Author's Note:

Holy Reviews, Batman! I don't think I've ever received more reviews for an xxxHolic fanfic chapter than I did for the last one. I'm glad everyone enjoyed it! As a treat for such wonderful feedback, here's a new chapter right away!

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Haruka walked down the crowded hallway of the hospital to the room one of the receptionists had told him Watanuki and Doumeki were in. After the very troubling phone call from the school, followed by a thorough rundown of the events that had transpired from one of several police officers and a paramedic that had been called on scene he rushed to the hospital where Watanuki and Doumeki had been taken. The idea that someone was cruel enough to put acid in Watanuki's locker and laugh about it while he was in pain was hard to fathom. Once the teenager's glasses had been broken Haruka knew there was trouble at school, but the boys hadn't said much of anything else regarding more issues. He hadn't known it was so bad.

The police officers had originally wanted to take Doumeki down to the station and hold him for a few hours while the violent affair at school was investigated, but urgings from the teachers and staff convinced them to allow the boy to accompany Watanuki as he was loaded into the ambulance and taken to Central Medical Hospital.

Doumeki Shizuka had never been violent a day in his life, so hearing that he nearly killed a student was a bit of a shock to Haruka's old heart, too.

There was a police officer standing outside of one of the rooms. Haruka checked the number over the doorway and verified it to be the correct place. He nodded to the man in uniform in greeting. "My grandson is inside, may I go in?"

The officer had a badge that said Monou, Fuuma on the left of his chest, with a gold badge that was the symbol of the Koban police division on his right. The man wore a dark set of sunglasses and had rather long black hair. "Go ahead," the officer replied. He reached over and knocked on the closed door before pushing it open. "Don't mind me, just here for appearances' sake. I was stationed at the school today and saw most of what happened. Doumeki-san has nothing to worry about."

Haruka smiled with some relief. "Thank you, I'm glad to hear it." He entered the room and softly closed the door behind him. He found his grandson sitting near the white hospital bed Watanuki was sleeping in. He was leaning over in the chair with his face in his hands, so his expression was not visible.

The image of Watanuki was heartbreaking. The poor boy's entire right side of his face was covered in bandages. His right hand was wrapped up so thickly his fingers could not be seen, and there were bright streaks of red and tender skin along his neck and upper chest. He looked to be out cold.

"Shizuka-kun?"

Doumeki looked up at his grandfather. His eyes were red as if he'd been crying but there was no moisture on his face or any other evidence of tears. "Grandfather."

Haruka grabbed a chair and sat down. His ankle had healed after a few days and he hadn't needed the crutches for a while. It was nice to not have to worry about them at the moment. He folded his arms together and leaned back in his seat. "I heard a great deal from the school about this morning."

Doumeki's eyes flicked back to look at Watanuki's unmoving figure. "They sedated him. He was in a lot of pain when they brought him in, couldn't even keep him still long enough for the bandages. He's been sleeping for a couple of hours now."

The elder Doumeki sighed, regretful something so terrible happened to the boy. "They said you brought him directly to the chemistry room to flush the acid from his eyes. The paramedic said things would have been a lot worse for him if you hadn't thought so quickly."

"He kept screaming," Doumeki said, his voice a little hollow. "It took a few minutes, but it eventually burned holes in his school jacket. I took it off of him as soon as I saw the color on it was affected by the acid."

The paramedic had told Haruka that this was an extremely corrosive acid. Had it been left on Watanuki's skin for too long it could have burned all the way down to his bones. He would be lucky to get away with some scarring, maybe even disfigurement. There was no telling what the state of his vision was in his right eye.

"Then the person that did this to him revealed himself," Haruka continued. "I hear you almost killed him."

Doumeki lowered his head again. "I don't even remember much if it now. One minute, he's laughing and saying he'll poison Kimihiro soon, then the next Kurogane-sensei is restraining me and Fujimoto is on the ground in a puddle of blood."

Blind anger. Haruka hadn't thought his grandson was capable of such a feat, but clearly he was wrong. Not that Fujimoto Hiroto didn't have it coming, of course. "I heard you broke his arm, his jaw, and he nearly had a tracheal collapse. The paramedic had to put a tube in his throat to help him breathe."

