Title: Alpha and Omega

Anime: xxxHolic

Pairings/Characters: dou/wata; a one-sided dou/haris; 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 (should I raise it now? Oh well, the blood isn't that bad. xD)

Disclaimer: I only own what's mine; xxxHolic, sadly, is not one of them. And oh, those are the lyrics to the Muse's 'Hysteria' because I'm too lazy to come up with a poem. xD

-

Hysteria

-

It's holding me, morphing me

And forcing me to strive

To be endlessly cold within

And dreaming I'm alive

-

It's been a day since Doumeki had last dropped by with Watanuki behind him, telling her to watch over the said spirit seer while he was gone to find something important. As the sun finally set over the horizon, she brought the sake dish to her lips in deep thought.

Whenever she was supposed to take care or to watch over Watanuki Kimihiro, she would have kept on annoying him until he would scream his voice hoarse. Watanuki was predictable and extremely entertaining when angry, what with the cat-like flailing and endless string of words that sometimes meant nothing at all.

She was used to hearing endless of complains from her employee, especially when it came to food and alcohol. Sometimes he never complained, of course, he had his days- but such was only because he was sulking or he had given up reprimanding her. So now, as she sat lavishly upon her divan with sake in hand, she frowned at the silhouette of her employee who was once again heading to the kitchen with nothing more than a smile to bid her so.

The smile, in itself, was creepy. It wasn't his usual smile, the one that was glaringly Watanuki, complete with sparkles and twirls and other frilly stuff (the special effects were probably reserved for Himawari), or the one that was just...him. Watanuki had a nice smile, and she could clearly picture it in her mind even as the alcohol had started to get on her consciousness. Ah yes, Watanuki had a nice smile.

She raised her arm with sake in hand, and called upon Watanuki once more. He walked over to her and took the bottle, before disappearing again into the kitchen. She blinked in surprise at first, but her expression changed immediately to sulky. She didn't like the Watanuki before her.

Of course she was aware that Watanuki wasn't himself, and that there's something hiding within him. He's not possessed, but he might as well be, and she longed to hold his chin and reach into his throat and see for herself-

Her fingers close around the small disk in her hand, and she sighed somewhat exasperatedly as she sank further into the mass of pillows supporting her. There was nothing else she could do while Doumeki was away. All she could do was make sure he was safe and in her hands before Doumeki and Haris could return with an antidote to save him.

Yuuko had her hair all over the place in a very elegant manner, as she was always. Her clothes were scattered too- in such a way that it hinted a bit of daring thigh, or a supple cleavage line, but nothing more than that. Sometimes. Kimonos were common for her, with intricate designs lasting and different each and every time, often implying some hidden message to those who saw it. The one today was decorated with hydrangea blossoms and spider webs- and she gave out a knowing smile of her own towards Mokona, who smiled back.

It was her job to always know something whereas others do not. She was the dimensional witch- it came with the booze and lasting beauty, period.

The disk in her hand was small and empty, even as she brought it to her lips. She was almost going to call him again when her employee returned with the filled bottle of sake, and only giving her a slight nod after handing it over, which Yuuko frowned over once more. She had kept Watanuki by her side for numerous reasons- and besides that of affection, concern, duty and whatnot, there was whim. Watanuki was noisy and complacent; he flailed and ranted whenever he could, for it was one way of showing his concern over someone really stubborn and...well, someone who usually never really listened, or those who stepped onto his tail (and here Yuuko snickers to herself). With Watanuki so sober and creepy, things were just pissing her off.

"Watanuki, may I have a word with you?" she asked, raising her arm holding the sake dish; She was hardly in the mood for anymore silence and spazzed-less drinking, so she decided it'd be better if she'd at least try to change something.

It didn't work. Watanuki turned away and walked back ceremoniously into the kitchen without a word, and Yuuko longed to hurl a sake bottle at him. Even Mokona was staring with disbelief.

She lowered her hand onto her lap and was surprised when something long and furry slithered up her arm. Mugetsu made its way towards her cheek, nuzzling a bit, and Yuuko understood the message; "He doesn't want you on his shoulder, is it?" she asked softly.

The pipe fox nodded, resting its head on her shoulder, and she could almost hear it sigh.

Things were getting a little out of hand.

