The Sakura Tree, Part 2
Watanuki took as much time as he wanted getting dressed that morning, since he knew what would be happening at school, and he wanted to prolong the inevitable as long as possible. He had no idea what would be happening and with Doumeki and his feelings all out in the open, he was terrified. It was no longer a matter of merely being rivals. It had become something far more: a complicated and confusing mess.

For some time before, he realized that Doumeki didn't think of him as a rival, but he hadn't known just how wrong he'd been. It had gone far beyond even thinking of Watanuki as a friend, but to someone he loved.

His cheeks burned as he glanced in the mirror and remembered the conversation from the day before after school.

"Who is it that's more important, more precious, more perfect, than Himawari-chan?!"

"You are."

Watanuki resolutely turned his attention away from the mirror and grabbed his bag. He wasn't going to stop by Yuuko's shop before school. Yesterday, he'd been in a state of numb shock so that her needling hadn't penetrated. Today, what with the upcoming chaos that he was sure was going to happen, he didn't need any extra teasing.

He didn't see Doumeki on the way and while his feelings were grateful, it did nothing to help keep the spirits at bay. Almost as if they had sensed a weakness, that his protection with the archer was precarious and could fall at any second, they hounded his steps until he was sprinting as hard as he had been yesterday to the school gates.

For a moment, he felt a dizzying sense of relief that he was outrunning them when they weren't so close to his back, but it was a false hope. As he looked up, he saw the reason they were drawing away. Doumeki leaned against one of the gateposts so casually that he knew the archer had been waiting for him. As if he had known that this would happen.

His feet slowed to a walk and he trudged past the boy without saying anything. He couldn't keep the blush off his cheeks and his mind resounded with that "You are" over and over again. He'd never been confessed to before in his life and hadn't even begun to get a clue as to how even if you didn't share the feelings of the person, there was no way of ever looking at that person the same again.

"Oi."

Watanuki stopped, but couldn't turn around. His hand gripped the handle of his briefcase tightly and it shook a little. He almost winced when he bit down on his tongue a little too hard.

"You were almost late. Run faster next time."

Without even realizing it, Watanuki whirled around to glare at Doumeki as he began to walk away, screaming in irritation, "DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO! IT'S ALL--" His voice was cut through by the bell and it wasn't until he had hurriedly sat in his seat that his mind belatedly put the pieces together.

Doumeki had said it on purpose. Instead of asking if he was all right, he had deliberately provoked him. And the act of yelling at the archer had been something of a soothing balm to his nerves and relaxed him, as strange as that sounded. Did Doumeki not mean for anything to change, even though he had told him what he felt? Was it something of an apology?

And when had he learned so much about Doumeki? When did he know him so well that he could just know all these things? Could he have picked up and watched the mannerisms of the taller boy so quickly over the half a year that they'd been thrust together? What did it all mean?

It made his brain hurt, especially when he had to try and pay attention in class and avoid thinking about Doumeki all at the same time. It was relief when lunch came about and he could forget thinking about everything and just enjoy the food he'd made. He stared at the extra bento on his desk, wondering if he would see Doumeki or not. Would he pop up with his usual annoying behavior or would he stay away? With a sigh, he stood and ventured out of the classroom almost timidly.

"Watanuki-kun, is something wrong? You've been acting strange all day."

Watanuki blinked and looked down at Himawari walking next to him. He tried to laugh it off as they settled comfortably on an empty stretch of grass that the other students hadn't found yet and took over. Perfect for a couple, in other words. Just general silence, seclusion, and at any other time, he would have been skipping for joy. But today couldn't have been more out of whack. There was nothing normal about it and it left him frantically trying to keep up with the tide.

"It's nothing really. Just…some things happened yesterday after school and I keep thinking about them."

"What sort of things?"

"S-someone confessed to me."

