just to feel you, chapter seven (part two)
Back to part 1
* * *
Himawari’s condition seemed to improve overnight. When Watanuki served breakfast in the parlor, he was surprised and relieved to see her sitting at the low table, looking tired and pale but otherwise unharmed.
“Himawari-chan!” he greeted her, nearly fumbling the tray of tea. “How are you this morning?” he asked anxiously.
She smiled wearily at him. “I’m fine, Watanuki-kun,” she said softly. “A little sore, but mostly I’m okay.”
He glanced quickly at Yuuko, who lifted her eyebrows at him innocently. Shaking his head slightly, he set the tray down and got busy serving tea. As he poured, he mulled over his choice of words.
“Himawari-chan,” he said slowly, forcing himself to meet her gaze as he handed her the cup of tea, “about yesterday-I’m-”
But she was already shaking her head with a smile. “Don’t apologize, please,” she told him. He blinked at her, wide-eyed, and she sighed a little. “Watanuki-kun,” she said, gazing down at her teacup, “it was my choice, you see?”
Because she chose to involve herself.
Watanuki winced at the memory of Yuuko’s words from the previous afternoon, even as Himawari continued, “I wanted to help in some way, and so I chose to help. So really, Watanuki-kun, I would really prefer if you weren’t sorry that I helped.” She sipped from her cup, still not looking at him.
Watanuki tilted his head at her and thought about it for a moment.
“Then,” he said carefully, “can I be sorry that you were hurt, helping me?”
Himawari smiled up at him at last. “If you really want to apologize that much,” she said jokingly, “then all right.”
He let out a relieved sigh, aware that she was teasing him slightly. “Well, then. I’m glad you’re feeling better.”
“Thank you,” she said sincerely, and he turned to serve Yuuko her tea. With his eyes, he asked his employer, Is she all right?
Yuuko did not answer him with words or with her eyes. She merely sipped from her tea, then demanded strawberry crépes for breakfast.
Grinning-for she could not have given him a better answer-Watanuki returned to the kitchen.
* * *
They walked to school together, waving goodbye to Yuuko, who watched them go with a smile. On the way, Watanuki and Himawari chatted amiably about that day’s impending math quiz, the lunch Watanuki had made for them, and whether or not there was going to be a street festival next week. They did not discuss Erebus. They also did not discuss Doumeki.
Watanuki was determined that Himawari never, ever find out that Doumeki had kissed him. It would probably offend her delicate sensibilities that a boy would kiss another boy-or at least, it would shock her innocent heart, that her two closest friends would indulge in such behavior just after she had been injured. She might even think that they hadn’t cared whether or not she was all right! So, having decided to keep the kiss a secret, he was blithely describing a fruit tart recipe he’d been thinking of trying out, when he caught sight of their surroundings.
They were passing by the Doumeki family temple. Unconsciously, his footsteps slowed and a line appeared between his eyebrows. He trailed off, staring hard at the empty gateway, where Doumeki would usually be standing.
Of course Doumeki wouldn’t be there today, a small part of him thought. Not after…yesterday. Watanuki had, in effect, rejected Doumeki, and so the archer was probably going to avoid him out of embarrassment-
But, said that small part of him, that doesn’t sound like Doumeki at all. Maybe something did happen yesterday, after he left. Maybe Erebus came back for another round. But Yuuko seemed to think Doumeki would be fine. But this is a god, and not a spirit. What if Yuuko was wrong?
Himawari noticed his preoccupation. “Are we going to wait for Doumeki-kun?” she asked softly.
Watanuki, startled out of his thoughts, was torn between agreeing out of sheer curiosity (not concern) about whether the archer had run into any more trouble, and arguing against the idea simply to avoid the awkward tension that was sure to present itself-and then he caught sight of Doumeki coming out of the temple gateway. His tongue suddenly felt thick and clumsy in his mouth, and he had to fight the urge to run away before Doumeki got too close.
Obviously Himawari had caught sight of him too, because she smiled brightly and waved him over. “Doumeki-kun, there you are! Now we can all walk to school together.” Watanuki very carefully said nothing at all.
