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“Would you like to come live with me?”
At first, Yuki wasn’t sure whether Shigure was serious. He had a habit of making jokes at the most inappropriate times.
But when it hit him that his older cousin was serious, he knew he wouldn’t get another chance to escape.
“Get me out. Get me out of here!”
The very next day, Haru helped him pack his scant possessions into a few boxes and rode with him in the back of Hatori’s car.
Shigure’s house— rather, the Sohma property where Shigure now lived— was on a large lot of land. From the street, they took a long, winding path through a bamboo forest up to a long set of steep, stone stairs.
A traditional garden greeted them at the top of the steps, the soft clunk of the shishi-odoshi occasionally disrupting the soft sounds of nature and distant traffic.
“Nice, isn’t it?” Haru asked, tugging at his shirt.
Yuki only nodded.
It made him uneasy, the beauty of the place— serving as a reminder of the Sohmas’ wealth and deep roots in the city.
He’d escaped the room, but only just.
They unpacked together as best they could. Yuki’s room had no furniture, only a futon stowed in the closet, which they discovered while hanging his clothes.
“Maybe Sensei can get you some furniture,” Haru remarked.
“Mmm,” Yuki responded. The room didn’t have any furniture; he didn’t even know what kind of furniture he needed.
“I’ll go talk to him,” Haru said.
Alone in his room, the lights seemed to dim and the walls started closing in. Black marks appeared in front of him, dancing, taunting-
“Yuki.”
Haru tugged at his shirt again.
“Haa-kun, you were right! This won’t do at all.”
Shigure adopted that cheery, light-hearted tone, the one that always made Yuki feel like he was the butt of some joke that everyone was in on except him.
“Let’s see… Yuki-kun, would you like traditional furniture, or Western?”
Yuki didn’t say anything. How was he supposed to know what he wanted? He’d never slept on a bed.
“Why don’t we have them bring some of each,” Shigure said. “You already have a futon, so we’ll need a bed, mattress, two desks with chairs, and some storage. Do you have a favorite color?”
Once more, Yuki was quiet. Black ink stains filled his thoughts.
“Yuki-kun,” Shigure said softly, “you can always change your mind.”
“Blue,” Yuki blurted.
“He speaks!” Shigure exclaimed in mock surprise. Yuki shot him a seething glare. “Is there anything else you’ll need? Alarm clock… reading lamp… area rug…?”
“A reading lamp,” Yuki replied.
“Ah, a reader! I knew I liked you, Yuki-kun,” Shigure said, grinning.
“And an alarm clock,” he added. No one would be getting him up on time for school anymore.
Shigure jotted it down. “Well, why don’t I go call the Estate and have them bring this all over.”
As he left, Yuki’s stomach began twisting itself into knots.
The Estate would be bringing his furniture. Who exactly that meant, Yuki didn’t want to find out.
“Hey,” said Haru. “What do you think? It’s nice, right?”
“I guess it is.”
It was. That wasn’t exactly comforting, but it was true that the house was nice enough.
Shigure ordered delivery for lunch and Haru left shortly after they ate, promising to return the next day.
“Ahh, youth,” Shigure sighed. “You two are awfully close, aren’t you?”
Why did he want to know? Yuki’s stomach dropped as he remembered the last time he’d been “close” to anyone.
“When I was your age, Haa-san, Aaya, and I were near insep-”
Yuki slammed a fist on the kotatsu. “Don’t bring him up around me.”
Shigure blinked. “Who, your brother?”
Yuki only scowled. Ayame wasn’t his brother. Not in the ways that mattered, at least.
“Well, why don’t I give you the tour?”
Yuki sat quietly in his room once Shigure had finished showing him around. There were two toilets, one shower room, and an additional empty bedroom. There was also a kitchen, though Shigure had already accumulated so much trash, the stove was nearly inaccessible.
Just like before, there was very little for him to do. He only sat in silence, leaning against the wall.
There were dozens of rats living under the house, as well as a small colony in the roof and eaves. Hundreds, if not thousands more inhabited the woods around the house in intricate underground dens and nests woven into tree branches.
He wondered if the family knew just how many rats inhabited their properties. In the main house alone, Yuki had sensed more than three-hundred living just underneath them.
“Yuki-sama.”
Yuki startled at the intrusion. A man he vaguely recognized as an employee of the main house stood at his door in a deep bow.
“We have the items you requested. Where would you like the furniture?”
