Clannad Alternate Universe: Kotomi Chapter
I do not own the characters or title of Clannad. If I did, there would be many more "Another World" chapters in the original.
Tomoya was heading back to the library once again, intending to visit the attractive young girl who seemed to live there. His old childhood friend had, in more recent days, become something even dearer to him than a girl he used to know. They were a very odd pair in everyone's mind, a delinquent with poor attendance by his own choices, and the resident genius of the school. Though, to this point, they were not yet officially dating. It was Kotomi's presence at school that kept Toyoma's attendance strong and had begun to change his study habits. He had come to the point that he just had to go spend time with her when he could. Odd as she was, she was a cute sort of odd, and Tomoya liked it.
"Kotomi?" Tomoya said sliding the door to the library open, "Kotomi, are you still in here?"
The girl in question was sitting on her pillow with an exceptionally large book on applied physics. Completely engrossed in her studies, as usual, she didn't acknowledge Tomoya's calls.
"Kotomi?" Tomoya squatted in front of Kotomi and waved at her, a small smirk across his face.
'She's really going to make me say it, isn't she?'
"…Kotomi-chan…"
"Oh…" Kotomi snapped back into reality and slowly looked up, "Hello, Tomoya-kun. Good afternoon."
"You really never will answer me unless I call 'Kotomi-chan' will you?"
"But that's what I like Toyoma-kun to call me…" Kotomi gave a minute pout.
"Well, I'm on my lunch break, I figured I would come visit you again." Tomoya smiled and pulled out the chair from the nearby table.
"Oh…I brought a bento for you, Tomoya-kun." Kotomi pulled a large bento from behind her and slid it up on the edge of the table before standing up. She had been making lunches for Tomoya for a month, without fail. Not that Tomoya minded but, sometimes he felt like he was almost taking advantage of her. He had forgotten about her before and never felt like he was really giving anything back to her for the kindness and affection she showed.
"You're really spoiling me, you know? You don't have to always make me food too, Kotomi-chan."
"But you said you like my food." Kotomi blushed a little and looked away, "And I like doing things for you, Tomoya-kun."
Tomoya began to blush at this as he took the lid off of the lunchbox, revealing a lunch obviously made for two, or more as the case so often was with Kotomi's cooking, with one exception…
"Kotomi, do you have another pair of chopsticks, I only see one pair."
"Oh…" Kotomi stepped closer and looked into the box, "Did I forget? Oh well." Kotomi pulled out the wooden chopsticks and separated them. She picked up a bit of chicken with them and held the food in front of Tomoya's face.
"You're going to feed me?"
"Hai." Kotomi was blushing again.
"Do I look like I'm not capable?"
"Iya!" Kotomi suddenly seemed shocked and a little hurt. "I just wanted to do something…like a couple would…" She began to act a little embarrassed.
"Kotomi, did you leave out the chopsticks on purpose?"
She hesitated a little, "Hai…gomenasai…"
'This is really unlike her. I can't complain, she's beautiful, smart, a good cook. What's not to like?'
"I'm not mad or anything Kotomi…it's just unexpected…If you want to feed me then that's ok with me." Tomoya smiled at Kotomi warmly to help put her at ease. Tomoya took the offered food and savored the taste for a moment before thanking Kotomi again. Her response was to smile and sit in his lap. Toyoma's response to this was not very composed, nor graceful, ending up with both of them in the floor.
"Kotomi-chan, what's gotten into you? You're being so forward." Toyoma stared at the girl sitting in the middle of his torso with a distinct shock. "I don't mind eating with you and I don't really even mind being close to you, but this is just not like you."
Kotomi looked away, holding the chopsticks to her chest. A pained look spread across her features and tears began to form at the corners of her violet eyes. "I heard… some girls outside the library today talking about you."
"So what? Were you jealous?" Tomoya joked.
"Hai." Kotomi hung her head and looked at the floor. Her long hair hid her eyes from Tomoya as a few tears began to form in them.
"…Really…?"
"They…they were talking about…taking you away…" Kotomi began to cry quietly. "I lost Tomoya-kun once…I don't want to be without you again…it was sad. I don't like being so sad…" Tears began falling harder and Kotomi's shoulders began shaking.
"Did you see who it was?" Tomoya was more than a little upset and was feeling very protective of Kotomi. Ever since his memories of their childhood together returned, he had always wanted to be close to her. Partly was to atone for his past errors, and partly because, deep down, he knew he loved Kotomi. Once his memories of the girl with her violin in the garden returned, there was no one else in his mind other than her. The idea of someone hurting her made him furious.