Doumeki joined them with a nod to Himawari and without looking at Watanuki even once. This, on some level, irked Watanuki, but since it also spared him the trouble of making awkward conversation with Doumeki that danced around the subject of Yesterday Afternoon and That Thing We Did That I Will Never, Ever Admit to Doing With You, he let the silence between them grow.
And grow.
And grow.
By the time they’d walked half a mile together, even Himawari’s smile looked a little uncertain. She finally stopped trying to begin conversations, and took to simply watching the ground as they walked.
Of course it was Doumeki who broke the silence. “Make sure you wait until I’m done with archery practice before you leave, and then we’re going straight back to the shop.”
Watanuki turned his head slowly, bristling as he did so and forgetting all about the awkwardness he was trying to ignore. There was only one ‘you’ Doumeki could have been addressing, and the blatant arrogance in the words immediately put his back up. “You,” he hissed, “do not decide where I go or when I leave!”
Doumeki finally turned to him with a face devoid of expression. “You won’t be going anywhere by yourself until this god is dealt with.” The tone of his voice hinted at what it would take to ‘deal with’ Erebus, and Watanuki was unwillingly reminded of the previous day. “I won’t fail,” Doumeki had said then, and his voice sounded exactly as it did now.
“Well,” Watanuki blustered, mustering up his blackest rage, trying to erase the memory of how Doumeki’s voice had shivered down his spine, “well-”
But Doumeki had already turned his attention to Himawari. “Neither will you,” he told her with a frown. “I’m not risking anything else happening to you, either.”
Watanuki stared at Doumeki, fighting twin prongs of guilt and bafflement. Doumeki had never before expressed concern for Himawari’s welfare, at least not in connection to spirits hounding them and trying to kill them. As far as Watanuki knew, Doumeki had never before cared that Himawari might be affected by what he and Watanuki routinely went through at Yuuko’s behest. Normally he would have immediately jumped to the conclusion that Doumeki, the bastard, was trying to win Himawari’s heart by being cool and considerate. Today, though-with the memory of yesterday’s attack and the kiss still flooding his mind-Watanuki was absolutely certain that this could not be the case. Doumeki sounded, instead, like an older brother admonishing his younger sister about talking to strangers.
Himawari, for her part, only shuddered slightly at Doumeki’s words-reminded, too, of yesterday-and nodded in complete acquiescence to Doumeki’s request.
The three of them walked on in silence for a little longer. For the second time in as many minutes, it was Doumeki who spoke first-a record-breaking occurrence.
“Thank you, Kunogi,” he said quietly. There was no doubt in any of their minds what he meant: Thank you for saving his life.
Watanuki stiffened and shot a remonstrative look at him for bringing up that subject, but Himawari surprised him by saying just as quietly, “If I hadn’t, you would have.”
Again, Watanuki thought of yesterday, and Doumeki’s odd, almost introspective attitude. His cheeks flushed. Why, he wondered, did even the completely sweet and wonderful Himawari-chan seem to think that Doumeki existed solely to look after Watanuki? It wasn’t like that at all.
Was it?
Caught by this unexpected question, Watanuki almost missed Himawari’s next words, so quiet that he had to strain to catch them. “If you had been the one to get hurt instead of me, Doumeki-kun, you wouldn’t have been able to protect Watanuki-kun or me. So really, thank you.”
Doumeki’s small frown grew a little deeper as he stared at her. “Kunogi…” he began.
She shook her head with a smile. “Himawari,” she corrected him gently.
Watanuki’s eyes widened. She was giving that idiot permission to call her by her name!
At both Watanuki’s and Doumeki’s stares, Himawari explained, “You saved me-both of you did. And you’re the closest friends I’ve ever had. I think…” She hesitated, then went on firmly, “I think we’ve got a close enough connection that you should both call me by my given name.”