Himawari's eyes went bright and she smiled so brilliantly that it was hard to believe that she had been rejected the day before. Watching her during class, she still had that depressed air about her, but she never ceased to amaze him. When something supposedly good happened to someone else, she still managed to find all the enthusiasm to be happy for them. It was too bad that Watanuki had no idea if he was supposed to be happy or not. Had that truly been a confession?

"Who?"

"Yo."

It had to be karmic justice or something because Doumeki's arrival just as Himawari had asked who could not even be just hitsuzen. There had to be something more out there that was just screaming for Watanuki's blood.

This was not going to be a pleasant lunch.

And he was right. The "three musketeers" had been broken. Himawari did her best, but her enthusiasm level had dropped and she looked anywhere but at Doumeki. Conversation tended to be short and far between, with long stretches of silence filling the gaps. Watanuki couldn't look at either of them, for fear his face would give away the confusion and tell Himawari what she had asked. How on earth would she react to knowing that she had been passed up for Watanuki, who was not only a friend but a boy? And as usual, Doumeki was generally silent. His comments about lunch were provoking and Watanuki reacted as usual, but it was for the sake of Himawari.

Normalcy had yet to truly return.

"Oi."

Watanuki stiffened as he stuffed the last book in his bag and glanced at the door, even though it wasn't necessary. He knew who was there. Nobody else always said that word as a way of greeting him. "What do you want?"

"I'll walk you to Yuuko's. You looked on the last legs this morning."

"I WAS PERFECTLY FINE!"

His outburst didn't fool either of them: running like that when he wasn't used to it anymore would be extremely dangerous. Before he'd met Yuuko, that morning wouldn't have been a problem. Now, six or more months later, he was out of shape. Gym class hardly counted on keeping you fit for outrunning hungry spirits that wanted to eat you.

"Bye, Watanuki-kun, Doumeki-kun!"

He waved at Himawari as she left the building and it almost seemed to him as if she was ready to bolt away. Had she truly cared for Doumeki that much and for that long that she couldn't even stand to be around him after he'd turned her down? It made his heart plummet to his shoes. Would it be so shattering if she learned what Doumeki had told him?

The walk to Yuuko's shop was accomplished in silence so thick that Watanuki felt smothered in it. His relief at seeing the gateposts come into view was quickly dashed as he saw Yuuko leaving. He really didn't want to be running around that day, having to carry her luggage. He just wanted to do something simple that had become part of his normal routine.

"Oh, Watanuki, Doumeki!"

She smiled at them and this time it was his stomach that sunk to his feet. He knew that smile and that smile meant no good for anyone, especially not Watanuki who usually got stuck with all the bad stuff.

"I was just about to go on a hunt for the perfect sake that I just heard about from Syaoran's group."

It sounded like an extremely weak excuse to him. "But--"

"Don't worry, Watanuki, you won't be coming."

Oh no. Oh no. This couldn't be happening to him. He knew what she was going to say even before she said it because she was just sadistic like that and loved to torture him. Giving him the day off only meant that she was going to put him with Doumeki.

"Doumeki-kun, walk Watanuki home. He didn't even stop by my shop earlier and those spirits will hound him for sure. Ta ta, darlings! Come Mokona!"

"Hai!"

The little black porkbun leapt from the shop to land on her shoulder and she did her own little version of a "skip" down the street. This had to be on purpose. Not even hitsuzen could be this bad!

The word awkward didn't even begin to describe the air between him and Doumeki as they stood there. Well, at least he thought it was awkward. The archer's face was as impassive as always. He was so desperate that he began to wonder if it had all been a dream and that he was worrying for nothing. Doumeki hadn't said those two words after he had confronted him. No, he had hit him and that accounted for the memory loss of the day before and the absurd thoughts that were going on in his head right then.

"Since Yuuko gave me the day off, guess I'll go home."

"Oi."

"YOU DON'T HAVE TO COME!" he yelled as he heard the footsteps fall in behind him.

"We have to talk."

