Disclaimer:
I don't own Fruits Basket, or the wondrous Mabudachi Trio, or, for
that matter, littlefiction's challenge idea.
Pairing:
Slight Hatori x Ayame x Shigure, mainly slight Ayame x Shigure.
As well as some Hatori x Shigure.
Summary: Ayame convinces
Shigure and Hatori to set aside a day for a fun-filled time at his
shop—during which they make calendars for one another. Hatori winds
up in a dress, Shigure's all over the place, and the lofty snake that
planned it all feels some unexpected emotion.
C-day:
Hatori
chapter one
"Okay," Aaya announced, setting down the heap of outfits on a table and turning to his friends with a smile. "Time to begin!" Shigure stood before him with a smile on his face, while Hatori was still glancing at the bundle of clothing warily. Ayame called Mine over without losing his smile and whispered in her ear, "Bring the straws, Mine."
"Yes, boss!" the young woman chirped, pushing her glasses up her nose and hurrying to the back room. Within thirty seconds she had returned, five straws in hand. She clutched them in her closed hand and Ayame began to explain.
"Tori-san will go first," the snake decreed, to which Hatori raised an eyebrow. "Oh, I want to see you in your special outfit," gushed Ayame as an answer to the doctor's unspoken question. "So, whoever draws the short straw will be making Tori-san's calendar."
"Whoever?" said Shigure, chuckling. "It's just you and I, Aaya."
"Nevertheless!" boomed Ayame, and, simultaneously, he and Shigure plucked a straw from Mine's fist. Ayame drew the short one and turned toward Hatori happily. "Tori-san!" exclaimed Ayame. "I shall be making your calendar!" Hatori forced a smile that looked more like a grimace, and Aaya pointed to the bundle of clothing. "Now, get into your outfit. It's the one on top. The changing rooms are in the back."
Hatori glanced over and saw that the "one on top" of the heap was a brightly colored something. It might have been a robe, but Hatori wouldn't tread any closer to find out. Clearing his throat, the dragon said, "I think I will pass on the dress-up side of it."
Ayame clucked, "Not when I spent all morning finding the right thing you won't!" and grabbed the outfit. Pushing it into Hatori's hands, he almost threw the doctor into the dressing room and decided, "Now that you're in there, you might as well get into it, Tori-san!" There was silence on the other end, but, nonetheless, Ayame went back to where Shigure, stifling laughter already, was waiting and pulled a camera out of the remaining cloth.
"I shall be the one taking pictures," said Aaya gaily, and spun, finding Mine. "Smile!" he sang, and she beamed. Snapping the picture, he examined the picture on the digital camera's screen and smiled. "Beautiful!" he announced, and just then, the door to the fitting room opened and Hatori stepped out.
Shigure was usually a composed, mature man—but at this, he toppled over.There was only one time before when Shigure had laughed like this—howling hysterically, unable to breathe or move, writhing on the floor—and that was years before; Shigure couldn't even remember why he had laughed so uncontrollably.
"And what is so funny, Shigure?!" came Hatori's obviously embarrassed and annoyed voice. Shigure had never heard him sound so openly upset, but he screamed with laughter all the same. His ribs hurt and his lungs longed for air but he was laughing too hard to stop himself. But, finally, he calmed down a bit and coughed hoarsely as another chuckle escaped him when he looked up at Hatori's reddened face.
One hand strapped across his middle, Shigure sat up and eventually managed to stand on shaky legs as he fought to keep back more laughter. "N-nothing," he gasped, avoiding Hatori's gaze.
Aaya shot his friend a dirty look. "I think Tori-san looks wonderful. That robe really suits you, Tori-san."
Hatori winced. He was wearing a bright green robe that reached his toes with long, drooping sleeves that hid his clenched fists from view. There were pale pink curlicues decorating the ends of the sleeves and the hem. The purple sash around Hatori's waist matched the lilac flowers placed here and there. He hadn't seen the designs until after he'd put on the robe; and he'd thought them just curly lines, but now he saw he was wrong—they were seahorses.
"I'm changing," he stated flatly, and turned right around. Curse you, Ayame…!
