*****
"Testing the Waters"
a Fruits Basket fanfic by Ysabet MacFarlane (ba087@chebucto.ns.ca)

Written for Mona
Contains spoilers for Akito, Kureno, and Shigure as of ch. 101
*****

"Get.  Out."  The ice in Akito's voice made Kureno's heart skip, even though she
wasn't speaking to him, and had probably forgotten entirely that he was in the
room.  Akito in a cold rage had a very narrow focus, and for once Kureno was
wholeheartedly glad he no longer shared the supernatural bond that linked her to
the object of her anger.

Shigure, on the other hand, looked supremely unconcerned.  "If that's what you
want, Akito."

Something passed between them, something Kureno might have been able to feel
even from a distance, years before, and Akito's eyes softened for just an
instant before she turned away.  No matter how she stormed about Shigure's
casual attitude toward her, it was one of the things that drew her to him.  Even
now.  "Get out, Shigure.  I don't want to see you."

"Where should I go?" he replied agreeably.  They might have been determining a
time to meet for dessert.

"I want you out of the Main House."

For the first time, Shigure reacted; more, he stopped pretending Kureno wasn't
in the room.  Their eyes met, and Kureno saw real shock in the older man's gaze.

Banishment.

And then Shigure's eyes hardened, turned as opaque and merciless as Akito's
sometimes did.  "As you wish, Akito-san."

"There's a house no one's using on the south edge of the property."

"I know it."

"You're entitled to your allowance, and you have your word-games.  You'll be
fine."  Her voice was perfectly steady; any real anger toward the older
Jyuunishi had been cool and distant since Hatori's injury.  Ayame--the only one
to comment on it--felt that the change was positive.  Kureno wasn't so sure.

"Must I live alone?" Shigure asked.  "Without the daily pleasure of your
company, I might be terribly bored."

Akito still wasn't looking at either of them.  Kureno wondered if she was aware
of the intensity Shigure was directing at her back.

"Do as you please," she retorted, and the edge of spite in her voice belonged to
a hurt girl, not an outraged god.  "You will anyway."

"I don't go against your will, Akito-san."

She rounded on him in an instant.  "You don't disobey direct orders!"  A spark
of the old fury was there, and Kureno found himself giving thanks that her hands
were empty.  Her fingers were twitching as if trying to grasp the air.  "Take
anyone who will go with you!  Anyone but her!  And GET OUT!"

"All right."  Shigure slowly stood, and shot a look of calm malice in Kureno's
direction.  He started toward the door as he spoke, deliberately turning his
back on her.  "Let me know when I'm welcome back in your presence."

He left without a backward glance.

As the door slid closed Akito turned to Kureno and stumbled blindly into his
arms.

***

A day later, the coldness had melted out of her anger.  A maid came to find him,
cradling a bruised arm.  "Akito-san . . . Akito-san is . . . "  Kureno didn't
wait to hear the rest.

He found her surrounded by shattered pottery and a wrath that flooded the room. 
Ghosts of the bond muttered about the force of it shredding the air around him,
hissed that it wasn't safe to approach her.  Possessions held no value compared
to releasing the gale of emotion twisting her.

Kureno remembered being a possession, as he picked his way through the sharp
fragments littering the floor, and took her by the arms.  "What happened?"

"Shigure."  The venom in the word took him aback.

"Akito, you've already punished him--"

"He's taken Yuki!"  She didn't quite scream the words, didn't break the lifelong
habit of locking her voice down into her chest, of keeping it from soaring to
unmistakably feminine heights.  Real madness blazed out of her eyes, but that
single last control stayed in place.

Pieces fell together in his mind in a moment--compared to some of the family's
internal politics, Shigure's parting blow was crystal clear.  Yuki would have
gone with him without hesitation; no bond would be able to hold back a boy
showed a first glimpse of freedom from Akito's stranglehold on him.

"It doesn't matter," he said, and Akito swayed against him, what little color
she had rushing out of her face.  Her hands went to her mouth, as if biting down
on her own flesh would distract her from the loss.

Kureno caught the tiny hands in his.  "Akito."

"Yuki.  He's taking Yuki."  He could hardly hear her.  "I'll lose him."

"You can stop him."

It was true, and the goddess in his arms knew it.  Knew the consequences.  "And
give him another weapon against me?"  The pure bitterness in her voice made him
wince, stroke her hair.

"He loves you, Akito."

"He's mine," she whispered.  Kureno wondered if she meant Shigure or Yuki, but
didn't dare hurt her further by saying their names.

***

"How can you do this, 'niisan?"

