XXXHolic Fan Fiction ❯ Kitsune Bi - An xXxHolic Fan-Fiction ❯ Two ( Chapter 2 )

Kitsune Bi - An xXxHolic Fan-Fiction
By Ookami Kasumi

All characters property of CLAMP
Warning: Mature (NC-17) - Yaoi content, adult language, mild violence

Chapter Two

 

The school chime echoed loudly in the classroom, marking the end of classroom lessons, and the beginning of school club activities.

Kimihiro grabbed his scattered notes, text books, papers, pens, and other whatnot, and shoved everything into his slender briefcase as fast as he could. He had to be out of there before Doumeki could show up and drag him off to the archery club. Come hell or high water, he was going home, damn it, by himself!

He'd agreed to stay at Yuuko's, but there were still things that needed attending to at his apartment, such as disposing of the last of the food wasting away in his cabinets. He'd already cleaned out the refrigerator. On top of that, he really needed to collect more underwear and some of his jeans and t-shirts. He wore his uniforms during the week, but he really didn't like walking around in nothing but decorative kimonos on the weekends. The robes he'd taken to wearing around her house were lovely and comfortable, unbelievably comfortable, but they just didn't look…masculine.

Though kimonos looked plenty masculine on Doumeki's broad shouldered form.

Stop thinking about him! Snarling in sheer frustration, Kimihiro finally succeeded in jamming everything into his briefcase and buckling it closed. He lunged up from his chair and bolted for the classroom door. All he needed was his outdoor shoes from his locker and he was free! He lunged through the open door…and was brought to a choking halt by the collar of his uniform. He barely held back his startled shriek. Oh gods, what's got me now?

“Oi.”

What? Kimihiro twisted around to stare wide-eyed at Doumeki, already out of his school uniform and dressed in the white keiko-gi top and black hakima trousers of his archery clothes. Doumeki's altogether too large hand was fastened to his jacket collar.

Fury heated Kimihiro's cheeks and stiffened his spine. “My name is not `oi'!” He grabbed for his jacket collar and tugged. “Let go of me!”

Doumeki, inclined his head up the hallway. “The archery range is this way.” He did not let go.

Kimihiro crossed his arms, his briefcase shielding his belly. “You can do as you like, I'm going home, so let go.”

Doumeki's gaze hardened to cold brass. “I will not have you endangering yourself again.”

Kimihiro blinked. “You? You will not…?” He sucked in a deep breath and shouted at the top of his lungs. “Who the hell are you to say what I can, or can not do? You are not my father, or even my brother!” He whapped at the hand gripping the back of his collar.

Doumeki leaned back, away from Kimihiro's flailing hand, without releasing his collar. His brows lowered and his jaw visibly tightened. “You have my blood, that's close enough.”

Kimihiro froze in utter shock. What? Doumeki did not just say that. He scowled. “Are you trying to use guilt on me?”

Doumeki's brow lifted. “Would tying you up work better?” His evil smirk suddenly appeared.

Watanuki felt the blood leave his face. “You wouldn't…”

Doumeki reached into the front of his gi shirt and pulled out a slender bright blue obi chord complete with tassels.

Abruptly, the ground shifted under Kimihiro's feet and his imagination suddenly filled with extremely graphic hentai images from a website he'd accidentally accessed late one night. The site had been nothing but photographs of nude women tied up in strange and overly exposed positions.

He shook his head to clear it, but it did nothing for the heat that was suddenly flooding his limbs, and spilling downward. He clutched his briefcase against his stomach, but curled his lip and spoke in his most sarcastic tone. “What? Are you into kinky bondage or something?”

Doumeki's smirk didn't even waver. “I'm very good with knots.”

Good with knots? Did this mean he'd practiced? Doumeki had always spooked him with his far too direct stares and unpredictable pronouncements, but this was… This was perverted. A warm, syrupy, oddly exciting sensation spread through his limbs and began spilling downward. “Let me go.” His voice came out embarrassingly high and breathless.

Doumeki nodded and released Kimihiro's collar. “This way.” He turned to stand facing up the hallway, but his gaze remained focused on Kimihiro.

Kimihiro looked back the other way, toward the doors, and freedom. He could make a run for it? He looked back at Doumeki.

Doumeki slid the blue cord through his fingers, smoothly folding it in half then turning it inside out to form a loop. His lips curved upward into a definite smirk, nothing halfway about it this time, and his entire body tensed.

