XXXHolic Fan Fiction ❯ Kitsune Bi - An xXxHolic Fan-Fiction ❯ Fifteen ( Chapter 15 )

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 Fifteen

---------------------------------------

Yawning hugely, Kimihiro sat up in bed and winced. Every inch of him ached, but most especially a certain entirely unmentionable part of his lower body. He pushed back the blankets and the butterfly embroidered curtains of his four-poster bed. He reached over to collect his wire-frame glasses from the night-table. The ache in his shoulders and back made him hiss, but there'd been mornings he'd felt worse, much worse. Muscle aches he could deal with.

His glasses weren't there.

Hand still outstretched, Kimihiro blinked. "Huh?" He looked down at the floor.

They weren't on the carpet.

Maybe they fell under the bed? He got out of bed to look under it.

Not there either.

He glanced around the room, but with only one fully functional eye, the perspective was a little...off. Even so, he didn't see his glasses on the dresser in the far corner, or on the chair by the door. In fact, the clothes he planned to wear for the day weren't on the chair either.

Kimihiro tilted his head to one side. "Did I forget to lay my clothes out?" Come to think of it, he didn't remember getting into bed last night either.

Yet another memory gone?

Kimihiro shook his head hard. "Never mind that!" It wasn't like he could do anything about it--yet. He squinted at the clock. "Oh crap! I overslept by an hour!" Kimihiro frowned. "So why hasn't someone complained about breakfast being late by now?" In particular, that bottomless-pit called Mokona. "Maybe they're all sleeping in?" It hadn't happened before, but it could happen, right? "I better go make breakfast before someone does think to complain."

Kimihiro took a deep, fortifying breath and pushed off the bed to stand. His legs wobbled under him, but he didn't collapse. Well, that's good news. "So, what to make for breakfast?" He hadn't had the chance to go to the store, so he wasn't exactly sure what he had on hand, but he was pretty sure he had the ingredients to make waffles.

Since he hadn't left any clothes out, he padded to the closet. He took out a pair of jeans and one of the t-shirts he'd gotten from Yuuko; a pale yellow one with 'Okane ga Nai'; No Money, written across the front. Even that shirt was the title of a Boys Love manga series, but he simply didn't have any other t-shirts but those Yuuko had given him to wear with jeans. He rolled his eyes and closed the closet door. "She is definitely doing this on purpose because I have never seen them in any of the stores I go to."

He went to his dresser to grab a fresh pair of boxers and some white socks then carried everything into the bathroom. He locked the door behind him. A necessary precaution in a house where privacy --namely his privacy-- had to be fought for, tooth and nail.

His glasses weren't on the bathroom sink.

Kimihiro's frown deepened. "Where did I leave them?" He shook his head briefly. "They'll turn up somewhere." He leaned into the gleaming glass and chrome shower stall to turn on the water, and spotted the liquid soap container. His eyes narrowed in suspicion. He grabbed the soap container and the one for his shampoo then twisted off their pumps. He sniffed the contents.

Vanilla -- both of them.

Kimihiro scowled. "That nasty little...! Today, I am definitely deep-frying a certain black pork-bun!" He dumped the contents in the bathroom sink then knelt down to open the cabinet under the sink. He grabbed a fresh bottle of soap, and one of shampoo. He opened and sniffed both.

Not vanilla.

He heaved a sigh of relief then stood up to reach into the shower stall to turn the water on to practically scalding. He stripped out of his night robe, dropping on the floor, then stepped under the spray. The hot water stung at first, but it also loosened the ache in his shoulders and lower back. Taking a steadying breath, he looked down at himself to take stock of the...damage.

He was still covered in small dark bruises. Some of them were clearly from fingers, but those on his chest and some on his stomach had been made with Doumeki's mouth; kiss marks -- hickies. The bruises circling his wrists were particularly pronounced in red, purple, blue, and black.

"You belong to me."

Kimihiro grabbed the bath sponge, applied a very generous amount of soap and violently began to scrub every inch of himself. "Oafish, brutish, molesting, bastard...! I belong to no one but myself!"

After what felt like a full hour, Kimihiro finally shut the water off and stepped out of the shower stall to wipe dry with a fluffy gold towel. Without looking at himself, he dragged on the boxers, jeans and t-shirt.

He stared into the mirror and scowled at his off-colored eye then his gaze drifted downward to his lips. They looked a little red and swollen as though they'd been kiss-- Kimihiro grabbed his toothbrush from the cup and squirted far too much toothpaste on the brush. He filled the cup with water and proceeded to scrub at his teeth and tongue until his whole mouth went numb.

He combed his short-cropped black hair into a vague semblance of order, grabbed his night robe from the floor and stomped out of the bathroom. "Time to make breakfast."

---- xXx ----

On his way to the kitchen, Kimihiro missed the second turn and found himself in a hallway he knew did not lead to the kitchen. Thoroughly annoyed, he threw up his arms. "Augh! I hate not having my glasses!" After backtracking through two hallways he finally found his way downstairs to the kitchen.