Watanuki fumed silently, despite the fact that he himself already had Himawari’s permission to call her by name, and scowled sidelong at Doumeki. He’d better realize what a privilege he’s being offered here! Himawari-chan is allowing him to be familiar with her, so he’d better be respectful of that!
Doumeki looked faintly startled for a moment, but then he nodded slowly. “Himawari,” he repeated dutifully.
Oh, that was too much. Watanuki rounded on him, berating him fiercely, “You rude idiot! Say -chan after her name! Don’t just call her ‘Himawari’ without an honorific! You’re not that familiar with her!”
Himawari giggled. Doumeki completely ignored the tirade as he turned a speculative look on Watanuki, who broke off mid-rant to eye him suspiciously.
“What?” he demanded. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“By that reasoning,” Doumeki said, “since I’ve saved your life before, I should be able to call you Kimihiro.”
Watanuki gaped at him in utter astonishment. “You-” he sputtered. “You-” The worst part was that he couldn’t exactly deny the claim, since the reasoning was Himawari’s, and he was loath to shoot down one of her ideas. “You-”
“Shizuka,” supplied Doumeki blandly. “You can call me by name, as well.”
Watanuki glowered. “I NEVER ASKED YOU IF I COULD!” he shouted. “WHO SAID I WANTED TO-”
Himawari, to his horror, was nodding enthusiastically. “That makes sense,” she agreed. “Since the two of you have an even deeper connection, you should call each other by your names!”
“Himawari-chan!” Watanuki wailed. “This idiot and I definitely do not have a deep connection! We’re rivals! We’re-”
Doumeki simply gave him a look. “Kimihiro,” he said, and Watanuki shut up as quickly as if Doumeki had hit a ‘mute’ button, cheeks flushing faintly red at the sound of his name coming so easily from the archer’s lips.
“Y-You idiot!” he stuttered. “Add -san, or at the very least -kun! Do you have no manners whatsoever?”
“I thought you said -chan before,” said Doumeki tonelessly.
“If you call me Kimihiro-chan, I will starve you for a month,” threatened Watanuki direly. He’d rather Doumeki forego the honorific altogether, rather than suffer the humiliation of hearing Doumeki call him ‘Kimihiro-chan.’ Never, never, never!
Doumeki turned to the grinning Himawari. “You’ll call us by name too, then,” he told her, and she nodded happily in agreement, looking over at Watanuki.
“You don’t mind, do you?” she asked him. Watanuki beamed at her sparklingly, shaking his head so fast he was almost dizzy.
“Himawari-chan can use my name if it makes her happy!” he told her jubilantly.
She smiled at him. “Then I’ll call you Kimihiro-kun, just like Kohane-chan does.” Watanuki nearly melted from sheer joy-which turned to disgruntled horror as Himawari said to Doumeki, “And is it all right if I call you Shizuka-kun?”
He nodded, and she clapped her hands in delight.
“I feel as though we’re all much closer friends now,” she said happily.
“Near-death experiences can do that,” said Doumeki with a nod. Watanuki glared at him.
“How can you be so insensitive?” he demanded. “Are you broken in the head or something?”
“My head is just fine, Kimihiro,” said Doumeki placidly. Watanuki twitched.
“I DO NOT RECALL AGREEING TO LETTING YOU CALL ME BY NAME,” he informed the archer. “YOU ARE THE MOST PRESUMPTUOUS PERSON I KNOW.”
By this point they’d reached the school, and Doumeki had one finger in the ear closest to Watanuki. This served to further Watanuki’s indignation, and made Himawari giggle behind one hand.
“I have morning duty,” she told them, beaming. “I’ll see you two in class later on!” She headed for the shoe lockers with a merry wave, and with more of a bounce in her step than she’d had all during the walk to school.
Watanuki and Doumeki were left standing together. Once Himawari was out of sight and earshot, the dreaded awkward silence fell between them.
Damn, thought Watanuki miserably. Now what do I do? He fidgeted, on the verge of making some excuse and slipping away from Doumeki, who looked completely unconcerned with Watanuki’s discomfort. I mean, what if he wants to talk about-
“About yesterday,” said Doumeki suddenly.
