storypaint | Mr. Fluffers, Watanuki? (Watanuki/Himawari)

Comm: wtf27
Words: 1271
Title: Mr. Fluffers, Watanuki?
Author: rhap_chan
Fandom: xxxHOLiC
Pairing: Watanuki/Himawari mentioned, but this is basically like a chapter of the manga, and the pairing isn't a big focus
Rating: G
Warnings: none
Author's Note: Written for wtf27 prompt #2, transformation (animals).

Excerpt: Yuuko reached out and stroked behind one of his ears, which felt wonderful and amazing and-- Watanuki darted out of her reach, since she obviously had some sort of cat-bespelling powers, and he swiped his claws in her direction.

Watanuki growled at Yuuko and disdainfully lifted one paw.

"Tell me again why I have to be a cat," he said, managing to spazz out much in the same way he usually did, despite lacking hands and elbows and a lot of other things he used to consider critical when one spazzed.

"There is no better form in which to reconaissance," Yuuko reminded him, reaching out and stroking behind one of his ears, which felt wonderful and amazing and-- Watanuki darted out of her reach, since she obviously had some sort of cat-bespelling powers, and he swiped his claws in her direction. (He knew better than to actually slice her kimono or her skin, since he knew that the imagined but astronomical tailor or doctor bills would be added to his debt.)

Mokona wandered into the room and seemed ecstatic to see Watanuki. It glomped him, and the little meatbun was pretty heavy to someone currently his size. He squeezed out of its grip using that strange cat ability to melt his bones until he could escape, and stalked angrily to the top of one of Yuuko's steadier box piles.

"See you later!" Yuuko said cheerfully, as she grabbed him, opened the window, and tossed him out. He landed on his feet and reluctantly began the task of tracking the client.

It wasn't that hard to be a cat. As long as he didn't think about it too much, the body moved according to instinct. The hardest part was avoiding careless feet and affectionate children. Apparently, he was just fluffy and gray enough to resemble a cat from a children's television program, and fleeing those who ran after him screaming, "Mr. Fuzzbutt! Mr. Fuzzbutt! Lookit the kittyyyyy!" took a lot of time and energy. When he finally darted into an alley long enough to caught his breath, Watanuki released that he'd lost the scent.

Why exactly Yuuko had wanted him to follow this girl, Watanuki wasn't sure. She'd never quite said. And in any case, this one seemed as normal as most of them were. She'd wished for love, and then gone away, and he hadn't caught anything preternatural in her scent. Watanuki was in fact beginning to suspect that Yuuko had been bored and wanted the amusement of seeing him in cat form.

He lifted his nose, noting again distastefully that it was pink and cute, and he couldn't find the scent. Watanuki hated cats. They saw the same things he did, and while occasionally the animals found a ghost worth staring at, the creatures never chased cats. For some reason, nothing in the spirit world messed with them. But a cat was always followed-- at a respectful distance-- by all manner of ghosts and ghoulies. Any cat, not just the black ones, brought Watanuki bad luck.

Watanuki's musings meant that he wasn't exactly paying attention to the sidewalk around him and so it was entirely his fault when someone stepped on his tale. He yowled and unsheathed his claws, prepared to take out his feelings on the stranger, but to his shock the offending party was Himawari. She had seemed lost in thought, but no one could ignore that yowl, and she looked down at him. He thought perhaps she'd recognize him, somehow, perhaps by his swoon when she met his eyes, but she showed only normal concern for the animal she had injured.

"Mr. Kitty, I'm so sorry!" she said, reaching down and scooping him up in her arms. The throb in Watanuki's tail faded when she cradled him like a baby. He found himself beginning to purr.

"Come home with me, kitty, and let me make it up to you with a bowl of milk," she said, smiling, and Watanuki had no problem snuggling into her chest.

She took him home and set him down carefully on her couch while she went into the kitchen. Contentedly Watanuki licked a paw and set himself to rights. He looked around the room curiously. It seemed awfully bare to him. He wondered where her parents were.

Himawari came back with a saucer and a cat brush. She set the saucer on the floor and Watanuki lapped up the milk as quickly as possible so he could climb back into her warm arms. When he did, she began to brush him, humming softly.

"I had a kitty just like you when I was little," she said. "I called her Fluffy, but you look more like a Mr. Fluffers to me..." She smiled and he leaned into her touch. Any nickname at all, as long as it came from Himawari-chan!

Watanuki thought there was a strong possibility that he might explode with happiness, but before his joy could combust, the doorbell rang. Carefully she set him down on the couch and went to answer it. Her walk, like angels--! he thought. Her smile, exquisite!

"This is Miss Ichihara's cat?" Himawari said as she came back into the room accompanied by Doumeki. Doumeki looked down at Watanuki and recognized him immediately, by the widening of his eyebrows just slightly. Watanuki rose on his haunches and hissed.

"She asked me to come get it for her," Doumeki said, avoiding the question of belonging (Yuuko would have said that it was indeed her cat, but it was Doumeki who had to take it back to the vacant lot, and he wasn't sure that even his thick winter coat could stand up to Watanuki's clawing rage). Himawari seemed sad and Watanuki jumped off the couch and twined around her legs. That made her brighten a little.

"Well, it certainly is very friendly. I didn't know that she had a cat." She picked Watanuki up and he rubbed his face on her jaw affectionately. This was the life of a cat. And he loved it. He just wanted to stay by her side all life long...

Himawari kissed the top of his head and then handed him to Doumeki. Watanuki stiffened, and in the way that cats do made himself seem all elbows and claws. Somehow Doumeki managed to hold on to him by the scruff of his neck. It was rather uncomfortable to dangle in that manner. He yowled piteously. Doumeki didn't care.

"See you at school tomorrow," Doumeki said in his usual implacable manner, and he left Himawari's house, holding Watanuki out in front of him like some sort of diseased thing. Watanuki didn't appreciate the sentiment and managed to sink a claw into Doumeki's hand. The archer promptly dropped him and Watanuki had a vaguely heavy feeling before he struck the ground in human form.

And completely naked.

Doumeki said nothing, but reached into his bag and pulled out Watanuki's school uniform, tossing it in his direction. Watanuki scrambled behind the nearest shrubbery, cursing Yuuko, and eventually emerged looking no worse for wear. Doumeki pulled a twig out of Watanuki's hair and they walked down the street, Watanuki ranting about his employer.

"Would you rather have turned into a human being when you were sitting on her lap?" Doumeki said after a moment. Watanuki blushed furiously.

"Shut up," he said after a minute. "This whole cat thing was a bad idea in the first place."

"I think it was grand!" Yuuko said, sounding satisfied, when he came into the shop (Doumeki had gone on home to do homework). And when Watanuki growled in protest, he sounded so much like his cat-self that Yuuko and Mokona dissolved into hearty laughter.

(And it turned out that Watanuki was right-- there'd been no reason for him to become a cat at all. Except that now she could charge him for messenger services to Doumeki.)