Finally! I've completed this set. Now I only have three left.
Fandom: Fruits Basket
Pairing: Yuki Sohma/Kakeru Manabe
Theme: Gamma
Rating: PG-13
#01 - ring
They moved in a full circle, but a flipped circle - they started out with Yuki not liking Kakeru much, to reaching an understanding, to being friends, to becoming lovers, and last, to Kakeru not thinking too kindly on Yuki; like they say, all things come full circle.
#02 - hero
Kakeru may not have been a ‘super-hero’, but he saved Yuki from himself, which was astonishing even for the greatest ‘super-hero’. (1)
#03 - memory
Memories are powerful and a heavy burden to carry alone, so when Akito demanded Kakeru’s memories be taken away, Yuki was right behind him; he wasn’t strong like Momiji or Hatori, he couldn’t cope with looking at Kakeru and remembering, knowing that he was the only one holding onto the past.
#04 - box
“What,” Yuki asked in a deadpan, staring flatly at the other boy in front of him; “I said I’ve always wanted to box! You know, like Muhammad Ali or something!”
#05 - run
Kakeru thought Yuki ran from things - any kind of confrontation, which is why the former currently had the latter pinned to a wall, tongue plundering the other’s mouth, hands in his pants working furiously, and the only thing that Yuki could think was that he certainly wasn’t running now.
#06 - hurricane
In Yuki’s opinion, Kakeru is like a hurricane; he comes in, tosses everything upside-down and shakes everyone around, and then, just as suddenly, leaves everyone else to pick up the mess.
#07 - wings
Kakeru was Yuki’s guardian angel; he was always there for him and, though often misplaced, tried to protect him.
#08 - cold
“Open wide,” Kakeru said with a beam as he spoon-fed Yuki chicken noodle soup; Yuki glared at the other boy, but complied, grumbling, “I can’t believe I let you talk me into camping outside in January.”
#09 - red
Yuki glared at his boyfriend, glared hard, although when you think about it, he should be used to this; Kakeru had bought their Halloween costumes, Power Rangers again, in two colors: black and pink; dammit, he wanted red this time.
#10 - drink
Their first time, Yuki had had one too many drinks at the bar, and that was his excuse to all of the questions, but it didn’t explain the leap his heart made every time Kakeru entered the room, or the nervous blushes, or how he was completely sober when he pinned his friend to the front door of his dorm room and thoroughly ravished his mouth.
#11 - midnight
He plotted, plotted for weeks, for this one moment, organizing everything, every detail and movement, and he was to attack at midnight, but, as he crept down the hall to their shared room - stealthily - he was ambushed, a hand clasped over his mouth and a voice, like a velvet caress, in his ear, “You’re too predictable, koi.”
#12 - temptation
Tempting - that’s how Yuki saw Kakeru, being around him all the time yet not being able to touch, it was just too tempting… if only things were different, if only they were alone, if only Yuki wasn’t dating Machi.
#13 - view
Yuki paused in his stretching and glanced over his shoulder to find brown eyes staring hungrily at his torso, his lips curled into a smirk; “Enjoying the view, Kakeru,” he asked, his voice teasing.
#14 - music
Kakeru thinks Yuki is like a composition from one of those classical composers - like Beethoven, Bach or Mozart - Yuki just shakes his head dismissively when Kakeru states this, but Kakeru knows better.
#15 - silk
Yuki’s hair, Kakeru discovers, doesn’t actually feel like silk, as many other people believe - its course and thick, but he finds that it suits the ‘prince’ moreso than if it were silky.
#16 - cover
“C’mon, Kakeru,” Yuki said for what felt like the tenth time in as many minutes, “you can’t be late;” Kakeru just grumbled and pulled the covers over his head.
#17 - promise
‘I’m sorry, Kakeru… I really am… We didn’t mean to hurt you,’ was Yuki’s explanation; really, Kakeru had known all along, despite the other man’s assertions that there was nothing between him and Machi… besides, promises were made to be broken, right? (2)
#18 - dreams
Yuki dreamt of freedom, freedom from his family, from his peers, from everything, and that’s what Kakeru offered, an escape from his fractured reality, his own real reality.
