Work Text:
Tohru was cleaning her room for autumn, when she noticed a tiny slip of cream-colored paper fall to the floor. "What's this?" she wondered. She didn't know where it came from, but she figured that it fell out of one of her shirt pockets while she was putting her clothes away.
She held it up and read it. "First clue: bench."
Tohru furrowed her eyebrows and cocked her head to one side. "But, what does this mean?" she said aloud to herself. She didn't recognize the handwriting on it. Who could it be from? What was the clue for? She shrugged and put it in her pocket, forgetting about it for a while.
Later that night, she was finishing up her cleaning in the large corporate building where she worked. She missed when Momiji would meet her there, but he had nearly been caught trying to see his mother there so many times before, that he didn't stop by much anymore. She sighed sadly when she thought about his situation.
Tohru went downstairs to go home after her shift, and she nearly tripped on the last few steps because her legs were so tired from working. She remembered falling down them once, which just so happened to be the day she had first met Momiji. She thought of how flustered she felt when he greeted her with a kiss on her cheek.
She decided to sit on the bench near the front door of the building, giving her legs a much-needed rest before walking home. She stretched out her arms and yawned. She was not looking forward to school the next day. When she put her hands back down on either side of her thighs to rest them, she felt something crinkle underneath her palm. It was another small slip of paper.
"Second clue: school," it said, in the same handwriting as before.
Tohru subconsciously held her breath. What are these strange notes everywhere, and how do they seem to be reading my mind? she pondered. She was far too tired to think any further about it, so she simply put the note in her pocket, along with the other one, and went home to sleep.
At school the next day, Tohru found herself gazing outside of the window during recess. She watched as others walked along together, talking in small groups, smiling and playing games with each other. She liked seeing people happy.
Tohru spotted Momiji down below, following Hatsuharu around and talking incessantly. They were nearly the same height, she noticed. She remembered when Momiji was shorter, and Hatori had brought him to the high school, and he was so excited to see Tohru again that he hugged her and poofed into a rabbit. She smiled to herself and began to walk along the row of windows, absentmindedly sliding her hand across each windowsill.
Suddenly, she felt something which turned her gaze away from the world outside. She looked at the neatly folded, lined paper on the windowsill, and smiled to herself. When she wasn't tired, she enjoyed finding the clues.
She opened it and read, "Third clue: hot spring."
Tohru closed her eyes and thought about how funny it was when she went with Yuki, Kyo, and Momiji to the hot springs for White Day a year and a half before. That was where she had met Ritsu's mother. It's strange how much simpler things seemed back then, even though nothing has really changed much, Tohru thought to herself.
Looking back at the piece of paper, she wondered if she would ever have a chance to go back to the hot springs. Then, she remembered that she had been socking away money from her job in case of an emergency, and while it wasn't much, it was definitely enough to spend one day at the hot springs.
So, that weekend, Tohru woke up early, packed herself a lunch, left a note for the boys telling them where she would be, and took the train there. She loved the beautiful scenery; the leaves on the trees were starting to change their colors, conveying a lovely rainbow-colored gradient across the land.
When she arrived, she greeted Ritsu's mother, who seemed appalled that Tohru was there by herself. She lamented that a handsome man should have accompanied Tohru, which Tohru laughed off, slightly embarrassed by the remark.
Tohru walked around the property, giggling to herself whenever she saw something that reminded her of the boys and the fun times they shared there. The sight of the ping-pong table, and even of the hot springs themselves, filled Tohru with an indescribable joy.
Just for nostalgia's sake, she went into the room where she and Momiji had slept the last time she was there. It looked exactly the same as she remembered. She smiled to herself, looking around the room and admiring its tidiness, when she spotted something which looked out of place.
It was a fancy sheet of paper, lying flat on the book shelf. Tohru went to take it, and noticed it had that now-familiar handwriting, in ink.
"Fourth clue: Find the song along the winding, gated path, leading to autumn leaves." it said.
This puzzled Tohru. "But… it's already autumn, so autumn leaves are everywhere," she thought out loud. She had questions: Which song? What's a gated path? The fact that this clue was much longer and a bit more abstract than the previous ones led Tohru to believe that it might be the final clue. Perhaps that's why it's the most difficult, she reasoned.
*************************************
Weeks went by, and Tohru kept the four little notes she found in a tiny box in her room, and shoved it into a drawer. It was a fun game while it lasted, but she simply couldn't figure out the last clue. The "treasure hunt" faded into the back of her mind, becoming only a whisper of a memory as the days grew shorter and colder.
On a particularly windy day in late autumn, Tohru was out for a long walk, when her scarf suddenly flew away. She loved her scarf, and immediately went chasing after it.
