milliways_bar | (no subject)

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"Bye, Kyo! Byyyyye, Tohru!"

The front door swings open and in steps Momiji, calling back over his shoulder in a friendly (and, on the last word, slightly gushing) way. The rabbit-boy is all dressed up in his new boy's uniform, with his bunny-shaped backpack over one shoulder and a melty, orange popsicle in his hand. Once inside, he scampers over to Bar, hefts himself up onto a stool, and crosses his legs.

"It's nice to be back at school," he muses to himself, tongue darting out at his popsicle. His smile, despite the chipperness in his voice, is soft and uncertain.

"...Poor Kyo, though," he says, red droplets snaking down along his fingers.

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"You're back at school already, Momiji?" Mia asks, snacking on a small bag of salt and vinegar potato chips, the latest of her cravings.

And she briefly blinks.

"You got bigger."

"Mia!"

The teen turns and flashes a big smile. He is presently engaged in an fumbling effort to remove his tie while simultaneously keeping his popsicle within licking distance.

"Uh-huh. Today was my first day back, so..."

He leans his head to one side and widens his grin, at the last bit.

"Yeah! I grew a whole bunch, over spring break."

Mia licks some of the salt off of her fingers before going, "Oh, it's earlier in the year for you than it is for me."

She smiles and smooths out her robe over her stomach, showing the beginnings of, well, showing.

"I haven't grown a whole bunch yet, but it's not going to be long at this point. Oh yes, and I have something to show you!"

She gets a picture out of her pocket and holds it up for him to see.

"My ten weeks ultrasound."

"...aw! Baby!"

The dreamy air he'd had about him flickers away for the moment, while he looks excitedly between the bulge at Mia's robes and the ultrasound photo. (He's not really used to seeing pregnant things - there aren't a lot of mothers on the inner estate, and the maids that get preggers tend to find employment elsewhere.)

"That's really exciting."

You call that a bulge? Just wait a week or two. You ain't seen nothin' yet.

"I know. I can't believe how big he's getting."

She traces the baby's features.

"Or how much I love him already..."

"I bet he'll be way too cute! Soo...ten weeks means you still have, like, six months, before he gets delivered?"

Momiji's smile is bright but somewhat strained. Motherhood is a double-edged sword in his family, and family matters are more prominent than usual in his mind, today.

So, Mia will have to forgive him if he's not quite as sunny as he'd normally be.

"Or does it take longer or shorter, in your world?"

It's okay. Mia has family issues, some of them involving motherhood. Not quite the same, but it's hard to duplicate Momiji's experience outside of his family.

"This picture is actually over a week old. I'll be twelve weeks pregnant this Friday. But yes, it will be around six months from now, more or less. Pregnancy counting's weird. They say it takes nine months but they count it in forty weeks. But there's a couple of weeks counted before I'm even pregnant in that forty weeks, so it's kind of like nine and a half months. Like I said, weird."

"Uh....huuuh."

He twitches one finger back and forth, as if trying to get all the numbers involved straight in his head. It's a failing effort, though, since he just ends up gawking for a while - and letting a little stream of orange, melted popsicle snake down his arm in the meantime. Before long, it's started to spread on the sleeve of his shirt.

"Oh, ick!" he yelps. "Sticky..."

"Oh sorry," she says, noticing the melting popsicle. "Here, let me help with that."

She refreezes what hasn't dripped off of the popsicle to temporarily prevent further melting and casts a little Scourgify! on his arm and shirt to clean him up.

"There you go."

"...Neat!"

Unexpected magic still makes his eyes widen, especially when it involves his tasty, summersy treat (and his nice, new clothes) being saved!

Needless to say, the popsicle goes right in his mouth.

"Thanks, Mia," he says, popping it out briefly.

"No problem. I can at least do that much with my magic. Some of my bigger spells have gone a little wonky since I got pregnant, but that kind of makes sense because the way my body feels can affect the way my magic works."

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Yeah, Akito's missed a lot! ('Miji's gained quite a few inches in height and a pair of long pants and tie, just to name two.)

