Mayuhorin
Chapter 10
Momo and Toushiro quietly ate their breakfast at the table. Neither of them looked at the other or spoke. They hadn't spoken since the previous night, when Momo had comforted Toushiro when he learned of his mother's illness getting worse. Neither of them seemed to know what to think. Toushiro was still clearly upset about Momo's hurting Mayuhorin, but neither did he seem actively angry about it. He wasn't glaring or growling at her as he had before, and did nothing antagonistic towards Momo.
Momo was afraid to say anything, unsure if Toushiro would stay like this or if he would end up angry at her again if she spoke. He didn't seem angry at her, but she had no idea what he was thinking, and didn't want to accidentally make things worse. She hoped to patch up their relationship, but didn't really know how. After finishing her breakfast, she quietly took the plates into the kitchen to wash them off in the sink, thinking the whole time about how best to restore their friendship to its normal state.
Toushiro watched as she walked off. The anger he held towards Momo was nearly all gone after the previous night. He did not know what to say to her. After several weeks of being angry at her, feeling so indebted to her was strange. At his most vulnerable time, she had come to him and comforted him, even after he had been so rude and mean to her for the past several weeks. She really was a true friend. Deep down he knew that all along, but previously his mind was so full of anger at the time that he ignored it. He now felt guilty for being so hard on Momo. He knew all along that she hadn't meant any harm, yet still he had felt incredibly angry towards her. He couldn't help it. Mayuhorin was his sister and he was highly protective of her, especially after losing Yuuki. After seeing Momo do something out of jealousy that caused Mayuhorin great harm, he was unable to think rationally. He was so angry that someone he considered a friend had hurt his sister out of jealousy, that he was unable to think of anything else. At the time he had felt incredibly betrayed by Momo, but now he was beginning to feel like the one who betrayed her. She had always been there for him, and he knew that she was a gentle person who wouldn't intentionally hurt someone, yet he had been so cruel to her over the past several weeks. After that, he didn't know what to say to her, especially when she had made such a kind gesture as she had last night.
He watched as Momo began walking out to the living room. He had the urge to grab a hold of her and apologize for his treatment of her immediately, but he didn't feel he could really do it right now. He simply felt too worn out. He was still in emotional disarray from the news of his mother's poor health, and though Momo had helped him with that, he still felt very depressed. The news of his mother had hit him hard. He didn't know what he'd do if she were to die. Would he continue living here? Would he live with other relatives in their town? This brought about an entirely new concern, as he would eventually end up being separated from either Momo or Mayuhorin.
It was an unpleasant thought, and one that he didn't like to think of, but he knew it was inevitable. If their mother died, he would probably end up living here with Mayuhorin, but Momo would have to go back to their old town. If their mother lived, or if someone from their extended family took custody of him, he wouldn't be able to see Mayuhorin again for a long time. By the end of the summer, they were both expected to return home, and he would have to say goodbye to Mayuhorin all over again. He sighed, very frustrated. He pushed those thoughts from his mind. He may have to deal with them eventually, but he'd rather not right now, especially when he and Momo were just beginning to patch up their friendship.
A thought suddenly struck him. He hadn't told Mayuhorin of the news on their mother. He couldn't believe he had forgotten! He had been so upset over it that he had neglected to tell her. He wasn't sure how to approach her about it, but knew that she had the right to know.
"Momo?" he said. Momo turned to him cautiously.
"Yes?" she said, unsure what he wanted to talk about.
"Do you know where 'Rin is?" Toushiro asked.
"Why do you ask?" Momo said nervously. She wasn't sure if she was pushing her luck by questioning Toushiro like this, but she wanted to know why he suddenly wanted to know where Mayuhorin was.
"She doesn't know about our Mom yet. I have to tell her, she deserves to know," Toushiro explained.
"Oh… Well, I think she went into town," Momo said.
"I see," Toushiro said quietly. They were silent for a moment, unsure what to say. Finally Momo spoke up.
