A/N: Yes, I know I'm trash. I last updated this before I went to college (I got the college I wanted, btw) and now I'm in my 4th semester. Great.

Sorry everyone! It's amazing that someone actually is still reading this. I lost this file due to sudden crash of computer, and I was really busy that made me lost inspiration. But lately I found an old USB with this in it so I decide to write as best as I can. Hope you (can still) enjoy!

Chapter Eight: What Momo Tells

Momo must've been seeing Tappei's confusion, for she opened the door wider. "Are you okay? Are you lost or something?" she asked with a cautious tone which Tappei never heard on her sister.

"I… got lost," Tappei said lamely, coming up with the quickest reason that appeared on his mind.

She suddenly smiled, and Tappei could see Yamada Miiko's smile on her. "Alright, alright, I'll help you. Where's it?"

"What?"

She rolled her eyes, but maintained her smile. "The address, let me see it." The hospitality was still there, and Tappei didn't need to guess where she had got it from. When Tappei couldn't answer, she shook her head, suddenly cold.

"Sorry, but I have something else to do. I hope y—"

She was going to close the door when Tappei put his foot on the gap between the door and the doorframe. Being honest was the last thing Tappei could do before the woman closed the door and stopped him from knowing the truth.

"Momo, I need to talk to you."

"Eguchi-san? Nee-chan's friend?"

Tappei only nodded, still unsure what to say. The fact that the cute, cheerful baby girl he used to see was now sitting on a wheelchair still left him flabbergasted. There were many questions he should ask the young woman, but his tongue felt like it were stuck in his mouth.

"Why didn't you tell me? I'd like to have you here. Would you like some tea?"

"Yes, please." Tappei finally could find his voice again.

Momo's cheerfulness stayed, that was what Tappei could decipher. She was humming as she prepared his tea; pouring it in two white cups with sunflower on them. Those cups were cute, somehow. Typical Yamada girls. He picked one cup and slowly drank its contents. It was pretty good to have a warm tea after a long while of walking.

"Are you waiting for her?"

Tappei looked up from the cup. "Excuse me?"

"Nee-chan. Are you waiting for her?" Momo repeated her question, putting down her cup. It made a soft clinking sound on the table, but it felt much louder for the young swimmer, who felt unusually nervous.

"No, actually. Does she lives here?" he asked even though he had known the answer.

She eyed him with eyebrows lifted, but didn't say anything about that. "Well, she used to. If she hadn't told you—because she told me you two were quite close—my parents bought this small house for us. Me, Nee-chan, and Nii-chan."

"But she moved out."

"But she moved out," Momo repeated, nodding. "Nii-chan moved out too, so he can be closer to the baseball pitch. So Yuu-chan came here to stay with me. He paid for it, even though I told him not to. He thinks he rents this place."

"He seems like a headstrong person," Tappei said in a musing tone, remembering the way the two babies bicker in the daycare. It was a long time ago. And not to mention his equally stubborn older brother, who had been a really difficult little boy in elementary school.

"Indeed." Momo was grinning as she said this. "Him and his brother, both. But he can be really nice if he wants to." She didn't need to say that she loved him for Tappei to see that they were dating. Her Yamada-like dreamy look was enough.

"So, Eguchi-san, I must've bored you with all the things about me." She let out a laugh. "What are you doing for a living? Nee-san told me you moved to America but that's all I know. I was too young to remember you but she and her friends used to tell me stories."

"I'm a swimmer."

"That's cool! I used to swim myself, before..." she trailed off. "Well, before things got messed up."

Tappei wanted to know what she meant by 'things' so badly, but he held his tongue. Besides, it felt good to see that there was someone who didn't know about his 'status' in his swimming career. It started to become boring, all those fannish ambushes. "So, what's yours?"

"My job?" At Tappei's nod, she continued. "I'm a tutor, if I'm not taking night classes."

"You know... I met Takashi once, what's his job?"

"He's a part-timer in Nee-san's newspaper. She calls it a junior journalist or something. Where did you meet him?"

Tappei didn't really want to break this to her, especially after her calm reaction before. "Yamada interviewed me," he said uncomfortably. "He met me to say thanks for coming."

Momo's eyes widened at that. Her grin was excited when she handed out a piece of paper. "You must've been famous, then! Can I ask for your autograph?"

Tappei gave what she wanted, and when he gave the paper back she smiled that Yamada mirthful smile. She looks really like her sister if she smiled like that. "Thank you!" she said excitedly, staring at his autograph for a while before looking back at him. "It's great to know famous people that got interviewed by newspapers."

"Yeah." Tappei couldn't help but to smile back. She must've been around nineteen or twenty, but her eyes shone like a child. If one didn't see the wheelchair she's sitting on, nobody would feel sorry for her.

The wheelchair.

Even the usually insensitive Tappei could get a feeling that there was a big secret behind it. And he was too curious to let it slip.

Suddenly Momo looked up at the clock. Her face changed into an unreadable expression. "Oh, look, it's time. I'm really sorry, Eguchi-san, but I need to go. It's almost time to my tutoring session."

"Thank you for coming, Eguchi-san," she said cheerfully as she pushed her wheelchair towards the door, Tappei walked next to her. It was obvious that she liked him around. "Yuu-chan works and his classes are in the morning so it's pretty lonely here."

"I'll come back," Tappei replied, lifting his cap to show his respect.

"Come back anytime. You're welcome here."

"Alright." He was grateful that his friends didn't seem to tell her about their feelings to him after he left, because she wouldn't have said that if they did.

"Er, Eguchi-san?" Momo's voice broke his train of thoughts.

"Yes?"

