Fruits Basket belongs to Natsuki Takaya; general disclaimers apply. Spoilers for the characters are Shigure, Hatori, Ayame, Akito and Kureno. Please mark further spoilers in reviews.
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Full Circle
Fruits Basket 5 x 900
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1
There was an unspoken agreement between Akito and Shigure, these days. Shigure understood. His days of freely passing between masters were over.
Now that they were adults, all the jyuunshi stayed within their set borders. Akito pleased those whom he would, and the rest of the time stayed with Kureno. Shigure couldn't say he wasn't jealous of the rooster… but there was no use in trying to make Akito change his favorites.
"Konichiwa, Akito-san."
Shigure sat down beside their God. The young man had his head rested on the sill of the window, and his eyes were turned outward. On one outstretched finger there perched a white sparrow. Gently, Shigure tried to pet the bird, and Akito moved his finger away so quickly that the sparrow fluttered a beat away.
"Hatori-kun is being stifling again," Akito said wretchedly. "I don't believe it would be any more detrimental to my health to go to that secondary school, to watch the plays by Yuki-kun and the monsters."
"Haa-san will get in trouble if you get sick," Shigure replied. "He wants to be well for Mayuko-san's homecoming next week."
"That woman," said Akito. "You've mentioned her before. I will meet her, Shigure-kun."
"Yes," said Shigure. "It may be better to catch Haa-san unawares."
Akito smiled thinly, and his eyes had no warmth. "What a treacherous, conniving dog you are, Shigure-kun," he said. "I thought you knew… that it was no longer of any use to you to give anything more than you must, to me."
"I will always serve, and I have no choice but to bring you what you don't ask for," Shigure said honestly.
He bowed his head, and felt Akito's disparaging gaze on it. But he didn't care… Shigure didn't care if those eyes held malice, nor was he afraid of Akito's contemptuous judgment. As long as those hands still moved in affection… that was enough.
"My servant," breathed Akito.
Shigure felt Akito's warmth over him. Akito leaned over his still-bowed head, and combed fingers, too hasty to be gentle, through his hair. Shigure leaned his face upwards, then, and met the master's inviting, slowly seducing mouth.
That mouth stayed on the side of his face, and a smooth, ticklish tongue lapped at Shigure's cheek. The dog sighed, softly, and spread himself out on Akito's bamboo mat. He ran his fingers over the foreign wooden surface, and waited for Akito to join him.
When the young man lay down beside him, Shigure knew his duty. His twenty-seven years belied his skill, a master craftsman at the art of pleasuring the body. One of his hands rubbed the hollow of Akito's throat as he lapped the bitter skin down Akito's neck… the other slid down the smooth chest.
"E- ahh…"
Akito's moans, before they could sound out pleasured tones, turned themselves into harsh keens. His gasps had a hollowness to them that they had not possessed years before, but Shigure ignored the difference as well he did the other changes to the illness-changed body.
Warmth. Heat. Quivering chest, in the would-be muscles, and a fine, delicate shivering. Tense. Everything, held and tensed, stretched to the limit… Shigure's mouth stopped. Everything in the world held itself perfectly still for an instant.
"Ah- a… Shigure… kun…." Akito gasped. Shigure breathed heavily as his God's warmth spread to him, and he felt the unmistakeable, powerful presence throughout his body.
In time, Akito yawned, as if he had been completely bored the entire time. He stretched as best as he could, not caring if the old pains in the movement showed in his face, and wanting to shame his servant. Shigure was a good one to complain to. He had never undergone chronic, dehabilitating pain before in his life… and therefore, was one of the jyuunshi who had the ability to care.
"Akito-san," Shigure said quietly.
Akito rolled onto his back and slowly held himself up, collapsing on his kneeling knees before deigning to look at the dog. "Shigure-kun. I was pleased with the evening, and yet… you are not satisfied?"
None of Akito's questions actually pretended to ask anything. Shigure sat up and bowed. "I am always satisfied at your happiness, Akito-san," he said.
"Good."
When neither of them spoke for what felt like many minutes, Shigure cleared his throat. "May I leave you tonight, Akito-san? I have to drive home, and I believe that Toh- the children, will be waiting up for me. It's a school night."
"Nn." Akito ignored the irrelevant words. "See if Kureno is in the hallway."
Shigure nodded and padded to the door. He slid it open and looked both ways, when he saw the slim brunette dozing against the wall. "Eh- Kureno-san," he whispered. "Wake up. Wake up, Akito-san is wanting to see you now."
The man lifted his head immediately and was already awake. "Arigatou, Shigure-san," he said. "I'll… you can leave, now. I'll go see Akito-san."
Shigure saw himself out of the main house, and whistled a cheerful tune on the way to his little car. For the benefit of anyone who was watching, he wanted to seem the happy young man, the satisfied lover. But in coming from the main house, Shigure though, he would never be that. There was only so much pleasure he could derive from another's satisfaction.
Akito-san pleased those whom he would, and Shigure was no longer one of his chosen.
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:: chapter endnotes
Well if you're not semi-caught up on manga, I guess this doesn't make too much sense. The way this story is set up is this: five chapters, with a connected pairing in between them. For example, this is Akito x Shigure, so the next one will be Shigure x X and then X x Y, etc. There is a plot going through the chapters, and Akito is the tying-in theme.
So ,what did you think?