The Stars Guide Us; They do not Bind Us - TodoMomo

||Chapter 4||

"It's for a client," the intruder says.

Momo looks up from her book at the sound of his voice. It's deep and husky, pleasing to listen to. "What is?"

"What I'm searching for. My client asked me to look up a cure for a curse he got during the war."

Momo nods. Then she tilts her head to the side to study him. "But why here? Surely there are safer places to search in than sneaking into the king's castle."

He hesitates for a moment. "I've been told this is the best library in all of the country. The old king supposedly liked to collect information on countering dark magic."

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Momo stares out her bedroom window at the snow now covering the palace grounds.

It's lonely and cold in her cousin's castle with nothing to do besides watch the days slip by.

Sometimes Momo has to wonder if it's her destiny to decay away in her cousin's palace.

XXXXXX

"Will you tell me what it's like outside?"

The dark intruder's fingers still. "What do you mean?"

Momo looks down. "I don't get news about the outside world. I'd like to know what is happening."

"Why don't you ask one of your handmaids? They'd tell you."

"I can't." Momo's lips twist. "They're all assigned by my cousin. And Shigaraki changes most of them every few weeks."

The intruder seems to consider this. "Don't you have any friends?"

Momo shakes her head. "There is a guard who is kind to me. Sir Iida. But we don't speak much. He's the reason I'm able to sneak in here at night. If he spots me I'll get a scolding but he doesn't tell Shigaraki."

The intruder studies her. "What about your parents? They don't bring you outside?"

Momo looks down at the page open in front of her. "My parents died a few years ago. The insurgents supposedly attacked their carriage on the way home from the capital."

The dark intruder is silent for a few moments.

"I'm sorry," he says.

Momo drags in a shaky breath. "It's okay. It was a long time ago."

XXXXXX

Snow drifts down slowly outside the library window.

Momo's eyebrows rise in surprise. "Socks?"

The intruder shifts. "Your feet are cold, aren't they?"

Momo blinks and curls her toes against the stone floor. She has gotten used to wandering the castle barefoot. Her wardrobe is in the room next to the maid Shigaraki has assigned her. There is no way for her to sneak out any garments without Toga Himiko knowing.

The intruder must take her silence as objection. "If you don't want them I'll take them back."

"No," Momo says quickly, shaking her head and reaching for the woolen pair of socks in his hand. "Thank you. You're-you're very considerate."

He shrugs and looks away. "It's winter and you're barefoot. If you're worried about your handmaids finding them, I can bring them with me when I visit."

Momo fingers the pair of socks. They're nicely made. Thick wool of high quality. She looks up and gives him a small smile. "I'd like that. Thank you."

The back of her neck feels warm.