Inseparable: A Mabudachi Trio fic, by Raberba girl
Sixth Grade
"I HATE babies!" Ayame complained as he walked into the classroom. He threw down his backpack and sat on his desk. Shigure and Hatori, who had arrived earlier, stopped talking and turned to look at their cousin.
"What's he done this time?" Shigure asked.
"Threw up all over my sketches! Those were good ideas, too! I was thinking of adding a middle eastern flair to some of the more traditional outfits--"
"Ayame," Hatori sighed.
"Anyway, it's not just that, you know. The kid cries all the time, and when he's not crying he's coughing, and he keeps looking at me with those freaking purple eyes like he expects me to pick him up and cuddle him! As if Mom doesn't hate the sight of him already; can't the kid take a hint?"
"Let me see your sketches," Shigure said soothingly. Ayame dug through his backpack and produced a battered folder. "I had to re-do them in the car, so they're not as good, but I managed to reproduce the general idea."
With a critical eye, Shigure flipped through Ayame's outfit designs, as Hatori watched over his shoulder.
"Most of those are garbage," Hatori said. "I'd never be caught dead in them."
"Ah, Hatori," Ayame sighed, "you have no taste!"
"He's got a point, though," Shigure smiled. "I'd only wear some of these if I was drunk."
"Good! I'll make up some outfits in your size and be sure to get pictures next time you're plastered," Ayame teased.
"Looking forward to it," Shigure grinned.
The bell rang soon after, and the students found their seats and quieted down. The teacher, a man who seemed perpetually rushed, immediately began slapping stacks of paper down on the first desk of each row. "I graded your essays. Pass them back," he said briskly. "Today we're moving on to our poetry unit, and those interested in extra credit, check the bulletin board."
Hatori glanced critically over his essay. He had scored 84 percent, which was all right, though not as high as he had hoped for. He turned to Shigure. "How'd you do?"
"Not as good as I thought," Shigure said unhappily. He kept flipping through the pages of his essay, zeroing in on the imperfect bits he had been unable to fix before the due date. "I'm not sure, but he might have taken points off for using an obscure reference here...I know we aren't going to read the book I'm alluding to until next year, but I read it a while ago and I thought he'd appreciate--"
Hatori snatched his cousin's essay out of his hands and stared at the cover sheet. "Shigure, do you know what this big red number is? It's called a 96. What were you expecting, a freaking hundred?"
"Yes!"
"'Wonderful use of detail and excellent references,'" Hatori read the teacher's note on front. "'One or two uncommon grammatical errors, and your style needs a little work, but on the whole this is a very nice piece, and I look forward to seeing you progress--' This is making me sick." Hatori flung the essay back at Shigure, who scrambled to catch it. Shigure was smiling, his face slightly pink.
"That's wonderful, you two," Ayame laughed. "I always knew you would do well if you ever got serious about schoolwork."
"C again?" Hatori asked.
Ayame held up his own essay with a flourish. "D," he announced proudly. "And look at the cute little note he added: 'I don't understand where you think you're going with this. Arguments shaky and unclear, no references. Too short. Please see me after class.' You think he's going to ask me out, or is he too shy and is only after my phone number?"
"Play hard to get," Hatori said with a straight face. "Make him wait a day or two, but do a bit of subtle flirting in the meantime."
"Stop it," Shigure said. "Ayame, don't get too carried away. If you make too many low grades you'll fail, and then you won't be in our class next year."
"Don't worry about it," Ayame said carelessly. "What I'm doing here is an art. I'll make a show of studying for the next couple of quizzes, make, oh, let's say a C and a B, then fail the next quiz. Then I'll make B's on the homework I decide to turn in, and get tutoring to make a B on the test. Then I can fail some more assignments. It should all average out to a just-passing grade."
"I think you're taking this too far," Shigure said quietly.
Ayame smiled. "Like I care about school. I only come because of you two."
"Sohma, Sohma, and Sohma," the teacher called, "pay attention. We have long since put away our essays and started the lesson. Ayame, what is the theme of this poem?"
"Which one?"
One of the boys sitting nearby turned his book so that Ayame could see the page number. Ayame blew the boy a kiss and winked. The boy blushed. Ayame casually plucked Shigure's book off his desk and flipped to the poem in question.
