Title: Alpha and Omega

Anime: xxxHolic

Pairings/Characters: dou/wata (it was slight earlier. Oh well). AND OMG THERE'S A HARIS/DOUME DEVELOPMENT. *head explodes* The usual cast and my OC characters; I don't know if I'm planning to add any more characters, heck, these people are good enough. 8D

Rating: T for now (because there will be blood and yaoi. Haha.)

Disclaimer: xxxHolic not mine. But I do own something, amen.

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Initiation

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Things like this rarely happen

And I don't want them to be

Will it continue, again and again?

Until our blind eyes can see?

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His head was buzzing with questions as he carefully attended to the unconscious Himawari, and the earlier events played on repeat in his mind. He was greatly shaken when he saw Haris treating Watanuki like that; much more was he when Watanuki had started to hack violently enough to cause him to tremble himself. But then, it frightened him to a certain point when Watanuki's coughs did cease, only to be replaced by an eerie smile. He didn't even bother to say anything.

Doumeki hauled Himawari to his arms, his mind wandering as he left the school building. He was planning to drop Himawari to a hospital, and phone her parents, before he would confront Haris in her home. What the girl had done was a tad too much, yes, but he couldn't blame her. Indeed, there was something wrong with Watanuki. But what was causing this?

"Oh, Kunogi!" Her mother sobbed as she hugged the said girl's sleeping figure on the hospital bed later on, with Doumeki being profusely thanked by the father.

"It's nothing," was all Doumeki said, and her father did not bother to ask what happened, just as she was alright. And so far, she was doing okay.

Doumeki left as soon as Kunogi's dad turned towards his daughter, his body on auto-pilot all the way. It was something he was used to be; he rarely had time to pay attention to everyday life, now that Watanuki was in obvious trouble, and now that something he had not felt for some time bubbled in his stomach.

It was anger. He was sure of it. He realized how much he disliked Haris Manson, especially the way she had always made it appear that things were under control; the way she would assess every situation with the same stoic facade as he did, but hers was more cold, more obscure; hated the way she hid her weaknesses, and the way she left people hanging with questions in their minds. Doumeki seriously thought she needed to develop some sort of social life.

But well. Haris had not experienced the things he did. Sure she was an exorcist with her sister and Vinx, but Haris had never felt the things he did right now, nor did she- and how she- could understand the nagging feeling of doubt and worry. He'd almost died for Watanuki plenty of times- he had given up his eye, his blood, and until now had been prepared to give up his own life just to see Watanuki's smile. And though Doumeki wasn't the type to judge other people, the theory of Haris not being human was imprinted in his mind, what with all the emotional lack she wore around her.

But Haris was a woman, a female; even she deserved love, one way or another. It was nice to know that she had her twin and pet to be with her; in fact, it was much better that way, since they controlled Haris- somewhat- to keep her from breaking through her human limits.

And perhaps the gods were mocking him, for as he arrived before the family shrine, he had before him a bloody and battered Haris Manson, just as beaten and helpless as he had wished her to be, plus the blood.

She had her baseball bat clutched in one hand, though it lacked its usual shine; there were teeth marks dented into the smooth wood, which in itself did not look like wood at all, being covered in dark crimson liquid. His golden eyes rose to take in the rest of her bruised and wounded arm, skipping over the long gashes without wincing, following the long scrapes on her slender neck, onto the indistinguishable Haris Manson. Her hair was messed up, spiky auburn standing unlike any other; her face was paler than usual with much emotion oddly visible, one of which he was partly glad to recognize as pain. What alarmed him the most, though, were her eyes.

Swimming within it were fear and longing, and he knew she's seen him. Oh gods, she looked pathetic- so much that he almost twitched to make a move to help her. A twitch.

As he made a move to reach his bow, his attention moved from the girl to the monsters that stood in a group before her. There was a whole pack of spirit wolves, with the pack leader- the largest- covered in blood, and a hungry look in its eyes. Doumeki held his gaze with it, each daring the other to back down, when he quickly whipped to fire his spirit arrows.

Haris had gotten to her feet by the time he released his arrow, and suddenly the wolves were everywhere. Amidst all the growls and attacks he had to dodge, he looked for the wounded girl- almost cursing her stubbornness- and he had to fire at another two wolves after kicking one away. There was a scream, a yelp, and then a loud thud- and Doumeki turned, wishing it was Haris who stood tall and triumphant from the impact, but that was hardly the reason.

