Ngh, well, I had to write this. It is cute, well, I thought it was. It's like a curse on top off a curse. umm... yeah. It's been bouncing round in my head for three nights now, and it must be written so it can stop annoying me Dammit!!! So, read, review and enjoy. my formatting, spellings and captial letters are crap at the mo. sorry!

Ayame's Change

Hatori picked up the phone with an air of annoyance. he was long overdue one of these annoying phone calls from one of his old friends. they always seemed to call at the most obscure of times to tell him the most obscure of things. but, he was by now quite used to it. they had done it throughout school as well. and though he would never admit it out loud, he rather enjoyed the calls. it connected him somehow to the outside world, to a free life away from Akito's constant sickness. His friends brought a light to the gloom that surrounded him, and he liked that. but, he was in the middle of very important paperwork, and he didn't really have time. he glanced out the window as he pressed the phone to his ear. it was winter, and the snow was falling heavily. so this would probably be Ayame, to complain about how tired he was, how cold it was, and how he was confined inside until the snow ended. Doctors orders.

Because Hatori knew what Ayame would do if given free rein, prance around like an idiot until he transformed and got sick. that was not something he wanted to go through again. the first time had been more than enough of a deterrent. Shigure even lent a hand in keeping Aya in one place until it was warmer. Yes. That one incident had made them both very careful when it came to their friend's health.

"Hello?" he asked, bracing himself for Ayame's normal barrage of greetings.

"Hari, do you have a minute?"

Hatori put his pen down immediately at the tone in Shigure's voice. it was their unofficial code for 'trouble' and it was normally serious if they ever used it. Normally Shigure would just ask for whatever he wanted, or told him about the problem. 'Do you have a minute' denoted he needed his full attention. "Yes." Hatori responded slowly. "What happened?"

"Hari, its Aya." Shigure spoke quietly; the sounds of the three teenagers could be heard in the background.

"What about him?" Hatori asked, keeping his voice calm, though his heart leapt into his throat.

"He's missing Hari. Mine called me from his house ten minutes ago. She said she went to leave him over some clothes he had to make like he'd asked her a few days ago. He wasn't there. She said she thought he might have stepped out. She went back today because he wasn't answering his phone and she needed the clothes for a customer. He wasn't there, and the clothes she'd left haven't been touched and the apartment is cold, like the heating went out and wasn't put back on. Aya's not that forgetful Hari, not in winter." Shigure explained quickly.

"I'll be over in ten minutes." Hatori said, hanging up the phone quickly, grabbed his winter jacket and hurried out to his car. It took twenty minutes at the very least to get to Shigure's house normally. But normal didn't include finding his cousin possibly frozen to death because of some fault. Because Shigure was right, Ayame wasn't that forgetful. Not in winter. Not when he knew they worried about him. Ayame was a lot of things, but he would never intentionally cause someone to worry over him. It wasn't his style.

Eleven minutes later he pulled up to Shigure's house, the dog opened the door and hopped in without so much as a backwards glance at the three teenagers staring at him like he was crazy. They took off towards Ayame's house. Because every second counted, Ayame could have been in a freezing apartment now for nearly a week, transformed and unable to come for help. With any luck, he had curled up somewhere warm and was hibernating. The last thing Hatori wanted was for them to find Ayame had gone out and transformed and was now lost somewhere in the city under the snow... No, he couldn't think that.

"Hari..." Shigure tried to ask, but he lost his voice.

Hatori glanced over at his cousin. "He'll be fine Shigure."

Shigure blinked and smiled ever so slightly. "I hope so Hari." he sighed heavily. "How could it have happened though? He knows we worry about him when it snows. he wouldn't have gone out. He always calls one of us if he needs anything--"

"Shigure!" Hatori cut him off. "It's not your fault. If the heater failed and he transformed I'm sure we'll find him in one of his drawers or his bed or something. He'll be fine." all he could hope was that he wasn't lying.

They pulled up outside Ayame's little two up two down house. Shigure had opened the door and was on the pavement and running to the door, fumbling for the extra set of keys he had in case of emergencies, before the car had even pulled to a stop. Hatori wasn't far behind him, catching the door before it closed and latched him out. "Ayame!" Shigure called, as if calling would get a response if Ayame was in hibernation mode.

Hatori paused. "Where's his assistant?"

"I told her she'd better get back and look after the shop for him and that we'd find him." Shigure said dismissively. "Honestly Hari, give me some credit. Aya!" he called again.

"Shigure, start upstairs would you, in his bedroom. Look everywhere he could possibly have fit into to hibernate." Hatori told him.

Shigure nodded and headed towards the stairs.

