Glance at Me
folder
+S to Z › XXXholic
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
4
Views:
9,066
Reviews:
35
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
+S to Z › XXXholic
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
4
Views:
9,066
Reviews:
35
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own XXXholic, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Looking, But Not Seeing - Part I
o...k... *gasp* i...finally...uploaded it... alrighty, let's get this over and done with.
disclaimer: xxxholic and all characters aren't mine, however much i might wish they were.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A gust of wind tugged at Watanuki’s clothes and whipped crisp brown leaves around his ankles as he walked home from work at six in the evening. He pulled his jacket tighter around him and looked up at the quarter moon with aggrieved eyes while silver clouds scudded swiftly across the sky, pushed and harried by the breeze.
It had been so long. So long since they had last made prolonged eye contact, since they had had lunch together, since they had last spoken to each other, except through Himawari-chan.
“Doumeki-kun was wondering if your ankle was any better,” she had said one day during afterschool duties.
“It’s okay,” he had replied dully, putting more effort than necessary into wiping the blackboard clean. He had noticed that the sunny girl had a lot less effect on him now that he and Doumeki were…friends.
He snorted. “Friends”, huh? Well, friends didn’t usually taste each other's tonsils, as Yuuko had so eloquently put it, especially if they were of the same sex. Watanuki stopped walking then and stared at the path ahead of him without really seeing it.
But they had. They had kissed, standing in front of the shop while a sunset had blazed its’ fading colors through the streaked sky. And the day after that, Doumeki had acted strangely, avoiding his eyes and altogether ignoring him throughout gym class and the trouble had started.
Watanuki, put off by this odd behavior, had begun to evade any chance meetings with the silent young man. It had even gotten to the point where Watanuki wouldn’t even walk past the Doumeki’s shrine, opting instead to go by a less-traveled route through a park to his apartment.
He shivered despite his warm clothing and glanced nervously about him at the deep, sinister shadows on either side of the path. Watanuki resumed walking, picking up his pace, now very anxious to get someplace, anyplace, with other people and full lighting.
His breath caught in his throat as his hearing, made keener with his uneasiness, picked up a sound behind him. It sounded like…footsteps? Was someone following him?
Too scared to turn and look, the boy lengthened his strides and, to his horror, heard the footsteps quicken behind him.
His heart hammering, Watanuki broke into a light jog, then an all-out sprint, praying to any higher power out there that would listen that who or whatever was following him would give up the pursuit.
But then, those higher powers never really paid any attention to a hapless boy who attracted spirits to himself every time he went out alone.
Something solid and extremely heavy hit him from behind like a freight train and Watanuki went down, gritting his teeth as the skin on his palms were scraped away on the pavement.
Most other people would have been knocked out by the fall. Some others might have recovered quickly and proceeded to beat the crap out of their assailant.
Watanuki…wasn’t like them.
He lay there on the cold asphalt with an asphyxiating weight on top of him, a muscle under his eye going. He knew who was on top of him from the familiar smell and the strong arms around his middle, light pants of breath ghosting past his ear and neck. There was really only one person it could have been.
“Doumeki,” Watanuki started, his voice taut and grating with ill-concealed ferocity. “Get. Off. Now.”
There was no reply from the recalcitrant young man on top of him.
“I’m warning you, Doumeki…” There was a warm puff of air on Watanuki’s skin as Doumeki sighed softly, almost sadly.
“I need your help,” he said quietly. There was something resembling helplessness, even desperation, in the way he said it. It tugged at Watanuki’s heartstrings, but he stubbornly remained detached.
“Why do you ignore me for three weeks, then suddenly appear out of thin air to ask for my help? What’s the matter? Need more lunch?” A touch of bitterness crept into his voice then, accentuated by the sensation of the rough gravel digging into his cheek. There was silence perpetuated only by the whispering of the leaves being tugged by the wind.
“There’s something in the temple grounds and we can’t get rid of it. It evades us every time.” A pause. “That’s why I...we need your help. None of us can see it, but you probably can.” Watanuki considered. Doumeki was a jerk, and he had confirmed that when he had made that flying tackle on him.
On the other hand, if whatever was haunting the Doumeki’s shrine, it could possibly be capable of real casualties if he, Watanuki, didn’t do something about it.
“I’ll make it up to you,” the exorcist mumbled, and Watanuki stiffened, guilt filling his gut like molten lead. He inhaled Doumeki’s scent and sighed, remembering that day three weeks ago…it was still special to him…
“Okay. Now will you please—” The weight on top of him was suddenly lifted and he felt a hand grab the back of his collar and pull him up on his feet; in effect, almost strangling him. It was then that Watanuki finally lost his temper at the other boy.
