Outside, even in the evening, the weather is hot and sticky. Inside ... once Momo and Dog are in the front door, air conditioning tunes the heat down to a bearable hot, and the humidity down to ohthankgodifthereisone. The staff eye Momo and company warily, but the teenager is not by any means the weirdest guest that the top floor has had, and their call up confirms that she has the okay to use the elevator.
In the hall at the top, there's a door -- not the one she was expecting -- with a sign that reads 'Please Use This Door.'
There's also a certain amount of dust tracked through the hall from the door she was expecting. For some reason.
The door with the sign is unlocked. Kazuo did not quite have time to make it there to greet her, but he's close to it, giving her a nod before she's more than a couple of steps inside.
Momo's taken most of it in stride. The unfamiliar door she gives a blink to, however, and another as it opens freely. As she steps in and replaces shoes for slippers, she beams at Kunzite as he enters.
And she is very pleased that her heart doesn't flutter insanely!
"Oh yay! You'll be glad to know, Kunzi-nii, that my crush on you is almost gone!" She says this, of course, as though he's fully privy to her girlish emotions.
Dog trots toward Kunzite, acting very much like a dog as he sits on his haunches, sniffs a hand, and paws at the air.
Beslippered, Momo walks forward, still happy with her discovery! "I know it's probably been awkward with you. But know I'm okay now! And I've heard Mamo-nii's feeling much better now, too! I'm so glad." She fidgets, looking somewhat ashamed. "I hope it wasn't obvious I was afraid of him when he was sick?"
... her crush on what. Kunzite refrains from glancing over his shoulder to make sure none of the others heard. He wouldn't necessarily be able to tell if Zoisite had, anyhow.
Dog gets a hand to sniff, duly. "It's good to see you both again," he says to Momo. "I understand you were working when I stopped by. Congratulations on the job." His other hand is extended toward the girl. Presumably he doesn't expect her to sniff it. "And given the unfortunate events around that visit, I don't think anyone took your behavior amiss. Would you like something to drink?"
Momo perks up, happy that her crush on Kunzite wasn't causing a rift! (Dog, of course, wags his tail as he sniffs it and gives Kunzite Fingers a delicate lick.) "Thanks! I'm loving the job! The CrankyLady likes how I match outfits and everything!" She assumes Kunzite's hand is meant for a Shake And Pull In For Hug. So she does!
She hums in thought. "Well, soda seems to be a thing! I've tried it at Hannah-chan's office, the bubbles tickle my nose! It's okay if you don't have any, though, I'll take whatever is available!"
Momo shifts a little. "I just...I mean, being sick isn't someone's fault, right? It's just I went with DamnPapa on so many visits to people, and I just..."
Momo looks up at Kunzite with large, watering eyes. "Mamo-nii doesn't think I hate him, does he? And neither of you think I'm a bad person?" Momo takes a deep breath. "It's okay if you do I can take it and such!"
She's picked an excellent time for that assumption. Kunzite's internal reaction might still be what is this hug thing, but there are other influences on his behavior right now; he puts an arm briefly half around Momo's shoulders in something resembling a primitive hug. Since that's pretty well matched to Kyouko's efforts in that regard, it's probably not too far out of Momo's expectations.
"I think we can manage soda." Since someone went and more or less filled the fridge with pineapple flavor a few days ago. Who precisely did that and who they thought they were pranking, Kunzite hasn't yet figured out, but in the mean time, well. It has bubbles. Good enough. And Momo's a Sakura; the entire awkwardness about preferences in food can be skipped.
The held hand is used to gently steer Momo (and likely therefore Dog in her train) further into the apartment. "He doesn't think you hate him, and neither of us thinks you're a bad person," Kunzite confirms. (He has dealt with people both Momo's ages before, and some things don't change from era to era.) "You were overwhelmed. Under the circumstances, that was understandable. You proved that you could come back when you needed to. And since then, you've been busy. With the Wraiths, with your job, with helping your sister. Mamoru will be pleased to find out that you had time to come by at all."
Momo almost melts against Kunzite in relief. "Phew! I'd really hate to think either of you thought I was bad! Especially since Kyou-nee is so important to you both!" She then looks up at Kunzite, her eyes eager. "And thank you for that! For being there for her when I couldn't! Kyou-nee is the bestest ever! I'm so happy she has you for a nii-san, even if part of it was during then, because it's still there for you now!"
Momo huffs and throws up her arms, and Dog barks his agreement at her distress. "I mean, I know it's not just because of then that you...I mean, he even... I mean...AUGH! THANK YOU FOR NOT LEAVING KYOU-NEE ALONE OKAY!!!"
Flailing teenager. Tween. ... girl. WHATEVER. "Sit down for a moment," Kunzite suggests, "and I'll get you that soda."
