Summary: It made him look… sexy.
"Oh my God, who is that!?"
"I don't recognize him! He must be a new student! He looks so cool!"
Tohru was wondering about what was going on as she squeezed through the throng of hormonal high school females crowded near the front gate of the their school, all swooning and with large, beating hearts for eyes. From what she had heard, there is a new male student?
"Good job making it here, Tohru." Uo and Hana were just at the entrance of the building. "Sorry we didn't notice that you were just right behind us."
"It's okay." She looked back at the crowd. "Was there a new student or something?"
Hana proceeded to periodically bat her hands against her uniform, no doubt trying to get her clean from any dust (or germs) she may have gotten from squeezing through the mob. Uo laughed and she sweat dropped as she finished off with misting her with alcohol and then some soft cologne.
"So you don't catch anything from them and you still smell fresh." Was what her wave-extraordinaire friend reasoned out in her usual deadpan tone. "Let's go. We might be late if we continue standing here."
The two of them walked forward, and as she prepared to follow, she turned back to the crowd, who were now being shooed away by security and teachers.
Whoever it is, he may be something special if he had temporarily made the female student body forget about the existence of the Somas in this school.
~~**o**~~
It was lunch time when they found out the reason for the commotion.
"Hallo, Tohru."
Her mouth dropped open, completely unable to stop herself doing so and keep her wits about her. Uo and Hana were more composed, but both also showed surprised expressions.
No wonder every red-blooded female in Kaibara High who had functioning eyes lost all grace and composure earlier.
"M-Momiji-kun?!" she exclaimed, equal parts embarrassed and defensive, for whatever reason she was too confused to think about.
The reason stood in front of her, tall, chagrined but smiling widely at her. That was not what was different though.
What was different… was his hair. Soma Momiji was easily recognizable with his blond hair which never seemed to behave, it's soft waves falling just right above his eyes now. It was one particular striking feature of his which Tohru had fallen in love with.
Well, it used to be blond. Now his hair was dark – dark as a raven's feathers.
"Well? How was it?" He asked, smiling sheepishly as he ran his fingers thru his hair a bit consciously.
She forced herself to form some words. Dyeing someone's hair should be natural and should not be as big a deal as this one on him.
But… but…
She should be lamenting about it. His hair was truly a god-given, magnificent creation for mankind. At least that was her opinion, as dramatic and as cheesy as that may sound.
But this dark hair on him was doing weird things to her. To her body, to be specific. He looked incredibly…
"Hot." Uo-chan complimented from beside her, as they decided to finally move out of the doorway to their classroom. "Blondie, you look incredibly hot with that black hair you're currently sporting right now. You were already gorgeous with your original color, but when you darken it…"
"It gives you a sexy vibe." Hana-chan finished, as straight-faced as ever. "Right, Tohru-kun?"
"H-Hai! I mean," she cleared her throat, self-consciously, mentally slapping away some weird thoughts and feelings which were forming somewhere in her body. "I've always loved your blond hair, Momiji-kun. But you just looked incredibly cool with this color, too." She didn't mention what the others were probably thinking: that it should be a crime for him to walk around just being effortlessly drop-dead gorgeous like his relatives. It was so not fair. "What's the occasion?" She added as they all proceeded to the cafeteria.
"For the play we promised for the school festival. Remember?" He said, trying to calm himself down and stop himself from blushing, a gesture doomed to fail as it was a physically impossible thing to do.
She remembered. Momiji's and Haru's class are putting on another classic favorite: Snow White. In spite of initially volunteering as a stage hand, Momiji was voted as the prince of the class, much to his frustration, as he had told Tohru.
The school festival is this Friday, one day from now.
"They suggested that I dye my hair black for the play. This one is washable, the container says it is really just temporary and this will be out by three days." He rubbed the back of his neck, a gesture Tohru noticed conveyed his embarrassment now. "I guess I surprised everyone."
Surprised would be an understatement, but he didn't need to know that. "You look really cool, Momiji-kun. And…" she paused, blushing. "Really mature."
At her words, the former blond grinned. "I'm glad you like it. Which also reminds me, I actually came here because I need to ask you a favor."
She looked up to him as they reached the cafeteria, making everyone turn to look at them which unsettled Tohru as whispers started. Momiji all but ignored it pointedly. "Of course. What is it?"
Momiji lowered his head to her ear, which immediately made goosebumps rise up her arms. She shivered involuntarily. "Come meet me after school. I'll tell you by then. Back of the school gym. Please?"
As they took their place in line, the enthusiastic junior hit her with the puppy dog eyes. Even without him doing so however, she knew she would say yes. "Of course, Momiji-kun. As long as it is something I can do."
"It is." He assured her, grinning widely as he took her hand without much further ado and lifted it to his lips, kissing the back of it. "Thank you milady. I will see you later."
He did all this while looking her in the eyes as he brushed his lips lightly on her skin, which just about weakened her knees. Momiji was the only one who could get away with these gestures, anyone else who tried looked incredibly awkward, not to mention, funny and cheesy as hell, as Uo-chan had said once.
He was the only one who looked as gallant as a knight in the medieval era would possibly be.
As some of his classmates called out to him, he waved to them, before turning to her once more and giving her a wink and then proceeding to join them. She watched them tease him good-naturedly with noogies and laughter rang clearly from their table.
"Right. We'll make sure to put a little blush and lip tint on you later." Hana-chan muttered to her, finally deciding to step in after Momiji had left. "I have a feeling you'll need it."
Tohru felt she didn't want to hear a reason for it. "Because…?"
Uo-chan was grinning. "Who knows? You just might need it."
She didn't know what to make of what they were trying to insinuate, but if her friends felt like she should have a little make up on for what Momiji was going to ask her, well… it couldn't hurt to prepare.
"Okay. Please help me out."
The two, well Uo, really, cheered, much to her embarrassment.
She really just loves her friends.
