[Fic] Hitsuzen, Chapter 4/? (xxxHolic)
HITSUZEN
AUTHOR: fantasylover12001
RATING: T/PG-13
DISCLAIMER: I don't own xxxHolic/Tsubasa or any of it's characters. That honor goes to CLAMP. I'm not making any money off of this either so please don't sue.
PAIRINGS: Domeki/Watanuki, and past Clow/Yuko.
AUTHOR NOTES: No, I'm not dead. The reason for the massive delay is a) finals and end-of-the semester projects that my evil teachers assigned (all due at once of course), b) my bitchy computer that decided to not work. It's still not working properly so I'm updating while I have the chance, and c) my fics from other fandoms. I finally finished my HP fics and have started to write a Naruto fic and a Tsubasa; Resevoir Chronicles fic mainly due to my current obsession with these fandoms and this one. God willing there will be faster updates from now on. Thank you to all those who kept giving encouragement even when it looked like the fic was abandoned.
CHAPTER 4: POPPING THE BUBBLE
The next two weeks for Watanuki were a blur.
He moved into the Domeki household temporarily and so spent that weekend setting up his guest room and getting acquainted with the temple and the Domeki families' routine. After that was school and of course working in Yuko's store. Other then the fact that he now went home in a different direction and now had people to come home too nothing really changed much for him. The pipe fox spirit's injury had healed by the next day, something Yuko assured him was quite normal for pipe spirits, and so stuck close by him at all times. Domeki too, seemed to be glued to his side ever since the creature surfaced that night.
There had been no more attacks on him since that night and Watanuki couldn't get a solid answer from Yuko on what the creature was. Every time he asked her if she had found something out she conviently changed the subject. He was beginning to wonder if she was doing it on purpose. After about a week he finally gave up and figured if she found out she would tell him. At least that's what he told himself. Sometimes he got the feeling that Yuko never really told him the exact truth about things.
'I hope she finds out something soon though, I'm not sure if I can take living with Domeki much longer' he thought as he looked out the window during the class lecture.
It wasn't that he didn't like living with the Domeki's. It was actually kind of nice. Domeki's mother was always up for a chat over tea and always had a cheerful smile on her face. She reminded Watanuki somewhat of Himawari-chan with her cheerful demeanor, though she did get serious sometimes, such as when she talked about Domeki's deceased father or grandfather. The more he got to know her the more he liked her and the more he found it hard to believe she and Domeki were even related; but they were. Evidently Domeki had gotten more of his father's personality.
The problem was that he was starting to gain insight to Domeki.
Everywhere in the Domeki household there were pictures. A lot of the pictures were of Domeki himself, ranging from childhood to his teen years. There was always a story to go with the pictures as well and Domeki's mother didn't hesitate to tell the story, even if her son protested. It was obvious she was quite proud of her son. The stories made Domeki seem...human. He knew perfectly well Domeki was human, but sometimes with the way the other boy acted he seemed like a robot sometimes. It was like nothing fazed him at all; a trait that irritated Watanuki quite a bit.
Then there was seeing Domeki almost every spare bit of his free time. He saw the other in the morning, when his hair was still wet from the shower; during breakfast, where he quickly learned the other boy's favorite foods since he was usually the one cooking; walking to and from school; several times during school; and he saw him when he was home and much more relaxed.
Spending more time with him then usual was slowly starting to shrink his bubble of denial. He didn't like it.
"Watanuki-kun?" a voice interrupted his thoughts on the archer and he turned to see Himawari looking at him. "Class is over. Didn't you realize that?"
With a start he looked around and saw that the girl was right; the teacher had stopped his boring lecture and was now talking to students and others were hurridly stuffing books in their bags in an attempt to get out of school as fast as they could. He grinned sheepishly, "Guess I spaced out for a bit."
Himawari smiled, "That's understandable; it's a pretty day outside."
Watanuki wisely decided not to say he hadn't been distracted by the pretty day but by a certain guy. As he gathered up his books Himawari asked him if he was going to the field. He blinked and asked her, "Why would I be going there?"
The girl looked at him funny, "Because of Domeki-kun's tournament, remember?"
"Oh yeah, that IS today, isn't it?" he mumbled. 'Damn, here was I hoping to get away from him for awhile at Yuko's store...'