"Ah, let's see. Yes, the theme of this poem is that flowers are beautiful and rule the universe, just like the Mabudachi Trio!" Hatori and Ayame punched their fists into the air at the same time and whooped. Shigure followed suit, though somewhat half-heartedly. A few of the other boys seized the chance to make some noise as well, but they were quickly silenced by a glare from the teacher.
"I don't know where you got that 'rule the universe' stuff from, Ayame. Although the poem is about a flower, that is not the theme. Shigure, what do you say?"
"Um..." Shigure took in a breath and looked at the poem he had studied the night before. "It's..." How come the words came to him so effortlessly when he was writing, and yet came out as a jumble when he tried to say his thoughts aloud? "I mean, the flower could stand for human life, you know, like - like how, in the grand scheme of things, we, you know, people, humans, our lives are like..." 'Stop dithering, Shigure,' he told himself firmly, 'You know the answer.'
He glanced at Hatori and Ayame, who made an encouraging gesture and wink at him, respectively. "Humans' lives are like flowers, blooming for a day and then dying out. This poem speaks of the short-lived nature of human beings - yet a single person can leave his mark upon the world, just like the memory of the beautiful flower stayed imprinted on the narrator's memory even years afterwards."
"Or like the way a single bozo's defining moment in life can keep generations of schoolboys bored to tears," Hatori put in. Laughter rippled through the room, and even Shigure covered his mouth to hide a smile.
The teacher shot Hatori a quick look of disgust, then went on. "Shigure is right, that is the prominent theme in this poem. Who can think of another interpretation?"
When the bell rang to signify the end of class, the teacher came up as Ayame was packing his bag.
"Ayame. May I speak to you for a moment?"
"But of course!" Ayame beamed.
The teacher sighed. "Ayame, the work you've been turning in to me...well, it's not satisfactory. I can tell that you have no interest in this class at all; when you do turn in your homework, it's often some slipshod piece of junk you slapped together on the way to school. I don't like watching intelligent students wasting their abilities, and I think that, under your airhead attitude and all that mass of hair, there is a brain that can do amazing things if given the opportunity."
"I see what you are saying, sir," Ayame said seriously. Then he grinned again. "On the other hand--"
"Ayame," the teacher growled, "don't make me wrong about you. Start taking school more seriously, that's all I have to say."
"Of course, Sensei! I will create a whole new wardrobe specifically for school, and I will use only the finest materials and most painstaking craftsmanship! I bet that you did not think I knew that word, but I do because I read so many fashion magazines! I bet you did not think that I read anything, either, ha ha! But you have inspired me, Sensei, and I will try my hardest from now on to greet every school morning with an outfit fit for a prince, not just a student council president; and I will consider each and every garment with a seriousness unequaled since--"
"Just get out of here, Ayame!" The teacher stormed back to his desk. Ayame called a cheerful good-bye and went to join his cousins, who were both laughing.
"Good show, Ayame," Hatori congratulated as they walked down the hallway.
"Thank you," Ayame said modestly. "I think I won him over fairly well."
"We have math next," Shigure remarked.
"Looking forward to seeing Shishio-sensei again?" Ayame said with a sly look.
"She's bad news," Hatori murmured.
Shigure didn't say anything.
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Ms. Shishio, as all her students agreed, was hot. She perplexed and delighted the boys by her moodiness. One day she would sit sulkily at her desk and do nothing but assign homework that was never due; the next day she would be friendly and engage the class in lively discussions. No one ever learned much in her class, but most of the boys didn't care.
The class period started with students being called to the blackboard to demonstrate homework problems. It ended with laughing boys scrawling chalk pictures that would have incensed the school principal, while Ms. Shishio perched on Shigure's desktop and traded dirty jokes with the rest of the class.
The bell rang, signaling the end of the period. The Mabudachi Trio were the last boys to leave the classroom. "Come on, Shigure," Hatori said in annoyance. "You always take forever to pack up."
"Only in this class, of course," Ayame added. Shigure's face colored just a little, and he speeded up his motions a bit. The boys had just reached the door, however, when Ms. Shishio called after them.
Shigure turned back. "What is it, ma'am?" he asked politely, ignoring both Hatori's sigh and Ayame's wink.
