"Yes, what is it?"

Watanuki stopped dusting a nearby shelf and looked back at his employer, who was taking her tea today in the western-style room at the front of the shop.

"I didn't say anything, Yuko-san."

The dark-haired woman picked up her cup and took a pensive sip. "Not yet, but I can tell when something's bothering you. You've been very quiet today."

Watanuki lowered the duster. "I have?"

"Yes, Maru and Moro are concerned. Mokona says to check your temperature. I'm inclined to agree. Your chi flow has been off as of late."

Watanuki took a few steps towards the table, about to protest. He didn't feel sick, far from it, and he could work just fine. And as far as being quieter, well, how could she tell when he hadn't even been here for more than ten minutes? He'd only just arrived from school.

Watanuki wanted to take the defensive approach, but he knew deep down that Yuko-san could tell more about him in five seconds than most people could in a life-time. And so did Maru and Moro. And Mokona.

His spirit was as tangible to those in this shop as the furniture in this room, and if there was the slightest disturbance, it was only all too obvious to them. He couldn't exactly hide anything, and neither did he want to, because, in all honesty, he was troubled right now, and he always knew he could go to Yuko for help if he needed it. Though his trouble was…not the usual sort of trouble he always found himself in.

"I'm fine," Watanuki said, because he didn't want to worry them unnecessarily, "but…" He wrung the end of the duster, trying to figure out a way to put this.

Yuko glanced at the unoccupied seat across her and, taking her hint, Watanuki pulled the chair out and sat down.

It was difficult to start to explain his problem when he couldn't exactly put into words what was going on. Not to mention the embarrassment. Yes, very embarrassing.

But this had been bothering him ever since yesterday--longer than that. Bothering him since he and Doumeki had started to go out together. No, even longer than that. The first day they'd met. He could only now admit it.

"Um…" Watanuki wrung his hands and looked at Yuko bleakly. He didn't want to come out and say it, but neither did he want to keep this to himself when it was eating him alive. He wondered how he could ease into the subject. "I'm just curious but… does Yuko-san mind telling me about…" No, this was definitely not the route to take. Watanuki had only realized that after he'd said it, but he couldn't exactly take it back now. "Um," he cleared his throat, wrung his fingers some more, "Would Yuko-san mind telling me about her…first…kiss?" Painful. It was so painful hearing himself say those words. God, let him die of embarrassment now.

However, Yuko was handling his request much better than he expected. She didn't look surprised or even amused, only took another serious sip from her cup. "Hmm," she pondered, "it was such a long time ago. I can't say I remember the details too much."

"I don't need details. I don't really want details," Watanuki said quickly, since Yuko was like a… to him and he didn't need any mental pictures. "Just…the feeling. Like…" and this was going to sound weird, "was there possibly a pulling sensation involved?"

"He was pulling my arm—"

"NO!" Watanuki sliced the air, cutting her off at once. "That's not what I asked. Dear god, that's not what I asked."

Yuko smirked, appearing to regain her twisted sense of humor. She rested her chin in her hands and gazed at him across the table, like she was recalling it all. "Hmm, now that I notice it, you do look a bit like him—very pretty and fragile. I remember I would have to corner him to get any action."

Watanuki's head fell into his hands as he lost all hope for this conversation. "Yuko-san, you sound like a total and utter rapist."

"His sense of humor was horrible, though," she continued, despite Watanuki's comment that she was a rapist. "He was always laughing at his own jokes like they were funny."

"Yuko-san," Watanuki groaned, hoping she would stop with the TMI, "back to what I was saying…"

"Oh yes, the first kiss," she said, getting back to the point. "Well, as far as that went, it felt like a warm bottle of sake with somen noodles and—"

"Dammit, you're just telling me what you want for dinner!"

"How do you know? You weren't there."

"Yuko-san," he said indignantly. He was this close to going back to dusting. "Isn't there anything else you can tell me? Did it…did it feel…" and again, this was going to sound weird-- "like there was something forcing its way into you, or you had a clasp around your heart and it was squeezing really tight until you thought you might pass out, or—"

"That's quite detailed," the older woman said, raising an eyebrow. "But no, I don't think it felt quite like that. A first kiss is different for every person, though what words we use to explain that experience usually adds to the difference. In some way, we all experience the same thing, but…" Yuko-san stared at him, "I think you're forgetting something important."

"Important?"

