He could hear birds singing and bees humming.
He could smell flowers and bacon being fried.
Blood red eyes opened and then blinked in confusion.
A tall, dark head, handsome young man sat up in bed and looked around in confusion.
Where was he? Who was he?
He looked out of the window which was next to his bed. There was a beautiful garden out back. Flowers were in full bloom everywhere. He recognised that this was summer.
There was a polite knock on his door, which made him fall into bed once more, yelping slightly from the pain. Just as the door opened, the man was looking down on himself to see, with some surprise that he was covered in bandages.
"Hey, sleepy head!"
The red-eyed man looked up to see a pretty, blue eyed, black haired boy smiling down on him. In his hands he was holding a tray which had a tea set and a large, fried breakfast balanced on the top of it.
"I bought you breakfast," the man continued, setting the tray down on top of a chest of drawers, before sitting at the edge of the bed, looking at the red-eyed boy. "You seem the type that would like big meal with lots of meat. How are you feeling?" he asked.
"Who are you?" grasped the red-eyed man, his voice so sore that he bought his hand up to massage his throat. The blue eyed boy poured out a cup of tea, scooped in a teaspoon honey, and handed it to the red-eyed man who received it gratefully.
"I found you out in the wilderness. My name is Watanuki."
"Who am I?"
"I don't know. If you like, I could name you."
"Y-yes...please, I would prefer a name of some kind." The red-eyed man felt ashamed to hear the slight sounds of fear in his voice, and, while blushing, tried to sit up further in the bed so that he at least wouldn't look pathetic.
Watanuki put one of his long fingers to his chin and tapped it as his eyes raised to the ceiling and he though momentarily. "Hmm...well how about 'Doumeki'? It's a favourite of mine."
He smiled warmly.
The red-eyed man...Doumeki, narrowed his eyes slightly. There was something off about the blue eyed man, about this Watanuki. Doumeki couldn't help feeling like his was being duped somehow.
But then, Watanuki did not seem threatening or even malicious, and Doumeki did not know what else to do but to go along with the strange young man.
"Here," said Watanuki, interrupting his thoughts, "eat your breakfast. You are very weak and will need to rest for many days. But don't worry I'll look after you."
"Why are you helping me so much?"
"Why wouldn't I?" Watanuki suddenly looked sad and remote; "after all," he left the bed and headed to the bedroom door so that his face was turned away from Doumeki, "that's what good people do isn't it? They watch over others, they make sure other people are alright." He opened the door and turned to face Doumeki a fake, yet oddly familiar, smile plastered on his slim face, "they make each other's dreams come true."
The door shut and Doumeki sat alone.
Ignoring the breakfast and his aching stomach momentarily- evidently Watanuki was wrong, Doumeki wasn't overly fond of eating a lot of food- he eased himself out of bed and walked over to where a small round mirror hung off the wall.
He took it down, got into bed and stared at himself. He was muscular, with dark skin, deep red eyes and short, jet black hair that mostly stood up in spikes (a few errant ones fell down into his face.)
He didn't recognise himself at all.
'But I am not Doumeki, I am someone else I am certain,' he mused. 'Something strange is going on here...'
His stomach growled again, so he took the tray of food and began eating voraciously. It was as if he hadn't eaten in months; his stomach kept clenching and he almost whimpered in relief as the food began to hit his stomach. He hadn't realised how hungry he had been.
As soon as he bit into his bacon and egg toasted sandwich he groaned happily. The food was delicious! His throat was still very sore so he had to keep having a gulp of honeyed tea between in bite, but it was worth it. His poor, starved belly was finally filled. Doumeki even felt much happier. He lent back in his bed and sighed contentedly, pushing open a window to allow the sun, flowery smells and birdsong enter into his room.
He fell into sleep, a blissful look on his face.
In his dream he could hear the rough howling of wind. It was vicious and battering against his body. He shuddered, cold and miserable, laying on the ground, his limbs so exhausted and frozen that he could not move.
'No!' he whimpered, 'no! What is this? Please, I don't want to be here, please, please...'
"Doumeki..."
' I cannot die...I cannot...I need...I need to...'
"Doumeki!"
'Help...him...help... I have to...'
DOUMEKI!"
Doumeki gasped and sat up in bed, sweat pouring from his brow. Watanuki sat at the end of his bed, watching calmly.
"You are alright now," he said, his voice calm and a little distant. "You are safe, in my home."
"How did you find me?" he demanded, knowing he sounded rude but not caring, "and where?"
"Out, beyond here, is a place of snow, and ice, and suffering. I took you away from there. You were lying in the snow, preparing for death."
"How did you know I was there, and how is this place not touched by the cold?" He shivered once more, remembering the biting frost and his deep wretchedness in its icy embrace.