Kimihiro stared, shocked to the core. “You actually do want to tie me up.” He slapped his hand over his mouth. He hadn't meant to say that out loud.

Doumeki didn't say anything at all, and his expression did not change.

Kimihiro swallowed hard. Doumeki hadn't denied it. Crap… He really, really, really didn't like the way all this was making him feel. He hated the apprehension that chilled his blood, but he hated the weirdly exciting, and altogether terrifying sensations beginning to stir, and tighten in…unmentionable places even more.

It pissed him off.

Kimihiro stabbed a finger toward his tormentor. “Look, you big, overgrown, perverted brute, I don't take orders of any kind from you!”

Doumeki nodded and began walking up the hallway toward the archery range.

Kimihiro marched right after him. “Don't you walk away from me when I'm yelling at you…!” Snarling invectives every step of the way, Kimihiro followed Doumeki all the way out to the fenced in archery range, past the instructor speaking to a small group of archery students, and under the roofed area where the archers stood to shoot.

Doumeki pointed at a pile of hay bales against the back wall. “Sit, and be quiet.”

Kimihiro frowned at the hay bales. “What the hell am I supposed to do here for the next two hours?”

Doumeki shrugged. “Take a nap?” He turned and strode away.

Kimihiro stared after him. “A nap?”

Doumeki walked over to a tall cloth case leaning against the wall and withdrew a very long bow that was already strung. “Yeah, that's what I'd do.” He stepped alongside a hay bale stabbed full of what appeared to be, owl-feather fletched arrows, tugged one free and set it to his bow. He glanced back at Kimihiro. “Now be quiet. The sooner I finish my practice, the sooner we go.”

Kimihiro sighed heavily and sat down. What else could he do, really? The hay bale was dry and certainly much more comfortable than Yuuko's hardwood floors. Slouching against the back wall, Kimihiro settled back to wait.

Watching Doumeki hit the target with arrow after arrow was very interesting for all of five minutes, then his eyes began to drift closed. Maybe he should take a nap?

The scent of tobacco snapped Watanuki from his stupor.

Sitting on the hay bale beside Kimihiro was a smiling man practically identical in appearance to his nemesis, except for the smile, the formal green and gold kimono, and the cigarette. “Hello Watanuki-kun.”

Kimihiro looked over to see Doumeki still shooting his arrows, but there seemed to be a slight fog between them. A dream…? He turned and eyed the smiling man. It had to be a dream, as Doumeki's grandfather, Haruka, was dead and he only appeared in Kimihiro's dreams. “Hello, Haruka-san.”

Haruka waved his lit cigarette in Doumeki's general direction. “I see Shizuka is taking his guardian duties quite seriously.”

Kimihiro stared at him, then scowled. “I don't need a freaking guardian!”

Haruka's smile slid away. “Don't you?”

Kimihiro looked away and folded his arms over his chest. “Okay, so occasionally, I do need…a little help.”

Haruka folded one leg over the other and tilted his head. “Is it so hard to accept…a little help?”

Kimihiro winced. “Well no, but he's…” He waved his hand toward the obliviously shooting Doumeki. “And I'm…” He waved his hand toward himself. “We're both…” He threw up both his hands and shook his head. “For crying out loud, we're classmates! It's just not right!”

Haruka sighed. “I suppose that being watched over by someone your own age is a bit…uncomfortable.”

Kimihiro rolled his eyes. “That is a severe understatement.” He turned and shot a narrow look at Doumeki's grandfather. “By the way, did you know that your grandson is a pervert?”

Haruka stared wide eyed, then burst out into howling laughter. Tears streaked down his cheeks.

Kimihiro folded his arms across his chest and ground his teeth. “I'm glad you're finding it funny.”

Haruka wiped his eyes and gasped for breath. “Wait, wait… What did he do?” His laughter eased, but his grin nearly split his face. “Did he kiss you, or something?”

Kiss me…? Watanuki cringed back. “Gods, no!” He waved his hands to erase the image before it could form. “He just threatened to tie me up!”

Haruka blinked, then snorted. “Oh, is that all?”

“Is that all?” Kimihiro couldn't believe Haruka's total lack of concern. “No, that wasn't all! He was smirking as he said it! He really did want to tie me up. Me! He had a rope ready to do it with too, well an obi cord, but still…!”

Haruka shrugged. “Oh, well, he's been tying up his toys since he was little…”

Watanuki threw out his hands. “I am not a toy!”

