Disclaimer: Fruits Basket and all its characters are properties of Takaya Natsuki-sensei and Hana to Yume comics. Everything else in this fanfic are figments of my imagination. Any similarities to name, places, yada yada yada are simply examples of the world's many coincidental mysteries. Earlier chapters of this fic are available in Fanfiction.net and Mediaminer.org

August 16, 2003

Seven Days : Day the Sixth

By Ina-chan

"Damned Mouse! Stop acting childish and just let go!"

"'Childish'? CHILDISH!?!?"

"ITTAI!! Kyon…-itte…don't encourage him…"

"Che… serves YOU right for being such a stubborn ass."

It's funny isn't it? How things you desperately try to avoid become self-fulfilling prophecies…

"<sigh> Yuki, we can do this the easy way or the hard way."

"When I get free, I'm going to kill you."

"Booo! That's not the correct answer Yuki-kun~~~!"

"I'M GOING TO MURDER EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU IN YOUR SLEEP!!!"

How the kindest and gentlest of hearts can be hardened and corrupted…

"Hard way it is then. <sigh> Kyou, pull down his pants."

"NA?!!! THE HELL!!! NO WAY!!!"

"ITTAI!!! STUPID KYONKICHI!!! DON'T LET GO OF HIM!!!"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING STUPID?!?!?!!! DAMMIT!!!!!!"

How the purest and noblest of intentions can be twisted and warped…

"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH ME!!!!"

"But Yuki-kun, all of us ARE touching you~~~"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!!"

"SHIGURE!!! DON'T MAKE THINGS WORSE!!!"

"Can you please hurry it up?"

…to yield such volatile and dangerous results…

"YOU'RE DEAD SHIGURE!!! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU FIRST!!! I'M GOING TO---"

"DAMN IT!!! HOLD HIM STILL!!!"

"That's… easier said… than done… Ha-san…"

…on the cursed sixth day.

"FORGET THE DAMNED TRANQUILIZER!!! JUST WHACK HIS HEAD WITH A BLUNT OBJECT!!!"

Perhaps it would be best if we started right from the beginning…

The sixth day began with a tentative knock on a door. A tall silver-haired young man dangled a plastic bag under one arm before pressing his ear against the door, hopefully listening to whatever response the occupant of the room. He let out a defeated sigh when his knock simply met a silent reply. He's not going to let anyone inside willingly. So step one...

"Yuki," He called out, in an unusually serious tone, "Come on and open the door. You've been there since yesterday afternoon. You haven't had anything to eat or drink since then."

More silence.

Obviously food bribe tactic is not going to work. Step two...

"Yuki," He called out again, "Please open the door."

Still silence.

Begging tactic is not going to cut it either... Step three...

"Yuki, Tori-san is downstairs," Ayame continued on, "If you don't open the door now, he'll come up for you."

Continuing silence.

The elder Souma scratched his chin thoughtfully. He was sure that the Hatori scare tactic would work. If there was one thing that Yuki hated almost as much as being scrutinized by Akito, it was to endure Hatori with his poking at him with a stick. The snake let out another sigh. There's no helping it. It seemed like there was no other choice but to use step four.

Without another word, he dug into his pockets, fished out the keys he borrowed from Shigure, and unlocked the door.

"Yuki~~~!" Ayame called out with a big smile as he opened his brother's door.

Almost immediately, an icy aura, like a gust of freezing wind... behaving not too different from the sudden rush of depressurized air from a punctured air craft cabin at 10,000 feet... rushed through the open door to wash over the unsuspecting person opening it. Nonetheless, the silver haired man's smile didn't falter... even though the chill running down his spine made it feel like something just walked over his grave.

"Yuki?" He called out again, and blinked, looking a little confused as the vision of the room before him finally registered in his senses. The older man couldn't prevent a line from furrowing on his forehead.

It was a familiar sight that he wasn't too pleased to see again. The blinds were closed and all the lights were turned off, giving the room an eerie and claustrophobic atmosphere. It was a sick ironic situation. He squinted his eyes in the dim light, trying to distinguish his younger brother's form from the shadows in the room in vain.

"I'm turning on the light," Ayame announced before flipping on the switch.

There were several squeaks of surprise and the sound of several tiny scampering feet pattered around the room as the light suddenly flooded the darkened area. The line on his forehead deepened as he realized that his brother was nowhere to be seen, despite the obvious presence of his little brother's "friends" inside the room.

"Yuki?" Ayame called out again uncertainly, as he started to take a step forward

"Stop where you are," A soft voice suddenly commanded firmly from behind him

The elder Souma almost stumbled forward, but managed to regain his balance in time. He turned towards the source of the voice, found his brother sitting behind the door... at the darkened corner of the room, hugging his knees and glaring at him angrily.