His glasses weren't on the counter, or anywhere else in the kitchen.

Sighing in frustration, he pulled a plain white smock off its hook on the back of the pantry door, dragged it on then pulled the kerchief from the pocket. After knotting the kerchief over his hair he opened the fridge to assess the contents. "Okay, what to make with waffles?"

He pulled out eggs, bacon, butter, and milk then tore through the cabinets for flour and vanilla extract. He pulled the waffle iron out from the pantry and plugged it in to heat. At top speed he broke eggs, measure out the milk and flour, and started mixing. He was late, very late, in making breakfast, so it was only a matter of time before Yuuko and company came crashing into the kitchen. He wanted to get as much done as he possibly could before their noses alerted them to the fact that food was being prepared.

Twenty minutes later, give or take a few, Kimihiro set the first towering plate of waffles on the island counter beside a full plate of bacon, and two bowls of fluffy scrambled eggs.

The kitchen door slammed open. "Watanuki!" The feminine voice was surprised, but pleased.

Kimihiro turned to face his exotic employer, spatula upraised. "Good morning, Yuuko-san."

"A very good morning to you too!" Smiling happily, Yuuko leaned against the left side of the kitchen doorway. Her knee-length, black hair fell loosely past the shoulders of her robes of green, black, patterned with orange flowers. Robes that were yet again, sliding down her shoulders. "We're having waffles?"

Kimihiro nodded smugly. "Waffles plus scrambled eggs, bacon, and fresh-squeezed orange juice." Though where that netted bag of oranges he'd discovered had come from, he had no idea.

"Oh goody!" Her long, slender hands clasped together, she grinned and wiggled where she stood. "I just adore your waffles!"

Kimihiro snorted. "You just adore food -- and booze." He turned to fork a set of fresh steaming waffles from the waffle iron onto another plate. "Will Az-san be joining us for breakfast?"

A sharply sculpted face with slanted black eyes, pointed ears, and long black hair peeked around the door frame. He grinned, unashamedly showing his fangs. "For waffles? Absolutely!"

A black ball with long bunny-ears bounced into the kitchen. "Waffles! Waffles! Watanuki's making waffles!"

Kimihiro waved his spatula menacingly. "I am, and you are not to gorge yourself on anyone's food but your own!"

A long white blur squeaked into the kitchen to wrap around Kimihiro's neck squeaking with high-pitched glee.

Kimihiro smiled. "Good morning, Mugetsu. What? You want waffles too?"

The slender, furry pipe fox squealed then abruptly dove into Kimihiro's shirt to slide around his torso.

"Gyaaah...!" Kimihiro danced around trying to catch the furry beast writhing against his skin under his clothes. "Oi! Oi! Not while I'm cooking!"

Yuuko turned to smile slyly at Az. "I think you owe me, my dear Duke."

The duke of this particular corner of Hell rolled his eyes and sighed dramatically. "Ah, indeed. You won that one my dear Yuuko." He abruptly smiled. "Your Watanuki is far more...resilient than I expected."

It was only after everyone left Kimihiro alone to finish cooking that Kimihiro realized that he'd completely forgotten to ask if anyone had seen his glasses. He groaned and shook his head. "I'll just ask them at breakfast."

---- xXx ----

Kimihiro served breakfast on the round teak table and opened the porch's sliding doors to reveal Yuuko's fenced in garden. It was a lovely view, though a little disconcerting. The buildings that normally towered overhead on three sides of the property were gone, and the sky overhead was a boiling red.

Yuuko abruptly lifted her juice glass. "Ahem...! Watanuki, I believe this freshly squeezed orange juice calls for champagne."

Kimihiro turned sharply to his right and blinked at Yuuko. "What?"

Yuuko leaned one elbow on the table and smiled. "Mimosas. Champagne and orange juice makes mimosas, the perfect breakfast drink!"

Kimihiro rolled his eyes and rose from the table to go fetch the champagne. He shot a glare at Mokona. "Touch my plate and you're sashimi! You hear me, Mokona?"

The black bunny-like creature stopped in the middle of reaching for one of the syrupy, buttered waffles on Kimihiro's plate. "Awww!" He crossed his diminutive arms and put on a pronounced pout. "Stingy!"

Az, seated across from Yuuko and to Kimihiro's left, grinned at his hostess. "Is breakfast always this lively?"

Kimihiro rolled his eyes. "You have no idea."

Yuuko smiled and waved a hand toward Kimihiro. "Go! Go! Fetch the champagne, Watanuki!"

With a belabored sigh, Kimihiro walked to the sliding doors that led to the main hallway. "Slave-driver."

Yuuko abruptly shouted from the table. "I heard that!"

Only minutes later, Kimihiro returned from the storage-treasure room with the requested bottle. He presented it to Yuuko.

