Title: Bunnies
Author: kira
Pairing: Ban/Jak
Rating: K+
Summary: Jakotsu finds some baby bunnies...
Disclaimer: Don't own them; wish if I did...
Warnings: none
Word count: 1,093
Author's note: mochi is a Japanese rice cake made of glutinous rice pounded into a paste and then molded into shape.
Unlike westerners, Japanese people like to say there's a rabbit on the moon that pounds rice into mochi, while westerners say the shadows and craters make the face of the man in the moon.
888
Jakotsu walked through the small courtyard garden just outside their sleeping quarters towards the hydrangeas. They were just leafing out, a process that seemed to take forever in his humble opinion. No matter how often he checked on them, they were nowhere near ready to bloom. Sighing softly, he flopped down in the grass. Grow, damn it! he mentally swore at them. At least the grass is soft...he thought, a slight smile tugging at his lips. He reached behind himself and got a bit of a shock when the grass squeaked. Moving his hand away, Jakotsu rolled over onto his hands and knees. He crawled forward, looking for the source of the squeaking. There, in a dug out hollow, was a nest of baby bunnies.
Delighted with his find, Jakotsu took off a sandal, and leaving it behind to mark the spot, he went over to the butterfly sculpture that Renkotsu had made for the garden. Pulling it out of the ground, the eighteen year old hurried back, carefully sticking it in the ground to mark spot where the rabbit nest was. As much as he would have liked to remain there all day, watching the baby bunnies sleep, he figured it was better if he left them alone.
"Bye, baby bunnies," he said softly as he got up to go. "Sleep well."
888
Jakotsu checked on them everyday and as much as he wanted to pick them up and play with them, he left them alone. He did, however, move his hand as close to them as he dared, letting the baby bunnies sniff him, their tiny noses twitching. It was enough to get them used to him as they tolerated his presence remarkably well once their eyes had opened. By then they were so used to him that he was able to share a few of last fall's apples with them. Even their mother enjoyed them, once Jakotsu had retreated far enough away.
Unfortunately, they viewed his fellow comrades-in-arms as predators out to swoop down upon them when they least expected it. So while Bankotsu was unable to get close to them, he did enjoy the sight of his paramour lying on his stomach in the grass with the young bunnies clustered around him. He was also there when a fox took one of the bunnies home as food for its kits. He held Jakotsu as the older boy cried his eyes out over the loss of his "pet."
"I'm okay now, Aniki-chan," Jakotsu said as he sat up and wiped his face.
"You sure?" Bankotsu asked, his paramour nodding in reply. "Then let's go, it's almost dinner time."
The eighteen year old shrugged.
"You've got to eat something, Sweetness."
"I know but I'm not very hungry..."
"Please?" the younger boy pleaded. "If you get sick, then who's going to look after them? They won't let anyone near them but you."
Jakotsu smiled. "Yeah, they do seem to like me, hunh?"
"That they do, so come on, let's go!"
Giggling, the eighteen year old threw an arm around his young lover. "What are you waiting for?"
"You..."Bankotsu teased as they started walking back.
888
Jakotsu looked down at his the plate. The smell of roast rabbit wafted up, and instead of making his mouth water, he promptly lost his appetite. Without saying a word, the cross-dresser got up and quietly left.
"Oo-Aniki?" Suikotsu looked up at him, a worried expression on his face.
Bankotsu sighed as he stood up. "You know those rabbits in courtyard garden?"
"Say no more..."
"We'll save you something to eat. Now go," Renkotsu added.
The young leader of the Shichinintai nodded briefly, before hurrying after his paramour. He found Jakotsu, sitting on the low veranda just outside their sleeping quarters, staring out into the garden. The rabbits were nibbling on the grass in the fading sunlight. Sitting down next to him, Bankotsu wordlessly held his arm out. Smiling wanly, Jakotsu leaned into him. They simply sat there, watching the sunset, occasionally looking out in the garden at the bunnies that were rapidly leaving their babyhood behind them.
"Sweetness...?"
"Yeah...?"
"One day they're going to leave here cuz they're not really pets."
"I know, Aniki-chan," Jakotsu said softly.
"And when they do leave, they'll grow old and die or something will eat them."
The eighteen year old nodded.
"It might even be you, but I think the rabbit would be happy knowing it's filling your belly."
"You think so?"
"Uh-hunh... And when they die, their spirits go to help Usagi-san make mochi on the moon."
Jakotsu looked up at him and smiled. Feeling better, he shifted slightly and kissed the younger boy's cheek. "Let's go eat; I'm hungry."
Bankotsu grinned back at him. "Okay." He stood, and holding out his hands for Jakotsu to take, he pulled his paramour to his feet.
"Thanks!" the older boy said cheekily, his lover snorting in amusement. Throwing an arm across Bankotsu's shoulders, they made their way back to the dining hall.
888
Jakotsu got up and stood in the open doorway, his naked body silhouetted in the moonlight.
"Where you going?" Bankotsu whispered in the darkness.
"I want to go see if Usa-chan is helping Usagi-san make mochi tonight," the cross-dresser impishly replied.
Picking up his paramour's sleeping kimono, Bankotsu balled it up and threw it at him.
"Hey!"
"Get dressed and I'll come with you." The younger boy crawled off their futon, and grabbing his sleeping kimono, he stood up and shrugged into it. He padded softly over to his paramour.
Jakotsu had followed suit, and stepping out into the night, they looked up at the moon. It hung big and full and bright in the sky.
"Look," the older boy said as he pointed up at the moon. "I think I see him, Aniki-chan."
"Yeah?"
"Yup. Usa-chan just took the mochi out of the barrel so that they can shape it into little round cakes." Jakotsu smiled at his young lover and pulled him close. Resting his cheek on the top of Bankotsu's head, he sighed softly.
"You okay?" the younger boy asked softly.
"Yeah..." the eighteen year old murmured in reply. Thanks for making me feel better, Aniki-chan..."Let's go back inside and get some sleep," Jakotsu said, letting go of the younger boy, and stepping back.
"Sounds good to me..." the younger boy quipped, and taking his paramour's hand, they walked back inside.
In one of the gardens on the other side of the mansion they called their home base, the mother rabbit gave birth to another litter of bunnies...