Disclamer: I do not own Clamp. If I did, x/1999 would be finished, and would have a happy ending, gosh-darnit!! FuumaxKamui OTP!!!

A/N: Man, this chapter took for-frikin-ever!! The words in bold are Watanuki and Doumeki's evil inner voices. Just to clarify. For some reason, FF isn't letting me italicise some stuff, so I'm marking italiced stuff with (i). :)

Hope everyone had a lovely Turkey-day!

Chapter 3: Frustrations

When Watanuki woke up the next morning, he was staring at a familiar ceiling.

"Oh great. Not again…"

What was he doing here? Memories from the night before came flooding back: dropping his books, meeting up with that spirit, being pulled to the ground (again) and the feeling of Doumeki's hands sliding up his thighs as he…wait, how did that get in there?

Watanuki shook his head furiously. I did NOT just remember that. That is a very unpleasant memory. Extremely unpleasant. Um…moving right along…

They had run back to the temple and Doumeki had tossed him on the futon, but what had happened after that Watanuki couldn't remember. He must have changed into Doumeki's pajamas at some point, because he recognized the embarrassingly large flannel pants and shirt.

Looking around, he saw that the room was empty aside from the futon and a small desk. There was a bookshelf leaning against the opposite wall, and Watanuki could make out the names of old Shinto texts and a few books in English that he didn't recognize.

Catcher in the…what? English was possibly Watanuki's worst subject, next to math. Doumeki on the other hand was really good at it, and it pissed the other boy off.

Pff. The guy thinks he's so smart, having English books in his room. He probably just put them there to show off for all his temple girlfriends. Asshole. The sound of the door sliding open alerted Watanuki to said asshole's presence.

"It's 7:30."

"Good morning to you too."

"I want pancakes."

"MAKE YOUR OWN PANCAKES!!!" (i) How dare he talk to me like that? (i) "I'M NOT YOUR SERVANT, YOU GLUTTINOUS OAF!!"

Doumeki grunted in reply, which made Watanuki even more irritated. He began to babble.

"What, so you can't even make your own pancakes? Now, that's just pathetic. I've been making pancakes since I was five years old. I bet you don't even have the right ingredients..." He continued talking as he migrated into the kitchen, Doumeki following close behind, anticipating a good breakfast.

The pancakes were, like all the food Watanuki made, delicious. Their meal passed in silence, broken only by the occasional sound of fork against plate. It wasn't unusual for them to eat meals together like this, but both boys knew that something was off.

Despite what the archer always said, Watanuki was no idiot. He was a little naïve, sure, but it didn't take a genius to know something was bothering Doumeki. Watanuki was concerned about what had happened last night, but the archer was obviously taking it a great deal harder.

Well, that's no surprise. He hates to lose, after all. Come to think of it, last night was the first time I've ever seen him unable to fire his spirit bow…ever since the 100-ghost stories, I guess I assumed he had an infinite amount of ammo. Maybe he's just tired? That's probably it. Watanuki tried to ignore the nagging voice in the back of his head:

Or maybe he's broken.

Meanwhile, across the table, Doumeki was having his own internal struggle.

(i) Why am I feeling so guilty? It's not like last night was my fault! At least, I don't think it was my fault. I was born with this ability, there's no way it could just disappear. And what about Watanuki? Is he angry with me? (i)

Watanuki's words from last night echoed in his head: "What's the point in keeping an exorcist like you around if you can't even kill spirits!?" What is the point?

"What's wrong with you? Seriously, you're acting really strange." Watanuki tried and failed to mask the concern in his voice. "Stranger than usual, anyway." He added quickly.

You're telling me thought Doumeki, almost bitterly. He hadn't slept in a good 30 hours, and was feeling irritable and sluggish. Still, Watanuki's concern was comforting.

"Worried about me?"

"You wish!!! It was just annoying me, that's all…" the seer's voice trailed off, and he looked down at his hands embarrassedly. Is Watanuki blushing?

"We're going to Yuuko's today." Doumeki declared suddenly.

"What!? Why? It's my day off!"

"We're going, Watanuki." At the archer's tone, Watanuki looked up from where his hands were fiddling with the tablecloth, but Doumeki's eyes were as expressionless as always.

"Fine. But you're going to eat whatever I put in your bento tomorrow, no requests or complaints." Watanuki took Doumeki's grunt as an assent.

"We need to stop by my apartment so I can change clothes, there's no way I'm going to Yuuko's dressed like this." He gestured at the shirt that was practically hanging off of his shoulders, and the pants that were far too large.

I wouldn't mind if you went out dressed like that. Doumeki thought to himself, eying the boy's pale shoulders. Even sleepy and cranky, Watanuki looked dead sexy. It took every fiber of the archer's being not to reach out and caress that porcelain skin, run his tongue along the smoothly accentuated collarbone and take him, right there on the table…

It would be so easy said a taunting voice inside his head. You'd make him enjoy it…Doumeki stood up abruptly and carried his plate to the sink.

No. He's my friend. I would never take advantage of him. He's Watanuki, for crying out loud!

"Let's go." He said gruffly. Before I do something stupid.

On the way to Yuuko's, the boys encountered several spirits. Luckily, none were that large or powerful and they stayed far enough away that Doumeki didn't find it necessary to use his bow-which was probably just as well. He didn't want to embarrass himself like he had yesterday, not to mention risk putting Watanuki's life in danger.