"You're going to step on Aunt Keiko's house," The mouse simply stated blandly

The older man looked at the spot at where his foot was supposed to be a few moments before, and gaped in amazement at what he found. There stood a detailed, matchbox-scale version of their relative's house made entirely of toothpicks neatly glued together... In fact, the floor was littered with precise tiny replicas of most of the structures inside the Main House compound. There were even several odd-shaped tiny white... things... on random spots between the buildings. Unable to contain his curiosity, the snake bent down to pick up a white piece on the floor to inspect it closely.

"Ara..." Ayame gasped in astonishment as he realized what it was. It was a detailed sculpture of a human figure. And if you squint at a certain angle... it somewhat suspiciously looks a little bit like Akito... carved on something that suspiciously looks like what used to be a Tylenol # 3 tablet, "You made this?"

The younger Souma simply continued glaring at his older brother.

"How...? Well, the tablets obviously came from Hatori... But where did you...?Ah, with all the toothpicks lying around, and a lot of patience. It won't be that hard. Besides, it is Yuki we're talking about. But you never left your room..." Ayame blurted his internal dialogue aloud, just as a small mouse ran through the crevice of the half-open door and quickly skittered over his feet. It then proudly presented the boxed offering it held in its mouth to feet of the seated figure at the corner of the room.

"Haaa-san~~~" Shigure's voice sang loudly from kitchen downstairs, as if on cue, "Have you seen the toothpicks? I could have sworn that Tooru-kun bought several boxes from that sale last week."

"How should I know?" came Hatori's irritated reply

"Ah well... it certainly is very creative. What else can you expect from a brother of mine..." Beads of sweat popped from Ayame's forehead as he forced another smile on his lips, that quickly vanished upon realization hit him, "...but Yuki... Did you stay up all night making all of these?"

The mouse's eyes flashed dangerously at his elder brother's comment, the little mouse at his feet suddenly squeaked in surprise and almost flew out of the room from where it came from. Larger beads of sweat started to pour out of the snake's brow. And for the rarest moments in his life, Souma Ayame actually started to feel genuinely nervous.

He made a small cough before rubbing his chin in exaggerated self-thoughtfulness, "As your caring older brother, I just feel that Yuki should have gotten some sleep instead."

"Yuki should have gotten some sleep instead," The younger Souma echoed sarcastically

"We're just concerned of your well being," The snake stated in a serious tone, noting that there was no way

"We're just concerned of your well being," The mouse continued in his sardonic tone as he slowly got on his feet

"Yuki..." Ayame's eyes widened in alarm, consciously maneuvering over the little toothpick sculptures on the floor as he tried to move out of his brother's way as the younger Souma started to step toward him, "We just want to help you."

"We just want to help you?" Yuki repeated mockingly, his eyes narrowing into slits as he started move around the room, as if a predator slowly circling around its helpless prey

Ayame closed his eyes, rubbing his temple as if trying to ward off an impending headache, "This isn't funny. Yuki don't---"

"YUKI DON'T!" The mouse suddenly exploded angrily, causing his elder brother to open his eyes and gape at him in shock

"YUKI, DON'T DO THAT! OR HONDA-SAN WILL WORRY!" The boy yelled, emphasizing his fury by crushing a mini-house by his foot, before the elder Souma could utter a single word in reaction. In fact, Ayame could only watch in fascination as his brother started to walk around the room, stomping his little houses into splinters and his tiny figurines into dust... possessed by his uncontrollable rage. It was like watching a bad Godzilla parody.

"YUKI, DON'T DO THIS, OR AKITO WILL GET MAD!!! [smash]YUKI DON'T SAY THAT, OR YOU'LL EMBARRASS 'KA-SAN!!! [crash] YUKI, DON'T MAKE A MISTAKE OR YOU'LL SHAME THE FAMILY NAME!!! [crush] YUKI DON'T GO OUT AND PLAY OR YOU'LL DIE!!! [smash] [crash] [crush] YUKI DON'T!!! [smash] DON'T!!! [crash] DON'T!!! [crush]"

The snake blinked at the scene before him, another look of realization dawning on his face as he watched his younger brother stop to catch his breath, spent from the exertion from his anger. He was aware of the enormous pressure his younger brother had been going through since childhood, but he never understood exactly how intense the mouse's true feeling were until he witnessed his brother's uncharacteristic outburst. The restrictions they have been imposing on Yuki recently simply compounded those feelings that he has been burying deep inside that usual calm and aloof composure.

Ayame always dreamed of the day that Yuki would open up his true feelings for him... but this raw emotion that his brother was showing... he wasn't prepared how to handle this. He wasn't sure exactly what to do other than to awkwardly stand there and watch the scene in silence. So he did the first thing that came to his mind.

"Ah! At times like these, we definitely need to slow down and relax with a nice cup of hot tea!" Ayame announced gaily as he showed the bag he was holding

Almost immediately, the temperature in the room dipped to below sub-zero degrees as the mouse's battle aura flared dangerously, "...get... out..."

