I started this sometime in March of nearly two years ago. It was really fresh in my mind then, I wanted to, and almost had to write this. And then never finished it. I figured I should at least upload it, I've marked it as in-progress, but I'm not sure I'll come back to it. This takes place after the ending of Kotomi's route in the PC/Console version. Some of it, the simple happiness that one experiences from doing mundane things with a loved one, comes from my own life. In a way, reading Kotomi's story in the Clannad PC game and writing this helped me to further appreciate the love that I have in my life. It's hard to explain, but I think Kanon (Nayuki, hooray) and Clannad (the PC versions, moreso than the anime) really helped this desperately pathetic nerd to become a more understanding person, especially towards the ones he loves. Anyway, enjoy, and I hope that Key's stories have helped you in similar ways.

Thanks.

********

I slept through class as though I hadn't slept in days. A resolution of sorts, to all my worries had come. I don't know if my heart had ever felt this light, while being so exhausted. I had promised myself (and the Fujibayashi twins) that I would try harder, be a better student. I had a reason to.

I probably snored a little.

A familiar, yet somehow blond, shadow passed over me. "Good morning! Sleep well?"

"Don't make it sound like I just woke up next to you in bed." Class must have just ended. Making it lunch time.

Sunohara faked a disgusted face. "Don't sound so ungrateful. I'll make you breakfast!"

"I'd rather not see you in an apron," I quipped, attempting to keep pace. Sunohara was unusually capable in keeping up with my barbs today. Time to catch him off guard in return. "You want to eat lunch, right?"

"Bread, of course! It's been a long time, it feels like."

"You know, you're right. I've been quite happy lately." Now to reel him in.

"Don't say it like it's because you haven't seen me that you've been happy!" His familiar incredulous face returned.

"Well, I have to say that's probably just a small part of the reason." My smile must have been growing unconsciously.

Sunohara gaped at me still. "Small part? Is that all I am to you, your best friend? I've barely seen you at all lately."

I looked at him. He actually looked serious. "It's been a little lonely, to be honest." I genuinely felt bad I hadn't spent much time in his room doing nothing lately.

"I.. I'm sorry. I've been kind of busy lately." The only response I could think of.

"Doing what? .... did you get yourself a girlfriend?! We were supposed to be bachelors to the end! You broke our lifelong promise!" Ah, and with a trademarked stupid grin, his idiocy had returned.

"There was no promise! If you must know, I've been spending quite a bit of time with four beautiful maidens. Lunchtime, after school, on weekends..."

"F- FOUR?!" This was going to be easy. "You can't date four girls! I can't even see you with one!"

"They're all very good-looking, too. One of them especially." I added the emphasis. Even though it was quite true.

Sunohara's look of shock lessened somewhat. "Oh... So you're only dating one... WHAT! YOU HAVE A GIRLFRIEND?!" The portion of the class still remaining in the room immediately looked my way. Yeesh, this guy.

"Didn't you already come to that conclusion a few lines ago?"

"Yes, but I didn't think it was true."

I smiled back at him. "So you thought the part about four girlfriends was true?"

His shock turned to a frown. "Not for a second!" Then another serious look. "So who is it? Fujibayashi Kyou?"

This time it was my turn to look shocked. "What?! Where the hell are you getting this?"

"Someone told me they saw you with the twins and a few other people outside the school today. I think the teacher of 3-A was there, too. So I heard. Besides, she had always seemed your type. Similarly interested in annoying me." Sunohara looked into my eyes in a really creepy way so as to ascertain the truth. "So it's not Kyou? I'm quite surprised. Then who is it?"

And the trap is sprung. "Ichinose Kotomi."

"HAHAHAHA!" An explosion of laughter, once again drawing the attention of the class. "You're really funny when you want to be, you know that? I'd duck fairly quickly if I were you. Kyou's got a sixth sense for this, there's probably a dictionary of some sort on its way to your head the moment she finds out her boyfriend is saying wild lies about his love life."

"For the last time, I'm not dating Kyou! It's Ichinose Kotomi."

Sunohara frowned again. "You're quite an idiot if you think I'm going to believe that. The school- nay, this COUNTRY's best student dating this school's- nay, this COUNTRY's worst student?" Sunohara was apparently excluding himself from the coveted All-Japan-Worst rankings. "That would never happen."

I suddenly felt a familiar presence beside me. "What the hell are you saying?" The tone was still somewhat unconvincing, but how her timing has improved! Perhaps we really will become a fantastic Manzai Husband-and-Wife team!

