So…. here's the deal where this fic is concerned. I *am* still working on it. I stopped nearly a year ago because so many people complained about my Shigure being OOC and it kind of upset me. It took me a little while to figure out that yeah, by manga standards, he is. But I put in the very beginning that this is all from the ANIME, not from the MANGA, because I don't have the manga, much as I'd like to. Also, I don't want to acknowledge any Shigure/Akito hints because it gives me the creeps. ^_^

So the long and the short of it is: here's chapter 3. It's way shorter than the first two, mostly because I just wanted to get it up before everyone decided I had totally abandoned the fic (too late). I will try to have chapter 4 up… this year. And until I get the manga, it will continue to be based *entirely* on the anime. Thank you and enjoy the fic.

Oh, and an extra warning for yaoi that will at some point be in the fic… Haru/Yuki hints and probably some Shigure/Hatori.

Previous chapters available at my fic site.

Chapter Three

"So how was your first day at school?" Shigure asked mildly, as Yuki came in and toed his shoes off by the door.

"It was – they were – the girls were – " Yuki sputtered helplessly for a few seconds before suddenly bursting out with, "Everywhere!"

Shigure leaned against the doorway with a lazy grin, trying to not look too terribly amused by Yuki's discomfiture. "Have a few adventures, did you?" He sobered, giving Yuki a close look. "I hope not that adventurous."

"No one found out," Yuki said sullenly, then added, "I dodge very well."

Shigure grinned again. "See? Told you that you could do it."

"I wouldn't say that dodging one day's worth of girls is too much of an accomplishment," Yuki said. "They all seemed to think I was cute." His nose wrinkled at this statement; he apparently found it quite distressing.

Shigure now had to bite his lip to keep from outright laughter. Unfortunately, Yuki caught him at it and gave him an annoyed look.

"What's so funny?" he snapped.

"Nothing, it's just . . . you looked just like Ha-san for a minute." Even knowing that Yuki disliked Hatori, Shigure found the situation quite amusing. "He said nearly the same thing the first time we encountered a group of young women. Of course, we weren't lucky enough to go to school and see them every day, it was just a one time thing, but Ha-san was very disturbed. He said they kept 'looking' at him."

"I'll bet," Yuki grumbled, settling at the table despite his better judgment. His instincts were urging him to flee for the room that had been designated as his own, but he found himself interested in Shigure's stories despite himself. "I bet you enjoyed it, though."

"Since the only girls I had ever met up until that point were related to me, of course I did," Shigure said breezily. "How could they deny my wonderful good looks?"

Yuki rolled his eyes.

"Now, Aya was a different story," Shigure said with a chuckle. He was interesting in bringing the discussion around to Ayame if he could, to judge Yuki's reaction. As annoyed as he was with his friend over Yuki's treatment, he thought it would be better for everyone if they could reconcile. As he had expected, Yuki went tense at his brother's name. "He much prefers flirting with men, if only because he thinks it's funny to make people uncomfortable."

Yuki's nose wrinkled again. "Oh," he said, the syllable laden with meaning.

Shigure raised an eyebrow at Yuki. "You know, as someone who can never be embraced by a woman without turning into a rat, I think you'd be more sympathetic towards those people who turn to the same gender." Shigure didn't mention anything else he thought about Yuki's statement, particularly the fact that it was a well-known fact in the Jyuunishi that Haru had a crush on Yuki. If one could call the hopeless devotion Haru showed him as something as silly as a 'crush', that was.

"It's not that," Yuki said, coloring slightly. "It's just . . . Ayame. I don't need to think about my older brother like that, thanks."

"From what I can tell, you prefer to not think about your older brother at all," Shigure said. His tone of voice was mild, but it was a challenge nonetheless.

"Why should I?" Yuki asked stubbornly. "He never thinks about me."

"Now that's just a blatant untruth," Shigure said with a sigh. "But I don't really hold any hope of convincing you differently. Aya was an ass in your direction and I won't deny that. I just wish that you would at least consider his reasons."

"Everyone has the same reason," Yuki said shortly. "Everyone's just terrified of Akito."

"Oh, and you're going to hold that against them?" Shigure asked dryly.

Yuki shivered slightly. He knew Shigure was right; he was no better at standing up to Akito than anyone else. "At least I've got reason," he retorted. "He did . . . he did some pretty awful things to me." He looked away, staring out the window, determined to not shame himself by crying in front of Shigure. "He never did anything to my parents, but they never lifted a finger to protect me, and you damn well know it."

"You're right," Shigure said, sighing. "Your parents are damned cowards and your brother is, at times, a self-centered airheaded idiot. Does it make you feel better, now that I've admitted that you're right?"

"No!" Yuki burst out, glaring viciously at him. "Why would it make me feel better, you ass? I don't want to be right. I don't want either of us to be right! I just – I just wish that none of this had ever happened!"

