Tohru sat across from him in the silent office, looking around to amuse herself while Momiji read. There on the wall was his diploma from the university they both had recently graduated from, and next to it a picture the she knew wasn't there before. It hurt when she realized that it was the one of their high school graduation. Ever since it was taken, it had always occupied the place of honor right in front of Momiji on the desk, then what... Her eyes focused on the spot where it used to be and for the first time realized that now there was a picture of Momo and Momiji, clad in winter wear standing in the middle of a snowy landscape somewhere in Germany, most likely. It was irrational, but she felt replaced. It was moments like this that cemented her belief that her friendship with Momiji would never really return to what it used to be. Contrary to all the times in the past when they talked and laughed together in this same office, that day the only sound was the occasional turn of a page as Momiji reviewed resume after resume while Tohru waited.

Things between them got better after his birthday a week ago, and yet he was still cautious… too much for Tohru's liking. Any other day in the past, Momiji would be asking her opinion, making comments and offering his input on the hiring process. They were looking for his new assistant, after all. Today… Her patience was running thin. She wanted her friend, her best friend back, not this stranger who had taken over Momiji's body for the last four months.

For his part, Momiji was so aware of each of Tohru's moves that it was taking every fiber of his being to concentrate on the papers in front of him. Tohru might be thinking that he was so immersed in his task that he had forgotten about her, but the truth was quite the opposite. He was in agony every time she was near. True, this situation was not new. In fact, it had been going on for several years now. He loved her and that had triggered his conscious decision to become a teenager at age fifteen. His feelings only grew stronger every day since he acknowledged them to himself. He never had trouble playing the part of best friend before, so what made it so hard to do it now? He felt torn between dismissing her so that he could unsuccessfully try, once again, to suppress his love and desire, or to reach across the desk and kiss her so passionately that she realized that no man could ever love her like he did. He tried taking deep breaths to calm his nerves, but it only made it worse. The smell of her perfume washed over him and enveloped him in the scent of her, robbing him of all coherent thought. Momiji unconsciously crumpled the paper he had been pretending to read in a physical effort to rein in the powerful urges trying to overrule his will. The sound made Tohru focus all her attention on the man in front of her, and the resulting gasp shook Momiji from his internal debate enough to finally meet her eyes for the first time that evening.

The sight of those eyes felt like a stab to the heart. She didn't love him, she just couldn't, but the longing and pain in his eyes sometimes made her wish that things could have turned out different, for his sake, at least. She wanted to heal his heart, to soothe his tortured soul, but she couldn't think of a way to do that. Actually, she knew what to do, but it would mean betraying her own heart, and neither of them deserved to live a lie. Besides, she owed it to Kyou, her constant companion and the love of her life. As much as she loved Momiji as a brother, her feelings for him would never be what he wanted them to be. In this, at least, she decided to be selfish and grab what she wanted and which had been given to her so freely. She would stay with Kyou, and that was her final decision, so what did she have to do to stick to her resolution without tearing Momiji's heart to pieces in the process?

-"What about I just leave these resumes with you and you can tell me later which ones you want me to set an appointment with for an interview?"

-"That'll be fine," he answered in obvious relief. He could stop pretending to pay attention to some meaningless papers.

-"Good. I'm leaving then…" she rose from her seat, ready to go, and feeling awful about it. When had things gone this way? Why was she running away from Momiji of all people? Momiji stood up from his chair abruptly, startling her.

-"Wait, Tohru! You can't leave me yet… I have to talk to you. Please? Just a couple of minutes…" there was a desperate need in his voice and a plea that she could not ignore.

-"About what?" Tohru started to panic. She had a bad feeling about it, but she couldn't think of an excuse to just run out of his office.

-"You know what about. This conversation is long overdue" his voice was calm, but the passion in his eyes became unbearable. For a second, she doubted that she'd be able to deny him anything.

Her eyes darted to the door, relieved, when she heard somebody knock cheerfully on it.

Momiji rushed to her side and grabbed her arm by the elbow in a silent command to remain where she stood. His grip was gentle, yet strong. Tohru could tell that he was struggling to say something. Whoever was outside knocking grew impatient, but still Momiji didn't grant permission to enter. Tohru sent him a questioning look, and signaled with her eyes to the door. She didn't trust her voice at all. He sighed, exasperated.

-"Wait" was the simple order for Tohru. His voice was firm and commanding. A girl's voice called his name from outside, and the knocking resumed after a minute. Momiji yelled a curt permission to enter. Tohru faced the door with an uncomfortable look, only to see an angel when Momo crossed the threshold.

-"What took you so long? I was about to call an ambulance!" Momo half-joked. Once her brother had been properly scolded, she turned to Tohru with a grin gracing her pink lips. "Hi!" Momo noticed their awkward positions, gave a pointed look to her brother, but didn't make a comment. "Nii-san, I need you to come with me right now. No excuses." Her voice was as serious as a fifteen year old can make it, but Tohru suspected immediately that the reason for this outing was nothing to worry about. Surely the girl wouldn't go to an important event clad in jeans, a cotton blouse, sandals and a huge pink bag that didn't match anything else she was wearing. Suddenly, Momo went to Tohru, dislodged Momiji's hand from her arm with a casual move, and spun the older girl around in a hug. "I'm so happy to see you! How are you doing?" She didn't give her much time to answer more than a short 'fine', before she started to tell her about her school break. Already Momo was taller than Tohru would ever be, so that made looking into her eyes a little difficult for her. And then there was her obvious discomfort with the previous situation the blonde girl had saved her from. Seizing the chance to flee, Tohru made up a feeble excuse and ran away from the office. As soon as she closed the door, Momo got rid of the smile and turned to her brother with accusing eyes.

