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Like a Switch	By : Demonic_Host Category: Fruits Basket > Het - Male/Female Views: 4208 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 3
Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, own or make money from Fruits Basket or any of its associated characters.

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Like a Switch
Chapter Three

As he sat down at the table, he leaned back on his hands. It wasn't long before an exaggerated sigh filled the entire room. Shigure had been heartsick after seeing the bill he had received just to spend those few minutes with you. Right up until that point the young, aspiring writer had been fully committed to spending each and every night at the Hostess club until he found out what you remembered. When he did or when he earned your trust by being the wonderful, devenir man that he was he would whisk you back to the house on his white horse. There you would live surrounded by family and friends for the rest of your life! He would make sure you needed for nothing, especially companionship! And in the winter when it got colder you and he would snuggle under the blankets doing whatever it took to keep up circulation. Shigure could see it all in his mind's eye as he smiled widely, humming to himself some happy thoughts.

"What are you doing now?" Yuki grumbled as he found his way to the main room.

Shigure opened one of his eyes and stared at his rather disheveled cousin. It was true that Yuki often had a hard time waking up in the morning; Shigure had never been sure if being a night owl was a rat thing or just a Yuki thing. Either way it meant that more often than not, Yuki woke up as late as he possibly could. If one could call this half zombie like state awake that is. Shigure did note that today he seemed to be extra unready to face the world. Not that he was much better off himself. After everything was said and done, Shigure had gotten home at one in the morning and had still taken a shower before going to bed. Only unlike Yuki he woke himself up about an hour ago.

"Just thinking," Shigure answered, nearly in singsong.

"About what?"

His grin might have been infectious if Yuki didn't know him very well. As it was just based on his smile, the gray haired teen already regretted his question. Unfortunately it was too late to take it back.

"About how fun it will be to have the family all together again," the older man said with a pleased tone in his voice.

That was not the answer that Yuki had been expecting. He stared at his cousin with a tired yet critical look. Shigure's pleased expression practically closed his eyes as he fantasized aloud.

"Having Anita here will be wonderful. We can do all the things families are supposed to do together! Eat dinner together, play games, watch movies, it will be wonderful."

"We already do all those things together thanks to Miss Honda."

Shigure's pleased expression still didn't fade. "Yes, you're right. Miss Honda has been everything we could hope for. Which is exactly why she will make the perfect daughter. You and Kyo will be the sons of course. Ah, we already have such a large family to take care of. "

Yuki decided that Shigure had officially lost it. He was making it seem like you were just going to step right into their lives and go with the role that Shigure had already envisioned for you. Which apparently was the mother of the house. While Yuki would personally like to know how having a loving mother who he could have actually hugged and clung to as a child felt, he was nowhere near as delusional as Shigure. There was no way that you were just going to step in and play house with all of them. Besides it would be weird - he didn't remember you looking nearly old enough for that. In fact, you looked somewhere between his and Shigure's age though the violet eyed teen knew that sometimes looks were deceiving so he didn't want to rule anything out just yet.

"But I hope you know that the tub isn't nearly big enough to hold all of us so it will just be Anita and I," Shigure's musings took him to a much less wholesome place than before. "Besides the three of you are too big to see your new mother undressed. Shame on you! You were picturing it weren't you? I suppose as your new papa, I should punish you though...but how can I blame you?"

Instead of saying anything to him, Yuki just took a step backwards out of the shoji screen door and slammed it. He didn't have the time or energy for perverted ideology. As he started down the exterior hallway Yuki nearly ran into Tohru. She looked up in surprise, her dark brown eyes wide as she finished tying her apron.

"Oh Yuki! You're awake?"

"Yes," he responded.

There was no reason to be rude to her just because he was put into a bad mood by his perverted cousin. He just had to ignore the wistful sighs from the incorrigible bastard in the other room. He felt dirty just by association.

"What would you like for breakfast? I know I am running late but I can make anything you want!"

She certainly looked up to the challenge. Yuki couldn't help but stare at her in appreciation. Even though it was her summer break as well, Tohru wasn't taking it easy. She still insisted on doing everything to take care of the house and them even though he felt she went above and beyond. Yuki had tried to convince her to take it easy but Tohru had argued she wouldn't be holding her end of the bargain that they all had struck nearly a year ago at this point. On top of that she still found the drive and energy to go to work as part of a maintenance staff. She was amazing and he admired her drive.

"Uh, Yuki?"

"Yes Miss Honda?"

"Are you alright?

