Woohoo! I'm situated and back in good ol Austin! Sorry an update has taken so long! And it's time. Every good thing has to come to an end, and this story is no different. Ummm, expect a new story for Inuyasha and a possible sequel to this story, if any of you have any ideas, that is. I'd really like to hear them! Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket. Nor do I own Liz Phair's work.
Easily Amused: You're Like My Favorite Pair Of Underwear
Shigure could feel the eyes upon him like they had been for so long by every family member. It wasn't the fact that they were constantly watching him, it was the fact that it happened to be all the women of Dusty's family who had been watching him. Especially the one Dusty called Nana. The first day hadn't been so bad. Maggie DeMurr had welcomed him with open arms after he explained his side of the story and her husband was on his side right away. He had claimed it was 'a man thing'. The little girl, who had stolen Shigure's heart right off, would sit beside him constantly conversing with him in a language of pure jibberish. But it was the second day that he will forever regret. He had been looking for a fallen object underneath the table, when he heard a few strange noises, followed by a rude palm to the rear. He froze and listened to Nana gripe about how she wished she was still young. Lucky for him, it was the third and last day that he had to spend at the DeMurr house.
" I don't think he's coming." THIS is why I refused to have anyone come with me. I love my friends, I really do. But it's THIS kind of negative energy that makes me want to run them over with my Pinto. I wouldn't, cause I mean, the police would figure it out sooner or later. But Jeeves was truly wearing my nerves down like a fingernail file. And it wasn't like I had expected Shigure to be there at that exact second, but come on now! Moral support would be nice here. REALLY nice.
I had thought long and hard on what to wear, what to say, and where to sit. In the end, I was sporting a sleek green dress, sitting on the same stone ledge that I fell off of when I first met Shigure and would ultimately recite some love sonnet that I found in a magazine. However, after three hours of waiting, and a spilt shake, I ended up in a pair of jeans and a velvet blouse, sitting at a patio retreat, and cursing myself for ever bringing Jeeves into this. Oh yes, it had been quite the entertaining ride. I stood up as yet another dark haired man stopped beside the stone ledge. After several seconds of doing the tango with the furniture, I managed to sneak a peek at the man and discovered that it wasn't Shigure at all.
"It wasn't him." It came out more as a lonely whisper than I had planned. I sat back on the plastic chair and sipped at my drink that Jeeves had so graciously bought me after our little incident with the shake. After several hours, Jeeves had to go to work, leaving me in a place I knew all too well but preferred to be around other people. I leaned back in the chair, resting my sneaker clad feet on the table and reclining ever so slightly. It was a nice position and I soon found myself falling asleep.
Shigure had loaded the plane after several half hearted good-byes. He would genuinely miss Dusty's mother and father, but the other part of him was thankful that his rump would no longer have to put up with Nana's insistent butt grabbing. After that awkward situation, he could live happily and peacefully as long as he would never have to endure another like it. With a smile and a wave of the hand, he was on his way back to Japan and back to Dusty.
I awoke with a start, thinking that hearing Shigure's voice was just another one of those dreadful dreams that seem so real and are so great, you honestly don't want to wake up. I hate those dreams. I once dreamt that Leatherface from 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' had abducted me and I was forced to drive around my neighborhood in a commercial vehicle, talking to a pink bunny. Note that the original movie was set in the backwoods of Texas and I live in the suburbs of New Orleans. That's quite the geographical difference, kids. I pushed away from the patio furniture, and rubbed at my eyes. I couldn't believe what the silver orbs were producing. There, standing at that blasted ledge that had forced me to meet the doc of death, was my one and only Shigure. I didn't know such an image could be beautiful. Okay that was a bit cheesy, but when people are that in love, okay, when I'M in love, everything looks beautiful. Even the tiny black spider crawling over my hand seemed....