-

Watanuki wasn't sure what was controlling him or how, but his movements were all on its own, and whenever he tried for himself, his body wouldn't respond. It honestly panicked him a little, especially when he had to leave Doumeki on the rooftop, and even now with Yuuko...he inwardly frowned as he lay on the futon. At least whatever controlling him was thinking along the same lines as he was.

Oh, how he wanted to stretch his arms.

There was another voice in his head, presumably the one controlling him. It was low and scratchy, something that sounded like nails down a blackboard, and it actually hissed- like a snake or something else, he's never really sure. It rarely talked to him, rather it rarely talked at all, even if he would rant and flail noisily in his head- or whatever he was trying to achieve- the 'thing' would not even say a word about him.

At least it wasn't tiring. Watanuki could just float and watch his body do all the cleaning and the cooking, and wouldn't be affected by any of it. Though Yuuko's drinking was still getting to his nerves (it always did), at least he didn't have to sweat out to bring her more sake and snacks to go along with it. At least his body wasn't doing anything shameful or dangerous, and well. It couldn't get any better than that.

You have another thing coming, boy.

Watanuki was surprised to hear the thing's voice now that he had decided to rest (in the dark corners of his brain). He turned around, trying to catch a glimpse of the intruder's face, when suddenly there was a wave of pain coming from his body's left arm. Watanuki could always feel the pain, that much was true, so he decided it best to find out where the sensation came from, and why it hurt so much.

His body had somewhat gotten hold of a pair of nail clippers and was now using it to rake his arm.

"Stop it!" He screamed into the darkness as the pain continued to assault him. "Oh god, stop it! The blood...it's everywhere!"

You've not seen anything yet.

"Aah..." Watanuki's eyes blurred. "Stop..."

He was wholly back in his body again, where he could feel the full blow of pain, and he struggled to go back to the semi- unconsciousness to no avail. He was going to lose so much blood if this continued, and he could feel tears sliding down his cheeks now as his hand continued to mutilate his arm. He wasn't sure if he was screaming, but it felt like he was, and he couldn't even hear the door behind him open and the rushed footsteps inside.

And everything went dark.

-

It took Yuuko a moment or two to remember how to breathe.

She had burst into the room with a set face, throwing a damp towel laden with salt onto the arm Watanuki was using to injure himself with, which immediately tore an unpleasant scream from the spirit seer's throat before finally subsiding the dangerous activity. The nail clippers fell to the floor with a resounding thump, and Mokona quickly walked over to it to take it away. Yuuko closed her eyes against the blinding color of fresh blood, frowning deliberately at the smell of it. This wasn't exactly the first time she had seen Watanuki in such a state; with his being 'popular' in the other world, he was always bound to come up bloody and beaten on her footsteps.

But the sight before her right now somehow made her stomach churn- she opened her eyes with a steady breath to figure out how to fix him up- the layers of bloody skin was peeled back to reveal glistening red muscle tissues beneath, with the gashes uneven and somewhat scattered on his arm. The blood flowed freely from the open wounds onto the tatami mats on the floor, staining them- and drenching Watanuki's white pajamas with the same red color. The hand responsible for the crime lay at the side, also stained with blood. Yuuko averted her gaze and turned towards Watanuki's face, and closed her eyes at the angst building up inside her. She couldn't bear see his suffering tear-stained face.

With a slight nod at the worrying Maru and Moro, and of course the black manjuu, they set out to work to clean and dress the wounds.

-

The next day wasn't any better.

Watanuki, bandaged up and standing, didn't differ from how he was yesterday. He still met the Dimensional witch's orders of alcohol and food with the same blank look, as if nothing had happened last night. His left arm was a tad weaker, though, and a whole lot fragile-looking; Yuuko wondered if Watanuki was planning to harm it again, or any other part of him, for the matter.

But as he bent to pick up the empty beer bottles on the floor, Yuuko immediately held his thin wrist, causing the boy to look up. "Are you alright?" she asked.

Watanuki's lips twitched before curving up into a smile. Yuuko's grip slackened, surprised and unnerved, and the possessed spirit seer tugged his hand from her grip and was soon walking back into the kitchen.

Yuuko stared off after him, worry etched on her face.

"Watanuki is so scary!" The twins say in unison behind her.

-

Along with the beauty and the booze was the lot of rare artifacts to keep.