Yuki got to his feet and looked around his room. “Uh, there,” he said, gesturing to the place where he’d just been sitting.
The staff brought in a bed, mattress, and bedding; they quickly put everything in place, smoothing his new duvet over the top before turning back to him.
“And the desk, Yuki-sama?”
He gestured to the opposite wall.
A bookshelf followed, then some folding furniture they stowed in the closet, and finally, a reading .
The moment they left, he began putting everything in its place; books on the shelves, his new lamp and alarm clock at the head of the bed, schoolwork at the desk.
Was this what a teenage boy’s room was supposed to look like? Yuki had never been to anyone else’s home. He’d never had friends to visit.
His stomach rumbled loudly. There were no staff here; no one to cook when he was hungry.
He wandered down into the kitchen and went through the fridge. Eggs would be simple enough, right?
He found a frying pan on one of the burners. Fried eggs… he’d need oil for that.
But where did Shigure keep the oil?
It wasn’t in the fridge. Maybe he was out of oil.
He’d better use water, just to be safe.
He added a quarter-inch of water to the pan and set the burner on high, cracking an egg directly into the still-room-temperature water.
He discarded the shell on the countertop and wiped his hands on his shirt.
He’d need something to flip the egg… but where would Shigure keep something like that?
He began rooting around in the drawers when a quiet snickering noise caught his attention.
“Yuki-ku-un,” Shigure began, unable to hide his amusement. “Just what are you trying to do?”
Yuki folded his arms and scowled. “Fry an egg,” he stated, daring Shigure to laugh.
“Wha- ah ha! Haha ha!”
“What’s so funny?” Yuki demanded, but his anger only made Shigure lose it even more.
“You- fry an egg… fry an egg!! In boiling water! Even I know better than that!”
“There was no oil in the fridge!” Yuki exclaimed.
“The fridge!? Wa ha ha, you’re more hopeless than I thought!”
The words cut him deeper than he wanted to admit.
Shigure still howled with laughter, so Yuki stalked over to him and smashed an egg right on the top of his head.
He fell silent, looking up at Yuki in shock before dissolving into his loudest fit of hysterics yet.
“Idiot!” Yuki spat as he ran up to his room in tears.
It was only his first day, and he’d already humiliated himself.
Typical.
Maybe Shigure would realize what a pathetic loser he was and send him back to the main house.
If that happened, if he had to go back to that room, he’d-
“Oh, Yuki-kun! Dinner’s ready!”
Was this some kind of trick?
Cautiously, Yuki opened his door a sliver. When nothing happened, he opened it a hair further.
By the time Yuki had opened his door all the way, Shigure was halfway up the stairs with an open take-out container in one hand and chopsticks in the other.
“Oh,” Yuki said. “…really?”
“Even idiots need to eat,” Shigure replied, barely suppressing a smirk.
Yuki followed him down and saw a half-dozen take-out containers spread over the kotatsu.
“I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I got a few different options. Hopefully you can find something you like.”
Dumplings, karaage, rice, steamed vegetables. Shigure slurped noodles from the box in his hand.
Yuki cautiously took a seat opposite Shigure, reaching for the dumplings.
They ate in silence for a while, occasionally passing containers between them.
When they’d finished the dumplings and karaage, Shigure closed the other containers and stuck them in the fridge.
“For future reference,” he said, “I pretty much survive on take-out. But I keep a few of these stocked as well.”
He opened the freezer, revealing a small stack of frozen dinners.
“It’s not as convenient as the main house, I’m sure, but what do you say? Think you can tolerate living with me for a while longer, Yuki-kun?”
Yuki stared at his elder cousin. More than anything, Shigure was a deeply confusing person. The things he said didn’t quite match up with his actions, but Yuki couldn’t make heads or tails of it.
It still made him uneasy, living here. He didn’t quite trust Shigure, and he felt just as out of place as he did at school.
But at least Shigure hadn’t whispered any pitch-black words to him. Shigure hadn’t shut him in a dark room or kept him from seeing anyone.
Shigure let him see his friend.
“I suppose so, yes,” Yuki admitted, refusing to make eye contact.
After a beat of silence, Shigure erupted into mock tears. “Wahh, Yuki-kun, so mean! I had to wash my hair four times to get all the egg out!”
“You missed some,” Yuki snarked, not missing a beat.
Shigure gasped dramatically. “And you didn’t tell me!?”
They bantered for a while, Yuki’s uneasiness slowly dissolving.
Yeah. This wasn’t so bad. He could make this work.