Title: Gift

Author/Artist: Maria Szabo
Pairing: Kureno/Arisa
Fandom: Fruits Basket
Theme: #3/Jolt!
Disclaimer: Fruits Basket belongs to Takaya Natsuki and her publishers and distributors. This is a work of fanfiction and no profit is being made save that of enjoyment.

He felt a jolt as the boy accosted him, a slim hand pulling out his waistband, and then a cool, smooth feeling at the small of his back.

Kureno looked around in surprise, and the sound of a chuckle drew his glance downwards. Momiji was standing there, a smile on his face and a look of defiance in his eyes.

"It's a gift," he said, "from Touru."

Before Kureno could reply, he had bounded down the hall, laughing.

That boy. He shook his head. Although Momiji had inherited his German mother's blond good looks, his personality was eerie similar to his father's. Kureno was just old enough to remember the scandal he had caused when he came home from his studies overseas, bringing his foreign wife with him. He would have been disowned, had it not been for the fact that the child she bore had been afflicted with the Curse.

But what was this case that he had stuck in his waistband? It looked like a disc of some kind—a CD-Rom or DVD? Why on earth would Touru want to give him something like that?

Watch it and see.

With a frown, he walked back to his office and placed the disc on a shelf. It was New Year's and Akito was out-of-sorts. He needed to settle her down, and then check to see that the others were not too disturbed by last night's banquet, when Akito had assaulted Yuki. Ayame had seemed particularly disturbed, and it would take some behind-the-scenes maneuvering to keep things quiet in the main house.

But that's what he was there for. Damage control.

It was well into the next day when he finally had a chance to sit down and watch the contents of the disc. At first, he was puzzled, for it seemed to be a recording of a school play. It was not until a strangely-dressed Yuki appeared that it occurred to him that it was the school that his cousins had attended. Like his older cousins, Kureno had gone to an all-boys school. The fuss that Akito had made over Yuki's decision to attend a co-ed institution still gave him headaches.

But the boy seemed to have prospered there, and with the exception of Honda Touru, it seemed that the family secret had stayed intact. Kyou had been put in the same school at Shigure's insistence (Kureno was sure that was more for Shigure's amusement than any concern for the boy himself. The cat was, after all, the cat; and dogs as a rule were not friendly with them), and Momiji and Hatsuharu had followed the next year. By that time, Akito was used to the idea, although she had insisted on attending their incoming ceremony.

"Is it really necessary?" he had asked her, the night before, his hands stroking the nervousness from her shoulders. "You know how crowds upset you…"

"I am head of the family. I want to see." She shook off his caresses impatiently. "They're pushing me, I know it. But if they see me there, it'll make them think twice. And besides, I want to meet her."

"Her?"

"That girl. The one Shigure took in." There was a flash of jealousy in Akito's eyes, quickly hidden. "I want to see what she is like. It seems Yuki is quite taken with her."

At least, that's what Shigure claimed, he thought, as he turned his attention back to the strange drama playing out on his computer. To be fair, at least the day had not gone badly. Akito was piqued at him for not wanting to attend, so she'd ordered him to stay and home and had gone with Shigure to the school. She'd come home in a good humor—it seemed Honda Touru was a rather simple girl, and that Yuki was in "no danger".

He never understood how it was that Akito was able to read all of them so accurately—not only the Juunishi, but every person in the clan as well. Her ability dazzled him, but frightened him as well, for she used the trait like a weapon.

"What's with the long face? It's supposed to be your ball!"

His breath caught in his throat. That voice…

She stood there on the stage, ridiculously dressed but showing off those wonderful legs, and berating an irritated-looking Kyou. He suddenly felt a surge of anger towards the boy.

His attention was now riveted on the screen. She strutted, she scowled and threw out her lines like they were nothing in front of all those people. It was amazing. But their words…

"Yeah, why don't you go out to the convenience store and buy yourself some "friendliness"?"

Did Kyou know about them? And Momiji…oh, God. Who else? If Akito found out…

"I want to meet…I want to meet…COME SEE ME…HEY!"

Suddenly it was summer, and he was walking down a street all unaware, and a pretty blonde girl in a miniskirt ran up behind him and pulled at his shirt and he wanted her so badly, more than anything he'd ever wanted since the curse was lifted from him…

A kiss, unclaimed, was still waiting.

He lowered his head into his hands. This was not right. She still hoped to see him, that badly? She still felt the same way that he did? And he…was not free to love her.

With shaking hands, he looked up a number and picked up the phone. This could not go on. He needed to break his silence and there was only one person he could talk to about this.

Honda Touru….what have you done?