"Ah, Kotomi! Nicely done! You remember Sunohara, right?"

Kotomi nudged a little closer to me and tugged gently on my jacket while looking at Sunohara. "I'm Ichinose Kotomi. Ko-to-mi with three hiraga-"

"I think he's heard this before." I gently interrupted her.

"..." A familiar response from Kotomi.

"Kotomi, did you come to have lunch?" I turned to her, emphasizing the words as best I could for Sunohara to understand. He seemed a little dumbstruck at the moment, though.

"Yes... I made a really, really delicious bento for us. We'll share." Kotomi looked really pleased.

Sunohara, meanwhile, was apparently still frozen with the frown on his face. I looked at his face from another angle, to see if he'd move. No reaction.

"Well, I guess I'll be off. We'll have lunch some other day, Sunohara." I say to his frozen corpse as we started to walk out of the classroom. Still no reaction.

Kotomi, meanwhile, unashamedly hooked her arm with mine. I should have been a bit more embarassed, but after all of Sunohara's yelling, everyone would be watching us leave together anyway. In any case, I'm incredibly happy to be doing this as well.

***

Lunch was in the Drama Club room. The return to normality wasn't quite here yet, but the looks of relief and something of a rediscovered happiness were visible on everyones' faces. Kotomi had asked everyone to come here for lunch today. But, it seemed like she had only made enough for herself and I. Which seemed okay, as both of the Fujibayashi sisters had brought boxes, and even Furukawa seemed to have somehow managed to muster up the courage to buy bread on her own. I'm not sure if she got the anpan because it was the only thing left, or if she's just an enormous anpan maniac.

Kotomi, meanwhile, had brought a second pair of chopsticks for me, but was often insisting to "share" in quite a direct way by making me say "aah." Making the point of the second pair of chopsticks somewhat useless in my mind. It seemed another one of those air-chilling moments, with the Fujibayashis becoming especially anxious for some reason. Despite the directness of her feeding method, I overheard something about the word "indirect" in the whisperings.

Kyou then spoke to Furukawa. "So, president! When do we start officially forming this club?" Huh? She had always seemed the least excited about drama.

Furukawa gave an expected surprised stutter. "Er, well... There's a new student council president. Maybe they will be more receptive..."

Kyou smiled, and I detected a faint trace of evil. "Great! When do we get those two playing Romeo and Juliet?!" She obviously pointed to Kotomi and I.

"Hey, at least give us a happy ending. A Midsummer Night's Dream is a better choice." I thought this over for a while. "I mean, what am I saying?!"

Kotomi looked a little oblivious and a little happy at the same time, I honestly don't know how. "I like happy endings as well."

Ryou, at least, attempted to inject some sanity to the discussion. "Is there a performance you wanted to do, Nagisa-chan?"

Furukawa looked anxious again. "Well, I had an idea, but it seems like I've forgotten about it somehow. I think it would be really fun to do a group performance."

I piped up. "I can't sing."

Kyou was next. "I can't dance."

Furukawa tried to reassure us. "Probably not a musical. Maybe we should try a comedy? We've been interested in that lately."

Ryou brightened a bit. "Maybe that's a good idea!" Kyou somewhat glared at Kotomi, to suggest that we might need a bit more practice before then. She'll have to settle for being one of the numerous boke characters, until she manages to perfect the tsukkomi. Though today wasn't bad at all.

I looked at my watch. Lunch was almost over. "Maybe we should talk about this after school." We began packing our things. I thanked Kotomi for the very delicious lunch, and she returned a radiant smile, obviously happy at the praise. I kind of got lost in it, because I didn't notice Kyou pulling me to the back of the room until I was almost to the window.

"Ryou says you slept in class." An icy glare. "You need to be working harder now. Not as though you didn't need to work harder before."

"I know. I was just really... calm. I've been under a little bit of stress until today, if you didn't notice."

"I know that. Just... do better, okay? I don't know if she'd even come to school again if you somehow got kicked out. Be careful." The look of concern on her face was rare, but somehow suited her.

"I already promised you I would. Today was a lapse, honest. I'm still recovering from all that gardening." I rubbed my sore right shoulder for effect.

"Good job on that, by the way. I never knew you had that kind of strength in you."

What a weird comment. "What's that supposed to mean?"

I noticed Ryou near the entrance waving for us to hurry. "Never mind. C'mon, let's go. Don't disappoint me... Or her."

"It's not her I'm worried about disappointing. It's your devastating fury that keeps me awake at night so much that I have to sleep during school."