No we don't! No we don't! No we don't! he chanted frantically in his mind, willing the ever so small amount of peace he had gotten from his delusion of a few minutes ago to stay.

"I told you I don't take orders for lunch!"

Doumeki's hand grabbed his elbow and he was turned forcibly around to face the archer. His delusion vanished as he looked into those golden eyes and he knew without a doubt he had heard those two words fall from those thin, hard lips. He shivered as they stared down at him unblinking.

"We have nothing to talk about!" He hated how high the pitch of his words got and he jerked his arm from the hold Doumeki had on him. Maybe he couldn't outrun spirits, but he could outrun Doumeki on the worst of days! Or so he hoped. He wanted nothing more than to reach the sanctity of his apartment where he could fuss and putter around and forget about it all. He didn't want to have a talk with Doumeki.

Frantically he dug out the keys from his pocket, but his hope was over when a hand gripped his shoulder. Banging his forehead against the door twice, he turned around to see a winded Doumeki behind him and looking, if possible, a little annoyed.

He gave a faint whimper inwardly. Had he, despite his protests and constant actions otherwise, learned so much about Doumeki in the past few months that he was learning how to read that stoic face? Could even pick out the faint twitches of his eyes or mouth and know exactly what they meant?

"I think we have quite a lot to talk about. Inside."

Doumeki gestured with his hand at the door to his apartment and he knew that unless he moved faster than a mongoose, there was no way to get in and slam the door shut in the archer's face to prevent him entry.

In any case, he had little time to react as Doumeki ended up going in first. He had had no idea that the taller boy could move so fast, especially considering he was almost twice the size and weight of Watanuki.

Wait, weight? How could he possibly have picked up weight…? Unless he had been looking…He slammed the door shut, keeping his back to the archer so that he could control the blush that appeared on his cheeks. He had most assuredly not been looking. Even with Doumeki's feelings in the air between them, he was still a hated rival. He was…right?

"Oi."

"Shut up, Doumeki! You barge into my home without so much as an invite and you want--"

He couldn't finish as there was a tongue that was not his own in the way. His eyes went wide and round, almost in fear, at Doumeki's face as he kissed him and his whole body froze. He was incapable of responding, either to kiss Doumeki back or push him away. This was so very much not happening. He was not enjoying the kiss. He was not noticing that he tasted earthy and real. He was not feeling safe in those arms that enclosed him. And by god, he was not feeling aroused as those hands slid up and down his spine.

When Doumeki pulled away, Watanuki was still frozen to the spot and his bag had dropped from nerveless fingers to land on the floor carelessly. The lock had come open and spilled pencils to roll around aimlessly, but he didn't notice. All he noticed were those golden eyes that suddenly seemed like molten lava. They were all heat and fire, searing with feeling as he stared down, and left Watanuki quaking inside.

"Watanuki…" That voice he knew so well, naturally deep anyway, somehow seemed even deeper and yet somehow breathy. "Watanuki, my feelings for you…they're real." A hand slid into his short hair to hold the back of his head and Watanuki shivered. "I've been in love with you for months. You were the one I looked at out of the corner of my eye and tried to impress. You probably thought I was just trying to show you up, but I wasn't, I swear."

It was the longest speech he'd ever heard out of Doumeki, who didn't even seem finished, and he swallowed thickly. The archer had always struck him as a less thought more action person, and as Yuuko had started to tell him recently, he himself was a more thought less action. Had this been what she meant? Had she known this was going to happen?

"It was hitsuzen, Watanuki." was what she would say.

Doumeki's other hand lifted to run over his eyelashes and cheeks and held Watanuki frozen even more when he had thought to move. What little shock had been overcome by thinking about his employer returned in full force with the simple movement by the taller boy.

"I would try to impress you, but all I ever got was your adorable yells and flaying about. And while it pleased me a bit to know that I was the only one who could affect you like that, sometimes I wondered if you really did truly hate me and there was no room for what I felt." He let out a sigh and the warm air ran down Watanuki's neck in a slithering motion, like that of the pipe fox spirit did when it was around. "Every girl that smiled and confessed to me, I would dream it would be you instead."

