It was common knowledge that Akito took his wrath out on almost anyone he came across, especially those who were cursed by the Zodiac. There was nothing they could do about it, nothing they could change except suffer in silence.
No one escaped, save for those who moved far away and out of the shadows of the Main House.
Save for Ayame. As far as anyone knew, the Snake escaped Akito's wrath and physical blows. It had gone unnoticed so far as everyone was often too busy to wonder why or take a moment to observe.
Strangely, it was Shigure who had noticed it at first and called it into question. But it was not as strange to him as he was closest with Ayame than anyone else in the family.
It was one of those days when things were just too tense in Shigure's home. He would have called Ayame to come visit, but Yuki and Kyo were in the house and would undoubtedly attack the Dog if he ever picked up the phone with the intent of calling the Snake. It was like those two were wired to attack at the very mention of Ayame! Those two may not agree on much, or anything at all, but they both could not stand Ayame and would gang up together to prevent him from visiting.
So it was with a cheerful goodbye to his cousins and little 'housewife' with a chiper 'don't damage my house!' and he was gone with a cheerful spring in his step.
He knew the way to Ayame's shop like the back of his hand. It was natural to him, just as it was for Ayame when coming to visit Shigure. Maybe once he was at the shop, he could get Ayame to make him an outfit.
The thought sent a smile to his face as he burst through the brightly colored shop with a loud "Aya!"
The response was instant. "Gure!" A whirl of silver hair and red robes greeted him with the usual boisterous attitude. "Be still my beating heart!" Ayame exclaimed. "My beloved cousin has visited me! What a delightful surprise. How shall we spend the evening?" He beamed. "I know! I shall sew you an outfit that will compliment your attractive figure. Mine! Fetch me some black and silver fabric, the new one that just came in."
At that moment, a woman with dark brown hair that was pulled into cute braids poked her head into the room. She beamed at the two men in the room as she adjusted her round glasses. "Sure thing Boss."
"Ayame," Shigure said with a teasing grin. "Why do you work such a sweet, pretty woman so hard? Surely she deserves some rest."
Ayame gave Shigure a wink. "Oh, dear Mine works effortlessly in this shop, designing clothes that almost, and I say almost if you would note, rival my style." He puffed out his chest in pride. "After all, she has learned from the best!"
"No rest for the weary," Mine announced, coming forward with the rolled up black fabric that had hints of silver thread. "Inspiration must be used when it strikes. Strike the metal when it's hot."
"Truer words were never spoken!" Ayame announced as he grabbed the fabric and whisked Shigure onto a stand. "Now, I only have time to take your measurements but I can assure you that we can use the rest of our time elsewhere."
"Anything you would want to do, Aya," Shigure said as he allowed Ayame to work. The Snake was a lively buzz of happiness and energy while Mine worked dutifully to welcome other customers that came in.
Shigure and Ayame blabbered on about anything random that came to mind. Ayame inquired about Yuki and how he was doing. He would then moan about how his beloved brother needed to visit more. That conversation ended with Shigure inviting Ayame over for an overnight visit. Shigure also suggested dragging Hatori out for an excursion next week, something the three of them hadn't done in a long while.
Ayame made some hurried notes and stepped back with a smile. "There, I have what I need!" He frowned as Shigure stepped down from the stool. "I have tried to get Yuki to stay longer for measurements, but my dear brother is always in such a rush around me! But he was a gentleman in letting Tohru try on the dress instead."
Shigure pat Ayame's arm sympathetically. "I am sure he will come around."
Ayame brightened up. "Of course he will. I will not give up!" He hummed thoughtfully. "Maybe he will come around more often if Tohru dropped by." He grinned. "I know Mine would love having that girl around. I haven't seen my dear assistant so excited over a customer before!"
Shigure's gaze was drawn to the small woman who was working behind the counter, her mouth tight in concentration as she went about her work, her eyes bright behind her round glasses.
"She seems like she would get along with Tohru," Shigure could not help but comment with a grin.