"I uh, promised Rukia that I'd do some crafts with her today, so I think I'll go over to her place now," Momo said, beginning to walk out.
"Wait!" Toushiro said. Momo turned to him, unsure what he wanted. Toushiro cleared his throat and composed himself. "Um, I mean, may I come with you?" Momo was stunned to the point of silence for a moment, but then smiled warmly.
"Of course you can," she said. Toushiro walked behind her as they left the house.
"Do you think we can take the long way to her house?" Toushiro asked. Momo laughed.
"Toushiro, she lives just down the street, there is no 'long way' to her house!" she said. Toushiro smiled sheepishly.
"Right…In that case, do you think we could walk down to the park before going to her house?" he asked.
"Of course," Momo said, tears of happiness nearly coming to her eyes.
---
Momo and Toushiro sat at the side of a pond in the small park located in town, throwing bread crumbs to ducks. It wasn't a huge park, but it was very nice. There were big trees, flowers, and three small ponds. Squirrels and chipmunks occasionally scurried across the ground, and birds sang in the trees. The ducks before them eagerly swarmed around them. They were mostly mallards, but there were a couple other types of ducks too. Momo and Toushiro held a packaged loaf of bread that they bought from the store, and were constantly tearing off chunks to give to the ducks.
"Look! Look! Look!" Momo said, pointing at a duck that had climbed on top of another to get a piece of bread that landed on its back.
"They like their bread," Toushiro commented, throwing a piece into the air and watching as several ducks simultaneously tried to jump up to get at it. They knocked it out of eachother's beaks, and it landed on the ground, at which point it was gobbled up by a smaller duck. Momo laughed.
"Thanks for suggesting this Toushiro," Momo said, "This was a terrific idea." She was still a little cautious with her behavior around Toushiro, but he had been acting rather normally around her, the way he usually did. She did not know if this meant that he was forgiving her, but she was glad that at least he was no longer angry.
"Momo, you want to go somewhere else now?" Toushiro asked as ducks nipped at his feet, quacking demandingly for more bread, "These guys are starting to get greedy."
"Okay Toushiro, we'll go over to the other side of the park," she said. They began walking over to the other side of the park. The park was located in a sort of trough in the center of town, meaning that they were below the level of the nearby roads and stores. This made the place seem secluded, despite being in the middle of town.
"Momo?" Toushiro said suddenly.
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry." The words shocked Momo, and she completely stopped walking.
"What?"
"I'm sorry," Toushiro repeated, "I was a jerk to you over something that you had no idea was going to happen to you, and I let my anger cloud my judgment to the point that I forgot how much you really care for me. For that I'm sorry."
"No Toushiro, I'm sorry," Momo said, "I was jealous of how happy you were with Mayuhorin and played a stupid prank that ended up getting her hurt. You have every right to be angry at me."
"Upset maybe, but the way I treated you was out of line. I was horrible to you, I realize that now. And yet despite that, you were still there for me, despite everything I did…" Toushiro said, his voice shaking a little, "I don't know what I'd do without you Momo. I was so worried about Mayuhorin that I nearly ended up losing you. I've lost far too much to have risked something like that."
"I'll always be there for you Toushiro," Momo said gently.
"Thank you, Momo," Toushiro said. He leaned down and picked a soft orange wildflower, standing up and putting it in Momo's hair. "You're really an amazing person."
Momo smiled and cried tears of joy. Toushiro still wanted to be friends with her. She was happier than any time she could remember. She suddenly embraced Toushiro, crying into his shoulder.
"Why are you crying?" he asked in surprise.
"You-you dummy!" Momo sniffled, looking at him with a smile, "I'm crying because I'm happy!"
"You're weird," Toushiro smiled, continuing to walk over to the other side of the park. Suddenly however, Toushiro stopped in his tracks. Momo turned to him.
"What is it?" she asked.
