Sohma Shigure stared at the open word-processing document on his computer and willed words to appear. When they didn’t, he leaned back against the wall. Balanced his pencil in the space between his nose and lips. “Hmmm-ed” a little. But when he looked back at the screen, it was exactly as he’d left it. Boring. Slow. Cliché
To put it succinctly, he was stuck, and not in a good place.
He doodled on a scrap of paper. What he needed was a subplot, something to speed up the story and catalyze the main character’s realization of love for the male lead. He growled. Why couldn’t he think of something? She was already so close to realizing it, why couldn’t he think of a single thing to spark it?
So much for being a great novelist. He crossed his arms and laid his head on them. Mit-chan really was going to kill him this time.
He heard the door slide open and raised a hand in greeting. It was Tohru, of course. Neither Yuki nor Kyou ever deigned to visit him, and Hatori always called before he came over, not nearly often enough. Ah, well. Tohru was always wonderful to have around. Maybe she’d make him a snack? He smiled at the thought and lifted his head.
Tohru was standing in the doorway, looking... nervous? No, anxious. Shigure frowned.
“Tohru-kun? Is something the matter?” Tohru startled a little, as if he had knocked her out of her thoughts. His frown deepened. Sure, she was pretty spacey, but even for Tohru, this was abnormal.
“Ah, Shigure-san, can I--can I talk to you?” Thousands of possibilities whirled through Shigure’s mind, the worst ones involving school and the things people there might have done to her. His eyes narrowed. If that was the case, then a few hints dropped to Yuki and Kyou tomorrow morning would certainly send the problem to the hospital.
“Certainly, Tohru-kun. What would you like to talk to me about? Maybe you’ve decided you’ll finally consent to being my bride?” She immediately began protesting that no, she could never ask for such a wonderful husband as she was sure he would be, and other things he didn’t quite understand the logic of. He smiled. Silly Tohru, she had things all mixed up again. There wasn’t a man alive worthy of being her husband.
“It was a joke, Tohru-kun. Now,” he slid himself out from behind his desk and motioned for her to sit in front of him. “What did you want to talk to me about?”
She kneeled and smoothed out her skirt. Then she smoothed it out again. Then she straightened out the small throw rug she was on. Shigure rested his head in a hand and waited.
“Tohru-kun?”
She jumped. “Y-Yes?”
“Are you going to talk to me, or are you going to clean? I do have a deadline next week.” As he’d predicted, she launched into a flurry of apologies, which fortunately died down quickly. She took a deep breath.
“Ah, Shigure-san... do you ever dream?” He blinked. Didn’t everyone?
A thought struck him. Could she have been dreaming of her mother? That would explain why she’d been so down these past few weeks. This was more important than his stupid deadline. Mit-chan would just have to get a stronger antacid prescribed.
“Yes. Actually, I have very vivid dreams.” He was sure she’d die of embarrassment if he told her what those dreams were about, though, and he didn’t feel like teasing her now, not if she was having mother-problems. “Why do you ask?”
“Well.” She paused for a moment. “I’ve been having dreams lately.” She blushed. “I had one last night. I--I’m in the kitchen, cooking. I’m just in my apron, but I don’t know why. And then,” Shigure was certain he’d never seen that particular shade of red before. “And then, Sohma-kun comes into the kitchen as well, and he--” she made a motion with her hand, as if she couldn’t bear to say any more. Shigure stared for a moment. Then something clicked.
“Oh,” he said. “Those dreams.”
Tohru nodded miserably. Shigure’s mind could not quite wrap around this concept yet, so he decided not to dwell on it and just press on.
“So,” Shigure said, leaning back on his palms and studying the young woman in front of him, “why is dreaming about Yuki-kun a bad thing, Tohru-kun? He’s very beautiful.” Tohru blushed and wibbled, and Shigure had to hold his breath to keep from laughing out loud. She was just too adorable when she was embarrassed!
“I... oh Shigure-san, I don’t know what to do! It’s not just Sohma-kun, it’s also Kyou-kun--” Shigure’s ears perked. Yuki and Kyou? This could be interesting. He wondered how they’d take the news.
“--and it’s wrong to wish for so much, isn’t it? But I can’t control my dreams, and they come every night--” He briefly entertained the notion of sneaking into Tohru’s room one of these nights to watch her dream, but the thought was quickly cast away. It would be highly dangerous to both his life and his conscience, not that he had much of either.
“--and they’ve been so kind to me, and you have too Shigure-san, thank you so much, and I shouldn’t be thinking things like that about them when they’ve been so kind to me!” He frowned. Tohru was so much more oblivious than he’d thought. He knew for a fact that neither Yuki nor Kyou would object at all to being the focus of Tohru’s lust-filled dreams, though maybe they would have a problem with appearing in them together.