-"You know, nii-san I might not usually notice these things, but even I could tell that there was something making Tohru uncomfortable in here. Care to tell me about it?" Her voice was sweet, and the question was not as harsh as Momiji expected, but he couldn't answer even if he'd wanted to. He was making a conscious effort not to run after Tohru. Momo's instincts took over and she thwarted the action with a big hug and a kiss on his cheek. Only then she had his attention. "It's getting harder to deal with your feelings, isn't it?" For a woman as clueless as Momo, she had great insight into her brother's heart. She sighed. "The easiest way to deal with this is to confess your feelings to her and get it over with, though I seriously doubt that she doesn't know already."

-"I should, but… I can't. Really" he countered to Momo's disbelieving look "There isn't just me to consider" he elaborated. "Kyou doesn't deserve this, and she returns his feelings. But then, I just…" his eyes went to the door, as if trying to make a decision. "You walked right into what could've been the end of my friendship with her. I could never bear to lose her, and that's what would happen if I dared to confess my feelings to her. I don't want to betray Kyou either. He's like a brother to me." The angst in his voice hurt Momo. If only her brother could be as happy as she was! She gave him a big, loving hug, and she could literally feel the tide of emotions raging inside him. How could Momiji ever hope to contain such strong passions inside?

-"Come with me. I'm saving you from yourself today." She started taking out yet another casual outfit for her brother and placing everything on top of the papers scattered all over the desk.

-"I really hope that you don't make a habit of kidnapping me in the middle of a work day whenever you feel like it. It's bad for business if I'm not here. I'm the boss, after all. I'm supposed to set an example and be responsible" he countered feebly even as he started to take off his tie and undoing the buttons of his cuffs. He didn't feel self-conscious in front of his sister, and since she never protested whenever he undressed in front of her either, he just went on and changed right there in his office every time he was "kidnapped".

-"I'm sure that the company can survive a day without you once in a while. Besides, your head is elsewhere, so you can't really expect to do a good job while under the influence of your hormones. That said, you're taking me out to lunch, and after that, I think that we can do some shopping" she said after giving him a once over look and noting again that at 1.90 m tall, he had outgrown most of his clothes. She took his shirt from his outstretched hand, and gave him a forest green polo shirt that he put on silently. Just then, another idea popped into her head while she folded the clothes she received and put them in the bag. "What about we go and fetch Hiro and we all go together?"

-"I'm sure that aunt Satsuki would be delighted to go with you and your boyfriend, so how about this, we go to lunch together, and then I come back here and you and Hiro go get Aunt Satsuki and Hinata-chan to go shopping?" to be completely honest, the idea of going back to work that day terrified him. There was no guarantee that he could stop himself from just barging into Tohru's cubicle, and finish the conversation he started minutes ago.

-"I think not. If you don't want Hiro around, then we can go together, just the two of us now, and I can go out with him some other time." Momo felt comfortable with Hiro. He went along with everything she wanted to do, and he let her cuddle and hug him all she wanted, and yet, she felt like there was something missing. That didn't discourage her, though. They had time. The rest of their lives, in fact.

-"Why don't you want to meet Hiro's parents?" he asked.

-"What?"

-"You heard me. I know that Hiro's asked you several times to go to his house so that he can introduce you to his parents, and that you keep giving him excuses for not going. What is it? What or who are you trying to avoid? They are great people, and I'm sure that you'll love them once you get to know them. You liked Hinata-chan, didn't you?" Momo nodded. "…and you know that Hiro's dad is Papa's cousin. They even look alike some."

-"Really? I didn't know that" she answered. It felt weird to think about her boyfriend being her cousin as well, however distant the relation was between them. "But… meeting his parents? Isn't that a little too…"

-"…serious? Not really, if you take into consideration that they are family, after all. What about this? When you go meet them, I can go with you, for moral support." They better visit Hiro's family as soon as that weekend or even before then. Satsuki could be very persuasive and persistent, as his office call log could attest to.

-"I'm still not sure that I want to meet them yet. It's kind of scary, you know, meeting his parents and them knowing... What if they don't like me?" Momiji chuckled.

-"That's impossible", he said winking at her, and she relaxed some. "Just wait until aunt Satsuki meets you. She'll spoil you rotten and I'm sure that she will want you all to herself. Nothing to worry about." Momo smiled.

-"Fine. What about we call them later and see when we can go and finally meet them?" The situation was son unreal that she couldn't stop giggling at the thought. She was only fifteen, but she was already meeting her parents-in-law! Momiji picked up the phone and dialed a number from memory. Momo finished packing his clothes while he talked and laughed quietly at some joke. The conversation was short. Momiji ended it with the usual pleasantries before calling her name and handing her the receiver. She looked at it, terrified. Surely he didn't mean…

-"It's for you. As soon as she knew that you're here she demanded to talk to her new daughter." The grin on his face did nothing to assuage her escalating panic. She took the phone from his hand.

-"Hi aunt Satsuki" was her shy greeting.

-"Hi Momo-chan! What's this about you calling me aunt Satsuki? You must call me mom!" The voice on the other side of the line was full of cheer and warmth. Momo couldn't stop herself from smiling. "Momiji-kun was telling me that you both can come over one of these days. What about tonight?"