Spring
By: Neko-chan
A/N: *thoughts while watching the anime* Akito-san has a birdie... Why does Akito-san have a birdie? Where did the birdie come from? *frowns thoughtfully* Akito-san isn't hurting the birdie and yet he hurts everything and everyone else...? ...why doesn't Akito-san hurt the birdie? *lightbulb flashing* Aaaaah...
DISCLAIMER: Fruits Basket is not owned by Neko-chan. This saddens her, especially considering the fact that she wants an Ayame and Akito-san plushie but can't find any. And still--she doesn't own Fruits Basket. This means that if you decide to sue her, you'll get nothing except pocket lint. (Not even collector's edition pocket lint. P) The end.
~ * ~
The sound was so soft, so very soft... Lightly pounding on the roof, filling his dreams with songs he could hear and yet could not understand. He frowned in his sleep, but did not awaken. He was so sleepy... So very, very sleepy... He did not want to awaken--not now, not ever.
What was the point of waking, anyway?
He would die soon enough.
A gentle hand touched his cheek, cradling his face within the palm of her hand. Her hands were so warm, so gentle, so careful with him. Her hands touched him as if he might break at any point of time. She didn't want that--the hands didn't want that--and so her touches gentled even further.
"I've brought you a present, Akito," the soft voice whispered through his dreams, touching him here and there, slowly prompting him to wakefulness. He loved listening to the voice of his mother--so kind, so soft, so gentle. She was so loving to him. And he loved her so very much.
She was the only one that he loved.
He knew that she was the only one that he would ever love.
And he didn't care about that fact--not at all.
"Ohayo, Akito," she continued on as the small boy slowly opened his eyes, rubbing one as he pushed himself into a sitting position. "Ohayo. It's raining outside. Can you hear it? It's like hearing the drumming of a thousand tiny little drums, all pounding away. The drums are welcoming spring. Don't you think so, Akito?"
He blinked and stared out of his open door. The garden lay just outside, shiny and wet and sparkling with the rain that came down from the sky. Everything smelled clean and fresh and... new. It smelled like spring. Spring was finally coming to the Souma estate. "No," he replied. "I don't hear them at all. It's just rain."
Her face saddened for a moment and yet... she continued smiling at him, tilting her head to one side as she did so. Her dark hair fell over one shoulder like a black curtain, partially blocking her face. Akito knew that she did that gesture when she didn't want him to see her expression. "Aaah. Well, the rain sounds like different things to different people. What do you hear when you listen to the rain, Akito?"
The small boy shrugged and finally stood up, walking towards the open entranceway. He leaned up against one of the posts, not saying anything, just... watching the rain as it fell. Several long moments passed and he still did not say anything to her. She waited a little bit longer, dark eyes anxious and expectant; her face eventually fell and she started to move away.
"I don't hear anything but the rain. It's just... rain."
She smiled gently at that. "Rain. So realistic and jaded, Akito. Can't you hear anything else within the rain? Anything at all?" She came up behind him and wrapped her arms around him, pressing her lips to the top of his head. "Ah, Akito. So sad..."
'If... If I could hear anything--anything at all--within the rain, I would hear... the ocean. I would hear the ocean, smashing itself against the shore, trying so hard to shape its own destiny. Yes, Okaasan. I hear the ocean within the rain.' Akito said nothing, just leaned back within his mother's warm embraced.
"My sweet, sweet child... I love you so much..." she whispered. The boy continued to say nothing, closing his eyes and soaking in the warmth that only a mother could provide. It was moments like this--calm and quiet, with no one to interrupt them--that he loved the most. So... calming...
"Okaasan."
"... Ah, silly me! I nearly forgot. I've gotten you a present, Akito," she said, smiling happily while quickly moving out of the room. Akito watched her go, an expressionless mask painted upon his face. She soon returned, a cage held between her hands.
Inside the cage was a small bird, pale and delicate and looked as if it had been made from porcelain. It fluttered to and fro, barely managing to contain itself within its small cage. It was a creature of beauty and movement--it was a creature of freedom.
The small boy took the cage from his mother's grasp and gently placed it upon the floor, kneeling down beside it. He carefully opened the door, making sure that the bird wouldn't escape as he did so, and held out his finger to the small animal. It stared at his finger for a long moment, but finally ended up hopping onto his outstretched index finger.
It chirped gaily at him as he slowly drew his finger out of the cage.
The bird fluttered its wings, looking as though it was about to take flight, but soon settled itself as he brushed another finger against its delicate chest. Akito's mother looked on, her dark eyes unreadable, a soft smile playing about her lips.
"What are you going to name the bird, Akito?"
"... I don't know, Okaasan."
"Ah."
But Akito did know what the bird's name would be. He had known what its name would be from the very start, stroking it and gazing out the doorway. It was only fitting, after all.
'Haru.'
Spring.
~Owari~
::End::
A/N: Extremely short, I know. But... *shrugs* I had the idea playing about in my mind for a while now. And I've decided that I like doing Akito-centric ficus. So this ficu and "You Never Asked Me" will most definitely _not_ be my last ones... D
...though my next FB ficu will probably have something to do with Ayame. 'Why is that?' you may ask. 'Cause he's my second favorite Fruits Basket character. And he's Ayame. So there. P Bwa~~