Inseparable: A Mabudachi Trio fic, by Raberba girl

Twelfth Grade

"It was so funny, and so idiotic! They were all sitting there, drilling out their cute little rules and looking so intense," Ayame laughed. "They would be like," he changed his voice to a higher pitch, "'Point: We do not steal the Prince's belongings. Point: We do not speak to the Prince or either of his Knights unless there are two or more members present.' Ha ha ha! 'Gure-san, 'Tori-san, you two are my valiant knights!"

Shigure smiled and shook his head. Hatori only looked disgusted.

It was early morning. The three of them were hiding out behind the school, so that Shigure and Hatori could have a smoke before the first bell. Ayame always abstained, because the first time he tried a cigarette, he had a terrible coughing fit and had trouble breathing for days. Hatori discovered that Ayame's direct family line had a tendency towards asthma, so they thought it best that Ayame did not try again.

"Then they saw me watching, and it was to die for! They all jumped out of their seats and fawned over me; you would've been jealous, 'Gure-san..."

After a few more minutes of this, Shigure got bored and tried to change the subject. Hatori had started tuning out Ayame long ago. "What's in the bag, Aya?" Shigure asked.

Ayame grinned. "New fabrics! I raided that cute shop down by the Taiwanese restaurant, and you wouldn't believe some of the great stuff I found--"

"For fashion design?" Shigure cut in. He liked Ayame, but sometimes hearing the same voice going on for so long could get a bit tiresome.

"I can't believe you are taking that class again," Hatori grumbled. "Wasn't failing one time enough?"

"I bombed the final exam on purpose, so I could take the class again," Ayame reminded him.

"I know that, you dolt. I just think that one year's worth of doodling clothing designs and sewing gaudy, flashy outfits together is enough."

Ayame laughed. "Well, it sure beats cutting up dead animals and memorizing the scientific names of every bone in the human body."

"Humph," Hatori grumbled. He dropped his cigarette to the ground and crushed it under his shoe.

"Oh, 'Gure-san!" Ayame suddenly remembered. "How is the graduation speech coming?"

"Pretty good," Shigure said vaguely. "I'm working on two versions. A brilliant one to turn in to the teachers, and the one I'm actually going to read." He winked. Ayame looked highly amused, though Hatori only sighed.

"Is getting into trouble your hobby, or something?"

"Come on, Ha-san! It's senior year, what else can they do to us? After graduation day, we're home-free!"

"I'll miss it," Ayame said suddenly. The other two turned to him curiously, and he smiled. "High school was fun, ne, 'Tori-san? 'Gure-san?" Neither of the other two replied.

Ayame draped his arms around them. "This is so wonderful. 'Tori-san and 'Gure-san and Aya, inseparable since birth. Can you see it? The future of the Mabudachi Trio...'Tori-san caring for our precious Akito, 'Gure-san writing his beautiful novels, Aya running his fashionable clothing store... It makes me happy to be tied to the two of you." There were tears in his eyes.

Shigure turned his face against Ayame's. "We'll fight the curse, Aya," he promised gently. "Someday, I swear to free us, every last one of the Sohmas."

Ayame smiled.

"In the meantime," Hatori continued softly, "we will watch over Akito."

"Yes," Ayame whispered.

"We will shape that child, watch it grow...until the right time finally arrives."

Shigure laughed softly. "Poor thing."

Hatori pulled away. "Come on, we've got class." He paused. Then he turned to his cousins and grinned at them. "We have years yet to play out our wicked roles."

Ayame and Shigure smiled back. Then they slung their bookbags over their shoulders and walked off to class, joking light-heartedly.