hey everybody! it's my first venture into the Furuba fandom, but don't think i've got no experience. what do i have, 23 fics? and that's minus the ones that used to be good but now they suck? so okay, i've had my experience. This is my first humor piece in a while, but i just couldn't resist. enjoy!

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It really wasn't that unusual for Ayame to be in Hatori's house, not even for him to run in as a blur the way he did. So it wasn't that surprising that Hatori's only greeting was a calm "Hello Ayame," without so much as looking up from his book.

However, it was unusual enough when Ayame didn't come running back through the hall to return the greeting. So Hatori slipped his bookmark between the pages and walked off to find out what was going on.

Even though he was hiding, it wasn't at all hard to find Ayame. The volume of the melodramatic sobs escaping from his (Hatori's) bedroom told Hatori that Aya was sitting right next to the door.

"Ayame, what happened this time?" Hatori asked, folding his arms and staring at the doorknob.

"I can't tell you!" came the answer through the sobs. "It's too terrible to mention!"

The way Ayame could be about the smallest things, this was no help to Hatori.

"Well why don't you come out and—"

"NO! You can't see me like this, Tori-san! I can't let you look at me!"

Hatori only blinked. "It can't be all that bad," he said calmly.

"Yes it is! Tori-san, if I didn't have you my life would be over!"

"Try and calm down, Ayame. We can have a cup of tea and talk about it."

"I can't talk about it!" The sobs grew louder. "It's too awful to mention!"

Hatori sighed and sat on the ground, wishing he had something more to look at than the bronze of the doorknob. Usually, Ayame's hysterics would have ebbed away by now. Not a whole lot could not be distracted by an offer to have tea with Hatori. Maybe this time, it really was something serious. But what could it be?

Luckily, Hatori had practice counseling Ayame. "Give me a hint, then. I can't help if you won't tell me what's going on."

"I've lost something precious! Something irreplaceable!" Aya's sobs continued to rise in volume, if that were still possible.

What is it, then? Hatori asked himself. The shop? Could be… "Your shop, Ayame? Is that it?"

A dry, almost bitter chuckle came from the area of the keyhole. "My shop? I would give up the shop and young Mine too, if only this could be returned to me!"

I still don't know why he isn't a professional actor, Hatori thought, Drama like this doesn't belong among sane people.

Hatori sat for a while without speaking. Ayame began to weep again, and either he really was an incredible actor or there was something seriously wrong.

"Alright, let me just go get something and we'll keep talking." Hatori got to his feet, but Ayame's voice stopped him from going anywhere.

"Oh Tori-san, don't get the lockpick!" Hatori sighed again. He had indeed been about to get a lockpick that he kept in his closet for just these occasions. Yes, they did happen often enough to justify it. "I don't want you to have to see me like this, I don't want you to look at my shame! Can't you respect my wishes, Tori-san?" Ayame sniffled.

Hatori's fist clenched just a little in annoyance, but he sat back down. "Only if you'll tell me what's going on. I want to help, Ayame."

"Oh Tori-san, you're so kind," Ayame sniffed. "But I can't tell you. I just can't. I don't want to face it just yet, you know how it is. If I say it, it makes it true."

More than anything, it was this that made Hatori think something important really had happened. Through his melodrama, Ayame was being serious. A few horrible thoughts ran through Hatori's head.

Lost something, hm? Did something happen to his body? Or what if someone died? It…it couldn't have been…

"Ayame," Hatori asked slowly, "Did something happen to Shigure?"

At this, the sobs that had stopped briefly came through the door again. "DON'T MENTION GURE-SAN! HE'S DEAD TO ME NOW!" Hatori blinked, taken aback by this response.

"What did Shigure—"

"DON'T MENTION THE NAME!"

"What did he do, Ayame?" Hatori asked, too worried to be annoyed.

"Ah, I think it's up to me to explain," came a third voice from the front hallway. Hatori turned around to find a very sheepish Shigure standing there, with a pair of scissors in his hand. "You see, I—"

"LEAVE ME, SHIGURE!" Ayame wailed dramatically from behind the door. "Haven't you already hurt me enough?"

"Please, let me make amends Aaya! I'd take it all back if I could," Shigure proclaimed just as dramatically.

While normally Hatori let the two of them alone with their little act, he was too concerned right now to let it go on. He grabbed the neck of Shigure's kimono, stopping him from keeping the charade up.

"Shigure, what happened?"

"Yes, well…" Shigure held up the scissors. "I, ah, played a little trick on Aaya this morning…" He looked past Hatori, attempting to avoid the question.

"What did you do?" Hatori asked coldly.

"I…well, you know how Aaya sleeps with his hair in that long braid….I just…snipped it off," he finished, smiling awkwardly and clacking the scissors.

Everything was silent for a moment. Then Hatori let go of Shigure's kimono and Shigure fell to the ground. Hatori knelt down next to the door again. "Ayame, come out or I really will get the lockpick."

There was another silence, then the door creaked slowly open. Ayame stepped into the hallway. He was dragging his feet, and his eyes were red from crying. His silver hair was indeed much shorter, now falling just above his shoulders.

"Oh, it looks good," Hatori said, smiling gently.

"Really?" Ayame shouted, grabbing Hatori's hands in his own. "Oh Tori-san, I KNEW you'd love it!"

"So you forgive me, Aaya?" Shigure asked.

"Gure-san, you know I can't stay angry at you."

"All right!" they both exclaimed, giving each other thumbs up.

Later that evening at dinner, Yuki summed up the day.

"Was that ALL that was about, Nii-san? You really ARE hopeless."