Always A First by Orenji Yume

A xxxHOLiC one-shot fic, Watanuki/Doumeki

A/N: Kage Sannin (author here) requested a Watanuki/Doumeki fic (no wait it's a challenge fic, sorry!) so here it is! I haven't written in ages since my last fic...so sorry if it's terrible. And please forgive the title, I had trouble thinking of one.

Shounen-ai (male/male)/fluff/highly suggestive hints is present in this fic, but does not touch on adult issues. (no lemon/lime) If you don't like it, then please don't read it, thank you...

STORY: It's Watanuki's birthday!! Yuuko and the gang are celebrating; a pity for Watanuki that Himawari is sick and not present. But instead, he receives a surprise from Doumeki. Sorry if anyone seems OOC. Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own XXXHolic, CLAMP does.

'If Himawari-san could not come...' A pair of eyes turned to where a tall student was sitting. "Then why must he come??" A shout emitted from a bespectacled boy whose eyes were now shooting daggers at his all-time rival.

"Ah...it had to be raining to Watanuki's birthday. And we were planning a barbeque!" Yuuko's hand flew up to the side of her face, clasped, as she continued. "And I was looking forward to it. And worse of all, Himawari-san couldn't come. What a pity..."

Along with her, Maru and Moro chimed, "Pity..."

Doumeki's face was expressionless as he stared at Yuuko, "I supposed you predicted all of this beforehand. And I didn't hear anything about a barbeque..." Shifting his gaze to where a ranting Watanuki was in the background, he went on. "And anyway, nothing is getting through him now."

Grinning, Yuuko leaned towards the stone-faced Doumeki, "Jealous that you're not getting any attention?"

Turning back to face the sly sorceress, Doumeki said nothing, instead he continued eating the sandwich he had in his hand. After that, he gulped down a glass of fruit juice, and then helped himself to more sandwiches. Yuuko merely grinned wider and leaned against her chair, before looking towards Maru and Moro. She had a glass of juice in her hand and she raised it.

"Let's offer a toast to the birthday boy!" She exclaimed with a big smile.

Immediately, Maru and Moro joined in cheerfully, "A toast!!"

In response, Doumeki also lifted his glass, but he still continued munching away on a chocolate chip cookie (which apparently he removed it from a fanciful plate with a cover over it). Meanwhile, Watanuki did not notice anything that was going on behind him and was still screaming about his ruined birthday, which just began minutes ago. It was just after Doumeki raised his glass, Watanuki turned around sharply, still angry about the fact that his rival is here but not his one and only love. Hurrying towards Doumeki, he started shouting at him.

"Spit out that cookie! Spit it out!! That was meant for Himawari-san!!" Angered till he could almost cry, Watanuki starting shaking an unaffected Doumeki violently. "She was supposed to try it first...so spit it out!!!" Just then, a thought sparked in his mind. "Wait! I can send it to her as a get-well-soon gift!"

Spurred the very thought of it, he grabbed the plate from Doumeki's hand. But little did he know, that Doumeki had finished everything, not leaving a single crumb! His jaw dropped open, alarmed and yet steaming mad at the same time. On the other hand, Doumeki could still swallow down the last cookie calmly while gazing at Watanuki straight in the eye. And then, he said something that made Watanuki's mood worsen.

"It isn't that tasty...in fact, it's worse than the chocolate cake you made on Valentine's Day,"

Unable to take the shock, the boy choked and coughed. And then he pointed accusingly at the other boy. "If that's the case, then why did you finish up all 15 cookies? Why are you doing this to me??"

There was no reply, only more eating of sandwiches and drinking of juices. Furious and boiling mad, Watanuki grabbed Doumeki by the throat and attempting to stop him from putting anything else down his throat, at the same time vent his unfathomable anger. While a huge commotion (caused solely by Watanuki) was taking place, Yuuko observed the whole thing silently. By her side, Maru and Moro were told to get her a plate of salad and were currently pouring dressing over. Yuuko rested her chin on both hands and could not hold back a smile. 'You got what you want...and it's only starting...' Just then, the twins came up to her with the plate of salad.

Taking it from them, the woman thanked them, "Do you want a bite?" As she fed the two, her eyes glanced back to the two students. 'Yes, indeed...it's only starting...I anticipate it very much...' And then she faced the twins. "We can help, can't we? It would be interesting..."

"Let's help!!" They cried out, as if in celebration.

At that very moment, Doumeki's eyes looked over to where Yuuko was. But he merely saw her feeding Maru and Moro, that they were enjoying themselves. Was it just his imagination that they were planning something...?

But before he could think further, Watanuki cried out, "What were you thinking then? Eating my cookies? Don't you feel any guilt??"

This was going to take long to end...

...After the party...

Inside the kitchen, Watanuki was putting away the dishes, sighing. 'This is not called a birthday party...all the more not when Himawari-san isn't here...and-' His thoughts were interrupted as the door clicked and opened with a soft creak, revealing who else but Doumeki. At that instance, Watanuki's thoughts were voiced.

"And you're here!!!"

Closing the door behind him, the more relaxed boy said, "What about me? Your words made no sense just now."

Fuming inside, Watanuki shot back at him, "I was just going on about how unlucky you are!!"

"I thought Yuuko-san said otherwise-"

"No way!!!" Watanuki threw his hands about.

Suddenly, a crash resounded throughout as the plate slipped through Watanuki's hand and shattered to pieces on the floor. A gasp escaped from the culprit's lips as what he had caused. The situation grew worse as Yuuko came through the door and saw the scene. She shook her head, as if in sympathy.