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

She looked embarrassed as her eyes lowered self consciously. "Well you were staring so I didn't know if something was wrong or if I had something on my face."

"Nothing like that," regardless of how drowsy he was, Yuki managed a smile. "Have I ever told you how much I admire you?"

Her blush was practically instantaneous. Yuki brushed some of her hair away from her face, drawing her attention back to him entirely instead of her looking away trying to find something to say back to him.

"Truly. I admire you. You work very hard Miss Honda. Too hard sometimes I think but you don't let that slow you down for one minute. It's an admirable trait."

Tohru couldn't find anything to say back to him. At least nothing that made complete sense. She started to explain how she wasn't as good as she thought. How she thought that she was actually very lazy. But Yuki wouldn't hear anything about it. He decided to completely ignore her attempts and just stepped in closer, slowly drawing her in for a hug.

"Thank you for taking such great care of us," Yuki said as he gently wrapped his arms around her.

The moment their chests touched and his arms closed, however, he felt the change happen instantly. His clothes dropped to the ground and he found himself clinging to Tohru's apron to avoid following them. Yuki couldn't help the swell of injustice in his chest. Nor the sadness. He knew they weren't cured but after yesterday...it had been a foolish hope. He was worse that the idiot cat. Whatever magic you had woven into him two days ago had definitely worn off. He should have known…

"Ah, I thought I heard someone transform," Shigure said, looking out from the room that Yuki had previously closed. "Another accident so early Yuki?"

Yuki closed his eyes as he slowly made his way to Tohru's shoulder. He didn't want to hurt her with his claws but it felt much more acceptable to sit on her shoulder compared to clinging to her torso.

"You really should take care. What if Tohru's friends had been around? I know that you're trying to explore your manhood but you should learn to control your urges like the rest of us."

"Shut your mouth," Yuki said as he perched on an overheated Tohru's shoulder. He had enough of his cousin's perverted mind.

"So mean," Shigure responded back despondently. "What did I do to deserve such a resentful son?"

The look on Tohru's face was priceless. Shigure secretly enjoyed the look of confusion and panic that quickly fraught with her embarrassment. The Rat was not so easily distracted.

"You're not my father. You need to stop those dirty fantasies of yours. Besides that how do you know that Miss Anita will even want anything to do with you? She obviously didn't believe whatever you told her last night since you came home so upset."

He knew it might have been a little too critical of a thing to say. Especially based on the slight gasp he received from Tohru. Yuki wasn't sure if he could have stopped himself though. He was tired from staying up to wait for Shigure. He was disappointed that Shigure had blown it; whatever it had been to begin with. He was upset at himself for harboring any hopes to begin with. He was frustrated that Shigure wouldn't stop involving him in his perverted fantasies. And to top it off he had a slight ache of longing over the idea that there was a small chance at being almost normal only to realize that it was probably just another cruel joke that the curse bestowed on the Sohma family.

"So mean," Shigure repeated as he slunk back into the room, taking an air of gloom with him.

Tiredly, Yuki turned his attention to the shocked girl he was taking refuge on. He let out a sigh and his silvery shoulders slumped.

"I'm sorry you had to witness that, Miss Honda."

"You don't need to apologize to me!" Tohru deflected as she held out her hands.

Yuki took his chance and shuffled into them. Tohru bent down so that she could set him on the ground. She stayed near the ground with bent legs, using her hands to keep her skirt in place out of modesty. After all, Yuki would have been at the right height in his rat form to see everything under her skirt if she wasn't careful and he wasn't such a gentleman.

"But I think you were a little hard on him."

"I don't want to be a part of his twisted fantasies."

"I think it's sweet that he thinks of you like a son. I know I would feel honored if someone loved me that much."

Yuki went quiet. He turned his eyes towards to closed door where Shigure was no doubt pouting at the table. He hadn't thought about it in that way. Shigure was only ten years older than he was, too young to be his actual father. Yet he had given him a place to stay when he needed. He had convinced Akita to let him stay away from the estate. And he made sure to keep food on the table and lights on. Even by just staying at his house kept him safe from Akito's possessive nature. In that way, Shigure had taken better care of him than even his own parents ever had.

Still...Yuki couldn't help the uneasy feeling he had over the idea of playing house in Shigure's dream world.

Before he had a chance to say anything in return to Tohru's statement a small amount of smoke filled the area with a pop. The girl before him made a sound of surprise as she hurried to cover her eyes and turn around. Embarrassed at being caught naked yet again, Yuki hurried to get dressed. Thankfully he only needed to slip on three different pieces of clothes. As he was tying the top collar of his shirt, the teenager made a sound in the back of his throat. That way Tohru was clued into the fact that he was decent. She still hesitated a moment as she lowered her hands, which only made Yuki feel a bit more guilty over the fact that he thought for even one moment that it would be okay to hug her like any normal human should have been able to do.

