Author's Note: I have no idea where this came from. It's mostly a PWP story, just some ramblings I did from Ayame's perspective. Ayame is a very taxing person for me, but being in his head was fun. I just wish it were more of a story instead of ending in a bunch of fluff. I confess, I've watched the anime and I know the basic storyline of the manga, but I'm also a very poor grad student, so I haven't had a chance to lay my hands on a copy of the entire manga series. If something is dreadfully off, do please let me know. I'm admitting here and now I haven't read the whole thing.

Spoiler Alert: If you've only watched the anime, there are spoilers for the manga regarding Akito.

Superstitions: I have read in a few different places that snakes are considered lucky in Japan, particularly white snakes. I find Akito a very superstitious person, who would probably truly believe in folklore like that. However, I also think Akito would loathe Aya's personality. I do run with this theme heavily in the story.

DisBlamers: Yeah, my mind lives in the gutter. It's a nice place really, cool and dark and... never mind. Back on topic! This is an M rating and if you aren't into sexual innuendos and heavily-implied situations, I would highly recommend going back to something else. Because really, what else would Aya and Shigure be talking about? Also, big FYI, I don't own Fruits Basket. You know, just in case you thought otherwise...

Random: Like any fanfic writer, I love reviews and likes, because they give me a sense of gratification - something I don't often get in graduate school. Flames are ignored OR I roast marshmallows over them... depends on my mood. Constructive criticism is welcome as long as you are nice about it. ^_^

As always, thank you for reading. I'm sorry to my regular reviewers that it isn't a chapter on one of my many multi-chapter fics currently in process. Work and school make for little writing time. Not to mention my muse is fickle as hell. That's probably the real problem right there... stupid fickle muse.

~BDocks

What Dreams Are Made Of

He met Mine when he placed an advertisement for an assistant. He must have interviewed nearly thirty applicants that day, but no one seemed "just right". And then she walked in: bubbly, yet a little sadistic, and he was immediately intrigued.

It must have been her glasses, he thought. He had always been a bit partial to girls in glasses. Even when Shigure wore them to read, it made Aya's skin tingle pleasantly. Glasses were sexy, no two ways about it.

Of course, Akito had wanted him to hire a male assistant. Typical! So very typical of Akito, and so inanely boorish. But then, Akito hadn't really wanted him to open a shop in the first place.

Ayame was known for nothing if not his flamboyant disregard for rules, which irritated Akito to no ends, but the stipulations of the Curse kept Ayame from outright disobeying Akito. It was only Akito's eventual, though reluctant permission that allowed Ayame to open the lingerie store. He wasn't certain why the sullen head of the Sohma family ended up agreeing at all; it wasn't as if she would ever wear such clothing as Aya so brilliantly created. He suspected Shigure's hand, but even that was hard to prove. Well, if Shigure could get their evil mistress to dress as a candy-coated sweet Lolita princess, all the better, and Aya would personally make such an outfit if he remotely thought it would change Akito's disposition.

But all in all, it was best not to ask questions, and just be grateful that permission was given. He had gone into a long-winded monologue of gratitude when Akito summoned him to give him the news, and the meeting ended with a vein twitching horribly in Akito's temple and the threat of throwing Aya out of the window.

Ayame didn't think Akito would actually follow through with such a threat, though. While it was perfectly true that she had no qualms about physically or mentally harming the majority of the zodiac members, she was also highly superstitious – too superstitious to harm the zodiac's symbol of good luck and monetary fortune, which Aya represented. That had been the story of his childhood – snakes were lucky, and no matter how much Akito despised Aya personally, she would never physically harm him, for fear of bringing additional misfortune to herself. So she took her anger out on Yuki instead, because Akito was a sadistic bitch that way.

Her final words to Aya about the whole thing were to cruelly warn him, with that horrible smile on her face, that if he did hire a female assistant and if such an assistant did ever find out about the Curse, Ayame would pay dearly.

Maybe she'd throw a vase at him and destroy his eyesight; then he and Hari would be a matching set! Wouldn't Hari just love that?

(Hari had actually, physically lobbed him out into the cold when Ayame made that comment over tea, and slammed the shōji behind him.)

And so, Ayame had set out deliberately to hire a female assistant, and he heard via Hatori that when Akito saw the advertisement in the paper, she had shredded the paper into tiny bits and no one had dared speak to her all week. But she couldn't hurt the Snake of the Zodiac, or she'd have bad luck, and that was a deliciously comforting thought that Ayame relished. Later, he was sorry to say he never once thought of Yuki, or that Akito mightn't attack Yuki in Aya's place if it all went horribly awry.

And, really, to his credit, Mine didn't find out about the Curse for all of two whole days. He considered it a wonderful record and was quite proud that he'd managed to go 48 hours without an incident, in such close proximity to such a beautiful woman. But inevitably, she came out from the rear of the shop on the morning of the third day, dressed in the "romantic aristocratic Lolita style", just as he was going into the back to bring out a bolt of fabric. They'd collided spectacularly, he later told his two best friends, like two stars forming a beautiful nebula in the heavens!

(Hari threatened to throw him out again if he continued with such ridiculous, prosaic drabble.)

But it wasn't quite as prosaic is Aya made it sound, though. In truth, Mine's glasses had tumbled off, Aya had gotten lost in the long Chinese tunic he was wearing, and they had both crashed to the floor. By the time Mine retrieved her glasses, she had stared, dumbfounded, at his rumpled clothing before looking up into the shop and hesitatingly calling his name, as though she thought perhaps he had somehow stripped naked and bolted away from her.

"Down here," he'd called out blithely – and she'd looked back down to discover something moving beneath the fabric.

