DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fruits Basket or any of its characters.
A.N. Thank you very much for the reviews -all of you made me smile and want to continue the fic. Thank you so much! And of course, here's an update! This isn't so special though. But I still hope it would still be worthy of reviews! Yey! Love you guys!
Tohru woke up early the next morning. She stretched her sore muscles, still tired and exhausted from several days of heavy work. She stopped in midway of her yawn as she remembered how Ayame's eyes pierced through her last night. She recalled how affectionate his hand had been, and the shine of the silver band she left him a week ago was on his finger like it belonged there. Walking to her dresser, she took a comb and started to brush her hair.
The sum of her money was getting larger, finally shrewd enough for survival. Her savings compared to last year was doubled and she knew she could take her leave anytime now. All she was waiting for was the right time to say goodbye and thank you to her three housemates privately. She would say goodbye to the other Soumas but she knew she needed the right courage and strength to announce her leaving because she knew that once she was to depart –she would take off for good. She would leave before anyone got the notion that she needed her memory erased or stuff like that.
Her decision was very much similar to Hatori's capability of erasing people's memories. She would do it without consideration, without thinking of how they really felt, and she would do it whether they liked it or not.
And about Ayame, her precious lover… she already bid goodbye, a week ago. It was not formal but she knew that he got it in some way. He didn't come to get her for work like he used to do. She admits that she had been expecting him to come for her but she knew he was smart enough to figure out why she left, leaving him only with the memory of a ring. It was not only a message, but a sign, that she gave up on him, leaving the words engraved on the ring right where it was supposed to be.
Her hair was smooth and in order again. She put the brush back in the dresser and tried to find something to change into on her cabinet. Her hands unexpectedly caught a very soft garment, silk. She pulled it out from its folds, staring at it.
It was a red dress, one of many that Ayame made for her. She never wore them though, only once in certain occasions. She felt grief eat her heart as she dug her fingers on the dresses. She would never ever get to wear his presents. Tohru decided she would leave them behind but knew that if Shigure and the boys found out how numerous the clothes were, surely they would have the idea that there was a special meaning to the garments. So she would bring them to where she would go to and send them back to Ayame's address so as to finally forget him and tell him that he was no longer hers, that she was returning all the signs that they were together.
But Tohru knew too well that he made his mark on her and that it was irreversible. Though she did not regret losing her virginity before marriage, she knew that it had been a mistake because she would remember him always, remember how warm, how lovely he fitted in her, how perfect he was when making love and yes… she would always remember how he whispered her name over and over again…
Pulling out one of her dresses, she changed into a plain blue dress –a total shame and opposite of Ayame's wonderful breathtaking fashions. She closed the cabinet and made her way downstairs.
Plastering a smile on her face, just in case someone was already there, she entered the kitchen. Thankfully, she knew, no one woke up as early as she did. She hurriedly went to cook some rice. She busied herself in the kitchen as she usually did, waiting till one of her housemates would greet her either with an 'ohayou' or a smirk. She kept herself busy in the sink as she peeled off the dirty skin of a carrot for the stew. She took a quick glance at the wall clock.
Six-thirty. Good, she had all the house to herself. No one would be fighting, no one would be talking, only silence was present…
As she managed to peel the vegetables and chop them into cubes, she spun around to place them on the table –only to be greeted by two silver eyes, his flawless face smiling faintly at her. A faint gasp escaped her lips and she was gratified that she already put the bowl of vegetables on the counter or if she had not, she might have dropped them useless on the floor.
"You know, I really fancy you surprised," he whispered, keeping his gaze on her, obviously amused by her shock.
Tohru was too stunned to speak and too bewildered to move.
Ayame laughed softly, fighting every cell of his being from touching her befuddled face. He leaned his head against his knuckles that was supported by his elbow and sighed. "Shigure invited me over last night for a sleepover. Did you, in that slick mind of yours, ever think that I would decline?"
All of the sudden, she felt angered with him. Her patience snapped. "You really are something, you know that? How could you do this? How could you?"
He shifted in his seat, leaning closer. "I should be the one asking that question, don't you think?"
Tohru's brows furrowed angrily. "I am not having this conversation with you, Ayame."
He smiled weakly and pushed a long strand of silver hair from his eyes, tucking it behind his ear. He rolled his eyes and grinned. "I never thought that you'd be the kind to run away."