A well-known death glare accompanied with a terrifying smile. "Watch yourself."

***

The rest of the day went by quickly. Once again attempting to keep my promise to myself to Kyou, I stayed awake during the remaining classes. Sunohara, in between fits of slumber, saw fit to stare holes through me during his waking moments. I sure have been on the receiving end of a lot of glares as of late.

The subject matter was a bit more difficult than I remembered. When was the last time I really paid attention to this stuff? Before I knew it, I was falling behind with notes and somewhat lost. But, eventually, classes and homeroom were over. As I struggled to pore over what I had written, Kotomi came to fetch me again. Sunohara continued to sleep.

"Tomoya-kun." A big smile. I couldn't help but smile back.

"Kotomi-chan. Let me put these away and I'll go with you."

"Take your time. Can I help?"

"No, it's just these books." I said, as I shoved them into my bag. My bag, which was much heavier than usual. "Wait, I should be asking you! Can I carry your things?" Kotomi handed me her bag. Lighter than mine! A first?

"Do you want to go to the Drama Club room, then?" A nod in response.

"Okay, let's go." We walked out of the classroom together again. Accompanied by stares from my classmates. Again.

As we walked towards the old building, there was something I had wanted to say.

"Kotomi?"

"?" A one-question-mark response.

"Do you think we should tell them?"

"???" I could tell this one had three question marks. "Tell them what?"

Could I let this perfect opportunity slip by? I hesitated for just a second. "That we were secretly married yesterday."

"Hmm? Are we going to bully them?" She should have fired a retort back at me... I guess she needs more training. "Are you a bully, after all?"

"No... I guess what I really mean is, should we tell them about the past?"

"About our childhood?" Kotomi looked at me somewhat sadly.

"We've sort of kept it a secret. I... I feel bad enough about it as it is... It's... not something I easily want to talk about."

"Then, you don't have to mention it if you don't want to." Kotomi looked at me, somewhat puzzled.

"Maybe. I get the feeling it will have to be said someday."

***

That "someday" happened to be that afternoon. The four girls were chatting, as usual. Girly conversation, all about Kotomi. I chimed in whenever I was required to. But, a sudden question came up, that I did not know how to explain my way through without giving away the past I had run away from. When the topic turned to Kotomi returning to school, I was cornered.

Ryou, somehow more astute than the rest of her boke colleagues: "Tomoya... how did you know that Kotomi would really like to have her garden restored?"

I looked to Kotomi for help. She seemed a little oblivious at first. "I, uh..." Kotomi then gave a faint smile and a nod. I guess she wanted me to tell them.

"Well, you see... Kotomi and I have known each other for nearly 10 years now."

"What?! But, but... you just met her within the last few weeks?" Kyou's mouth hung open.

"I had thought that, too." I began my explanation, that I had been dreading starting. The story of how I abandoned Kotomi, and very nearly completely forgot about her.

I explained the story of how Kotomi and I were friends, nearly 10 years ago. We had lost each other, but somehow, were given a second chance to know each other again. Or, in my own mind, I had been given a second chance to correct the years I failed to be at Kotomi's side when she really needed me.

Everyone was shocked, as I expected. But, where I had expected them to be disappointed in me for abandoning Kotomi for so long, they showed more sadness than anything. Sadness and joy that what would have been a tragic tale had a happier ending. Furukawa and Ryou were both moved to tears as I told this story, and when Kotomi added her own comments, about how even though I had nearly completely forgotten her, yet still became a very close friend, I saw Kyou wipe her eyes more than once.

Still, my feelings of guilt and shame threatened to overwhelm me. Even though we were together now, the shame I knew from failing her, and failing to remember her overpowered my will. I felt tears well up in my own eyes. I had to get out of the room. I didn't want to be seen, now that they knew how horrible I was. I tried to make an excuse that I wasn't feeling well and attempted to leave, but Kotomi quickly stood up and grabbed my arm.

My moistened eyes looked at her, and she smiled. "Tomoya-kun. Don't worry." she whispered, as she reached her arms around me and hugged me, as tightly as I think she could manage. I immediately felt more calm. I returned her hug with strength.

Not wanting to cause another air-chilling scene, we let go of each other, and Kotomi held on to my arm for another moment. I felt significantly better. "You don't have to feel guilty." Kotomi was incredibly intelligent, but this was one of the most astute things I had heard her say. She knew what had been going through my head. "You remember me now. And you're with me now. And I'll always be with you." She whispered, possibly aware of the need to avoid making everyone uncomfortable.

