Authors Notes: Oh, I think I may have forgotten to make this painfully obvious in the previous chapters- Fennec DOES go Kaibara High! This is important information to know for here on out. Whoops. ;

First of all, I wasn't cool enough to even want to bother making up ten unique names for the ten ladies in the Cinderella competition! So instead, I just pulled out eight characters from other manga sitting around my living room. I know, not very creative, but que sera sera!

Disclaimers: All Fruits Basket Characters are property of Natsuki Takaya. Fuu (Magic Knight Rayearth) appears on behalf of Clamp! Hali (INVU) is property of Kim Kang Won. Kisa (MARS) is property of Fuyumi Soryo! Sana (Kodocha) belongs to Miho Obana.

A Mabudachi Story:

Chapter Five

By Ayame Kazeai

"So let me get this straight." Shigure started. "Cinderella ran off, left an expensive looking shoe, and hasn't emailed or instant messaged you yet? I call 'something's fishy here'."

Ayame nodded as he inspected the shoe. "Oh, I agree! For the most part, they are cubic zirconium, but two of these are real diamonds. Pretty expensive. I'd say the shoe itself is worth a good 200 bucks at least." he added, speaking with the air of a true fashionista.

Shigure pointed at the shoe for a moment, and added "Haa-chan, we could sell that shoe and buy you a new girlfriend. And if you accidentally transformed, we could buy her into not realizing it. This has potential."

Hatori shook his head as he leaned against the wall. The three boys were in his bedroom, in their usual positions, gossiping about the night before like old women around a sewing table.

"I must be a bad kisser…" he said thoughtfully, almost to himself.

"I doubt that!" Ayame replied enthusiastically.

Shigure instantly shot him a disapproving look, and Ayame returned his devoted attention to the shoe.

"Well, then maybe you should just let her go. You know how Sohma House feels about us being involved with normal people anyway. You're just asking for trouble." Shigure added.

A sigh escaped Hatori's lips as he nodded and brought a knee up to rest his head on. "Yes, I'm aware of that. But I just can't shake the feeling that I was with the woman I was bound to be with. Do you know what I mean?"

"If you mean that warm fuzzy feeling I get whenever Aaya is around, then yes! I do!" he replied with a cheesy grin as Ayame looked up from the shoe and beamed proudly.

A cold look from Hatori caused both boys to return to what they were doing before, though, and he let out a sigh.

"I want to find her. If not to see her again…or actually, you know, see her, then to at least return the shoe. Will you help me?" he pleaded as he looked to both boys.

Ayame bit his bottom lip as he put the shoe down on his lap and looked at Shigure, who gave Ayame a look as well. Neither of them knew exactly what they would be getting themselves into. Or rather, they knew, but would rather not have to admit… Shigure shrugged and replied "Yeah, sure."

♥

By first period on Monday morning, the campus was literally covered in flyers. Each one of them held a sketch of the girl with a huge question mark over the face, with the following written on the bottom:

"Help Hatori-san find his Cinderella!

If you know who this girl is, contact

Shigure or Ayame Sohma with

any information.

In addition to this, Shigure and Ayame were making themselves known as "Prince Hatori's Nobel Knights of Cinderella Finding" as they made appearances on the school's television channel and daily newspaper, and even went as far as to set up a booth in the common grounds for women to go to and "apply". As for Hatori, he was pretty optimistic. Surely someone had to have known who she was. She had to have friends or someone who helped her to arrange everything, or at least a sister or other family member who attended their school as well. And with all of the publicity this was attracting…yeah, he was pretty optimistic.

But, with all of the good came the bad. Women were suddenly flocking all over him, and he wasn't exactly keen on all of the attention. His day was now full of women practically chasing him down the hall, saying "Forget Cinderella, I'm real!" or "Had I known you were on the market, Ha-kun, I wouldn't have let her have a chance!" While his two friends enjoyed the company and companionship of Hatori's new-found fan girls, he was getting tired of it pretty quickly.

"Can we…speed this up a bit? Do we have enough information so that, perhaps, we won't have to do this tomorrow?" he asked, exasperated, as they headed out of school after their first day of Cinderella hunting.

"Well, you never know!" Shigure replied in a cheerful tone. "She could have been sick today. We wouldn't want the real Cinderella to miss an opportunity due to an illness, would we?"

"You might have a point." Hatori replied thoughtfully.

Ayame just nodded as he sifted through a stack of papers in his arms, holding about 200 Cinderella applications.

"And all of these?" he asked as he pointed to Ayame's stack.

"Mm, applications, Tori-chan." Ayame replied as he smiled up at his friend. "Prescreening process! We look through these, and narrow it down to the kinds of women that would even be in a college chat room. Then, since we had them attach pictures and all, we can also eliminate girls that could have never looked like Cinderella did. She was quite the knock-out, ne?"

