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A Simple Letter
Eighteen year old Momiji Soma sat on the grass and looked around him, simply enjoying the lovely weather as he appreciated the silence of the garden and its beauty. He wished that he could stay there for hours just simply watching but he'd promised to go and pick up Tohru at his Papa's building and the sun was beginning to set indicating he should be going. Tohru was getting off early that day since some sort of party was being held at the building because one of Papa's people was retiring. Tohru and the other cleaning ladies were being given half the night off with pay for helping with the decorations and Momiji couldn't wait to see it all since Tohru had told him all about it. He'd bet they'd made the conference room look really beautiful. Getting up he stuck his hands in his pockets as he headed out of the garden, whistling a tune under his breath as he walked, a pretty young man in loose black pants and a white polo shirt with bright yellow stripes all over it. He'd convinced Kyou and Yuki to let him pick Tohru up though both had volunteered, they hadn't even argue when he'd asked, probably because they figured that he wanted it as an excuse to see his family possibly. Which was the truth, though he wouldn't admit it, then they'd feel sorry for him.
"Momiji, are you going to pick up Tohru?" Hatori's voice came and Momiji turned to see Hatori coming towards him from where ever he'd been. Momiji smiled brightly at him and it was completely genuine as he changed direction slightly to meet Hatori half way. Though Momiji didn't think he showed it Hatori was one of his favorites and despite the fact that Hatori had been the one to erase his mother's memory Momiji didn't hold it against him and preferred his company above the other older members of the zodiac.
"Yes, I was on my way right when you called me, Hatori." Momiji said with a beaming smile in the doctor's direction, curious as to why he'd been stopped, especially since he was pretty sure he'd told Hatori that he'd be picking up Tohru soon and he doubted the doctor had sought him out to remind him. "Is there something you need me to do or deliver for you?"
"No, just remember to stay out of your family's way, Momiji." Hatori said with a serious look in his eyes and stance as he gave the young man his full attention. As much as he hated to have to give this speech it was important. "Perhaps your mother has blinded herself to your resemblance to her but others are not and will ask questions that your father will not want to have to answer."
"I know, Hatori. I'll just go in, see the decorations and then walk Tohru to her house before coming straight home again." Momiji said, his smile a little less brilliant as he hung his head ever so slightly. When he was younger he'd been able to hide it so well but as he got older it seemed to hurt more instead of less, the way it should. To get these lectures, to have it thrown in his face again and again that he wasn't allowed near his family when they were all together. "I won't be long, don't worry, they won't see me." Momiji said forcing cheer into his voice as he made himself beam with good will.
"All right, I know you will." Hatori said and wished he knew what to say to the boy. Even Kyou and Hiro, neither of them the most observant when it came to emotion had commented that there was something off about Momiji lately and the whole family was getting worried though none had been able to figure out exactly what had triggered Momiji's usual sunny moods to go occasionally tarnished. For most people that wouldn't be unusual but for Momiji it was very, very strange. "I was thinking perhaps after you got back you might care to join me in my rooms. I recently purchased an American board game that I thought we could try, it will help improve your math skills as well as your English. If you're interested."
"That would be great." Momiji said truly thrilled at the idea. He loved board games, especially ones that he'd never played before and he just loved spending time with Hatori period. "I'll hurry back then and we can get started. I'll even stop at one of the stores on the way back and get us some popcorn!"
"That would be nice." Hatori agreed with a nod, pleased that the boy had agreed to join him for the game. "Be careful, I'll be in my office working until you get back."
"I will. Later, Hatori." Momiji said then with a wave good bye headed out of the garden and on his way to pick up Tohru.
"You know you didn't have to come pick me up, Momiji; Yuki and Kyou worry too much about me." Tohru said with a bright smile on her face as she and Momiji stood in the room the party was going to be in and appreciated the decorations. Not that they really helped but Momiji had brought his sunglasses with him and looked very weird since he'd tipped them enough so that he could see the decorations well but not show off his eyes.
