Bad Ideas Gone Wrong Productions presents

"For Once, Shigure is Innocent"

A Fruits Basket fanfiction by Geoduck

Blank page. Blinking cursor.

It was the dread of every writer. He had pages to fill, but no idea what to put on the pages. He was blocked.

He scrunched his eyes closed. There had to be some ideas in his brain somewhere. He just needed a way of getting them out and flowing.

He had tried all his usual tricks—running in place, making (and eating) a slice of buttered toast, brushing his teeth, smoking a cancer stick. Nothing worked.

Idly rolling his head around, he noticed a box of playing cards on his cluttered writing table. When did he put those there?

Oh, that must have been the time that Tohru-kun had invited her friends over for her little slumber party.

He opened the box and pulled the cards out.

"Hmm... maybe, a card game? That's a start. How should it go?"

He heard some noise coming from downstairs. Tohru-kun must have arrived home. But it would just be the two of them, for awhile, at least. Kyo would be at the dojo, and Yuki had student council duties.

Maybe Tohru-kun could help.

Tohru happily hummed as she collected her laundry from the clothesline. There was ironing to do, then dinner, then to start on Kyo and Yuki's laundry. She had time to do so much housekeeping on the usual day off from her job!

As she entered the house, her arms full of clothes, Shigure came down the stairs and looked at her beseechingly: "Could Tohru-kun do me a favor, please?"

Tohru beamed. "Of course! What do you need?"

He held up the box of cards. "I'm writing a card-playing scene in the novel I'm writing, but I'm stuck on ideas right now. Could you play a game or two with me? I think it would really jog my inspiration if we did."

"I would be happy to, Shigure-san." She set the laundry down on the table. "Let me just get the iron heated up. We can play a game or two, then I'll do the ironing. What game is it, by the way? I don't know many card games for just two people. There's 'Old Maid'..."

"In the story, I think I'll have the characters playing poker. I can teach you draw poker pretty easily, though."

Tohru smiled. "Sure!" and left the room on her errand.

Humming, Shigure shuffled the cards in his hand. "Better clear some room off this table," he thought aloud, and moved the clothes that Tohru had set there. "These are all Tohru-kun's clothes? Does she wash everyone's clothes separately? I never noticed."

Yuki walked into the room, looking at Shigure with a wary eye. "What are you muttering about? I heard you say 'Tohru' just now."

"Hmm? Oh, I'm teaching Tohru-kun how to play poker," Shigure answer offhandedly.

Yuki looked down at the laundry on the table. A school uniform skirt. A blouse. A brassiere. He opened his eyes wide and stared at Shigure. The available evidence could point at only one solution. "You son of a bitch!"

Suddenly registering what the situation looked like ('Debauched author preys on and deflowers innocent maiden') Shigure waved his hands in denial. "Wait, wait, it's not what you think! It's just a number of harmless coincidences, all conspiring together to make me look like a pervert!"

That was when he realized that in moving Tohru's clothes aside, he had unconsciously picked up one garment: in his left hand, he held a pristine, white pair of panties.

And it was at that point when Kyo came in.

'This is not good,' Shigure thought, with remarkable prescience.

Afterwards, when Tohru had explained everything, they all had a good laugh about what had happened. Except Shigure, who was still in a lot of physical pain.

Of course, what hurt even more was that, even after finding out that it really was a misunderstanding, that the boys hadn't apologized for beating him senseless.

He had even heard Kyo mutter that even though Shigure wasn't guilty this time, he probably still deserved getting beaten up for vile perversions that they didn't even know about.

And what hurt the most: knowing Kyo was right.

END

This story is a hybrid of a couple of things. First, a drabble challenge from PocketxFullxOfxDreams entitled "Family Game Night." Secondly, the idea for a story where Shigure is beat, but for once he is innocent.

Hope you enjoyed it!