Shigure nodded. "Yes, that she was. We're just streamlining the process!" he added with a proud grin.

Hatori couldn't help but smile as he returned his gaze to the road in front of him. Not only did he fall in love at first site, but his two best friends were finally willing to help him along the way. Nothing could be more perfect.

However, not everything was peachy on the other side.

♥

"Is this blindfold absolutely necessary?" Hatori asked quietly as Ayame and Shigure lead him down the corridor. It had been a week since they started their Cinderella Auditions, and finally the day for him to meet his matches arrived. In all actuality, he was incredibly nervous. He was, possibly, minutes away from being reunited with the woman who made him feel the way he felt that night. To him, it was absolutely incredible.

Shigure and Ayame beamed at one another behind Hatori's back, then answered together with a simple "YES!"

Moments later, he was seated. Shigure walked around in front of him, smiled, and looked out to the girls who stood in front of him. "Ladies, Hatori has arrived. We will now be in the final stages of our Cinderella Seeking Competition. We ask that you do not act outside of your normal character around Hatori- remember, he knows his real Cinderella. You would just be wasting your time, and our Prince Charming here has a busy schedule, so chop chop!" he instructed, then snatched the blindfold off of Hatori's face.

He was stunned. Hatori now sat surrounded by some of the most beautiful girls in the school. Many of them were upper classmen, but hell…he didn't care. He wouldn't mind to go out with a single one of them. He glanced up at Shigure, who was grinning like a madman, then over to Ayame…who, for some reason, was avoiding his gaze. He reached over to give the boy a pat on the back, then sat back in his chair in satisfaction.

Behind Hatori's back, however, Ayame looked to Shigure with unease on his face. But a stern look from Shigure caused him to sigh and just give in. Ayame stepped forward as Shigure hit the play button on a nearby portable radio. The tune typically used in the Miss Japan pageant played in the background as Ayame picked up his microphone, flipped it on, and began to announce the girls. Proud face…proud voice…we're doing this for Hatori… he told himself as he readied for the show. Slowly, a microphone went up to his lips and he flashed a devilish smile at all of the girls.

"First!" he started, "We have Miss Fuu!" A young, shy looking girl with curly blonde hair stepped forward, pushed glasses up her petite nose, and bowed slightly. Instantly, she looked away and blushed. "Miss Fuu is Number 3 in her class! She is a freshman, and enjoys reading, walking on the beach, and hanging out with her two best friends. Fuu, take a bow!" She did as instructed- bowed, then hurried off to the side of her two friends, who were standing nearby.

Ayame arched a brow at Hatori, then continued. "Next, we have Miss Hali!" he announced with a wink at the girl.

She stepped forward slowly, nodded, and said a simple "Hey, what's up." to Hatori, then flashed her million dollar smile.

Ayame grinned at Shigure, then continued. "Miss Hali is a fashion model, known for her rough looks, but ability to get dressed up and glam better than any other girl. While studies are not her thing, she does plan on going to Tokyo Uni… 'just for fun', as she put it!" She winked again, made a hand into the peace sign, kissed it, and used it to wave goodbye to him before sauntering away.

Hatori actually had to take a moment to re-adjust himself in his chair before allowing Ayame to go on.

"Next would be the lovely Miss Kisa!" Ayame said as he practically pulled a cute blonde with shy eyes over to him. She, much like Fuu, was pretty shy…but at the same time, looked like the warm kind of person who would friendly up to someone quickly. "Miss Kisa is an artist! She also retains high marks in all of her courses, and plans on continuing her artistic studies for years to come. She is most well known for the painting of the god 'Mars' currently on display in the senior hall."

The girl bowed quickly, smiled, and made her way to the side.

The next girl stepped up to Ayame without even being called over. She smiled mischievously, and gave him a light punch on the arm, causing him to laugh and playfully punch her back. "Next is one of my classmates that I don't think Shigure and Hatori have met yet! This is So-Na." he said cheerfully. "And yes, I know So-Na has brown hair, but she specializes in wigs and wears a different one practically every day. So it's likely that she could have had blonde hair on that night!"

So-Na waved at the two and started to say something before a voice called out from the distance "OHAYO, SO-NA!" She glanced over, grimaced, and ran the other direction, saying "Okay, it's been nice, but I've got to go. Tell that guy to not follow me if he asks, okay? Okay."

Ayame shrugged, then called the next contestant over. A cute girl came over, giggling like crazy, and flashed Ayame an adorable smile. He responded with one of his own. She was the infectious kind of cute. "Oooh, this one is a favorite of mine. Meet Miss Kana. She has dreams of being either a doctor or a nurse in the future. She also wants to attend Tokyo University."

