GOOD OLD FASHIONED SCHOOL OF LOVERBOYS
Chapter One: Play The Game
The sun was setting on Hatori's back yard.
Hatori inhaled a lung full of tobacco and flicked his slim cigarette in the ashtray next to him. Shigure did the same thing. They looked towards the beautiful sunset. Hatori was dressed in a dress shirt and tie with slacks. Shigure was also wearing black slacks and a white dress shirt like Hatori, but his top buttons were undone. Ayame came from inside the house and sat on the other side of Hatori. He wore his long red jacket with the gold embellished details.
"Are you sure about this?" Shigure asked Hatori without taking his eyes off the setting sun.
Hatori took another puff of his smoke and exhaled.
"Yes."
"I'll follow you to the ends of the World, Hatori," Ayame interjected. He smiled jokingly, but Hatori and Shigure knew he meant this. Shigure smiled, too. He would follow those two to Hell and back…and he has.
Within the next twenty minutes this generation's Zodiac started to file into Hatori's back yard.
Haru and Momiji were the last to come—Momiji had to find the lost Haru.
Hatori finished one last cigarette before he started. He stood up and looked at the young faces of the cursed members of his family. Ritsu, Haru, Momiji, Hiro, Kisa, and Kagura.
"I assume Yuki and Kyo are not coming?" Hatori asked never taking his eyes off his cousins in front of him, all of who were sitting in the grass.
"I suppose not," Shigure answered. He had hoped they would change their minds, but those two were too stubborn for their own good.
"Hmmm," Ayame pondered out loud.
"Well, we better get started," Hatori said. Shigure and Ayame knew they would be discussing what to do about those two later.
Shigure and Ayame stayed seated, slightly behind the now standing Hatori.
"We called you all here for something very important. As you all know Akito's health is not in the best condition. In fact, we all know he will die someday--soon. He knows this as well.
We all also know that being part of this family, being part of the Zodiac, is a curse we all bear. It is a secret that we have kept hidden at personal costs. Only one outsider from the Sohma family knows our secret—Tohru.
She has been a…blessing to this family.
We all know this—and so does Akito.
He has let Tohru keep her memories. I know he has hurt all of you at one time or another, but none of us can go against him. No one," Hatori paused for a moment in his speech to take in the faces of those looking at him. They all had the same fear in their eyes, "However," he continued, "There are ways to go around his orders.
Akito likes to play with people. He treats life like a game. And so, to survive with ourselves intact, we have to learn how to play.
You have to learn how to play.
You have to learn the rules; when they can be broken, when they can be bent, when they can be changed…
Akito's newest game is a serious one. It will affect all of us." Hatori paused once more. He did not continue. His two best friends stayed seated, still looking into the twilight. The cousins seated in the grass stayed silent, waiting for Hatori to finish.
"He wants to drive Tohru away. He wants me to erase her memories of the Zodiac—of us."
There was an uproar of a response. Kisa started crying softly into Haru's arms and Haru looked as though he had been kicked in the face. Hiro looked nervously at Kisa and then looked down, letting his hair hide his eyes. Ritsu's eyes glistened with terrified sorrow. Kagura gasped and tears escaped her along with quiet sobs. Momiji let out an audible 'No!' and his face was screwed up in agony.
"Shigure and I have convinced Akito that Tohru should be able to keep her memories," Hatori continued.
Silence.
"Since the immediate family of each cursed member is allowed to know the secret, we convinced Akito Tohru be given that leeway."
"I don't understand—Tohru isn't a Sohma!" Momiji said.
"Not yet," Shigure answered. Silence and confusion filled the yard.
"If, let's say, a cursed member of our family were to marry her…" Ayame's voice trailed off.
As the last rays of the sun finished setting, comprehension dawned on the faces of the Sohmas sitting on Hatori's grass.
"That's why you're all here today. We don't have time to waste. Tohru needs to marry a cursed Sohma before graduation or I will have to erase all her memories of us."
"Tohru wouldn't marry someone unless he was the one that was made to be with her," Ritsu said meekly. He was shocked at his own daring to add anything to the meeting.
"Yes. That is true. But I believe true love comes from places unexpected. It cannot be fooled, or tricked especially when someone as honest and pure as Tohru is one side of the coin," Shigure said. He stood up as he said all this. "I believe Tohru will only marry once she is sure of that very thing, Ritsu. However all that said, we cannot afford the time it may take for her to realize which Sohma that is, or if it is a Sohma at all. In two months Akito's condition will or will not hold. Two months—either she will finally be a Sohma or our blessing will finally be taken away. I'd rather go down fighting, I don't know about all of you."