Kotomi shook her head to tell him no, her eyes tightly closed as she sobbed. Toyoma sat up and gently stroked Kotomi's hair trying to comfort her.
"Kotomi-chan," Kotomi finally opened her eyes and looked straight back into Toyoma's, "I promise that no one is going to take me away from you. I promise I'll be here for you from now on." He stroked her face and hair for another few moments before trying to stand up again. Kotomi stood and allowed Tomoya back to his feet without saying another word. Once he was back in his seat, Kotomi sat in his lap again. She poked at the food in the lunch box with her chopsticks before having a bite for herself.
"Mind if I have a little more?" Tomoya asked wrapping an arm loosely around Kotomi's waist. His other hand met hers and moved chopsticks back toward the box. As Tomoya brought the chopsticks back toward his face, the girl in his lap dropped another bombshell on him.
"Tomoya-kun, am I your girlfriend?" Tomoya nearly poked himself in the eye in his surprise, had it not been for Kotomi, he may well have needed to go to the school nurse.
"Well, I dunno. I guess we have been getting really close. And, even though I forgot for a little while, we've known each other for a long time. I guess that could be the case. I-I certainly would like that." Tomoya attempted unsuccessfully to cover how flustered he was.
Kotomi suddenly seemed to become excited. She smiled widely at him and leaned into his chest a little (moving the chopsticks so as not to hurt Tomoya). "That makes me happy, Tomoya-kun. Does that mean, maybe we can 'date.'"
"Uh, you mean go on dates? Well, sure. If we're really going to officially be a couple then it would make sense. We could skip class and go now if you'd like." Tomoya added a little smirk at his idea.
"Tomoya-kun…"
"Nani?"
"That is bad, you must not skip classes like that." Kotomi stared Tomoya down as she spoke. "How can you expect to get into a college like that?"
Tomoya lightly poked Kotomi's nose, "You skip all the time."
"Very well, I will start attending classes with you, Tomoya-kun." Kotomi sat upright and placed her hands on her hips, trying to look authoritative.
"Eh? Wait? But, you're in a different class! You can't do that!" Tomoya yelled a little louder than he meant to due to his surprise with Kotomi's decision.
"Tomoya-kun…" Kotomi looked carefully at Tomoya's face, "You're a bully…"
Toyoma was more than a little surprised by his current situation. He tried for his entire lunch break to convince Kotomi that she shouldn't just drop into another class, she finally agreed with him that it would be unusual. What she apparently didn't agree to was that she couldn't come to class with him anyway. Now, Tomoya was sitting in his class in his normal seat with Kotomi taking the frequently absent Sunohara's seat. The teacher was rather confused by the incredibly intelligent new student in his class, but welcomed her frequent input and seemed to ignore the fact that Sunohara's polar opposite had taken his place in the class. As such, he didn't bother questioning the situation nor did he report the incident. Kotomi seemed to enjoy herself immensely, much to Tomoya's own amusement. Class ended and Tomoya began to gather his belongings when Fujibayashi Ryou walked up to Kotomi.
"Hello, Kotomi-chan! What are you doing in our class today?" Ryou asked in her normal, sweet tone.
"Hello, Ryou-chan. I was just coming to class with my boyfriend." Kotomi replied.
"Ehhh! You have a boyfriend? Who is it?" Ryou began to look around at the students still sitting in the room, her eyes finally settling on Tomoya. Ryou's expression changed slowly as she came to the realization.
"Why, it's Tomoya-kun of course." Kotomi stood next to Tomoya's desk, right next to his right arm.
"I see…" Ryou by this point looked as though she may start crying, "W-well, good for both of you!" Ryou quickly walked away from the pair and retreated into the hall.
"Ryou-chan seemed troubled by something." Kotomi said, looking thoughtful.
"Maybe she is jealous of you." Tomoya commented as he stood up and started for the door.
Kotomi suddenly seemed very shocked by the idea and stood still for a moment before catching up to Tomoya at the door. "Do you really think that is true?"
"Probably, she might have wanted me for herself you know?" Tomoya joked. Instantly, Kotomi wrapped her arms around Tomoya's torso. "Uh, Kotomi-chan?"
"I feel bad…"
"Why's that?"
"Ryou-chan is my friend, but…" Kotomi tightened her grip, "I don't want to share my time with Tomoya-kun with her." Kotomi hung her head a little and looked at her feet, "I must be a bad friend."