Haruka smiled and continued as though Watanuki hadn't spoken. “…It only makes sense that he'd want to do that with his lovers too.”

Kimihiro choked. “What…?” Why was Haruka-san mentioning lovers?

Haruka's brows lifted. “You've never heard of adults tying each other up during love play?”

Kimihiro's mouth fell open. Love play? Well okay, but… “Haruka-san, that still doesn't explain why he wanted to tie me up!”

Haruka leaned close and his smile suddenly drifted into the smirk Kimihiro had only ever seen on Doumeki Shizuka's lips. “Watanuki-kun, in case you haven't noticed, you are a very beautiful boy.”

Kimihiro recoiled as though he'd been scalded. Was Haruka implying that Doumeki thought he was…pretty? He waved his hands to erase the thought. Impossible! Guys did not think about other guys that way. Unless… He frowned at Doumeki's grandfather. “Haruka-san, are you saying that Doumeki is…gay?”

“I don't know about that…” Haruka stood up and turned away. “But even I can appreciate a beauty as pure as yours.”

Beauty…? Kimihiro concluded right then and there, that he was not having a dream at all. He was having a nightmare. With that decided, he shouted and flailed in an attempt to wake himself up from it…and fell off the hay bale, knocking his elbow sharply on the plank floor. He winced and curled up on his knees, grabbing his elbow. “Ow…”

Doumeki turned sharply around, bow in hand. “What's wrong?”

“Nothing… It's nothing.” Kimihiro waved his hand dismissively and climbed back up on the hay bale. “Just a dream.” He was not about to tell him about that conversation with his grandfather. “A bad dream.”

Doumeki frowned. “You had a nightmare?”

Kimihiro rolled his eyes. “Did I ever…”

* * *

Clutching the bag with empty bento boxes and tea thermos in one hand, and his briefcase in the other, Kimihiro marched along the sidewalk back toward Yuuko's place with his thoughts going in distinctly wrongful circles. He simply could not rid himself of the idea that Haruka-san thought he was…beautiful, and that Doumeki might too.

Guys weren't supposed to be beautiful! That was a female word. Was Haruka-san implying that he feminine? Well, okay, so he had a slender build, and smooth skin, and …and no intimate body hair, but that didn't make him feminine!

Right behind those wrongful thoughts boiled the insidious knowledge that Doumeki had wanted to tie him up. The fear generated by the monsters that hunted him was nothing compared to the utterly horrifying possibility that Doumeki might actually want to do love play with him. With grave misgivings, he eyed the big, brute marching at his side carrying the nearly body-length, canvas wrapped bow slung over his shoulder.

Frowning slightly, Doumeki eyed Kimihiro right back. “You're being quiet.”

Kimihiro lashed him with a glare, but kept his mouth firmly closed.

Doumeki's brows rose. The very edge of his mouth lifted just a tiny bit. “Did I frighten you that badly?”

Frighten…? Kimihiro froze in mid-step. He turned to face Doumeki and spoke through his clenched teeth. “No, you did not frighten me. You freaked me the hell out!” He waved his arms in emphasis, swinging the bags he carried in the process. “Threatening to tie me up? What is wrong with you?” He gathered his breath and shouted at the top of his lungs. “I'm not one of your damned toys, you overgrown pervert!”

Doumeki removed his fingers from his ears and frowned. “How did you know about the toys?”

Kimihiro choked. Crap! He turned away and started walking toward Yuuko's at top speed. Me and my big mouth…

Doumeki strode after him. “What else did my grandfather tell you?”

Kimihiro shook his head and walked faster. “Never mind! Just forget I said anything!”

“He must have said something, or you wouldn't have thrown yourself on the floor to wake up from it.”

Kimihiro tripped over nothing in particular. How the hell had Doumeki figured that out? He straightened and kept walking. “No.”

Doumeki fell into step beside him. “No?”

Kimihiro tucked his chin, and shook his head. He was not going to tell Doumeki that his grandfather had called him `a very beautiful boy'. “Absolutely not.”

Doumeki snorted. “You're not making any sense.”

Kimihiro nodded. “Good.”

Doumeki's smile broadened. “Are you actually trying to give me `the silent treatment'?”

Kimihiro rolled his eyes. Actually, no. He'd just been trying really, really hard not to saying anything more damaging than he already had. “As if that would work on someone who uses maybe a dozen words total in a twenty-four hour period!”

Doumeki snorted.

Kimihiro slowed his walking, so that he could proceed with a bit more dignity, not to mention that walking that fast was damned tiring. “If you must know, I am contemplating what to make for dinner.”

