Deep Connection

doumekiwatanuki @ 2008-08-18T19:07:00

2008-08-19T02:08:53Z

A fifty themes drabble.

Theme #4: Picture Perfect
Title: Picture Perfect (creative, aren't I)

"Doumeki could be picture perfect."

Fic: Feverbright

2008-08-18T19:05:03Z

Title: Feverbright
Pairing: 104
Word Count: 1612
Rating: PG-15
Part: 2 of 3

Feverbright 2

The Memory Keeper: Chapter 6

2008-08-17T22:07:16Z

Chapter 6: The Memory Keeper
Rating: PG-15+, violence
Words: ???
Summary: Doumeki finds something he was looking for.

Doumeki Shizuka was not normally frightened.

Deep within, he could feel Mugetsu's strength winding tighter about his bones. Every day it seeped into his flesh. In less than three days, his muscles had become god-like. His fingers alone held the strength of a thousand olympians, yet they still trembled.

There was much to be gained, and much more that could be lost on this journey.

Now, he crept through a world of shadow. Himawari's breath was accelerated. She exhaled rapidly against his neck, her fingers tightly woven through the fabric of his loose robe. Below them, a blood-red abyss had poisoned a once-pristine landscape.

His fingers opened the leather map gently. He spread it, then reached into the pouch sewn into the leather strap that crossed his chest. His fingers deftly pulled out four small stones, which he placed in the corners of the map. They flared briefly with kanji, which evaporated and wafted away on the heated breeze. The scent of magic was thick in his nostrils, and Doumeki knew that they must move quickly.

Before whatever was following them had the opportunity to catch up.

The Land of the Fallen Star was most certainly a treacherous one. Already the cliff crumbled beneath the combined weight of both he and Himawari's weight. Doumeki motioned with one finger for Himawari to follow, and they scrambled down a narrow stone staircase that was immediately to their left.

The red light of the dying heavens reflected upon their seemingly pale complexions a bloody pallor. Doumeki's green eyes glowed in the dim light, he was easily able to pick out the shape of what lurked below. He wished, however, that he could not smell it.

The stench of the minotaur assaulted his nostrils, making him almost gag. If silence had not been vital, he would have vomited nearby. Even Himawari, without heightened senses, could taste the wafting filth that singed your lungs.

This minotaur had a single undead eye, which opened vertically across its forehead. Where its living eyes had once been, rotten flesh seeped from gaping wounds, which poured puss onto the ground in waves. Its horns were unnaturally curled, its ears were shredded pieces of tattered leather, cooked by the inferno like heat. Its teeth were sharp, deadly fangs, their pearlescent hue the only sign of cleanliness in the refuse heap he resided upon.

It was beneath the minotaur's cracked and bloody hooves, however, that Doumeki's prize lay. Torn and shattered, a piece of rib cage protruded from between the split in the demon's feet. Inside, Watanuki's soul was pushing him forward, magnetically drawn to the pulse of spiritual energy that came from the bones.

"You ready?" he panted, turning to Himawari. Tanpopo fluttered nervously beside her. Her darkened curls bounced as she nodded. If there was anything a minotaur could not ignore, it was a female human, for they had no females of their own kind.

They were a damned species.

She darted out suddenly, her short skirt flaring in the heated wind as she stood downwind of the beast. Its nostrils flared and it bellowed out a mating call. Doumeki could hear Himawari's heart beat increase and saw her skin become clammy.

The beast turned, its one wide eye blinking in her direction. It became visibly aroused, and Himawari leaned into her right leg, almost as if she was going to turn and run. She caught Doumeki's eyes and froze, her face determined. He nodded slightly, and she pulled her hair down from its loose pony tail. Even Doumeki was drawn to the sweet smell of her shampoo, a mix of spices and fig.

The minotaur charged, roaring.

Doumeki snuck behind it, drawing an arrow as he skidded into its den down a slide of rock slick with human blood. He snatched the ribs from their hiding place, and leapt upwards, out of the hollow. Himawari was still with fear, now unable to run, as the monster charged, every footstep shaking the ground beneath him.

She shrieked and turned to run as it was almost upon her. Doumeki drew an arrow and let it singe the air before he released it with a violent hiss of emerald energy. It slammed through the minotaur's torso, blowing a hole into the creature's stomach the size of a dinner plate. Coagulated blood coated the blackened and cracked ground. Lightning shattered into the ground behind Himawari as froze, back to the nearest hillock.

The minotaur collapsed to its knees, then roared again, slamming towards Himawari like a linebacker.

"FUCK!" Doumeki snapped, sending three arrows barreling from one shot towards the monster. Its hand had just closed upon Himawari's ankle. Doumeki could hear her sobbing from where he stood. The arrows slammed into its body, throwing it backwards as he hurtled forward at a blinding speed.

The arrows barely dented its thick hide, and it tugged Himawari closer to its body. Her finger nails swept broad scratches along its shoulders as she kicked and flailed. Tanpopo dove for its one eye, shrieking and attempting to gouge out the massive orb. Doumeki was like a wild beast as he collided with the minotaur, a guttural roar of rage choking from between thin lips.

His claws ripped the minotaur's hand off at the wrist, and Himawari screamed as its blood blistered her skin. Doumeki ripped the top portion of his robe off and flung it in her direction, his quiver and bow following. His chest muscles rippled as he slammed his right hand into the minotaur's left, planting his feet and bellowing as his tattoo enflamed with violent streaks of blue and hot white light.

His skin scorched the minotaur, which spat noxious gas from between its nostrils at him. He dodged and it whirled for Himawari again, this time pinning her. Doumeki's bow was too far away for him to reach. He tried to stab the beast through the heart with his hand, but his shield-like skin shattered his fingers.

