Genres: Drama/Romance/Depression
Warning: contains shonen/seinen-ai. If you find this offensive, then don't read this (yes, it's as simple as that)! Plus the story contains elements concerning prostitution. Also I don't recommend reading this if you don't like depressing stories (although, if you've read this far, I'm guessing you do.)
Disclaimer: Fruits Basket is copyrighted to Takaya Natsuki.
Rating: PG 13, might go up to R (but I doubt it, well, who knows)
A/N: Hey! First off: I'm really sorry that it took me so long to update, but I just HAD to take a break from this story.
Enjen: You haven't offended me in the least and I'm truly grateful for your support.
Now that that's taken care of let's get on with the story.
Black Boudoir
Chapter Thirteen
Kyo was sitting in the bar as usual. He missed Shigure's company, but he was glad that at least the dog was being spared a night's work. He looked around. There were only two clients at the moment, one of them chatting with a blond man named Momiji who Kyo didn't know very well yet and the other trying to chat up Kagura, the barmaid, who kept telling him that she was not available.
He sipped his green tea slowly. It was a habit that he had picked up from Shigure and he found that it was better than drinking alcohol since under the influence of the latter he lost control of himself and tended to throw out the clients who were too impatient. Akito had not yet spoken to him personally about it, but he had threatened to do so if it occurred again.
Kyo was well known amongst the regular visitors of the "White lily" for his temper, but this didn't seem to discourage the men who were partial to him, far from it. He soon became quite as popular as Ayame who had been the favourite before him.
Kyo picked up the teapot and poured some more of the hot infusion into his cup when he noticed someone approaching him. He looked up and recognized Uo immediately.
She had had her hair cut fairly short, but it was still long enough to cover most of her face and she was dressed in a pair of Kyo's old jeans and the black shirt she had worn the last time she had been here.
Kyo didn't move. He could almost feel disaster slowly taking hold of his neck, reading to throttle him. He merely nodded at his friend. She sat down opposite him and looked him up and down.
"Well, aren't you going to buy me a drink?" She asked.
Her voice was low and as soft as possible so as to hide it's feminine pitch the best she could. Kyo was impressed. Not very many people managed to cross dress with class.
"I don't think that you are familiar with the rules." He said. "Usually the client is the one who buys me a drink. But since we haven't seen each other for a while, I guess I'll get you one on the house."
He was trying his best to make it look like Uo was just another client to the others. If anyone found out who and what Uo was, there would be trouble since it was an unspoken rule that there should be no female clients allowed.
Uo requested a martini and Kyo got up, placed the order with Kagura, and came back with a glass. Uo sipped the drink as if it were water.
Once she had finished the drink she asked:
"Well, aren't you going to take me to your room?"
"What do you mean?" Kyo asked. He hadn't enquired as to why Uotani was here, but he wasn't expecting her to be here for business.
"We need to talk." She offered. Kyo sighed in mild relief.
They both got up and Uotani walked next to Kyo, her head low, as if she were ashamed. It was not an uncommon behaviour amongst clients, but the real purpose was for her to hide her face so as not to attract attention to its femininity.
They got to Kyo's workroom and Uo found it quite plain, but for the orange lilies in the tall vase. The bedspread was red satin and except for that, there wasn't much colour in the room.
Kyo drew two chairs and sat in one, but Uotani settled herself on the bed. Kyo was surprised, but chose not the show it.
"Sleep with me." Uo said.
Kyo stared, agape. She was looking at him, and he found that he wanted to hide from her direct stare.
"Uo, no. I thought we had settled this. I love you like a sister." Kyo said weakly. "I'm not in love with you."
"That's why you won't sleep with me?" She asked, an eyebrow cocked.
"Yes."
"Strange, coming from a prostitute." Uo said bitterly. Kyo felt numb.
"This is different." "In what way? I'll pay you." She held out an envelope.
"Don't do this to me." He said blankly.
"Oh, but I am doing this to you." She said.
"No."
"You can't say no! Remember what you are!" Uo said. Kyo didn't notice the glint in her eyes.
No looked away. Uo was expecting him to leave or to ask her to do so, but he undid his belt and pulled off his kimono, folding it and laying it on the chair he had just left. He then moved towards her, never looking her in the eyes. He stroked her hair, brushed it aside and started kissing her neck below the earlobe. At the same time he started undoing the buttons of her shirt. He stopped and pushed her back on the bed, the lay down next to her, taking care to not get close enough to transform. His hand went back to her bandaged chest and rested there when he found that she was sobbing. He sat up and looked at her face. Her eyes were closed and there were tears flowing from her closed eyelids.