Furukawa spoke up. "You shouldn't be ashamed! You managed to find her again, even if you knew you were looking for her or not. And you have been able to help her. And, the fact that you became friends with her again, and did so much for someone who was like a stranger... that shows what a nice person you are, Okazaki-san."

Ryou also said a similar thing. "I've always thought you were very nice, Okazaki-san. The Okazaki that you became is a very kind, caring person. You shouldn't think about the past like that."

Kyou turned to Kotomi first. "Tomoya is a bad student, and kind of a jerk..." Kotomi looked strangely at Kyou. "But, his heart has always been in the right place, ever since I've known him." She turned to me. "You were given a second chance. You shouldn't spend that chance moping about any failures you might have had the first time around. Even then, you were just a kid. Some adults don't even have the maturity to do the right thing." She punched me in the shoulder. "You've done great."

I looked at Kotomi again. Her eyes were shining a bit, too. I never wanted to lose her again. I could have kissed her on the forehead right there, but I held myself back. Kotomi pulled me by the arm and sat me down next to her on the floor. Before we had been sitting separately in the chairs. I recalled a pleasant memory where she patted her pillow in the library for me to sit next to her. I really was feeling better. Not just thanks to her, but thanks to everyone.

The rest of the time we spent talking about our childhood together. The other girls seemed really interested in our relationship now, to a frightening degree. More frightening than before, rather. The time came when we decided to start heading home. On our way out of the school, the conversation returned to more mundane topics. I walked near Fujibayashi and Furukawa, while Kyou and Kotomi walked up ahead, talking lowly. I didn't like the look of it, but I didn't have much choice. Eventually we reached the area where we normally parted ways. Kotomi looked like she was getting ready to say her usual goodbyes, but turned to me first.

"Tomoya-kun. Would you like to come to my home today?" Another shocking moment. I think Ryou almost fainted. I gave a glare to Kyou, suspecting that Kotomi may have been coached into this. Kyou just stared back, mouthing "That wasn't me!" I'll believe her for now. Until any strange incidents start occurring at Kotomi's home.

"I'd love to, Kotomi." I really wanted to add my opinion that she should have waited until we parted ways before she asked me that. But, I held back. Kotomi looked very pleased with my response.

After a bit of time for everyone to recover, Kotomi said her usual "See you tomorrow"s to everyone, and we headed back to our usual intersection. Our hands gradually found each other, and we walked in silence for a bit. It wasn't unconfortable. Completely the opposite. "This is the first time we've walked past this intersection together, isn't it?"

"You're right. I'm happy."

"So am I."

***

We kept walking, past where we usually parted ways, and towards Kotomi's house. When we arrived, I handed Kotomi's bag back to her, and she beckoned for me to sit at the table in her garden. I set my bag down as Kotomi set her things inside. But, she immediately came back and put my bag inside next to hers as well. She seemed a bit surprised at the weight. Finally, Kotomi sat down in the chair across from me. I stared into her beautiful face, and her shining eyes.

"Kyou says you're trying harder in school lately."

That brought me back down to earth. Always gossiping about me, that elder Fujibayashi... "I... yeah. Since I met you in the library, I've been coming to school on time, and I've been trying to pay attention in my classes."

Kotomi was very serious about this, it seemed, as she stared straight into me. "Are you doing your homework?"

This was a tricky one. "Yeah... mostly." I hadn't really had time over the last few days, though.

Kotomi might have understood, but she might not have, as the next question was unrelated. "Why weren't you coming to school before?"

Another difficult question. "I've... never really had a reason to. Since I stopped playing basketball, I-"

Kotomi interrupted me with a shocked look on her face. "You played basketball? Why did you stop?"

I didn't really want to answer. But, it was Kotomi. If I couldn't trust her with the painful things in my life, I had no business being with her. "I... got hurt. In a fight. with my father."

Kotomi looked really upset. "With your father? You... haven't been very close to your father, have you?" Kotomi remembered more about me than I realized. Of course, it was more like she hadn't forgotten anything about me.

"Not really... He's a drunk, and pushy." I sighed.

"Would he remember me?" A strange question.

"Hmm?"

Kotomi looked down at the table. "Did you ever talk to him about me, when you were young?"

That was a very deep memory she was asking me to dredge from the oceans of things I had genuinely wanted to forget about this era of my life. But, somehow, there was something gleaming there in my mind. "You know, I think I did. He asked me one day where I was going, and I told him 'to see Kotomi-chan.' After that, whenever I went out, he would ask me if I was going to visit Kotomi-chan. More often than not, the answer was yes. He might remember you, come to think of it."

