Pairing: Sohma Hatori & Sohma Ayame

Fandom: Fruits Basket

Theme: #28: Wada Calcium CD3 / ワダカルシウムCD3

Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket and the characters I use in my fiction. I just use them…

Rating: PG

Dance of promise

Shigure had known it would turn out badly. However, he had not anticipated that it would go as poorly as it had. He took a quick glance at Ayame's ridiculous outfit, which made him stand out in the crowd even more than his hair and unusually pale complexion already did. The Dog was sure Ayame was cold in that pink tutu.

In their childhood, Ayame had always wanted to perform ballet. Hatori had told him, from when he first started watching people perform Swan Lake in tutus, that it was not normal for boys to watch shows like that. When they grew older, Hatori had told Ayame that it was not normal to watch those shows with more attention to the tutus than to the girls. And as Hatori's perception on his silver-haired friend grew, he kept his mouth wisely shut about Ayame ogling the guys in tights more than the girls in their tutus. It was rather too much than he had wanted to know.

Shigure figured that in a strange way, the family doctor felt guilty about robbing Ayame of a possible interest and hobby. This was the only reason Shigure could think up on why Hatori would be so crazy as to invite cold-blooded Ayame to an ice-skating ring.

The morning that led to this weird change of events, Ayame and Shigure had just been talking about their naughty dreams, fantasies, and whatever clothes Ayame was making to encourage those fantasies in other people, when Hatori had entered his house without knocking. Shigure remembered it vividly, because this was a rare occurrence. Hatori rarely found the time to seek out his oldest friends, especially if there were no ulterior motive attached to said visit.

Ayame and Shigure had blinked, but Hatori had merely nodded to them in greeting and had given them no chance to recover from their shock. Instead, he had immediately dropped another proverbial bombshell in their midst. "Ayame. Take whatever you want and accompany me to the ice skating range."

It was a rare thing to find Ayame at a loss for words, but this time he had stood there, gaping like a fish. Shigure had not faired much better. What was Hatori playing at? Did he not know that Ayame was easily hurt if someone let him down? Sure, he might not show it, but surely, after having been friends for so long, Hatori would know how Ayame's mind worked.

Nevertheless, Shigure had forgotten his worries about the fragile Snake and had been thoroughly amused at Ayame's absurd outfit, not to mention Hatori's reaction at seeing Ayame reappear in the room in a glittery pink tutu. The writer had known Ayame had been working on a tutu ever since his obsession for the perfect manly romance started, and when his sewing styles also began covering Western-style clothing. However, he had not imagined ever seeing Ayame wear it, nor the fact that Ayame would look strangely alluring in it, the childish pink complementing his natural paleness.

Apparently, Hatori had been experiencing the same ideas, as he had turned strangely quiet. Ayame had remained ignorant of the doctor's shell-shocked state, and had simply dragged him outside, eager to start another attempt at manly romance with his favourite doctor. Shigure had only been able to sigh, but had decided to follow the pair to make sure there would be a sensible person around. In most cases, Hatori was the designated responsible person, but this time he would have to take on the burden of the adult himself. Shigure had shuddered at the thought of so much responsibility.

And that's why they were here now, at the ice-skating ring named "Serendipity". Shigure sighed at its corny name, but could not keep his eyes off of Ayame for more than a moment. He knew this would not work. It was simple math. Cold-blooded snakes plus ice minus a decent amount of clothing equalled trouble. Serious trouble.

Ayame seemed not to care about the dangers of the cold, too wrapped up in Hatori's company. As usual, the silver-haired man ignored everyone else and was completely focused on the doctor. Ayame probably did not even realise that he was being stared at… or was simply too used to being gawked at. Both were possible, Shigure mused. What surprised Shigure most was not Ayame's loud outfit, but Hatori's behaviour. It appeared like the man would not stop surprising him today. He seemed to be enjoying Ayame's company. Openly. He even smiled at times, when Ayame would make a clumsy twirl on the ice, just barely avoiding falling flat on his face. And was it just Shigure's imagination, or was there more catch-touching than was necessary?

Shigure found an opening to intervene when Ayame shakily skated away from Hatori for a moment. For all of Ayame's begging, Hatori had refused to skate together with Ayame and had chosen to remain watching instead. Shigure quickly ran up to Hatori and tugged the man on his jacket, glaring at the usually sensible man and shook him. "What the heck do you think you're doing? Don't you realise that Ayame could very likely catch a cold, if not transform?"

Hatori sighed, his breath turning visible in the cold air into small puffs that made Shigure fleetingly think of his Zodiac counterpart. "I know, Shigure, but Aya has been increasingly begging me to do this exact thing. I figured that if he would beg me for it for an entire winter that I would lose my mind…" The happy expression shining in his eyes left as suddenly has it had appeared, and he turned serious once more. "I don't intend to hurt him, Shigure."

