NO ONE BUT YOURSELF

The next day, Yuki awoke finally refreshed. His sickness had cleared, finally, and he made his way down stairs to find that Ayame was there yet again. He shivered, looking off to the side as he muttered a low, "Hello," to the rest of the room.

Everyone glanced to him, but it was Ayame who looked into him the deepest. He obviously had a lot of talking to do with his younger brother, and he wasn't about to doubt that fact. The snake stood carefully as Hatsuharu and Shigure watched carefully. They each knew that Yuki could defend himself no matter what the circumstance, but it was difficult to know and watch such an awkward moment pass between the siblings. "Yuki," Ayame said, his voice warm in to cold aura that burned between them.

"Thank you for the peaches, Ayame," Yuki replied darkly, hissing the words between clenched teeth.

"I thought they would make you feel better," Ayame muttered, looking to the side as he tried not to worry about their continued path of destruction, "May we talk in private?"

Yuki eyed Hatsuharu, who offered a comforting smile. Sighing, the rat of the zodiac gave one solid nod before he moved into the next room. Ayame quickly followed after, knowing this would probably be the only opportunity he could get to explain himself. He knew he slipped up more than enough. After all, Ayame had always tried, but somehow also always came up shorthanded with Yuki; he had to tell him now before hope was lost forever.

"I never meant to scare you away, Yuki," Ayame stared warily.

Surprised by the tenderness in his voice, Yuki allowed his shoulder to relax. He breathed in slowly, taking in the form of his saddened brother. Obviously, like normal, Ayame had not meant to do exactly the wrong thing at exactly the wrong time. "I know," Yuki replied, glancing to the ground in embarrassment.

"And I really never meant to hurt you in any way, Yuki. You're my brother…and I love you."

"Ayame," Yuki whispered.

Ayame watched his brother as Yuki slowly made his way to him. All at once, the rat fell into his arms with a long sigh. Gasping gently, Ayame quickly got over the shock of the very rare moment and draped his arms around Yuki's frail body. He didn't know what to say, but it was probably best not to say anything. He didn't want to ruin this moment, after all. It had been the first time he had ever held Yuki like this; he finally knew what it was like to have his younger brother in his arms, willingly burying his head into his chest. "Yuki, you mean so much to me," Ayame finally admitted, "More than a brother. Love that I can't explain. In a way, I don't want to…"

Tensing, Yuki pulled back just barely and looked up the snake. "Love that you can't explain," Yuki replied, "I know the feeling, Ayame." Yuki stared, unbelieving that Ayame could possibly return his feelings.

In one, swift movement, Yuki lifted himself onto the tips of his toes and kissed his brother's lips-

Shigure moved away from the papers slowly, shivering at what he had just written. However, his publisher, when he told her about what the book would be about, happened to love the idea. He was rather stuck with it, actually. "All for one person," Shigure muttered, exhausted at the idea. He set his pen down, watching the paper in disgust before he stood up and turned to find Yuki reading behind his shoulders. He instantly froze. "Oh, hello there, Yuki."

"I thought it couldn't possibly be true, Shigure. She mentioned, but I didn't believe. Yet, here you are…"

"Ye-yeah, here I am." Shigure gave a nervous laugh, scratching behind his head as though he were trying to think of a quick way out of his situation. After all, not only had he written about people that he knew, turning them both gay and incestuous at the same time, but Yuki had found out about it. Though, Shigure supposed that he would have to see it on the shelves at some point.

Yuki picked up the papers, his eyes darkening as clenched them within his fist. "Idiot. At least change the names, you moron," the rat hissed morbidly.

Again, Shigure gave a nervous laugh. "It's an easy fix, Yuki…just have to go back through and change all the names, right? Just like you suggested. Right? No harm done." He smile uneasily, giving a small chuckle before something sharp hit his temple. Shigure fell to the ground with a thud, shivering at the violent punch Yuki had just fired at him. It really had been a ridiculous idea for a story, but he just couldn't tell his publisher that he was, yet again, not writing anything. She would drop him all together. Besides, she loved his story; Shigure wrote it for her. There was nothing wrong with a bit of fan service, after all.

"You publish this, you die," Yuki warned irritably as he walked out of the room in a huff.

Shigure let out a sigh, shuffling through his papers haphazardly before dumping them into the trash. Although it was the only idea he could think of, Yuki was completely correct. Selling fan service was one thing, but he doubted he could go any farther with that smut. Shigure shivered, glancing once more at the papers before cringing. "No more stories just for people," he muttered before taking out a fresh piece of paper and starting on something new and much more improved.

END.