XXXHolic Fan Fiction ❯ Kitsune Bi - An xXxHolic Fan-Fiction ❯ Eight ( Chapter 8 )

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 Eight

Watanuki Kimihiro pushed his serving cart across the threshold of Yuuko's ultra-modern kitchen and discovered a horrifying sight.

Doumeki was bent over before the open oven door with baking mitts on, and reaching in toward the unfinished cake.

Kimihiro shrieked. “Don't you dare touch that cake!” He shoved the cart out of his way and tore across the kitchen at top speed.

Doumeki turned sharply, his eyes wide, then shuttered his gaze, smoothed his expression to nothing at all, and straightened. “I didn't think you wanted it to burn.”

Kimihiro snatched the oven mitts right off of Doumeki's hands. “I do not burn my cakes!” He flapped the mitts in Doumeki's faze. “Back away! Back away!”

Doumeki took two steps to the side.

Kimihiro turned away and grabbed for the small jar of toothpicks sitting on top of the stove. “I bet you didn't even tooth-pick test it!”

Doumeki blinked. “Toothpick…?”

Kimihiro nodded firmly. “I thought not.” He selected a toothpick, knelt down before the open oven, and jabbed the toothpick into the very center of the first of the three pans. “The toothpick test is how you tell if a cake is done or not.” He pulled it out and examined it closely. “No clinging batter means it's done.” He selected a fresh toothpick and tested the next pan, and then the next.

Doumeki's brows furrowed slightly and his mouth turned down at the very corners. “I watched the clock.”

Kimihiro shook his head. “Following the clock is not completely reliable. Every stove holds heat differently. Ambient kitchen temperature is also a factor, as is the moisture level. Today, there was quite a bit of humidity in the air. Since Yuuko doesn't seem to believe in air conditioning, it's a good thing it was also fairly cool, or my cake would not have even risen.”

Doumeki rolled his eyes and made his way back to his stool. “Yeah, sure… Whatever.”

Kimihiro pulled one pan out and closed the stove. “One was ready the other two need a few more minutes.”

“Okay.” Doumeki folded his hands neatly on the countertop. “So.”

Kimihiro turned to face him and frowned. “So?”

Doumeki gave him a level and completely expressionless look. “What did they say?”

Kimihiro blinked at him. “Eh?” How did they get on this subject? Weren't they just talking about the cake? He shook his head. “What?”

Doumeki took a deep slow breath, closed his eyes, and released it. He opened his eyes and gave Kimihiro exactly the same non-expression as before. “Did the fox say why he was here, at Yuuko's?”

Oh… Kimihiro's cheeks warmed at an alarming rate. “Um… Yes.” He hurried over to the dish laden cart. He had dishes to wash, a main course to prepare, and a cake to finish. He did not want to talk about the fact that the fox wanted to fu--… He flinched. …Have se-- … He shook his head. …Wanted to buy him from Yuuko. He shoved the cart close to the sink and began to unload the dishes. He should tell Doumeki. He really, really should, after all the guy was his self-proclaimed body guard…

And boyfriend.

The dishes rattled in his shaking hands. Damn it, damn it, damn it… He had to tell him something, but what?

“Are you going to tell me?”

Kimihiro dropped a handful of serving spoons into the steel sink. It rattled loudly. He turned to his personal pain in his ass and shouted. “I'm thinking, damn you!”

Doumeki snorted. “Let me guess, he wants to screw you.”

Kimihiro startled so hard, he very nearly dropped the small gold and silver plates in his hand. He swallowed hard and carefully set the plates in the sink, then turned on the water. “He wants to buy me, from Yuuko.” Well, that was most of it, might as well say the rest. “It seems, that my…” He cleared his throat. “I'm his wish.”

Doumeki didn't move. He didn't even blink.

Kimihiro squirted soap into the water and picked up the scrubber. The sound of running water and clinking dishes filled the kitchen for several tremendously long minutes.

Kimihiro set the last appetizer plate into the draining board, dried his hands on the hand-towel, then put on the oven-mitts to pull out his cake.

“Will she do it?” Doumeki's voice was soft, and very, very neutral.

Kimihiro stiffened, just a little, then crouched and pulled both pans from the oven. “She told him I wasn't for sale.” He set them on the stovetop and proceeded to ease the cakes free from their pans and onto the cooling rack.

“But…?”

