Only A Moment
Chapter 3: Animal MayhemDisclaimer: Nya! How are all of you? Thankies for reviewing! w Ish very pleased. Anyways, I don't own Faruba, painful as that revelation is. Or Rin would be shot. And hugged to be shipped off and made into horsie flavored doggie kibble! Ah yesh. I DO in fact own Karin, Jono, and their newly bought doggie in this chap, Mitari. Ah yes, Kagami too. And thank you for giving me the little push to do a JonoxAyame pairing! You're right, Shigure-kun just doesn't fit it. Ayame-kun does though. Which makes me cry…since I'm in love with the man. I mean, I don't have to be ONLY a Ritchan-san fan, now do I? If I do, that's it. No more Ritsu fics. Ayame-kun is the package, in a presidential kind of jargin. You know, those guys in suits that always say into little microphones, "WE MUST PROTECT THE PACKAGE! CODE BLUE! CODE BLUE! THE PACKAGE HAS A BRAIN FREEZE!", and whatnot. Ok…ignore my insane ramblings. :changes into Napoleon garb and points sword onward: ON WITH THE FIC!
Karin's mood had considerably lightened, now that they were away from Sohma House. It hadn't been very comforting to hear both Jono and Akito-sama fighting. She sighed heavily. They still held such an animosity for each other. But Karin supposed that was because Akito-sama had found out somehow that Jono was in love with Ayame-kun. It had been a shock to her, when years later he'd told her why they'd had to leave. He was crying at the time, in remorse for what he'd done to them. Karin closed her eyes and remembered that day.
"I'm so so sorry…Ka-chan…you have to know the reason we were sent away…" Jono said one day, while Karin was sitting, more like lounging, on their couch in their LA apartment. She was 17 now, and about 7 years had passed since they'd left. Jono was kneeling before her, leaning his head on the cushion in front of her arms. She noticed his shoulders shaking, and realized he was crying. She hadn't seen him cry since the night they'd left their mother. So it had to be something gravely important. She touched his arm gently, and smiled warmly.
"Go on, Jono-niichan…" she urged gently. He looked up to her, teary eyed, and held up a water stained picture that had been held quite a lot over the years. Looking closely, it had a picture of one, solitary person on it. The form it held was a young man with long, silver hair, and eyes as gold as chrysanthemums in fall. She had a perplexed look on her features and her dark ebony hair fell into her face as she stared into her brother's deep, sorrowful eyes.
"Ayame-kun?" she questioned, her tone more in confusion than in revelation. She knew by now her brother was gay, but she was confused. Why did Jono have a picture, so worn out by the way, of Ayame?
"Yes…I loved…no…I STILL love him…and back then…that bastard Akito found out…" he choked out. His words were staggered with sobs, of both pain, and shame that he harbored such a forbidden affection.
"Oh Jono-nii…you know I don't blame you…it's…it's okay that you love Ayame-kun. You should at least be allowed to pick who you love in this lifetime, right? Akito-sama shouldn't change that. You have every right to love him, and I'll support you a thousand percent of the way!" she said optimistically, as she often did. Jono's weak smile told her that's what he wanted to hear. That she forgave him. His eyes lit up and his tears started to ebb into a slow trickle. He nodded and hugged her fiercely.
"Yeah…I know…" he laughed, his tears soaking into her hair as she held his head to her tenderly.
Karin smiled to herself. It was actually a good memory in her eyes. Jono had opened up to her in that moment. And she could only imagine that familiar anxiety that she was experiencing towards pining for Ritsu, could only be the same, if not worse, for Jono. He truly did still love Ayame-kun. Even after all these years. For 10 years he'd harbored a love he couldn't have, and he still stayed strong. Karin was happy. She was glad her brother had found the strength to keep going. Because, at first, he'd been a sham of himself. When they'd first moved to the USA, he'd often be seen crying, and holding a photo album of he, Shigure-nii, Hatori-kun, and Ayame-kun in his room. At the time, she'd never guessed that it was because he was mourning for a love he lost. The same person who'd just invaded her thoughts, interrupted her.
