A/N: A new fandom for me! Furuba! What a lovely manga/anime! SO IN LOVE with all the characters. Shigure and Hatori are my favorites - not in the least cause they're older and I like to pair them with Tohru. x3 Except Shigure/Akito is definitely my OTP for this manga but Tohru's cool too. And they're both awesome regardless. I like the completely different personalities and dynamics, and especially in Shigure, the hidden motives.

So anyway, here's my first piece of Furuba fic. Just a short conversation between Hatori and Shigure about that incredible girl, Honda Tohru. Implied Tohru/Hatori, Tohru/Shigure, and Hatori/Kana.

Words: 615
Characters: Hatori, Shigure
Time: During their stay at the Sohma lakehouse when Tohru, Yuki, and Kyo go for a walk
Genre: General/Romance

Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to Takaya Natsuki. Not me.

"Ha-san… What do you think, when you look her?"

"Honda Tohru?"

"Who else?"

Hatori watched Shigure take long drag from his cigarette. Simultaneously they glanced out the window toward the winding lake path that Tohru, Yuki, and Kyo had just taken as they wandered out of sight. Tall trees bent comforting arms over the trail. A few wispy leaves dipped into the lake like floating feathers.

Hatori put his own cigarette back to his lips. The acrid tang was painful, and therefore a comfort. Barely moving his lips, he glanced sideways back at Shigure. "I think… she is an extraordinary girl. She has much promise. She is pretty, and kind, and charming. She is also vulnerable."

"Indeed," replied Shigure, exhaling smoke. "What an honest answer. And one that reveals absolutely nothing of your true thoughts, yes?"

His friend was studying him with a raised eyebrow and glittering eyes. Hatori sighed. Shigure always did know him too well. But Hatori was not without well-refined observation skills of his own.

"I have seen the way you look at her," continued Shigure. "In your gaze… there is certainly honest care. You've even smiled around her. And yet… you're desperate. Searching. She's not Kana, Hatori."

"I know that," he said sharply. "Do you think I do not realize that? Every day, every time I see her?"

Shigure merely shrugged. He exhaled another puff of smoke. Hatori's cigarette had long since been crushed between his fingers, mangled but still smoldering. He tossed it carelessly onto the table. Staring daggers at Shigure, he chose his words carefully. "And you, Shigure? You see her even more than I do. There is always something in your expression…"

For a few moments, Shigure didn't respond. But his eyes glinted strangely. His tone, however, was carefully light and pleasant. "Oh, don't tell me even you think so poorly of me, Hari. I am not quite so foul-minded as you all seem to think. I genuinely care about my little Tohru."

"I am aware. That is the fact that has caught my attention."

"If only we had ended up coming here alone," said Shigure, playfully wistful. "Tohru and I would have had a magnificent time. She is such a sweet girl. Pretty, too."

Hatori glared across the table. "I know that is not the only thing on your mind."

Now Shigure was the one to crush his cigarette between his fingers. "You've found me out, then. I actually do have a heart. Who would have known?"

Together they glanced back out the window towards the broad lake. Appearing on the willowy trail were three figures, two tall and the one in middle much shorter. Neither Hatori nor Shigure said a single world as the figures grew slowly larger. Tohru's bright smile captured both of their hearts, even if the smile was not directed towards them. Kyo and Yuki were the lucky ones there.

"Yes… she is extraordinary," said Shigure quietly. "I should feel calm and accomplished. She has unknowingly followed my plan, my ideas, to the utmost perfection… and yet I feel guilt. It's something I'm quite unfamiliar with. I would rather not use her… I would rather enjoy her. Her company, her kindness. But nevertheless…"

"She is not ours to love," said Hatori. The group was so close now that they could hear Tohru's sweet voice carried by the wind. Words were indistinguishable, but the tone was enough. Hatori swept the two cigarette butts into a nearby trash bin. "She will never be ours to love."

"No, indeed," murmured Shigure, his eyes unfocused.