This story is a continuation of The Kotomi Continuum found in the Anime/Manga Clannad directory.


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Tuesday early morning, October 19 2010Near the Furukawa Bakery


Late September had been unusually hot, but late October certainly wasn't. Especially not at Dark-30 in the morning. Four men stood in the middle of the park across the street from the Furukawa Bakery wearing generic looking coveralls and carrying generic looking tool boxes. Looking generic was the key; all four of these men had the physique of a bar-room brawler and the fighting skills that went with the look. With the generic worker uniforms they were wearing, they were dressed to draw as little attention to themselves as possible and, so far it was working. Isamu had done this kind of job for the Boss twice now and was used to it. Hiroki and Iwao had each been on a similar job with him before, but it was Ryota's first time.

"Nothing happened." a confused Ryota looked around and the park looked completely normal. He couldn't tell that anything had changed at all.

"Yuh gotsta be more observant." Iwao's voice boomed as he smacked Ryota on the back of the head.

"Try looking around for things that should be there, but are missing." Isamu suggested.

"Look for what's missing?" Ryota was puzzled but he knew better than to challenge Isamu or Iwao. Not that he didn't think that he could take either of them in a scrap, but they were under strict orders from the Boss to make it a good clean job with no shenanigans. Looking around the park he saw the familiar baseball field, benches, swing, slide, and other kids stuff. He looked past the park and into the street but there was nothing there… Hey waitaminit! "Hey, where did our ride go?"

"Now yer gettin it." Iwao chuckled.

"C'mon, let's move." Isamu started heading for the bakery at a leisurely shuffle, "Iwao, keep your voice down and Ryota, keep looking for other changes… and don't worry about our ride."

"Right boss." Iwao said more quietly.

"Right boss." Ryota agreed as well.

"Dammit!" Isamu hissed through his teeth as he spun around on the other three, "You know the rules. Don't call anybody 'boss' and don't talk like you're in a gang!" He pointed to Hiroki and hissed, "And don't try to look so damn intimidating!"

"Uh, sorry b… Isamu, but this is just how I always look." Hiroki apologized.

"Yeah, I know…" Isamu regretted picking on Hiroki the moment he called him out. It really was just the way the guy looked and there wasn't much he could do about it. Before his first job, the guys had tried to help him look less conspicuous by getting him to smile, but Hiroki's smile was even scarier than his normal face. "Anyways… just try to remember the rules and don't do anything to draw any attention."

CHATHOOOOOOOOOM!

A bright flash lit up the whole park and all the houses and buildings around it as well. The pressure wave and the sound from the explosion broke windows and set off car alarms. The four men in the park had been blown down by the blast.

What the hell? Isamu blinked and realized he was lying on his friends. A part of his brain was telling him that the blast had come from behind him, in the direction of the bakery. Aside from a splitting headache and a loud ringing in his ears, he didn't feel injured. He was about to ask if the others were okay.

"I didn't do it!" Ryota looked on the verge of panic, "I swear I didn't have nothin to do with that!"

"I know that, baka!" Isamu said as he got to his feet, "We just got here. You haven't had a chance to screw somethin up that much." He was helping Iwao and Ryota to their feet when he heard Hiroki shout.

"Oh shit, it's the bakery!" Hiroki grunted as he took off at a run.

"Crap!" Isamu turned to see the bakery and attached residence in flames. "Ryota! Stay here and call home. Tell them we're gonna need to be picked up early!"

Ryota scampered over to his upturned toolbox and opened it up. Under a tray of ordinary looking tools, he pulled out what looked like a satellite radio.

"You're with me!" Isamu said to Iwao as they grabbed their own tool boxes and headed for the bakery. They didn't yet hear the sound of sirens but it would only be a matter of time before this place was flooded with firemen and… police. As they got close to the bakery, Isamu noticed an injured man sitting in the street and leaning against a light pole. He recognized the man instantly and almost recoiled at the amount of blood the man was sitting in.

"Akio-san!" Isamu yelled as he knelt in the expanding pool of blood and tried to get the dying man's attention, "Akio-san, can you hear me?"

"I don't..." Akio wanted to say that he didn't know who this stranger was. He didn't remember them as regular bakery customers, but it seemed that the other stranger that he just talked to knew his name as well. None of that was of any concern any more; he felt the long sleep coming for him soon. He was in so much pain just a moment ago, but the pain was gone now and he could feel the coming of the inevitable peaceful rest that would end all of his sorrows and regrets. But there was something he had to say… something important he needed to do before he lost his remaining strength.

"Is there anybody else inside?" Isamu yelled over the sounds of the wrecked bakery, to the terminally injured man.

"My grand-daughter… her parents are both dead." Akio gasped for air. His voice was coming out only as a whisper now. Isamu had to put his ear to the dying man's lips to hear his final words, "Her father's family… the Okazaki's… live in Hokkaido. They're all... she has... left."

"Grand-daughter?" Isamu said aloud but he knew that there would be no reply. The old man's eyes were lifeless now and he would answer no more questions. He tried to remember everything he had known about the Furukawa's and everything the Boss had briefed… Oh crap, it's an Ushio!

A loud crashing sound signaled the cave-in of the roof over the residence side of the structure just as the first sounds of sirens could be heard in the distance. A wave of heat wafted out into the street and a million tiny glowing embers floated up into the night air like a plume of destructive fireflies.

"Oh shit." Isamu had been just about to run into the house to help Hiroki. He watched in horror as the bakery side of the building fell over and crashed into the remains of the residence.

"Bos… uh, Isamu." Iwao corrected himself as he stood next to Isamu and watched the flames. He said reverently, "Ah don think nobody coulda lived through that."

"Yeah," Iwao felt the vomit rising in his throat as he realized he had just lost a friend, "it was a damn death trap."

"Lucky I got out when I did." Hiroki said from behind the two as he watched the building burn to the ground with them.

Isamu and Iwao slowly turned and saw their gorilla-like friend standing behind them looking scorched and singed despite being soaking wet. Holding a rolled up blanket in his arms, he sounded a little out-of-breath, but otherwise seemed unconcerned about the familiar home burning down in front of him.

"Baka!" Isamu forgot his own admonishment and screamed at his friend, "I thought you were dead! How the hell did you get out of there?"

"The front was on fire real bad, so I went out the back." Hiroki said simply.

"The back wuddent on fire?" Iwao asked.

"Yeah, it was. Just not as bad." Hiroki's teeth were starting to chatter. Although there was some warmth from the burning building across the street, it was still a rather cool morning and he was still soaking wet.

"So, why are you wet and what's with the blanket?" Isamu asked.

"Oh yeah," Hiroki pulled back the blanket to reveal an unconscious little girl, "I dumped a bucket of water over us so the little girl wouldn't get burned."

"Son of a bitch." Isamu gasped as Iwao whistled in amazement. The hair color was a perfect match and her face looked like a younger version of Nagisa-san. There was no doubt in his mind now.

"What?" Hiroki asked.

"That's an Ushio, you mutton-head!" Isamu chided the monster holding the child, "Don't you ever listen to the Boss?"

"Yeah I do," Hiroki said defensively, "but she don't look like Nagisa-san."

"Whadayamean?" Iwao rounded on the wet brute, "She looks zactly like Nagisa-san!"