He spent a moment trying to imagine Tohru’s dreams, but gave up. Even with this newest revelation, he couldn’t mentally place Tohru in a sexual context. Romantic, maybe, but not sexual. Too bad for him. He turned his attention back to her just as her hysteria was winding down. She was looking at her hands, clenching the fabric of her dress in her lap. It lifted the material up just slightly, he noticed.
“Tohru-kun,” he started, wondering what he could say that would bring about the desired result. “Tohru-kun, would you please look at me?” When she was slow to comply, he leaned forward and gently tilted her chin up.
“Shigure-sa--”
“Tohru-kun, there is nothing wrong about having these kinds of dreams. You’re a young woman, and Yuki-kun and Kyou-kun are very attractive.” He brushed a thumb across her cheek. She was finally looking at him, and Shigure decided to make his move. “I think you should tell them.”
“But Shigure-san, what if--” He lifted his other hand and placed a finger on her lips, silencing her protests.
“I think you should tell, them, Tohru-kun, “ he said, his voice intimate. “It would make them very happy.” His thoughts warred for a moment, and his libido finally won. Yuki and Kyou weren’t sharing types, so this might be the last chance he’d ever get. He cupped her face with both hands and leaned forward so that their foreheads were touching. Tohru had to try twice to get the word out.
“Shigure-san?” Her voice was nearly a whisper, exactly the way he liked his girls, and he cursed the tattered remnants of his conscience. He’d never be able to make her happy the way they could.
For the first time ever, he was jealous of his young cousins.
“Would Tohru-kun mind if I was to give her her first kiss? So that she can be skilled in kissing for Yuki-kun and Kyou-kun?” He held his breath.
“If... If Shigure-san doesn’t mind teaching me how to kiss.” He smiled and closed his eyes, brushing his lips, once, twice over hers, before finally pressing them together firmly. Tohru was frozen, so he massaged the back of her neck until she moved her lips tentatively against his. Her lips were so soft.
The dog inside Shigure howled that he couldn’t pass an opportunity like this up and not regret it, so he opened his mouth and parted her lips with his tongue. She froze again, but like before, she relaxed after a moment. Her mouth opened and he explored.
Dear gods, it had been too long since he’d kissed a woman, far too long. He was the one whimpering as he tasted her, releasing something inside he’d never quite acknowledged. Sliding one hand down to her shoulder and the other to the back of her head, he crushed their mouths together until his conscience yelled at him that he wasn’t the one she wanted, damnit. He probably wasn’t even third choice. He pulled away abruptly and held her forehead to his, trying to calm his breathing.
“And now,” he said, “Tohru-kun knows how to kiss.” He forced himself to back away from her, back into a sitting position. He felt cold.
“Th-Thank you, Shigure-san.” Tohru rose unsteadily, bowed, and quickly made her way to the door, only to stop at the doorway and look back at him. His heart pounded again. How could she look so delicious after only one kiss? “I’ll do as you said, and tell them. But may I please talk to you again if I get confused again?”
“Of course, Tohru-kun. Any time you want.” She slid the door closed. Shigure sighed. And here he’d thought he’d mastered his libido. Sure, he talked dirty, and he loved looking, but he’d never seriously considered someone so young as a partner before, especially not someone who was living with him. Especially not Tohru.
And she was in love with the other two occupants of his house. Somehow, he always missed out on the good stuff. He sighed again. Maybe it was time for another visit to the red-light district. Maybe Hatori would go with him. He needed a good dose of conscience right now, or he’d do something Yuki and Kyou would kill him for. He stood and moved to the doorway.
The instant his hand touched the door, though, he knew he couldn’t call Hatori right away. There was something far more important he had to do first. He rushed back to his desk and scribbled out two pages of notes. One of the main character’s wards involved in a love triangle with two of her friends. Watching their little drama play out, the main character would finally come to realizations that would lead the story to its thrilling conclusion. Perfect. Absolutely perfect.
Now all he had to do was wait for Tohru’s little love triangle to play out. It would probably put him over his deadline, but oh well. He almost had a full collection of unpublished short stories in his desk drawer; a few more to round them out, and Mit-chan would have nothing to complain about.
And if he was a little jealous that said love triangle didn’t involve him, well, that was something he’d just have to deal with. Besides, no matter how many times Yuki and Kyou kissed her, or where, he’d always be the first.
He stood again, ready to face Hatori and the red-light district. Or maybe... no, it was stupid, dreaming of things Hatori would never consent to. Maybe he’d buy a sweet boy, and play that particular fantasy out tonight. Maybe not. It really had been too long since he’d had a woman.
“Well,” he said, gazing out the window at the setting sun, “I’ll just have to wait and see, now won’t I?”