"Now, don't panic," he added, resolutely remaining beneath the tunic for a few moments. "Promise me you won't panic?"

"I... uh... promise?"

Taking a deep breath, he'd plunged into an explanation of the Zodiac Curse, all the while remaining under his clothes, and when he finally finished and poked his head out cautiously from beneath the folds of fabric, she was still sitting there, watching him through her glasses, a look of wonder on her face.

"Oh! You really are a snake! What a pretty color! Are you venomous?"

"No, certainly not! Though I do have fangs."

"Aren't you adorable?" She picked him up and cradled him in her palms, before he had a chance to say a word, and looked him straight in the eye. "I promise I won't tell a soul! How amazing! I was born in a year of the snake, you know."

He'd changed back then, in a poof of silver smoke, toppled onto his arse, and grabbed his tunic to cover himself before she could see much. But Mine didn't seem remotely bothered by his nudity.

"You mustn't tell anyone," he re-emphasized, practically begging. "Or the horrible head of the Sohma family will erase your memory and lock me in a prison for the rest of my life. And I really don't want either of those things to happen. You do understand, don't you, Mine?"

"Of course!" She looked cheerfully resolute, and helped him to his feet. "I'll make sure the customers don't bump into you, either! We'll be a great team, sir!"

"That's a good girl!" He beamed at her, giddy that she wasn't upset or panicky or angry or grossed out. It must have been all the manga she read, which was immensely helpful.

However, it was at least a month later before he had the courage to try and kiss her. They were working at a table together, and he'd turned to tell her something about the bias of the fabric. She glanced up at him, her eyes large and curious behind her glasses, and he'd trailed off. After a moment, he roused himself, bent, and brushed his mouth to hers to see what would happen. A pleasant jolt ran down his spine; he hadn't kissed a girl in a long time.

(Shigure didn't count of course, because Shigure was a man.)

Naturally, Mine threw her arms around his neck to enthusiastically kiss him back, and he immediately transformed. She made a frustrated noise and fished him out of his tunic.

"I'm so sorry!" she'd gasped. "I forgot!"

"No, no! It's fine! I hope you aren't angry with me?"

She laughed and held him cradled in her palms at eye level. "Of course not. I've been wondering when you would try. I must say, it was quite nice."

"Well that's good to hear! I've only ever kissed one other girl, back when I was in school. I had to kiss her over a desk so she wouldn't grab me. It was very unpleasant, I must say."

Mine's eyebrows furrowed in thought. "I'll have to think on this," she mused. "We'll have to experiment a bit, if you don't mind."

"My, but that does sound intriguing."

"But you kissed very well, for only a second time!"

He changed back at that very moment. She didn't seem remotely surprised to find him standing nude in front of her. Ayame grinned at her. "Just because I haven't kissed a girl in a while doesn't mean I haven't kissed a boy in a while."

Her eyes widened, and he pulled his tunic and slacks back on, smug that he had caught her slightly off guard for once.

(Shigure laughed his ass off when Aya related this story, because that was what Shigure was prone to do when he thought something was hilariously funny. Hari glared at Aya and told him Akito would have his head on a platter if he kept on the way he was, which sobered them all up in a trice.)

He and Mine tried all sorts of fun positions after that, and after a couple of weeks, they started scheduling it into their day, as if making out and shagging were just other customers that needed a time slot. It was grand fun, and Aya found his favorite position was lying on his back while Mine drove herself down on him, usually with leather straps wrapped around her torso in a mock bondage style.

(Shigure asked if they could try something similar sometime, while Hari rolled his eyes and muttered something that sounded distinctly like masochist arse under his breath.)

But there were other positions and much more fun to be had, with the occasionally slip up and puff of smoke. It was quite awkward to suddenly find himself coiled between her wet thighs when moments before he had been driving himself into her.

(He didn't tell Hari about that – otherwise he'd hear the word bestiality and he didn't think he could bear it. Shigure, on the other hand, merely smiled wryly and admitted that something similar had happened to him once, right when the girl climaxed, and he'd had to bolt outside before she saw him as a dog. Damned embarrassing, Shigure had agreed.)

The day the curse broke, Ayame felt it like an electric shock – as if something snapped inside of him and released, almost like an orgasm. At that moment, he couldn't help but grab her and hold her close. He relished how delicious it was to fold her into his body without transforming. He insisted they close the shop early, and Mine readily agreed. They rushed upstairs together, tumbling into their small flat while stripping out of clothes. He couldn't wait to feel her breasts mashing into his chest, or her hips snug and damp against his. Their lips connected and he lifted her to the bed; she wrapped her legs around his waist and moaned as he pressed her into the sheets.

"What happened? What made it break?" she gasped, as Aya sucked greedily on her breasts. Her fists were tangled in his long silky hair and her hips were grinding into his.

He didn't know what caused the curse to break and he didn't really give a damn – probably something to do with that cat and Tohru, if he had to make an educated guess – but driving himself into Mine was more important at that moment. She arched against him, her body bowing off the bed and into his.

Afterwards, when they weren't quite so desperate and lust had been somewhat sated, she rolled to face him and asked again.

He merely shook his head. "I don't know," he admitted. "But it is broken." He smiled suddenly at her. "You do realize that this means you and I can get married if we wish."

Her eyes lit up, and to his delight, she began to describe her perfect wedding dress, sitting up cross-legged on the bed, completely nude, her eyes sparkling as she talked of lacy fabric and ribbons.

And in his head, Aya began designing the dress as she explained it, making a mental note to thank Tohru next time he saw her, for it was somehow her doing that they could all find happiness and not suffer the curse until they died.

~FIN~