I screamed out in fear for my hand, forgetting that I had originally been reclining backwards. Low and behold, I had fallen. And i'm not talking about the emotion either. With rump high in the air, and my feet twisted up in cheap plastic, I watched helplessly as Shigure wandered the tourist filled street, searching for me. It was such a sight. All that anger just melted away like a push up pop. So maybe not ALL the anger. I mean, the guy broke my heart- twice. Dos. Deux. Double. That's enough to send the mafia out to kill him. Not that i'm involved with the mafia. The closest i've ever gotten is sitting two feet from the television during Sonny Corinthos' five minute appearances on 'General Hospital'. Well, I take that back. I once hit on an Italian guy at the carnival and his wife/girlfriend/mistress/whatever warned me that I would swim with the fishes if I didn't lay off. Which kinda surprised me because I swam with the fishes every time my family went to the lake for summer vacation.
"Excuse me, have you seen a girl with brownish hair and silver eyes walk by here?" Joy! The stranger shook his head and kept walking. However, I was in complete shock as his arms snaked around another woman's waist. Sure, it was from behind and she had really long auburn hair. But I mean come on! My butt is NOT that huge. Even Sir Mix Alot could tell the difference between us. Ugh. Shigure should've been wearing his glasses for this occasion. I pushed myself up from the cement and ran towards the writer just in time for my supposed twin to turn around and slap him. He held his cheek and glanced around to see if anybody had witnessed the scene. I covered my mouth to keep from laughing, but that obviously didn't work out that well.
"Dusty?" Now, if this were a Julia Roberts movie and Shigure was my Richard Gere, there would be some sort of sappy love song playing in the background and all the while, we would stare each other down in a sentimental gaze that apologized for us. But this isn't a movie and this is no ordinary romance. I busted out into a fit of giggles, immediately regretting it when I felt my sides go numb.
"You dorkus!! I can't believe you would just go up to anyone and hug them like that. You should be thankful your canine didn't come out then!" He blushed underneath my laughter but gathered up enough of his dignity to pull me up to his chest and kiss me. My knees became wobbly and I was thankful for once that he had me in such a hold. Last thing we need is for me to fall down- again. "You think that counts as an apology? Most men bring roses or some huge caravan of surprises....no you just-"I was abruptly cut off as his lips made another pass at me. "And another thing -"So much for chewing him out. Once again, my mouth was covered by his own. After several minutes of this intoxicating kiss, I suddenly felt as if he could do no wrong. He stood on his heels and smiled down at me.
"You're absolutely right. Most men WOULD bring something." He shuffled around in his coat pocket and brought out a small black box. Oh my gosh! It's a diamond! Or an emerald! Or maybe both! Either way! He's proposing!! In the name of all that's holy including Swiss cheese, he's proposing! I could barely contain myself as the lifted the lid and revealed a shiny, silver......Claddaugh. My Irish wedding ring. How did..when did....aww nuts! "You were expecting something else?" Well, yes, I suppose. Don't get me wrong here. I'm just happy I have the man I love in my arms but this would've been too perfect!! What came next was what really surprised me. He grasped my hand and slid the ring on my finger, facing the heart towards my own organ that I forget to cover during the 'Star Spangled Banner'. "You once said that if the heart on this ring points outward, your heart is free to roam for love. If it's pointing towards it, you're heart has belongs to someone. I can only hope that it belongs to me." That was so...friggin...what's the word i'm looking for? Great? Wonderful? No, that's not it. My thoughts were abruptly cut off short as he lifted me off my feet and held me close. I squeezed my eyes shut and awaited the hard pain to my rear that I usually received when he turned into his shiggity dog self. Only there wasn't such a crash. In fact, I felt no fur, nor did I smell the awful stench of puppy breath. I pulled myself away from him, reluctantly might Iadd, and searched for some meaning. I mean, I sure as hell didn't hear any confession to Akito from him.
"You're.....you're not a dog." He laughed at bit at my remark and ran a hand across my cheek. A cheek that had been bruised by his own blood relative.
"I think every man would like to hear that one little stuttered sentence." I totally agree you sexy hunk of butter. Don't ask for even I do not know what the little monkey is typing inside my head. And trust me, everyone has that little monkey or even a gerbil constantly running in that endless cheap treadmill. However, my brain monkey smokes bananas so my head gets a little cloudy every now and then. But that tiny monkey is forever typing the words 'All men are dogs' as if he were a Jack Nicholson in 'The Shining.' Now THERE'S a creepy thought. A psycho banana smoking monkey stabbing at my bathroom door. Right. Sappy moment. How could I forget?
