XXXHolic Fan Fiction ❯ Kitsune Bi - An xXxHolic Fan-Fiction ❯ Fourteen ( Chapter 14 )

Kitsune Bi - An xXxHolic Fan-Fiction
By Ookami Kasumi

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

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Chapter Fourteen

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A breeze rattled the wood and paper sliding doors.

Kimihiro grasped the handles and slid the doors open wide. The sky was black as pitch, yet cherry petals flew like snow in the breeze. The garden beyond the porch was filled with blooming cherry trees, the branches rocking gently in the wind that scattered their petals.

He stepped out onto the wooden porch. The wind tugged at his ankle-length sleeping robe, gentle coolness sliding against his bare feet and shins. The air was rich with the scent of cherry blossoms -- and tobacco.

Against the trunk of a massive cheery tree lounged a dark-haired, cleanly shaven man in green robes. He smiled up at the rocking branches. Between his fingers, a rolled cigarette released wafts of smoke.

He looked almost exactly like Doumeki.

Kimihiro stiffened in pure reaction. Wait, Doumeki doesn't smoke -- or smile like that. He blew out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "Haruka-san?"

The man under the tree turned to look at Kimihiro. His smile tightened slightly. "Hello, Watanuki."

"Another dream." Kimihiro smiled, but it took a bit of effort to do so. He was not exactly comfortable talking to the man that looked so much like Doumeki, but Haruka was not Doumeki. Haruka had done nothing to earn this...discomfort he felt. Determined to treat the kindly man with the respect he deserved, Kimihiro stepped off the porch into the cool grass and approached him. "It's well into April. The cherry trees are no longer blooming."

Haruka's smile eased. "A dream is a separate world with its own rules."

Kimihiro nodded and sought to brace himself for the conversation to come.

Haruka blew out a breath. "So, Shizuka signed the contract."

Kimihiro blinked. Contract...? Oh! With the fox general. He nodded and smiled sourly. "His blood dripped onto the paper, so..."

Haruka lifted his cigarette and inhaled. He blew out a stream of smoke. "Well, what's done is done. At the very least, the storehouse wards have been strengthened, so it will remain a place of refuge from just about any form of spiritual attack."

Kimihiro looked away, his gaze narrowing. Maybe for Doumeki. He never wanted to see the inside of that building again. In fact, he planned to avoid going anywhere near that temple even if he had to walk two extra blocks to get to school. He had no intention of mentioning Doumeki's...actions, though he strongly suspected that Haruka already knew.

Haruka straightened and looked down at the grass at his feet. "Do you hate him now? Shizuka?"

Kimihiro stiffened. So, Haruka-san does know. He looked up at the blooming branches, watching the petals twirl and float. Did he hate Doumeki? Was this...hate he was feeling? He considered the feelings swirling around his heart then turned to look at Doumeki's grandfather. "No, I don't hate him." His gaze narrowed. "But I am very angry with him." He released a breath and looked away to pluck at his sleeping robe. "And I'm...confused by...what happened." The ra-- forced seduction and the attempt to keep him... He looked over at the man Doumeki resembled so closely. "I just don't understand why."

Haruka lifted his cigarette and inhaled. He tilted his head upward and blew out a stream of smoke. "That boy..."

Kimihiro's brow lifted.

Haruka turned from the tree to walk toward the porch. "His feelings for you are very pure." He shrugged. "Perhaps too pure."

Kimihiro followed Haruka toward the porch. "Pure...?"

Haruka turned and sat on the porch's edge. "It is said that love in its purest form is attraction." Haruka gave a half shrug and smiled crookedly. "There's no mistaking that he is very attracted to you." He rolled his eyes. "As are most that meet you."

Kimihiro crossed his arms and smiled sourly. "From my experience, those attracted to me usually want to devour me."

Haruka looked into Kimihiro's eyes without a trace of a smile. "Devour has more than one meaning. One of them is definitely to eat, as in food. The other definition is to seduce."

"To seduce...?" Well, that's one way to put what happened. Kimihiro abruptly shook his head and waved a hand. Think about that later! "Okay, fine, but..." Anger began to well up within him, and his gaze narrowed. "He tried to keep me."

Haruka winced. "Ah... That." He scratched at the back of his head. "I strongly suspect that the purity of Shizuka's feelings, his attraction for you, crossed paths or rather entangled with his need to protect you."

A weight settled on Kimihiro's heart. "What about affection and compassion? What about wanting the one you care for to be happy? Aren't they supposed to be a part of love too?"

Haruka smiled just a little. "They are, but those feelings are far more complicated and subtle than pure attraction. With all due honesty, those feelings usually develop afterwards."

Kimihiro shook his head. "My feelings didn't start with attraction." They started with sheer annoyance. Later on, after Doumeki had saved his life, his feelings developed into a kind of respect. Sometime around then was when it started to hurt when Doumeki deliberately got in harm's way to protect him. To be specific, when he discovered that Doumeki's eye had been cursed because the overgrown lout had deliberately taken it upon himself --without even asking-- to destroy the spider web Kimihiro had gotten caught in, and incurred that spider's wrath.

Haruka smiled. "Well, you are you, Watanuki. Shizuka is not you. Shizuka's feelings are far simpler."

Kimihiro curled his lip in annoyance. "More like, simplistic."

Haruka looked at Kimihiro from the corner of his eye, a smile playing on his lips. "Look at it this way, he obviously treasures you."

Kimihiro folded his arms across his chest and lifted one slender brow. "If you mean treasure as in; he wants to keep me locked away, that is painfully obvious." He rolled his eyes for good measure. "So how do I get it through to him that that is not something I want!"

Haruka shrugged and smiled. "No idea." He lifted his cigarette to his lips.

Kimihiro turned away and scowled at the grass. "Great..." He blew out a sigh and sat down next to Haruka.

Haruka turned to Kimihiro and frowned. "Watanuki, there is a far more important question you should be asking."

Kimihiro turned to Haruka in open surprise. "There is?"

Haruka nodded, but there wasn't a trace of a smile on his lips. "When, exactly did you lose your glasses?"

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