"Hey boss! Hey boss!" Ryota interrupted their argument with his yelling from where he had set up his radio back in the park near the baseball diamond. His hollering was loud enough to hear over the crackling sounds of the nearby fire and the sirens that sounded like they were only a few streets away now.

"Baka!" Isamu screamed in response. There were already some onlookers in the street, and more were coming out of their houses every moment to see what had happened in their little neighborhood. Most of them were watching the fire and a few were coming over toward where Furukawa Akio's lifeless body lay. Isamu knew that every one of them would remember someone yelling Hey Boss during the crisis. This place is going to be permanently off-limits now. When we get home, I'm going to beat that idiot Ryota with a copy of the rules until he can't move any more!

"Thirty seconds!" Ryota yelled so all three of them could hear him, "Move your ass!"

"Shit!" all three of them said. Hiroki took off running with the little girl in his arms as the other two grabbed their tool boxes and followed at a good lope. Thirty seconds was enough time to get to the pick-up spot, but now there was no way they could conceal anything. If any of these bystanders turned away from the fire, they would see something they wouldn't soon forget.

"Boss," Iwao asked as he ran alongside Isamu, "What do we do wit da girl?"

"We take her." Isamu replied decisively. He knew it was against the rules, but the rules didn't really cover something that went this bad - this fast. Before he died, Akio-san had told him about her only living relatives, but none of them could stick around to talk to the authorities to relay that message. One thing that was abundantly clear in the rules was to never get involved with the authorities.

"You sure?" Iwao asked, "The Boss is gonna have your ass for this."

"Yeah, maybe." Isamu grunted, "But I don't see that we got a choice."

"Seven… six…" Ryota was calling the numbers out as they gathered around his radio. He already had his visor on and could see the first of the baubles of light swirling around them. He noticed that Hiroki had his arms full and reaching over, put the big guy's visor over his eyes for him.

"… five… four…" There were a lot of the light baubles now. On the trip here, Ryota had been scared of them touching him but he found out quickly that they couldn't be felt or touched: they could only be seen. Even now, some of the swirling baubles were passing through his arm that held the transmitter and countdown timer.

A scream from behind them drew Isamu's attention. Apparently, the gathering neighbors had just realized that the dead guy in the street was their baker friend. Fortunately, that little discovery seemed to draw the neighbor's attention from everything else.

"… three… two…" Ryota wondered what was under the blanket that Hiroki was carrying, but that would have to wait. The light baubles had reached the intensity of a full white-out blizzard and they could all hear the recovery tone from the radio. "… one… zero!"

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For the eternity of a single moment, there was the sensation that they had just been dumped into freezing cold water.

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! STOP !

I'm guessing that you are pretty upset, maybe even pissed right now. I can understand that. After all, in the first half of the first chapter, four of the most beloved Clannad characters seem to have been wiped out. But, before you go any further, there is something you should know.

1. The Furukawa Bakery did not explode.

2. The Furukawa's and Tomoya that you read about in The Kotomi Continuum are all just fine.

I'm telling you this so you won't get too upset and possibly have a health crisis… or hate me… or both.

So, if they are all okay, you should feel a bit more relaxed now. But there remains an intriguing question:

Where the heck did Ushio come from?

Don't worry, that is the story that is about to be told. But to tell that story, I need to back up just a bit:


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135 Days before the aforementioned fire.

6 years and 97 days after Tomoya left for America with Koumura Toshio.

Sunday afternoon, June 6 2010 Train Station


Tomoya was exhausted but there was still a little bit farther to go before they would finally be home.

Home…

Even though he had lived in the Okazaki house for over a decade before high school, and he had just spent six years in the same house in America, Tomoya never could think of those places as home. It would be the Ichinose house, where he lived for a little over half a year, that would forever be home in his heart. Even with the modifications he and Kotomi had discussed, he wondered if it would be big enough now. Their family was quite a bit larger now. In fact, it had more than doubled since the three of them had left Japan just six years ago. But those concerns would have to wait. For now, he just needed to get everyone safely there.

Tomoya was about to start the process to arrange for transportation when a commercial bus pulled up in front of the station. He was about to laugh at the absurdity of leasing a bus to pick someone up at a public terminal when he saw a funny looking policeman emerge from the big vehicle. It wasn't the fact that he was a policeman that was so funny looking. It was the black hair. Of course, Tomoya had seen Youhei in his black hair once when he had come back for his friend's wedding. But, it still looked odd.

"Still got the black hair, eh?" Tomoya verbally poked at his old friend.

Ignoring Tomoya's attempt to spar, Youhei threw his arms wide and loudly announced, "Hail the conquering heroes!" Several people entering and leaving the train station looked around to see what was going on and Youhei finished with, "They went to America's universities and came back with all their degree's!"

Kotomi was about to point out that they did not acquire all the possible degree's but the reactions from Tomoya and Kyou told her that this was a humorous phrasing and not meant to be taken as a precise statement. They had completed quite a few though. In the six years they were gone, Tomoya had finished college and law school. Kyou had completed a degree in mathematics to satisfy her parents, and had also acquired a Masters degree in education. Having the twins and their younger sister did not slow Kotomi down much. She returned with two Doctorate degrees in subjects that made Tomoya and Kyou's eyes glaze over.

There was applause from behind Youhei and the group was pleasantly surprised to see Kobayashi-hakase and Yukine come into view. Yukine's smile was as warm as ever, and holding onto the tail of her blouse was…

"Oh my gods!" Kyou left her bags where they were and rushed over, "He's adorable Yukine!" Dropping to her knees, she looked the little boy in the eye and asked him, "My name is Kyou, can I give you a hug?"

"It's okay," Yukine smiled when her son looked up to her for permission, "Kyou-chan is one of mama and papa's best friends."

The little boy turned back to the anxiously waiting, lavender haired woman. His blue eyes seemed to twinkle and his lips formed an innocent and eager smile as he opened his arms for the offered affection.

Kyou swooped him up and held him tight but he didn't seem to mind at all. "He's so cute… he's so adorable!" Kyou cooed as she swayed with the small child in her arms.

At only four years old, he didn't know why this lady was enjoying the hug so much, but he was old enough to understand happiness and he knew he was making her happy right now. His small hands reached around her neck and played with the pretty lavender hair.

"And, who is this lovely little lady?" Youhei asked the blue eyed, purple haired girl peeking out from behind Tomoya's legs. As soon as Youhei started speaking to her, she fully retreated with a squeak. Almost the moment the squeak came out, two boys moved up to either side of their father to further shield the little girl.

#She's my little sister.# the taller of the two boys said in English.

"In Japanese, Shuichi." Tomoya admonished his son, "We are in Japan now, so you need to get in the habit of speaking Japanese."

"She is my little sister." Shuichi repeated the comment in clipped Japanese.

"Her name is Michiko, but you can not talk to her because she is shy." the other boy told Youhei.

"Oh, okay." Youhei stood back up and asked Tomoya, "The boys have a problem with Japanese?"

"Hey, give them a break." Tomoya put his hands on his son's heads, "They're only six years old. Being able to speak English and Japanese as well as they do is pretty remarkable."

"Oh yeah," Youhei said, "I keep forgetting they are only six. When I look at them, I'm thinking nine or ten year olds."

"All three of them are very tall for their ages." Tomoya said with a bit of pride, "The boys are already four-one and four-two!"

"Four-one and four-two?" Youhei asked.