"DOUMEKI!" Himawari shrieked, pleading. "HELP ME!"

Doumeki whirled and grabbed the one thing still attached to his sash.

Watanuki's rib.

He reached it above his head and plunged it into the beast's back, digging it until blood poured out in fountains. The minotaur screeched and veins of electric blue light shot through it, solidifying it like a statue. A sound like a sonic boom rocketed across the darkened landscape, and it shattered like falling stars. Doumeki crept towards Himawari, who wept beneath his robe.

"Are you alright?"

She nodded, then froze. "Tanpopo?" she asked, eyes darting about the landscape.

A tiny flash of yellow caught their eyes, and Himawari crawled to the tiny creature's body, which lay crumpled against the nearest cliff. Her tears dissolved before they hit the ground as she cradled Tanpopo next to her heart.

"Nooo...," she wept, her curls shaking bitterly, her clothing torn, scars now intermingled with new, deeper scratches. Doumeki's hand reached out, and a bolt of energy leapt from one clawed finger-tip to the tiny bird's body.

A sudden "cheep" made Himawari's breath catch, and both she and Doumeki were astonished to see the tiny bird coming round. One wing remained unnaturally bent though, and it let out a small "tweep" of pain as Doumeki attempted to straighten it.

"Oh, thank goodness!" Himawari sobbed, and tucked the bird into Doumeki's robe, settling it about her as a sling.

The sound of a footstep behind them made them both freeze. Doumeki whirled and was relieved to see Yuko standing next to a portal, blue sky brilliant behind her.

"Doumeki-kun, Himawari-chan," she said, "You must come away before the master of this place finds you."

Doumeki heard something even more frightening that the Minotaur then. It sounded like the screams of the damned and dying, perpetuated eternally by the empty black skies that roared with flame.

"You have killed his pet. He will not appreciate your presence here. Now come, quickly."

Doumeki gathered Himawari into his arms and leapt towards the portal as a massive, rotting corpse dragged itself into the clearing. Its body was made up of thousands of agonized faces, multiple limbs and organs trailing beneath it, refuse littering the ground behind it.

"Dou...meeee...kiiii!" it shrieked, thousands of hands reaching for him as he passed Himawari through the portal.

He was stepping through himself when another voice shouted at him from the throng.

"SHIZUKA! Help me my boy...," it accelerated into a keening wail, and he whirled to see the creature once more. Now, however, his grandfather's face, eyeless sockets weeping, protruded most prominently from the throng.

"Grandfather?" he whispered, one foot stepping out of the portal.

His hand reached for the extended one beneath him, but he was snatched back abruptly.

The portal closed on the hand, electrocuting it until it fell backwards, the screams ceasing suddenly.

"Do not be fooled Doumeki Shizuka!" Yuko snapped, violently, fire in her eyes. "The Lord of the Fallen is exceptional at playing upon your greatest fears."

"That...was an illusion...then?" he panted, eyes frantic.

"Yes. Your grandfather is not among the damned."

Relieved, Doumeki collapsed upon the nearest chaise, Himawari cuddled to his bare chest, tending to Tanpopo.

"Now my dear boy, about your payment...," Yuko said, smiling.

Rolling his eyes, Doumeki reached into the wrappings of his quiver and pulled out a hand full of blackened dirt it had collected when it was thrown. "Don't know what you want this for anyways." he grunted, dropping it into her outstretched fingertips.

"My dear Doumeki, do not tell me you have never tried sake with stardust." she laughed. "It'll put some hair on that prepubescent chest of yours."

Doumeki growled, then laid back once more. He grinned broadly, and closed his eyes.

Sleep sounded fantastic right now. It was about damn time the seer rewarded one of his rescue efforts with a kiss.

another fairytale, just for the lolz

2008-08-16T23:38:07Z

I had so much fun with last one that I just had to try again!

Title: White as snow
Disclaimer: Clamp owns holic , grimm brothers owns the fairytale, I own the plot bunnies
Pairing: Douwata
Note: Based on the original snowhite story, in wich the prince isn't a necrophile.
Warning: beware non-romantic prince doumeki
Summary: witch Yuuko and her magic mirror wants to play matchmaker...

“Mirror, oh magical mirror who sees all thing…” began the witch, sprawled out on her couch in the highest room of the highest tower, “I’m bored. Isn’t there something to do?”

The surface of the mirror shined a moment before the face of a blond man appeared on it. He seemed to think for a moment before exclaiming “I know! Do you remember the queen whom we granted the wish of, a couple of years ago?” The image of a beautiful queen appeared on the surface of the object before the face of the man took over again.

“ ‘I want a child with hair black as ebony, skin white as snow and eyes blue as the sky’? Yeah, why?”

“Well,” answered the mirror with a sly gin, “It seems he’s in age to get married…” He showed her a young, skinny prince, with hair like ebony, skin like snow, etc. “Problem is, he hasn’t met anyone of interest yet. Perhaps we could… Give hitsuzen a little push?”

“Oooh, we’re gonna play matchmaker!!!” exclaimed the now enthusiasm witch, clapping her hands. “Do you have anyone in mind?”

The image of another prince replaced the previous one. This one was a little taller, with golden eyes and a bored expression. “Perhaps prince Doumeki Shizuka? Looks like he could use the entertainment.”

“He’s perfect!” agreed the witch. “Fai-mirror-san, you’re a genius!” She then raised her fist in the hair. “Let the matchmaking begin!!!”

All the way to the ground, the hunter Kurogane suddenly shivered at the sound of the two evil crackles coming from the tower. “I have a bad feeling about this…”

- - - - - -

“Nuki-nuki! We’re going!” said yellow Mokona.

“Make us good food for tonight!” chirped orange Mokona.

“And don’t forget sake!” added red Mokona.

