Donut Love

What can I say except for I'M SORRY!!?? I can't even begin to apologize for how long I've let this story hang. I am really and truly proud of the things I written for xxxHOLIC, and am a little embarrassed for how long I've let this collection sit untouched. Obviously, I've been branching out into other fandoms which have similarly suffered my stupidity by being left hanging. I WILL finish them some day. When that will be, I have no idea. But for now, I felt the least I could do was post some chapters of this story that have literally been sitting around gathering dust on my computer. Please forgive the cruddy quality of writing. This chapter was written over a year ago at least, and I know for a fact that my writing style has changed since then. Please be gentle with me. I promise I will post more soon!

I love you guys! Every time I get a message telling me someone has favorited this story or is watching it makes me so happy. Reviews are wonderful too. So thank you all in advance for all of the love you've given me.

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Contains slash and random lack of timelines and plot.

Please enjoy. (13/50)

sexypancake

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#13. Magic

Watanuki Kimihiro liked to consider himself a normal high school student with normal problems and normal thoughts about everyday normal teenage life. In fact, he craved and strived to consider himself a normal boy. Nothing would make him happier than to go to school everyday, get a great education, make friends, and then go home to a loving family.

But the truth behind the matter was that none of these applied to the dark-haired boy. Watanuki Kimihiro was considered by all labels a freak. He went to school everyday but didn't have any friends. He studied hard but was only barely of average intelligence. And worst of all things, at the end of the day, he had to go home to an empty apartment. He had no family.

Thus, in order to maintain his normal lifestyle and so he could actually make money for food and housing, Watanuki was forced to use his skills in the only area of which he was truly talented.

He'd become a fortune teller at the town's local antique shop.

His employer, a tall, gorgeous woman who always wore exotic gowns and got drunk before five in the evening, had discovered his gift one day after he'd "accidentally" knocked over a vase in her shop. He had a sneaking suspicion that he'd be set up, as most of the money he made went not only towards his debt but to the shop as well. He didn't make that much in the end, but despite all that, he didn't really mind.

Regardless of how much he moaned and groaned, it made life more interesting than it normally would be, and honestly, despite the impending threat that he may never pay his employer back completely, he was happy.

"Welcome, welcome." He heard Yuuko's airy voice float through the beaded curtain which separated his private fortune telling space from the rest of the shop. A low, masculine voice answered her, but he couldn't tell what was said, and really, he didn't care.

Suddenly, the curtain fluttered, Yuuko running her fingers along the thick layer of black beads, a sign that he should prepare for a reading. The dark curtain parted and the man whose voice he heard earlier stepped through.

The first thought that struck Watanuki was that the teenager before him was good looking, and not just a little. He was tall and broad shouldered with a handsome face and piercing golden eyes. All of that, and he had the most refreshing, cleansing aura that Watanuki had ever been near.

Watanuki blushed hard as the mere presence of this stranger made a shiver run down his bare arms. He was eternally grateful for the heavy silk veil stretched across his cheeks and mouth, and for the dim, soft lighting of the room. He shuffled uncomfortably in his thin robes as the male sat in the chair across the small table from him, and stared at Watanuki curiously.

Watanuki was silent, waiting for the other boy to speak first, as many were prone to do. More often then naught, people came to get their fortunes told on a whim, as a dare, or a joke. Few really believed in his practice and abilities as a seer. He would wait until this boy either got fed up with the silence and angrily stormed out, or began pegging him with questions about his love life, money, grades, all things he'd heard before, over and over and over. . .

Watanuki sucked in a sharp breath when their eyes met unexpectedly and a jolt ran up his spine. The bangles on his arms and the loops in his ears jingled lightly in the silence. He averted his eyes and shuffled his well-worn tarot deck with slim practiced fingers, then took a deep, calming breath and looked up.

This one was good.

Without speaking or breaking eye contact, he placed three cards face down. The student shifted slightly and put one hand on the table. Watanuki unwittingly found his eyes staring at that strong hand and had to resist the urge to squirm. What in the world was happening to him? This weirdo . . . it was like a battle of spiritual pressure and wills, and Watanuki realized belatedly that he was starting to lose. He couldn't remember the last time someone's presence had bothered him this much.

He sat up straight in irritation and smacked a fourth card on the table, face up this time. Neither boy had a chance to see which card it was, however, as it immediately caught fire and disappeared in a plume of blue smoke. Watanuki stared at the other boy, daring him, challenging him, and the other smirked lightly and spoke.

"Doumeki Shizuka, age eighteen."

Watanuki tossed his hair out of his eyes, glasses glinting in the light, and gave Doumeki a haughty look.

"You have quite the overbearing aura." He commented dryly, tucking a dark lock behind one pierced ear.

Doumeki didn't reply immediately. He just leaned forward and rested his elbow on the table, his whole frame relaxed and amused. Watanuki's eye twitched.