"I don't mind, Tohru. Wow this looks so great, you guys did such a great job." Momiji said as he spun around again to take everything in again, really happy with how the room looked. "Wow I bet this is going to be an awesome party, it's really too bad we can't stay but it's still really great just to see it all."
"Yeah, it is." Tohru said as she watched him, her heart bleeding for him as she fought back the tears that always threatened to surface when she thought about what it must be like for him. True most of the members of the zodiac didn't have parents and that was bad enough but how must Momiji feel being so close to them and yet being unable to connect with them. "So I guess we better be heading, the guys will be worried if I'm late getting back."
"Yeah, lets head out. Hatori and I are going to try out this new board game he bought and I can't wait to give it a try. Maybe if he'll let me I'll bring it over sometime and we can all play it, odds are that more then two can play anyway since most board games are like that." Momiji said as they headed out of the room and down the hallway. "It's from America too so it should be really interesting, since odds are no ones ever played it before."
"Momiji." Someone called out and Momiji and Tohru turned to see his little sister Momo rushing towards them in a frilly pink dress, bows in her hair and looking like a little princess Momiji thought with a sigh, wishing that he could say that the beautiful princess was in fact his sister, rather then just another relative.
"Hi, Momo, what's up? Are you all ready for the party? I bet it will be a lot of fun and you look just like a princess in that dress. Shouldn't you be getting ready to greet the guests with your parents?" Momiji said as he beamed at his sister when she came to a stop in front of them, looking at him in a way that made him slightly uncomfortable. He sometimes got the feeling that she knew more then she ever let on about what his real connection to her was. If she did then that could be a complication though he wished a great deal that she could know.
"I need to talk to you, alone." Momo said as she nodded to Tohru then grabbing his hand dragged him away towards a group of offices. Surprised Momiji let her drag him into one of the offices and close the door behind them before locking it behind them so that no one could come in and interrupt them or overhear.
"What is it, Momo? Is something the matter?" Momiji asked as he looked at her with a puzzled face. Why on earth had she done this?
"Momma has a younger sister in North America, she's twenty seven and she and Momma had a big fight soon after Momma married Papa. She's been writing to Momma trying to bridge the gap though, trying to make up but Momma's refusing to write her back. My aunt's name is Justine but Papa says she prefers to be called J.D. and I overheard him say to Uncle Kureno that he wished Momma had been more like J.D. because she was tough and could have handled the Soma curse much better then Momma. He said that J.D. is a really nice woman and that she reminded him a lot of you, that most people could mistaken you for being hers since you look and act so much alike." Momo said looking at him pointedly and in that moment Momiji knew for sure that his sister had figured out or overheard enough to know who he was and possibly what had happened to cause things to be the way they were. "J.D. sent me a letter too because she said she'd like to get to know her sister's child at least. Momma forbid me to write to her though." Momo then reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded envelope and held it out to her older brother. "This is the envelope it came in, Momma told me to get rid of it. Would you get rid of it for me? I have to go before Momma and Papa miss me."
Momiji stared at it and then it hit him like a ton of bricks as he stared at the envelope in her hand. The envelope would have her return address on it. The mailing address of his aunt, his Momma's younger sister. And..and his Papa thought that unlike his Momma his aunt would be able to handle the curse placed upon him. Reaching out with a hand that shook slightly Momiji took the envelope from her and nodded his head absently before looking his sister straight in the eye. "Sure, Momo. I'll take care of it for you."
"Thanks, Momiji. I appreciate it." Momo said with a bright smile, glad to see that he understood. "Well I better be going and Tohru will be waiting for you." Turning around his sister unlocked the door and held it open for him. Stuffing the envelope into his pocket Momiji walked out of the room and returning his sister's wave good bye watched her hurry towards the party, waving at Tohru as she passed the other girl who returned the wave before hurrying over to Momiji.
