Watanuki blinked groggily. His muscles felt sore, stretched, and heavy. The light in the room was very low – nearly dusk. Awareness rushed back to him in a flurry and he sat upright quickly with alarm. "Shizuka!" He rolled to his side and was grateful to see said teenager sleeping soundly next to him on the oversized futon. His hands made fists in Doumeki's plain tan yukata and tugged. "Shizuka, wake up."

Doumeki's head rolled an inch to the side as he was rattled but otherwise did not move. "Shizuka!" Watanuki urged.

The sound of a shogi door slid open. Watanuki's head whipped around and saw Haruka's unassuming form enter the bedroom. "Ah, Kimihiro-kun. You are finally awake."

"Haruka-san!"

Doumeki's grandfather smiled and knelt on a cushion on the other side of his grandson. Judging by the crumpled state of the material it had been heavily used recently. "He won't wake up," Watanuki said in a small voice.

Haruka settled himself and smiled. "Ah, I'm not surprised. He's sedated right now. He should wake up in a few hours' time."

"Sedated, why?" Watanuki eased himself to fully sit upright.

Haruka brushed Doumeki's bangs away and checked his forehead. "We brought him home from surgery not long ago. He's still recovering from that."

Watanuki's blue eyes were wide. "Surgery?" He exclaimed with worry. "What happened?" His eyes searched Doumeki's form and noticed the thick bandages on his left leg.

"What is the last thing you remember, Kimihiro-kun?"

Watanuki mindlessly smoothed the material on Doumeki's chest. "I remember blacking out in the library. Shizuka was going to shoot the girl that had been possessed by the spirit. It wasn't her fault, and I asked him not to hurt her, but after that..." He frowned. "I only remember waking up just now after that."

"The girl is fine. The two of you were the only ones injured. The spirit shoved a bookcase on both of you and it broke Shizuka-kun's femur."

Guilt sat heavy and uncomfortable in Watanuki's stomach. His expression became stricken.

Haruka noticed the change of demeanor and frowned. "He saved your life, Kimihiro-kun. That spirit would have killed you had he not been right next to you in the library."

"He wouldn't have been injured if it wasn't for me. Everyone around me always gets hurt."

"That is not your fault."

"But, he would better off if-"

"Kimihiro," Haruka said. His voice was low and quiet and barely heard, but the tone made Watanuki stop mid-sentence. "Listen to me very well. My grandson loves you more than anything else in this world. He has chosen to protect you and keep you safe. He would rather be injured as long as you are alive." Haruka lit a rolled cigarette and puffed on the end of it. "The guilt you feel now would be nothing compared to the pain he would feel should something happen to you that he could have prevented. Allowing yourself to be hurt causes more damage to the people that love you than your body could ever experience."

"I-I'm sorry," Watanuki murmured, his head lowered. The idea that someone would choose their own welfare over his own was alien and unfamiliar, but he would try to swallow the guilt he felt if it meant keeping someone else happy. "I just... I feel so helpless and stupid. I'm just standing around like bait and there's nothing I can do to change anything..."

"This is the first time you've been attacked since being with my grandson, isn't it?"

Watanuki was relieved to hear Haruka's tone of voice go back to normal. "Yeah, I guess it is." Doumeki's yukata was no longer smooth because Watanuki's long fingers kept worrying at the material.

"There are some things I need to tell you about," Haruka said with a sight. "These things will be painful to hear, but they must be said."

Watanuki nodded and braced himself for the bad news, whatever it may be.

"This is not an ordinary spirit, or even something as powerful as a Hell Hound. It is much, much worse. There are only so many of these in the spirit world, and they are avoided like a plague. Shizuka is strong enough to protect you from nearly all other things, except for this."

The teenager gulped and swallowed thickly. He really needed some water. "Then what is it?"

Haruka paused and looked at his cigarette in quiet contemplation. The burning ashes were looking brighter and brighter in the darkening light. "These things have been called gods in ancient lore. They are very, very difficult to destroy." His fingers brought the cigarette to his lips and he breathed deeply. The smoke he exhaled curled up into the air like oil swirling in water. "This spirit in particular has been after you for a very long time. It is responsible for killing your parents."

"My parents!" Watanuki gasped. "But they died in a car accident!"

Haruka shook his head. "They died in a car, true, but it was not an accident. I looked at the pictures you allowed me to hold on to. The marks of this spirit were everywhere, along with the evidence of the spell your parents used just before they died."

"Spell?" His voice cracked. "You mean... they weren't..."

"They were far from normal," Haruka confirmed. "I recognize the spell they performed. They left massive damage on the spirit and enough protection to hide you from its sight for over a decade."

