Mina doesn't go to the Underground the following night. Not by choice, but because by the time she's dressed and ready, Kaito has already left without her. And so she must wait until the following weekend, and behave herself, and take extra care to appease him, all with hopes that all will be forgotten and he'll allow her to come again.
—
They're gathered around the Hiroshi dinner table the following Friday, ringing in the weekend, with Mina seated next to Kaito. Across the table, Sana's mind seems elsewhere, her soft eyes cast down on her plate, the outside conversation seemingly drifting in one ear and out of the other. Mina keeps a silent eye on her, curious about the girl's midnight escapades, (because how has no one else noticed Sana's window is always unlocked? The rose bushes outside her bedroom always trampled down?) but it's a silent knowing—one they don't speak on.
(On Wednesday they'd gone to a charity auction, Mina laced on Kaito's arm, Sana wandering quietly behind them. They'd stopped in front of a painting of cupid, with soft flower-petal-pink cheeks, and Mina had commented how much it reminded her of Sana, pretending she didn't notice how Sana silently glowed at the compliment, how the shorter girl snapped a photo of the painting and sent it off to someone, an unsaved number in her phone that Mina couldn't get a closer look at.)
(Mina notices things. More than they think she does.)
"The Hirais are back from Japan," Kaito's mother speaks as if she's suddenly remembered, her voice always grating, always an air of gossip in her words. Mina's always harbored a distaste for the older woman, who once chided her for wearing too much lipstick. Who, upon meeting Mina's mother, had puffed out her chest like a rooster and boasted about her house, naming the prices of her most expensive possessions. Mina's never understood the rivalry between women—a string of small jabs, more silent and sharp than the clumsy, childish competition of men.
Mina cards through the list of family friends in her head but comes up empty, so she looks to Kaito, who's pressed the prongs of his fork hard into his steak, nodding solemnly.
"We ran into her." He swallows.
"Hm. How is she?"
"Just as brash as always."
Mina reaches over and places a hand on Kaito's thigh, like a soft warning, hearing the way his voice edges on something cruel. The way Kaito looks at her only confirms who they're speaking about.
Hirai Momo. Mina speaks her name a few times in her head, trying it on for size.
"I should have figured as much." Kaito's mother nods softly. "She was always quite odd. Even as a child."
"I mean, you can't really blame her." Sana. Mina looks to her, confused, but Sana doesn't notice. Kaito's mother does, though.
"Hirai Motorsports." His mother meets her eyes, saying this as if it will clear any of her confusion. Mina squints, slightly, still trying to piece it together.
"Her father's company?" Is all she can think to ask. Beside her, Kaito scoffs, as if she's said something stupid. She shrinks slightly back into her seat, hurt.
"No, hers."
Her company?
"Oh." Mina nods once. And though her face shows none of it, she's shocked. Momo doesn't exactly hold herself like a businesswoman.
"It's a curious affair," his mother speaks again, and for once, Mina's glad she's a gossip—glad she's answering all the questions Mina would never dare to ask herself. "Her parents disappeared when she was young."
YOU ARE READING
fools rush in (where angels fear to tread) - mimo ( mina + momo )
Fanfiction"Stay away from her," is all he says, and then mutters a slur under his breath that Mina's never heard before but she can very well decipher what it means. And maybe if she hadn't known Momo beforehand, the venom with which he speaks it would have s...
