Disclaimer: Fruits Basket belongs to its respective owners…but I do own Hatori though .

Summer is Not So Bad After All

It was a hot, oppressive summer day; a day Hatori Souma hates the most. He sighed inwardly as he opened his clinic to start the day's work, for he was almost starting to sweat in his many layers of clothes. Opposite his clinic was a café called 'Scarlet Cocktail' made famous by its main attraction, a young female musician named Yukina-Rei or Yukina for short.

From his office, he glanced through the window at the café, which was still closed. Then, his thoughts were interrupted as a whirlwind flew into his office through the door and landed itself in the chair opposite of him.

Hatori looked away from the window calmly and glanced at the smiling girl in front of him.

"Not knocking before coming in as usual, Yukina-chan," he said evenly to the girl, now known as Yukina – the same person who is the main attraction of 'Scarlet Cocktail'.

Yukina pouted back at him and folded her arms. "I never knock and you know that, Hatori. But maybe you can fix up a doorbell that triggers a violin-playing doll when I come in…"

"That won't be necessary, as you are the only one dares to come in here without knocking," Hatori cut her words short.

Yukina grinned and leaned back further in the chair. "The weather getting to you as usual, doctor," she teased, knowing that he hated to be addressed in that way.

Hatori made a low growling sound but stopped himself. "Ah…I see the weather only bothers grownups like me and doesn't affect little girls like you, Yukina-chan," he retorted, scoring a full point for him successfully.

"Why you nasty, old, grumpy doctor…" Yukina flew at him over the table, but failed as both her wrists were grasped tightly in Hatori's hands.

"If I die suddenly, who is going to cure you of your illness, Yukina?" Hatori smirked at the fuming girl, now sprawled over the table in an undignified position. "I thought musicians were sophisticated and elegant people," he mocked, finding it unusually fun to provoke the young girl.

"And I thought doctors don't smoke, nor they would try to hurt the patients," Yukina glared up at him beneath her hair, which was now messy from the scuffling she did.

Hatori glanced at her, and found that he was holding her wrists in a grip, which was maybe too tight for comfort. He let go of her wrists hastily and saw that they were red, proving his assumption to be true.

"I'm sorry, Yukina…" he apologized to her, who was rubbing her wrists. Then, he was startled as she smiled brightly at him, wondering how she changed her emotions so quickly.

"Never mind…we are even now, Hatori," her smile getting wider. "By the way, are you going to drop by the café afterwards?"

His eyes flickered towards the building again before replying, "I'm not sure, depending on my mood after I finish working…anyway, we should start working on you now, Yukina."

His words reminded her of her purpose of coming, and she nodded, following him to sit on an armchair. In reality, Yukina was an amnesiac girl of about sixteen who found herself in this town a few months ago with no recollections whatsoever of her past, and taking into account her amazing talent in music, the owner of 'Scarlet Cocktail' employed her to be a musician there and provided her with food, lodgings and a sufficient income.

Before Yukina appeared, the café was just a small, unattractive place with few customers, but since she started to play music there, customers flocked there by the dozens. Hatori had always been a regular customer of the café as it was near to his clinic, and through the owner he had came to know Yukina. Since then, they had become quite close with each other, though Yukina often picks fights with him, and he tried to restore her memories, but he had been unsuccessful in doing so.

Yukina settled on the armchair, leaned back and closed her eyes. Hatori went to fetch her record and some equipment he needed. As he went back, he pulled a chair along to sit beside her. Then, he paused for a while as he saw that she was quite tired, and there were faint black rings under her eyes. It was understandable as she needed to work at the café from afternoon until late midnight.

"She is only so young, but needs to work so hard for a living…" his expression softened as he continued looking at the girl, who was apparently dozing off in the armchair. Gently, he reached out a hand and shook her shoulders.

Immediately, her eyes flickered open and she rubbed her eyes with one hand.

"Ah…have I been sleeping? Sorry, Hatori, I must have been quite tired…" she looked apologetically at him.

Hatori smiled kindly at her, an act that startled her for he rarely smiled, and said, "Its okay, Yukina. Make sure you get some sleep after the process, okay?"

Yukina nodded and leaned back on the armchair again while staring off into the distance.

"Hatori, what kind of person do you think I was before I lost my memories? Would I be very different from whom I am now?"

The question surprised Hatori, for it carried a sad tone with it. "Scientifically speaking, there is such a possibility…but I think that you won't be any different from who you are now. And I mean that you will still be the pesky, bubbly little girl who is remarkably good in music…and is incredibly adorable and endearing."

As he finished, there were two loud gasps in the room, one from himself and the other from Yukina. He never thought that he might actually reveal his private feelings to Yukina, who had never imagined that he would think that she is…adorable and endearing? This was because they liked to argue and tease each other, and considered each other as…someone more than friends…

Trying to ease the situation, Yukina giggled while sidling up to Hatori.

"Do you know that you look like you just came out of the bathroom, Hatori?" Yukina joked, pointing at Hatori's forehead, which was full of sweat, half from the weather, and half from the revelation he did just a while ago.

Then, she took out a handkerchief from her pocket and tried to wipe the sweat on his face. Suddenly, she tripped, lost her balance and fell against him, resulting in both of them tumbling to the ground.