"Ara! Look! Look! It's canned! I got it from a convenience store on my way here today. It's perfectly safe, see?" Ayame protested desperately, as he pulled out the can of warm tea from the bag

"Get. Out."

"I even brought some snacks, it's also nice and sealed," The snake then pulling out a bag of packaged mochi and waved it playfully, "You haven't eaten anything since yesterday, right? Its even peach flavoured too... mmmmm!"

"GETOUT!GETOUT!GETOUT!!!!!!"

"LISTEN!" Ayame's voice suddenly boomed angrily, finally loosing his patience, "I AM TRYING MY BEST TO HELP YOU! I CAN'T STAND SEEING YOU SUFFER LIKE THIS! I DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO!"

The younger man literally jumped back with a start, his turn to be surprised at his older brother's sudden outburst.

Ayame threw the items in his hand at his brother's night table, before brushing his fingers through his bangs in frustration. He stopped and looked at his brother with pleading eyes, as he started to talk again in a calmer voice, "What do I need to do Yuki? Tell me. Tell me what I need to do to help you."

Yuki stared at him with an unreadable expression on his face, before turning around and tiredly crawling into bed and burying himself on a fetal position underneath his covers.

"Yuki?" Ayame called out, indisputable concern lacing his voice

The boy's quiet answer was muffled underneath his blankets. The elder Souma stepped closer cautiously until he was bending over the passive bundle on his younger brother's bed, "Yuki? What did you say?"

"A-ya? Is everything all right?" Shigure called out cautiously

The snake turned around and saw the writer peeking at them by the open doorway. Hatori standing impassively beside him... and even Kyou behind them, desperately trying to look disinterested at scene unfolding inside the room.

"Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Don't worry Gure-san, everything is under control!" Ayame replied merrily, jutting out a confident thumbs-up at his three relatives by the door

"GAH! WATCH OUT YOU IDIOT!!!" Kyou suddenly yelled aloud, his eyes widening in alarm. His sentiments were also silently reflected in the expressions on his older cousins faces, standing in front of him.

Ayame turned around in time, only to see his brother sitting up in bed with the same angry glare he was wearing when Ayame first walked into the room. Only this time, the mouse was in a dangerously close reach...

"You're too noisy," The mouse simply stated

"Oh... damn..." was all the snake could say, not even having enough time to wipe the big smile off his lips as he saw his younger brother's hand quickly reach out to...

...cling tightly on his hair.

And in an instant, all of hell broke loose.

"#%*&@#*!@#@~#%$^%#^*@%$&#@!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"DAMN! Why is he this strong!" Shigure barked over his cousin's screaming of intelligible obscenities as the dog struggled to hold on to the mouse's other arm before it managed to inflict further damage on the snake fighting to release his brother's other hand's hold on his hair

"Why didn't you just leave him alone?" Kyou growled angrily as he dodged a foot that flew inches from his ear and tackled his cousin's legs to immobility, "Damned Mouse! Stop acting childish and just let go!"

"'Childish'?" Yuki spat out venomously, before tugging at the mane of hair he held tightly in his hand, "CHILDISH!?!?"

"ITTAI!!" Ayame winced as he waved his free hand to swat helplessly at the cat, "Kyon…-itte…don't encourage him…"

"Che…" Kyou scoffed as he tightened his hold on Yuki's legs, "...serves YOU right for being such a stubborn ass."

Hatori let out a sigh as he prepared a syringe over the struggling men, "Yuki, we can do this the easy way or the hard way."

"When I get free, I'm going to kill you," The mouse's eyes glared at the doctor threateningly

"Booo! That's not the correct answer Yuki-kun~~~!" Shigure commented lightly

"I'M GOING TO MURDER EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU IN YOUR SLEEP!!!"

""Hard way it is then," The doctor sighed again, before motioning to cat, "Kyou, pull down his pants."

"NA?!!! THE HELL!!! NO WAY!!!" The fire-haired boy's eyes widened in disgust as he automatically loosened his hold and jumped away to safety

"ITTAI!!! STUPID KYONKICHI!!! DON'T LET GO OF HIM!!!" Ayame yelped in pain as both he and Shigure struggled to compensate from loosing Kyou's support

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING STUPID?!?!?!!!" Kyou yelled back angrily, as he immediately lunged forward to grab his cousin's legs again upon realizing his mistake, but not before the mouse's knee managed to make direct contact with his nose, "DAMMIT!!!!!!"

"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH ME!!!!" The mouse screamed as Hatori stepped in to help with the struggle

"But Yuki-kun, all of us ARE touching you~~~" The writer commented idly

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!!"