“And make the laundry!” exclaimed purple Mokona.

“But don’t go outside!” warned blue Mokona.

“And don’t open to strangers and ghosts!” shivered pink Mokona.

“We’ll be back in the evening!” finished green Mokona.

“I KNOW THAT, you tell me every single morning!!” Snapped Watanuki as the seven Mokonas were jumping happily down the road to the diamond mine. Fuming, he went back into the tiny house, cursing the evil witch who had sent her hunter to abandon him in the middle of the woods for no apparent reason. Now he was stuck being the maid of seven speaking manjuus who didn’t want to tell him the way back to the castle!

Well, at least they had offered him food and a place to stay, and even protection against the evil spirits crawling in the woods after sundown. He shivered. If it wasn’t for them, he’d have been eaten by now.

Eventually a knock was heard from the door. He jumped and stared at it, not knowing either to open or not. The only visit he ever had in all the time he had stayed at the Mokona’s were either evil spirits (who didn’t knock, he remembered) of envoys of the witch, all of them had tried to kill him.

As the knocking continued, a girl’s voice was heard. “Is there anyone at home?” After some more hesitation, he decided to poke his head out of the window.

There was a young girl in front of the door, with a basket full of bright red apples. She was very pretty, he noted. She had long, black curly hair in two ponytails, and brown eyes. He decided that she wasn’t any threat and went to open the door.

“Oh, hi!” she greeted him. “I am selling apples! Do you want to buy me some?” She presented him the basket, smiling sweetly. Returning the greeting, he began inspecting the apples.

“They all look very nice” he noted.

The girl smiled again. “And they taste very good! Come on, try one!”

‘Her smile is so bright!’ he thought. ‘It’s like a ray of sunshine, warming my heart!’ With that, he bit into one of the beautiful, red apples. Before he knew it, his vision went black and he fell on the ground, lifeless.

- - - - - -

“Master, are you sure we should go this far into the forest?” Asked Shaoron.

The prince shrugged. “The witch said so.”

“But what if the witch lied to us? What if there is no treasure?” Added Shaoran.

The prince shrugged again. “Why would she lie to us?”

The twins shared a worried look. “Because… she’s a witch?” tried the younger.

When the prince shrugged for the third time, they just sighed and followed him into the forest’s depths. They knew by experience that he wouldn’t listen to them, anyway.

After a while they arrived in a clearing, where several colourful bunny-like creatures and a young maiden were crying around what seemed to be a coffin made of glass.

“Oi” called the prince. “What are you doing?”

“The Mokonas are crying the death of their friend Nuki-nuki!” answered one of the creatures.

“He died by eating an apple!” added another one.

“It’s my fault!!” sobbed the young girl, face hidden in her hands. “Some lady told me to come here to sell my apples, and that it’d make the inhabitants of the small house happy! But when he ate one, he died!!” Her voice died, and the Mokonas hugged her, crying some more.

“He had a happy life!” declared one of them, trying to comfort her.

“He died doing what he liked the most!” added another one.

“Eating apples?” Doumeki asked.

“Cooking!” squealed all of the bunnies at once. They then began saying how great a cook he had been, sharing memories of the deceased boy, speaking all at once.

“A cook, huh…” The prince mused, staring at the pale boy resting in the glass coffin. He had silky hair, black as ebony, with locks popping out here and there, almost like bed hair. His eyes were closed and his hands crossed on his chest, and for a moment Doumeki could’ve sworn he was just asleep, resting there until someone woke him. The only indication of his decease state was his sickly pale skin, white as snow. All things considered, he would’ve been a real beauty, had he been alive. The more he stared at him, the more he found he wanted to know the color of his eyes…

“Nuki-nuki was the Mokonas’ best friend!!” sniffed the manjuu nearest the prince. “The Mokonas’ only regret is that the Mokonas can’t offer him a proper burial ceremony…” The creature then lifted its tiny head towards him. “Maybe you could offer him a ceremony?” it asked, eyes shining with hope.

“Yes, yes, offer him a ceremony, please!” they started pleading, all at once.

After another look at the resting figure, the prince gave in. He ordered his two apprentices to carry the coffin out of the forest. As they began moving it, though, Shaoran suddenly stumbled on a tree root and fell, bringing the fragile glass coffin with him!

As it hit the ground, the glass box opened, throwing the pale resting figure on the ground. With a cry, the Mokonas threw themselves to recover their friend when they all stopped in shock: he was moving!! Indeed, just after hitting the ground, Watanuki jerked back, coughing, and spit out a bit of apple!

“Water!” he choked. As Shaoron and the apple selling maiden ran inside to get that, all of the Mokonas hugged the still coughing Watanuki, immensely relieved.

“Oh my god sir I’m sorry!!” quickly apologized Shaoran, bowing. “I dropped your coffin!!”

Watanuki stared at him, absolutely lost. “Coffin...?”

The manjuus all started explaining at once, in a total mayhem. The boy seemed to not understand any of it until the essential sank in. “YOU PUT ME IN A COFFIN?!?” He yelled in shocked anger.

“Oi.” interrupted the prince. Watanuki turned around to glare pointedly at him. “What do you want?” he snapped.

‘Blue eyes’, he noted. ‘Beautiful.’

“I heard you could cook.”

“Yeah, so what?”

“I’m hungry. Make apple pie.”

“WHAT? WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!?”

…

They lived happily ever after.

The Seer, chapter 13

2008-08-16T14:44:35Z

Out of the Blue
Series: The Seer
Summary: Unexpected practice targets, more riling of Watanuki, Shizuka and Jason actually seem to understand each other, Shizuka realises there is more going on magically than meets the eye, and discovers a new side to his Master which he’d never expected.
This way to the chapter

a different take on cinderella

2008-08-14T23:28:13Z

Title: The ball

Pairing: Douwata

Disclaimer: Clamp owns holic, Disney/Grimm brother/a whole lot of people owns Cinderella, I own the plot bunnies

Warning: none

Note: Doumeki makes a horrible prince, which is probably why we enjoy prince!Doumeki fics so much. Also, in this AU, Douwata are 21 and Kohane-chan is around 16.

