Peaches [xxxHOLiC novella] COMPLETE

9. Another Visitor

It was evening when Dōmeki called the store, and by then Watanuki had had about enough of the stupid teasing jokes Maru and Moro, and even Mokona, were happily making at his expense. His head felt like a large empty drum, and eventually he sent them all away on some errand or another just to get a little peace and quiet. As a result, he had to get up and drag himself to the phone to answer it all by himself. It rang and rang, and he knew it was Dōmeki, because no one else phoned people with such infuriating persistence.

"Yo," offered Dōmeki, and paused on the line, hesitating.

Watanuki sighed. "If you're going to ask me about my memory, go ahead, get it over with," he grumbled.

"Huh, so you really don't remember," half-stated, half-inquired Dōmeki.

"Oh for the love of the gods!" wailed Watanuki, exasperated. "Would it kill any of you to tell me what is going on?? My head hurts, everything in my body feels weird, there is a mountain of empty sake bottles in the recycling bin... What the hell happened?? Did you all have a wild party and then wiped my memory?!" he could hear his voice breaking into a falsetto, and stopped to clear his throat. On the other side of the line he thought he heard Dōmeki chuckle quietly.

"Relax," he said finally. "You've done a job for a customer, that's all. You told me you might lose a day or two worth of memories, but they'll likely come back." Dōmeki sounded sincere enough, so Watanuki had no choice but to believe him.

"So, were you there?" he asked, feeling uncomfortable that once again he had dragged Dōmeki into something dangerous.

"I was," confirmed Dōmeki, and, sensing somehow his unease, added, "It was by my own choice. Don't make a big deal out of it." It was an almost tender, and certainly a friendly turn of phrase. Unexpected, but pleasant, thought Watanuki.

"Are you going to tell me?" he asked, cautiously.

"Hn. But it's a long story, and I have to stay and do some work at the university tonight. Can I tell you in a few days?"

Watanuki thought that Dōmeki was being unusually polite, and therefore this somehow must be important. He sighed. "Do I have a choice?"

"You always have a choice," replied Dōmeki, gently. "But I would prefer to wait a few days, if you don't mind."

Watanuki was taken aback enough so as not to argue. Having said their goodbyes, he hung up, and spent some time staring at the phone. Not leaving the shop for so long gave him a strange sense of isolation from the rest of the world. He could travel through dreams, that is true, but sometimes he was beginning to doubt the reality of things. He was only awake for a few hours, but he felt he could go back and have a nap, seeing as Dōmeki will not be stopping by tonight.

*    *    *

When he opened his eyes he thought for a moment that Dōmeki came by after all, and now sat at the edge of the terrace outside his bedroom. But then he noticed the cigarette in his hand, and smiled.

"Good evening, Haruka-san," he said, getting out of bed and walking over toward his visitor. Though it was a dream, the dreams in which he saw Haruka-san always looked nearly indistinguishable from reality.

"Good evening, Watanuki-kun," said Haruka-san, and smiled at him. It was indeed remarkable how alike, and at the same time different, he and Dōmeki were. "Good work with that fan, by the way," he added, grinning.

"Oh, not you too Haruka-san!" moaned Watanuki quietly, settling down beside him. "Everyone seems to know what is going on, except for me!" he lamented. Haruka-san chuckled, a little bit like Dōmeki earlier that day.