"Join the crowd, kiddo," Shigure said dryly. "You won't find a single Sohma family member that wouldn't give everything he or she had to lift this curse. Particularly not a single Jyuunishi member. But we can't. No one can. Akito makes it worse, but the curse – "

"Screw the curse!" Yuki snarled, and Shigure raised an eyebrow to hear that phrase from Yuki's normally reserved mouth. "I'm sick of hearing about the stupid curse. Just because we turn into animals doesn't mean we have to consign ourselves to misery!"

"Don't you think that's what I'm trying to do?" Shigure asked, trying to keep his voice level, so their discussion wouldn't turn into an argument. "Show people that? Make everyone see that leaving the family compound made me happier, not unhappier? The curse isn't about turning into animals, Yuki. It's about isolation and helplessness, two things that Akito loves to spread among his fellow family members. It has nothing to do with animals. Although – " His lips twitched – "I do sort of think that Ha-san got the short end of the stick where that's concerned."

Yuki laughed, his temper easing down. "Aa," he said. "I can at least scurry. He doesn't even get that."

"I mean, Jyuunishi hierarchy aside, Ha-san is definitely the worst off," Shigure said. "If that's included, my vote would go with Kyou as the worst off."

Yuki glared at the mention of his nemesis. "That baka neko? He doesn't even deserve the title."

Shigure smiled dryly. "While Kyou might not be the brightest crayon in the box, he's not stupid," he said. "You only think of him that way because of what everyone says about him – which is exactly my point concerning the hierarchy. Think about it, Yuki-kun . . . we're all miserable, true, but at least we're miserable together. Kyou isn't even allowed that."

Yuki grumbled something underneath his breath, which Shigure took to mean that Yuki knew he had a point and didn't want to admit anything about Kyou. "At least he doesn't have to deal with Akito."

"True," Shigure conceded. "The luckier among us are ignored by him, like Kyou and Aya and Haru." Although privately, Shigure was waiting for Akito to figure out that Haru had a crush on Yuki, and decide to take notice of him.

"And Momiji," Yuki added.

Shigure nodded. "Yes, him too," he agreed. He smiled bitterly and said, "In all honesty, it's only the two of us that he really likes to torture, so I suppose that's why the two of us were the ones who had enough reason to leave."

"You haven't been around recently," Yuki said darkly. "He hates Kisa and Hiro, too."

"Oh." Shigure considered this. "Well, Hiro's a tough little brat, so I'm not too worried there. Kisa, though . . . I'll have to start thinking about that, and keeping an eye on her. I don't want Akito deciding to use her as your replacement, now that you're gone."

Yuki paled at this. "You think he would?" he asked anxiously. As eager as he'd been to get out of that house and away from Akito, he didn't like the thought of anyone else being tortured because of what he'd done. It simply didn't seem right.

"I don't know," Shigure said with a shrug, following Yuki's train of thought perfectly. "I'll have to wait and see, that's all. Ha-san can help me keep an eye out; that shouldn't be a problem." He reached out and ruffled Yuki's hair. "Don't worry so much. Ha-san and I have a lot of practice with this."

Yuki frowned. "Then why did he get away with tormenting me for so long?" he asked bluntly.

Shigure let out a slow sigh. He had known that Yuki was eventually going to ask that question, and in all honesty, there was no good answer. "I don't know, Yuki-kun. A few reasons. Because for one thing, I expected Aya to keep a look out and let me know if anything was wrong. Because Ha-san is busy with Kana and can't challenge Akito right now. Because I was having my own troubles and didn't do as good a job holding his leash as I should have."

"Nice metaphor," Yuki said dryly, and Shigure laughed.

"Besides, Yuki-kun," he said, as gently as he could, "you do Akito's work for him. You isolated yourself. You didn't tell anyone what was wrong or what he was doing. I couldn't help you because you never told me."

"Well, I never thought about telling you," Yuki said, reasonably enough. "I barely knew you. And when I tried to tell Ayame, he just brushed me off." He shrugged, looking angry. "So it's not like I thought a real lot of you, since he treated me like such a jerk."

"Aya," Shigure said concisely, "has rejection issues."

Yuki gave him an annoyed look. "Yeah, okay."

Shigure didn't bother trying to convince him; it wouldn't have worked, and Yuki only would have gotten angry with him. "Never mind. Let's change the subject. Are you hungry?"

Yuki nodded. "Starved."

"You should have said something," Shigure said, then asked, amused, "Who's the baka now?"

"Oh, shut up," Yuki replied.

****

Hatori came by the next day. He asked a few questions about Yuki's school and how he enjoyed living with Shigure. Those questions were answered civilly, although a bit coldly. Shigure didn't bother worrying about it; he'd hardly expected Yuki to start liking Hatori. As long as the teenager wasn't actively hissing and spitting, he didn't mind.

Yuki's parents arrived later in the evening, after Hatori had left. Keiko was all hugs and kisses, most of which Yuki rebuffed even more coldly than he had rebuffed Hatori's questions. Ichido wandered around the house, examining every corner, as if he were hoping to find some flaw that he could use to bring Yuki home.

