Hello, my readers! I'm terribly sorry for the long delay – rather a lot has happened and I haven't had time to write. I love this pairing so much, however, that I am making time (in the form of sneaky work breaks. SSHHH.) Anyway, here is the next installment of Seasonal, for your reading pleasure.
For the longest time, Kaoru has hated the cold. Snow always signified the passage of warmth, when life went into hiding and slept and the world was cold and empty. Soft curtains of white fall all around, a neverending stream of frozen water and memories of warmer days. The snow is beautiful...but cruel.
Whenever the snow comes, everything leaves her.
Before that motley crew of men found their way to her doorstep, days of heavy snowfall – thick, fluffy piles of white – meant days spent alone in the dojo. Few would dare to trudge through the freezing cold…who would venture forth just to see her? Any kendo class would be canceled for the harshest weather, and all her friends stayed in town. After her father died, there was only the backstabbing Hiruma to keep her company for a while, which was not very comforting, in all honesty.
Aoshi has been called many things in his life, but the most frequent adjective used to describe him is "cold." Kaoru has felt that gaze freeze her before. It has stopped her in her tracks, stilling words of warmth in her throat, before they can spill from her mouth. Unexpectedly, it burns. Every time he looks at her, she feels his icy blue eyes searing her from the inside out. Her skin flushes uncontrollably in response and she shivers from the intensity, as if suffering mild hypothermia. Kaoru cannot hide anything from his penetrating stare.
Maybe the coldness of winter is why Kaoru is such a warm person. All winter long she has no one to nurture, to share her warmth with – to give and be given in return. When spring comes, Kaoru is ready for it like no other. The fallen snow will live only in her memory. Only she knows how much she hates the isolating cold, for reasons others will never discover. It drives her to make sure that no one else will ever feel the same. Every year, no matter how much snow falls, Kaoru knows it all will eventually melt away…she has firsthand experience.
The heat generated between them is enough to melt the errant snowflakes from their flesh and drive the chill from their bones. Kaoru glows as only Aoshi can make her; she in turn stokes the fire within him, determined to melt that icy shell. Aoshi's frosty shield of indifference cannot withstand Kaoru's onslaught.
Once again, snow blankets the ground, dusting the trees, and covering the dojo in a layer of pristine white. All is quiet and still and although the cold still surrounds her home, inside is warm and toasty and Kaoru is no longer alone.