fâutuus
tasteless

Fruits Basket is trademark and copyright of Natsuki Takaya. The fic author takes the freedom to write not to gain profit nor to kill herself.
Note: This fic happens a day after "distance", but no need to read that before reading it. Although by doing that, you'll make the author happy.

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"What?"

Shigure nodded, the girl with the same sign he had widden her eyes, completely disbelieving with what Shigura had said to her. Or maybe, he thought, he said it with a too low voice, so it wasn't heard by her.

He repeated, voice louder, but not too loud. Even though his cousins, who were under his care weren't there, but still... it was uncomfotable for him to speak with a loud tone, not like a certain cat... "Sohma Kana has married." He stopped for a while, thinking the next words, how to say it without hurting her over-sensitive-feelings. "I understand you wanted to help Ha-san, but it can't be helped. Although I feel that your attempt to meet them together was quite good... You can't mend their relationship.

"Beside another special reason that you know to well, she's married."

"But, but..." Tohru voice shaking, her minds held in her throat for a while. "Her myoji... it's still..."

"Yes, of course." Shigure answered quickly. "She's married with another Sohma Bunke. But not one of the Junishi, of course."

"Oh..." Tohru whispered, her hands, her feet, her whole body suddenly felt limp, no strength. "I guess I'm the one who's a total idiot around here."

Silence again, Shigure looked at her ducking head with interest, and broken the ice with his usual happy-go-lucky character. "Maa, ne, Ha-san sent me his thanks for you and I. He even brought us a gift."

"Eh?" Tohru gazed at him with question marks floating all around her brownish hair. "Gift?"

"Yes." Shigure reached for something behind the place he sat. "'For our dinner', he said. Ah there it is." He held and rose it for Tohru. "Ta da!"

Tohru facefaulted, she's completely shocked of the sight she saw with her eyes. "Shigure-san, those... are... bones?" She tried to assure herself without any offensive tone.

"Yes." Shigure nodded with delightful face. "Bones bought from the market at the corner of the Mapple street. Just my favorite, delicious, have soft textures, and the shape's so right with my teeth." He brushed his cheeks agains the bones lovingly, with *the* expression. "Ne, Tohru-kun, can you warm them?"

"Ha--- Yes!" Tohru replied, her confusion deep burried, with a great pleasure pasted at her face. *Mother, I'm so happy. I discovered another thing about Shigure-san!*

***

"What... is... this?" Kyo almost lost his voice when he said it.

"Our dinner." Tohru forced a big warm smile for her two dumbfounded classmates. "It's my first try cooking with bones, so, maybe the taste isn't that good. But, I've tried my best!"

Yuki was completely speechless. His eyes still fixed at the plate ever since it was served in front of him. A bone, yes, with green vegetables and sauce. The full appearence was good, yet, it was a bone... a bone he knew very well from its shape, for pets, dogs for exact.

Kyo looked at the smiling Tohru and then at the grinning Shigure. His temperature went maximum as cats suddenly popped from nowhere as if they were summoned. "Damnit!" He shouted. "These aren't even food! These are NOT for humans! These are for lousy dogs like the perverted dog over there!!" He pointed to Shigure.

"Ow, that's rather harsh." Shigure's hands covering the place where his heart was, acting like he was shot at the place.

"What? So you can't eat them?" Tohru asked, looking hurt, but hiding it with his confused and innocent mask.

"OF COURSE YOU CAN'T EAT THEM!" Kyo yelled.

"But Hatori-san sent it for us... So, I thought all Junishi can eat---"

"HATORI'S A SARCASTIC BAKA AND THIS HENTAI AUTHOR'S EVEN MORE STUPID TO PLAY WITH ---" Kyou halted, seeing Tohru's hurt expression, holding her tears. "---it..."

(Silence)

"We'll eat it." Yuki suddenly spoke.

Kyo turned his head to his arch rival.

"If Honda-san has made it for us, we'll eat it."

"What do you mean, kusonezumi!?"

"Eat it." Yuki's icy glare pierced over Kyo's flaming eyes, and froze him at that second.

***

"You ate it?" Hatori's brownish eyes were kept stiff and cold but no doubt there was a shocked expression in the corners.

"Yup." Shigure clapped his femur playfully. "Well, Kyo-kun had trouble eating it for a while, but Yuki-kun forced him to do so. He made him swallow the whole bone." He chuckled.

"Yuki ate it too?"

Shigure nodded, grinning from ear to ear. "Thanks anyway, it was delicious."

