"Greetings, everyone. And how have you been, little brother?"

In the words of Ayame, greetings! Thanks to everyone who has read and/or reviewed so far! It means a lot to me. I hope you will continue to like this story.

Tuliharja: I thought it was interesting that Akito and Ayame never have a lot of interaction, and seeing as a great deal of the other Zodiac members have silently or otherwise stood up to their master at one time or another, I wanted to see what it would be like if Ayame spoke up for Yuki. I've always felt a little sorry for Ayame…because of Akito and his parents, his chances of becoming close to his little brother were dashed. I can't promise anything about the physical state of Ayame during this fanfic. I still really haven't decided.

mousecat: Thank you so much for the compliment! I tried to make the feelings between Akito and Ayame concerning Yuki as contrasting and intense as I could. Once again, I can't promise anything about what will happen to Ayame. Hatori will be involved though. I find it interesting how he tries to protect the members of the Zodiac, despite his fierce loyalty to Akito.

nova: Thanks for reading! I think that the amount of Aya-Yuki fics should be widely expanded. I just love their characters and the unique connection that they share despite all the obstacles.

Warning: Fortune cookies were not invented in China. Oh, and there will be a little blood in this chapter, so don't read on a squeamish stomach (unless of course that's what you do to feel better…which is weird, but okay, I have strange habits too).

Chapter Two:

Ayame continued to scream as he tried to edge away from Akito, but his deranged master had a deadly aim. Ayame's body had always been highly sensitive, perhaps even more so than his brother's. His pale white skin was now covered with spots of red. Akito continued to mercilessly stab the snake, and every wound caused Ayame to get weaker and weaker.

Ayame didn't know how much longer he'd be able to hold up under Akito's assault. His body was feeling heavy and numb, and the room was starting to spin around him.

Surely, Akito wouldn't actually kill him, would he? He was a member of the Zodiac, after all. Would Akito actually sever their sacred bond by taking Ayame's life? No, certainly not. Ayame figured that Akito would torture him a while longer and then make the snake beg for forgiveness.

That would be a problem. Ayame didn't feel sorry for anything that he had said. The only thing he regretted was that he had not said it sooner, back when it might have mattered. That wasn't important now. All Ayame thought about was Yuki, his tei-chan. Why couldn't he have seen it sooner? All the signs that Yuki was being abused had been before his eyes. Why hadn't he done something?

Despite Tohru-san's kind advice, Ayame once again began to regret his life. He had been given so many chances to reach out to Yuki, so why hadn't he?

Suddenly, there was a sharp pain in his side, and Ayame let out another cry. Akito had plunged her knife straight under the left side of his ribs and was proceeding to drive it in deeper. Ayame, trying to find some reprieve, moved farther away from Akito, only to find that he was now fenced in a corner, and at Akito's mercy. That was a very dangerous place to be, considering Akito had little mercy for anyone that went against his divine will.

As his head started to spin, the room before him began to blur, and the memories of his childhood began to resurface…

Ayame was fifteen years old. Yuki, his younger brother, was five. Ayame had wandered down the halls, looking for his cousins Hari-san and Shigure-kun. They were playing hide-and-seek, and Hatori was quite effective at not being found. In fact, Ayame and Shigure were starting to suspect that the reason Hatori liked the game so much was because their cousin actually liked getting away from them.

Ayame hardly ever saw Yuki, and so he acknowledged him even less. They were more like strangers than brothers.

As Ayame scanned the area of the estate he had wandered into, his golden eyes checking and re-checking every area for his cunning family members, he heard the sharp, angry voice of his mother.

"Yuki! Stop it!"

Curiosity killed the cat, not the snake, so Ayame edged towards the sound. The door to the room was wide open, as was the door from the room to the patio. Ayame's angry mother was pulling little silver-haired Yuki by the wrist. The five-year-old, eyes hidden under his hair, was vainly trying to pull away from their mother, obviously trying to avoid something, though Ayame didn't know what.

"Why are you being so disobedient?"

The fact that her youngest son didn't answer her question only served to make the Soma mother angrier. "YUKI! I'll HIT you!"

That took Ayame briefly aback. He'd heard rumors of his mother hitting her younger son, but he'd learned in his short fifteen years not to believe anything whispered within the walls of Soma house. He'd regarded them as simply gossip, without any basis in fact. Yet, here his mother was, threatening to hit Yuki for refusing to do who knew what.

Now an adult, Ayame realized that he should have stepped in that day. He should have come between his mother and Yuki. He could have saved his brother and himself a lot of pain.

Brushing the matter aside, Ayame turned away from the scene and walked quickly past, resuming his search for Hatori and Shigure. After all, he reasoned, it had nothing to do with him. And, in the grand scheme of things, Ayame figured that Yuki probably deserved whatever he was getting. And so, when he heard his mother's open hand connect with Yuki's frail, sickly body, he felt nothing.

That wasn't the first time that Ayame Soma had pushed his little sibling away, and it most certainly wasn't his last.

Ayame was pulled out of his reverie when his back hit the corner of the wall and the blade of Akito's knife connected with his neck.

"I'll kill you! I'll kill you, you vain, prideful, arrogant -!" Ayame's ears stung at Akito's cruel noun. "You are a worthless, disobedient, and ungrateful snake and I will KILL you!" The metal cut deeper into Ayame's neck, but the pain didn't even register to him anymore. He was too far away.

No matter how many times he had heartlessly pushed Yuki away, his brother had never done the same. Even when Yuki called him and idiot and tried to get rid of him, he did it kindly. Yuki tried to bridge the gap between them the best that he knew how. Ayame could remember all the times that Yuki had surprised him with words like,

"Nii-san, you may be an idiot…but I don't think that you are a fool."

Or…

"My nii-san may be…extravagant, but he is not worthless."

Akito continued yelling obscenities at his elder cousin, but to Ayame, it sounded like the Soma god was speaking under water. In fact, the only thing that Ayame could do was mumble "Yuki…Yuki…Y-uki…"

Then there was a slam at the door. "Aki…Ayame!"

Akito snarled at the figure in the doorway. "Get out Hatori! You're too late!"

Persistently, Hatori pushed his way into the room. Shoving past Akito, he grabbed his cousin's arm and started pulling towards the door. But, like Akito had said, it was just too late! As he pulled Ayame's arm, there was a splash of red blood and Hatori's eyes widened in fear and shock as part of Ayame's body fell to the ground with a sickening thud.