1. Ice
"So, Hari, from what I hear, you've bagged yourself a new intern," Shigure commented, his slightly smiling face steadied by his hand, as Tohru served himself and Hatori tea. Hatori was solemn, as he thanked the young girl, and sipped politely from his cup, his dark green eyes observing Shigure for a trace of a sneer or jibe. He could not, however, find any.
"A new intern? That's great, Hatori-san!" Tohru smiled at Hatori, her brown eyes shining. Shigure nodded, the same amused smile captured his face.
"Yes, yes. And you say she's from the Oki Island, Hari? That's an awfully long way to travel, for such a young, naïve girl, barely out of high school." Shigure grinned impishly, and Hatori raised an eyebrow, knowing Shigure would be at something like that.
"Yes, she's graduated school with among the highest grades in the country," Hatori informed Shigure, as Kyo and Yuki came into the kitchen. It was just after school had ended on the autumn day, and the kids were just home from their walk.
"If she's so smart, then why did she come to work at the Sohma estate?" Kyo asked, an eyebrow rose, as he raided the fridge, only to find that there was nothing of interest.
"Not that there's anything wrong with the Sohma estate," Yuki inputted, with an annoyed glance at the ginger boy.
Hatori shrugged his shoulders slightly, "She was the first to take the offer, and meet the necessary expectations."
"But she's only out of high school, how could she have possibly have a medical degree?" Shigure questioned. This caught the three teenagers' attention, as they listened in closely.
"She has a certified degree." Hatori answered, with unamused eyes. "Apparently, she takes an interest in medicine, and has been training at local clinics for years."
"She must be really clever!" Tohru said in wonder, "I mean, to have achieved that is a big thing!"
"When does she get here?" Yuki asked inquisitively. Hatori checked his watch, and put down his cup.
"In about an hour. With that said, Shigure, I should get going. Thank you, Tohru-san for the tea." Hatori stood up.
"Not at all!" Tohru said, with a meek bow, "I can't wait to meet the new intern!"
"Yes!" Shigure grinned mischievously, "Why don't I accompany you, Hari? After all, it's a lonely drive out to the airport."
"No thank you, Shigure." Hatori declined the offer without a hint of subtlety.
"What is this, Hari?" Shigure feigned hurt, "Am I not good enough for your company?"
"No," Hatori answered patiently, "I wouldn't want to frighten the intern, with your, well, actually, I just don't want her to see myself acquaint with such an idiot."
"I'm sure that's not what you meant at all, Hatori." The old dog winked at him, with a sly grin.
"Shigure, I swear to-
"No, no. Go off and find your young high school intern, while I wither away with nothing but Kyo and Yuki to keep me amused." Shigure waved at Hatori with an air of drama, tears welling up in his eyes, as he tried to fight off a smile.
Hatori sighed, and shook his head, whilst turning away from Shigure and letting the door with a satisfying slam. Getting into his black car, Hatori swiftly pulled out of Shigure's front drive, and headed towards the Kyoto Airport.
As he sat in traffic, Hatori opened the documents he had on his intern. Her name was Leiko Kiyoko, only eighteen years of age. She had lived in Kyoto until she was three, and her father died, thus she had to move to Oki Island, where she lived with her Grandfather. She passed through school with a breeze, aspiring to become a doctor, like her late father.
"A fascinating individual." Hatori read on her school report from senior year, at her high school. She was 'gifted' at science, but also at Art, Music, and English, in which she had a flair for the three.
Hatori pulled into the airport. Leiko Kiyoko. It meant clear arrogance. Hatori hoped prayed even, that his intern wouldn't reflect her name.
He made his way through security, and waited for the flight to land. It would only be a few minutes before he could finally meet Leiko Kiyoko. At the thought of this, Hatori found himself thinking about Kana.
She was beautiful, tender, and sweet. She had lightened up his world, and opened everything up for him. Hatori saw beauty with her. She was kind, loving, but so innocent, and vulnerable. That was why they were caught out, and why they were torn apart.
No.
Hatori shook his head. He couldn't think like that. It was not Kana's fault, nor was Akito's fault. It was his own. His own selfishness that allowed himself to indulge in love. It was his fault he had hurt Kana, and Akito. Hatori had convinced himself, that he was the reason he was broken.
