Author's note: There are no original characters in this story - Akito's elderly maid was a familiar character in the manga; and I chose to give her the name of Tanaka Miyoko, which is a fairly generic Japanese name, as it was easier for me to write about her if she had a name.

Comments, constructive criticism, and praise, however faint, are all greatly desired and will be appreciated.

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Fruits Basket belongs to Takaya Natsuki and Hakusensha; English-language versions by FUNimation (anime) and Tokyopop (manga). This piece of fiction is in no way approved or endorsed by any of the copyright holders.

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Early the next morning

Hatori rose early and showered and dressed, as was his habit, even though he had not returned to his rooms until after 1:00 am. He was planning to go and check on Akito later, but for now, he wanted nothing more than to sip his tea, read his newspaper, and eat his breakfast in peace.

He was just starting in on a second cup when he heard a thump on the porch outside his door, followed a few seconds later by, "Owww!" It was an unmistakable voice. Hatori groaned. No. NO. Why me? Why now? He had the sudden childish impulse to grab his breakfast, run, and lock himself in his office. No. He had always been the "responsible" one. He sighed, pushed himself to his feet and stepped out onto the porch.

Shigure was sitting there, rubbing his chin. He looked disheveled and very tired. Despite this, he looked up at Hatori, gave him a big smile, and said cheerfully, "Good morning, Haa-san!"

Good morning to you, too, Merry Sunshine. Hatori did not smile back."What do you want, Shigure? Why are you here?"

"That's not very friendly, Haa-san. I thought I might be able to get some breakfast. And a bath." Shigure wrinkled his nose. "As you can undoubtedly tell, I'm badly in need of one."

"Then why don't you go to your own rooms?" Hatori looked down at him.

"Haaaaa-san!" Hatori honestly did not think that anyone, not even Ayame at his worst, could possibly be more annoying than Shigure when he adopted that whiny tone. "I can't. Akito was being mean to me!" Shigure gave him an innocent, injured, look.

Hatori momentarily felt the same murderous impulse that he'd felt at the age of four, when Shigure had teased three- year-old Kureno until he cried, and then whined when Kureno kicked him in retaliation. They had been standing on this very porch. That time, Hatori had pushed Shigure off the porch, jumped on top of him and pummeled him. Shigure had cried; Hatori had cried; Kureno and Ayame had been so alarmed that they cried too, and went running to fetch Hatori's father. Hatori's father had been most displeased. No, I guess that won't do at all. He may be acting like a four-year-old, but I don't intend to. Instead, he gave Shigure a hard look and said, "From what I understand, it was quite the opposite." He turned around and went back into his room.

Shigure followed him. "What do you mean, 'From what I understand'? Who have you been talking to?"

At that moment, the serving girl came in to clear Hatori's breakfast dishes. She stopped and looked at his mostly-untouched breakfast, stared at Shigure, and said, "Oh, Hatori-san; I didn't know that you were going to have … company."

"Neither did I; but evidently, I am." Hatori looked at Shigure and shook his head. He said, " Would you please bring us both some breakfast and a fresh pot of tea? I'm sure that this is all quite cold by now." She nodded. She stared one more time at Shigure, then quickly cleared the dishes and left the room.

"Well, now, Haa-san, she certainly made a hasty retreat. I wonder just how long it will be before everyone in the Main House knows that you're having 'company' for breakfast, hmmmm? News certainly seems to travel fast around here."

"She most likely made a hasty retreat because you reek, Shigure. You smell as if you just crawled out of a sake bottle. I hope you're planning to sit as far away from me as possible." Hatori looked thoroughly disgusted. "Where have you been, anyway?"

Shigure looked rather affronted. "I told you I needed to clean up. And since when did you become my mother?" He rolled his eyes. "Come to think of it, I haven't had to answer to her since I was about 12, so ..."

"If you didn't act like a 12-year-old, then I wouldn't treat you like one." Hatori said severely. "Where were you? You were needed here." Something suddenly occurred to Hatori, something almost too unthinkable to consider. "Shigure, you haven't been with …" he paused, wondering just how to word this, and finished, rather lamely, "anyone?"

"What?" It took a moment to register. Shigure stared at Hatori. "No, of course I haven't. I may act like an idiot at times, Hatori, but I assure you, I'm not that stupid."

The serving girl came in with breakfast and the pot of tea. She set the teapot in the center of the table and set Hatori's bowls in front of him. She hesitated, only for a second, and then approached Shigure's end of the table and set his bowls in front of him as well. Shigure looked up at her and gave her his most beatific smile. "W-would either of you like anything else?" she said.