In an instant, Hatori's throat tightened and his blood ran cold. "Do I have to do this all over again? Do I have to erase the memories of a cheerful, bubbly girl, who was able to melt the snow in my heart? Do I have to remove the short memories she had of her life, just because I have to ensure the safety of the Souma secret?" these thoughts ran through his mind furiously, while his heart was filled with familiar pain and anguish.

To his astonishment, he saw Yukina still on top of him, and waving a hand in front of his face anxiously. "What on earth…I did not transform?" he thought dimly.

"Hatori…Hatori! Are you knocked against the floor so hard that you passed out? Hey…" Yukina shouted into his ear, but was stopped when Hatori moved slightly and suddenly pulled her into a tight embrace.

Her eyes went wide and she gasped in shock as she felt Hatori's lips on hers, while his hands roamed restlessly on her back to places normally considered as indecent. Instantaneously, their bodies heated up, aching and longing for more of each other, and their tongues met each other in a fiery, passionate kiss.

It lasted for quite a while, and when it finally finished, both of them were panting, out of breath. Hatori looked at the girl, whose face was scarlet in his arms, and smiled a slow smile.

"I guess…we should cancel today's appointment, Yukina," he whispered into her ear, sending shivers down her spine.

"I…I think so," Yukina's mind was incoherent of forming a sentence more than five words long, and she blushed again.

Hatori did not loosen his grip on her, and he continued, "Maybe you should call your boss, and tell him that you are taking a leave today, Yukina."

With some difficulty, Yukina got up from Hatori's body and did as he said. Fortunately, the owner of 'Scarlet Cocktail' was an understanding man and agreed readily.

Then, Yukina peeked timidly at Hatori, who was straightening his clothes.

"What…what just happened, Hatori?" she asked hesitantly.

Hatori finished with his clothes and walked over to her. He tilted her chin up and stared into her eyes.

"Obviously, we just kissed each other, Yukina," Hatori said softly. Then, he leaned closer to her and took her hands.

"You…you are female, right?" he blurted out the question unexpectedly.

Yukina gaped at him and then reached out a hand to feel his forehead.

"Are you having a fever, Hatori? Of course I'm a female…" she replied, wondering what was wrong with him.

"Ah…maybe the weather is really getting to me…" Hatori chuckled, "I couldn't have doubted it…" and he looked meaningfully at Yukina's body, making her turn a deeper shade of red.

"Nasty old pervert…you are sounding more and more like Shigure-kun, do you know that?" Yukina glared furiously at him for making her feel embarrassed. Then, seeing the sweat drops on his face, she used her handkerchief to wipe it off again, and cried out in surprise when Hatori grasped her wrists tightly.

"Are you trying to seduce me?" Hatori stared hard at her while smirking inwardly at the shocked face of Yukina.

Yukina narrowed her eyes at him, and then thought to herself, "Two can play at this game, Hatori."

"I'm a self-respecting musician, Hatori. In fact, I think I should leave now as not to make you think that I would stoop so low as to try to seduce you…" she said mockingly and made her way to the door.

Before she managed to get there however, she was tackled from behind, and she felt Hatori's breath tickling her neck.

"Looks like I have to teach you some respect for your seniors, young lady," Hatori tried to look intimidating, but Yukina knew better.

She made a silly face at Hatori and wriggled out of his grasp unsuccessfully, as Hatori kept a firm grip on her.

"Tell me, Yukina…am I too old for you?" Hatori asked her quietly.

Yukina sensed the change in the atmosphere, and looked at him. His face was serious, and she knew that he wanted a definite answer. She considered the question and her thoughts flitted back to a few months ago, when she discovered herself in this strange town, with no memories of her past. It was fortunate as the owner of 'Scarlet Cocktail', who is also Hatori's close friend; Ayumu-san discovered her and after that, both of them had been helping her with her life, as well as trying to restore her memories.

Besides, she had always been grateful to Hatori, who might be cold and distant sometimes, but he was very understanding and kind underneath. And, she just realised that she loved to come to his office to see him, loved to argue with him just for the sake of fun, loved to watch him sipping his coffee as he listened her playing the piano on stage…

She shook her head and reached out a timid hand to touch his cheek.

"No, Hatori…you are just perfect…" she replied. "How about me…am I too young and immature to you?"

Hatori smiled, rejoicing at her acceptance, and invaded her lips as way of answer.

"I don't need to say it…you are the only one for me, Yukina. The only one that can hug me but not make me transform into an animal…the only one able to melt the snow in my heart…and also make me feel that summer is not so bad after all…"

From opposite the clinic, three men watched the scene with a satisfied smile, and they gave each other a high five.

"Ayumu-kun, you are a genius," Shigure said to the spiky-haired man, gesturing to the kissing couple.

Ayumu grinned and said, "It's just a piece of cake…they have had feelings for each other for a long time, and just need a little bit of prodding at the right time…"

Ayame clapped his hands and beamed. "It's so nice to see them together…I can't wait for their wedding!" he exclaimed.

Next time, Hatori might consider fixing some curtains in his clinic before kissing Yukina.

The End