Hello, beautiful people. I am back again. I hope everyone spent a good Halloween. Were you dressed up scarily? Or sweetly? Me, I just ate chocolates. No time to dress up, though I did watch scary documentaries.

So, a warning, mushiness ahead. Before you bite my head off, I've seen men do such gestures, so you can't tell me it doesn't happen in real life. It does, just very rare for men to be so expressive. And it's Momiji, so it's something to be expected.

Also, let us all be reminded that he is a man now. And a human, just like the rest of us. *wink*

Anyway, do read on, and I hope you enjoy ~ !

Momiji turned to the avenue leading to the café Tohru had mentioned on the phone, a whole gamut of emotions welling inside him, it seemed. Happiness. Disbelief. Longing. Sadness. It had been a while since his emotions had been in disarray like this, threatening to overspill the dam with which he had locked it in. He just needed to see her, to get to her.

As long as he sees Tohru, he knew he would calm down.

Above all these emotions, the one which was most prevalent would be the one of pride. In spite of the mixed feelings, pride is all that he could most profoundly feel at receiving the thick-papered invitation in his apartment's mailbox. It was an unexpected gesture, one which excited him and at the same time saddened him. He couldn't wait to tell Tohru, as well as ask her a favor for it.

He wondered what her reaction would be.

Some fifteen meters away, he finally saw her. She was standing outside the café, just content to watch people go past her. She looked wistful, cheeks flushed – probably with the late afternoon sun – which was just at the right angle towards her, making her look ethereal and almost otherworldly.

Momiji was aware of how other people viewed Tohru. At first glance, nothing about her pretty much stood out. They would say that she is cute… and that's that.

What Momiji saw, apart from everyone's perception, is that she is beautiful. Not the kind that would turn heads if she walked past you. Or the kind that one would ogle at from the airbrushed pages of a magazine. Her beauty came from inside her, something which a person will only realize the longer they look at her. And then they would be confused – wait, she definitely is a beauty!

She is the type who grows beautiful the longer one's eyes stay on her – something that he, Kyo and Yuki appreciated, and probably the very reason Kyo and Yuki both used to smack Shigure during all those years past. While Shigure may not have been interested in Tohru as a woman, he definitely saw what Momiji sees now.

When he was but five meters apart from her, he pulled the A8 to a stop, not wanting to park right in front of her. Thankfully, there was a slot available near her, and he immediately got out, locking the car doors automatically, almost on auto-pilot, feeling more drawn to her than he had ever been as he walked towards her.

He hadn't seen her for a full two weeks. Two. Freaking. Weeks. That was more than what any man who deeply adore a woman can take. Idly, he wondered, how the hell did he survive the years he hadn't seen her?

He supposed it had to do with his subconscious, knowing that Tohru was in love with someone else, he had wanted her to be happy, etc. etc. He had imposed iron restraint on himself to help him cope. Over the years, he had held on to that restraint subconsciously, and it helped that Elise worked him like a cart horse – in between his final year, practicing for the competition and small and large-scale performances, there just wasn't much time left to think.

Now though, he could feel that restraint waning. If he didn't watch himself, he might end up scaring Tohru away, ending things before they could actually start.

He finally stopped behind her, raising a hand from behind her to cover her eyes from the afternoon sunlight. "You really should take care of your eyes more, schone."

She started in surprise that she whirled around too fast, and lost her footing which made her wobble and made her lose her balance, but Momiji was quick to grab her and pull her against him. The unexpected action brought her into contact against his chest, and they stared at each other, at a loss of words, topaz irises colliding with chocolate ones.

Just then, a particularly strong wind blew past them, lifting her hair up all around them, covering the both of them with her long chocolate-brown tresses.

The smell of strawberries and peaches assaulted his nose, and he couldn't stop himself from momentarily closing his eyes to better appreciate the scent. It was so her and he could feel the pull on his senses. Not now, Momiji, he immediately chastised himself, knowing that he was seconds away from closing that small distance and laying a kiss on her lips, being in public and the possibility of scaring her away from him be damned. No. Take it slow.

He forced himself to open his eyes and look at her, but whatever he wanted to say to her died in his throat as he met her gaze once more.

The longing in her eyes startled him. It was an emotion he could easily recognize, because he had been dealing with this emotion for the longest time. He could only wonder what was making her feel this way at the moment – this was the way she used to look at Kyo, recognizing it from the time that he was at the rooftop, watching them look for him back in high school years before.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you like that." He whispered, eyes never leaving hers. The gap between them was too small, he could almost feel her breath mingle intimately with his.

