Title: Blankets and Bedclothes
Author: Ysabet MacFarlane
Pairing: Sohma Hatsuharu and Sohma Isuzu (Rin)
Fandom: Fruits Basket
Theme: # 18  ("a~n"--second interpretation)

Disclaimer: Fruits Basket belongs to Takaya Natsuki and Hakusensha;
English-language versions by FUNimation (anime) and Tokyopop (manga).

Notes:  Set between ch. 107 and 114.  Spoilers for ch. 105-107.  Title from the
"Scarborough Fair" canticle.


******

It took several weeks of convincing before Haru talked Rin into visiting
Shigure's house with him.  It didn't matter that everyone in the house knew
about their relationship and had even seen them together at Kazuma's.  Any time
the invitation was extended--usually from Tohru, via Kyo, who looked exactly as
embarrassed the tenth time as he had the first, not quite looking at either of
them--Rin balked, muttered a barely-polite refusal, and changed the subject fast
enough to spin heads.

Haru and Kazuma both knew when to duck, and took her flares of temper in stride,
knowing that her mood would usually calm as quickly as it darkened.  But every
time, Kyo pushed a little--not wanting to disappoint Tohru, but as awkward at
conveying it as Rin was at refusing.  The ensuing arguments were sometimes
carried out in language colorful enough to distract passing students, who were
already intrigued enough by the beautiful girl who had taken up residence.

"So . . . why not?" Haru asked after several refusals, after Kyo had gone home. 
"Honda-san's obviously not gonna drop it.  Who don't you want to see?"

"I--"  Rin frowned at him, not quite looking up from the sketch she was working
on.  Haru waited, secure in the knowledge that she wouldn't fight back hard
enough to make him move out of his comfortable sprawl until she had the pose
fixed in her mind.  Her habit of drawing him was so old that he barely noticed
when she reached for a pencil; she worked on other things as well, but he
suspected that she was trying to replace the pictures she had destroyed one by
one, as soon as they were finished.  Committing their first relationship to
tangible memory had made her happy, even though keeping the evidence had been
too dangerous--Haru couldn't remember how many drawings had gone up in flames
within an hour of their completion.  "I don't want to see all of them at once. 
Gure-nii and his creepy little 'family'."

"It's not creepy."

"Mm hmm."  She glanced back and forth between his chest and the page, making
minute adjustments on the sketch.  "He's not keeping any of them around for
their health and happiness, Haru."

"Well, it'd make Honda-san happy until you and Kyo go at it."  Closing his eyes,
he waited until the faint sound of the sketchpad snapping shut signaled that she
was finished.  "Can I get up?"

"Yes."

Haru went and knelt beside her.  "Can I look?"  A moment of hesitation, as
always, before she handed it over silently; he turned to the most recent page
and examined the image of himself.

Rin had a knack for detailed drawings, but it was nothing like looking in a
mirror.  On paper, he saw himself through her eyes rather than his own--it was a
lover's perspective that drew attention to the fullness of his mouth, the way
his collar broke the lines of his throat.  He crooked a finger under her chin as
he closed the pad, and turned her face to his for a kiss.

"Love you too, sweetheart," he murmured, enjoying the blush that brightened her
cheeks.  She returned the kiss willingly, a sweet submission that made him
reluctant to push her about Tohru's repeated invitations.  But still . . . he
leaned away after a moment, tapping the book's cover.  "I look pretty hot today,
hmm?  Maybe I should wear this shirt more often--"

She swatted at his shoulder as she stood, gathering the sketchpad against her
chest.  "Don't get cocky."

"Indulge me," he replied, tracing a finger around her bare ankle.  "I think we
should go, Rin."

Slender fingers wove into his hair, tilting his head back; he met her gaze
calmly, ignoring the faint thrill that went through him as she exposed his
throat.  For all her sharp edges, it was rare for her to display physical
assertiveness; it sent a soft quickening through his pulse, made him wish Kazuma
weren't so likely to wander by at any moment.

"Fine," she said after a silence that gave him time to imagine several possible
responses.  "If she asks again."


*****

Less than a week later, they were sitting around the cleared supper table with
their relatives and Tohru.  That afternoon, Rin had looked as if she intended to
refuse Kyo's invitation, but when Haru caught her attention she accepted with
surprisingly good grace.  From the sudden gleam in her eyes, he suspected that
she might have decided it was worth it to catch Kyo so thoroughly off-guard.

