Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Custody ❯ News ( Chapter 2 )

Momiji practiced at home one winter afternoon when he heard a pair of voices that caught his attention. One of them belonged to Tohru, but he stopped playing when he heard Momo's. He knew that she used to listen to him playing from outside of the house, and it had become a silent agreement to “meet” regularly that way. However, he had never heard Momo making any noise, let alone talking to someone within Momiji's hearing distance. He was surprised, and a happy smile appeared on his face. It died on his lips when he finally made out the words of the conversation.

 

-“Where are you going? When?” - asked Tohru. She dreaded the answer she had already guessed, but was too afraid to admit to herself. She hadn't noticed that they were in front of Momiji's house, or the deadly silence in the atmosphere.

 

-“We're moving to Germany as soon as I'm off school! Mama says that it is a great country, that she grew up there. She's taking me to all the fun places she used to go to when she was a child!! I was kind of sad about leaving, but Mama says that I'll be going to a new school where I'll be making a lot of new friends, and we'll be living in a beautiful town with lots of parks, and a lake nearby! And you know the best thing? I'm going to meet my family there! Mama says that I have a lot of uncles, aunts and cousins! I've only spoken to grandma on the phone, but she's so kind, and she says she can't wait to meet me!” - She explained in an overly enthusiastic voice that reminded Tohru so much of Momiji. She even tried to keep that nervous smile on her face, the one that was identical to her brother's.

 

Momo managed to say all so fast that Tohru took a few seconds to catch up on every word she had heard. When she was done, Tohru picked up from somewhere before in the conversation.

 

-“So that's why you wanted to see Momiji? To tell him that you're leaving?”- Tohru asked slowly, her heart breaking just thinking about her dear friend and how the news would affect him.

 

-“Yes…” - replied Momo sadly, shifting her weight to her other foot. In the months Momo and Tohru had known each other, she had never looked so unsure, even scared. Once they had become friends, Momo had been as much a happy person as Momiji. She continued with her eyes downcast, “I want to say good bye. Papa says that we won't be coming back soon, that we'll be gone for some years. Mama packed everything already, and she even shipped some of our things to the new house, so I know that we're leaving for real. I'm going to miss onii-chan…” -her voice broke at the mention of the older brother she had grown to love so much. It hurt terribly to think about leaving him behind. -“But we can write to each other, right? We can even talk on the phone, right?”

 

Momo didn't want to cry! She didn't want to see her onii-chan with blotchy eyes and nose! However, a pair of tears ran down her cheeks as the pain in her heart grew worse with every second. How was she going to face him and tell him that they were probably never going to see each other again? Why did they have to take her away?!

 

Tohru didn't say anything. She realized that Momo was hurting too much at that moment. She did the only thing she could think of: She kneeled on the ground and hugged the little girl as she cried. As Momo's tears damped her shoulder, Tohru started to cry too. She remembered then that Momiji was cursed to never be able to hug his little sister like that, and that she would never be able to comfort him that way either.