"Sorry," Tomoya winced at his mistake, "they still use imperial measurements over there. Shuichi is 128 centimeters." Tomoya indicated the slightly taller boy with the purple eyes and steel-blue hair. Then he indicated the boy with the blue eyes and dark brown hair and said, "Shuji is 125 centimeters."

"Whoa!" Youhei did some quick math with their birthdays and commented, "They're going to be giants to all the other Kindergarten kids."

"They won't be going into Kindergarten." Tomoya explained, "The school year in America starts in August and is over at the end of May. They just finished Kindergarten back in America. Actually, the academy where Kotomi had them enrolled used a different format for teaching so we won't know what grade they should be in until we have them tested."

"Heh," Youhei laughed, "they've got Kotomi's genes, right? They might go straight to high school." Youhei was looking at the younger of the twins. With his blue eyes and dark brown hair, he looked like he could be an older brother to his own son, Yoichi. Of course, their faces were different. He could see a lot of Kotomi in all of the Okazaki children.

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"Kotomi-chan. Toshio-san. It is good to see you again." Kobayashi Jun greeted them both as friends. "I hope your time abroad was rewarding."

"Indeed it was," Koumura Toshio smiled, "but it is good to be home again." Looking past Jun he asked, "I assume the bus is for us?"

"It is," Jun looked over at where Tomoya and Youhei were talking, "Sunohara-san arranged for the bus. I suggested several vans, but he wanted everyone to ride together."

"It seems that he has turned out to be quite dependable." Toshio smiled at the personal victory while he gazed over at the young man in the uniform of a police officer. He had never imagined Youhei in any kind of uniform other than what he might wear for a sports team, but the old former counselor had to admit that the blue uniform looked good on the young man.

"From what I understand, he won't be wearing that uniform for much longer." Jun said with a knowing smile.

"Oh?" Toshio queried.

"Sunohara has already passed his detective exams. He'll be promoted within the next two months." Jun gave the venerable old man yet another point of pride to keep for his own.

Just then, Koumura felt a small hand take his. He looked down to see little Michiko standing next to him with her arms outstretched. The little girl looked terribly tired.

"Ojiisan?" the four year old pleaded with a weary pout on her face.

"Very well then, young miss." Koumura lifted the little girl into his arms and let her rest her head on his shoulder. "I can tell that you're tired but you've been a very good girl."

Tired as she was, there was a little smile on her face at the praise from her beloved Ojiisan.

"Well then," Toshio turned to Kotomi, "I suppose you two will want to catch up a bit. I'll see about getting the bus loaded." With the sleepy four year old girl in his arms, a bow wouldn't be possible, but Koumura gave a polite nod as he turned to be about his duty.

"Yes, thank you Toshio-san." Kotomi barely waited for Toshio to turn away before her attention was on Jun. "Have all the modifications been completed?" Kotomi had forgotten her exhaustion in the excitement of seeing Kobayashi Jun and possibly getting a progress update on the various projects she had asked him to manage for her.

"Relax Kotomi-chan," Jun chuckled, "everything is moving along nicely. The permit to use the public park for the experiments was easier to acquire than I had predicted. It looks like you have a friend in the local government"

"Tomoyo-chan?" Kotomi's eyes opened wide. She, Tomoya, and Kyou had kept in touch with Tomoyo over the years. Kotomi knew that Tomoyo had done well at the University of Hokkaido and had come back home to put her Political Science degree to work. Politics was a big game though, so she was working in the bureaucracy while she learned all the the things that college classes didn't teach her. Kotomi was not aware that Tomoyo had done well enough to be able to influence decisions though.

"Yes," Kobayashi nodded, "she has been doing well since her return from Hokkaido… at least professionally. I don't know any more than that." Jun was trying to get Kotomi to re-engage with her old friends on a non-professional level. She had made enormous gains with her interpersonal skills since the dark days before Tomoya found her again and Jun didn't want to see her lose any of it.

"And the acquisitions we talked about?" Kotomi did want to catch up with Tomoyo-chan, but she was far too excited about getting the latest status right now.

"Slow down, Kotomi-chan." Jun chuckled. Then he cautioned the younger colleague, "You've got years of project work and experiments ahead of you. If you keep up this level of energy, you might burn yourself out."

"Kobayashi-san, did you not read my last submission?" Kotomi asked her long time mentor and former guardian.

"I scanned through it, but I have yet to go through it in detail." Jun admitted. He only got her last submission a few days ago and it was over seven hundred pages after all.

"Allow me to explain…" Kotomi started but appeared to reconsider, "never-mind – I shall summarize. Once we have the local setup working, I expect to have useful data within thirty days."

"Thirty days?" Kobayashi was stunned. He had been projecting three years before they could capture anything that could be called useful data. He was about to caution her against overly optimistic predictions when she hit him again.

"I believe we will have a contact-level experiment within three months." Kotomi said confidently.

Kobayashi Jun's mouth was hanging open at this point. He had seen nothing from the Marsh Particle Accelerator results that could corroborate these claims. What the hell did Kotomi find that I didn't?

"What about the…" Kotomi's next question was interrupted by Tomoya calling out to everyone there.

"All right, let's get on the bus and go home!" Tomoya urged, "You can finish talking there but the kids are tired and so am I."

"Ha ha ha!" Youhei laughed, "Did you turn into an old man while you were gone?"

"Sunohara-san?" a quiet voice called out to Youhei.

"Ulp." Youhei immediately regretted his choice of words when he turned to see Koumura regarding him.

"Such an outburst is unbecoming of someone wearing the uniform, is it not?" Koumura asked him quietly.

"Sorry, Koumura-sensei" Youhei bowed to the older man. His shame at insulting the old man was building when he heard the quiet old voice again.

"I have been keeping track of you these past six years, you know." Koumura said, "I am proud of you, Sunohara-san. You have taken your weaknesses and turned them into strengths. I look forward to seeing you continue to do well."

Youhei's mouth was agape as the old man continued on his way to the bus with the little girl in his arms. Tomoya smiled and recalled the lessons he had learned from the old man over the years. Discipline only as necessary and praise whenever possible.

When Koumura got to the bus he had to put Michiko down, but Yoichi was already at the steps and flashing that almost mesmerizing smile.

"You can sit next to me." Yoichi offered his hand to Tomoya and Kotomi's painfully shy daughter. At first, it didn't look like Michiko would accept. She started to recoil from another stranger but there was something about him that seemed safe. Although she was a month younger than Yoichi, she was almost fifteen centimeters taller. But still, she felt her fear and shyness slipping away when she was near him.

"Okay," Michiko stunned both of her parents, Kyou, and Toshio – when she took the shorter boy's hand and walked with him onto the waiting bus.

"Your son is quite the charmer." Toshio observed.

"Yup," Youhei said proudly, "like father like son!"

"No," Kyou rejected Youhei's comment, "Yoichi didn't sound the least bit sleazy."

"Huh… HEY!" Youhei started to bluster, but laughed instead. "It's good to see you haven't changed too much, Kyou."

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Sunday afternoon, June 6Ichinose residence


Several hours ago, Tomoyo and Sanae had been the first to arrive at the Ichinose home. Well, they were the first helpers to arrive. From the look of the men working on the home's expansion, the construction workers had been working on the new addition to the house since dawn.