"But...the curse..." He chuckled once more and ran his hand over the back of his neck.
"Yeah....that does cause a tad bit of a problem, doesn't it? Well, it's obviously broken." Obviously. I'm not braindead. There's no deceased goldfish floating on its back inside my itty bitty brain. And if there was, i'm quite sure doctors would have picked it up a long time ago. I crunched my brow together and gave a slight pout. I do this whenever i'm confused. "I told Akito the night he....well.....you know." How well I do. It's not that easy to forget such a night. Maybe with a lot of expensive therapy. Shigure tilted my chin up towards him and brushed my lips with a light kiss. VERY expensive therapy.
I didn't question him. I didn't have the heart to. I was too happy and too exhausted to even bother thinking let alone pondering the idea of Shigure lying to me. A spft chorus line was wailing in my ears and I looked at Shigure through rosey shades. They were actually a cheap pair of hippy sunglasses I bought at a New Orleans mall and they weren't even red. It was more of a tangerine color. But they were shades nonetheless. Don't ever dismiss the saying 'life isn't perfect', because everyone has their own idea of what perfection is. My idea lays in the fact that I can jump around in penguin pajamas or brand new underwear near Shigure and not worry about feeling like a complete idiot. I can got to bed at night and know that the arms hugging me would kill the first person who tried to lay a hand on me. Whether it be the perverted college guy across the street or a gay man who lives with me. Mental post it: Warn Jeeves that Shigure doesn't like it when Jeeves gropes my bootaminous. I know that if a tear falls, he'll try his best to dry them. Life CAN be perfect....if you don't concentrate on the imperfections.
5 years later
I suppose you're wondering what has taken place since that eventful day. Plenty. There was a wedding, a year later. I guess it was worth the wait. Of course, the honeymoon was a week before the wedding. I couldn't help myself. When you're deprived of something for so long you become a bit ravenous. There was also a child. And when it came to naming, we decided it would be best if we draw straws and hope that nothing along the lines of Dusty ever popped out of our mouths. The names ranged from Blair to Carly to Emily yet nothing sounded right. It wasn't until I had a run in with a Disney classic in an electronics store that I decided upon the name Ariel. Gotta love that mermaid. She has her father's sweet eyes and my wild personality. Great combination I think. The whole family got up and moved to Japan. Dad started a clinic with Hatori and my mother has literally taken the entire Sohma clan under her wing. I warned her it would be a handful, with the curse and all. And she almost had a heart attack when she gave Yuki a tight squeeze and he turned into a rat. It wasn't so much that he turned into an animal, it was the fact that he was a rat.
Akito had died from pneumonia a week after the wedding. There was a funeral and I attended out of respect. But inside, I was throwing a huge party, the guest list ranging from Keanu Reeves to Steven Tyler. It was soon after that Tohru went to college, leaving a very sad couple of boys behind. They have yet to get over the fact that she's not there. Shigure still writes and has finished a novel recently. I write every now and then but my main line of work is teaching English to the Japanese. My Japanese is still quite sketchy however. I haven't spoken to Fred Monroe in over five years. I sent out an invitation for a wedding but he never responded. Good riddance. I already had a father before she had shown up. Patricia has also been betrothed. To Elijah of all people. I have yet to figure out how those two hit it off. But hey more power to her.
Jeeves and Peach have moved in together and Jeeves will be leaving for America in a few weeks after graduation. I'll miss the little queer mojo. Becky has also met someone but has yet to tell me who it was. I only know that he was at the wedding. Like that tells me much. I thought I had seen Dubbya Bush at my wedding and she expects me to figure this one out. All in all, life is hectic but perfect. If you look over the tiny details like a four year old whispering in your ear in the morning to ask if we can have doghnuts for breakfast. What do I look like, an easy going mother? No friggin way. You only get doghnuts if you drink orange juice. At least throw in Vitamin C in there if you're going to kill your teeth. You get new ones anyway. But besides that, life is grand. How's that for a happy ending?