____________________

"I didn't think you'd want to see me after yesterday."

Shigure couldn't help but collapse into the rounded leather seat as he stared up at you. Despite the fact that the last bill had been horrible and he was probably going to have to dip into his savings, he couldn't stop himself from coming. He even made sure to dress better than before regardless of the fact that he absolutely hated ties.

You stared at him as you tried to ignore the churning sensation inside of you. There was something so familiar about this man and you couldn't quite place it. It wasn't fact that he had been a customer yesterday. It felt like something deeper. Maybe he just had one of those faces. Other than that you were quite nervous over the fact that yesterday he had already known your name despite that you'd never told him.

"Why wouldn't I want to see you?"

Sure you were nervous about the man before you but you were at work. The man was a paying customer and you weren't in the position to turn down the commission price you would get from him ordering drinks. Especially if he bought them at the rate he had last night. You worried about his finances. As far as you were aware, writers didn't make nearly enough to support that kind of habit. Then again maybe he just did that on the side as he had inherited a large financial estate or something. He certainly did look comfortably and not nearly as stressed as the working men that this place usually attracted. Then again you weren't sure if you would survive the professional jealousy of the other girls if that was the case.

You pushed that thought back for now you saw him smile. It was sort of small and reflective, as though he had a warm thought stuck in his head.

"I thought I scared you off with how familiar I was yesterday."

You sat down next to him as you released a mental breath. At least he realized that something hadn't been quite right yesterday. He knew he'd been too familiar but you weren't sure if he knew the half of it. Even with your misgivings there was something about him you couldn't pin down. If it wasn't for the fact that you'd never told him your name you would have even enjoyed his familiarity. It was much...well more innocent than a lot of men who felt comfortable enough to touch you. At least he didn't go to fondle or touch you inappropriately; the most adventurous thing he had done had been the hug.

"Let me guess - you haven't had many women avoid you before have you?" You teased him slightly.

"Can't say that I have."

"I can see why."

He seemed pleased by such a small comment. He wasn't the only one who liked to be told such things but with him it didn't feel like a lie. It wasn't often that you saw a truly attractive man in the club. There were passably handsome ones but it wasn't often. Despite how strange it was that he knew your name and that you couldn't help but feel like you knew him despite not even knowing what to call him, you'd admit to the fact that there was a certain appeal to his face. And while he looked a bit uncomfortable in his suit with his hand loosening the already loose neck, he did fit it well.

"Besides, why do you think you were too familiar?"

The question was a little off track for the normally conversations you were instructed to adhere to. However you had to find out how he knew your name. If he was the stalker type you would need to let your boss know so that the situation could be mitigated.

"I'm not sure but I figured it would have been the only reason you would have left in such a rush," nearly as soon as he finished saying this, Shigure ordered himself a small bottle of sake and looked to you. "What would you like?"

"The house wine please."

You didn't feel like drinking too much alcohol, not this early at least. A lot of girls in your line of work got a bit too addicted to drinking even if they learned to hold it well. You were determined that you didn't want that to happen. So every night you gave yourself a limit of one or two alcoholic drinks. All the rest were coded to help the girls like you stay sober without giving offense to the customers. Like with the house wine it wasn't actually wine but red grape juice which had been watered down to resemble the right color.

The server brought the drinks back over in record time. After all the more drinks that a person got, the more money the place made. And it wasn't just from the overpriced beverages either. The faster a customer got drunk the faster they would have to be sent home. Which made room for another person to pay the house cover charge when they walked in and sat down.

"I just thought it wasn't fair of me to keep you all to myself," you offered with a smile.

He didn't quite seem to believe you. Though you could see that his ego had been inflated regardless.

"I do have a question for you though, you brought up after taking a sip of your drink.

"Oh?"

"What's it like being a writer?"

It seemed you opened up the floodgates with that one. Talking about his work, the fact that you remembered his profession. There were moments in the conversation where he seemed overly dramatic and moments when you actually got an intellectual discussion with him. As time passed you realized that his dramatic moments were almost meant in a playful way but he also used them to deflect or buffer what he thought could potentially hurt him. He was using humor as a way to protect himself. It was just a different type than most people may have thought. Almost like those dogs who played cute when they knew there was a chance they could be in trouble. Any time something came up that he thought could lose your favor he played cute. The behavior was enduring and so damned familiar.