The furnishings from the living room Momo is accustomed to have been moved into this room; the traces of blood from the girls leaning on the back of the couch at an inopportune moment are pretty much gone, the balcony door is actual glass instead of cardboard and tape, and there is no patch of carpet missing because Fiore did not bleed copiously in this room.
(The reconstruction in progress will not involve carpet, for some reason.)
It doesn't take more than a minute or two for the older boy to return with, as promised, pineapple soda. And as not promised, a plate of Makoto-origin baked goods, largely cookies and muffins. The real reason people visit more than once, clearly.
"Your sister's been explaining things to you, I take it," he says once Momo has sufficient sugar to distract her. Some people worry about kids going hyperactive on sugar. And then there are the kids for whom it works in reverse.
Momo does, of course, feel the opposite distract her.
She takes the glass in hand, carbonation and whatnot, and takes measured sips here and there.
She sits at the requisite stops, measuring out the requisite time here and there.
She sighs and studies her glass for a long moment. "Kunzi-nii."
Momo scoots forward a bit, as though that was enough to indicate a professional Momo. Which, to be fair, in her eyes it was. "Kyou-nee has told me a little. Not everything, but a little." She looks up at Kunzite, All Business as far as eyes went. "May I assume that in whatever agreement was reached, there's an actual bed involved for me?"
Kunzite seats himself across from the thirteenine-year-old, perfectly grave in return. "That's a question you'd have to ask your sister. I wouldn't dream of trying to guarantee her decisions." He pauses for a moment before adding the obvious: "But I would be very surprised if there weren't an actual bed involved for you."
And might possibly go so far as to find out the new address and remedy the situation directly. He's seen the sisters' current apartment.
Momo practically dances in place around her soda. "Really?! An honest to goodness possible bed?! For me?!" More dancing in place follows! But then she clears her throat and tries to act natural. "Now, I know this comes from Kyou-nee's amazing ability at sisterhood. But knowing my Nee-chan, I believe both of us would be more comfortable if at least one of us took on a somewhat accountant place in things." Momo pulls out a printout of paperwork she's gathered. "This, of course, isn't exactly official. But it indicates what I've had access to,m and where that funding is going""
"A somewhat accountant place in things." Must not look at the paper. Do not check the paper to see if it is written in crayon. Kazuo manages not to let it look like it's an effort to keep a straight face, but the task is more difficult than usual. "What precisely do you understand the arrangement with her to be?"
She droops at his unwillingness to look at what she's written. So what if it's in crayon?! "Only what Kyou-nee's told me. She has access to Mamo-nii's finances, but doesn't want to take advantage." She puffs out her chest despite the deflation. "Us Sakuras are proud, you know."
She looks up at Kunzite with impossibly large eyes. "I just want to know, I guess...can we get me a bed without taking advantage of Mamo-nii?"
"I don't believe that getting you a bed is taking advantage of Mamoru." That's said, straightforward, without the need to look at the paper. Nor indeed to look around at the apartment, this room of which is probably larger than the Sakuras' entire combined living space. And it's not even the only apartment.
Kunzite considers Momo for a moment before going on. "I understand that you keep the apartment clean." So clean that it makes Kyouko flail. "That's not something your sister asked you to do, or at least she didn't ask you to do it as thoroughly and as well as you do. That's something you do for your own reasons. Because she's your sister; because you're glad to be with her; because it's a way you can contribute to the household. Is your sister taking advantage of you by accepting your efforts?"
Momo snorts and waves a hand. "Of course Kyou-nee isn't taking advanatage. And who's to say I'm not doing it because it makes her all squirmy? I am the youngest, you know. It's my job to make her flail."
Momo sighs and looks at the crayon-scribbled print out. "But see? That's the thing. I only have this one tip, but I see so many places where he can invest." Her large eyes are steady and unmoving on Kunzite.
"I keep the apartment clean because it's what I know. Because Kyou-nee works a lot more than I do. It's not about money then, it's about fair keep." Momo looks at the printouts. "But this? Even if I was taking into account fair game, even if I took into account the fact that I could probably bookkeep circles around whoever Mamo-nii has as an accountant right now." She looks up at Kunzite, eyes still all large. "As much as I'd love a bed, Sakuras are a prideful lot."
... the eight-year-old mind as a bookkeeper. With crayon. Momo can see the start of that expression, the one she's probably been braced for the entire time, the one where the older person shuts down and locks against everything because there's no possible way she could have an idea what she's talking about...
Except.
"And she always took care of me! She always made sure I had-- She always took care of me, and now I get to--"
"Your Wish," Kunzite says slowly. "You wished to be able to take care of her."
