XXXHolic Fan Fiction ❯ Hitsuzen Of The Heart ❯ The Man In Black ( Chapter 1 )

Hitsuzen Of The Heart

By, Jamie1317kast

 

A tall stranger appears at Yuko's shop, clad all in black even though it's the middle of summer. He has a wish, but Watanuki has a feeling that it will go un-granted…who is this man, and what does he want with Yuko?

 

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except Jamie Peterson, so don't sue me. Don't steal him, or I'll hunt you down with Yuko's metal bat.

 

Rated PG-13, perhaps R later on.

 

The Man In Black:

 

“ THAT DARN DOMEKI!”

Watanuki stormed down the street, once again caught up in his explosive habit-like anger when it came to his best friend. “ It's all his fault, making me go out and buy him umeboshi onigiri so he can eat it before archery club!” He raged again, closing his eyes and shaking his fist.

“ And now I'm late for wo- OUCH!”

Watanuki's bag went skidding across the sidewalk and he fell backwards onto his butt. The man he'd just bumped into had been knocked backward onto the pavement. Watanuki stood up quickly, apologizing.

“ I-I'm sorry! I didn't see you there!”

The man just laughed and picked himself up. And up and up and up. Watanuki couldn't help but stare. Not only did the man seem to stretch up into the clouds but he was covered from head to foot in a long black traveling cloak and a wide-brimmed hat which shaded his face from the hot summer sun. He wore a black scarf like a ninja, around his head and over his nose, leather gloves, and sun glasses. Most people on the sidewalk were going out of their way to avoid him. “ I- Gosh, you're tall…”

“ Yeah, well, fate's funny that way.” He looked off and when Watanuki followed the man's gaze he found that they were already in front of Yuko's shop.

“ Would you like to come in for tea?”

“ Do you work here?”

“ Yeah.”

“ Why not then?”

“ Right.”

Right.

 

Watanuki pushed open the front doors and was immediately tackled by Maru and Moro. “ Watanuki's home!” They chimed together. “ Hey girls,” He smiled. “ Where's Yuko? We've got a guest today.”

Maru and Moro bounded around Watanuki to get a better look at the newcomer and stopped dead in their tracks. He looked back also just in time to the man taking off his sun glasses. Intense, Egyptian-blue eyes stared back at him.

The two girls gave shrill squeals of terror and bolted down the hall. “ Mistress! Mistress!”

Watanuki shook his head and motioned after them. “ Sorry about that, they're usual very…well, polite to everyone who comes in here.”

“ It's alright,” The man said, now pocketing his sun glasses inside the inky darkness of his traveling cloak. “ It's happened before.”

“ Um,” Watanuki groped for something to say. “ So, why were you standing outside the gates? You could have just walked in, the shop's open.”

Before the man could answer, Yuko appeared in a doorway at the end of the hall, Maru and Moro hiding behind her. “ I'll be the one asking the questions here, Watanuki.” She did not look pleased, in fact, Yuko looked angry.

Her black kimono rippled behind her as she walked and the red roses seemed far too real to be fabric. Her wine-red obi was decorated with pink and yellow Spanish roses and her hair was down, falling into her eyes as she strode toward the man at the end of the hall. When she reached him her voice was harsh. “ What did you do to scare Maru and Moro?”

“ I did nothing.”

“ What are you hiding?”

“ Not hiding, protecting.”

“ Why did you come here?”

“ I have a wish.”

“ Then why did you need Watanuki's permission to enter the shop?”

“ But I didn't give-” Watanuki began but Yuko waved away his protest with her hand. “ You invited him in.”

There was a pause and then the man spoke. “ Perhaps, if we could talk elsewhere, with less light…?”

Yuko turned on her heel and swept off into the interior of the shop without speaking but the man followed her anyway.

 

They entered a small room which was completely dark except for one candle on the low table. Here, the man slipped off his shoes and entered. He sat western style, and removed his scarf, unwinding it section by section.

Watanuki held his breath, sure that whatever the man was hiding, or protecting, was the remnant of some horrible disease. So he was surprised to see that the man was only pale, if unnaturally so.

His skin gleamed bone white in the light of the candle. Yuko sat across from him, her legs tucked under her in the traditional style, watching him intently. He removed his leather gloves with care and set them on the scarf. His hands were big with long, thin piano fingers, they were lover's hands, and Watanuki blushed at the thought. Off came the hat and another surprise accompanied this movement; blond hair. Light, pale blond hair fell from the confines of the hat and the man moved swiftly to tie it back into a gentlemen's ponytail with a black ribbon. Watanuki had to say that so far, the man's most impressive feature, aside from his height, were his dark blue eyes which stood out against the pale background of his face.

The traveling cloak was discarded and at last, the man was finished.

Yuko wasted no time. “ What is your name?”

“ Peterson, Jamie.”

There was another, more dangerous pause.

When Jamie spoke again, his deep voice was soft, rumbling bass of a whisper. “ So I take it that you've heard of me.”

“ Of course I have,” Yuko answered just as softly, her expression lost due to lack of light. “ Who hasn't?”

“ Though I'm certainly not as infamous as my parents.” He chuckled lightly and Yuko also smiled, the tension was broken.

“ Too true, too true.”

They laughed again, friendlier this time. And Watanuki found that he was mistaken; Jamie's best feature wasn't his eyes, it was his smile. Yes, his smile, filled with perfectly straight, pointy teeth…

Wait, pointy?

Yuko turned to look at Watanuki, she gestured to the man now sitting across from her. “ Watanuki, I'd like you to meet Jamie Peterson, the world's oldest Vampire Prince.”

Watanuki's eyebrow twitched, ah yes, it was going to be another one of those days…