Kimihiro flinched. Crap! He was too damned good at guessing. Did he have psychic powers or something; well, beyond making purifying arrows out of thin air? “Um…”

Something heavy thumped hard on the island counter top, rattling the drawers underneath.

Kimihiro whirled around in astonishment.

Doumeki's eyes were narrowed and bright gold. There was a red flush on his cheeks, and both hands were fisted, the knuckles white. “Spit it out, damn you!” It was almost a shout.

Kimihiro swallowed. Oh crap… He kept forgetting that Doumeki actually had a temper under all that stoic silence. “Eh… The f-fox changed his wish from an o-outright p-purchase to a…a full moon, and Yuuko said that maybe they c-could come to an a-agreement.”

Doumeki's eyes widened and the color drained from his cheeks. “You're shitting me…”

Kimihiro wrung his hands together, and shrugged.

Doumeki looked to the side and rubbed his brow, his eyes narrowing and his jaw white with tension. “So tell me, since we both know that Yuuko is more than capable of handing you over to fulfill a wish, considering that she's done this well over half-a-dozen times already…” His gaze turned to Kimihiro and his eyes gleamed molten gold. “Why are you still here?”

Kimihiro suddenly felt the full weight of all that he was, and all that he'd gone through and paid for, over the past three years settle on his shoulders. He slumped back against the counter, yet held Doumeki's gaze. “Go…where?” A knot formed in his throat. “I have no family to go to anywhere, and I can't go home, because…because…”

Doumeki sighed. “Because Yuuko knows where you live.”

Kimihiro shook his head and smiled just a little, even though his eyes felt hot, and his vision was getting blurry. “I can't go home because I'm not even sure I remember where my…” He swallowed, but the lump wouldn't go away. “My apartment…was.” He could barely remember what his own kitchen looked like. He could quite literally feel the howling emptiness at the back of his head where memories had once been.

Doumeki's eyes widened. “Is that why you're always trying to go back?”

“It's…” Kimihiro turned away and swiped at his burning eyes with the back of his smock sleeve. “It doesn't matter. It's nearby. I'm sure I'll recognize it when I find it.” He busied himself with the cake.

Doumeki rose from his stool. “You can stay at the temple. That fox can't step on the grounds.”

Kimihiro snorted. “Yuuko knows where that is.”

Doumeki stalked toward the kitchen door. “There are places on the grounds where even she can't go.”

Kimihiro frowned after him. “Where are you going?”

Doumeki stopped in the doorway and looked back. “I'm going to change. You should go pack a bag.”

Kimihiro nodded. “I will, after I serve dinner.”

Doumeki stiffened. “What? How stupid can you be…?”

“Shut up!” Kimihiro bared his teeth and waved his hand. “If I'm going to break my promise, I might as well at least serve the food I cooked for her before I do it!”

Doumeki's jaw tightened. “Che…!” He pointed at Kimihiro. “I'll be right back. Stay in the kitchen!” He stepped through the doorway and disappeared.

Kimihiro rolled his eyes and started setting up the platters and bowls for the main course. “Stay in the kitchen, my ass! Does he think this food will walk out there by itself?”

In a matter of minutes, he had the cart loaded with the dinner service, the covered platter of neatly sliced roast with two sauces plus gravy, and the four requested side dishes for the dinner. He then added the last two requested bottles of sake wrapped in hot towels, and one three-layer vanilla cake with a creamy pudding interior, slathered in vanilla icing, and sprinkled with dark chocolate shavings.

Too bad he wouldn't get a taste of any of it, not if he was leaving.

* * *

Kimihiro walked down the hallway with as much haste as the rattling cart could handle. If Doumeki caught him during his delivery, the big brute was sure to grab him by the collar and haul him back into the kitchen.

Doumeki planned to hide him at the shrine.

Kimihiro sighed. It was a grand idea, but how long could he actually hide? If this had been summer he could have hidden for an entire month, but it wasn't summer. He had to go to class if he wanted to graduate this year, and then there were the university entrance exams. He'd have to leave the temple grounds sooner or later, and he was absolutely positive that the moment he did Yuuko would be waiting for him.

He winced. An unhappy Yuuko was not a pretty sight. She'd dragged him around by the collar before, and that was when she was in a good mood. Did he really want to see her when she was royally pissed? He shuddered. Maybe he should just let the fox have his one full moon? It might save quite a bit of suffering on his part. The fox seemed nice enough.