He withdrew his hand from her and got up, retrieved the kimono from the chair and put it on.
"Uo, you didn't mean what you said, did you?" he asked, his expression softening a little. It wasn't much, but it was more that it had in the past months.
He tied his belt and helped Uotani up. He stroked her back. She looked away.
"Would you have gone through with it if I hadn't cried?" She asked.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"It's my job. You were willing to pay." He said.
Uotani felt sick. She had known that her friend had changed, but she hadn't wanted to acknowledge it before she experienced it herself. She had known all along that she would get hurt after this. Well, she had gotten what she had come for.
"You didn't want to though." She asked.
"Of course not. You mean more to me than just any client, but if you force me to, I'll treat you just like one." Kyo said. "That's not how I show love. It doesn't mean anything to me."
"That's not how it should be." Uo said.
"I wouldn't know, would I?" He said.
"Look, you can't stay here, I don't want you to have any part in this whole thing."
It seemed to Uotani that if he hadn't said it in such a blank tone, she would have felt loved and cared for. Kyo still cared about her, that was obvious, but he was so different. He was a broken person before her. Where was the old Kyo? More importantly, would he ever come back?
"Go home." Kyo said. "You can come and see me during the day if you want to. Here's my new number."
He took a piece of paper and wrote down his number. He handed it to Uotani. She stared at it. She got up and was about to leave when she turned around and kissed Kyo on the forehead. She turned around and left.
Uo's cologne still lingered in the room and Kyo rubbed his temples. It was too much. He would go see Shigure and the hit the hay. He was about to exit and then stopped. He turned around and picked up the envelope that lay forgotten on one of the pillows. He opened it and found a note inside.
Kyo-
I'm sorry for what I've done and I'm sure I'll regret it tomorrow. Either I will have tricked you into sleeping with me without paying, but I doubt it. I probably will just have left. No matter what has happened, just remember that I love you.
Mushy huh? Well, it'll have to do.
UOTANI Arisa.
He folded it. The words rang in his head. I love you. He had known it, but she had never said it outright.
The words triggered sadness in him. It was one of the few emotions he had recovered and it weighed down his shoulders.
End of chapter thirteen.
Well, I'm glad that's over. Uo is out of character, I know, and I just can't get her back in character. I hope that you like it and feedback is of course as welcome as usual. I'll try to update more often from now on. Much love - Isa
Warning: contains shonen/seinen-ai. If you find this offensive, then don't read this (yes, it's as simple as that)! Plus the story contains elements concerning prostitution. Also I don't recommend reading this if you don't like depressing stories (although, if you've read this far, I'm guessing you do.)
Disclaimer: Fruits Basket is copyrighted to Takaya Natsuki.
Rating: PG 13, might go up to R (but I doubt it, well, who knows)
A/N: Hey! First off: I'm really sorry that it took me so long to update, but I just HAD to take a break from this story.
Enjen: You haven't offended me in the least and I'm truly grateful for your support.
Now that that's taken care of let's get on with the story.
Black Boudoir
Chapter Thirteen
Kyo was sitting in the bar as usual. He missed Shigure's company, but he was glad that at least the dog was being spared a night's work. He looked around. There were only two clients at the moment, one of them chatting with a blond man named Momiji who Kyo didn't know very well yet and the other trying to chat up Kagura, the barmaid, who kept telling him that she was not available.
He sipped his green tea slowly. It was a habit that he had picked up from Shigure and he found that it was better than drinking alcohol since under the influence of the latter he lost control of himself and tended to throw out the clients who were too impatient. Akito had not yet spoken to him personally about it, but he had threatened to do so if it occurred again.
Kyo was well known amongst the regular visitors of the "White lily" for his temper, but this didn't seem to discourage the men who were partial to him, far from it. He soon became quite as popular as Ayame who had been the favourite before him.
Kyo picked up the teapot and poured some more of the hot infusion into his cup when he noticed someone approaching him. He looked up and recognized Uo immediately.
She had had her hair cut fairly short, but it was still long enough to cover most of her face and she was dressed in a pair of Kyo's old jeans and the black shirt she had worn the last time she had been here.
Kyo didn't move. He could almost feel disaster slowly taking hold of his neck, reading to throttle him. He merely nodded at his friend. She sat down opposite him and looked him up and down.
"Well, aren't you going to buy me a drink?" She asked.
Her voice was low and as soft as possible so as to hide it's feminine pitch the best she could. Kyo was impressed. Not very many people managed to cross dress with class.
"I don't think that you are familiar with the rules." He said. "Usually the client is the one who buys me a drink. But since we haven't seen each other for a while, I guess I'll get you one on the house."
