Everything Is Not What It Seems, a fruits basket fanfic

Hey guys, I know that I'm supposed to be working on Puppy Tears and Shigure's Second Curse but, I can't help having these ideas ;_; This one will probably only have a couple of chapters, maybe 3 or 4 and I've already planned most of it out so, hopefully the story will be updated quicker than my other one's... Anyway, remember to review this chapter and follow and favourite (but especially review)! Thanks for your support! Enjoy! Or don't...

By the way, I know Ayame's employee is called "Mine" and her nickname is spelt "Me" but, to avoid confusion I've spelt it "Miine" and "Mii", hope that helps!

Oh, and sorry, I did finish it Tuesday night but to be honest, I really couldn't be bothered to proof read and edit until now ;u; apologises, apologises...

Disclaimer: Still don't own anything but the story line and the attacker.

WARNING: This story will contain content with a sexual harassment and an abusive storyline throughout, including a scene about halfway through this chapter and flashbacks that will come into other chapters!

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"Are you sure you want to do this Ayame?" Hatori said, standing in front of Akito's room door, feeling anxious at the possible outcomes.

Aya and Miine had been dating since the curse broke months ago though, the attraction had been there for years so it only took months before Ayame decided the time was right and popped the question and proposing in the most dramatic but romantic way his imagination could come up with, nothing more, nothing less.

So it was only natural that Hatori was worried. He'd approved of the two's relationship as soon as he'd been told with no hesitation. He'd seen the way Ayame had changed for the better, how his smiles and laughs had become more genuine and sincere. He'd seen how happy his friend had become as his relationship with Miine blossomed so, when he had mentioned the engagement, all he could think about was what had happened between him and Kana. How happy he himself had been before he had discussed the engagement with Akito and how things only went downhill from there. He didn't want the same thing to happen to one of his few close friends and, with the Aya and Miine standing metres from the head of the family, divided by nothing but a wall, Hatori was, well, worried.

His eyebrows were furrowed and anxiety showed in his eyes, a rare moment of insight into his emotions. His posture was tense and rigid, memories of his horror replaying and thoughts for Aya echoing.

"She's changed, Hatori," Ayame said quietly, looking at his feet and smiling nervously. "Things are going to be different this time." He lifted his head and looked to his right, staring into Miine's coffee eyes, filled with excitement, nervousness and anticipation. She hadn't said a word apart from a small, simple greeting she gave to Hatori before following the two into the intimidating, large building which only went to show how scared she was.

Aya smiled at her, trying to reassure them both and slightly squeezed her hand.

Hatori had watched the silent interaction between the two his stomach clench with concern and worry. "God Ayame, it better be."

The door they'd been standing outside of opened and revealed one of the older servants emerging. Her soft skin was wrinkled with age, her chocolate eyes kind and laughing, her smile calm and soothing. The atmosphere lightened, if she could walk out of that room looking as calm and happy as she did, Akito couldn't be in that bad of a mood, right?

"Akito-san is ready to see you now." She said, moving from the door to allow them access. She saw the distress in their eyes, especially the the eyes of the young lady so decided to try to lift some of the uneasiness.

Looking directly into Miine's eyes, she smiled and winked. "Don't worry, she's not angry from what I can tell." She said softly, tucking a strand of long white hair behind her ears where it had strayed from the long braid that fell to her hips.

Miine chuckled quietly and Ayame's smile brightened at the comment, it gave them a lot of relief but, it would take a lot more than that to relax Hatori.

"Thank you very much," he looked over to Miine and offered her his smile. "Let's go, Mii-kun, it's now or never."

Hand in hand, the two held their breath as they walked into the room and their eyes instantly met with Akito's eager grey ones.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

It had been an hour since the two had walked into Akito's room and started the conversation with him and were now leaving. As Aya closed the door and looked forward, the first thing he saw was Hatori... smiling!? It was obvious that he knew that Akito had approved of their marriage by his relaxed position, broad smile and the fact that he had not instantly started interrogating the couple as soon as the door had closed.

"How did you know?" Aya said, returning the smile and stepping closer. He knew the walls were thin but they weren't that thin that he could hear their entire conversation.

"I didn't hear a vase break..." The Dragon whispered, pulling him into a hug, sighing in relief.

When Aya and Miine had walked into that godforsaken room and closed the door, trapping themselves in there without Hatori's protection, the Dragon could not recall ever feeling that terrified for someone's safety since Kana. The fact that one of his closest and only friends had come out unscathed and smiling with his fiancee was enough for him to give into the overwhelming relief and hug him.

Once it had ended, Hatori walked over to Miine who was smiling gleefully as he bowed his head to her. Her short black braided ponytails flew behind her as she ran towards him, pulling him into a hug and giggling.