Hatori dropped himself to his chair, his shoulders suddenly felt ten times heavier than the previous, and the temperature in his room constantly dropped ten celcius. "Akito's going to kill me."

"Of course he won't." Shigure said lightly. He was standing in front of Hatori's bookshelfs, eyes trailed over every characters printed at the side of the books. "You don't mean any harm, Ha-san."

"Still, Shigure, I know you aren't that stupid."

"I just ate what you gave to me, Ha-san!" Shigure protested, almost like a child whining to her mother for a new toy.

"It's a..." Hatori finally said. "joke." His lips curled into a displeased 180 degrees line, like it was a taboo word for him.

"Maa, ne, Ha-san. Your joke's sure funny." He closed his eyes, recalling the previous night's scene. "Quite entertaining for a night show."

"That thing's not to be eaten by a human being, you should know that, Shigure!" He sighed desperately, slamming his back to the chair. "I can't even imagine how you dragged Yuki, Kyo and Tohru Honda and made them eat the little sarcastic present!"

"Geez, Ha-san, you're mad." He walked closer to Hatori, eyes glowing not with regrets, but with a playful tone. "Ha-san's angry, Ha-sam's angry." He sang.

"You're hopeless."

"Ahahahaha." He chuckled. "I see, since when you're finidng me hopeful?"

"Point taken." He sighed again, breathing enough air to relieve himself and stood, walking to the fusama, opening it.

"How's Kana, if I might ask?" Shigure quickly querried, trying to read his cousin's emotion from his back.

"She's fine." He said, dryly. "We just jad a nice short talk. Too far to touch the romantic subject, if that's what were you wanted to ask before."

"Hmm..." A wondering murmur from the dog, still wanted to read his feelings, but unable. "And?"

"And what?"

"You didn't hold hands, hug nor kiss?"

"Of course we didn't!" Hatori gritted his teeth, "What do you think I am, a fool like you!? I knew what I was doing!"

"Okay, okay, I know." He grinned, walking to Hatori, he asked again when he was standing beside him. "Anything else?"

Hatori hatefully narrowed his eyes. "Just what do you have in mind?"

"Your feelings." He simply answered, the answer he was trying to read from his cousin's expressions or movements. The childish masks were broken, exchanging them was a serious and intense look. "Sad... Happy... Regret... Hate... Love... Betrayed?"

Hatori was silent, his lips glued together, eyes gazing to the furthest horizon he could reach. "All, maybe..." He closed his eyes, asorbing all memories he could about his last encounter with his past lover. "But maybe, nothing at all..."

Wind followed his answer.

"Nothing?"

"Damnit, Shigure." He cursed, the last thing a Hatori Sohma would do. "Can you be a little bit comforting?"

"Comforting?" Shigure arched his eyebrow.

Hatori took one step to the back. He was sure he saw him smiling. No, not the playful smile he always made before. More... like a... lustful one.

"Like this?"

Hatori didn't answer, he didn't have a time to. The next thing he knew was his cousin's hand circled his waist, reaching to his back, the other landed at his chin, prisoning it gently with his fingers, and his soft lips brushed against his own on a chaste kiss, slow, warm and kind.

Shock was soon covered with a milder kiss, as his cousin's tongue slipped into his lips, trying to find its passage to his own. Hatori felt his eyebrows getting heavier, curtains of blackness fell over his sight while he opened his lips in response.

The soon was more a blur for him, the gentle kiss turned into greedy and passionate as the kisses deepened in a different kind of matter, until Hatori opened his eyes in surprise, and forcefully pushed Shigure.

"Shigure! What are you doing!" He demanded, but suddenly didn't have anything else tosay when he saw the look in Shigure's eyes. He had seen that kind of eyes a long time ago, eyes of yearning, loving, caring and... regret... They were his eyes... his eyes when he had lost Kana.

"Shi... gu... re?"

Silcence was overflowing between them, as if sounds of searching breaths were the only sound exist in the whole world.

"Maa, ne!" Suddenly Shigure's former voice came into the air, reviving the usual self. "I better get going, Tohru-kun maybe has prepared the dinner and waiting for the little old me. Ah--- the smell of Tohru-kun's delicious food is reaching for me. Ah, well...

"Give my greetings to the other, Ha-san!"

Hatori didn't know how and when Sigure left his house. But, surely, he wasn't there anymore... the dog... He himself didn't say a word to him. But, he realized something... He was crying...

While cursing hatefully in his heart, that he enjoyed it... He enjoyed the little thing he had shared with Shigure a moment ago. His eyes landed on a picture, which was put carefully above his desk... His lover that no longer his...

"Kana... forgive me..."

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end