Summary: Having been raised by an evil psycho-bitch stepmother, Watanuki is forced to work day in and day out. He never expected to go to the ball… Neither did he expect the ball to come to him.

“We are going to the ball” announced Tsuyuri-san, stepping into the hall.

Kimihiro looked up from his work to gaze up at her. As always when going into society, his step mother was dressed with a brand new dress, whose price was probably way higher than what they could afford. Kimihiro wondered what piece of the furniture had been sold to pay for her debts this time. His father’s heritage was soon going not to be enough anymore.

The real beauty here, however, was Kohane-chan. It seemed her mother had gone all out this time to make her daughter look like a princess. Her pale pink dress was as beautiful as it was simple, and with her blond hair, she looked like an angel.

“You’re very pretty tonight, Kohane-chan!” he said.

She smiled at him, a rare sight. “Thank you, Kimihiro-kun.”

“Don’t slack off!” snapped Tsuyuri-san, cutting in. “Scrub harder! I want that floor to be spotless for the reception I’ll give after the prince chooses my daughter as his fiancé!”

“You do realize that Doumeki is way older than Kohane-chan, do you?” he asked matter-of-factly, setting his bucket of water closer to him.

“What the… How dare you use the prince’s name without an appropriate honorific? Who do you think you are?” the lady yelled in shock.

‘shit, I forgot’ he thought, closing his eyes. He was in for a lecture.

“Let me tell you, young man, that you will never be nearly close enough to the prince to call him anything but ‘your highness’!!! Don’t you think that your miserable condition will change in the slightest when he marries my daughter! You’ll be lucky if he even deigns to look at you, let alone talk to you!”

“Mother.” Interrupted the young girl. “We’ll be late.”

“You’re right, we can’t afford that.” With one last glare at her step son, the lady walked away with her daughter, a hand hovering over her shoulder. Watanuki formed a silent ‘thank you’ on his lips, to which the teen answered with an apologetic smile. Then, they were gone.

Watanuki resumed washing the floor, sighing. It had been a mistake to pronounce Doumeki’s name, of course. Not that he’d never let Tsuyuri-san know, but he was actually very close to the prince. Close enough to call him a whole lot of other things than ‘your highness’, including ‘you smug bastard’, because really, that’s what he was.

Doumeki Shizuka, aside from being a prince, was an idiot whose sole purpose in life was to annoy him. He liked to leave his castle in the afternoon in commoner’s clothes to come annoy him on his way home from the groceries, pretending to carry the bags while in fact he was just searching through them for something to eat. (Tsuyuri-san would probably skin him alive if she ever learned he was having the prince carry his grocery bags, but hell, if the idiot wanted to carry them, who was he to stop him?)

The first time he has asked him who he was and the other had answered ‘Prince Doumeki Shizuka’, he had just yelled at him to stop making stupid jokes and get out of his way. So when he saw the idiot smirk at him from his royal carriage the next day, he thought he’d die of embarrassment.

After that he made an effort to address him politely, with the right honorific and all. But as the number of their meetings increased (the idiot insisting for him to meet him in some secret place in the forest with a unholy amount of food that made you wonder if they fed him at the castle or inviting himself at the mansion while Tsuyuri-san was away, for example), he found it more and more difficult to be keep his temper in check around him. So eventually he dropped the politeness and honorific altogether, settling for calling him ‘bastard’ or ‘dumbass’, which was much more appropriate. The prince didn’t seem to give a damn what he was being called anyway.

This weird ‘relationship’ (if you could call it that), was common knowledge for everyone in the house except Tsuyuri-san. The domestics had all gotten used to Doumeki’s presence after a while, even taking some of Watanuki’s chores on them to allow him some free time. Which he really wished they didn’t because he didn’t want to see him, anyway. Annoying jerk. Kohane-chan also knew about it, and was present at their meetings from time to time, developing an odd friendship with Doumeki.

Odd friendship that led him to greet her when he met her in social events, which led her ambitious mother to think she had a chance with him.

Tonight would be Doumeki’s 21rst anniversary, and a ball was being held at the castle to allow him to choose his fiancé amongst the kingdom’s young ladies. Kimihiro wondered how his step mother would react when he wouldn’t choose his daughter. ‘She’ll be in a horrible mood. Better finish this quickly and go to bed. I don’t want to be around when she’ll be back’ he thought, shivering, as he scrubbed the tiles with renewed vigour.

‘I wonder who he’ll choose, though.’ Doumeki didn’t often talk about who he was meeting at the court. In fact, Doumeki didn’t often talk at all. He didn’t go to social meetings much either, seeming to find it more interesting to watch Watanuki scrub a floor. He’d just sit in a corner and watch, sometimes pointing out what spot needed more care, often just staying silent.

Thinking about it somehow made Watanuki feel bad. Now that he’d be married, Doumeki surely wouldn’t have time to come and see him anymore. It’d be lonely.

“What the hell are you thinking about?” he yelled, shaking his head. “I don’t enjoy his company that much dammit! What does it matter to me if he’s married and forgets me?!?” he then violently rubbed the floor, as if it was the source of his anger.

“Oi. You’ve been scrubbing the same spot for fifteen minutes.”

“I know!! Shut up!” he snapped. Then he froze and turned his head towards who had spoken. “D… Doumeki! What the hell are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be at the ball?!”

Leaning against the frame of the open window (through which he had probably entered), he shrugged. “The ball was boring.”