When Tomoyo and Sanae got inside, they faced a moment of shock. They had both expected to feel like they had stepped back in time. They were expecting the place to look like it had five years ago when Tomoyo had finished her last year of high school. During that year, she had never done anything to the house that would disturb it from the way Kotomi had left it. Apparently, Sunohara Mei had not felt the same obligation to sentimentality.

Mei had lived in the Ichinose residence after Tomoyo went off to University in Hokkaido. She had been there for the three years that she had attended Hikarizaka Private High School.

The hardwoods had been sanded down and re-stained to a lighter shade. The walls had been painted in warmer and lighter colors. With those two changes alone, the rooms seemed brighter and more open. It seemed that Mei's touch was everywhere they looked.

"No!" Tomoyo and Sanae looked at each other as they both wondered the same thing. Surely she didn't change the study! Since the day of the plane crash, Kotomi had tried to keep the study exactly how it had been the last time she had seen her parents. Even though she herself had caused damage to the room when she tried to burn the envelope that she mistakenly believed had been the cause of her parents demise, the study remained essentially unchanged. Tomoyo never used the room; it had still reeked of the fire from so long ago. Worried at what they might find, they ran up the stairs and saw that the room was… gone?

"Huh?" Sanae walked closer to where the room should be but found only a hallway. On the other end of the hallway was a sheet of plastic nailed into place and on the other side of that…

"The new wing!" Tomoyo figured it out. She could see sunlight through the plastic and the sounds of power-saws and hammering echoed down what was now the upstairs hallway to the home's additional rooms.

"Did… did Kotomi approve this?" Sanae wondered.

"She must have." Tomoyo assumed for the best, "either way… there's nothing we can do about it now."

"I hope this is okay." Sanae admired the workmanship of the new hallway. More had been done here than just taking out the far wall and calling it a hallway. The hallway was narrower than the missing room had been. That meant that they had opened up the rooms on either side of the former study and fundamentally changed the floor-plan. "I've got to say, they've done some really good work here."

"Yeah," Tomoyo agreed, "Yukine's boys have learned some good skills."

"Well, sightseeing is over." Sanae clapped her hands and summoned her will to tackle the kitchen, "Let's get to work!"

By the time the next set of helpers arrived, the kitchen was fresh and clean, things were put away, and they had already started making a lunch for all the people that were expected.

"Hey Tomoyo," Sanae wondered as she stirred a broth, "how do we know that we put things where Kotomi wants them?"

"I lived in this house for a year and a half." Tomoyo answered, "I never changed anything up so I know where things were when she lived here before."

"Her preferences may have changed in the last six years." Sanae suggested.

"In that case," Tomoyo gave a lopsided smile, "she can re-arrange to her heart's content."

"We're here!" two girl's voices harmonized as they called out from the front door. Their voices were recognized instantly without the need to ask for names. Sanae dropped the stirring spoon in her excitement.

"Ah!" Sanae cried out and ran to give her daughters a hug. That was how she though of them even though only Nagisa was her actual daughter. As Nagisa's lover and partner, Fujibayashi Ryou had become as close to the Furukawa family as a daughter could be.

Tomoyo only smiled and picked up Sanae's abandoned spoon to continue stirring the broth until Sanae had finished hugging her precious girls. She smiled as she remembered the warmth that seemed to radiate from the Furukawa family. It was good to be close to the care and love that surrounded the Furukawa family again. Tomoyo was thinking about the warmth of families when she noticed a movement out of the corner of her eye.

A large sweaty man was in the living room holding a hammer. It would be easy to see his rough countenance as an intimidating thug, but right now he looked like he was seeing a ghost. Tomoyo noticed that his mouth was moving but no sound was coming out.

"Can I help you?" Tomoyo asked casually. She had already sized up the conflict potential and the man was at a serious disadvantage. Sure, he had a hammer in his hand, but she was in the kitchen just a step away from the knife rack. Not that she would need the knife…

"Sakagami Tomoyo?" the man asked in a scared half-whisper as if he was afraid to say the name aloud.

"Yes." She didn't ask who he was. She didn't know his name, but she had a good idea what his affiliation was.

"I… I thought you left town." he was visibly sweating as he asked.

"I went to university in Hokkaido but I came back after I graduated." Tomoyo told him.

"Oh… uh… I… I don't know if you remember me but," the man swallowed hard, "you almost killed me once. You… you beat me real bad."

"I used to beat up a lot of people." Tomoyo knew that she needed to end the man's fear before he did something foolish, "They were all thugs, bullies, criminals… but I never once beat up a carpenter."

"Huh?" the man sounded confused.

"The hammer is a carpenters hammer isn't it?" Tomoyo asked, "Are you a carpenter now?"

"Oh this?" the man seemed less worried now, "this is a claw hammer. Isamu is letting me borrow it until I have enough money to get a framing hammer."

"Framing hammer?" Tomoyo asked.

"Yeah. I'm a roofer." the man said proudly, but then looked worried. After all, Tomoyo hadn't said that she didn't beat up roofers.

"That is an honest skill too." Tomoyo smiled and eased the man's mind, "And being a roofer is an honest profession. I would never beat up a roofer."

"Ya blockhead!" the man's head was hit from behind by a smaller man, "Stop bothering the lady and get back to work!"

"Yes boss!" the man rushed out of the patio door. Tomoyo noted that this boss may be smaller than the big roofer, but still seemed to command the bigger man's respect.

"And don't call me boss!" Isamu yelled at the back of the retreating roofer. Turning to Tomoyo he told her, "He was on the roof and saw you when you came in. He's been nervous all morning."

"I think he'll be okay now." Tomoyo smiled.

"Why is that?" Isamu took a step closer, but still kept a safe distance.

"I told him that I never beat up anyone doing an honest job." Tomoyo said, "Criminals and bullies, sure. But not roofers, carpenters, or plumbers."

"You've never actually met a plumber have you?" Isamu laughed.

"I guess not. Why?" Tomoya asked.

"A lot of them will rip you off worse than most criminals." Isamu then asked, "And what about that cop? I heard you used to beat him half to death."

"Sunohara? That was a misunderstanding." Tomoyo laughed.

"That was a long time ago and he wasn't a policeman back then." Nagisa's voice came from the living room where the other three girls had been watching the conversation.

"And she didn't ever start it. Sunohara attacked her every time." Ryou added.

"He attacked you?" Isamu's disbelief was clearly evident when he asked Tomoyo. Without waiting for a reply he commented, "He's got guts. That's for sure. Maybe not much in brains, but he's definitely got guts."

All four of the women in the room would like to have defended Youhei, but they couldn't honestly argue against Isamu's conclusion. At least, back then he was not showing a lot of intelligence.

"You're Isamu-san, right?" Tomoyo asked.

"Uh… yeah." Isamu wondered how she knew who he was.

"Tell your boys that I'm making them some lunch. It will be ready in thirty minutes." Tomoyo told him.

"Really? Uh… sure! I'll get right on that!" and he was on his way out. Just as he stepped out onto the back patio, he spun around and said, "Oh I almost forgot, Yukine-sama said the electrician guy would be coming by today. We're ready for him as soon as he gets here."

"I'll be sure to let him know." Sanae told him. After he left, the three girls in the living room turned to Tomoyo.

"You're making lunch… for them?" Nagisa was surprised. She knew that Tomoyo had participated in making lunch for the guys that were working on the Okazaki house several years ago, but that was a group effort with her friends.