"Hey Ka-chan? Remember that promise I made? That we'd get a dog so you wouldn't be lonely when I went to work during the night shift, that is. Wanna go get one now? Since Shii's here, you should have no problem finding the right one for you!" Jono smiled warmly, giving her waist a small, affectionate squeeze. She glowed with happiness and nodded fiercely. Quite frankly, everyone was afraid she'd whip her head off, nodding so quickly like that. She skipped ahead of the group, Ritsu jogging up behind to catch up to her.
"A DOG! YAY! WE'RE GETTING A DOG!" she chirped happily. Her world was in complete bliss. She'd been harping him for a dog for AGES, and now she was getting one. 'Thank you Aya-kun! You've made big brother even NICER than USUAL!' she thought happily. She spun in circles and had to be held up by Ritsu and Momiji, or she would have fallen down from dizziness. The others smiled at her joy. It was amazing how such a simple thing could make her so high and happy. But it worked both ways. Yet another simple phrase, or action even, could send her world into utter darkness.
(Fyi, this is like, an overview in this POV switch. That's because of the ani…oh well, you'll find out. - -)
As the group walked into the store that Shigure and Ayame had directed them to, all the animals went into an uproar. Well, most anyways. The rabbits were clawing at their glass enclosures, desperately trying to follow Momiji's every motion. And not to mention the slew of many, many dogs that were now barking and talking furiously to Shigure. The snakes, few that there were though very big, all slithered across their branches to peer out at the earthereal beauty Ayame. Even the one monkey, a personal pet of the store owner, hopped from his perch on a pole and cat scratch play house, jumped onto Ritsu's shoulder, talking and chattering noisily at him. Both Jono and Karin smiled. They knew the animals were talking to the people who shared their respective zodiacs. And some, were complaining.
'Big Rabbit! Tell the Food Man to take those no-leggers away from us! We KNOW they'll just come and eat some of us! It makes us jumpy, and then the two-leggers that come in won't take us home if we're too scared to impress them!' a large, dapper gray bunny with huge floppy ears said to Momiji, whom nodded and looked to the owner.
"Could you move them somewhere else? They're kinda scared by the snakes. They don't really trust them, and it makes them nervous," Momiji explained. The owner whistled softly.
"SO…THAT'S what's been making them squeal to get back into their cages when people take em out to pet em, huh. Thanks. I never would have thought of that!" the man laughed, and began moving the enclosures with some of his workers. Ayame huffed and turned to the snakes in question, which were insulted.
'Big SSSSSSSSnakeeee! That'sssssss not trueeeeeee. We have no sssssuch intentionssss in mind. We're fed ratssss ever day, we have no NEED for jumperssssssss.' The oldest snake, a boa constrictor, protested. Ayame nodded and told Momiji to deliver the message to the rabbits. Just so they wouldn't be worried anymore. Momiji did, and the rabbits in turn were calmed immediately. Karin was milling around the dog pens with Shigure as they licked his face, hands, any place they could reach really. No matter how many times the Sohma's tried, all the animals would call them were 'Big Dog', 'Big Snake', 'Big Monkey', and the like. They couldn't really explain to animals that they were people, not animals that had somehow tricked the 'two-leggers', or people, into thinking they were like them. And the Sohma's found it amusing that the animals had such nicknames for people, like the rabbits did for the Food Man, and now with the dogs and Karin. They'd just nicknamed her 'Best Girl Ever', Best Girl for short. But that was because she was feeding them tidbits of biscuit that she'd had in her pocket from breakfast. She'd intended to eat it on the way to Sohma House, but had forgotten.
'Big Dog! Can we keep Best Girl?' all the dogs barked simultaneously as Shigure tried to calm them down. He smiled.
'If she wants you, yes. So sit up straight, be calm, and be yourselves with her. and maybe she'll pick you to go home with her!' he answered, in a language known only to him and the dogs through their minds.
It was the same for all the others who were cursed, only Hatori could hear EVERYTHING from the sea. So he rarely went to aquariums anymore, since the fish, dolphins, whales, and even sharks would follow him. Asking him questions like why was the 'Sea King' bothering with two-leggers. That's how he had explained what they called him to Ayame, Jono, and Shigure once. Because the dragon had been the king of the seas. At the time, Ritsu and Karin hadn't minded being followed and chirped to by dolphins, but the sharks DID scare them a little, since they were only 10 at the time.