"It's not bad to not want to share your boyfriend, Kotomi-chan." Toyoma said, running his free hand through her hair, "That's part of being a couple. Besides, I have a lot of time to make up for that belongs exclusively to you."
Kotomi finally looked back up at Tomoya with a strange look of awe on her face, violet eyes piercing the delinquent student. Clearly, he had found the one subject he would always be more knowledgeable about, "So, it really is ok?"
"Uh…yeah, of course. You know, I'm always honest with you. I don't even tease you like I tease other people. Well, except for the violin playing…"
"Tomoya-kun…"
"Nani?"
Kotomi rocked up on her toes and pressed her lips to Tomoya's, catching him off guard. She steadied herself by holding onto his arm with one hand and wrapping her other arm around his shoulders. Tomoya, shocked though he was, returned the kiss and cupped Kotomi's cheek with his free hand. Neither of them seemed to care that they were just outside the classroom in the hallway, still full of other students, or that students leaving class were staring. Of course, Tomoya couldn't have cared less about them, he was in complete shock from Kotomi's sudden boldness.
"WHAT IN THE HELL ARE YOU TWO DOING IN SUCH A PLACE!" The pair nearly launched themselves across the hall from one another as Kyou yelled nearly into their ears. "Could you two not find somewhere more private to do something like that? Maybe the library, the gym storage room, a boiler room! Anywhere?" Kyou attempted to hide a tear that had started to form in her eye, be it for herself or her twin sister as she scolded the pair. "Have some courtesy for the other students! Not everyone wants to see that. Next time you decide you want to stuff your tongues down each other's throats, I'll cut your tongues out and shove them up your-!"
"Onee-chan!" Ryou stopped her sister's tirade short of one of the trademark 'scary things to say.'
"Why should it matter, we're a couple, shouldn't we be able to kiss wherever we want to?" Kotomi asked in her inexperienced and blissful ignorance. Having spent so little time in the outside world and having so little experience with social interactions was finally catching up to her. And it was pushing Kyou dangerously close to the edge of her sanity.
"What's that supposed to mean? You don't care who you offend with your PDA?" Kyou started past Tomoya toward Kotomi but was stopped as Toyoma grabbed her wrist.
"Kyou, don't. We'll keep the PDA to a minimum, OK?" Tomoya tried to put on his best innocent face. He knew the thin ice that he was treading on and new that Kotomi had just opened pandora's box with her comment, innocently cute as it was. Kyou couldn't keep it in anymore. All the frustration of helping her sister and trying to ignore herself, along with the repeated failures, finally boiled over. Crying, she swung her free hand connected her fist with Toyoma's jaw, freeing herself from his grip and sending Tomoya into the wall behind him.
"Dumbass…you obviously don't understand at all…" Kyou quickly turned and retreaded back down the hall to her sister. "C'mon Ryou…"
"Tomoya-kun! Are you alright?" Kotomi kneeled next to her boyfriend and helped him to his feet.
"Yeah…I think so. Kyou has a hell of a right hook…" Toyoma rubbed his jaw as he spoke. He pulled himself up with Kotomi's help and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
"Do you think you need to see the nurse?" Kotomi gently touched the red lump on Tomoya's jaw.
"Nah, I'll be fine."
"I'm sorry, I'm sure this is my fault…I've been so selfish."
"Kotomi-chan, I told you, you're my girlfriend. There may be some people who can't accept that yet, but none of this is your fault." Tomoya caressed Kotomi's cheek while she tried to soothe his throbbing jaw. "This is as much what I want as it is what you want. However, let's try to not put on such shows for the other students in the future."
Kotomi smiled and glanced down both ends of the hall before quickly leaning in and kissing Tomoya on the cheek, once she was sure no one watching.
"Should we walk home, Tomoya-kun?"
"Yeah, sounds like a good idea."
On the way down the hill, Kotomi began to ask Tomoya about his father, she remembered that he had been the one to raise Tomoya, but noticed he never talked much about the man.
"I don't think I ever actually met your father, Tomoya-kun."
'Just as well, I really don't want to think about that.'
"He's out a lot and doesn't usually come home till late. It's been that way for a long time. It really wouldn't be a surprise if you never met him." Tomoya tried to brush the comment off.
"Well, maybe we could go meet him today?" Kotomi asked as she clung to Tomoya's arm. "We have to pass by your place on the way to my house. Perhaps we can drop by and see if he is there."
'It'd be my luck that he will be this time.'
