The long awaited Chapter 16! I have no excuses for why this took so long. Life just happens and sweeps us away sometimes. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter and the knowledge that more will be coming MUCH more quickly than previously!
Chapter 16
Early the next evening, after another day of Alana working at her grandfather's, they got ready for their planned date with Akito and Shigure. Momiji smiled softly as Alana met him downstairs. She had an ankle length soft skirt on and a flowing blue shirt. "You look lovely." Momiji said taking and kissing her hand.
Alana giggled and leaned in to kiss his cheek. "You look very handsome yourself." She told him looking over his gray slacks and matching open vest over a mint green button down. They headed out the door and began to walk along the compound heading towards the main house. Alana took a moment to look around. The inside compound, according to Momiji, was about the size of a city block. The buildings on the edges of the compound and along the road were houses of those who chose to live 'inside' and were more modern, multiple story homes. However, along the back center wall were traditional Japanese buildings with open walkways and sliding doors and tatami mats. This is where Akito as Head of the Sohma family lived with her family.
"What was it like to live in a compound with your extended family?" Alana asked as they began wandering up the center street. She was honestly curious, she often wondered if she and her family had lived closer to her cousins, would there have been more to their relationships than there was now? They only really knew each other to send yearly letters but rarely talked other than that.
Momiji took a moment to answer. "It was…complicated." He looked at the houses as they passed by while trying to figure out what to say that wouldn't bring on more questions. "When I was young, it was nice because those around me understood how I had a hard time with the…situation with my family. But, when I got older I grew to hate what I learned was pity. And I couldn't escape it living here." Momiji shook his head as they reached the house. "I was very sad and lonely as a child. It wasn't until I began to get close to Hatsuharu and later a few others our age that I think I came out of my shell. I stopped pretending to be happy and learned how to be."
Alana leaned forward and kissed his cheek as he knocked gently on the door. "I'm glad." A moment later a maid in a traditional kimono opened the door and beckoned them inside. Alana was slightly stunned that the family had servants but she supposed it was a traditional family and therefore, not too surprising. The maid led them down a number of hallways to a dining room and bowed them inside.
In the room was a low table with a sitting mat on each side. The room was tatami mat covered and the walls held paintings of the Chinese zodiac along the walls. The paintings were old and traditional and seemed to have a lot of meaning to the family with the way they were prominently displayed. She idly wondered if an ancestor had painted them. Her eyes fell on Akito and a dark haired man that sat at the table and looked up when the door was opened. Akito started to get to her feet but Momiji waved her back down as he dragged Alana over to the table and helped her sit before taking the spot between her and the other man.
"Alana, let me introduce my husband, Sohma Shigure. Shigure, this is Momiji's girlfriend, Takashi Alana." Akito smiled seeing Alana and Momiji's light blush at her announcement of their relationship. "Kaiya is currently having dinner with a few of her cousins, she is the youngest in the family at the moment but there are a few who are pregnant and like the practice." Akito answered the questioning look on Momiji's face with a smile. She knew that he liked to see the little one.
Alana bowed slightly, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Sohma-san." She took the opportunity to look over Akito's husband. He was handsome, dark hair and eyes with a mischievous air about his relaxed pose.
"Please call me Shigure, Alana-chan." He smiled waving a fan delicately in front of his face. He gave her a mysterious smile only to laugh when Akito bopped him on the head. "I've heard much about you!"
Alana blushed again and laughed lightly. "Hopefully good things, I try to keep the bad things hidden."
Shigure smirked, "We all do. I hear you are quite the accomplished artist. Aya has been raving about the beautiful piece you gave him of him and Mine! And I've heard little Kisa-chan has a painting and of course I heard that Akito has bought something as well." He leaned forward with a sly smile, "Trying to get the Sohma money, hmmm?"
Akito and Momiji both opened their mouths to yell at Shigure for his rude accusation but Alana just smiled and leaned in. "Shh, don't reveal my secrets." She laughed with Shigure whose laugh was cut off as Akito stole his fan and bopped him with it.
"Don't be so rude!" She scolded and put the fan down as the door opened and the maids brought in drinks. "I apologize for my husband Alana. I have no idea what to do with him some days."