"What's that?" he asked, his voice a bit shaky. He pointed at a structure a short distance away.
"It looks like a bridge, isn't there a little stream over there?" Momo said. Toushiro turned pale.
"A stream? There's a stream here?" he said nervously.
"Yeah, didn't you notice before? It's only about two or three feet across, but it's still a stream. I think it originates from another one that they diverted to reduce the water flow. Rukia showed it to me before. It has some crayfish in it that are fun to catch, do you want to check it out?" Momo said.
"N-no, let's just go," Toushiro said.
"What? But didn't you want to-"
"No, we should go. You said you promised to go over to Rukia's right? We should probably go there so she doesn't wonder where we are?" he said hastily.
"Toushiro, what on Earth is wrong?" Momo asked, baffled by his sudden behavior.
"Nothing is wrong!" he said in a strained voice, "I just…want to go now."
"Okay, okay," Momo said, holding her hands up in defeat, "We'll go now."
They walked back across the park, going past the other pond where the ducks were. The ducks immediately recognized them, and began following after them.
"Looks like we've got company," Momo joked. They walked over towards the other pond, hoping that maybe the ducks would decide to go there instead of pestering them for bread. They wanted to save some of the bread for later, and didn't want to give it all to them at once. Suddenly however, there was a loud hiss and the ducks scattered.
Momo and Toushiro turned to a cluster of reeds and cattails at the side of the other pond, and saw a massive swan walking out.
"Ooh! Look how pretty it is!" Momo said, beginning to walk towards it. Toushiro grabbed her before she could.
"Don't go near that thing!" he whispered, "Just stay still and back away slowly."
"Why?" Momo asked. Before he could answer the swan spread its huge wings and let out a hiss.
"That's why! Run!" Toushiro said. They immediately began running away, the swan chasing after them.
"Take the bread! Take it!" Momo yelled, throwing entire slices of bread over her shoulder. The Swan ignored the bread and continued chasing them Momo was able to stay ahead, but Toushiro was barely able to outrun the swan. It thrust its beak at his feet as they ran. Finally they reached the edge of the park, a five foot slope separating them from the road. They immediately began to scramble up, but Toushiro wasn't quick enough. The swan grabbed onto the back of Toushiro's shirt, causing him to fall back. The swan began to peck at him and hit him with its wings. Momo quickly jumped back down, landing right next to the swan, startling it enough to give her just enough time to grab Toushiro and run back up the slope.
The swan hissed at them, seeming to consider going up the slope in pursuit, but eventually turning and going back towards its pond. Momo and Toushiro both breathed heavily.
"What was that about?" Momos said in shock, "We didn't even do anything to it!"
"It probably had a nest nearby," Toushiro said, "We were lucky to get away. Swans are really aggressive, and have actually killed people in the past."
"Wow…" Momo said, "Let's…go to Rukia's place now."
"Yeah…I agree…"
---
"Look at this one!" Rukia said cheerfully, holding up one of the yarn weavings. It had a combination of blue and pink yarn in an attractive pattern.
"That's nice, but check this one out!" Momo said. She held up a weaving with a yellow and royal purple pattern. "Show us what you've done Toushiro!" Momo said next.
Toushiro glumly held up his own weaving. It was entirely light blue and was rather uneven. Momo and Rukia laughed heartily, making Toushiro roll his eyes.
"Yeah, yeah; laugh it up," he said, "I know I'm no good at this kind of stuff anyways."
"Yeah, you're not really good in the arts and crafts department," Momo said, "Remember that jack-o-lantern you made for Halloween with nothing but a huge hole in its head? Or that thanksgiving cardboard turkey you made that looked like some sort of alien?"
"Yeah, well I'm more the intellectual type than the creative type," Toushiro said defensively, "I bet a lot of geniuses were horrible at art."
"Yeah like Leonardo DaVinci- oh wait, I just remembered he was great at art!" Momo laughed.