Hatori looked around before he headed towards what could be termed Ayame's living room. It doubled as his design room, and was littered with fabric and sketches. If Ayame had transformed in here there were plenty of places he could hide. And be a little warm. He prayed they would find Ayame in the house, and safe, he didn't know, in all honesty what he would do if they didn't find him. He started moving the sketches aside carefully; Ayame would never forgive him if they were damaged, not with the amount of effort he took with them. As he moved them, he had to admire Ayame's artistic nature, just a little, despite the situation. He could remember Ayame drawing since they were children; he had a few pictures the snake had presented him with hanging in his office. One for graduation; one for getting his medical degree; one to celebrate his newfound happiness with Kana, and one he had gotten to cheer him up after the disaster with Kana. He knew Shigure had quite a number as well; one for the first novel he ever published, Ayame was always presenting them with little things like that.

Hatori shook himself, he was thinking like Ayame was dead r something. And he wasn't. Because Hatori refused to believe that! He started to move the fabric when Shigure yelled for him from upstairs. He took off at a run.

Shigure was standing at the door to Ayame's bedroom, holding one of the blue towels from the bathroom.

"Shigure?" Hatori asked, swallowing hard.

"He was in the bathroom, the water was running, it was freezing."

"He wasn't in there!"

Shigure shook his head. "No, but he was curled up in a towel just outside the shower door. I think he just made it there before he fell asleep." he handed the fluffy towel to Hatori, who opened it slowly. Ayame's snake form was curled up so tightly that he looked half the size he normally should. Hatori put it down to him being cold. He reached in and stroked along the cool skin. Much to his relief Ayame twitched under his touch. He wrapped the towel back up and handed it to Shigure. "Let's take him back to the main house." he said softly.

The trip back was quiet, with the heater turned up, Shigure holding the little bundle with the snake close, mumbling softly to it. Hatori concentrated on driving. Hoping with all his heart that this would not be a repeat of the 'incident'. He spared a glance for Shigure; he knew his friend would never survive if anything happened to Ayame, to tell the truth he didn't think he would either. They had been friends for far too long. When they got back o Hatori's Ayame was laid out on the bed, layer upon layer of blankets piled around him. The only thing they could do was warm him up. Make him transform back. Then he could start to treat him.

Hatori and Shigure sat side by side on the sofa, Hatori was watching the mound of blankets, hoping the sleeping snake would transform back. Shigure was slowly pressing his home phone number into the phone on a nearby table. He pressed the receiver to his ear and sighed.

It was picked up almost immediately.

Hatori half listened to the conversation.

"Oh, hello Tohru... no, no, don't worry yourself. I'm just calling to tell you I won't be home for a few days, maybe more... No, it's nothing to concern yourself with. Just tell Yuki and Kyo to mind the house next they fight... mmhmm, I'll let him know. Yes, of course. Goodbye." he hung up. "Tohru say's hello." he informed Hatori quietly.

"Hm." Hatori responded, equally quiet.

Though neither wanted to, their minds were drawn back in time, to the last time they had both been sitting in this very room, waiting form Ayame to transform back.

It had been four years previously, during a particularly bad winter. Hatori had been busy, too busy to spend any time with his two best friends. Shigure had been finishing his latest novel and torturing his editor. So neither of them had noticed that Ayame seemed to be coming down with something. Ayame had finally come to Hatori, somewhat worried, but Hatori had waved him off, knee deep in cases of the flu and pneumonia from idiots who refused to stay indoors in the middle of snowstorms. He had been convinced Ayame was faking it to get some attention. He'd never thought it again, that was for sure. because Ayame had collapsed right outside the door, and, not wanting to bother Hatori further had slithered into the closest plant pot and curled up, drifting asleep. It was Shigure who had found him that very evening when he came over with a cold complaint. By the time Ayame had been warmed back up and changed back he had developed a fever of epic proportions. He had been in Hatori's for over a month with fevers, chills. It had taken until spring for him to recover his normal vibrancy. Shigure and Hatori had since then kept a very close eye on Ayame's condition during winter.

But now...

They hadn't done enough obviously.

(don't worry, this isn't a really serious angsty story, so chill)

x

sleep fell over them easier than they had thought possible, they ended up sprawled over one another on the sofa waiting for the 'poof' that would signal Ayame had changed back, and Hatori could look after him properly. however the 'poof' woke them and brought them both scrambling to their feet and towards the bed.

"Ayame?" Hatori said, reaching out towards the mound in the blankets.

He froze when he heard a sniffling and a tiny mumble. The mound turned slowly. Shigure looked at him in askance. Hatori shook his head, something wasn't right here, and he didn't think it was just the fact that Ayame could possibly have a very bad fever that could cause him to whimper. No, there was something else. With great purpose, he pulled the blanket down far enough to uncover Ayame's face.

What neither man expected was for Ayame to look so young, so small. Shigure tugged the blankets away completely, getting a very bad feeling, his eyes widening.

This was not Ayame, this was a... this was a...

Shigure fainted.

Hatori barely had the presence of mind to cover the little body again with the blankets before he practically fell into his chair, eyes wide and very confused.

What had just happened?

tbc

umm... forgive me, please. Firstly it wasn't supposed to be so dramatic at the start, so the rest of the story might seem very crap for you, but please just give it a chance. I think it could prove to be very very cute. ngh... sorry again!

Review please!