"What exactly is the plan?" Haru asked.
"Simple—we get Tohru to fall in love with one of you," Ayame answered. He stood up, also and continued, "May the best man win. Or woman if you'd like to give it a shot, Kagura."
"W-What?" she asked.
"Wait a minute. I get that everyone here loves that girl or whatever, but I don't want her to fall in love with me," Hiro interrupted sourly.
"Hahaha, oh Hiro, of-course we couldn't ask you to do such a thing! You see, yourself, Kisa, and Kagura if she wishes to not pursue Tohru, may help any of the 'contenders' to win her heart over," Ayame explained.
"What about Yuki and Kyo?" Ritsu asked. Kagura almost fainted when he heard Kyo's name.
"Probably our two biggest 'contenders' as Ayame put it. They skipped out on this little meeting, but they are still in the running. I doubt either would approve of such a thing anyways and would probably send Ayame and me into Hatori's clinic with broken bones and unflattering bruises. I think it would be for the best of no one told them about our meeting today," Shigure answered.
"I will of-course be supporting Yuki to the fullest of my ability, whether he knows it or not is of the smallest importance," Ayame announced.
"Of-course we cannot hope that all of you are willing to take part in this, but we thought you all deserved to make your own choices," Hatori concluded.
"I want to be on Yuki's team!" Kagura announced suddenly.
"I'll take a shot at it," Haru said.
"Me, too!" Momiji exclaimed. He had had a growth spurt over the last couple of months and was now almost as tall as Haru. His features had become more masculine that indeed he was even going to start wearing the boy's uniform in school from now on.
"I-I think I will, also," Ritsu said softly.
"Excellent! Then I assume everyone is ready to join the War!" They all looked at Shigure. "The War that is Love!" he explained.
"I want to help you," Kisa told Haru. He smiled at her,
"Yeah, well I guess I'll help, too," Hiro said.
"Whom will you be helping?" Hatori asked him. Hiro thought for a moment.
"Kyo."
"Kyo?! No!" Kagura yelled. She was getting emotional.
"What? Just because you're stuck on him doesn't mean he likes you, you know. And besides if Yuki's in the game, he's going to need all the help he can get. He's a real loser, but it's not like she's a princess or anything, so I guess it'll do."
"Hiro!" Shigure scolded. Kagura was now crying.
"Tohru is a Princess…fit for a Prince!" Ayame said. "Kagura, you and I will make sure their fairy tale gets its 'happily ever after'!" Kagura cheered up a bit. If Yuki wins Tohru's heart, Kyo's own heart would be free for the taking!
"Why aren't we all just pulling our resources together and all be on Yuki's team?" Kagura asked.
"We figured everyone should get a 'shot' at it. And besides, the time limit is too small. We need to blitz Tohru's affections. It's the biggest chance we've got. Ha'ri, Shigure and I thought this very thoroughly. This is 'do or die'," Ayame said, sounding more like a Soldier than a Dress Maker.
"Whose team are you on Hatori?" Momiji asked, hoping he would be on his team.
"Hatori and I will be playing 'referee'," Shigure answered, "Of-course we are here if any of you need advice like the good role models we are. Indeed, there is one more thing we need to discuss with you all."
Silence came very fast.
"You see, in order for this to work, you will all need to make a few, what is that word I'm looking for Aaya?"
"Drastic changes! Lessons in chivalry and romance are an utmost necessity!" Aayme clarified.
"You're going to teach us how to…" Momiji didn't know how to finish his question.
"You will be attending the Mabudachi Trio's School Of Loverboys!" Ayame proclaimed dramatically. Hatori didn't reword it. It was pretty much dead on. They were going to have to give these boys a 'crash course in Love' as Shigure had put it.
Ayame laughed loudly and chatter broke out in the yard. Plots, plans, and discussions broke out as the warm night took over and the dark sky blanketed them.
"Let the games begin…" Shigure said so softly only Hatori and Ayame could hear him.
---LINE BREAK---
Author's Note: All right!!!! Here are the teams to clarify:
TEAM HARU:
Haru
Kisa
TEAM MOMIJI:
Momiji
TEAM RITSU:
Ritsu
TEAM YUKI:
Ayame
Kagura
Possibly Yuki
TEAM KYO
Hiro
Possibly Kyo