"Congratulations Miine Kuramae, you now have the head of our family's blessing to marry this fool. I, along with the rest of this family, look forward to officially welcoming you."

"Thank you very much!" She said before laughing.

When she had finally let go of Hatori and looked towards Aya, her giggle had only just subsided. She regarded the two's confused but happy expression and spoke. "It's just that, after all this time... we can finally tie the knot." She punctuated the end of her sentence with a content sigh.

"Now, my precious Mii-kun, let's go plan that extravagant wedding dress!" Aya said, back to his usual cheery and silly self that Hatori knew so well.

The Dragon furrowed his eyebrows at his words. "Isn't it bad luck for the groom to see the bride's dress before she walks down the aisle?" Of course he was sure of it, Kana had told him about it enough times.

"Yes, yes, I know, I'm only helping with the basics of it, you know, fitting the fabric and whatnot. After that, I'll leave her to it, I know how creative she can get when she's inspired and working individually!"

Ayame was happy, extremely so. Hatori and everyone around him realised that he was always happy within the first thirty seconds of them meeting however, this was different, this time his happiness meant a lot more.

"Alright Aya, Miine-san, I hope to see the happy couple soon."

"Bye Tori-san!"

"Goodbye Hatori-san!"

The two skipped off, hand in hand and smiling, chatting about details for their upcoming wedding and playfully arguing about the trivial things.

Hatori smiled to himself just watching the pair before looking down and walking towards his room.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"She really gave you her blessing..?" Shigure said down the phone.

It was about 10 pm and Aya had finally called him to give him a detailed description of what had happened earlier. Of course Ayame would've called earlier, maybe as soon as he'd left the main house but, the couple had went to celebrate straight after and only got home twenty minutes ago.

"Yup!" Ayame was ecstatic about the whole ordeal and had been extra hyper for the whole afternoon. He was sitting at home on their sofa while Miine took a bath.

Shigure was truly happy for the couple, he didn't know if he would've been able to control his anger if anything had happened to either of them, especially Aya. He breathed a sigh of relief at what had come from the quick meeting between the three.

"That's absolutely amazing Aya! Wanna go out for lunch tomorrow so I can celebrate with you?"

"Oh... Sorry Shigure, I can't, I already promised Mii-kun I'd spend the day at home with her relaxing."

"Oh, that's fine, after all you've been through, I wouldn't be surprised if you slept for days haha. How about the day after?" He said in the hopes that he had nothing planned.

"I have a client in a morning then I'm helping Miine with her dress then we're going out for dinner,"

"Wednesday?"

"Going out to look for wedding decorations."

"Thursday..?" His voice was getting strained and he was starting to feel rather disappointed.

"I don't think we can go out any time this week Shigure, I'm quite busy helping Mii-kun, you know." Ayame said, smiling at the though of getting to spend the whole week helping his beloved

The person on the other side of the phone wasn't as happy as he was though. Instead, he was frowning at the lack of time he'd been spending with his best friend lately.

"You know, ever since the curse broke, you haven't really been making an effort to spend time with me..."

"Yeah, I know," Ayame admitted. "But I can't do much about that Shigure, I have Miine and I need to look after her and help her out."

"I know but you're with her every moment of every day!" Shigure snapped. He didn't lose his patience very often, especially not with Aya.

"Shigure, she's my fiance!"

"So what am I..?" He said sadly down the line.

"..."

There was silence, nobody said a word which only hurt Shigure that much more. Little did he know, Ayame was hurt just as much. He knew he'd been neglecting his friend lately but, he couldn't help it! He was just so excited, he'd loved Miine ever since they started working together and now that the curse was broken, there was no limit to the affection he could show her! He just so badly wanted to give Miine his love, he'd forgotten to give Shigure some as well.

"Shigure... I... I'm sorry..." He finally said.

"Not as much as I am Aya..." He hung up the phone before Ayame could speak another word to him. He didn't want to be so needy but, it's who he was. He had been the dog for almost three decades and dog's need attention, right?

He sighed and stood up, walking from the hall and towards the stairs, bumping into Tohru who was carrying a basket of laundry that needed to be washed.

"I'm sorry Shigure-san!" She said, bowing her head in apology.

He chuckled lightly and said "It's okay, that was mainly my fault, let me help with that." He plucked the basket from her hands, picking up the few items of clothing that had fallen to the floor.

"Thank you very much!" She said, smiling as she followed behind Shigure.

"So, where did Kyo and Yuki run off to so they could avoid chores..?"

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"Mii-kun! What would you like for lunch? I'm going to that new sushi restaurant!" Ayame called from the backroom where he was currently pulling his coat on.