Ayame hummed thoughtfully as he sorted through his notes, his back turned to Shigure and therefore not looking at Mine. "Oh yes, she enjoyed having Tohru here."
Shigure frowned at his cousin who had now seemed to have grown silent. His gaze was then drawn to a small mannequin that was dressed in a small, black dress with pink lace on the sleeves and collar. The hem of the skirt came to the knees and the sleeves were long and loose; an adorable and casual dress for little girls. Shigure could just see a pair of cute stockings going with the outfit.
"This one is new," Shigure commented as he examined the dress. "It's cute!" His thoughts then went to Tohru. "Does it come in a larger size?" Oh how he would enjoy seeing her in such an adorable outfit! And he knew Yuki and Kyo would trip over themselves when they saw her in it.
Ayame grinned teasingly when he noticed the dress that had caught Shigure's eye. "Why? Would you like to try it?" He shrugged. "It is a new design that I had just finished. I do plan to make more as I have had so many interests in such short amount of time." He fingered the sleeve of the dress. "The pink lace was Mine's idea and I am so glad I decided to run with it. It is so eye-catching!"
"It looks like something Kisa would wear," Shigure commented, thinking of their younger cousin. "She would look so cute and it would be funny to see Hiro trip over himself."
Ayame beamed. "With matching pink ribbons in her hair and these adorable, pink buckle shoes I saw at a store!"
In that instant, both cousins looked at each other with matching grins as they formed a plan that would most certainly cause mischief for the other members of the Zodiac.
Ayame clapped his hands. "I could make a matching dress for Tohru as well!"
Shigure felt like bouncing. "Oh Aya, you read my mind!"
"She and Kisa could be twins! Then my little brother will discover romance, all thanks to me!"
"I will have to see if Kisa can come and visit sometime," Shigure pointed out. "Get her and Hiro out of the Main House. Tohru would love having her around and I am sure she has some ribbons Kisa can borrow." They did not need Akito to have another reason to harm Kisa again. The poor little girl had just got back on her feet and was opening up to everyone. It was a slow and steady progress, but she was getting there. She seemed most comfortable around Tohru.
Which shouldn't come as a surprise to Shigure, since most of the Shomas were that way with Tohru. The girl had a personality that seemed to draw others in, something Akito did not like at all.
He fingered the sleeve of the dress, a thoughtful frown on his face. Akito let no one go, no one escaped him. Not even sweet, quiet Kisa.
His eyes flickered over to Ayame with a small frown before he looked back at the dress. "Aya," he started. "I have just realized something that was staring at me in the face for years without noticing what it was."
He could feel Ayame's curious gaze on him, yet Shigure kept his eyes on the dress. "Akito has...influenced us all in some way." He paused, unsure how he should phrase what he wanted to say or what Ayame would say and think should he speak what was on his mind. But he shrugged it off. This was Ayame he was speaking with. He didn't need to fear his reaction.
"Yet you have remained untouched," he said finally. "Akito has not come down on you in any way."
He was not expecting the silence that grew in the room. He glanced over to see Ayame's back turned to him, the notes clutched in his hands as if he was frozen in place. His long silver hair almost had a shine to it in the light of the shop.
Ayame gave him a sideways look and a smile. "Oh, it is because Akito cannot stand me and we all know it, Gure. I think he just needs to visit more."
Shigure frowned at the forced lightness in Ayame's voice. It did not sound right coming from Ayame. "Akito cannot stand me either," he said, almost softly. "Akito cannot stand anyone."
Ayame shrugged as he examined a clothes rack before pulling outfits off. His arms suddenly filled with different outfits that he deemed needed arranging. "Who knows why our brilliant and beloved Akito does what he does, Sigure." He gave the Dog a look. "She is a bit too complicated for me to figure out."
Shigure nodded, falling silent at that. This was not what he had expected when he had planned to bring up the subject with Ayame.
Ayame gathered up more clothes, mumbling to himself as he pursed his lips thoughtfully. A pink frilly dress fell out of his gasp, causing Ayame to roll his strangely colored eyes as he tried to pick it up.