"Momiji? What did she want?" Tohru asked as she looked at her friend worriedly. Momiji looked..stunned and she was worried that something bad had happened. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, Tohru, I'm fine. She just wanted to tell me something, nothing all that important, nothing to worry about anyway. We better be heading shouldn't we? Everyone will worry if we're really late getting back and besides the guest are starting to arrive and we're not suppose to be hanging around here." Momiji said as the shocked look went out of his face and was replaced by a look of pure joy, looking as excited as a small child before a big festival. "Lets go okay?"
"Okay." Tohru said with a confused look though she was happy to see that Momiji was happy. Well whatever had happened couldn't be all that bad since it had made him so happy after he'd recovered from the shock of whatever it was that Momo had said to him. "Let's go."
Five days later
Momiji sat in the shade of one of the large trees in the compound and stared down at his most prized possession, the envelope. In the last five days he'd tried countless times to write a letter to his aunt but in order to do that he needed to explain his situation and that wasn't something to do in a letter. Besides it could fall into wrong hands or she might not believe it and think it was some sort of joke or prank. What he needed to do was tell her face to face, to meet her in person. Momo had said that their Papa had said that his aunt looked just like him which meant that she must look a lot like Momma. What would it be like to have an aunt that looked just like Momma but would accept him and not turn away from him? Why was it that his aunt would be able to handle his curse but not his own mother?
"Momiji, what are you doing?" Kisa asked as she broke through his thoughts as she sat down beside him quietly, picking the envelope from his side and looking at it before he could stop her. "Why do you have a letter addressed to Momo, Momiji?" Kisa asked when she saw who it was for, looking at Momiji with a concerned look.
"She gave it to me, you have to promise not to tell anyone about it, Kisa." Momiji said as he grabbed the wrist that held the letter though his hold was gentle and not threatening. His tone very serious he looked at her pleadingly. "Promise me."
"I won't tell anyone." Kisa said carefully, as she took the envelope in her other hand and handed it back to him, curious when he took the letter back as though the envelope was a priceless treasure to him. "Why is the envelope so important, Momiji? I promise I won't tell anyone about it."
"It-if I tell you-you can't tell anyone, Kisa and I mean anyone. You can't tell your mother or Tohru or even put it in your diary. If anyone found out they'd take it away from me and I'd get in a lot of trouble do you understand?" Momiji said as he looked at her intently. He was likely better off keeping this to himself but he needed to talk to someone and Kisa would understand and give him good advice.
"I swear on my life that I won't tell anyone, Momiji. May I turn into a tiger permanently if I tell anyone." Kisa said taking his left hand in her right since she was sitting on his left. Even at sixteen when most girls her age were usually very bubbly and active Kisa had remained rather quiet and reserve which made her the ideal person to confine in because you could trust her to hold your secrets and not tell anyone.
"Okay." Momiji said after a moment. "I have an aunt on my mother's side who's been trying to get in contact with my Momma and Momo but my Momma won't have anything to do with her and forbid Momo from communicating with her too. Momo gave me the envelope from her letter because my aunt's return address is on it. So if I wanted to I could write her."
"And since your mother won't talk to her she wouldn't ever have to know about who you really are." Kisa said as she followed along, her surprise evident on her face. She'd had no idea that Momiji's mother had a sister and the fact that Momiji might finally be able to connect with that side of the family was great-but what if something went wrong? "Momiji, you do realize all the things that could go wrong with this, don't you?"
"Yeah, I do." Momiji said with a sigh as he leaned back against the tree, knowing in his heart what he meant to do. There was bound to be consequences, quite likely painful ones but he'd known pain before and was willing to take it in exchange for what he might possibly gain if he did. "But I don't intend to write to her, Kisa."
"You don't? Then what are you planning to do?" Kisa asked curiously as she looked over at him with a questioning look in her eye. She'd assumed that that was what he'd intended to do but it would appear that she'd been mistaken.
"I'm going to go to Toronto and meet her face to face." Momiji said as he smiled bravely and determinedly at Kisa. "I'm going to leave here for a couple of weeks and meet her. Even if she doesn't want me or throws me out at least I'll have met her and will have no regrets or what ifs. And if she does want me....then it will be worth whatever punishment Akito decrees for me."