Alana just shook her head. "It's alright. I could tell he was joking." She looked back at Shigure who was pouting. "Shigure, Momiji tells me you are an author? Can you tell me a little about what you have written?" She wasn't offended by his question, he had a very open and joyful expression in his eyes and she knew he was just trying to keep the room from being tense by acting inappropriately. It was a strange idea, but it had worked. Momiji and Akito's shoulders had lost a bit of tension at the familiar routine of scolding him for his behavior.
Shigure perked right up being able to talk about his books and began an enthusiastic explanation about the books he had written. Eventually, the conversation went on to discuss the process of writing and Shigure made a comment about the evilness of editors and deadlines and Momiji couldn't hold it in anymore.
"Oh please Shigure!" He laughed, setting his cup down before he dropped it. "I've met Mitchan and seen how you treat her! You are the evil one!" He chuckled and turned to Alana as Shigure began to pout again. "Mitchan is Shigure's editor, has been for a long time. She's now almost a cousin, she's engaged to our cousin Ritsu, who is incredibly shy. They met because of Shigure actually!"
Alana giggled. "An author, a violinist, a novelist, a tailor, a doctor as well I think you said, and now an editor as well? Such a distinguished family you have. My, my."
"Someone is looking to add an artist and pianist, I believe." Shigure teased right back and Momiji's face turned bright red as did Alana's.
She shook her head as her heart raced. It was a wonderful thought for one day, but it was definitely too early for thoughts of marriage to be popping up. She smiled weakly at Shigure. "Point to you." Shigure cheered and Akito giggled as well. Moments later, the maids came in with their dinner. "So tell me, Shigure, how did you manage to introduce a painfully shy cousin to your editor?"
Shigure laughed. "Well, Ritsu has always been a bit high strung. He came to visit to me and meet…" He paused and glanced at Momiji before continuing when Momiji just lightly shrugged and continued to eat his rice. "Meet Tohru, who had been living with me and two other cousins. I can't resist teasing the poor fellow and told him his antics were making it difficult for me to write and sent him out to fetch some food. I told him the powers of whatever food it was would give me the power to write again and when he returned Mitchan was there. She is also slightly high strung - poor woman, no idea why-" Shigure completely ignored the snorts of laughter from Momiji and Akito, "and they both began to lament how I should be eating and writing with the power of the food he had gotten. It was a bit confusing, as there was a lot of yelling, then the next second, they just looked at each other and as they say, that was that." Shigure finished his story and began to dig into his food, which had been waiting for him to finish his story. His whole story was told with dramatic poses and flourishes and Alana couldn't help but laugh.
Akito leaned towards Alana, "It was very strange but they are happy and that is most important." Akito got a faraway look on her face and seemed to be looking at something behind Alana for a moment then smiled sadly. "Ritsu's parents are very like him, they apologized for everything as if they had done something wrong when they had him and he did strange things. I was very…angry as a child and young adult and I had a very bad attitude. I took it out on a lot of people and Ritsu suffered a bit for it."
Alana reached out to pat Akito's arm sympathically as Momiji shrugged. "Our past doesn't define us Akito, you have worked hard to rebuild the bridges you burned and heal your relationships. Ritsu is fine and happy and loves to go kimono shopping with you." He added the last with a bit of a tease in his voice and Akito brightened up a bit before nodding.
Alana was happy to see Akito cheer up a bit but took note of how depressed she had been briefly. She couldn't help but put it into the folder in her mind of strange things that the Sohma's revealed. But, as she had decided, she would think on it but let it go for the most part. When they wanted to reveal things they would, it was not her place to demand answers.
Everyone was quiet for a few moments as they finished eating and waited for the maids, who had sat in a corner of the room once they'd brought in dinner, to clear the table. It had made Alana a little uncomfortable for them to be waiting but a quiet comment from Akito had assured her that they'd already eaten and volunteered to do this job tonight. "Honestly, we had originally planned to just have take-out, but when they learned Momiji was bringing someone with him, they insisted on making dinner and serving it. Momiji is very liked by the staff but he's never brought a friend over before. They just want to gossip." She added a bit louder and giggled as the maid who was grabbing her plate blushed and practically ran from the room.
Alana laughed a little as she sat back with her tea. "I admire how close you are with your family. There seems to be a never ending amount of cousins and yet you seem very close."
Shigure nodded. "We are a bit insular, sometimes maybe a little too insular, but when it comes down to it, there is nothing quite like family. Will you tell us a little about your family?" He asked politely. It was a successful attempt at steering the conversation away from the Sohma family to hers, Momiji and Akito were very grateful for it, starting to feel a little stressed.