Shigure blinked for a moment and then nodded, turning equally serious. He understood the deeper meaning of those words very clearly. "Then don't. You know what he's like."

Hatori nodded curtly, then turned back to Ayame. However, the man was nowhere to be found, but instead, the previously tittering crowd had now formed into an equally tittering circle. Hatori and Shigure shared a quick worried glance before pushing through the crowd to find Ayame sitting on the ground, his legs completely touching the ice and the petite tutu doing nothing to keep him warm.

"Hah… I didn't think I'd go… this cold… so fast…" Ayame stammered, feeling very slow and fatigued. Hatori wasted no time and quickly wrapped his jacket over Ayame's shoulders, lifting him over his shoulders. He hoped that he could keep the man warm enough to not turn into his Zodiac form until they were away from the crowd. The man felt chilled against his arms and chest, which worried Hatori more than he wanted to admit to himself. Ayame failed to lift his arms enough to wrap them around Hatori's shoulders. Shigure helped him, noticing the shivers in his friend increasing.

"You have to get him out of here, Haa-san!" He said, pushing Hatori through the crowds.

Shigure did his best to keep the crowd calm, putting his story skills to the test. He would follow the two later on.

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Two hours later Ayame was not feeling much better. Hatori and Shigure had covered him in warm blankets and practically buried him in heating pads on Shigure's bed. This had at least stopped the man from turning into a snake. The Dragon had left a while ago, claiming he needed to pick something up at his house, which left the Dog and Snake alone.

"Are you feeling better now?" Shigure asked, dabbing Ayame's clammy forehead with a wet cloth. He could feel Ayame's forehead burning up even through the thickness of the fabric. Luckily, the man had not transformed, but unfortunately he had developed an immense fever and was shivering all over. His cheeks, usually pale, were now red and blotchy. Shigure tucked Ayame in more tightly, not used to seeing his friend so vulnerable.

"Why did you have to convince Haa-san to go ice-skating with you anyhow? You know it's a pretty dumb thing to do… even for you." Shigure smiled mischievously. Ayame grinned at his friend and grabbed his face, putting their foreheads together as the cloth on Ayame's forehead fell, forgotten. The Dog and Snake both chuckled, used to finding solace in each other. They knew each other's secrets, and Shigure knew exactly why Ayame had practically forced Hatori to take him ice-skating.

Rather suddenly their moment was disturbed when Hatori entered the room. Unannounced yet again, Shigure thought to himself. He slowly moved his forehead from Ayame's and handed Ayame the wet cloth himself. Hatori frowned. "Shigure, don't you have a deadline to try and break?" He asked dryly, moving in on the Snake himself. He hoped Shigure would catch the transparent hint.

Apparently, he did. The Dog rolled his eyes at Ayame, then gave a thumbs up in an encouraging manner. He grinned widely and rushed out of the room, leaving his two friends to fend for themselves.

Hatori slowly sat down next to the bed, careful not to touch Ayame. Ayame raised his eyebrow at this.
"What's the matter, Tori-kun? Are you afraid I might break?" He smiled sweetly, scooting closer to the other man. "Don't you know that snakes need warmth when they're sick? And body warmth is the best warmth there is," he said slyly.

Hatori made a fist with his hand and moved it over his mouth before scraping his throat. "I am very sorry for what happened today, Aya. I hope you realise that I had no intention of that happening… but you should not have worn that, you know better than that." He very quickly glanced at Ayame's chest and hoped it had not been noticed by the Snake that he had done so. "So, I take it you took off your… garment?"

"No, Gure-san did it for me!" Ayame replied, sounding entirely too pleased for the reply to be innocent. However, Hatori had learned well through his childhood that it was best to ignore some –or many- of the comments Ayame made, especially if you knew you would probably not like the reply to said comments. Instead, he produced a bottle from his fist, showing it to Ayame.

"Please, take this medicine. It is Wada Calcium CD3, it should help you get your strength back up quickly." He took two pills from the bottle and put them between Ayame's parted lips, then handed the man a glass of water.

Ayame winced at the taste, but swallowed anyhow, greedily accepting the glass from Hatori and trapping the man's fingers while he guided the glass to his lips. After having downed the glass and the pills, Ayame felt strangely better already. He instinctively crawled into a ball to maintain his body heat as well as he could, and cuddled up to the nearest source of warmth, closing his eyes. "Thank you, Tori-san." He mumbled. "I'm sorry for making this day horrible for you..."

Hatori shook his head, although he saw that Ayame had fallen asleep already. He bended forwards slowly, as to not startle the man currently lying on his chest, and softly put his lips on Ayame's forehead. "Today was not horrible at all. In fact…it was the most fun I've had in a long time," he spoke softly in the now quiet room.

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A/N: Mwahaha. Oh, POOR Ayame. I just have the hots for male ballet dancers… and tutus.