"That you and Doumeki are both anomalies within this world, and that your interaction is bound to cause some strange phe—"

"Who said this had anything to do with Doumeki!" Watanuki shouted in horror.

Yuko stared at him like he was idiot, which he was, because he thought he could get through this conversation without revealing who the second guilty party was.

"As I was saying before," Yuko continued, like she wouldn't appreciate any more obvious interruptions, "you and Doumeki, while you both very much reside in the physical world, your bodies also operate on a spiritual level. Watanuki, you can draw spirits to yourself, and Doumeki, he can repel those spirits, and this is all done without any conscious effort.

"One who can draw and one who can repel… In the spiritual world, opposites have a tendency to move towards each other rather than in the other direction. However, keeping them stabilized when they occupy the same space is usually where the problem presents itself. There is actually a high magic potential for opposites. It's the reason why two mokonas were recreated for dimensional travel."

"I really don't like where you're going with this," Watanuki said, as he gazed uncertainly at his employer.

"You might not like it, but you need to be aware of it. Your meeting with Doumeki was no coincidence."

"I know, I know," Watanuki dismissed, as this song was getting old. "Hitsuzen, right?"

"I don't think you actually grasp the degree of the bond between you and Doumeki."

"I think I grasped it pretty well last night," Watanuki muttered to himself, resting his chin in his hand.

Yuko raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment. She only took a long sip out of her cup and then placed it down in that profound way she had with everything.

"What if I told you that Doumeki was created especially for you?"

It was Watanuki's turn to raise an eyebrow. "I'd ask Yuko-san if happy hour started a little earlier today than it usually does." He took her cup and sniffed it just in case. He'd so give her a good scolding if she was drinking before dinner. "Don't you think you're being a little too dramatic, Yuko-san. I mean, that's not how it works--people aren't created; they're born."

Yuko remained silent as she watched her young charge. She would have agreed with him if the perfect example of what she meant wasn't seated right in front of her, giving her a lecture about her word choice.

Watanuki was human, but he had also been created to take the place of Syaoran after he had left. And just as Watanuki's existence had been the result of another's, so too was Doumeki's. The archer was perfectly human, born to a mother and father, memories perfectly intact. One could not find any strange coincidences in his lineage that would tie Doumeki back to Watanuki. Clow had been careful about not leaving such clues behind in order to prevent Fei Wong Reed from finding Watanuki, as Doumeki was in no way protected by the magic that Clow had cast over Watanuki. He was free to the world, with no magic seals or defenses placed upon him, and that was how Clow had wanted it.

The Doumeki lineage was not connected to Clow or any of his lineage in any way. But their family tree was as spiritually impressive as Clow's in that many members of their clan became exorcists, mediums, and clairvoyants, though these spiritual gifts had a tendency to skip generations. It would hibernate in the blood of the person strong enough to carry it, for during that time of supposed dormancy was when the gift evolved and grew even more powerful, and then would be passed onto a body that was equally fit to utilize the power.

Doumeki's mother had been the carrier for her generation, but Doumeki was not the one fated to have that power. He was physically weak, and the gift was actually going to be passed down to the daughter who would have been born after Doumeki.

However, Watanuki's so-called 'birth' was around the corner, and Clow had needed another powerful existence to balance out his descendant's own powers.

He had not wanted to do it, but he had forced Doumeki's mother into labor earlier than expected, a month earlier, and had also forced the gift to be passed onto him, even though Doumeki was not a fit vessel, both physically and spiritually.

The premature birth, as well as other factors, had left Doumeki a weak child, but thankfully, Haruka had been there and had known how to deal with the problem accordingly. For the next few years he dressed Doumeki in girl's clothing as a way to make him stronger, but also to trick the gift into accepting him.

The small disturbance caused by Doumeki's birth in this dimension served as a warning for Watanuki's birth a month later, which given the amount of magic needed to carve an unnatural existence into this world's timeline, had sent ripples through an infinite number of dimensions and had alerted Fei Wong Reed to their plans.

Because Watanuki was being forced into existence, it made him an unstable presence within the human world, so even at the moment of his creation, his existence was already leaning towards the spiritual world.

He was between worlds, and to those in the spirit world, they saw him as a beacon, a way into the physical world. It also didn't help that Watanuki was a descendent of Clow and magic was in his blood. Any being with even an inkling of magical sense was drawn to Watanuki.

