Disclaimer - Character's are not my own.

Chapter Thirteen – Dragon's Past

"That will be all for today." Standing before the pre-med students in the large lecture theatre, Hatori Ryun dismissed his students after a long two hours. The effect was immediate, hundreds of people were closing books, shoving their things into bags, gossiping and pulling out mobiles that they hadn't checked for the past five minutes.

Ignoring them for the most part, Hatori packed up his own things and snapped his briefcase closed. Checking to make sure no one was hanging around to ask any questions, he exited the room and headed towards his car.

Hatori had been working at Tokyo University for the last eight years, ever since he had stopped working in an actual hospital. Getting into his car, he patiently waited for the long line of cars to move along as the many students left campus after their classes. He was on his way to a late lunch with one of his past students, Yuki Nezumi-Hebi. They had become friends after they'd discovered they both thought similarly upon the topic of synthetic blood experimentation. One discussion lead to talking over coffee and then before they knew it they were having lunches together. Hatori enjoyed listening to the young man's ideas and Yuki seemed enraptured to listen to Hatori's stories about when he was in medical school or when he was working in the hospital.

Lost in thought, he started to exit from the parking lot, only to snap back to reality when someone yelled angrily at him. Slamming on the breaks, Hatori looked up and saw a brown haired student frowning at him, hand running through her short hair nervously. The woman threw him an irritated look before crossing the road and going on her way. Hatori however, felt his heart ache with old pain.

Her name had been Kanna, and she had been his whole world. They were sweethearts in medical school and were married at the age of twenty-three. They had two blissful years together before the accident. It had been snowing, a blizzard, she had been driving home and the car had skidded on the ice. By the time help arrived, it was already to late… she'd died.

The old pain still cropped up every now and then, whether it is by a waft of perfume or short brown hair that lit up in the sun. It was just the small things that reminded him most strongly of her. Even now, eight years after it had happened, he could still remember her most vividly. However, he didn't expect to wake up and find it had all been a dream any more, he had been able to move on enough for that.

The honking of a car horn behind him made a frown appear on his face before he put the car into gear and started moving again, pulling his mind away from the saddening thoughts and onto something more positive, his lunch with Yuki.

It was a silent drive to the small café-bookstore that Yuki was now working at. He had been working there for a few months now and he appeared to be enjoying it quite a bit, especially if this crush on his boss was anything to go by. Making sure the smile wasn't showing on his face as he entered the place, he was mildly amused by the stereotypical chime of a bell above the door.

Looking around, he was surprised at how much he liked the decor already. Usually it took more than just the look of the place for him to like it. A young woman pulled herself away from a loud group down the back of the café, the youngsters talking loudly and laughing, clearly having a good time. The brunet walked up to him and the large smile on her face made him peg her for the boss.

"Hi there, how can I help you today?" She asked, head tilting to the side slightly in an innocent manner of curiosity.

"I'm supposed to be having lunch with Yuki here," he said softly, inwardly smiling when her brown eyes seemed to light up slightly.

"Oh, well, he's not here at the moment but I can set you up with a table for now if you'd like?" She offered, gesturing to the few free tables in the establishment.

He was just about to accept her offer when the door to the place was flung open and the object of their conversation practically ran into the room. Hatori was surprised when he was followed – almost chased – by another man with long silver coloured hair and golden eyes.

"I'm just saying it might be fun!" The older man complained, looking dejected as he came to a stop behind Yuki.

"NO! You living with me is not a good idea at all!" Yuki snapped, looking more exasperated than Hatori had ever seen him.

"But Yuki." The man whined loudly.

"You're impossible." Yuki bluntly told the man before turning and seeming to notice Hatori for the first time.

"Oh, Hatori, sorry I'm late. I couldn't get away." He shot the man behind him a particularly accusing look, but the other just gave him a look of innocence.

"That's fine, are you ready for lunch now?" Hatori asked him, curiously looking at the other man who was now staring at him in a most peculiar manner.

'How on earth do they know one another?'

"Oh – Yuki! You didn't tell me you had a lunch date! My, but isn't he a bit old for you?" The silver haired man asked, uncaring for the looks they were getting from the other customers in the café.

"Sometimes the utter rubbish that spouts from your mouth truly astounds me." Yuki said bluntly, before sighing.

"Hatori, this here is my older brother, Ayame Nesumi-Hebi; Ayame, this is my friend and one of my professors at university, Hatori Ryun." Yuki reluctantly introduced them, though he appeared resigned to his fate.

"Hatori, hey? It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Ayame held out his hand and shook Hatori's, a charming smile on his face, as his eyes seemed to glow in the light of the café.

"Likewise." Was all Hatori could say, bemused by the almost bashful mannerisms suddenly appearing.

"Oh, and this here is Miss Tohru Honda, the owner of this fine establishment." The gentle praise caused the young woman's cheeks to flush, but Yuki just smiled softly at her.

'I wonder what Yuki would say if I told him how similar he is to his brother at the moment?' Hatori thought amusedly.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Miss Honda, I've heard a lot about you from Yuki here." Hatori said, sending Yuki a small smile at the dusting of pink staining his cheeks at his words.

"Anyway, let's have lunch, shall we?" Yuki changed the subject, as he determinedly didn't look over at Tohru.

"If I could make a suggestion?" Ayame spoke up.

"No," Yuki said snapped, but the older man carried on as if Yuki hadn't said anything.

"Why don't you both join us for lunch at the back. It will be a lot of fun for sure. Hatsuharu, Momiji, Kisa and Shigure are there already." Ayame suggested, almost bouncing over to the back table that Hatori had noted earlier.

