A/N: Advance Happy Hearts Day! Since FF.net will be down on the actual day of the hearts, I will give my own little gift to my fellow Furuba fans: starting this chapter, I will update every other day on Untitled Fairy Tales. For Keeps will be updated after the conclusion of Untitled, and afterwards, I will launch an "interactive fic" where you get to choose your ending!

It's not much, but I hope you guys like it. Enjoy your Valentine, minna-san!

A M E

Hatori drank his glass of wine as he watched the endless rain pour down outside the frosted glass window of his room.

Rain. Both gave him happy and sad memories.

So he didn't know for sure whether he liked it or not. Whether he detested it or not.

As the rain fell down, he remembered how Shigure reacted when he told him that he didn't remember anymore.

Liar.

His cousin was right.

Because how could he forget the one woman he loved in his entire life?

Young fifteen-year-old Sohma Hatori sat down the dining table as an unfamiliar-looking maid served him the appetizer respectfully.

He immediately noticed the maid's fault. "You placed the fork at the wrong place," he said curtly.

The maid's brow raised. "Huh?"

He looked pointedly at the arrangement of the silverware.

"Eh? Why are you being such a cow about that? You're going to lift it up and use it anyway. Why are you being so critical with the arrangement?"

He was stunned. She was the first maid to answer him like that! Fortunately, he was alone in the dining table, or he could have humiliated himself in front of his cousins!

He was more shocked when she sat down beside him, uncaring whether the dining seat was reserved only for the royal Sohmas.

"You've got one big attitude problem, mister. If you would spend your lifetime complaining of one measly fork when you won't even use it yet anyway," she glanced at the soup on the table. "Then you will surely starve. It won't be me who'll suffer."

"What gave you the right to talk to me like that, woman?" he bellowed.

She wasn't even fazed by his booming voice. Instead she smiled brightly. "I possess the right to talk to my fellow human beings ever since I acquired my speech ability. But do tell me if I'm mistaken when I thought you were a human. By any chance, you're not an animal masquerading as a human, right? If so, I will immediately stop talking to you."

He couldn't give her a retort. If he refused to talk to her, he would look like "an animal", and if he did, it meant he, high and mighty Prince Sohma Hatori, was tricked by a maid!

"Don't be mad, Your Highness. I was just kidding," said the maid immediately. She gathered her skirts and stood up to leave.

"I didn't dismiss you yet," said Hatori suddenly before he could think of what he was doing.

She paused. "Eh?"

He himself was stunned. Why didn't he dismiss her yet?

He groped for words. "What is your name?"

"Kana."

"Kana what?"

"Kana."

"Kana Kana?"

No. Simply Kana."

"Your family name?"

"Why should you bother to know? You're not going to marry me, are you?" asked the maid, giggling.

To his dismay, he felt his cheeks flood with color. He suddenly faced her, only to find himself looking at the pretty smiling face of Kana.

The first woman who smiled at him openly, with no reservations or whatsoever.

Simply Kana.

For the succeeding days, he tried to treat her like dirt, but she would only respond to him with sweet smiles, making him mad and still, happy at the same time.

But he had slowly accustomed himself to her presence. In fact, he found his day wanting without her usual smart-alecky statements and teasing smiles. She brought back the vitality in his life that he thought he lost ages ago. She made him feel what it was like to be a child again.

So it troubled him one windy day why Kana wasn't smiling like she usually do as she was sweeping the courtyard. He looked at his left and right, checking if his cousins were watching. After making sure it was safe, he approached the maid.

"Kana?"

She looked up. "Prince Hatori?" She looked down again. "Hey," she said dully.

"W-What…" He cleared his throat. "What is the problem?"

"Eh?"

"Why…" He felt colors rush to his face. He felt awkward declaring verbally his concern, let alone to a girl! "Why are you looking so sad?"

She forced a smile. "H-Hey, I'm not! I'm always very cheerful!"

"Tell me what's bothering you," he ordered, still feeling like he was a teenager asking Ms. Universe out on a date to the park.

Her smile deflated and suddenly, she rushed towards Hatori and buried her face on his chest, crying.

"K-Kana?" he asked, alarmed. More than the fear that she would accidentally hug him and make him turn into an animal…

…her tears were seriously bothering him, to the point that he thought he could feel his heart ache for her too.

"T-Today…I lost my ring. I-It's a very special ring…the only memory of my deceased mother," sobbed Kana. "I don't know where it is now!"

Trembling, he found himself patting the girl's hair soothingly. "Please…don't cry."

The maid hiccuped.

"Please," he murmured. "We'll find it."

"E-Eh?" She looked up at him, eyes shaking. "W-We will?"

He nodded. "Even if it's the last thing I do," he promised.

Later, the soldiers were stunned when they heard Hatori's order.

"Find a ring, Your Highness? But that's impossible! A thing as small as that can be anywhere in this palace! Or in the pocket of a heartless thief!"

