In an instant, a thousand mountains crushed Momiji's heart and a thousand waterfalls put out every spark of hope she had ever had. She could feel her face crumple as the tears she barely held in check let loose, shining trails that traced their way down her cheeks. Turning away from Kusanagi, she ran inside her apartment and buried her face in her hands, hoping she was far enough away from Kusanagi not to make a total idiot of herself. Apparently she wasn't far enough away because she soon felt his presence hovering behind her back. Spinning around, she saw him standing helplessly behind her, hands reaching out to her with such a look of pain in his eyes that Momiji suddenly knew. She knew that he was lying to her. Leaping at him Momiji began to hit his broad muscular chest with her fists, not girlie anger hits but real punches, pummeling him over and over again. Grunting in pain, Kusanagi finally was able to get ahold of her wrists and stop her flailing only to have her suddenly go limp against him, sobbing uncontrollably and whispering something over and over.

Leaning down towards her face, he tried to make out what she was saying and it suddenly hit him. "You are lying, you are lying…" she echoed over and over.

"What are you saying, Momiji??" Kusanagi asked. Straightening up, she pulled herself away from his grip and stood proudly before him with her chin set, defiance and anger flashing in her bright emerald eyes as all trace of crying ceased. God, she is so beautiful, he thought wistfully to himself.

"I said you are lying. You - god - damn - coward!" Momiji spat at him. "I know you are lying to me Kusanagi! I can see it in your eyes. Why?? What are you so afraid of that you are willing to risk any chance of an us?"

Kusanagi was taken back by the anger in her voice "Momiji, I-"

"No, Kusanagi! No more excuses! No more lies! Tell me the truth, I deserve that much at least. That is, if you are not too chicken-shit to do it." She taunted.

Kusanagi felt the anger and frustration of the last five years rising in him like a wave, cresting and breaking over him repeatedly until all he could see was red. Momiji saw the turmoil inside him and smiled smugly. If she pissed him off enough, maybe she would get to the bottom of this whole thing. She didn't count on the reaction she got though, as an angry Kusanagi lashed out at her like a caged tiger.

"You want to know the truth Momiji?!?! Do you want to know the truth???" he cried out wildly, shaking her by the upper arms until her teeth rattled. "I can't stand to be seperated from you! I can't stand the thought of another five years away from you-hell, I can't stand the thought of another five days away from you!! I love you so much it hurts!" With an anguished cry, Kusanagi shoved her away from him and buried his face in his hands, shoulders shuddering as he tried to regain control of himself.

"But…but I don't understand, Kusanagi!" Momiji reached towards him, confusion etched on every plane of her face. "Why are you pushing me away like this? Why are you lying to me???"

Kusanagi raised his face and turned to look at her. "Because I realized you were right. Oh, I know, you broke up with me 'to give me freedom' and all. But I know the real reason, and I can't blame you for it. All a girl wants is to be able to date a guy in the same genus or species as her at least, right?" He laughed bitterly at his own sarcastic remark. "A beautiful girl - no, woman! - like you should not be wasting her time with a walking freakshow like me. I'm NOT EVEN HUMAN, for crissake Momiji! I know you think you love me, but you're wrong! You're wrong! You have to be wrong…" he repeated as his voice hitched on a sob.

"Freakshow? Species? What in the hell are you talking about, you silly idiot! That is not the reason I broke up with you at all, not in a million years!!!" Momiji cried out, and Kusanagi raised confused eyes to meet her own. "I broke up with you because I really did think that you needed freedom!!! Your entire life, all you had ever known was to watch the Kushinada! You were brainwashed with it from the very beginning! How was I to know that you actually loved me and weren't just following orders! I thought that…I thought that you were just humoring a silly teenage girls fantasy because that's what you were programmed to do. I swear on everything Kusanagi, that is the reason why I broke up with you!"

"But - but- " Kusanagi sputtered as Momiji approached him, trying to hug him again. "NO!" he cried, shoving her away again and turning his back on her "You just don't get it, do you Momiji?? You deserve better than this! I am not someone you just take home to meet the family, get married to and have a few kids with!" Momiji saw his back writhe and twitch as his armor and blades suddenly burst through his clothing. Spinning around to face her, his face contorted into a cold smile as his six visible mitamas winked in the pale light. "This is not boyfriend material, Momiji!!!!" Kusanagi yelled.

As he stood there with his chest heaving and a wild look in his eyes, Momiji knew what she had to do. Walking slowly, she began to circle him like a shark as he eyed her warily. Stopping behind his back, Momiji raised herself up on tiptoe and whispered in his ear. "I love you, Mamoru Kusanagi…Grass-cutter. Son of Orochi. Protector of the Kushinada. Keeper of my heart…" Momiji began planting kisses along the hard ridges of armor that protruded from his shoulders. "I love this…and this…and this…" She circled around to the front of him as he watched her with a desperate look in his eyes.

"Momiji…" he choked out. She stood on tiptoe again and kissed each of the mitamas on his chest. "I love these," she whispered. Taking his hands in hers, she lifted each to her lips and kissed the sharp blades that extended from his forearms, as well as the mitamas set into the back of his hands. " I love these ones too." Finally, she lifted her face to his and brushed her lips lightly across each of his eyebrows and once for each eye. Making a small sound of defeat in his throat, Kusanagi crushed Momiji to his chest like a drowning man. " I love you…all of you, Kusanagi." Momiji said, and was rewarded by a sudden rush of warmth in his eyes. "Let's face it…I'm not exactly your average girl either."

Turning her face upwards, Momiji touched her lips to Kusanagi's, feathering tiny kisses along the edges of his mouth the way she had been dying to do since the day she first saw him but had only gained the courage for in these past five years. Groaning softly, Kusanagi gave into the inexorable force that was Momiji and deepened the kiss, slanting his mouth across hers urgently. His tongue lightly touched her soft lips until they parted, giving him full acess to the sweetness contained within. Unable to control himself any longer, Kusanagi fed at Momiji’s mouth like a starving man, almost gasping in pleasure when he felt her tongue shyly meet his own. Soon she gathered her courage and the kiss intensified, both of their worlds spiraling down into this one shining moment they had waited so long for. Tongue met tongue over and over again in an attempt to make up for the past five years,until they finally broke apart, panting and gasping for air.

"Momiji…" Kusanagi whispered, his eyes wide with wonderment as he stared softly down at her. "Momiji…you are the only person who has ever made me feel this way. You are the only person who makes me forget that I am not human. For that, I will always love you."

"Just promise me you won't run away again." Momiji laughed up at him and was rewarded by another crushing hug to his chest. "Never!" he replied fiercely. Momiji, pressed against his chest, felt the slight tremor run through his body as the armor and blades retracted. Stepping back, she ran an approving eye over her half-naked Arigami, all toned muscles underneath bronzed skin. "It seems you lost your shirt, Mr. Kusanagi." She winked at him with a sly grin. "Maybe it is time to see what other articles of clothing you can lose as easily."

A dumb-struck Kusanagi stared wide-eyed at Momiji, shocked by her mature audacity, but soon his mouth curved into a wicked smile as his eyes lazily swept over her body. Scooping her up into his arms, Kusanagi headed towards her bedroom. "I think," he growled playfully, "that it is time for you to lose a few articles of clothing."

Kusanagi was rewarded with a light love-tap slap to the cheek and another mischevious, satisfied grin from Momiji. "Kusanagi…you pervert!"

FINI