dropsofviolet (dropsofviolet) wrote in no_true_pair, @ 2009-01-29 08:55:00 |
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Entry tags: | ! 2009 eight characters challenge, author: dropsofviolet, fandom: xxxholic, pairing: watanuki /yuuko |
Forget the Self (xxxHOLiC: Watanuki & Yuuko)
Title: Forget the Self
Author/Artist: dropsofviolet
Fandom: xxxHOLiC
Pairing/characters: Watanuki and Yuuko gen; Clow/Yuuko somewhat implied
Rating: G
Warnings: none
Prompt/challenge you're answering: Yuuko has amnesia -- does Watanuki try to help, or take shameless advantage of the situation?
Excerpt: "What's wrong with Yuuko?" Mokona asked, and Watanuki sighed. "I have no idea," he replied, and because he could think of nothing else to do, he did the dishes.
"Who are you?" Yuuko asked when Watanuki came into the shop that afternoon. She tilted her head to the side and studied him.
"Excuse me?" Watanuki said, his face reddening already. Whichever one of Yuuko's tricks this was, he was especially not interested.
"Who are you?" she asked again. "I had this... terrible headache when I woke up this afternoon, and...."
"You've been drinking, Yuuko-san," Watanuki said dryly.
"Yuuko? If I am Yuuko, who are you?"
"I'm Watanuki Kimihiro, your servant, AS YOU WELL KNOW."
"Really?" Yuuko said, tilting her head to the other side and looking at him from that angle.
"What's wrong with your eye?" she asked.
"Aaargh," Watanuki said, slapping his forehead. "I don't have time for this today, Yuuko-san, I have homework after I do your chores."
"Well, perhaps you should get to your chores, then?" Yuuko replied, looking concerned. "I would hate for you to not be able to finish your homework."
"Aaargh," Watanuki said again, and was simply rewarded by her confusion.
"Maru, Moro?" he called out. "Mokona?"
The three of them emerged from the kitchen, Mokona resting on Moro's head. They wore odd looks of concern.
"What's wrong with Yuuko?" Mokona asked, and Watanuki sighed.
"I have no idea," he replied, and because he could think of nothing else to do, he did the dishes.
*
After he finished the dishes, he stalked into the storeroom and emerged dustily a few minutes later, clutching a large, hardbound book. He thrust it into Yuuko's arms.
"This is who you are," he said, and swept the steps while she was reading.
"I don't know these people," she called out the door to him.
"I assume you do; you went to a lot of trouble to hide that book in your storeroom, and it was only chance that I found it last week cleaning. Speaking of which, the storeroom is a mess, Yuuko-san. How do you find anything?"
"Right now, I don't think I can," she said, sounding unconcerned. "Who is this man with glasses? He fills me with profound irritation."
"Clow Reed," Watanuki said.
"Where is he now?"
"He's dead."
"Oh," Yuuko said softly, sounding sad, and he poked his head into the room to see her tracing a finger over the picture. Sighing, he set the broom against the side of the house and came in, resting cross-legged across from her.
"Your name is Ichihara Yuuko-- or that's the name you gave me when we met, though you told me it wasn't your real name. You have the power to grant wishes, and to cross dimensions. You drink to excess and you abuse me while I'm doing service for my wish. You and Clow Reed made the Mokonas a long time ago. You're self-centered, cold, and calculating, but you do... take care of me. When the price is paid. It is all hitsuzen, in the end."
For a moment, Yuuko looked impossibly confused. Then her expression dropped into something much more familiar and predatory.
"I see you've learned something, Watanuki," she trilled, and Watanuki's face reddened with renewed anger.
"Why pretend to forget who you are?" he demanded, and she just smiled.
"There are people who do it every day, Watanuki. Don't forget that."
She stood up in a sweep of her robes and crossed the room to tuck the book onto a high shelf, giving him a meaningful look as she did so.
"We're having a customer. But afterwards, we'll talk about the storeroom," she said dangerously, and Watanuki fled into the kitchen.
He had no patience for Yuuko's tricks, and this was no exception.