"I think we're fine, thank you. Aren't we, Haa-san?" Shigure said, giving Hatori his most beatific smile as well.

"Yes, that will be all for now." Hatori said, and the girl left the room.

"She's rather cute, Hatori. I think she was overcome by my charm."

"It's more likely that she was overcome by your smell. As I said earlier, you're rather pungent, and it's getting warm in here."

Shigure looked down at his breakfast. "I really don't know why I wanted this. I have a headache and I feel rather sick. I hope I don't throw up."

Hatori put his hand to his head. Speaking of having a headache … He said, quite firmly, "Shigure. You are not going to throw up. Not in my breakfast room, anyway. You can drink everyone we know under the table." He looked up. "Just how much did you drink, anyway?"

"Much too much." Shigure seemed to have recovered his cheerful demeanor. "I think I'll just have some tea and see how that sits." He poured himself a cup. "If you must know what I did and where I was, Mother, I went out drinking, and somehow, miraculously, at around 3 AM, I found myself at the door of my old house. Again, miraculously, the key was right where I had left it; and so I let myself in. That's where I spent the night, or what was left of it. Oh, and Haa-san, you'll never guess who I was sharing the house with." Shigure grinned. "Yuki was there, with that little girlfriend of his – Machi, is it? We met, quite by accident, this morning. She's adorable – she reminds me quite a bit of Tohru-kun. She and Yuki are very cute together. Yuki was wearing his pajama bottoms, and Machi-chan was wearing his pajama top – and very little else, if I'm not mistaken …"

"I don't need to hear any more." Hatori said hastily. He couldn't help adding , "I'm sure that you, in your present condition, were a very … pleasant … addition to their morning; as you are to mine." He looked at his watch. "I have appointments in an hour or so. I was going to check on Akito, but now that you're here, I suppose I don't really have to. Or maybe the fact that you're here makes it more imperative that I do." He gave Shigure a stern look, but Shigure seemed unaffected by it.

"Ah, yes. My lovely bride-to-be. I knew that eventually the conversation would turn to her." Shigure leaned his elbow on the table, chin in hand. "As I said earlier, news certainly seems to travel fast in the Main House. I tend to forget that. So do tell. What did you hear? And from whom?"

Hatori sighed. "I was with Akito until after 1:00 this morning …"

"My, my," Shigure interrupted. "She does move fast, doesn't she? But Haa-san, I'm surprised at you. I thought that you and Mayu-chan …"

"Don't be insulting. To any of us." Hatori cut him off sharply.

"I'm sure that Akito would be thrilled to know that she still has at least one knight in shining armor among the fold." Hatori could see the amusement gleaming in Shigure's eyes. "You know, to defend her honor."

Hatori could feel his anger rising and he shoved it down. He knew from long experience that uncontrolled anger would get him nowhere with Shigure. "Let me revise that statement. Don't insult me. You seem to be quite adept at insulting Akito; and if you choose to dig your own grave in that respect, there's not much that I can do to stop you. If you want to insult yourself, I don't care."

"And Mayu-chan?"

"Leave Mayuko out of this conversation, Shigure. I'm serious." He reached for a cigarette and lit it.

Hatori knew Shigure well enough to realize that he was considering just how far to push this particular subject; and he almost saw the moment when Shigure decided to let it drop. "Well then, Haa-san. We've determined that you most certainly were not in Akito's rooms for illicit purposes. But I have a question for you. Just how long did it take her to go running to her 'pet Haa-san'? Ten minutes? Fifteen?"

Hatori was determined to keep his temper. He said, quite calmly, "Akito didn't call for me, Shigure. The old h- … that is, Tanaka-san came to get me at around quarter to 11, which I believe to be quite a bit longer than ten or fifteen minutes after you left. She said that Akito was upset; actually, I believe 'distraught' was the term she used. She said that Akito had been crying for hours and that she wouldn't let any of her maids near her, not even Tanaka-san. She said that if anyone as much as stepped into the room Akito would start screaming and throwing things."

"Hmmm." Shigure gave Hatori a glance, shrugged, leaned over to reach for a cigarette, and said, in a manner that was a bit too cavalier for Hatori's liking, "Well. Yes, that's my girl." Hatori reached over and grabbed the cigarette out of his hand. Shigure looked up in surprise. "What? You're having one."

Hatori gave him a withering look. "I didn't threaten to throw up all over my breakfast table. I had to clean up the mess you made last night. I'm not about to clean up after you this morning." He paused. "I had to medicate her, Shigure. I haven't seen her that upset since …well, for a long time. Since before the curse broke."

