Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Custody ❯ Rabbit ( Chapter 17 )

Brigitta didn't recognize the young man riding in the car with her. Ever since she let go of him in the room, he had been smiling, laughing and she could almost swear that she had seen him hopping… Yes, she couldn't believe it either. It was like this was a completely different person. She smiled as she thought that she liked this boy much more than the sad and distant young man she'd met before. He carried his luggage to the lobby, where he checked out and thanked the receptionist for everything. The young woman and the old lady exchanged amused looks as they saw him bow formally and say something in Japanese before he picked up his things once more and walked out of the hotel with the biggest grin either one had ever seen.

 

She couldn't understand how her daughter could reject this child. He was the sweetest boy she'd ever met. She was sure that he'd been a beautiful baby… `Why?'

 

Another thing that she couldn't understand was how they had managed to erase Momiji from her daughter's memories. It was impossible, wasn't it? Why did her son-in-law agree to such a thing? How could he love his wife more than his own son? Even worse, how could he ask a four year-old child to agree with that? She wanted to ask Momiji so many things about it, but she would do it later. She didn't want to ruin what little time they had together.

 

As she drove, she could feel Momiji's eyes on her. He was memorizing every feature, every move, looking for similarities between her and his mother. They were silent, but whenever she looked at him, his eyes were smiling as well as his lips. She never thought that she would see such a happy smile on his face since Tohru left.

 

-“Momiji” -he snapped to attention at hearing his grandmother call him by his name. She had called him Mr. Souma mostly, and only this morning she called him Momiji-kun. He smiled at the memory.

 

-“Huh?” -came the informal reply. Brigitta smiled even more. Apparently he finally felt at ease with her.

 

-“What do you want for breakfast?” -She waited for a moment before he heard his answer.

 

-“Whatever you make will be fine with me. What were you planning to cook?” -She could tell that he was really interested in whatever she said, even if it was something as trivial as this.

 

-“I didn't have anything planned. Are you sure that you don't want something special?” Momiji just nodded. “Momiji, you better let me spoil you. I want to make it up to you for all the missing time. So, tell me. What do you want?”

 

-“I'm not really familiar with the food here. Whatever you think will be good is fine with me. I'm sure it'll be great!” -He sounded so sincere that she knew that he was telling her the truth.

 

They rode in silence for a couple more minutes before Momiji asked seriously:

 

-“Momo… does she know? Doesn't she suspect anything?” -he needed to know, even if it scared him to find out. Brigitta knew exactly what he was talking about.

 

-“No. At least she hasn't said anything to me about it.” -she answered honestly.

 

-“That's something I could never understand…” -he trailed off as he turned around to look out the window.

 

-“What are you talking about?” -Brigitta was really interested.

 

-“How come they never noticed how much we look alike? It's pretty obvious! Everybody here noticed that at the funeral. Why is it that Mutti never realized it? Momo-chan is just like her. She can't see that I'm her brother.” -he spoke slowly, trying to find the words as he spoke. He was still looking out the window. His voice had taken that pained tone again.

 

-“I don't know, Momiji. I've been thinking about that myself.” -She admitted. “It doesn't matter anymore. You just have to tell Momo the truth and you can finally have her back!” -She smiled to him, even though the thought of them leaving made her sad. `If only they could stay here!'

 

-“Momiji, have you thought about staying here in Germany? Momo and you could live at your parents' house for a while. It wouldn't have to be permanent.” -She said it casually, but Momiji knew that she was really hopeful.

 

-“I can't. My whole life is in Japan: my work, my friends, my family… My home is there.” -he explained calmly.

 

-“Your family is here. You have a home here too. You have Momo and me, and the rest of your family: your aunts, uncles and cousins. Don't you want to meet them?” -She wanted to give him a reason to stay.

 

-“I'm curious about them, but they don't know about me. What could I tell them? I'm a stranger to them, and they are all strangers to me.” -his voice remained calm as he stated aloud what he had already thought about many times before.

 

-“They'll love you if only you give them a chance.” -she defended.

 

-“What if they don't give me a chance? What if they think the same way my mother thought about me?” -he whispered mostly to himself.

 

-“You'll never know unless you give them and yourself a chance. They are coming over on Christmas Eve. Maybe by then you've already told Momo the truth and it will be much easier to let the rest of the family know. What do you think? Want to try? Who knows? Maybe you'll get lucky.” -She smiled reassuringly.

 

-“…like a rabbit, right?” -Momiji smiled again. He really wanted to believe that.

 

Brigitta stopped the car inside the garage when they got to the house. Momiji pulled out his luggage from the car while his grandmother opened the house. As soon as they entered, Brigitta showed him to his temporary room, which was really the second guest room in the house.

 

-“Now that I think about it, maybe your father secretly hoped for you to come visit someday.” -Brigitta said standing in the doorway while Momiji walked to the middle of the room and looked around.

