Dec. 11th [xxxHOLiC] Family Affairs

[lady-kikyou.livejournal.com]

Title: Family Affairs
Day/Theme: Dec. 11th - A smile is always the best
Series: xxxHOLiC
Character/Pairing: Clow Reed x Yuuko Ichihara
Rating: PG 
Warnings: Sequel to Wedding Bells. Because grass_angel gave me evil ideas. :3

 

 

If there had ever been a time in which Yuuko thought she would be in such a predicament, she certainly could not remember.

 

Noticeably, Clow was known for having bizarre ideas every now and then, and the witch often got further involved than she would willingly accept, in spite of all her protests. Still, showing up unannounced at her doorstep under the excuse there was someone – his mother, no less – that she should meet definitely took the cake.  Yuuko was convinced he could never pull anything more insane than that, and for a short while, she was relieved to have already seen the worst of his genius.

 

Until he introduced her as his fiancé, and her mind had another meltdown.

 

She tried to think objectively. The man probably wasn’t actually serious about it. He could not be serious about it, for Heaven’s sake! It was too much of an outlandish, prepotent and ultimately crazy deed to think she would agree to marry him under any circumstances, but especially without a formal proposal – not to mention it was also an act of suicide, if one were to consider Yuuko’s likely reaction. He did seem to appreciate whatever lifespan he still had, though, and that alone gave her the assurance she needed. 

 

After much deliberation, she finally came to conclude this was yet another one of Clow’s schemes, this time as an attempt to get his mother to stop searching for a suitable wife to her only son – he was, after all, visibly tired of her persistence. Without any words, he made a plea for her to play along with this farce, to which she responded with an equally silent stare. That was more than enough to tell him there would be sweet payback.    

 

I’ll get you for this, Clow Reed, she kept mentally chanting, fighting the urge to squeeze and break every bone of the masculine hand holding hers. Sitting right across from the makeshift couple, the elder woman garbed in Chinese attires sipped her tea in serene elegance, smiling as she idly gazed around the room.

 

“Such lovely abode you have, Yuuko-san,” She said, resting her cup on the centerpiece. “Glad as I am, I must say I’m also surprised that someone with your fine taste would choose my son for a husband.”

 

“I am very much surprised myself,” Yuuko sneered, shooting a murderous glare at Clow from the corner of her eyes. “But for entirely different reasons.”

 

“It must be because you’re also a magic user. An ordinary woman simply would not be able to handle his eccentricities very well otherwise.”

 

“Ah, but Yuuko is far from ordinary, isn’t she?” Clow interrupted, smiling fondly at the witch, earning a devious, somewhat twitchy smirk in return.

 

“And even so, I still have a hard time trying to deal with your moods,” Her nose inched his as she spoke, her tone filled with extra amounts of unnatural sweetness. “Isn’t that right, dear?”

 

“He’s just like his father,” The mother added in a matter-of-fact manner. “From my own experience, you will have quite some trouble with his ways, Yuuko-san.”  

 

“I know. But I have my methods,” She grinned. “From his poor sense of fashion to his strange antics, I will put your son back in line.”

 

“I do believe you already are. He is marrying you, after all.”

 

“Marriage should not be taken lightly, mother,” He defended himself, still smiling at both witches regardless of their smarmy comments. That was always the best way to deal with things, he believed. “Besides, you certainly did not expect me to marry anyone, did you?”

 

“In all honesty, I had almost lost hope that you would get married at all,” The woman retorted, bringing the cup of tea to her lips once more. “Yuuko-san is so kind as to do you this favor.”

 

Yuuko giggled at that last remark and stared at the magician, as though waiting for any sort of reaction that denoted annoyance; much to her dismay, he still held that same look of satisfaction through all of their exchange, and she began to question his motives. No man in his normal state of mind would be bashed left and right and remain awfully content about the whole ordeal, even if it was Clow.

 

“Well, that is true. And to be completely honest, I only accepted to date him in the first place out of sympathy,” She added for further effect, in an effort to get him worked up and finally benefit from this little fraud. “He used to work too much, so he barely had any time for keeping a social life. Even now, that hasn’t changed much, actually…” 

 

Clow merely chuckled at her attempts, unaffected. Yuuko, on the other hand, had to struggle quite a bit in order to hide her frustrated pout, seemingly growing even more intrigued at so much indifference. It was true that man would rarely lose his temper, but this time he was up to no good, and she was almost afraid to find out how right she was.

 

Deceptive as they had been, their actions did not go by unnoticed, and the woman could not help but smile at her son and his chosen one. “I’m sure my son doesn’t need any more company than yours, Yuuko-san. You are the woman he loves, after all.”  

 

“Ah, well,” Yuuko stammered a little, for all the implications of that sentence. “I still think he should socialize a bit more. His reputation may be safe, but I still have one to keep, anyway.”

 

“Excuse me?” He asked, amused. “My reputation?”

 

“Oh, you know,” She turned to him and fixed his glasses on the bridge of his nose, her mischievous grin fully visible to him as she spoke. “Since you were never seen with any ladies, people were beginning to question and wonder…”

 

“Ah, I see,” He took full advantage of their proximity and snatched a quick kiss from her, just to prove he did not mind her words, thus further annoying her. “At least that will no longer be an issue, right?”

 

She hooked an eyebrow in suspicion and he laughed whole-heartedly at her clueless expression; coming from Yuuko, it wasn’t only rare, but especially amusing. Really, she could understand his good mood, and even his ultimate glee to know his mother would finally give him a break from all the marriage prospects, but the fact he did not show one tiniest hint of distress was more than a little unnerving; it could only mean something wicked came her way.

 

Yuuko finally gave up trying to figure him out and spared the wizard a questioning look, one that demanded a good deal of answers. In return, his smile only widened, in a way that told her to wait and see. And indeed she would, rather sooner than later.

 

“It’s good that you mentioned this, Yuuko-san,” His mother’s voice was heard next, as she laid down her cup of tea, now empty. “We need to discuss the matter of children, don’t we?”

 

There was a whole minute of silence before she spoke again. “…Children?”

 

“Of course, my dear. Why else would I be so concerned for Clow not having a wife?” Her smile could rival her son’s by now. “So, should we expect any soon?”

 

“…Soon?” That was all she managed to utter for a response. 

 

“Oh, I don’t mean to rush you, please. It is just that carrying on the family legacy is of utmost importance, so I wish to know how well you intend to take care of and raise my grandchildren, and what kind of beliefs you plan to pass onto them. I’m certain you must have your own traditions that you want them to perpetuate for you, isn’t that right?”

 

She was frozen on her spot for an everlasting second. Torturing and insulting Clow was one thing, and she clearly had a lot of experience in that department. Pretending that they were getting married wasn’t that hard, either - they had a relationship of sort, and were adequately intimate to feign an engagement well enough, as long as the truth could be twisted and tweaked a little. But children? That was something she rarely ever considered, and it never lasted too long as to inspire any plans for the future. The witch doubted mama Reed would be pleased to hear that, though; she wanted her grandchildren, yes, she did.

 

 And should that woman be anywhere as obnoxiously determined as Clow, Yuuko would be in for a lot of trouble.

 

In an impulse, her eyes sought after his in hopes to get any kind of help, though he was currently busy putting away the tea set, his back to her. Once his features were made available to her once again, Yuuko felt a slight shiver course through her, though whether out of anger or fear, she could not tell. At any rate, she could at least finally finally understand why Clow had remained awfully happy the whole time, and for a single moment, the witch wished she could break the rules of balance and kill, just this once.

 

The bastard was beaming with joy at her impending misery.