But he did say he'd be there. A part of him, the rebellious side of him, wanted to just leave; he was perfectly capable of taking care of himself after all, he'd been doing it long before Domeki came along. But he did promise Yuko that he'd stick close to the archer at all possible times. 'Damn conscious of mine...' he thought in exasperation and so followed Himawari out to to the archery field.
A small group of people had already gathered to watch the school's team which wasn't very surprising; their team was actually pretty good. Watanuki grudgingly admitted that a lot of their wins were due to Domeki. The match turned out to be very close thanks to the fact that they were playing one of the top archery school teams in the district. Watanuki found himself inadvertingly holding his breathe every time one of the archers let loose an arrow.
When the final round started Himawari looked at her friend and smiled when she saw how focused on it he was. "Isn't this exciting?"
"Huh? Oh yeah," he said and smiled back, but he then returned his attention back to Domeki and the other archer on the field.
The archer from the other school went first and hit the target. It was a little ways from the center though. Domeki then readied his bow; as he lifted it his eyes met Watanuki's for a few seconds and the archer's lips quirked upwards a little (very little) on the left. Then he raised the bow and shot the arrow. Watanuki barely registered the crowd's cheers as the arrow hit dead center, thus winning the match for the team. He was too busy trying to tell the butterflies in his stomach to quit fluttering around.
'It was just a stupid smile!' He thought furiously as people started to get up. 'It wasn't even a whole smile! Why am I reacting like this?'
"Watanuki-kun?" Himawari looked at him in slight concern. He figured it was because he'd been sitting there with his hand over his stomach and frowning for over a minute. He glanced over at Domeki who was now getting congratulated along with his teammates.
"I've got to go," he said suddenly.
Himawari looked at him in confusion. "What? Now? Don't you want to go over and congratulate Domeki-kun?"
"Tell him congratulations for me," he said quickly. He then grabbed his bag and left as quickly as he could.
xxxHolicxxxHolic
A few minutes (and several blocks later) Watanuki decided that it was living with the Domeki family that was causing all the weird thoughts and feelings so he decided it was time he went back to his place. 'There hasn't been an attack in two weeks anyway, whatever that thing was has probably high-tailed it out of here or decided that I'm not worth it.' he thought. That was exactly what he was going to tell Yuko too, he decided, as he walked determinedly towards her store.
But as he entered the store he found it to be eerily quiet. 'Where is everyone?' he thought in confusion, looking around. Usually when he arrived Yuko was up to something, usually something involving beer, or immediately showed up to beg him for food. If she was out, Maru and Moro would be there to greet him with happy smiles. Then of course the black pork bun could always be counted on to be somewhere causing mischief. But none of them were there.
With a slight uneasy feeling he started wandering through the many hallways of the strange house. He had only been in a few of the many rooms so he became more nervous as he wandered further then he usually did. 'Maybe I should come back later...' he thought apprehensively. Then he heard quiet voices coming from a room he'd never been into before at the end of the corrider. He hesitated, then quietly crept up to the door but stopped when he heard his name mentioned.
"...you must tell Watanuki-san, Yuko-chan. This is going to involve him; Mariko-san will make sure it will."
'Who's Mariko?' he thought in confusion. 'Tell me what?' Now curious, he decided not to announce his presence just then. Instead he bent forward and looked cautiously through the slight crack in the sliding door. He blinked in surprise when he saw the old fortune-teller he and Yuko had gone to visit earlier. 'Was that really only three years ago?' he thought in amazement. 'It seems like a lifetime ago...'
"I know I must tell him I'm just trying to figure out how to tell him." Yuko replied. Watanuki frowned, he'd never heard Yuko sound so tired before.
"Well you'd best figure out how to soon," the fortune-teller said. "Trouble is coming. He's going to be in the middle of it too. That archer and the pipe fox spirit won't be able to protect him forever, you know."
"Domeki-kun will certainly try, though," Yuko said. He couldn't see her face but Watanuki could tell from the tone in her voice she had on that smile of hers again. The one she always wore when she spoke of him and Domeki. It told Watanuki that she knew something he didn't about the two of them and it drove him nuts.
"Yes; but nevertheless, he MUST know." the old woman said firmly.
"How would you have me tell him?" Yuko suddenly burst out. "Should I just take him aside and tell him 'Watanuki-kun, I've not been entirely truthful to you these past three years. The truth is I'm your biological mother and right now there's a woman who wants revenge on me and Clow, who by the way is your biological father, and so is going after you now.'"