"Oh, it's nothing much, sweetheart, just these books I need you to help me stack," Ms. Shishio said reassuringly. She laughed dismissively at Hatori and Ayame. "Run along, you two, I won't hold up your cousin for long."
"We can help, too," Hatori pointed out.
"Oh, don't worry, dear, one strong boy is all I need. Go on, then, Shigure will be right out."
Hatori and Ayame left, a little reluctantly. They didn't speak for a few moments. Then Hatori slowly came to a stop, and Ayame looked at him.
"This doesn't...seem right," Hatori muttered.
"We've done everything together," Ayame pouted. "Until now."
"That's not what I meant. This isn't exactly something we can do 'together,'" Hatori pointed out. He glanced significantly back at the classroom.
Ayame sighed. "Still. I'm jealous."
Hatori smirked. "Of what, exactly?"
"That our Shigure would rather be with someone other than us!" Ayame insisted.
Hatori shrugged. "All right, then. I think I left something back in the classroom. You coming?"
"Of course. Together, we will reclaim what we have left behind!"
The two solemnly flashed their special thumbs-up sign. "Yes!" they said together. Then they turned around and walked quickly back to the classroom. A few feet away, Hatori gestured at Ayame to stop. Then Hatori crept ahead soundlessly and opened the classroom door just a crack. He looked for a moment, and his mouth tightened. Then he glanced at Ayame and nodded.
Ayame, taking his cue, ran the rest of the way to the classroom door, his footsteps heavy. "Shigure!" he yelled as he went, "Shigure, we forgot something!" Ayame and Hatori burst into the room together.
Ms. Shishio was busy at her desk, stacking books at a rapid rate. Shigure, standing near her, had a slightly unfocused look in his eyes. His hands hovered as if they did not know what to do with themselves. Hatori quickly dropped a piece of paper on the floor.
Ms. Shishio turned and said in an overly bright tone, "Oh, Ayame, Hatori! Goodness, such energy! I thought you two left."
"I forgot my worksheet," Hatori said flatly. He retrieved the sheet of paper from the floor.
"It was a good thing you came back for that, Hatori!" Ayame laughed. "Otherwise you would have had to re-copy everything from Shigure's paper!"
"Better Shigure's than yours, Ayame," Ms. Shishio laughed.
Ayame grinned and winked at her.
"Well, it looks like we're all set up here. Why don't the three of you head on to your next class?" she suggested with a smile.
Ayame smiled back. Already he had his arm around Shigure and was propelling him toward the door. Hatori waited until they were gone, then stepped up to Ms. Shishio.
"You sure need a lot of help," Hatori commented. "Making copies, getting coffee, needing help with the computer...good thing you have someone like Shigure around." Hatori smiled, but his eyes were icy. "So yeah, if you're nice to me and give me all A's this year, I won't tell anyone you were kissing my cousin." He turned and walked away without another word. Ms. Shishio's face went pale.
In the hallway, Shigure suddenly stopped and braced himself, so that Ayame was unable to continue walking as well.
"Eh, Shigure?"
"Ayame, what did you two think you were doing?" Shigure demanded. Despite the angry tone, his face was pink, and he could not quite meet Ayame's eyes.
"Aha ha ha, Shigure! Hatori simply forgot his homework!"
Shigure glared and waited, and Ayame's face turned serious.
"Hatori thinks you're playing with fire, you know."
Shigure looked away. "He's probably right." Then he looked back. "What do you think?"
"I think every man needs a healthy dose of romance," Ayame said airily. "Let no one say you are too young for love!"
Shigure smiled. "Thanks, Ayame.
"Hey," Hatori barked as he walked by. "Get moving, the bell just rang."
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Over the next week, Shigure seemed to get dopey with what Ayame called "the budding sighs of love." He spaced out a lot, so that it was difficult to get his attention; he started listening to different music, and Hatori had the last straw when he caught Shigure writing love-poems.
"It's a waste of your ability, in any case!" he yelled at one point.
"What gives you any right to judge that?" Shigure demanded hotly.
"I'd rather see you drawing clothes than idolizing a thirty-year-old woman with questionable taste!"
"What's wrong with drawing clothes?" Ayame put in.
"So you're saying that women of good taste would never be attracted to me?" Shigure challenged.
"Shigure. You're twelve years old. Forget questionable; that's just--"
"I think these are sweet," Ayame put in. He held up the poems he had been reading and waved them in the air.