Yuuko giggled and took far too much delight in popping the cork, then splashed champagne into her juice glass, Az's, and Mokona's as well. She set the bottle down and sipped at her drink. "Ah...! Much better."

Kimihiro went back to eating his breakfast, noting that only one strip of bacon was missing from his plate. An improvement of sorts. Normally his plate would have been stripped bare.

Yuuko leaned toward Kimihiro. "Ah, just as a reminder, Watanuki?"

Fork uplifted, Kimihiro turned to the right to face his employer, his brows up in polite inquiry. "Yes?"

Yuuko smiled. "While we're here, stepping beyond the gate would be rather...unhealthy for you."

"Unhealthy...?" A chill raced up Kimihiro's spine. He lowered his fork to his plate with a hand that had gone cold. "Because of the...local inhabitants?" They were in Hell, after all. There were bound to be all kinds of unimaginable things just beyond the protection of Yuuko's fence.

On Kimihiro's left, Az's smile tightened into a grimace. "Well, yes, the...inhabitants are rather dangerous, Watanuki. More importantly though, the air is almost pure miasma, so it's somewhat...poisonous for someone like you."

Kimihiro's eyes widened. "The air is poisonous...?" Okay, that's a bit....

Yuuko's brow lifted and she spoke very dryly. "More than somewhat poisonous, I'd say."

Az winced. "Okay, fine..." He stared directly into Kimihiro's eyes. "One deep breath will probably kill you, Watanuki."

Only one? Kimihiro swallowed hard. "I'll...keep that in mind."

Yuuko smiled and patted his hand. "Be sure that you do."

---- xXx ----

After washing the breakfast dishes Kimihiro was at a loss as to what to do with himself. He couldn't leave the compound because the air outside the fence would kill him, if the inhabitants didn't get him first, and he couldn't do his homework because Doumeki still had his book bag, and his clothes.

"You'll see those clothes again after you sign the adoption papers."

A fist abruptly closed tightly around Kimihiro's heart.

Kimihiro gasped in pain and grabbed the shirt and smock over his heart. "Stop it! Stop it! Think about something else!"

Something other than Doumeki's plans to keep him trapped on the temple grounds as his live-in lover, and the fact that Doumeki's parents were apparently perfectly okay with it.

The tight fist around Kimihiro's heart decided to add a hard twist.

Kimihiro groaned in agony, closed his eyes tightly, and bent over panting for breath. "Think about something else! Anything else!" His eyes began to water. What can I do to stop this? He sucked in a sharp breath and his eyes opened wide. Yes! I'll find something to do!

The pain around his heart eased, but it was obvious that it would return at a moment's notice.

One hand gripping the counter, Kimihiro pulled back upright. "Okay, what to do?" It had to be something that would take a long time to accomplish so it would fully occupy his mind. But what...?

Inspiration struck.

He lifted his fist in determination. "I will clean the upstairs!"

---- xXx ----

Duster in one hand, and a plastic basket with cleaning cloths and furniture polish in the other, Kimihiro marched upstairs. Halfway up the staircase he stopped. "Oh, I forgot to ask if anyone saw my glasses." Again. He frowned at the stair under his feet. "Just how forgetful am I getting here?" He shook his head and continued up the stairs. "I'll ask them after cleaning."

Yuuko's house didn't look particularly large on the outside, but the second floor in particular was a maze of hallways and for the most part, empty rooms. All of which needed regular window cleaning and dusting at the very least. He'd long since stopped trying to do anything about all the live flowers in their respective vases. They never wilted, and they apparently watered themselves. However, the linens in the guest bedrooms, and the towels in the bathrooms, did not change or wash themselves.

Hopefully, the room where the linens, sheets, and towels were kept was still in the same hallway as the last time he'd cleaned the upstairs.

After a few minutes of searching, Kimihiro found the correct sliding door; the one marked with a repeating yellow fan design. With a sigh of relief, he grasped the handle and slid it open.

He blinked at the all too familiar canopied bed with sheer butterfly curtains and accompanying nightstand. A very familiar copper, wind-up alarm clock sat atop the nightstand, ticking mildly. It was his own bedroom.

Kimihiro scowled up at the ceiling. "Oi! This is not funny!" He slid the door closed firmly. "Look, house, I am not in the mood to play today. Now, show me the room with the linens, or so help me, I will let Mokona run through here with the vacuum set in reverse and blow two whole inches of dust in every single room, and I will leave it there for a whole week! Do you hear me?" He waited, his toe tapping impatiently.

The door slid open just a few centimeters.

Kimihiro pushed the door the rest of the way open.

Red-tinted light from a circular window illuminated neatly folded linens, sheets and towels resting on wooden shelves to either side.

Kimihiro let out a relieved breath. "Thank you." He marched in to gather the bed sheets he needed then stepped out -- into a completely different hallway. Kimihiro's eyebrow ticked upward. "You...! You know what? Never mind!" He marched off bristling and stiff-legged to find the rooms that needed bed sheets and towels all over again.

---- xXx ----