Clow understood how much trouble it would cause Watanuki, so he looked to the Doumeki clan, a clan known for their exorcists, as a way to weaken his own descendant's powers. Even when Watanuki was born his powers were weakened considerably because Doumeki simply existed. It would have been much worse for her young charge if he had not been born one of a pair.

"But doesn't it sound much more romantic when I put it like that," Yuko said, and had to restrain the sad smile that wanted to present itself at that moment. Watanuki would never know how much care had gone into his birth and how much Clow had loved him.

"Romantic," Watanuki laughed. "If Doumeki were created for me then you'd think he'd annoy me less. That jerk, you should have heard his ridiculous bento request for tomorrow. He even started repeating items. I think it's because…" Watanuki baulked at what he was about to say, then blushed beet red. He waved his hand away. "Well it's not important. Look you have me going off topic," Watanuki said with a bit of color remaining in his cheeks. "I asked you a simple question and yet again you deflect it with some nonsense and I'm back at square one." Watanuki slammed a hand on the table and some of the tea from Yuko's cup spilled onto the table-cloth. "I'll pay whatever price I need to pay to get my answer, if that's what you need to hear." Watanuki picked up a napkin and started scrubbing at the stain, his eyes nailing themselves to what his hand was doing and avoiding her gaze. "So…please Yuko-san, I would really appreciate a straight answer from you."

"You don't need to put it like that," Yuko said, taking another long sip. "I've been giving you advice this entire time, haven't I?"

"But…" Watanuki dropped the napkin. "But you're not actually being serious. I thought you were joking…or messing around with me. Right?" Watanuki asked hopefully. A part of him felt that the things happening between him and Doumeki, while they were intense and strange, were normal in their own way. He'd come to Yuko to validate that feeling, to put his mind at ease. An adult who had experience in such things would tell him 'it was perfectly normal' or 'don't worry about it.' Watanuki had wanted to hear those words from Yuko, and yet here she was, going on about the magic potential of opposites and things that Watanuki thought should not be in any way involved with him making out with Doumeki.

"Why would I give you worthless advice when you've come to me with a serious dilemma?" the dimensional witch asked, her face as serious as Watanuki had ever seen it.

Watanuki stared at Yuko with wide eyes. "What do you mean serious dilemma? I kiss Doumeki and it's suddenly a serious dilemma?! Sure it went on for longer than I'd planned, but that's not the point here and I think you should scratch that last part from the record." At this point Watanuki was past embarrassment. Yuko had freaked him out way too much with her 'serious dilemma' talk for him to worry about that.

"It counts as a serious dilemma when people can be hurt."

Watanuki started forward in his chair. "I-I would never hurt Doumeki! Sure he's an idiot with no manners and his face makes me so mad that I want to punch it every time he walks by, which sort of counts as hurting, but I…" Watanuki pressed a hand to his chest and looked Yuko deeply in the eyes, "I would never really hurt him."

"I know," Yuko replied with a small smile. "People hurt each other whether they want to or not. But that's not what I meant. The fact that you can and will hurt each other is none of my business, as that is between you and Doumeki. No, it becomes my business when others are hurt."

"What do you mean?" Watanuki asked, looking worried.

"I mean that you and Doumeki could pose a physical danger to others. You're not like other humans, Watanuki--I think you and he can both admit this without much trouble--and your interactions can have some…interesting results."

"P-puberty. It's just puberty," Watanuki said defensively, and wrapped his arms around himself. "My body's going through puberty. I can't help certain things."

"That could be the case, too," Yuko said. "It certainly doesn't help, but you have to realize that you and Doumeki are also interacting on a different level, one that can't be easily perceived by the eye. You don't seem to realize that as much as Doumeki affects you, you are also affecting him. He is able to suppress some of your latent powers, but he is only able to do so because you are drawing out more of his."

Watanuki's powers were directly connected to his emotional state. The more conflicted, the more nervous, the more fervent the emotion, the more ghosts he drew towards himself. And the more ghosts he drew towards himself, the stronger Doumeki's exorcist abilities had to become in order to overpower Watanuki's abilities and therefore keep the ghosts at bay.

Doumeki's exorcist powers were also connected to his emotional state. Clow had predicted that the heir of the Doumeki clan and his descendent would cross paths before the destined day. They were tied together by the strings of fate, and it was pulling them in the same direction whether they liked it or not. The heir of the Doumeki clan would take up his role as defender and protect his descendent. But over the past couple of years, Doumeki had become very protective of Watanuki in a way that neither Clow nor she had ever expected.