"Yeah, well I bet Steven Hawkings is bad at art," Toushiro retorted.
"That's because nearly his entire body is paralyzed," Momo said, "Here's someone else who was bad at art: Hitler. You're not like Hitler, are you?"
"Momo, cut it out. Besides, Hitler was great at art, just not good enough to get into an advanced art school," Toushiro said irritably. Momo giggled. It was nice that their relationship was finally beginning to return to its normal state. She wouldn't have dared tease him like this just a short time ago, but now they were able to do so just as they usually did.
"Do you guys like this one?" Rukia held up a pretty weaving of blue, emerald, and aquamarine yarns.
"That's terrific Rukia," Momo said with a smile, "You should show it to your parents when they get home." Rukia's smile faltered.
"They won't see it," she said.
"Why not?" Momo asked, "I'm sure they'd love to see it!"
"No," Rukia shook her head, "Papa went away, and Mom doesn't like me. I try to stay away from her when I can."
"Oh…I'm sorry," Momo said awkwardly. She always seemed to be accidentally breeching sensitive subjects. She felt bad that she had caused Rukia to become sad.
"Hey, would you like show Toushiro your rabbit?" Momo said, trying to divert her attention, "I'm sure he'd love to see it."
"Okay!" Rukia said, her mood bright again. She ran off to go get her rabbit. After a few minutes, she returned, carrying her large, snowy white rabbit in her arms. She sat down in front of them.
"Here she is!" Rukia said.
"She's a big one," Toushiro said, touching the rabbit's soft white fur, "What's her name?"
"Yuuki!" Rukia said. Toushiro froze, not moving a muscle.
"What did you say?" he asked quietly. Momo began to feel a sinking sensation in her stomach.
"Yuuki, her name is Yuuki," Rukia said. Toushiro remained still, looking down at the rabbit and up at Rukia several times. He was tense, and his breathing was becoming a bit faster than normal.
"No…" he said, "That's not Yuuki."
"Yes it is! That's what-"
"That's not Yuuki!" Toushiro repeated, a hint of anger in his voice.
"Toushiro," Momo said, putting a hand on his shoulder, "She just named the rabbit after her friend, she didn't mean to-"
"That is not Yuuki," Toushiro repeated, glaring at Rukia, "How dare you disrespect my sister's memory like this?" Rukia was cowering under Toushiro's intense gaze, tears coming to her eyes. She held the rabbit close to her, shaking in fear.
"Toushiro!" Momo said, grabbing his shoulder, "Calm down! Rukia doesn't deserve to be treated like this!" Toushiro closed his eyes and took a deep breath, calming himself.
"You're right," he said, "I'm sorry Rukia. I'm sorry Momo. I just…I have to go." He turned and walked away, exiting the house through the front door. Momo sighed.
"Rukia, will you be okay on your own?" she asked.
"Yes," Rukia said timidly. Momo nodded and walked out after Toushiro. When she went out though, Toushiro was already out of sight. She sighed.
"I wish he would tell me more about back then," she mumbled to herself, "There's so much I don't know about him."
"Would you like me to fill you in?"
Momo jumped in surprise, and turned to see that Mayuhorin was sitting on the ground between a nearby bush and the house.
"Mayuhorin? How-how have you been here?" said Momo.
"A while," she replied, "I saw that Toushiro just stormed out. I take it he was upset about something?"
"Yeah," Momo sighed.
"I could tell you a bit about our past if you'd like," Mayuhorin said quietly, "Perhaps I could shed a bit of light on why Toushiro is how he is."
"Really? You will?" Momo said in surprise.
"Of course, anything for a friend of my brother," Mayuhorin said with an odd smile, "Let's take a walk. There's something I'd like to show you. You can tell me what you want to know about Toushiro on the way."