 

-“Why do you think so?” -He asked, surprised.

 

-“Just look at this room, Momiji! It looks too masculine to me. That's why I decided to stay in the other one.”

 

Momiji looked around at every little detail, thinking about his grandmother's words. It was true. There wasn't something specific that you could point out to, but rather the whole environment felt like it was specially made for someone. Momiji stood there, in the middle of the room for a whole minute, holding the strap of the duffel bag hanging from his shoulder with one hand and still carrying his suitcase on the other like it weighed nothing.

 

-“Maybe you're right.” -He said simply with a little smile. He dropped the duffel bag and the suitcase on the bed.

 

-“I'm going to the kitchen to make breakfast now.” -she said. “Why don't you get settled and then go and wake Momo up. She's kind of a heavy sleeper, so I'm not surprised that she's not up yet even after all the noise we've been making.”

 

Momiji laughed lightly at the comment and nodded. Brigitta left him alone in the room. Momiji sat on the bed as he looked at everything once more. The furniture looked familiar. He realized that it was very similar to what he had in his own house years ago. He had replaced all of it years ago.

 

-“If only you'd have listened to me back then, you would've remembered how many times I told you how I hated that furniture. But it's okay, Papa. Thanks anyway.” -He said aloud with a wistful smile.

 

Momiji decided to unpack later. He went to find Momo instead. He looked in what he guessed was her room (the name plaque on the door was a great giveaway), but she wasn't there. He walked a little more down the corridor and he finally found her, sleeping in what he guessed was her parents' room. He looked at her from the doorway and he immediately noticed the tears still drying on her cheeks. He felt his resolve to take her back with him falter when he thought about how much she was going to miss this house so full of memories of her family.

 

-“How am I supposed to tell you the truth about me? Isn't it better that you never find out? What will you think of Papa and Mutti if you ever know?” -Momiji whispered the words quietly, not wanting to wake the girl up.

 

He didn't notice his grandmother a few steps behind him. `What are you planning to do, Momiji? Haven't you been alone long enough?'

 

Momo and Brigitta decided to go Christmas shopping after breakfast. Momo was still laughing and thanking Grandma over and over again for bringing Momiji home. Momiji loved to see them talking and planning, and even dared to make a couple of comments. For someone as talkative as he, it was unusual to see him just smiling silently at the scene before his eyes. He felt really happy at the moment, and he wanted to enjoy every second he spent with his family.

 

After a while, Momo turned to him and asked:

 

-“What do you want for Christmas, onii-chan?” Momiji thought for a moment, and answered happily.

 

-“Whatever you get for me is fine. What do you want?” -he asked in reply.

 

-“Hmmm…” -she though for a while. “I want a rabbit.” -she finally said.

 

-“Huh?” -asked Momiji. “A rabbit? What for?”

 

-“No reason. I just like them.”

 

-“You already have me! Am I not enough?” -he asked in a playful voice.

 

-“What are you talking about, onii-chan?” -Momo was laughing again.

 

-“Didn't I tell you before? I am a rabbit sometimes!” -he decided to have fun and laugh at the curse for once.

 

-“Really? Then that's why I like you! But… can I have another one?” -she asked in the same playful tone of voice.

 

-“You want two rabbits? Okay, you'll have another rabbit then. A stuffed one?”

 

-“No! I want something to go with this.” -she pulled a silver chain from under her turtleneck sweater and showed them the rabbit pendant that he gave her the day she left.

 

Momiji was speechless. He had forgotten about it. He felt happy to see that she had kept it all those years.

 

-“You still have it…” -Momo looked up to him when she heard the surprise in his voice.

 

-“You have no idea. She grabs that pendant whenever she's scared or nervous. I've seen her do it many times. It seems to have healing powers.” -Brigitta told him.

 

-“Does it help, Momo? Is it true?” -he asked expectantly.

 

Momo nodded.

 

-“You've always been with me, onii-chan.” -she confessed shyly. Momiji had to fight back the tears of joy.

 

-“What about a brother, Momo? Wouldn't you want one for Christmas? -Brigitta interrupted their two-way dialogue. Momiji gave Grandma a pleading look with his scared eyes. `Please, not yet.'

 

-“But I already have Momiji! He's my onii-chan!” -She hugged him to emphasize her point.

 

-“I mean a real older brother, Momo” -Brigitta pushed on, oblivious to the terrified expression on Momiji's face. Her voice was also playful, so Momo thought nothing of it.

 

-“Grandma, Momiji is my brother because I chose him. To me, he's as real an older brother as can be.” -She hugged him tighter. His eyes softened as he returned the embrace. He looked to their grandmother with an unreadable emotion in his eyes.

 

-“Momo, I need to tell you something.” -he whispered softly. Grandma froze. It was time.