Disclaimer - Character's are not mine.

Chapter Eight – Rabbit's Secrets

Throwing the door open, Momiji ran from the house as fast as his feet could take him. The screaming and yelling still echoed in his ears as he ran, making him push himself even more, trying to out-run the cruel words that were thrown back and forwards.

'Did they even care I was standing there?' He thought, desperation filling him along with the cold feeling of dread.

He needed somewhere safe, somewhere he didn't feel like he was drowning with nothing to help him stay afloat. He needed somewhere he didn't have to pretend; somewhere he wasn't just the happy kid who never stopped talking.

He needed the café.

Running as fast as he could, he didn't even stop to apologise when he bumped into someone, though the black haired girl called out for him to be careful.

He ran until he found himself turning into the door, pushing it open and ignoring the chime from above the door, he looked up, cheeks flushed and chest heaving with breath. It was still relatively early in the morning, Fruits Basket having been open for only a few minutes by the look of things.

"Momiji?" Tohru's voice came from the counter as she walked around it and towards him in confusion.

Without any other thought then being near the woman who always seemed to understand, Momiji threw himself at her and encircled her waist with his arms, head resting on her shoulder as he screwed his eyes shut. There was a moment where he felt nothing except the softness of her body in his arms and the ragged breathing from his mouth, before she moved. Her arms came up around him and captured him in her arms protectively.

"It's ok, it's alright Momiji, just cry it all out." She said soothingly.

It was at her words that he realised he had tears streaming down his cheeks unchecked. Once he'd acknowledged them, great sobs ripped from deep in his chest, his arms tightened around her as his knees gave out and they sunk to the floor.

He cried for his perfect home life that had been destroyed by his very own parents. The arguing and screaming between them was the only thing that came from them these days. The divorce that was happening between them was anything but nice and it was threatening everything he'd ever known for the last seventeen years.

He cried for his little sister, she was only twelve and didn't deserve this wretched situation that had been forced upon her. His mother would take her away, back to Germany; she had made that point very clear to his father. He would not see his darling little sister again for a long time when that happened.

He cried for the fake smiles and cheerful persona he had to put on at school, at home, everywhere all the time. He felt exhausted because of it. He hated pretending to be happy when all he wanted to do was scream and rage at the unfairness of the world.

'I just want it to all end, to go back to how it used to be.'

He didn't know how long they sat there, Tohru holding him as he cried. But it must have been for a long time as when he finally calmed down to just the occasional hic-up his legs had gone numb. However, her hold on him was still just as tight as it had been when she had first hugged him. It had never faulted.

"'M sorry." He whispered, throat sore and head beginning to pound thanks to the tears.

She pulled back slightly, so she could just see his eyes, but her arms remained around him. Looking into her warm, chocolate eyes, Momiji could see nothing but love reflected.

"There's nothing to be sorry for, Momiji. We all just need a hug and a good cry sometimes. It's nothing you should feel sorry for." She then smiled that friendly smile that never failed to make him feel like he was loved.

Tohru Honda was one of a kind, he had known it the very first time he had met her and she had just smiled and talked away to him like their were old friends. She had opened up his world and allowed him to come to his one safe haven whenever he liked. She never got angry with him for staying past close, or being there first thing in the morning. She introduced him to all her friends, made sure he was happy and there was never anything that was too much trouble. He was allowed to treat her café as his playground and she always allowed him to play to his heart content.

He really, truly, loved Tohru. She was so wonderful and kind, just like he had always wished to have someone in his life be. She reminded him of his little sister, Momo. She too was very kind and always putting others before herself. She was a little blond haired angel sent from heaven to brighten up his life. Tohru was the same; she was an angel. He had always wished he'd had a big sister and in Tohru he'd found that.

"Still, I'm sorry." He whispered. He started slightly at the sight of a glass of water appearing before his face. Following the hand, up the arm he saw Yuki smiling down at him.

"This will help your throat." Was all he said.

Nodding, Momiji released Tohru and took the glass, finally taking note of his surroundings. The place was still empty save for Yuki, Tohru and Shigure, the later of which was sitting on the counter watching him with a small smile on his face. Glancing at the door he saw that the open sign had been flipped around to say closed.

Looking at the floor he silently took a sip of his water.

"Here, let's go into the back while Yuki and Shigure finished opening up the shop." Tohru said, getting to her feet and then holding out a hand for him to do the same.

Taking it, he didn't say anything as she led him by the hand around the counter and into the kitchen. Sitting him down on the stool in the corner, she then went about preparing a sandwich.

She didn't say anything, just hummed tunelessly under her breath; acting like this was all completely normal.

"It's my parents." He finally said, staring fixatedly at the half-full glass in his hands. Though she didn't stop moving, the humming stopped.

