Moth to the Flame

-Disclaimer-
Again…Fruits Basket is not mine. Don’t hurt me…
~Shuen

-Chapter Three-

“Hatori hates listening to you babble. He doesn’t have time for you, does he? He doesn’t care a bit about you, your shop, or anything that has to do with you.” Akito smirked and stared at Ayame, waiting for his reaction.

“This is your secret?” Ayame laughed nervously again. “That couldn’t possibly be true, Akito-san~! I know that Tori-san cares, he just doesn’t always show it. Besides, he’s very busy…so I wouldn’t really expect that he would have a whole lot of time for me, or really for anyone else. Anyway, I think he would have told me by know, don’t you?”

Ayame was satisfied with his rationalization of the situation. No one could hate him, he was far too charismatic and lovable for that! Especially Tori-san, he had always been there to help Ayame out. Of course it never was with a smile, but that was always how Hatori was, wasn’t it…?

“Ne, Akito-san, Tori-san doesn’t really hate me, does he?” Ayame bit down on his lower lip. This all had to be some kind of a joke. One of those jokes that Ayame would have never found funny. Probably one of those sick things that Akito did when he was bored and needed some entertainment, so why had Ayame even asked? If it was a joke, what was the point of even asking Akito…but then again, why was Ayame even doubting himself? It had to be about this afternoon…yes, a joke on his part after Akito had seen him fret over Gure and Tori-san. He wanted to kick himself for even considering it to be truth.

Akito slid behind Ayame, wrapping his arms around the snake’s neck and resting his chin upon his shoulder. Ayame could feel Akito’s warm breath beside his ear and he shivered slightly.

“I’m surprised you didn’t know…” Akito trailed off and fiddled with the top button of Ayame’s shirt. He continued until he had released it from the button hole, smirking to himself. Ayame let out a breath, trying to calm himself. He wasn’t sure what Akito was doing now, but he wanted to leave. He was once again distracted from his thoughts as Akito began to speak again.

“He doesn’t even talk to you unless you talk to him first. He cuts off your conversations and he certainly doesn’t volunteer information about himself. He talks to Shigure-san before he talks to you, everyone knows it. Everyone, it seems, except for you. He doesn’t call you, does he? Don’t you think it all means something?”

Akito slid his hand down Ayame’s chest and unhooked another button, this time much more swiftly than the previous one. Ayame squeezed his eyes shut and bit down harder on his lip, nearly puncturing it with his teeth in the process. He shivered as Akito slid a hand beneath his undershirt and brushed his delicate fingers across the pale flesh of his chest. A small sigh escaped from his lips in response to Akito’s touch. It certainly felt good, but it didn’t feel right. This was the way that lovers touched, he had never dreamed that he would be touched like this by a family member, let alone Akito. He shivered again and shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts and pull away from Akito’s grasp.

“He’s busy…all the time. He doesn’t have time for calls…a-at all…” Ayame finally bit down hard enough on his lip to cause a thin line of blood to fall from the corner of his lip. He had so many thoughts running through his head that he couldn’t just pin one down for a second to think about it. Akito’s words had stung him and sent him reeling. But sitting here now with Akito’s hand caressing his bare skin was illiciting a whole new set of emotions. He was afraid of Akito, but for some reason he couldn’t pull himself away. He let another sigh fall from his lips and finally ripped himself away from Akito, tearing his white undershirt in the process. He could fix that later, what he really needed was to get out of here.

He stumbled to his feet and turned to face Akito, whose expression had become dangerously blank. He backed away from the shorter boy and into the small table that had once separated the two, falling backwards and connecting painfully with the floor. He sat there stunned for only a moment before Akito was on top of him. Akito straddled his stomach, pushing him down to the floor and pinning his arms roughly down onto the floor. Ayame’s eyes widened at the strength that was being held in Akito’s small body, and had it been any other situation he would have dwelled on the idea. He felt like his wrists were going to snap off, the other was holding them so tightly. But all he could do was stare up at Akito, amazed and terrified at the sudden situation. Akito leaned down uncomfortably close to Ayame’s face and let a parody of a smile pass over his lips.

“Hatori-san doesn’t have time for you, but I do…” Akito said as he leaned closer to Ayame’s face. All Ayame could do was stare.