The walk seemed to last hours, and by the time the boys had reached the little house, they were both out of breath. This was normal for skinny, high-strung Watanuki, but Doumeki was surprised at how weak he felt. He hadn't been doing anything especially strenuous lately, aside from the usual archery practice and gym. Could the fatigue be related to his new inability to repel spirits? Hopefully Yuuko would be able to tell him more.

Two small girls came running up to the gate to greet them.

"Doumeki-kun and Nuki-Nuki to see mistress!" (2)

Upon noticing the lack of honorifics, 'Nuki-Nuki' opened his mouth to yell, only to be muffled by the black ball of manjuu that had jumped up and plastered itself onto his face.

"Hooray!!!" The Mokona squealed. The girls clasped hands and danced around Watanuki, laughing. When they reached the house, Watanuki still grappling at Mokona, the girls slid open the rice paper doors leading to Yuuko's drawing room, revealing the Dimensional Witch lounging on her couch, dressed in yet another silk kimono. As always, this one left little to the imagination.

She dangled a glass of sake between two slender fingers and crossed her legs so that the kimono rode up suggestively. Her attractiveness was lost on Watanuki and Doumeki, however, and upon recognizing this, Yuuko sighed.

They were really missing out.

"Hello boys."

"Hey." Doumeki muttered while Watanuki screamed obscenities that were stifled by Mokona's furry body.

"Nuki-Nuki has a potty mouth!" Mokona squealed, laughing at the boy's failed attempts to shake him off.

"Watanuki, why don't you and Mokona go into the kitchen and make some pancakes?"

Finally succeeding in peeling the manjuu off of his face, Watanuki glared daggers at it.

"Get OFF me, you pork bun!!" Facing Yuuko, he put his hands on his hips. "Oh, and would you like some beer with that? And how about I mix rum into the batter?" Watanuki's sarcasm was lost on the witch.

"What a fantastic idea!" Yuuko clapped her hands together happily. "Mokona, take Nuki-Nuki to the rum cabinet."

"I could find my way there with my eyes closed!!"

"Watanuki…"

"Alright, alright."

When the sound of Watanuki's footsteps and Mokona's shrill voice had faded away, Yuuko turned to where Doumeki was sitting patiently in seiza.

"You have questions for me."

Doumeki nodded curtly. This was harder than he had thought it would be. Of course, Yuuko knew perfectly well why he was there. Unfortunately, he knew she was going to make him say it himself.

"Watanuki and I encountered a small spirit last night, and not only could it approach us, I was unable to fire my bow and banish it. After that incident, I tried again several times on my own, but couldn't collect enough energy to form an arrow."

Yuuko nodded thoughtfully.

"Why do you think this is?" She asked.

"At first, I thought it might be from lack of sleep, but…"

"People blame a lot of things on lack of sleep. Sometimes that is what is responsible; sometimes it is just an excuse. (1) In this case, lack of sleep has nothing to do with it. The real reason is a bit more complicated." She took a breath.

"You've been focusing so much on suppressing your feelings for…someone" she looked pointedly over to where Watanuki and Mokona who had found the rum and were now engaged in what appeared to be a spatula duel, "that you've begun to suppress your spirit energy as well. This kind of thing is unhealthy for an exorcist such as yourself, and can have disastrous consequences."

There was a heavy pause, during which the sound of breaking porcelain could be heard through the closed kitchen door, accompanied by the screams of a very angry Watanuki.

"Part of the reason you make such a fine exorcist is because you are both spiritually and psychologically balanced. It is only by maintaining that delicate balance that you are able to handle a force as chaotic as spirit energy. Unrestrained, that energy can do a lot of damage to both the wielder and the people around him."

"So what can I do?"

"Well, you can either confess to Watanuki, or find another way to…vent your feelings, so to speak." Doumeki didn't miss the smirk. "But until then, you won't be able to successfully drive away spirits or conjure arrows."

"So basically I'm…"

"Sexually frustrated, yes."

"Oh."

"Your pancakes are ready, Yuuko-o." A sarcastic voice came from the doorway. Doumeki stiffened as the object of his frustrations stepped into the room, bearing a plate laden with what appeared to be rum pancakes.

"Why thank you, Watanuki! Addressing me with the respect that I deserve. I'm touched." The witch wiped a crocodile tear from the corner of her eye, before turning to the stack of pancakes with childish delight. Mokona hopped in, carrying it's own stack of pancakes and a bottle of rum."

"Syrup!" It explained to Yuuko.

"Of course! What a smart little Mokona you are!" Watanuki stared at the two distastefully, before turning to Doumeki.

"Would you like something to drink? I might as well get it while I'm up."

"Daifuku."

"THAT'S NOT A DRINK!!! I MADE YOU PANCAKES THIS MORNING, YOU BOTTOMLESS PIT!!!"

Well, thought Doumeki wistfully as he stuck a finger in his ear, confessing is definitely out of the picture.

(1) I seem to recall Yuuko saying something like this to Watanuki at some point...I couldn't find it in any of the books when I looked.

(2) Someone called Watanuki this in a fanfic I read recently, but again, I can't find who it was. Anyway, I thought it was a super adorable nickname. (Maybe they used it in the manga too, I can't remember.) PieCrust's memory officially sucks.

Oh my. Rum pancakes sound pretty delicious right about now. Unfortunately, I don't have a little Watanuki to go make me any, so I've got to scrounge something up myself. It'll probably end up being macaroni and cheese. (sighs) Thank you all for your lovely reviews! They really make me happy :) And thank you to LetTheWildRumpusBegin and GothicShadow for explaining about the Lemons reference! Cookies for you both.

Until next week!