Wrenching himself free of Doumeki’s grasp, he whirled around, bristling.
“Jerk! You trying to kill me before I can help you?! I’m not some handbag!” Then he stopped, for to his mortification, Doumeki looked utterly abashed, or as abashed as someone like him could be. His eyes carried a silent message to the young seer, heartfelt and sincere.
‘I’m sorry.’ Those words, Watanuki knew, weren’t just apologizing for his earlier actions. Doumeki reached out and clasped Watanuki’s cold hand within his own and gave it a gentle squeeze.
‘Can you forgive me?’
Watanuki blushed hotly, ashamed of his outburst, but at the same time, feeling his heart warm up to the older boy. He raised his free hand and pulled Doumeki’s head down, pressing a soft kiss onto his forehead.
“Let’s go.”
‘I forgive you.’
////////////////////////////////
“Doumeki! Get down!”
The archer threw himself flat on the ground, instinctively obeying the desperate command just as something huge and invisible swooped by close overhead, whirring up fallen leaves in its wake.
Doumeki leapt to his feet and pulled the string on his bow, aiming at the spot where he thought the strange creature was.
“2:00, Doumeki!” Watanuki yelled from his position from behind a pine tree.
Pivoting swiftly to his right, the exorcist released his chi arrow.
Watanuki’s knees gave out from under him as a screeching shriek rattled his teeth and he clapped a hand over his mouth as a wave of nausea washed over him.
“Did I get it?!” Doumeki yelled, drawing the bowstring taut again, preparing another strike if it was needed. The other boy could hardly see through the tears stinging his eyes, but he hastily dashed them away with the back of his hand and frantically searched the sky for the monster. It was nowhere in sight.
The trees on the grounds of the Doumeki’s shrine whispered imperceptible secrets of the past as the wind hissed through them. The two young men stood motionless, hardly daring to breathe.
The rending scream of tearing wood reached their ears the same time Watanuki was hit by a powerful stench, and the pine he had taken cover behind was ripped up by the roots and tossed aside like a twig.
Watanuki sat frozen on the ground, pine needles and clumps of dirt stuck in his hair as he stared in stupefied horror at a living nightmare: three eyes burned into him with depths like molten lava, hypnotizing him into submission, two great bat wings beating the air into a frenetic whirlwind.
It landed clumsily about a stone’s throw from the petrified boy and began to walk, bat-like, towards him. It didn’t stop until it was face-to-face with Watanuki, opened its jaws to reveal ivory teeth, wicked sharp and dripping saliva, and loomed over him, preparing to take a bite out of the one whose blood called out to it.
Something hissed like an angry wasp over Watanuki’s head and the ayakashi was thrown backwards with a thunderous roar, Doumeki’s arrow buried in its left eye. Watanuki collapsed in a heap on the leaves as Doumeki himself flew past him and swung powerfully, albeit blindly, at the enraged monster with his bow.
With his vision swimming, and his whole body gripped with sick tremors, Watanuki’s last coherent thought was, ‘Someone…please save us…’
TBC...sometime in the near future...
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
ok. the deed’s been done, and so has the damage. please review. also, my pages will be longer because ive decided to post personally dedicated messages to all those who’ve r&r’ed. skip down if you don’t wanna die of boredom. or not. so now i’ll go to work on the second installment and ch. 4, so see ya then! *bows out*
Wingz_Goddess: of course doumeki’s forceful, he’s the seme!
Julian: i’ll continue the story if you continue to read. XD
Chris: aw shucks! *kicks dirt shyly* thanks!
vampslyr: I put myself down so it won’t hurt as much when others do it for me. yup, i like things
nice ‘n slow… *coughyeahrightcough*
Munyuu: thank you. tho i didn’t mean for any angst to show. OHNOEZWHATEMIGUNNADOOZOMGIMUSTDIE! yeah, i
don’t know how that shows up in there. *hugs back*
ryuichi ukai: thanx! yeah, i wanted to create sfx that were different from others’ stories for this one.
Sjonna: i pity you cause i don’t have any other stories up aside from this one. although there might be
some eyeshield 21 yaoi soon. hmm…
sakurazukamori6: *melts* it’s readers like you that make me glad i became a writer here. thank you!
Behold Mad Hatter: hehehe… true, true!
silverlook: i’m glad i’m alive too! noo! don’t hit anything! if you stop cheering, i might actually
fade into obscurity!
inulp: yeah! i’ve finally found someone who’s just as rabid about douwata pairings as me! or so i
think. meh.
Takaouto: i gratefully accept your support/provocation! sorry, i’ll be slightly more mean by
withholding (steamy) hotness until the fourth chapter (hint, hint).
yshani: *shniff* thank you. i needed that…
Christine: …huh. it is a rant huh? dammit. oh well. and thank you. =D
Ryuu_chan: here it is! whaddaya think?
