Your Answer ( A Fruits Basket Shigure Sohma x Akito Sohma Romance)

1: When the Air is too Thin

(Just a quick warning! There is some heavy spoilers of the entire FB story on this book. There's a possibility I could spoil you if you aren't entirely caught up to the end of the manga. So please read at your own risk!)

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Ting!

Ting!

A hypnotic aura filled the dining room. With the entire wooden framed space filled with only perfectly cleaned tatami mats, three small, wooden tray tables fit for only those that took a seat on the floor, and 12 plush cushions -

It only meant one thing.

Tonight was a night of celebration. The night to ring in the New Year with each and every living zodiac.

Tonight...was a night for the selfish God.

And the ritualistic dance; a toast to the tradition, was the main entertainment for the evening.

Momiji, the rabbit, spun and swung his body from left to right, clad in an ornate gown with long, gilded sleeves and traditional hat. Shining colours of gold, silver, pink and white sparkled amongst his pale skin -

Fufufu.

But it was just trivial, really.

There were only so many that knew the truth: Momiji was the bait for this fortnight. He was the pearl that held Akito's stare.

My eyes didn't readily shift from the Hare as he spun, yet in my peripherals, I could see each of my cursed family members watching dully. Though they remained silent, I could see the questions burdening their minds:

How many years have we done this? How many more years would this continue?

....how long would we have to suffer like this?

I was the only one brandishing a smirk. Of all the zodiac, only Hatori, Ayame, Kureno and I truly understood the fact that crawled through the Sohma veins:

This dance would continue to last. Every year, for an eternity.

For as long as Akito wanted it to.

Speaking of which, the caramel brown hair of the Rooster swayed at my far right. I immediately glanced to my left, and noticed the dark persona of the God as she got to her feet.

My jaw instantly stiffened.

I watched her - with her white kimono and red obi swaying lazily behind her, as she stood and sauntered meekly out of the room.

You must be bored.

You must be...yearning for something more, tonight.

She could never feel it. She never noticed when the tension in the air between us rose; becoming so tight and thin, it was as if only the two of us existed on the very tip of a mountain so tall, it touched the sky.

I can't breath. Not when you do things like -

"Kureno."

Akito turned over her shoulder and just barely glanced his way. The Rooster stood impartially and, without a single utter of direction, silently followed after the God and out of the dining room.

The two of them dissapeared in an instant.

Not when you do things like that, Akito. The attention you give to him, instead of myself -

You might as well strangle me.

I got to my feet as well. I wouldn't be caught dead remaining at this banquet, now that Akito and Kureno had retired for the night.