Disclaimer: Fruits Basket isn't mine. I think the world is safer that way.
Kairan: Second FB fic attempt, first with the Handsome Blossom trio as the main focus.
Nightshade: Yaoi, shounen-ai, BL, anything?
Kairan: Shounen-ai/BL, maybe. I might toss in an orange if I'm too lazy.
"…" – talking
italics – emphasized
-x- – flashback/return flash
Nightshade: And what brought this about?
Kai: I was wondering how the Mabudachi trio actually came to be; thus, this was created. .
Nightshade: What's an orange?
Kairan: Unlike a lemon with hardcore sex or a lime with softcore sex, an orange is skipping it entirely. I try not to use them.
Enjoy the ride.
Mabudachi Memories
CHAPTER ONE: ABCs of Friendship
Hatori placed the phone on the receiver, sighing. "Idiot." He had better things to do than listen to Ayame prattle on about an outfit. Shouldn't he have been making the outfit instead of simply talking about it? Hatori rubbed his temples; his headaches weren't getting any better and he wasn't getting any younger. A faint hint of a smile came to his lips. Whenever his headaches increased, he always blamed the usual suspects. However had he kept up with Ayame and Shigure all these years? No; they were trailing behind him.
He leaned back in his office chair. In the end, it was his own fault. He had the chance to escape when he first met Shigure. He had even rejected Shigure at their first meeting, but the puppy was persistent. It was Shigure who first brought Ayame into Hatori's life. Another faint smile. He yawned and shifted in his chair. Shigure and Ayame weren't going to visit for another two hours; that was enough time for a power nap. Hatori shifted in his chair once more and relaxed, submitting to sleep.
-x-
"Hey, Haa-kun! Haa-kun!"
Hatori was sitting on the swing with an alphabet book in his hands. "What do you want, Shigure?" Hatori sighed, not looking up from his book. "I'm busy reading."
"Busy reading upside-down," Shigure laughed. "Come on, Haa-kun; play with me and Aaya."
"And just who is 'Aaya'?" Hatori asked, his face a pale rouge as he turned his book right side-up.
Shigure shifted to the right. A pale child with long silver hair stood prominent now. "Konnichi wa."
"…Hello." Hatori returned to his book.
"We're gonna play on the jungle gym, Haa-kun," Shigure continued. "You should play too, Haa-kun."
"I'm reading," Hatori replied.
"You can't read," Shigure corrected. "Now come play with us."
"I'm pretend-reading," Hatori repeated.
"You can pretend-read on the jungle gym," Shigure declared. He hooked Hatori's arm and forced him from the wing, dragging the reluctant seahorse up the jungle gym. Ayame followed quietly behind them. "There!" Shigure smiled in triumph as Hatori grumpily sat on the floor. "Let's play 'The Sad Princess'. Aaya, you are the princess, I'm your jester, and Haa-kun is the royal phy-phy…doctor."
Everyone got to their positions: Ayame at the entrance to the house around the slide, Shigure at the slide edge, and Hatori was sequestered at a corner. So why is the princess sad, anyway?" Hatori asked, looking between Shigure and Ayame.
"The princess is dying. Her uncle, the evil duke in the next kingdom over sent her poisoned water. But no one knows that except her prince, who is captured by the duke," Shigure answered. He turned back to Ayame. "And you don't know your poisoned either, so you just think you're lonely too."
Ayame nodded. "I'll start then." Ayame looked out across the playground and moaned dramatically. "Oh my sweet prince, where have you gone? Surely you haven't forgotten me. Even now I await your return, breathless with want for your warm embrace!" Ayame crossed toward Hatori, arms spread. "My love, is it my pining for you that wracks my body with sorrow? Oh –" Suddenly Ayame pitched backward.
"!" Hatori swiveled out of the way, staring down at Ayame. "Idiot."
"You're the idiot!" Ayame shouted angrily. "Why didn't you catch me!"
"Seriously, Haa-kun; you just let him fall."
"Him!" Hatori looked at Shigure in shock. "You mean –"
Ayame jumped up, grabbing Hatori and pulling him into a tight embrace. "I'm a boy, 'Haa-kun'."
"Even if Aaya was a girl, he's cursed too, so he could hug you anyway." Shigure was still chuckling. "I can't believe you thought Aaya was a girl…"
-x-
Hatori yawned as he awoke. He looked at his clock; only one more hour of bliss. He stretched as he stood, making his way to the kitchen. He had to make tea; after all, he was having guests.
-hateshi nai-
I know, I know, lil-Haa'san was a bit OOC. But come on, he might've thought Ayame was a girl. And in case anyone was wondering (which I doubt), Shigure was the first of them to read and write; he is the novelist, after all. So what do you think so far? Reviews are nice…
