Chapter 5
A bit of fluff. They are starting to develop feelings but it won't be rushed!!
The shop was neat and clean and Alana admired the entrance sign's design even if it was a bit suspicious.
"Ayame-san!" Momiji called out entering and setting off the bell above the door.
A moment later a tall man poked his head out of a back room. He had gold eyes and extremely long silver hair though he didn't look much older than his early thirties. "Momiji-kun, what are you…oh Kisa-chan and Hiro-kun as well." He stepped fully into the room and Alana admired the sleek red Chinese tunic he wore over gray slacks. "And a guest!" He smiled widely and approached her holding out his hands. "Hello fair maiden! Welcome to my humble shop!" He grabbed one of her hands and bowed over it while Alana just stared in shock. "My name is Ayame Sohma, the creator of men's fantasies, master of dreams!"
"Boss, Kisa said they were coming for a reason." A small but extremely pregnant woman told him quietly coming up behind him. Her eyes caught sight of Alana and a twinkle started in her eyes. "Oh hello…"
Alana stared her mind racing. The Sohma's are all so beautiful…what are the odds of that? She was brought back to herself as Kisa wrapped an arm around her waist.
"This is Alana Takashi, a new good friend of ours." Kisa introduced her. "Alana-san this is my cousin Ayame and his wife Mine."
"Nice to meet you, Sohma-san, Sohma-san." She greeted bowing formally.
"No! No last names! I am Ayame, she is Mine." Ayame told her grinning and herding them into a back room.
The room had two couches on opposite sides of a table and various outfit designs set up on the walls as decorations. Some of the designs got Alana excited about what to put Kisa in. "So what brings you to my shop? I doubt it has anything to do with romance unless the fair Alana is Momiji's girlfriend."
"Nothing to do with romance!" Kisa told him blushing brightly while Alana continued to study some of the designs unaware of his question. Even Momiji hadn't noticed that Ayame had assumed Alana was his girlfriend. "Alana is a very talented artist and has asked me to model for a painting. I immediately thought of coming here for you to design a costume for me."
"An artist?" Ayama gasped dramatically. "How marvelous! What are you looking for Alana-san?"
"A fairy tale princess." She replied looking away from a particularly handsome kimono design. "Fashioned after Marie Antoinette, with smaller hip hoops and no powdered wigs."
Ayame nodded and pulled a sketch pad out of nowhere and began to draw his eyes focusing on the paper. Mine smiled and the glint in her eye increased. "Alana-chan…do you like to dress up?"
"I guess so, why?" Alana replied smiling at the woman.
"Would you like to try something on?" Mine began to move closer her hands clenching and unclenching.
"Alana-chan needs to stay with me for the moment." Momiji smoothly cut off Mine's advance and pulled Alana away from her. "We are going to go look at fabrics." He pulled her into the outer room and Hiro disappeared out the front door after asking Momiji for his keys.
"What is up Momiji-kun?" Alana asked blushing slightly at his grip on her.
"Don't let Mine dress you up! Yuki told me that it was a traumatic experience when she dressed up Tohru!" Momiji whispered to her laughing breathlessly.
Tohru…? Alana wondered and smiled at him before tilting her head to look at the colors he'd pulled her to. "I won't then. I like these colors." She tilted her head down to peer at a beautiful grey blue that would shine beneath the tan of Kisa's hair.
"Alana-chan…" Momiji started only to be cut off as Hiro returned with Alana's painting under his arm.
"Ayame and Mine wanted to see it." Hiro explained and disappeared into the back room. After a glance at Alana who seemed to be concentrating on the colors Momiji followed Hiro to get a look at the painting.
Alana felt her heart pound at the soft way Momiji had said her name and pretended not to hear it. She didn't turn when he left but closed her eyes and pursed her lips trying to will away the blush that lit on her cheeks. It was unreal how she reacted to him. It wasn't love, it was too early for that, but she felt that it could quickly, very quickly develop into love. She shook her head and ran her fingers over a soft orange and smiled thinking of Kisa in it.
Momiji walked around the table to lean against the couch behind his older cousin so he could get a good look at the painting when Hiro threw off the cover. He felt as if he was kicked in the stomach. He'd seen her paintings before, knew that she was good, damn good, but the art in front of him was…well it was amazing.
A woman stood at the edge of a cliff with her arms thrown out to the side as if to embrace the storm that raged around her. Her brown hair whipped in the wind around her and the rain fell down her cheeks like tears, with such fine detail that you should almost feel the wind and rain. Her white dress was plastered against her and fluttering in the winds behind her almost like wings that waited for her to fly. It could easily have been a depressing painting if not for the bottom corner where a beautiful warm sunrise had begun to push back the black storm.
That small bit, that small bright sunrise was a beacon of hope for the girl who stood in a torrent of wind and rain. Upon closer inspection her face seemed to be lightened and smiling as if the sun was warming her trembling body. The painting was…absolutely awe-inspiring.
"Well…your little Alana-chan is quite the artist." Ayame murmured running his fingers reverently down the canvas. "I have just the design for her." He was unusually serious as he stood and left the room to join Alana in the fabrics.
None of the others noticed the expression on Momiji's face, they were too busy examining and adoring Alana's painting. But even if they had seen the expression, there was no way they could have understood exactly what the thoughts were behind his pained face. The girl in the painting, the whole painting, was Momiji. He could probably name the exact song he'd played that had inspired the darkness and the despair of the rain soaked girl. He wrote the song but it didn't have an ending. He just kept repeating the beginning and middle, searching for the right way to end the sonata but it kept escaping his fingertips. He would stretch for the right notes and they'd be just out of reach.
But…Alana had changed the haunting, sad music and gave it the ending he'd missed. What better ending to pain than hope?
He looked away from the painting his face going back to a polite blankness as Alana and Ayame entered talking excitedly between themselves. Could it be so easy to reach out and accept that there was someone for him? His hand absently touched his cheek in thought, tracing a miniscule scar that he'd gotten by defending Tohru years ago. And his mind finally settled into one question: did he have the guts to try?
Just then Alana turned to him and smiled, her eyes obviously asking his opinion on her art work and he felt his heart melt a little more. "I'm going to find myself the best girlfriend in the world soon." (A/N: Direct quote from Volume 23)
Alana came up and leaned in close, filling his nose with her delicate scent of paint and strawberries. "Mine is eyeing me again and Ayame wants to borrow Kisa for a bit." She whispered casting her own eye at the pregnant woman while Ayame did measurements for Kisa. "Should we try to escape?" Her eyes twinkled in laughter and Momiji felt a warm bubble building up in his chest.
"Of course." He glanced up and tugged at her hand. "We're going to grab snacks! Be right back!" He tugged her out the door and into the afternoon sunlight laughing as he watched her brush her hair back from her face. They slowed as they approached the nearby grocery store and Momiji felt the way his hand loosely held her wrist. He found that he was reluctant to let go and a quick peek at her showed a delicate blush on her cheeks. She really was very cute. Maybe it was time for him to start looking.
I hope you enjoyed it!!! Please review!
Edited August 26th. I finally bought the last few books of the manga so I changed the quote to what it was in the book.