"Oh wow it's nearly midnight," you said as you caught sight of his watch, which in and of itself seemed an antiquated system.

He had already been at the club for four hours. That was quite a stretch of time. There were others who had stayed the full night but you never envied them their bill afterwards. On top of the cover charge there was an hourly fee. Not to mention the drunk servers were trained and encouraged to keep prompting the to buy the expensive beverages. It really was a lucrative way to make money but you couldn't help but feel slightly bad for the men who lost track of time. A lot of them had families to get back home to and provide for.

"Is it really? I didn't notice," Shigure said in a way that made you worry about him.

Even for you it was a bit worrisome that he hadn't even indicated that he wanted another girl or two to talk to this whole time. Most men liked to go through at least two girls in order to reaffirm what the first one said. It was a way to reinforce the ego in a society that liked to keep them under wraps. Not to mention the whole modern era concepts of beauty even for men that tended to damage people's sense of self worth. Sometimes it was therapeutic for others to hear that they were desirable in one way or another from attractive people.

"It's hard to keep track of time when you're having a good time," you chimed back pleasantly though you didn't feel the sentiment completely.

Based on the way that he reached out to pull you into a hug, which was his first major contact of the night, he didn't seem to notice. That probably had to do with the various alcohols he had drank, the ruminants which had been systematically cleaned up so to delay the idea of how much he had already drank.

"I'm having such a good time too," he echoed your comment, his words thicker than they were an hour ago.

You felt him press his face into your neck and you obliged his actions. You were used to this from other customers. Not all Hostess clubs allowed for very much contact but Yozora was among those that did. Yozora allowed for the clients to touch all of the girls as long as it was above the waist and wasted a kiss on the lips. So Shigure's actions might have been seen as very forward in all other public places but they were actually fairly mild compared to what you were used to from most of the overworked men that frequented the bar.

You felt him breathe in deeply as his hands loosely looped around you. His nose buried its way into a very ticklish, sensitive part of your neck as though by instinct. You were able to suppress any extravagant reaction you may have had; you had a lot of practice after working at the Hostess club for as long as you had.

His breath came out slow and hot against your skin, seeping down your blouse with ease. With a sense of disengagement you placed your hand on the back of his head, more soothingly than erotically. It wasn't until you heard the ever so quiet tell tell signs that you realized he had fallen asleep on you. Ever so gently you flagged down a server. It only took a few minutes for his bill to be rung up and for a taxi to be called to drive him to his residence listed on his ID. Just like clockwork. The only issue was that when you gently started to rouse him out of his sleep, Shigure refused to let you go.

"It's time for you to go home," you said gently against his tightening grip.

You nearly jumped when you heard a sound come out of his mouth. Was that a growl? A wave of deja'vu gripped you and sent your mind down memory lane. You pushed back the memories and focused on detaching the grown man. You'd settle for waking him up so he could do it on his own. He didn't seem to be all that helpful to fulfill either desire.

"Sir, you need to get home. You will feel better when you climb into bed."

"No," he mumbled. "I'll keep paying. I don't want to leave."

You felt a mixture of annoyance, amusement, and sadness at his words. How lonely must this man be to want to keep paying his hard earned money just so he could sleep next to (well really on) another person. The position he fell asleep in didn't even look like it would be that comfortable.

"I will be right here tomorrow, waiting for you," you tried to switch your tactics a little bit. "But what kind of relationship can we have if you don't get a good night's rest?"

Your question must have been too complicated for his sleepy mind to comprehend. All you got out of him was some incoherent mumbling. That and he scooted closer and rubbed his face into your neck. You couldn't stop the chills from forming from that, nor could you stop the shiver that raced through your body. It didn't matter that he was half asleep, that he was a client, and that you had gotten used to being touched on your neck and shoulder. There was something about the way he did it that invoked such strong sensory memories that you could help but feel attached.

You decided you needed to be a little more deceiving in order to get him to go home. Slowly you stood, keeping your hands around the affectionate man. You murmured soothing things to him as you and he moved rather ungracefully out of the club. Before he work up enough to realize what was happening you were able to slowly switch with one of the only guys on payroll once you'd gotten him up the door. You watched with a sort of trepidation as Shigure (though you still didn't know that was his name) was brought to the taxi and coaxed in still believing that you were the one doing it. You felt bad that you had to trick him but he hadn't left you much choice. Hopefully when he got home he realized his folly before he made a fool of himself.
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Like a Switch