The sorcerer had not been pleased that he had to depend on another clan to protect a descendent. Clow had pride in his family lineage, so Yuko was not certain how he would have taken it if he had learned that the heir of one of the few rival clans of his family had started…well courting his descendent.

He might have made a joke about it, or he might have sulked for a day before going off to create some new invention. She was not sure. Clow had been such a whimsical head-case.

"So what?" Watanuki said. "How am I putting others in danger if this is just going on between the two of us? There's always been weird vibes between me and Doumeki. What's the difference now?" Ever since they'd met there was something about the archer that he could not quite put his finger on. The fact that he could not put his finger on it had made him irritated and uneasy about Doumeki whenever he came around. Yuko had said they were opposites and that tended to do something to the space around them (whatever that was supposed to mean), but why was it only becoming a problem now?

Yuko leered at him as she could read his mind. "The difference now is that you're doing H things when no one's around."

As she'd said before, Watanuki's powers were directly connected to his emotions. The more ardent the emotion, the stronger and the more unstable his powers grew. And there was possibly no emotion as troublesome for Watanuki as one based from romance. But what was worse was that he was riling Doumeki up along with him and making his exorcist powers unstable.

But while Watanuki's powers were inward-facing and had a habit of bringing misfortune on himself rather the people around him, Doumeki's was outward, and if it grew strong enough, it could manifest itself in the physical world.

"I can only tell you what you need to hear, as anymore would require a price. But what I can tell you is that you're riling Doumeki up and making his powers unstable. Your emotional state and the fact that you two are starting to become physical with each other is affecting both of your powers. It also doesn't help that Doumeki eats your cooking, you have Doumeki's blood in your veins, and you two share an eye. The connection makes it worse."

"W-what the hell are you talking about?!" Watanuki shouted, and gripped his head in alarm. "Worse? What's worse? And who's riling up who?!"

"I'm saying," Yuko said with a sigh, "that when in the future you and Doumeki become intimate," Watanuki made a 'eww' face at the word, "Doumeki's powers might start to manifest itself in the physical world, though luckily he needs a conduit to have this happen."

"Conduit?" Watanuki asked, as that sinking feeling in his stomach that usually foreshadowed trouble was acting up again.

"Think about it," Yuko said off-handedly, "Doumeki exorcises spirits with a bow and arrow, as did Haruka in his time. For Doumeki and his ancestors, the bow-and-arrow has served as a bridge to the spiritual world. But that bridge can go both ways."

"Yuko-san," Watanuki said, his voice starting to shake, "Doumeki…he has a tournament today."

Yuko put down her cup, wondering why her charge was suddenly so nervous. "If you haven't done anything with Doumeki before his tournament, then you have nothing to worry about, so put your mind at ease."

Watanuki stared at Yuko for a whole minute. Then he quietly got up from the table and sprinted for the door like his hair was on fire. He was hoping around in the genkan with one shoe on his foot when Yuko came to stand at the entrance.

"Bring Doumeki back here when you find him."

Watanuki nodded fiercely, hopping out the door with one shoe half-way on. "I will. I'll definitely—" then he stopped and hopped back. "Are we certain something like that could happen? It just doesn't seem likely. If you're playing a prank on me—"

"He could kill someone."

"Okay, I'm going," Watanuki said and nearly fell over himself trying to get out the front door.

When Watanuki reached Cross High, he was surprised to not see anyone milling around the entrance. The actual school seemed to be deserted, which was not a promising sign that things were okay.

Watanuki ran into an empty classroom, and was about to rightly freak out, when he heard voices and turned in time to see a few students running by the open window. They were heading towards the dojo, and Watanuki, running off pure instinct and fear (a potent combination), jumped out the window and followed after them. There were actually a lot of people in front of the dojo, too many for Watanuki to even imagine getting in through the front entrance.

What the hell was going on? When did all these people get school spirit?

He knew that a lot of students usually came out to these archery competitions because Doumeki was always winning, and, at the end of the day, it was nice to see your school make another school eat dirt-- but this was ridiculous.

Watanuki was about to tap a girl on the shoulder from his class and ask about the current situation when he heard a boy nearby say Doumeki's name. He turned in that direction, was about to inquire what about Doumeki and oh dear god let that horrible bastard be okay, but the din of the crowd was bombarding him with phrases, phrases that were making him even more nervous.

