Here's the next chapter! I don't own Fruits Basket!
Hatori's POV
Shigure was at my office in less than an hour.
"Haa-san!" he sang as soon as I opened the door. In a way, his enthusiasm reminded me of Ayame, though to me, Shigure will be a cousin, a friend and nothing more.
"Shigure. Come in." I held the door for him and brought him into my office. As soon as we sat down though, I immediately burst into a fresh wave of tears. At first, Shigure looked slightly alarmed (who wouldn't if the most level-headed person you knew just broke down?), but after a few seconds, a look of understanding crossed his face.
"Did you confess to Ayame?" he asked softly. I inhaled sharply.
"How did you know? I never told anyone until today..." I tried to remember if I had accidentally let my secret slip, but I couldn't recall even one time when that happened. Shigure laughed.
"As much as you like to think that the family is oblivious, we're not. I'm amazed Ayame didn't even suspect anything!" He laughed again. But as soon as he said that, I suddenly recalled Ayame's stunned expression in reaction to my confessions, how he barely looked at me afterwards. Another tear slid down my face.
"He rejected me, Shigure. It might have even cost us our friendship," I whispered, sobs threatening to explode from my chest. Shigure tentatively pulled me into a hug, letting my cry myself out. If it had been anyone other than Shigure here, it would have been humiliating. Hell, even with Shigure it was humiliating.
"Haa-san, why are you so broken up about this?" he asked. "I thought you always thought of Kana as the love of your life?"
"I don't know. With Ayame, it's different..." I replied. Thinking back, I couldn't remember exactly when I fell in love with Ayame. After Kana? Definitely before Mayuko. Maybe even before Kana? All I knew was that I'd loved him for years, and rejected or not, that wasn't about to change. Why did loving someone have to hurt so much?
"You'll be fine, Hatori," said Shigure, locating a box of tissues and passing them to me. "I'll support you, I promise."
"Thank you, Shigure. I apologize for causing you trouble," I said, wiping my eyes.
"No problem, Haa-san. Don't worry about it, and if you need any moral support, just call me. It's weird not having you your cold, boring, normal self," he assured me. He left after that, leaving me alone with my thoughts. Unfortunately, those thoughts would probably cause another breakdown. I laughed bitterly to myself. I was probably going to dehydrate myself from crying.
Poor Hatori! It will get better from here on! (I hope)