#19 - candle
It all started with a candle - Kakeru had dragged Yuki into a New Age store, and declared that he wanted a love spell, so the store owner had given him all the necessary supplies and directions, and of course Kakeru wanted to do it immediately, so when they got back to the dorm, Kakeru managed to convince Yuki to help him with the ceremony - and so now, a week later, Yuki finds himself with his arms on the wall on either side of Kakeru, both boys eyes wide and confused.
#20 - talent
Kakeru had a knack for getting into things that were way over his head, Yuki had always known this, but that still didn’t stop him from wondering how he’d accomplished this: being a candidate for President of the United States.
#21 - silence
There was a time, B.K. - before Kakeru - when Yuki was used to silence, it was the only thing he knew; now, he can’t imagine his life without the constant thrum of noise that came from being with Kakeru.
#22 - journey
Their path had been a difficult one, filled with obstacles, but somehow, just somehow, they made it out together, just as strong, if not stronger.
#23 - fire
Kakeru was like fire, passionate and full of life, always excited about something and threatening to ignite everyone around him with the same excitement and zeal. (3)
#24 - strength
They each took strength from the other - Yuki leaning on Kakeru when his parents’ expectations of him got to be too much, Kakeru clinging to Yuki when all of his carefully constructed ‘rightness’ started to crumble away - and neither was ashamed.
#25 - mask
Everyone knew Yuki wore a mask, hiding his real feelings and thoughts behind a cool, detached persona, but Kakeru did that too, only his mask was one of happiness and carefree, and only Yuki who got to see beyond it, holding the other man when he thrashed because of nightmares, wishing that they didn’t have to deal with the pain of their pasts.
#26 - ice
If Kakeru was like fire, then Yuki was like ice, cold and unyielding, beautiful yet deadly, but holding so much potential that Kakeru had to try and draw him out of that chill, to make him thaw. (3)
#27 - fall
In hindsight, he should’ve seen it coming - there had been no sound from the other occupant of the apartment all day, so he really shouldn’t have been surprised to have something solid collide with his back and find himself falling to the floor, a knot of limbs and clothes.
#28 - forgotten
Sitting innocently on the floor, surrounded by haphazardly strewn clothes, was a mostly empty bottle of whiskey, seemingly watching the chaos it had caused.
#29 - dance
Traditional dancing Yuki knew like the back of his hand, he had to because that was part of the New Year’s Feast, modern dancing was another thing - Kakeru was a pretty good teacher though.
#30 - body
Kakeru, Yuki determined, knew his body just as well as Yuki himself, if not better.
#31 - sacred
To Yuki, the time when they were in bed - exhausted despite Kakeru’s stamina - and Kakeru was snuggling into him, his hand curled under his chin and resting on Yuki’s shoulder, was sacred.
#32 - farewells
Kakeru always made their good-byes drawn out and dramatic, which could sometimes get on one’s nerves, like now; “Kakeru,” Yuki sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as his lover clung to him, “I’m just going out to buy toilet paper and milk; I’ll be back in five minutes.”
#33 - world
Yuki kept his relationships to himself, it wasn’t that he was ashamed of his choice of partner; he just didn’t think the world would understand. (4)
#34 - formal
Kakeru had no sense of decorum - he acted how he wanted to and didn’t let anyone tell him otherwise; this caused quite a stir when Yuki first invited him over to meet the family and Kakeru decided that during dinner would be a good time to molest the grey haired boy.
#35 - fever
Their skin was feverish and they were sweating panting by the time they finally got the bed in the right spot and then collapsed on it from sheer exhaustion.
#36 - laugh
Yuki loved Kakeru’s laugh, it was vibrant and full of genuine emotion, so when he found himself staring at the other man’s dull, flat eyes, he felt a twinge of regret that he’d probably never hear that wondrous sound again.
