Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ All for Love ❯ Unexpected Surprises ( Chapter 1 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

ALL FOR LOVE
A Fruits Basket Fanfic

Written by Miyu, Vampire Princess


AUTHOR'S NOTE:
A sequel to "Patterns". After being involved for roughly six months, Ayame decides it's time to confess his secrets to Mine, starting with the biggest. How will she react to his jyuunishi form? This part told from Mine's POV. Lime-ish. Standard Disclaimer follows the story.


Part One - Unexpected Surprises




I love waking up in the mornings.

It's one of the simplest pleasures anyone can enjoy. I was never much of a morning person myself. But for the past six months, some mornings have me thinking that perhaps I need to change my ways.

This morning is no different.

I was in Ayame's bed. Not the bed at his office. Not is some strange motel room. But in his bed. Kami but I could burst from the joy!

It had been one wild and crazy night. Of course, I may be exaggerating that one just a little. I suppose I'm a wild and crazy kind of girl, but we spent most of the night talking movies, television and music. The rest was spent in his bed.

Wild and crazy, oh yeah.

Did I mention that I could burst with joy?

We fell asleep cuddling...or rather as close to cuddling as we could get. If you want to consider holding hands and sleeping facing each other cuddling. I'm not sure why, but Ayame doesn't like to cuddle. It's really the only downfall in our relationship, and we're not talking steep here. Still, I'm curious as to why. He can't possibly be that insecure about himself. But every time I ask him if something's wrong, he puts on a smile and says it's nothing.

He's keeping something from me.

But I can't bring myself to ask what.

I wake in the same position I'd fallen asleep in, or so I think. Stretching my arms over my head, I sleepily roll over. As I roll over I feel cool satin and warm skin brush against me. Reality is starting to set in on a good dream I'd been having. No, wait. That wasn't a dream. It was very real.

So why is there smoke everywhere? It doesn't smell like something's burning. Is there a fire?

Waving a hand in front of my face, I try to clear the smoke away as best as I can. "Ayame?" I call out, wondering if he's okay. He's probably still asleep. The man could sleep through a typhoon in his own room.

The smoke clears rather quickly and I sigh in relief. There's no other signs of a fire, but I check under the bed and under the door just in case. Relieved that nothing is truly amiss, I walk back towards the bed. I settle down on my side of the bed (I just love the sound of that) and pull the covers up to my chest. Rolling in the soft, cool confines of the black satin sheets, I turn to check on
the sleeping beauty beside me.

Only to find a small, white snake coiled on his pillow.

"Oh my--AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

I don't think I've ever moved so fast in my life. I know I've never screamed that loud before. My body quickly removes itself from the bed, taking one of the top sheets with it. I wrap it around myself like a barrier, although it will do little good if the snake wakes up.

"Mine? Isssssomething wrong?"

The snake's eyes open slowly as it lifts its head to look around. It blinks sleepily, taking in its surroundings before its eyes go wide. It slithers across Ayame's pillow to mine. I take another step back as it makes to move off the bed, but it stops. Hissing a soft sigh, it retreats back to Ayame's pillow, coiling there and closing its eyes again. I'm slightly relieved.

Wait a minute! Did it just ask me if something was wrong?! I could've sworn I heard....

"A-aya-me?"

"Ohayo, Mine."

Yes! The voice is clearly Ayame's, but where is it coming from. I look around the room, searching for him. Is he playing a game? It's not unlike him, but this doesn't seem to be a very good game. When I find nothing, my gaze returns to the snake, which sighs again.

"I guess you know now why I don't like to cuddle...or hug...or, well...anything that involves either." Ayame's voice is sad, and the snake looks sad too. Can a snake look sad? "You've discovered my big secret."

BLINK. "Big secret?" I ease myself a little closer to the bed. The snake watches me as I move, and I'm completely unsettled, but I can't stop walking towards the bed. I stop just inches from the edge of the mattress. The snake looks up at me expectantly, but I have no idea what to say or do. When I do nothing, it retreats into itself, coiling tighter.