A Simple Letter
Eighteen year old Momiji Soma sat on the grass and looked around him, simply enjoying the lovely weather as he appreciated the silence of the garden and its beauty. He wished that he could stay there for hours just simply watching but he'd promised to go and pick up Tohru at his Papa's building and the sun was beginning to set indicating he should be going. Tohru was getting off early that day since some sort of party was being held at the building because one of Papa's people was retiring. Tohru and the other cleaning ladies were being given half the night off with pay for helping with the decorations and Momiji couldn't wait to see it all since Tohru had told him all about it. He'd bet they'd made the conference room look really beautiful. Getting up he stuck his hands in his pockets as he headed out of the garden, whistling a tune under his breath as he walked, a pretty young man in loose black pants and a white polo shirt with bright yellow stripes all over it. He'd convinced Kyou and Yuki to let him pick Tohru up though both had volunteered, they hadn't even argue when he'd asked, probably because they figured that he wanted it as an excuse to see his family possibly. Which was the truth, though he wouldn't admit it, then they'd feel sorry for him.
"Momiji, are you going to pick up Tohru?" Hatori's voice came and Momiji turned to see Hatori coming towards him from where ever he'd been. Momiji smiled brightly at him and it was completely genuine as he changed direction slightly to meet Hatori half way. Though Momiji didn't think he showed it Hatori was one of his favorites and despite the fact that Hatori had been the one to erase his mother's memory Momiji didn't hold it against him and preferred his company above the other older members of the zodiac.
"Yes, I was on my way right when you called me, Hatori." Momiji said with a beaming smile in the doctor's direction, curious as to why he'd been stopped, especially since he was pretty sure he'd told Hatori that he'd be picking up Tohru soon and he doubted the doctor had sought him out to remind him. "Is there something you need me to do or deliver for you?"
"No, just remember to stay out of your family's way, Momiji." Hatori said with a serious look in his eyes and stance as he gave the young man his full attention. As much as he hated to have to give this speech it was important. "Perhaps your mother has blinded herself to your resemblance to her but others are not and will ask questions that your father will not want to have to answer."
"I know, Hatori. I'll just go in, see the decorations and then walk Tohru to her house before coming straight home again." Momiji said, his smile a little less brilliant as he hung his head ever so slightly. When he was younger he'd been able to hide it so well but as he got older it seemed to hurt more instead of less, the way it should. To get these lectures, to have it thrown in his face again and again that he wasn't allowed near his family when they were all together. "I won't be long, don't worry, they won't see me." Momiji said forcing cheer into his voice as he made himself beam with good will.
"All right, I know you will." Hatori said and wished he knew what to say to the boy. Even Kyou and Hiro, neither of them the most observant when it came to emotion had commented that there was something off about Momiji lately and the whole family was getting worried though none had been able to figure out exactly what had triggered Momiji's usual sunny moods to go occasionally tarnished. For most people that wouldn't be unusual but for Momiji it was very, very strange. "I was thinking perhaps after you got back you might care to join me in my rooms. I recently purchased an American board game that I thought we could try, it will help improve your math skills as well as your English. If you're interested."
"That would be great." Momiji said truly thrilled at the idea. He loved board games, especially ones that he'd never played before and he just loved spending time with Hatori period. "I'll hurry back then and we can get started. I'll even stop at one of the stores on the way back and get us some popcorn!"
"That would be nice." Hatori agreed with a nod, pleased that the boy had agreed to join him for the game. "Be careful, I'll be in my office working until you get back."
"I will. Later, Hatori." Momiji said then with a wave good bye headed out of the garden and on his way to pick up Tohru.
"You know you didn't have to come pick me up, Momiji; Yuki and Kyou worry too much about me." Tohru said with a bright smile on her face as she and Momiji stood in the room the party was going to be in and appreciated the decorations. Not that they really helped but Momiji had brought his sunglasses with him and looked very weird since he'd tipped them enough so that he could see the decorations well but not show off his eyes.