---
Momo and Mayuhorin walked through the woods. They were walking in a different direction from where they had gone camping before, and the area was much more wild. There were lots of plants and shrubs on the ground, and the trees were a lot thicker. It was a tough walk, but at least they didn't have to carry everything on their back like last time. Momo was explaining to Mayuhorin the things she was wondering about Toushiro.
"And whenever someone brings up a subject like that, he always starts to act weird. I mean, I know there are some things that will be sensitive for him, but the way he reacts makes no sense sometimes. I just want to know more about why he acts the way he does sometimes. Even things that I like about him sometimes confuse me, like why he eats certain things or why he focused so much of his attention on me when we were back home. I just want to know more about him! I've always felt like I knew exactly who he was; we could always understand eachother and shared everything and knew everything about eachother, but now suddenly I feel like I don't know enough about him.
"Well, first let me say that I completely understand what you're saying," Mayuhorin said, "Toushiro is a complex person. More complex than almost all other people. He acts cold and rude, but is kind and protective to those he cares about. He's an introverted, private person, but his best friend is a cheerful extrovert. He rarely shows his emotions, but he holds so many of them. He rarely smiles, but takes delight in the smiles of others. He truly is a person of paradoxes."
"But why is he like that?" Momo asked, "Why is he the way he is. I know most of his personal tendencies, what I don't know is why he has them."
"Well, to answer that we'd have to go back to when he and I were born," Mayuhorin explained, "As you know, we're fraternal twins, and as such shared a lot of things together. Our parents would dress us the same, we'd eat the same types of food, we learned to speak and walk around the same times as eachother, and we'd spend all of our time together. I don't remember everything since we were so young, but I remember enough. Back then, Toushiro was really shy and didn't stand up for himself much. Whenever we played together, he'd always do whatever I did, as if he wasn't sure what else he could do except copy me. He was happy, but just not assertive. He didn't really have any other friends. We were the same age, but he felt more like a little brother than a twin brother. Then when we were three, our mother became pregnant. Neither of us-"
"Oh my gosh!" Momo said, suddenly remembering, "I completely forgot to tell you. Your mom, she-"
"I know," Mayuhorin said simply, "I overheard everything."
"Oh…I see," Momo said, a bit confused as to why Mayuhorin did not seem particularly upset.
"Anyways, back to what I was saying," Mayuhorin said, "When we were three, our mom got pregnant. Neither of us cared at first. All we needed was eachother. When Mother gave birth to Yuuki though, everything changed. Toushiro thought that Yuuki was the most beautiful, wonderful thing he'd ever seen. At first, everything was the same with him except for spending a lot of time near Yuuki. Then, his personality began to change. He stopped being quite as shy and submissive, he began to be protective of Yuuki. Having a little sister to look out for made him much stronger. He would still usually do what I wanted to do, but his attitude was definitely different. He was still introverted, but he was more willing to be active than before. When Yuuki began developing a personality of her own, Toushiro changed even further."
"What do you mean?" Momo asked, stepping over a moss-covered log.
"Yuuki was a free spirit. She never let others tell her what to do and she always did whatever she wanted, all while wearing the brightest smile on earth. It rubbed off on Toushiro. He began doing what he wanted more often, and had a much brighter view on life. Of course, he still spent almost all of his time with me, but Yuuki's influence on him had changed things. He didn't behave quite the same way as before, and was more likely to do what he wanted, not what I wanted. He began making other friends for the first time as well. In short, everything was changing for him."
"Hey Mayuhorin, do you think we should turn back? It looks like it's going to rain soon," Momo said, looking up at the increasingly dark clouds in the sky.
"It probably will rain, but first I'd like to show you something. We're almost there anyways," Mayuhorin said. She began walking a little faster through the brush, with Momo following. Momo noticed that the trees and brush were thinning, and that the ground was slowly becoming rockier.
"We're here," Mayuhorin said. Momo gasped in surprise at what she saw. A beautiful stream was in front of them, the shallow, crystal clear water trickling at a gentle pace.
"Amazing…" Momo said.