"Uhh, fatty tuna please!" She said. She was sitting on the sofa and ticking things off of the list of the supplies she needed for the store and her dress.

"Of course my dear, I'll be back back as soon as possible."

Aya walked into the front room of the shop and towards the coach, placing a soft kiss on her forehead as she concentrated on what she needed to order.

"Come back safely." She said, lifting her head to look into his vibrant green eyes and smile sweetly.

He tucked a coil of her jet black her behind her ears, chuckling lightly "I love you, beautiful." He whispered into her ear, placing another soft kiss on her cheek.

Not many people saw this softer, kinder and more considerate and loving side of him as well as his silly and hyper side, and she was more than happy that she got to see both of them everyday.

He gave her one last smile before walking to the door, letting it shut quietly before he dashed to the sushi restaurant.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"Ugh, I don't even know if we have enough netting to make more than one full underskirt... Guess I'll go check." Miine mumbled to herself. She unfolded her legs from beneath her and stood up, leaving the clipboard, notebook and pen on the coach, walking into the backroom.

Just as she entered the room, the man that had been watching her from the bench outside for the past ten minutes, decided to make his move. He looked around to make sure nobody was watching, the few people littering the sidewalk too absorbed in their own trivial activities to take notice of the normal-looking man getting up and walking into a shop.

Once inside, he crept over to the entrance that led into the other room and stood next to the door so that when Mine opened the door to come back in, it would block her sight of him.

And that's exactly what happened. Miine, realising they really didn't have enough netting, pushed open the door so she could return to the sofa and jot down approximately how much she'd need and how much it would cost but, before she could even take a few steps, an arm wrapped around her throat, putting her into a headlock from behind and effectively restraining her. He wrapped his other hand around her eyes after pulling off her glasses and tossing them to the floor. It was only once she started to claw at his arm and scream did he move his hands from her eyes and down to her mouth, cutting off her scream to a strangled gurgle.

What's happening?! Who is this?!

He half dragged her back to where the sofa was before squeezing her throat and making her arms fall to her side. His breathing was heavy as the adrenaline pumped through his veins, this was it, this was what he'd been waiting for every since he took one look at her weeks ago.

He quickly pulled a strip of fabric from his pocket and fumbling around before managing to tie it around her eyes. She started to struggle again, blindly clawing at the air until he pushed her to the floor, rolled her onto her back and straddled her.

Miine opened her mouth to scream for help but only a guttural groan escaped past lips as another piece of fabric was tied around her mouth. The man sat on her stomach as he caught her wrist and pinned them above her head. Her quick and deep laboured breaths made him move up and down slightly. She was panicking and scared, she couldn't even scream, only tears falling down her cheeks.

Great, now the fun can really begin..!

He smiled down at the struggling sobbing girl beneath him with a sick sense of accomplishment and satisfaction then, decided to start the action.

He put both of her wrists in one of his hands, resting the other on her right thigh.

She gasped sharply and turned her head to the side, sobbing harder as she felt his rough fingertips trail further up her leg. "Please stop!" She tried to yell but doubted he heard anything more than a muffled plea.

Miine could feel her heart beat rapidly, growing faster and faster, the loud beats reverberating throughout her body, her breath coming out in quick, ragged gasps.

The man's hand stopped when it reached the very top of her thigh, his fingers playing with the lace of her underwear, savoring the moment.

Just to make it even more fun...

He moved his hand away from her leg and to her throat, applying pressure as she started to trash around wildly. After a while, her movements became sluggish until they had finally stopped.

It was only a minute later, when his hands were back on her thighs lazily roaming, that Shigure walked into the shop.

"Aya, I'm sorry about..." His voice trailed off as he looked to the left and saw a man, at least twice his age, sitting on Miine's unmoving body with fabric wrapped around both her eyes and mouth. The man had two hands on her legs under her dress and drool dripping from his mouth that had formed a twisted smile.

Something in Shigure clicked and he pulled the man off of Miine, trying to tackle him onto the floor successfully. Though the man put up more of a fight than he had expected and punched Shigure's stomach, causing him to stumble backwards. Shigure doesn't go down that easily though and, while the man stood there, basking in the glory of having landed a hit and taking a glance behind him to Miine, the dog leapt forward, effectively knocking both of them to the ground, with him on top, straddling the attacker.

The man beneath him moved and struggled to break free. He managed to pull his arm from Shigure's grip and scratch his face. Ignoring it, Shigure tried to maintain his dominant position by trying to keep the attacker down.

After more struggling, the man pulled at Shigure's robe making one side slip to his shoulder, doing anything he could to try and shift the power.