"Why does your hair look like that?" She started giggling as she closed the door, actually not waiting for an answer. Tappei could hear her laugh even with the door closed.

The blond swimmer spent his way back home cursing Reagan Jones, and her persistence to cut his hair, to hell and back.

"You seem eager today," Yuki commented as she walked past her stepbrother's open bedroom.
"Where are you going?"

Tappei looked away from the cupboard he was rummaging through. "What?"

"Where are you going this early?" Yuki walked into the bedroom and lied down on his bed. Tappei eyed her disapprovingly because with the way she lied down like that, she'd wrinkle her school uniform in no time. "I reckon you won't look for things to wear just to take me to school, right?"

Tappei only lifted his eyebrows at her. "Get up, get up," he chided and she obeyed with a cheeky grin. "I'm going to see Yamada."

It was Yuki's turn to lift her eyebrows at him. "Wait a second. Aren't you going to ruin their relationship?" she asked. "They're getting married, stupid."

Tappei didn't need to be reminded twice, and it hurt to the extent that he wasn't offended of being called stupid. "Not that Yamada," he sighed, fighting the urge to punch her arm in annoyance. "I mean her little sister."

"But she has a boyfriend!"

Tappei snorted. "Do I look like a relationship ruiner to you?"

"Well, yes, maybe..."

She had bolted out the room before Tappei had the chance to kick her out.

"You're early!"

Momo was much more cheerful when Tappei came. "Come in, come in," she continued, opening the door wider. "I'm cooking. I hope you like curry, it's my family's favourite."

Tappei vaguely remembered that was what Yamada used to eat when their parents were too busy with work. It shouldn't be a wonder why Momo liked it. Then she was back on stirring the food while it slowly started to boil. It was obvious that she was used to doing it while sitting down on the wheelchair, which made her hand had to reach up a bit.

"Can I help you?" Tappei felt uncomfortable just sitting there and do nothing.

Momo looked back at him. "Why not? I'll take care of the rice. It's nice to have a lunch friend, even though my cooking isn't good enough."

"But you're better than your sister," Tappei said before he could stop it. To mask his discomfort over that remark, he quickly took her place stirring the curry as she pushed her wheelchair toward somewhere behind him.

An unexpected and loud laugh responded Tappei's words. "You hit the sore spot for Nee-chan, right there," Momo replied. "She still can't cook to save her life."

"But she's getting married." As hurtful as it was, it was true. He waited for Momo's response, but to his surprise, he got none. She merely busied herself with whatever she did behind him, and Tappei didn't ask for more. He didn't even look at her or apologize, because he knew it wouldn't lessen the awkwardness between them.

But suddenly Momo talked again.

"Hey, it's done. How's the curry?"

Tappei looked down to see that it was boiling completely, and that he didn't need to stir it anymore. "Done," he said, turning off the stove.

Momo had prepared the plates, and when they were ready to eat, she smiled apologetically at him. "Sorry to make you help," she began, but Tappei cut her off. She sounded like a worried Yamada if she said things like that, and Tappei didn't want to hear it.

"It's uncomfortable to cook while sitting isn't it?" he asked. Momo only shrugged and started to eat. Tappei picked his curry as well, and the taste of it reminded him of the old days, which felt wonderful and sad at the same time. There was no way things could go back like it used to be, with all those secrets lying around.

Secrets.

"Momo," he finally called out. Momo looked up, but didn't say anything since her mouth was stuffed. "Can I ask you something?"

She swallowed her food, and nodded. "Since you're Nee-chan's friend, go ahead!"

"What happened to... to—"

Momo's small smile disappeared. "To me, you mean?" she finished his question, her tone neutral. "It's okay, I'm used to the question."

"Er, yeah." Tappei mentally hit himself for making things twice awkward than before.

"It's okay to ask." She took a deep breath. "I got a car accident when I was in high school."

"I—I see."

And then she fell silent for the rest of the lunchtime, letting the awkwardness cover them like a thick, black cloak.

A/N: I know, I know. I know I haven't updated in ages (1 and a half years according to Althea), and I know Miiko and Momo were actually around 9/10 years apart. In here I make them around 5/6 years because I don't want any of them become too old or too young (Miiko is 25 and Momo's around 20). This is the advantage of having a total AU in your story.

TBH, I'm not sure when actually I'll update again. I even missed some fic writing challenges because I'm not really good with deadlines nowadays. Good thing is college starts in February so I might have some time to write, even though I won't promise anything. Sorry, all.

Time to reply some reviews!

Marybelle:

You're welcome. I like Haruna-chan too, she seems to be very nice. But in Miiko universe, everybody's nice, so I like them all. And thanks for the name of Yoshida's sister!

flamboyant writer: Thanks, thanks! Tembus SBMPTN-nya kok, ini udah semester 4 :D

Guest (even though you reviewed in Chapter 1):

Thank you! You should open your dictionary, tho. I learned English mostly from fanfics. :)

wind scarlett: Thank you!

Syaw: Thank you! And don't be discouraged, you can write anything you like! ^^

xxshipper (even though you reviewed in Chapter 1 and 3): Thanks for reading!

Persetan dengan Penname (penname yang amat greget :v): Thanks, dude!

Rena Olivia:

What happened to Momo-chan is explained here. Hullo, fellow Indonesian! Udah kok, udah baca, cuma nggak beli. Mungkin kapan-kapan harus minjem lagi biar refresh otak.

Roxas fleur: It's been explained here, thanks for reading!

Althea:

*garuk kepala* *tawa garing* Ini lanjut kok, cuma nggak jamin bakal ngupdate cepet sih. Semoga nggak selama itu lagi ya. ;;;^^;;;