"SHIGURE!!! DON'T MAKE THINGS WORSE!!!" Hatori yelled irritably, finally loosing his patience

"YOU'RE DEAD SHIGURE!!! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU FIRST!!! I'M GOING TO---" Yuki continued to yell angrily

"Can you please hurry it up?" Ayame called out meekly, wincing involuntarily, as his brother's struggle caused another hard tug

"DAMN IT!!! HOLD HIM STILL!!!" Hatori shouted in frustration

"That's… easier said… than done… Ha-san…" The dog grimaced, as he felt the mouse dig his fingernails into the part of arm that the boy could reach

"FORGET THE DAMNED TRANQUILIZER!!! JUST WHACK HIS HEAD WITH A BLUNT OBJECT!!!" Kyou yelled in exasperation as he watched Hatori struggle to impale the needle onto the mouse's immobile, but continuously resisting, arm.

They didn't know how they managed to do it. Five minutes later, they finally managed to free Ayame and stumble out of the room... well... more like ran out until they were on the safety of the hallway. The cat, dog and snake, pressed against the wall opposite the door leading to the mouse's room, trying to catch their breaths...

Hatori made final peek from the door before closing it behind him. He turned to the snake, unable to hide the amazement in his normally stoic face, "I'll tell you one thing... he'll definitely beat Akito hands down when it comes to stubbornness. That dose is enough to put an ox to sleep in ten seconds, but until now he's still fighting it."

"And you wanted to beat THAT in a fight?" Shigure commented idly, looking at the cat with newfound respect, "Kyou-kun is either exceptionally brave or exceptionally stupid."

"SHUT UP!" Kyou snapped back irritably, painfully holding the collar of his now bloodied shirt over his nose

"KYAAAAAAA!"

The four males followed the direction of sound of the shocked female scream and the loud crash on the floor to find Tooru, still in her school uniform and fresh from work, staring at their harried forms, while in super-shocked form, "K-k-kyou-k-k-kun... b-b-b-blood!"

Kyou swore under his breath, before trying to give the girl a reassuring look, "Geeez! It's just a nosebleed. I'm not going to die or anything."

"B-b-b-b-but..."

Hatori sighed again as he steered the cat around, and pushed him away from the panicking girl towards the privacy of the younger man's bedroom, "Let me take a look at it to make sure it's not broken."

"Saaa! He'll be fine Tooru-kun," Shigure said reassuringly as he gently took the girl's arm and maneuvered her towards the opposite direction, "Kagura put Kyou-kun in a far worse physical state than that, and he survived all of them without a hitch."

"B-b-but... K-k-..."

"Yare! Yare! Kyonkichi is a lot tougher than he looks," Ayame agreed as he took the girl's other arm and assisted his cousin into guiding her downstairs

"B-b-but I..."

"Ne, Tooru-kun, do you really want to help Yuki-kun?" Shigure interrupted with his uncharacteristic serious tone

Automatically, the girl calmed down and looked at the older man eagerly, "Is there a way for me to help?"

Ayame made an involuntary glance behind him, before giving the writer a hesitant look. Shigure simply give him subtle reassuring smile before turning back to the young woman in front of him.

"Of course, there is a way!" The dog exclaimed, "Tooru-kun is our secret weapon after all. In fact, there is one thing that only Tooru-kun can do that will be the best help! But, that's only if Tooru-kun is willing to do it, of course!"

Tooru's eyes widened at the writer's words, "I'LL DO IT! I'LL DO IT FOR SURE, SHIGURE-SAN! I'll do ANYTHING I can to help!"

The small smile on Shigure's face widened upon hearing her words, "I'm glad to hear that! Why don't you go and freshen up, Tooru-kun! I'll tell you our master plan for tomorrow, once you're all ready!"

"HAI!" The girl replied enthusiastically as she hurried off to her room to change her clothes

"Gure-san..." Ayame began tentatively, his eyes darting uncomfortably between the direction of his brother's door and Tooru's room

"It'll be alright! If there's one person in the world that Yuki will yield to, it'll be Tooru-kun," Shigure whispered back, that smile never leaving his face, "Besides, it's not like we have any other choice at this point."

The snake frowned and chewed the inside of his cheek reluctantly. Of course, his cousin's reasoning made a lot of sense. After all...

... there was only one day left.

To be continued…

Author's squawk:

This was a very agonizing chapter to work on. I originally wanted to have a WAFFy, brother-bonding chapter between Yuki and Ayame... but as I wrote... I realized that there was only so much WAFFy-ness you could put if one of your characters was obviously dangerously psychotic.

Then again, considering how difficult it has been for me to write my fics lately... the feat of finishing this chapter was actually quite... extra-ordinary!

Thank you to everyone who has been diligently following this fic and reviewing it. I really appreciate the ego-boosts. ^_^.

Comments, criticisms and flame throwers at ina_chan@yahoo.com

Ja!
Ina-chan