On the other hand, did he really want to…do that with someone he didn't even know? Someone that wasn't even human? Someone that had tails -- plural, claws, and fangs?

Kimihiro groaned. He simply could not see his way out of this situation short of bolting to China. He shook his head. Scratch that… Yuuko was a time and space witch. She could cross dimensions to other worlds. China would hardly be more than a walk down her worm-hole. He took a deep breath. He'd just have to tell her that he couldn't do…that with someone he didn't know. He wasn't even sure he wanted to do that with someone he did know.

Though what he'd experienced so far had been rather…exciting. His imagination suddenly filled with the ghostly sensations of Doumeki panting against his neck while his hands touched him, rubbing, squeezing, and…

And his jeans began to tighten behind his fly.

Stop that! Kimihiro stopped outside the double doors of Yuuko's sitting room and closed his eyes tightly. Stop thinking about that! He took several very deep breaths, and forced his mind to catalogue what was left in the refrigerator, then the cupboards, and the dishes he still had to wash…and the way Doumeki had looked while sitting in his kitchen, all broad shouldered and narrow waisted in his borrowed kimono.

The tightness in his jeans became a full-blown, dizzying hard-on.

I said STOP IT! Kimihiro stomped his slippered foot hard enough to make it ache all the way up to his knee.

His body settled down to a disgruntled simmer.

Kimihiro sighed. It wasn't completely gone, but at least he could walk again. He pushed the cart through the sliding doors into Yuuko's main sitting room with only a slight limp.

Yuuko looked up with a crow of triumph and clapped her hands.

The fox turned and stared, eyes wide and his tall ears straight up. He looked over at Yuuko and sighed, his ears drooping. “Fine, you win.” He pushed something small across the table to her.

Yuuko grabbed whatever it was from the table and giggled. “I told you he had a very strong work ethic, General!”

The fox shook his head and a wry grin lifted the corners of his lips. “So I see.”

Kimihiro approached their table with a slight frown on his face. What the…?

Yuuko looked pointedly at the cart. “I see you brought both bottles of sake this time.” She gave him a wide, knowing smile.

Kimihiro snorted and knelt at the side of their table. He had his excuse ready. “You always drink two bottles with your dinner.” He collected the plates from the table with swift efficiency, and gave her a raised eyebrow. “I have three more warming in the kitchen.”

Yuuko's smile didn't waver. “Is that so?”

In that moment, Kimihiro knew for a fact that she knew exactly what Doumeki had planned. He swallowed hard. “Of course.” He promptly diverted his attention to setting out the fresh plates and glasses, then set the covered platter and the multiple serving bowls with spoons in the very center of the table. He lifted the glass-covered cake dish from the bottom shelf of the cart. “Your vanilla pudding cake, Yuuko-san.”

Yuuko's gaze drooped to a half-lidded smirk. “You're serving, ne?”

Kimihiro froze, but only for a single heart-beat. “Of course.” He uncovered the sliced roast, picked up the serving fork, and turned to the fox. “What would you like, sir?”

Yuuko promptly stuck out her bottom lip and crossed her arms.

Kimihiro shot a scowl at her. “Guests first!”

The fox blinked then chuckled. “A very strong work ethic indeed!” He shook his head, his unearthly blue eyes dancing. He looked over the many dishes and made his choices known.

Kimihiro served the requested items, then served Yuuko.

The fox lifted a rolled slice of roast with his chopsticks, bit down, chewed, and moaned in pleasure. He dabbed his lips with his napkin and nodded. “Absolutely perfect!”

Yuuko grinned. “As I said before, a wizard in the kitchen!”

Kimihiro smiled in spite of himself. “I'm glad you're pleased.”

Suddenly a small black, bunny-eared projectile launched from the other side of the table, squealing in a child-like voice. “April Fool! April Fool! Watanuki is an April Fool!” It slammed into Kimihiro's face and planted a wet sloppy kiss on Kimihiro's lips.

Kimihiro bowled over backwards, flailing and kicking. He grabbed the furry beast and pulled it from his face with a wet pop. “Mokona!”

Mokona squirmed from of Kimihiro's hands and then bounced around the boy's head. “Vanilla! Vanilla! Watanuki smells like vanilla!”

In a snarling fury, Kimihiro rolled over and came up on his hands and knees, facing the interior of Yuuko's sitting room. “You, you little demon…!” He lunged onto his feet and grabbed for the creature. “Your little stunt made my whole day a living hell!”