Easily Amused: You're Like My Favorite Pair Of Underwear
Shigure could feel the eyes upon him like they had been for so long by every family member. It wasn't the fact that they were constantly watching him, it was the fact that it happened to be all the women of Dusty's family who had been watching him. Especially the one Dusty called Nana. The first day hadn't been so bad. Maggie DeMurr had welcomed him with open arms after he explained his side of the story and her husband was on his side right away. He had claimed it was 'a man thing'. The little girl, who had stolen Shigure's heart right off, would sit beside him constantly conversing with him in a language of pure jibberish. But it was the second day that he will forever regret. He had been looking for a fallen object underneath the table, when he heard a few strange noises, followed by a rude palm to the rear. He froze and listened to Nana gripe about how she wished she was still young. Lucky for him, it was the third and last day that he had to spend at the DeMurr house.
" I don't think he's coming." THIS is why I refused to have anyone come with me. I love my friends, I really do. But it's THIS kind of negative energy that makes me want to run them over with my Pinto. I wouldn't, cause I mean, the police would figure it out sooner or later. But Jeeves was truly wearing my nerves down like a fingernail file. And it wasn't like I had expected Shigure to be there at that exact second, but come on now! Moral support would be nice here. REALLY nice.
I had thought long and hard on what to wear, what to say, and where to sit. In the end, I was sporting a sleek green dress, sitting on the same stone ledge that I fell off of when I first met Shigure and would ultimately recite some love sonnet that I found in a magazine. However, after three hours of waiting, and a spilt shake, I ended up in a pair of jeans and a velvet blouse, sitting at a patio retreat, and cursing myself for ever bringing Jeeves into this. Oh yes, it had been quite the entertaining ride. I stood up as yet another dark haired man stopped beside the stone ledge. After several seconds of doing the tango with the furniture, I managed to sneak a peek at the man and discovered that it wasn't Shigure at all.
"It wasn't him." It came out more as a lonely whisper than I had planned. I sat back on the plastic chair and sipped at my drink that Jeeves had so graciously bought me after our little incident with the shake. After several hours, Jeeves had to go to work, leaving me in a place I knew all too well but preferred to be around other people. I leaned back in the chair, resting my sneaker clad feet on the table and reclining ever so slightly. It was a nice position and I soon found myself falling asleep.
Shigure had loaded the plane after several half hearted good-byes. He would genuinely miss Dusty's mother and father, but the other part of him was thankful that his rump would no longer have to put up with Nana's insistent butt grabbing. After that awkward situation, he could live happily and peacefully as long as he would never have to endure another like it. With a smile and a wave of the hand, he was on his way back to Japan and back to Dusty.
I awoke with a start, thinking that hearing Shigure's voice was just another one of those dreadful dreams that seem so real and are so great, you honestly don't want to wake up. I hate those dreams. I once dreamt that Leatherface from 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' had abducted me and I was forced to drive around my neighborhood in a commercial vehicle, talking to a pink bunny. Note that the original movie was set in the backwoods of Texas and I live in the suburbs of New Orleans. That's quite the geographical difference, kids. I pushed away from the patio furniture, and rubbed at my eyes. I couldn't believe what the silver orbs were producing. There, standing at that blasted ledge that had forced me to meet the doc of death, was my one and only Shigure. I didn't know such an image could be beautiful. Okay that was a bit cheesy, but when people are that in love, okay, when I'M in love, everything looks beautiful. Even the tiny black spider crawling over my hand seemed....