And now, the last he heard of Kana, was that she was marrying. To a man, who could take care of her, the way Hatori couldn't.
"Sorry, but are you Hatori Sohma?"
Hatori found himself back into the world, standing in an airport, waiting for his intern. Not with Kana, to his disappointment.
"Yes. And you are?"
"I'm Leiko Kiyoko, sir. I'm your new intern?" The girl said with a hint of apathy. But Hatori soon realized that he had mistaken that for exhaustion. Leiko was anything but apathetic.
But now, when Hatori thought about it, Leiko was not the first image that popped into his head, when he thought of a genius intern. As a matter of fact, Leiko was the last person Hatori would pick out as 'genius'.
For one thing, Leiko was barely eighteen. Actually, she told him in the car, a little embarrassed, that she was still only seventeen, but had started school early. She was also tall, which made her stand out when Hatori compared her to Tohru, who was a small teenager. Leiko was five foot nine, but nothing compared to Hatori, who still managed to tower over her, at six foot. Leiko was clearly not Japanese, and Hatori soon found out that she was of Irish descent, which explained her bright blue eyes, and auburn hair that was had an almost fluffy texture to it. Her hair hung lowly over her eyes, and didn't reach past her ears, except at the back, where it touched the nape of her neck. Leiko did not dress in a manner that would suggest that she was a doctor. She wore black jeans, an American boot that Hatori identified as Doc. Martens, and green jumper, at least three sizes too big for the girl.
She identified more like a friend of Hatsuharu's or Rin's, and Hatori had to admit to himself, that he was a little discouraged by this pale, red-haired teenager, who had such a serious expression on her face, that Hatori was convinced that she was going to a funeral.
"I see." Hatori answered curtly. "I hope your flight was a safe and comfortable one. If you don't mind, we should get going."
"Yessir." Leiko agreed, scuffing her boot against the floor, hands in pockets. "I've brought nothing with me. I had my belongings sent to my house to save time and hassle."
Hatori nodded, and lead the red head to his car, but didn't start the engine. Beside him, in the passenger seat, Leiko was too transfixed by the surrounding area to have even noticed. Her blue eyes swept across the airport, taking in every little detail. Hatori took a note of this.
"Tell me, Ms. Kiyoko, why did you choose to begin an internship in Kyoto?" Hatori asked, and Leiko tore her eyes away from the airport and looked Hatori in the eye. A trait, he noticed, was uncommon among people he first met.
"Please, I'm Leiko, not Ms. Kiyoto. And the reason I chose to go to Kyoto, was because for one thing, I wanted an internship in medicine, and secondly, I lived in Kyoto for three years, so I was always curious to see what it was like."
Leiko had a voice, which spoke her emotions, unlike Hatori's own. When she reached the topic of her grandfather, Leiko's mouth stretched into a smile, and her voice became warmer.
Hatori started the engine. "I see." He commented, a little skeptic of the girl's abilities. As he drove, he saw that Leiko barely gave him a second glance, and was hypnotized by the scenery of Kyoto. She seemed like a dreamer, and the last time Hatori encountered a dreamer like her, he ended up hurt.
"Leiko, tell me a little about yourself." Hatori requested, once again bringing the girl down to earth. Leiko's head turned to Hatori, her blue eyes scanned him cynically.
"Well, from these files, I can already see you must know a lot about me, sir. But I don't know an awful lot about you, only that you're now my boss. You're a stranger to me." Leiko's mouth turned upwards, and Hatori had the feeling that she was not being insolent, but was genuinely curious.
"Please," Hatori began, "I would appreciate it if you were to call me Hatori."
Leiko nodded. "Okay."
Hatori briefly told Leiko about himself, excluding the Sohma curse, and any other unnecessary information, such as Kana. To sum it up, he had a normal childhood, normal college life, but a big family.
Leiko nodded, with a slight smile. "You're lucky to have a large family, Hatori."
Hatori raised an eyebrow disbelievingly. "And why is that?"
"I would love to have large a family as yours. I'd imagine you'd never get lonely." Leiko commented, still staring out of the window.
"Perhaps." Hatori agreed. They were just over three-quarters of the way to the Sohma Estate. "Would you care to tell me about yourself, now, Leiko?"
