Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Breathe No More ❯ Who wants to live forever? ( Chapter 1 )

Breathe No More
Chapter one
Who wants to live forever?

Why? Why couldn't he just come? Why, in god's name, did he have to go through this every time?! He really wasn't asking much. Just stop by every once in blue moon. But no, Hatori had to hunt these boys down for their checkups. Every. Damn. Time. When Kyo was younger, he and Kazuma had to forcefully drag the cat. Yuki STILL won't come. And now, here he was, hunting down Hatsuharu. Was he really asking that much?! Really, was he?!

Actually, Haru had forgotten -- completely and utterly forgotten. He was just coming back from Shigure's house, in fact. So, Hatori really hadn't needed to be so annoyed; or...maybe he needed to be MORE annoyed? It didn't matter what he needed to be. The fact was he WAS MORE annoyed. Either way, Haru got to come home to a very irritated Hatori.

"You --" He snorted once the ox appeared. "You are coming to my office. Now." He was tired of it. He'd gone to the school to get Yuki, he'd been kicked and bitten more times than he cared to count by the other children at various points. And now, Haru was going to be compliant -- OR ELSE.

"Am I?" Haru blinked, rather unintelligently. "Why?" Though, slightly frightened by his cousin's tone, he went anyway.

"You have a check up." The dragon murmured. "And I absolutely refuse to chase you down, like I have to do with Yuki."

"O...kay..." Haru agreed, speeding up to catch Hatori's stride. When the doctor got like this, it was best to just go with it.

"You will sit." The doctor murmured, motioning vaguely as to where. Then, the great examination began!

There were two reasons why Hatori's younger cousins always tried to skip out on their check-ups: they were boring, and they usually involved needles. So far, the needles hadn't made their entrance yet, but that didn't change the boring problem. (Well...that, and Hatori's stethoscope was really cold...)

Hatori frowned irritably at something and proceeded to poke and prod at the ox. Well, that just wasn't right... He dragged Haru off to another part of the office where there were larger pieces of equipment and began prodding and poking at him with those.

"Ow..." Haru mumbled flatly. It was fairly obvious that he wasn't suffering too horrible of a pain, but being poked and prodded with large pieces of equipment wasn't exactly comfortable.

"You." The dragon demanded.. "Why is it that you weigh a good 20 pounds less than you did before? You were already underweight."

"I haven't been hungry...?" He offered, uncomfortably. He knew Hatori wasn't going to accept that, but it really was true.

"No. That one does not excuse you weighing a good 30 pounds under what you should." Ha'ri sighed. "Hatsuharu, that's not healthy."

"I can't help it." Haru pointed out with a sour look. "I haven't been hungry," he repeated. It really was his only excuse. He ate until he was full, and then he stopped.

Tori eyed him in annoyance, and that's when the needles made their appearance. If that was REALLY the case, he would just have to make sure he wasn't sick. Having blood drawn like that just happens to hurt...which was a perk, to the sadistic doctor.

"Ow!" Haru repeated, with a slight glare. "Tori-nii, isn't it a bit counter-productive to HURT your patients?"

"Quite whining. You're already an emaciated little twig. A little pain won't hurt you." The doctor answered dryly before taking that blood over to get examined. "Besides, I enjoy it."

"That's an unorthodox thing for a DOCTOR to say." Haru stated, but he let it drop then, and just waited for Hatori to complete his examination.

There was some further frowning on the doctors part.

"Nnn. I think I need to stick a tube down your throat." Tori murmured.

"What?" Haru spluttered, sure he must have heard incorrectly. Why had Hatori just said that...?

"How else am I supposed to get a look at your insides?" Hatori shrugged, examining his little blood sample a bit more.

"But-- but--" He stammered before just sighing. Great...just great...that was perfect.

Oh yeah. That was fun. Actually, not really. Hatori was not happy as unpleasant signs continued to build up. He got some samples from inside the ox while he was at it, too, but those would take longer to look over, so he told the ox to go home and fucking eat; he'd call him back later. Haru went, and he ate...a bit...He'd meant it when he'd said he wasn't hungry. He'd just come from Shigure's -- it was obvious that Tohru had tried to shove food down his throat there, too, and if that hadn't worked, he highly doubted that trying to entice his appetite himself would.

The next day Hatori called him in after school, and he still wasn't sounding too happy.

"You're diseased." The man sighed.