Tohru glared at him with all the fury she could. Plodding angrily to the refrigerator, she took out a box and slammed it down the kitchen counter before him. "And I deserve your sarcasm, Ayame, because I was stupid enough to fall into your seduction-" she stopped as she tried to control her anger, to control words that would probably inflict pain. She turned around with a stomp. "Tell them to have cereal for breakfast. I'm going out."
He was left speechless on the counter. All he could remember were her painful words and authoritative command. He shuddered as the scent of her disappeared, alerting him to make a rush of things.
Quickly he searched for empty bowls and took out three from the cabinet, placing it beside the cereal box, knowing that the men in the house would be sensitive enough to serve themselves. He hurried to the door and wished by all means that he caught up with her.
He was not going to let her go this time and in an instant, running became his sport. He followed her invisible trail, the path back to town.
He was relieved to have caught sight of her long brown hair as she strode forward, unaware of his approach. He sprinted behind her without sound and in a blink of an eye, caught her wrist, making her gasp with surprise. Before she could protest or shrug him off or run away again, he swept her from her feet and headed for the trees. He would have her alone. He could not dismiss the thought of gratitude he had for his genes -thank goodness he had long limbs to keep her away from his chest -his girl was putting so much trouble!
"Put me down. NOW!" she ordered him as she struggled in his arms, flipping her legs up and down, pulling and tugging on his suit. Her long hair was in all directions. With knitted brows she glared at him furiously. "Put me down!"
After a minute, Ayame just smiled and carefully put her on her feet, but trapping her against a tree. He watched his little love pout angrily, she really was pissed off. Maybe Tohru acted mechanically every time she was with a Souma, because she could have taken the chance of embracing him at once. Tohru opened her mouth again but now he leaned down and kissed her, shutting her up. Her hard grasps on his collar softened and slowly, she responded to his kiss. After licking her lips, he whispered, "I've missed you, Tohru…"
Tohru turned from his gaze and as he leaned down again to kiss her, she clamped a hand over her mouth and shook her head. "No, Ayame. We will not do this."
"But I want to and…!" Ayame trailed off, stopping before she noticed how an emotional wreck he was becoming. Ignoring the starting tremor forming on his knees and fingers, he clamped her shoulders with his hands. "This ring… why?"
"Oh Ayame… please. Let's just forget. I don't want to deal with this anymore…"
Ayame took her hand from her mouth and placed it on his cheek. "But why did you leave me such a sweet yet… painful remembrance? Remorse, perhaps?"
"Consider it as a sign that you must never commit the same mistake if ever you'd love again…"
"What mistake? I do not understand…" he asked, needing to know her meaning.
"Never ever… say you love a girl because… she'd believe it."
"Then this ring is useless!" he argued, giving her hand more pressure. "Loving you is true, you know that! Its not a mistake!"
Tohru shook her head. "It symbolizes many things, too, Ayame. Okay so you love me but... You know that we could never work this out."
Ayame crushed her lips with his, not wanting to hear more. "You're so hurtful, Tohru… how can you say that…?"
Tohru smiled weakly. "I speak the truth…"
"So do I and you're using it against me."
"I'll be leaving next week."
"You won't."
"I already bought a ticket."
"I'll get a refund."
"My bags are packed, too."
"I'll undress you later."
"I'll send you back the dresses."
"I love you." Ayame squeezed her shoulders tight, anger flashing in his silver eyes. "You cannot do this to me, Tohru. Leaving me will hurt us both, that you know very well."
"It will but I will learn to live with it."
"I will not allow you to."
"Stop it!" Tohru yelled, jumping towards his body and giving him a warm embrace and as expected…
POOOOOOOOF!
When the cloud of smoke cleared, Tohru saw that the transformation took place, leaving a very stunned and angry snake on the ground in a pool of clothes. Looking at him –her lover on the ground, made her cry and smile at the same time. But she stomped her foot on the ground and shook her head. "I'm going back to the house. Get dressed before-"
Ayame the snake encircled his body on her ankle, making her shriek loud and clear.
Tohru's eyes widened. "Would you please… stop this!" she screamed, wagging her foot up and down, hoping he would get dizzy and let go. But the actions were loud and clear.
Ayame simply expressed: I. Will. Not. Let. You. Go.
"You little sneak!" Tohru yelled as she bent down to pick up his clothing from the floor. She snorted as she gathered the garments. "You should be grateful I still consider your clothes! Do you know that no one has your size back at home?" Though Ayame would look beautiful in anything, the last resort of using Shigure's hakamas would definitely not look that stunning on him. Tohru tried hard not to shiver as she felt the cold scaly feeling that encircled her ankle. Taking a deep breath, she clutched his clothes tighter against her chest and strutted back to the Souma household. So much for cereals.
