Summary: What did he care if Kyo saw? As far as he was concerned, they're rivals.
Momiji startled upon hearing Uo-san's voice raised higher than the others from his position in the cafeteria, carrying loud enough for everyone to hear her exclaiming her friend's name.
"Tohru!"
His eyes immediately zoomed in to the brunette, who was half-sprawled on the floor, eyes watery due to the pain of her fall, her food tray scattered about her. In four long strides he was immediately by her side, kneeling down as Hana and Uo alternated in fussing over her and yelling at/electrocuting the two boys who were both shaking in fear and half-fainting as Uo yelled at the two idiots that the cafeteria is not the best place to be horsing around.
"Ow, ow, ow…" she was mumbling, eyes screwed shut in pain. He rubbed her lower back to get her attention.
"Where does it hurt, Tohru?" he asked, worry bleeding into his voice.
"M-Momiji? Ow, my foot…" she half-opened her eyes as she bit her lip almost enough to make it bleed as they both looked at her right foot, which thankfully, was still in a normal angle but was already starting to swell.
"Dammit, where are Orange Head and the Prince when you need them?" Uo was so irritated as she turned to kneel back down to Tohru's side as Hana continued electrocuting the boys.
"You're in no condition to be walking. I can take her to the nurse." He told the two girls. Thankfully they were in their winter uniforms so he has his school jacket, which he took off and gave the blonde. "Please wrap this around her legs."
Uo set to work, and as soon as the jacket covered her legs decently, Tohru gave a slight squeak as Momiji carefully wrapped his arms around her and lifted her up, carrying her bridal style.
"We'll see you later, Tohru. We'll clean up here." Momiji sent a silent prayer for the souls of the two boys who had incurred the wrath of the two scariest girls in their campus as Uo glared at the two freshmen before cracking her knuckles.
"D-Don't be too hard on them, Uo-chan, Hana-chan!" Tohru called out even as Momiji merely chuckled, already set on his mission to get her to the clinic as soon as possible and walking away from the scary but comedic spectacle occurring in the cafeteria.
The school clinic was in a separate corridor so it would take him about fifteen minutes to get there with his precious burden. He wanted to be faster but he couldn't walk too quickly, worried about jostling Tohru's injured foot if he did.
"Does anything else hurt?" He asked, in way of starting a conversation as Tohru sank back into his chest as best she could. He looked at her to see her blushing, and he noticed how students left and right followed them with whispers and curious gazes. He tried to distract her both from the pain of her foot and the almost-unsettling, unabashed stares of the student body. "You look like you fell pretty badly. Not to mention the food. Is your uniform clean?"
"Just my foot. My hips are f-fine… and I miraculously didn't get any food on my uniform." Tohru lifted a hand and curled it around his chest. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you carry me like this, Momiji-kun…"
"It's fine. I may be lanky but I can carry you by myself now." He assured her, but she shook her head vehemently.
"It's not that, Momiji-kun, I never doubted your strength. But you really grew so tall." She marveled, upon realization. "You are growing up and becoming more handsome…" she added in a small voice, sounding embarrassed. If he didn't know any better, he can say that she was embarrassed looking at him as another man and not the kid she had most likely, unconsciously, treated him as.
He wished, but he wasn't going to hold his breath just yet. He wasn't in the delusional stage, though he felt like he could go there anytime he wanted.
"Handsome enough to be your prince?" he teased, but she giggled, cheeks still red.
"You've always been my prince, Momiji-kun." She responded, leaning against him. "A bunny-loving, sugar-worshipping, thoughtful and handsome prince."
It was his turn to blush, but he could not help but pout, displaying a bit of the childishness which remained in spite of him beginning to be more mature with his behavior. "Tohru is making fun of me."
"I am not." She fell into more giggling, and he smiled, seeing her demeanor. It seemed he had gotten her to relax and ignore the stares still following them and the pain in her foot. That, and the fact that he was still carrying her.
They were eventually able to reach the school clinic, and the nurse, Shinomiya-san, looked her over. Momiji winced upon seeing that her foot is already in a swollen state, and the nurse proceeded to get her to rest, icing her foot, compressing it, and then eventually telling her to elevate it.
"It's sprained." Shinomiya-san told them both. "Well, it's a good thing that it's a mild ankle sprain, but a sprain nonetheless. She wouldn't need to see an ortho, but if the swelling doesn't disappear I will require you to see one. You need to avoid putting weight on it as well, so you can't walk on your own for a while. You need to rest at home for a few days at most. If you can ask someone to take school notes for you that will really be helpful to you."
"I'd be glad to if I was in the same year as you." He said, regretfully. "But I can ask Yuki."
"I-I don't want to cause trouble…" Tohru looked at him worriedly.
"I'm sure he wouldn't mind, it's the least he can do for everything you've been doing for them. For us. But I won't if you feel uncomfortable." He said, smiling at her, as the nurse left them to themselves in the meantime. "Shinomiya-san is right though; you can't just walk around." He pulled up a chair and sat beside her bed. "I'll take you home later, so you can rest up now as much as you can."
She opened her mouth to probably tell him again that she can probably make it on her own, a look of protest on her face, but he raised an eyebrow at her. She sighed, and then smiled. "As long as you are okay with it, then… thank you."
Uo and Hana eventually came later to check on her, and the Sohma boys were with them. Turns out Tohru didn't have to worry about her notes as Yuki immediately volunteered to take them for her.