“Boring? What the hell kind of prince are you?” he yelled, waving a brush at him. “You’re supposed to be choosing your fiancé tonight! It’s the most important night of your life!!”

Another shrug. “I’ve already chosen.”

A flash of some foreign emotion cursed through the maid. He didn’t know what it was, but it was painful. Using his work as an excuse to bow his head and conceal his facial expression, he kept shouting. “Then why aren’t you out there dancing with her? That’s what you’re supposed to do! Choose your princess than dance with her!”

A held out hand appeared in his field of vision. “Then dance with me.”

He snapped his head up “What the hell...?”

Then it clicked.

“Wha… I mean… we’re both guys… and… and I’m poor!” he spluttered, wide-eyed.

The prince raised an eyebrow. “You’re the rightful heir of the Watanuki mansion.”

“But… Tsuyuri-san would never forgive me!”

“For making her the prince’s step mother?”

Stupid Doumeki and his stupid arguments! “I can’t dance!!” he tried, in last resort.

“Let me teach you.”

- - - - - -

“I can’t believe he wasn’t even there!” Tsuyuri-san’s voice reverberated on the walls.

“Oh God she’s coming!” panicked Watanuki, stopping dead in his tracks and struggling to get free of the prince’s grasp. Doumeki didn’t move, turning his gaze towards the opening door. Watanuki closed his eyes, hissing.

A gasp indicated that she had seen them. He risked an eye open. His step mother was standing in front of the door, shocked. Kohane-chan was standing next to her, a small smile gracing her lips. Suddenly, Doumeki bowed his head. “Good evening.”

Watanuki was boiling. The sheer nerve of that guy! He would’ve smacked him if he could’ve moved.

The greeting snapped Tsuyuri-san out of her shock. “Good evening, your highness.” She bowed. “What brings you in our… modest home?” she asked, eyes darting to Watanuki. He suddenly wished not to be around when Doumeki left.

“I wanted to dance with my fiancé, of course!” the prince answered, making Watanuki want to disappear into the ground. “It’s a shame he didn’t come to the ball, don’t you think?”

At this point the maid was so shocked and flustered that he didn’t react when Doumeki leaned in and kissed him, much to the lady’s disapproval.

…

They lived happily ever after.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Teehee do I need to say how much fun I had writing this?

Icons

2008-08-14T21:24:48Z

Hi! I never post anything so I figured I'd do it. I made some icons. (Tell me if they're not shippy enough.) 84 Holic icons all together as well as 4 bases from volume 12. Thanks for looking! Have a great weekend!

Icons
54 + 30 xxxHolic
4 bases

here and here

(crossposted to xxx_holic)

Kill the Director

2008-08-13T21:31:51Z

Title: Timepiece
Author: smokexscribbles
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Blood, but I mean you're used to it, right?
Disclaimer: I am not CLAMP.
Summary: Doumeki’s dreams of the past continue. (p9) (p8) (p7) (p6) (p5) (p4) (p3) (p2) (p1)

The girl who very abruptly becomes a part of both of their lives is named Himawari. She has dark hair and dark eyes and always sees the bright side of things. Her canary, Tanpopo, follows her everywhere. It sits on her shoulder and tugs her hair playfully with its beak.

Himawari is not noble by blood. She married into money almost, it seems, by accident, and she does not appear to care for her husband or hearth so terribly. There is a longing behind her eyes, a deep and impenetrable sadness that is most visible when she is looking at the sea. Her horse is devoted to her. Many animals are. Possibly they recognize the lost feeling she has when her feet are planted on the land. She’s in many ways like an animal raised in captivity, wishing for something it doesn’t quite recognize.

Because they meet Himawari, they begin to take trips to the seaside. Watanuki shoos his cook out of the kitchen and makes them picnic lunches. Himawari doesn’t like to debate or argue, not like the two men do. She watches them instead, and laughs, and says how close they are, and she hides seashells in her skirts.

It turns out that Doumeki knows a lot of stories. He knows romantic stories about mermaids and adventure stories about pirate queens and horror stories about drowned sailors.

(“You never told me you knew stories,” Watanuki says, and Doumeki responds, “You never asked.”)

The stories make her eyes light up. She’s their friend, and they like to see her looking so alive, so they do this as much as they can, picnics and stories and seashells, saltwater and chilly wind and sand between their toes.

One day she whispers something in Doumeki’s ear, and as Watanuki is looking cross at them for keeping secrets, she walks away to put her feet in the water.

Doumeki takes this opportunity to put an arm around Watanuki’s shoulders. “What are you doing?” he hisses, but doesn’t move away.

“She told me to,” he says simply, and that’s that. It’s a little cold, anyway, so what does it matter if he leans into Doumeki’s chest and closes his eyes a bit? It’s getting on to autumn, after all, and the sea breeze is cold.

Himawari smiles silently behind her hand, and tucks a seashell into the lace bodice of her dress. Her dresses, drenched in sea salt and coated with sand over time, are suffused with the scent of ocean breeze, and when her husband tells her he loves her she presses the sleeve of the dress to her nose and breathes in and smiles. Yes, darling, she says, eyes closed. I love you too.

ooo

When Himawari is away one day, Doumeki and Watanuki ride out together, not to the sea but through the field where they used to meet up by chance. They ride for longer than they’ve ever done before, until it the sky is darkening and the sliver-moon is bright above them, and they both do it without saying a word.

It’s eventually too dark to keep going without a lantern, and the trees are growing thick around them. Both of them dismount, their breath making tiny clouds of steam in the night air.

“We should go back,” Watanuki begins, and Doumeki grips his forearm and kisses him. He’d protest, but honestly he’s too busy trying to get his hand free so he can hold onto Doumeki’s shoulder more easily.