"Diseased?" Haru repeated with an odd look. "With...what?"

"Nnn. The name of the disease isn't going to mean much to you." Hatori told him. "But all signs point straight over to Pulmonary Fibrosis." Well, this sucked. He'd certainly failed as a doctor if his patient had gotten this. "...Lung disease."

"What's it do...?" Haru wanted to know, his eyes narrowing slightly. "In simple terms."

"Kills you eventually?"

"Ah..." Haru blinked a few times, and was pretty sure his brain stopped functioning for a minute. His knees certainly did, as he sat down heavily in the nearest chair. Dying? That...wasn't good...

"Nnn, the worst of the symptoms haven't started yet because you're still young." The doctor explained a little. "And if I get you some medicine...and if you actually take it...it should help, but there really isn't anyway to stop it."

"Great." Haru responded in a flat tone, finally. "That's...great. I should...go now."

"All right. I'm warning you now, don't overdo anything. I don't know how fast it will progress; it was just recently in the noticeable stage." The doctor warned him seriously.

"Yeah..." He agreed with a small nod. "I'll be careful."

He waited a moment, before getting back to his feet, once his legs would actually support his weight again, and slowly walked out of the room. His pace grew faster the further he went. There was someone he wanted to spend as much time as he could with...especially now that he knew he might not have that much left to spend.

[NEW CHAPTER THINGY (MAYBE)!]

If he was really lucky, he wouldn't get lost. While he ran off, Hatori set about looking for something that might potentially be helpful, but there wasn't a very high chance of that.

The residents of Shigure's home were very surprised to see him. He'd just been over yesterday, hadn't he? What was he doing back so soon? Tohru let him in anyways and just made off a short list as to where everyone was: Shigure was in his study, Kyo was in the kitchen and Yuki was upstairs in his room.

Haru thanked her quietly, and set off for Shigure's office. He didn't bother to knock; he knew Shigure wouldn't care.

"Hi..." He greeted softly, closing the door again behind him.

The dog turned to look at him and smiled up from his chair.

"Well, isn't that a pleasant surprise. Haa-kun is back." he was happy to forget about what he was actually doing in favour of the ox.

"Uh...yeah...not so pleasant, actually." He smiled tiredly back at him, and just went over and sat down in front of him. "I just saw Tori-nii today..."

"Oh?" His older cousin slouched forward so their eyes were level. "Did he hurt you? He is horribly sadistic like that."

"Uh...no." He shook his head a bit, and took a deep breath, fully prepared to tell Shigure Hatori's diagnosis...but then his stomach dropped, and he started wracking his brain for an good cover up. "He said it looked like I might be getting a fever, and I should be careful." He lied quickly, hoping that maybe (just maybe) Shigure wouldn't notice the slight lack of honesty in his statement.

The dog raised an eyebrow slowly. What a load of crap.

"That just won't do then." He murmured. "You should be at home resting, if that's the case."

"No!" Haru protested quickly. "No, no...I wanted to see you..." He could tell Shigure wasn't buying a word of his bullshit, but, unless the dog said something...he wasn't sure he could work up the nerve to tell him otherwise.

"So your plan is to get me sick as well?" The writer teased idly.

"I...really don't think it's contagious..." He tried...He also wasn't sure how much longer he could lie about this. Seriously, Shigure was bound to notice, at some point. Like...when he was dead.

"Oh, but you never know with these things." Shigure grinned. "Sometimes they don't seem to be a problem, just real small, and then 'poof'! You've gotten everyone sick, and it gets bigger and spreads."

"You don't believe me, do you?" Haru asked, with a withering look.

The dog snorted. "Well, crap. What gave me away?"

"The fact that I've met you?" His withering look melted into a sort of wry grin, and he just leaned forward against the elder’s chest. "It's a bit more serious than a fever...and it's not contagious." He added slowly. He'd decided it would probably be easier to say it now, then whenever it was doing whatever it was supposed to do.

"Oh?" Shigure wondered. Hatori had obviously scared the poor kid. He'd have to go over there and tell him to stop doing that. First he was making Tohru cry... Now he's scaring Haru. "What kind of horrible disease has Haa-san decided you have?"

"What'd he call it...?" Haru pondered it for a moment. "Oh, yeah. 'Pulmonary Fibrosis'." He quoted carefully, casting an appraising look up at Shigure as he spoke.

