Deadline
Shigure was having a good morning. He even woke up earlier to greet the new day with a bright smile. He danced around the kitchen, humming a little hum and washing the dishes. He had spent the remainder of the previous day boggling his mind on how he managed to kiss Akane without turning into a dog. He wondered if it worked for the rest of the Juunishi as well or if it was just for him. He thought about the possibility that maybe, by some bizarre reasoning, she was immune to the curse.
Kyou dragged himself down the stairs, still in his pajamas, angry at the world for rotating every twenty-four hours. Tohru walked in as well, dressed and ready for the day like a ray of sunshine and immediately offered to do the dishes instead.
"Tohru-kun, how nice of you!" Shigure beamed. Seeing this as an interesting opportunity to test his discovery, he quickly wrapped his arms around her. In a poof of smoke, he was standing on all fours, wagging his tail. Tohru stood still in one spot, dumbfounded.
"Hey! What the hell?" Kyou seemed a bit upset.
"Maa, Kyou-kun, it was just to test my hypothesis!" Shigure grinned his doggy teeth and strolled into the living room, contemplating what this meant. Tohru busied herself with the dishes and Kyou followed Shigure.
Kyou's nose twitched. "You've been acting very strangely lately, old man."
"Ne? How so?" Shigure said and unexpectedly turned back to human form. Kyou made sure to check that Tohru wasn't about to leave the kitchen at any point while Shigure was getting dressed.
"I come home early one day and see you talking to yourself. As if that weren't enough, you.. licked the air? Now you're lunging yourself at Tohru, even though you know you'll just turn into a dog? Shigure, I'm starting to think that you're loosing it... I mean, more than before."
Shigure sat down on the couch, slowly taking all this in. He didn't respond; he wasn't sure how to. Kyou made it sound as if Akane didn't really exist. He briefly entertained the thought that he has just imagined her.. but it was so real. That would make him insane and he knew that he wasn't. Then again, don't many crazy people think they're sane?
Before he could get any further with this, there was a knock on the door. Aha! He'd prove to Kyou that Akane really did exist and, more importantly, he'd prove it to himself. He dove for the door and practically broke it in a frenzied attempt at getting it open.
Kyou's nose twitched again. "That's exactly what I mean. You're never this excited to see your publisher."
"Maa, Mit-chan, welcome back!" Shigure sang, although disappointed that it wasn't who he expected. Akane did say that Mit-chan would be returning today.
"Three days. Three whole days. If it is not finished, you will pay dearly," she summarized her original threat, the three days of vacation obviously not doing much to relieve her stress.
Shigure pulled out the manuscript, seemly from thin air. He was actually keeping it close to the door so he could impress Akane with the work he got done on it the night before. "All finished," he grinned.
"Good!" Mit-chan smiled sweetly, revealing her other personality. She took the manuscript and began her walk away from her nightmare.
A paper fell for the otherwise sealed manuscript and a breeze carried it to Shigure. He picked it up and examined it. It was the character profile of the beautiful woman that he had showed Hatori a few nights ago. He flipped it over to the back and looked at his drawing. The similarities were uncanny. Akane, he thought.
"Mit-chan, just one more thing," Shigure called to her from the door. He took a couple steps forward, careful not to get too close.
"Hai?" She said, keeping her smile in place.
"I just wanted to thank you for getting such a great substitute for when you were gone," Shigure said, and winked at her.
"What are you talking about?" Mit-chan placed her hands at her hips, impatient to get going.
"Akane.. you send her didn't you?"
"I have no idea who that is but, honestly, I don't care much. As long as you got the manuscript done, I couldn't care less who made you do it. Is that all?" She asked, checking her watch.
"Hai," Shigure said, his grin fading. Mit-chan thought that she had never seen such a drastic change in his behavior before but decided that he wasn't worth any more stress and left.
Shigure dragged himself back inside the house, past the still enraged Kyou, and to the bathroom. He locked the door behind himself and slouched over the mirror. He couldn't believe it. It made absolute sense but he knew he wasn't insane. Akane was perfect, more perfect than any human being could ever hope to be.
Maybe the long hours of working got to him. Maybe it was really just an overactive imagination. It would explain why he didn't turn into a dog when he kissed her; because he didn't want to. It would explain why the waitress at the diner looked at him so strangely. He let out a frustrated laugh. Akane was a figment of his imagination; however real she may have seemed.
Shigure splashed his face with cold water and looked back up at his reflection. "How dare you think you're allowed to fall in love?" He asked himself.