"Yes. They are working hard." Tomoyo tasted the broth and decided it needed more salt. Then she asked Nagisa, "Why do you ask?"

"You're a lot more forgiving than I thought." Nagisa said, "Didn't you use to fight with them?"

"That was a long time ago and they are trying to work honestly now." Tomoyo looked out the windows in the direction of the new wing as she said, "If I think I deserve a second chance, I would need to give others a second chance too."

Nagisa was about to ask Tomoyo what she meant about second chances when she heard the front door open again. This time Sanae stayed with Tomoyo in the kitchen when they heard a chorus of voices announcing that more of her friends had arrived.

.

By the time Sunohara's bus pulled up in front of the Ichinose residence, the work inside the house was almost finished. Tomoyo and Sanae were still in the kitchen and had a large pot of Ishikari-nabe ready. During her years of study at the University of Hokkaido, Tomoyo had been introduced to the hearty flavor of the salmon and vegetable stew. It had been one of her favorite meals, when she could afford it. Sanae had mentioned that Tomoya's family was originally from Hokkaido, but he had not grown up there so Tomoyo worried a little that he might not like it.

Upstairs, in the master bedroom, Ryou and Nagisa had finished unpacking and putting away all the boxes that had been pre-shipped. Nagisa was surprised, but said nothing when she saw that Kyou-chan's personal belongings were to be unpacked and put away in the same room with Tomoya and Kotomi's belongings. Then again, the three of them had become very close ever since that terrible night when Nagisa and Tomoya almost froze to death… or perhaps even farther back – when they had the basketball game to save the Drama Club. In any case, Nagisa decided that she was not in any position to criticize their lifestyle when she was in a loving relationship with Kyou's younger sister. Nagisa found herself blushing as she hung up a beautiful shimmering dress that Kyou surely wore to some gala occasion. There was another lovely dress on Kotomi's side of the closet and Nagisa noted that the colors were complementary. She was wondering if they went to some event with each other or if they both went with Tomoya. But it was when she wondered what she and Ryou would look like together in such lovely dresses that really deepened her blush.

Kouko was in the bedroom that had been set up for little Michiko. She had seen several pictures of the little girl and her two older brothers, but it wasn't until she had the child's clothes in her hands that she realized how big the girl was. Kouko's daughter – Maiko, was a year older than the Okazaki daughter. But from the looks of the clothes that she had been putting away, Michiko was both taller and bigger than Maiko. She was definitely taller than Kouko's son – Yasuo, who was the same age as Michiko and Sunohara's son, Yoichi. Kouko hoped they would all play well together and smiled at the thought that the three kids would be going to Kindergarten with each other next year.

As soon as Yusuke was finished with the wiring in the wing that Iwao and his cohorts were working on, he came back inside to help Furukawa Akio with assembling the bunk beds in the boy's room. Akio complemented Yusuke on his son and daughter and asked how the comatose Fuko was doing. Yusuke gave simple answers but seemed to want to concentrate on the work. Akio knew that Yusuke was a man of few words unless he was going off on one of his inspirational orations, so he didn't pry. In truth, Yusuke wanted to boast about his children, but he had been warned by his wife that children might be a delicate subject for Akio and Sanae. Kouko had let him know that even if the Furukawa's daughter – Nagisa, hadn't been in a relationship with another girl, she was physically frail and might not survive bringing a child to term. For a proud papa who had over a thousand pictures of his son and daughter on his cell phone, it was a difficult task to keep quiet after he had been asked… but Yusuke persevered.

Downstairs in the Dojo that used to be a dining room, the ikiryo of Ibuki Fuko was playing with… uh… watching over… her own niece and nephew. This is the Fuko that all the Hikarizaka Private High School students had come to know, and she had not changed at all in the last six years. In fact, she was still wearing the school's winter uniform just as she always did when she appeared to her friends. Fuko's niece, Maiko was an energetic child and was dancing around in circles in front of the floor to ceiling mirrors that adorned one wall of the Dojo. She had her mother's gentle face and her father's blue eyes. Her reddish brown hair must have also come from her mother's side. Fuko also knew that when these two grew up, they would be tall like both of their parents, but for now Fuko was happy that she was forty to fifty centimeters taller than her niece and nephew. Fuko was presently playing hard with… uh… watching over her nephew, Yasuo as he practiced punching the padded gloves that Fuko was wearing. He had reddish brown hair like his sister and light brown eyes like his mother, but his handsome face looked like a younger image of his father.

"One two! One two!" Fuko called out for the four year old to hit the gloves with his tiny fists. She remembered the horrible Okazaki-san teasing her like this many years ago, but the little four year old wasn't scary and didn't hit very hard at all. Still, Fuko couldn't help but close her eyes every time the boy hit one of the gloves on her hands.

"Am I doing it right, Obachan?" Little Yasuo asked brightly.

"Yes, you're doing great! But remember your promise to Fuko." Fuko reminded him, "After you hit the gloves ten times, Fuko gets to hug you."

"Okaaaay." Yasuo liked his aunt and didn't mind her hugs too much. But sometimes she seemed to forget what she was doing and hugged him too long.

"Obachan, Obachan!" Maiko squealed from the other end of the room, "Do the people that are coming here have any kids for us to play with?"

"Yes," Fuko recalled, "They have two boys and a girl."

"Ugh," Maiko sounded as disgusted as if she had just stepped on a cockroach with her bare foot, "… more little brothers."

"No… Fuko thinks the boys are older." Fuko tried to remember but was having a hard time of it.

"Older than me?" Maiko sounded shocked. Very few of the kids in her Kindergarten class had any siblings at all, but those that did seemed to be older sisters or younger brothers. She knew that there were boys that were older than her in all the grades above Kindergarten, but they were all annoying like her little brother. She had played with Sunohara Yoichi several times and he wasn't so bad, but he was a grade younger than her, like her own little brother. For some reason, being the same age as her annoying little brother made him annoying too. Older brothers… I wonder what that's like?

.

Unfortunately, and much to Maiko's displeasure, the kids didn't get a chance to meet each other that day. The trip had been too long and the Okazaki children were just too tired. The adults were tired as well but they knew their responsibility to burn off the jet-lag as quickly as possible. They pushed themselves to stay awake as long as they could, but the sun was still up when they just couldn't last any longer.

.

Monday morning, June 7Ichinose residence


Tomoya awoke to the smell of… omelet rice? That wasn't something Koumura-san typically made. Kyou's head was resting on the left side of his chest and Kotomi's head was on his right, so it wasn't one of the girls.

"Do you smell omelet-rice?" Kyou asked Kotomi. The way their heads lay on Tomoya's chest when they slept meant that they ended up looking into each other's eyes when they woke up. Confused purple eyes looked into amused purple eyes and wondered where the lovely smell was coming from.

"You don't think the boys are trying to cook again?" Tomoya asked dubiously. The last time they tried to cook, Tomoya had to empty a fire extinguisher and it took a month to rebuild the kitchen. It took longer for him to rebuild his pride.

"I hate to say it," Kotomi said dryly, "but logically, if it was the boys, it probably wouldn't smell this good."

"Hee hee." Kyou couldn't help but laugh. She remembered the boys' tragic attempt to cook too. It had been the previous September.


