Summary: Doumeki has decided. Watanuki understands.

Warnings: Higher rating. I am violent and unreasonable. Also, me no graspy English.

Lucky Charm

Waking up to unfamiliar surroundings was not entirely uncommon for Doumeki. Not that it had happened that often to him. Most of the places he'd woken up slightly bewildered were around the shrine. Probably because he spent most of the summer lying on his back looking up and waiting for the weather to cool down enough to move. Waking up to an unfamiliar face, now that was something Doumeki hadn't planned on doing until he had at least reached his late-twenties.

Maybe his thirties.

Doumeki had always been accused of having a disillusioned view on his future and that was just the part of the future he revealed to others. The way he saw it was not what people wanted him to see that much was clear. He wouldn't go to university or college; he'd start working after high school and move away from the shrine. By the time he turned mid-thirties he'd be a faceless salary-man in a nameless company. Sure, it was more a bit disenchanted than was expected of a boy his age, but it was more realistic than everyone assuming they became a company president, a famous artist or adored actor.

What Doumeki didn't mention was that he probably would not have a wife or a girlfriend. Judging from the way things had developed in the past years Doumeki felt with an alarming apathy that he would probably become the type to go to love hotels. And when he would wake up in the early morning the ceiling would be new and the guy next to him would be a nameless college student.

Doumeki admitted it was cynical, but chances were that this was what would happen eventually.

That's why he strongly felt it was out of place for him to wake up in pain to an unfamiliar face. Especially when he had his eyes closed and the light still hurt him.

Doumeki sat up and shielded his face with his hands, pushing down onto his eyes trying to dim the light and dull the pain. It took long, very long and it was white. Very white. But it was fading.

He wiped his face on the sleeve of his yukata and peered through the newfound dark.

Now he saw something completely different. He saw fine western features, good cheekbones and lusciously curled hair. She had that type of white skin most girls in school would murder for, Doumeki knew. He'd heard girls discuss this on many occasions, in fact he would probably be able to list at least ten 'safe' ways of bleaching the skin just a tint whiter, to colour the nipples pink and 'cute' instead of brown, to make eyes appear larger like in the comics; how to get rid of pain and cramps every month…

Doumeki was often ignored when he was sitting in a corner of the library, so he knew most gossip and female related problems. The things he missed out on were revealed to him in the secrecy of the back rows of shelves in the library, because he lived at a temple and was very mature so they felt they could talk to him.

That place was also where he turned down confessions.

It was where he gently pushed girls away and where he discussed with them what was considered attractive these days as if his opinion on that wasn't biased.

This woman was attractive. Doumeki did not like it at all.

Though these features were definitely not what he had just seen when he had his eyes closed. A minute before he woke up from dreaming of large dark rimmed eyes reflecting a white turmoil of uncertainty. Waking up to actual white eyes burning into his head through closed eyelids made him realize that Watanuki was starting to resemble that woman. What he saw now was a fraud.

"Good morning Doumeki." She said.

"Hm." Doumeki said, feeling slightly sick at hearing his name.

"I said 'good morning' Doumeki, will you answer me back?"

He swallowed.

"Hmm, you probably do not know how to say my name, do you, Doumeki?"

"…who?"

She moved to his side without moving.

"Imagine all language in a diagram as a wave with infinite scalar. The amplitude of Japanese wouldn't reach the level you need to say my name."

Doumeki said nothing.

She tapped her finger against her lips and smiled. "You're still a child. But you are the one that accompanies Yuuko. You must be proud."

Doumeki blinked slowly.

"Anyway!" She clapped her hands together, which reminded Doumeki of Yuuko's mannerisms a bit too much. "Yuuko just calls me Naya. It's short and cute, like me, and it allows me some individuality from my sisters. Everyone hates their given name, right? So you can call me Naya."

Doumeki sat perfectly still, feeling motion sickness despite his lack of movement. With the way Naya looked at him from every angle he found himself thinking a small prayer to prevent her from saying his name again. It did not agree with him, it did not agree with the universe. She resembled Yuuko in that she acted young a cute, but Yuuko never made Doumeki sick.

"Yuuko and I are of a very different make, Doumeki."

He felt a shiver run up his spine and another tear run down his cheek.

Naya tutted.

"You are a sensitive creature. Look at that. Just the implication of the energy of your family name is enough to upset your entire physical mechanics. Imagine what would happen if you had been as receptive as your grandfather was." She sighed. "Ah, Haruka was truly amazing for a human, don't you agree, Doumeki?"

Doumeki ground his teeth together and strained his throat against his upset stomach.