Giggling, Mokona spun around Kimihiro's feet. “But I thought you liked vanilla?”

Kimihiro reached down to grab him. “In my food, not on my person!” His feet crossed and tangled. Off balance, Kimihiro tipped forward and caught himself on his hands, barely keeping his face from hitting the hardwood floor. “Oof!”

Mokona burst into giggles and bounced around him. “Watanuki is mad! Watanuki is mad!”

“I'm not mad, I'm pissed!” Kimihiro lunged back onto his feet and after him, following the creature from one corner of Yuuko's sitting room to the other. “I have a deep fryer with your name on it, and then you're going into Doumeki's bento!”

The small black bunny-creature lifted his finger and tucked it into the bottom of one eyelid. He and dragged it down make his eye overlarge, then stuck out an incredibly long tongue. “Nya! Nya! You have to catch Mokona first!”

Kimihiro screamed incoherently and redoubled his flailing efforts to catch the infuriating beast.

Back at the table, Yuuko smiled at her guest. “Are you sure you want my Watanuki?”

The fox continued to watch the boy chasing the small giggling creature. “More than ever.” He gaze slid over to Yuuko and his smile tightened. “My…need is quite urgent.”

Mokona bounced out into the hallway. “Can't catch me! Can't catch me! Clumsy Watanuki can't catch me!”

Kimihiro bolted out into the hall after him. “Meat-bun, you are so going into my deep fryer, and believe me I'll cook you so well, Doumeki will eat you in one bite!”

The giggling Mokona bounced from wall to floor to wall down the hallway, twirling and giggling as he went. His overlong bunny-feet slapped against the door to the treasure vault and the door flew open. Mokona went flying into the room with a squeal.

Kimihiro dashed in after him. Though the shelf-lined, crowded room was fairly dark, he had no difficulty seeing his quarry bouncing down the narrow center aisle.

Mokona stopped at the very end before a body-sized round mirror, and turned around to face Kimihiro. “Oops…”

Kimihiro slammed the door closed behind him with a triumphant crow. “Ah-ha!” He raced toward his furry black tormentor, hands outstretched. “I got you now!” A single stride from his goal, the floor under feet erupted with light, and his palms smacked into an invisible wall. Kimihiro yelped in pain and fell back hard on his butt. He yelped again and rolled onto his side rubbing his smarting palms on his aching butt. “Ow, ow, ow…!”

Mokona snorted, one low-flung ear flicking up, then back down. “Who has who now?”

Kimihiro sat up slowly. Beneath him was a slowly rotating glowing circle that was clearly Yuuko's signature design. “What the…? He rose up on his knees, palms out. His hands met firm resistance. He swept his hands all the way around. He completely surrounded by an invisible wall, quite literally caged in thin air. “What the hell is this?”

Mokona turned to face the large round mirror. “Look Watanuki, look and see.”

The mirror began to glow.

Kimihiro raised his hand squinting against the brightness. “What…?” Colors shifted across the round glass, forming a picture of Yuuko and the fox at the dinner table.

Yuuko smiled lifted the sake bottle in a clear offer to fill the fox-eared man's sake bowl. “So, General Osusuki Genko, Senbii no kitsune-sama, why don't you tell me the real reason for wanting my Watanuki?”

Osusuki…? Kimihiro frowned. He knew that name, but from where?

General Osusuki took a slow deep breath and lifted his bowl, accepting her offer for a refill. Once his cup was filled, he leaned back on his cushion and sipped. “I did not lie about wanting to bed the boy.”

Yuuko nodded, her smile unchanging. “I didn't think you had, General.” She lifted her own bowl and sipped. “But we both know that a wish as simple as that would not show you my house, and certainly not bring you through my door.”

General Osusuki pursed his lips and tilted his head to the side, his gaze sliding away only to return and narrow. “I need a dream-walker, and apparently you have the only one available.”

Yuuko sat up slowly, her smile slipping away. “General, the last I heard, your realm had a very powerful dream-walker.”

The general shook his head. “We had the services of a dream-walker that lived in this world. Apparently, he died quite a few years ago.” He lifted his chin. “Perhaps you knew him?”

Yuuko lifted a fine brow.

General Osusuki smiled showing sharp teeth. “He bore the same name as the archer that guards your house-boy.”

Yuuko's brows lifted. “Doumeki? Doumeki Haruka was your dream-walker?”