"He's sunk to new lows." The older man raised an eyebrow with an odd look. "Just dumping fatal lung diseases on people. Really. He should stop that."

"Sensei," Haru sweat dropped slightly. "I...don't think he was joking."

"Neither was I. I'm sure he could have found a much nicer way to tell you about it than he did." Shigure mused. "Like...well, you see, Haa-kun, Fibrosis is really just a misunderstood blessing. It doesn't have any direction in its life and it's latched onto your lungs in rebellion. It's looking for some structure. So, in a way, you're actually helping this poor mislead disease. You're such a kind person."

Poor Haru sweat dropped a bit more.

"You really ARE an idiot..." He decided in a bemused tone. "You make it sound like a teenager gone awry..."

"Nnn, I am what I am." The dog shrugged.

Haru shook his head a little, and let it rest against Shigure's chest.

"Am I allowed to be scared?" He wondered finally. It sounded stupid, even to his own ears, to ask if he was ALLOWED to be afraid to die. But...it really was the only way he could think of to phrase it.

"Yes," The brunette nodded. "Most people are at the threat of death. It's a big complicated mortality thing that everyone has to deal with at some point."

"I'm not scared of death." Haru pulled back a little, to look at him properly. "I'm scared of dying in a slow and painful manner, but not of being dead."

"Same difference." The dog grinned wryly. "Death and its manners come in a nice bundled package."

Haru eyed him for a moment longer, before just shaking his head a bit.

"I don't know why I'm getting so upset over this." He admitted, trying to calm down. "I mean, everyone's dying, right? It's just one of those nasty effects of being born."

"Ah, now you listen to what I was saying about mortality." The older man teased. The ox was a lot like the cat in that he tended not to listen the first time people said something...

"I was listening." Haru protested a bit. "It just...didn't make sense until then..." That really didn't do much for his defence, and Haru knew it.

"Don't worry." The brunette grinned. "You're not dead yet."

"I'm aware of this." He confirmed with a small nod. "I don't think it would be that easy a mistake to make, you know? The difference between being alive or not."

"You can just never be certain." Shigure chuckled.

Haru sighed, for a moment, before he realized something.

"Tori-nii didn't mention how it kills..." He mused, mostly to himself.

"I'll ask him when I go to scold him for scaring you." The dog snorted.

"He...didn't scare me..." He lied, squirming uncomfortably.

Shigure smiled knowingly at him. "Oh yes. My apologies. Nothing like that would scare the great Haa-kun?"

"Well...not TOO scared..." He relented a bit. It still wasn't completely honest, but his pride wasn't willing to let up anymore.

The dog choked on his laughter before ruffling his hair. "Haa-san failed to mention most don't die of Fibrosis until their fifties, didn't he?"

Haru blinked a few times, before blushing and hanging his head.

"Yes..."

"I told you he was a sadistic jerk."

The ox looked quite put out at this point.

"He made me think I was going to keel over next week!" He complained grumpily.

"Hnn, maybe not next week." The dog murmured. "But, if it's far enough for Haa-san to notice, you might start experiencing some rather unpleasant symptoms. It is a lung disease, after all."

Haru let out a few sarcastic snorts of laughter, that slowly melted into a groan.

"Great! That's just perfect..."

Shigure pet his head nicely this time. "Just thought I'd pass on a little warning. Some of your usual activities will probably aggravate it. Don't want you dying before absolutely necessary."

"No more training or sex?" Haru looked appalled at both ends of it. He couldn't think of anything else he did that might aggravate a lung condition, and he wasn't willing to sacrifice either. "That's no good."

"We don't want you dying, now, do we?" Shigure snorted. "Since, if love hurts, then sex must kill."

"But, what's the point in living at all, if I'm not going to enjoy it?" Haru countered with. "Live life to the fullest, right?"

"Nnn, your quote does beat mine into the dirt." The dog agreed with a dramatic shrug.

"I know." He agreed with a smug little smirk. "So, there will be no pacifism or chastity vows."

"It's a bit late for chastity." Shigure pointed out idly.

"That's beside the point." That smug tone slipped into something of exasperation. "Don't ruin my good point."

"Ah, yes -- my apologies, Haa-kun!" His older cousin snorted helplessly.

"Yeah." He snorted, feeling much better now that he was sure he wasn't going to die at any given moment. "Forgiven."

Shigure played up his role as the dog for a moment as he nosed against the ox gently.