His eyes flicker over to the paper after all.
Momo shrugs and nods, her eyes watery even as she wipes them clean.
Some more sniffles. But she's not crying, honest!
"She thinks she's why my life sucked. Or the end. But...she was the best part!"
And of course, she is not crying, not even as she hides her face in his shoulder or nothing! "She's still takin care of me! I'm helpin nuthin, really! Still!"
What is it with small humans and all this contact -- oh. Oh right. He remembers that occasionally, at least the being-latched-on-to part. So she's not shrugged off, and after a moment there's a hand resting on the top of her head.
"Of course she's still taking care of you," Kunzite says. "At the same time that you're trying to take care of her. Families do that. And when they're working right, it works out."
He's silent for a moment. Then, without saying a word, reaches to take the printout from Momo. Part to keep it from being wept on. Part to take a look at it himself.
It takes Momo a moment or twelve of shuddering breathing before she's able to pull away, wiping her eyes and feeling very much eight years old. Her only saving grace is she can sniffle pathetically while not looking at Kunzite. Or even facing him. "If Mamo-nii took the portion of the yen he'd set aside on Kyou-nee's behalf, he'd probably find the Tamagachi stock rather lucrative at the moment. Americans enjoy their nostalgia."
There's quiet for another few seconds, as he studies the paper. Crayon and all. He offers it back to her, but no telling whether she's looking in the right direction to see it. "I'll talk with him about it," he says. Who made that thing? He has no idea; it almost disturbs him more rather than less that a vague half-memory surfaces of some of Kazuo's classmates having theirs confiscated, when he was very small.
... if he remembers it at all, it must have happened dozens on dozens of times.
He should probably research to make sure it's not made by an Eclipse subsidiary first, though.
Momo nods as she steps back, hugging the printout to her chest and wiping at soggy eyes. She's not crying. She'll kill your face off if you accuse her of it directly.
Still, after she wipes her eyes and looks up at Kunzite, even if they're still a touch red, she continues. "It's only a guess, though. But if the stock goes up a measely three percent like I think it would, it'd bring in some nice yen. I can't guess about any of the stocks and bonds he's put into, because I don't have access to that information. Not that I'm fishing for it! That'd be rude! I'm not rude!" A beat and a pause. "Did you say something about cookies?"
She, of course, only brings this up to change the subject. Not to be rude. Of course.
Technically, Kunzite didn't say anything about cookies. He merely makes a wordless gesture toward the table, and the plate of Makoto-baked goodies that has been resting there, patiently awaiting its doom.
He's going to need to have a long talk with Nephrite.
A longer talk, given the amount of time it's probably going to take Nephrite to stop laughing.
She makes a little noise that sounds similar to 'yay!' as she prances toward the table. Soon a cookie is in hand, and chocolate chip is on her cheeks, and she's beaming at Kunzite as she eats. Yummy!
She'll also probably need to have a long talk with Nephrite.
So long as a long talk means hugs, because omg Nephrite is a giant teddy bear! ALL THE HUGS FOR NEPHRITE!
She swallows and makes a happy sound before looking back at Kunzite with large eyes. "Since I'm here, you need cleaning of things? I'm good at that!"
... Nephrite may wind up wearing a Sakura backpack for a day. At least the laughter will get to be spread around.
"We have rules about that," Kunzite says. "The people who make the messes clean them up."
(Usually.)
"It keeps us reminded of where we are, and what we're meant to be doing." And that the important part of the things they need to clean up in other respect is that they keep trying to make progress. It is, after all, literally impossible to undo some of the things they've done; but giving up in despair would be worse. It gives them something to squabble over, practicing having disagreements that don't matter, that can be resolved without lethal grudges or fatal suspicions. And it keeps hired labor out of the apartment, reinforces the idea that Mamoru wants them to be there, against the chance that any of them might forget it.
Washing-up as therapy.
He pushes that back, forces a note of amusement; if Momo knew him better she'd be suspicious just of being able to hear it, but she's only met him a handful of times. "If you ever make a mess in here yourself, though, you'll be welcome to clean that up."
Momo droops a little. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense."
She perks up, just a little, at the prospect of cleaning up her own mess, though. "I suppose that's fair."
She dissapears, just for a moment, before coming back with a vaccum cleaner she found in a closet. And a vaccuum cleaner bag. "You'd think, though, that there'd be one of those whirlwind vaccuums around."
She replaces the nearly full bag with the empty one, and the look she gives Kunzite is borderline giddy and maniacal.
Before he can blink, she holds it out and throws it in the air. "PULL!"
KAPOOF!
The beam of light just...came out of no where. "Oh dear my, look at the mess I made."
She's nearly crazed now as she turns on the vaccuum.