The dog was breathing heavily, as he tried to fight the man who had been hurting Miine. He had no idea what had happened so far or what was really going on, all he knew was that he had to get this man away, knock him out or at least put up a fight and improvise.

Startled by a movement by Miine, who was mere meters away, Shigure faltered for some moment which was enough time for the man to roll over, switching their positions.

Unluckily, the man was a lot heavier than Shigure had anticipated and his arms were trapped beneath the attackers strong legs. He was immobilized.

The man smirked at this and quickly slid his hand under Shigure's navy robe, cold fingers connecting with his bare thigh, slowly moving upwards.

Shigure froze and all colour drained from his face. He was suddenly wriggling from side to side under the restraint of the man's body, trying in vain to knock him off.

He quickly dragged his nails down Shigure's thigh in a sharp motion, making red lines quickly appear and earning a yelp from the dog but, knowing better than to stay here and struggle, jumped up and made a run for the door, escaping into the warmth of midday before breaking into a sprint.

Shigure lay there for a minute, regaining and calming his breath. He was shaken to say the least, having walking in on Miine, not only his friend but his best friend's fiance, unconscious and being sexually attacked by some man in his late fifties. Not only that but, he'd also been pinned down by him and... well, for a moment he thought the man would do the same thing he did to Miine, to him. He could still feel those cold, rough fingers gliding up his thigh and his sharp nails running down it. It brought back a lot of painful memories.

His breath hitched and a lump formed in his throat, tears brimming at his eyes at what it had reminded him of.

But another few movements from Miine was all the prompting he needed to burst into action. Ignoring the sting from a particularly deep scratch he'd gotten which had turned into a pink welt with tiny beads of red forming and the four running down his thigh, he got up on shaky limbs and crawled over to Miine, kneeling by her side and putting a hand on either side of her head to keep him balanced.

Slowly, her eyes opened and the first thing she saw was a smiling Shigure with a few scratches on his face and, one or two on his neck. With the trauma fresh in her mind, she opened her mouth and let out an ear-spillting scream just as Ayame walked in. Her Ayame that would protect her.

Miine?! Shigure?

The snake dropped the bag containing their sushi and ran to the two shaken forms.

"What are you doing?!" He yelled, pushing Shigure away from his fiance.

The first thing he'd seen when he had walked in was his best friend over his fiance who had just screamed. Not only was her dress raised up to her thigh, showing off the lace trim of her underwear but, Shigure's robe had fallen from one shoulder and the shop looked trashed. That, along with the fact that Shigure had scratches on his face and Mine was crying, pointed to few possible explanations and Aya couldn't help but feel like of all of them, the worst case scenario was the most plausible.

"Mii-kun! Are you alright darling?" With Shigure pushed to one side, Aya had sat Mii up and pulled her into a hug, cradling her as he rocked back and forth to sooth her cries.

Of course she's not okay.

"He tried to..." She whispered, her voice hoarse and broken

Aya eyed Shigure warily then looked down to his hysterical fiance before replying. "He tried to what Mii-kun?"

"He... H-He tried to rape me..." She said, before breaking down in her lover's arm, crying and shaking uncontrollably.

Both Aya and Shigure had paled at the statement, their eyes growing wide and their mouths slightly agape.

The snake held Miine tightly before turning his head to look at the dog, his eyes shining with an unidentifiable emotion.

"She's just confused and disoriented Aya! I can explain! Please let me-"

"Out." Ayame said, his voice low and dangerous. Miine had started crying harder and louder when Shigure had started speaking so it was the only thing he could ask his friend to do. "We'll talk later Shigure but, right now I need you to get the hell out."

Shigure considered staying and trying to explain things further but decided against it seeing that his presence was only upsetting her more and also because he could sense the anger among the many other emotions Aya was feeling and, making Aya angry was never a good idea. He pulled his robe back onto his shoulder, bowed his head and left quietly leaving an angered but confused snake to comfort his sobbing fiance. He cradled her in his arms, whispering sweet words into her ears and repeatedly kissing her disheveled black hair softly until she fell asleep in his arms from exhaustion. He picked her up bridal-style and carried her upstairs and into their spacious apartment, gently laying her on their bed before joining her.

He wrapped his arms around her, staring at her sleeping face before laying one last kiss of her cheek and whispering "I love you." Looking up to the ceiling, deep in thought, his heart felt heavy and his mind swirled as he planned out the conversation he'd need to have with Hatori.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Voila! Hope you liked it! Only two or three chapters to go! What memories do you think it brought back to Shigure? What will Aya and Hatori think and do? How is Shigure feeling? That, shall be answered in the next chapter but, I seriously will not bother writing it if I don't get enough reviews... Well, ciao!