"You are far too kind, master." He mocked mercilessly.

"Hush?" Haru requested simply, turning his head to meet Shigure's lips, as he was being nosed.

"Mm," The man licked his lips when they pulled apart again. "Normally, it would be a required response for me to be even more obnoxious. But for you I'll make an exception." He informed the boy.

"Thanks so much." The ox snorted, only a little sarcasm in his tone.

"You're welcome." Shigure grinned wryly. "It takes me a lot of effort not to be a jackass, after all."

"I'm aware." He promised, before kissing his older cousin again.

The writer pulled him in closer this time. Despite all outward appearance and joking, he wasn't exactly pleased to hear his cousin had a terminal illness. But he really isn't the type to stress over it, either.

"You're very good at that." Haru commented, once that kiss broke. He was surprised Ayame and Hatori would give him up...

"When you can't cuddle the pretty girls you have to find some way to keep them happy." The writer explained dryly. "And now I use it to brainwash pretty little boys to do my bidding." He was kidding. Sorta. Yeah. Kidding...

"Is that how you got Tori-nii?" He wondered.

"Yes and no." The dog shrugged. "I needed Aaya's help with him. But between us, yes."

"I'm impressed." He admitted, and he really was. "Could I possibly talk my wonderful lover into walking me home, so I don't get lost?" He asked next.

"Nnn, for a dog treat, maybe." This time he really was kidding. Really.

"Damn." He snapped his fingers teasingly, playing along. "I left them at home."

"We'll just have to go get them then, won't we?" He needed to go and tease Hatori about scaring his little boyfriend anyways.

"Sure." He agreed with a grin, before placing one more kiss on the dog's lips, a quick one, and standing up. He did have homework to do...

Shigure followed suite, telling his little housemates to fucking behave themselves while he was gone and if anything was broken when he returned he would kill them.

"You're so sweet." Haru complimented sarcastically. (A sarcastic compliment? Wouldn't that be an insult, maybe?)

The dog raised an eyebrow and grinned lecherously. "Glad someone thinks so." He was choosing to ignore that sarcasm.

"Of course." He nodded, grasping Shigure's hand, almost possessively, as they started off for the main house.

Well, thanks to the writer, they made it back. It was a miracle Haru had made it there on his own to begin with; best not to press his luck with the returning trip. He was even nice enough to make sure the misdirectional creature made it all the way to his room.

"Thank you," Haru smiled up at him, once they got to his room. He even dared to risk it and give Shigure one last kiss. He hadn't heard anything about Akito all day, he was sure that they wouldn't get caught. Who knew? The head might not care, even if they were.

Wouldn't matter either way. Once he was close enough Shigure wrapped him up and backed up until his own back was against the door. No one was coming in until he moved. He tightened his hold around Haru's waist and happily deepened this kiss. They couldn't do this back at Shigure's. There was always someone poking their head into the dog's study there. But here, there were some different circumstances...and Shigure wanted his dog treat, anyways.

"I told you..." Haru smiled again, once they broke apart. "...that I had a treat for you."

His lover nibbled on his neck teasingly. "And a very tasty treat you are."

"You're not the first person to say that." That wasn't exactly true...Well, not those exact words, anyway.

"You have dogs licking you often, Haa-kun?" The taller man laughed as he kept up his assault on the kid's neck. What could he say, he did taste good.

"I didn't say that." Haru pointed out, running his fingers through his lover's hair. "Did I?"

"I'm a writer." Shigure breathed out carefully. "It's my job to twist around words."

"Yeah, well," He shrugged a bit. "I don't like people twisting mine."

"Touchy, touchy, Haa-kun."

"Nnn..." He shook his head, and urged the man away from his neck. "You're going to give me a hickey."

"That would be fun." The author grinned broadly, but went with the urging anyways.

"I have homework." Haru informed him, giving up one last kiss, before ushering him to the door. "Lots of homework."

Shigure sighed dramatically. "I'll just have to go play with Haa-san then..."

"Don't play too much." Haru warned teasingly. He knew Hatori wouldn't do anything, even if Shigure DID try to cheat on him. Not that he thought he would, of course.

"Hmm, you're right... I can't play too much without Aaya around as well... Drat." The dog pouted as he left for the dragon's house.


To be continued…

~“There’s nowhere left to hide
In no one to confide
The truth burns deep inside
And will never die…” –Muse (Sing for Absolution)~
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