"I still don't see why, though." Leiko insisted. "I mean, you already-
"I do, but I would like to know your story through your eyes." Hatori said, and Leiko had no choice but to agree.
"Alright, then. I was born in Kyoto, and lived there with my father for three years, before he passed away, and I had to go to the Oki Islands to live with my Grandfather. I went to school there, and now I'm here." Leiko summarized the main points of her life in a few short sentences, but it didn't satisfy Hatori.
"You have no siblings?" Hatori asked. He had none, but the amount of cousins he had, surely had to count for something.
"No," Leiko answered cheerily, "It was just me and my Dad, and then Grandfather. My Mother left when I was a baby, so, I'm actually not very sure."
Hatori was faintly reminded of Momiji and Tohru at the same time. A half orphan, whose mother didn't want her. Leiko was far more sharp witted than Tohru and Momiji though, who were both innocent, and vulnerable.
Hatori pulled up outside a wooden, western style house, along the same road as Shigure's. In all honesty, he was still debating on whether or not to bring Leiko to meet his family, but decided against it. Leiko gawked at the house in wonder, when he started the car again, she stopped him. Hatori masked his confusion.
"What is it?"
"This, this is my house." Leiko told him in awe. Hatori took in the house. It was wooden, and looked homely, and safe, in fact, it resembled Shigure's house an awful lot. One thing stood out in his mind, though.
"If you don't mind my asking, why is it in the middle of a forest?"
Leiko smiled brightly, "Because my father was an amateur poet, and loved being near a forest. This is my house, from when I was a baby."
"I see." Hatori nodded, and got out of the car, and being the gentlemen that he was, opened the door for his intern. Her pale face lit up by the sight of her house, and Hatori felt that it was a sort of fairytale for the girl. Something, he had once come so close to.
But not close enough.
"I trust that you'll be alright here?" Hatori asked, and Leiko nodded.
"Yes. My houselady, Rukia, has been looking after the house for some time. Thank you, Hatori."
Hatori was slightly taken back, "It's fine."
"But, thank you for accepting my internship, and collecting me from the airport and everything." Leiko smiled, "I really appreciate it."
Hatori nodded curtly. "I shall pick you up tomorrow morning at nine o'clock. Then I shall show you to the Sohma Estate, and you can start work immediately."
"Of course." Leiko nodded, and wished Hatori a good night.
Later on, Shigure rang up Hatori, much to Hatori's dismay. He had just began to start a new chapter of his book, and cursed Shigure when he heard the phone's shrill ring.
"Dr. Sohma's residence."
"Oh Hari, there's no need to be so formal!" Hatori could practically see Shigure with his hands on his hips.
"Hello Shigure."
"So, how's the new intern?" Shigure asked gleefully. Hatori rolled his eyes towards the skies.
"She's fine. A little younger than I imagined, but she seems cut out for the job."
"Oh Hari, you DOG! Chasing after little college girls!" Shigure grinned from the other end of the phone, as Hatori deadpanned.
"No, Shigure, you're the dog, if I remember correctly."
"Oh details, details!" Shigure sang, "So, when is the intern coming round for dinner?"
"….What?"
"Hari, you know, you can't keep a cute little college girl all to yourself. Sharing is caring, after all. So how about tomorrow night, I know Tohru would love to cook something up!" Shigure offered, dancing around the hall, much to Kyo and Yuki's annoyance.
"Shigure, I'm hanging up now." Hatori replied, as Shigure began to yelp down the phone.
"~MAKE SURE TO ASK HER TO DINNER, HARI!~"
Hatori then heard the sound of Yuki and Kyo's voices, as they snatched the phone off of Shigure, who began to weep and whimper. Hatori hung up, and continued to his reading. A few hours later, he had fallen asleep on his couch, and awoke with a jump, as the painful memory of Kana crossed his mind, back and forth.
Slowly, he pulled himself upright, and shook his head. Kana had been infesting his dreams the past few weeks, as he opened a position for an intern. The dreams were so real, the memories so vivid. He was re-living his time with Kana.
Hatori moved his way to his desk, where the picture of his love was placed. He was once, cold like the snow, and he had been melted once again, by Kana's spring. Now, the winter had come, and only this time, he had frozen. To ice.
Because, there are never any footprints on ice.
