Chapter 5

Red hair bounced around in a loose ponytail as Anzu walked around her house with a dust rag. Today was her cleaning day and she was in good spirits. Since the cultural festival, she and Momiji had decided to hold off on asking Akito about her going to school until the end of the school year. Now that school has officially ended, today was judgment day.

The female hadn't taken her homeschooling lightly back in the States, mostly because she liked the praise she received from her mother and it brought them closer together. Within these last few weeks, she'd asked Hatori to quiz her for the entrance exam and also had Momiji show her some things he'd been learning in school so she would be caught up. If everything went well, she'd be able to transfer in as a 2nd year with the possibility of some supplementary classes for any missed information she didn't get from her sessions. Being in the same class as Momiji served as her motivation.

"Zu-chan? Are you home?"

"I'm in the washroom! Just a second!" Anzu called out as she was loading some towels into the washing machine. She could remember like it was yesterday when she dragged Hatori out to her house because she didn't know how to use it. Once she was done, she walked into the living area to see Momiji sprawled out on the small couch.

"Are you ready to go?" The bubbly blond immediately stood up.

"Yeah."

"Are you sure?"

The crimsonette brushed off the question and went to put on her shoes. She'd thought of Akito's possible reactions before. The Sohma head had been nice to her from the first time they met and she hadn't done anything to her aside from being a bit possessive, so she guessed the worst thing would be getting denied. If anything, she was only nervous because this was the first time she'd be asking for anything.

"Positive."

The two headed for Akito's house, making small talk about the weather and upcoming events. Momiji told her there were a lot of places she needed to go to before school started, but there was no need to worry because he would take her. Smiling, Anzu simply agreed with him. As they approached the main entrance, they noticed a pair of shoes already lined up.

"Those look like Haa-san's shoes. He must be checking on Akito." Momiji said as he opened the sliding door and put his shoes next to them.

Anzu did the same and walked around to Akito's room. As soon as they reached their destination, Hatori walked out of the room and left the door open for them. Knocking on the door frame, she politely asked Akito, whose back was turned to her, if she could come in.

The room was silent as Anzu and Momiji sat together in the center of the room. Akito acknowledged their presence by letting them in, but hadn't glanced in their direction or spoken. They'd been here for almost ten minutes now and Anzu was starting to get antsy. Akito seemed different from previous times the female had met her and she wasn't sure how she felt about it.

"What do you want?"

Akito's sudden question made the redhead jump as she wasn't expecting someone to speak. The Sohma head turned around and locked eyes with the female, making it seem like they were the only two in the room. Her words felt like they were laced with vemon and the redhead froze up for a moment. Clearing her throat, Anzu spoke up with a surprisingly steady voice.

"I wanted to ask your permission to go to school."

"No."

"Why not?"

Akito's demeanor quickly changed, which in turn, caused Anzu to get angry herself. "Are you questioning me?"

"Technically, I'm emancipated so I don't have to do what you say. I was only being polite and asking because of the bond." The young girl frowned, clearly frustrated with the lack of explanation. "I'm going to enroll for the next-"

No one had time to react as Akito immediately jumped up and backhanded the girl with enough force to knock her over. As soon as she hit the ground, Momiji immediately got up and rushed to her side to see if she was okay. Infuriated, Akito shoved the boy away from her.

"Don't you touch her! You put those ideas into her head!"

Momiji hit his head against the floor pretty hard and Anzu sat up, holding her cheek which was already starting to bruise. She wanted to go over and help him and Akito saw this, which fueled her fit of rage even more as she could see clearly how close they had become.

"And as for you, little wench! How dare you!" Akito glowered at the female. She showed no restraint as she grabbed a fistful of Anzu's hair and yanked her up to meet her eye level, despite the girl's cries, and shook her around. "Just like the one before you, you'll never leave my side. I won't let her have you."

Anzu had no idea what she was talking about. Who was the 'her' she was speaking of? Instead, she tried to focus on escaping and clawed at Akito's grip. "Let me go! You're hurting me!"

