𝐒𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐭 ❄️

9: The Dragon and The Shadow

"No way," Tohru gasped. "This is the Sohma main estate?"

"It has to be," I said, confident that I had read the address correctly.

"How do we get in?" Tohru frowned at the tall front gate surround the Sohma estate. Luckily, we didn't have to worry about it.

"Tohru-chan and Natsu-chan!"

My sister and I both looked up to see Momiji peering at us from over the slanted roof of the wall surrounding the house. We were definitely in the right place.

Tohru gasped. "Momiji! That's dangerous!" She exclaimed, but the blonde boy had already hopped down from his perch. Within a few seconds, the door slid open and he greeted us with a cute smile.

"Welcome to the Sohma's main estate," Momiji smiled. "I'll lead you to Hatori's place."

As we walked down the long path lined by buildings, I got the feeling that we were in a small village rather than a mansion. Even with the large expanse of land, the area was completely silent. There were no birds, no sound from the wind rustling the trees. Even the sound of our shoes on the stone path seemed to be swallowed up by the immense emptiness. The silence was almost deafening and something about the air made me feel suffocated. I didn't like this place; Shigure's house was much more welcoming.

"We're here!" Momiji's cheery voice pulled me back to reality.

Hatori greeted us with a slight nod and his usual expressionless face. "Welcome," he said. "I didn't know the walk here was so arduous. Well, for one of you, at least"

For a moment, I was confused about what he meant by that statement. Then, I noticed Tohru was bent over from exhaustion. "No, it was fine," she said breathlessly.

"Hm." Hatori didn't look like he believed Tohru's excuse, but he didn't seem to care much about it "Momiji, could you get some tea?" He asked.

"Yep!" Momiji's cheerful response juxtaposed Hatori's flat tone and expression. The blonde boy bounced away somewhere else in the house while Hatori began his conversation with my sister. As the two exchanged pleasantries and talked about the house, I decided to observe my surroundings a little more. The space we were sitting in looked like a small office, containing a desk and a bookcase with neatly shelved books.

I couldn't help but notice a framed photo of a woman with short brown hair sitting on his desk. I glanced at Hatori with a frown. He didn't seem like the sentimental type, so this woman must have been special to him. Could that woman be his wife? But if she is, then why isn't Hatori in the photo too? Don't couples usually take photos together?

It suddenly dawned on me that I'd been staring intently at Hatori for a while. Of course, this hadn't slipped his notice and I when I snapped out of my stupor, I found the doctor staring cooly back at me with a slightly raised eyebrow.

"Natsuki, you look like you have something you want to say," he observed.

"Ah," I blinked. Part of me wanted to ask about the photo, but it didn't feel right. Besides, I had a more pressing question. "I was wondering why you called us here," I said.

Hatori hummed. "I suppose we should get straight to business then," he said. "You two know about the zodiac curse. Even the majority of the Sohma family don't know of the curse, so it was a surprise that Akito didn't give the order for me to erase your memories. I've been wondering why he allowed you to not only retain your memories, but also live with some of our cursed family members. I have arrived at an answer."

This sounded suspicious. "And what would that be?" I frowned.

Hatori turned his chair so he was facing to the side rather than looking at us. His bangs hid his right eye, shielding the majority of his expression from view. His voice was just as cold as his posture. "Do you enjoy living in Shigure's house?" He asked.