To Doumeki, From Bernard ♥
Title: It never ends
Author: darksage29
Recipient: doumeki
Series: xxxHOLiC
Characters/Pairing: Ichihara Yuuko/Clow Reed
Rating: T
Author Notes/Warnings: Honestly I can't think of any, except for maybe some macabre mental imagery one may experience while reading.
She never really cared what his whims were. She never really cared what he did as he lounged about being all mysterious while she observed from the corner of her eye. She would miss him, the moment he left for some journey; and immediately be annoyed the moment he came back. She didn’t exactly enjoy his visits, except of course when liquor was involved. He would laugh while they sat on the porch and she would ask what was so hilarious. Then he would say, “Nothing. Nothing at all.”
Ichihara Yuuko was an easily contented woman. All she needed was her daily sake mixed with those familiar snacks Clow Reed would make. Then she needed her stroll through her treasure room: marveling at the riches of the world, and finally she needed to acquire more treasures in exchange for wishes. Well, maybe she wasn’t that easy to please, but in essence her life revolved around little else. It did not cross her mind that she needed him for any reason, not that she hated his presence, but more like she didn’t consider the fact that she may be harboring feelings for that wily bespectacled wizard who would come to her house almost every afternoon.
So it came to a time when they were sipping their wine on a cold summer’s night.
“I’m going to die,” he said.
Yuuko did not look at him. She kept her eyes gazing forward as a solitary cloud passed over the moon. “We all will, someday.”
He chuckled. This provoked the witch to look at him. “I meant I’d be leaving soon.” He stared at the moon, and then into her eyes.
“Fine. The sooner the better,” she said, sipping yet again another cup. She brushed her toes against the lawn, arching her back as she reveled in the sensation; a futile effort to ignore the laugh Clow was making.
“You seem too amused by it, so why would I care?” she asked.
Clow smiled. “I don’t know. Maybe because these times are going to end?” Beneath his smile hid a tone of sadness.
Yuuko closed her eyes and considered the thought. She found it a little disturbing, but there was no way in hell she was going to let him know that.
He stood to leave. “Preparations are ready, correct?”
Yuuko was still brushing her toes against the grass. “For the fiftieth time, yes.”
“Thank you.” And with a swish of his black cloak, he passed through the gates of her store.
“I never really did like making those preparations he asked me to do,” she said to herself.
And so it did come: his death. He lay there in that coffin inside his house, his creations in one corner all sober. Save for them, there was only one mourner: Ichihara Yuuko.
“So it comes down to this, then?” she said. Yue had handed over his will, and after reading it, agreed to oblige by its contents. And so, she summoned her magic circle, incinerating the coffin and its occupant, until a smoldering pile of ashes was all that remained. “And so it ends.” She then left his creations to their own devices for now. She figured they already knew what to do.
Decades passed. She remained in her shop, awaiting hitsuzen to take place over and over again. In the back of her mind, Clow’s preparations had all been prepared. Now, all she needed to do was sit back and watch the days roll by.
Yuuko didn’t really seem to be the type to sleep. She seemed more like a person who’d still be walking around late at night. But she does sleep, and she does dream; and knowing a person of her caliber, we’d know that sometimes her dreams are more than mere illusions.
She was in a meadow, the breeze making her clothes billow and her hair fly. She closed her eyes and basked in the sensation. But then, she felt someone block her sun and her wind. She opened her eyes in annoyance.
It was Clow Reed.
“What are you doing here?” She said.
“Just paying an old friend a visit.” He replied.
She stood to leave. Half expecting for him to chase her. But he stood transfixed at the spot. Noticing this from the corner of her eye, she turned. “Aren’t you going to follow me?”
“That would be no fun for you, wouldn’t it?”
She marched closer. “You, sir, are dead. Bit the dust. Six feet under. Understand? Why are you here bothering me?”
He chuckled. “Mainly because I’m dead.” He reveled in the success of his rhetoric. There was nothing better than to see an already irate witch get even more annoyed.
“Have you been thinking about me often?” he asked.
“No,” was the natural answer from Yuuko. But then, she sighed. “Yes.”
“I’m glad.”
She looked at him.
“I missed you.”
“I figured as much,” she said as she came closer. “I missed you too.”
“Who are you and what have you done to Ichihara Yuuko?”
“Forget I said that,” Yuuko said, her countenance changing.
“Well then... Goodbye.”
“Something tells me I’ll see you again,” she quipped.
“There is no such thing as coincidence-” he started.
“That’s my line.” She smiled at him. “....Only hitsuzen.”
After that, she awoke. It was still a bit dark, and she clutched her head with a major headache from last night’s hangover. She managed to stand up and go to the pantry and grab for herself yet another bottle of Eki-Kyabe. She then went into the porch, the same one they shared so many times so many years ago, and sat. She brushed her feet against the grass, trying to remember how it felt to be talking to him again.
So maybe I did care... Maybe I did... love... him, she thought. The thought disgusted her at first, but it sank down deeper, and finally it felt so right.
She lay down on the wooden floor, her hair in disarray, her clothes a mess. She didn’t really care. She closed her eyes and pictured him in her mind’s eye.