The semester had just started up and Kyou was riding her motorcycle back from the school when she saw the fire trucks in front of the place where she lived. Momentary panic faded when she saw that the whole family was outside on the lawn in front of the house. She could see the boys looking upset and Tomoya was livid. Kotomi was a few steps behind Tomoya and holding their frightened daughter. Kyou couldn't tell if little Michiko was more afraid of the house fire or her father's fury. Taking off her helmet, she could hear Tomoya as he lit into his sons.

"What were you two thinking?" Tomoya demanded. Kyou could tell that he wanted to use other words, but there were some things you didn't say in front of your five year old children, no matter how upset you are.

"We wanted to make a… a birthday cake." Shuji explained sorrowfully.

"A birthday cake?" Tomoya was now confused and angry, "Your birthday was in May!"

"Not for us," Shuichi said defiantly, "it was for Kyou-mama!"

"Today is her birthday." Shuji added.

"But…" Tomoya's face paled. The boys had just burned down the kitchen, but he had forgotten Kyou's birthday. He instantly knew which was the greater sin.

"Oh my dear lovely boys, you were making me a birthday cake?" Kyou said as she walked past the now stricken Tomoya and embraced the two teary-eyed boys. "I am so proud of you for thinking of me. Let's get you inside and washed up. Then we'll go out to eat with Mama and Michiko, okay?"

"What about daddy?" Shuichi asked.

"Daddy's in the dog house right now," Kyou said seriously but without anger, "and people in the dog house don't get to do nice things… until they're allowed out of the dog house."

"But we don't have a dog?" Shuji asked innocently.

"Or a dog house." Shuichi added.

"That's enough questions for now." Kyou smiled and took the two boys by the hands and led them back into the house to get cleaned up.

Tomoya would swear that at that moment, Kyou's normally purple eyes were red like glowing embers and her entire head was blotted out by a dark aura. Although both of the boys felt nothing but warmth and love from their Kyou-mama, Tomoya could only feel a cold chill pass through him as she walked by.


"Heh heh heh heh," Kyou couldn't help but chuckle as she remembered the events from her last birthday too.

"So then… someone broke into our home, ransacked our kitchen, and is making themselves breakfast?" Tomoya vocalized the improbable possibility.

"Ku ku ku ku!" Kyou was laughing harder at Tomoya's absurd idea.

"Not just somebody," a high pitched voice said from beside the bed, "Yu-chan is making breakfast… and it's ready now."

"Fuko!" a startled Tomoya hadn't noticed her in the room until the moment she spoke. Then again, an ikiryo could do that, couldn't she.

"What?" Fuko sounded as startled as Tomoya did.

"Are you and Yukine-chan the only ones here?" Kotomi asked.

"No," Fuko answered, "we brought Yoichi-kun and Yasuo-kun too. Fuko wanted to bring Maiko-chan but she had to go to school today."

"Fuko-chan," Kotomi slid out of bed and took Fuko by the hands, "I know this is quite an imposition to ask this of you, but can you watch the children for a while after breakfast?"

"F… Fuko?" Fuko looked as if she were about to go into her starfish trance at the mere thought of being left to play with… uh… watch all the children. Just as suddenly, the trance broke and she said with determination, "Fuko can do it! You can count on Fuko."

"Thank you Fuko," Tomoya said while getting up, "If you would, please tell Yukine that we are up now and we will be dressed and down in a few minutes."

"Fuko can do that too!" the short girl in the high school uniform and big blue hair bow said as she raced from the room.

"Well," Kyou observed, "there's someone that hasn't changed at all in six years."

.

"Michiko-chan." a soft voice called as little fingers carefully brushed aside strands of deep purple hair from the sleeping girl's face.

The little girl heard her name being called as if from very far away. She had been dreaming about the day that Mama and Kyou-mama told her that the family was going to move far away and it had been a unpleasant memory from a disturbing event.

"No… I don't want to go." Michiko repeated the words that she had said almost a month ago.

"Michiko-chan." the voice sounded friendly as it called to her. The voice sounded so friendly that the persistant unpleasantness seemed wrong somehow.

"This is my home. I don't want to leave." Michiko started to cry just as she did when her two mama's told her that she had to go. They had explained that the whole family would be moving and they were not going to leave her behind.

"Michiko-chan." the voice was kind and she felt warm hands holding her hands. She clung to the hands in hopes that they could help her through this nightmare.

"It's too far… I don't want to!" Michiko grasped the hands as if they were the only friends she had left. Why do I have to leave my home? I finally made friends with some other kids in my preschool! This is my home, it's the only place I've ever known! "Why? Why?"

"Michiko-chan." the soft voice was right next to her and she felt the lips of a gentle kiss on her forehead.

Michiko's eyes sprung open and she was looking at an unfamiliar face. She was about to cry out when she suddenly remembered the face from the bus. "Yo… Yoichi?"

"Yes." the boy smiled. "Were you having a bad dream?"

"Uh huh." Michiko admitted. She wanted to say more but she was captivated by the smile in front of her. It was as if all the fears from the bad memory were just melting away when she looked at that smile. He had blue eyes and brown hair like her brother Shuji, but his smile… That smile…

"When I have a bad dream, my haha will kiss my forehead and it makes me feel better." Yoichi explained, "Did I make you feel better."

"Yeah, you did." Michiko then asked, "What is a haha?"

"Huh?" Yoichi was confused for only a moment but remembered that his mother told her that the Okazaki children moved here from a land where not many people speak Japanese. "Okasan is my haha."

"Okasan..." now Michiko brightened, "so haha is like mama!"

"Yes!" Yoichi agreed.

"But, um… why are you in my bed?" Michiko wasn't upset or even embarrassed; she just wanted to know.

"Oh yeah!" Yoichi brightened as if he remembered an important thing, "I came to get you. My haha made breakfast for everyone this morning!" Yoichi slid out of Michiko's bed without letting go of her hands and turned back to her with his radiant smile.

"Really? It smells good." Michiko just now noticed the yummy smell in the air. It was sort of like scrambled eggs but different. Sitting up in alarm, she cried out, "Oh no… are my brothers awake?"

"Yes," Yoichi told her as she slid out of her bed to stand next to him, "Yasuo woke them up when I came to get you."

"We better hurry then or there won't be any food left!" Standing next to the boy whose smile had captivated her, she was almost fifteen centimeters taller than him, but four year olds rarely care about such things so neither of them commented on it.

"Don't worry," Yoichi laughed, "my haha made lots!"

Fortunately, Yoichi was right – Yukine had made a lot of food for everyone.

Unfortunately, Michiko was also right – her brothers could put away a truly staggering amount of food.

.

Monday afternoon, June 7Aoki Elementary School


"I'll need to speak to the mother and father alone." the school administrator said as she came into the room where one man and two women were seated. The lavender haired woman started to get up but the man seated next to her blocked her with his hand as the purple haired woman spoke up.

"Kyou-chan must stay." Kotomi said, "You must treat her as if she is also a parent."

Kyou blushed that Tomoya and Kotomi would defend her so firmly.

"We can't do that." the school administrator said in a bored voice as if she had to deal with troublesome parents all the time. "We have rules here and we do not make exceptions."

"We have legal documents that give Kyou full parental rights." Tomoya said levelly.

"We do not make exceptions." the administrator was getting weary of these tiresome people. The sooner they realized they had no other options and listened to reason, the sooner she could be done with them.

"Then our children will go to another school." Kotomi stood up and picked up her purse to leave. As soon as she stood up, Tomoya also stood and offered a hand to Kyou.