"No, Tori-san!" pleaded Ayame, and Hatori turned only to have the flash of the camera fire in his face. Reeling backwards, the doctor caught himself on a table and blinked rapidly to banish the white spots flickering in front of his eyes. On the other side of the room, Ayame examined the picture of Hatori and beamed. Then, he glanced up at Hatori and smiled with a trace of guilt. "I'm sorry, Tori-san," he said, "I couldn't resist. Besides, there had to be at least one picture of you in that spectacular robe!"
"Ugh," muttered Hatori, and disappeared inside the fitting room. A few minutes later, he reemerged in his regular uniform and scowled for the camera as Ayame took another picture.
"Now," ordered Aaya, beaming again, "Gure-san, go pose with Tori-san."
Shigure, still wiping the tears away, went over and sat on the table that Hatori was standing beside. "Come on, Haa-san," said Shigure, smiling widely and holding up two fingers to represent bunny's ears behind Hatori's head as Ayame snapped another picture.
"Good, good," exclaimed Ayame happily, beaming as he pointed to a feathery, bright pink boa that sat on a pedestal nearby. "Gure-san, be a love and grab that big boa, would you? And drape it over Tori-san's shoulders…" Aaya smiled as Shigure did as he was told, and even at Hatori's disgruntled face. "And yours too, Gure-san…"
"Like this?" Shigure said as he curled the boa around he and Hatori's shoulders. The doctor grimaced, as Shigure had to be very close while applying said boa. Ayame's face lit up at the photo opportunity that he had hoped for, and he raised the camera.
"Exactly!" Aaya boomed, snapping the picture. Examining the outcome, he allowed the tiniest of frowns to grace his narrow, sculpted face and looked up at Hatori. "Tori-san," he pleaded, wagging a finger and setting the camera down on a nearby stool as he walked over to his two companions. "Oh, Tori-san, Tori-san, Tori-san!" The doctor nearly took a step backward as the snake approached, afraid that Ayame was going to pull out another hideous robe, but stopped himself at the last minute. "Smile for the camera, Tori-san! You looked so sullen in the last one; we can't have that!"
Hatori hesitated.
Aaya took that as an affirmative to his plea and returned to the camera. Raising it, he frowned when the dragon's lips didn't even twitch. "Tori-san," he exclaimed, but then was pleasantly surprised when Shigure's arms suddenly wound around Hatori's waist and then… the dog began to tickle the dragon.
Aaya beamed, and snapped several pictures as Hatori fought to keep a straight face as his sides burned. Eventually, the doctor couldn't hold it anymore and used all his strength to try and bat Shigure away as he failed miserably at not laughing. "Perfect!" cheered Ayame as he finally got the perfect picture—Hatori was smiling, actually smiling, but as the tickling sensations faded so did his grin.
He wound up scowling. "Don't do that," Hatori snapped at Shigure, who smiled apologetically.
Ayame, satisfied, looked around. "Mine!" he called. "There must be something in here that I've missed that Tori-san could w—"
"No."
Ayame stopped short and glanced over at the doctor, who was glowering at Ayame again. Aaya then pouted and jabbed a long finger at Hatori's chest. "Fine, then," he said royally, "strike a pose, Tori-san!"
"A-a pose?" Preposterous! thought the doctor. I shouldn't have come to this stupid thing…
"Come on, Haa-san!" exclaimed Shigure jovially, getting into it. He grabbed Hatori's arm and, ignoring the dragon's protests, dragged him into the center of the room and posed there with him, as if they were about to dance. "Isn't this fun, hmm?" Shigure teased, leaning closer than necessary.
"Get off," muttered Hatori firmly, his face reddening again as he struggled to get away.
On the other side of the room, Aaya had been about to get another picture of Shigure and Hatori together when the sight of the two made him pause. Shigure was grinning like a fool as Hatori avoided his gaze and tried to get away. But, surely, if Hatori really tried, shouldn't he be able to break free of Shigure's hold easily? The thought made Ayame hesitate, a strange, empty feeling in his gut. But then he recovered and raised the camera again. "Excellent!" Aaya boomed, his tone a tad shaken for a reason he could not possibly comprehend."Enough," Hatori decreed about thirty minutes later. He had had enough of silly posing, and enough of Shigure acting like a flirty imbecile. "Stop." Then, "This isn't me, anyway."
Ayame lowered the camera, his beautiful face scrunched in displeasure. "But, Tori-san!" he protested, "We're not done yet." Aaya put the camera down and turned around, rummaging amongst the cluster of clothes on the table once more. "I've still got so many things for you to wear!"