"I can uh… help take you home later." Kyo suggested quietly, rubbing the back of his neck.
Uo laughed and elbowed him not-so-gently on the ribs. "You do that. You're a muscle head after all, aside from being an Orange Head."
"Why you - !"
"I will take her home later."
He cut them off, just as Shinomiya-san poked her head around the curtain of Tohru's bed to probably yell at them to be quiet but she didn't need to; seeing how everyone had fallen silent. His tone brooked no argument; he was still looking at Tohru and she returned his stare, a lovely flush on her cheeks. He could feel Kyo's and Uo's gazes burning a hole at his back though as the nurse left them once more to themselves.
"You take her home? I can do it – "
"I already promised Tohru." This time he tore his gaze away from hers to look at Kyo. He held his cousin's stare, not breaking it off, his eyebrow raised at him. The four other surprised spectators looked back and forth between the two of them, wondering why the tension was all of a sudden thick in the room.
"And besides you've been hogging her to yourself, Kyo. My turn ~." He smiled, teasingly, dancing out of the ex-cat's reach just as he made a swipe at him to put him in a headlock. Momiji was so used to Kyo resorting to a headlock whenever he got pissed off at him that he developed the reflexes to avoid it. Yuki dragged them both out the clinic, even grabbing Hatsuharu to let Tohru rest properly without any distractions; but Hana and Uo looked at each other.
"Is it my imagination, or is the gaki trying to mark a territory?" Uo whispered to Hana, who glanced at Tohru looking at them questioningly.
Hana, who up until then had been remarkably silent, merely smiled.
"Who knows."
~~**o**~~
The one and only time he had properly remembered to bring his physical education uniform had proven useful – he had given the bottoms to Tohru for her to wear so he can carry her home piggyback-style comfortably.
"I might be heavy."
He snorted. "Tohru heavy? You're so light I can barely feel a thing. And I'm not even that physically strong."
"Really?"
"Really. You really need to eat more, Tohru… gain a bit more of flesh."
Tohru gave a very unlady-like, out of character snort herself. "You're one to talk, Momiji-kun."
"Oya oya. Is that sass I am hearing, Tohru-kun?" He cleared his throat, doing his best to imitate Shigure's tone.
Tohru shared a small laugh with him, and he felt her tightening her arms around him and laying her head on his shoulder much to his satisfaction.
If only time would stop for the both of them… so he could share this moment with her a little longer.
They continued on in silence, a rather comfortable one. It was the kind of silence that is not needed to be filled; rather made for someone to bask in it with no worries and merely enjoy it as it is.
They eventually reached Shigure's home. Momiji raised a hand to knock at the shoji, raising his voice to say "We're home!" Before letting themselves inside. Shigure immediately appeared, exclaiming "Dearest flower! I have heard what happened!" and beginning to fuss over her much to Tohru's embarrassment and reassurances that her foot is better in spite of how bad it looks.
"I'm sorry, Shigure-san, I don't think I'll be able to cook and move around here for a few days…"
"Of course not, we'll be fine by ourselves. Kyo can cook in the meantime."
As if on cue, Kyo opened the shoji to come inside, momentarily stopping in his tracks upon seeing all three of them still by the foyer as he had started taking off his shoes. "What are you three still standing here for?"
He merely averted his gaze from Kyo's. "I'm taking Tohru up to her room."
Not waiting for an acknowledgment from either men, he adjusted his grip on Tohru to make sure she wouldn't slip off accidentally before trudging upstairs to her room.
When they finally reached it, he carefully let her down from her perch behind his back, steadying her as she placed her weight on her other foot.
"Thank you so much, Momiji-kun." She looked up to thank him, but her words died on her throat. He didn't exactly know what expression he was currently wearing; but something passed between them, their gazes locked on each other's, warm chocolate irises on melted topaz ones.
As if drawn forward by an invisible force, Tohru leaned upwards to him, unconsciously placing her hands on his shoulders to steady herself, before he felt her lips on his jaw. She was red as she eventually settled back down, her hands still on his shoulders. "T-Thank you for carrying me all the way here, Momiji-kun. Again."
The sound of a foot hitting the second floor landing was what broke the trance the two of them were in, and they both turned to see Kyo standing there, frozen at the sight of the two of them.
Tohru gave an almost-imperceptible squeak of surprise, before hurriedly disappearing back into her room, miraculously not forgetting to avoid putting weight on her injured foot. This left the two men to stand there, looking at one another.
When it became clear that Kyo wasn't planning to hit him or something, Momiji merely shrugged. "Well, I'm off. Don't make her work around, Kyo."
Kyo still hasn't responded, even as he eventually passed him – though he saw irritation flash through the ex-cat's eyes when he neared him. Had Tohru's unexpected kiss surprised him so much? It surprised Momiji, certainly, the sweet gesture not unwelcome. It was only one of the times Tohru had been assertive enough to give her thanks in a sweet, physical way.
And he liked it.
Tohru was still shy, but it appeared that there was some hope left. Hope that he does have a place in her heart. And he didn't care if Kyo was watching. What did he care if Kyo saw? As far as he was concerned, they're rivals.
Momiji left that afternoon, hope blooming once more somewhere in the depths of his beaten heart. Perhaps he didn't have to give her up just yet.
