An Oberservation from Your Pal Doumeki

Disclaimer: Not mine

Pairings: YuukoXWatanuki (relationship) Doumeki and Watanuki (friendship)

Author: So, Thank you all for your nice comments on my last story. Is there a way to send you messages back? I'm sitll trying to learn this whole thing.

Doumeki notices many things.

But Doumeki isn't really sure when he first starts to see it.

Normally, observation is one of Doumeki's strong traits, but he's not sure how long it's been going on (if it's been going on at all) and he isn't confident about how serious it is.

It happens on a windy spring afternoon. He's still adjusting to life at the university, and he knows that Watanuki – although he won't admit it – is incredibly nervous and stressed about his classes an top of his already demanding, vexing job.

So when Doumeki pays Yuuko's shop a visit and sees the two of them arguing in the yard, he doesn't really notice anything strange at first. She's teasing him about wearing some awful, pink, frilly handkerchief, trying to convince him that it suits him, to which Watanuki replies it was made for girls. And Doumeki may or may not have thrown in his two cents about how it matched his shade, so that Watanuki turns the same color has the little piece of cloth.

He suspects that after Watanuki swats the handkerchief away, that Yuuko will pout and then tease him a little more. Instead, Yuuko quickly moves toward him in one full swoop and grips Watanuki's face between her hands.

Again, there's really nothing unusual about her irregular sense of boundaries. Yuuko loves to both shock and scare the poor boy. But it's Watanuki's reaction that strikes him as odd.

His arms, as if possessed by their own will, automatically shoot out and clasp Yuuko around the waist, pulling her body flush against his. It's barely a second that they hold their embrace together, hands on face and arms wrapped tightly, but it's enough to surprise Doumeki.

Then, as if Watanuki has realized that's he's gripping an iron rod during a lighting storm, he releases her as though her touch has brought him physical pain. Yuuko, however, doesn't move an inch, nor does she even acknowledge Watanuki's little act of affection.

"I won't let go. . .until you wear the handkerchief to school."

"And why should I wear that stupid thing, Yuuko-san?" Watanuki hisses dramatically.

"Because it will bring you luck, of course." She says that as if it were obvious, her tone slightly airy with untold authority.

Watanuki eyes her suspiciously before relaxing and snatching the handkerchief, rolling it up irreverently and thrusting it into his pocket.

"Fine," he spits. "I'll take all the luck I can get. Although I don't understand why it couldn't be something more manly – and stop looking at me like that, Doumeki!"

And with that Yuuko drops her hands to her sides and turns back to grin at Doumeki.

Doumeki doesn't really know how to respond, so he doesn't. All in all, the scene that he's watching is playing out like it always does. Ending up with Watanuki angry, and Yuuko lauging, and himself simply looking on, it's always the same. So he doesn't understand why this time, it feels so different.

He doesn't think about it much until almost a month later. After saving Watanuki – yet again – from another dangerous errand, he finds himself sitting in her shop with Himawari, Zashiki-warashi, and Ame-warashi, who is sulking on her reed mat, as they sip tea together. After the ordeal that they all went through to save Watanuki, Himawari still seems much too interested to know about the spirit that attempted to make his worst fears come to life.

Doumeki is just about to answer when Maru, Moro and Mokona burst through the open doors from the outside veranda.

"Kisses! Kisses! In the night! Kisses! Kisses! In moon light!"

They chant this together, zipping up and down the room as Mokona rolls between him and Himawari giggling uncontrollably.

"Kisses! Kisses! Burn and scorch! Kisses! Kisses! On the porch!"

Maru and Moro seemed to enjoy singing for an audience and their voices grow fainter and fainter, echoing softy as they move further through the house.

Zashiki-warashi is pale with confusion, while Ame-warashi is a tinge red with irritation.

"Ooo-kaaay," Ame-warashi drawls, her eyebrow cocked.

"I wonder what that was about?" Himawari asks, a curious, but innocent expression on her youthful face.

But Doumeki isn't listening to either of them. Instead, he can't help wonder where Yuuko and Watanuki have gone.

His suspicions become stronger when he sees Watanuki changing after soccer one day. He's not entirely certain why, but he notices that before he pulls on his shirt, there are long, deep scratches raking up and down Watanuki's back.

