Is this excessively cheese? Yes, probably. Does it make me smile? You bet. Tell me your opinion! (Also, if you want to see the photos of Namie and Momiji before the dance, go look at the picture on my profile.)
The news the Namie would be going to the dance with Momiji after all was greeted with great excitement in the Kimura household. Anii in particular flatly refused to let her sister pull an old piano recital dress out of the back of the closest and pestered Namie until she let Anii drag her shopping to pick out a new dress. Amused, Namie watched Anii go for the brightest fabrics with huge puffy skirts and sequins for an hour before she finally stepped in and picked a simple, less expensive cream and black dress. Despite the lack of sparkles, Anii approved and when Namie slipped it on early Friday evening, Anii decreed that it made her older sister look "just like a princess."
Namie smiled. Really, the dance and dress were worth it just to see the absolute joy on her sister's face. The little girl was almost more excited than she was. Almost. As the clock ticked nearer to Momiji's arrival, more and more butterflies were filling Namie's stomach and the only reason she wasn't jumping up and down like Anii was because she was afraid of messing up the careful knot she'd made in the back of her hair.
The only thing missing were shoes. After rummaging in the back of her closet for a while, Namie pulled out a pair of old, dusty ballet flats. They made her look more twelve than seventeen, but she didn't have anything better so they would have to do.
Until her father knocked on the door to her room with a box in his hands.
"What's that?" Anii chirped excitedly from her place on the bed.
"Oh Dad, no," Namie began to protest. "You shouldn't have. It's too much!"
"Well," he replied, coming in to join Anii on the bed and lifting off the lid of the box. "These aren't exactly new. But I thought you wouldn't mind."
Namie pulled out an elegant high-healed shoe. It was black, with satin laces that would wrap around her foot. She gasped, recognizing the shoes. She could still remember the sound of their click as she lay on her parents' bed with a six-year-old Jien, waiting for the baby sitter to come while her parents got ready for some outing.
"These are Mom's shoes," Namie murmured.
"Every princess needs a special pair of shoes," her father grinned.
At that moment, the buzzer rang. As one, the whole family jumped into a flurry of action. Jien came hurrying out of his room, and Anii leapt up from the bed and hopped around excitedly. Namie's father went to go let Momiji up while Namie balanced precariously on one foot to tie the shoes on. Fixing the last strap, Namie stood up straight.
"What do you think?" she caught Jien's eye from his perch against the doorframe.
He smiled. "Not bad."
"Princess Namie!" Anii added.
A knock on the door and voices in the hall signaled Momiji's arrival. Jien hurried to the door, and Namie could have sworn she heard something about "remember what I said" and "disembodied remains". Shaking her head with a chuckle, Namie took one more deep, calming breath, smoothed her hands over her skirt, and followed a step behind Anii out to meet Momiji.
"It's the prince!" Anii cheered as she rounded the corner.
"No, that's my cousin Yuki." Momiji caught sight of Namie and beamed. "But I am here to take the princess to the ball."
Namie smiled back, a little shyly. Momiji was wearing a dark suit with a long, thin, blue tie. His blond hair was tousled, as if he'd combed it carefully, then accidentally mussed it up somehow on the way. He looked utterly charming.
"Hang on, let me take a picture before you two go," Namie's father said, moving to get the camera.
"Oh, Dad, we don't need pictures," Namie sighed, embarrassed, but Momiji only laughed and pulled her over to stand next to him.
"You look beautiful," he whispered softly in her ear, taking in the simple, knee length cream and black edged dress. Namie grinned back, then smiled as the camera clicked a few photos of them standing next to each other.
"So you two are going to eat dinner first then go straight to the dance, correct?" Namie's father said, peaking over the camera.
"Yes, sir," Momiji replied. "And I'll make sure Namie gets home by 11."
"Dinner?" Namie looked at Momiji in surprise.
"Of course, the dance doesn't start until 8, silly," Momiji said playfully.
"Where are we eating?"
Momiji exchanged a glance with Namie's, then gave her a positively gleeful look. "It's a surprise."
Namie opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, Momiji took her hand and pulled her towards the door.
"Wait a second," her dad called. Namie looked over her shoulder to see him raise the camera again. "Just a few more."
"But—," she began, laughing, then with a "have a nice time kids" from her father, a "bye! have fun!" from Anii, a rare grin and wave from Jien, and an excited "let's go!" from Momiji, they were out the door.
OOO
"So," Namie turned to Momiji when they were outside the building. "Where are we going?"
Momijij winked and pulled a strip of cloth out of his pocket. "I told you, it's a surprise!"
"Oh no!" Namie backed away as Momiji held out what she now recognized as a blindfold. "You are not going to cover my eyes!"
"Aw, come on! It'll be worth it, I promise." He paused, then gave her an earnest look. "Do you trust me?"
Namie glared at him and sighed. "Fine."
Riding the bus blindfolded was an odd experience. Namie could only imagine what the other passengers thought, but after Momiji carefully helped her up the step he announced that he was "trying to make a special surprise so could you please not say the stops aloud?", the bus driver just laughed and said, "Sure, whatever kid."
As they sat together, Namie tried to keep scowling at the fact that Momiji seemed to have thought of every possible way she could foil his plan. It was hard though, since he had not let go of her hand since leading her onto the bus, and it was always hard to be surly when she was sitting next to him. So Namie resigned herself to the mysterious surprise.
After going who knew how far, Momiji finally stood, tugging at her hand.
