Summary: Shigure has to get his inspiration from somewhere, and Yuki just happens to be the perfect person to jog his mind... or turn it to mush. Who would have thought that a French maid outfit could cause such a ruckus?
Warning: I've never written anything in this fandom before. Fruits Basket is totally new for me. I haven't even finished all the manga yet (never seen the anime), so I might accidentally mess up some details. And they may be a little OOC. Oh, and there's minimal coarse language.
A/N: I don't really have anything to say. Just sit back and enjoy.
Wait, I do have something to say. Fanfiction says it's spelled "Kyou", but in the manga, it's actually just "Kyo". So, I'm sticking to the manga and writing it as Kyo.
Prince Charming Chapter OneAuthor: Alley-Oop"Here is the outfit you requested, Shigure!" Ayame – in his typical manner – shouted, brandishing a skimpy maid's outfit. "I don't know what you're planning, but you simply must tell me. Not knowing when something so utterly naughty is going to happen is pure agony."
Shigure looked thoughtful for a moment, tapping his pen against his lips as he considered this. He knew Ayame was no good with secrets, but surely he could tell him. It was his beloved Ayame after all.
"Oh, alright. Come here, and I'll tell you." Ayame sidled closer, and Shigure, with a grin adorning his face, leaned over to whisper in his ear. As he spoke, he could see Ayame's eyes widening and a grin spreading across his lean face.
"Oh, yes! What a wonderful idea, Shigure. You must take pictures! I will frame them and hang them in my shop so that all my customers may see how their fantasies may be fulfilled! You're brilliant!"
"Aren't I?" Shigure agreed with a grin.
Now, there was just one more thing that he needed, and that was a certain Prince Charming who would be home within the hour, slightly after Shigure would send Kyo and Tohru away on some ridiculous, pointless errand.
--
"That's ridiculous and pointless!" Kyo fumed. "I don't want to go."
"You would make poor Tohru go all by herself? Well, in that case, I'll just have to-"
"All right! Sheesh, I'll go!" Shigure didn't miss a beat. He had planned it, after all.
"Aw, if you insist. Well, have fun, you two! Don't get too familiar, Kyo!" Shigure smiled suggestively, and Kyo flushed an exasperated red. However, Shigure did not listen to the cat's further complaining. He didn't even watch them leave, trusting that the noise of the door closing meant that they were finally gone. A sigh of relief passed through his lips. That had certainly been easy. However, he did not revel in his victory, knowing the hardest part would be walking down that path and coming through that door at any moment. Shigure was hardly panicked, but he was starting to doubt himself. Had he set everything up just right? Could he really get Prince Charming to cooperate?
"Yuki, you're home!" Shigure exclaimed as the very object of his thoughts stepped into the house, closing the door behind him. The heat outside was stifling, and Shigure happened to know that Yuki hated the heat. It was no big secret, after all.
"Obviously," the boy responded, sitting across from Shigure at the square kitchen table. From his bag he extracted a yellow, spiral bound notebook. A few moments later, he was bent over the blank paper, studiously writing… something. Shigure had no doubt that it had something to do with Yuki being the next student body president.
"How was your day?" The older man inquired casually, just to strike up conversation.
"It was okay. How was yours?" Yuki didn't even bother looking up from his flowing handwriting, but Shigure didn't take it personally. He simply grinned at Yuki's impending future. Of course, Shigure would let him finish his work before making him participate in what he had planned.
"Heinously boring. I had to work all day, Yuki. It was simply awful." Well, he'd tried to work, anyway. However, Yuki didn't need to know that.
"I wouldn't call what you do work," the younger boy remarked snidely. Shigure simply smiled once more before looking back down at his own notebook, which was opened to a blank page. This was his issue: writer's block. This was why he needed Yuki's help.
Finally, after what felt like hours, Yuki shut his notebook and slipped it back into his school bag, standing gracefully to leave the room without so much as a word.
"Hey, Yuki."
"Hmm?" He glanced at Shigure over his shoulder with those large, violet eyes of his. The other man unconsciously tightened his grip on his pen.
"Do you have any plans today?"
Yuki's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Why?"
"I have a favor to ask of you."
"And what might that be?" Yuki's voice was becoming just as wary as his expression. Shigure shoved away the shadow of doubt gathering in the back of his mind. He could do this. He could make Yuki do this.