“So it never really did end, huh?”
Author: darksage29
Recipient: doumeki
Series: xxxHOLiC
Characters/Pairing: Ichihara Yuuko/Clow Reed
Rating: T
Author Notes/Warnings: Honestly I can't think of any, except for maybe some macabre mental imagery one may experience while reading.
She never really cared what his whims were. She never really cared what he did as he lounged about being all mysterious while she observed from the corner of her eye. She would miss him, the moment he left for some journey; and immediately be annoyed the moment he came back. She didn’t exactly enjoy his visits, except of course when liquor was involved. He would laugh while they sat on the porch and she would ask what was so hilarious. Then he would say, “Nothing. Nothing at all.”
Ichihara Yuuko was an easily contented woman. All she needed was her daily sake mixed with those familiar snacks Clow Reed would make. Then she needed her stroll through her treasure room: marveling at the riches of the world, and finally she needed to acquire more treasures in exchange for wishes. Well, maybe she wasn’t that easy to please, but in essence her life revolved around little else. It did not cross her mind that she needed him for any reason, not that she hated his presence, but more like she didn’t consider the fact that she may be harboring feelings for that wily bespectacled wizard who would come to her house almost every afternoon.
So it came to a time when they were sipping their wine on a cold summer’s night.
“I’m going to die,” he said.
Yuuko did not look at him. She kept her eyes gazing forward as a solitary cloud passed over the moon. “We all will, someday.”
He chuckled. This provoked the witch to look at him. “I meant I’d be leaving soon.” He stared at the moon, and then into her eyes.
“Fine. The sooner the better,” she said, sipping yet again another cup. She brushed her toes against the lawn, arching her back as she reveled in the sensation; a futile effort to ignore the laugh Clow was making.
“You seem too amused by it, so why would I care?” she asked.
Clow smiled. “I don’t know. Maybe because these times are going to end?” Beneath his smile hid a tone of sadness.
Yuuko closed her eyes and considered the thought. She found it a little disturbing, but there was no way in hell she was going to let him know that.
He stood to leave. “Preparations are ready, correct?”
Yuuko was still brushing her toes against the grass. “For the fiftieth time, yes.”
“Thank you.” And with a swish of his black cloak, he passed through the gates of her store.
“I never really did like making those preparations he asked me to do,” she said to herself.
And so it did come: his death. He lay there in that coffin inside his house, his creations in one corner all sober. Save for them, there was only one mourner: Ichihara Yuuko.
“So it comes down to this, then?” she said. Yue had handed over his will, and after reading it, agreed to oblige by its contents. And so, she summoned her magic circle, incinerating the coffin and its occupant, until a smoldering pile of ashes was all that remained. “And so it ends.” She then left his creations to their own devices for now. She figured they already knew what to do.
Decades passed. She remained in her shop, awaiting hitsuzen to take place over and over again. In the back of her mind, Clow’s preparations had all been prepared. Now, all she needed to do was sit back and watch the days roll by.
Yuuko didn’t really seem to be the type to sleep. She seemed more like a person who’d still be walking around late at night. But she does sleep, and she does dream; and knowing a person of her caliber, we’d know that sometimes her dreams are more than mere illusions.
She was in a meadow, the breeze making her clothes billow and her hair fly. She closed her eyes and basked in the sensation. But then, she felt someone block her sun and her wind. She opened her eyes in annoyance.
It was Clow Reed.
“What are you doing here?” She said.
“Just paying an old friend a visit.” He replied.
She stood to leave. Half expecting for him to chase her. But he stood transfixed at the spot. Noticing this from the corner of her eye, she turned. “Aren’t you going to follow me?”
“That would be no fun for you, wouldn’t it?”
She marched closer. “You, sir, are dead. Bit the dust. Six feet under. Understand? Why are you here bothering me?”
He chuckled. “Mainly because I’m dead.” He reveled in the success of his rhetoric. There was nothing better than to see an already irate witch get even more annoyed.
“Have you been thinking about me often?” he asked.
“No,” was the natural answer from Yuuko. But then, she sighed. “Yes.”
“I’m glad.”
She looked at him.
“I missed you.”
“I figured as much,” she said as she came closer. “I missed you too.”
“Who are you and what have you done to Ichihara Yuuko?”
“Forget I said that,” Yuuko said, her countenance changing.
“Well then... Goodbye.”
“Something tells me I’ll see you again,” she quipped.
“There is no such thing as coincidence-” he started.
“That’s my line.” She smiled at him. “....Only hitsuzen.”
After that, she awoke. It was still a bit dark, and she clutched her head with a major headache from last night’s hangover. She managed to stand up and go to the pantry and grab for herself yet another bottle of Eki-Kyabe. She then went into the porch, the same one they shared so many times so many years ago, and sat. She brushed her feet against the grass, trying to remember how it felt to be talking to him again.
So maybe I did care... Maybe I did... love... him, she thought. The thought disgusted her at first, but it sank down deeper, and finally it felt so right.
She lay down on the wooden floor, her hair in disarray, her clothes a mess. She didn’t really care. She closed her eyes and pictured him in her mind’s eye.
“So it never really did end, huh?”