Doumeki began to lean in and Watanuki knew he was going to kiss him again. "NO!" With a strength that could almost be called supernatural, he broke the hold and stumbled away down the short hall. But Doumeki wasn't going to let him be and there was a faint scuffle until they were both standing apart in his bedroom.

"Watanuki…"

"NO! I SAID NO! I LOVE HIMAWARI-CHAN!"

The effect of his words on Doumeki was nothing short of remarkable. Watanuki's eyes widened as that stoic face flinched and he turned away as if he had been struck. Trying to ignore the feeling that had suddenly burst in his chest like a popped balloon, he turned away to grip the dresser that held a picture of himself as a boy on his first day of school. Where had that boy gone? Was he still the same Watanuki Kimihiro of back then?

"What are you still doing here?" he hissed quietly, letting his finger run over the picture frame absently.

"I still have things to say."

"And I don't want to hear them."

"I don't care."

Watanuki turned with an irritated glance. This was his house and Doumeki had barged in and thoroughly molested him enough. "GET OUT!"

"I never meant for this to change anything," the boy continued as if he hadn't said anything. "I had made a deal with myself that I would wait for as long as it took to get through to you, even if it meant…even if you might never feel that way about me. I could settle for just being near you."

His irritation petered off as Doumeki strode forward and pinned him to the dresser with an arm on either side of the bespectacled boy. He'd never heard Doumeki speak so much ever. He had thought that Doumeki just hadn't had anything to say, but he had been completely and utterly wrong. Blush stained his cheeks as the archer's eyes melted with feeling again and struck him once more like that lava, powerful and unstoppable.

"It's the whole reason I protect you. Not because Yuuko tells me to, but because I want to."

Silence stretched between them. Watanuki realized a little late that he was shaking. He was afraid, but of what? Of Doumeki being right? Of the feelings that his words were invoking inside of him? What feeling was it when you felt as if you had writhing snakes in your stomach and your heartbeat could rival that of a hummingbird's wings? He had never felt like this with Himawari…

"Kimihiro…"

Kimihiro! He didn't even have time to react to Doumeki using his first name before those lips were on his again and those arms were sliding effortlessly around him. It tasted just as before, but this time, there was almost as sense of urgency to it. And though he'd never experienced it before, he knew that there was also a passion that Doumeki was passing to him with his tongue.

Being held so close, there wasn't a way of hiding the fact that there was something pressing against one of his legs. It took a moment to realize what it was and when he did, he turned as red as a cherry.

Doumeki wanted him!

Watanuki whimpered a little as the kiss extended and became deeper, more seductive. He was finding it harder to suppress his instincts and his instincts were telling him to kiss Doumeki right back until they were both senseless with the sensations. Those skillful hands gripped the back of Watanuki's winter uniform shirt and he realized that Doumeki was nowhere near as composed as he looked.

When he pulled away this time, the bespectacled boy had to fight off letting another whimper out and following those lips with his own for another kiss. Doumeki stared down at him before forcing his hands to loosen on the shirt he gripped so tightly and let Watanuki go.

Was it his imagination or was Doumeki looking embarrassed? The archer turned away and there was indeed a faint sheen of color on his cheeks.

Watanuki gripped the front of his shirt over his heart and realized that he'd never felt so alive until that moment. The unrestrained passion that Doumeki had woken in him cried out to be used. His lips still tingled with the taste of the taller boy and all he had to do was think about it and he could remember the feeling of that tongue sliding in his mouth with ease as if it was still happening. He wanted more.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't--"

He couldn't tell who was more surprised, himself or Doumeki, that he had just almost tackled the archer and was kissing him with surprising virility. It took little prompting for Doumeki to respond and in seconds they were clutching at each other as if their lives depended on it.

