Disclaimer= I do not own Clannad.

He went into the library everyday and saw the same girl sitting in the same position, reading three books at one time. He tried talking to her.

"Hey how are you doing?" The girl kept reading her books.

"He-LLO, how are you doing?" The girl kept reading her books.

"Hey, do you not see me trying to greet you?"

"You did not call me by my name."

"Oh, of course. My name is Okazaki Tomoya, and you are...?"

"My name is Ichinose Kotomi."

"Now we are getting somewhere. How are you doing Kotomi?" She went back to reading her books.

"Hey Kotomi, why aren't you answering me?!"

"You did not add the proper suffix."

"Your name is Kotomi, what suffix could I possibly add?" Tomoya was getting annoyed because it was as though he was talking to a brick wall.

"I want you to call me Kotomi-chan. If you do not call me that, then I will not respond to you."

"Fair enough. Why do you want me to call you that?"

"I have no particular reason." Kotomi said that aloud, but she had a reason in her mind.

"That's what you used to call me..."

After a few visits here and there to the library, Tomoya managed to pry away Kotomi from there. He immediately noticed that she was painfully shy. Although he convinced her to join Theater Club, Tomoya had to get her to be sociable. Kotomi was a genius girl; however, her social skills were not in the top percentile. To get her to talk to people, he had her memorize a short greeting to say to people. It was a slow progression at first, but Kotomi eventually grew comfortable talking to people. People in her class were not afraid to ask for help on how to solve a particular problem or anything. The Theater Club was brought back up and it did a performance during the Founder's Festival in the auditorium.

"Ichinose- er I mean Kotomi-chan, that was quite a performance by Furukawa wasn't it?"

"Yes she did well. I am happy for her."

"You, eh, really worked hard. I am happy for you."

"Oh? Everyone worked hard Tomoya-kun."

"I understand; however, I'm not referring to the Theater Club performance."

"What do you mean?"

"When I first noticed you in the library, it was as though you were a robot. It's been a few months since then. You have changed a complete 360 degrees." The two were talking behind the curtain after they dropped it when the performance ended. Kotomi had a surly look on her face.

"How can you..."

"What are you talking about Kotomi-chan?"

"HOW CAN YOU NOT REMEMBER ME FROM OUR YOUTH?!" She let out a big scream, and then ran off, leaving Tomoya perplexed. He immediately went to the attendance office and asked the secretary what Kotomi's address was. She couldn't tell him because only a guardian can get access to that information.

"I'm her brother. I hit my head and I forgot where I lived." The air headed secretary believed that and gave Tomoya Kotomi's address on a piece of paper. He was on his way to apologize and to get some stuff off his chest. It was probably not the best time for the latter, but he did not care.

Tomoya rounded the corner to get to Kotomi's house. Although he had the address on paper, he needed to ask passers-by if he was going the right way. Tomoya did not need to ask anyone to begin with. The jungle-esque grass in the front yard. The rest accumulated on the fence; it was Kotomi's house alright. He didn't even take half a step inside the yard before he was hit with a flashback. It showed a young Tomoya stepping in the very same yard and a young girl opening the sliding door.

"Oh my God, this is what she wanted me to remember! How the hell could I not remember that?" Tomoya glanced at the yard and shook his head.

"I will fix this yard and restore it to its original condition. I don't care how long it takes me...I will not stop until its good again!" Tomoya went into his pocket and pulled out a pill and popped it in his mouth. He felt energy radiating from his body. Soon after, a constant was around his body, gardening tools were at his disposal. He was going to put it work now.

Tomoya was off and running. He was back and forth with it, planting flowers and bagging up the mowed grass. It took four hours, but he was finished with it all. The yard was all mowed and flowers were freshly planted. He still had some energy left. Tomoya faced the sliding door and the flashbacks came again. The young girl opened the door and introduced herself to the young boy. The young boy blushed and went inside to play with her. Tomoya's head dropped.

"I used to call her that, and then I would blush. Thats why she wanted me to add the suffix when I called her name in the library. Wait - -"

"Why am I still here? I need to talk to her." Tomoya slid the door open and sprinted up the stairs to the room to find Kotomi. She was on her knees, staring at the wall.

"Kotomi-chan, Kotomi-chan!" He jumped towards her and immediately hugged her. She sniffed one time.

"Tomoya-kun..."

"I'm sorry, I was cleaning your yard and I smell like grass."

"Its okay."

"No its not okay." Kotomi turned around and Tomoya put his forehead against hers.

"I hurt you Kotomi-chan. I hardly stepped in your yard when the memories started coming back. We have known each other since we were little kids. When I saw you in the library, I thought I recognized you from somewhere... I'm sorry I wasn't there for you."

"Its okay."

"ITS NOT OKAY KOTOMI-CHAN! I hurt you by abandoning you back then and I hurt you by not recognizing you right off the bat in the library. Please forgive me."