"Overbearing for you? Sing me my fortune, fair teller." He murmured lowly, golden eyes reflecting the flickering light of a candle off to the side. Watanuki refused to shiver as that deep voice ran over him like a caress, molten eyes watching his every movement. Instead, he distracted himself by leaning over, reaching beneath his work space and grabbing a small velvet bag, extracting a fist-sized crystal ball. He ignored the three tarot cards he'd placed earlier, sweeping them away, and set the glass ball on its soft case directly in the middle of the wooden table. Doumeki looked at it curiously, almost in disbelief, before reaching out to touch.

"No!" Watanuki snapped, slapping his hand away like a naughty child. He felt his hackles rising when the other boy merely leaned forward more, watching the light play off of the sphere, making it glow faintly.

Glancing at him once, Watanuki placed his entire palm over the ball, smothering all light, and murmured a soft word. He jingled the bangles on his free arm once, then lifted his hand off of the crystal ball and blew into his closed palm. The sphere lit up, glowing a deep blue, intense but not too bright. The light made his own blue eyes shimmer in the dim room.

"You have a mother, no siblings. You father is deceased . . ." He trailed off, brow furrowing. "But your grandfather is still alive. You think of him as your father." He caught Doumeki's eyes again and knew from the parted lips that he was correct.

"I live with my grandparents and mother, yes." He said softly. Watanuki nodded and reached out his hand. Doumeki stared at it for a few seconds in confusion before placing his own hand on the pale, bejeweled fingers.

Watanuki turned Doumeki's hand palm up and traced his calloused skin. Tingles were running through his arms and fingers, but he pointedly ignored them, blaming it on the other boy's uncontrollable spiritual energy. Being around Doumeki was turning out to heady experience, sort of like sinking in warm water. Watanuki had to fight to keep from drowning.

With hooded eyes, he traced the strong lines on Doumeki's palm for a few minutes, absorbing the silence and turning within himself. Suddenly he spoke.

"You are searching." Watanuki said lightly. "For whom, you don't know." His gold and sapphire-bejeweled fingers slid up Doumeki's palm until he could trace the faint blue veins on Doumeki's wrist. He felt the pulse jump beneath his fingers and smiled softly, feeling calm. "You will find him."

He looked up when Doumeki abruptly let out a loud sigh, breathing through his mouth and using the hand Watanuki was cradling to grab his thin wrist and pull him closer.

"Wha-! What are you doing?!" Watanuki sputtered, greatly startled by the sudden force pulling him across the table. Doumeki had risen to his feet and was grasping at his shoulders now, staring deep into his eyes, looking a little panicked.

"Where is he? What's his name? Please! You must-" And just as quickly as he'd began to make demands he cut himself off, eyes widening in alarm and holding Watanuki at arm's length, searching. He stared at Watanuki so hard that the shorter male began to sweat and wondered if he should call out for Yuuko. She could really kick ass when needed, and at the moment his arms were beginning to feel a little numb where Doumeki was gripping him.

"Hey-" He tried to placate the other boy, but Doumeki had already released him, almost throwing him off balance, and was around the table in less than a second, hauling him into large, strong arms. Watanuki's breath left him in a huff as he was slammed into that hard chest, and tried in vain to get his arms between the two of them so that he could push himself away.

"Oi! That's enough! What the hell do you think you're doing? Baka!" Watanuki yelled, squirming and twisting like mad, when an unexpected wave of spiritual energy washed over him like blanket. He stilled, realizing that Doumeki hadn't moved in all of the one minute that he'd been holding him captive, and shifted as the larger boy rested his face in Watanuki's perfumed neck.

"You're him." Doumeki whispered softly. Watanuki tensed, confused as hell, before his brain backtracked over the conversation from five minutes ago and put the pieces in their rightful place. His face lit up like a tomato.

"What?!!" He screamed, consumed by an amazing surge of adrenaline and pushed the larger boy back, hard.

Doumeki stumbled backwards, and would have fallen completely if he hadn't caught himself on the table. The crystal ball from earlier bumped out of place from the impact and nearly rolled off the wooden surface. Without a second thought, Doumeki caught the little glass sphere before it could make contact with the ground, and, staring at Watanuki all the while, gently placed it back on the table.

"Leave now." Watanuki demanded, voice trembling, pointing a slim finger in the direction of the curtain. Doumeki opened his mouth to argue, but a low, feminine call interrupted.

"Is something the matter, boys?" Yuuko asked slyly, sticking her head through the curtains, eyeing both of them with evil eyes. Watanuki gulped audibly. Doumeki breathed deeply for a few tense seconds before shaking his head. He turned and left the room, almost colliding into Yuuko in his haste.

The tall, dark woman smiled at his retreating back and whispered, "Do come again."

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