Tohru nodded, but she was flushed. "It's okay, Momiji-kun. I didn't expect you to be already… there."

They released each other, both still gazing at each other without speaking for a full three minutes. Not wanting the atmosphere to be too serious and quiet and dare he say it – tensed – he smiled, almost mischievously.

"That doesn't count as a hug. Give me some of that sweetness, Princess. Haven't had that hug for two weeks, and I need something to calm me down now." For full effect, he gave her the puppy dog eyes, just for old times' sake, raising his arms to her.

His teasing broke the ice. A smile bloomed from Tohru's lips, giggling as she stepped into the circle of his arms, and they both sighed as their arms came around each other's. Now that she was wrapped properly within his embrace, he took great pleasure in her subtle floral scent and he breathed her in like some badly needed oxygen. He finally felt the high fluctuations of his emotions subside within him as he did so.

Thank the kami they had never been shy of their affections toward each other.

He squeezed her shoulders gently, before deciding to let her go, loathe as he was to do so. He gently extricated her from his arms, noticing how Tohru's arms slowly fell from around him, almost like she didn't want to let go just yet either.

It was rather gratifying to know that she felt the same way, but he didn't want to read too much into it. Not yet, at least. "Thanks, Tohru. I really needed that."

Her expression turned worried, raising her hand to cup his left cheek gently, her eyes lingering on his face. "You wanted to see me… did something happen?"

Dear Tohru. Always worried about him and everyone else.

He smiled at her reassuringly, taking hold of her hand and lowering it to their side. "Have you had ice cream already? I feel like going for a walk first. I'll take you home later, I promise."

She opened her mouth to say something else but probably thought better of it, then squeezed his hand, smiling gently at him. "I would love some ice cream. It's been a while since we've had some together."

He grinned. "Good. I just passed by an ice cream stand. Shall we?"

They fell into step beside each other, chuckling and giggling in her case, with excitement.

She took some time deciding which flavor she was actually going to get – caramel, chocolate, vanilla, cookies and cream – the list is endless and all of them sounded good. Surprisingly, Momiji took one look at the stand's flavors and chose something else – mint chocolate ice cream.

Eventually she ended up with vanilla, and she was searching her bag for her wallet but Momiji stopped her. "Please, let me." He said, and deciding to just let him go with it, she let him pay for their cones. After they were handed their finished cones, they walked together, happily slurping on their ice cream.

As she recalled what happened earlier, she blushed pleasantly to herself. It has been some time since she has been that close to a male to the point that she could count his long eyelashes, but she didn't dislike it. She didn't dislike being that physically close to the blond, which spoke of how deep her feelings for him ran, apparently. When he had asked for that hug, she had been all-too-willing to go back into the circle of his arms and be held close by him once more. She really didn't want to let go of him just yet, but she eventually had to, having to keep in mind the acceptable decent interval of a hug supposedly to occur between two best friends.

She shook her head mentally, trying to clear it from thoughts of hurling herself back into his arms, as tempted as she was. She had always thought Momiji happened to have the best hugs in the world, even when she had been dating Kyo.

Now that she thought about it, that was already a very telling sign back then.

"I don't think I've ever heard of mint chocolate flavor." She commented to distract herself from her current thoughts, breaking the companionable silence between the two of them and looking over at Momiji curiously.

The blond grinned at her. "People have been saying it tastes weird, but it actually doesn't. It has a unique flavor, and that's why I like it." He then looked at his cone, expression almost startlingly pensive. "People should really just give it a chance, not judge it outright based on what it looks like. Seriously."

She looked over to him, wondering, as she did, if there was more to that statement than him just talking about ice cream, because it felt like he had meant something else. Or maybe it was born out of his own life experiences and he was just using it as reference.

"Wanna have a taste?" He offered suddenly, noticing her curious expression.

"Eh – sure…?"

He took hold of her purse and her own cone as he handed her his. True to it's name, it was mint green combined with chocolate coating and sprinkles. Well, if he says it tastes good, there's nothing wrong with trying it, right?

She went to the fuller part, and took a bite out of it. To her surprise, Momiji was right – it was refreshing, the mint flavor wasn't there to bother but only enhanced the chocolate flavor, albeit a little cooler on her tongue than expected. She actually liked it.

"This is good, Momiji-kun!" She exclaimed happily in a tone higher than her usual, indicating her satisfaction.

"Doesn't it? Have more if you want."

"You can taste some of mine's too."

