Chapter 4 - Tenuous

Tenuous/ˈtenyo͞oəs/ - (adj) very weak or slight

"I'm home!" Shigure announces his arrival in a jovial manner.

"You're the last one here, Sensei." He looks up to see that Hatsuharu had been the one to greet him, Hatori standing just a few paces behind the cow of the zodiac.

"Hey, Haa-kun, Haa-san! Nice of you to meet me at the door!"

Hatori subtly snaps at Shigure as he walks up the couple steps onto the main floor. "No easily confusable nicknames."Shigure immediately makes a comeback, this kind of banter was normal to them, after all. "No being so stuffy all the time!" He then focuses his attention on Hatsuharu. "Haa-kun, long time no see."Disregarding his greeting, Hatsuharu glances around. "Where are Kyo and Yuki?"

Shigure walks forward as he explains, the two pairs of eyes trailing after his tall form. "Ah, them... Well, not to put too fine a point on it, they're... skipping?"

"Skipping?"

"Oh?" Hatsuharu thinks about it and then tilts his head back to the side slightly. "I can already picture Kagura's fiery rage and Akito's icy-quiet fury." All three of them can picture it too, riding on the same wavelength.

"Well, what now?" Hatori asks.

"Relax, I'll handle Akito-san with Mayumi," Shigure assures them, his hands clenching slightly inside his sleeves at his own mentioning of Mayumi and Akito.

Hatsuharu sighs. "Sheesh... I was looking forward to my last fight of the year."

Shigure shivers, cold sweat appearing. "Haa-kun, please don't break my house like the others."

"I can understand why they'd want to skip, though. I've got painful things I sometimes want to run away from, too," Hatsuharu explains, empathizing with their decisions.

"Actually, I don't think it was about running away this time," Shigure says, thinking back to how frantic the two were when racing back to the house.

"What do you mean?" Hatsuharu asks, wondering what else it could be.

Before he could answer, a brightly clad figure appeared ahead of them. "Shii-chan! You're finally here! The banquet is about to start.""Hi, Momiji! I'm looking forward to your dance."

"Ja! Schwester will be watching me too!"Something in Shigure's face darkens slightly, but it goes away just as it appeared. Momiji wasn't sure if he really saw it or if it was just a figment of his imagination.

"There's something to deal with first. Who knows how Akito will react to hearing that those two skipped?"Hatsuharu's question throws Momiji for a loop. "Hmm? Skipped? What's going on? Is someone skipping the banquet?"

Shigure slides open the doors to see the empty banquet room and walks across to slide the shoji doors to Akito's room. While the sight wasn't what he had ultimately hoped for, it was enough for right now. Akito was being cradled by Mayumi as they both sat on the tatami flooring, the only light was behind Mayumi's back, a sole lamp. Akito didn't bother looking up, instead tightening the grip on the older woman. "Good evening." He steps closer, his socks making a shuffling sound against the floor. Well, for now, it's nice to see you reaping what you sowed, Akito. Mayumi glances at him, the same expression plastered on his face, the one she wished she had never seen in the past nor see again in the present and future

"Look, Haa-san! Valentine's chocolates from me!" Right after announcing those words, Shigure receives a harsh shoji door slam in his face by Hatori.

He slowly opens the door, crocodile tears running down his face. "I'm sorry, I lied. They're from Tohru-kun"

An irk mark appears on Hatori's forehead as he insults Shigure in his mind. Idiot.

After heading inside, Shigure sets down the cutely packaged bag of Valentine's chocolate that Tohru made herself.

"She's a conscientious girl," Hatori comments as he sits down in his chair.

"That's an understatement. There's some for Mayumi, Momicchi and Haa-kun, too," Shigure says as he himself sits down in a chair as well. "She evidently planned to bring them here herself, but I offered to do it! Because guess what? She, Yuki-kun, Kyo-kun, and Kagura are on a double date today!"

Hatori had turned his head towards him while he was in the middle of talking. "Well, that's unexpected.""Isn't it?" Shigure tilts his head back with a closed eye smile. "It's totally Tohru-kun's influence. Gotta be. They're probably enjoying a movie right about now."

Hatori moves to pick up his teacup. "I can imagine her influencing them. She has a way of softening people, similar to Mayumi."

"You know, I maybe kind of picked on Kyo-kun yesterday, and he got pretty freaked out...""Don't freak him out." Hatori was wondering why his friends consisted of them. Why was he friends with them again?

"But when he came home with Tohru-kun, he was back to normal. She's practically their tranquilizer."

Hatori peers at him before commenting, "You certainly look satisfied. Things are going just how you planned them."

"What's with the criticism I'm detecting here?" Shigure asks with a non serious tone.

"Like hell you're 'not using' her, you bald-faced liar. " Hatori opens his eyes to look directly at Shigure. "You and Akito are both using Honda-kun as a pawn to play for your respective ends and gains. This is just like what happened to Mayumi in the past."

Shigure looks to the side. "Do you remember that morning we dreamed? The morning you, A-ya, Mayumi, and I all cried? It turned painful for all of you afterwards... But me? I still have those feelings inside of me. That affection. That fervor, so thrillingly sweet and sad. That vow is still right here," Shigure says, lifting his hand to his chest. I'm not bothered about deceiving or using a few people to get it. Even if it ends up hurting someone."

Hatori lets out a sigh. Out of exasperation? Frustration? Disappointment?

"I do feel bad about that sometimes, you know. Especially when I'm looking at Mayumi and Tohru-kun. Because Mayumi's my sweet childhood friend that I took advantage of and Tohru's a really good girl. I think they may be a little too pure for me, though. Mayumi ended up broken and I couldn't fix her. I couldn't hit rewind and make everything go back to how they were. I don't think she'll ever look me in the eye again with anything other than apprehension. And sometimes, Tohru forces me to realize... that I might be the dirtiest of all of us."

His tone suddenly switches to a less solemn one. "Well, I really am dirty, of course." Shifting his tone again, he addresses his friend. "So, Hatori... I'm jealous even of you. Maybe I'm the most cursed one of all."

Hatori blinks at his blunt acknowledgement. The door suddenly slides open, dissipating the somber atmosphere, and a servant appears. "Doctor, it's time for Akito-san's checkup."

Shigure stands up, raising his arm. "Okay, Doctor, I'll go and perform a great job as your substitute.""I saw that coming," Hatori states dryly.

As Shigure gets ready to leave, Hatori sees him out. "Thank Honda-kun for me when you get home."

"Sure, sure."

Before Shigure leaves the house, Hatori says something. "Whatever ending you're headed for... Be prepared to lose a tooth. I don't know whether it will be Yuki-kun, Kyo-kun, or Honda-kun, but you're sure to end up eating a punch from at least one of them."

Shigure chuckles and says under his breath, "I think I would prefer that instead."

"Hmm? What'd you say?""Ah, haha, true enough. I'm not looking forward to the pain, but I'll reap what I sow.""I won't be your ally in this. But I won't work against you, either."

Shigure lets out a breath. "See you later, then."