"Well, I won't ask you if you already have plans," Shigure stated, looking back to his notebook as if it made no difference to him, though he watched Yuki from the corner of his eyes. He saw the curiosity battling for dominance against the boy's better judgment.
"No," Yuki finally answered, "I don't have any plans." Shigure instantly perked up, his fake air of indifference shattered. He'd win this yet!
"Ah, so you'll help me with something?" He watched Yuki hesitate once more before nodding. Aha! Shigure grinned. Yuki looked horrified, realizing his mistake. Shigure could see his thoughts plainly. What exactly have I gotten myself into? I should have remembered to ask what it was before I said anything.
"Follow me." Shigure led Yuki to the prince's room and opened the door. Yuki's eyebrows pulled together in confusion. What was he supposed to do?
"Change into the outfit I got you and come back out."
Yuki's look of horror changed into one of wary dread. He knew this wasn't going to be good. He stepped into the room, his curiosity still winning out over his good sense. Then, of course, Shigure shut the door behind him. Immediately, Yuki tried to reopen it, but Shigure held it shut.
"Shigure, I swear-"
"Just put it on, Yuki."
For a moment, Yuki wondered if he should just climb out the window, risking a broken bone or two, but he quickly decided that he should at least look at what Shigure had gotten for him. He slowly approached his bed, advancing with caution. He saw the two gifts, wrapped in purple and blue paper, but didn't reach for them right away.
"You'd better hurry, Yuki. Kyo and Tohru will be back in an hour or so," Shigure called from outside the door. Well, that confirmed it: whatever this outfit was, it would be embarrassing enough to not want to wear in front of anyone.
The thin paper fell off easily, though Yuki ignored Shigure and moved just as slowly as before.
The younger boy decided, after a bit of gentle shaking, that the bottom box held the actual outfit, while the top one most likely had accessories for said outfit. Carefully, he opened the lid to the box on bottom…
…And blushed uncontrollably. Inside laid a tiny maid's outfit. Yuki could tell that, once it was on, it wouldn't reach any farther than his wrists. The frills and lace were enough to make him want to vomit. Suddenly, anger hit him like a swift punch from Kyo.
"Shigure! What the hell? I'm not wearing this, you pervert!"
"But isn't it cute? Besides, you said you would help me," Shigure prompted.
"What the hell does dressing like a French maid have to do with helping you?" Yuki shouted.
"I have writer's block. I need inspiration."
"I refuse!"
"Now, Yuki. I pay the bills around here and let you live here for free. I even put up with your childish arguing. Now, for the good of all my eagerly awaiting fans, you're going to help out," Shigure ordered in a less-than-authoritative tone. He could practically feel Yuki's anger flooding through the door. However, after a few long minutes, he felt a tug on the door and released it. As soon as it opened, Shigure's jaw dropped.
Yuki was looking at his stocking-clad feet, twisting the duster furiously in his hands. On his head sat a little black, lacey hat. The maid outfit clung to him beautifully, just like Ayame had promised it would before he'd brought it over. And, as Yuki had predicted, it barely reached his wrists, leaving the stocking garters completely revealed. Shigure was in shock.
When Yuki looked up, he looked absolutely furious, but he was still blushing. An attractive look, if Shigure did say. Also, the collar that had been previously hidden behind Prince Charming's hair caught Shigure's eyes.
Both stood there for a long minute before Yuki finally hit Shigure on the head much harder than necessary.
"Quit staring!"
"But-"
Before anything else got out of Shigure's slack mouth, Yuki, in a blind rage, moved to slam the door, dropping the duster in the process. Shigure barely caught it in time without his fingers got crushed, but he managed to stop it and force it back open, despite Yuki's resistance. Yet, as soon as he was in the room, Yuki assaulted him with well-placed punches (most of which the older man effectively blocked) and gracefully executed kicks, which Shigure couldn't help but notice revealed way more than Yuki probably even realized. In fact, if the little rat knew, he'd most likely keel over from mortification.
"I can't believe you tricked me into this, you bastard! I hate you!" Yuki vented, clipping Shigure's shoulder painfully with a (distracting) roundhouse kick.
"Yuki, calm down," Shigure pleaded, a smile playing at his lips. This was far more interesting than he'd hoped earlier.
"Am I interrupting something?" a familiar voice wandered in from the hallway.
