((Greetings, loved ones~ This is my first "Fruits Basket" fic in quite some time. My friend (shout-out to Sash-chan!) requested an AyameYuki fic, and I decided to take up the challenge. Enjoy!))
Christmas at the Main House. This was a new tradition, so new in fact that this was the first year it would occur. Typically, the only time that all the Sohmas gathered together at the Main House was for New Year's, but-increasingly worried that her precious Zodiacs were distancing themselves further and further from her grasp-Akito decided to add another annual holiday get-together to her agenda.
Some were more accepting of the sudden invitation, or demand as it was more accurately labeled, than others. Ayame Sohma was the most thrilled, viewing the entire occasion as a wonderful chance to spend quality time with his darling little brother without having to force himself into Shigure's house uninvited the way he usually did. That never seemed to go over well with the surprisingly hot-tempered rat.
Yuki, on the other hand, dreaded the affair like no other. Having to see Akito on Christmas would be tortuous, and added to that, he would also have to see Ayame. On top of all that, Tohru wouldn't even be there to help mitigate his fear of the former and his resentment of the latter. He couldn't see any silver lining to this particularly dark and foreboding cloud.
Still, no matter what their opinions were about the event, each and every cursed Sohma was expected to show up at the Main House on Christmas Eve, at 3:00 in the afternoon, sharp. And show up they all did.
Some more punctual than others. Well, to be more exact, all more punctual than Ayame.
Every Sohma showed up exactly at 3, not wanting to invoke Akito's wrath before the event even started, except for the snake. They all headed inside, welcomed by Akito in the warmest tone of voice she could muster, which was rather ice cold. The place was pleasantly decked out in a wide array of Christmas decorations: wreaths stuffed with snow-covered pinecones and ruby-hued berries; garland lighted with tiny white bulbs looping up the staircase; an enormous tree decorated with whimsical ornaments and a golden star-topper; and even mistletoe hanging above the front door entryway.
The chatter was favorable as the family walked in together and gathered in the living room. Hugs were exchanged. Small but loud talk began. After about twenty minutes of experiencing this familial camaraderie, even Yuki had to admit that it was beginning to feel like Christmas.
Especially because Akito seemed to be in an odd mood that afternoon, odd for her at least. She almost seemed to be trying. She smiled at least twice. At one point, she even arose from her seat on the couch to invite the family into the kitchen for drinks: hot cocoa for the youngsters and hot buttered rum for the adults.
A wave of relief washed over the rat's frail body as he realized that he was in no danger tonight. That is, until the doorbell suddenly rang. Not once, not twice, not even thrice. But four times, in annoying and insistent succession.
"That must be Ayame," Akito said plainly as she prepared the drinks. "Yuki, go. Go welcome him in."
Yuki's immediate thought was: 'Why do I have to do it? Send Shigure!' but there was no way he was about to say or do anything that might reverse the god's delicate good mood, so he kept his lips tightly sealed and made his way back to the living room to open the door.
"Merry Christmas Eve, every-oh! Yuki! It's only you!" Ayame greeted as soon as his brother reluctantly flung the door open. He was as always dressed for the occasion, clad in a smart red blazer over a white button-down shirt and with a dark green tie to complete the Christmas color scheme.
"Yes, everyone else is in the kitchen, having drinks. Why are you so late anyway?" Yuki asked.
"I would ruin my reputation if I didn't show up fashionably late; you should know that by now, Yuki."
Yuki rolled his eyes and finally moved out of the doorway to allow Ayame to enter, though he felt like this allowance was a huge mistake that he tragically couldn't prevent making. Ayame, however, remained standing outside. Yuki looked up and raised an eyebrow. "Well? Aren't you going to come in then?"
"Not quite yet. There's something we must do first, unless we want to have bad luck for the rest of the season." Ayame pointed up at the mistletoe hanging above the doorway.
Yuki's eyes widened to the size of baseballs. "What? You can't be serious."
"For once, I am!"
"Shut up and get inside."
"Make me," Ayame teased, leaning down to cup his brother's face in his hands and closing his eyes as he pressed his lips to Yuki's almost identical ones. Yuki instantly froze in place, not in a million years having expected Ayame to do something like this, not something quite this absurd and repulsive.