Then, before Doumeki can say anything, Watanuki is sliding his shirt back on, but Doumeki still catches the slight wince on his face when the fabric of Watanuki's shirt touches the wounds on his back.

"What?" Watanuki snarls when he catches his eye as he begins to button his collar.

"Where'd you get those scratches?" he asks as he wipes the sweat from practice earlier off of his neck with a rag.

"None of your business!" Watanuki says brushing past him. "Why do I always have to play soccer with you? It's not enough that you're a terrible player, but you notices the stupidest things. . . ."

And as he continues to rant about all of Doumeki's horrible qualities, he can't help but wonder were those scratches came from.

It isn't until the next evening when he sees Yuuko that he becomes more positive in his hunch. He only sees her for a moment, and it's hard to tell because her hair is down and it's dark outside, but he still see it.

There, on her neck, are what look like bite marks.

When autumn comes Yuuko invites him to come along with her and Watanuki to an old mansion out in the middle of the woods. He's curious as to why Yuuko is bringing the two of them along in the first place, but by the time they get there, Doumeki has already sensed something sinister in that old Japanese mansion.

And through all his wariness, Yuuko seems genuinely intrigued by her surroundings, and Watanuki. . .though Watanuki always expresses his distaste when Doumeki tags along on jobs like this, this time he acts particularly nastier than usual.

"Of all the times, this jerk always has to come, you always invite him!"

It's odd that his anger not only seems to be directed at Doumeki, but Yuuko as well.

"Quit your whining, and remember why we're here, Watanuki."

"Yeah, Yuuko-san, why are we here?" and there is an edge to his voice that Doumeki has never heard before.

Yuuko catches it, too, and turns to face him, uncharacteristically firm.

"Doumeki is great to have around, you of all people should know that, Watanuki. And I enjoy his presence."

Doumeki turns to Watanuki so that he can smirk, but what he sees on Watanuki's face is something unmistakably close to the way a wolf guards a piece of meat. Then, as if Watanuki is using all of his energy to keep from shaking, he opens his mouth and seethes, all his attention on Yuuko now.

"Well," Watanuki starts, sounding calmer, but much like he's been punched in the gut, "you should have brought Himawari-chan along. You know I enjoy her presence."

Watanuki has yearned for Himawari many, many times before, but something in the way he says this sounds. . .spiteful, an almost tauntingly familiar pitch creeping into his voice.

Yuuko merely stares at him, but Doumeki sees something flash behind her ruby eyes setting them ablaze like a rolling fire. It's small, most people would have missed it, but Doumeki knows that the her flickering expression that lasted only a moment is like watching her face crumple like paper.

The rest of the day is alarmingly full of tension, the kind that he's not used to, and when night falls, the two of them end up having to share a room. Perfect end to a perfect day.

He hears Watanuki tossing and turning on his side of the room, and Doumeki closes his eyes and tries to block out the noise of his exasperated sighs. He's not sure when it is that he fell asleep, but he awakens to an empty room and an overwhelming urge to use the bathroom.

He's crossing the hall trying to find the washroom when he hears it.

Voices, and it takes him a second to realize it's Yuuko's and Watanuki's voices. He's outside of Yuuko's room, and he can hear Watanuki's snipping gently from through the door. They're trying to talk quietly, so it's hard to hear, but Doumeki catches a few words:

"I was looking. . .trip. . . spending. . .wit. . . you."

It's Watanuki, angry as usual.

"You. . . .important. . . .Doumeki. . . .safe. . ." Yuuko hums back.

"I don't care if he keeps me safe, that's not the point!" Watanuki shouts heatedly, and then Doumeki hears Yuuko calmly hushing him.

Doumeki doesn't seem to realize that he's stepping closer to the door, after all, they are talking about him, aren't they?

"It would have been nice. . . .just. . ou and I, but. . ." and then she drops her voice even more softly.

Doumeki's even closer now to the door, his ear is almost pressed against it, and then he hears him.

"It wasn't much, but I was really excited, Yuuko."

And Doumeki thinks it's odd that he doesn't use a honorific as he normally does when calling Yuuko by her name. Either Doumeki's has overheard Watanuki being incredibly disrespectful, or he's listening to a very intimate conversation.