There’s a tense, breathless moment, and he says, “Did she tell you to do that, too?”

“No,” Doumeki says, and then: “She helped.”

The ride back is as silent as the ride there, but at the end of it Watanuki suddenly throws his arms around Doumeki’s neck and kisses him back, wild and desperate.

“You’re so stupid,” he says softly. “I’ve been waiting.”

ooo

Three weeks later, they are all invited to a ball. It’s being held by a rude and pushy girl who none of them quite like. She’s got slightly curly hair and red lips and pale skin and gorgeous eyes. Her personality, though, leaves something to be desired. Watanuki turns her down when she asks for a dance. He dances with Doumeki instead.

ooo

They are at the beach. It is a week and a half after the ball. The water begins to bubble ominously, and a sticky chill wafts off the surface of the water. It feels clammy, like the cold sweat after a bad dream.

A horse walks out of the water. It is black and bony and its mane is soaking wet. Even as the rest of it dries, the mane drips saltwater onto the sand.

It has teeth, sharp teeth like no real horse has ever had. It sniffs the air, swings its head around, and stares at Watanuki.

The horse’s eyes are black and deep and ancient.

“You can’t have him,” Himawari says firmly. She doesn’t sound scared or angry, just… commanding. Stating a fact: Two plus two is four. You can’t have him.

The horse turns to her and whickers softly, showing its yellowed teeth.

“Kelpie,” Doumeki mutters. “Don’t touch it.”

Himawari walks towards it, and suddenly she is holding herself like a queen. “You can’t have him,” she says, “But you can have me.”

She swings herself up onto its back and clicks her tongue. The kelpie tosses its soaking-wet mane and begins to trot back into the ocean.

“Himawari!” Watanuki yelps, and she waves goodbye to them both. She’s smiling. She’s happy.

She’s in love.

ooo

“Thank you for your help, Himawari-chan,” Yuuko says. They’re sitting at the kitchen table, having left Doumeki to his dreams.

Himawari nods. “It was no trouble. I… No matter what world they’re in, I’d like to help them as much as I can.”

Yuuko stares at her and smiles slowly. “That’s very nice of you. You’re a good friend.”

Himawari holds up her hands and stares at them. “So what happens now? I just… fade away?”

“Yes,” Yuuko says. “I’m sorry.”

old lurker; first poster

2008-08-13T21:08:46Z

Title: What Is Wished For
Section: Prologue
Pairings: eventual DouWata. In the very distant, mist-enshrouded future.
Rating: G. Very G.
Spoilers: none
Word Count: 1,500 exactly. I wasn't even trying.
Summery: Gain and loss is a cycle of the world; as inevitable and inescapable as hitsuzen.
Note: I'm hoping I'll be better able to create the atmosphere of this fic the more I go along. Maybe when there's a plot.

