The Same Shade of Yellow, by Raberba girl

Chapter 2 - Double Date

The restaurant was nice but not formal. Although Momiji was never silent, his chatter was not one-sided at all, and Momo had plenty of opportunities to talk. She even began to drop some of her shyness, and was surprised to find how animated she was sometimes as she spoke. Momiji's smile and enthusiasm encouraged her, and Momo liked how positive he was, as if he could look at any part of life and find something good about it.

His cheerful energy was not contained by his body and seemed to spill over; just by being near him, Momo felt happier and more relaxed than she had in a long time. As she spoke of school, teachers, her friends, schoolwork, and leisure activities, Momo realized how used she was to being shy and uncomfortable. Even when just hanging out with her friends, she felt as if she was holding herself back somehow, and the strain of it made her always feel tight and wary. This feeling of being able to speak freely, to someone who appreciated her and was eager to listen to what she had to say, was so wonderful.

Already Momo loved Momiji like a brother, this person who could banish her self-consciousness just by talking in that bright, excited way of his. Momo even forgot for a while that she had a lisp.

"Ah, Momiji! I send you out for groceries, and you end up here!" Both Momo and Momiji looked up. A pretty, dark-haired woman was bounding across the restaurant towards them.

Momiji laughed and exclaimed, "Ah, sorry Kagura! But listen, listen, I met someone!"

A man walked up and said, "Hey, Kagura, aren't you going to introduce me to your friends?"

Kagura bounced up and whacked him affectionately on the back. He winced. "I love you, Dai-chan! This is my cousin, Momiji, the one I told you about. He just got back from Germany and he's staying with me for a while. And this is Momo-chan, she's another cousin. I haven't seen her in - gosh, since New Year's! Hello, Momo-chan!"

"Hello, Kagura-san," Momo said shyly. She was blushing again, and her hands were folded in her lap.

"And Momo-chan, Momiji, this is my boyfriend, Daisuke. Isn't he adorable?" Smiling ecstatically, Kagura squeezed his hand, and Momo became alarmed when she heard faint but unmistakable crunching sounds.

"Um...Kagura-san...?"

"Kagura!" Momiji exclaimed, "He's whimpering!"

"Oh! I'm sorry, Dai-chan! Are you all right? Did I hurt you? I'm sorry, it's only because I love you so much!"

"I know, I know," Daisuke said with a strained smile. "My woman," he said to Momo, "has got quite a strong grip." He patted Kagura's shoulder fondly, but gingerly.

"Hey, hey Kagura! Come sit with us!" Momiji said eagerly. "Or, do you want to be alone on your date?"

"No, let's eat together!" Kagura said enthusiastically, and sat down. Daisuke shrugged and followed suit.

"So, Momo," Momiji said as Kagura and Daisuke were ordering their food, "What was that you were saying, about that guy you like?"

"Oh." Momo blushed. Now that Kagura and Daisuke were there, she felt shy again. "Um, Ronnie-kun...but, you know, we can talk about something else."

"Oh, no!" Kagura exclaimed. "A crush, a crush! Tell me! I used to have the hugest crush on this one guy..." She sighed happily. "Dear Kyo-kun. He had the prettiest orange hair! And he was so strong and cool--"

"Eh, Kagura! You want to make me jealous or something?" Daisuke exclaimed. Kagura made a happy sound and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I want to hear about Ronnie," Momiji said encouragingly. "Come on, tell us!"

"Oh, well...I don't..."

"That name, 'Ronnie,'" Daisuke said. "Is it American?"

"Oh, yes. His parents are American, but they moved here when he was five years old, so he grew up here. He has two younger sisters...and...he has blue eyes..." 'Just stop, Momo,' she told herself firmly. 'You sound like an idiot.'

"Eh! Well, tell us more!" Kagura prompted when Momo's voice trailed off. "How long have you liked him? Have you told him yet?"