"Just who the hell do you think you are?" the administrator gaped.

"She thinks she is Ichinose Kotomi," Kyou used Kotomi's professional name as she also got up to leave.

"Yeah, and I'm the Queen of Okinawa." the administrator laughed at them.

"Actually," Tomoya waited until the girls were out of the room to tell the administrator, "she is Ichinose Kotomi, but she married me." His finger tapped the stack of forms on the desk between them, "So now she is Okazaki Kotomi."

"Eh?" the blood drained from the administrator's face. Everyone in this town knew who Ichinose Kotomi was. That damned Hikarizaka Private High School always put her name at the top of their list when they bragged about their graduates. But wait… that means…

"Okazaki-san. Fujibayashi-san." a middle aged man was bowing in the hallway as they left the administrators office. "I am the principal of Aoki Elementary School. It is a pleasure to meet you."

"It is a pleasure to meet you too, but I'm afraid we are on our way out." Tomoya told him.

"Eh?" the principal blanched and looked past the three at the administrator now cowering in her own doorway. "Please come with me. I'm sure there has been a misunderstanding and I will do everything in my power to resolve it."

"Before we waste any more of each other's time, let me ask you this question," Tomoya's bearing suddenly reflected the education and training that college and law school had given him, "If I were to present you with a legal document that gives Fujibayashi Kyou full guardian rights regarding my children, would this school accept it? And, would there be anything that the school would not be able to discuss with her that they would be able to discuss with Kotomi or me?"

"You… have such a document?" the principal asked.

"I do." Tomoya held out a tri-folded document that bore a Prefecture Government seal.

"Of course, the school would observe any legally binding order." the principal now knew what the issue had been that had upset the parents of the prospective students. "If it is your wish and if the legal document supports it, we will give Fujibayashi Kyou full parental access."

"If I may ask," Kyou faced the principal, "Why are you so eager to get the boys into your school?"

"Well," the principal admitted, "their test scores are unbelievable. Their lowest scores are in Japanese where they are barely at first grade level, but their math and science scores are off the charts. To be sure, I gave them tests for subjects that they won't be covering until third through fifth grade and they still did well. To be honest, it is a shame you're not in a bigger city where you could find an academy to match their talents."

"That can't be helped." Kotomi said. She had thought long and hard about this move and what it would mean to the children's education, but in the end, she just couldn't send them away to a boarding academy and she had to be here for her research to continue.

"Principal, I wonder if there might actually be a solution that could also benefit the school?" Tomoya offered as he started the group walking in the direction of the testing center where the boys were.

"Oh?" the Principal hadn't heard that much about the boys' father as he had about their mother but he was becoming impressed with the young man. "Well… if it would benefit the school, of course I'd want to hear more."

Kotomi smiled and took Kyou's arm as they walked behind Tomoya and the principal. Kyou had a feeling that Kotomi and Tomoya had conspired to do something and had left her out of the planning. She looked over at Kotomi and saw the shrewd smile on her friend's face and knew. Kotomi, what have you done? What are you guys up to?

.

Monday evening, June 7Ichinose residence


Still bouncing from the excitement of the surprise that Tomoya and Kotomi had set up for her, Kyou was about to start picking up the dinner dishes when her phone ping. Glancing at it, she saw that it was a message from her sister. Her face lit up when she read the message.

"Is Ryou-chan available for you to call now?" Tomoya was smiling at the almost little-girl glee that he saw in Kyou at the moment.

"Um… yes." Kyou was torn between her family responsibilities and wanting to call Ryou to tell her the incredible news.

"Go ahead," Tomoya laughed, "I'll take care of the dishes."

"Are you sure?" Kyou took her family responsibilities seriously, but she was practically dancing with excitement to tell her little sister of the exciting new development.

"Yes!" Tomoya waved her off, "Now go make your call before you wet yourself!"

"Ah! You jerk!" Kyou threw the dish towel she was holding at his laughing face and left for the porch to make her call.

Before she was able to pull up her sister's number, the phone buzzed in her hand and she saw that she was getting a call from Ryou.

"Ryou! Ryou! Ryou! Ryou! Ryou!" Kyou chirped in her excitement, "You are not going to believe the good news!"

"What is it?" Ryou sounded as if she had caught some of her sister's excitement over the phone.

"I got a job offer today!" Ryou spilled out the details to her younger sister, "Tomoya was talking to the principal about an advanced studies program at the Elementary school that our boys will be going to and… well… one thing led to another and they offered me the job to head up this new program!"

"That's great, Onee-chan." Ryou sounded less than thrilled at Kyou's news.

Kyou felt a growing dread that something was wrong. It wasn't in anything that Ryou had said, but there was something in the way she was saying it that tipped her off. Kyou wondered if Nagisa's health problem had returned despite Kotomi's assurances that those problems were behind her. "What's wrong, Ryou?"

"Kotomi's boys." Kyou could hear the pain in Ryou's voice as she heard her sister's words. "You said our boys, but you meant Kotomi's boys. Right, Onee-chan?"

"Ryou, what do you mean?" Kyou said, "You know how I feel about the children."

"Onee-chan, our parents will be back at the house this weekend." Ryou explained, "They want to have dinner with you. They want to talk things out."

"Talk things out?" Kyou felt the growing dread beginning to suffocate her, "What is there to talk out? I got the degree they asked me to. I even got a Masters degree while I was there!"

"Onee-chan, please understand." Ryou sounded as if she was crying now, "They want one of us married and they want grandchildren. I told them that it would mean giving up on being a doctor if I were to do that… so, they aren't trying to push me into it any more. But, they don't see working in an elementary school as being all that important so…"

"I don't care what they think!" Kyou was furious, "It's important to me! Why are you on their side?"

"I'm not!" Ryou sobbed, "I was only supposed to tell you to go have dinner with them. I just wanted you to know what… what…"

"It's okay Ryou, I'm sorry for that." Kyou could hear her sister choking on her sobs, "I know you're on my side."

"Thank you, Onee-chan." Ryou was still crying but sounded a little better.

"So, they're really serious about this?" Kyou hoped that she would hear something encouraging from her little sister, but it was not to be.

"Onee-chan," Ryou was sobbing again, "They want you to move back home immediately. They have already hired a professional nakodo… they've already set up the first omiai."

.


Glossary

.

Nakodo – matchmaker

Obachan – grandmother

Obasan – aunt

Ojisan – uncle

Ojiisan – grandfather

Okasan – mother

Omiai – an arranged marriage brought about by a nakodo who arranges for two unattached individuals to meet for the purpose of marriage. Omiai may also be used to refer to the meeting where the unattached individuals meet each other.

Onee-chan – older sister

Onii-chan – older brother

Oto-san – father

.


Cast of Characters

(so far)

.

At the point of the story that I put this together, the events are at the summer of 2010. It has now been at least six years since Kotomi and the other third years graduated from high school, and it has been more than four years since Tomoyo and the second years graduated. Because of this, some of the characteristics may vary from published canon resources since they represent statistics from many years ago. I am also including information for the children that have now appeared in the story.

.

Okazaki Tomoya

Male 181cm 80kg Birthday: 08/30/85 Blue eyes Steel-Blue hair Age: 24

Married to Kotomi, Children: fraternal-twin boys Shuichi, Shuji, and little sister Mishiko. He is also close to, and protective of Fujibayashi Kyou.