Shigure sat up, and Hatori noted the concern in his eyes. Good. "I assume she's all right, then?"

"She was sleeping when I left her last night. And yes, she had calmed down considerably. Otherwise, I wouldn't have left. I don't know how she is this morning. As I said earlier, I had planned on checking her; but then I had … um … unexpected company." Hatori smiled slightly. "If she wasn't all right this morning, I expect that I would have heard about it by now."

Shigure sighed and closed his eyes briefly. "Hatori," he said, "I realize that you have been dying to lecture me ever since I showed up. However, as you've already noted, I am hung over, exhausted, and badly in need of a bath. If we are going to discuss how upset Akito was last night, and the inappropriateness of my behavior both last night and this morning, I would very much like to have a goddamned cigarette. Please."

Hatori paused, smiled inwardly, and tossed him one.

"Thank you so much." Shigure lit it, leaned back in his seat and took a long drag. "Now, Haa-san, I'm totally at your mercy. Bring it on. Fire away."

Hatori sighed. "Don't be ridiculous, Shigure. I have no desire to 'lecture' you, as you so tactfully put it."

"Of course you do. You wouldn't be Haa-san, otherwise." With that, Shigure gave him a genuinely affectionate look, the first that Hatori had seen that morning.

That look is precisely the reason that I let you get away with everything you say or do. Hatori sighed inwardly. It always has been. "Shigure …"

"Yes, Haa-san?" Shigure took another long drag, blew the smoke up at the ceiling, and gave Hatori that look again. "Now's your chance. You have my undivided attention. I promise."

Perhaps he's ready to settle down and act like an adult. "Shigure – do you want to mess up your life again?"

Shigure gave him a blank, innocent look. "I have absolutely no idea what you mean."

And then again, perhaps not. "Don't play stupid with me. You've spent the last few years pulling strings – manipulating people and situations – in order to clean up the mess you made and to get what you wanted."

Shigure leaned forward, eyes narrowed, and said, rather pointedly, "But didn't it benefit us all in the end, Hatori? My so-called 'selfish' manipulation? I don't think you can deny that."

"I never said it didn't; but that's not the question here. Now you have exactly what you want – what you've wanted ever since you were seven years old. Do you really want to have to start over again, all because of meanness and unfounded petty jealousy?"

Shigure blew out smoke and looked at Hatori levelly. "Last time, my jealousy was neither petty nor unfounded. The situation that arose was hardly my fault."

"The situation wasn't entirely your fault, no. Certainly Akito and Kureno share the major part of the blame. However, you have to take responsibility for the way you responded to it. If you had acted differently, the outcome might have been very different. You can't imagine that you handled the situation in an appropriate manner."

Shigure looked away and said in a bitter tone, "No. It wasn't one of my more brilliant moves. I'll readily admit to that."

There's no sense in getting him on the defensive, or he'll just put up his guard, and that will be the end of it. "Well, that was all in the past, and there's really not much sense in digging around in the past, is there?" Hatori said, in a calmer tone.

"You brought it up. I didn't." There was no affectionate look now, just one of annoyance.

Tread carefully. Hatori said, in the same calm but firm tone. "Your jealously may not have been petty and unfounded then, but I believe it was last night. Akito has been working very hard to make amends for her past transgressions; she really has. Certainly you, of all people, must realize that."

"I do, Hatori; but sometimes I lose patience."

"Don't be absurd. Where Akito, and getting what you want, is concerned, you're the most patient man I've ever known. You've been waiting for this, and for her, for over twenty years."

Shigure, for once, was silent.

"Believe me, I know that Akito is not the easiest person to deal with. She never has been, and she never will be. All of us – me, you, Ayame, and Kureno – indulged her far too much for far too long. None of us can afford to indulge her anymore; I know that. She's a grown woman, not an errant child. But Shigure, she's making a tremendous effort to change, and it's obviously a struggle for her. If you truly intend on making her your wife, you must be prepared to control yourself. There's no need for cruelty. She deserves to be treated with gentleness and respect." Hatori paused, and then he said quietly, "You've been given a second chance. Make the best of it."

"Do you feel as if you've been given a second chance as well, Haa-san?" Shigure said gently. Again, the look of genuine affection was evident on his face.

This took Hatori somewhat aback and made him vaguely uncomfortable. "We're not talking about me, Shigure."

"Do you?"

Hatori studied the table for a minute. He said, without looking at Shigure, "If I should, I'm quite determined that nothing, not anyone, not anything, is going to stand in my way. Second chances are too damned hard to come by." He cleared his throat and looked at his watch. "I have my first appointment in twenty minutes. I have to go and get ready for it."