Doumeki did not make eye contact with his relative and answer. He felt guilty for being so violent, yet another part of him, a frightening part of him, was glad of it. If Fujimoto ever made another attempt on Watanuki's welfare Doumeki knew he would do even worse things to the soccer player; things Fujimoto Hiroto would never recover from.

"You also managed to throw the gym teacher. Impressive, by the way. That man is nearly twice your size in body mass. And not just the gym teacher, it took four grown men to restrain you."

Doumeki's hands were trembling, Haruka observed. "Yeah, so I was told. I barely remember that, too."

Haruka leaned forward and tried to get a better look at his grandson's full face. "You're still angry."

"I didn't prevent this. I didn't even try."

"You're also glad you hurt Fujimoto, and you feel ashamed for it."

The teenager was silent for a moment, his eyes closed. "Yes. Yet I'd still do it again."

Haruka smiled softly. "Of course you would. A threat was placed on Kimihiro-kun's life. You should not feel ashamed of wanting to hurt this other boy. It's only natural to seek revenge on someone if it means keeping a loved one safe. What you should be concerned with, however, is keeping your temper under your control. It would have been far safer to incapacitate Fujimoto without harming him. The police were barely on your side after your actions."

"I know." He pushed his face into his hands again and released a shaky sigh. "I've never been so angry before."

Haruka patted his grandson on the shoulder closest to him. "Do not worry about it now. Focus on relaxing. Your body was just exposed to a high level of stress, which can be damaging if it is not handled properly."

Doumeki lowered his hands and looked at his grandfather. "I'm not in trouble?"

"Oh, you are," Haruka said lightly. "The principle has suspended you for a week with a hearing to follow. I'd ban you from practicing your archery for that time if it wasn't a necessary skill for exorcism. Instead you need to spend six hours a day meditating and practicing restraint. This will be more useful for you anyway."

"I understand." Doumeki looked a little more relieved after that. Those were punishments he could handle. Besides, with the uproar at the school it would be foolish of him to go back so quickly. The student body needed some time for the fireworks and rumor mills to settle down before he could attend class in somewhat peace again. The meditation, too, would be helpful. He was also very concerned that he had little memory of attacking Fujimoto. He wanted to have more control, should something even remotely like this ever happen again. "And Fujimoto?"

"The school said they have all the evidence they need, he's going to be expelled."

"Oh." That was a relief.

Haruka looked over Watanuki's form on the bed. "Have the doctor's said how long he needs to stay here?"

Doumeki looked back at the bed and rested his hand under Watanuki's uninjured left one. "They said they want to keep him overnight for observation."

Haruka looked at the watch on his wrist. It was a little past one in the afternoon. "The new blood ward should last much longer than the original twelve hours, but Kimihiro-kun is in no state to test the limits of this."

"I agree," Doumeki replied. "He should wake up soon. He'll need to sign himself out of the hospital."

Damn, Haruka had nearly forgotten that Watanuki was an emancipated teenager with nearly full adult rights. Not being his legal guardian there was no way the doctors would release the boy into his care during such a critical stage in his recovery. Watanuki would have to demand to be released on his own. At least the sedation should wear off soon. "You must be hungry," Haruka commented. "It's far past lunch time."

"I think I have a stomach ache anyway," Doumeki replied.

"It's the stress," Haruka explained. "I'll call your mother and have her bring over food. Kimihiro-kun has a stack of leftovers in the fridge he made recently. You should try to eat."

He nodded in assent. "All right."

Haruka stood up and opened the door to the room. He exited quietly and closed the door, careful to not make too much noise. Officer Monou was still standing outside the door and looking rather bored. He perked up a little as he noticed the older man enter the hallway. "Oh, Doumeki-san."

Haruka met his gaze. "Yes?"

The police officer smiled and pushed his sunglasses a little further down his nose and looked at the priest over the top of the lenses. "A little advice, off the record of course. I know about the brat that hurt that kid in there. Fujimoto Hiroto is the son of Fujimoto Onzu, a very well-known member of the Yakuza. Watanuki-san is well within his rights to press charges."

Haruka raised an eyebrow in interest. "Is that so?"

"My advice? Just mention it, but don't actually seek legal ramifications. The Yakuza, scum as they are, do have a code they need to follow in order to not alienate too many citizens so business can operate smoothly. Onzu will throw a fit at the very idea of police sniffing around his place to locate the stores of acid – illegal acid, by the way, that's not actually meant for public use. Hiroto's been able to sneak by his father's eye before, but if you mentioned 'charges' Onzu will teach his son a lesson he will never forget. Your local Koban would certainly appreciate not having to chase after that punk once he's released from the hospital."