"Was it... was it just after me then? Or them too?" The thought of being responsible for his parents' death was nearly too much to bear.

Haruka tapped the excess ashes from his cigarette in a bowl next to his knees. Watanuki noticed there was already a large pile of old ashes there. How long had he been waiting by their bedside for one of them to wake up? "You likely inherited your abilities from your parents, either one or both of them. We can only assume that they were pestered by the spirit realm as well."

Watanuki exhaled slowly, clinging to the idea that his parents, the last and only family he'd never really known, did not die because of him. He found comfort in the way Doumeki's chest rose and fell steadily with breath under his trembling hands. "I see."

Haruka tamped his cigarette out in the ash tray. "Do you trust Shizuka, Kimihiro-kun?"

He looked up from Doumeki's still face to Haruka's tranquil one. "Of course I do."

The old man nodded and smiled at the response. "And do you love him?"

Watanuki blushed a little and ducked his head. He looked at Doumeki's still and stony faced expression as he slept. The oaf actually looked peaceful and quite tranquil. Really, Watanuki always imagined that someday he would end up with a beautiful girl to marry and make his own family. Having Doumeki saunter into his life with a big giant Oi had been almost too much to accept so suddenly. It would have been easy to be angry at him for ruining everything if the big jerk wasn't so honest and reliable and loving and downright dependable all the time. He was so sweet sometimes, despite being an uncivilized cretin, it nearly made Watanuki's teeth ache. Just a couple of days ago the shorter teenager realized Doumeki had eaten every last cookie he'd made despite the fact that Watanuki had forgotten to put in the sugar in the first batch. "...Yeah. I love him," he admitted at length, in a nearly whispered disbelief.

Haruka pulled a small velvet box out of the pocket of his temple robes. "We will need to take measures to protect you and make you both stronger. I do not know yet how to destroy this spirit, but I promise you that I will find a way."

"We all will, right, Haruka-san?" Watanuki asked. Haruka extended his hand out and the teenager accepted the offered box.

"We will indeed." He tapped a finger on the box in Watanuki's hand. "I am sorry to ask you to do this so early, but I believe it to be necessary. Please wear these, you and Shizuka-kun both."

Watanuki opened the box and looked at his parents' wedding rings. "What? These! Why?"

"There are wards written inside of them," Haruka explained. "Further proof of your parents' nature. They will protect you and help Shizuka exorcise spirits that try to harm you. However much these will help, please don't try to leave the temple grounds until the spirit is dead. Even with intimacy it was not enough to hide you." Haruka looked out the window, a crease growing across his forehead. "This spirit has been trying to break down the wards on the temple since we returned."

"It has?" Watanuki exclaimed. "Will it..."

Haruka chuckled. "No, don't worry about that. These are holy grounds, and no matter how much of a ruckus it makes it cannot enter."

The teenager sighed with relief and held his parents' wedding bands close. "I guess it's official now, isn't it? Are we supposed to have a wedding ceremony, too?" He asked a little sarcastically.

"If you want," Haruka grinned. "But it's not necessary." He looked at the velvet box and sighed. "I am glad I kept those for you when your parents were brought to the temple all those years ago."

"You were the priest for their funeral?" Watanuki asked. When Haruka nodded his head he felt wet tears slip down his cheeks. He was suddenly and thoroughly overcome by a flood of emotions at the admission. His chest had an ache so deep he felt it might never recover. "I..." he sniffed and rubbed his face." I'm so glad it was you." He held back a sob and felt his shoulders shake just a little. "Thank you... I'm so glad... so glad it was you." The tears that emerged felt like poison was being sucked from his body. The immense relief at the idea that the last person to handle his parents had been Haruka, kind and caring as he was, felt like an old wound had finally decided to close.

The old man's features softened and he placed a hand on the teenager's head. "You are more than welcome, Kimihiro-kun."

Watanuki gave him a watery smile and rubbed the last of the stubborn tears from his face.

"You should get some more sleep. Shizuka will wake up soon and I'm sure he's going to ask for a mountain of food."

"Ugh," Watanuki moaned brokenly through his sobs and lowered himself to lay back down. "Black hole for a stomach," he grumbled but could not keep the tiny smile from his lips.

Haruka laughed. "You're very cute, Kimihiro-kun."

Watanuki blushed hotly with wide eyes. "Eh? C-Cute?"

Haruka stood up and walked to the still open shogi door. "Rest well."

Watanuki hid his red face in Doumeki's chest. "Right," his muffled voice squeaked back.

. . . . . . . . .

Doumeki became aware that he was laying down on a familiar futon with a warm weight on his chest. He opened his eyes and saw only the darkness around him. It must be very late at night, he thought to himself.

