Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in Fruit Basket.

Attention: This fiction contains a little of boy x boy sex and some torture. It's a bit confusing or so my beta commented since I took liberties with the timeline and age of the characters. I even changed the gender of Akito since I like him better as a guy. The main reason is because I only watch the anime, never read the manga yet. Hehe. So if you don't like it. Don't read it.

Summary: Ayame always looked so happy and confident. But what if he is not? What if he is just as if not even more tormented on the inside like every other Juunishi? Would he be able to survive the torment or would he crumble? HatorixShigurexAyame, KyouxYuki, maybe others.

Prologue

The moment my eyes connected with eerie dark ones, my simple mind froze. No matter if Gure and Tori was there with me. My little body just shook with instinctive fear and dread. My hands clung desperately at the other two palms in fear as cold sweat swept through my spine.

Eyes that brought forth all my childish nightmares, all the monsters in closets and under the bed. Eyes of everlasting darkness and night. Eyes that withheld too much wisdom. Wisdom of millennia. Wisdom that an innocent new born should not have.

Those intelligent eyes narrowed down on me. They scrutinised and judged, weighing my worth. Then, for a moment, it gleamed with malice. My body did another involuntary shook.

His eyes. Evil and malicious. That was the first impression of our god. Our saviour. Or to my own private opinion, our true curse and doom.

But Tori and Gure never sensed anything out of the ordinary when they first laid eyes on him. All they saw was a cute and cuddling baby. They never noticed the unusual amount of intelligence the bewitching eyes held. They saw the great saviour, the god who would loved all of us Juunishi and cherish us, despite our curse. Of course they would. They were children after all and their parents had been drilling the concept into their minds since birth. They absolutely adored him and gushed all over him while I stood back.

It's not that I was a child genius. That went to Tori and even Gure was much wiser than me. Me? I was as innocent as the rest, well as innocent as a Souma child could be. But still, my parents hadn't really drilled the same concept into my head. More like, they never really noticed me. And I think as the Snake, I just simply did not fall hopelessly in love with God just because he was God. I would think first. Maybe that was the reason why God was never really fond of the Snake.

And the baby knew it. The twin black holes which locked onto mine confirmed it.

…t.e.k.s.a.b.t.i.u.r.f…f.r.u.i.t.b.a.s.k.e.t…t.e.k.s.a.b.t.i.u.r.f…

Golden orbs.

My first glimpse of my Juunishi.

Shining like the sun, they took my breath away. Always the pretty one. In fact, I'm sure that he would surpass all the others in beauty and grace, the Snake. I knew instantly. Even though I was supposed to be ignorant and innocent. The knowledge was given the moment I took my first breath. After all, I'm the one sustaining him and the rest of the Juunishi.

But the orbs darkened, instinctively. As always. Since the Beginning of the Juunishi. The Snake would always distrust me. Sometimes, It would even reject me outright. That is why the position of the Snake is the lowest among the Juunishi, surpassing only the Cat. But that is because the Cat is not part of the Juunishi.

Yet, even with this knowledge – that the boy acted instinctively due to the Animal that possessed him and not intentionally, the newest part of me, the mind of my newly born body instantly rejected the Snake. However, it was an irony that it was that particular knowledge which fuelled the initial rejection.

Sometimes, even now, I do wonder whether if I had not rejected him then, would he learn to love me like all the other Juunishi do, despite their dislike and even hatred. Through the life lines that connected me to them, I could sense that despite their preposterous actions, they still love me as a family member and as their God. All but the Snake. His heart was never mine to begin with. While the rest eventually bend to my will willingly, he had always fought against me. It seemed like the Snake for this generation is going to be rebellious type.

Well, I just have to be harsh and cruel as usual. After all, he belongs to me…