Kabedon


Summary: She realized she had given him the wrong answer earlier.


"I think he's gay."

Uo elbowed her on the ribs subtly, as the three of them (with Hana, of course,) finished their after-lunch rituals in the girls' restroom. Two girls entered, slightly surprised at seeing them, and Hana made a show of packing up her refresh kit, (for Tohru mostly), and gently prodding her to move, making their footsteps louder. Thankfully they didn't have to worry about the door, which was kept mostly open at all times.

When they reached the entrance however, Uo and Hana gently pulled her back in, hiding behind the nearest stall to the door. Tohru barely managed to keep her "eep!" of surprise to herself, as both Uo and Hana placed fingers on their lips, urging her to be quiet.

"I wonder who it is." Uo mouthed, grinning at the both of them.

Hana shrugged, uncaring, but definitely interested to hear what the girls were saying.

" – Well, that's not an issue if he is, but I will be heartbroken," one of them was saying, "I mean, he's as gorgeous as the rest of them, especially since he hit that growth spurt. Did I mention the hair?"

"He still likes ice cream and sweets though. Isn't that childish?"

"Since when did liking ice cream and sweets become childish?" The first girl sounded incredibly affronted, but Tohru agreed privately, while feeling horrified at the same time. She already had a good guess as to who they were talking about.

"I mean, come on, inhaling an insane amount of sugar is – "

"- as normal as considered of anyone, regardless of their gender. Who are we to judge maturity based on sweets?" The first girl defended, and Uo gave a very low whistle at that in agreement. "We're not here to talk about his maturity, I'm wondering if he bats for the other team."

"A normal question." Hana mouthed beside them.

"Fine, no need to bite my head off. He gets along well with everyone though. And I mean everyone." The second girl sounded disgruntled as they heard a flush, a door open and the water start running in the sink. The three of them all backed near the doors, just to make sure they were still hidden. "But he's… I don't know. Soft. I mean he's softer compared to his cousins… well probably next to the Prince. They all practice martial arts from what I hear… except for him, who seems to be the only musician in the family. I'm not saying that we can judge his preferences based solely on that, okay?"

"If you ask me, he's a breath of fresh air. Gentle and loving." Another flush sounded, and not long after they heard another tap turn on. "Ugh, I'd hate it if it really turns out he likes men too."

The other girl laughed. "Well? Try and change his mind then."

"Oooh, I'll do it. Is that a challenge?"

That made Tohru very uncomfortable. Listening to them talk about one of the people she cared about is unsettling enough already, but to hear one of the girls set their sights on him so blatantly had her feeling extremely uncomfortable… and there was another feeling in her chest… of jealousy.

All this in spite of the fact that they had just been wondering what his preferences in dating are.

Uo held her and Hana's shoulders. "Let's scram."

They tiptoed out of the restroom and hurriedly walked away from there, each looking thoughtful, but Tohru could not even get the first sentence she heard from the girls out of her head.

"I think he's gay."

It was something she hadn't really focused on. Why would she? Momiji is Momiji, not someone who will change if he did turn out to be someone else. Sure, he could get along well with everyone else, but she did sometimes wonder if someone had already caught his eye.

While she wouldn't have any problem accepting him if it did turn out that he swings that way, it begged the question: does he actually swing to said way?

And if he does, what would that mean for her and her feelings?

Tohru wasn't blind to her emotions. She may be naïve and a bit gullible at times, but she was mature enough to realize how she felt towards her blond junior.

So. What would she do about it?

"For starters, I don't think blondie is gay." Uo broke their collective silence making the other two turn to look at her. "But you have to admit, those two back there… I mean I get why they're questioning it, even though it's annoyingly rude."

"It is not like the little Soma will change if he is. But I agree with you. It's very rude." Hana opened the door to the classroom. Since they finished earlier, no one was back from lunch yet. "What do you think Tohru?"

She reddened. "I-I've never really thought about it. It's Momiji, and he has always been gentle. He also had this talent of being able to befriend other people."

"I don't think you have any reason to worry, Tohru." Uo winked at her, and her blush worsened. The blonde laughed heartily.

At this point she wouldn't be surprised if her best friends knew. They have always been the first ones to notice if a change was coming – and they have always been attuned to her and her feelings.

Still that left a question in the back of her mind.

What if?

~~**o**~~

She did not expect to be confronted about this matter within the day. And certainly not when she was with Momiji.

"Penny for your thoughts."

Momiji was staring at her, half-worried. His long legs were stretched out in front of him, face lifted up to the cool breeze which had just passed by. They were in their afternoon break, eating ice cream under the shade of one of the large school trees. It had become sort of a ritual that whenever they ran to each other during breaks, it meant a sign for ice cream.

Which meant almost every other day of the week.

"Nothing's wrong." Well it was true. Nothing is wrong. Except for the fact that she was probably still distracted.

Momiji took the last bite of his cone before sitting straight up from leaning back. "Nothing is wrong but you have a lot on your mind. I can tell." He chuckled at the incredulous look she had given him.

"It's nothing wrong. Really." She said evasively and she hated it. She hated having to keep her thoughts from him. She didn't know how to tell him that she had overheard some girls wondering about his gender preference without being rude or worse, hurting him.