Startled, Watanuki edged away and declared loudly, “We are not discussing that, not ever, understand?”
Doumeki-there was no other word for it-glared at him. Granted, it was more of a You idiot, shut up and listen glare than it was a I am supremely annoyed with you glare, but it was a glare nonetheless. “I meant the attack,” he said, his voice tight.
“Oh,” said Watanuki intelligently. I knew that.
“That god won’t let what happened yesterday, happen again. We’re going to be more careful now, all of us,” Doumeki went on, unaware of how closely he was echoing Yuuko. Watanuki suppressed another shudder. What is with everyone sharing each other’s thoughts lately? It’s creepy!
“So don’t leave the school without me,” finished Doumeki. He paused, then added gruffly, “Try not to let Kuno-Himawari leave without us, either.”
A small, reluctant wave of warmth hit Watanuki at the obvious concern Doumeki was showing (and trying not to show) for Himawari. “You idiot,” he muttered. “I told you to add a -chan to her name. Besides…” He peered at Doumeki with a little more irritation. “Who decided that you could boss us around?”
Doumeki gave him a very long, very level look. “Since I’m the only one of us that Erebus hasn’t tried attacking directly yet,” he said coolly.
Watanuki frowned at him, unaccustomed to Doumeki being so…outwardly hostile toward him. He hadn't acted like this since they'd started working for Yuuko. “But,” he said slowly, “what about that night at the Tower? That illusion you-” He trailed off, eyes wide.
Doumeki’s expression had shifted ever so subtly that one would have missed it if one hadn’t known what to look for. There was something hard and dangerous in his eyes, something that reminded Watanuki of how Yuuko had looked last night when she talked about Erebus. There was a fierceness that was underlined by fury…and fear.
“We’re not discussing that,” Doumeki said very softly. “Ever.”
He turned and walked into the school. Watanuki stared after him, his heart pounding in his chest.
A/N: Mmm, genfluff. ♥ Also, GHEI. ♥ ♥ ♥
* * *
Himawari’s condition seemed to improve overnight. When Watanuki served breakfast in the parlor, he was surprised and relieved to see her sitting at the low table, looking tired and pale but otherwise unharmed.
“Himawari-chan!” he greeted her, nearly fumbling the tray of tea. “How are you this morning?” he asked anxiously.
She smiled wearily at him. “I’m fine, Watanuki-kun,” she said softly. “A little sore, but mostly I’m okay.”
He glanced quickly at Yuuko, who lifted her eyebrows at him innocently. Shaking his head slightly, he set the tray down and got busy serving tea. As he poured, he mulled over his choice of words.
“Himawari-chan,” he said slowly, forcing himself to meet her gaze as he handed her the cup of tea, “about yesterday-I’m-”
But she was already shaking her head with a smile. “Don’t apologize, please,” she told him. He blinked at her, wide-eyed, and she sighed a little. “Watanuki-kun,” she said, gazing down at her teacup, “it was my choice, you see?”
Because she chose to involve herself.
Watanuki winced at the memory of Yuuko’s words from the previous afternoon, even as Himawari continued, “I wanted to help in some way, and so I chose to help. So really, Watanuki-kun, I would really prefer if you weren’t sorry that I helped.” She sipped from her cup, still not looking at him.
Watanuki tilted his head at her and thought about it for a moment.
“Then,” he said carefully, “can I be sorry that you were hurt, helping me?”
Himawari smiled up at him at last. “If you really want to apologize that much,” she said jokingly, “then all right.”
He let out a relieved sigh, aware that she was teasing him slightly. “Well, then. I’m glad you’re feeling better.”
“Thank you,” she said sincerely, and he turned to serve Yuuko her tea. With his eyes, he asked his employer, Is she all right?
Yuuko did not answer him with words or with her eyes. She merely sipped from her tea, then demanded strawberry crépes for breakfast.
Grinning-for she could not have given him a better answer-Watanuki returned to the kitchen.
