Chapter 4: Not Good Enough
After school Watanuki walked cautiously down the road on route to Yuuko's as his unwanted escort followed beside him.
"I TOLD you, you didn't have to follow me!" Watanuki snapped to the archer next to him. "It's bad enough having one stalker."
"Who said I was stalking you and would you rather I leave you alone with your friend?" Doumeki indicated motioning behind him where the spirit was most likely "standing." Watanuki swallowed and grumbled a "fine." The two continued down the street in silence until Doumeki spoke up.
"Is it still following us?"
"Yeah. I actually think I've gotten more used to it watching me but I can still feel its presence," Watanuki responded. "It seems like it's starting to get pretty restless even with you here."
"Just ignore it then we're almost there," Doumeki advised. Suddenly, Watanuki began to feel an intense pressure before, without warning, the spectral stalker lashed out grabbing his ankle. Watanuki fell to the ground as he felt being pulled forcibly back. He cried out clawing the ground in an attempt to get loose. Reacting quickly Doumeki grabbed his hand and yanked somehow pulling him free. Watanuki took in several deep breaths of relief as Doumeki steadied him to his feet.
"You okay?" Doumeki asked in concern as he felt a twinge of guilt at not being better on his guard. Of course his face did not show either emotion.
"Y-Yeah I think so," Watanuki answered shakily. He looked behind him and gasped as the spiritual cloud hovered only a few feet away but was apparently kept at bay thanks to Doumeki who was now putting off a more intense aura that repelled it. But instead of just an amorphous cloud, it was more in the shape of a kind of jellyfish. However what really unnerved Watanuki was the form that could be seen within the ghostly blob. From what he could tell in stood erect on two legs like a human but was clearly far from it as the shape of his body looked more like a reptilian demon.
"Doumeki…" Watanuki began still staring at the unknown entity.
"Yeah, I see it," Doumeki reported. "At least with the eye that we both share," he added. Watanuki didn't respond as it seemingly paced trying to draw closer. Doumeki stepped in between him and the spirit causing it to take a step back further.
"Keep walking, I'll cover you," Doumeki instructed. Watanuki obliged and began walking as Doumeki kept in the middle of him and the spirit.
"Of all the times you didn't bring your bow," Watanuki said half-accusingly.
"Shut up and keep going," Doumeki only replied as continued to keep the spirit at a distance as they continued walking awkwardly to Yuuko's shop as the strange jellyfish-like spirit continued to follow them apparently more agitated than it had been before as it darted around trying to find some sort of opening to get to Watanuki. They rounded the final corner as Yuuko's shop came into view. The spirit, seeing it as its last chance, finally decided to make a move as it managed to launch a tentacle past Doumeki that headed straight for the spectral seer.
"Watanuki, duck!" Doumeki alerted. Reacting quickly he barely dodged the attack and made a beeline for the entrance to the gate that served as a barrier with Doumeki and the apparition closely behind. Both boys sprinted like racers towards the finish line as they dove through the gate and landed in the yard just in time as the jellyfish tried to make another grab for Watanuki. After it failed, it lingered around the barrier as if trying to assess some way to get to its target but gargled inaudibly in frustration when it couldn't. Eventually it withdrew "swimming" away through the air and disappearing out of sight into the shadows of a nearby building. The two managed to catch their breath before getting to their feet dusting themselves off.
"That was way too close," Watanuki said as he cleaned the lens of his glasses that got smudged with dirt. Doumeki only grunted to agree with his statement. At that moment, the doors to Yuuko's shop swung open as Yuuko stood in the doorway with Maru and Moro as Mokona was perched on her shoulder.
"I see that you didn't heed my warning and managed to find trouble once again Watanuki," she said with a mischievous smirk.
"Watanuki's such a trouble magnet," Mokona chipped in followed by Mau and Moro who repeated the last phrase "trouble magnet" while dancing around.
"I DON'T NEED A CHORUS!" Watanuki snapped. "And just what the hell was that thing?" Yuuko's face sobered a bit as she eyed the two teens.
"You also seem to know that he's been followed by that thing since last night. Any particular reason you didn't warn him directly?" Doumeki added eyes narrowing accusingly. A moment passed before Yuuko spoke up.
"Because it was inevitable," she merely stated. "Even if I had told you about that, it would have happened regardless."
"So what exactly was that thing?" Watanuki repeated feeling more than annoyed at how secretive Yuuko was being.
"All in good time," she simply responded, which unavoidably set Watanuki off.
"JUST WHAT IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN AND WHY DON'T YOU EVER JUST GIVE ME A STRAIGHT ANSWER?" Naturally, even if the shouting wasn't directed at him, Doumeki still plugged his ears at the loud ranting.
"If I did that I would require compensation and I thought you wouldn't me to add any more to your debt now am I right?" Yuuko replied causing Watanuki to go silent at the fact that she was indeed right on that account. "More importantly I'm hungry," Yuuko continued. "Go into the kitchen and cook up some Shabu-Shabu (type of meat fondue with vegetables, mushrooms and tofu) and a side of Tempura (deep fried seafood and vegetables) for me would you."
"Don't forget the sake!" Mokona added. Watanuki seethed as he reluctantly obliged and stormed off towards the kitchen. Normally Doumeki would stick around to eat but found himself still put off by Yuuko's secretiveness. This was noticed of course.