"Thanks, Princess."

Eventually they were able to finish their cones. They continued walking, appreciating the beauty of the nature, until they came to a park. Kids were running around with parents either scolding or chasing them, and Tohru wondered if one day she would be one of these parents. The thought made her smile wistfully. It had crossed her mind multiple times, but never one that she and Kyo talked about seriously when they were still together.

"Well, I wanted to see you since I wanted to show you something." Momiji finally broke the silence, smiling down to her. "Let me know what you think of this."

He pulled a square envelope out of his jacket pocket, handing it to her carefully. It was thick, and she wondered what was in it.

Momiji led her to sit down to a swing which was, miraculously, empty of kids. She lowered herself to one of the seats as she glanced at Momiji questioningly.

"Open it." He encouraged, plopping to the empty seat beside hers.

She was a bit nervous, but she readily complied, carefully picking off the flap and taking hold of the card inside. She flipped the card to read it, and as the words fully registered, she understood why Momiji needed to see her and ask her for an embrace.

You are cordially invited to attend the

Kaibara High School Musical Night

Featuring soloist Momo Sohma on violin

Playing works by Schubert, Mozart and Chopin

Saturday, September 28th at 6 p.m.

Kaibara Concert Hall

For more information contact us at office .org

"Oh, Momiji." She felt her eyes moisten with tears, as mixed emotions welled up inside her. She had no idea how almost similar her emotions were to his earlier – bittersweet as it is – recognizing the significance of the invitation to him. "She has done it."

"My sister's doing it." She saw tears also well up in his eyes, and she reached out to grasp his hand, knowing that he needed something to anchor him to reality, much as they both felt that they were dreaming this very moment. "I had no idea she really has pursued violin too."

She was startled at this piece of information. "But… weren't you… aren't you talking to your father the past few years…?"

To her surprise, Momiji let out a mirthless laugh, one which, in her opinion, did not suit him. He has always been a warm person who was capable of forgiveness and empathy, that for him to laugh like this – it was painful to hear, in the least. It made her rub circles at the back of his hand, worriedly gazing at her companion.

She saw him sigh, looking up at the autumn sky, and she followed his gaze. A soft breeze blew past them, stirring lots of red leaves from their branches. She realized – with a small gasp – that the leaves were already the color of the brightest red.

Momiji. She thought, admiring the colors. She had always loved autumn, in spite of this season heralding the arrival of cold winter. In spite of it, for her autumn has always had the brightest of colors, and this season always felt the warmest to her, even if the temperature is slowly dropping day by day.

She had just now realized that Momiji was the main reason as to why she had always loved autumn. His name meant autumn leaves after all.

"Dad has never mentioned anything about Mom and Momo all the years I was out of Japan." Momiji's voice penetrated her thoughts, bringing her back to the unpleasant reality of families who chose to abandon a son due to a very annoying curse. "He felt that he didn't have to, even if the curse was broken. I stopped asking after the second time. After all, if they weren't doing well, he would've mentioned it."

"I'm sorry, Momiji." She could only say, letting him know by what was unsaid that she was there for him no matter what.

Momiji, being the empath he was, felt that, and he gave her a small, but nevertheless heart-stopping smile. He lifted the hand she was holding to give hers a kiss, and she literally felt her heart beat stop for a few seconds before restarting again.

Reacting like such a lovelorn schoolgirl… she couldn't understand it. This was not the first time she had fallen in love, but her reactions render her like a teenager having her first crush. Everything felt so intense, confusingly so.

Deciding that this was not the time to focus on her reactions lest she wanted Momiji to ask her what was wrong, she mentally shook her head. She really needed to stop daydreaming in the middle of a conversation. "You think she sent the invitation?" She asked, wanting to confirm what her suspicions were.

He nodded, as he tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear which had fallen to cover her cheek when the breeze blew past them earlier. If he noticed that her skin that he had grazed while tucking that strand of hair was flushed, he didn't react to it. "Most probably. I could not imagine it coming from him."

She was quiet, looking at his expression. She could tell he was resigned – recognizing it all too well as the look of someone who had long ago accepted his circumstances. Her heart reached out to him. "Well... do you want to go?"

He nodded, now grinning almost playfully. "Of course. I won't pass up the chance to see her play. Besides, I doubt me and dad would be in the same row anyway, so I know I can be there. She went to the trouble of inviting me after all, so the least I could do is repay her with my attendance. I just don't know how she got my address…" He looked thoughtful, and she smiled fondly at him. Talking to oneself is a trait they both shared. She had missed seeing him do so.

