The Lies Gods Tell

A/N: More manga based than anime; that means Akito isn\'t dying, the ending never happened, and he\'s maimed a couple other characters. This was also written pre-chapter 97, so it\'s not consistant with any canon past that point.

Anyway, angst, graphic sex, mild violence, and strong language warnings.

Disclaimer: They’re not mine, but I wrote this.
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\"She\'s a good girl, you know. It took quite a lot of effort to keep her there after high school. You should be thanking me.\"

The figure on the futon was silent. That was either a very good or a very bad thing. Shigure didn\'t want a black eye, but he continued.

\"She bears no ill will toward the family, despite your best efforts. She doesn\'t even dislike _you._ I think she wants to figure you out, ne? That could be a good start. You always wanted to be figured out.\"

\"Being picked apart is hardly my idea of fun, Shigure.\"

\"Understood, Akito, I merely mean understood. She\'d want to make the effort. It\'s why she\'s never been hurt right?\"

\"Never been hurt?\" Akito\'s rasping voice took on a dangerous edge.

\"Well, comparatively. Never beaten? No broken bones?\"

\"That can be changed.\"

\"Could be, could be. Anything\'s possible, right?\"

\"No.\"

\"But _this_ might be?\"

\"You are trying my patience. Tell me your point, or just leave.\"

/Shit..../ Shigure\'d gotten himself into a corner. /...Oh well! /

\"We\'re out of time on this. It has to be now, or find another way. I don\'t think there is one.\" Akito liked to the point. Shigure wasn\'t going to give him anything to criticize.

\"Heh. It won\'t work, you know. You\'re wasting your time.\"

\"You\'ve been saying _that_ for years. It just depends on your effort.\"

\"And hers, I\'d imagine?\"

\"Tohru-kun works very hard at everything she sets her mind to.\"

There was a long pause. Shigure forced himself to not to hold his breath.

/I might have pressed to hard, this time. Crap./

\"Do whatever the hell you want. I\'m tired of this.\"

Shigure smiled and rose to his feet.

\"Shigure... you can\'t have it both ways.\"

The dog\'s expression faltered for the briefest of seconds. Akito couldn\'t see that, but Shigure knew he picked up on the dog\'s change in posture. He continued.

\"I don\'t care if Hatori does his little trick, or she\'s found bloodless in a ditch, she will be gotten rid of if she is anything less than productive. Also, you personally will be held accountable for any hitches. I know you have a certain lack of affinity for needles, correct? Are you still certain you want to go through with it?\"

Shigure smiled.

/Two threats? One _ought_ to\'ve been enough./

\"I\'m sure I can pry her away from the boys for a day or so. She does work at a company of ours. I\'ll just arrange to pick her up and take her here. Friday fine, or are you busy moping?\"

Akito scowled at him.

\"Ah, no no, it was brooding Fridays, ne? Moping\'s Tuesday.\"

\"Get. OUT.\"

\"Your wish is my command, Akito. I\'ll come back later to work out the details with you.\"

When Shigure had exited the room, Akito had, by his estimate, forty-five seconds to himself. He used that time to say a few pointed and very bad words.

-*-

Shigure strode into Tohru\'s break room at work. He knew if he wanted her out, he had to talk fast. If she understood, she\'d get impossibly stubborn.

\"Tohru-kun! So glad I found you! We\'re late!\"

Tohru dropped her chopsticks in surprise. The last thing she\'d ever expected was her employer to show up. \"Sh-Shigure-san! Leave work? I\'m just on my break. I have another shift today! Why--\"

\"I had a word with Momiji-kun\'s dad. He fully understands and you won\'t be docked any pay. No worries! Now, let\'s go!\"

Tohru would usually let herself be dragged along, but her feet stayed firmly in place. The ladies at the same table glanced up at the good looking man then back down to Tohru. Shigure grinned.

\"Tohru-chan, you never told me you worked with such gorgeous women! You should tell me all about them when we get home!\"

The women\'s mouths dropped open. Tohru went temporarily limp from shock, and Shigure took the opportunity to yank her out to the hall.

\"Shigure-san, where are we going? I can\'t just skip work for--\"

\"Tohru-kun, I wouldn\'t take you out of work for anything so frivolous as a date! Besides, I\'m much too old for you! I think I\'d strain myself.\" he gave her a warm smile and resumed dragging once her dazedness returned. He got her out to the car before she was able to speak again.
-*-

They\'d gone to the Main House. Tohru knew, in principal, that Shigure had a car and could drive, but had never gone anywhere with him. He usually wheedled a ride off of Hatori.

Once out of the car, Shigure took her through a small garden adjacent to the largest building she\'d never seen, and led her up to the porch. He sat next to the screen door, and opened it slightly, waving her over to sit down.

\"Shigure-san, I don\'t understand. Why am I here?\"

\"One moment!\" he said sunnily. He reached into the dark room and waited. Eventually, he pulled out a piece of very nice paper and handed it to her.

\"Oh! It\'s pretty!\" she said, \"But... is it for decoration...?\" Tohru\'s eyes went wide, \"Oh, no, Shigure-san doesn\'t need to give me anything! You gave me more than enough for my birthday and--\"

\"Ne, Tohru-kun, it\'s not for decoration. Would you read it?\"

She looked down at the calligraphy.

