Compy: Hello everyone! I wrote this during a fit of boredom, and really didn't expect it to turn out so good. Boredom really is a girl's best friend and greatest enemy, huh. XP Anyways, this is my first Furuba fic, so I really hope you like it.

Disclaimer: If I owned them, I would keep them in my closet and feed them Oreos and glomp them whenever the urge hit me. looks at bare closet T.T No such luck.

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It was quiet "Inside". It was always quiet though, so he didn't really consider tonight to be so out of the ordinary. "Outside", and in the world beyond the gates of the Sohma estate, it was always full of activity. Men and women running about, going to work, doing chores, and loitering about in buildings and on street corners, talking and enjoying each other's company. Children suffered through the tedious hours of school, and immediately embraced the outside when that glorious final bell rang. Lovers went on dates; they kissed in the shadows, away from prying human eyes.

But "Inside" it was always quiet. The best way that he could describe it was by comparing it to a television set; one minute the world is alive, always moving in a sea of swirling sounds, colors and actions…and then you press the mute button, and the show is silent…you press the Pause button, and the movie stops, frozen in time during that one action, silent…unmoving…unchanging. Very much like the fate of the Zodiac members, and the Main House only served to mirror that notion.

Perhaps that was why Momiji Sohma hated the silence, because it was a constant reminder of his home, his family…and his life. That was why he was always speaking, always moving, with a seemingly endless supply of energy. Momiji made sure that there was never any silence, or stillness, not if he could help it. It was a reassurance to him, and a nuisance to others, as Kyo was always pointing out.

But in times like this, in the Main House, in his room, Momiji found that his flamboyant personality suddenly…stopped. In the Sohma home, the Pause button was always on, and Momiji was no exception to its suffocating hold. But his hatred for silence was what made Momiji want to break it still, even though his voice was soft, even though his loud movements had ceased. It was this hatred, he knew, that made him nestle the chinrest of his violin between his shoulder and chin, what made him raise his bow solemnly and rest it on the strings.

One, two, three…

And the silence shattered like glass when Momiji played, the strings of his bow and the strings of the violin meeting in a vibrant dance, up and down, up and down, as his fingers rose rhythmically up and down on the thin tapes, changing the sound with the smallest pressure in this spot, or that spot.

Momiji enjoyed playing the violin, he enjoyed it very much, and not just because it broke the silence that hung over the Sohma clan like a think blanket. Like any forms of music, it let the Rabbit express his emotions, his thoughts, in a way that his mouth could never accomplish, no matter how much he talked, or how cheerful he sounded.

When he had met Tohru, for instance, at the Culture Fest, he had come home and played a lively tune. Ever since he had started playing the violin, Momiji liked playing fast, upbeat songs the best, the kind of songs where his fingers moved up and down across the upper part of the strings, while his bow moved wildly from side to side, lifting and holding, and resting for only eighths of a beat. He had expressed his joy that night, his happiness that this one girl could accept him, and Yuki, and Kyo, and Ha'ri, and the whole bloody curse with that adorable smile. He had played out his hope that, one day, the chains that bound them all would rust and weaken, and that the Juunishi would be free to find other pretty girls like Tohru, who would accept them too. So that they could fall in love, and not fear a tragedy if Akito found out. He remembered Kana, too, just as well as Ha'ri.

When he had heard the story of The Most Foolish Traveler In The World, he had come home that night, after visiting Shii-chan's house, and played. His fingers didn't move as wildly, this time. He played a song of…others might laugh if they heard this, but he had called it his "Song of Contemplation". Momiji often named the tunes he came up with, and they were usually based on the mood he felt when he played. Contemplation…to most people who knew him, sober, reflective and deep did not cross their minds when they thought of his face. Well…maybe in Ha'ri and Shii-chan's minds, rarely anything got past them. And maybe Haru; they had certainly spent enough time together for the Ox to know Momiji was not always what he seemed. When Momiji had played that night, he remembered the story, and thought about it. Of the traveler, that foolish traveler, who had given everything he had to those undeserving of it. That mindless traveler, who was reduced to a crying, eyeless head in the end, who died in happiness, all because a monster had given him a piece of paper…and while Momiji played, he had unconsciously replaced the word "Traveler", with "Tohru". The music was soft, and slow, most of the notes played on strings D and G, but Momiji didn't notice. He thought of how lucky, and how innocent Tohru and her "storybook self" (as he began to think of it as) were, and how he wanted to make their trip to the onsen the following day to be one of the best days she'd ever had, because the traveler deserved more than a piece of people marked by the word "Fool".

Momiji remembered coming home after their trip to the beach last summer. He had played loudly then, loud and fast and hard. He had been angry, so very angry. He was angry with Akito, his "God". He was angry because Akito was using Tohru, and that he couldn't do a thing about it. He was angry at Akito, for being just as much of a burden in the Juunishi's lives as the curse was, and he was angry at Kyo and Yuki for not coming to protect their 'precious flower'. But he was angry…so angry…with himself. Because when the moment came, Momiji had proved himself to be just like all the other cursed family members…weak. Just like Ha'ri, and just like Hiro, Momiji had been unable to protect someone he cared about when they needed him. He played very loudly that night, not wanting to break the silence but to destroy it, and all it stood for. Akito…the curse…weakness…he had played long and hard, and didn't stop until his father had come into his room and grabbed his wrist, stopping the bow. And when Momiji's head had turned, his eyes two burning brown fires, ready to scream at his father and at everything in the whole blasted world…he found that he couldn't. Under his father's sad, understanding look (not glare, not stare, just look) Momiji had cried. He had broken down and cried, and his father embraced him even though he had no idea why his normally happy son was crying. He didn't need to know. He just…understood.

Now Momiji was playing again. He was standing in front of the glass, sliding door that he had admitted Tohru through just hours ago, the door that had reflected his happy, crying form when Tohru told him that Momo (his sweet, sweet baby sister) had been watching him from the shadows and wanted him to be her big brother. He stood now, looking out into the black sky, littered with stars and shadows and a bright, full moon, breaking the silence with his violin as he thought about Momo, and Tohru, and remembered different songs and different moments and imagined three people sitting in chairs in front of him, watching him with smiles and warm, loving eyes.

When you wish upon a star…

Makes no difference who you are…

One day, Momiji thought, one day I won't need to break the silence. One day I'll be able to hug my Mama and sister without transforming, and one day I'll find a pretty girl like Tohru to play my music to, and one day the Sohma family will live freely and happily. That day will come soon…I know it will.

And until that day came, Momiji vowed to break the silence, one melody at a time.

Anything your heart desires…

Will come to you…

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Compy: X3 You like? Hate? Could care less? Tell me in a review!