Haruka bowed in thanks. "Thank you very much, Officer. That is very helpful advice."

. . . . . . . . .

When Watanuki woke up all his single left eye could make out was an expanse of white above him. There was a faint 'beep... beep... beep' to the right of him that told him he'd been hooked up to a heart monitor. He hadn't heard one in years. The last time he'd been in the hospital was after a rather nasty spirit attack when he'd been twelve, and it had taken days for him to get better. None of the doctors' efforts helped, though, despite all of the I.V.'s that were hooked into his arm. He turned his head to the side and made out the black blurry figure of Doumeki's head resting against the side of his bed. The sunlight looked low in the room. "Shizuka?"

The person next to Watanuki moved sluggishly, then lifted his head. Yellow eyes blinked in the fading sunlight. "Kimihiro. You're awake."

The skin on his neck stretched painfully with the angle of his head. "Shizuka. How long have I been asleep?"

Doumeki looked at the clock on the wall. "About seven hours."

"Oh." That was quite a while.

"How do you feel?" Doumeki's fingers laced through Watanuki's left hand.

"I'm... tired," Watanuki replied. "I feel sore everywhere." The skin on the left side of his face twitched. "My skin still hurts a lot."

"The doctors want to keep you overnight for observation, but we don't know how many hours the new protection with my blood will last. Grandfather and I don't want to test that with you being hurt."

Watanuki winced. "Okay. I'll tell them I need to go home."

Doumeki brought Watanuki's left hand up and kissed the back of it softly.

"Shizuka," the teenager asked, his only working eye half open. "What happened to Fujimoto-san? I heard screaming and fighting in the hallway."

Doumeki looked at the other side of the room, Watanuki's hand still clutched in his own. "I broke his jaw."

"Really? And you didn't hurt your hand?"

"And his arm."

Watanuki looked at him in shock. "What!" He demanded.

"And I nearly crushed his windpipe. The doctors have a tube down his throat so he can breathe."

"Oh my god!"

The taller teenager lowered his head. "I also apparently threw Kurogane-sensei into the lockers."

"Shizuka!" Watanuki gasped. "Why did you do all that?"

"... I don't remember most of it."

"You don't?"

Doumeki shook his head. "No. Grandfather has grounded me during my one week suspension from school. I have to meditate for six hours a day and learn better self-control during anger."

"You were suspended?"

Doumeki shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not going anywhere until you're better, anyway. School would be a circus if I went back too soon."

Watanuki allowed his head to fall comfortably back into the pillow. "I... suppose that's true. Just... you got in a lot of trouble for me. Don't do that, okay?"

"Fujimoto won't hurt you anymore."

"Just because someone is terrible it doesn't mean we should be mean right back," Watanuki scowled. "I don't like violence."

"He said he was going to poison you next." Doumeki furrowed his eyebrows at Watanuki. "He really meant to kill you. Are you saying you're fine with letting him go on with those intentions?"

"Well, no, but hurting him so much isn't going to solve much, is it?"

"He'll make a full recovery," Doumeki said, a hint of anger still in his voice. "He's injured now, but he'll be fine. You may not fully recover. You'll be scarred. Your right eye may not even be able to see anymore! Aren't you upset about what happened to you?"

"Of course I am!" Watanuki exclaimed. "I just-! I don't like this, okay! I don't want you to get in trouble, especially because of me! I heard police yelling, and everyone was telling you to stop and I couldn't do anything! I couldn't even see what was happening!"

Watanuki started shaking badly. Doumeki didn't know for sure if the pain medication was having any effect on the way he was processing such stress but it certainly seemed to. He stood up and put his arms around his partner and touched his lips to Watanuki's left cheek near his ear. "I'm sorry. I've been afraid for you. I was very afraid for your safety when the ball exploded in your hands, and I was angry and afraid that Fujimoto would keep his promise and keep hurting you. I snapped." Watanuki's unbandaged clutched at his shirt sleeve. "Please calm down," Doumeki whispered.

"I'm tired," Watanuki's voice trembled.

"Grandfather and mother are in the waiting room. We'll bring you home right away," Doumeki promised.