I do not claim to own xxxHolic, any of it's characters, and other affiliate information. This was written without the respective authors consent and does not claim any profit.

~~~

Doumeki hurried through the heavy rain, his umbrella clutched tightly in one hand and a sheaf of paper held just as firmly in the other. He wasn’t a cursing person, viewing it as a waste of breath, but the weather (and life in general) was trying his patience. He dipped under an eave when the wind started picking up, catching his breath and checking the folders to see that none of them had gotten wet. Assured that there was no lasting damage, he glanced outside of his shelter, the rain dripping from the sky and hitting the earth with a solid thwunk, the many of them creating a cacophony that threatened to drown out thought. Doumeki could only morn the fact that it could not mask his feelings.

He had failed. Completely. It wasn’t something he hadn’t been getting used to lately, but he wished that, at any other time in his life, it wouldn’t happen with this.

He ran out again when it became clear the rain wasn’t going to let up anytime soon. The streets were deserted: people, vehicles, animals, nothing was out in this weather and the way was clear for his hurried steps. He would have preferred a taxi to have taken him home tonight (if not any other night), but since there was no other way he would be grateful for this. Doumeki was passing the entrance of a side alley when he finally heard the sound of another living thing. A small cry, constant, quiet, yet compelling was sounding in its direction, somehow being heard through the loud plinks and taps of the rain falling on roof, wall, and concrete that surrounded him. Doumeki paused before its entrance, listening as it cut out abruptly. He stood there, waiting for another sound, for another cry for help, as stray drops managed to dampen him by the second. As he stood there for a long moment, he wondered briefly if he should just go on, if he should just ignore the interruption of the peaceful rain and be on his way –after all, it did not concern him, it wouldn’t be his fault if anything happened– but as it came again, even quieter and more weary than the first time, he found himself moving down the alley without hesitation, automatically trying to pinpoint where exactly the sound was coming from as he dodged bigger puddles, the stray thought left him. He wasn’t so lost yet (he hadn’t forgotten so much yet-), that he would ignore this.

He walked down the alleyway and passed through a couple more sidestreets, carefully following the insistent cries to the best of his ability. When he could finally hear the crying clearly and thought he had nearly reached the source they stopped again. Doumeki ducked into the final sidestreet and came out onto a slightly larger lane. Bigger buildings appeared on this street than the suburban homes that had surrounded him previously, office buildings beginning to appear to signal the start of the commercial district. It was still a backstreet though and Doumeki strode unimpeded through the downpour and onto the street.

As he walked out onto the pavement he stopped and waited for a moment, trying to listen for the noise again. It remained silent. After a moment of standing motionless, listening, he started walking slowly down the drive. Doumeki’s eyes slowly scanned the area as he went by, carefully sidestepping puddles and making slight adjustments to his grip on his umbrella to make up for the shifts in the wind. He walked further and further down the path, still searching, when there came a break in the monotonous concrete. An empty lot, void of construction except for two odd, old gateposts and full of weeds, nestled between three block buildings and the street, conspicuous and out of place. Doumeki wondered, as he began to head in that direction, why such a place existed in a crowded neighborhood like the one he was in where extra space was rare and well-paid for. It didn’t make much sense that this lot would remain free and underdeveloped in such a prosperous area.

Doumeki paused again at the gateposts, glancing at the worn and rain-soaked wood before looking into the unkept lot. Pits of weed and stone scattered the area, the occasional man-made junk breaking through the tall grass. Doumeki spotted an empty picture frame, a cracked vase, and even a busted child’s high-chair thrown into the uneven grass.

Doumeki was about to move on after a couple minutes of staring before the cry came again. His head snapped in the direction it came from and when it came again he moved out onto the grass and littered stone and made his way to the east side of the empty lot. He stepped carefully through as he searched the tall grasses, his inspection leading him to the far edge of the dirt, the rain-slicked concrete barrier splattering cold drops onto the side of his jacket. There, he finally found what had pulled him here, inextricably, inevitably, to the source.

A small black cat lay half-curled underneath a tipped wood-plank crate, a wet head and small paw sticking out from beneath. Doumeki crouched down to get a better look at him, tucking his papers underneath an arm so his free hand could reach forward to touch the crate. From what he could see, the cat seemed to be unharmed; the soaked fur clinging to the skinny body seemed intact, belying any open wound. His limbs too seemed alright, splayed as they were. In fact, Doumeki wouldn’t have thought that there was anything amiss besides a cat that apparently liked to take rain-showers lying on the ground if it hadn’t been for the shivering. The black cat was full-body trembling, his small form shaking like a leaf in the autumn wind as the rain pelted him. Doumeki moved the umbrella forward, ignoring the water now seeping under his jacket and into his pants, stopping the rain’s assault on the small cat as his hand slipped down to hover uncertainly over him. Now that he was closer he could see the heavy, quick rise of the cat’s ribs, a laboring instinct. He noticed that the cat’s eyes were closed, almost clenched shut, as he continued to cry quietly, his cries so small and quiet now that Doumeki wouldn’t have been able to hear them if he had taken a couple of steps back.

Doumeki gently laid his hand on the cat’s warm body and the cat’s eyes snapped open. A stunning dark sapphire blue flashed in wide-eyed panic at Doumeki before he found himself being assaulted. The cat instinctively curled into a ball beneath his palm and a razor sharp paw snapped out and slashed into his hand, the claws piercing the skin and digging into the muscle. Doumeki did not respond as he watched the cat, the sharp nails going deeper into the back of his hand, surprised at the quick reaction but automatically remaining calm for the obviously frightened young animal. They stayed that way for some minutes, the pain prickling nastily in the back of his hand, Doumeki waiting patiently despite it. Slowly, he could see the terrorized glaze to those beautiful blue eyes gradually leave them, confusion and wariness, rapidly slipping into exhaustion, filling them in its place. The claws slowly retracted from his hand, the paw slipping off without its grip.

Doumeki glanced shortly at the marks on his hand, the wounds deep but small and would probably be fine if he got it disinfected and put on a bandage, then returned it to the black cat. The cat’s eyes, now mostly devoid of that terrible fear, were now half-lidded and quickly losing the fight to keep them open, dropping down and hovering to bare slips of blue. He wondered how long it had been out here in the rain and cold.

Doumeki dropped to one knee, propping the umbrella up on the side of the crate, and gently cupped his hands under the cat, lifting him up. For a brief moment the fear returned to that blue gaze blindingly but then left just as quickly, its eyes slipping shut in what he thought was finally defeat. He picked his umbrella back up and stood, ignoring the uncomfortable wet patch on his knee, the cat cradled carefully in one hand to his chest as he walked out of the lot, heading home.

The rain continued to pound down and didn’t stop for the rest of that night.

~~~

When he finally made it back to his apartment that evening, he had tucked the wet cat into a warm blanket after drying it off and set some soup to heat on the stove as he changed out of his wet clothes, and which would later boil over before he remembered it and ran back into the kitchenette before it could bubble further onto the floor.

All his papers had gotten wet.

On a very different note: I can't believe I've never seen Cat!Watanuki here before. How many times do we always allude to it? The fandom feels so empty.XD

not TWKOT but something!

2008-08-13T09:25:18Z

Subject: Plot bunny that forced itself to my fingertips.
Rating: Unadulterated fluff. And sorta established relationship-ish.
Contains: 1500+ words, no spoilers whatsoever, 104 [of course], and a lot of Capitalization and italics and CAPSLOCK.
Summary: When it isn’t enough anymore, is it because you’ve simply outgrown the thought that a piece of fabric can make you feel better? Or is it something else?

and last but not least, the title is:

(Security Blanket)

Just a little oneshot!

2008-08-12T23:20:51Z

Today, my mom and I had a horrible day. Everything we tried to do failed. So here I bring you a small oneshot inspired by one of our many misadventures.

Title: Raspberry muffins
Pairing: Douwata
Rated: Fluff
Warning: CAPSLOCK
Summary: A demon sends Watanuki's muffins on the floor and, through his yellings, he lets out just how much efforts he put into this request of Doumeki's

“Noooooooo!!!! My muffins!!!” Watanuki cried out, contemplating the mess on his kitchen floor. Sure enough, all of the appetizing muffins he had been taking out of the oven when that damn demon had broken through his wards were now irremediably crushed on the ground. “I can’t believe it…”

As he crouched next to the mess to try to see if he could save anything, Doumeki stepped next to him, expression unreadable as ever. “Oi. You’re coming over at the temple.”

“Not until I’m done picking up these!” he snapped.