"They're getting a divorce, they absolutely hate each other." He smiled bitterly. "It wasn't always that way, of course. But my mum, she's German you see and, well, she wants to take my little sister and go back to Germany with her. I wouldn't get to see her again for a long time, if she did that. Momo's only twelve; it's not fair on her at all. Having them fighting right in front of her isn't something she should have to see."

"It's just, so hard so smile and pretend that everything's ok…" He let out an exhausted sigh.

"It's not fair on you, either." Tohru spoke softly, causing him to look up slowly. She was still fiddling with the sandwich, but her attention was clearly on him.

"They shouldn't fight in front of you, it's hurtful. Though, I know it may not feel like it, but they both do still love you. It's just that anger makes us do stupid things." She put the sandwich in the toaster and began cleaning the utensils she had used.

"Your mum may move to Germany with your sister, there may be nothing you can do about it. Life's not always fair or easy. But it doesn't mean you'll never see her again and you can keep in contact with her through emails, web cams and phone calls. When you finish school you could even go visit her if you save up enough and get a part-time job." She shot him a small smile as she dried off a knife.

"Just because it feels like it's the end of the world, doesn't actually mean it is. I know it's horrible, but it's true." She pulled the now toasted sandwich out of the machine and put it on a plate, cutting it into quarters.

"You'll still have all of us here who love you, no matter what. And we're not planning on going anywhere." She held out the plate to him with a large smile, unconditional sisterly love shinning in her eyes.

Eyes sinning again with tears, Momiji managed a smile as he accepted the plate from her.

'Thank you, Tohru.'

Momiji spent the rest of the morning at the café, occasionally helping out when it got really busy as Kyo had the morning off. That meant that Haru wasn't around either so Momiji had no one to tease until they turned up after lunch. Ayame didn't show either as Yuki had managed to convince him that he should actually call his PA and talk to her about what the hell he was actually doing in Tokyo. Arisa turned up about two hours after Momiji had arrived and was happy to entertain him with stories of when she had been a full-on Yankee 'back in the day'.

However, no matter how much he tried, his thoughts kept straying back to his parents impending divorce and the loss of his sister. He didn't even argue with Kyo when he wandered in and welcomed him with his normal insult; Haru hot on his heels as they walked inside.

Momiji had pulled the stool out of the kitchen area and was sitting at the counter like one would at a bar so that he was close to the action and where Shigure was to talk too. He didn't pay much attention to Haru as he pulled a small table next to him and sat down in the chair across from him before pulling over the menu and calling out for Kyo to bring him a milkshake.

While Tohru's words had made him feel a little bit better, they'd both known that it wasn't going to change the very real fact that he was going to lose both his mother and sister when the divorce was finalised. While he loved his father, his family wasn't the same without the two women who brought the sun into his life. But, he couldn't leave his father all alone; he was already losing a wife and child, he didn't need to loose everything.

Looking moodily around the café he was slightly surprised when he saw a young girl around his own age sitting alone as she looked at him from a small, slightly hidden table for two. Her long black hair was slightly familiar and the more he looked at her the more he was sure he knew her from somewhere. It was as she sifted, looking away from him, that he realised where he knew her.

Rin Uma was one of the girls in his class at school. From the little that he knew about her, she lived by herself and was sponsored by the school because of something, no one was quite sure what. She was an average student and kept to herself all the time.

"That your girlfriend?" Kyo suddenly asked, causing Momiji to swing around on his stool and see the orange haired man's face right in front of him. Leaning back slightly to put some space between them, he frowned.

"No, it's not, Kyo. She's just a girl I go to school with." Momiji said quietly.

Kyo just smirked as he leaned on the counter, careless of the milkshake for Haru next to him, waiting to be delivered.

"Hmm, sure she is." He leaned back slightly, before in a sing-song voice he said:

"Momiji has a girl-friend!"

Glaring at him as his cheeks flushed red, Momiji did some quick thinking before smiling innocently at Kyo.

"HARU! KYO WANTS YOU!" He called out before jumping off his stool as Kyo lunged across the counter for him, hands just missing the back of his shirt as he ran for the safety of Tohru who was sitting down having her lunch break.

"MOMIJI! You little bastard, get back here so I can strangle you!" Kyo yelled out, moving to scramble over the counter top only to be stopped by Haru standing in his way.

"Thanks for the drink, Kyo." Was all his said in his usual bland voice; reaching out and taking his milkshake from the counter and taking a sip, Kyo merely slumped in humiliated defeat on the counter.

"Momiji, I don't really think that you should be doing that." Tohru said quietly as she looked at the pair at the counter.

"They're fine; besides, Kyo needs a bit of a shove in the right direction or he'll never doing anything." Momijo said, acting older then he usually did.

'They'll run out of time if they're not careful.'

"They should go for it while they both know that they like each other, otherwise they might miss out…" He said softly.

An arm around his shoulder made him turn slightly and offer her a half smile.

"You'll get through this, I promise." Tohru whispered to him.

'I'll hold you to that promise, Tohru.'