Yuuko knelt on the dusty floor of the storage room, a stack of tarot cards in hand. They weren't just ordinary tarot cards, of course (Yuuko had made sure of that), and as she shuffled the deck in her hands, she chanted under her breath. She then carefully laid a card after another into a circular form, all the while with Watanuki's full name on her lips, and when she finished, the atmosphere had turned darker.

She then opened each card that was positioned on the four points of the circle, respectively the north, east, west, and south, and carefully she bent down to read what the tarot cards had to say.

Destruction to one's self and to others.

Despair and endless troubles and doubts.

Delirium and the brink of insanity, filled with tension and uncertainty.

And lastly,

Death.

It wasn't a good stack at all.

-

Watanuki's skin was cold.

It was so cold. It was soft and somewhat unblemished, but rather than being quite warm to the fingers, it made her feel like she was touching the face that of a dead man. Or, less morbidly, a porcelain doll.

His eyes didn't differ from the comparison. They were dull and void, the usual brilliant shine that was certainly Watanuki drained out. They were glassy, and Yuuko could see herself reflected back at her and with all the similarities of her employee to a lifeless doll unnerving her, she pursed her lips and frowned at the additional immobility of the boy in her arms.

They were on the divan, with Watanuki lying on her lap, facing up. She had his face in her hand, with her eyes aligned with his chin, the same way his features were positioned with the way he was lying down. Her hair was sprinkled gently on his chest, forming a curtain to hide their close proximity.

There was no hidden malice, of course. Yuuko positioned them both this way not because she was planning to do something with a boy way out of her league, but because she was used to fleeting gestures and teasing glances- and the fact that she was very concerned with the boy.

It was not a difficult task either to get him on her lap. He was strangely obedient recently- and though that meant she could get things easily now, there was no joy or challenge at all. Watanuki had staggered a bit, but he did not protest, even if she had started peering into his face.

She was going to push back the hair that got into the boy's face when suddenly, he spoke.

"It's too late," he says in a low and threatening voice, very much unlike Watanuki's own.

Then he stood up and left through the front door.

Yuuko had never looked so helpless.

-

Iris was used to walking home at night. Though she wasn't as tough as her twin sister, she had the ability to repel the spirits that littered the streets. Sometimes she would need Vine with her, but the poor beast was hungry and was out hunting, so tonight she had to get home by herself.

It's been two days since Haris had left with Doumeki to Canada, and during the time Iris had been pretty lonely at home. She tried calling Himawari parents the other day, hoping to ask about her friend, but all Himawari father said was that they weren't sure if Himawari was going to be fine or not, but there were no fatal injuries at all, and she was still recovering. She had been delighted by this, of course, but she was still lonely. Even Watanuki seemed a little off recently, and he was staying with Yuuko at her shop, a shop she couldn't find.

Suddenly, a high-pitched scream echoed from further down the streets, causing Iris to jump a bit. She stared for a while towards the sound, hesitating, but after a while she took off towards the crime.

It was Watanuki.

In the darkness, all she could see was the boy's lean back, and the faint colors of something red on his sleeves. She approached him slowly, gingerly touching his shoulder as she reached him.

"Watanuki-"

A car passed; the light came in briefly, but at the short period she caught sight of the scene Watanuki was facing.

There was a body sprawled on the floor, bloody and mutilated, and the red liquid slithering down the walls and pooling before Watanuki's feet. There was a pair of garden shears in the spirit seer's other hand, all rusted and stained with the same liquid, but what scared her most was the expression on her friend's face.

He was smiling. Oh gods, Watanuki was smiling. He must've taken the shears from Yuuko's garden before committing murder, and oh, he was enjoying it.

He had started to turn and his bi-colored eyes met her own hazel orbs, and as he made a movement to hold her in place, she screamed before turning on her heel to escape. If Watanuki could enjoy something as bloody as this, how much more would he to a friend?

Watanuki, though, stayed where he was, still grinning. He didn't need to kill Iris yet. All he needed was a little nudge, a tip- off- something to attract Haris' and Doumeki's attention.

He leaned on the wall, bringing his bloody hand to his lips. The tip-off has been given. It's time to begin.

-

A/N: OMG IT'S OVER. Well, this chapter is. xD Sorry if there's no elaborative pairings here, I needed some space for the blood. Anyway, reviews and comments are welcome as always- I hope I've done Yuuko some justice. ._. I mean, I haven't properly written as her yet, amen. xD