Divinity
Summary: Loki goes to Yuuko's for tea. Xover with xxxHolic.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
A/N: it is better if you have knowledge of both animes. I was reading xxxHolic when I realized how similar Loki and Yuuko were, so I got this idea in my head. Now I finally got around to writing it down.
Part one
It was a cold winter day, and the sky was heavy with dark grey clouds and the wind caught on the bare branches of trees, making them wave around as if shaking with cold. This was the type of day when everyone stayed home, wishing that it would start to snow. However, one high school student was not in his warm, cozy house. Instead, his cruel, selfish employer had sent him to make a delivery to a most suspicious house.
Watanuki looked at the old house doubtfully. It was not so much a house as a mansion with high towers and dusty old windows peering wistfully towards the street. The towers were starting to droop, tired from decades of holding their straight posture for no one to see. An overgrown hedge surrounded the house, with a few small trees sticking up in random places. With his sight, he could also see writhing masses of black smoke-like substance from the windows. He shuddered slightly; the place was literally swimming in ghosts.
As Watanuki studied the building, a flock of crows took flight from an upper level windowsill, cawing harshly and startling the teen so that he almost dropped the package in his arms in surprise.
"First ghosts and now crows." He mumbled to himself. "Who exactly lives here?"
The only sign that someone actually lived here was the brand new, freshly painted sign at the door of the house, looking like an anachronism in the ancient doorframe. It read "Enjaku Detective Agency." There was a black metal fence in the doorway, and Watanuki doubted it could open at all, since the hinges were already coated in rust.
He was saved the effort of trying by the small iron bell that was positioned on the wall, a doorbell, albeit an old-fashioned one. Taking hold of the frayed string attached to the bell, Watanuki pulled, sending a surprisingly clear ringing noise through the house.
A moment later, the door to the house creaked open slowly, a dark shadow fell onto the floor, and the black smoke-like ghosts oozed out from inside. The hairs on Watanuki's neck rose as he heard footsteps echo through the silence. He suddenly regretted coming, despite all of Yuuko's assurances that he would be safe.
A figure stepped from the doorway, and Watanuki prepared to run at the first sign of danger.
"Ah, it's the mushrooms!" a young man no older than twenty smiled happily at the sight of Watanuki, or rather the package Watanuki was holding. The young man had black hair which was tied back in a short ponytail. He was wearing glasses, like Watanuki, and behind the glass his eyes were emerald green.
The young man walked quickly to open the gate, covering the distance faster that Watanuki believed possible. He must have really wanted the mushrooms.
"Please come in!" the young man said, gesturing for Watanuki to enter after he had taken the package from the boy. Said package was now being held to his chest very carefully, as if it contained something more precious than some mushrooms that Yuuko had ordered Watanuki to buy and deliver to this old broken-down house.
"No, it's alright…" Watanuki tried to say, but was pushed in by the overly eager young man.
"Hajimemashide (1)! My name is Yamino Ryuusuke!" the young man said as they entered. "I'm Watanuki, but-" Watanuki tried to explain that he was only here to deliver the package, but was interrupted again.
"Welcome to Enjaku Detective Agency! You can be our first customer!" Yamino exclaimed happily.
"Yamino-san-" Watanuki protested, but it was too late. They were in the house.
Immediately, he was surrounded by darkness, the vengeful ghosts of the house surrounding him, clouding his vision, suffocating him. Vaguely, he heard Yamino say something about the detective, but he could not concentrate with all the negative energy. He was going to die here, and no one would know. He hoped Yuuko would not ensnare another hapless soul after he was gone, and that Himawari-chan would not forget him.
Suddenly, all the pressure disappeared and the blackness that had obscured his vision was gone. Watanuki blinked in surprise and found himself in a large spacious room with Yamino happily saying something beside him.
"Loki-sama! Here is the nice young man who delivered our mushrooms!" Yamino introduced. Watanuki looked around the room curiously. The place seemed old, but clean. There were many bookshelves filled with dusty archives and boxes. A large mahogany grandfather clock stood in one side of the room, the pendulum still behind the glass. The sofas were green and slightly lumpy, but not too moth-eaten.
However, his curiosity was soon drawn to the figure standing by the desk in the middle of the room, framed by the large windows on the opposite wall. It was a boy, Loki-sama as Yamino called him, who looked no older than nine years old, dressed in what seemed like Victorian era clothing, with a crow perched on one hand. Watanuki felt a powerful feeling from the boy—it felt like ghosts, yet different; stronger and much older—and wondered how such a small person could emit such an ancient aura.
What made him stand out the most, however, were his deep emerald green eyes. They seemed to be much older than he looked, unfathomable and ageless, like the deep pools of water in a forest hiding things that only time knew.
"Welcome, lost lamb, to Enjaku detective agency." The boy said, his voice childish but his tone solemn.
"E-Eh!?" Watanuki had a moment of surprise, then recovered. "Um, I'm just here to deliver the mushrooms…" the crow on Loki's shoulder cawed once as if in contempt.
The boy's face fell. "Not a customer? Escort him out, Yamino." He turned away and dismissed them with a careless gesture of his hands. Watanuki could feel his anger mounting. This brat was just like Yuuko! How dare he treat him like a servant!
"Yuuko-san told me to deliver a message as well." He said pushing down his anger. It would not do to yell at a little boy; Himawari-chan would not approve, and Yuuko would never let him hear the end of it.
Immediately, the boy turned around to face him again and Watanuki felt a small amount of triumph at his surprised face. "Yuuko!? What the hell does she want?"
"Children should not be cursing!" Watanuki chided him, secretly suppressing a smile.
"Though I may look small, I am actually a talented and efficient detective, so it should not matter what words I use." Loki promptly responded, no hint of jest in his voice. Watanuki felt a vein pulse on his forehead. "Vain, conceited brat." He mumbled very softly to himself.
Loki did not seem to have noticed, because he suddenly changed the topic. "So what message did Yuuko-san want you to deliver?" he asked, pinning Watanuki with his gaze.
"Um, she said that…" Watanuki took a deep breath, knowing that he would not like what came next, "She expects payments for the other package as well." He wondered what that part meant, "You will have to pay her back three times over."
"WHAT!?"
"She says that it's the interest." Watanuki explained hastily. A vein pulsed on Loki's face as he tried to calm down and failed. Suddenly, Watanuki's eyes widened and he paled as he saw a horde of darkness rise from behind the boy. It was a writhing mass of ghouls, tentacles and things equally unpleasant. He noticed with apprehension that Loki's eyes had taken on a rather evil glint and backed away slowly.
Just as suddenly as they had appeared, the grotesque images disappeared. "Fine." Loki huffed, his countenance now calm, "Tell her I'll bring it in three days." He gestured for them to leave, and Watanuki was all to glad to oblige.
Finally, after a terrible, suffocating walk through the house, Watanuki finally staggered through the front gate. He was glad to be out of the house, even the cold outside was better than the suffocating atmosphere in the house.
"Bye, Watanuki-san!" Yamino waved cheerfully as the boy left, "Please come back later for tea!"
"Like that'll ever happen." Watanuki muttered under his breath, quickening his pace. Yuuko would not get any sake for a week, he decided vengefully as he left the creepy house behind him.
And if things weren't bad enough, it started to snow.
(1) this is how people greet each other when they meet for the first time.
A/N: so how do you like it? This is my first time writing xxxHolic, so I hope it's not too OOC. There's going to be a second part, which I'm working on. I promise that it won't take too long!