"When I`m hugged by a member of the opposite sex, I turn into a snake. The snake of the Chinese zodiac," Ayame explained.

"The...zodiac? Then why not the rat...or...or the dog?"

The snake seemed to smile. "Because they were already taken."

BLINK. "Already...taken?"

The snake sighs again, it's tongue slipping from its mouth in a light hiss. "You don't like snakes, do you." It's a statement, not a question.

"I'm not sure," I reply honestly, carefully sitting on the edge of the bed. "I've only seen them in zoos and movies."

"At least you didn't run. I suppose that's a good sign."

"I was startled. I mean," My eyes fall to the floor, my mind trying to think of the right words. "I wasn't expecting to see you as a...as a...snake."

"I should've told you sooner. But I...I was afraid, Mine." The snake tightens, burying its face inside its coils. "I was afraid you wouldn't love me anymore and I didn't want to lose you. You have no idea how long I waited...."

And much to my astonishment, the snake begins to cry.

Ayame is...crying.

I have to force myself to sit further onto the bed, and even more so to even reach a tentative hand out to the snake. To Ayame. I'm half ashamed that I can't do this without wanting to hold back. But I'm not running. He was right about that. How could I run after he's so tenderly shown me something important to him. Albeit unexpectedly.

An unexpected surprise.

My fingers brush his skin lightly, wanting to recoil at the touch of cold scales. The snake hisses again, but doesn't move. One finger gently strokes over the head of the snake, between his eyes. He closes them, but again doesn't move. He's allowing me to grow accustomed to him, and after a while I begin to relax, knowing in my mind as well as my heart that he will not hurt me.

"Your finger isss nice and warm, Mine," he says, uncoiling just a little. I pause in my movements in surprise but return to them then as if nothing had happened.

"You're so cold," I say in response, using two fingers to caress his
skin.

"Sssnakesss are cold-blooded," he replies, his coils loosening even more. His head inches closer to my hand, but he makes no other moves. "But we like to be...warm."

My mind takes a minute to process what he said. I can picture all the times when Ayame would wear extra layers of clothing in the winter, more so than I, and I was no fan of the cold either. But then there were those summer days when he liked to walk in the park or just bask in the sunlight pouring into the shop. I'd seen him fall asleep by a window once because of that. I thought it was
simply because he liked being in the sun, being warm.

This really explains a lot.

And yet, so little.

How did this curse come to be? Why was he inflicted? And just who are the dog and the rat? Other members of his family?

"Ayame--? EEP!"

>POOF<

Another cloud of smoke appears. I cough, putting both hands over my mouth. Something reaches for me form inside the cloud. I can only watch as a human hand reaches for and touches my cheek. As the white smoke dissipates, I see Ayame, back to his human form. His amber eyes seem to glow and his hair...strange that only now I should realize that his hair is the same color white as his snake form.

And he's naked as the day he was born. Sweet Kami!

"Mine?"

"You're naked." It's not much of an observation but I don't know what else to say.

He chuckles. "That's what happens when I transform back into a human. It's very...convenient."

"Convenient?" I ask, unsure what he's implying. "Ayame--?"

He silences me with a finger to my lips. "We'll talk later, Mine. I promise. We'll talk later. But for now...."

I only have enough time to nod before he lowers his lips to mine. I know that we will talk, but I have to agree with him. Some things need to be taken care of first.

Wild and crazy...that's my Ayame.


~TO BE CONTINUED~


DISCLAIMER:
Fruits Basket is owned by Natsuki Takaya/HAKUSENSHA - TV TOKYO - NAS - Fruba Project and licensed by FUNimation Productions, Ltd (for distribution in the USA). All copyrights go to them and not me. All characters are used here without permission. Please do not sue. I have no money, although I would be happy to give away my bills. ^_^