It was already late in the evening and the streets were empty aside from the lonely night breeze that danced around with cherry blossom petals on its way through the town. The street lights were on, giving a dim, somewhat eerie lighting to the area together with the full moon that shined brightly above. The stars flickered as per usual as if waving their little hands or like they were a thousand little eyes glossed by tears. It was completely quiet except for the rustle in the trees and grass caused by the wind, and the footsteps of a young man walking lazily and quite sorrowfully alone in the moist evening air.

Tomoya Okazaki had his hands in his pockets and a frown on his face as he walked. That night he had made the mistake of having a short chat with his dad earlier on. The old man, of course, was not any different from his usual drunken self and merely spouted some nonsense when he spoke, otherwise just staying silent with that never-fading faked smile of his. It was never his father's words that pissed Tomoya off to the extreme, but rather that very smile. It always reminded him of his mother's passing and the fact that everything was not right at home despite his now happy life at school. At school he could at least see his friends smiling without having to worry if they were actually hiding something painful, without having to think if they were soon going to pass out on the floor out of drinking too much. That, if someone, was precious to him, and even now after having just left for a walk as he waited for his father to fall asleep, he found himself heading towards his school.

A faint breeze blew through Tomoya's dark blue hair and he closed his eyes for a second, letting his feet go as they wanted. He knew the way by heart. He had walked there and back dozens of times, after all. He didn't need his eyes to know the way to the only place he actually felt good in. The young man sighed and allowed his thoughts wander off, thinking it'd probably be better if he went to stay the night in the school dorms, in his friend Sunohara's room. The blonde wouldn't even question him, he knew that much. If he only asked, Sunohara would certainly let him stay. But Sunohara wasn't really certain per say, rather uncertain out of sheer tiredness. He hadn't slept properly for days due to his father always coming home late and switching on the TV with nearly maximum volume. It annoyed him and he often ended up dozing off in the middle of class because of it, which caused him even more unnecessary trouble than he would have had by just being the delinquent he was. Tomoya was at least trying to be a good student now. Or would have tried, at least, if his dad wasn't making it so damn hard.

His steps echoed against the asphalt as a quiet rhythm that slowly calmed his rage down. The grayish blue eyes opened slowly as the young man lifted his head to gaze up at the sky. The night was indeed beautiful and the frown disappeared, melting into a peaceful carelessness that often covered his face. In a way that emotion had certain blank emptiness to it and if you looked closely, you could almost see his fed up attitude towards almost everything. That look was on his face sometimes even when he was with his friends, but when he was, it was much less tired. He looked more of a curious observer those times, mostly because his bunch of friends was, to say the least, a rather colorful and odd bunch. Each one of them was unique with their own weird way; Sunohara was a delightful idiot, Kyou a blushing tsundere princess, Kotome a socially awkward, silent genius… All in all, it was a weird group. No matter the weirdness though, they were happy.

A light smile caressed Tomoya's mind as he thought of his friends, but it didn't actually form on his lips. Maybe because he was still bitter over the chat with his father. Either way he was already feeling a bit better, stopping for a moment to merely think about his friends and watch the dance of the cherry blossoms in the air. He was now half-way to school, standing on a hill surrounded by pink cherry trees. The place where it all had started and he had first met Nagisa, the girl to introduce him to many different new friends without having even planned to do so in the first place. Nagisa the shy, fragile one. The reason why his bunch of friends were all together was because of her wish to bring back the theater club to their school. She was the glue keeping them in place, tying them together… and Tomoya appreciated the brunette greatly for that.

A weird noise suddenly echoed from afar, causing the blue haired young man to flinch. Tomoya glanced around with suspicion trying to find the source, but as he saw nothing, he just shrugged it off as having been some sort of an animal. Soon the same noise repeated though, this time louder and seemed to have approached Tomoya. He eyed his surroundings once more. The sound was indeed similar to some sort of animal, maybe a dog, growling mixed with the disgusting gurgling sound of a sewer sucking in water. Hearing it again unsettled Tomoya a bit and though he didn't think the thing making the sound would be anything more dangerous than just a raccoon or something, his imagination was thinking otherwise. He thought of the monsters from the manga he had read. Those random balls of slime that slid across the ground like slugs and wobbled like jelly whenever touched, those lime colored icky buggers that swallowed people whole and melted them within their see-through body that contained acid.

Tomoya snorted with amusement at his own thoughts and shook his head tiredly.

"That's just ridiculous", he muttered to himself and took a deep breath. "Those things don't exist."

