So, you know how sometimes, the really good Christmas presents get to you a few days late? That's kind of the case here. I originally planned to have this up back in October, but I never was able to sit down and write it. Then I wanted to have it up by Christmas, but for whatever reason, I just didn't get it done.

I wanted to make this chapter really special, because it's kind of a landmark for me. I've never had a story make it past nine chapters. XP Plus ten is my lucky number and all. I'm not sure if I succeeded, but I guess you'll be the judge of that.

Thank you to ., Moda, for kicking my butt once again. XD And thank you everyone for your reviews! On that note, please send me more. lol

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Happy Kwanzaa, Merry Festivus, and Happy New Year!

-Camie

P.S. I already have chapter eleven in the works. It's about half way done! XD

The Art of Teaching

Chapter 10

"Kids! Breakfast is ready!" Kumiko called up the stairs. She stepped back into the dining room, humming to herself happily. Things were finally settling down and Kumiko was getting used to living with the Sohmas. It almost seemed normal.

Almost.

Tohru entered first, followed closely by Kyo. The younger girl raced up to Kumiko with worried eyes.

"Are you sure you want to make breakfast so often?" she asked. "I feel bad for pushing my responsibilities on you." The pianist smiled and put a hand on Tohru's head.

"I told you, it's fine. I have to earn my keep around here, too. Besides, I really don't mind, especially on days when I don't have class."

Tohru smiled back at her. "Okay." Yuki stumbled into the room and dropped to a place at the table.

"Good morning all!" Shigure called, dancing over to Kumiko and resting his elbow on her shoulder.

"Morning," she replied, ignoring the physical contact. "Okay, you guys better hurry and eat or you'll be late for school."

"Oh, Kumiko, you're so cute when you're acting motherly," the novelist fawned as they sat down.

"Disgusting," Yuki murmured groggily.

"What? You don't think she's cute Yuki?" he asked innocently. The teen frowned and ignored him. "What about you, Kyo?"

"Here we go," Kumiko sighed. The red-head's face darkened.

"What are you trying to pull?!" he yelled through a mouthful of rice.

"Ugh, such atrocious manners!" Shigure exclaimed, putting the back of his hand to his forehead dramatically.

"You're one to talk, making all of your perverted comments!" the boy thundered.

"Boys! Stop arguing," Kumiko reprimanded shooting a pointed glance at Shigure, whose eyes grew wide and apologetic.

"Yes dear," he conceded with a small grin. Kyo growled angrily at him and the man snickered.

The rest of the meal went on with Kyo fuming to himself and scattered conversation between the others. When they left for school, Kumiko cleared the table.

"Kumiko? Would you mind playing a bit on the piano?" Shigure asked suddenly when she had finished. He motioned to the full-sized keyboard that they had moved out of Yuki's room.

"Um, sure. But why all of a sudden?" she wondered as she sat down.

"It helps me think is all."

"Any requests?" she inquired, flipping idly through a music book.

"Hm…Something happy," he decided, smiling.

"I could do that," she agreed with a grin. "Let's see…" she said, mentally going through songs she knew by heart.

When she had decided, she laid her fingers on the keys and began to play a quick, bouncy melody. Shigure closed his eyes and waved his pencil around as if he were conducting an orchestra. He clapped when she had finished and she gave a playful bow.

"That was lovely," he praised. "What was it?"

"Just a little minuet," she answered.

"How enchanting!" a voice from behind her cried. Kumiko shrieked and fell off of the bench in surprise. She looked up to see Ayame chuckling and Hatori standing behind him pinching the bridge of his nose in an emotion that Kumiko wasn't sure was embarrassment or annoyance.

"Pardon the intrusion, lovely Miko," Ayame said as she stared up at him, still recovering from her scare.

"No problem," she replied as he skipped into the room to sit next to Shigure. Hatori offered her his hand. Surprised, she took it and got to her feet.

"Did you hurt yourself?" he asked.

"No, I'm fine. Just startled."

"I am very sorry about that. It's just that I heard the piano and I've wanted to hear you play for so long, I just couldn't help myself!" Ayame explained. "Now if only I could hear that beautiful voice that everyone's been talking about!"

"Let it be, Ayame," Hatori warned.

"You're no fun, Ha'ri," the white-haired man pouted.

"I wasn't expecting you. What prompted this visit?" Shigure interjected, masterfully distracting his cousin.

"I was bored, to be quite honest! So I went to Ha'ri's to see if he could give me a ride here. What with it being so cold I couldn't walk or I'd risk transforming in public. Luckily, I only had to ask Ha'ri a few times before he agreed to take me. Personally, I think he has some ulterior motive." Ayame finished with a suspicious look at Hatori and Kumiko. The doctor glared at him. "Oh dear, it seems I was right! Hahaha!"

Kumiko had stopped listening long ago, distracted by something mentioned before.

