XXXHolic Fan Fiction ❯ Wish ❯ Wish ( One-Shot )

Disclaimer: xxxHolic is Clamp. All Clamp and nothing but Clamp. Project 0506 has no right to call it her own…sniff! Sob!

 

 

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What is and is not right for a person, what that person believes will be their happiness, cannot be changed by anyone but that person. And Yuuko knew better than to interfere.

 

 

When he made his first wish, she kept silent.

 

 

You can hear me can't you?

 

 

I might be able to.

 

 

Then do something!

 

 

I sell wishes. If I interfere I'll have to charge a price.

 

 

I can't save him on my own.

 

 

To save a life will cost much.

 

 

My arm. You want the thing most valuable to me don't you? Take my right hand. Just don't let him fall!

 

 

She granted his wish.

 

 

The snake guardian hesitated in its attack, and Doumeki was able to pull Watanuki back to the safety of the roof.

 

 

Every time he aims his bow the muscles in his right arm spasm, and it takes all his self control not to cry out.

 

 

 

When he made his second wish Yuuko started to worry.

 

 

He is not physically beneath the hydrangea so you won't find him by digging.

 

 

What do I do then?

 

 

Think about it. Think on everything I told you before you came here. Try to remember. You will find your answer.

 

 

Tell me.

 

 

The cost—

 

 

I'll pay it.

 

 

This is the second time you've made the same wish. The first cost a piece of your body. Now it will cost a piece of your heart.

 

 

My mother had a pendant she loved very much. She gave it to me before she died. It was the last thing she touched. Will that be enough?

 

 

Hold on to the ribbon. If Watanuki still has it he should realize…

 

 

She granted his wish, but held his eyes longer than necessary. She needed him to understand what it was he had started.

 

 

Doumeki called Watanuki back to the world of the living, pulling his spirit from under the ground.

 

 

Every night he dreams of his mother crying, unable to reach him.

 

 

 

When he made his third wish, Yuuko felt her heart clench in her chest.

 

 

Yuuko-san—

 

 

No.

 

 

 

He's dying.

 

 

He made his own choice to go to her.

 

 

He's not thinking clearly.

 

 

No.

 

 

I am willing to pay.

 

 

Next is a part of your mind.

 

 

I know.

 

 

I will grant your wish. But do not let it happen a fourth time; never forget the connection between `shi' and death. You will need to dispel the woman's ghost, to destroy her completely…

 

 

She granted his wish. She tried to explain things, to warn Watanuki, but it failed. And she knew all along that it would. Hitsuzen cannot be altered. One would be lost, and one saved.

 

 

The bowstring snapped back into place with a terrifying crack, and the arrow ripped through the woman's chest. Watanuki could only watch as the woman, his friend, disintegrated, releasing her hold on him.

 

 

Every day Doumeki is tormented by the pain, the hate in he saw in Watanuki's eyes.

 

 

 

When he makes his fourth wish, Yuuko tries one last time to dissuade him.

 

 

It's my soul this time, isn't it?

 

 

I will not grant your wish.

 

 

You don't have a choice. It is hitsuzen that he live.

 

 

He may—

 

 

It was my punishment to take.

 

 

I will need your eye.

 

 

She grants his wish.

 

 

Now one eye exists in this world, and the other in a world he was never meant to see.

 

 

Slowly they erode his mind, insistent, dominant. They spin their kaleidoscope of creatures until he cannot tell one world from the next. From inside him bubbles a blackness, a last attempt at escape by a body desperate for sanity. And Doumeki slowly releases himself to the cooling emptiness.

 

 

It is good. It is good to let go. It is...

 

 

There is an obnoxious banging on the front door, and he is snapped back to the tangible world.

 

 

On his doorstep stands Watanuki, a mountain of suitcases at his feet, a scowl on his face.

 

 

There was a fire. Doumeki is primly informed. I'll be living here for a month. It's payback for a year of bento. He commandeers the guest room and unpacks all his things. The upside for Doumeki is at least now dinner is just as good as lunch is.

 

 

While they fight over meat on hotpot night, Doumeki realizes he no longer hears the insistent voices. He no longer sees spirits he cannot help, deaths he cannot stop. He sees a world he shares with the not-friend across from him. He sees a world where they are both needed, to protect each other

 

 

Doumeki lets his chopsticks slip, and Watanuki wins the last slice of beef.

 

 

In her shop, Yuuko fingers trace the outlines of a family scrap book, an unforeseen payment from Watanuki for what's left of Doumeki's sanity.

 

 

Hitsuzen, she decides, is a very intriguing thing. Apparently, `Inevitable' may not apply to Watanuki Kimihiro.

 

 

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Just a note: shi is 4 in Japanese. It's considered unlucky because it sounds almost like shin, death.