Hey! Here I am, once again. I appreciate the feedback from my Kureno fanfic. But now I write in Shigure's point of view :)

Authors Note: This fanfic does contain spoilers, but they're very mild spoilers. I honestly don't think you'll spoil much if you read this. Also, this fanfic contains various themes. Try and see if you can figure out why I named this fanfic 'The Switching of Tenses.' With that said, enjoy! And don't forget to review:)

The Switching of Tenses

The sound of clanging pots and the nice aroma of pancakes awaken me from my living hell. I smile; it's a brand new day! A new day of mischeif, a new day of torturing- I mean teasing! - my editor, a new day of calling Hari, and finally, a new day of watching the soap opera unfold. Oh yeah, I also have to write 300 pages by tomorrow, but that's the least of my worries. I hop down the stairs, making sure I make as much noise as possible. If I do, Kyo would probably yell at me and his yelling will cause Yuki to get annoyed causing them to argue and Tohru to calm them down. I land with a huge thump, and I open the kitchen door. Sure enough, -

"Damnit Shigure! Why do you have to make all that noise? It's too damn early!"

Step 1.

"Shut up, stupid cat, we don't need your noise this early either."

Step 2.

"Alright rat-boy, do you wanna start something?"

"Uh-um... please don't fight! Today was supposed to be a fun day... we're going on that class field trip, remember?"

"Well... it's not going to be fun..."

Step 3: Mission Accomplished. A wide grin spreads on my face as I walk over to the table. I was almost home free when -

"You seem awfully happy today."

Ah... someone saw through my mask. I've got to take more notice of that...

"Well Yuki, one has to to smile when they know they have something to look forward to everyday. One must treasure life when they watch a live soap opera unfold and -"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

I narrow my eyes.

"Oh nothing Kyo, nothing your feeble-minded, unromantic mind can understand -"

"Hey! Stop making fun of me!"

"Uh... it's time to go to school now... bye Shigure!"

Acting 101

"Oh Tohru... it pains me to see you go. Those two don't know how lucky they are to spend so much time with you. Now I get to sit here, all day, all alone -"

Kyo and Yuki shoot me a simultaneous glare that says "Leave Her Alone." I stop talking and relunctantly wave goodbye.

Ah, the days of youth. The days when innocence reigns supreme and you don't sleep with someone other than the one you love.

The three figures faded out into the horizon. I sigh inwardly and collapse onto a chair. I fall to my knees and I let the pain of my bruised knees overwhelm the rest of my senses. My head erupts with nasea and I wince. Too many sleepless nights...

I collapse onto the floor and my lungs feel as if they're closing. I gasp for air; I try to scream but the only noise that escapes my lips are moans of anguish. Darkness floats over my eyes and I feel my consciousness slipping as fast as my loyalty...

No, not the darkness... anything but the darkness...

Suddenly, my state of torture disappears as fast as it had come. I stand, stumbling on the way over to the phone. I had to call someone, anyone, to snap me back into reality.

I call Hari.

The incessant ringing of the phone startles me. I begin to laugh at my idiocy.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Hari? It's Shigure."

Pause.

Sigh.

"What do you want?"

My lips begin to tremble as my eyes laugh.

"Realy Hari... must you always treat me with such coldness? And after all of those cupcakes I baked for you - "

"You know as well as I do that Tohru made them... why do you always try to take credit for someone else's work?"

You... do it everytime Hari...

I smile. "It almost always is my work. It's other people who try to trample on my ideas."

"You're not talking about Tohru anymore are you?"

I grin.

"Hari, how do you know me so well?"

Sigh.

"You and Ayame have never let me have peace in 24 years."

I laugh.

Silence.

Inevitable question in 3... 2 ... 1 ...

"How's Akito?"

Sigh.

"His condition has worsened since yesterday, which is why I shouldn't be on the phone right now."

I could hear Hatori's ice-cold eyes.

"Oh... alright. Call me later?"

All I heard was a very loud dialtone.

I frown. Hari seemed in a worse mood than usual... Akito must've been working him hard.

Akito was good at that...

Akito...

Hari...

Aya...

I sat down with my loneliness in the living room.

I look outside the window, and I took in the tranquility of it all. The sky emitted a beautiful blue light as the clouds lazily rolled by. Bugs hissed like snakes and the heat was as hot as a dragon's fiery breath. Birds chirped and flapped their wings, and I sat with my tranquility.