It had eventually blown all the way to the main Sohma estate, where Akito lived. The large gate in front of the estate held the scarf against it, preventing the wind from carrying it any further. Tohru gulped, remembering her encounters with Akito as being… less than pleasant, to say the least.
Tohru knelt down and quickly picked up her precious scarf, sighing with relief. As she wrapped it loosely around her neck and secured it with a knot, she could hear the faint sound of a violin.
"Momiji?" she mused. She remembered him telling her about his dream to become a famous musician some day, and how he had mentioned something about a private concert, just for her. She missed her friend dearly, for it seemed as though he had been keeping his distance from her lately, and she couldn't figure out if she had done something wrong.
There was a deep, creaking sound next to her, and she realized that the gate surrounding the Sohma estate was opened. She slipped inside, hoping that the moaning wind would shield the sound of her steps crunching the autumn leaves beneath her feet from Akito's attention.
She followed the winding, maze-like path to Momiji's room. Looking at him through his glass door, she could see him playing his violin, his eyes closed, his body swaying gently to the music he was making. It nearly brought Tohru to tears - the combination of the sweet melody, the sight of him all grown-up, and these feelings she had somehow bottled up for so long that she barely knew they existed.
Tohru watched, mesmerized, as Momiji played his heart and soul out. Then, his eyes opened and he stopped abruptly when he saw her.
Momiji hurriedly opened his door and said, "Tohru, are you all right?"
Tohru wrapped her arms around him, not caring about his curse. She just wanted her friend back. She had missed him so much that her heart ached, and though she had gotten better at ignoring it over time, she was finally unable to hold her feelings back any longer.
Momiji dropped his violin and bow, returning her hug with equal intensity.
"Momiji," Tohru cried into his shirt sleeve. "I've missed you."
Momiji's eyes softened, and he gently rubbed Tohru's head and kissed it. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "I've missed you, too."
Suddenly, Tohru realized. "Wait, Momiji, you're… you're not transforming? But how?" she asked, looking up at him.
Momiji smiled. "My curse has been broken," he whispered to her.
Tohru gasped. She could hardly believe it. "Is that… is that why you've been acting differently, Momiji?"
His smile faltered. "I didn't want anyone else to know," he admitted. "I didn't want you to worry about me or the rest of the zodiac members. I didn't want to give anyone false hope, least of all you."
There was a pause of silence between them.
"So… you don't know how you broke it?" Tohru asked.
"No, I'm afraid not," Momiji said, sadly. "I would have told you if I knew, I promise," he said earnestly, taking her hand in his.
Tohru nodded, trusting him. "Well," she said, searching her mind for something else to talk about, to ease the tension. "I have a funny story to tell you," she smiled.
"Oh, yeah?" Momiji replied, intrigued.
Tohru sat on his bed, and he sat next to her. "I was cleaning out my room at the beginning of autumn, and I found something in the pocket of one of my summer shirts. You'll never guess what it was."
Momiji widened his eyes in interest. "What was it?" he asked excitedly.
"It was this little note on a piece of paper," she continued. "And it had a clue on it, and the clue was just one word: 'bench.' It was so silly, like a funny little game! But then, when I was working at your father's corporate office, I found another note on the bench there, and it said 'school.' Then, the next day at school, I found a third one which said, 'hot spring.' So I went to the hot spring - you know, the one we went to for White Day - and I found a fourth one, and it said…" her voice trailed off. She had forgotten what was written on the last one.
Momiji sat, motionless, looking at her. Then, he said, "Did it say to find the song along the winding, gated path, leading to autumn leaves?" he asked.
Tohru felt everything around her stop. It was at that moment she remembered his name was a word for autumn leaves. "It was you," she breathed.
Momiji nodded his head, smiling at her. "It was a silly game I made up one day," he explained. "I spent a few weeks over summer break planting the clues in places that reminded me of you. I worked backwards, sneaking the first clue into your pocket last," he said sheepishly. "I thought I was being clever, leading you to me. But now I realize…" he cleared his throat as his voice started to break.
"Realize what?" Tohru asked, looking at him.
Momiji sighed, looking wistful. "I realize that, just because my curse is broken, doesn't mean I'll end up with the girl I love."
Tohru blinked. She wanted to tell him how much she loved him, too, but no words came to her mind. So instead, she reached out to touch his hand again, and he interlocked his fingers with hers. She turned to him and put her other hand on his shoulder, causing him to turn toward her also. She brought her face closer to his, tilting her head and parting her lips slightly, her breath erratic.
Momiji lightly rested his hand on Tohru's cheek, and he pressed his soft, warm lips against hers, letting his eyes flutter closed.
Tohru melted into the kiss, closing her eyes and humming against his mouth. She found her treasure.