Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket or any characters within it.

I would like to warn you: This is my first fanfic, and I don't know the whole storyline. However, I've got the basic gist of it. Well, here goes nothing. But first...

There are two major spoilers, and the story won't work without you knowing them now. Akito's a girl, and her and Shigure are lovers.

Chapter 1

Akito was mad, and this time, unlike others, it was Shigure she was mad at. In fact, she seemed to be throwing a temper tantrum.

"Yuki leaves me, and Kyou too, and now you don't want me?" Akito was kicking and flailing now, her dark purple hair a tangled mess.

Shigure tried to interject a strangled, "Wait!" but Akito's noise drowned it out.

Suddenly Akito's voice turned sane, entirely too sane. "From now on," she said, touching a hand to Shigure's lips, which were mute in appeal. "From now on I shall hate you."

"Wait!" Shigure cried, but Akito had already disappeared through the doorway, a winter wind spreading cold, pain, and broken hearts.

Shigure fell to the ground. "A-ki-to..." he sobbed, but she was gone.

His first reaction was sorrow, undeniable, unbelievable, uncontrollable sorrow. Then came the apathy, and then the anger.

"Damn you, Akito!" he cried to the broken sky.

After awhile, Shigure was composed enough to leave, although his eyes still glittered with unshed tears. He locked himself in his study, allowing those luminescent raindrops to fall from pain-filled eyes. Then, suddenly, he heard a tiny noise. He turned.

She turned, hearing Shigure enter. She had been trying to organize his papers for him, but then she heard the lock click in place. Something told her to stay quiet, and, because of that, she saw the normally cheerful Shigure fall to the ground and weep with unseeing eyes.

She began to walk towards him, hoping to help, but tripped and began to fall. She had enough time to see his shocked and startled face turn towards her before a dog took his place.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! Oh, I can't believe I did that!" But Shigure was too dispirited to make a joke of her reaction. That's when Tohru realized there was something seriously wrong.

She quieted her apology and turned to face him. Her soft voice bespoke her concern.

"What's wrong?" she asked the dog, not sure that she wanted to hear the answer. It had to be something truly awful for Shigure to become like this.

In a broken voice, Shigure said, "Akito left me." Three words, but they held a world of meaning.

"You can't..."

"He said he'll hate me forever." The dog cried, an eerie keening sound, and Tohru hugged him and cried along.

By the time another hour had passed, Shigure was composed enough to walk around again. He glanced at his watch, seeing that it was almost time for the boys to come home.

Wait a minute... he thought. Tohru's here... Oh yeah! They're in their last year of college! Funny how I always think of them whenever something goes wrong... They seemed to liven up the atmosphere somehow. Oh well, it isn't like they would have helped me at all. They definitely wouldn't have given me a shoulder to cry on... like Tohru did...

He shrugged. It wasn't really worth thinking about. Things were the roughest they had been, but he had better get his "cheerful" face back on. The trouble was, he didn't know if it would hold against Tohru. She was pretty good at detecting things like that. Then again...

He shook his head. Why was he thinking about Tohru so often? She was just an accessory, a tool in his plans. Just... an... accessory... but he heard a small part of him disagree.

Tohru watched Shigure silently. She saw a mass of emotions flit across his face. It made her uncomfortable because she didn't know how to help. Suddenly, the regular, happy-go-lucky mask appeared.

"Don't feel you have to act cheerful for me."

"I'm not acting," Shigure responded, but the agony in his eyes told her he lied.

"Don't smile unless you mean it," she said, and saw a startled Shigure grin unintentionally.

"You always know just what to say," he said, and she smiled.

Her smile was beautiful. He almost said it, but managed to contain himself. What was getting into him?

For some reason Shigure's smiles now seemed real, genuine. Suddenly a dark turmoil passed across his face, but it disappeared quickly, and he was back to teasing her once again.

"So, Tohru, can I have a little cheer-up kiss?"

Tohru was just glad he was back to being himself.