Kotomi's happy ever after

The girls all fussed around Kotomi as she repeated her thanks for her most precious of gifts (apart from her teddy bear of course.) She held the slightly battered violin case close to her chest, apparently not willing to let it go just yet. Content to leave them to have some "girl time" I watched her smiling face, almost glowing with joy.

'Wish I could give her everything her hart desires…. But… what can I really offer her?'

'I need to be the man she deserves, not the under qualified out of work bum I'm going to end up if I don't change course. But do I still have the time to change that future?'

"Tomoya-kun?"

…

"Tomoya-kun?"

Suddenly pulled from my reverie I realized I was being spoken to.

"Hmm… Sorry Kotomi-chan, did you need something?"

"You looked like you were worrying about something."

'When did she get so adept at reading emotions? Huh… maybe she's come further than I thought.'

"Oh, I'm sorry angel, I was just lost in thought."

"What were you thinking about?"

"How much I love you." She blushed pink looking down and smiling coyly. She looked dangerously adorable. "That and our future." At the mention of a future together her blush deepened but her smile grew in equal measure as she looked me in the eye.

"Thankyou… I love you too." She was just too damn cute, one of these days her cuteness will get me in to trouble, I suspect that if she asked anything of me right now, I'd be powerless to resist her will. Not that she's ever asked for anything other than to be with me.

Just thinking that gave me a warm fuzzy feeling and I was drawn closer to her, her soft delicate lips almost magnetic. I kissed her deeply wanting her to feel the love I had for her, needing her to know how much she meant to me.

"Oi! Get a room you two… Geeze you've got guests you know." Just like Kyou to burst our bubble.

The world around us snapped back into focus, aside from a furiously blushing Kotomi, there were three faces looking our way, each displaying varying levels of embarrassment, surprisingly Kyou was blushing too, not as much as Fujibayashi or Furukawa but still, I'd never seen her blush before.

"Sorry, we err got a little umm, distracted,"

"We can see that." Kyou retorted with a lopsided smile.

I held Kotomi close a moment longer so I could speak to her without being overheard.

"Kotomi-chan, I need to talk to you about something later. I may need your help with something."

Smiling brightly Kotomi nodded energetically "Of course Tomoya-kun, I would love to help you."

"You don't even know what I want you to do yet." I smiled wryly, once again warmed by the utter faith she had in me.

"Alright Casanova give it a rest will you." Kyou's teasing, heckling voice, stopped the conversation before it could go any further. Probable best to leave it for later anyway.

The rest of the party went without further incident, aside from some well-meaning teasing from Kyou, it kept a rather attractive blush on Kotomi's cheeks, so I wasn't going to complain too much. Still I did my best to keep Kyou from going too far, those efforts unfortunately piqued Kyou's interest and she redirected her teasing to focus on how protective of Kotomi I' become. Nothing new there I guess. Better me than Kotomi anyway.

After everyone had left Kotomi and I snuggled in front of the TV finally alone, the party was fun, but I always looked forward to some us time.

"Kotomi-Chan, do you know if it is possible to go back any retake exams from previous years? You know improve the grade I got."

"I believe so, but you need a senior teacher to make the request to the head teacher. Was this what you were talking about earlier this afternoon?"

"Yeah, I was just thinking that I have wasted the last two years, and to be honest I'm worried that I'll never be able to turn things around and provide the kind of life you deserve. I've been so stupid, and I feel like I've thrown away my future, our future."

"Tomoya-kun, you are not stupid." Kotomi scowled at me, or at least her approximation of a scowl, she'd tried this before, apparently this was intended to reprimand me for calling myself stupid. The problem is Kotomi just can't pull off a scowl, I'm honestly not entirely sure she's capable of actually being angry, so the resulting facial expression is just adorable.

"Kotomi I know that I'm not really stupid, you're drummed that much into my head at least," The missing -chan earned me a pout, but we've had this discussion a few times already. "We've talked about feeling like something doesn't mean you are something, right?" A nod, I can tell she isn't really satisfied with this explanation but she's not pursuing it this time. "I'm just a bit frustrated at myself… the old me anyway. Where was I? Oh, right grades. I think I know a teacher that my help me get to resit my exams, but… and this is where you come in, I'm going to need to learn everything that I've missed over the last two and a half years. And I need to do it in less than one year… So, do you think you'd be able to help me study?" Kotomi beamed at me with stars in her eyes. She clapped excitedly.

"Oh, Tomoya-kun, I would love to help you study."

'What have I let myself in for?' I was under no illusions that it would be easy, it was in truth going to be a near impossible task. But I have to try.

"But Tomoya-kun I wanted to help you." Kotomi pouted at me like I had taken away her favourite toy. It was a little embarrassing to be having this conversation outside the teacher's office, with Kotomi clamped to my arm, in the middle of lunch break no less with everyone who passed by giving me amused glances or stifling giggles.

"I know you do, and I'm very grateful for all you support. But this is something I must do for myself. I need to be able to stand up for myself, or he'll never believe that I have changed, and truly ready to turn my life around."

"Okay… but I will wait here for you." She was still pouting but she was at least releasing her grip on my arm.

"Thank you Angel, it means a lot to me that you're here to support me, it really does… Okay?" I placed a gentle kiss on her forehead, replacing her pout with a bashful smile.

"Okay."

'Well here goes nothing.'

Behind his bushy moustache Koumura-sensei's expression was unreadable.

"Hmmmm… So, you wish to rectify your past mistakes?"

"Yes, Sensei I do." The unusually formal response earned me a raised eyebrow.

"Hmm…" Yep his slow plodding speech was still infuriating. "So then, what has inspired you to turn thing around?"

"More of a 'Who' really Sensei." There goes that eyebrow again.

"Ahh, a girl is it? And who might she be?"

"Ichinose Kotomi, Sensei." Both eyebrows this time.

"Now there is an unexpected name. How did you come to meet her?"

"We actually used to play together as kids, but we lost track of each other when her parents… passed away. But I bumped into her in the library a while ago."

"Yes, a quite a troubled life she's had. I had heard that she has begun to attend classes and socialise with the other students. Do I take it that you were the catalyst for this change?" I couldn't help but blush at that.

"Well umm… I simply introduced her to a few of my friends, I didn't really do much."

"You do yourself a disservice young Tomoya, you may have saved that young lady from a very lonely future." Yup, still blushing. "Hmm… Very well, I shall speak to the head about challenging your exam results."

"Really!? Thank you very much Sensei!"

"It may not be easy to convince him of your change of heart, but I believe your home room teacher will also sponsor your request."

"Really? He will?"

"Indeed, he has already spoken of your new found diligence."

"T-Thank you Sensei, I won't let you down."

"It's not me you need to worry about letting down."

"Huh? You mean Kotomi?"

"There's her as well but most of all… don't let yourself down." I was floored, totally struck dumb, the most I could manage was a brief bow.

The instant I stepped out of the office Kotomi was right there in front of me, wringing her hands worriedly.

"Tomoya-kun, you were in there for so long… I began to worry." I pull her into my arms and give her a reassuring squeeze. Kotomi snuggled her head in to my chest and sighed contentedly. A moment later remembering where she was and why she was there. "Oh, Tomoya-kun, will he help you?"

"Yes, Angel, he will. I can have my second chance."