Hatori instantly sat up in his seat as a very, very interested look crossed his face. The girl giggled in response, bringing her knuckles up to hide a smile.

Ayame looked between the two, smiled, and carried on. "Miss Kana here actually is a native to where we live as well! It's really cool. But back on topic, Miss Kana is 10th in her class, and moves up a position just about every semester. She's also deathly devoted to her school work, and is an overachiever. Thank you, Miss Kana!" Ayame added, then waved goodbye as she went to join the others.

The next girl stepped up to Ayame, grabbed the mic from his hand as he was still smiling at the now departed Kana, and cleared her throat.

"Hi. I'm Sana. You may remember me from popular children's shows such as Komawari Theater!" she began, but was cut short by Ayame snatching the microphone back.

"I'm running this show, sister." he said, annoyed, then sighed and continued. "I really don't know how Miss Sana got in. I think she just annoyed us to the point that we said yes. But she's famous, and very cute. What can you say?"

Sana bowed, then went to join the other contestants.

The like went on for about a good 20 minutes longer. Women of all shapes, sizes, and personalities paraded in front of Hatori, and he found himself losing interest as it went on. Some of them seemed hopeful, or could even be the one he sought. But for the most part, they just didn't feel right.

♥

Hatori, Shigure, and Ayame found themselves back in their usual Hatori's room positions, relaxing after a tough day of Cinderella interviewing.

"Sooooo, Tori-chan, what did you think?" Ayame asked melodiously as he popped a grape into his mouth.

Hatori, who had previously been lost in thought, snapped out of it and gazed over at Ayame. "I don't know…so many of them didn't seem like my type…or Fennec's type either, at that. She's pretty special and unique."

"Yeah? How so?"

"Well, I don't know. I can't explain it. When we were chatting online, it was like talking to an old friend. She seemed to know just what to say to make it all right. And even though she mentioned a few times that she had problems at home, she never harped on it. She just let it slide, and worried more about me than herself. It was so weird. She always knew just when I was having problems, even though she couldn't see me, and then knew just what to say to make it all better."

Ayame's eyes found themselves opening wider as a pleased smile crossed his lips. As he listened, he popped another grape into his mouth, then added, "She sounds amazing."

"After kissing her, I know that she is. I mean, I always knew, but now I know."

Shigure looked over at Ayame with a raised brow while the two spoke, and snuck a grape into his own mouth before finally looking away.

"Did any of them seem to be a possible Cinderella match?" Ayame finally asked.

"Nn…not for the most part. Some of them were too laid back, or too outgoing to be her. Fuu seemed almost too shy, though. Kana was more of a perfect balance than anyone else, but at the same time, I don't know."

"You know…" Shigure finally added, "Kana lives in the outside. She's a Sohma, but not cursed." Though he was talking to Hatori, his eyes found their way to Ayame, watching him react to his words.

Hatori turned to Shigure in interest. "Really?"

His gaze went back to Hatori as he nodded and replied "Oh yes. That's one of the reasons why we picked her, actually."

Ayame nodded frantically in agreement, suddenly beaming happily. "Even if she doesn't turn out to be Cinderella, you might want to give her a chance, ne?"

"Oh, I don't want to give chances. I'm not a chance man. I want to find the right her, and be happy."

♥

The search continued. Hatori ended up narrowing the list down to Hali, Fuu, and Kana. He brought all three ladies on dates just to test, but in the end…none of them felt exceptionally right. He even brought up the idea of the shoe, and while two of the mentioned that they wished they could have a pair, the shoe didn't quite fit with any. Hatori returned home that day with absolutely no hope.

"It's not going to happen. We find three strong candidates and the end up being nothing. Nothing nothing. She's left me, and she obviously doesn't want me back." he said to himself out loud, and threw the shoe at his closet door in anger. A hand went up to his face, pressing fingertips into his forehead as his eyes closed in thought.

The phone began to ring, and he almost didn't answer it. He didn't feel like talking to anyone today. But, a glance at the caller ID revealed the caller to be someone from Ayame's home. Slowly, he sat down at his desk with a sigh and picked up the receiver.

"Hatori speaking."

"Hatori, this is Shigure."

"Nn. Yes?"

"Hey, Ayame and I are studying.. I thought you'd like to come over and hang with us."

"Not really…"

"It'll get your mind off of things."

I feel like crap. My two best friends, no… only friends… had done everything they could do to help me. And I'm taking it out on them? They deserve better. What a piece of crap I am. No wonder she left me. She must have seen it coming. he scowled himself, then let out another sigh.

