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

2: Lying in Wait

(Just reiterating once more! 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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(2 days later..)

(Akito's P.O.V)

I was standing in the snow.

The cold, blistering wind was whipping at my skin, pushing my kimono back and forth, and seeping snowflakes through my body and into my veins.

I was caught in a storm.

And I was fully aware that he'd left me here.

Why...?

Why would you leave me here?

I began sauntering through the snowstorm, my legs bare and icy cold against the sharp wind as I tried to meander my way to some sort of shelter. I could remember the faint remnants of his warm hand stroking my cheek and telling me 'it'll all be alright'.

'I'll come back for you.' He said.

'Because you...you are my only love.'

But he never did.

He left, strayed away through the storm and kept me still, silent in the night. I was so thin and frail, I couldn't weather this storm alone. He told me he was always going to stay with me.

Yet...

Here I was.

It took what felt like hours. I limped, wobbled, and fell into the snow many, many times. The conditions were fragile; white out snow-covered sheets of ice just panning across my face. Covering my skin. Blinding my eyes.

Enshrouding my heart.

And when finally, I couldn't take another step; too cold to go on, I dropped into the snow. I fell forward, my white kimono and black hakama encircling me in a heap.

I'm cold. I'm tired. I'm alone.

What is the point of going on, when no one will come to save you...?

I blacked out. My eyes closed, and my mind settled. His face, Shigure's expression of kind, yet obstinate betrayal, was the last thing I saw.

I thought.....you loved me...

'But...I do.....'

That warmth, that same heat that I trusted, was spreading through my body.

I groaned lightly. My eyes flittered open, and I registered the ambient lights of the candles around me. I was in an empty room, with tatami floors, panelled walls, and scrolls lining the doors.

My room...

His bare skin was pressed against mine.

'I've always loved you...' Shigure's barbed voice; sweet yet sour, loving yet conniving, was worming it's way into my heart. Into my very soul.

'But...why did you leave me?'

I spoke the question, but his lips were already trailing along my neck and down my collarbone. His thin but strong fingers trailed down my side, then curled his muscular arms around my back as he pulled me even closer.

I was drowning. Soaking in the heat and the overwhelming scent of him. My mind was reeling. I was already losing control.

'Oh, you didn't realise yet...?' The Dog of the Zodiac hummed his deep, dark voice against my skin as I turned over onto my side and showed my bare back to him. His curious fingers were already winding down, farther and farther...