"This is us!" he chirped.
Namie followed carefully, trying not to trip on the unseen seats and people. When she got near to the stairs she pause, unsure of where to step.
"Here, I got you," she heard Momiji's voice, then felt two warm hands suddenly grasp her around the waist and lift her up.
So startled, Namie could only let out a small squeak before her feet touched down on the curb. Her face immediately grew hot. Momiji only laughed, letting go and looping her arm in his.
Namie turned her face away, trying to hide the blush and unconscious pulled his arm a little closer. Wherever they were walking had quite a few trees. She could hear the wind rustling through the branches, and there was recently cut grass and flowers off somewhere to the right.
"Are we eating in a park?" Namie frowned. "Won't it get dark before we could finish a picnic?"
Momiji chuckled again. "It is a picnic of sorts, but it's not outside. We're just going into the building now."
An automatic door whooshed open, and they stepped inside. Namie became very quiet. There was a faint smell of antiseptic, and far off beeps and squeaky footsteps echoed down a long hall. It was all too familiar, but they could really be where she thought they were, could they?
"Momiji," she began softly, but he cut her off with a gentle "shh, almost there".
Up an elevator and down another hall and around a corner. Momiji was murmuring to himself.
"23, 24, it'd be great if I forgot the directions now. Ah! Here!"
He stopped, let go of Namie's arm, pushed her forward a little, and untied the blindfold.
They were in the doorway of a tiny room. Twinkle lights had been hung on the wall and there was a round table with a checkered tablecloth, a basket of food, and flowers crammed into a corner. Someone had obviously tried very hard to make it resemble a restaurant. Namie gasped, eyes roving over the decorations before finally settling on the bed that took up most of the room and, specifically, the woman sitting up in it.
She was very thin, with a gaunt face and no hair, but she beamed at Namie and Momiji and her green eyes sparkled.
"Welcome to the Restaurant de Hospital Room. I'll be your host this evening. Hey, those wouldn't be my shoes now would they?"
Namie gave a watery laugh, then hugged Momiji tightly. "Thank you," she whispered.
"Surprise," he said softly in her ear.
Namie blinked hard, Anii would kill her if she ruined her makeup now, and couldn't stop beaming as Momiji started unpacking sandwiches and pulled up two chairs next to her mother's bed so that she could chat animatedly with the two of them as they ate.
OOO
Crepe paper streamers and balloons in a school gym might not be the most sophisticated of venues, but with the dim, colored lights and upbeat music, and Namie swaying absentmindedly next to him, Momiji thought it was perfect.
He turned to look at her, only to find that she was regarding him intently.
"What?" he smiled.
Namie smiled back lightly but her green eyes stayed thoughtful. "How long did it take you to plan that?
Momiji cocked his head. "I don't know. I just thought that you might want your mom to see you of to the dance too, and it kind of went from there."
Namie shook her head with a laugh.
"You're the sweetest, you know that right?" she said. "Now I have to think of something to do that will make you happy in return."
Momiji beamed. "Seeing you smile makes me happy," he said honestly. "Even more if you're smiling because of me."
The smile on Namie's faded a little, though her eyes were still bright. Momiji realized how close they had come to be standing. A lock of Namie's hair was undone, and Momiji reached out and slowly brushed it behind her ear. Namie didn't move away at the touch, instead her face softened as she continued to stare at him.
There was a crash from behind them and they both jumped. A student had tripped over a pile of sports equipment on the edge of the gym. Momiji and Namie turned back to each other, laughing, but the moment was broken.
"So," Namie said with a teasing note in her voice. "Just to make sure, there aren't going to be any more surprises though, are there?"
"Well there is one more," reply Momiji seriously.
Namie raised an eyebrow. "Which is?"
"That I'm not a very good dancer."
Namie snorted as Momiji grinned. "It's not that hard. You just have to bounce to the music."
"Well," Momiji said. "I think you should demonstrate."
"Fine," teased Namie, grabbing his hand and pulling him after her towards where other students were dancing. "But you have to do it too."
As they reached an open spot, the upbeat pop song ended and switched abruptly into a softer, slow one. Namie blinked at the nearest speaker in surprise.
"Oh, never mind. Slow song," she said, turning to return to their previous spot.
Momiji didn't move. Namie looked back at him, both their arms extended, her hand still tight in his.
"May I have this dance?" Momiji said softly.
Namie nodded and without a word stepped closer. Momiji gently placed his free hand on her waist, while she rested hers lightly on his chest. After a moment of awkward shuffling, they fell into a rhythm of swaying back and forth. Green eyes met brown ones. Momiji gave a shy smile and Namie flushed a little and looked back down at their clasped hands. For some reason, Momiji found himself inexplicably nervous. He was just dancing with Namie, his pulse didn't have to be going quite that fast.
Without meaning to, their swaying seemed to be bringing them closer and closer together. Momiji suddenly realized that his arm was wrapped entirely around Namie's waist, and her head was almost touching his shoulder. Then she lean forward slightly and rested her cheek against his chest. Not for the first time, Momiji marveled at how she fit there perfectly. His heart was still pounding steadily, and he wondered if she could hear it through his chest. Giving up on holding her hand, Momiji let go of her hand and held her tightly with both arms, leaning his own cheek against her forehead smiling contentedly. Namie's arms wrapped around Momiji in return, and the two continued to sway with the soft music together.
Disclaimer: Fruit's Basket and its characters belong to Natsuki Takaya.