Everyday, I felt as if I was the narrator of my own life. My life was a book and everyday a new chapter would unfold; every word that I said was new dialogue for my character and every action that I did would make the plot thicken. I was the puppet master pulling the strings, controlling the entire Zodiac, and betraying Tohru, the audience member, every time I would talk to the Master of the Puppets. I meant so much to Akito... and yet, I meant absolutely nothing. I was a horrible person; a snake that spread it's venom, a dragon that scorched innocence with it's fire, a bird that defeaned all hope with it's screech. Although betrayal and evil spread through my veins, although I was so very important in Akito's plans, here I was, sitting alone. The world didn't stop with my thoughts... no, it kept going. Snakes continued to slither, dragons continued to melt ice, and birds continued to fly. To them, I was an insignificant bystander, an audience member listening to a poem being read aloud.

The next few hours was a simple yet boring movie. I watched as I sat down and wrote, and got up and ate. Walk. Sit. Write. Stand. Walk. Eat. Sit. Write.

An endless cycle, a never ending repitition. I thought the movie was over when a noise startled my thoughts.

"Well well, look what the cat dragged in. No pun intended, I assure you."

Kyo glowered at me and stomped upstairs.

"Did you have a good time, Miss Honda?"

Tohru smiled. "Yes! It was a lot of fun."

"I'm glad."

It was then that I realized that I hadn't noticed how radiant Yuki's smile was. I remember a time when all he would do is look at Akito with terror, an unmistakable fear that would send him to tears every day. And now, here he was, smiling like all the years of abuse never occured, as if he never had nightmares at night, as if he wasn't a lonely boy with grief in his heart. I would tell Akito, but my dear Akito would never believe me. Akito would be in denial, just like Akito always was...

The spotlight and actor walk upstairs into their rooms and get absorbed by the silence. The silence was the most defeaning sound on earth. That's when screaming voices and ugly words would erupt in my head, and good and bad memories would peel back bleeding wounds and the guilt and the pain was almost too much to bear -

"... Well, what would you like, Kyo?"

"I don't know... rice sounds okay."

"Okay! Coming right up!"

The two stars float down the stairs together and walk into the kitchen. They gossip and talk for minutes on end when the actor appears.

"Is it almost time for dinner?"

"Yeah, I assume. ( I sigh, the one I learned from Hatori.) I'm starved!"

Approaching from stage right and on perfect cue, Kyo and Tohru walk in together and Tohru lays the food on the table. It's then we take our places and get ready to act out the same scenes we play every day.

Act 3, scene i.

We all eat hungrily and it's in this scene that the conversation is at a minimum. It's all a silent monologue of actions, the same ones we've rehearsed one hundred times.

Act 3, scene ii.

This is the scene that the talking finally begins. We discuss how great the food is, what homework assignments they must complete, and what teacher Kyo is annoyed with. Occasionally, Mayu's name is mentioned and I smile into my food.

Act 3, scene iii.

The conversations pick up, and this is when the main action of the act begins. The 3 leading characters all talk about the day's events, and there are many arguements on Kyo and Yuki's part. Of coarse, I chime in with my rehearsed lines, and tease them both. Tohru calms them, inspires them, and confuses their feelings.

Act 3, scene iv.

The final scene in the act. Plates are collected, stomachs are full and chairs are tucked under the table. Goodnights are murmured to me and I'm once again alone. End of Act 3.

I sigh like an annoyed little puppy and walk to my room. The fun's over. The curtain has fallen. It's a wrap. It's the last sentence of a chapter.

This is when hell begins.

I climb into bed, surprisingly early. I sigh, completely alone and incredibly bored. The defeaning silence made my sensitive ears bleed, and tears started welling up in my eyes. I curled into a ball and turned onto my side.

Akito was laying beside me.

I smiled. Akito was right there... my beautiful little flower...

My smile quickly faded.

Akito grabbed my neck and squeezed hard, like a snake squeezing the life out of a poor, defenseless rat.

I screamed, I bled, I cried, I squirmed, I smiled, and I howled in pain.

Akito disappeared.

I turned onto my other side.

Kana looked at me with lifeless eyes.

Blood was pouring from her neck, like the way fire spills from a dragon's mouth.

I screamed with guilt, and just like that, she disappeared, exactly like she did a few years ago...

I turned once again.

Ren lay beside me.

An evil grin played on her lips and she laughed. Her laugh filled my entire body and was the only thing I could hear, like a bird's mating call.

My heart burst open with pain and anguish, and just as the blood was about to reach her, she disappeared.

I lay there, for hours on end, hearing Akito's voice, blocking out Kana's crying, and listening to Ren's laugh.

I wake up. Act 1 begins, once again.

Now can you guess why I titled this fanfic the way I did? Number One: Throughout the entire fanfic, I switch from past tense to present tense and vice versa. That goes with Shigure's unpredictable personality, and Number Two: the fact that he goes from nice, funny, innocent novelist, to dark, twisted, manipulative villain. So yeah... review:)

And shameless plug: If you haven't, I'd appreciate if you'd read and review my Kureno fanfic called 'A Day in the life of Pleasure and Pain'. ;)