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Fandom: xxxHolic
Pairing: Watanuki x Doumeki
Rating: PG-13
Notes: I do not claim these characters, they belong to CLAMP! This chapter takes place during Volume 7, and the first couple pages of Volume 8. It seemed like a better place to stop. It is so hard to make this fit right, but I am pretty happy with it actually.

Chapter 6
Chapter 5
Chapter 4
Chapter 3
Chapter 2
Chapter 1
Prologue

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The string was pulled back an arrow knocked an currently being aimed. Then sting and arrow were released simultaneously. The string slapped against the left forearm, protected by a leather armguard. Watanuki cold not see where it hit, because someone in front of him was blocking the vision of his right eye. But with the current amount of cheering, Watnuki could tell that Doumeki had hit the bull's eye.

"Yay, Doumeki!" Himawari cheered beside him as many girls from Doumeki's fan club, as Watanuki like to call it, stood up and cheered in the front row. They were standing up, and he couldn't see the line of archers walking out of formation. He stood up to leave the stands.

"Watanuki-kun, were are you going?" Himawari asked.

"I've got to get to work," he replied, lifting his school bag as he began to walk away.

"Isn't Doumeki walking with you?"

"He doesn't have to, and I'd prefer if he didn't!"

Today had been an odd day. he had woken up at Yuuko's with the crazy little pork bun attached to his face after a rather odd dream that Himawari had appeared in. Then later he had stopped at Doumeki's on the way to school where he had gotten caught in a spider's web. All day, Doumeki's eye seemed to be bugging him. He had never known Doumeki's eyes to be so sensitive, but it was probably nothing to worry about, seeing as he topped yet another archery competition.

He stopped outside the club room, members looking him over as they walked out, once again in their black school uniforms. He felt uncomfortable waiting here for Doumeki with all the eyes on him. All the members seemed to have left already, and he walked into the club room to see Doumeki. He was putting the shirt and jacket park of his uniform back on, and then his hand reached for his right eye. It was obviously still bothering him.

"Are you okay, Shizuka?" Watnuki asked when he had made sure the two of them were alone.

"I'm fine," he answered, taking his hand off his eye and picking up his school bag. He turned around to look at Watnuki.

"I thought you might have left for work already."

"I... I wanted to walk with you," he said, his cheeks turning slightly red.

He was looking over Watanuki's head and at the door. He turned around to see what Doumeki was looking about, but there was nothing there. Then he was pulled around by Doumeki, their lips meeting for mere seconds before they were gone and he was walking out the door. Watanuki followed him, trying to keep pace with the taller boy's long strides.

A few times during their walk, he caught Doumeki bringing his hand up to his right eye. He wondered what was wrong. They were getting close to Doumeki's temple when he dropped to his knees, his hand over that same eye.

"It won't open."

"What? Doumeki!"

He was pulling Doumeki's arm away from his face, they eye had been pulled closed by a spider's web.

"We have to get you to Yuuko's!"

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"I can't go in her shop."

He told Watanuki to just leave him at the temple, and that he would be fine, but Watanuki had ran to Yuuko's shop. Without even stopping to breath, he was telling her what had happened.

"You have to help him! Please tell me what to do!"

"It's going to cost you."

"I know!" Watanuki yelled back, and he didn't care what the cost was, he had to help Doumeki.

"You must do something worse to the spider holding the grudge against Doumeki-kun."

"Like what?"

"Destroying it's eggs."

"It's eggs?"

She nodded, "Not far from it's web, the spider had laid eggs. You must destroy them, and the grudge will transfer to you."

He nodded, "And what will the payment be?"

"Besides a cut in your pay, you will see."

He was running out of the house now, and back through Yuuko's yard then out the gate. He was on his way to where the spider's web had been. He didn't see Doumeki on the way at all, but when he got there, he was searching for the eggs. They were tiny, smaller than any eggs he had ever seen, and covered in sticky spider silk. He wanted to apologize to the spider, but he knew that if he did, the grudge most likely would not transfer to him. It felt horrible doing something that seemed so wrong, so evil. But he wanted to help Doumeki. He closed his eyes, lifting his leg, stomping down. It was done.