Shigure grit his teeth through all of the inspection. He had known that they would come by sooner rather than later, but he had been unprepared for how much effort it would take to retain his usual sunny demeanor during the visit.

For the most part, it seemed just like any friendly visit. Keiko ruined the illusion at the very end by turning to Yuki and saying anxiously, "You'll be coming home soon, right?"

Yuki's eyes went cold and his jaw set in the stubborn fashion Shigure was becoming accustomed to. "I thought I made that clear," he said. "I'm not coming home. Not now, not soon, not ever."

"You don't have any say in that," Ichido said sternly, giving his wife a look that made her back down immediately. "We're your parents, and if we say that you're going to come home, you will. You're lucky we've let you stay here this long, but enrolling in school, moving all your belongings? It's ridiculous, and we won't have it. You need to learn the value of your family."

Shigure opened his mouth to step in, then settled more comfortably in his seat. He wanted to see how Yuki would deal with it, and in any case, he had told Akito that if Yuki showed any signs of wanting to return, he wouldn't stop him.

Yuki's voice only got colder. "If you valued your family, you wouldn't have let this happen in the first place. I'm staying here as long as Shigure-san will have me."

Shigure was privately amused by that, given that Yuki had not used the honorific with him thus far.

Keiko gave her son a tearful look. "We know that it's been difficult for you, but understand that it was difficult for us, too," she pleaded.

"Difficult?" Yuki stood up suddenly. "You don't understand the word. Don't just sit there and cry and snivel and say that you wanted to protect me and couldn't. You could have protected me if you weren't so scared of Akito just like everyone else. Don't think that I'll forgive you just because it was hard for you, too. When you've been the object of his obsession and spent your afternoons getting beaten and your evenings locked into his closet being told you're abnormal, you're unworthy, you're going to be alone forever, then you can come back here and cry to me about 'difficult'."

Keiko just looked at him, astonished. Ichido opened his mouth and thundered, "Don't talk to your mother like that! You have no idea how hard we tried to protect you!"

"If you'd wanted to protect me, I would have been protected," Yuki said coldly. He lifted his hand and pointed to Shigure, sitting quietly in the corner. "He protected me, and he barely knows me. If he was capable of it, you should have been too."

"That's not the point!" Ichido yelled.

Yuki turned away. "I don't want to speak to either of you," he said. "And I'm not coming home. No matter what you think or what Akito says, I'm never going home."

"Now, listen here -- "

Shigure stood at this point, given that Yuki had walked out of the room and Ichido was showing every intention of following him. "Excuse me, Ichido-san," he said. "I believe you had already agreed that it was all right for Yuki-kun to stay here. I don't appreciate you trying to bully him out of it just because you think he'll be easier to order around than I was."

Ichido turned red in the face. "You're a disgrace to this family," he hissed. He spat on the floor and stormed out. Keiko hurried after him, casting a sidelong glance to the door Yuki had left through.

Shigure stared down at the small mark Ichido had left. He sighed and got a paper towel. Yuki was out sulking behind the house; after cleaning up, Shigure went to join him. "You did very well," he said, hoping that he sounded comforting at least a little.

"I'm not sure I can take this until New Year's," Yuki admitted reluctantly.

"I wouldn't worry too much," Shigure said with a shrug. "Now that they've tried, I imagine they won't try again. And no one else cares, except Akito, and he hardly ever leaves the compound . . . and if he does, he'll need to clear it with Ha-san, so we'll be forewarned."

Yuki nodded, then sighed a little. "I don't know how you did it," he said.

Shigure gasped. "Is that grudging admiration I hear?"

Yuki punched him in the arm. "Don't be a jerk."

"Mou, Yuki-kun, you're no fun." Shigure could tell that Yuki was about to hit him again, and sobered slightly. "It was hard. Really hard. But it helps that although my parents didn't like it, I was no longer in their care and they had no say in where I lived. My two closest friends supported me, even if they didn't really understand why I was doing it. Well . . . Aya didn't understand; I think Ha-san did, more so after he met Kana-kun. And as for Akito . . . well, getting out was the hard part. After that, it was all uphill."

"You never felt lonely?" Yuki asked, drawing his knees to his chest and giving Shigure a curious look.

Shigure laughed softly. "Every damn day, Yuki-kun. And I still do. But being alone isn't so bad once you get used to it."

"I guess not," Yuki agreed.

"Besides," Shigure said, "I think you're probably already used to it, ne?"

Yuki just nodded silently.

"You worry too much, Yuki-kun," Shigure admonished. "Just relax, take things one day at a time. That's the only way to live."

Yuki finally cracked a smile. "Sorry, I don't think I can be a lazy bum like you."

"I'm not lazy. I'm just self-assured."

"Uh huh."

"I am!"

"I believe you."

****