A medium sized dog, which was sitting at the back, just looked at them with deep brown eyes. He was a German Shepard, Sheepdog mix. So his brown and black coat was shaggy and his ears were pointed and curved inwards to make him look sharp. Shigure immediately took to him, and so did Karin. After Shigure ordered the dogs to make a path to the 'Old Man', as they called him, since 5 was relatively old for dogs, Karin and Shigure walked to him. He sat very rigid and looked them square in the eye.
'Big Dog, SIR! What do you need of an old soldier like me, Sir! If it's not too bold to ask.' The dog said, his bark accenting his every sentence. That caught Karin offgaurd, but she petted him anyways, with a warm, blissful smile on her face. The owner, after marveling at how Ayame had figured out that the female snake was going to have eggs; to Ritsu explaining that the monkey, a small monkey named Kiyoshi, had a problem sleeping because the man always forgot to turn the radio off when he left.
"Oh, you don't want that one miss, he's five years old, a military dog. He was a bomb sniffer, and when he got in a dogfight that damaged his nose, they gave him to a friend, who gave him to me. You'll want one of the younger, cuter dogs!" the man said with a gruff smile. Karin shook her head, hugging the dog protectively.
"No. I want him. He's JUST the kind of dog I want…loyal, strong, smart, and cuddly!" Karin chirped, hugging the dog and ruffling his fur, much to his content. The other dogs whined in disappointment. They'd wanted 'Best Girl' to themselves. Jono was handling a snake with Ayame, and both were fawning over its beauty, when he looked over and saw the man protesting her choice.
"Hey, let her have him. If he's a military dog, that means he'll protect her. and I need someone I can trust to protect her when I work late at night, and can I get this snake too? She's beautiful!" Jono said with a smile. The man nodded, a bit dumbfounded that someone actually WANTED that rough a dog. Shigure couldn't help but smile at the proud air around the dog as they walked him out on a leash, while Jono wrapped the snake around his neck in content as they walked to their apartment.
'I promise the Man Lover that I'll protect Mistress from ANYTHING! Even his beloved no-legger, SIR!' the old dog assured Shigure. Shigure stifled laughter at the dogs' revelation.
'You know Jono's gay?' he questioned jovially. The dog nodded with a disapproving 'bwuff'.
'Yes, SIR! You can smell his affection for the Big No-Legger, SIR!' the dog said, motioning his head to Ayame. Shigure nodded. He'd noticed lately that dogs, even himself, could smell your emotions from a person. And Jono's were seeping out of every poor, and surrounding Ayame like a sweet, sugary cloud of smell. Love wasn't a bad smell, Shigure figured. But the fear that he'd smelled around Akito when Jono had been screaming at him, was a sour, rancid smell. He was afraid of being sent away, and not being able to let Karin see her family, as well as see Ayame anymore.
"Oh! What're we gonna name the dog and the snake, Jono-nii?" Karin said with a smile, the dog close at her feet, even though his head was leaning on her waist he was so tall. Jono shrugged.
"Hey Aya-chan? Ask this little beauty what SHE wants to be called. I want HER to decide, I mean, I don't wanna give her a name that offends her," Jono said, asking Ayame to speak to the snake around his shoulders. The snake lifted her head, seemingly touched at his concern and looked to Ayame.
'Kagami. My name isssss Kagami, and the old wolf issssss named Mitari, Big Ssssnake.' She answered with a flick of the tounge. The dog tensed at his name, but did nothing.
"She says her name is Kagami. What a beautiful name for such a beautiful creature…and the old dog is named Mitari. But Gure-chan? Why'd she call him a wolf?" Ayame questioned. Shigure smiled.
"Because Aya-chan, wolves and dogs are related, so in the animal world, they're the same thing!" Shigure smiled. Ayame nodded with a smile and they continued to walk and talk. Ritsu went home with a monkey as well, since Kiyoshi seemed attached to him. They went into the apartment to find none other than Karl. And man, was HE surprised to see Jono kidding around and shamelessly flirting with Ayame.
An: Evil cliffie, no? ok, next chap is the big Jono/Karl breakup! Read n review! Bysies! - -
luv, Kinruta