"Which reminds me," he looked at her, fixing her with a serious topaz gaze, "I have something to ask of you regarding that."

Tohru found herself nervous all of a sudden. "W-What is it?"

He turned to face her fully, gaze never leaving hers. He looked so serious that her heart was beginning to pound in her ears. What kind of question was it that he kind of looked like he was nervous as well?

He took a deep breath, then smiled gently at her. "Will you be my date for that night, Tohru?"

Before she could check herself, a smile bloomed on her lips. She felt so happy at being asked so earnestly and honestly, she had almost said yes immediately. Almost. She had to make sure though. "Are you sure you want me to go with you? I mean…" her cheeks reddened, embarrassed. "I don't know much about classical music. The only ones I know would be the songs that you've… you've recorded." She felt so small admitting this fact that she looked up to him, and was actually surprised to see him blushing.

His cheeks were flooded with color, that she thought he was incredibly cute. Momiji being embarrassed to the point of blushing was a phenomenon she had never seen. Most probably because he was confident in his own skin and what he does and doesn't normally embarrass easily like Kyo or even Yuki sometimes. But to see him like this – flustered, reddened cheeks – it was absolutely endearing to her.

He cleared his throat turning away from her to hide his face for a minute, though she could probably see that both of his ears were red. After he felt that he had calmed down enough to no longer resemble a giant tomato, he took a deep breath and sighed. "That was a compliment for me Tohru. Thank you. And it's definitely okay for you to be there with me – it's a chance to listen to good music after all. That is… if you're okay with doing so." He turned back to her once more, expression a little unsure.

Tohru smiled widely to reassure him. "Of course I would love to be there with you, Momiji-kun. I am honored to be your date for that night."

He gave a small whoop of victory, kissing her hand once more tenderly in thanks. "And I am honored that you said yes. Thank you." He was smiling at her so fondly that she couldn't help but feel like she was melting underneath that tender topaz gaze. She was thankful she was sitting, because her knees were turning to mush.

She forced herself to ignore the feeling of melting, smiling shyly and turning away from him to look to her side once more and flush. And then she realized something. "There's a bit of a problem for me though." At his questioning glance, she explained, now looking doubtful. "Would the dress code be formal? It's a recital, I haven't been to one before and I don't have a lot of formal dresses…" She continued sheepishly, that Momiji chuckled beside her.

"Don't worry about that. I know just where to go." He winked at her, still smiling widely, before glancing at his watch. "Well, if we hurry we're still gonna make it."

If saying yes as his date would make him this happy, then she had no problem going on dates with him, no matter where it is. Even now, as she thought about it, can actually be considered a mini-date. She was just happy that she was able to help uplift Momiji's spirits, if a little.

"Then lead the way." She accepted his hand as he helped her up, meeting his smile with one of hers as they stared into each other's eyes, just appreciating the quiet moment between the two of them.

He then tucked her hand into the crook of his arm, and laughing quietly together, proceeded to make their way back towards his car.

Kuramae Mine had just bid a customer goodbye when she heard the welcoming bell of the store ring once more. Don't we have a lot of customers today… She thought, smiling a little mischievously to herself. I just hope it's a girl this time. Just so I can dress her up... I am quite sick with just seeing men here after all.

"Irasshaimase – !" Her greeting froze upon seeing a familiar brunette come in, and her expression immediately turned to a warm smile. "Ara, Tohru-chan! It's been some time – oh and Momiji-chan!"

Mine was surprised to see Tohru, but was even more surprised to see Momiji with her. They were busy talking with themselves when they came in as Momiji was still holding the door open for her, until the brunette turned towards her when she heard her call her name and spotted her. "Konbanwa, Mine-san!"

"Guten abend, Mine-chan." Momiji greeted her as well in his endearing German accent, smiling fondly at the older woman.

"This is a pleasant surprise!" She met them at the middle of the shop and gave Tohru a friendly hug. "Wow it has been, what, years since I last saw you guys! And welcome home, Momiji-chan. The manager has told me you came home weeks ago. Congrats on making it big in the classical music world!"

Momiji sank into a bow in acknowledgement with all the grace of an old-world gentleman, grinning widely at what she had said. "Why thank you, Mine-chan. I am honored to be given such a praise." He then straightened up, looking around, expecting to see the silver-haired proprietor of the establishment but not seeing him popping out of nowhere as he has always been known to do – giving Yuki and Kyo countless heart attack moments if he recalled Tohru's stories correctly. "Where's Aya?"