Then Yuuko speaks, and her tone is gentle and warm, and it reminds Doumeki of honey on a hot summer's day. He can't hear her hardly at all but he is able to make out the word: Kimihiro, and then everything is quiet for a long time.

When Doumeki gets back to his room, he lays awake for a while waiting for Watanuki to come back to his room. Before he knows it, light is streaming through his windows and Watanuki is standing over him, yelling at him to get his lazy ass up.

He meets both of them downstairs and notes that both Yuuko and Watanuki look extremely tired, but content and if he had blinked he would have missed it, but he's positive that yesterday he'd witnessed a lover's spat.

"I want to ask to two of you a question, " Doumeki begins.

"Questions!! Questions!! We love questions!!"

Doumeki closes his eyes and tries again as Maru and Moro giggle insanely.

"Does Watanuki stay overnight a lot?"

When he asks this the girls grin widely.

"Errr-ing! Errr-ing!" Moro starts.

"Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!" Maru finishes

And then they start all over again.

"Errr-ring! Errr-ing! Errr-ing!"

"Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!"

"Night noises!"

"Night noises!"

Maru and Moro then dissolve into shrills of hysterical laughter as Doumeki turns and heads toward the exit, hoping to leave this nut-shop.

The breaking point happens right before the first snowfall.

Japan is cold, but not freezing, and he's walking across campus without a jacket when he sees a crowd of people standing next to the stone courtyard. Some of them are cheering, some of them are screaming, and so Doumeki runs over to see what's going on.

When he gets there, he sees that the crowd is gathered around two students. One of them is Watanuki, pinned to the ground, and is thoroughly getting his ass kicked, although the blood dripping from the other's boy's nose and lips show that Watanuki must have gotten in a few good hits.

"Did you see that?" one student asks.

"The kid with the glasses just punched him out of nowhere," says another.

". . .said something about a girl. Something horribly sexual and fowl, I don't know."

The boy on top of Watanuki looks a little leaner, a little older, and is raining his fists down on any exposed part of Watanuki's body he can find. Before Doumeki can pry him off, Watanuki wheels his elbow back and smacks the boy across the jaw, causing blood to spray everywhere.

Jumping to his feet, Watanuki grabs the boy around the waist, as the boy dives headlong into Watanuki's body. They both look a little silly, with their school jackets flipped over their heads and cuffs wailing and dress-pants kicking, but really going nowhere as they both try to pin the other back down to the ground.

That is until Watanuki grabs the boy by the hair, swings his fist back and screams in utter rage:

"You've never met Yuuko-san! So show some RESPECT!"

And as the last syllable leaves his bloody lips, Watanuki brings his fist clear across the boys cheek causing his head to snap back in an utterly sickening CRACK.

And then it's Doumeki, finally free of wrestling past the crowd, wrenching Watanuki away with all of his might. It isn't easy. Watanuki is determined to cause more pain, but Doumeki shoves him toward the crowd, and just as the boy – who Doumeki isn't sure how he knows Yuuko – runs to throw another punch, Doumeki's hand soars through air, and grabs the boy's wrist.

"Stop," is all he says.

The boy sneers and tries to pull away, and Doumeki is glad to have such strong fingers from his archery practice.

When Doumeki feels the boy relax, he lets go.

"Now get out of here."

He turns back to Watanuki, whose eyes are as bright as stars, and the blood and sweat that covers his shaking body drips like rain while his flushed face and his expression is still scrunched in undeniable fury.

"WHO TOLD YOU TO BUTT IN??" Watanuki screams, and Doumeki feels something inside him snap.

"You idiot," he growls, and quickly grips Watanuki's arm and drags him through the crowd before the boy decides to charge after the both of them.

A half-hour later Doumeki finds himself back at his temple, with Watanuki who is leaning up against the wall in his room, nursing his head and face with an ice-pack.

He seems to have calmed down a lot, although he looks like a mess. Dried blood under his nose, and down the side of his face as he tries to keep the swelling to a minimal make him look more manly than Doumeki's ever seen him. His glasses are slightly bent, and are folded neatly next to him.

Doumeki stands beside him before sliding down the wall, sitting to his right.