He was trying his best to make it look like Uo was just another client to the others. If anyone found out who and what Uo was, there would be trouble since it was an unspoken rule that there should be no female clients allowed.
Uo requested a martini and Kyo got up, placed the order with Kagura, and came back with a glass. Uo sipped the drink as if it were water.
Once she had finished the drink she asked:
"Well, aren't you going to take me to your room?"
"What do you mean?" Kyo asked. He hadn't enquired as to why Uotani was here, but he wasn't expecting her to be here for business.
"We need to talk." She offered. Kyo sighed in mild relief.
They both got up and Uotani walked next to Kyo, her head low, as if she were ashamed. It was not an uncommon behaviour amongst clients, but the real purpose was for her to hide her face so as not to attract attention to its femininity.
They got to Kyo's workroom and Uo found it quite plain, but for the orange lilies in the tall vase. The bedspread was red satin and except for that, there wasn't much colour in the room.
Kyo drew two chairs and sat in one, but Uotani settled herself on the bed. Kyo was surprised, but chose not the show it.
"Sleep with me." Uo said.
Kyo stared, agape. She was looking at him, and he found that he wanted to hide from her direct stare.
"Uo, no. I thought we had settled this. I love you like a sister." Kyo said weakly. "I'm not in love with you."
"That's why you won't sleep with me?" She asked, an eyebrow cocked.
"Yes."
"Strange, coming from a prostitute." Uo said bitterly. Kyo felt numb.
"This is different." "In what way? I'll pay you." She held out an envelope.
"Don't do this to me." He said blankly.
"Oh, but I am doing this to you." She said.
"No."
"You can't say no! Remember what you are!" Uo said. Kyo didn't notice the glint in her eyes.
No looked away. Uo was expecting him to leave or to ask her to do so, but he undid his belt and pulled off his kimono, folding it and laying it on the chair he had just left. He then moved towards her, never looking her in the eyes. He stroked her hair, brushed it aside and started kissing her neck below the earlobe. At the same time he started undoing the buttons of her shirt. He stopped and pushed her back on the bed, the lay down next to her, taking care to not get close enough to transform. His hand went back to her bandaged chest and rested there when he found that she was sobbing. He sat up and looked at her face. Her eyes were closed and there were tears flowing from her closed eyelids.
He withdrew his hand from her and got up, retrieved the kimono from the chair and put it on.
"Uo, you didn't mean what you said, did you?" he asked, his expression softening a little. It wasn't much, but it was more that it had in the past months.
He tied his belt and helped Uotani up. He stroked her back. She looked away.
"Would you have gone through with it if I hadn't cried?" She asked.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"It's my job. You were willing to pay." He said.
Uotani felt sick. She had known that her friend had changed, but she hadn't wanted to acknowledge it before she experienced it herself. She had known all along that she would get hurt after this. Well, she had gotten what she had come for.
"You didn't want to though." She asked.
"Of course not. You mean more to me than just any client, but if you force me to, I'll treat you just like one." Kyo said. "That's not how I show love. It doesn't mean anything to me."
"That's not how it should be." Uo said.
"I wouldn't know, would I?" He said.
"Look, you can't stay here, I don't want you to have any part in this whole thing."
It seemed to Uotani that if he hadn't said it in such a blank tone, she would have felt loved and cared for. Kyo still cared about her, that was obvious, but he was so different. He was a broken person before her. Where was the old Kyo? More importantly, would he ever come back?
"Go home." Kyo said. "You can come and see me during the day if you want to. Here's my new number."
He took a piece of paper and wrote down his number. He handed it to Uotani. She stared at it. She got up and was about to leave when she turned around and kissed Kyo on the forehead. She turned around and left.
Uo's cologne still lingered in the room and Kyo rubbed his temples. It was too much. He would go see Shigure and the hit the hay. He was about to exit and then stopped. He turned around and picked up the envelope that lay forgotten on one of the pillows. He opened it and found a note inside.
Kyo-
I'm sorry for what I've done and I'm sure I'll regret it tomorrow. Either I will have tricked you into sleeping with me without paying, but I doubt it. I probably will just have left. No matter what has happened, just remember that I love you.
Mushy huh? Well, it'll have to do.
UOTANI Arisa.
He folded it. The words rang in his head. I love you. He had known it, but she had never said it outright.
The words triggered sadness in him. It was one of the few emotions he had recovered and it weighed down his shoulders.
End of chapter thirteen.
Well, I'm glad that's over. Uo is out of character, I know, and I just can't get her back in character. I hope that you like it and feedback is of course as welcome as usual. I'll try to update more often from now on. Much love - Isa