[Yes, I know I know. There, there. I wanted to try out an anti-climax and dreams are so over done. So, I decided to just make Shigure crazy instead. Come on, you didn't really expect me to come up with some absurd reasoning for why Akane is suddenly immune to the curse, did you? I just don't work like that. Gomen if it was too much of a let-down ^_^]
Shigure was having a good morning. He even woke up earlier to greet the new day with a bright smile. He danced around the kitchen, humming a little hum and washing the dishes. He had spent the remainder of the previous day boggling his mind on how he managed to kiss Akane without turning into a dog. He wondered if it worked for the rest of the Juunishi as well or if it was just for him. He thought about the possibility that maybe, by some bizarre reasoning, she was immune to the curse.
Kyou dragged himself down the stairs, still in his pajamas, angry at the world for rotating every twenty-four hours. Tohru walked in as well, dressed and ready for the day like a ray of sunshine and immediately offered to do the dishes instead.
"Tohru-kun, how nice of you!" Shigure beamed. Seeing this as an interesting opportunity to test his discovery, he quickly wrapped his arms around her. In a poof of smoke, he was standing on all fours, wagging his tail. Tohru stood still in one spot, dumbfounded.
"Hey! What the hell?" Kyou seemed a bit upset.
"Maa, Kyou-kun, it was just to test my hypothesis!" Shigure grinned his doggy teeth and strolled into the living room, contemplating what this meant. Tohru busied herself with the dishes and Kyou followed Shigure.
Kyou's nose twitched. "You've been acting very strangely lately, old man."
"Ne? How so?" Shigure said and unexpectedly turned back to human form. Kyou made sure to check that Tohru wasn't about to leave the kitchen at any point while Shigure was getting dressed.
"I come home early one day and see you talking to yourself. As if that weren't enough, you.. licked the air? Now you're lunging yourself at Tohru, even though you know you'll just turn into a dog? Shigure, I'm starting to think that you're loosing it... I mean, more than before."
Shigure sat down on the couch, slowly taking all this in. He didn't respond; he wasn't sure how to. Kyou made it sound as if Akane didn't really exist. He briefly entertained the thought that he has just imagined her.. but it was so real. That would make him insane and he knew that he wasn't. Then again, don't many crazy people think they're sane?
Before he could get any further with this, there was a knock on the door. Aha! He'd prove to Kyou that Akane really did exist and, more importantly, he'd prove it to himself. He dove for the door and practically broke it in a frenzied attempt at getting it open.
Kyou's nose twitched again. "That's exactly what I mean. You're never this excited to see your publisher."
"Maa, Mit-chan, welcome back!" Shigure sang, although disappointed that it wasn't who he expected. Akane did say that Mit-chan would be returning today.
"Three days. Three whole days. If it is not finished, you will pay dearly," she summarized her original threat, the three days of vacation obviously not doing much to relieve her stress.
Shigure pulled out the manuscript, seemly from thin air. He was actually keeping it close to the door so he could impress Akane with the work he got done on it the night before. "All finished," he grinned.
"Good!" Mit-chan smiled sweetly, revealing her other personality. She took the manuscript and began her walk away from her nightmare.
A paper fell for the otherwise sealed manuscript and a breeze carried it to Shigure. He picked it up and examined it. It was the character profile of the beautiful woman that he had showed Hatori a few nights ago. He flipped it over to the back and looked at his drawing. The similarities were uncanny. Akane, he thought.
"Mit-chan, just one more thing," Shigure called to her from the door. He took a couple steps forward, careful not to get too close.
"Hai?" She said, keeping her smile in place.
"I just wanted to thank you for getting such a great substitute for when you were gone," Shigure said, and winked at her.
"What are you talking about?" Mit-chan placed her hands at her hips, impatient to get going.
"Akane.. you send her didn't you?"
"I have no idea who that is but, honestly, I don't care much. As long as you got the manuscript done, I couldn't care less who made you do it. Is that all?" She asked, checking her watch.
"Hai," Shigure said, his grin fading. Mit-chan thought that she had never seen such a drastic change in his behavior before but decided that he wasn't worth any more stress and left.
Shigure dragged himself back inside the house, past the still enraged Kyou, and to the bathroom. He locked the door behind himself and slouched over the mirror. He couldn't believe it. It made absolute sense but he knew he wasn't insane. Akane was perfect, more perfect than any human being could ever hope to be.
Maybe the long hours of working got to him. Maybe it was really just an overactive imagination. It would explain why he didn't turn into a dog when he kissed her; because he didn't want to. It would explain why the waitress at the diner looked at him so strangely. He let out a frustrated laugh. Akane was a figment of his imagination; however real she may have seemed.
Shigure splashed his face with cold water and looked back up at his reflection. "How dare you think you're allowed to fall in love?" He asked himself.
[Yes, I know I know. There, there. I wanted to try out an anti-climax and dreams are so over done. So, I decided to just make Shigure crazy instead. Come on, you didn't really expect me to come up with some absurd reasoning for why Akane is suddenly immune to the curse, did you? I just don't work like that. Gomen if it was too much of a let-down ^_^]