"Sweet? That's the word you use to describe them?" Hatori said in disbelief.
"At least somebody's on my side," Shigure said pointedly, and put his hand on Ayame's shoulder. Ayame looked back and forth between his cousins and smiled, to hide his own uneasiness.
Hatori threw up his hands. "Fine. If you don't recognize who's really on your side, then fine. Run to the pervert teacher, instead of trusting the friends you grew up with." Hatori stormed out of the room.
"Aha ha ha!" Ayame laughed, glad to fill his ears with the sound. It made it easier to block out one's thoughts. "Do not worry, Shigure, he will return! We are the Mabudachi Trio! Nothing can separate us! To show this special bond, I have plans to design matching outfits for us, which will display to the world our solidarity and shared purpose..."
Shigure wasn't listening. He stared straight ahead, unseeing, his hands clenched.
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"Shishio-sensei?"
The woman's head jerked up, and she stared at Shigure almost suspiciously.
Her reaction surprised him, and for a moment he forgot what he was going to say.
"What is it, Shigure?" she snapped. "I'm busy."
He backed away a step. "I just...wanted to see if you needed help...with anything..." He quickly turned and followed his classmates out the door.
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"Shigure!"
He looked up in surprise. They were supposed to be using the time to start on their homework problems, but everyone was chattering or drawing on the chalkboard or throwing paper across the room.
"Sensei?" It did not escape his notice that Hatori and Ayame stopped what they were doing to watch.
Ms. Shishio laughed nervously. She had been doing that a lot lately. "You know, you are doing wonderfully in my class, Shigure. I wanted to let you know that you earned several bonus points on your average, for all your hard work!"
"Bonus points, huh?" Shigure said quietly.
Ms. Shishio laughed again and reached to pat his shoulder, but then abruptly withdrew her hand and walked away.
"I'll be right back," Ayame said suddenly. His cousins watched as he threaded his way through the other boys to make it to the front of the room. As Ayame used the pencil sharpener, his gaze rested on the teacher's desk nearby, and Hatori and Shigure followed his eyes. There was a picture frame lying facedown amid the piles of paper on the desk. Ayame reached out to peek at it when he was sure the teacher was occupied with another group.
"What...?" Shigure murmured.
"He'll tell us when he gets back," Hatori assured him.
Ayame delicately blew wood shavings off his pencil, then made his way back.
"Well?" Hatori asked.
Shigure said nothing, but his face was tight with expectancy.
Ayame shrugged. "A man. Posing with Sensei at a restaurant."
The eyes of the three boys met for a moment. Then they looked away, each for different reasons.
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"Shishio-sensei."
She jumped. "Oh, Shigure! What is it? Don't you have to go to your next class?"
"Just checking to see if there's anything I can do to help," Shigure said casually. His eyes, however, were not casual at all.
Ms. Shishio paused. Then she carefully folded her hands on the tabletop and met his gaze squarely. "I'm fine, Shigure." She paused, then reached for the photograph and set it gently upright. "Did you know I have a fiancé now?" she said with false cheeriness. "Pretty soon I might even be able to quit my job. It's such an exciting time for me!"
Shigure was silent.
"Aren't you going to congratulate me?" she prompted.
"Congratulations," he said. Then he smiled.
Ms. Shishio sat there, watching him leave, and she suddenly shivered.
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"Hatori. May I speak with you a moment?"
Hatori leveled a pointed stare at Ms. Shishio as she attempted to catch him before his next class.
"Er...alone, I meant." She glanced apprehensively at Shigure, who raised his chin and gazed over her shoulder as if she didn't exist; and at Ayame, who was looking at her with a decidedly unfriendly expression.
"No," Hatori said clearly.
Ms. Shishio's lips pressed together at his rudeness, but then she shrugged. "Have it your way. I just wanted to make sure... That little agreement of ours. You are aware, Hatori, that you have full marks in my class?"
"It will look suspicious," Hatori pointed out, "when my grade report shows a perfect math score next to all the other less than perfect ones." He raised an eyebrow.
"Fine," she snapped. "I'll lower it. I just wanted to let you know that it is in my power to lower it quite a bit, if you...shall we say, talk too much."
"Won't work," Hatori decided. "When it comes to blackmail, I have the advantage."