Doumeki took a look around. It was late in the evening and since the wards of the apartment have been rendered useless, more demons would be coming soon. It wasn’t safe staying around any longer. “Don’t make such a fuss; it’s just a bunch of muffins.” Perfectly baked, heavenly smelling raspberry muffins, yes, but crushed muffins nonetheless.

“JUST A BUNCH OF MUFFINS?!?” The seer yelled, standing up in shock.

‘Here we go’, thought Doumeki as he put his fingers in his ears.

“YOU’RE THE ONE WHO ASKED ME RASPBERRY MUFFINS DURING TWO FREAKING WEEKS, YOU BASTARD! WE’RE IN THE MIDDLE OF WINTER! WHERE DO YOU THINK I GOT THEM, HUH?”

“At the grocery store?” he tried.

“I HAD TO ASK YUUKO-SAN!” He was fuming. “SHE SENT ME IN SOME FOREIGN DIMENSION WHERE I HAD TO WALK A MILE AND TO PICK THEN UP UNDER POURING RAIN DAMMIT! I ONLY HAD ENOUGH TO MAKE JUST ONE BATCH AND NOW THEY’RE CRUSHED AND YOU WANT ME TO JUST LEAVE THEM THERE?!?”

He sat back down, fuming, and resumed securing the less damaged pastries onto a plate with surprising care. Doumeki considered what he had just been told (yelled) for a moment. Eventually he bent down to help the other. (Actually, he did more eating than helping. Wouldn’t want Watanuki’s efforts to go to waste. As expected, the muffins were delicious.)

“That’s a lot of work for a couple of raspberries,” he remarked.

The mismatched eyed boy blushed furiously. “I… hum… They were for Himawari-chan!” he exclaimed, flailing wildly.

The archer smirked in between two bites. “Sure.”

Experimental ficlet.

2008-08-11T19:14:33Z

Tried my hand at some AU. Sort of a Romeo and Juliet thing, maybe. So, somewhat romantic. I don't know.

[Fic] One shot(?) xxxHOLiC/Howl's Moving Castle Crossover

2008-08-11T02:22:04Z

I looked at this picture and immediately went "Sophie and the Witch of the Waste!" and I just had to write a fic about it.
So... here goes my ~~crazy~~ ~~lame~~ attempt at a holic/HMC crossover! ~~Please don't kill me and does anyone want to adopt this fic and write a multi-chapter?~~

Rating: G
Genre: AU/Drama/Humour
Characters: Watanuki, Syaoran, Sakura, Doumeki, Yuuko, brief mention of Haruka
Pairings: hinted Doumeki/Watanuki and Syaoran/Sakura
Summary: May Day was not Watanuki Kimihiro's favourite time of the year.

"Just follow the butterflies."

Haiku Challenge

2008-08-10T23:49:40Z

While re-reading xxxHolic for fun and for plot bunny ideas ( it's interesting how much I can pick up on stuff I missed the first time around) one scene reminded me of a haunting haiku that I still faintly remember from years ago and I got inspired :-)

These are some haiku that I attempted to write on the two boys' relationship. It'd be nice to see other people's takes on douwata haiku too :-3. The real challenge? Trying to write just one haiku that delivers the basic essence of their ~deep connection~ to this point in the manga. Ohoho have fun writing haiku! (Or reading mine if you're much too lazy :-p)

I do apologize in advance if I missed some kind of past haiku challenge or revelation or something.

Gluttonous piggy,

Bow thrice and show respect for

Food made just for you.

You weird idiot,

I said more salt but at least

There's always next time.

I talk loud because

No one listens anyway,

But you surprised me.

Too loud for my ears.

Even while covered your

Voice still shakes my heart.

So coolheaded and

Girls swoon but I shake my fist

and yell smile damn it.

Even the heavens

Have someone to hold it up,

So just lean on me.

*The last one makes a reference to the Greek myth where Atlas holds up the sky and is my take on the one haiku of their bond because the speaker can be either Watanuki or Doumeki, I believe. Doumeki as the protector against spirits and more importantly loneliness while in the sense of Watanuki it's that whole "even the protector needs some rest and support"--err...with his cooking and sparkling charm? ^-^;

(If you forgot, a haiku is generally three lines with 5 syllables in the 1st and 3rd lines and 7 in the 2nd)

Ah, it's fascinating how so few words can express so much more. Someone once told me that poetry was like this--you take everything in a book and compress into a novella, then a short story, a paragraph, and keep using less and less words until you end up with the pure essence of it.

-wibbles- Help Me

2008-08-08T05:04:05Z

So today has been one of those really, really bad days. I just woke up pissy and I think it has everything to do with finding out that I got rejected from the school that I wanted to go to next spring.

I kind of want to cry so I'm asking for any happy, fluffy, lovey-dovey, make you giggle because it's so fucking cute fanfiction. And well written too.

So please, if any of you know of any good 104 fanfiction, link me. -wibbles-

I've read sillyangelfairy's stuff already, as well as stillcirce, by the way, so yeah. Just anything at all would make me happy.

I'm a sheep

2008-08-07T19:07:16Z

I had to do a song meme, since, y'know, everybody's doing it. IT WAS PEER PRESSURE. ^_^

I hope you all are having a fantastic day! (Fake cut FTW)

The Seer, chapter 12

2008-08-07T11:33:23Z

Into His Keeping

Chapter 162

2008-08-07T05:19:43Z

Sigh! I hope I can post this rant here. I mean, I have no one to chat to about Donuts except here.

I was so dissapointed in Chapter 162. Its like the ladies of clamp have gone out of their way to tease us, and just when you think that finally that the Donut ship was going to be canon, it doesnt. I really thought when Doumeki's grandfather mentioned stong feelings for someone, I hoped like a fool like he meant Doumeki. *urgh*. If I was in a manga right in that moment when I read that, I would be flaying around in despair.

Does anyone feel like I do?