Alana grinned. "It is nowhere near as large as yours! I have a few cousins but we are very different in ages and we don't live near them. But I have a younger sister with whom I am very close. She's a recent acquaintance of Kisa-chan. She is the reason Momiji and I met actually. My mother is a former football player and my sister got her love of sports from her, she plays Tennis on the school team. My father works in a bank and he met my mother through work." Alana smiled at the thought of her parents. "My only other living relative, that we have a relationship with, is my father's father; he is the one who owns the gallery that I work at." She turned to look at Akito, "By the way, the scout from the Gallery came earlier than expected, so you can pick up your paintings whenever you wish."
Akito grinned happily. "Of course. I can't wait. I have the perfect place for them." She looked at the clock on the wall and startled before standing. "I am sorry, but I am going to have to run. I am due to pick up Kaiya soon. We will have to get together soon so you can tell me about how the scouting went!"
Alana, Momiji, and Shigure all looked at the clock and were startled to see it was coming up on 7:30. "Of course!" Alana said as they all stood and made their way to the front door. "We can have a girls lunch or something." Alana declared with a smile. Akito returned her smile with a soft one of her own and she and Shigure left them at the door as they turned down another hall further into the compound.
Alana linked hands with Momiji and leaned into him as they made their way back to their house. "You certainly do have a large and interesting family." She told him laughing as they walked. "I love meeting all of them!"
Momiji smiled down at her feeling elated at how well she had gotten along with Shigure and Akito. "I'm glad you think so." He murmured back. They wandered back to the house in peaceful silence. Momiji's thoughts were bouncing between joy at how well Alana was fitting into his life and slight worry about how things would go once Tohru, Kyo, and Yuki were back in the area. While Kyo was much calmer since his curse was broken and he had found Tohru, he was still easily angered by Yuki. There was no telling what might be shouted if they got into an argument in front of people.
The curse of the Zodiac wasn't the closely guarded secret it used to be. Akito had given permission for the curse to be discussed at their own discretion. They were not allowed to tell people randomly and without cause, but those in stable and deep relationships were allowed to reveal it, though only if they believed that the person could handle it. They were still wary of having to need Hatori to remove memories, no one wanted a repeat of Kana or Momiji's mother. But so far, Hatori had not been needed to remove any memories.
Momiji knew that Alana was a wonderful and open-minded person. But being told that a curse was real? That might be too much. He looked down at Alana who glanced up at the moment and gave him a soft smile full of love and joy, that he felt one of the knots of worry in his chest begin to loosen. He had faith.
~Art of Love~
When they reached the house, Alana went upstairs and changed into an old jersey that had her mother's maiden name on the back and long flannel pants before she wandered into the music room. Momiji was in there, still in his slacks and button down though the vest was tossed on the back of a chair. He looked up and grinned. "You look so niedlich!" He leaned forward to kiss her cheek, she turned her head and pressed her lips to his.
They had kissed a few times, now that they were dating it was happening more often, it was fun, it was fire, it was addicting. Alana slid her hands around Momiji's back and leaned into him as he deepened the kiss and threaded his hands into her hair. Her heart pounded in her chest and her breathing became difficult, kissing Momiji made her world tilt on end.
Momiji felt his heart skip triple time with Alana in his arms. Nothing could compare to knowing that Alana felt for him the way he felt for her and wanted to be with him. He knew that the sadness that had filled him when Tohru left would be nothing compared to how he would feel if he lost Alana. She fit into his life like she was made to be there. As the kiss came to an end, he rested his forehead on hers, not willing to let her move away from him just yet. "Ich liebe dich." He whispered softly, he couldn't hold it in.
Alana blushed rosily and cuddled into his chest. "It may be soon, but…I love you too."
And there is Chapter 16. I couldn't help this ending, I felt the way they were going, it had to go this way lol. Anyway, as stated, I edited the past chapters and fixed timelines and gave reasons for things changing to keep the flow and have it make more sense. To recap so you don't have reread, Tohru isn't due until just before the Halloween Ball, and the reason the Critic came early was because the original became sick and this was the only time someone could reschedule and not put it off for a few months.
I use an online translator so if it lied, I AM SO SORRY. Niedlich is supposed to be cute, and Ich liebe dich is I love you.
Coming up: Momiji reveals a bit more about the family curse and Hiro comes for a visit.