"Aw, Akito!"

The rabbit-boy swivels around to smile at the flailing teen, using his orange-free hand to wave at him.

"Hiya!"

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"Oh! Hee!"

'Miji cannot quite return the gesture (unless Akito wants orange popsicle juice in his hair and clothes), but he flails and laughs appreciatively, before nodding at him.

"I'm okay! I just started my second year of high school, soo...you got a job? What kind? It sounds really tough!"

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"I'm sixteen, but my next birthday's only, like, two months away, back home. So, I'm getting really old."

He giggles, but there's a serious tinge to his voice. Growing up is totally not something he had on his agenda, and it's weird to find it happening anyway. He's just a little worried that he'll blink and find himself in need of false teeth and adult diapers, now.

"A mechanic? Wow...that's a rough job, right? And messy, too."

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"...You've had to do stuff like that?"

The bunny blinks, his curious rabbit ears deciding to pip into existence on either side of Akito's hand. Which, along with the headpat, takes his own estimate of his maturity down a few pegs, pretty fast.

"I didn't even know you had a little brother, though!"

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"Eep!"

Akito gets boggled at, first at the mention of being a cop, then at double strength when 'Miji finds himself being glomped once more. (This time, his ice cream is melting fast enough that he really can't save the boy from orange droplets down his shirt.)

But, since the shark's doomed to popsicle exposure, anyway, he at least gets a return hug, this time.

"Aw, you have a lot of siblings, then! That must be a whole lot of fun."

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"Mm?"

The rabbit ears finally vanish as he lets Akito go and rights himself on his stool, but his expression just slips towards a cooler sort of curiosity.

"I guess brothers could be a headache, sometimes, too? I've always just wished I had more sisters," he observes in what he hopes is a helpful way.

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Momiji would join Akito in gushing over the potential fun of female siblings, except, uhm...

"Your older brother does what?"

The boy's expression is suddenly a little tumult of shock and befuddlement and a hint of fear, along with what would look like outrage if he weren't quite so unintimidating.

"B-but...! That's awful! You can't live with him or anything, like that...!"

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"But, but...!"

There is a lot of flailing and babbling on his side, as well, so that they turn into a little, two-man panic for a few moments.

Eventually, though, what Akito's saying gets through, and he calms some.

"Ohhh. Uhm. Sorry. I didn't know."

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"For freaking out and everything. Even if it is really awful, and..."

'Miji shrugs awkwardly, distracting himself for a moment by getting Ms. Bar to make his mostly liquid popsicle disappear. When he looks back up at Akito, head bent a little, he's busy wiping down his sticky fingers with a damp napkin.

"I just shouldn't have...spazzed, I guess. I'd feel bad if someone freaked out about my family, I mean."

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"...Yeah."

It is a very reassuring smile, but the one that the blonde offers in reply is still on the more obvious side of forced. His family's firmly in the secrecy camp, as far as the grimmer side of Sohma life goes, so...it's a strange and niggling idea, for him.

"I guess it's okay, if you think about it like that. As long as you're not getting hurt, where you are now."

But the way he nods is earnest enough.

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"Well, I just started back, after break, but...I guess it's been fun, so far! It's nice to see all my friends, again."

'Miji lets the subject shift, nodding enthusiastically.

"The girls all kinda got whispery and gawky, over break, so that's weird. But everything else's normal and nice!"

Donning boy's clothes has probably lost him a lot of his old girlfriends. He hasn't quite realized it, yet.

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"Aw, hmf."

The rabbit-boy flushes and paws at the floor with one sock-clad foot.

"I kinda hope not. It's nice for people to think you're good-looking, but...you should see the way the girls at school pester my cousin Yuki. They can act really zany."

And he's pretty sure his other, pretty-boy cousins only avoid the same treatment because they're occasionally senselessly violent.

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"I could try! I guess I could come visit, if I bump into you here, sometime when you're free."

He taps a finger thoughtfully against his lips, perking up a little.

"I've never been to a mechanic's, though - I might get in the way."

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