Private Rooms, Main House, February 4th, 3:37 a.m. –
Hatori stirred, startled at the sound of someone banging on his door. He yawned widely and sat up to find himself tangled in his sheets. He struggled to free himself, only to fall out of bed and hit the floor with a dignified thump.
"Not enough… sleep…" Hatori mumbled, glancing at his watch. He pulled a wrinkled white shirt over his head and shuffled over to the door, swinging open to reveal a distraught young girl with tears in her eyes.
She lowered her gaze immediately, and said quickly in a hushed voice, "Gomen! Gomen, Hatori-san! Akito-sama requires the medical services of Hatori-san! Gomen…" The girl bowed abruptly and scurried away before Hatori could mumble his thanks. Hatori turned on his heel back into his room, grabbing the black medical bag and throwing on his shoes. Akito had to be in bad shape if he had started taking it out on the staff at this hour.
Definitely not a good sign. He thought to himself.
The mahogany doors that lined the north wall of Akito's rooms, with their ancient carvings loomed over the sea horse, causing him, with an irrationality that he loathed, to take the long way around, through his office entrance.
Private Rooms, Main House, February 4th, 8:43 –
Hatori sighed and shut the door behind him. He had just finished dealing with Akito, who was in one of his darker moods, and gotten back to his rooms to catch up on some sleep, when another knock came at his door. He reluctantly answered it, and his eyes were met with the glare of an angry twelve-year-old.
"Hatori what are you doing asleep at this hour? Honestly. You are still a doctor aren't you? Or are you going to become one of those pathetic physicians who seem to think that they are above actually practicing their trade? Or better yet, you've taken up something completely insane like bee-keeping. Actually, I can see that. I mean, forgive me, but it was nice to have someone with an at least marginally normal profession in the family, but really I think –"
"Hiro?" Hatori interrupted, an eyebrow raised, surprised that it had taken the sheep so long to stop for breath.
"Kisa is ill," Hiro said shortly, sensing the quiet warning in Hatori's voice, "And she's been asking for you."
Hatori groaned inwardly. Kisa's home couldn't technically be considered to be on the 'inside.' It was on the outer reaches of the Sohma Estate, nearly two miles away. Normally he wouldn't have hesitated to drive, but Hatori really didn't want to give Hiro another excuse to launch into one of his tirades, especially when he was obviously worried sick about Kisa. Hatori leaned inside the doorway and grabbed his bag.
"Alright Hiro, lead the way." Hatori said dryly but Hiro had already started off in the direction of the main entrance. They walked briskly until they came upon the same girl who had woken him early, now scrubbing the floors. Hiro looked at her with disgust.
"That stupid woman told me that you shouldn't be bothered and actually tried to stop me," he smirked pompously, kicking over the bucket of filthy water, undoing all of her work. "As if she has the right to tell me what to do. She'll need to learn her place if she expects to hold down a job."
The ram kept moving, but Hatori, bristling with fury, was about ready to wring his neck. "Hiro…" He growled, about to do just that, when a hand grabbed his ankle. He whirled in surprise, and same girl looked up at him with a dirty tear tracked face.
"Leave him." She said in an unexpectedly strong voice choked with anger, then lowering her eyes to the floor she added quietly, "Please, Hatori-san."
"Hatori!" Hiro shouted impatiently from the front gate
Sohma Hiro House, Sohma Estate, February 4th, 10:18 –
"Thank you for coming, Hatori-ojichan." Kisa murmured sleepily.
"Anytime, Kisa-chan," Hatori said quietly, clicking the door shut. "Get some rest."
Soon afterwards, Hatori found himself heaving a sigh of relief as he stepped out of the house. Kisa really was adorable, especially when she was sick, but Hatori found he was much more prone to self pity than sympathy as he dealt with Hiro's endless preaching and her mother's tendency to question everything. He was painfully aware of the fact that it had taken him nearly an hour to diagnose Kisa with a common cold, to convince her mother that she should get plenty of rest and fluids, and to instill devout belief in the value of over-the-counter pain killers in Hiro.
The dragon started to walk slowly back to his office, enjoying the crunch of the late frost beneath his feet and relishing in the small respite.
It's at times like these that I really…
…
…
…
…
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
…
…
…
…
…wish I wasn't a doctor.
South Garden Path, Sohma Estate, February 4th, 10:31 –
"Oh, doctor, I… I just can't look. Will… will he make it?" Hatsuharu held onto the front of Hatori's shirt for dear life, looking up at the dragon earnestly, with huge watery eyes.
"Haru's being sarcastic!" Momiji pouted, painstakingly putting the pink and yellow band-aid on his skinned knee.
"When is he not?" Hatori asked, grinning with a sort of pained amusement, shrugging off Haru gruffly, who was now laughing hysterically under his breath. "Are you two heading back to the Main House?"
"Nope!" beamed Momiji, who seemed to have recovered somewhat. "Me an' Haru—" going to meet my cousin at the airport and welcome her to Japan!"
"Haru and I…" Hatori corrected distantly.
Momiji wilted visibly but continued. "We're going to meet my cousin at the airport and welcome her to Japan!" When Momiji found that Hatori's thoughts were elsewhere, he sniffed pathetically, and Haru thumped him on the back.
"Aw, buck up Momiji. Haa-kun's just sore he has to go back to the Main House with only Akii and ol' pinched face for company." Hatori scowled, and Momiji was back to beaming giddily at them.
"Aufwidiersen! We don't want to be late!" And with that Momiji bounded down the path towards town.
"Bye-bye…" Haru murmered back to Hatori absently, trailing after Momiji in a lazy zig-zag. Hatori cracked a rare smile at the receding forms of his two cousins and walked back to the Main House thoughtfully.
A/N: And thus the story begins! It was just a bit of a prologue, slow moving but it wasn't too bad, was it? Was it!
This story will have two OC's – the Sohma Estate servant and Momiji's cousin, both of whom I've yet to name. However, I am working very strenuously to make sure they are not Mary Sue-ish in the least!
Please review, feedback is my life's blood!
-Merci, Pink-san