But since he was frozen in place, he also found himself unable to move away. Ayame's kiss was startlingly gentle and soft, again not what Yuki would have expected, if he had ever taken the time to think about what Ayame's kiss would be like. If he had, he would have predicted it to be aggressive and over-the-top. Not like this.
The kiss only lasted for a few seconds, but to Yuki, it felt like eternity before he finally snapped out of his state of shock and summoned the strength to push his older brother away from him. As soon as he did, Ayame began to laugh.
Flaming red with embarrassment and fury, Yuki growled, "What the hell? You moron! What the hell did you do that for?!"
"Oh, come now, baby brother. It couldn't have been that bad. In fact, you should consider yourself a very lucky boy right about now. Most people would kill and rob and streak for the chance to have my lips against theirs," the snake once again joked, making his way into the house casually, as if nothing of significance had just happened.
But to Yuki, it was of the utmost significance. It had been his very first kiss. As he watched Ayame strut into the kitchen and begin mingling with the rest of the family, the rat remained behind, putting his fingers to his lips.
His first kiss. Not given to him by Tohru, not even given to him by one of his fangirls, but given to him by his own brother? It was sick and demented, and now Yuki felt like all he wanted to do was to go home, curl up in his room, and cry his eyes out.
"Yuki! Yuki! Come and join us in the kitchen. You don't want Akito-sama to think you're rude, do you? No, of course not," Ayame called out from the other room, at which point Yuki was reminded that no matter how badly he wanted to be alone, he was stuck here, here in this suffocating house with his entire extended family, and not only for an hour or two. No, no. The family was expected to stay overnight and spend the entire Christmas day with each other.
Slowly, Yuki trudged back into the kitchen, his heart as heavy as his feet. He couldn't look at Ayame.
"Ah, there you are, Yuki," Shigure greeted. "We were beginning to worry you were plotting an escape."
"If only," Yuki mumbled.
"Here's your hot cocoa!" Momiji looked up and offered Yuki a steaming mug of hot chocolate, hot chocolate that couldn't be seen however under the seemingly endless stack of marshmallows atop it. "Akito only put one marshmallow in, but I put twenty in for me and it was so yummy that I thought you would like it that way too!"
"Thanks, Momiji. I'm sure it'll be great." Yuki forced himself to smile politely and to get back in the spirit of things, but it was impossible with the snake there, and the snake was there, standing in the center of the kitchen, dominating the room the way he always did.
"This hot buttered rum is almost as hot and fabulous as I am, ahahaha, but I must ask: when is dinner going to be ready? I'm famished."
"Dinner?" Akito furrowed a brow. "Aya, it's only 3:30. We're serving dinner at 7."
"7?! But I might die of starvation by then! And you wouldn't want to be responsible for the death of your favorite cousin, would you, Akito?"
"You mean my least favorite cousin, and I never told you to arrive on an empty stomach."
As the two continued to banter, Yuki watched in silence, amazed that Ayame could be acting like this. Of course he wasn't amazed that Ayame was acting immature and silly. That was entirely expected. He was amazed that Ayame could kiss his own brother just minutes prior and then carry on like nothing happened.
Was it because it was all a joke to the elder? Yuki thought that this was certainly a possibility, a probability even. After all, almost everything was a joke to Ayame. He could never understand how lightly the snake took even the most serious of matters, how nothing seemed to faze him.
Then again, Ayame probably didn't know that the kiss they shared was Yuki's first. Yuki could never get this experience back. It was supposed to be special; it was supposed to be romantic; it was supposed to be with a girl. And Ayame had stolen it from him recklessly, ruthlessly.
Yuki began to think about the future. 'What was your first kiss like?' was a common question among his peers and he knew that it remained a question asked even by adults, to get know someone better or to reminisce and engage in a bit of nostalgia. He wondered if he would be forever doomed to tell the story of his first kiss being taken by his brother on Christmas Eve. Perhaps he could lie. Perhaps he could make sure he had a truly wonderful second kiss and use that story in lieu of this one.
But he himself would always know the disgusting truth.
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((To be continued~ If I receive enough reviews, that is. Remember: if you like it, then you shoulda put a review on it!))