"Take your shoes and socks off, the water is great for wading," Mayuhorin said. Momo promptly removed her shoes and socks, and rolled up her pants a little. Mayuhorin did likewise, and they stepped into the water. It was cool and pleasant, and was only a few centimeters deep.
"Can you hear that noise?" Mayuhorin said, referring to a trickling noise coming from ahead, "That's the waterfall. The water flow is so low right now that it's only a little trickle, but it's really cool, come on, I'll show you!" Mayuhorin led Momo over to the waterfall. It was only two or three meters high, and the water was gently trickling over it, but it was still beautiful.
"It's fantastic," Momo said, going right up to the edge and looking over, the low rate of water flow allowing her to go right up to the edge, "I've never been to any place like this.
"That's nothing, there's a waterfall about a kilometer downstream that's nearly fifteen meters high. That is a truly amazing sight," Mayuhorin said, "I'm glad you agreed to come here, seeing as I wouldn't be able to take Toushiro anywhere near this place."
"Why not?" Momo asked in confusion.
"Well, that brings us to the next part of the story," Mayuhorin said with a twisted smile, "You see, as time went by, Toushiro and Yuuki became closer and closer. Toushiro loved her and protected her. She had without a doubt changed his life for the better. Then, Yuuki tragically drowned."
"Your sister drowned?" Momo said in horror. Toushiro had never told her exactly how Yuuki had died, and she had never pressed the subject.
"Indeed. It was on her fourth birthday party. It was at a park. Toushiro and I were climbing trees. Yuuki wanted to climb too, but she was too little, and we turned her away. Of course Yuuki, being the way she was, didn't listen to us, and tried to climb another tree. The tree was old and too close to the water though. It wasn't stable. The tree fell down, and Yuuki fell into the river. Toushiro was the one who pulled her out, but by then Yuuki was already dead. It traumatized Toushiro, more than anything else. It changed him. He became even more withdrawn than before, and it became very rare for him to be happy. Ever since then he's been afraid of rivers and moving water in general. You probably know the rest of the story."
"That's horrible," Momo said in shock, "I never realized…I had no idea." Suddenly things were making sense. Why Toushiro had been so nervous around the river that morning, why Toushiro got mad when she was climbing up trees and toppling them over…it all made sense now.
"You're a lot like Yuuki, you know that?" Mayuhorin said.
"What? Me?" Momo said in surprise.
"Yes. The effect you've had on Toushiro is almost exactly the same as the effect Yuuki had. In fact, that's probably part of why he likes you so much. He undoubtedly loves you every bit as much as he does me. Unfortunately, that is a problem."
"Problem?" Momo said, unsure what she meant. Mayuhorin smirked and walked over to the side of the river to an old pine tree. She stroked the trunk gently.
"When Toushiro lost Yuuki, it completely destroyed him inside. He became completely dependent on me to go on. Then our parents separated, and we weren't able to see eachother anymore. He was probably quite miserable before you met him too. Toushiro shouldn't have to go through that sort of pain again. But when he's around you, it's just like how he was around Yuuki, and…well, let's just say that accidents happen. It only takes the tiniest of things before everything…" Mayuhorin gave the old tree a push, and with a loud crack, it collapsed to the ground, "…comes crashing down."
"What…what are you saying?" Momo said, suddenly extremely nervous. Mayuhorin walked over to her and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. Suddenly, without warning, Mayuhorin shoved Momo over the waterfall. Momo screamed as she fell and landed in the muddy sediment below. She gasped, spitting up water and forcing herself into a sitting position. She looked up at Mayuhorin in shock. Mayuhorin stared coldly at her from above.
"Momo, I'm only going to say this once. Stay away from Toushiro."
Thanks for reading! Thank you to Merciless Ruby, AznVKai, Kinaia, sma4ever, DW64, SunsetRainbow, Koneko144, animelover24271, and Assault Godzilla for reviewing! Please review!