"Transformed?" she questioned suddenly.

"Hm? Oh, yes! I had nearly forgotten," the most dramatic cousin said, getting to his feet and coming to kneel by the girl, "I also wanted to come and officially greet Kumiko as a member of the Zodiac." He caught her chin in his delicate hand and looked deeply into her eyes. Kumiko felt herself turn red.

"No you didn't," Hatori corrected, not looking at him. Ayame released her with an embarrassed air, which on Ayame, Kumiko noticed, looked more like he had gained more confidence instead of losing any.

"So, you really are a member of the Zodiac?" He nodded and gave her a brilliant smile. "Wow! I guess I just didn't think about it before. What animal do you turn into?" she pressed.

"We can't just tell you," Shigure stated. "You have to guess!"

"Huh?"

"Yes, guess!" Ayame agreed. Hatori shook his head in disapproval.

"Idiots," he chastened quietly. His relatives paid him no attention and went on with their games.

"Guess, huh?" she repeated, tapping her chin in thought. The cousins grinned and watched. "Well…You are very confident…The rooster?" she tried.

"Nope, guess again!" they chimed in unison.

"The…cow?" she asked uncertainly.

"Heavens, no!" Ayame almost yelled. Kumiko thought of the other animals.

"Um…"

"Will you two knock it off?" Hatori said. They looked at him, disappointed. Then Shigure piped up.

"Hey Kumiko! Do you want to guess Ha'ri's animal?" he inquired with a suspiciously innocent tone. She was about to answer, "Okay!" when she snuck a glance at the subject of round two of their guessing game. His eyes had darkened and his whole body had gone rigid.

"Don't. You. Dare."

An uncomfortable silence followed and Kumiko looked on as Hatori gave his cousins one of the most threatening glares she'd ever seen.

"Maybe this isn't such a great idea. I'll just slip out for now and do the shopping," she told them and stood up.

"I'll go with you," Hatori informed her. "I wouldn't want you to have clean up the mess if I ended up killing them." She laughed and gave him a smile.

"Thank you for thinking of me," she giggled.

He went to the entry way while she ran upstairs to get her coat and went to the kitchen to get a grocery list. As she came to the door and slipped on her shoes, Shigure peeked around the corner.

"Oh, Kumiko, could you pick up some bean paste while you're out?" he called.

"No," Hatori replied and ushered her out the door.

Once outside, Kumiko started to the path that led to the main road. The doctor looked at her, eyebrow raised.

"Where are you going?" he asked. She looked back at him, puzzled.

"The store?" she answered uncertainly. He took his car keys from his pocket and held them up for her to see. "Yeah, but don't you want to walk?"

"Not in this weather," he said, walking to his vehicle.

"But I love walking in the cold!" she exclaimed joyfully. "It makes me feel so energized!" He shook his head.

"Not today. Get in the car."

She pouted, but obeyed with an exasperated sigh of, "Fine."

By the time they had gotten to the store, Kumiko was glad she had listened to Hatori. It felt like the temperature had dropped since they'd left the house, but maybe that was because of the warm heater running in the car. They quickly made their way into the store, wanting to escape the chill of early winter.

Kumiko looked over her list as she picked up a basket.

"So what do you need?" Hatori inquired, looking over her shoulder.

"Some bread, a carton of milk, cucumbers, and some leeks," she listed traipsing through the first aisle with him trailing after her. They stopped at the bread and she looked over the different brands. She spotted the one that everyone in the house liked best. The only trouble was that it was on the top shelf and pushed toward the back and just beyond her reach. She stood on her tip-toes and tried to reach it, only to succeed in pushing it farther back. "Oh man," she whined.

Hatori had been looking on with slight amusement while she attempted to retrieve the elusive loaf. Silently, he reached over her and grabbed it with ease. His height could come in handy sometimes. She took a moment to admire his long legs and blushed as she realized what she had been doing.

"Thanks," she said, still red, as he placed it in the basket.

"Are you alright?" he asked. "You're looking a little flushed."

"Oh, uh…I'm fine!" she lied quickly as she turned to go down the next aisle.

"Are you sure? Let me see," he requested, placing the back of his hand on her forehead. Her blush darkened. "Huh, you don't have a fever," he announced, dropping his hand.

"Must be the cold!" she exclaimed with fervor, walking away.

"I suppose so," the young doctor mused.

Stupid, stupid, stupid! she thought furiously. She took a deep breath and hoped her face had returned to normal. Hatori followed behind her, wondering just what was going on in that head of hers. She halted suddenly.

"Oh, that's right!" she exclaimed, putting up her finger in a gesture of recollection. "Shigure wanted me to get some bean paste. I'll just—" The man stopped her as she turned to find said bean paste.

"No you won't."