And as Tohru forgot that a snake actually caught hold of her ankle as she made her way to the house, Ayame spent his minutes gazing up her skirt, enjoying the view of what he missed for a week –her childish but oh so lovely strawberry panties.
What did we expect? That Tohru's shrill cry would not be heard? A keen observer from the trees went unnoticed as the couple fought and finally, they went back into the house in a very funny way. Just like the way Tohru's face became unclear of frustration -so did he want to cry and laugh. This woman… whom he thought would end up with either one of them would probably end up with nobody.
Slowly he crept down from the tree and dusted off his clothes. What peculiar information he found out today. And he thought this day was a normal one. Running his hands through his messy hair, he felt confused of what he was supposed to feel about what he found out and what he saw.
But as he neared the Souma household, he could not help but feel excited of what would happen today. A house filled with men who adored one lone gal…
Who said that it always had been Adam and Eve…
Wasn't the serpent the one who made Eve fall first…?
When Tohru entered the house, she quickly dashed to her room before anyone could see her. Ayame was still on her ankle. She put down the clothes on her futon and put her clenched fists on her waist. "Look, baka, I suggest you let go right now!"
The snake wrapped itself tighter around her ankle.
Tohru sighed and fell down on the floor. She stretched her legs and stared at the dark being that circled her leg. It felt strange and weird. "You know, you're making things harder for the both of us…"
The snake sighed.
"I don't know what you see in me," Tohru whispered, keeping her gaze on the snake. "Don't you know you can have any woman you want with your looks? You have your money, your fashion-sense, your brains? Why are you so persistent?"
Ayame slowly uncurled himself from her skin and after a cloud of smoke, he reappeared nude, sitting crossed leg before her feet. "Tohru… I love you. That's all the explanation I could ever give."
Tohru bit her lower lip as she stared at him. Was this Aphrodite as male? Maybe he was. "You know love isn't always enough."
"We'll have a secret wedding!" Ayame said, eyes widening as he crawled before her, trapping her down with his arms. He gazed into her eyes and smiled. "I'll marry you…! And then, you could just live with me!"
"You know I can't do that." Tohru looked away from his eyes and his nude body.
"Which part?" Ayame asked with soulful eyes. "Marrying me or moving in with me?"
Tohru shrugged. "Both?"
"No!" Ayame said cheerfully. "You will have to marry me. If you want, you could still stay here so the secrecy lives on. But that's only for a while. Besides, we're going to have a family soon…"
"You sound like a child," Tohru whispered, reaching out to take a wisp of his hair. She wrapped it around her finger and sighed. "Building castles in the air…"
Ayame shook his head and gave her a friendly encouraging peck on the nose. "Oh ride with it, Tohru-koi…" As he said those words, his cheeks flamed and his eyebrows wiggled up and down. "Or ride on me, rather…"
Tohru giggled and playfully roughed his hair. "I bet they're looking for us right now…"
Ayame groaned softly when her fingers started to massage his scalp and it took a whole lot of strength not to let himself fall down on her body. "And we… could be like this… I'd be waiting for you here in your room everyday and when you come home, we could always make love…"
"Right…"
"We would let all of them hear the lovely music of our love-making…"
"And…"
"We would keep them awake and envious of what we have…"
Tohru laughed softly, keeping herself bemused with his comfortable face.
Ayame opened his eyes and smiled. "Wouldn't you want that, Tohru?"
"Your ideas are like candies," Tohru replied with a smile. "They're sweet and tasty but it will pain our teeth."
"Oh come on, Tohru!" Ayame sighed. He definitely would buy her a whole pack of those sugarless candies that were safe for the teeth.
Shigure sat in silence as he ate his bowl of cereals. Crunch, crunch, crunch… After swallowing, he paused to stare at the contents of his bowl, sighed and scooped another spoonful into his mouth. Crunch, crunch, crunch... How he wished this morning was spared from the cousins' unending, annoying, senseless bickering. Shigure wondered if he was the only one that noticed that this morning a little odd.
Tohru didn't make breakfast on a Saturday –she always did because she knew it was their weekly reunion with Yuki. Other Soumas usually visited during weekends too. Well, aside from the exceptionally early Haru Souma who was arguing with Kyo, Tohru's cereals-for-breakfast seemed the only thing that was wrong in the whole picture.
Maybe Shigure was the only one bothered by it because he was the only one who knew. He was the only one who knew that one of his best friends, his dearest Aya-chan, was in love with his little flower.
