A/N: Well, I was GOING to use someone's idea and write a fight scene . . . but it didn't feel natural. I'll work on that you guys. Meanwhile, you'll just have to survive on meaningless fluff. Darn! :P

. . . . . OMG YOU GUYZ! HALFWAY! (thought i'd never get there.)

39# Black and White

Only stupidly foolish people in love would remember things like that . . . which is probably why Momiji could. All the little things stood out in his mind. For example, he remembered the first time he held Tohru's hand. It was early spring, not too long after he had entered the same high school as her. He remembered walking home with her, actually alone for once, and he remembered how long he stared at her hand out of the corner of his eye before he finally gathered the courage to reach for it. Before Tohru could ask what he was doing, Momiji exclaimed the first thing that popped in his mind to distract her.

"Eh? Tohru's hands are surprisingly cold!"

And it was true, but Momiji nonetheless felt a strong urge to slap himself for the lame declaration.

But it worked. Instead of immediately pulling away, Tohru seemed to momentarily forget about their intertwined fingers. She frowned in puzzlement. "Is that strange?" she asked, and judging from her expression, it was an honest question.

Momiji scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Well, I mean . . . for such a warm person like Tohru, you'd normally expect them to have warm hands."

"Hana-chan and Uo-chan always complain that I have cold hands."

"Really?"

"Maybe it's just an opposite thing."

"Ehhhh?" Momiji poked her in the side, grinning when she jumped and squeaked. "But I have warm hands. Do you think I'm actually a cold person?"

"Eh? EH? H-heaven's no!" Tohru gushed, shaking her head so wildly that her hair went flying. Then she paused, looking thoughtful. "Momiji-kun's hands are warm, though."

"I told you."

"But it's a comfortable warm."

" . . . . . . okay?"

"It's not like the others," Tohru insisted when she saw Momiji's skeptical grin. "Yuki's hand isn't very warm at all, and Kyo's hand is so hot his touch almost burns."

Momiji raised an eyebrow at her. "You compare body temperatures of people?"

"Just their hands."

"Um—"

"Is that strange? It's strange, isn't it?"

"Yep!"

Tohru pouted at her feet.

It was quiet for a moment. Momiji was surprised that she was still letting him hold her hand. He experimentally gave their hands a couple of swings, but still she didn't pull away.

Momiji cleared his throat and turned his head so that Tohru couldn't see his blush. "Well, it doesn't matter. As long as my hand is the most comfortable, right?"

"Huh?"

"Oh look, Tohru!" Momiji said, changing the subject. "There's an ice cream vender over there! Let's check it out."

Tohru laughed as he pulled her along at a skip. And neither of them said anything when Momiji's hand finally slipped out of hers.