Yuki and Shigure froze, both sets of eyes wide, before turning simultaneously to gawk at Hatsuharu, who was leaning casually against the doorframe. Yuki, more so than earlier, displayed a never-before rivaled flush. Not even the look of pure fury he shot his cousin could cover it. Haru simply lifted his eyebrows in a silent question, his (slightly wide) silvery gray eyes raking Yuki's body up and down.
"Don't," Yuki growled, thoroughly embarrassed, seeing Haru soak in the sight of him in a maid's outfit.
Silence came over the room. Yuki was trapped, unable to change back into normal clothing with everyone in his room, and uncomfortable with every set of eyes on him.
"Haru, what's taking so long?" Momiji asked, coming up next to Haru to fill the doorway. He also stared at Yuki, only his was an expression of awe and envy. "You look beautiful, Yuki! But Kyo would get mad at you for wearing girl's clothes…"
If it was possible, Yuki blushed even more furiously. "Who else is here?" he ground out, futilely tugging at the end of the short skirt, trying to maintain at least a miniscule amount of decency. His entire body shook with pure fury.
"No one else, Yuki," Haru answered, the only one not too busy ogling to give a response.
"Good. Get. Out. Now." Yuki pointed to the door, allowing the scrap of cloth serving as a skirt to spring back up. The color that was just starting to fade from his pale cheeks flared up again as his hand shot back down, desperately tugging at the fabric.
Now! Shigure thought, whipping out his camera and clicking several pictures before anyone realized what was happening. He'd promised Ayame, after all.
"Thanks, Yuki. See you at supper!" Shigure said, running from the room while everyone was still stunned. (Later, Shigure realized the pictures could not have been more perfect. Yuki's violet eyes were wide, his face vibrant with color, his hands clutching at the skirt, and one leg bent in toward the other. Of course, he had gotten the perfect angle, so one could glimpse just up Yuki's tiny, tiny miniskirt. And, as promised, Ayame had framed and hung a blown up copy proudly just above the register at his store.)
Yuki stayed like that for what felt like a long time, Haru and Momiji gazing at him with wide eyes, wondering if he would snap. They silently (possibly telepathically) agreed that it would be best to make no sudden movements – or, really, no movements at all. No one breathed, no one twitched. No one even blinked.
"Get. Out. Of. Here. NOW," Yuki cried. Haru and Momiji didn't question it, just scrabbled as quickly as they could away from the door and the utterly and irrevocably pissed Yuki. "And if you tell anyone about this, I'll kill all three of you!" Yuki hollered after them before slamming his door so hard the whole house practically shook.
Once safely in the living room, Haru and Momiji shared a look of fright. The only noise breaking the silence was that of Shigure laughing hysterically from his bedroom. It hadn't taken long after they arrived to figure out what had happened.
"Haru," Momiji whined. "Can we please go to your house? This place feels scary… I'm afraid Yuki really is going to kill us."
Haru nodded. "I agree."
Without another word, the two left, images they should never have been exposed to flashing behind their eyes.
--
After finally containing himself, Shigure left his room (the camera hidden, just in case Yuki felt the desire to eradicate all evidence) just in time to see Kyo and Tohru come back in, bags hanging from their arms.
"Sorry it took so long, Shigure-san," Tohru apologized, looking exhausted. Kyo just scoffed and moved into the kitchen to unload the groceries. "Where's Yuki-kun?" she asked, looking into the dining room.
"I think he's going to be upstairs for a while," Shigure answered nonchalantly, adding a shrug for effect.
"Is he okay?" Tohru instantly asked, looking concerned.
"I think he had a headache." That was no lie.
"Good. Damn rat deserves it for not going with to get all this crap." To illustrate his point, Kyo spitefully jammed some of the bags' contents into the pantry.
"Oh, no! I'll make him some soup!" Without further ado, Tohru rushed into the kitchen. She helped Kyo finish putting away groceries before starting work on the soup. Kyo stuck around to help her.
While they were preparing the food, Shigure sat at the table once more and flipped open his notebook. Without delay, his hand began flying down the page, his writer's block completely annihilated, thanks to Yuki.
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A/N: Remember, this is my first Fruits Basket fanfiction ever. It's unbeta'd (all mistakes are my own fault, darn it) and probably one of the only humor stories I'll ever attempt.
I would love to know what you guys thought.