Shigure yawned and stretched. "Well. Now that I've been properly chastised, I suppose I'd better go and see how Akito is faring. Face the music, so to speak."

"Certainly you're not going to her looking and smelling like that."

"As I mentioned to you earlier, Hatori, I was hoping that I could use your bathroom to clean up."

Things are back to normal. "Shigure. You have your own bathroom. I don't want you making a mess of mine.

"But Haa-san, as I tried to tell you earlier, there's a slight problem. I haven't been using my bathroom much lately. I've moved almost all of my things into Akito's bathroom, as we frequently-"

"Please spare me the details about what you and Akito do in the bath. I'm not interested in the slightest."

"You really are a prude, Hatori. No fun at all." Shigure shook his head. "Anyway, as I was saying, before you so rudely interrupted me, I have nothing in my bathroom with which to clean up. No soap, no shampoo, no toothpaste, no toothbrush, no towels."

"They weren't replenished?"

"Well, actually, I left the place in a bit of a mess …"

"Which is precisely why I don't want you using my bathroom."

"You really should stop interrupting me, Hatori. It's very rude. Anyway, the old hag was upset, and told the maids to just clean my bathroom and not to replenish my supplies, since I was sharing Akito's bathroom anyway. I don't think she likes me much."

"I certainly can't imagine why." Hatori paused. He raised an eyebrow."Tanaka-san told you this?"

"Of course not. She's much too well-bred for that. I overheard the maids talking." Shigure shrugged, and continued in a pleading tone, "Hatori, I absolutely promise that I will not leave your bathroom in a mess. Akito doesn't allow me to make a mess in hers. She's almost as fanatically neat as you are."

Hatori gave up. "Fine. Go ahead. I don't care."

"There's something else, Haa-san. I can't put these clothes back on. As you not-so-tactfully pointed out several times, they reek."

"Shigure. You are not borrowing any of my clothes. You never return them in decent condition."

"I can hardly walk across the compound wrapped in a towel."

Hatori felt his patience slipping away. "All right, Shigure. You may borrow a yukata. And a pair of slippers. But that's all."

"What about underwear?"

"Shigure! NO!"

Shigure sighed dramatically and looked at the ceiling. "Just imagine, Hatori. I have to walk clear across the compound to get to my rooms. If an errant wind should come up, and some maids were walking by …"

"It would give them something new to talk about for all of five minutes, and you'd be immensely pleased."

"What if I should meet my mother and the same thing happened?"

"She wouldn't see anything that she hasn't seen before."

" 'Sat-chan?" Shigure's tone was quite pathetic.

Hatori looked at him in horror. "Kisa? For the love of heaven, Shigure! Have some decency!"

"That's precisely what I'm trying to do, Haa-san, but you seem quite determined to hinder me." Shigure's expression was as pathetic as his voice had been, but the gleam in his eyes was absolutely wicked.

Hatori stared at him for what seemed like a very long second, and then put his hand over his mouth and started to laugh – really and truly laugh. "You are incorrigible…and shameless …and a pervert …and a manipulative bastard." He was shaking with the effort to control his mirth.

"Of course I am. I wouldn't be me, otherwise." Shigure was giving him that affectionate look again. "It's good to see you laugh, Haa-san." Then he said, smiling sweetly, "Does that mean that I can borrow your underwear?"

"Borrow is hardly an appropriate word to use when talking about someone else's underwear, Shigure." Hatori struggled to regain his composure. He continued, with an attempt at his usual stern demeanor, "If you feel that you absolutely must, go ahead, but I don't ever want to see them again. Or hear of them again." He paused. "And rest assured that if you tell anyone, even Akito, I most certainly will kill you in a most unpleasant and lingering manner." Fully under control now, he got to his feet. "And now, I have to get to my appointments. I'm going to be late."

Shigure headed toward the bathroom, and Hatori paused at the door leading to the hall that led to his office. "Oh, and before you ask, there's a package of new toothbrushes in the second drawer. Do not use mine."

"New toothbrushes? Oooh. Does that mean that you have the occasional, even frequent, overnight guest?"

"In this old building? Not a chance. The walls are paper thin." Damn. As soon as the words were out, Hatori realized their implication.

Shigure laughed until he choked. Gasping for breath, he said, "My, my, Haa-san, I guess you're not quite as much of a prude as one might deduce from your manner."

Hatori did his best to ignore that remark, and turned to go out the door. "I do not want to see you here when I get back." All he got for a response was more laughter, which followed him all the way down the hall to his office.