Her face went red to hear him speak the word straight out. "Well then," she finally managed. "If there's anything I can do for you, Hatori, let me know."
"All right," he answered at once. "Break up with your fiancé. Never speak to him again." Shigure's eyes shot to him, and Ayame looked surprised at his boldness.
"You can't--!" she exclaimed. Then her eyes narrowed. "You think you're so clever, Hatori Sohma. Just remember, that if any...unsavory rumors spring up, I won't be the only one affected." Her fingers brushed up Shigure's face to tuck a lock of hair behind his ear. The gesture was swift and light, difficult to notice by anyone not watching closely; and then she had turned away.
That was Ms. Shishio's last week. It was said that she had transferred to another school, and she was replaced by a stern arithmetic professor who was aghast and outraged by the dawning realization that his students had learned virtually nothing all year.
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"I had a weird dream last night," Shigure spoke up at lunch.
"Excellent! Tell us," Ayame urged. Hatori simply rolled his eyes and took another swallow of his drink.
"It was...about her." There was no need to clarify.
Ayame laughed and asked suggestively, "What kind of dream?"
"Not that kind of dream. It was...a nightmare. We were sleeping in the same bed - only I wasn't me, I was someone else - and she kissed me, but it hurt, and I realized there was a snake in the bed that had bit me, so we both jumped up, screaming, and then I realized that it was burning. The house, I mean. There was a dragon outside, and the house was burning."
Ayame and Hatori exchanged looks.
"Did the two of them escape?" Hatori asked, carefully unconcerned.
"Yeah." Shigure was watching them. "We...they, I mean...were standing outside the house, watching it burn. They lost everything."
There was a long silence.
Finally, Ayame tossed his head. "We would have lost more," he announced, and took another bite of his lunch.
"What are you talking about, Ayame?" Hatori said, a bit too forcefully. "It was just a dream."
"Of course it was! We didn't actually--"
Hatori elbowed him.
"Aha ha ha! Speaking of interesting dreams, I had this one once where we were walking through a forest..."
Shigure let the subject drop.
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"Ayame," Ayame's mother called later that evening, "the phone's for you."
"About time, Hatori," Ayame murmured. He smiled at his reflection in the mirror and blew it a kiss. Then he ran to get the phone, still wearing the New Year's costume he had made. He wasn't dancing this year, but one could always dream. "Hatori! Words cannot express my delight at your decision to grace my ears with your lovely voice!"
"Ayame, what are we going to do about Shigure?"
Ayame sighed. "He's not himself, is he."
"She still weighs on his mind."
Ayame was quiet a moment. "We mustn't let our dear fellow Blossom fill his mind with thoughts of that seductress. We must plant lovely new ideas in his head and keep his attention focused on us!"
"What exactly do you have in mind?" Hatori asked warily.
Ayame grinned. "You'll see tomorrow."
"Wonderful. I am now shaking in my shoes."
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Shigure did not get to school as early as usual the next day. When he walked through the door, he was immediately pounced on by his silver-haired cousin.
"'Gure-san! How could you keep me waiting so long?!"
"'Gure-san?" Shigure repeated in disbelief.
"Here I was, aching for you, your bright presence, the warmth of your touch, and you treat me so dishonorably!"
"Ayame?" Shigure said dubiously. He was having trouble keeping upright, since Ayame had wrapped his arms around Shigure's neck and was making little effort to support his own weight. Hatori had covered his eyes with one hand, and the other students in the room were snickering.
"Is this how you act towards your beloved? Ah! Perhaps you are exhausted after dreaming passionately of me all last night!"
Shigure did not say that Ayame was not the subject of his passionate dreams.
Instead, the bell rang and the teacher, after lingering a few more seconds, reluctantly got off the Internet. "Ah...where was I...oh, school. Yes. Now, boys, take your seats. Today we are going to be studying a new concept..."
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Shigure was very puzzled that day. Ayame kept winking at him, blowing kisses, passing notes, and caressing him.
In math class, particularly - Shigure could not daydream about Ms. Shishio because Ayame's flirting always seemed to be in his face. Even when he gave up and tried to do the schoolwork instead, there would be Ayame, flipping back that hair or doodling badly-drawn pictures of himself and/or Shigure. It eventually got to the point where Shigure began to find it hilarious. Ayame would simply glance in his direction and Shigure would burst out laughing.
