Take Charge! Roar!

I am sorry if when reading this chapter it seems like there is another person writing this because it sounds so different from before. I wrote the first chapter a number of years ago and will simply say that you, the reader, are right; I’m not myself anymore, I’ve become a new me in recent years, as most people who grow and learn usually do.







Despite Yuki’s best efforts, the dog had managed to at least phone the main house before being tackled in the hallway. Hatori, the unfortunate converser on the other end of the line, was only mildly surprised to hear the line go silent after a particularly throaty scream by Shigure, followed by the sounds of a frenzied struggle as both combatants fought for control over the receiver. The physician simply leaned back in his chair and listened quietly, knowing the victor would show up eventually and tell him just what the hell was going on over there. He was forced to abandon the phone to see a patient before getting the full story, though the words “Tohru”, “Yuki”, “Kinky”, and “Vegetable garden out back” tempted him to cancel his appointments for the rest of the night.



The rest of the evening went rather smoothly, considering the eventful afternoon. Kyo, who was spending the evening with Shishou, was spared from both Yuki’s dark mood and Shigure’s constant taunting at dinnertime. Tohru tried unsuccessfully to serve and avoid eye contact at the same time, resulting in quite a few spills and near misses with an iron serving-ladle that had the trio feeling thankful when at last the meal was over.



Not yet able to speak normally with his female housemate, Yuki breezed past Tohru and headed straight for his room, muttering something about ‘being upstairs meditating until he could walk without a hard-on again.” Shigure chuckled and pulled out a newspaper, content for the moment, as Tohru silently cleared the table. Only the clink of dishes and the light rustling of newsprint could be heard from the little dining room. Shigure thought that this lapse in conversation might give the girl enough time to process the day’s events before he launched her into the new deviance forming in his mind.



When at last Tohru had finished with the dishes and settled back at the table with a nerve-calming cup of tea, Shigure at last saw his chance, quietly folding his paper and thanking her warmly for dinner.



“No, no Shigure-san, I was happy to make it. I’m just glad that none of the ingredients were ruined from being left out so long today.”



He smiled pleasantly at her, “Nonsense, it was the best I’d ever tasted.” She blushed, but showed no other outward signs of emotional chaos that the writer had been expecting. He mentally recalculated, skipping foreword a few lines in his prepared speech, and tried at the conversation again.



“Your meals get better with each passing day. Ah my, but the year has flown. Summer is gone and early autumn is now paving the way toward a snowy Cypress winter.” He rambled easily, hoping to distract her from his true intentions toward the evening and its possible events. “But ah! How silly of me to forget! With the months flying by like this I completely forgot that my birthday is coming up.” He glanced toward her, trying not to smirk when she looked up in surprise.



“Oh, Your birthday Shigure-san! I never knew it was coming! No, not like I never thought you had a birthday coming up because everyone has a birthday at some point in the year, I was just surprised because I never knew when it was and if I had known I would surely have…” The girl rambled, arms waving as she tried to make the point of her speech known to both him and herself. He lifted a hand to stop her, beginning again when she quieted,

“If you had known my birthday was coming, would you have baked a cake? Thrown a party? Hmm? Bought a little something for me perhaps?”



“If I had only known Shigure-san, I could have saved up some money and done all of those things because I truly am forever grateful to be in this house with all of you, though I am sure you know that I would have loved to get you something extra special. Oh, I wonder how much I will have left at the end of this week’s paycheck; when did you say your birthday was? I will need to call Momiji-kun and Hatsuharu-san and Kisa-chan and everyone over. Maybe this Friday would work, if your birthday hasn’t passed by then,” Tohru babbled, gathering ideas and worries as she tried to make a mental list. Shigure chuckled, waving away her concerns,



“No need for all that Tohru-kun! Just the fact that you’d go to all that trouble just for me makes me feel all the more special with my special day coming up and all.” Time for the proposition now I think, “Instead of all that worrying and fussing, how about this; you try on last year’s White Day present for me and we’ll call it even, hmmm?” He watched her face go blank as she processed his request, then tried to appear contrite as he watched her turn a bright pink. “It’s just that,” he continued plaintively, “I took the trouble to go to Ayame’s little shop and buy you a nice return gift, and yet I’ve never seen you wear it. Such a shame, really. You would look quite handsome in blue Tohru-kun.”



Tohru took this complement silently, still weighing her options. Giving her a puppy-dog stare, he asked, “You do still have it I hope?” She nodded vigorously, though still said nothing. He was just about to give up on her when she stood and smiled warmly, “Let me go and get it.” The dog smiled, Gotcha.



A moment later she was back with the dress, standing and holding it against herself expectantly, giving him a chance to see that she did still possess the garment in question. “There now, that’s the one. Will you try it on for me, please? Ayame assured me that it would be your size, and heaven knows it would look prettier on you than that old coat hanger.” Tohru also admired the dress,

“I’d be happy to, Shigure-san, as I am still very grateful for such a fine gift.” She turned for the door to the hallway.

“Ah, but are you really going all the way back to your room to change? You’ve just come from there!” He coaxed, stopping her with a light touch, “You could simply change here if you like. Look, I’ll turn my back for you and I promise not to peep.” He wriggled on his mat until he faced the wall, turning only his head with his eyes firmly covered back toward her, “See?”



Now Tohru had been listening to his sweet words for upwards of a half hour now, and though she was flighty, she was no fool. She’d tried on his present the day it had been given to her, in the privacy of her own room, and found it to be a lovely, albeit small, garment. Being asked to see it was an easy enough request, but to change into it in the same room was bordering on lewd. Then again, her mind countered, this is kind of a ‘take charge’ moment, isn’t it? Who says trying on this dress will be all about him, hmmm? Maybe this could be fun; especially if he doesn’t know about the fun you’re having at his expense while wearing it.