"I don't mind, Tohru. Wow this looks so great, you guys did such a great job." Momiji said as he spun around again to take everything in again, really happy with how the room looked. "Wow I bet this is going to be an awesome party, it's really too bad we can't stay but it's still really great just to see it all."
"Yeah, it is." Tohru said as she watched him, her heart bleeding for him as she fought back the tears that always threatened to surface when she thought about what it must be like for him. True most of the members of the zodiac didn't have parents and that was bad enough but how must Momiji feel being so close to them and yet being unable to connect with them. "So I guess we better be heading, the guys will be worried if I'm late getting back."
"Yeah, lets head out. Hatori and I are going to try out this new board game he bought and I can't wait to give it a try. Maybe if he'll let me I'll bring it over sometime and we can all play it, odds are that more then two can play anyway since most board games are like that." Momiji said as they headed out of the room and down the hallway. "It's from America too so it should be really interesting, since odds are no ones ever played it before."
"Momiji." Someone called out and Momiji and Tohru turned to see his little sister Momo rushing towards them in a frilly pink dress, bows in her hair and looking like a little princess Momiji thought with a sigh, wishing that he could say that the beautiful princess was in fact his sister, rather then just another relative.
"Hi, Momo, what's up? Are you all ready for the party? I bet it will be a lot of fun and you look just like a princess in that dress. Shouldn't you be getting ready to greet the guests with your parents?" Momiji said as he beamed at his sister when she came to a stop in front of them, looking at him in a way that made him slightly uncomfortable. He sometimes got the feeling that she knew more then she ever let on about what his real connection to her was. If she did then that could be a complication though he wished a great deal that she could know.
"I need to talk to you, alone." Momo said as she nodded to Tohru then grabbing his hand dragged him away towards a group of offices. Surprised Momiji let her drag him into one of the offices and close the door behind them before locking it behind them so that no one could come in and interrupt them or overhear.
"What is it, Momo? Is something the matter?" Momiji asked as he looked at her with a puzzled face. Why on earth had she done this?
"Momma has a younger sister in North America, she's twenty seven and she and Momma had a big fight soon after Momma married Papa. She's been writing to Momma trying to bridge the gap though, trying to make up but Momma's refusing to write her back. My aunt's name is Justine but Papa says she prefers to be called J.D. and I overheard him say to Uncle Kureno that he wished Momma had been more like J.D. because she was tough and could have handled the Soma curse much better then Momma. He said that J.D. is a really nice woman and that she reminded him a lot of you, that most people could mistaken you for being hers since you look and act so much alike." Momo said looking at him pointedly and in that moment Momiji knew for sure that his sister had figured out or overheard enough to know who he was and possibly what had happened to cause things to be the way they were. "J.D. sent me a letter too because she said she'd like to get to know her sister's child at least. Momma forbid me to write to her though." Momo then reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded envelope and held it out to her older brother. "This is the envelope it came in, Momma told me to get rid of it. Would you get rid of it for me? I have to go before Momma and Papa miss me."
Momiji stared at it and then it hit him like a ton of bricks as he stared at the envelope in her hand. The envelope would have her return address on it. The mailing address of his aunt, his Momma's younger sister. And..and his Papa thought that unlike his Momma his aunt would be able to handle the curse placed upon him. Reaching out with a hand that shook slightly Momiji took the envelope from her and nodded his head absently before looking his sister straight in the eye. "Sure, Momo. I'll take care of it for you."
"Thanks, Momiji. I appreciate it." Momo said with a bright smile, glad to see that he understood. "Well I better be going and Tohru will be waiting for you." Turning around his sister unlocked the door and held it open for him. Stuffing the envelope into his pocket Momiji walked out of the room and returning his sister's wave good bye watched her hurry towards the party, waving at Tohru as she passed the other girl who returned the wave before hurrying over to Momiji.