"Tomoya-kun its okay, I forgive you." At this point Tomoya started crying. Kotomi used her blouse to wipe his tears away. Then they just stared at each other. The force was strong with them because they went in and kissed on the lips. Kotomi got some grass dew on her blouse, but it was obvious that she did not care.

"Kotomi-chan, I love you."

"What?"

"I said that I love you."

"You... love me?"

"Yes I do. I have loved you since we were little kids. I didn't go to your birthday party back then because I was too scared to tell you how I felt." She was very silent as Tomoya kept talking.

"Please be my girlfriend and let me be your boyfriend."

"You want to be my boyfriend?"

"Yes."

"...you want me to be your girlfriend?"

"Yes." Kotomi turned to the side and had her hand to her chest.

"Are you okay?"

"Are you okay Kotomi-chan? If you don't want to be my girlfriend..."

"No I want to be."

"Oh thank God. Are you happy?"

"Yes. Damnit, I'm very happy."

"Oh what a relief. You made me the happiest guy in the world!"

"Likewise Tomoya-kun." With that, they were a couple. They made it official by showing up to school holding hands. Everyone at school was stunned. Goons was asking how a bad dude like Tomoya hooked up with the smartest girl in the entire school. The girls were very jealous of Kotomi. They did not understand what interest the smartest girl in school had with the most rebellious guy every girl drooled over. If they only knew the story Tomoya and Kotomi shared. As expected, they refused to see the big picture. Things went well for Tomoya and Kotomi. Tomoya made more of an effort in his studies and Kotomi held strong with hers. They spent as much time with each other as possible. Tomoya took her out on many dates, making her more social and open. Kotomi had him over her house for study sessions and dinners. After studying for several hours, they would usually fall asleep in each other arms. Tomoya spent so much time at her house that it seemed like he was living there. He did just that during the last month of school at Kotomi's urging because she wanted him to be very prepared for the exams. Tomoya was grateful for the hospitality, but he kept asking her about her exam preparation. Kotomi kept telling him that she was ready for them. He didn't know the decision she made long before they became a couple.

It was graduation day and everyone got their diplomas and tossed their caps in the air. Each student hugged each other for a job well done. Tomoya pushed through the masses to find Kotomi.

"Kotomi-chan, let's get out of here and go for a little walk." They headed up to the roof.

_

It was getting late in the afternoon. There were still students milling about, excited about going to the University. Tomoya and Kotomi were the only ones on the roof.

"Tomoya-kun, what a beautiful sunset."

"Yeah, its great."

"I have something to say Tomoya-kun regarding the future - -"

"Me first Kotomi-chan."

"Sure what did you want to say?"

"First off, I'm glad that we both graduated. Secondly, I am happy that we are a couple. Despite all of the reservations people had, our love remained strong. I'm so happy that you are with me. I'll be forever thankful that you gave me the opportunity to show you the kind of man that I am. The future looks bright for us." Kotomi's eyes were glinting madly. She lunged at Tomoya to hug him.

"Tomoya-kun, that was so sweet. I am also happy that you are with me."

"Thank you, what was it that you wanted to tell me?" That totally killed the moment they just shared. Kotomi let go of Tomoya and started walking past him. She was a couple of feet past him when she sat down on the floor. A concerned Tomoya went to her and sat down close to her. He put his arms around her.

"Whats the matter Kotomi-chan?" She didn't answer to that.

"Seriously whats the matter?" She still did not answer.

"Baby tell me whats the matter, you are worrying me!" Tears started to fall from Kotomi's eyes.

"I got a full ride scholarship to a University."

"Oh really? I'm so happy for you."

"The University is in America." Tomoya let go of his embrace and fell back. Kotomi turned to look at him with apologetic eyes.

"Since when Kotomi-chan? How long have you known this?"

"This was long before we became a couple. During the first week of school, I was approached by the principal and told that since my grades were in the top percentile, I could apply to any University in the world and be granted automatic admission. I have a friend who told me that foreign students who apply to Universities in America get full ride scholarships."

"I see. So are you still going to go to University in the states?"

"I'm so sorry Tomoya-kun, but I already sent in the paperwork."

"How long are you going to study abroad?"

"3 years."

"THREE YEARS? REALLY?!"

"Yes, my advisor told me that I could get my degree in 3 years." Tomoya turned away for some quick moments in deep thought.

"Tomoya-kun..."

"Everything is so perfect right now. I can't believe your timing in telling me this. I'm shocked."

"Once again I'm sorry Tomoya-kun. I unfortunately can't do anything about it. The paperwork has been sent already."

"Can we still be a couple, even if its at a long distance?"

"Absolutely we can. I'll call you every day and I'll come back here to visit you during the breaks."

"Okay." Tomoya left Kotomi standing on the roof alone.

My life was going nowhere. I hated school. I hated life itself. You came along and brought purpose into my life. I'll make sure to not disappoint you... Kotomi-chan.

Life with Kotomi far away was going to be tough for Tomoya to adjust to.

A/N= Thanks for reading this chapter. This fic will have at least one more chapter. Stay tuned.