I screamed out in fear for my hand, forgetting that I had originally been reclining backwards. Low and behold, I had fallen. And i'm not talking about the emotion either. With rump high in the air, and my feet twisted up in cheap plastic, I watched helplessly as Shigure wandered the tourist filled street, searching for me. It was such a sight. All that anger just melted away like a push up pop. So maybe not ALL the anger. I mean, the guy broke my heart- twice. Dos. Deux. Double. That's enough to send the mafia out to kill him. Not that i'm involved with the mafia. The closest i've ever gotten is sitting two feet from the television during Sonny Corinthos' five minute appearances on 'General Hospital'. Well, I take that back. I once hit on an Italian guy at the carnival and his wife/girlfriend/mistress/whatever warned me that I would swim with the fishes if I didn't lay off. Which kinda surprised me because I swam with the fishes every time my family went to the lake for summer vacation.
"Excuse me, have you seen a girl with brownish hair and silver eyes walk by here?" Joy! The stranger shook his head and kept walking. However, I was in complete shock as his arms snaked around another woman's waist. Sure, it was from behind and she had really long auburn hair. But I mean come on! My butt is NOT that huge. Even Sir Mix Alot could tell the difference between us. Ugh. Shigure should've been wearing his glasses for this occasion. I pushed myself up from the cement and ran towards the writer just in time for my supposed twin to turn around and slap him. He held his cheek and glanced around to see if anybody had witnessed the scene. I covered my mouth to keep from laughing, but that obviously didn't work out that well.
"Dusty?" Now, if this were a Julia Roberts movie and Shigure was my Richard Gere, there would be some sort of sappy love song playing in the background and all the while, we would stare each other down in a sentimental gaze that apologized for us. But this isn't a movie and this is no ordinary romance. I busted out into a fit of giggles, immediately regretting it when I felt my sides go numb.
"You dorkus!! I can't believe you would just go up to anyone and hug them like that. You should be thankful your canine didn't come out then!" He blushed underneath my laughter but gathered up enough of his dignity to pull me up to his chest and kiss me. My knees became wobbly and I was thankful for once that he had me in such a hold. Last thing we need is for me to fall down- again. "You think that counts as an apology? Most men bring roses or some huge caravan of surprises....no you just-"I was abruptly cut off as his lips made another pass at me. "And another thing -"So much for chewing him out. Once again, my mouth was covered by his own. After several minutes of this intoxicating kiss, I suddenly felt as if he could do no wrong. He stood on his heels and smiled down at me.
"You're absolutely right. Most men WOULD bring something." He shuffled around in his coat pocket and brought out a small black box. Oh my gosh! It's a diamond! Or an emerald! Or maybe both! Either way! He's proposing!! In the name of all that's holy including Swiss cheese, he's proposing! I could barely contain myself as the lifted the lid and revealed a shiny, silver......Claddaugh. My Irish wedding ring. How did..when did....aww nuts! "You were expecting something else?" Well, yes, I suppose. Don't get me wrong here. I'm just happy I have the man I love in my arms but this would've been too perfect!! What came next was what really surprised me. He grasped my hand and slid the ring on my finger, facing the heart towards my own organ that I forget to cover during the 'Star Spangled Banner'. "You once said that if the heart on this ring points outward, your heart is free to roam for love. If it's pointing towards it, you're heart has belongs to someone. I can only hope that it belongs to me." That was so...friggin...what's the word i'm looking for? Great? Wonderful? No, that's not it. My thoughts were abruptly cut off short as he lifted me off my feet and held me close. I squeezed my eyes shut and awaited the hard pain to my rear that I usually received when he turned into his shiggity dog self. Only there wasn't such a crash. In fact, I felt no fur, nor did I smell the awful stench of puppy breath. I pulled myself away from him, reluctantly might Iadd, and searched for some meaning. I mean, I sure as hell didn't hear any confession to Akito from him.
"You're.....you're not a dog." He laughed at bit at my remark and ran a hand across my cheek. A cheek that had been bruised by his own blood relative.
"I think every man would like to hear that one little stuttered sentence." I totally agree you sexy hunk of butter. Don't ask for even I do not know what the little monkey is typing inside my head. And trust me, everyone has that little monkey or even a gerbil constantly running in that endless cheap treadmill. However, my brain monkey smokes bananas so my head gets a little cloudy every now and then. But that tiny monkey is forever typing the words 'All men are dogs' as if he were a Jack Nicholson in 'The Shining.' Now THERE'S a creepy thought. A psycho banana smoking monkey stabbing at my bathroom door. Right. Sappy moment. How could I forget?