Then he ran home, taking off his shoes, and hiding under his covers. He kept his eyes closed for a long time, tears still finding their way out and down his hot cheeks. He knew he had just done something horrible, he didn't know if he could forgive himself for this. Doumeki would be angry as well, he knew.

When he finally decided to open his eyes, he was half expecting his right eye to not open at all, but it did. Something was still wrong though. True, his eye had not been sealed like Doumeki's had been earlier, instead, he just could not see anything at all out of it. He stood up, walking into the bathroom, and looking into the mirror to look at his eye.

His jaw dropped at what he saw. His sight had been taken, the blue portion of his eye was completely gone, and all that was left was a useless white ball. Needless to say, he did not return to Yuuko's shop that night.

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The next morning, he stared at his eye for the longest time before pulling a white patch over his eye, and then replacing his glasses at his nose. He was still trying to come up with an excuse for wearing the bandage over his eye, and having little luck.

He walked into the other room, looking for his school bag. He guessed that he had thrown it as soon as he entered the apartment last night, and sure enough, it was upside down on the floor near the door. He pulled the black jacket of his school uniform on then picked up the bag and was out the door, closing and locking it behind him.

His legs were moving without him, faster and faster down the road towards the school. He hadn't meant to do it, but he somehow found himself in front of the temple where Doumeki lived. He stopped for a moment, looking through the gate, and as soon as he saw Doumeki coming he began walking even faster again.

"Hey, wait," Doumeki called after him. Watanuki didn't slow, and Doumeki kept calling after him.

Finally Watanuki yelled, "My name is not 'hey'!"

"It's gone, my eye is fine again."

Watanuki continued walking, his left eye fixed on the pavement, his heart beating so fast he could hear it thumping against his chest. It felt too hot now, and it wasn't really all that hot outside. His heart almost stopped when a strong hand gripped his arm, turning him around.

"What did you do?" came Doumeki's accusation.

"Nothing."

"What is that?" he asked pointing at the bandage covering his eye.

"Nothing, just a sty."

He was then flung up against the fence surrounding the land Doumeki's temple was in.

"Hey! Stop it!" Watanuki yelled, as his glasses were thrown off, hitting the ground not too far away. He was reaching for Doumeki's hands, as the archer reached for the bandage over his eye. He was panicking now, he didn't want Doumeki to see what happened, and no matter how much he struggled, he just couldn't stop Doumeki. The archer was too strong.

Then it came off, his hair fell to cover his right eye and he stared at the ground again, letting his eyes narrow a bit in sadness, awaiting Doumeki's anger. And he was yelling now, yelling for him to bring 'that woman' here.

"I.. we have to get to school."

"CALL THAT WOMAN NOW!"

He had never heard Doumeki raise his voice before. He knew Doumeki would be angry, but he never expected him to yell, this was not like Doumeki at all. He swallowed hard, then nodded, "Alright."

He left for school as soon as Yuuko met them in the park, Doumeki wanted to talk to her alone. He wouldn't know what to say anyway, and he didn't want Doumeki to yell anymore.

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The week went on, and he saw less and less of Doumeki. He seemed to be really busy at the Temple, and staying later at school for archery. At least, that is what was said. But Watanuki know, Doumeki was mad at him. He had never remembered Doumeki avoiding him like this before, and he wanted to talk to Doumeki. He was starting to get kind of lonely, even though he was at Yuuko's more often now that Doumeki was avoiding him,

Himawari had even asked him about Doumeki when he was telling her about one of Yuuko's customers. She had brought a picture that was now sitting in a frame in an unused room at Yuuko's shop.

He found himself writing Doumeki's name on his school work, and either scribbling over it in pen or erasing it if he had used pencil. Doumeki was mad at him, and he still could not stop thinkin about the stoic boy. He didn't know what to do, but he had to do something soon or he was going to go crazy.

He knew he had done something wrong, and he had the bumps on the head to prove it. In the next week, he was much more clumsy than usually, causing many bumps and bruises from running into things since he now had a blind eye. Himawari was concerned it made him happy to know that someone cared about what he was going through, even though he also knew he did not deserve any sympathy for what he had done.

It also didn't help that he was now seeing odd things out of the right side of his field of vision. Fields, trees, many different things at the weirdest times. He would be sitting with Himawari at a local fast food restaurant, and he would see half of her, and the rest was an unfamiliar landscape. Something was definitely wrong.