AngelViper9: i will! friends eh…? or…something more?
disclaimer: xxxholic and all characters aren't mine, however much i might wish they were.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A gust of wind tugged at Watanuki’s clothes and whipped crisp brown leaves around his ankles as he walked home from work at six in the evening. He pulled his jacket tighter around him and looked up at the quarter moon with aggrieved eyes while silver clouds scudded swiftly across the sky, pushed and harried by the breeze.
It had been so long. So long since they had last made prolonged eye contact, since they had had lunch together, since they had last spoken to each other, except through Himawari-chan.
“Doumeki-kun was wondering if your ankle was any better,” she had said one day during afterschool duties.
“It’s okay,” he had replied dully, putting more effort than necessary into wiping the blackboard clean. He had noticed that the sunny girl had a lot less effect on him now that he and Doumeki were…friends.
He snorted. “Friends”, huh? Well, friends didn’t usually taste each other's tonsils, as Yuuko had so eloquently put it, especially if they were of the same sex. Watanuki stopped walking then and stared at the path ahead of him without really seeing it.
But they had. They had kissed, standing in front of the shop while a sunset had blazed its’ fading colors through the streaked sky. And the day after that, Doumeki had acted strangely, avoiding his eyes and altogether ignoring him throughout gym class and the trouble had started.
Watanuki, put off by this odd behavior, had begun to evade any chance meetings with the silent young man. It had even gotten to the point where Watanuki wouldn’t even walk past the Doumeki’s shrine, opting instead to go by a less-traveled route through a park to his apartment.
He shivered despite his warm clothing and glanced nervously about him at the deep, sinister shadows on either side of the path. Watanuki resumed walking, picking up his pace, now very anxious to get someplace, anyplace, with other people and full lighting.
His breath caught in his throat as his hearing, made keener with his uneasiness, picked up a sound behind him. It sounded like…footsteps? Was someone following him?
Too scared to turn and look, the boy lengthened his strides and, to his horror, heard the footsteps quicken behind him.
His heart hammering, Watanuki broke into a light jog, then an all-out sprint, praying to any higher power out there that would listen that who or whatever was following him would give up the pursuit.
But then, those higher powers never really paid any attention to a hapless boy who attracted spirits to himself every time he went out alone.
Something solid and extremely heavy hit him from behind like a freight train and Watanuki went down, gritting his teeth as the skin on his palms were scraped away on the pavement.
Most other people would have been knocked out by the fall. Some others might have recovered quickly and proceeded to beat the crap out of their assailant.
Watanuki…wasn’t like them.
He lay there on the cold asphalt with an asphyxiating weight on top of him, a muscle under his eye going. He knew who was on top of him from the familiar smell and the strong arms around his middle, light pants of breath ghosting past his ear and neck. There was really only one person it could have been.
“Doumeki,” Watanuki started, his voice taut and grating with ill-concealed ferocity. “Get. Off. Now.”
There was no reply from the recalcitrant young man on top of him.
“I’m warning you, Doumeki…” There was a warm puff of air on Watanuki’s skin as Doumeki sighed softly, almost sadly.
“I need your help,” he said quietly. There was something resembling helplessness, even desperation, in the way he said it. It tugged at Watanuki’s heartstrings, but he stubbornly remained detached.
“Why do you ignore me for three weeks, then suddenly appear out of thin air to ask for my help? What’s the matter? Need more lunch?” A touch of bitterness crept into his voice then, accentuated by the sensation of the rough gravel digging into his cheek. There was silence perpetuated only by the whispering of the leaves being tugged by the wind.
“There’s something in the temple grounds and we can’t get rid of it. It evades us every time.” A pause. “That’s why I...we need your help. None of us can see it, but you probably can.” Watanuki considered. Doumeki was a jerk, and he had confirmed that when he had made that flying tackle on him.
On the other hand, if whatever was haunting the Doumeki’s shrine, it could possibly be capable of real casualties if he, Watanuki, didn’t do something about it.
“I’ll make it up to you,” the exorcist mumbled, and Watanuki stiffened, guilt filling his gut like molten lead. He inhaled Doumeki’s scent and sighed, remembering that day three weeks ago…it was still special to him…
“Okay. Now will you please—” The weight on top of him was suddenly lifted and he felt a hand grab the back of his collar and pull him up on his feet; in effect, almost strangling him. It was then that Watanuki finally lost his temper at the other boy.
Wrenching himself free of Doumeki’s grasp, he whirled around, bristling.