Kimihiro felt the air leave his lungs. Haruka-san worked for this guy?

The fox shrugged and sipped from his shallow bowl. “We had…an agreeable arrangement.”

Yuuko looked away, nibbling on her bottom lip. “I…see.”

General Osusuki set both elbows on the table, and leaned forward. “Yuuko-sama, something is blocking just about every door in and out of my realm, the world of spirits. The only door still open is the one to this world.” He frowned. “Surely you've noticed the increased number of spirits crossing over to here?”

Yuuko sighed and rubbed her brow. “Yes, I'm afraid I have.”

General Osusuki nodded. “They are coming here to this world because they literally have no other door to go through from ours. However, it seems that more than a few doors are closed in this realm too.”

Yuuko nodded slowly and her hands tightened around her sake bowl. “The one who blocks your doors is the same one blocking those here.” She lifted her cinnamon gaze to the fox. “In his greed for power, he has closed many doors on many worlds.”

General Osusuki's brows lowered and his lips curled away from his long teeth. It was not a smile. “Is something being done about this…one?”

Yuuko smiled slightly. “Progress is being made. They have reopened quite a few doors already, but…” She looked down at her cup. “Other doors to and from other worlds have been lost.”

The general straightened on his cushion. “Give me your dream-walker.”

Yuuko shook her head. “He's not ready…”

General Osusuki's tall ears turned back and he released a low growl. “He's not ready because he is not anchored!”

Back in the dusty treasure vault, Kimihiro frowned at the mirror he was watching. “Anchored?”

The fox's clawed hand formed a fist. “I have seen three blood links to the boy. Of those three links, two of them hold connections to another world entirely, and one of those is split in half between two different realms. The last blood link is to this world, but its fading. The only other link, the strongest link he has to anchor him is to this house, which spreads across many realms yet occupies none.” The fox sat up straight, his hands on his hips. “Without a firm anchor to at least one solid realm, you will lose the boy. His soul will fade into the dreamlands until not even his body is left.”

Kimihiro's heart slammed in his chest. “Don't disappear… Don't disappear… Don't disappear…”

Yuuko held his gaze, neither smiling nor frowning. “It's only a matter of time before a true anchor to this world is formed. He has already chosen…”

“Time, you say?” General Osusuki snorted. “Tell me, Yuuko-sama…” The fox leaned forward. “How many memories has he lost already?”

Yuuko held perfectly still, her expression unchanging, her gaze unwavering.

Kimihiro sat on the hard floor surrounded in magic, but frozen in place by the terror forcing his heart to beat in his mouth. Was that what was wrong with him? Was that why he was losing his memories? Was that why he kept falling into dreams for no apparent reason what so ever, and having such a hard time finding his way back? He wiped his damp palms on his jeans. He was…fading?

The fox took in a deep breath and lifted his chin. “Give him to me for one full moon, and I will anchor him to my realm. Once he is solidly anchored, his true power will come forth allowing him to open doors and create pathways, or close them.” He swirled the sake in his bowl. “After that, you may anchor him to any other world you choose.”

Yuuko shook her head. “He has not yet begun training to do such things.”

The fox barked out a short laugh. “He already crosses the dreamscape, or he would not have found the Kitsune Oden cart. However, he will not be able to create solid pathways, or extinguish them, without proper training, and that cannot happen until he is awakened. I can do both.”

Yuuko's brow lifted. “You…?”

The fox grinned. “Who do you think awakened and trained Doumeki Haruka?”

Both of Yuuko's brows lifted. “Is that so?”

Kimihiro's mouth fell open. He trained Haruka-san? How old was this guy?

“In exchange…” The fox set his sake bowl down. “I am authorized to give you what ever aid you need to deal with this…blocker of doors, this closer of realms.”

Yuuko snorted, then smiled sourly. “Does that include an army?”

The general's tall black ears tipped forward and he smiled, showing only the very tips of his long teeth. “It does.” He tapped a clawed finger on the table top. “If this…one is shutting away realms, then this…one needs to be stopped before he creates an imbalance so great that it pulls the fabric of the dreamscape, that which connects all the many realms to each other -- apart.”

Yuuko nodded slowly. “His dream needs to end.”

The fox folded his arms across his chest. “To do that you will need a fully trained dream-walker.”

Yuuko sighed heavily. “Yes, I know.”

~ * ~