"I got that Boss!" Mine exclaimed before Shigure could offer his assistance. She swooped in and grabbed the dress, examining it with a thoughtful frown. She then smiled as she looked up at Ayame. "I don't remember seeing this one. It's cute!"
Ayame suddenly smiled teasingly. "That it is, Mine dear." He leaned forward with a smirk, his hair falling over his shoulders. "In fact, it would look really nice on you. I would love to see you wear it."
Mine grinned, ducking her head. "Everything you make looks nice." She quickly passed the dress back to him and Shigure noted with interest how Mine took great care to avoid touching Ayame in any way that might accidentally trigger Ayame's transformation.
But Mine shouldn't know about the Zodiac Curse. Did she? With Ayame, it was sometimes hard to guess what he was doing.
"Shigure! Please stop giving my assistant such an intense look!" Ayame exclaimed, nudging his cousin. "You are going to make it difficult for her to work under that gaze of yours. Besides," here he pouted. "Have you lost interest in me?"
Shigure grinned back. "Never Aya! But I think it is you who has lost interest in me." Here, he nodded towards Mine who was re-sorting through the clothes.
Ayame's eyes widened for a bit before he smoothed his expression. "I have no idea what you could possibly be suggesting! I would never betray you and I am wounded that you would even think so!"
"It's called romance Aya," Shigure teased. "The feeling one has when in the presence of a fetching woman!" He looked back at Mine. "And she is quite fetching."
Ayame waved eagerly to his retreating cousin, both shouting promises to get together much sooner and with Shigure stating that he would bring Tohru and most likely, Yuki along. Such a declaration sent Mine squealing with happiness at the thought of dressing up the nice girl again.
His assistant was still smiling widely as she went about her job, a light skip in her steps that sent her skirts twirling around her. The dress she wore was a design of his own and he enjoyed seeing her wearing his creations.
He reflected on Shigure's disturbing words. Though the Dog may not have meant for them to be disturbing, Ayame still dwelled on them as such.
He leaned his head against the window before pulling back at the cold touch of the glass. He had to be careful about getting too cold. He did not want to transform and leave poor Mine to fend for herself against the customers.
Contrary to what he had hopefully lead Shigure to believe, Ayame knew full well why Akito was leaving him alone.
Ayame Sohma was the Snake. The Snake brought wealth and fortune. Harming one would bring bad luck and thus harming Ayame would bring misfortune to Akito Sohma. Akito, while superstitious, took great care to be wary around Ayame when dealing with him. One way to do that was to avoid Ayame all together.
That, and Akito saw Ayame as being overbearing and obnoxious.
He could not help but smile. Although it would be quite entertaining to see Akito in Ayame's shop. Oh the fun he would have with the Head of the Family!
But the likelihood of Akito stepping into his shop was the same as getting Hatori to loosen up without a secret spiked drink; it would have to be against Akito's will.
But Ayame had no intentions of having Akito around anytime soon.
He was reminded of what happened to Hatori and Kana. He remembered Haru and Rin and what happened to them when Akito found out about their relationship. He even remembered what happened to poor Shigure.
As tragic as it was, he intended to avoid the same fate as his cousins.
Yes, being cursed as the Snake had major downsides aside from the obvious. He had to be careful about the temperature lest he transform if he got too hot or too cold. He had to be careful around the sun and he got sick easily when chilled. He could not hug the woman who was closest with him.
But his curse also brought protection that the others in the Zodiac did not have.
It was why Akito did not know about Mine and allowed Ayame to do what he did.
Thinking of his assistant, Ayame's eyes flickered over to her, watching as a strand of her hair fell over her face and how she pushed it behind her ear. She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose as she smiled at something she found amusing. At that moment, she looked up and caught his eye, his strange yellow-green meeting her warm brown.
"Boss?" she asked, tilting her head. "You alright?"
He beamed at her, pushing away from the window with a flourish as he twirled. "Why of course, dear Mine. Nothing to worry about. For I, Ayame Sohma, bring fortune to all that meet me." His eyes twinkled as if he knew a secret that no one else knew. "It was a gift I was born with."