Watanuki couldn't stop the loud gasp that escaped him. He put his hands over his mouth but it was too late, both women had heard him and the door slid open. Yuko froze when she saw him standing there and the fortune-teller sighed.
For several minutes they all just stared at each other. Watanuki didn't know about the other two but he was trying to deny what he'd heard. How could Yuko possibly be his mother? It was ridiculous. Sure, he knew that the people he had called Mother and Father had adopted him when he was a baby but he'd never given it much thought. To him they would always be his parents and no one else. Certainly not Yuko who drank, smoked, and was absolutely nothing like him. Definitely not some weird sorcerer named Clow either.
"Watanuki...," Yuko started to say something but Watanuki stopped her.
"It's not true!" he burst out, angrily. "You're lying!"
The fortune-teller snorted. "Silly boy, why would Yuko-chan lie about something like that?"
"I don't know, but it's not true," he insisted, almost desperately. Then for good measure he glared at Yuko and repeated, "It's not!"
Yuko stared at him with an unreadable look on her face for several seconds and then said, "I'm sorry, Watanuki-kun, but I am your mother."
She started to say something else but Watanuki didn't want to hear it so he did what he usually did when he didn't want to face something.
He ran.
xxxHolicxxxHolic
Yuko stared after her son as he ran out of the room.
"Aren't you going to go after him?" the fortune-teller asked softly.
"No," she said. "He won't want to speak to me or listen to me. I best give him some space now." She turned to the old woman and said, "You knew he was there." It was a statement, not a question.
The fortune-teller nodded. "Yes."
"Why didn't you say anything?"
"He was going to learn the truth sooner or later. You can't fight hitsuzen, you know."
Yuko sighed and muttered, "Sometimes I really hate hitsuzen."
AUTHOR NOTES: Yes, I know these things are dreadfully short; it's just the way it turned out. Hopefully there will be faster updates now. The fortune-teller doesn't have a name mentioned because CLAMP doesn't really name her I don't think and I don't want to shame them by giving a lame fandom name. So she's nameless for now. PLEASE REVIEW!
AUTHOR: fantasylover12001
RATING: T/PG-13
DISCLAIMER: I don't own xxxHolic/Tsubasa or any of it's characters. That honor goes to CLAMP. I'm not making any money off of this either so please don't sue.
PAIRINGS: Domeki/Watanuki, and past Clow/Yuko.
AUTHOR NOTES: No, I'm not dead. The reason for the massive delay is a) finals and end-of-the semester projects that my evil teachers assigned (all due at once of course), b) my bitchy computer that decided to not work. It's still not working properly so I'm updating while I have the chance, and c) my fics from other fandoms. I finally finished my HP fics and have started to write a Naruto fic and a Tsubasa; Resevoir Chronicles fic mainly due to my current obsession with these fandoms and this one. God willing there will be faster updates from now on. Thank you to all those who kept giving encouragement even when it looked like the fic was abandoned.
CHAPTER 4: POPPING THE BUBBLE
The next two weeks for Watanuki were a blur.
He moved into the Domeki household temporarily and so spent that weekend setting up his guest room and getting acquainted with the temple and the Domeki families' routine. After that was school and of course working in Yuko's store. Other then the fact that he now went home in a different direction and now had people to come home too nothing really changed much for him. The pipe fox spirit's injury had healed by the next day, something Yuko assured him was quite normal for pipe spirits, and so stuck close by him at all times. Domeki too, seemed to be glued to his side ever since the creature surfaced that night.
There had been no more attacks on him since that night and Watanuki couldn't get a solid answer from Yuko on what the creature was. Every time he asked her if she had found something out she conviently changed the subject. He was beginning to wonder if she was doing it on purpose. After about a week he finally gave up and figured if she found out she would tell him. At least that's what he told himself. Sometimes he got the feeling that Yuko never really told him the exact truth about things.
'I hope she finds out something soon though, I'm not sure if I can take living with Domeki much longer' he thought as he looked out the window during the class lecture.
