Warnings: slash, crude language, aimless

Disclaimers: I do not own xxxHOLiC or the associated characters; they belong to the ever-so-wonder CLAMP and associates, of which I am not one (sadly). Written for violet-phoenix-rose's Calendar Challenge on HPFC.

Mutsuki: Affection

Doumeki did his best not to sigh as yet another girl presented him with yet another box of homemade chocolates. He had a bag of them already, and he suspected he would need another by the day's end. Hopefully, this Valentine's Day would be as disastrous as the last, but... well, he wouldn't bet on it. Having his soul stolen so a spirit could give Watanuki a gift was not something he wanted to go through again.

This box, he noted, had some cheesy line written on the front. "I don't want to be your whole life – just your favorite part." Well, he could agree to the first part, but he didn't even know this girl. Still, he kept his face straight. (1)

He bid the girl a happy Valentine's Day – she blushed a brilliant shade of red – before heading to the hill where he usually ate lunch with Watanuki and Kunogi. He had requested takoyaki, but he doubted if Watanuki had actually made any.

A large bento was thrust his way as usual, Watanuki's face in an annoyed scowl, also as usual. Though he looked more sour than usual; probably because this was the second Valentine's Day running that Kunogi hadn't come, and whatever chocolate treat he had made for the girl would be left uneaten. Doumeki would eat it if Watanuki let him, but the tupperware was probably locked up tighter than Fort Knox after last year, so the chances of that were slim.

Settling down with his lunch, Doumeki noted the usual flair that was always in Watanuki's food. Just a bit saltier than the recipe called for, the rice just a bit sticker, and, though there was no takoyaki, it was all delicious. Just like any meal Watanuki made, there was nothing really wrong with it, aside from the cabbage. He didn't like cabbage, but since Watanuki made it, he ate it anyway.

He noticed suddenly that Watanuki was glaring in his direction, a bit to the right... at the chocolates.

"Did you want some?" Doumeki asked calmly, biting into one of the few remaining onigiri in his bento. He expected Watanuki to flail or something, since he was generally quite violent in his denial of just about anything really.

"No; after having Home Economics with them, I wouldn't trust the cooking of half the girls in this school anyway," Watanuki wrinkled his nose, still glaring at the bag.

Doumeki nodded his assent. "Me either." The fact that they were agreeing on something – or, rather, that Watanuki was allowing himself to agree with Doumeki, since he wasn't vehemently denying his own comment – was very rare indeed.

They didn't speak anymore, both eating their lunch, the occasional disdainful glance being sent at the chocolate bag and the few girls who came to add to it. When the warning bell rang, they both got up, and they even said good-bye to each other.

Doumeki was still wondering at the strangeness of it when he got to his classroom where several new packages of chocolate awaited him. One in particular caught his eye; the butterfly wrapping was a bit obvious.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Doumeki-kun! I hope you enjoy the chocolates Watanuki made!

- Yuuko"

Well, at least one package of chocolates would be eaten today.

Author's Note: 'tis no longer than it needs to be. I honestly have very little idea of where I'm going with this... it might end up not even really being romance. Dunno.

(1) Added after I realized I forgot to add the quote for this chapter... ehheh...