The wolf stepped over her motionless body, limping slightly- and Doumeki could see that his friend had somewhat injured the pack leader, but at what cost? He could hardly believe that the boneless lump on the floor was the said girl. Panting a bit in effort, he fired one last arrow at the leader- and, with it being wounded enough, collapsed to the floor and disappeared into mist.

The rest of the wolves followed suit until what was left was a much disheveled Doumeki and a seemingly lifeless Haris.

Quickly, Doumeki gathered the girl in his arms before hurrying towards the family shrine. It was only yesterday had he dressed and had someone healed in the very room; Doumeki frowned at the fact that the person who had been here was in better terms with him, rather than the girl sleeping on an arranged futon. As earlier, Doumeki was still infuriated slightly with Haris, and though he wasn't the kind who'd pick on the weak or on anyone at all, he didn't feel as dedicated and as alarmed as he had with Watanuki. Besides, Haris was a strong girl, and Watanuki was...well, Watanuki.

When he finished dressing her arms and neck, he noticed the blood that stained her back, from the start of her nape towards her hips. Frowning, he eased her of her clothes- careful not to see anything else- and treated the gash too, which wasn't deep enough to be a fatal wound, but bad enough that it bled a lot.

Once he was done, Haris Manson was covered in bandages, even the whole of her torso (wherein Doumeki was looking nowhere else but forward as he wrapped it around her breasts). If anything else, she was also clothed in a simple spare yukata he had in his room. Beneath the bed spreads and blankets, though, none of such 'views' was to be seen- all there was to see was Haris' peaceful face in slumber, lips parted in her bliss.

Doumeki was, to be honest, surprised and in awe at the unfamiliarity of it all, with Haris being injured like that, and for her to look...this human.

He hated it.

Her eyelids fluttered open, meeting his gaze, and for a while he could see panic swim in her eyes, replaced by fatigue and what seemed to be pain. She raised an arm to cover her face, just so she could shield herself from him, cursing inwardly at something Doumeki was sure was her weakness.

And so he let her cover herself up in blankets, allowed her to squirm uncomfortably beneath, and to clench and tug at the futon. He even did so with his head turned away, but then she wasn't aware of that, probably. An awkward silence fell between them.

"What happened?" He asked first, breaking the enchantment.

Haris turned her head away, and he could hear a soft rustling of fabric; he approached her huddled form and saw that she had burrowed her face into the pillow. "I was looking for something to help Watanuki-kun with." she whispered, and since it was barely enough for him to hear, he had leaned over her as she said so.

Haris noticed the change of temperature and the presence of body heat. She stiffened at this, but Doumeki seemed unaware of his actions, too caught up with wanting to keep Watanuki from harm. "Did you find anything?" he breathed, dangerously close to his ear.

Haris made a movement to sit up, causing Doumeki to lean back. As she did, she slightly swayed before he grabbed her arms to hold her stable. As he had thought, Haris was still human.

He decided to repeat his question. "Did you find anything, Haris?"

She shook her head, but then suddenly everything brought pain, and she tumbled into his arms.

Doumeki was surprised at this, and he held her at an arm's length with good support and searching eyes. Something warm started to pool in his stomach, and he bit his lips and frowned even more as he realized that Haris was not to be treated this way in her situation.

He carefully lay her down on the futon again, and something stirred again as she moved her head, causing her auburn locks to spread on the pillow. Oh gods, it was blinding him, whatever it was. He kept his gaze on his female companion, his outer facade still an unreadable mask, though inside he was starting to go hysterical, at the emotions welling up inside him, at Haris, and at how crude everything was.

Haris opened her eyes again and stared up at the archer, her hazel orbs half-lidded in pain. She arched her back as another spammed through her body, and as she jerked she saw Doumeki stir away and repositioned himself directly above her, his two hands clutching at her wrists. She was panting when he did so, sweat and tears trailing her cheeks.

Doumeki frowned at her even more, pulling her up to him until she was leaning on his chest, and she thought he was going to pat her back and soothe the pain. But she knew he wasn't meaning any affectionate gesture. He trailed his fingers along the bandages adorning her back, causing her to moan again, and Doumeki clenched his teeth at that. What the hell was paining her so much anyway?

"There's a scar," he stated, something to get him out of the brink of insanity.