.

Okazaki (Ichinose) Kotomi
Female 168cm 60kg Birthday: 05/13/85 Purple eyes Long Deep-Purple hair Age: 25
Married to Tomoya. Girl genius with poor social skills who loves her children as well as Tomoya and Kyou. Since she grew up alone after her parents were tragically killed in a plane accident, she has a fear of her children growing up without parents like she did. Her children refer to her as Mama.

.

Fujibayashi Kyou
Female 167cm 57kg Birthday: 09/09/85 Purple eyes Long Lavender hair Age: 24
In an unusual relationship with Tomoya and Kotomi. Kotomi sometimes refers to her as a Consort and has made her the Godmother for her children. Still powerful with a dictionary in her hand, she has learned to control her temper over the last half decade. The Okazaki children refer to her as Kyou-Mama.

.

Okazaki Shuichi (original character)

Male 128cm 27kg Birthday: 05/10/04 Purple eyes Steel-Blue hair Age: 6

Elder of the twins, they are both big for their age and are both protective of their little sister.

.

Okazaki Shuji (original character)

Male 125cm 27kg Birthday: 05/10/04 Blue eyes Dark Brown hair Age: 6

Younger of the twins, they are both big for their age and are both protective of their little sister.

.

Okazaki Michiko (original character)

Female 113cm 20kg Birthday: 01/04/06 Blue eyes Long Deep-Purple hair Age: 4

Since she is a very shy girl, it surprised everyone when she seemed to take an immediate liking to Youhei and Yukine's son, Yoichi.

.

Koumura Toshio (Ojiisan)
Male 162cm 56kg Birthday: 08/27/43 Gray eyes Gray hair Age: 66
Originally hired by Kobayashi Jun to be the butler for Tomoya and Kotomi, he is now seen as a grandfather figure by the Okazaki children. Previously, he was the counselor at the high school and retired the same year that Tomoya and his peers graduated.

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Kobayashi Jun
Male 180cm 77kg Birthday: 07/13/55 Gray eyes Salt&Pepper hair Age: 54
Kotomi's godfather and former guardian. He is now assisting with Kotomi's practical research into the parallel universe theories laid down by Kotomi's parents.

.

Sunohara Youhei
Male 168cm 65kg Birthday: 02/17/86 Blue eyes Black hair Age: 24
Having attended the Tokyo Police Academy, he is now a police officer but will soon be promoted to Detective. He is married to Yukine and has a son, Yoichi. Youhei was Tomoya's best friend in high school and has kept in touch with the friends he made during his last year there.

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Sunohara (Miyazawa) Yukine
Female 159cm 49kg Birthday: 08/07/86 Blue eyes Long Light Brown hair Age: 23
With a history of performing charms, spells, and predicting the future, Yukine can seem spooky to some people. She is a kind person who cares deeply for her friends. She has many friends that are (former?) gang members that she knew through her deceased brother – who was the gang leader.

.

Sunohara Yoichi (original character)
Male 99cm 14kg Birthday: 12/17/05 Blue eyes Brown hair Age: 4
Although a month older than Okazaki Michiko, Yoichi is much smaller. This doesn't bother him and he enjoys playing with Michiko.

.

Furukawa Akio
Male 175cm 69kg Birthday: 07/20/62 Yellow eyes Red & Gray hair Age: 47
Nagisa's father and the baker at the Furukawa Bakery. He likes to put on a gruff front, but he is kind and caring to friends and family. He dotes on his daughter Nagisa and considers her partner, Ryou to be another daughter in the family.

.

Furukawa Sanae
Female 158cm 51kg Birthday: 10/05/62 Brown eyes Long Light Brown hair Age: 47
Nagisa's mother and a teacher at the local Middle School. Kind and wise, she has helped out most of Nagisa's friends at one time or another.

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Furukawa Nagisa
Female 155cm 45kg Birthday: 12/24/84 Light Brown eyes Long Chestnut hair Age: 25
The strange illness that plagued her childhood has not returned since the night of freezing that almost killed her and Tomoya. Having attended university with her partner Ryou, she is now working and trying to make a go in entertainment while Ryou finishes medical school.

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Fujibayashi Ryou
Female 166cm 58kg Birthday: 09/09/85 Blue eyes Short Lavender hair Age: 24
Kyou's almost identical twin sister is the girlfriend of Furukawa Nagisa. She is currently attending medical school.

.

Yoshino Yusuke
Male 179cm 63kg Birthday: 12/05/81 Blue eyes Deep-Purple hair Age: 29
Formerly a rock musician, he is now working as an electrician. Married to Kouko, he has a daughter and a son.

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Yoshino (Ibuki) Kouko
Female 161cm 52kg Birthday: 01/18/77 Light Brown eyes Brown hair Age: 33
Married to Yusuke, she has returned to working as an art teacher at the high school. In addition to her husband and children, she also cares for the body of her little sister who has been in a coma for many years.

.

Yoshino Maiko (original character)
Female 108cm 16kg Birthday: 10/22/04 Blue eyes short Red-Brown hair Age: 5
Maiko doesn't like having to watch her younger brother and thinks all the boys in her kindergarten class are stupid. As a rule, she doesn't much care for boys.

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Yoshino Yasuo (original character)
Male 100cm 15kg Birthday: 05/03/06 Light Brown eyes Red-Brown hair Age: 4
Yasuo calls his older sister big-meanie, but he loves his aunt Fuko.

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IbukiFuko (ikiryo)
Female 150cm 43kg Birthday: 07/20/86 Brown eyes long Dark-Brown hair Age: 15
This is the physical manifestation of the spirit of Kouko's sister that is lying in a coma. All of the children can see her and most of the adults can now see her without too much effort. It is more difficult for her ikiryo to bee seen when the observer knows of the real Fuko's condition. She has a kind, if scatterbrained personality. Her love of her older sister and of starfish is absolute. Other than Tomoya, she is the only one to have gone to, and returned from the Illusionary World. She remembers meeting Ushio there and still does not forgive Tomoya for not trying to save Ushio when the frozen Illusionary World was falling apart.
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SakagamiTomoyo
Female 173cm 68kg Birthday: 10/18/86 Blue eyes long Powder-blond hair Age: 23
Tomoyo was Tomoya's girlfriend for a short time in the last semester that Tomoya was in school. Since he left to America to go to college with his wife and Kyou, she went to university in Hokkaido and has returned to her hometown to take a job in civil service. Her goal is to one day be a politician that can make the town better for everyone.

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Hiroki (original character)
Male 167cm 86kg Brown eyes & black hair early thirties
Strong and silent type. Very loyal to his friends. Scary looking, gorilla like.

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Isamu (original character)
Male 158cm 75kg Brown eyes & Salt & Pepper hair mid thirties
One of the smartest men that work for The Boss. Although he is a team leader, he doesn't like being called a 'boss' himself. He is supremely pleased with himself when he has done a good job.

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Iwao (original character)
Male 164cm 81kg Brown eyes & black hair early thirties
Not to bright, but a good fighter and loyal to Isamu and to The Boss.

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Ryota (original character)
Male 172cm 82kg Brown eyes & black hair late twenties
Loyal to Isamu and keeps calling him 'boss'. He panics easily but is better at more technical work than most of the men that work for The Boss.

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The Boss (original character)
has not been seen yet.
motives unknown