"You heard my orders. I need that ring before the sun sets, understood?" he boomed. Behind him was a still crying Kana.

"Y-Yes, Your Highness."

But the entire afternoon search went in vain. No ring was found. Hatori then had the kingdom's best jeweler summoned into the palace. Soon, he, the jeweler, and Kana were seated in the balcony overlooking the kingdom.

The jeweler showed the maid his finest collection of rings, but the maid didn't even look interested.

"Kana," said Hatori, his patience on the verge of crumbling. "That ring cannot be found anymore. We might as well just find a replacement."

Her blazing eyes turned to him. "You'll never understand what I feel! The sentimental value of that ring is priceless!"

"Maybe you should start acting more practical-"

The maid stood up, eyes welling up with tears again. "I thought you finally understood what I feel. I thought you have already learned how to be sensitive. I was wrong!" She ran away from them.

"Kana!" Immediately, he regretted his harsh words.

Ayame then came out, looking curious. "Oi, 'Tori, have you seen Kana? She dropped her ring in the kitchen, and I remembered that she's the only maid who wears one…"

Finally, in the entire exhausting afternoon, a weary smile dawned on him.

"For the first time in my whole life, I thank Kami-sama because I had a cousin like you."

Riding Toyota (the horse), Hatori rode against the wind and the pouring rain. The maids told him that Kana had packed her things up and left the palace.

His fists clenched.

I won't let you leave, Kana.

I don't know why, but I would be an utter fool if I let you go.

He found her walking by the woods, unprotected by the rain. The sound of the horse' hooves must have alarmed her, so she turned around. He saw her eyes widen upon seeing him.

"Kana!" His voice, carried by the strong wind, sounded so powerful. Or was it because it was on the edge of despair?

His horse galloped towards her, and Kana started to run away. "You won't get away!" he yelled as he finally reached her side. The maid stumbled and fell on the ground, and he seized the chance to jump down from the horse and approach her. "Kana!"

"You don't understand. You don't have a heart…" she whispered.

"I'm sorry," he said, the words sounding strangely good to his ears. Must be because it was rare for him to admit his faults.

She apparently knew that too. She stopped resisting him and instead, gazed at him in surprise.

He suddenly carried her in his arms and placed her on top of Toyota. He then jumped up and made the horse gallop again.

"Why…did you do this? Why…did you have to follow me here?" she asked.

His eyes remained on the road. "Don't ask me," he said gruffly. "I don't know too."

"H-Hatori…"

He suddenly stopped the horse and looked down at her. The rain already wet both of them, but they couldn't feel the chill. Strange warmth surrounded them.

His eyes shook. "K-Kana…"

Everything flooded into one realization: he was helplessly falling in love with her.

And in her eyes, he could see that she loved him dearly too.

He fished something from hi pocket and showed it to her. "For you."

"M-My ring!" She watched happily as he slipped the ring carefully on her finger.

"Marry me," he said simply.

"Ah…!" Kana was shocked. "T-This is all too sudden…"

"I don't care. I want you to be mine."

Before she could reply, his face leaned down towards her and probed for her lips.

"I love you," he murmured silkily before owning her soft petal-like lips.

"Marriage?" Akito laughed humorlessly. "That's absurd! No, there will be no marriage."

Hatori was stunned. "B-But I'm in the right age-"

"Who cares? I don't like her."

Hatori turned grim. "I love Kana, and I will marry her whether you like it or not."

"Don't forget. You are part of the Juunishi. She will not be happy anyway."

"She knows about the curse, and she accepted it."

This made Akito angry. He suddenly picked up a vase beside him and threw it on Hatori. The vase hit his eyes and broke into pieces.

As blood dripped down his face, Akito's merciless laugh echoed.

"Your life with her will be a living hell if you still insist on your absurd plans. The palace' soldiers will not stop haunting you and that maid, as well as her family," promised the clan head.

Hatori was shocked as he felt his vision wane.

It was raining again when he kissed Kana goodbye.

"I love you, dear Kana. I will always love you," he whispered.

Kana was crying. "I would rather die than this."

"I'm sorry." He gave her the cup of slumber before he started on his operation that he was so used in doing.

Erasing memories.

The rain had stopped, and Hatori faced the window, his unseeing left eye turning to the window.

"Your Highness," A young lass came into the room. "Would you like to have dinner in your room?"

He turned to her, and gave her a small smile. "Yes."

The girl curtsied, and inside he suddenly felt happy.

She was exactly like her mother.

He faced the window. "You may go now, and extend my regards to your mother and father."

"Yes, Your Highness."

He saw the royal coach of the neighboring kingdom approaching.

"Try to understand, Yuki, why I am making the maid leave," he said to himself, finishing his drink. "You must stop your feelings before it goes too deep. Because whatever happens, we are not normal beings. We cannot love."

tsuzuku