"But he—"

"No." His voice held a certain finality that Kumiko had begun to recognize as Hatori's alone. It wasn't one that she was willing to defy, and so, they continued without retrieving Shigure's requested item.

When they reached the end of the list, they headed over to the leeks. All at once, this place became very familiar to both of them.

"Hey, this is where we met that one day," Kumiko remembered with a grin. The doctor nodded in agreement. "You know, you never did tell me what was bothering you."

Hatori's mood suddenly changed. He frowned and looked away, trying not to remember why he had been so melancholic when they had their chance meeting. The unexpected change did not go unnoticed by the young woman.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she apologized hastily. "I didn't mean to pry. I was just making conversation and I wasn't thinking." He held up his hand to stop her.

"It's alright. Let's go," he stated simply. She nodded, picked up the leeks, and followed him to the register. When she pulled out her wallet he stopped her and got out his own. "Don't worry about it," he told her. She tried to protest, but he just ignored her.

The girl bit her lip in thought as he paid and they walked out to the car. When they put the groceries in the trunk she couldn't stand it any longer.

"I'm really sorry, Hatori," she said sincerely. "I didn't—"

"Come on," he said, getting in the car. She didn't know whether that meant he had forgiven her or if he was angry with her. After all, she'd never seen him really mad. Worried, she climbed into the car after him. He pulled out and turned down the road going opposite of home. Kumiko's brow furrowed in confusion.

"Um…Hatori, where are we going?" she asked, looking out the window at the grey sky.

"You wanted to go for a walk right?" he said. She nodded uncertainly. "I figured we could go to the park. Honestly, I'm not feeling ready to go back and deal with those two." The girl's mind immediately went to Shigure and Ayame, laughing like a couple of hyenas. She grinned to herself.

"I can respect that," she told him. In a matter of minutes, they were at the neighborhood park. "What about the groceries?" she realized as they got out of the car.

"They'll be fine for a while," he answered, already walking along the path. She jogged to catch up to him.

"So, you're not mad?" she questioned as they walked. He looked at her with a softened expression.

"No, I'm not mad."

She heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness." If Hatori had been upset with her, or even just upset because of something she said, she didn't know what she would do. She wasn't quite sure why she felt the need to be so careful around him. There was just something about him that told her to use caution where his feelings were concerned.

"Burr," Kumiko shivered.

"I told you it was too cold," he reminded her. "Do you want to go back?"

"No! I'm fine. I just need to get my blood pumping, that's all," she replied with a smile. They fell into silence as they continued to walk. There was hardly anyone around, since everyone was either at school or at work. "Hey, look, a bridge," the pianist pointed out, to do nothing if not break the silence.

She rushed over to it and waited for Hatori to meet her. As he walked toward her, he looked up suddenly. She raised her eyebrow quizzically. When she turned her gaze to the sky to see what he was looking at, something cold fell on her cheek. She wiped it off her face in time to see a small snowflake melt in her fingers.

"Snow?" she asked herself and looked back at her companion. He stared upward for another moment and snapped out of his reverie. When he got to the bridge he leaned on the railing and stared at the little creek it was built over. Kumiko studied his face carefully. His dark eyes looked thoughtful and almost…pained. She touched his shoulder gently and he gave the slightest flinch.

"Hey, are you alright?" He stared at her intently, as if he was deciding something. Finally he nodded.

"I'm fine."

Kumiko couldn't help but notice the similarity to the way he answered her on that day at the supermarket so many months ago.

"Miss Hishida, may I ask you something?" She watched him expectantly as the first snow of the season continued to fall. "When the snow melts, what does it become?"

She blinked, but gathered her composure enough to answer. "Hm…You mean scientifically? Or philosophically?" she asked, unsure. He shook his head.

"Just answer the question," he told her. She leaned on the railing of the bridge, thinking and repeating the question to herself.

"Well, I think…it becomes…life itself."

That was definitely not an answer he had been expecting. He furrowed his brow in confusion.

"What do you mean?" he asked. She turned her emerald green eyes on him.

"Well, when the snow melts, it gives life to everything around it. It gives water to the fish and the birds and all the plants and animals. It runs from the mountains and into the rivers and lakes and oceans, going places we might not ever expect. Even this creek we're standing over was probably created by snow."

Hatori studied her closely. Her cheeks had turned pink with the cold and her long black hair flowed easily over her shoulders as the new snow gathered in her dark locks. Her eyes were serene as she thought about her explanation.

"I see…" he said quietly. "Of course, you're not the same…"

Her eyebrows rose. "Was I wrong?" she asked, alarmed. He gave her a slight smile.

"No, not wrong. Just not what I was expecting."

"What was your answer then?" she inquired curiously. He leaned on the railing beside her.

"Spring," he replied wistfully. Kumiko looked at him with a tender expression in her eyes and a soft smile on her lips.

"Spring, huh? I like that."

R&R!