"But...the curse..." He chuckled once more and ran his hand over the back of his neck.
"Yeah....that does cause a tad bit of a problem, doesn't it? Well, it's obviously broken." Obviously. I'm not braindead. There's no deceased goldfish floating on its back inside my itty bitty brain. And if there was, i'm quite sure doctors would have picked it up a long time ago. I crunched my brow together and gave a slight pout. I do this whenever i'm confused. "I told Akito the night he....well.....you know." How well I do. It's not that easy to forget such a night. Maybe with a lot of expensive therapy. Shigure tilted my chin up towards him and brushed my lips with a light kiss. VERY expensive therapy.
I didn't question him. I didn't have the heart to. I was too happy and too exhausted to even bother thinking let alone pondering the idea of Shigure lying to me. A spft chorus line was wailing in my ears and I looked at Shigure through rosey shades. They were actually a cheap pair of hippy sunglasses I bought at a New Orleans mall and they weren't even red. It was more of a tangerine color. But they were shades nonetheless. Don't ever dismiss the saying 'life isn't perfect', because everyone has their own idea of what perfection is. My idea lays in the fact that I can jump around in penguin pajamas or brand new underwear near Shigure and not worry about feeling like a complete idiot. I can got to bed at night and know that the arms hugging me would kill the first person who tried to lay a hand on me. Whether it be the perverted college guy across the street or a gay man who lives with me. Mental post it: Warn Jeeves that Shigure doesn't like it when Jeeves gropes my bootaminous. I know that if a tear falls, he'll try his best to dry them. Life CAN be perfect....if you don't concentrate on the imperfections.
5 years later
I suppose you're wondering what has taken place since that eventful day. Plenty. There was a wedding, a year later. I guess it was worth the wait. Of course, the honeymoon was a week before the wedding. I couldn't help myself. When you're deprived of something for so long you become a bit ravenous. There was also a child. And when it came to naming, we decided it would be best if we draw straws and hope that nothing along the lines of Dusty ever popped out of our mouths. The names ranged from Blair to Carly to Emily yet nothing sounded right. It wasn't until I had a run in with a Disney classic in an electronics store that I decided upon the name Ariel. Gotta love that mermaid. She has her father's sweet eyes and my wild personality. Great combination I think. The whole family got up and moved to Japan. Dad started a clinic with Hatori and my mother has literally taken the entire Sohma clan under her wing. I warned her it would be a handful, with the curse and all. And she almost had a heart attack when she gave Yuki a tight squeeze and he turned into a rat. It wasn't so much that he turned into an animal, it was the fact that he was a rat.
Akito had died from pneumonia a week after the wedding. There was a funeral and I attended out of respect. But inside, I was throwing a huge party, the guest list ranging from Keanu Reeves to Steven Tyler. It was soon after that Tohru went to college, leaving a very sad couple of boys behind. They have yet to get over the fact that she's not there. Shigure still writes and has finished a novel recently. I write every now and then but my main line of work is teaching English to the Japanese. My Japanese is still quite sketchy however. I haven't spoken to Fred Monroe in over five years. I sent out an invitation for a wedding but he never responded. Good riddance. I already had a father before she had shown up. Patricia has also been betrothed. To Elijah of all people. I have yet to figure out how those two hit it off. But hey more power to her.
Jeeves and Peach have moved in together and Jeeves will be leaving for America in a few weeks after graduation. I'll miss the little queer mojo. Becky has also met someone but has yet to tell me who it was. I only know that he was at the wedding. Like that tells me much. I thought I had seen Dubbya Bush at my wedding and she expects me to figure this one out. All in all, life is hectic but perfect. If you look over the tiny details like a four year old whispering in your ear in the morning to ask if we can have doghnuts for breakfast. What do I look like, an easy going mother? No friggin way. You only get doghnuts if you drink orange juice. At least throw in Vitamin C in there if you're going to kill your teeth. You get new ones anyway. But besides that, life is grand. How's that for a happy ending?