It's a first! My first fic that takes on Ayame more than it does Yuki. O_O I was watching Harry Potter, and the scene where Harry's mother died sort of inspired this. Because the kid's sitting in his crib and no one cares or picks him up. There were reasons in the movie, but I thought, 'What if Yuki's life as an infant was something like that?' And it spawned this. Now obviously, I can't write a story from POV of a baby, which is originally why I decided that I was going to write from Ayame's head. As it turns out, I like it this way much better.
Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket or its characters. All copyright goes Natsuki Takaya and I make no profit from this work.
Ayame was, needless to say, annoyed. He didn't particularly care what his parents did or didn't do. After all, the less attention his parets paid to him the more freedom he had.
His mother had given up on him seven months ago after the birth of his new brother, Yuki. She'd tried before that. Tried to make him into something she was proud of, but the Snake could ever be as prestigious as the Rat.
To her, Yuki was a gift given straight to her as a way to make herself something more. But he was also self-sustaining gift that she seemed to think didn't need an ounce care from her.
But really! Was it necessary? Only yesterday they'd brought the sickly child back from the hospital. Again. And now, he was left in his crib to cry without either of their parents paying him any mind at all.
It was irritating. Here he was, working diligently on his art project (it was going to be the best in his class, he was sure) and Yuki had to cry!
Ayame sighed, getting up from the table where his supplies were spread out and went over to his mother, who was lying on the couch with earplugs in and sleeping mask on.
He pulled on her shoulder. "Motherrr. Could you please keep him quiet?"
She pushed him away, saying, "Let him cry. He'll go to sleep eventually; he's fine."
Honestly, Ayame wasn't sure what she could do for the baby without turning him into his Zodiac form, but she should at least care, shouldn't she? Shouldn't it concern a mother if her child was crying?
But it didn't and he knew it. There were so many days that Yuki was left to cry for hours or until he fell asleep without anyone bothering to pick him up and hold him or at least try to calm him down.
Ayame looked at the crib stationed on the far side of the room and the small child within, his small gathering of silver hair almost invisible against his scalp. Fine. Let his parents be miserable excuses for human beings. He, for one, wasn't going to be. Besides, if it would keep him quiet it would be worth it.
Ayame walked over, looking down at his screaming brother. "Would it be too troublesome for you to consider calming down?"
Yuki blinked, his cries stuttering to a halt briefly before he started up again, reaching out his tiny hands to Ayame.
Ayame grimaced. He hated babies. He didn't like the way they looked or the way they always seemed to smell like baby powder… and well, babies. Despite that, he reached down and in to pick up his brother.
How was one supposed to hold a baby? And what if he ended up making him sick again if he did it wrong? The few times he hadn't been able to stay with Shigure or Hatori when Yuki had been in the hospital and had been forced to go as well, it seemed that the nurses (who had interesting uniforms, he thought) had always held the other infants' heads. They hadn't held Yuki, of course. Only male nurses and doctors were permitted to care for him.
Well, they knew what they were doing. Ayame carefully supported Yuki's head and held him close before sitting down in a nearby chair. "There. See?" he said. "You're fine. You can stop making a racket now."
Yuki squirmed a little, but with a hand against Ayame's neck, he went quiet, the only sound afterwards being a quick small-sounding cough.
Ayame felt him take a deep breath, his tiny chest expanding and then shrinking. He looked up at Ayame, his eyes, lavender at birth but now a deep amethyst were wide and had only a few tears still clinging to his surprisingly long eyelashes.
"What?" Ayame asked. "I'm holding you, aren't I? Shouldn't that satisfy you?"
Yuki let out a small baby giggle. It was the first time Ayame had ever heard it, and the sound was a little shocking.
…And almost adorable.
What was not adorable was when he suddenly grabbed at Ayame's hair with his fists, still giggling.
"Hey, don't do that. My hair is irreplaceable, so don't pull on it."
A new voice interrupted them. "What are you doing?"
Ayame looked up to see their mother looking at him with a confused face.
"I told you that he would fall asleep, didn't I?"
"But he wants to be cared for. You aren't going to do it, so I have to." Ayame looked at his mother without emotion. "You just missed his first laugh. Who knows if you're ever going to hear it."
"How dare you!"
Yuki turned at the sound of her voice, reaching out his arms to her, looking like he might cry again.
She looked at him with disdain before turning away and leaving the room.
Yuki looked back at Ayame, the traces of what a few seconds ago was going to be another outburst of tears disappearing as he looked at his brother. With a toothless grin he reached out to yank on Ayame's hair again.
"I told you that you weren't allowed to do that," Ayame said, gently prying his hair out of Yuki's grasp before smiling.
Yay Ayaa-san! This fanfic, by the way, doesn't change the way the way thier relationship ended up. To me, Ayame only brushed Yuki away when he was young because he was so lost in his little "Ayame World". He doesn't want anything that will disrupt his fantasies and dreams. Helping Yuki would have done that.
Question: "Where was Yuki and Ayame's father in this story?"
Answer: He was at work or just not at home. I imagine as being absentee in general, since he doesn't have a single panel in the manga. His job probably has him traveling and away from home most of the time.
Also, for those who read If Normal People Knew, I have to apologize. I posted the wrong document under the title. So if you read the story and it was about events after Kyo and Tohru's wedding *weeps* and Yuki spoke French, then know that you should go back and read it again. The summary will make much more sense if you do. (And you should go to my profile and read the full story of Strawberries and Daisies. You read the Part II already, but you'll probably enjoy Part I of that story).
Now then, please review! What did you think? Wasn't Yuki adorable? And how about the thing with pulling Ayame's precious hair? Thoughts and criticisms are welcomed! Please tell me anything you'd like to!