Tohru had only been sitting still for a few minutes after she and Yuki returned
from cleaning up after the meal when she craned her head to look out the window,
worry creasing her face.  "It looks like the storm is coming fast.  I was hoping
it would hold off until later tonight--"

"It won't," Kyo said flatly, rubbing his shoulder as if it ached.  "It's gonna
pour."

Guilt immediately flushed her cheeks as she looked at Rin.  "I should have
picked another day--Isuzu-san shouldn't get chilled, and--"

"It's fine," Rin interrupted, fidgeting under the outpouring of anxiety.  "It's
just a little water."

The sky opened as she spoke, rain hitting the windows with such force that
everyone jumped.  Tohru blanched and scrambled to her feet, obviously
distressed.  Shigure spoke up before she decided what to do first.  "Tohru-kun,
we'll just close the windows up, and Rin and Ha-kun can sleep here."

"No," Rin said immediately.  Shigure turned to look at her, a lazy smile
crossing his face.

"It's no problem at all for you to stay--everyone else in the family does.  And
I don't think any of us care to be on the receiving end of a lecture from Ha-san
if we let you catch your death.  Don't be difficult, Rin-chan."

"I'm not--"

Haru touched her wrist lightly, feeling her pulse skip under his fingertips. 
"Rin, it's crazy out there."

"There, it's settled," Shigure said.  "We can lay out a futon in here, and one
upstairs with Yuki-kun or Tohru-kun."

"That'd be too much trouble, sensei," Haru said quietly.  "One futon down here
is enough for both of us."  Only a faint lift of an eyebrow betrayed Shigure's
amusement; Haru carefully didn't look at Tohru, Yuki, or Kyo.  "And we're more
comfortable that way."

"Ha-kun, the neighbors--"

"Trees are terrible gossips," Haru replied, slipping his hand into Rin's and
squeezing.  He met Shigure's eyes, and waited.  Rin was perfectly still beside
him, fight-or-flight tension running through her; he spared a thought for the
painful nightmares that routinely shattered her sleep, weighed the odds of her
simply walking out into the storm if left with no choice but sleeping on her own
in a house where she already felt uncomfortable.

"Fine, then."  Shigure shrugged, stretching as he stood.  "You two are good
enough at discretion--most of the time."

Haru finally glanced at the others.  Rin stared at the table, clearly unwilling
to discuss anything about the situation.  Yuki caught his eye and echoed
Shigure's shrug, only a hint of color in his cheeks betraying his vague
embarrassment at the oblique reminder that such a thing as sex existed.  Tohru
was so obviously relieved that they were staying that she wasn't thinking about
the implications.

Kyo, on the other hand, stared hard at them, blushing much more obviously than
Yuki ever would.  "Shigure, you've got to be kidding."

"After all that fuss at New Year's, you mean?" Shigure said from where he was
securing the window.  "Honestly, Kyo-kun, if you're still upset that you and
Tohru-kun weren't allowed to stay here alone . . . this is obviously a different
case."

"I'm not--how is it--"

"We're all here, so what do you possibly think they're going to get up to?"

In a more predatory mood, Haru might have pointed out that he and Rin had plenty
of practice at 'getting up to' all kinds of things quietly enough to avoid
betraying themselves.  The faintest hint of amusement softened Rin's face,
making him suspect that she was thinking much the same thing.  Neither of them
spoke, and after a moment Kyo, with another flustered look at them, gave up and
went to help Tohru.

*****

Once the windows were secured, there was little to do but watch for lightning
flashes.  Shigure disappeared to work on his current manuscript, while everyone
else stayed curled up near the kotatsu's warmth.  Tohru found candles and
switched off the lamps; in the softer light, Rin relaxed enough that some of the
tension faded from the room.  Every once in a while she stood and went to the
window, transfixed by the storm-blackened sky.  When rumbles of thunder broke
the room's quiet--Yuki was working on student council notes while the others
studied and read--she shivered, pressing her hands against the glass.

Haru was used to her fascination with storms, and Yuki and Kyo both took their
cues from his lack of concern.  Tohru, on the other hand, looked up from her
textbook every time Rin moved between the darkened window and the glow of the
candles.  Finally, Rin took enough pity on her to sit beside her for a while.

"I like storms, so you don't have to watch me like that."

She said nothing more, but Tohru nodded and went back to her studying.  The
silence wasn't broken again until Yuki closed his notebook and stood up to
stretch, and noticed that Kyo had fallen asleep.  "I guess it's late enough to
go to bed," he said, and no one argued.  He nudged Kyo with a toe.  "Come on,
help me get a futon from the closet."