Kotomi was looking up at Tomoya with a very expectant look. She clearly was not going to take no for an answer. It might have just been her curiosity, or perhaps some sort of longing to have a father again, either way, Kotomi was determined to meet Okazaki's father.
"I guess we can…but…"
"Nani…?"
"Kotomi-chan…you aren't going to be impressed. I can assure you of that." Tomoya's tone was very serious.
"What do you mean?"
"I guess you'll see soon enough…"
Tomoya took the turn toward his house with Kotomi still on his arm. As he reached the door, Tomoya hesitated. He took a breath and prayed that his father was actually somewhere else, getting drunk, gambling, doing something that would keep him away long enough for him to convince Kotomi that she wouldn't get to meet him today. He slid the door open slowly, casting a pillar of light across the dingy little room. As the pillar of light spread it finally fell across exactly what Tomoya didn't want to see: His father, slumped in the floor, surrounded with liquor bottles. Tomoya inwardly cursed his luck and Kotomi gasped from behind him.
"Tomoya-kun…?"
"Well…you said you wanted to see him…"
Kotomi tightened her grip on Tomoya's arm. She was troubled by what she saw, but also very sad that Tomoya's father wasn't taking care of himself like he should. It made her sad to see that, but equally terrible in her mind was the fact that Tomoya clearly hated his father. She had made the mistake once of telling her father she hated him, and she desperately wished she could take it back.
"Tomoya-kun…do…you…do you want to get some of your belongings and stay at my house for a while?" Kotomi asked.
"What? You want me to move in?" Tomoya was shocked by Kotomi for no less than the third time in one day.
"Well…just to give you a break. So maybe…you could talk to your father about…what he's been doing."
"If…you think that will really work." Tomoya had more than a few doubts about making any improvements to his relationship with his father. But he understood where Kotomi was coming from. After losing her parents, it would really make sense that she not want to see Tomoya on bad terms with his father. "I guess I'll go in and pick up some clothes if you really don't mind."
"I have plenty of room at my house."
"I guess that's true." Tomoya started to step into the house and slipped out of Kotomi's grip.
"Tomoya-kun…"
"Yes?"
"Make sure to tell him you're going…ok?" Kotomi pleaded.
"…I will…" Toyoma hung his head and looked away from Kotomi. He knew if his father was awake, he would probably just walk out and say nothing to his father. Toyoma entered the house and slid the door shut behind him. To his right, he could hear the sound of his father snoring and further back in the room he could hear the TV running. Tomoya made straight to his room and began pulling clothes out of his dresser. He piled a week and a bit's worth of clothing into a large gym bag and grabbed his extra uniform jacket from the closet before heading back toward the front door. A few steps from the door, he heard something shifting. He turned to see his father sitting up, looking at him with distinct surprise.
"Tomoya-kun? Are you going on a trip?" The older man said as he tried to stand up.
Tomoya thought about running again, like he normally would. Right outside the door however was someone he couldn't face again if he did that. Kotomi asked him to tell his father because that's what a normal family would do. Tomoya's family wasn't normal. It didn't make sense. Still, it was what Kotomi wanted him to do so he might be able to set things right some day. That was worth a few moments of discomfort to him.
"Yeah…sort of." Tomoya started, "I'm going to go stay at a friend's place for a while."
"I see." Naoyuki seemed to understand why Tomoya would want to leave but said nothing more of that. "Then, when might you be coming back by?"
"I don't really know."
"Hm…alright then. I understand. Have fun with your friend, Tomoya-kun." Naoyuki's facial expression never changed.
"Father…take care of yourself. Don't drink too much."
At this Mr. Okazaki smiled a little, "I'll try to remember not to."
Tomoya opened to door and stepped out into the sunlight again. He turned back and looked at his father once again, "Bye. See you later."
Mr. Okazaki gave a little wave to his son and the girl outside the door as Tomoya slid the door closed again. Tomoya stood with one hand on the door for several seconds, wishing that his father might actually heed his advice. He remained lost in his own thoughts until Kotomi's hands slid over his shoulders. She wrapped her arms around Tomoya's chest and hugged him without saying a word. Tomoya was the one to finally break the silence.
"So, shall we go home?"
"Hai."
Next time: Kotomi and Tomoya begin the fun and exciting world of cohabitation! Just a spin on the normal events of the Clannad story line. Nagisa is still in this world. Don't worry, all the girls will make an appearance sometime soon. After all, just wouldn't be right if all these girls didn't either have a cat fight…or maybe do something far worse. X3
Read, review, and stay tuned!
Seriyu-san