Lately, I haven't seen many xxxHolic fics so I decided to write one. I hope you like it~

A couple of reviews would be nice :3 Flames will be used to light Watanuki's incense sticks and add more pretty smoke.

Let's keep the xxxHOLiC community alive until June!

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Disclaimer: I don't own xxxHOLiC. If I did, I would publish it every week with no breaks at all.

Rating: Unknown, but T for safety.

Pairing: Doumeki x Watanuki (main), Yuuko x Watanuki, Himawari x Watanuki

Warning: Spoilers: Takes place from chapter 204, onwards.

I. Substitute

"What's up with that weird ring you're wearing?"

"Engaged."

"Don't joke around! Like if anyone wanted to be engaged to you!"

"Does it bother you?"

"No, it doesn't!"

He humphed and grabbed his university bag.

"I'm going ahead."

I knew he wouldn't do so. It would only be a matter of seconds until he encountered another spirit.

"Uh…" He sweat-dropped. I didn't move from my original position. "…Eh…" He hesitated a bit. If he wanted me to protect him, he would have to say it.

"Doumeki…" an angry vein popped in his forehead.

"Weren't you going ahead?"

"Well… are any spirits ahead?" In front of him wandered a bunch of evil spirits which wanted to get him. He couldn't see them, nor sense them from a distance. However, he knew that as soon as he got close to them, he would start feeling a chill down his spine and his body started acting weird. Being as stubborn as he was, it had taken me a whole week to convince him that those headaches and sensations he had were related to spirits. I'm still not sure if he really believes me. He just wants to avoid having those weird sensations and my presence makes him feel at ease.

"Maybe."

"… Argh! You're annoying!" He gave up. "You should better come with me!"

Nice try, Watanuki. But still, not enough.

"My workplace isn't that way."

"Just… shut up and walk me home!"

"Please." I teased him.

"I'm not… Ugh, forget it! I'll go alone."

When he was near the entrance, I poked on his shoulder.

"Yes." I said.

"Yes, what?"

"There are many spirits ahead."

I know I was torturing him. I missed his reactions. 'Tsundere' reactions.

"Please… Walk me home." His tone displayed anger, yet his cheeks turned slightly pink. "What? S-stop staring!"

Even though both of us were university students, it still felt like if I was walking him home from school. Maybe it was the sunset's fault. Or the slow, tender afternoon breeze and the barking of that black dog Watanuki hated so much.

"Stupid dog..." He muttered. "So, how's Mr. Li?"

I still can't get used to calling Watanuki Mr. Li. Even less, to use the 'Mr.' honorific. Mr. Li was the surname I came up with when he asked me about the store owner's name. I couldn't tell him it was 'Watanuki', like his.

"He's fine." I answered him.

Kimihiro Watanuki. He was the replacement of the son of Syaoran Li and Sakura Kinomoto. That's what Watanuki said when he explained to me his existence after Yuuko's death. When I told him he should be Li instead of Watanuki, he nodded in agreement. However, he hated being called 'Li' by me and that I should keep calling him 'Watanuki' or else he would make me starve.

The problem is another Watanuki appeared one day when I was shopping for Watanuki. I still don't know how to refer to this Watanuki. My logic tells me it should be 'Kimihiro Watanuki' because he is the replacement of the original Kimihiro Li. 'Watanuki' means 'decoy' so I thought it suited the new replacement. Still, he is the replacement of a replacement, the decoy of a previous decoy. Whenever I thought about that, my head hurt.

It's confusing to call both Watanuki the same way. No matter how I hard I try, I can't get the newer Watanuki to let me call him something else that wasn't Watanuki. And asking this to the previous Watanuki was out of the question. So I figured out I should call the new Watanuki 'oi', whether he liked it or not.

"It's sad to have a condition that makes you unable to leave a place. He must feel lonely."

He is. He's enclosed himself in the shop. I should spend more time with him. But I can't leave this new Watanuki alone. His sudden appearance is a mystery.

"He's very bitchy, isn't he? Telling you do lots of things and not thanking you properly."

"You're the one to talk."

He opened and closed his mouth like a fish forcefully taken out of water. Then, he crossed his arms.

"Well, I'm different!"

I wonder.

"Ah! Here's my apartment."

I stood there, immobile. He made various 'shoo' hand gestures.

"What? Go!"

"Someone over there is telling me to do lots of things and not thanking me properly."

I can't avoid it. I know I shouldn't push him and tease him so much. I just missed this so badly. I starved from this during those long 4 years...

"Thnksfrwlkingmetomapprt."

I placed my hand behind my ear, indicating that I didn't hear anything. Of course, I heard.

"THANKS FOR WALKING ME HERE, YOU IDIOT DOUMEKI! HAPPY?! NOW, GO BEFORE I CALL THE POLICE!"

He shut the door as hard as he could. I smiled at the sky.

I took a look at my wristwatch. I should have been at the shop half an hour ago. Now, Watanuki will give me less sake. Damn.