"Wish I could see."

"Upper-classmen prank."

"Sure to be expelled."

"Kaboom!"

Watanuki nearly cried out loud at that last part. Luckily a familiar face in the crowd was able to bring him back from his shock. "Himawari-chan!"

"Watanuki-kun!" She also looked very relieved to see him. "I'm so glad you're here. Doumeki-kun—"

Watanuki flinched upon hearing that name. He was so worried now that his heart felt like it was about to explode.

"I'm not sure what happened," she said, changing her tone as she noticed the stricken expression on his face. She tried to give him a reassuring smile. "Um, but I heard that Doumeki-kun's okay. They said he's in the boys' locker room."

"W-what happened?" Watanuki must have looked pale because she gave him a sympathetic smile.

"I kind of got here after the commotion, so I'm not sure. Sorry, Watanuki-kun. I wasn't much help." She put her hands together in apology and Watanuki waved it off.

"No, no, you were a lot of help. I just arrived but…" Watanuki glanced around them. "I think I have an idea of what happened." He turned back to his friend, "Sorry, I'll properly explain it to you later. That idiot's causing so much trouble today. Ah…I mean, well, I'm causing the trouble too. Ah, mou," Watanuki said in frustration. "I have to go, but I'll definitely explain. Definitely."

Doumeki's team-mates had pointed Watanuki in the direction of the small storage space at the back of the locker rooms, a place that Watanuki was all too familiar with for reasons that he did not want to disclose.

When he walked in, Doumeki was seated on one of the boxes and holding an ice-pack against one cheek.

"What the hell happened to you?!"

Doumeki shrugged. It was the understatement of the year.

Watanuki shut the door behind him and hurried over to the archer. "Are you okay? I don't even know what happened, and someone said something about you being expelled. That can't be true, right?"

Despite all the questions being flung at him, Doumeki continued to silently hold the ice-pack against his face.

"Doumeki?" Watanuki said as he came closer. "Hey—"

"I destroyed it."

Watanuki paused as he was about to take a seat on the box right in front of archer. "Huh?"

"The target. I destroyed it."

Watanuki sat back on the box with a frown. "Please tell me you just won the tournament and that's your annoying Doumeki-way of bragging about it."

"No, I mean I literally destroyed it."

Watanuki sighed and hung his head low. "That's what I thought." He raised his head. "How bad is it?"

Doumeki didn't question him on why he wasn't more shocked, but only continued on. "The target," he said, and Watanuki nodded along, grateful that the damage had been contained to just that.

"The two targets on either side of that target," Doumeki then added, and Watanuki blinked in surprise as he had not expected there to be more.

"A section of the concrete wall behind the three targets."

"What?!" Watanuki shouted in alarm.

"A tree."

WHAT THE HELL?! YOU'RE STILL LISTING STUFF?!" Watanuki panted, panic causing his breathing to go all over the place.

"Some floorboards at the dojo."

"Oh god," Watanuki dropped his head in his hands and prayed that Doumeki was at the end of the list.

"My bow. My glove. And the right sleeve of my keiko-gi."

When Watanuki remained with his head still in his hands, quietly contemplating what was to happen next, Doumeki chose that time to add: "I didn't destroy my arrow."

"BECAUSE IT WAS TOO BUSY DESTROYING EVERYTHING ELSE?!" Watanuki screamed, and didn't care if anyone heard him.

"I got disqualified," Doumeki said, and as small and beady as his eyes were, Watanuki still noticed it when they lowered to his hands.

Watanuki could honestly say that he had never felt bad for Doumeki. In fact he thought the other boy had it too good and therefore deserved no sympathy from the human race. So it was something of a surprise when, at that exact moment, he felt a pinprick of emotion towards the archer--whether it was sympathy or an ensuing heart-attack that had been brought about by years of accumulated shock was yet to be revealed.

He thought it might be a heart attack, or at least some physical trauma, because he was getting up before he could stop himself and sitting down next to Doumeki on the small box.

"Um…there, there," Watanuki said uncertainly, and patted Doumeki on the back. The archer turned to look at him. "I'm not sure what to say to you about being disqualified. I have a strong urge to laugh and tell you it's about damn time you lost a tournament." Watanuki narrowed his eyes in contemplation. "But then I can't proudly say you lost when you hit your target and two others along with it. Instead of being disqualified, I'd think you would have been given some kind of stupid plaque or something. I mean, dear god you destroyed—" Watanuki froze as Doumeki wrapped an arm around him and pulled him to his chest. "D-doumeki! Idiot, cut it out. There's no lock on that door, remember." That hadn't stopped them the last time but whoa that was completely off topic.