Momo was no longer having fun. "I've liked him for a few months now, ever since I started high school. But I...haven't told-- I mean, yesterday I tried to ask him if he'd...help me with a question I had on the homework, but he just-- Before I could even ask it right, he just said hi and then went off after his friends--"

"Hey, Momo-chan!" Kagura exclaimed, "That's no way to go about it! You gotta be bold! Guys like it when you just come straight out with it, they think you're cool!" She pushed back her chair and got to her feet, caught up in her own advice. "You have to go up to them and say, 'Hey, Daisuke-kun! I think you're cute and I like you a lot, will you go out with me?' And then they'll be so impressed that they'll say on the spot, 'Sure, you're not so bad yourself. Let's go see the new Mogeta movie, but you're paying for it.' And then--"

"Kagura," Daisuke started, pulling on her sleeve. Not hearing him, she grabbed his arm and yanked him up beside her.

"And then you'll watch the movie, and Mogeta will come blasting out just when all the bad guys have the good guys surrounded--"

"Kagura!" Daisuke cried. Kagura was now dashing about the restaurant, dragging him along with her as she acted out a scene from the movie.

"--and he'll power up with his super-secret weapon, and shout out the attack-word, 'MOGE-MOGE-GO!', and then POW!--" Daisuke went flying "--the evil Emperor will be defeated and the world will be saved!"

"Kagura..." Daisuke whimpered.

"Eh! Daisuke!" Momiji cried. He ran past tables full of staring people and got down next to Daisuke. "Daisuke! Are you okay?"

Daisuke groaned. "Maybe..."

"Dai-chan!" Kagura screamed. She threw herself on Daisuke and wailed. "Oh Dai-chan, my poor Dai-chan! Your cheek is red, you'll get a bruise! Who could have done this to you? Who would be so cruel?"

"You would," Daisuke grinned, a bit painfully. Momiji was grinning too. Momo sat and stared at them, confused.

Just then, Kagura's phone went off. "Oh?" She pulled it out of her purse and flipped it open. "Hello?" There was a pause. "Yes, of course I will, but just now I'm having lunch with Dai-chan, and also with Momo-chan and Momiji." She giggled. "Yes, yes, Momiji's back! You didn't know? Ah! Then we'll bring him over too. Bye-bye, Kyo-kun!" Kagura laughed again and clicked her phone off.

She turned to her cousin. "Momiji, Kyo-kun wants to know if we can pick up Kia-chan from her friend's house. Tohru-kun's busy cooking, Shihan's still having a lesson with Haku-chan, and Kyo-kun won't be back before Kia-chan has to leave. You want to come with us?"

"Yes, yes!" Momiji said happily. "I haven't said hello to Tohru and Kyo yet! And I still haven't met their kids!"

"Oh yeah, you haven't! They are the cutest little things ever, Momiji! Kia-chan looks just like her daddy, and Haku-chan is the image of Tohru-kun; you'll see!"

Momiji turned to Momo. "Momo, come with us!"

"Oh! Um, I wouldn't want to intrude, and I'm sure I should be getting home..."

"Oh please, Momo," Momiji pleaded, "You can call your mama and ask if it's all right, and you're not intruding at all! I want you to come with us!" He looked at her so sadly that Momo felt like doing anything to make him smile again. "Do you really not want to go?"

"Oh, well-- If Mama says it's okay, then, yes! I'll go with you."

"Yaaay!" Immediately the delighted smile was back, and Momo wondered at the happiness she had caused by just a few simple words.

"It's settled, then! Momo's coming with us!" Momiji crowed. "Let's call it, 'The Special Trip With Momo to Tohru and Kyo's House!'"

"You don't have to name it," Daisuke said, shaking his head.

to be continued...

Author's Notes: I don't like Kagura that much and don't enjoy writing about her, but she turned out to play a bigger part in this fic than I thought she would. (And Hatsuharu, whom I really like, ended up playing a very tiny part...sorry, Haru!) Kagura turned out all right, I think.

I only stuck Daisuke in because I needed Kagura to have a boyfriend (I picked his name because I didn't want to spend too much time on it and it seemed like a fairly common Japanese name - several anime characters are called Daisuke), but he turned out to be a very good character. Unlike most of my originals, who let me create them and then run off with the story. Daisuke managed to grow and develop on his own, yet he left me the reins and didn't try to yank me around. I like him a lot just for that.