It was the beginning of a new week, and he found Himawari handing him a book.

"What is this?"

"A book I am loaning to Doumeki. Will you take it to him?"

After some flailing, he finally agreed, and was later on his way to the temple where Doumeki lived, fully expecting to be ignored.

The temple was so big, and he was having a hard time finding his way around, even though he had been there before, been in Doumeki's room. He even remembered Doumeki telling him not to enter without warning. And he still didn't know what the big deal was. Doumeki was always entering his apartment without warning, then again, Doumeki had a spare key to Watanuki's apartment.

Then he reached the place where he had become caught in the spider's web a week and a half ago. His hand instinctively covering his missing eye. A vision appeared in the right side of his vision, a forest this time. Where? Where was it, and why was he seeing it?

"Does it hurt?" came a toneless voice behind him.

He jumped, "DON'T SNEAK UP ON PEOPLE LIKE THAT, YOU JERK!"

"Your eye, does it hurt?" he repeated, his face looking slightly angry still. He taller boy was wearing a black Gi and pants and the normal wooden sandals he wore around the temple so often.

"It doesn't hurt," he said, not wanting to tell Doumeki about the visions he had been seeing through it instead.

"Then get to work, a one-eyed guy shouldn't be wandering around," he ordered angrily.

"DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" he yelled before adding, "Himawari sent me here to deliver a book she said you wanted to borrow. What's with that pile of books? Were you just at the library?" He was now pointing at the many old tomes Doumeki now held in his hands.

The archer shook his head, "These are part of our collect on."

Watanuki didn't know they temple had it's own collection, and after learning about how old the little library was, he took a look at the books Doumeki was holding. Stuff about spells wards, myths and folklore. Probably all things that Doumeki had read before, but why would he be reading them now? Maybe he was cleaning the temple's library. Doumeki then asked him again why he wasn't going to work, then said if Watanuki wanted to stay he needed to start cleaning and pointed over to a broom. Watanuki went to Yuuko's.

Yuk insisted that Doumeki was not just straightening up the collection, but that he was looking for something. Why else would he have taken out a book about deciphering spells?

"What would he be looking for."

Yuuko pointed at his missing eye, "A way to return your eye to normal."

Watanuki's eyes widened a bit at Yuuko's suggestion. Could that really be the reason he had not been around so much? He wasn't really avoiding Watanuki, while he did still seem angry, he was trying to find a way to help Watanuki?

"Since I refused to help him, he is out to do it on his own."

"That moron! I told him to forget about it! It was MY decision!"

"Well, if that is the case then, you should realize that what Doumeki-kun is doing is by his own decision."

And then Yuuko was calling for more sake, but Watanuki ignored her, walking to the kitchen, preparing a bento to bring to Doumeki for dinner. Usually he would not be cooking this late, but with all the work that Doumeki was doing.. well for him... he thought, blushing about it already, he might as well make something for Doumeki.

He found Doumeki in the small building filled with books. It seemed that he had been searching through them for quite some time. They were scattered about the floor, and some were in piles. He was pulling more books off shelves and seaching through seemingly random tomes. What the hell was he still doing up this late.

"Who's there?"

"It's Watanuki-sama!"

"Do you know what time it is?" Doumeki asked angrily.

"I would be asking you the same question. I thought you were supposed to be straitening the collection, but there are books everywhere, it doesn't seem like you have gotten any work done at all."

"Shouldn't you be at work?"

"I'm done for the night."

"Then why aren't you going home?"

Watanuki answered by shoving a bag with Doumeki's bento in his face. The other boy's eyes widened slightly and Watanuki said, "I brought you dinner, it was leftovers from what Yuuko wanted earlier."

"Idiot."

"WHAT WAS THAT, YOU JERK?" Watanuki yelled, grabbing Doumeki's shirt.

"Well if you're that energetic, I guess that means you're alright."

And after a few odd occurrences, including words flying out of the book that Himawari was loaning to Doumeki, Yuuko appeared in time for Mokona to make a good meal of it. Then she stated she was here to check out the room and it's treasures, and to claim a share in the bento Watanuki had made.

"Watanuki said it was just left overs."

Yuuko shook her head, "We had flowing somen today."

"Somen, huh?" Doumeki said.

"YOU SHUT UP!"