young monk that had just left his office, a small paragraph beneath alluding to his abilities and traits.
-'I may not be able to practice magic,' he spoke up, 'but I can run enough background information to find out your true name, Taka Shiryoku. It is so little, the amount of things that cannot be found now a day…'
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Outside 'Fei Reed enterprises', Shizuka Domeki stood still in the empty alley way, his bow now slung over his shoulder together with his box of quivers.
Was this what his grandfather had spoken about before he died?
If so, then it was time for him to contact that person, and perhaps, she even had the young boy Fei Wong Reed had spoken of.
He sniffed at the light Spring air before lifting his arm up over his head and giving a short but loud whistle.
A shift in the wind made him look up as a falcon cut through the air with its scythe like wings and landed on his gloved arm.
Shizuka lowered him to eye level and pulled out a small scroll from his sash, tying it to its leg.
-'Take this to the person named Yuuko Ichihara,' he instructed, releasing the bird into the air once more.
He kept starring up at the sky even after his bird of prey dissipated into the night. He closed his eyes and lifted his left arm to cover his left eye and opened them once more. It was still there, his connection with the bird; the city looked dizzying from above, but brighter and somewhat sharper than normal.
It was a good sign.
When the bird finds that woman, he will be able to track her down with ease.
He turned and sniffed again at the Spring air, starting to walk towards a larger street, scattered with few pedestrians, the smell of Oden getting stronger until he came to a halt in front of a stand called 'The Fox's Oden'. A coincidence…?
-'Welcome honorable monk,' the cook, a man in his late thirties said with a reverent bow and a genuine smile.
-'Good evening,' Shizuka replied, taking a seat and watching as the man proceeded to chop and stir vegetables.
-'You look a lot like a man that used to come years ago to my Oden shop. He was dressed the same as well,' the oden shop owner conversed, looking up with thoughtful eyes at Shizuka.
The young monk was momentarily surprised at the coincidence that he would be speaking to the same man who used to serve his grandfather, but then shook it off, remembering that in this World, there really were no such things as coincidences. Only fate…
-'My grandfather always spoke fondly of 'The Fox's Oden' everytime he returned from a trip to Tokyo,' the boy replied, sipping at the herbal tea the man had put in front of him.
-'Ah yes, Haruka Domeki was a faithful customer.'
As the man pulled back his hand, the sleeve of his blue kimono shifted a little to reveal the mark of someone that had been touched by a magical being. A swirling pattern was tattooed on his wrist, blind to common people. Perhaps even to the owner himself.
He thought it over, wondering who had done it and for what purpose. Those kinds of marks were usually used to seal off Fox Spirits.
He looked back up and the man looked him straight in the eye, expectantly.
Shizuka looked back down and frowned. A good sign among others of knowing if a person was possessed by a kitsune was their aversion to eye contact.
And yet, this man had no problems making eye contact.
-'Here, this used to be Haruka Domeki's favorite dish,' the man said, placing a bowl of fish cakes and assorted vegetables floating in miso soup in front of him.
The re-mentioning of his grandfather's name brought a whirlwind of thoughts into the monk's mind, pulling him back towards his earlier worries.
He stared hard at the steaming bowl in front of him.
Watanuki Kimihiro, the boy with the Second Sight his grandfather had warned him about…even after all these years of meditating; he still hadn't decided what he would do about him.
-'Thank you for the food.'
To Be Continued…
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Author's note: Ah yeah…it was too tempting to mention the Nine tailed fox from Naruto…dunno why Oh well, but from here on out, I guess I'll be mixing up different manga's into this story…
I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank you for reading