Title: Summer Skin
Pairings: None in this story
Rating: T
Warnings: There is slight OOC and some drug references (tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana). The chapter was short, but it's just to show the moments before the vacation starts.
Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket, Natsuki Takaya does.
Hatori felt poking at his back as he tried to keep his attention to the front of the classroom. It was nothing but Shigure trying to pass more notes to him. He knew what they were about; they were about summer break, the day that Shigure was waiting for. He had talked about plans with Ayame, but whenever he was to talk to Hatori, he was shut down. Hatori didn't want anything to do with their parties over the summer; he had more important things to do, like study for after the break was done.
"Haa-san," Shigure whispered as he kept poking Hatori's back. "Psst… Haa-san, I have something for you. It's important."
It was never important, it was always Shigure trying his hardest to get Hatori in trouble, but today he was not going to be successful. Hatori stayed focused on the front of the room as Shigure kept poking at him. With ever movement he grew more and more annoyed with his cousin, hearing him repeating his name, breaking his concentration from the last day of lesson.
He closed his eyes tightly as he knew what this was about, Shigure had been invited to some party and he wanted Hatori to go with him to get him out of the books. Hatori was the "wet blanket" of the group and he knew that it was starting to annoy the hell out of Shigure, with every poke he was growing more and more annoyed with whatever Shigure wanted. He gave into his annoyance and turned around.
"What?" Hatori whispered.
"Take this…" Shigure handed him a piece of paper.
Hatori unfolded the piece of paper and started to read. The summer house, Shigure had arranged a trip to the summer house ove summer break. Hatori closed his eyes as he thought about what it would be like in that house for that long, alone with all of them. It was going to be hell. He was going to be lucky if he got out of there alive.
Yet he couldn't help but think of how nice a vacation would be. He needed to get away from the school books and the pressure for a little while. He needed to act like Shigure and Ayame; he had to get away from everything. He turned to Shigure for a second and nodded.
"You're coming?" Shigure asked. "Just like that?"
"I have to watch you so you don't get into trouble," Hatori answered quietly as he turned to the front of the class. "But no alcohol…"
"Come on," Shigure whispered. "It's not summer break without alcohol."
"So it's not summer break without drunken antics?" Hatori asked with a sneer. "I'm not going to go to a house with a lake with you drunk, you're going to kill yourself."
"You know CPR."
"That's comforting. I'm going to be your CPR?"
"No," Shigure moved closer to Hatori. "You're going to have fun. You're going to get drunk with us and you're going to remember this summer for the rest of your life."
"Not if I'm drunk I won't. If you want to remember the summer, you should behave and make some nice healthy choices. Besides if anyone knew about you bringing beer and marijuana we'd be in trouble."
"So just cigarettes?" Shigure asked.
"Cigarettes are fine," Hatori answered.
Hatori was surprised the teacher wasn't yelling at them for talking during the whole lesson. Usually when vacations came up they would be kicked out of the classroom for acting out during class. Hatori hated vacation time; his cousins would turn into something completely different, they would become more monstrous than usual. Hatori then closed his eyes as the class ended.
Everyone was filled with joy as they started talking about their plans, Ayame walking from across the room to high five Shigure, Hatori closing his eyes tightly as he looked at them.
"So is he coming?" Ayame asked.
"As long as there are cigarettes…" Shigure answered.
Ayame shook his head. "Honestly you should really quit smoking, Haa-san…"
"You two are the reason I started smoking," Hatori rolled his eyes.
"So is he cool with alcohol?"
"No alcohol! I'm not cool with that!" Hatori yelled as he walked down the hall. "First off: you shouldn't be drinking in the first place. Second off: no drugs! If the family finds out about these drugs and alcohol we are going to die like dogs!"
"So only Shigure's going to die?" Ayame asked, his eyes filled with confusion.
"I can handle that," Shigure shrugged. "Just as long as we are able to go on vacation first. We can kick back at the lake house go swimming and finally get a tan. We can die after the fun is over."
Hatori shook his head. "I still think you two should be responsible and think this over."
"Responsible? That's what we have you for: for the thinking, and you have us for allowing you to have fun," Shigure smiled. "Come on, what's a little fun going to hurt?"
"Do you really want me to list?" Hatori sighed as he realized there was not winning with these people. "When do we leave?"
"Tomorrow morning," Shigure smiled.
Hatori knew that this trip was a bad idea; he knew that he was only going to get himself in trouble; he knew that this was going to be the end of him, but they were the only ones who knew how to make him have fun. He walked alongside them trying to hide the smile that was rolling across his face, he was never this happy before in his life to get away from it all, to get away from the strictures of his straight-laced life. Maybe some relaxation time was going to do him some good.
He looked at his cousins as the smile rolled across his face; he knew that it wasn't going to be torture. He never was tortured when they all had fun together. It was going to be their usual fun eating dumplings at four in the morning with beers, telling stories that they had heard through the hallways, and then they would all pass out at six in the morning and not wake up until noon. Those were the moments that Hatori was going to remember the most about this summer. Those were the moments that he was looking forward to.
"I'll see you tomorrow morning," Hatori smiled. "Make sure you bring everything you need though, I don't want to turn back after we're halfway there…"
Shigure smiled a wicked smile. "Oh I'm going to bring everything…"
I know that's it's March and this is a summer story, but by the time I finish it, it'll probably be summer. I'm actually proud of this chapter, one the only things that I have been proud of in a while. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
This is going to show how young people build relationships through fun as the surreal moments of the summer unwind. It's going to get to a strong T as this keeps going.
Like what you read? Feel free to PM me a request (See profile for details.)
Also feel free to review. I love feedback.
Also see my profile to see the other stories that are coming up.