"The manager went out for a bit, said he'll buy us coffee. So…" she turned to Tohru with what could only be described as a deadly smile. "How can I help you? It hardly seems that you both dropped by just to visit. I take it you need my help ~ ?"

Tohru flinched, sweat-dropping as she recalled to mind the experience of being put to a dress by Mine years before when she came with Yuki for a visit, but Momiji, used to Mine's antics, took it into stride. "Why yes, Mine-chan. I believe I do. I am attending a recital … and I will have a concert in a few months."

"Ah, your usual then." Mine saw Tohru look surprised beside Momiji, looking at them both curiously. "Tohru-chan, this is the shop where Momiji-chan used to get mostly his formal, and even everyday clothes." She explained for the brunette's benefit.

"Really?" Tohru looked amazed, glancing at Momiji who merely shrugged. "I didn't know that. So you have a lot of their clothes?"

"Yeah, back then." Momiji nodded, scratching the back of his head ruefully. "I had a lot of them, I couldn't even remember how many was 'a lot'."

Tohru chuckled. "You and your love of cute things. So what happened to those clothes?"

"The ones which were technically unused I gave to some my friends from the Conservatoire who had toddlers at home. The others well, they went to people who need them more."

She shouldn't have been surprised that he had decided to donate most of them, but it was still a noble thing to do. "That was a nice thing to do, Momiji-kun."

He winked at her playfully, before proceeding to get Mine's attention. "Mine-chan, I'm not the only one who needs formal wear. Tohru here needs a beautiful dress for the recital."

Mine whirled around from looking for some of her tools that she would need to measure Momiji with, eyes twinkling, her smile a million-megawatt one. "Oh, at last! I would love to help her of course!"

"A-Ano, Momiji-kun, I'm not sure about this…." Tohru found herself backtracking with Mine now searching for most of her tools with more gusto.

Momiji chuckled, knowing the reason why Tohru was nervous. Mine can be a tad overenthusiastic about dressing women up, but her heart was in the right place. "It'll be fine. You know you can trust them with clothes."

"But I'm not sure if I can pay – "

" – That," Momiji talked over her, placing his hand on her shoulders and turning her to Mine's direction, "is something you don't have to worry about. Go and get measured." He then called over to Mine to let her go first.

"Eh, but Momiji-kun – "

"Let's go Tohru-chan!"

Momiji watched in satisfaction as Mine steered Tohru to the dressing area, just as the welcoming bell rang once more, admitting a certain silver-haired proprietor in.

"Why, if it isn't my cousin Momiji! What brings you to my castle?" With his usual exuberance, Ayame twirled around dramatically raising the items he was holding up to the air that Momiji became worried he would spill the coffee he has bought, but he needn't have worried, because Aya did this with his unbelievable grace that the coffee he was holding appeared to not have even sloshed around the cups. How in the world Aya achieved this, he would never know, he guess.

He opened his mouth to respond, but the older Sohma beat him to it. "Ara. I see. You came to get new clothes for the princess?" Aya came to stand beside him, probably hearing his wife's enthusiastic voice and Tohru's embarrassed soprano as Momiji acknowledged him with a nod.

"I invited her to attend Momo's recital with me." He explained simply, not elaborating more in the subject.

Not hearing a response, he looked up and met Ayame's gaze, unflinching. There seemed to be something the older Sohma was trying to see in his eyes, whatever it is. He didn't avert his gaze. He knew that this is one of the rare moments the former snake of the zodiac was serious and appeared to have something in his mind.

Silence seemed to reign between the two of them, as Ayame eventually broke the staring contest and decided to place the coffee he bought down into the table. He then straightened up, giving Momiji one of his very rare smiles. "We'll take care of your princess."

Momiji returned the smile. "As I always knew you would. I'll hold you to that."

"And I trust you'll make her happy."

He didn't bother confirming if and how Ayame knew. Either way he didn't care what anyone thought if they knew, but it was nice to see some of them looking out for Tohru.

"Her happiness is as much essential as mine is." The blond assured him. Ayame didn't doubt the truth behind the words, and he smiled approvingly.

"Good. Shall we get you measured then?"

Momiji smiled to himself as he followed Ayame to a different dressing room. He just hoped Mine was still going easy on Tohru, because he couldn't wait to see her on the dress. Saturday is taking too damn long to arrive.

Again thank you for reading! Drop me a line if you feel like leaving a comment or a review. I listen to those after all. 'Til next chapter!

Love,

Michiko. :)