"Still not satisfied are you Doumeki-kun?" Yuuko asked. Doumeki remained silent, which Yuuko took as a yes. "If you would rather, you can escort him home once his shift for today is complete." Yuuko suggested. "Though I can't say for sure it would do any good," she also added but turned her head to see that he had left through Yuuko's gate out of earshot.
"Sometimes he can be just as stubborn as Watanuki. And sometimes the things we do are not always good enough to prevent what is meant to be inevitable," she said to Mokona with a sigh before turning and also entering her shop to await her meal.
After nearly an hour and a half of slaving over a hot stove, Watanuki delivered Yuuko her meal (and liquor) and got to work with washing the dishes, folding the laundry, and more cleaning of the storeroom. All the while, his mind kept drifting back to the spirit from earlier that day. Of course Watanuki was used to seeing spirits and usually paid no second thought about it, but for some strange reason he just couldn't shake off this particular one. It felt to him as if the spirit was out for something more than just his blood but no matter how much he thought about it he couldn't figure out what else it could possibly want from him. Though even while he was deep in his thoughts he felt a familiar furry object, being none other than the pipe fox, launching itself onto him and wrapping its body around his neck and smothering his cheek with kisses and began his usual flailing manner at trying to pry it off of him. Hours passed before the clock struck 8:00, signaling the end of Watanuki's shift. Taking off his usual chore smock and gathering up his school briefcase he sat on the step to slip on his shoes. Yuuko once again stood in the hallway watching her part-timer get ready to leave as Mokona sat perched on her shoulder. After tying his laces, he got to his feet and walked towards the door before turning around to face Yuuko.
"I guess I'll be going then," Watanuki said feeling rather uncomfortable about leaving the safety of the shop's barrier.
"Take care of yourself Watanuki and try not to get into too much trouble," Yuuko advised in her same cryptic manner. He exited the shop closing the door quietly and nervously walked to the gate that served as the border of the barrier. Taking a deep breath, Watanuki exited and found himself on the main road once again. He began to walk home when suddenly, a hand grasped his shoulder causing Watanuki to yelp and yank out of the suspect's grasp. He turned around striking an awkward pose (almost as a type of strange martial arts stance) only to find Doumeki standing there with his archery bow in his other hand.
"What are you doing idiot?" He asked not even batting an eye at the strange position Watanuki was in. Watanuki literally collapsed to the ground face first as the fear gave way to relief but then turned to anger.
"THAT'S MY LINE! You scared me half to death! And what are you doing here anyway?" Watanuki snarled.
"What do you think? I'm here to walk you back home."
"I DIDN'T ASK FOR YOUR HELP!" Watanuki hollered before humphing as he stomped off down the road, Doumeki close behind. The two walked several blocks in silence as Watanuki's gaze shifted to and fro as he kept on his guard.
"Are we being followed?" Doumeki asked clenching his bow tightly, ready for whatever else would come at them.
"No, I don't see or feel anything," Watanuki responded feeling a great deal of relief. "So I guess you accompanying me home was more than enough seeing as how we managed to force it away," he admitted unenthusiastically.
"What do you mean 'we'?" Doumeki retorted. However before Watanuki could make a comeback, a strong pressure, much like the one from before, filled the air forcing both boys to stop in their tracks. As they looked around to see where the spirit was hiding, a tentacle shot out of the darkness striking Watanuki in the back and causing him to drop his briefcase and fall to the ground temporarily immobilized.
"Watanuki!" Doumeki said in alarm as he rushed to his side to help him to his feet. However he was blind sided by strong force that nearly sent him through a wooden fence. Injured he slowly looked up from the ground with a grimace as he saw a strange and quite large gargoyle-like creature with a flattened head and carrying a cage looming over him. Thinking fast Doumeki picked up his bow that lay beside him and shot a spirit arrow at the creature. It struck it square in the shoulder but seemed to do little damage. Doumeki tried again but this time the jellyfish-like spirit lashed out a tentacle that interrupted his attack and knocked the bow from his hands. It tried again as another tentacle lashed out at Doumeki but managed to avoid being hit. The gargoyle monster tried to get an attack in as well but missed also as the arm that held the cage smashed through the fence. Making a grab for his bow, he unleashed another spirit arrow that aimed for the jellyfish but it missed due to the said spirit's nimbleness. Clenching his teeth, he tried once more to attack the Gargoyle demon that decided to take another shot at him. However, the jellyfish ghost reacted before Doumeki could and slammed its body full force into the fence behind him. Doumeki let out an "oof" as he slumped down against the fence and dropped his bow as he was knocked out cold.
"D-Doumeki!" Watanuki shouted witnessing the whole thing. He tried to get to his feet to check on him but before he could even get off his knees, a tentacle wrapped around his torso trapping his arms at his side and lifting him off the ground.
"H-Hey! Let go of me!" Watanuki demanded groaning and struggling as he tried to get free from its grasp but failed. The jellyfish spirit turned to the gargoyle demon that raised its thick arm with the cage as the cage door swung open with a loud and rusty squeak. The jellyfish threw Watanuki into the cage as the door slammed shut and locked. Watanuki slumped down as his head spun from the impact on the bars and moaned trying to clear his vision of the stars that encircled his head. Without another word or sound, the two spirits/demons began to sink into the ground taking Watanuki with them as he shouted for help until they disappeared entirely. All was quiet on the now empty streets save for the stoic archer who continued to lay on the ground unconscious.