I counted the plates around the table and nodded to myself.

"Ten, eleven, twelve. That should do it! It was twelve right?" I called out into the kitchen.

"The usual gang, plus the girls from work...yeah twelve! Ryuo has the night shift at the hospital so she is the only one missing," came the response back. "If you're all done in there could you get my phone for me? I think I left it in the bedroom."

"Sure," I called back and headed into the bedroom. And surely, on the bedside table beside our western style big double bed, sat Tomoyo's phone. The lock screen held a picture of both of us at the shrine last new years. Tomoyo was wearing a yukata, looking as cute as a button. Sometimes I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that a girl that hot was my girlfriend. No more than that. That there on the phone was the girl I would soon marry.

"Is it there?" She called.

"Yeah, hold on, I just kind of spaced out."

I headed back out into the living room, closing the door behind me. Through the huge windows, I could see the streetlights coming on down in the street below. Our apartment sat on the eighth floor near the centre of town, overlooking a local park. We had a separate bedroom, a living room and even a decently sized kitchen. All in all, the whole thing was almost larger than my dad's house.

It had been almost a year since we'd moved into this place. I could still hardly believe we were able to afford it. Two students, just a few years out of high school, in a place like this. It was all Tomoyo's doing. Thanks to her excellent English skills, she had already managed to find a part-time job as an intern at a foreign law firm and through those connections, she had got a lead on this place. Like everyone else, the owners of the firm loved her and I wouldn't be surprised if they offered her a full-time position the second she graduated law school.

She was in the kitchen, wearing one of her fanciest dresses, her silver hair in an elegant bun, putting the finishing touches on dinner. I knew she wanted everything to be perfect. Tonight was a special night after all. I handed her the phone and got rewarded with a quick kiss.

"So Sunohara actually replied in the end?" She said as she straightened my tie.

I simply raised an eyebrow. "Nope. But it's free food and wine. He'll be here." Tomoyo laughed, almost choking on the stew she was tasting. She blew on her cooking spoon and tasted the stew again. Smacking her lips she raised a finger as if remembering something.

"Oh yeah sorry, I forgot, Kyou said she was bringing a friend." She proceeded to roll her eyes and take another sip from the spoon. "Mmm! I'm such a good cook."

"Just like that? Tonight? But tonight is the night we announce our engagement! Won't it be awkward to have a complete stranger at the table?"

"Oh come on, how was she supposed to know that? We always encourage guests, so I could hardly turn her down without spoiling the surprise. Besides, from what I heard this new girl is a little bit of a charity case. You know, the usual. Unemployed, living at her parent's house, doesn't have many friends, doesn't get out much, can't talk to boys." Tomoyo giggled as she emphasized the last words.

"So like Kyou, always taking in the stray cats of society," I scoffed, shaking my head. My tone must have sounded harsher than I meant it because Tomoyo stopped her cooking and shot me a stern look.

"If it really bothers you I could call her and cancel. Of course, they are probably already on their way over," she offered. We both knew that wasn't really an option. I shook my head, took a deep breath and admitted defeat. This wasn't worth arguing over. Not tonight. Instead, I smiled, poured two glasses of wine, walked over to Tomoyo and handed her one.

"I'll guess I'll set another plate then," I conceded, toasting my wife to be.

I had to readjust all the other plates to get the thirteenth seat to fit in. Even in the end, it didn't look at all as neat as it had before. I stood there for a while, staring at the table. The flowers were aligned, the wine poured, the candles were lit. Everything was ready. Yet something felt off. But for the life of me, I couldn't figure out what. I just had a bad feeling in my gut. Like something was about to go horribly wrong.

No that wasn't true. It wasn't a bad feeling. Just strange. Dreamlike, like the butterflies you have in your stomach before the first day of school. Like my life was about to change drastically and there was no longer any going back.

Something at the edge of my vision caught my eye and I looked down. A small orb of light was rising from below. Slowly, I cupped my palms around it and studied it. It seemed to just hover there, smiling up at me. I raised my hands towards my face. What could it be? A wayward firefly?

At that time the doorbell rang, catapulting me back to reality. It was all nonsense, of course, I thought to myself. I was just nervous. I wanted tonight to be perfect. A perfect start to our perfect new life. When I looked down at my hands again, the light was gone. I probably just needed glasses.

"Oh, that's them!" Tomoyo squealed with excitement. "Can you get it, I want to freshen up one last time."

"Of course."

It was time. I made it out into the hallway and put my handle on the door handle. As soon as I opened the door Kyou flew into my arms, all but attacking me like she always did. I stumbled backwards, chuckling as I gave her a hug.

"Welcome Kyou" I smiled and kissed my old classmate on the cheek. She leaned in and made a scandalous sound as my lips touched her skin. Kyou had always been the flirty kind, and I suspected she took pleasure in making guys uncomfortable around her. The two of us was passed that at this point though, and furthermore, I knew she would never do anything to upset Tomoyo.

"Long time no see! This is for you!" She handed me an enormous bottle of sake, smiling from ear to ear as she stepped into the apartment.

"And this is-"

I always used to scoff at romantic comedies when they claimed that 'time stood still' or any such nonsense. Well, I don't anymore.

I couldn't get air. The walls were pressing in on all sides, squeezing every last breath out of me. I stood there like a fool, mouth hanging open. In the very instant our eyes met my world came crashing down around me.

I had never seen the girl behind Kyou before. She wasn't even that pretty. To be frank she looked more than a little silly. She wore an ill-fitting pink dress that was clearly designed for a more voluptuous figure, with slightly overdone makeup that didn't match her red-brown hair. It was painfully obvious that she had borrowed both from Kyou. On her feet, she wore a pair of heels that she clearly wasn't used to, and it looked like she could keel over with every stumbling step. While she had done a commendable effort to get her hair under control, two locks still sprouted wildly from her head like antennas, making her look like some kind of insect. Gaping sheepishly, she stared right back at me before erupting in a furious blush.

I had always thought I loved Tomoyo. We got along great, shared a lot of the same interests, had great fun together. She was elegant, ambitious and smart. You could tell she was going places and I got to go along for the ride. Not to mention that she had a knockout body, knew how to dress and was great in bed. In short, she was everything a guy could hope to find in a girl. I was damn lucky to be with her, and everybody told me so. Asking her to marry me had her seemed like the easiest decision of my life.

Tomoyo had done so much for me, put up with so much of my crap. I don't know where I would be without her. She has been so good to me. All of that put together had to add up to love, right? I should definitely love her. I did love her, didn't I? Yes, of course, I loved her. She was the love of my life, the one and only for me. She had to be.

Yet, as I stood there gawking at this clumsy, ill-dressed, awkward looking...insect I couldn't even remember what Tomoyo looked like.

The hallway fell silent. From the kitchen, I could hear Tomoyo calling, no doubt wondering what was going on. But I found that I didn't care. I never thought I was that kind of person. My fiancee, the woman I was about to marry, was calling and I just couldn't bring myself to care. The panic was rising inside me. Oh god, what was happening?

Kyou cleared her throat again, shifting uncomfortably next to me as she finished the introductions.

"Anyyyway...as I said, this is my friend, Nagisa-chan. Nagisa, meet Okazaki Tomoya."