* * *
They walked to school together, waving goodbye to Yuuko, who watched them go with a smile. On the way, Watanuki and Himawari chatted amiably about that day’s impending math quiz, the lunch Watanuki had made for them, and whether or not there was going to be a street festival next week. They did not discuss Erebus. They also did not discuss Doumeki.
Watanuki was determined that Himawari never, ever find out that Doumeki had kissed him. It would probably offend her delicate sensibilities that a boy would kiss another boy-or at least, it would shock her innocent heart, that her two closest friends would indulge in such behavior just after she had been injured. She might even think that they hadn’t cared whether or not she was all right! So, having decided to keep the kiss a secret, he was blithely describing a fruit tart recipe he’d been thinking of trying out, when he caught sight of their surroundings.
They were passing by the Doumeki family temple. Unconsciously, his footsteps slowed and a line appeared between his eyebrows. He trailed off, staring hard at the empty gateway, where Doumeki would usually be standing.
Of course Doumeki wouldn’t be there today, a small part of him thought. Not after…yesterday. Watanuki had, in effect, rejected Doumeki, and so the archer was probably going to avoid him out of embarrassment-
But, said that small part of him, that doesn’t sound like Doumeki at all. Maybe something did happen yesterday, after he left. Maybe Erebus came back for another round. But Yuuko seemed to think Doumeki would be fine. But this is a god, and not a spirit. What if Yuuko was wrong?
Himawari noticed his preoccupation. “Are we going to wait for Doumeki-kun?” she asked softly.
Watanuki, startled out of his thoughts, was torn between agreeing out of sheer curiosity (not concern) about whether the archer had run into any more trouble, and arguing against the idea simply to avoid the awkward tension that was sure to present itself-and then he caught sight of Doumeki coming out of the temple gateway. His tongue suddenly felt thick and clumsy in his mouth, and he had to fight the urge to run away before Doumeki got too close.
Obviously Himawari had caught sight of him too, because she smiled brightly and waved him over. “Doumeki-kun, there you are! Now we can all walk to school together.” Watanuki very carefully said nothing at all.
Doumeki joined them with a nod to Himawari and without looking at Watanuki even once. This, on some level, irked Watanuki, but since it also spared him the trouble of making awkward conversation with Doumeki that danced around the subject of Yesterday Afternoon and That Thing We Did That I Will Never, Ever Admit to Doing With You, he let the silence between them grow.
And grow.
And grow.
By the time they’d walked half a mile together, even Himawari’s smile looked a little uncertain. She finally stopped trying to begin conversations, and took to simply watching the ground as they walked.
Of course it was Doumeki who broke the silence. “Make sure you wait until I’m done with archery practice before you leave, and then we’re going straight back to the shop.”
Watanuki turned his head slowly, bristling as he did so and forgetting all about the awkwardness he was trying to ignore. There was only one ‘you’ Doumeki could have been addressing, and the blatant arrogance in the words immediately put his back up. “You,” he hissed, “do not decide where I go or when I leave!”
Doumeki finally turned to him with a face devoid of expression. “You won’t be going anywhere by yourself until this god is dealt with.” The tone of his voice hinted at what it would take to ‘deal with’ Erebus, and Watanuki was unwillingly reminded of the previous day. “I won’t fail,” Doumeki had said then, and his voice sounded exactly as it did now.
“Well,” Watanuki blustered, mustering up his blackest rage, trying to erase the memory of how Doumeki’s voice had shivered down his spine, “well-”
But Doumeki had already turned his attention to Himawari. “Neither will you,” he told her with a frown. “I’m not risking anything else happening to you, either.”
Watanuki stared at Doumeki, fighting twin prongs of guilt and bafflement. Doumeki had never before expressed concern for Himawari’s welfare, at least not in connection to spirits hounding them and trying to kill them. As far as Watanuki knew, Doumeki had never before cared that Himawari might be affected by what he and Watanuki routinely went through at Yuuko’s behest. Normally he would have immediately jumped to the conclusion that Doumeki, the bastard, was trying to win Himawari’s heart by being cool and considerate. Today, though-with the memory of yesterday’s attack and the kiss still flooding his mind-Watanuki was absolutely certain that this could not be the case. Doumeki sounded, instead, like an older brother admonishing his younger sister about talking to strangers.