"Momiji? What did she want?" Tohru asked as she looked at her friend worriedly. Momiji looked..stunned and she was worried that something bad had happened. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, Tohru, I'm fine. She just wanted to tell me something, nothing all that important, nothing to worry about anyway. We better be heading shouldn't we? Everyone will worry if we're really late getting back and besides the guest are starting to arrive and we're not suppose to be hanging around here." Momiji said as the shocked look went out of his face and was replaced by a look of pure joy, looking as excited as a small child before a big festival. "Lets go okay?"
"Okay." Tohru said with a confused look though she was happy to see that Momiji was happy. Well whatever had happened couldn't be all that bad since it had made him so happy after he'd recovered from the shock of whatever it was that Momo had said to him. "Let's go."
Five days later
Momiji sat in the shade of one of the large trees in the compound and stared down at his most prized possession, the envelope. In the last five days he'd tried countless times to write a letter to his aunt but in order to do that he needed to explain his situation and that wasn't something to do in a letter. Besides it could fall into wrong hands or she might not believe it and think it was some sort of joke or prank. What he needed to do was tell her face to face, to meet her in person. Momo had said that their Papa had said that his aunt looked just like him which meant that she must look a lot like Momma. What would it be like to have an aunt that looked just like Momma but would accept him and not turn away from him? Why was it that his aunt would be able to handle his curse but not his own mother?
"Momiji, what are you doing?" Kisa asked as she broke through his thoughts as she sat down beside him quietly, picking the envelope from his side and looking at it before he could stop her. "Why do you have a letter addressed to Momo, Momiji?" Kisa asked when she saw who it was for, looking at Momiji with a concerned look.
"She gave it to me, you have to promise not to tell anyone about it, Kisa." Momiji said as he grabbed the wrist that held the letter though his hold was gentle and not threatening. His tone very serious he looked at her pleadingly. "Promise me."
"I won't tell anyone." Kisa said carefully, as she took the envelope in her other hand and handed it back to him, curious when he took the letter back as though the envelope was a priceless treasure to him. "Why is the envelope so important, Momiji? I promise I won't tell anyone about it."
"It-if I tell you-you can't tell anyone, Kisa and I mean anyone. You can't tell your mother or Tohru or even put it in your diary. If anyone found out they'd take it away from me and I'd get in a lot of trouble do you understand?" Momiji said as he looked at her intently. He was likely better off keeping this to himself but he needed to talk to someone and Kisa would understand and give him good advice.
"I swear on my life that I won't tell anyone, Momiji. May I turn into a tiger permanently if I tell anyone." Kisa said taking his left hand in her right since she was sitting on his left. Even at sixteen when most girls her age were usually very bubbly and active Kisa had remained rather quiet and reserve which made her the ideal person to confine in because you could trust her to hold your secrets and not tell anyone.
"Okay." Momiji said after a moment. "I have an aunt on my mother's side who's been trying to get in contact with my Momma and Momo but my Momma won't have anything to do with her and forbid Momo from communicating with her too. Momo gave me the envelope from her letter because my aunt's return address is on it. So if I wanted to I could write her."
"And since your mother won't talk to her she wouldn't ever have to know about who you really are." Kisa said as she followed along, her surprise evident on her face. She'd had no idea that Momiji's mother had a sister and the fact that Momiji might finally be able to connect with that side of the family was great-but what if something went wrong? "Momiji, you do realize all the things that could go wrong with this, don't you?"
"Yeah, I do." Momiji said with a sigh as he leaned back against the tree, knowing in his heart what he meant to do. There was bound to be consequences, quite likely painful ones but he'd known pain before and was willing to take it in exchange for what he might possibly gain if he did. "But I don't intend to write to her, Kisa."
"You don't? Then what are you planning to do?" Kisa asked curiously as she looked over at him with a questioning look in her eye. She'd assumed that that was what he'd intended to do but it would appear that she'd been mistaken.
"I'm going to go to Toronto and meet her face to face." Momiji said as he smiled bravely and determinedly at Kisa. "I'm going to leave here for a couple of weeks and meet her. Even if she doesn't want me or throws me out at least I'll have met her and will have no regrets or what ifs. And if she does want me....then it will be worth whatever punishment Akito decrees for me."