Last night Shigure made a sacrifice of feelings to give way to his best friend. He knew that he was probably a coward but who ever saw the love-sick silver eyes of Ayame Souma that day would have also done the same. And he was the best friend.
Not that he was planning on courting Tohru or anything like that. Not that he was planning to marry her after a few months. Not that he was trying to figure out his role for her in her life. Not that he was too concerned for her every time she went home late. Not that he was thinking that maybe he was more than an older 'nii-san' to her. Not that he was lusting for her like crazy ever since she had smaller breasts. Not those, of course. Not at all.
Shigure could have chosen to act by duty –save the family's honor, keep the secret, keep it professional… He had to admit that when Ayame confided in him, he was already scheming a plan of action of prevention for further damage and pain. But when he saw the look on Tohru's face last night when she met gazes with Ayame –he knew he lost to all the possible thoughts he had about tearing the two apart. How could he?
As much as he did not want to admit it, Shigure saw hope in the whole conflict between the couple. Akito, he knew, wasn't even going to be a problem at all. Akito was currently interested with either Kyo or Yuki and if ever Tohru did stay in the Souma's lives, she would do very well off with Ayame.
Like him, Ayame played it smart regarding the family business. Hatori could have done better but due to very emotionally attached difficulties, the doctor failed and went back to square one. Ayame, on the other hand, used all his skills and talents to benefit himself. He covered all the lies and hurt he knew by the beautiful clothes he created and it didn't take long for the cover-up turn into hope. Soon the garments, the fashion business, the fashion boutique turned out not only his form of shield but turned into his own pedestal. Ayame manipulated things slowly with so much patience that he minded his own business to so much extent that Akito didn't care much about him at all and what he did.
He was the same. If Ayame used his eccentric fashion taste, Shigure used his wide range of experience and vocabulary to make use of his talent in writing. Soon enough, he learned to balance his priorities and decisions when it came to being loyal to Akito and the deadlines for his editor.
And now Shigure was half-heartedly getting horny about thoughts of what might be happening upstairs in Tohru's room. No one else knew Ayame stayed in for the night and no one was looking for Tohru –the pair was obviously together, doing something worth skipping breakfast for. Or maybe they were having breakfast, only that they were having each other…
Poor Kyo. Poor Yuki. They would certainly lose their confidence in some point. They have lost to the one who they knew they never could beat. The perfect image of man who is most of the time adorned with the grace and dresses of a woman. The fair-skinned Ayame, the perfect student leader and activist and friend, secretly unafraid, secretly in love with Tohru, secretly brave to have done something about it rather than just think about it –he triumphed over them. All of them.
Poor me, Shigure thought. So much for his plans of getting some with a virgin. A very good, sweet, kind, lovable virgin. A virgin who slaved for the well-being of people like them. A virgin who would have done anything her warden asked of. A virgin who… he never thought, would fall in love with his best friend. Yes, he lost, altogether with his nephews, he lost. Fair and square, he lost. Crunch, crunch, crunch…
In the middle of the bickering cousins, someone mentioned Ayame's name and Shigure's ears perked up.
"No. He does not have a girlfriend that I know of," Yuki said in a straight face.
Kyo laughed as he pointed a finger at Haru. "There you go again, schizo! You're going homo again! Hahahahah!"
The half-black half-white head snorted. "I was just asking. I mean… A man who's so successful like him should have at least some romance, right? That's the cherry on top of the ice cream, isn't it?"
"Sissy!" Kyo teased. "But maybe you could work it out with Ayame. You'll be on top, Ayame would be bottom… Mwaahahahhaah!"
Yuki chuckled in agreement and turned the TV set on. Sitting comfortably on the tatami mat, he sighed and took a glance at the clock. "I wonder why Tohru isn't here yet. Maybe she went out for market, eh, Shigure?"
That's probably because she's making bunnies up in her room with your brother, he replied inside his head. Shigure shivered at the idea. He shut his eyes close to rid himself of the disturbing, envious images of Ayame and Tohru humping like crazy that were flashing on and off in his cereal bowl. He sighed for the umpteenth time and shivered again. "Uh… yeah, right…"
Crunch, crunch, crunch…
Everything could have gone smoothly that day…
Except that Haru announced that he heard a strange 'thump' sound from upstairs.
To be continued…
A.N. I'm afraid I will have to cut this to five chapters only or less. Thank you for reading, please leave me a review! Spare me the flames, my dears!