"In this situation you're supposed to console me," Doumeki said, and rested his face on his shoulder, like that was only natural.

"Console you? Then who's going to console me for getting involved with a super-idiot like you. No thanks." But despite his words, Watanuki rested a hand on the back of Doumeki's head. "And anyway, this is bad. It's the reason why we're in this trouble in the first place."

"Hmm," Doumeki said sleepily.

"Don't 'hmm' me you beady-eyed bastard. Why do you think you messed up the archery hall? It's because of what we…" Watanuki lowered his eyes. "It's because we…kissed in here before your stupid competition."

"So this place is haunted?"

"It has nothing to do with the place!" Watanuki said, and promptly shoved Doumeki's head off his shoulder. "You're such an idiot. I regret kissing you with my entire being and the being of other people too. I blame your archery uniform for my total lapse in sanity this evening," Watanuki muttered to himself as he turned away from Doumeki. He was glad it had been temporarily put out of commission. It was unnatural how cool Doumeki looked in that thing. How was he supposed to react? Not kiss him? He could do that, but that wasn't the point! He was not the one to blame in all of this.

He'd been bringing that idiot Doumeki a bento out of the kindness of his heart (plus he couldn't stick around for his tournament like he had promised because Yuko-san was fussing at him for a tea-party, so he thought a bento might make up for that). But nevermind what he'd just said, he'd been providing a service for the less fortunate, and when he had learned the whereabouts of his charity case, he'd gone to him and entered the locker-room, completely unaware of the trap that lay in wait.

Doumeki sometimes meditated in the storage room before a tournament. Watanuki was of the strong opinion that Doumeki's "meditating" was an excuse to slack off, so he was all too ready to catch the culprit in the act.

Doumeki had opened his eyes once he had walked in, and Watanuki had criticized him for his lack of concentration, to which Doumeki had replied that he would have to be deaf and blind to be able to concentrate when someone like him walked in. Of course that had started up one of their routine fights, and somewhere in the middle of that, Watanuki had handed over the bento with his explanation as to why he couldn't stick around. Of course he added that the only reason he would have shown up to Doumeki's dumb competition was to boo him and cheer for the other team. Then Doumeki had told him that he did not envy the other team if that were the case, and then they'd had another argument, which was not so much an argument as Watanuki shouting something unintelligible and Doumeki covering his ears with his hands.

Watanuki had thought it was good that they'd fallen back into their old routine. It had been kind of awkward this morning when Doumeki had come to his apartment. He'd not been able to look the archer in the face for the night he'd had, and Doumeki had also been more reticent than usual.

The archer had also shown up to his apartment looking a little frazzled: the hair in the back of his head was sticking out a bit, like he'd not slept quite right on it, and he'd also appeared restless.

Watanuki had wanted to ask what was wrong, but then he thought better of it. He'd not had such a great night either. He'd lain awake for the better part of it, staring up at the ceiling and trying to make all the feeling in his chest stop.

It was strange, but Watanuki had never felt so lonely or vulnerable as that night. It was like he'd gotten a taste of something that he had craved for his entire life, and now that it was gone, he ached for its return. It made him wonder what the hell was wrong with him.

Fortunately, night eventually turned into day and Watanuki could preoccupy himself with the menial tasks that came along with it. He and Doumeki had walked to school together, and then they'd gone their separate ways quietly.

After last night, something had changed between them, and it wasn't like they both didn't know it.

Watanuki, with his great powers of self-denial, could not even begin to rationalize what had happened. He wished he could, he wished he could make excuses for himself and his behavior last night, something like 'there was an unknown entity on Doumeki's face and he was only trying to get it for him—for about five minutes…and with his mouth—He'd been trying a different method for shutting Doumeki up; a ghost had possessed him; he'd tripped and his mouth had unfortunately landed on Doumeki's; he had an evil twin…

He'd not been able to concentrate in his first period, but by time his second period rolled around and the distance from Doumeki asserted itself, he didn't feel as restless. By lunch-time he felt okay, but he was still relieved when Himawari-chan had passed on the message to him that Doumeki was practicing for his tournament and couldn't make it for lunch.