"Just…" Hatori sighed. He didn't want to ruin Aaya's fun by refusing completely, and so he offered, "Just take pictures of me how I really am."
Ayame agreed after a pause, and Hatori stood up straight and was pleased when Aaya raised the camera to take a picture of the doctor—not the circus attraction—that Hatori really was. But then, the camera halfway to his face, Ayame's face lit up and Hatori knew this would not end well.
"Tori-san," sang Aaya, "do you have any cigarettes with you?"
This took the doctor by surprise. Ayame didn't smoke. "Yes, why?"
A grin spread across the snake's face as he asked excitedly, "Where are they?" Hatori pointed to the front pocket of his bag and Aaya pranced over, tossed Ha'ri a cigarette and instructed, "Now, Tori-san, I want you to light that cigarette and start smoking it."
"That will make for a really good picture," laughed Shigure, watching nearby. "Really bad-ass, huh? That's totally you, Haa-san."
Hatori glared at the dog, and miserably complied with Aaya's request. "My lighter's in the bag, too," he grumbled, and Ayame tossed it to him. Reluctantly, he lit the cigarette and put it in his mouth.
"Now, lean back against the wall," Ayame decreed. Hatori did as told, and the snake took the snapshot, beaming. "Wonderful!" Aaya cheered, peering at the result ecstatically. "That's one for the front page!"
"Oh?" muttered the dragon in a disgruntled tone. Still relaxing against the purple wall, the doctor took a long drag of the cigarette to calm his frazzled nerves, only to have a camera flash suddenly explode in his face. Jumping a little, Hatori dropped his cigarette on the plush yellow carpet in surprise and exclaimed, "Aaya!"
For Ayame had taken another picture. "That's even better than the first one!" the snake boomed. "Tori-san, caught unawares! Look, Gure-san!"
Shigure inspected the picture and affirmed Aaya's words. "Looks good," said the dog appreciatively.
"Thank you," Hatori said shortly, grinding his cigarette to dust with his heel and making his way toward his waiting bags, "and now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to leave. I have an appointment with Ritsu today."
"But you said you were free," cried Ayame, his bright eyes wide with horror.
"I never said that," Hatori said crisply. "You didn't wait for an answer."
On the other side of the room, Shigure frowned and walked over to Hatori, clapping a hand on the doctor's shoulder. "You can't leave now," the novelist said pleasantly. "You're going to do my calendar, aren't you?"
"But we haven't drawn straws yet," Aaya reminded Shigure grandly from behind, but both the dog and the dragon ignored him.
"Shigure," said Hatori, very softly. "You know how Ritsu is. He'll panic if I don't show up, and probably trash my office. I don't want that, so I'm going to leave, and there is nothing you can do about it."
Shigure was still for a moment before smiling widely and saying, "But it's not fair to Aaya and I if you leave now, Haa-san. Besides, you can't have had that bad a time, right? And think about it, you'll get to order Aaya or I around in a couple of minutes; how does that sound?" The dog was sure this would get him to stay, but Hatori wasn't fazed.
"No, Shigure. I've had enough humiliation for one day."
"Humiliation?" questioned Shigure, and smiled. "But wasn't it fun?" Hatori snorted, but the dog persisted, "Haa-san, you must stay. I won't let you leave! And since you're going to stay, you might as well get into it."
Hatori hesitated. "But…"
Shigure beamed, seeing that he was winning Ha'ri over. "Come on, Haa-san!" the dog sang, and pulled Hatori away from his bags. "You can reschedule your appointment with Ritsu for another day. After all, how many chances does the Mabudachi Trio have to spend time together?"
"Fine, fine," snapped Hatori. "I'll stay."
Shigure grinned and wrapped an arm around the doctor's shoulders playfully, dragging him into the center of the room, where an ecstatic Ayame was waiting with Mine by his side.
"Mine, get the straws!" ordered Ayame royally. "It is time for either Tori-san or myself to take pictures for dear Gure-san's calendar!"Author's Notes: I like this chapter. Poor Hatori!
Anyhoo. I hope my readers enjoyed this chapter as much as the prologue. This story won't be very long—and with short chapters to boot!—and so, I'd say there's only three chapters left.
Review.