Kyo came completely awake with a speed that Haru vaguely envied, rolling to his
feet with only a ritual grumble at being disturbed.  While Kyo and Yuki dealt
with bedding, Tohru disappeared upstairs and came back with spare yukata.  The
efficiency with which she made sure that he and Rin had everything they could
possibly need made Haru shake his head in bemusement.  She stopped and flashed
him one of the bright smiles that had endeared her so thoroughly to their entire
family.

"Shigure-san was right about everyone staying here sooner or later.  We're used
to it."

"Thank you," Rin said, from her vantage point by the window.  "For taking care
of everything."

Tohru colored slightly at the unexpected gratitude.  "No, it's . . . I'm really
glad you came tonight, Isuzu-san.  I hope you'll come again, and--"

"We'll just pay better attention to the weather next time," Haru put in,
tousling her hair impulsively.

"If there's anything else you need, you'll come tell me?"

"They'll be fine," Kyo said from behind her, as he headed upstairs.  "Go to
sleep."

"But--"

"Thanks, Honda-san," Haru said.  "Everything's fine."

She nodded hesitantly and followed Kyo, glancing back over her shoulder.  As
soon as they were gone, Rin undressed quickly, slipping into the smaller yukata
Tohru had brought down.

Haru followed suit, trying to remember the last time he'd worn anything remotely
traditional.  "She's pretty good at guessing sizes, isn't she?"

"Well, you and Yuki are about the same height, and this is probably the one they
had me wearing when . . . " she trailed off, and Haru filled in the silence from
memory: when she'd been so sick that she collapsed in the living room.  When
she'd been taken back to the hospital, too worn out to fight back any more.

Light footsteps on the stairs distracted them.  "Can I come in?" Yuki asked from
beyond the doorway.

"Sure."

Yuki poked his head quickly into the room, keeping his voice low.  "Sleep well,
you two."  There was still a hint of embarrassment in his eyes, carefully
suppressed.  "Shigure'll probably be up half the night writing, but he usually
remembers to keep it down when he goes to bed."

"Ok," Haru said.  "Don't worry about us."

"Night, then."  And Yuki slipped away as quietly as he'd come down, leaving them
to settle in.

*****

Haru woke up halfway through the night, disturbed by the quiet sounds of Shigure
leaving his study and getting ready for bed.  The light at the end of the
hallway, left on so Rin would be able to see where she was if she was
disoriented, was just bright enough to make him squint against it.  He shifted
his head on the unfamiliar pillow, resettling Rin as he moved enough to get some
circulation back in his arms.  She murmured sleepily, burrowing closer until her
body was half-pillowed on his.  The familiar warmth of her weight made him smile
and kiss her forehead, running his hands down her sides.

"I like that," she breathed, waking up enough just enough for coherency.

"Hmm?"

"I like the way you touch me when you're turned on."  She nuzzled his chest
absently.  "You feel all tense and hungry.  It feels nice."

"Heartless," he replied, cradling her hips in his palms, easing her fully onto
him.  "Go to sleep."  Retrieving a hand from under the blanket, he caressed her
face.  Rin responded by turning her head into the curve of his hand and kissing
his fingers.  He closed his eyes and savored the light touch of her tongue on
his skin, the way she closed her lips over a fingertip.  The ghost of a moan
slipped out of him, and she laughed softly.

"_Now_ you can call me heartless."

"Don't need to tell you something you already know."  Haru rubbed her shoulders,
working at the tension that lurked there while she drifted off again; teasing
aside, it was a relief that she was sleeping easily.  "Ohh, my girl," he
whispered, barely giving voice to the words.  "Sweet dreams, love.  Please, for
once."

The faintest sound of footsteps coming down the stairs warned him of Kyo's
presence; he turned his head and watched how the other boy pointedly didn't
glance in at them as he went into the kitchen.

"Kyo," he said quietly as the cat passed by again, a glass of water in his hand.
 Kyo turned at the sound of his name, and blushed again as he saw how Rin was
curled up.  For all that he was quick to react to innuendo and teasing with
cries of 'pervert', he obviously had no idea how to respond to the situation. 
"She's just sleeping," Haru pointed out, pitching his voice just above a
whisper.  "Nothing's going on, ok?"

"I don't care what you do," Kyo shot back, looking away.

"Sure."  Rin stirred against his chest, stilled when he stroked her hair.  "Just
so you know.  In case it was bothering you."

"It's not."  Kyo left without waiting for a response, and Haru sank back into
sleep, wondering if he'd imagined the hint of envy in the words.

[fin.]