"Your name suits you. I think you have a good name, Doumeki. You are calm and collected and if a name suits you, it will stay for you, now and later. But at the moment your patience has been worn thin I can see your hostility."

"Hn." Doumeki managed.

"You think I am the source of your problems, Doumeki?"

She had moved in front of him without moving and looked down at him.

"You ought to show more respect, Doumeki."

"My name." He grunted.

"Yes?"

"Don't say it." Doumeki ground out and cringed.

Naya's lips formed a thin line.

"Watanuki showed more courtesy than this."

Though Naya was whispering in his ear, there was no breath on his skin. Doumeki shook his head and pressed the nail of his thumb into his indexfinger.

"Towards him … take your responsibility."

Doumeki averted his eyes. Watanuki had spoken to her on more than one occasion. Doumeki had told him to speak to her, to look into those eyes and to defy that voice. The boy had seemed so reluctant. He had seemed so tired. Why didn't he say it was like this?

"It is not a job you can pass to someone because you feel like it." Doumeki felt as if there wasn't enough air in the room. "Giving something like that to somebody like him is cruel. You should…"

"I should?"

"You should…" Doumeki breathed shallow. "…take responsibility."

"Like you did, Doumeki?"

"Hn."

His grandfather's endurance was something he knew he didn't have. But he did have his stubbornness.

"No matter what it takes, Doumeki?"

Doumeki knew one of the boys from the archery club had anxiety attacks before he had to perform in a match. He would pale around the nose and start hyperventilating. It was easy to calm him down if you knew what to do. Doumeki didn't know how to calm himself down.

"Then I will ask you a question. I will ask if that your choice then, Doumeki? Do you think your place is to defy me now? Do you think it is smart to be a martyr in a situation like this?"

Her voice seemed to reflect off the walls and sounded like frost on a window, it felt like white and blue light and Doumeki couldn't move, drawing in as much air in with every breath as he could.

"Do you think you have the insight to conclude which path would be better, to see what your role is and to act in the best interest of your fate? You think your destiny is to die a slow and painful death to fulfil your role as protector? Would you even consider the possibility…" she put a hand on his arm, "…that it could be his time rather than yours?"

Pins and needles started to travel up from his arm to his shoulder, and down to his fingertips, it reached his neck and meandered down his chest and shoulder blades. Doumeki's breath hitched as he shook his head as firmly as he could.

"You refuse?"

She clenched her hand and dug her nails into his skin.

"For love, for family, for friendship for bio-degradable patterns of energy with a life expectancy so short the universe doesn't even care. Nobility runs in the Doumeki family, But with no luck to speak of it is impossible that you're still alive. If it hadn't been for dear Yuuko, and your typical family stubbornness. Tell me, Doumeki, why are you still alive?"

The pins and needles had spread to his chest and Doumeki's mind finally registered the sensation. He wasn't breathing.

"Well at any rate," Naya said. "You won't be for long now."

Doumeki's blood was pounding in his ears and the image of a western woman with brown curly hair was fading into nothing as white eyes replaced it, burning around him, into him and right through him.

The way she looked was so pleased, so righteous.

"Quiet and calm."

He didn't feel calm.

"You really live up to your name." Naya said and smiled white.

It was soft and warm and comfortable. Not at all like he imagined death. The fact that it smelled slightly like wet earth and slightly like wet concrete helped a lot in this conclusion. More so the fact it smelled like Watanuki.

"This ceiling." He said, finding his voice worked fine.

It was off-white and the paint was bubbly and coming off in strips. He remembered saying only days ago that it was lucky this was the top floor so that there wouldn't be bits falling down when people upstairs walked around. The reply had been thoughtless and simple while Watanuki had set the table.

"It leaks." Yuuko said. "Really, Watanuki's place has poor living standards."

Doumeki sat up slowly and waited for the feeling of being ill.

He felt…

Fine.

Yuuko nudged him.

"You look well, you feel well. I bet you're dying to know what happened while you were out! Did you have a nice rest? It took you long enough."

"How long?" Doumeki frowned.

Yuuko bared her teeth in a grin.

"I am not telling."She said.

Doumeki levelled his gaze with Yuuko's half lidded leer and felt oddly happy that he was facing her right now.

"Where is Watanuki?"

Yuuko pointed to the ceiling.

Doumeki frowned.

"You're thinking 'what happened' aren't you?" Yuuko leant in and ruffled Doumeki's hair. It was offensive in every possible way, but Doumeki didn't care.

"Yes."

"All I can tell you is that Naya has gone back to her home. You made quite an impression on her." Yuuko paused for dramatic effect. "Actually, it had more to do with Watanuki who contacted me and since you cannot stay at the shop I took you here and had to clean you and heal you and generally rbing you back from the brink of death."