It wasn't that he didn't like living with the Domeki's. It was actually kind of nice. Domeki's mother was always up for a chat over tea and always had a cheerful smile on her face. She reminded Watanuki somewhat of Himawari-chan with her cheerful demeanor, though she did get serious sometimes, such as when she talked about Domeki's deceased father or grandfather. The more he got to know her the more he liked her and the more he found it hard to believe she and Domeki were even related; but they were. Evidently Domeki had gotten more of his father's personality.
The problem was that he was starting to gain insight to Domeki.
Everywhere in the Domeki household there were pictures. A lot of the pictures were of Domeki himself, ranging from childhood to his teen years. There was always a story to go with the pictures as well and Domeki's mother didn't hesitate to tell the story, even if her son protested. It was obvious she was quite proud of her son. The stories made Domeki seem...human. He knew perfectly well Domeki was human, but sometimes with the way the other boy acted he seemed like a robot sometimes. It was like nothing fazed him at all; a trait that irritated Watanuki quite a bit.
Then there was seeing Domeki almost every spare bit of his free time. He saw the other in the morning, when his hair was still wet from the shower; during breakfast, where he quickly learned the other boy's favorite foods since he was usually the one cooking; walking to and from school; several times during school; and he saw him when he was home and much more relaxed.
Spending more time with him then usual was slowly starting to shrink his bubble of denial. He didn't like it.
"Watanuki-kun?" a voice interrupted his thoughts on the archer and he turned to see Himawari looking at him. "Class is over. Didn't you realize that?"
With a start he looked around and saw that the girl was right; the teacher had stopped his boring lecture and was now talking to students and others were hurridly stuffing books in their bags in an attempt to get out of school as fast as they could. He grinned sheepishly, "Guess I spaced out for a bit."
Himawari smiled, "That's understandable; it's a pretty day outside."
Watanuki wisely decided not to say he hadn't been distracted by the pretty day but by a certain guy. As he gathered up his books Himawari asked him if he was going to the field. He blinked and asked her, "Why would I be going there?"
The girl looked at him funny, "Because of Domeki-kun's tournament, remember?"
"Oh yeah, that IS today, isn't it?" he mumbled. 'Damn, here was I hoping to get away from him for awhile at Yuko's store...'
But he did say he'd be there. A part of him, the rebellious side of him, wanted to just leave; he was perfectly capable of taking care of himself after all, he'd been doing it long before Domeki came along. But he did promise Yuko that he'd stick close to the archer at all possible times. 'Damn conscious of mine...' he thought in exasperation and so followed Himawari out to to the archery field.
A small group of people had already gathered to watch the school's team which wasn't very surprising; their team was actually pretty good. Watanuki grudgingly admitted that a lot of their wins were due to Domeki. The match turned out to be very close thanks to the fact that they were playing one of the top archery school teams in the district. Watanuki found himself inadvertingly holding his breathe every time one of the archers let loose an arrow.
When the final round started Himawari looked at her friend and smiled when she saw how focused on it he was. "Isn't this exciting?"
"Huh? Oh yeah," he said and smiled back, but he then returned his attention back to Domeki and the other archer on the field.
The archer from the other school went first and hit the target. It was a little ways from the center though. Domeki then readied his bow; as he lifted it his eyes met Watanuki's for a few seconds and the archer's lips quirked upwards a little (very little) on the left. Then he raised the bow and shot the arrow. Watanuki barely registered the crowd's cheers as the arrow hit dead center, thus winning the match for the team. He was too busy trying to tell the butterflies in his stomach to quit fluttering around.
'It was just a stupid smile!' He thought furiously as people started to get up. 'It wasn't even a whole smile! Why am I reacting like this?'
"Watanuki-kun?" Himawari looked at him in slight concern. He figured it was because he'd been sitting there with his hand over his stomach and frowning for over a minute. He glanced over at Domeki who was now getting congratulated along with his teammates.
"I've got to go," he said suddenly.
Himawari looked at him in confusion. "What? Now? Don't you want to go over and congratulate Domeki-kun?"
"Tell him congratulations for me," he said quickly. He then grabbed his bag and left as quickly as he could.
xxxHolicxxxHolic
A few minutes (and several blocks later) Watanuki decided that it was living with the Domeki family that was causing all the weird thoughts and feelings so he decided it was time he went back to his place. 'There hasn't been an attack in two weeks anyway, whatever that thing was has probably high-tailed it out of here or decided that I'm not worth it.' he thought. That was exactly what he was going to tell Yuko too, he decided, as he walked determinedly towards her store.
