Disclaimer: I do not own anything.
The music was chosen.
The stage, albeit a mere practice, was set.
Nagisa was right about to begin the rehearsal when Tomoyo came striding into the room.
"It sure is lively in here."
Everyone knew that something was off, but in that instant, no one was able to identify the problem.
Then, Okazaki realized it.
"Tomoyo, why are you wearing glasses?
"That's because my eyesight's bad, obviously."
Sunohara jumped in. "This is the first time I've seen you wearing them!"
"I don't much like my look with them…"
"Why don't you use contact lenses then?" asked Ryou, who raised a hand as though she was asking a question in class.
"Contact lenses are scary… geez… don't you people have better things to do than interrogate me?"
"You should wear them more often… I think you look cute in them."
She turned towards Okazaki at his unexpected statement, but her blush was so faint that no one noticed it. She looked down at his smiling face, before sighing and turning towards Nagisa.
"…Don't say things like that… it really hurts, you know…" She said it so softly, that only he could hear it.
"…what?" she couldn't see his face, but his reaction and the surprised tone told her all that she needed to know.
Sunohara turned in their direction again. "What's wrong, Okazaki?"
"Nothing really, I just felt like saying 'what'." He turned towards Tomoyo, but she had already stopped in front of Nagisa.
"I see you're still continuing with your dream… that's right. We both still have a long way to go…"
Nagisa beamed. "That's right; I still have a long way to go… we're just getting started."
Tomoyo smiled too in return. "As I'd thought, you're a good girl."
In a voice tinged with regret, she sighed.
"I'm glad it was you…"
There were sharp intakes of breath all around the room.
Kyou sat up straighter, Kotomi blinked, and Ryou jumped as Tomoyo patted Nagisa on the head, which completely inverted the underclassman-upperclassman relationship between the two of them.
I tried to forget about it… but it's impossible, I guess… I've liked him for so long that it's hard to even imagine when I wasn't admiring him...
Kyou turned to look towards him, but he only had eyes for her.
If only I had… if only… I wish I hadn't waited… and now, I don't even have a chance to tell him anymore.
She looked away.
This is something that I'll always keep with me, I guess…
Kotomi sighed.
It's all too late. It was all too late by the time she finally realized her feelings for the boy who had always come to visit.
If only she had come out then… maybe everything would have been different.
But it was all too late.
She sighed.
She hadn't really expected anything to happen… not when her sister had liked him for so long.
Even so, she would have liked a chance.
He was a wonderful person, she knew, and that was what had drawn her to him, together with a misguided sense of competition with her sister.
How foolish it had been. She would never have stood a chance at all.
He suddenly spoke.
"What's with the sudden heavy atmosphere in the room…? It feels odd."
Sunohara looked around at the girls, nodded, before turning to him and sighed.
"You're just so thick sometimes. You should know full well that Ky-"
He was silenced by a glare from Kyou.
"…what? Oh well… we don't have all day, let's get started on the practice."
Nagisa asked that Tomoyo stay to watch her practice, and with the music playing, the performance began.
A/N: I love Tomoyo. I don;t know why I suddenly had Kyou's thoughts written out, but I love Kyou too.