Kotomi beamed. "I'm very happy you told him about me." Suddenly, I wasn't, though. Another flood of memories had just come to the surface of my mind, of the few weeks after I had stopped going to Kotomi's home. Every time I went out, he asked me if I was going to see Kotomi-chan. After that time, my answer was always "no." It went on for over 2 months. Eventually I started to become angry about it, and finally my father stopped asking me. He probably got tired of me getting upset because I wanted to run away from Kotomi. It was my fear, my desire to avoid her that had made me forget about her.

Before I knew it, I had fallen into guilt and despair again. Looking at her, her house, and her garden made me even more upset. I began to feel like I had back in the club room. I had left her for so long, in this place, by herself.

"Kotomi, I-" Kotomi again had a strange perception as to what I was feeling.

"Please don't apologize, Tomoya. You never did anything wrong." Kotomi reached out across the table for my hand. I was glad to oblige, but didn't feel much better.

"I want to believe that, but... I just wish I hadn't been such a coward."

Kotomi's eyes looked like they were welling up with tears again. "I remember a really, really brave boy who rushed to save me from a fire. I never thought he was a coward."

Suddenly, I remembered Kotomi's favorite story that she would read to me. "I wish I could change the past. With a time machine, I could make it so that the younger me came back here. I'd beat him up if I had to."

Kotomi looked off in one direction in a very serious manner. "But in the story, time had always been set that way. There was nothing that could be done to change it. They were forever destined to meet like that." Kotomi looked up over my head somewhere, very lost in this thought, it looked like. "Although, some temporal theories disagree. Some scientists would say that even if you succeeded in changing the past, you would create a new, tangential universe, and would never be able to return to this universe. You could never return to me, to this Kotomi." Kotomi looked back at my face. "Please don't try and change the past, Tomoya-kun."

I understood most of what she said, amazingly. "I know that you're right. It's probably useless to think about trying to change what has already happened." I thought about that for a second. "Besides, I'm having trouble thinking of a story where two children who grow up together end up kissing in the end. Usually the guy ends up falling for another girl, leaving the childhood friend behind, doesn't he?"

Kotomi looked really troubled for a second, but then smiled. "I think you're right. You know, I was really, really worried that you had that kind of relationship with Nagisa-chan."

"Oh, I'm sorry I teased you about that. Even at that point, I knew that I liked you, Kotomi."

Kotomi's smile grew wider. "I've always really, really liked you, Tomoya-kun." I wanted to kiss her, but there was a table in the way, making it quite awkward. I settled for squeezing her hand as hard as I could. My heart started to thump a little more than normal. Kotomi turned red, as well. We looked at each other for a while, and eventually her fingers started moving across my hand. My heart beat faster. This was a little dangerous.

"Kotomi-chan... I... I fell in love with you, even before I remembered you. But, remembering that girl I had so much fun with as a child, it was like something in my heart opened up even wider." It was true. There's no way I was with her only because I felt guilty about leaving her behind. I would have fallen for her even if I hadn't known her in the past. And I don't have to worry about my future with her. "Kotomi, I..." Thankfully, Kotomi spoke, as I was probably seconds away from standing up to really embrace and kiss her.

"How about I help you study?" I snapped out of my bliss quite quickly at that remark. "You can come over every day, and we can study together." I looked up from Kotomi's hand into her eyes. She looked serious, suddenly bringing up the previous topic of conversation.

"I'd really like that... but..."

"???" Kotomi returned a suddenly sad face.

"I'd feel like I'm using you. I'm such a bad student, you'd have to spend a lot of time helping me, I think." It was pretty much the truth.

"It's not a problem... Tomoya-kun... we're... going out, right?" Those very sad eyes looked at me. I had to say the right thing here.

"Of course. I said I would always be with you."

Kotomi blushed a small amount. "Then, please let me help you. We're going to be together, so let me help you get into a good university."

"University?"

"You don't... plan to go with me?"

"I'd really like to, but I don't think there's any way I can get into a university you go to, Kotomi. You're my genius girl, and I'm just... Tomoya." Even if Kotomi limited herself to universities in Japan, there was no way she should go to any school other than Tokyo University. And there was no way I could meet that lofty goal. "I'd only be holding you back."

"Don't say that..." The very sad eyes appeared again, but suddenly turned very serious. "I'm going to do everything I can to help you."

"We're going to the same school?" I asked, a little skeptical, but I tried not to let too much emotion into my voice. It was news to me that I was going to university at all.

