A/N: Merry Christmas you guys!!!!!!!!!! While this doesn't have a Christmas theme, I'm posting it on Christmas morning so it counts! XD Anyway, this fic was inspired by the snow that fell outside my window a few weeks ago, and a cup of hot chocolate made by HPontopoftheworld. Thanks for the inspiration! Please review! :-D
Coldly Joyous
Hatori sighed, removing his glasses and laying them on top of the charts strewn across his desk. He rubbed his eyes, trying to clear the fog that invaded his mind. He needed sleep, but that had been a little hard to come by with his profession. Especially now that it was winter and Akito needed more care.
Needing a break, Hatori went to the screen that led to his porch and threw it open. The cold winter wind rushed through his office, blowing the papers around the room. The flurry of white matched the snow that gently fell outside the safety of the porch. He watched the white flakes, mesmerized as he always was by the way they floated down to rest on top of the snow that lay untouched, a landscape of small mountains over dead grass. There were good a good few inches already and more to come later. This was the kind of weather he loved.
Throwing caution to the winds, Hatori walked onto the parch and jumped the two feet into the snow. Old moisture immediately began to soak through his socks. Hatori wiggled his toes, reveling in how alive the cold made him feel. The best he had felt for a long time. He walked for a few feet and lay down on his back in the snow. Again the moisture began to soak through his clothes, soon sending shivers throughout his body. It was frigid but he didn't care. How he loved the snow. Maybe it was the feeling of recklessness, of discarding all rational thought. Maybe it was the silence, stretching around him on all sides like a great white abyss.
He ignored the sounds coming from the surrounding homes and focused on the steady beat of his own heart and the snowflakes slowly melting on his face. He threw aside thoughts of frostbite and hypothermia, simply letting himself drift along. Holding onto nothing, searching for nothing, he continued to float until blackness settled over him like a smothering shroud.
*~*~*~*
Warmth. Pain. Confusion. These were the first things Hatori felt when he woke. Warmth because someone had brought him inside. He lay on his futon, wrapped in what felt like all the blankets he owned. Pain because the warmth was returning to his previously numb limbs and it felt as though they were being consumed from the inside by an open flame. Confusion because he was lying, warm and dry, in his own bed with no memory of coming in and yet there was no one in the room. Hatori stayed there for a few minutes, not wanting to move for fear that it would make the fire under his skin burn brighter. Presently, he heard footsteps progressing down the hall toward his door, which stood ajar.
"Hey, you're awake," Shigure said from the open doorway. Hatori started slightly and looked up at him. Shigure had that look on his face, the one that asked, Why did you do that? and said I know what you were thinking;at the same time. Hatori looked away and busied himself with sitting up. Only then did he notice that someone (Shigure) had changed his clothes and he now wore his sleeping yukata.
Shigure handed him one of the mugs he had brought in, cradling the other between his hands. Hatori took the mug and sipped cautiously, shuddering as the hot liquid ran down his throat. Hot chocolate.
"I'm surprised you had hot chocolate," Shigure said, a smirk playing around his lips, "Do you have candy stashed somewhere too?" Hatori glared at him.
"Momiji gave it to me," he replied, drinking more of the hot liquid. It was actually very good but he wouldn't admit it, of course. A long silence followed as the two friends drank, each lost in their own thoughts. Hatori knew Shigure was watching him, but he ignored the worried gaze in favor of watching the snow outside the window. Those crystal flakes were still falling, drifting, gliding on the wind...
"Hatori?"
"Hm?" His eyes did not turn from the window.
"You're not thinking of going out there again, are you?" Shigure didn't add, because I'm prepared to stop you.
"No," the other replied after a minute, "Not today."
"Not today?!" Shigure cried incredulously, "You nearly froze to death and you're planning to do it again tomorrow?!" Hatori shrugged.
"I like the snow. It's calming."
"That doesn't mean you should go lie in it for hours," Shigure was scolding him now, when it was usually the other way around. Hatori just shrugged again. He felt it best to keep quiet and let Shigure lecture him. Maybe he deserved it.
"I'm worried about you," he said in a softer tone, "Please... just don't scare me like that again." Hatori nodded
"I'm sorry." Shigure smiled at that.
"Cheer up, Haa-san," he said, "The snow will still be there tomorrow."
"I thought you weren't letting me near it," Hatori raised an eyebrow.
"Everything in moderation."
"Thanks." A wry smile followed.
They finished the hot chocolate and Shigure made more. Familiar banter was exchanged. It was almost a normal day and tomorrow Hatori would, again, watch the snow.