\"Uhm... I don\'t have my dictionary. And I, uhm I don\'t know all these words. The kanji is harder than normal....\" She flushed.

\"Oh, quite alright!\" His face tightened for a moment. Her blush deepened.

She wanted to look smart, but when it came down to it, she couldn\'t get into college if she\'d wanted to. Kyou even had a hard time, but he had an acceptance. Kyou never struggled with grades like she did, even though he had to work harder than most to get the grades he did.

Shigure took the paper back and held it at arms length to read, since he didn\'t have his glasses with him.

\"It says:

Red petals fall, soft
leaving a velvet bed there
on the shaded ground

Should think it beautiful
Where I saw her parting lips?\"

Tohru\'s face reached almost beet color, \"Uh... Shigure-san... I... uh....\"

\"Don\'t know what to say? Don\'t worry, I came prepared for you!\"

\"What?\"

Shigure reached into his pocket and took out a small red book. There were three paperclips wedged into the pages.

\"Why does Shigure-san have my dairy?\"

\"I didn\'t read it, I just marked some dates I knew of.\" Shigure put his arm back through the door again. His arm jerked as if it had been snatched. Tohru blinked as event after event failed to compute.

\"Shigure-san, who\'s in there? D-did... someone...?\"

\"Write the poem? Of course he wrote it! Stayed up all night. Those things are hard, you know!\"

Shigure left out the part where the \'poet\' got frustrated and threw the brush, ink, and eventually the table across the room. He had, however, put forth some effort. The results were actually quite nice.

A muffled grunt made Tohru jump. A long set of pale fingers yanked open the screen door. Akito was sitting in a formal set of robes that were entirely too large for him. He stared disdainfully back at them.

\"A-Akito-s-san....!\"

\"Honda Tohru-san.\" He replied cooly. He glanced her up and down quickly, like he was appraising her value as livestock.

\"Yes, very nice to see you again as well. Now that that\'s over....\" he turned to Shigure, \"Fine.\"

\"Say it to her, not me. I\'m not much good, at this point. Do whatever you want!\"

Akito ground his teeth. His eyes snapped around to look at her again. Tohru flinched and looked down at lap.

She panicked when she noticed her sitting posture and quickly changed it. The skirt of her maid uniform wasn\'t short, but it came most of the way up her thigh if she sat too casually. Worse, it wasn\'t a formal enough posture to present herself to the Head of the Family in, she was sure.

She looked up just enough to see Akito was watching her. She shifted on her ankles, suddenly uncomfortable.

\"Two days.\" Akito said.

\"A-a....?\"

\"You will be seeing me in two days. Now go away, I\'m done dealing with foolishness.\"

Shigure held out his hand. Akito looked at it then up at Shigure. Shigure kept a light smile on his face. Akito growled and stood, reaching into his robe, and tossed the diary at behind him as he walked across the room. Shigure caught it easily and handed it to Tohru. Akito\'s raspy voice shouted for Kureno as he passed out of sight.

\"I think we ought to get while the getting\'s good.\"

\"W-what?\"

\"We should leave. Now.\"

\"Oh, r-right.\"

Shigure walked quickly to his car, Tohru following close behind.

\"Uhm... will I miss work again...? I\'m at home, Sunday....\"

Shigure opened his car door. It was too hot inside to risk getting in right away. Shigure was not as sensitive to heat as Hatori and much better than Aya, but it was still a risk. He let the door stand open for a few seconds to let the heat out. Tohru\'d seen Hatori do that, so she wasn\'t confused by it.

\"Hmmm? Why would you?\"

\"Akito-san....\"

\"Well, he didn\'t say when he\'d see you. He would\'ve said if it were here. Don\'t worry, I\'m sure he\'ll be able to find you. Akito-san knows your schedule.\"

\"H-he does...?\"

\"Well, he won\'t let just anyone live with us and know about the curse. I had to convince him you were unique at first.\"

Tohru\'s first instinct was to protest her uniqueness, but the last part caught her attention, \"At first?\"

\"Well, then he saw you a few times. Heard rumors. Investigated for himself. I\'ve had little coaxing to do on that front for a while.\"

Satisfied with the temperature, Shigure got in the car. Tohru followed him in.

\"Does Akito-san... like writing poetry?\"

\"It was an effort for him. I know Tohru-kun likes doing hard things. I can\'t cook at all!\"

\"Oh, no! Cooking isn\'t so hard!\" He glanced at her with false hurt and she realized what she just said, \"Oh! That was rude! I-I mean, it\'s no problem for me, I like it! But it was really hard starting out, and still is when I do new stuff, but I really like it once I have the hang of it!\"

\"Ne, I\'m not offended! Maybe it\'s like that with anything worth doing for everyone.\"

\"Yes. Am I going on a... date with Akito-san?\"

Shigure snorted, \"No, no. I... I can\'t imagine Akito on a-a _date_....\"

\"Oh. I guess not.\" She wasn\'t reassured. If Tohru couldn\'t think of it, it might be unthinkable, she reasoned. She bit her lip.

\"Don\'t worry,\" Shigure said when he caught his breath again, \"Tohru-kun should just be Tohru-kun. It\'ll work out.\"

\"All right....\"