Following that, she remarked, "You know...that will have to come from your pay." Enjoying the exaggerated response from Watanuki, she teased. "Either that you'll have to do extra chores for me." With a wave, she took off, leaving behind Watanuki shocked beyond words. But before Yuuko closed the door, she beckoned to Doumeki in a low voice. "You can stay here...don't worry, no one else will bother you for some time."

After that, Doumeki turned to the mess in front of him. Without saying anything beforehand, he bent down and started picking up some of the broken pieces. But then, without warning he accidentally cut how finger at the tip. His face showed no sign of panic, as he put down the broken pieces in his hand down and quickly slipped his finger into his mouth.

By then Watanuki had recovered halfway, and was met by another new situation. Crying out at the carelessness of his rival, he made a u-turn around the mess and then proceeded to push Doumeki towards the sink. Pulling out his third finger from the silent boy's mouth, the frustrated boy began running the water and washing the wound with no help from the injured one.

"Stupid!! How could you just pick up those bits with bare hands? Weren't you taught anything??"

Following that, he did something unexpected. Bringing the cut finger towards him, he put it inside his own mouth and started sucking on it without hesitation. Doumeki could not see Watanuki's expression, for he was looking down, hiding his face. As for himself, it was hard to read from his face whether he was indulging in this rare occurrence or loathing every second of it.

It was only after a few minutes, did Watanuki remove the finger from his mouth. He then told Doumeki that he would be back soon with some bandage, with his back towards his schoolmate. As he disappeared behind the door, the still expressionless boy looked down at his cut finger. The wound was not that deep, but the bespectacled boy made such a fuss out of it that it seemed as if he had cut his finger off. With his other hand, Doumeki placed it over the pocket of his pants, and then he dug his hand deep inside. Something small was inside...

But before Doumeki did anything else, Watanuki came barging in with a roll of bandage in his hand. Wrapping it hastily around the injured finger, Watanuki was muttering words at the same time. By the look of it seemed as though it was going to turn out as one big, untidy lump. But instead, it turned out rather neatly.

After taking care of the wound, the boy grabbed hold of a dustpan and a broom. Still talking to himself, Watanuki swept up all of the broken pieces into the dustpan and threw it away. Watching all of this silently, Doumeki took out what was inside the pocket, his hand clenched tightly.

Giving a hard gaze at his rival, the boy asked, "What are you still doing here, Doumeki-san?" Apparently, his anger still had not simmered.

Stretching out his hand, palm wide open with his hidden surprise, the reply came sullenly from his mouth, "For you...it's your birthday."

"Is this a joke? Are you serious? This is the first time you've-"

Doumeki interrupted, "There's always a first."

Highly uncertain, Watanuki spoke, "You...open it."

Reaching out his other hand, the other boy unwrapped the simple-looking gift, to reveal a small, rectangular box. Puzzled, the birthday boy questioned him on what was inside the box. The answer

"Contacts???" The answer was repeated in the exact opposite tone. "Are you crazy? Contacts...as a birthday present??"

"There's always a first...stupid..."

Pointing directly at Doumeki's face, the uneasy boy shook his head and commented, "You are the stupid one!! Stupid!!! I don't understand why everyone likes you! Even Himawari-san...not at all!!" A paused proceeded, before Watanuki thought aloud. "No wonder you kept on asking me weird questions the day before..."

Ignoring his previous remarks, the archery boy continued, "Put them on. I want to see how they look like."

"NO WAY!!!"

"I can help you if you don't know..."

"NO-What...?"

Without further notice, Doumeki went up to the confused boy. Taking off his spectacles, he then took the initiative of putting the contacts in for Watanuki. Silent and still, the patient did not know how to respond, as he was too surprised at what the doctor had in mind. When it was done, the birthday boy blinked hard and had to a few minutes to himself to adjust to the new conditions of his eyes. When he was finished, he looked up and saw Doumeki studying him.

To his utter surprise, his rival was smiling, "You look better."

The only words Watanuki managed to say were, "W-why...?" But inside his head was a different matter. 'Why was he doing this? Why is he smiling all of a sudden? Why is he so different now? Why...?'

But instead of clearing up his queries, Doumeki remarked, "There's one thing you can do to thank me...bake cookies like those I had just now. ...I lied about them being bad..." Taking Watanuki's right hand, he put his lips against it, as if he was sorry. Or was it just teasing...? And then, he placed his hand on boy's chin, raising it. "You really should look at yourself in the mirror now...this time I mean it. Or...do you what me to prove it some other way...?" Leaning forward, their faces were inches apart.

Before he could reply, Yuuko's voice came ringing in their ears, "Where's the wine? It is finished yet?"

Automatically, the two took a step away from each other. Watanuki ran outside to find Yuuko lying on the sofa with Maru and Moro. Behind him, Doumeki came walking. Seeing her 'maid''s new look, Yuuko smiled.

"You look better now! Doumeki's present, I suspect?" When no one answered, she teased. "You can hug him as a way of thanks if you want to, Watanuki. After all, this only happens once in a blue moon."

Finally recovering from all the shocks he had received, the birthday boy refused Yuuko's suggestion, "NO WAY!!!!" Recalling what Doumeki had suggested earlier on, Watanuki turned to him. "And I'm not going to bake you any cookies from now on! I don't care whether you find them good or bad!!"

"The chocolate cake you made on Valentine's Day is alright for me as well," Doumeki spoke, with his smile gone now.

"NO WAY!!!!"

Yuuko grinned. Those were only his words, who knew whether he would actually do it in the future. 'Yeah...who knows...'

END

A/N: I hope it isn't too bad. I didn't know how to end it. ;; In case you're wondering, I don't do those very explicit stuff and such. So yeah...and just a note, I don't accept any flames, only constructive criticism, thank you!