"Wait-" Doumeki started but Yuuko held up her hands.

"I will accept your adoration and many gifts later."

Doumeki frowned. Yuuko looked at him.

"She will come back for you, you know." Doumeki cringed slightly, "You re-established a good name for the Doumeki family in Europe."

"Will you actually tell me what happened?" Doumeki interrupted.

"Hmmm." Yuuko swayed back and forth pretending to be in deep thought. "Like 'how did I get here, why do I feel better, where is Watanuki, why doesn't he have any food or sake in his house, why is there no television or manga? Not even a dirty magazine?'"

Maybe, Doumeki thought.

"How about: no!" Yuuko grinned. "But tell me, tell me. How you will explain your room to your parents and the rest of the shrine?"

Doumeki blinked. If Yuuko smiled like that, Doumeki feared he would be sweeping the courtyard until next winter.

"But what-"

"No" Yuuko cut him off.

"Then why-"

"I said no." Yuuko sang.

Doumeki frowned.

"Ooh, I made you angry!" Yuuko clapped her hands.

"Angry!" A voice squealed just before Mokona jumped up and hugged Doumeki's face. "Mokona was very worried about Doumeki." It proclaimed tearfully. "No matter how much I sang, you wouldn't wake up."

"Hmm." Doumeki said, extracting the manjuu and patting it on the head.

"I sang all day."

"Thank you." Doumeki said and felt a bit forlorn, sitting in the middle ofs Watanuki's room.

Yuuko took a long drag from her pipe. "Go talk to the boy, Doumeki. He has been fussing over you ever since you got here. Ease his mind and his heart and when you're done give him a message from me."

Doumeki noticed how the pyjamas the boy wore were a bit too short for him. They were old and tattered and blue and Watanuki's favourite pair from the looks of all the times it was repaired. They looked good because of the effort that was put into it.

Watanuki looked good as a silhouette against the light from the city. Doumeki walked up to him and sat down with less grace than he normally used.

"Hey."

Watanuki didn't move.

"My name is not 'hey'."

It was as quiet as it could get in this neighbourhood. Doumeki almost felt snobbish, looking down on most activities taking place in the streets below.

Watanuki wasn't looking down.

"Do you see it?" Doumeki asked, following Watanuki's gaze.

"Nothing." Watanuki replied, then shuddered. "But the idea of that thing being there makes it creepy, I mean, I like it now that it isn't there, glaring at me, but then I have the feeling it is still glaring, just now I can't see it. It's like having a stalker."

That was something Doumeki understood.

"It was Yuuko who saved you." Watanuki continued randomly, animating the story with his hands as he used to do. "She just barged into the room, five days ago and carried you all the way over here. How she can carry somebody as big and heavy like you I don't know. You eat as much as ten people do. You were burned and pale and very cold. She looked very scary then, really scary."

Doumeki could picture that.

"I threw away your yukata." Watanuki said. "It was burned and-"

It took Watanuki some time to work up the courage probably, but he finally muttered.

"I was completely powerless."

Doumeki kept his gaze on the horizon.

"You're only human." He said.

"That is not an excuse!" Watanuki snapped.

"Then what happened?"

Watanuki growled. "It is a long story and it is stupid and Yuuko won't give me any details as usual."

"Hmm." Doumeki agreed.

"What about you?" Watanuki fished, but Doumeki shook his head. The boy put on his scowl.

"It's over and done with." Doumeki said.

"What, just like that?"

"You want to ask that woman?"

"Guh." Watanuki said. "Great. Just like that, the universe is ending, and then just like that, it's all over and all we have is Yuuko's word that everything is fine. That makes me feel a lot better. What could possibly be worse?"

Doumeki felt a smirk tug on his lips. "Well, Yuuko asked me to tell you; 'come down and cook food'."

"What!?"

"She said: 'once you boys are done up there'." Doumeki added.

"Ack, you make it sound so vukgar."

"I am delivering a message." Doumeki replied.

"You could so it with more tact."

"Well we are on a rooftop, and it is night, and we are looking at the sky…"

Watanuki jumped up and crossed his arms in front of his chest, blush spreading on his cheeks. "No! Shut up!"

"There is even a full moon." Doumeki pointed.

"No!"

"Well I am hungry." Doumeki remarked, putting his hands over his ears to kill the impact of Watanuki's indignant cries as he followed the boy downstairs.

The next day everything seemed back to normal. Two weeks later Watanuki moved to another apartment. Two months later Doumeki was finally relieved from courtyard-sweeping duties.

FIN

Thank you very much for reading this all the way to the end. There will be a short omake.

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