Onward

(With every wish comes a price. XXXholic crossover.)

It's raining.

Rain washes down the sidewalks, flowing in rivulets towards the gutters. It falls in fat drops onto the garden below, tapping a steady rhythm as it plinks hollowly on the roof. It blows sideways, gusting in sheets against the window that Watanuki's peering out of. Yuuko sits behind him, reclined upon a black cushion, curtains of hair spilling over her shoulders like streams of black ink.

She's waiting.

Watanuki leaves his spot by the window and steps into the kitchen to prepare dinner, glad that he bought the groceries before the rain started. He pauses to look back over his shoulder at his boss, wondering at her silence. Then she orders him to get out a bottle of that good Junmai-shu in the back of the storage room, and he rolls his eyes and heads back into the kitchen.

Yuuko waits.

Eventually he comes, the person she's been waiting for.

"Welcome!" cry Maru and Moro automatically, bowing the customer into the shop. They dance and twirl around him, spinning dizzily and tottering on their small heels, their clasped hands swinging wildly back and forth. Then they bow themselves away, running back to the entranceway to keep watch.

"Welcome," says Yuuko, the slightest hint of a smile upon her lips as she surveys the customer. A young boy with red hair and green eyes steps forward, inclining his head in response. His hair is plastered to his forehead with water, and more water drips off his nose. Water clings to his lashes and runs over his grubby cheeks, collecting in a pool at his feet. He stands there awkwardly, shivering and dripping. Yuuko gestures for him to come and sit, and he does so timidly.

"Watanuki! Take his coat," Yuuko commands from her place on the cushion. Watanuki stomps out of the kitchen, casting a dark look at Yuuko before taking the cloak from the boy and hanging it up by the doorway. He then returns to the kitchen in a huff, grumbling to himself about Yuuko's laziness. She ignores him and turns to face the boy.

"Yuuko Ichihara," she introduces herself. "And you?"

The boy tells her his name.

"You have a good name. Keep it safe," she says. He nods and shifts uncomfortably. Should he have told it to her, then? She seems as if she would have known it anyway.

They are quiet.

Soon Watanuki comes in from the kitchen, balancing two teacups and a ceramic teapot on a wide wooden tray. He sets the tray down between the two and returns to the kitchen.

"This tea is delicious," Yuuko remarks, first pouring her customer a steaming cup, then one for herself. "Watanuki prepares the best tea." She sighs. "Never as good as a fine bottle of sake, though..."

The tea washes smoothly down the boy's throat as he drinks it. It settles him, warming him to the tips of his toes, and he relaxes and adjusts himself more comfortably on the mat. "Yuuko-san," he begins, setting his cup back down, "I am here to make a wish."

She sighs again. "No small talk with you, huh?" And then she is all formality. "What do you seek?"

"Answers."

"To what questions?"

"Everything."

"Everything," Yuuko repeats. "That will cost a great deal more than you can pay."

"But- I wanna see things!" the boy bursts out. "I wanna know more than everyone else!"

Yuuko makes no outward show of laughing at him, but he can still tell. He blushes, angry and embarrassed. "Don't laugh at me!" he cries, looking hard at the ground. Yuuko sees this and speaks carefully.

"I can't give you answers, but I can give you the chance to learn more. Secrets."

The boy looks up. "It will cost you," warns Yuuko.

"How much?" he asks. She tells him, and the boy agrees.

"I'll do it, but it- will it-"

"It will hurt at first. But you will forget it when it's gone."

He nods mutely, pours himself more tea. When he is finished with his drink, Yuuko guides him to a side room, sliding open the screen and seating him upon the tatami. He looks up at her in the shadows of the room- she looks sad. She kneels- she grips his shoulders- she reaches towards him-

The boy screams. His face contorts into a mask. His nails dig into the mat. His back arches at the burning in his eye. He cannot breathe.

And then it is over and he sinks into the mat.

-

When he regains consciousness, it is night, and Watanuki bends over him, gently daubing at his brow with a wet cloth. He raises his hand to feel around his eye, and finds it covered with a felt patch. The boy begins to take it off, but Watanuki firmly pries his fingers away and lowers his arm back down by his side. The boy hears Watanuki call for Yuuko, and then he falls asleep.

-

When he wakes up, it's morning, and this time there's no one in the room. Light filters in from the screen. Someone has covered him with a blanket, and he feels soft and warm and new with the straw mat rustling beneath him. He lays there for a moment more, and suddenly he remembers that he's starving. He can smell hot rice and he hears the faint clicking of chopsticks, so he sits up, throws open the screen, and wanders barefoot into the kitchen.

Watanuki's there, whipping up a bowl of egg and rice with shoyu. He greets the boy with a good morning and hands him breakfast before joining him by the window. The boy gobbles the food down and Watanuki eats more slowly.

As they eat, they look out to the garden and the walkway leading up to the shop; but where Watanuki sees the high rises of Tokyo, the boy sees a little church and the library across the way. Where Watanuki hears trucks honking, the boy hears the whistle of a train leaving the station.

Soon enough, it's time for the boy to leave. He takes his cloak and puts on his shoes, gives Watanuki a lopsided smile and departs, waving good-bye to Yuuko, who's out in the garden with Maru and Moro.

He feels better now. His clothes are soft and dry, his patch fits snugly around his eye, and he's already forgotten most of the pain from the night before. He'll find his grandfather at the station, and together they'll travel to his first record.

For a moment, he feels as if he's missing something- he nearly turns back to get it. Then he thinks of the train waiting at the station and his grandfather standing at the platform with all of the luggage beside him, and he starts to run.

Onward!

P.S. Can you tell what Yuuko took from him? I think it's obvious, but then again, that could be because I wrote it.