Watanuki was curled up and tucked into his side, an arm and the side of his face draped across Doumeki's chest. The weight was comfortable and familiar in a very satisfying way. Doumeki brought his hand up and rubbed his fingers through his partner's fly away black hair. "Kimihiro."

When Doumeki got no response he rolled onto his side, careful of his bandaged leg, and hugged the other male to him to better see his face. "Kimihiro."

Blue eyes looked black as they opened in the partial moonlight that slipped in from the window. "Hnn... Shizuka?"

Doumeki cupped his cheek. "Are you awake?"

His face scrunched up in confusion. "What? Am I.. awake?" Watanuki pushed against the futon with his arms and lifted himself up partway. He looked down at Doumeki and glared in shock. "Am I awake? I am now you jerk! I was sleeping!"

The taller teenager shoved a finger in his ear. "Noisy."

"You're impossible!"

Doumeki's retort was cut off as his stomach growled very loudly. It was like listening to a wild animal caged right in the middle of them. "I'm hungry."

"Of course you're hungry! You're always hungry! Honestly, a guy can't get any rest with you." Watanuki fumbled with the blankets on him and tried to crawl out of the bed. He jostled the other by accident and Doumeki flopped right onto his back.

"Owe," Doumeki said, though he didn't really make it sound like he was in pain. "That was my leg."

Watanuki was back over him in an instant. "Don't move to your side like an idiot! Just stay there. You had surgery, for god's sake!" He furiously tucked the blanket around Doumeki and moved very carefully around his left leg. "Just stay here, I'll go make you something. It's like... three am! Making me cook so damned early..."

Hm. It was nice being fussed over, Doumeki realized. "I don't want to lay down anymore. I'm not tired. I want cha tea in the kitchen."

"What you want is a swift kick in the ass!" Watanuki got up and noticed a pair of crutches leaning against the wall in the bedroom. He moved them to lean against a desk and within easy reaching distance of the bed. "Come on, jerk. I'll help you up."

Getting up was tricky and difficult and included more than a few curses, but eventually Doumeki managed to become upright and hobbled his way down the hallway and into the kitchen behind Watanuki. He was so very grateful their kitchen had a western styled table with chairs he could sit in versus pillows to kneel on.

After a few minutes a hot pot of cha tea was set on the table with a set of cups. Doumeki watched as a cup was poured for him and set next to his folded hands on the table.

Watanuki looked like he was deliberating over something very important, his gaze flickering from the counter top to the table and back again. "Umm..."

Doumeki raised an eyebrow and wondered what was bothering him.

"Look, don't think this was my idea or anything..."

"...Kimihiro?"

A small velvet box was pushed across the table to him. "Just... put it on."

He nearly gasped in surprise when he opened it. "Your father's wedding band." He looked up at Watanuki's blushing face. "Are you sure?"

"Like I said, this wasn't my idea! Haruka-san said they're warded and will protect us. The only reason you're getting my father's ring instead of my mother's is that the stupid thing wouldn't fit on any of my fingers. It was too big."

Doumeki finally noticed the flash of gold on Watanuki's ring finger. Slowly, almost reverently, he lifted the ring and examined it. He could see delicately scrawled writing on the inside of the band. He tried it on his ring finger first and found it to be a perfect fit. A flush of warmth swept through his body that left a tingling of magic in its wake. "It's a powerful ring."

The other teenager walked back to the fridge and opened it. "You noticed it too, huh?"

"Yeah." He watched as Watanuki started preparing what looked to be a promising late night snack of onigiri and miso soup. "So when is our wedding?"

Watanuki twitched violently. "Don't be stupid! We are not doing that! You'd call me the wife, anyway, you jerk! I know the way your oafish brain works."

"You are a good wife," Doumeki said thoughtfully as he watched the light dance across the metal and gems of the wedding band on his finger.

"Case in point!"

"Can we at least have a wedding cake?"

"Gah!" Watanuki despaired over his now simmering pot of soup. "All you ever think about is food!"

"Did someone say food?"

Doumeki and Watanuki looked at the entrance to the kitchen as Akane stumbled her way in, still in her night robe and rubbing sleep from her eyes.

"I think I heard cake," Haruka said from behind his daughter. "I want a cake right now."

"With multi-colored frosting," Doumeki supplied helpfully.

"I... I..." Watanuki flailed. "It's three in the morning!"

Haruka and Akane sat at the table as well and helped themselves to tea. It looked like they'd both just woken up as well, likely from the noise in the kitchen. "Aah," Haruka agreed. "It's the perfect time for cake. We all skipped dinner last night."

Watanuki hung his head and pulled the flour and sugar from the cupboard. He was never going to get sleep at this rate.