Tohru gave a nodding consent and Shigure gave a little cheer, “Wonderful! Now I’ll be right here so when you’re done just…”



*zzzziiiiiiiiiippp!*



His words were cut off as Tohru slowly drew the zipper down on her skirt, the sound drowning out whatever else the dog was about to say. For the next few minutes all that could be heard in the little room were the sounds of rustling fabric against skin. The soft padding of her feet as she moved beat to a staccato tempo all its own. Shigure’s keen ears heard each stitch as it moved against her smooth skin, every clasp ringing in his head until she quietly called to him, “Finished!”



The little dress did fit her wonderfully, hugging each and every curve of her while still denying any prying eyes from seeing too much from any one direction. The girl had even gone so far as to find a matching ribbon and ruffled socks for her small feet. Shigure fought the urge to whistle like a cliché, but managed instead to swirl a finger in the air, watching as she made a similar slow twirl for him.



“Tohru-kun you look lovely,” he breathed, knowing complements would only help him in his goal, “Does it fit alright? Not too snug I hope?” She giggled, stretching the skirt before her with both hands,

“It’s perfect. And I thank you once again for such a lovely gift, Shigure-san.” He nodded graciously, but put a hand to his face in concern.

“But Tohru-kun how can you say it’s perfect if you can’t see yourself in it as I can? Here,” he lifted himself to his feet and made a step toward the doorway, gesturing with a hand, “Why don’t we head upstairs to my room for a minute? I have a great big mirror in there that you can see yourself in, bigger than the one in your room to be sure. What do you say?”



This time she was much more eager to comply. He let her lead, “Ladies first,” and together they ascended the stairs to his cluttered bedroom, filing in one by one to stand in the least occupied spaces in the room. Tohru could see a freestanding mirror by one wall, but a jacket had been thrown over it. She frowned, then put on a determined face and waded as best she could toward it, finally having to lean over a few piles to catch its sleeve and pull it free. Looking through the glass, she finally noticed just how low the top was as her cleavage mashed conspicuously into the last pile of books she’d leaned over. She of course noticed in the reflection Shigure over her shoulder, intently focused not on her front but on the backside her current angle was displaying for him. The girl smiled coquettishly over her shoulder at him, “You’re quite right Shigure-san. I like this dress even more now that I can see it all so plainly.”



“I couldn’t agree more Tohru-kun,” He began, dragging his eyes from her bottom and back to her face. He thought she might be mad at him for such obvious staring, but her coy look had him perplexed. But always up for a good plot twist, the novelist pressed on. “Now it’s very nice of you to agree to my request to see you in your White Day dress, but a birthday present should be big event; I’m turning 28 you know. And I’ve just now noticed how dreadfully untidy I’ve let this place get; could you help me to perhaps clean this pigsty of a room? In your present dress?”



Both smiled pleasantly when Tohru held out a hand and asked for her feather duster. The pair set to work; Tohru busied herself with piling dirty clothes and dishes by the door and restocking bookshelves with the piles around the room, while Shigure sat and made an effort to rearrange his paperwork back into piles of incoming and outgoing work. But although these were the tasks at hand, subtle efforts were being made by the novelist to further sweeten this evening’s cleanout.



Being seated on the floor gave him a tremendous view of his favorite little wife’s creamy white thighs, and quite often a quick peek under her teasing blue skirt. Piles of books closest to him were the ones to be filed first of course, and though many of the piles had large and heavy texts he always forgot to tell her to prevent a back injury by crouching down first and lifting with her legs instead of simply bending at the waist like she insisted on doing.



Tohru’s thoughts also swayed from time to time; she only saw it logical to file books from the highest and most tip-toey shelves down, and to place every cup and bowl evenly on the floor, even if it took a long time in her bent over position to ensure that none of the dishes contents spilt and stained the mats. Finding piles behind Shigure often meant that she would have to lean over his seated back to show him the name of a textbook she didn’t recognize, a simple movement that consequently had various parts of them momentarily brushing and grazing against one another.



For as long as it seemed to them, the pair made short work of the task, and soon the room was as good as new again. Tohru left to retrieve a laundry basket for the clothes while Shigure ran a load of plates down to the kitchen. He called softly to her as he reached the top of the stairs, “I put the dishes in the sink with a little water over them if that’s alright Toh….” Tohru sat beside her basket in the center of his now spotless room with her heels together, knees butterflied outward. Stopping for a breath she’d tilted her head back to the ceiling, shoulders high, supporting her weight on her arms which angled back behind her.



That sloppy and submissive posture was almost his undoing. He could plainly follow the muscles in each leg as they ran from sock-covered feet up her calves, connecting to smooth, tantalizing inner thighs and silky pink lingerie. His eyes roved up to a lightly heaving bosom and sinewy neck that he could nearly have feasted upon. Audibly gulping, the man thought it best to quit while he was ahead. He backed slowly from his doorway, calling, “Thanks for your help tonight Tohru-kun, but now I believe it’s time for a bath so if you’ll excuse me I must be going,” and quickly disappeared down the hall.



Once she was sure he was gone, Tohru sucked in a breath, letting out a sigh that quickly dissolved into giggles. She rolled as she laughed, the musky scent of Shigure in the futon she lay upon finally quieting her, “Aha ha, Ahem.” She rolled and sat up; speaking directly to the empty room, “Take charge! Roar! And such...”