They were complete opposites.

Doumeki laid him down on the futon as gently as his passion would allow and his fingers flicked open the buttons on Watanuki's shirt to reveal a pale, perfect chest. When his hands could actually touch his bare skin, it was like electric and Watanuki whimpered again.

It would never work.

Clothes didn't stand a chance between the two and soon the area around the bed was strewn with them. It was then that things began to slow down. It was Watanuki's first time, so he wasn't sure what it meant. Fear had wormed in him that maybe he had done something wrong. But Doumeki only left suckling kisses down his neck and yanked the covers over them both.

Doumeki was annoying and made his life harder with all those out of season bentos.

Watanuki hadn't anticipated that it would feel so good when Doumeki ground his hips gently into the smaller boy's. A faint cry echoed from his throat, and the archer lifted his head to kiss him softly, as if in reassurance. Fingers hooked over his ears to remove his glasses and set them aside. There was no way he was going to reach the dresser, so he just let them drop without a sound onto the carpet.

Himawari was in love with Doumeki.

He wondered how many times Doumeki had done this, as he seemed to know all the right things to do. His tongue flickered out to tap on one of Watanuki's nipples and he gasped, arching into that wonderful mouth. Everywhere the taller boy touched, he left a steaming trail of fire on his skin and his heart felt like it was going so fast that it would burst.

Doumeki was his rival.

Slowly, Doumeki increased his grinding against him in pace, one hand snaking down to touch him as well. Watanuki had a faint thought that maybe the neighbors might hear his cries before that skillful tongue was invading his mouth again to reassuringly silence him. He didn't know whether to be thankful that Yuuko gave him the day off or be enraged. And if that witch knew this was going to happen, he'd kill her.

He'd hated Doumeki since he was a child.

The night had been warm before, but it was positively steaming in his bedroom right then. Sweat beaded on his skin and ran down his body, falling into crevices like those on his collarbone and shoulders. Watanuki gripped Doumeki tightly around his chest, pulling them as close as they could be, and as his hands touched that muscular back and shoulders, he could feel the sweat on him as well. Was it possible for them to be more aroused than they already were?

Doumeki loved to tease him and give him a hard time.

The archer groaned as Watanuki slowly began to arch his hips every time Doumeki pressed down and the sound was like most beautiful music he'd ever heard. First time or not, it was clear to him that he aroused Doumeki in all honesty and was actually pleasing him as much as he was being pleased.

Was this love anyway, regardless of all those things?

Watanuki, though he rarely had time, had sometimes had the chance to relax and touch himself before, but this time was nowhere near like that. Doumeki was stopping at nothing to please him endlessly and when his climax came, the archer had to kiss him intimately so that his cry didn't wake the neighbors.

He went limp beneath that muscular form and his cheeks turned a brilliant shade of red again as their eyes met. The sheets were a sticky mess between the two of them and it was then that he realized just what they'd done. He had lost his virginity and to none other than his rival. To a boy.

Immediately, he tried to leave the bed, but Doumeki's hand on his arm stopped him and kept him there. During the whole thing, somehow Doumeki had managed to get behind him and was holding him securely. He was…snuggling with him, nuzzling his hair and leaving sweet, short kisses on his ear and neck. "Stay," he murmured huskily.

"I'm…I'm not like that," he stuttered.

"Your body spoke otherwise."

Watanuki blushed, but when he once again made motions as if to leave the bed, Doumeki only held him tighter. His every nerve was still tingling from the sensations of what the archer could make him feel, not only physically but otherwise, and as a defense, he argued, "You seduced me!" But it was half-hearted and lacked conviction.

Apparently he had hit a sore spot, because Doumeki turned his chin to look at him. And even without his glasses, where things were slightly blurry, there was no mistaking the hardness of those golden eyes.

"You wanted this as much as me. You were the one who kissed me then. I would never touch you or dishonor you like that if you didn't truly want it!"