I walked and walked while my mind tried to find an explanation for this strange phenomenon. I have many theories, but this is the one that seems the most convincing: When Watanuki chose to stay at the shop, his existence was erased from this current dimension and his own self became omnipresent in all dimensions as Yuuko used to be. However, that kid, Syaoran Li, had a wish which involved the birth of Watanuki. And that Watanuki was supposed to take his time and live in this dimension. If Watanuki's words 'Contracts can't be changed nor wishes can't be replaced once made' are true, then there has to be a Syaoran substitute in this dimension. Because the original substitute left this world, another one was born to replace him. It is supposed to both replace Watanuki's unnatural disappearance in this world and become the new Syaoran substitute of his past, unchangeable, wish.

Still, why did the new Watanuki appeared after 4 years? He should have appeared as soon as Watanuki made his choice to stay in the shop. And why wasn't Watanuki aware of this fact? He is now very powerful and should have known something like this would appear. I can't prove it, but I have a hunch that Watanuki doesn't know about him. The wise action is to let him know about him. I couldn't bring myself to tell him. No matter how many times I've been with him, Watanuki is still unpredictable.

"You're late! What's up with you? University issues?"

Watanuki laid on the couch in a provocative manner. He was smoking Yuuko's red kiseru.

"Yeah." I half lied.

"There's some sake in the living room. And some left-overs. Help yourself."

"Thanks."

I knew I needed to tell him. Sooner or later.

"Watanuki."

"What?"

"What would you do if-"

"...If...?"

Would he get rid of him? Would he use him? It doesn't matter if that Watanuki is fake and just another replacement. He's still Watanuki. The clumsy, helpless Watanuki I met and swore to protect.

Sometimes I wonder... am I the one being protected?

"MOKONA WANTS TO DRINK AS WELL!"

"Mokona! Don't interrupt people when they are talking!"

"It's ok. It wasn't important."

Mokona jumped on my shoulder and gave me a welcome kiss.

"Chyuu~ Doumeki, sake, sake!"

I was about to go to the living room when I felt Watanuki's cold stare on my neck. I turned around.

"Doumeki." He exhaled. His piercing stare sent shivers down my spine. He had never looked at me this way before. "... You are hiding something."

I was speechless. No matter how hard I tried to put on a straight face, Watanuki was one of the few people who could decipher my stoic facade.

"Can you read my mind?"

"I really wish I could. Although I should be satisfied with the fact that I'm able to determine your emotions even if your facial features remain unchanged."

Watanuki stood up and approached me.

"Doumeki..." He pointed at my right eye. The one we shared. "I will confess that I tried to make use of it when I realized the fact that during this whole week you have been strangely late and wore a troubled face. However, the connection doesn't seem to work at those times, which is odd."

He recalled the newer Watanuki had sapphire eyes. Both of them were the same color, so there shouldn't be a connection between them. And it shouldn't alter his connection with the current shop owner either.

"I have no idea." It was the pure truth.

"So, what have you been up to?"

"Worried?"

He hit me with his kiseru.

"Anyways, just be careful." He exhaled. I couldn't determine if his action of hitting was Watanuki-like or Yuuko-like. If it was the latter, I prefer not to think about it.

"Sake! Sake!"

"You drunkards go there and enjoy yourselves while I take a nap."

"You drink a lot as well."

I expected a certain reaction.

"Of course, drinking is good for your mind and body."

I didn't get the reaction I expected.

I poured the sake in the glass and drank it.

"Doumeki..." Mokona pouted. "What's wrong?"

I kept on drinking and ignored him.

"You can tell me. He's asleep. Besides, when someone talks with Mokona, that person feels better."

I drank another glass.

"You know... Yuuko and I talked about Watanuki and he never heard a word of what we said. That's because what you tell Mokona, stays in Mokona. And Mokona knows when he's unable to hear what we say. That's one of Mokona's special techniques. It's called Brokona." He boasted.

"What would Watanuki do if he had a clone?"

"Huh? Clone?" Mokona tilted his head.

"Yeah." I poured sake on Mokona's cup.

"Is t-"

"Yeah." I knew what he was going to ask. "There is."

Mokona stared at the moon.

"How long have you known the clone."

"I met him a week ago."

I drank the glass in one swoop.

Author's Notes:

Ok... I tried. I hope it wasn't boring.

Of course, this is not a real theory. It's just something that came up in my mind.

Let me explain it using vignettes
(By the way, to 'exist' is to take up time and space in the world):

- Watanuki was born to be Syaoran's replacement
- Watanuki altered his future and decided to stay at the shop
- Watanuki can't exist in Doumeki's dimension because of his choice. He is nonexistent there (no time, no space)
- Contracts cannot be undone and someone must continue to replace Syaoran's time and space (i.e: existence) at the current dimension.
- Eventually, another replacement appears to carry on the wish.

However, why he appeared after 4 years and why would a second one be needed will be revealed in the next chapters ;)

* Tsundere: Pretends not to care but really does. In canon, Doumeki reads manga and knows some titles. Watanuki knows about Disney Movies and Star Wars.

* Chyuu: Kissing sound

* Him: According to Horitsuba, Black Mokona is a 'he'.

* Brokona: Bro Mokona.