He was looking at her thoughtfully. "I won't force you, but you know you can always talk to me about anything, right?"

She does know, and she nodded at him reassuringly.

Seconds ticked by as Momiji left her to her thoughts once more. And each second ticking by and to Tohru it felt like her conscience was close to snapping at her. Was it right to keep to herself what she knew other girls were thinking about him? Would that be fair? Would it not hurt Momiji if he found out from others what people thought of him? What she had been wondering about him now as well?

It didn't feel right that she wouldn't tell him. If there was one thing that Momiji had taught her – it was to be open about her thoughts and be honest about her feelings. Isn't that why they were good at communicating and were such good friends?

You know you wanted him more than that.

Tohru shook her head mentally and steeled herself. When she felt she was ready, she faced the blond beside her… who had immediately caught on to her movement and turned his full attention to her.

"Momiji, I don't want to surprise you. But I did overhear some girls talking about you earlier…"

He listened patiently, letting her gather her strength when she paused nervously.

And then she told him.

Except for the slight widening of his eyes, Momiji's expression remained calm, almost nonchalant, even. Tohru didn't know what to make of it, and it was silent for a whole minute.

Why was he not saying anything? Oh no? Did I hurt him? Should I not have told him? I don't want him to be hurt when he hears about it though…

"Please say something, Momiji-kun." She implored, growing nervous by the minute.

To her surprise, Momiji broke out into laughter. And it wasn't a forced kind of laughter, it was a genuine one. His shoulders shook, and upon noticing her stricken expression, he forced himself to slow down until it turned into chuckles.

"Trust you to be worried about how I would feel." He was still chuckling, but he reached a hand out and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Thank you for telling me though. To be honest, I've heard about it from one of my juniors in the music club. Some people really do suspect I'm gay."

She was horrified, but at the same time, confused about his reaction. So it didn't hurt him? Was it… was it true after all?

When her silence lengthened, he noticed, and he must have probably read her expression. The blond shook his head. "I'm not gay, Tohru. I am still is, and very much, straight." He reassured her, still snorting with quiet laughter.

Tohru was no longer surprised at the relief she felt, but she was embarrassed at how relieved she was. Was that how possessive she felt over him?

"I don't care what people think though. I let them think what they want. I mean why should I care about how people see me?" Typical Momiji. Always choosing himself instead of stressing about other people's perception of him.

Why indeed?

He stood up, offering his hand to her. She took it, and they both dusted themselves off. He raised his arms above his head as he stretched, and she marveled at the way his body arched, all lithe and graceful. Gone were the gangly limbs he had developed, he was starting to have more muscles now.

"I do care about what you think though." He turned to her again, and her breath caught at the way his topaz gaze pinned her.

She cleared her throat upon realizing the delay of her response. "I believe you, of course. And even if it turned out that you are, nothing will change." That was true. It would just hurt like hell though.

Her voice sounded shaky as it came out, and it was probably why Momiji's expression turned serious.

"Good. I would still like to do this, after all."

Without warning, he closed the distance as he moved towards her, backing her against the tree. She gasped as she felt the hard wood against her back. This was –

Kabedon!

Scenes like this were very popular in mangas she had read. And now it was happening to her in real life as he crowded her, and as she stood nearly chest to chest with him it was only then she noticed that he was actually a full head taller than her now.

If anyone were to see them right now – all doubts against his gender preference would be gone.

Her heart was beating too fast against her ribcage now.

"Do you think I'm gay?"

She realized she had given him the wrong answer earlier. When he told her he cared about what she thought, it was him asking her if she thought he is actually gay.

His face was so close to hers that she could count his eyelashes, feel their noses nearly brush against each other's. Their breaths mingled intimately, and with just the slightest turn of her head she knew she could kiss him.

It felt like time stopped, as she stared into his eyes. Each ticking second felt like she was falling into a trance, a trance weaved by Momiji himself as he covered her with his body. His scent – cinnamon and something distinctly Momiji himself – filled her nostrils, and the way his eyes looked into hers felt like a spell being cast on her.

And she was just all too willing to be made prisoner of this spell.

Only a millimeter was left between them.

"You…" a pleasurable tingle shot past the top of her head and down to her toes as she felt just the tiniest brush of her lips against his. "You are a man to me, Momiji-kun."

Please kiss me.

Her soul wanted to escape her body when he felt him brush his lips against her, light as a feather's touch. Once, twice, three times. The tiniest, briefest of kisses.

His lips were soft.

Warm.

Perfect.

And she wanted more.

"I think that's enough to prove to you that I am a man." He snapped her out of the trance he had caged her in, and she felt her body grow even warmer in spite of the fact that he had leaned back. She felt disappointed that he had stopped. Was he just teasing her?

She stopped just short of protesting when he placed a finger over his lips, those same lips he had just given her the briefest of kisses with. "We'll continue this later. I'll find you, Tohru."

He leaned to her again, giving the tip of her red ear a kiss and making her shiver. "It's not going to be short. That's a promise."

He kissed her cheek as he held out a hand to her, indicating wordlessly to her that they need to go back to their classes now. She took that hand, in spite of feeling incredibly miffed at him.

Tohru unconsciously fanned herself with her free hand. Being teased like that had her blood rushing, making her feel bothered... and hot.

She would make him pay for it later.