"It's already been decided."

"I'd follow you anywhere, Kotomi, it's just-"

She interrupted me. "Then, let me help you!"

"I... I'll do my best. For you." I gave up. If she planned to tear down the red gates of Tokyo University herself to get me into that school with her, I doubt I'd be able to stop her anyway. Just being with her and near her would make me happy.

"I'm very happy."

I was too, but I couldn't help but feel I'd be a burden on her. Not as though she would need to study. Even Tokyo University would probably name a building after her if she was undecided on which school to attend. "Then, let me do something for you, too."

"You don't have to do anything, Tomoya-kun. Just being with you already makes me really, really happy." An earnest smile.

"Your happiness is all I care about, Kotomi." Kotomi squeezed my hand, and my heart began to race immediately.

"Can I make dinner for you when you help me?" I wasn't sure what I was asking here. It was the only thing I could think of on the spot. I've resorted to cooking for myself occasionally when the old man wouldn't come home, but there was no way I could meet Kotomi's amazing culinary abilities.

"I'd really like that, but... I really, really wanted to cook for you, Tomoya-kun." I really didn't want to turn down that delicious offer, but I still felt like I was receiving too much from her.

"How about we both cook together? There's not much I can make, though... Maybe it's a bad idea, after all."

"No, it sounds really fun!" I imagined myself standing next to Kotomi in the kitchen as we both stirred pans full of food. Mine would probably be burning somehow. Or maybe, we could hold hands and stir together... What ridiculously lame romantic fantasies I have.

"Okay, that's a promise, Kotomi."

"Do you want to do that tonight?" Kotomi looked expectantly at me. A guy like Sunohara would get the wrong idea about that line. Suppressing a tsukkomi of my own, I answered truthfully.

"I'd love to cook with you, Kotomi."

"You have to study first." A total letdown. "Also, I don't have many ingredients, so we'll have to go to the supermarket."

"Okay. What shall we make?"

"Something simple, maybe? We need time for you to study, Tomoya-kun."

"And something simple for me to help with... How about kimchi pork?"

"That sounds really good." Kotomi smiled.

***

Going to the supermarket with Kotomi was one of the most weirdly happy moments of my life so far. I'd been in this store who knows how many times in my life, but I had never had such a feeling of contentment before while walking down those aisles. We were doing such an incredibly normal thing, but the fact that we were doing it together made it somehow extraordinary. I think Kotomi might have had the same feeling as we walked through the store, laughing and smiling as we chose the things she needed. I offered to pay, but Kotomi insisted that she buy everything, over my protests.

We went back to her home and began cooking. There wasn't really much I could do, after all. I cut the onion and carrots as Kotomi gave me altogether unnecessary praise over the job I was doing. Kotomi did most of the work, and eventually I was in her living room poring over my books. After a while Kotomi brought out the meal, which was, of course, absolutely delicious. I couldn't get over how such a simple meal became so wonderful in her hands. After finishing the kimchi pork, Kotomi brought out some convenience-store ice cream from her freezer for us to, of course, share.

My studies went rather well. Kotomi sat behind me on her sofa reading a book of her own, which looked like some kind of science fiction again. Or maybe it was real science, and I was too dull to notice this difference. But, whenever I came across a roadblock, Kotomi leaned over my shoulder to help me. I thought about asking for her help even when I didn't need it, as every time she leaned close to me, I learned anew how wonderful her hair smelled.

Eventually, Kotomi decided that I had probably studied enough, and said I could stop. I'm not sure how she became a teacher instead of a tutor, but I was glad to have a break. I turned around to look at her. I hadn't brought a change of clothes, and Kotomi was also still wearing her uniform. I felt a little less than casual, but it was a joy to see her face smiling at me. "You worked hard tonight." She beamed at me.

"It was all thanks to you." I stared at her face.

Kotomi started blushing, but I couldn't tell if it was because I was looking at her, or because I had praised her. "No, you did very well on your own."

I felt really shy all of a sudden. Her beauty was overwhelming me at this point. I didn't know what I could do, and in the end I just kept staring.

"I... Can I hold your hand, Kotomi-chan?" Her response was to widen her smile and close her eyes.

"Of course..." I sat on her sofa next to her, and put both my hands on hers. "Your hands are so warm, Tomoya-kun." My face felt very warm, too. I must have been completely red. "Kotomi-chan, I..." She moved closer to me. Our shoulders were touching. I don't know how this situation came so quickly. We had kissed before, but I had never experienced this kind of feeling in my life.