"Well, that was different," Doumeki says.

Watanuki remains quiet, and doesn't talk for a while. The room's silence echos on for an eternity and the only noise is the tap, tap, tap of melted ice as it drips from Watanuki's ice-pack.

"I'm having an affair with Yuuko-san."

The words cut through the silence like a blunt knife, and although Doumeki isn't surprised, his eyes still widen as he looks back at Watanuki.

"I figured as much," he replies.

Now it's Watanuki who looks shocked.

"You knew?"

"I wondered."

"Still. . ." Watanuki mutters.

"I saw the scratches on your back," he explains, "and the bite marks on her neck."

He doesn't bother to look at Watanuki as he says this because he's sure that Watanuki is blushing like crazy.

"You sure you know what you're doing?" Doumeki asks, and his voice seems much louder because of the silence.

Watanuki scoffs

"No," he answers. "It just started, and then we couldn't stop."

"You mean you couldn't stop."

He has a hard time believing that Yuuko could get so entwined with a person like Watanuki, but then again, she does have an addictive personality. But still, it's hard for him to imagine it. He envisages that making love to Yuuko would be a lot like running a marathon: unbelievably intense and excruciatingly painful.

"It could be a problem, you're much younger than her."

"Yuuko-san says that age is meaningless," Watanuki answers quickly. "For Yuuko-san, time doesn't matter. So as long as I'm able to understand and make my own choices, she doesn't care. It doesn't matter if I were twenty-five or sixty, it's all the same to her."

"But it with Yuuko-san," Doumeki emphasizes. "She is no ordinary woman. Nothing that comes from her is free. The smallest act of gratitude still becomes a binding transaction.

"Besides," he continues, "You'll age, and die someday, she won't."

And it's then that Watanuki stares at him as if he's the pitiful one.

"You just don't get it." Watanuki sighs and shakes his head. "Maybe one day, when you feel what I feel, you'll understand that you'll do whatever it takes. I'll find a way. So it will work. For us. That is my true wish."

Then, as if snapping out of a trance, or regaining his lost sanity, Watanuki swiftly turns to him and shoots the deadliest glare Doumeki's ever seen.

"Wait – why am I telling you this? This isn't any of your business!"

"Hey, you're the one that brought it up," Doumeki retorts as Watanuki stands to his feet.

"And why did you drag me back to your obscenely large home? I'm going back to the shop. Don't follow me!"

As Watanuki leaves, Doumeki stays in his position on the floor, but has enough courtesy to wait until Watanuki has left the house.

"Moron."

The next day he bumps into Watanuki as he passes his temple.

He looks a little better, his face is now bandaged and it looks as if he has three stitches below his ear in the shape of a smiley face.

"How much did she charge you for that?" Doumeki asks.

"Shut up! And for your information, Mokona did it! Here."

And he thrusts a package tied with a cloth into Doumeki's chest.

"My lunch?"

"Make your own damn lunch!" Watanuki shouts over his shoulder as he walks away.

Doumeki looks down at the package and unties it, inside is a box with a note attached to the lid.

– Doumeki

This is my payment for taking care of Watanuki yesterday. Use it with affection.

– Yuuko

And as he opens the box, he looks down and sees a beautiful, extremely rare, genuine Dragon Cloud arrowhead. It's still shiny, and the silver glisters over the bamboo designs. He's only ever seen a real one in a museum, so he has no idea how Yuuko came across this one.

"Payment?" he wonders aloud.

Then he understands.

He understands what Watanuki was trying to tell him the day before.

That everything is a binding transaction. That nothing comes for free. Not when you truly care and love someone. Yuuko may use more material goods to compensate, but Watanuki, he uses a different payment method altogether.

Looking at the Dragon Cloud, it's more than a transaction or compensation. It's proof of Yuuko's feelings. The scratches and scrapes and stitches on Watanuki are also proof of his feelings as well, because relationship. . . .friendships, they all come with a price, and some are more willing to pay it than others.

As Doumeki watches Watanuki hustle away, he smiles. He'll have to properly thank Yuuko for the arrowhead. Perhaps he'll get her some Daiginyo Manotsuru. He's noticed that it's her favorite brand of sake. After all:

Doumeki notices many things.

The End