Momiji, having regained his stance, pushed Akito down, causing her to release Anzu. As Akito rushed to get up, an unexpected newcomer appeared in the room and immediately held the Sohma head back with Hatori in tow. As the latter beckoned for the two teens to leave, Anzu's mind was focused elsewhere. She recognized the fifth person in the room as the one she'd been looking for this entire time, but she was pulled out of the room so fast, she couldn't say anything.

"Are you okay?"

Momiji didn't ask this question until they stopped at Hatori's clinic, which was the halfway point between Akito's house and their houses. Anzu guessed she didn't answer fast enough because the male stared at her face before turning away to go into another room. Still processing everything, it was safe to say that she was still in shock over what just happened. Not long after, the blond reappeared, but Anzu didn't notice until she felt something cold pressed against her cheek.

"Ow, ow, not so hard…" Anzu winced from the sudden pain.

"Sorry." Momiji frowned. Pulling up a stool, he sat in front of her. "I wanted to get to it before it started to swell. Akito hit you pretty hard after all…"

"What about you?" Anzu asked out of concern.

The blond grinned, mostly to offset her worried expression. "I'm okay! I'm strong and pretty quick on my feet so I feel fine!"

The two sat in silence after this, with Momiji nursing Anzu's wound. She told him she could hold the ice pack, but he refused. They didn't want to talk about what had just happened, but guilt bottled up in Momiji's mind. He was well aware that Akito already didn't like him, but he didn't want Anzu to go into the den of wolves alone. He should have anticipated that Akito would try something, but when it actually happened, he couldn't move fast enough.

"Momiji? Are you there?"

The boy snapped out of his thoughts to see Anzu had taken the ice pack away from him and set it down the table.By the looks of it, it seemed like she'd been calling his name more than a couple of times. Her attention was focused on him and full of unease, meaning that his smile couldn't cover this one up.

"You weren't listening to anything I said, were you?" She frowned. She'd seen him when he was serious before, but this was a new side of him. He appeared distraught and she wasn't sure how to reassure him. "I'm okay, you know. I guess I was more in shock that it happened than I was hurt..."

"I'm sorry, Anzu." He hung his head as he couldn't bother to look into her eyes right now. "The ice pack is probably melting so I'll see if Haa-san has another one."

As he moved to get up, Anzu quickly grabbed his wrist so he couldn't leave her. "What are you apologizing for? You told me on my first day that none of this was my fault. I'm telling you now that it's not your fault either."

"But I-"

"Please, Momiji…" Her grip tightened on his wrist, but he didn't mind it; he was too entranced by the fact that she was on the verge of tears as she continued to speak. "I promise I'm okay. My cheek just stung a little. Seeing you like this..."

He had wanted to protect her, but he knew better than anyone that as long as they were bound by the curse, you could never truly be exempt from Akito's wrath. As much as continued to blame himself for letting it get that far, he would feel even worse if Anzu cried because of him. Before he realized it, Momiji leaned forward in his seat towards the girl. Tucking a few strands of her crimson hair behind her ear, he contemplated pressing his lips against hers. In a last minute decision, he hesitated and decided to kiss her cheek instead before pulling back.

"I'd seen my mother do it to my sister's injuries and it seemed to cheer her up so…" He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I-It was really sudden! Verzeihung…"

The female touched her cheek, which was still slightly numb from the ice but she felt every inch of the sweet peck of his lips. Although she was flustered from the unexpected action, an amused smile broke out on her face when she heard the stutter in his voice. "It actually worked. I feel a lot better, so thank you, Momiji."

Momiji looked back at her in surprise at her words. He wanted to say something else, something along the lines of "You make me feel better" or just coming out and saying "I like you", but his mouth went dry out of nervousness. Once he finally built up the courage to spit it out, Hatori appeared at the door. For a moment, he appreciated his presence, but he also felt a bit defeated.

"There you two are. I've been searching for you." The older man sighed, relieved that he had finally found them and they seemed okay. Viewing their first aid attempts, he walked over to get a closer look.