"Oh, yes, you're more than welcome to join us if you'd like." Tohru said, voice eager but honest.

"With an offer like that how could we refuse?" Hatori said, slightly amused by the delighted look on her face.

As she rushed off to get a menu, Yuki turned to Hatori with a small frown.

"I'm sorry, we don't have to sit with them if you'd rather not. After all, it was meant to be a lunch between us, not all that lot." He nodded his head slightly in the direction of the loud group of people.

"No, it's ok. There's nothing wrong with trying something new every once and awhile." Hatori said with a convincing smile.

'It's not like one lunch will hurt.' He told himself.

The lunch that followed was one of the most hectic, loud and enjoyable lunches that Hatori had ever been to. He was quite content for the most part to observe as Yuki attempted to talk to him, only to be interrupted by Ayame who, Hatori was pretty sure, was flirting away like crazy with him. That was when Ayame wasn't helping out Shigure in teasing Kyo and Haru about their new relationship, apparently they were now celebrating their two-week anniversary, much to the orange haired boys embarrassment and the two-tone haired boys quite amusement. Then there was Momiji, who seemed to be trying to have three different conversations at the same time as well as continually antagonizing a young boy sitting at a different table who was acting like a brat – apparently his name was Hiro. The young girl, Kisa, seemed to delight in all the sisterly affection Tohru herself bestowed on her as Yuki occasionally gave the brunette smitten looks.

Hatori had given up on trying to keep up with the different conversations and arguments going on around the table and instead focussed only on what was said to him directly.

"So Hatori, Yuki tells me you're his professor at university?" Ayame said loudly, causing Yuki to quietly groan in defeat at what Hatori was sure he perceived to be a potentially embarrassing moment coming up.

"Yes, I'm one of his professors." Hatori agreed, wondering where this was going.

"Hmm, interesting." There was a moment of silence before a spark of mischief entered his eyes, which only made Yuki wince in advance to whatever he was sure to come out with next.

"So, tell me. How is my darling little brother in his classes? As his big brother it's my duty to make sure he studies hard." Ayame said loudly, not seeming to care that his 'darling little brother' was now eyeing him like he could shut him up with the power of him mind alone.

"Bother, you're making a scene!" Yuki hissed.

"Oh, am I really? Sorry all, I'm just so proud that my darling little brother's going to be a doctor!" Ayame laughed as he finished in a mock attempt at being embarrassed. Privately, Hatori wondered if the man had ever even felt embarrassed before in his life.

"Does this mean you'll treat me for free if I should need it?" Ayame suddenly asked, looking completely serious as he leaned in closer to Yuki.

"No," Yuki said bluntly, causing Ayame to pout and sigh loudly.

"Well you're no fun. Hatori, you'll help me if I should need it, won't you?" Ayame said, turning his golden eyes on to the lecturer.

"I'm not a practicing doctor anymore." Hatori said simply as he took a sip of his tea.

"You two are hopeless. What's the point in having a decent job like that if you can't exploit it?" He asked before a large smile flashed across his face and he turned towards Shigure who had just said something to make Kyo jump to his feet and raise an arm to hit him. Haru, however, merely reached up and pulled him back down to his seat, much to the orange haired man's annoyance.

"Aww, lookie at that! Kyo's whipped!" Momiji cried out loudly in laughter. This time Haru didn't even attempt to stop Kyo from jumping up from his seat and beginning to chase Momiji around the tables, uncaring for any of the other guests at the café.

'Though everyone else seems to find this perfectly normal so they must all be regulars as well.' Hatori thought as no one even seemed to look twice at the blond and orange blurs running around them.

Hatori found himself enjoying the conversations and excitement that he'd not felt in years. Ever since Kanna had died, he'd felt almost detached from the world as a whole. Very few things brought him joy anymore. Yet as he listened to one of Ayame's stories from his career as a fashion designer, he felt the stirring of laughter in his chest and before he knew it he was chuckling. Ayame looked almost giddy with joy at the sight and endeavoured to continue making Hatori laugh for the rest of the very long lunch that was close to turning into a dinner as well if they weren't careful.

Many hours later, Hatori and Yuki stood to leave, fond farewells and wishes to see them both again soon followed them out of the chiming door. Once outside, they wrapped their scarves tighter around their necks to stave off the cold before Yuki turned slightly guilty eyes on Hatori.

"Sorry about that, Hatori. Once my brother and that lot get started, it's hard to get them to stop." He blushed slightly in embarrassment.

"No, it's ok. I actually quite enjoyed your brother's company and everyone else was rather nice as well." Hatori found the words leaving his mouth before he'd really thought them through. For a moment he hesitated, wondering how he should revise them before he realised that they were the truth.

He really had enjoyed being around Ayame, more so than he'd enjoyed anyone's company for a long time. The other man was fun loving and seemed to know just what to say to make Hatori laugh.

"Well, if you say so. Though I find it hard to believe anyone can actually enjoy that much exposure to my brother without being slightly insane." Yuki muttered; looking away and speaking in an almost alarmingly truthful manner, as if he honestly couldn't believe anyone would be able to stay in his brother's company for long periods of time before they went completely bonkers.

Smiling, Hatori clapped the younger man on his shoulder.

"We should come back here again, soon. I had quite an enjoyable time." Hatori said with a small smile. Yuki looked at him for a moment before smiling back.

"Well, it's certainly something different to our usual lunches." Yuki conceded.

'Yes, it certainly was.' Hatori thought as he offered Yuki a lift back to his apartment.

Please Review