Seeing the sheer belief and conviction written on his face, Watanuki felt his defense wilt beneath it. He truly…did he truly love him? Regardless of gender, could it possibly work? And what about Himawari? What would she say when she found out?

Doumeki's lips once again assaulted his gently, letting his hand slide down below Watanuki's stomach. After that, the night became a blur.

When Watanuki woke, sunlight streamed in through the closed curtains and he was alone. For a moment, he didn't understand the sheer mess of the sheets until the night before came rushing back. Where was Doumeki?

With a sick feeling, he sat up and looked around, expecting to find a rose and a note or something similar, like in all those manga, but there was nothing. His glasses had been picked up and set carefully on the desk and there was nothing awaiting him on the pillow that had cradled the archer's head.

"'Bout time you woke up."

His head snapped to look at the door. Doumeki stood there, wearing his school uniform and leaning against the doorway, watching him. He appeared immaculate. And suddenly realizing that he was completely naked, he did an extremely girlish thing and pulled the sheet up over his chest before he even had a chance to think about it.

"Doumeki--"

The action brought a faint smile to Doumeki's lips. "You can call me Shizuka. And you might want to take a quick shower and get dressed. We have school and you won't have time to make lunch, unless you made enough yesterday morning."

Was it like it never happened? Did last night not mean a thing? His eyes slid away as his head turned, but Doumeki must not have missed the disappointment and hurt in his eyes. His voice lanced across the silence and his steps were sure as they made their way over to the bed, as if they'd traveled that path countless times before. As if it wasn't his first time in Watanuki's apartment.

"Don't think that way, Kimihiro." His ears twitched at his first name and those strong fingers gripped his chin, forcing their eyes to meet. "Last night meant everything to me." That thumb ran over his jaw so softly that if his chin hadn't been held, he would have sworn that it didn't happen. "What happened between us last night went beyond any expectations and surpassed my wildest dreams. I would very much like to repeat it with you again in the future."

Was he asking for it? Did he mean what he thought he meant? Could Watanuki now be called a "boyfriend"? His heart began to plead yes and it was only then, staring into those golden eyes, that he could put the pieces together of last night. Doumeki made him feel alive and in ways that Himawari had never managed to do just by being there. That feeling that had burst inside of him when he had managed to somehow hurt Doumeki had brought him no joy and only a sadness of his own.

That secretly glad feeling he got whenever Doumeki ordered something for lunch that he hadn't grown out of him yet…did that mean what he thought it did? All the little things that he had subconsciously noted and hidden away in his mind: what Doumeki liked, how to read his stoic face for what he felt, picked up on his mannerisms, predicting how he'd react and behave.

Combining all his feelings and what he'd noticed, that could only lead up to one thing. He was in love with Doumeki. Doumeki was right; the archer was the only one who could get under his skin the way he did and just bring out uncontrolled outbursts. Doumeki was the one that no matter how many times he tried to push him away would always show up and hold out his hand to help him.

"Kimihiro? Is something wrong?"

Watanuki blinked and realized that Doumeki had sunk down to kneel on the bed next to him, and though his expression hadn't changed, he knew that Doumeki was worried. He just knew it, in the same manner that he had known last night that Doumeki had been annoyed with him.

Blush tinted his cheeks and he whispered, "I just realized something."

Doumeki only raised an eyebrow, but he knew it was in query. He was asking of what. Watanuki only laughed inside at himself, finally feeling free. All the things he knew with certainty because as much as Doumeki had been watching him, he'd been watching Doumeki.

"I think…I just realized that I love you."

Oh, it didn't mean that they wouldn't still have fights and Doumeki wouldn't get under his skin the way he always did. It didn't mean that he wouldn't still want to kill him sometimes. In fact, it didn't mean that anything had to change at all. It just meant…that they were in love.

And for the first time in their acquaintance, he saw Doumeki smile. Not a smirk, not a grin, but an actual smile. Their lips met and the simple chaste kiss threatened to turn into something far steamier if it hadn't been for the fact that Watanuki remembered he had to get to school.

