Stuck-up Beauty, Reformed Beast, by Raberba girl

Part 7 (Akito)

I'm lying on my stomach on the floor, absently stroking Horatio and Fortinbras with one finger. Fort simply ignores me and keeps pecking at the small pile of birdseed I've scattered for them; Horatio keeps hopping away irritably, then hopping back for the food, then stabbing at my hand when I reach for him again. He's the easiest to tease (reminds me of Kyo), but I like him best 'cause he keeps sticking around.

The jabs of pain in my hand don't bother me much, though. I'm thinking about that kiss...and the lovely girl who gave me such a shocked, disdainful look afterward, and marched away without a glance back. Bratty little chick, but she's caught my interest. I love those passions she flies into, made so much more effective by her usual laughable composure.

The door suddenly slides open, and I just have time to register the sound of running footsteps before someone slams, gently but not gently enough, on top of me.

"Oof!"

"I loooove you!" Momiji flings his arms around my neck and starts strangling me, disguising it as a hug.

"Get OFF me!" I yell. I mean to say more, but my lungs are crushed and my windpipe is squeezed shut. (I am exaggerating. Not much.)

Momiji laughs, lets go, and climbs off my back. I groan and try to roll over, but it takes me a while.

"Akito, what are you doing?"

"I was playing with the birds," I growl, "until something large and loud lumbered in and scared them off."

Momiji giggles as I gesture at Horatio, who's flitted up to one of the rafters. I don't see Fort; he must have been scared outside by Momiji's attack.

Momiji cuddles up to me, one of his disconcerting little habits that I have yet to get used to. "Aki, are you glad to see me?"

I grasp clumps of his golden-yellow hair in each hand, lift them up, and wag them back and forth. "You are a little piece of sunshine that has tumbled into my den of loneliness and horror."

"Oooh, pretty! You should be a writer, Akito!"

Why not. "Once upon a time, there was a bunny."

"Yay!"

"This bunny...ah..." Inspiration has left me. Not that it ever decided to visit me in the first place. "There was also a skinny little bird, and it fell in love with a radish and married it and lived happily ever after."

"Akito, maybe you should leave the writing to Shigure after all."

"Shut up," I tell him with a straight face. "Don't you dare shoot down my dreams of writing the next literary classic."

Momiji suddenly sits up, and looks at me with serious brown eyes. "Hey, Akito, vacation's gonna be over soon."

"Huh?" Momiji is not usually so random when changing the subject. I sit up as well, and look at him in confusion.

"If you're going to do anything about it, you ought to make your move before she goes back to school."

"What are you talking about?" I think I know. Who does he think he is, trying to play matchmaker?

Momiji makes a kissy face. "'Toko-chan."

"'Toko-chan?"

"I think it has a nice ring to it, don't you?"

"Of course not!"

Momiji reaches out and gently brushes his finger against my lips. I shiver. He smiles.

"You're thinking about her right now," he says.

"I am not."

"Of course you are. Go take her on a date, Akito."

"Oh, for the love of-- I don't even know where she lives, Momiji."

"I bet Tohru does, or Yuki, or both."

"But," I try again, "I just barely met the girl. She's clumsy, stupid, self-conscious, tongue-tied--"

"Beautiful, loyal, passionate," Momiji continues. He smiles at me. "I know the signs of a crush, Akito. Go for it. Why not?"

Why not? I ponder the idea. Taking a girl out on a date... Well, why shouldn't I? Haven't I been working for a year to become a normal person?

Momiji laughs and jumps to his feet. "Come on, Akito--" I love how he says my name, very clippy and cute, "--let's get you to Aya, so he can make you some nice clothes."

"You call this not-nice?" I say indignantly, rubbing the fine, expensive silk of my outer robe between two fingers.

"Normal clothes," Momiji amends. He grins. "I'll come along and make sure he doesn't give you anything too outrageous."

"As if your clothes weren't almost as outrageous!" Momiji always dresses like a character from that cartoon Kisa always watches, Card-catching Sakura or something.

Momiji smiles at me with mock-reassurance, and I smile back.

Sometimes I love being a good guy.

to be continued...