Himawari, for her part, only shuddered slightly at Doumeki’s words-reminded, too, of yesterday-and nodded in complete acquiescence to Doumeki’s request.
The three of them walked on in silence for a little longer. For the second time in as many minutes, it was Doumeki who spoke first-a record-breaking occurrence.
“Thank you, Kunogi,” he said quietly. There was no doubt in any of their minds what he meant: Thank you for saving his life.
Watanuki stiffened and shot a remonstrative look at him for bringing up that subject, but Himawari surprised him by saying just as quietly, “If I hadn’t, you would have.”
Again, Watanuki thought of yesterday, and Doumeki’s odd, almost introspective attitude. His cheeks flushed. Why, he wondered, did even the completely sweet and wonderful Himawari-chan seem to think that Doumeki existed solely to look after Watanuki? It wasn’t like that at all.
Was it?
Caught by this unexpected question, Watanuki almost missed Himawari’s next words, so quiet that he had to strain to catch them. “If you had been the one to get hurt instead of me, Doumeki-kun, you wouldn’t have been able to protect Watanuki-kun or me. So really, thank you.”
Doumeki’s small frown grew a little deeper as he stared at her. “Kunogi…” he began.
She shook her head with a smile. “Himawari,” she corrected him gently.
Watanuki’s eyes widened. She was giving that idiot permission to call her by her name!
At both Watanuki’s and Doumeki’s stares, Himawari explained, “You saved me-both of you did. And you’re the closest friends I’ve ever had. I think…” She hesitated, then went on firmly, “I think we’ve got a close enough connection that you should both call me by my given name.”
Watanuki fumed silently, despite the fact that he himself already had Himawari’s permission to call her by name, and scowled sidelong at Doumeki. He’d better realize what a privilege he’s being offered here! Himawari-chan is allowing him to be familiar with her, so he’d better be respectful of that!
Doumeki looked faintly startled for a moment, but then he nodded slowly. “Himawari,” he repeated dutifully.
Oh, that was too much. Watanuki rounded on him, berating him fiercely, “You rude idiot! Say -chan after her name! Don’t just call her ‘Himawari’ without an honorific! You’re not that familiar with her!”
Himawari giggled. Doumeki completely ignored the tirade as he turned a speculative look on Watanuki, who broke off mid-rant to eye him suspiciously.
“What?” he demanded. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“By that reasoning,” Doumeki said, “since I’ve saved your life before, I should be able to call you Kimihiro.”
Watanuki gaped at him in utter astonishment. “You-” he sputtered. “You-” The worst part was that he couldn’t exactly deny the claim, since the reasoning was Himawari’s, and he was loath to shoot down one of her ideas. “You-”
“Shizuka,” supplied Doumeki blandly. “You can call me by name, as well.”
Watanuki glowered. “I NEVER ASKED YOU IF I COULD!” he shouted. “WHO SAID I WANTED TO-”
Himawari, to his horror, was nodding enthusiastically. “That makes sense,” she agreed. “Since the two of you have an even deeper connection, you should call each other by your names!”
“Himawari-chan!” Watanuki wailed. “This idiot and I definitely do not have a deep connection! We’re rivals! We’re-”
Doumeki simply gave him a look. “Kimihiro,” he said, and Watanuki shut up as quickly as if Doumeki had hit a ‘mute’ button, cheeks flushing faintly red at the sound of his name coming so easily from the archer’s lips.
“Y-You idiot!” he stuttered. “Add -san, or at the very least -kun! Do you have no manners whatsoever?”
“I thought you said -chan before,” said Doumeki tonelessly.
“If you call me Kimihiro-chan, I will starve you for a month,” threatened Watanuki direly. He’d rather Doumeki forego the honorific altogether, rather than suffer the humiliation of hearing Doumeki call him ‘Kimihiro-chan.’ Never, never, never!