“Jerk! You trying to kill me before I can help you?! I’m not some handbag!” Then he stopped, for to his mortification, Doumeki looked utterly abashed, or as abashed as someone like him could be. His eyes carried a silent message to the young seer, heartfelt and sincere.
‘I’m sorry.’ Those words, Watanuki knew, weren’t just apologizing for his earlier actions. Doumeki reached out and clasped Watanuki’s cold hand within his own and gave it a gentle squeeze.
‘Can you forgive me?’
Watanuki blushed hotly, ashamed of his outburst, but at the same time, feeling his heart warm up to the older boy. He raised his free hand and pulled Doumeki’s head down, pressing a soft kiss onto his forehead.
“Let’s go.”
‘I forgive you.’
////////////////////////////////
“Doumeki! Get down!”
The archer threw himself flat on the ground, instinctively obeying the desperate command just as something huge and invisible swooped by close overhead, whirring up fallen leaves in its wake.
Doumeki leapt to his feet and pulled the string on his bow, aiming at the spot where he thought the strange creature was.
“2:00, Doumeki!” Watanuki yelled from his position from behind a pine tree.
Pivoting swiftly to his right, the exorcist released his chi arrow.
Watanuki’s knees gave out from under him as a screeching shriek rattled his teeth and he clapped a hand over his mouth as a wave of nausea washed over him.
“Did I get it?!” Doumeki yelled, drawing the bowstring taut again, preparing another strike if it was needed. The other boy could hardly see through the tears stinging his eyes, but he hastily dashed them away with the back of his hand and frantically searched the sky for the monster. It was nowhere in sight.
The trees on the grounds of the Doumeki’s shrine whispered imperceptible secrets of the past as the wind hissed through them. The two young men stood motionless, hardly daring to breathe.
The rending scream of tearing wood reached their ears the same time Watanuki was hit by a powerful stench, and the pine he had taken cover behind was ripped up by the roots and tossed aside like a twig.
Watanuki sat frozen on the ground, pine needles and clumps of dirt stuck in his hair as he stared in stupefied horror at a living nightmare: three eyes burned into him with depths like molten lava, hypnotizing him into submission, two great bat wings beating the air into a frenetic whirlwind.
It landed clumsily about a stone’s throw from the petrified boy and began to walk, bat-like, towards him. It didn’t stop until it was face-to-face with Watanuki, opened its jaws to reveal ivory teeth, wicked sharp and dripping saliva, and loomed over him, preparing to take a bite out of the one whose blood called out to it.
Something hissed like an angry wasp over Watanuki’s head and the ayakashi was thrown backwards with a thunderous roar, Doumeki’s arrow buried in its left eye. Watanuki collapsed in a heap on the leaves as Doumeki himself flew past him and swung powerfully, albeit blindly, at the enraged monster with his bow.
With his vision swimming, and his whole body gripped with sick tremors, Watanuki’s last coherent thought was, ‘Someone…please save us…’
TBC...sometime in the near future...
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
ok. the deed’s been done, and so has the damage. please review. also, my pages will be longer because ive decided to post personally dedicated messages to all those who’ve r&r’ed. skip down if you don’t wanna die of boredom. or not. so now i’ll go to work on the second installment and ch. 4, so see ya then! *bows out*
Wingz_Goddess: of course doumeki’s forceful, he’s the seme!
Julian: i’ll continue the story if you continue to read. XD
Chris: aw shucks! *kicks dirt shyly* thanks!
vampslyr: I put myself down so it won’t hurt as much when others do it for me. yup, i like things
nice ‘n slow… *coughyeahrightcough*
Munyuu: thank you. tho i didn’t mean for any angst to show. OHNOEZWHATEMIGUNNADOOZOMGIMUSTDIE! yeah, i
don’t know how that shows up in there. *hugs back*
ryuichi ukai: thanx! yeah, i wanted to create sfx that were different from others’ stories for this one.
Sjonna: i pity you cause i don’t have any other stories up aside from this one. although there might be
some eyeshield 21 yaoi soon. hmm…
sakurazukamori6: *melts* it’s readers like you that make me glad i became a writer here. thank you!
Behold Mad Hatter: hehehe… true, true!
silverlook: i’m glad i’m alive too! noo! don’t hit anything! if you stop cheering, i might actually
fade into obscurity!
inulp: yeah! i’ve finally found someone who’s just as rabid about douwata pairings as me! or so i
think. meh.
Takaouto: i gratefully accept your support/provocation! sorry, i’ll be slightly more mean by
withholding (steamy) hotness until the fourth chapter (hint, hint).
yshani: *shniff* thank you. i needed that…
Christine: …huh. it is a rant huh? dammit. oh well. and thank you. =D
Ryuu_chan: here it is! whaddaya think?
AngelViper9: i will! friends eh…? or…something more?