It was more to assure himself rather than anyone else that he said those words, for just as he took a step, deciding it'd be better if he headed to Sunohara already, his nose caught a scent. A smell that wasn't particularly pleasing, but instead nearly made him want to vomit. It reeked of rotten fish heads in a barrel mixed with puke and certain other bodily fluids, making the perfect mixture that would make anyone's head spin just catching that smell. Tomoya felt dizzy by the awful smell alone and the exact moment he reached his hand up to cover his nose and mouth, he heard the weird noise again. This time from right behind. With a startled gasp of air he spun around on his heels only to end up coughing as the smell filled his mouth as well, as if the actual air around him was rotten. And what he saw didn't make the feeling any better.

Frankly, the creature looked more like a pile of sticks, mud and mold than an animal. It was large, about two times the height of Tomoya and his size in wideness. The blue-haired boy's eyes flew open in pure amazement and surprise and he simply stared at the monster into its nonexistent, dark eyes that emerged below a couple sticks that were a little like eyebrows of sorts. The eyes themselves were more like just black, hollow holes with nothing in them, but they were there anyways and they were aimed towards Tomoya. Thus the guy presumed they were its eyes. It took, of course, a moment for the young man to recover from the shock and step back. The idea of running away and hiding somewhere was yet to strike him.

"…what is that thing?!" he thought instead and eyed the creature as it slowly moved, inch by inch, closer to him.

Before Tomoya had time to investigate the creature any further, however, he was interrupted by the sound of steel being dragged against something. The sound came from behind him, and he was just about to turn around to see what was going on when something moved past him. A figure from behind him ran towards the monster, a shining metal blade in hand, their steps firm and determined. Tomoya watched as the person's long, nearly silver colored hair flowed in the wind like the waves in the ocean and couldn't help but freeze in that exact spot. He recognized that long-haired young lady. He knew that pair of blue eyes that now glared at the monster as she struck with it with her katana.

"Tomoyo?!"

The girl didn't listen. She was too busy climbing on top of the creature with talented, graceful jumps, using the sticks on the monster's body as platforms to get higher. Once she reached the top of its presumed head, Tomoyo Sakagami struck the creature on its forehead. Tomoya watched as the blade sunk in its "flesh", creating a steady flow of blood that poured outside. The monster screamed in agony and collapsed with Tomoyo still on top of it, became a pile of junk and ground on the asphalt before it disappeared as a small light that rose up into the sky.

Tomoyo let out a deep sigh and straightened her back to stand up properly, hiding her blade in its sheath that was hanging on her waist. She turned to look at Tomoya with a serious, deadpan face, still slight worry visible in her blue eyes.

"Are you alright?" she asked quietly. "Did it hurt you?"

The young man did not answer, for he was still in a shock. Not because of the monster this time, however, but the fact that he noticed something different about his friend. Not only was her outfit odd and a lot frillier than the clothes she usual wore (and also much more revealing), she also had a pair of cat ears and a tail that drew small circles in the air.

"So… you're trying to protect the cherry blossom trees, that much I've understood so far."

Tomoyo nodded to her friend. They were now sitting on a bench in the park a bit further away. Had been sitting for a while now. Tomoya, though still confused, seemed to have cheered up a lot and was now amusedly drinking in the sight of his oddly dressed, flustered female friend. He couldn't help but think that the shortness of the dress Tomoyo wore was rather alluring, not to mention the neck area that, in a rather lovely manner, exposed her breasts to his hungry eyes almost completely. The silver haired girl was blushing and she kept her eyes on her lap, struggling to keep her dress down enough not to expose too much, only managing to pull some fabric off of the breasts in process. It was rather useless.

"The reason why you're protecting them is because they unable those monsters to appear… was that right?" Tomoya continued, thinking about the explanation he had gotten and squaring his jaw. The girl replied with another nod and the young man sighed. "So how come that one appeared even with the trees being around, then?"

"That I don't know", Tomoyo explained. "But as long as they keep appearing, I will keep on fighting them to protect the people of this town. I won't let anyone end up like my little brother."

"So your little brother was attacked by the monsters?"

"Yes. He survived, but only barely. It scared me really bad… and that's why I'm doing what I do."

"Huh", the blue haired guy hummed with curiosity and leaned his back against the bench, gazing at the sky shortly. "Well that explains your fighting skills, then."

The girl next to him relaxed visibly, her shoulders slumping down a bit. She still kept on focusing on the hem of her dress, however, and still seemed a hint troubled by the presence of her friend. Tomoya smiled a bit with amusement. Maybe it'd be good to try and break the tension some.

"Isn't that outfit a bit impractical for fighting though?" he stated as a murmur, observing her friend's reactions. "Wouldn't it be better if you fought naked and stuff?"

The blush on Tomoyo's cheeks deepened and she shot a slightly angry glare at the guy next to her.