. An hour later

"I can't believe we're doing this again."

"SHUT UP, DOUMEKI! It's your fault!"

Doumeki leveled him with an eye as they ran full tilt toward the school. "First, it's Shizuka, Kimihiro, and second, how is this my fault?"

A faint blush touched his cheeks. He had forgotten about that. It was a reflex action, really. "Well…if you hadn't been there…and looked so sexy…"

"So you getting all clingy and kissing me senseless, half dressed, in the hallway is somehow all my fault?"

They managed to get through the gate just as the bell rang, and to his consternation, Doumeki insisted that he had beaten him again. He wondered if the reason was because Doumeki was trying to impress him again. He had said that had tried to do that before.

He turned to go to his classroom, when Doumeki caught his elbow and pulled him close. The kiss was as breathless as the two of them, and short, but it let him know enough. Doumeki was not going to hide "them". When he pulled away, Watanuki had to force himself to reconnect with the world again. Kissing Doumeki was like an out of body experience.

"Tomorrow," he whispered, "I want sushi with cookies, since you didn't make me lunch today."

Watanuki blinked and realized just what he'd said. "I DON'T TAKE ORDERS!" he yelled and his mind remembered that retreating back far more vividly missing his shirt.

By the time lunch rolled around, it had gotten around a bit about him and Doumeki. Those that had been in the courtyard when the archer had kissed him had sent it out among the students like wildfire. There were twitters wherever he went and sidelong glances. He'd even received a few glares from Doumeki's fanclub.

He honestly hadn't expected Himawari to show up at lunch. Hardly anything had changed like he had predicted, they were still arguing as always, when her shadow suddenly fell over them. Apparently she had heard, for her eyes and posture were a tad shy.

"Can I join you two?"

"Of course you can, Himawari-chan!"

Doumeki's eyes flashed at him meaningfully, and he knew he'd have to reassure his boyfriend that it was entirely platonic. He had lost little of his enthusiasm for Himawari, but his heart didn't beat painfully for her the way it did for Doumeki. His stomach didn't twist in knots at her presence. Knowing what he felt for the archer, feeling it full force the night before, helped him to see what it wasn't with Himawari.

"I heard you two…" She glanced at Doumeki and smiled a little, clearing her throat as if she wasn't quite sure how to phrase it, especially in case she was wrong. Doumeki nodded back at her.

Watanuki blushed and it seemed with that action Himawari perked up. "Really? How adorable!"

"You aren't…upset, Himawari-chan?"

"What do you mean?"

He wanted to hit himself. He had forgotten Himawari hadn't known that he had seen the two of them under the sakura tree. He had taken it as a given that she had known, especially since his mind had been all turned about for the last two days. Haltingly, against his better judgment, he told her and for a moment she was silent. He chewed on his tongue a little, watching her intently. What was going on in her mind? This was the moment he had truly been dreading.

Finally, she looked up and smiled. "I'm a little disappointed, yes, but Watanuki-kun, you're my friend too. If I had had a choice of losing Doumeki-kun to anyone, I would have picked you." She laughed a little. "Now I see that I never stood a chance against you!"

"No, Himawari-chan, it's not like that---Stop that, Shizuka!"

Doumeki had actually had the temerity to snigger and Himawari joined him when she heard Doumeki's first name spill from his lips. "You two are so adorable!"

Watanuki blushed and it seemed that things would be fine, after all. The entire day before seemed like a dream of anxiety, but it was gone. Hitsuzen Yuuko would say and maybe she was right. Himawari probably did still harbor feelings for Doumeki, but after the night before, he wasn't really worried about losing Doumeki to anyone, at least not for the time being. And if he did, they'd just have to work it out. Time would help. It was still a little awkward between the three of them, but he hoped that once they all got used to the changes, it would be okay.

-end-