Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket and I'm not making money from this fic.
Warning: Shonen-ai. I think that sums it up.
Author's note: Is it because it's spring? Is it the rain? Is it the fact that I have about a million constructive things that I SHOULD be doing and don't feel like doing? Who knows.
Chapter One
"…one day I'll come through, with my American Dream and it won't mean a fucking thing…"
(Rags to Rags – the Eels)
Pat pat pat pat pat pat. His feet made a dull sound on the lacquered wooden floor. Thump thump thump thump. Up the stairs he went. The house was empty and the air was stuffy. Rrrroll clack rrrroll clack. His door sliding open and then closed. Sqweeek squi. He sat on his chair. Katakatakatakatakatak. He typed. Shigure's life was filled with house noises. In summer they were faint and mingled with the incessant hum of nearby cicadas, in autumn the wind blew against the windows and in winter the snow muffled it all, except for the gurgling of the central heating. But now, it was spring.
The writer opened the window to smell the sweet of spring. The aroma of things waking, stirring, the smell of hope and the beginning of things.
"Spring, when a young man's thoughts turn to love" he said to himself.
It was a ritual. Some years he actually did go out and pursue a person worth loving, or at least try. The again, not everyone had the same idea when it came to defining love. Especially since in this case, the dog wilfully misunderstood it to be something more like "when a young man's thoughts turn to making love."
But now he was getting on in years, the fire, while being far from gone, didn't course through his bones quite as violently and he didn't get as much pleasure from being flirtatious all the time.
There was one thing though, that still tickled his senses as much as it always had, and that was the desire of forbidden things.
"Good morning Shigure-san. There's a pot of tea on the table for you and I'll bring breakfast right away."
"Thank you Tohru-kun."
He was about to go to the table where the two rivals already sat, one wolfing down his food, although he was a cat, the other elegantly performing the task of transferring food from the plate to his mouth, rather like a crane or some other long-beaked bird.
"Tell me, what do you think of when I say "Spring" to you, my dear Tohru-kun?" Shigure said with a slaloming smiling tone.
She paused in the doorway, still holding the writer's bowl and plate.
"Well, in spring flowers grow, baby animals are born and the sun starts warming my skin again." She said, finishing with a smile.
The dog responded with a smile as well and nodded his thanks. As he sat down to eat. As he moved to cross his legs, he gently took care to brush Kyo's knee in a way that would seem accidental. The cat turned, looked up, but seeing Shigure concentrating on breaking apart his chopsticks, decided it was nothing. Hmm.
Kyo stared at his feet in the bathtub. He could hear a bird chirping on a tree branch outside. Being a cat, this always put him in the mood to chase. He could just imagine the flurry of wings, the little heart beating as fast as it could, the rustling dry feeling of feathers in his mouth and the extatic joy of feeling the small life expire between his little pointy teeth. He shook himself. He actually liked birds, and he certainly wouldn't want to eat one raw. Furthermore, he disliked the fact that there was a certain ugly cruelty in his enjoying the idea of killing something defenceless. He wasn't only a cat… Why would he enjoy bathing if he were?
Kyo pulled his knees to his chest. He was troubled. He had been for quite a while. He had thought nothing of it when it started and to be honest, how could he, after all, he had been quite young at the time. Around the age of ten, as far as he could remember, he who was the cat-monster, he whom no one wanted to touch had had a strangely physical relationship with Shigure (A/N: no, get your minds out of the gutter, it's not what you think…) Despite not seeing his older cousin more than about five times a year, he had always enjoyed playing with him. Rough play that involved hitting the teenage dog in the stomach, rolling around in the grass with him, hanging onto his neck while he spun the young cat around, all those thing that normal children did, but that hardly any Soumas could.
Shigure had always welcomed Kyo and probably, he thought, enjoyed messing around too, but suddenly, everything had stopped. Kyo had become a young man and it didn't seem right to "play". Deep inside though, the cat had felt that there was an essential part of that friendship missing. Since the start of spring, he had found himself dreaming of those sunlit days of rolling around on the grass and when he woke up, ashamed as he was, he still craved it. So when little things like the morning's incident happened, Kyo couldn't help hoping for it to be some kind of invitation to play again, as stupid as it might sound.
Knock knock.
"Kyo, you've been in there for an hour. I'd like to have my bath before the day is over if possible, or is Tohru-kun in there with you?"
Klunk.
"Ne, Yuki, you didn't have to hit me that hard." The author whined.
"Grunt." Was all Kyo gave for an answer. He was about to get out of the tub when Shigure came into the bathroom.
"You won't mind if I hide in here until Yuki doesn't feel like he has to hit me every time he gets the occasion, hmm?" Shigure grinned.
Kyo didn't move for a second. His first reaction was to splash water onto the grinning dog who, having gotten over the initial shock, splashed back. A boyish sort of laugh escaped Kyo as he emptied the soap dish and used it to literally shovel water onto his cousin who fought back by pulling the plug and starting the cold shower over the other's head. Suddenly they stopped and just stared at each other.
"We're in trouble, aren't we?" Shigure said, a conspiratorial look playing about his features.
Suddenly, he wasn't Shigure the writer, he was nineteen-year-old "'Gure", the college student and friend.
"I guess we should mop up this mess." Kyo suggested.
That evening, as he sat on the roof, Kyo smiled quietly. The air was sweet, smelling like pollen and resting life, ready to wake up in a few hours. He was tired, but he still wanted to enjoy his calm sense of happiness. Shigure had played with him. He felt like hitting himself on the head for secretly liking it so much. He felt light and at the same time hungry, starved by some unacknowledged longing. He would never admit, never voice it, but he was beginning to sense that what bound him to his cousin was actually more serious than he thought.
"But I don't have to think about it until the next time I see him." Kyo thought.
And so, he stayed alone with the stars and the gaze of two unseen canine brown eyes.
End of Chapter one.