Author's notes:
As always, comments, constructive criticism, and praise, however faint, are all greatly desired and will be appreciated.
~:~:~:~:~
Fruits Basket belongs to Takaya Natsuki and Hakusensha; English-language versions by FUNimation (anime) and Tokyopop (manga). This piece of fiction is in no way approved or endorsed by any of the copyright holders.
~:~:~:~:~
At the age of five, Akito was a serious child, not easily given to laughter. Her beloved father was often ill. Her mother was neglectful at best, abusive at worst. Her maids watched her like flock of mother hens; and it seemed to Shigure that the only freedom that she was allowed at all was when the older boys took her to play in the garden outside her rooms. Even then, they were warned to be very careful with her; and although Hatori and Kureno were usually quite compliant, Shigure and Ayame tended to be a bit more reckless.
Akito was not only serious; she could be bad-tempered when she didn't get her own way, and more than a little imperious. She seemed to take pleasure in ordering the older boys around, and they were quick to do her bidding, often as much to amuse themselves as to please her.
It intrigued Shigure to watch her expressions. There were storm clouds of anger when her maids denied her some outrageous request. There were tears of frustration when she couldn't read a book that he had given her without his help. There was the smile that lit up her face when Kureno sang to her. But perhaps the expression that Shigure liked best was the way that her small face wrinkled in intense concentration while Hatori explained one of the wonders of nature to her, and her subsequent expression of pride and delight when the long, detailed, but perfectly-understandable-to-a-five-year-old explanation finally made sense to her five-year-old mind.
Sometimes they played with her quietly; but at other times they'd go to the far corners of the garden, well away from her maids' eyes and ears, and Shigure would run about, carrying Akito on his back while Ayame narrated wild adventures for them to act out, and she'd giggle madly. Once, he sat her in a tree, as high as he could reach, promising to catch her if she fell. He was proud of her bravery, and delighted at the sight of her flushed face and flying hair and the sound of her laughter as she bounced on the limb; and he was also secretly pleased at the worried expression on Kureno's face. Often, he'd pick her up and swing her around and around, until she shrieked with laughter, until Hatori warned, "You'll be sorry if she gets sick on you." He'd then set her on her feet and laugh at her while she wandered drunkenly though the garden, finally collapsing in a giggling heap in the soft grass.
It was after one of these times, when he and Ayame sat down with her after she collapsed, that she put her head in his lap, looked up at him dizzily, and said, "Do it again, Shigure. Spin me again."
He looked down at her with that teasing, lazy look of his, and said, "I don't think that's such a good idea, Akito-chan. Haa-san says you'll get sick."
She sat up and he saw her face darken and her bottom lip come out in a pout, "I won't. Besides," she continued, "you're s'posed to do what I say." She stood up, drew herself up to her full height, pulled her haori around her shoulders, and swayed a little, still dizzy. "I'm the God. And someday I'm going to be head of the family. Father said."
Shigure bit his lip to keep from laughing, and said, "Is that so? Hmmmm," and then deftly caught his God as she swayed once more and toppled into his lap. He poked her and said, "Well, how about if Aya spins you? How about it, Aya? Do you want Akito to throw up on you?"
Ayame widened his eyes in (somewhat) mock-alarm, and scuttled away backwards in the grass. "No, indeed, 'Gure-san!" He made such a funny picture that Akito started to giggle once more, and with her good humor momentarily restored, relaxed against Shigure's chest.
"Shigure," Akito said in a serious tone, as if she wanted to discuss something of great importance. She leaned her head way back, turning her face up so that she could look at him. She suddenly giggled in surprise. "You're upside down!"
Shigure looked down at her. "No, Akito-chan, I think that you are." He laughed. "Is that what you wanted to tell me?"
"No," she said. "Shigure, I think you're a- " her brow wrinkled in concentration, "a-, annoying!"
"Oh, listen, Aya. Akito has a new word! Annoying. Do you even know what that means, Akito?"
"Yes," she said, a little tentatively. She sat up and turned around. "It means – it means – that sometimes you make me angry. And that you don't do what I tell you to!" He saw the beginnings of a frown, and she gave him an unsure look that indicated that she thought he might be going to laugh at her.
She's an amusing little mite. He shrugged and said, "I guess that's a pretty fair assessment," and watched her puzzle over the unfamiliar phrase. Before she could ask, he said, "That means I guess you're right."
"Well, I want you to stop it." She was frowning now.
"And if I don't?"
She stood up, turned her back to him, and walked a short distance away. He could see the set of her small shoulders, and knew that she had her arms folded in front of her, close to her chest. "Well, then – maybe I'll go and play with someone else." She twirled around and shot him a triumphant look.
That bothered him more than it should have, but he was not about to engage in a battle of wills with a five-year-old … and lose. He shrugged again and said, "Go ahead," but then he saw her face fall, and suddenly felt ashamed of himself. He quickly amended, "But I'd miss you if you did," and said, in a more conciliatory tone, "Why don't you come back and sit with us? Aya and I will tell you a story, won't we, Aya?" She came over and seated herself in the grass next to him, and an unexpected feeling of relief washed over him.
Ayame nodded, looking as if he was happy that a storm had been averted.
After a minute, she leaned against him, and said, "Shigure, do you think that it's a … a … fair assessment that you'll always be annoying?"
He laughed and said, "Most likely."