"Magic," answered Watanuki, "I'm a witch. I keep this place as my own little home. I heard your melancholy, so I searched you out and bought you here." He smiled a very soft, sad smile which almost broke Doumeki's heart just to see it, "I wanted someone to be here with me. I'm glad I found you." Watanuki leant forward and touched Doumeki's knee from under the duvet, "I'm glad I'm not alone."
Something about Watanuki, the easily broken bravado, the kindness, his slim and pale body, his vulnerability, made Doumeki feel that he was familiar somehow, and that he had to protect this man at all costs. So he stretched out his hand and placed it on top of Watanuki, who raised surprised blue eyes to red ones. Doumeki felt his heart jump slightly at the pale blues. They affected him the most, for some reason.
"I'm here, you're not alone," he said roughly, pressing down on Watanuki as if to make sure he was real.
The two men began to spend more and more time together and Doumeki found himself relaxing, despite his instincts warning against it; their tirades slowed down and eventually died away as he enjoyed fine food, delicious drinks and best of all, the warmth and light the beautiful sun bore down through his window, warming his heart and making him dozy and restful. His injuries healed and all his memories of the ice and misery faded away into nothingness. Soon, all he knew was the little cottage of Summer and Watanuki's sad eyes and disarming smile.
"I think you should be able to walk outside today," smiled Watanuki.
They were both in Doumeki's bedroom eating a hearty breakfast of French toast, honeyed dried fruits, mixed seeds and copious amounts of tea.
Doumeki smiled back; he noticed that the pale eyed man, whilst still mysterious and a little hidden, seemed much happier than before. Doumeki had learned not to query Watanuki's shifty behaviour, but rather embraced it. For all his faults, Watanuki was a wonderful man who fed him well and had taken good care of him. Doumeki felt that he not only owed Watanuki, but that he also greatly liked being in his company, therefore he took all of Watanuki's secretive nature on and simply accepted the man for who he was. Plus, one day, maybe Watanuki would fully open up to him?
"I would like that," he responded, "I hate being cooped up all day and doing nothing. If it wasn't for your company I would have gone mad long ago."
Watanuki smiled softly and without feeling before turning away.
"I would like to see the gardens," Doumeki pushed, hoping to cheer up his host again, "I love the summer; it reminds me of..." his eyes glazed over slightly - Watanuki watched him carefully- until he shook his head and smiled in a confused manner. "Well...it reminds me of happy things I think, though it's more a feeling than anything."
Watanuki let out another irritatingly fake smile and said in his most sombre tone yet, "yes, you should go outside. Go and see the flowers that I made with my magic."
Outside was glorious. The sun was a golden orb, burning brightly in the azalea sky, a beacon of unadulterated happiness and simplicity.
Watanuki had been with him at first, but had given Doumeki excuses of how he wanted to return to the house in order to prepare a meal for lunch, and left him alone. Truly, Doumeki realised that whatever dark shadow was hunting Watanuki, it even was able to follow him out into the splendid garden, unable to be dissipated by the sun or pushed out by the array of beautiful flowers.
Doumeki knew instinctively that he wasn't really a 'flower' man. If the garden was his it would have grown nothing but vegetables and maybe a few fruit trees. Yet, for some reason, he found himself ignoring the blazing, simple yet beautiful sky in favour of analysing the complicated world of various blooms bursting forth with dizzying amounts of colour and a hundred different shapes. There were the tall, proud Blue-Bells, over there the humble yellow and red Primroses, the kingly sunflowers stood against the walls of the cottage, there were even many different types of roses, ranging from the purest white, melting down through the pinks into the deepest scarlet. But there was something missing, something was still wrong. He marched around the garden, his eyes focused on the flowers. What was it, what was he looking for? The one flower he truly loved, the one that he connected to...to feelings of happiness and affection and friendship and...and something more...
"The Star-Gazers," he muttered, "there are no Star-Gazers in this garden."
For some reason, the realisation of this broke his heart and he found himself pausing in his march before sinking to sit on the yellow pathway.
"I love Star-Gazers, there the only flowers I like...but why? I don't care about flowers and stupid things like that!" Even as he spoke he could hear in the back of his mind childish, boyish laughter. He closed his scarlet eyes and remembered summer, not this magical kind, but the real summer, where you could hear the buzzing of insect-life, feel the gentle breeze lazily brushing against your heated skin. He remembered the creaky sound of a rope tied to a tree branch swinging softly. He remembered a swing and pushing someone on it. He remembered golden hair, with a large Star-Gazer tied into the yellow locks. The blond child looks around at him. Hair like the sun; eyes like the summer sky.
Kurogane's eyes snapped open, or the first time since arriving in Watanuki's care they were clear and full of knowledge, "Fai!"