"Come on, Hatori! We'll go out later, and it'll be fun. Then we'll resume the search first thing tomorrow."

"I'll be there." he finally answered, then dropped the receiver back onto it's cradle. Moments later, he was en route to Ayame's house.

♥

Shigure stood in the doorframe, body stretched in a most comfortable position as his eyes practically burned into the back of Hatori's head. Stupid. The two sat on the couch, laughing between the two of them while they watched some pointless, uninteresting educational show on the television. All the while, Ayame was pretending to understand what it was talking about. He had been on this kick lately- trying to prove himself to be more intelligent, as if it would make him a better person or something. Hatori and Ayame were so involved in their talk, and it made Shigure sick. They had hardly even realized that he had left their side. And Hatori was so, so very oblivious. It's… it's time. I'm sick and tired of this crap. he thought to himself. There's a reason why I called him over tonight. Let's get it taken care of.

"Hey, Ha-chan. Could I get your help?" he asked from his position, then flashed a smile.

The dragon immediately rose to his feet and went to him. Just as he thought he would. "Yeah, Shigure?"

He moved closer to his friend as he put on a face of playful innocence. "I got a surprise for Ayame. He's been feeling a little down lately. Could you do me a favor?" he whispered.

"Sure, anything."

"It's in a big white box under his bed. I think there are some other things in the box, but what I'm needing is the white teddy bear in there." he replied, faux sweet smile plastered across his features. "I'd get it myself, but I wanted to talk to him about it first. I can say its from the two of us, hm?"

Hatori nodded and patted Shigure on the shoulder, smile across his face, then climbed the den stairs and disappeared from view. Shigure looked down at the ground for a moment, then back up , staring at the back of Ayame's head. His eyes cut.

Hatori couldn't help but smile on his way up the winding staircase up to Ayame's room. He had been a bit down after being unable to locate his Cinderella, but his friends were there for him. And now they'd do something for Ayame. He had noticed that Ayame seemed quieter lately and a bit on the glum side- two attitudes that the snake rarely allowed. Now, the visit was starting to feel worth it, though. He couldn't think of the last time that he did something nice for Ayame. Or Shigure either, at that. I'll have to think of something for him later.. They had to deal with me being a complete jackass for so long, then just jumped up to assist me…I have such wonderful friends.

Shigure slowly sauntered down the stairs and moved to the back of the couch.

Ayame looked over his shoulder to Shigure and smiled. "Come join me, Gure-chan!" he chirped as he patted the seat next to him.

Reluctantly, Shigure walked over and took a seat at Ayame's side. "There." he said quite plainly.

"I'm so excited that Hatori came over tonight! I was afraid that us not being able to find a Cinderella stand-in would leave him, you know, let down? Or sad?" he said in excitement, then sighed happily. "Are you excited, too?" he asked. His gold eyes shimmered brightly as he leaned in to Shigure.

He started to do as he always did- lie. Lie, say what he knew would make Ayame happy, and hate himself later. But considering the way that he had been just walked all over the past few weeks, he really didn't feel like it this time. "Why is he so wonderful to you? Why do you care?" he asked coldly.

Ayame's face faltered. "Nani? What do you mean?"

He immediately moved a hand up to his forehead and shook his head. I'll blow it if I keep this up. "Nothing, Aaya-chan. Nothing."

Ayame's face turned to one of concern for a moment. "You sure?"

"Yeah."

Ayame nodded and brought a fingertip up to his lips, chewing on it slightly as he leaned back into the couch.

Hatori crouched by Ayame's bed. Good lord, he has a lot of crap under here… he thought to himself as he began to dig under it. But, much to his pleasure, he found the box… though it surprised him that such a big box could be so covered. He picked it up, placed it on Ayame's bed, and took the lid off. Moments later, he found himself storming down the stairs in a blind fury.

Shigure glanced at Ayame through the corner of his eyes. He actually enjoyed seeing Ayame upset…it gave him that rare feeling that maybe Ayame was just thinking of him for the moment. But at the same time, this night wasn't about hurting Ayame. Well, not by him, at least. "I'm… sorry." he said to the snake quietly.

Ayame lowered his hand and looked at Shigure. "But why? You haven't done anyth"

'THE… HELL!" a voice called out from the doorway, cutting the snake's words short. Shigure smiled for a moment before he even thought of turning around.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!" Hatori screamed as he threw the box onto the ground in front of him.

Ayame looked at him, and the mess on the ground in front of him, in complete and utter horror. "N-n-no, Hatori, it… isn't what you think!" he stammered as tears immediately filled those golden eyes. Over a month's worth of deception laid on the ground between them all: a white dress, a wig of platinum ringlets, a masquerade mask, and half a pair of diamond shoes.