Chapter 1: Paramnesia

Warmth.

It didn't seem possible for someone so cold to bask in it now, but it radiated on him like the sun's rays. The mask slipped. His heart was jumpstarted. All by something so invisible but real, in everything she was.

It was the taste of Valentine's chocolates...

She hid her school-girl grin with the heart shaped box she held in front of her face. "Ta-da! I made these myself! It doesn't taste very good, but it's pretty isn't it?"

Despite her warnings that it would make him sick, he ate every last one.

...her hand in his...

"Look how small my hand is compared to yours." She let it lay flat on his palm, her fingers outstretched and the gold bland gleaming. "But it's the perfect fit!"

...and the soft flowery scent of spring...

Sometimes after dinner, he would come up from behind her while she washed the dishes just to rest his head on her shoulder, inhaling the mysterious shampoo she used.

...and those four words...

"I love you, Hatori."

Sharply, he awoke into a face full of incomplete papers and files.

He was slouched over his desk, his pen still loosely cradled in his fingers and a distinct imprint in the papers of where he buried his head. The room was below freezing and dark. Not the hum of the A.C disturbed the frigid air. It told him two things. One, he had fallen asleep. Two, he had overslept.

The pen slid from his fingertips. He reached up and rubbed his eyes lightly dusted with sleep. Hmm…when was the last time he had such a luxury?

He ran his fingers though his hair and shifted upwards. His back twinged achingly as he made an effort to restore a vertical position.

It was late. Almost two in the morning. He sighed. Kana was probably worrying. He guessed that she saw him napping and went home without him.

He had to call her. To assure her that he was okay. He picked up the phone and dialed.

Bzzt... RingRingRing...

No response.

RingRingRing...

He remembered.

RingRingRing...

She was gone.

He hung up.

Click.

A hollow feeling flooded inside him suddenly. He grimaced.

"I nearly forgot..." he murmured to himself as he gazed out the window to see the snowflakes drifting down. "It's winter again."

Revised July/16/11