Shizuka was happy. Genuinely and absolutely happy. Overjoyed even. He was back where he belonged, at the side of the one who mattered most. However, all these emotions didn’t so much as flicker on the surface of his stoic expression, which remained calm and collected. Doumeki was a master at hiding how he truly felt. If he weren’t, surely by now he would have told Watanuki just how cute he was, how he made him feel… everything.
“Sake too.” He stated, following the male into the shop. He gracefully removed his sandals, leaving them at the door as he walked down the hallway, looking up at the familiar walls… the likes of which he hadn’t seen since he was last here, alive. Had to have been when he brought his son here for the last time, at nearly fifty.
The male refused to worry Watanuki at the time about his health, or the fact that he was going to die. He merely let his son continue where he left off, watching over the lonely magician.
The flare of annoyance struck him once again, but the bespectacled male had been expecting the request. And honestly, even if Doumeki hadn't asked, he would have still broke out the sake for the man. It wasn't like he didn't have any in the storage room. There were still the untouched sake he had made just half year ago. Watanuki shook his head, grinning at the timing of it all.
Eventually, the store owner slowed to a stop and opened the screen door. And for a brief moment, it felt like that nothing had changed at all. Doumeki still had visited from regularly, pestering him for food and just being a general annoyance. The sensation was so familiar yet so old that it made Watanuki want to choke back something sad and a burning feeling of his eyes. No, no. He can't cry like an idiot now.
"Wait there," he said to the man, not quite a request, but rather a command. He then called for Maru and Moro to set up a table for them to dine on, which they happy obliged to. After all, Watanuki was finally pulling out the sake!
He closed the screen door and began to head for the kitchen. His mind was wandering now, and his thoughts lingered on Doumeki. Something had changed within his friend. No, not his personality...but his aura.
Watanuki stopped in his tracks.
Shinigami. No wonder the man wasn't consumed by spirits. Now why didn't he thought of that in the first place?
He continued his way into the kitchen, humming a tune he recently learned on his shamisen. Things were about to get interesting if the reappearance of Doumeki had any indication. And Watanuki couldn't say he liked it one bit.