#37 - lies
Kakeru had always known it would never last, that when Yuki said that he’d always love him it was a lie, but still, a little part of him always hoped that maybe - just maybe - the ‘prince’ would. (2)
#38 - forever
‘I love you forever,’ was what Kakeru often said, but Yuki thought forever was an awfully long time, surely Kakeru would get bored or move on at some point as he so often did with other things; however, Kakeru was with him right now and that was really all that mattered.
#39 - overwhelmed
Whenever Yuki was overwhelmed with something, be it work or family, Kakeru would grab him by the shoulders, look him dead in the eye and then kiss him, and even though Yuki knew it was coming each time, he still froze up in shock and then allowed himself to relax and kiss back.
#40 - whisper
Kakeru’s favorite thing about Yuki (well, one of his favorite things, since there were quite a few) was that he mumbled in his sleep, so he often found himself laying awake at night, watching his lover sleep and listen to the innocent murmurs of a lost childhood, smiling fondly.
#41 - wait
Yuki was a mess, Kakeru had no delusions about that; he was a mess and did not have the capacity for any kind of relationship with another person at this point in his life, but Kakeru could wait.
#42 - talk
In Kakeru’s opinion, talking was overrated; so whenever he and Yuki had a ‘spat’, he’d ‘glomp’ the other man, or give him gifts, or - and this was his personal favorite - attack the other man and pin him to their bed.
#43 - search
“Yuki, I can’t find it,” Kakeru cried, frantically pulling their apartment to shreds; Yuki watched his lover for a moment, and then decided to hell with his boss and his stupid charity dinner, he’d help Kakeru find his… whatever it was he lost.
#44 - hope
They hoped that the sun would put off rising for a few more hours, just so they could enjoy this rare moment of tranquility, but they knew it was asking too much.
#45 - eclipse
“Yuki! Please,” Kakeru pouted, puppy dog eyes, quivering lip - the works, and Yuki finally relented; “Alright fine; you can be Eclipse;” though Yuki thought he was definitely a Raenef. (5)
#46 - gravity
It was like they were forced together by some inexplicable force, no matter how hard they resisted they were pulled back together just as hard - it made no sense, it was thrilling, exciting, dangerous, and they loved it. (6)
#47 - highway
You know how people always say love goes two ways; well, for Yuki and Kakeru, love is more like a highway than anything else.
#48 - unknown
Yuki really didn’t know how to understand Kakeru, he was an enigma, an irresistible, beautiful, captivating, frightening enigma, but Yuki always enjoyed a challenge.
#49 - lock
“Shit-” “Oh, come on now, it’s not that bad-” “Shit-” “I mean, it could be worse, ya know-” “Shit-” “Look-” “Shhiit-” Kakeru clapped his hands on his significant other’s shoulders and forced him to look at him; “Look,” he started firmly, “there are worse things than being locked in your bedroom with your boyfriend, Yuki,” he smirked, “can you think of some perks?”
#50 - breathe
Sometimes, Yuki got so caught up in living he forgot to breathe, at these times, he drop anything he was doing and find Kakeru, even if he had to leave his job and interrupt a few meetings, and then, he’d simply place his forehead on the other mans shoulders and sigh - and then all was right.
1- SO corny. Please. Forgive me. It was all I could come up with for that one.
2 - These two sort of go together, I guess. I don’t think I really meant it, but it happened that they came out that way.
3 - Now, I meant for these ones to be companion pieces.
4 - ‘Iris’ reference. Goo Goo Dolls, gotta love ‘em!
5 - Because when I saw that subject, Demon Diary popped in my mind.
6 - Thrill Pair, anyone?
Broke so many more rules. And I think I have quite a bit of angst up there. Sheesh. For some odd reason these two make me exude angst. Which is weird. I'm more of a comedic writer than an angst writer. My angst sucks. Anyway. Hope you enjoyed. ^^ Comments are ♥!