The pain surged again, and she bit his shoulder to stop herself from crying out. She could feel Doumeki stiffen and she knew he was greatly uncomfortable, but she was selfish, and she didn't really care if he was okay or not. Like this.

There had always been something fascinating about Doumeki Shizuka, and she had long wanted to know what it was, and how special it could be. Scratch the fact that they were strangely alike- she hadn't met anyone like her before, true, but now that she did she wasn't enjoying it that much- and though she hated the fact that he was a man and that he was obviously tougher than she was, and that he never moaned or cry this way in pain, well. She probably was a masochist after taking so much damage from her sister for so long.

"Don't move so much," she heard him whisper, and gently she was laid back again on the futon, but this time, her back did not hurt so much anymore.

Haris smiled at him rather lazily, her hands beside her head. "I'm still a woman, Doumeki." she said, making another attempt to sit up, where Doumeki kept her down by leaning over her and placing defiant hands on her thin arms. "I told you; don't move."

They stayed like that for a while, staring each other down, until finally Haris had looked away. The girl looked so different this way, and he wondered idly if this was a side Haris had rarely put out with somebody else, and if he was sort of special to actually witness it. Doumeki took note of the color that decorated her face, and the slight tremble in her voice as she spoke, and felt himself shudder at the mere unfamiliarity of it all; "I have a 'friend' in Florida who has...certain acids."

"Hn." he couldn't think of anything else to say, and just decided to fill the momentary gap.

"I was planning to visit tomorrow," she continued, and Doumeki's eyes widened, though that was the only thing she noticed. "Perhaps he has something that would do well for Watanuki."

"What's wrong with Watanuki?"

Her eyebrows met in a disturbed manner, with her eyes looking away, and her mouth set in a disapproving line. The way he immediately asked about the spirit seer only pissed her off, and though it was rare for her to show her emotions, she couldn't help but do so in front of Doumeki. And the fact that he was worrying about...well, it pissed her off. She had only met Doumeki after a few days, and until now she had struggled to keep herself from falling before him like this, but then the inevitable was a bitch; not only did she found herself actually accepting Doumeki into her confined heart, she even allowed herself to look so pathetic in front of him. What's not meant to be is not what's meant to be- period.

She had to get out of here.

Squirming, she moved her hands and shook her head, successfully being freed in the end. He let her go rather reluctantly, though, and as his fingers lingered over her wrists, she felt herself moan involuntarily.

"Sorry," he said quietly, pushing himself up and sitting at her side.

She wanted to mentally kick herself.

"I have to go," she was standing now, half-limping to gather her bearings, all the while ignoring his gaze. She picked the broken baseball bat up, frowning, before tossing it to the floor; "I have to prepare for tomorrow's flight."

She felt something warm and tight around her wrist once she made a move to turn towards the door, making her stop at a full halt.

"You shouldn't be traveling alone in your condition."

True. The ground still threatened to sway in her vision, and sometimes her limbs would hurt a bit, but not as much as the gashes hidden beneath the many bandages. She thought of all the similar scenarios wherein she had always needed to go away, but nobody had bothered to stop her completely- perhaps a fleeting look or two, and then nothing.

Oh, how she wanted to hit him.

"I'll be fine," it was the same thing she had told the others.

There was a rustle of fabric, and soft tugs at her arm. All the while, she kept from looking behind her, but she trembled slightly once the words she never thought of hearing entered her ears.

"Yuuko will take good care of Watanuki. I'm coming with you."

-

A/N: You know, I don't mind being chased by an angry mob. Maybe it'd prove fun even. xD Sorry about this really weird chapter. I was dying while I wrote it. And somehow, the plot bunnies are starting to disappear. NO! I can't let that be!!! Dx OMG MY READERS SAVE MEEEE *dies*

Anyway, Haris is acting like a total fangirl. (that's what I think) She's supposed to be this way, and blah blah, but NO, there will be nothing more than that. I want yaoi, you guys want yaoi. We're all happy. xD

And I'm really sorry it's short. DX I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS- I'M LOSING IT. Unless I really am, please say it isn't so. I want to drown in expensive wine now. xD

BUT THERE WILL BE A CHAPTER SEVEN. See you all soon, and thanks so much to those who had read and reviewed and faved and stood by The Alpha and the Omega till now. WE WILL MEET THE END, I SWEAR TO IT. AMEN. xD

On a side note: There are times when the poems are sucky. I know. I just need someone to rub it in my face.