Shigure didn't even glance up from the stacks of boxes and books waiting to be
put in them.  "Akito-san said I could take someone with me."

"Yuki is needed here."

"So he can rot in a room and be brought out whenever Akito wants to be comforted
by his presence?"

"And suddenly you care so much about his plight?"

"I never thought keeping him in there was a good idea, but you know Akito-san."

"But now it's useful to pretend to care?"

Shigure's hands stilled, and then resumed packing.  "I care.  He's my cousin."

"He's a tool for you to hurt Akito," Kureno whispered.

"It would be more accurate if you said someone else is using me."

Kureno stiffened.  "You can _not_ be acting as Ren's hands!  Flirting with her
is bad enough, but she--"

"Ren still has her own power," Shigure said mildly.  "But I know her too well
for her to use me."

"Then who . . ?"

"Ha-kun, actually.  Work it out.  Run and tell Akito, if you think he'll be an
adequate substitute for Yuki-kun."

"Akito has me."

A strange blankness settled on Shigure's face.  "You.  Yes, well . . . you're
not always what's needed, are you?"  A smiled twisted his mouth.  "You'd do well
to remember that no one of us is enough.  And the children can't resist Akito
the way we can.  They can't remember a life out of god's shadow."  He stood up
and stretched, and Kureno blinked, finally registering what he was wearing.

"Surely you've seen a kimono before?" Shigure asked.  "Here I thought you were
from a traditional family, Sohma-san."  The mockery held edges that made Kureno
bristle.

"I didn't think it was your style, 'niisan."

"Styles change.  People get bored.  Even Akito-san gets bored."  He looked at
the remaining heaps of books.  "For example, I'm bored with packing now.  Thank
heaven for maids, that's what I say.  If Yuki-kun's packed, I think we'll get
going."

"Why do you keep wanting to hurt Akito?"

"I'm just learning from Akito-san's example," Shigure replied, his eyebrows
flying up in mock surprise.  "You hurt the ones you love.  You lock them up so
they'll never leave you.  Or you walk through the doors they throw open for
you."

"Are you expecting me to mention Hatsuharu?"

"You don't have a choice if you're asked, do you?"  The rhetorical question was
accompanied by a sharp glance.

"Do you want me to mention him?"

Shigure shrugged and said nothing.

***

Sitting at Akito's side again, he knew the moment Shigure and Yuki left the
House.  Saw the impact run through her slight frame, as if the door was closing
on her.

"They love you."

Silence met the words.

"I love you."  He put his hand over hers, and her fingers curled slightly, as if
she were afraid to hold on.  "Akito.  You can feel them.  They're with you." 
She turned and looked at him, and for a moment he wondered if she saw him at all
through the unfamiliar stretching of the bond.  Then her fingers tightened
around his, cautiously.

"Don't leave me," she whispered.

"I won't.  You know I won't, Akito."

"I can't feel you."  Her hand twitched, and he gripped it.

"You can."  He pulled her closer and kissed her cheek; she turned awkwardly and
met his lips with hers.

"Only your skin," she said after a moment, and Kureno bowed his head.

"Do you remember me?" he asked softly.

"Of course!"  Her head snapped up, a trace of outrage bringing her eyes to life.

"Then you still know what my soul feels like.  And it's under my skin, even if
you can't see it."

Pale fingers brushed against his cheek.  "Do you remember being with me?"

"I remember it all."  Flight.  The wind.  The jesses around his soul that ended
in her hands.  Her hands on his face, trying to hold him close.

***

Shigure walked up the stairs, taking mental note of which ones creaked under his
weight and hoping the sound wouldn't wake Yuki.  His cousin had gone to bed
almost immediately, still looking more shell-shocked than liberated.

He found Yuki's bedroom door half-open, and wondered how long it would be before
the boy deliberately closed himself into a room.  Yuki was curled up on the bed,
sleeping restlessly.  From the way he twitched, Shigure guessed that his sleep
was no more comfortable than his own restlessness.

He made his way back down the stairs without interrupting Yuki's sleep, and went
outside to look up at the stars.  "Akito," he whispered, and tried not to
imagine her with Kureno at her side.

[fin]

*****

Fruits Basket is the creation of Takaya Natsuki, and is licensed in North
America by FUNimation (anime) and Tokyopop (manga).  Used without permission or
the intention of making a profit.  Please support the original work!

"Testing the Waters" © 2005 by Ysabet MacFarlane (ba087@chebucto.ns.ca).

Comments and criticism welcomed at the above address.

This story may be reproduced and archived so long as the original text is
preserved and the author's name and contact information remain attached. 
Notifying the author of any such use is an appreciated courtesy.  NO CHANGES OF
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