Doumeki's brows lifted practically to his hairline. “Dinner?” He leaned in close, his eyes wide, and his mouth slightly slack. He was practically drooling. “What were you planning to make?”

Kimihiro almost smiled. Food was the one subject guaranteed to drag every utterly stubborn thought in Doumeki's thick skull to a total and screaming halt. Works like a charm every time. “I was planning on making…” He rattled off the exotic dish Yuuko had requested.

Doumeki's eyes widened and slid slightly out of focus. “Oh… I haven't had that in years.” He licked his lips.

Kimihiro lifted his chin just a notch. “But I had to wait for someone's practice to end, and now all the grocery stores are closed.” He sighed dramatically. “So I guess I'll just have to make that for tomorrow's dinner, so tonight…” A delicious scent wafted past his nose. He lifted his nose and sniffed deeper, looking for more. “Tonight…”

Doumeki leaned down to peer into Kimihiro's face. “Tonight?”

Kimihiro grinned and pointed down a small alley where a tiny pushcart shop sat among the first shadows of the evening. “We're having oden! kitsune oden!” Grinning, he dashed for the lighted cart, his mind full of very happy thoughts. Oden! Oden! Kitsune oden!

“Watanuki, watch out!”

“Eh?” Shocked by the fact that Doumeki had actually used his name, Kimihiro lifted his head just in time to body-slam face-first into a hard, but oddly warm surface. Hands clasped his upper arms keeping him from bouncing back and falling on his butt.

“Are you all right?”

Kimihiro winced and lifted a finger to straighten his tilted glasses. “I'm terribly sorry…” The most incredible face he'd ever seen came into focus, and took his breath clean away.

Cascades of waist-length blue-black hair was drawn back from a high pale brow to fall over an incredibly broad shoulder. Slender black brows winged upward over steeply tilted bright blue eyes framed in sooty lashes, setting off the ultra-high cheekbones. The nose was well-formed and perfectly straight. The mouth was wide, full, and very red over a delicately pointed chin.

Kimihiro blinked. The stunning visage was far too pale and exotic to be human, but the tall, triangular, and furry black ears parting the black hair was the clearest give-away. He swallowed hard. He'd just done a facer into the broad chest of someone who was most definitely not human, and despite the long pretty hair, there was no mistaking that this person was male.

The creature smiled. “Oh, what a beautiful boy!”

Kimihiro's mouth fell open in utter horror. “Not you too?”

The exotic man tilted his head and smiled, showing the tips of small fangs. “You'd rather be ugly?”

Kimihiro stepped back. “Well actually, no. But…” His gaze was drawn to the three fluffy black foxtails waving gently behind him. All three were tipped in white and as long as the fox-man was tall. They looked distinctly odd with his pale blue t-shirt and faded jeans.

Kimihiro blinked. This was a kitsune, a fox-spirit? He stared up into the creature's face. But he looks so close to human! His conscience suddenly stabbed him. Manners! Manners, idiot! He bowed, “My deepest apologies for running into you.”

The man laughed softly. “Oh, I didn't mind at all.”

The elder fox stepped from his vending cart and looked about. His glasses were perched on his slender muzzle, and his customary apron was tied around his blue work robes. The sweeping brush of his long red tail flagged out behind him. “Is that you, Watanuki-kun?”

Kimihiro leaned past the exotic fox-man to gaze toward the cart. “Yes, it's me, Kitsune-san!”

The elder fox's gaze locked on the three-tailed fox-man standing before Kimihiro. The long elegant whiskers on his slender red muzzle twitched and his tall ears flicked back briefly. “I have your order ready for pick-up.” He lifted a small paw. “This way.”

Kimihiro nodded politely at the tall, dark-haired fox-man then stepped past him to follow the elder fox to the cart. He pushed back the hanging curtain to step under the cart's overhanging roof. “My order…?”

The fox smiled, as only a fox could. “Yuuko-san sent a flyer.” He pulled a sheet of lavender colored paper from his pocket that showed signs of origami creases.

Kimihiro had no doubt that the fox meant `flyer' literally. The paper had probably flown in as her signature butterfly. “About payment…?”

The elder fox waved his paw. “I already have it.” He leaned down to collect something from under the counter.

Kimihiro sighed in relief. The foxes didn't accept human money, and he wasn't sure what they might consider valuable enough for trade.