But as he entered the store he found it to be eerily quiet. 'Where is everyone?' he thought in confusion, looking around. Usually when he arrived Yuko was up to something, usually something involving beer, or immediately showed up to beg him for food. If she was out, Maru and Moro would be there to greet him with happy smiles. Then of course the black pork bun could always be counted on to be somewhere causing mischief. But none of them were there.
With a slight uneasy feeling he started wandering through the many hallways of the strange house. He had only been in a few of the many rooms so he became more nervous as he wandered further then he usually did. 'Maybe I should come back later...' he thought apprehensively. Then he heard quiet voices coming from a room he'd never been into before at the end of the corrider. He hesitated, then quietly crept up to the door but stopped when he heard his name mentioned.
"...you must tell Watanuki-san, Yuko-chan. This is going to involve him; Mariko-san will make sure it will."
'Who's Mariko?' he thought in confusion. 'Tell me what?' Now curious, he decided not to announce his presence just then. Instead he bent forward and looked cautiously through the slight crack in the sliding door. He blinked in surprise when he saw the old fortune-teller he and Yuko had gone to visit earlier. 'Was that really only three years ago?' he thought in amazement. 'It seems like a lifetime ago...'
"I know I must tell him I'm just trying to figure out how to tell him." Yuko replied. Watanuki frowned, he'd never heard Yuko sound so tired before.
"Well you'd best figure out how to soon," the fortune-teller said. "Trouble is coming. He's going to be in the middle of it too. That archer and the pipe fox spirit won't be able to protect him forever, you know."
"Domeki-kun will certainly try, though," Yuko said. He couldn't see her face but Watanuki could tell from the tone in her voice she had on that smile of hers again. The one she always wore when she spoke of him and Domeki. It told Watanuki that she knew something he didn't about the two of them and it drove him nuts.
"Yes; but nevertheless, he MUST know." the old woman said firmly.
"How would you have me tell him?" Yuko suddenly burst out. "Should I just take him aside and tell him 'Watanuki-kun, I've not been entirely truthful to you these past three years. The truth is I'm your biological mother and right now there's a woman who wants revenge on me and Clow, who by the way is your biological father, and so is going after you now.'"
Watanuki couldn't stop the loud gasp that escaped him. He put his hands over his mouth but it was too late, both women had heard him and the door slid open. Yuko froze when she saw him standing there and the fortune-teller sighed.
For several minutes they all just stared at each other. Watanuki didn't know about the other two but he was trying to deny what he'd heard. How could Yuko possibly be his mother? It was ridiculous. Sure, he knew that the people he had called Mother and Father had adopted him when he was a baby but he'd never given it much thought. To him they would always be his parents and no one else. Certainly not Yuko who drank, smoked, and was absolutely nothing like him. Definitely not some weird sorcerer named Clow either.
"Watanuki...," Yuko started to say something but Watanuki stopped her.
"It's not true!" he burst out, angrily. "You're lying!"
The fortune-teller snorted. "Silly boy, why would Yuko-chan lie about something like that?"
"I don't know, but it's not true," he insisted, almost desperately. Then for good measure he glared at Yuko and repeated, "It's not!"
Yuko stared at him with an unreadable look on her face for several seconds and then said, "I'm sorry, Watanuki-kun, but I am your mother."
She started to say something else but Watanuki didn't want to hear it so he did what he usually did when he didn't want to face something.
He ran.
xxxHolicxxxHolic
Yuko stared after her son as he ran out of the room.
"Aren't you going to go after him?" the fortune-teller asked softly.
"No," she said. "He won't want to speak to me or listen to me. I best give him some space now." She turned to the old woman and said, "You knew he was there." It was a statement, not a question.
The fortune-teller nodded. "Yes."
"Why didn't you say anything?"
"He was going to learn the truth sooner or later. You can't fight hitsuzen, you know."
Yuko sighed and muttered, "Sometimes I really hate hitsuzen."
AUTHOR NOTES: Yes, I know these things are dreadfully short; it's just the way it turned out. Hopefully there will be faster updates now. The fortune-teller doesn't have a name mentioned because CLAMP doesn't really name her I don't think and I don't want to shame them by giving a lame fandom name. So she's nameless for now. PLEASE REVIEW!