By early afternoon, Shigure was even beginning to play along, somewhat clumsily. At the end of the day, when Ayame jumped to help him elegantly out of the car, then bent to kiss his hand, then worked his kisses up Shigure's arm, Shigure was laughing so hard he could barely stand up.
Hatori's look of disgust faded to resignation over the course of the day, but he never said a word. Not even when, supposedly to make up for neglecting him, Ayame took to calling him "'Tori-san!"
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The last month of middle school rolled around, and it came time for the students to plan for the next step in their education.
"Dad," Hatori called when he came home, "we got our course cards today. We're supposed to 'consult with our parents' about the classes we're going to take next year, so could you sign this?" Hatori held out the already-completed course card.
Hatori's father paused. Then he stubbed out his cigarette and turned to face his son. "About that," he said.
"I'm planning to take orchestra and metalworking my first year," Hatori continued, "though Shigure keeps whining at me to take Advanced Placement literature with him--"
"Hatori."
Hatori paused. His father's voice was serious.
"The main house has...contacted me about what they intend your career to be."
"What they intend my career to be?" Hatori repeated, sarcastic and disbelieving.
"They want you to be a doctor."
Hatori stood still for a moment, gathering his thoughts. "So, what, they're dictating my life or something? They're saying I have to be a doctor, so I have to be a doctor?"
"Yes. Partly because of your...ability."
Hatori's mouth tightened. When he was a child he had thought his special power was cool. He and his two cousins used to play games with it all the time. But after seeing too many eyes filled with blankness, or with pain caused by what he had done, Hatori had started to hate having the ability he had been born with.
"So, what, they're making me sign up for anatomy and advanced biology and stuff, instead of the classes I want to take?"
"That's the idea, yes."
Hatori realized that his hands were shaking. "No."
His father looked grim. "You have no choice, Hatori."
"What do you mean I have no choice?!" Hatori exploded. "It's MY life! The stupid main house doesn't control me!"
His father's eyes narrowed. "They do, Hatori. It's time you learned that. You had the misfortune to be born into this family, therefore you are a slave to it."
"I'm not doing it," Hatori hissed. "I'm not going to be a doctor. I don't want to be a doctor. And what about Shigure and Ayame?"
"The main house has so far not expressed any interest in what career path they will take. All they care about is you."
"They can't! I won't! I REFUSE!"
Hatori's father did not bother to answer.
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"Hey, 'Tori-san! Why did you sign up for anatomy?" Ayame wondered, glancing through Hatori's schedule.
"I thought you were going to take orchestra," Shigure said with a frown.
Hatori snatched his schedule back. "Are you two trying to control my life or something? Leave me alone, I can take whatever frickin' classes I want!"
"We were just asking, Ha-san," Shigure said in an injured tone. "You don't have to be so touchy."
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Author's Notes: I realize that Hatori's "Dragon" form is actually the eastern version, but the western dragon worked better for my purposes.
When I first started this fic, my biggest problem BY FAR was the situation with Shigure and his middle school teacher. For one thing, I doubt an all-boys school would hire a female teacher (though I just realized that their elementary teacher was female, too).
Then, after I had written the first draft, I realized while editing that I had been writing the entire situation from my own perspective, when in truth, Ayame would have approached it somewhat differently. I myself find it extremely inappropriate for a teacher to form a romantic relationship with a middle school student. However, Ayame, being A) younger, B) a boy, and C) having a different personality, might not feel the same way, or at least not for the same reasons. For example, he would probably be more inclined to encourage Shigure than rescue him. I did think of a way to change the circumstances, but not the effects, of this critical point in Shigure's character development, but I was in a rush to finish my fanfics back then and did not have time for problematic re-writes.
Fast-forward about sixteen months later. I have now undertaken a project to edit all my fanfiction, and once again I am faced with Part 2 of this Mabudachi Trio fic. Time to quit procrastinating and dive in. Hopefully, Ayame's reaction is now more consistent with his personality, and I finally changed "Ms. Aku's" extremely corny name. (I picked Shishio because I am reading Rurouni Kenshin at the moment, and I really don't like Shishio.)
This Mabudachi fic is my only story that I consider to be PG-13, because of Part 2. That sort of my content isn't my thing, so I have never enjoyed working on it.