The fox lifted a good sized cloth-wrapped box to the counter top. “Yuuko-san told me to tell you not to dawdle.” He leaned over the counter and dropped his voice to a whisper. “Watanuki-kun, a word of caution? You do not want to be that creature's game.”

Kimihiro's brows lifted. “Eh?”

The elder fox pressed the boxes into Kimihiro's hands. “Hurry back to Yuuko-san's, Watanuki-kun. Hurry back as quickly as you can.”

Kimihiro nodded. “I will.” He turned and walked out from under the cart's roof, followed closely by the elder fox.

The fox lifted his chin and sniffed, his tall ears lifting straight up. “Oh, Doumeki-kun, how very nice to see you!”

Doumeki stepped into the cart's light. The small fox-boy stood in his shadow, his sleek fox tail low and coiled around his feet. Doumeki bowed to the elder fox. “Good to see you too, Kitsune-san.”

Kimihiro inclined his head toward the small fox. What was he doing over there, with Doumeki?

The small fox bowed to Kimihiro, but remained silently in Doumeki's shadow.

Doumeki's gaze drifted to the dark-haired fox man and his golden gaze narrowed. He nodded slowly and carefully, his gaze hard and unwavering.

The fox man's brows lifted slightly. His smile faded and blue eyes hardened with frost. He returned exactly the same slight nod.

The elder fox clasped his paws and tilted his head. “Would that case you're carrying happen be your longbow?” One ear flicked very slightly in the direction of the fox man. He smiled broadly, showing his sharp white teeth. It wasn't a friendly smile in any way, shape, or form.

Doumeki smiled just as broadly, showing his teeth too. It wasn't pretty either. “Why yes it is, Kitsune-san. It's the one I inherited from my grandfather.” Doumeki's gaze flicked slightly toward the fox man.

The elder fox nodded, still smiling with his pointed teeth. “How very excellent.” He held out his paw.

The small fox-boy bolted to his sire's side and grasped his paw.

Kimihiro frowned at the three of them feeling very left out. What was going on?

“Well, you two boys go on then, and make your delivery.” The fox lifted his apron and made a shooing motion. “And don't dawdle, the food will get cold!”

Doumeki tilted his head at Kimihiro and turned on his heel, walking away at a brisk pace.

Kimihiro started after him, and turned back briefly to wave. “See you later Kitsune-san!”

The fox lifted his paw briefly then turned away, leading his son toward the cart.

Kimihiro turned to say his goodbyes to the man he'd literally run into, but he didn't see the fox man anywhere.

Doumeki called out from ten paces ahead. “Oi, slow ass!”

Kimihiro's hackles lifted and his temper boiled. “And just who are you calling a slow ass?” He jogged after Doumeki juggling the bag with the empty bento boxes, his school briefcase, and the oden package. “I have a lot to carry here! You could help, you know.”

Doumeki shook his head briefly. “I have my bow.” His stride was strong and his gaze was very alert, drifting back and forth as though watching for something.

Kimihiro frowned. “Did I miss something?”

Doumeki spared him a brief sour glance. “Yes.”

Kimihiro was not in the mood to play guessing games. “What? What did I miss?”

Doumeki shot him a sideways glare. “So, who else told you that you were beautiful today?”

Kimihiro choked and tripped, but he managed to avoid actually falling. He wanted to ask where the hell that had come from, but was far too worried that he might actually admit something he'd regret instead. “Look, I'm a guy, and guys aren't beautiful…”

Doumeki turned and looked him dead in the eye. “You are beautiful, and that's whole fucking problem.” He strode ahead, his back stiff. He was very clearly annoyed.

Kimihiro stood frozen stiff, staring after him for an entire breath before he could even move. Doumeki did not just say that. He did not…!

The larger boy scowled over his shoulder. “Oi! Get moving, idiot!”

* * *

Kimihiro wasn't quite sure how he did it, but he succeeded in keeping his mouth shut all the way to Yuuko's and into her kitchen. Then he exploded. None of his ranting was anywhere near coherent, but that wasn't the point of the exercise. By the time he had the oden ready to be served, he was relatively calm. He carried the big tray up on his shoulder with a modicum of grace and aplomb all the way out to the porch where Yuuko, Mokona, and Doumeki were set to dine. A large bottle of warmed sake sat in the very center of the table.

The elegant witch smiled up at him with a gleam in her cinnamon eyes. “So Watanuki-kun, Doumeki-kun tells me that you've had a very interesting day. Care to talk about it?”

The night went downhill from there.