Doumeki turned to the grinning Himawari. “You’ll call us by name too, then,” he told her, and she nodded happily in agreement, looking over at Watanuki.
“You don’t mind, do you?” she asked him. Watanuki beamed at her sparklingly, shaking his head so fast he was almost dizzy.
“Himawari-chan can use my name if it makes her happy!” he told her jubilantly.
She smiled at him. “Then I’ll call you Kimihiro-kun, just like Kohane-chan does.” Watanuki nearly melted from sheer joy-which turned to disgruntled horror as Himawari said to Doumeki, “And is it all right if I call you Shizuka-kun?”
He nodded, and she clapped her hands in delight.
“I feel as though we’re all much closer friends now,” she said happily.
“Near-death experiences can do that,” said Doumeki with a nod. Watanuki glared at him.
“How can you be so insensitive?” he demanded. “Are you broken in the head or something?”
“My head is just fine, Kimihiro,” said Doumeki placidly. Watanuki twitched.
“I DO NOT RECALL AGREEING TO LETTING YOU CALL ME BY NAME,” he informed the archer. “YOU ARE THE MOST PRESUMPTUOUS PERSON I KNOW.”
By this point they’d reached the school, and Doumeki had one finger in the ear closest to Watanuki. This served to further Watanuki’s indignation, and made Himawari giggle behind one hand.
“I have morning duty,” she told them, beaming. “I’ll see you two in class later on!” She headed for the shoe lockers with a merry wave, and with more of a bounce in her step than she’d had all during the walk to school.
Watanuki and Doumeki were left standing together. Once Himawari was out of sight and earshot, the dreaded awkward silence fell between them.
Damn, thought Watanuki miserably. Now what do I do? He fidgeted, on the verge of making some excuse and slipping away from Doumeki, who looked completely unconcerned with Watanuki’s discomfort. I mean, what if he wants to talk about-
“About yesterday,” said Doumeki suddenly.
Startled, Watanuki edged away and declared loudly, “We are not discussing that, not ever, understand?”
Doumeki-there was no other word for it-glared at him. Granted, it was more of a You idiot, shut up and listen glare than it was a I am supremely annoyed with you glare, but it was a glare nonetheless. “I meant the attack,” he said, his voice tight.
“Oh,” said Watanuki intelligently. I knew that.
“That god won’t let what happened yesterday, happen again. We’re going to be more careful now, all of us,” Doumeki went on, unaware of how closely he was echoing Yuuko. Watanuki suppressed another shudder. What is with everyone sharing each other’s thoughts lately? It’s creepy!
“So don’t leave the school without me,” finished Doumeki. He paused, then added gruffly, “Try not to let Kuno-Himawari leave without us, either.”
A small, reluctant wave of warmth hit Watanuki at the obvious concern Doumeki was showing (and trying not to show) for Himawari. “You idiot,” he muttered. “I told you to add a -chan to her name. Besides…” He peered at Doumeki with a little more irritation. “Who decided that you could boss us around?”
Doumeki gave him a very long, very level look. “Since I’m the only one of us that Erebus hasn’t tried attacking directly yet,” he said coolly.
Watanuki frowned at him, unaccustomed to Doumeki being so…outwardly hostile toward him. He hadn't acted like this since they'd started working for Yuuko. “But,” he said slowly, “what about that night at the Tower? That illusion you-” He trailed off, eyes wide.
Doumeki’s expression had shifted ever so subtly that one would have missed it if one hadn’t known what to look for. There was something hard and dangerous in his eyes, something that reminded Watanuki of how Yuuko had looked last night when she talked about Erebus. There was a fierceness that was underlined by fury…and fear.
“We’re not discussing that,” Doumeki said very softly. “Ever.”
He turned and walked into the school. Watanuki stared after him, his heart pounding in his chest.
A/N: Mmm, genfluff. ♥ Also, GHEI. ♥ ♥ ♥