He thought Doumeki might be avoiding him because he never missed lunch—the archer could be dying and the he would still use the last of strength to crawl towards the nearest bento. Watanuki did not know how he should feel about being avoided, but he thought it was fine since he was also avoiding Doumeki. Mutual avoidance was necessary in these circumstances. A little time to themselves would allow them to put their feelings in perspective.

Although, as startled and bewildered as he was over last night's proceedings, there was one thing that Watanuki was certain of:

He and Doumeki were most definitely going out now.

He'd told Doumeki that a 'testing-out phase' would be necessary if they were to become official. But seriously, who was he kidding? He was so attracted to Doumeki that he would have to be absolutely retarded to not accept that things had gotten serious. Even before any of this, things were already past serious between them.

The constant meetings.

The eye.

The blood.

Briefly Watanuki wondered why he and Doumeki had not started going out months ago. Or why he was only now noticing Doumeki's feelings for him.

Geez, and the archer had always been showing up out of nowhere and at absolutely the right moment, like a frickin' stalker.

A really good looking stalker.

But a stalker nonetheless.

Watanuki thought he would have to sit Doumeki down about his gloomy, stalkerish personality—and that really annoying way he ate crackers. He actually had a lot of things to criticize Doumeki about, and he'd really laid into him the moment he walked into that storage room. Once he'd closed the door behind him, Watanuki could almost feel the change, as if it were a tangible thing in his chest. He'd gone through the day feeling relatively calm, but once he'd stepped through that door he felt suddenly anxious and out of breath and annoyed. Terribly annoyed.

Antagonizing Doumeki had made the pressure in his chest abate some, but not like it used to--not for a long time now. It had made Watanuki extra nasty to the archer, and Doumeki had become a little irritated too; and they'd bitten back at each other—Watanuki in his fluctuating tones and Doumeki with his own darkening sarcastic replies— until the tension, slowly mounting ever since they'd found themselves in the same room together, had exploded in one swift and rather telling act.

It wasn't until five minutes later with them kissing and pawing at each other against the door that Watanuki had realized that they were really good at working each other up in other ways, too.

Doumeki had been the one to pull away, mentioning something about a tournament—Watanuki wasn't sure, his concentration had been elsewhere.

But of course, Doumeki still had his tournament, though the archer looked like he was in no state of mind to participate in said tournament. When they'd passed by the basin area, Doumeki had calmly walked up to one of the pipes, turned it on, and then just as calmly proceeded to duck his head under the cold running water.

The cold water, however, had not done its job of calming Doumeki down like he'd expected, because ten minutes later he'd gone onto destroy a good portion of the archery hall and get disqualified.

"Do you think you'll get expelled?" Watanuki asked nervously.

"The coach said it was a freak accident. A structural anomaly. It's not like anyone else in this school has mystical sight like you; all they saw was stuff disintegrating. My arrow didn't necessarily have to be cause."

"How the hell could anyone believe that's an accident?"

Doumeki shrugged. "They don't deal with it on a daily basis. How could they not see it as an accident, or a school prank for that matter. None of my teachers believed I was the type of person to pull a prank, so they let it go."

"Then why'd you get disqualified?"

Doumeki turned to look at him. "They didn't want to tempt fate."

Watanuki swallowed despite himself. "You're lucky they disqualified you. Geez, if you had to go again that would have been a disaster." He took the ice-pack from Doumeki and gently reapplied it to his cheek, noting the discolored skin. "And how'd you get this nasty bruise?"

"Flying debris."

Watanuki shook his head in disbelief at Doumeki's matter-of-fact tone in the face of the crazy crap that was coming out of his mouth. "I'm supposed to take you to Yuko-san's shop. Can you come with me or are the teachers not done with you?"

Doumeki stood up. "I think they wouldn't mind if I left the premises. They don't seem like they know what to do with me."

"I don't even know what to do with you either," Watanuki said, and stood up beside the archer. "Ah, but don't worry," he added quickly when he realized how it would sound to Doumeki. He grabbed the archer by the elbow, pulling him to the door. "I'm sure Yuko-san can fix this. I'm positive she can fix this, so don't you worry your stupid little head. You don't have much brain-cells to begin with, so save them for when I'm not around and can't help you." Watanuki patted Doumeki on the shoulder and smiled at him, feeling that he was getting much better at this consoling business.

He had always known that he would make a good boyfriend.