"You shouldn't joke about things like that", she muttered. "I didn't choose this outfit."

"But you don't necessarily have to wear it, do you?" Tomoya carried on. "You don't seem too comfortable in it and it decreases your agility."

The young woman seemed to ponder for a moment before she bit her lip, clutching the chest part of her dress and opening a single button, exposing more of her breasts as she did so.

"Maybe I should indeed try…", she thought out loud. It was Tomoya's turn to blush and the delinquent hurried to try and look away, but his eyes were glued on the sight.

"I- I was just joking around", he stuttered and gained another glare from the girl. Tomoya noticed one of her cat ears twitch slightly before they both flattened against her scalp like that of a sad kitten's.

"Pervert", the young woman muttered, but didn't bother buttoning up the button she had just opened. She left it like that and switched her weight, her breasts jiggling lightly as she moved.

There was a long, tense silence. Tomoya swallowed and managed to turn his attention to his friend's ears instead of her breasts somehow. His blush slowly faded and his curiosity, instead, increased. Wondering if the cat ears were real or not, he slowly lifted her hand up and, before Tomoyo could protest, caressed one of them. The girl's response was a mewl-like yelp and a shudder. Her tail, that had been nervously swinging back and forth this whole time, now tensed and froze as she blushed and nervously eyed her friend.

"Wh-what are you doing?" she asked in a hushed tone, pushing the young man away a bit. Much to her misfortune, Tomoya was determined and he gently grabbed the ear, pulling at it lightly. This action gained yet another mewl from the young woman, also causing her to fidget in discomfort and blush furiously?

"S-Stop! My ears are-!"

The sentence was cut off by a violent shiver. Tomoyo shuddered all over, closing her eyes in embarrassment. She finally managed to pull away from Tomoya's grasp and escape a bit further away on the bench. Her blue eyes seemed a bit glossy now and she eyed her friend, breathing in a couple times unsteadily before speaking.

"…you mustn't tell anyone about this."

The guy just stared at the girl for a moment with both great curiosity and amusement, then leaning back and relaxing on the bench once more. He let out a deep sigh before opening his mouth.

"Only if you promise I can help you out."

"You can't!" the girl immediately exclaimed. "You don't have any magical powers like I do! It's much too dangerous."

"Then I won't keep your secret."

"You-!"

"…that is if I don't get something else in return."

Another silence occurred. Tomoyo switched her weight again in discomfort, staring at her bare knees and thinking.

"…w-what do you want, then?" she timidly asked. Tomoya couldn't help but blush a little at the adorableness of the sight. He took a deep breath, thinking hard. He needed to think of something that Tomoyo would certainly refuse to do so that he would get to help the girl out either way. He was worried. Of course he was. Fighting monsters like that all alone couldn't possibly be a nice thing to do. And that was why he really wanted to help her.

"…a kiss", he finally replied, sure of his victory over the girl. He closed his eyes and grinned in relaxation. This was too easy. "I want a kiss in return."

At first the short silence did indeed betray Tomoya to think he had won. He was soon disproven though as something warm touched his lips, claiming them as their own. The grayish blue eyes only to meet up with Tomoyo's closed eyes and blushed face. The young man tried to open his mouth to oppose, to tell he was just joking, but the kiss only deepened into a more passionate one. The girl with cat ears let out a small sigh against her friend's lips and slid her tongue across Tomoya's bottom lip. Before long the blue haired guy could no longer resist and he returned the kiss hungrily, letting his tongue dance against Tomoyo's own and sliding his hand to the back of the girl's neck in process.

The kiss carried on for what seemed like forever and left them both breathless and needy when it eventually ended. Tomoya was catching his breath and looking up at the young woman on top of him, feeling the girl's breasts press against his chest in an oh-so-lovely way. The softness felt nice and caused an even deeper blush to shoot across the guy's face. Tomoyo looked at him with hazy eyes, her lips slightly parted and a small string of saliva dripping from her bottom lip. They stayed like that for the briefest of moments before the spell vanished into thin air, making Tomoyo flinch a bit and let out a small whimper. She stumbled away from Tomoya only managing to fall on her butt from the bench doing so, thus giving the guy a nice view of what was hidden under the not-so-concealing dress. If possible, Tomoya blushed even more than before, his face now resembling a tomato rather than a human face and he forced himself to look away, his heart beating fast like the wings of a little hummingbird. As he looked away, Tomoyo hurried to her feet and before Tomoya got to say anything or even turn towards her again, she had disappeared into the night just as soon as she had first appeared. Thus leaving behind a rather confused and craving Tomoya.


A/N: This is a contest prize for the username JohnnyHidari. He got the second place prize from a contest held by Key-Visual-Arts-Club. Congratulations! :D