Disclaimer: If I owned Clannad, Tomoyo After would have a much more hopeful ending, to say the least, and Button plushies would find themselves on the streets of every major city on the globe. But I don't own Clannad, now do I?

Author's note: This does not follow the plot of Tomoyo After. This story is based on the anime and the Tomoyo route of the Visual Novel. I hope you enjoy it, reader.

Meaningful Ways to Pass The Time

"Youhei, get me a fruit milk."

"Sure... Wait, since when was I your servant?!"

"Well, we're a team, right? There has to be a slave... I mean, there has to be someone who understands the master-slave relationship... Wait, I mean, well, there has to be someone who listens to the team leader."

"Since when were you the boss of me?! I hate hierarchal relationships!"

"And you think those two can actually get together?" Tomoya asked with a smile on his face.

Okazaki Tomoya and Sakagami Tomoyo had been dating for some time, but there were people who objected to their relationship. Their main opponent was Fujibayashi Kyou, who for a long time had a crush on Tomoya. With Tomoyo having stolen Okazaki's heart, and with Kyou's fierce temper and stubborn nature, things were bound to get ugly.

Even though Tomoyo did whatever she could to befriend Kyou, deep down in her heart Fujibayashi still had a longtime grudge on Tomoyo for taking the person she loved. Well, Tomoya suspected that what Kyou was feeling wasn't really love, it was merely infatuation...

At least, that's what he hoped.

To make things even more complicated, Sunohara Youhei, Tomoya's longtime friend, also had a crush on someone, and unfortunately for him that someone happened to be Kyou.

Yes, Kyou, the girl who used him for target practice, the girl who'd probably strangle any potential suitor with the sole exception of Okazaki, and the girl who hated Youhei's rotten guts was the one he fell for, and Tomoya was, for the first time ever, sincerely worried for Youhei's life.

But now Tomoyo, feeling a little sorrowful at seeing Kyou and Youhei lonely like this, decided to help them somehow, but Okazaki really didn't think it was a good idea.

"But Tomoya, I think Youhei could use the company..."

"And you think Kyou won't strangle him first?"

"Hasn't Kyou been an old friend of yours?"

"Yeah, and I know her better than you. She'd more likely kill him than date him. It's not going to work."

"Never say never."

"Oh, please, don't tell me you..."

"Tomoya..."

"Fine..." Tomoya groaned. He just couldn't resist her eyes, which was funny because long ago he often saw them flare up at the sight of Youhei. Now, Tomoyo was trying to help the very person she used to beat up so often.

Tomoyo smiled, but Tomoya frowned. "If we're going to do this, then it'll take a lot of work..."

Sunohara had just gotten off from work. His briefcase hit the ground with a thud as Youhei went over to his couch and slumped down on it. He yawned loudly as he decided to lie down. He had already graduated from high school for about two years now, yet here he was sitting around doing absolutely nothing productive. Sure, he was a clerk at some ordinary law firm, and he technically had a higher paying job than Okazaki, but wasn't his old friend the one who got all the girls while he had to get kicked by some of them and rejected by all?

He was alone, stuck with some stupid job without the chance to go out and have a good time. It wasn't like his school days, where he could sneak away from class and hang out with Okazaki and whichever girl that stud happened to be around. No, if he even thought of ditching, he'd get fired. Life was getting really boring, and nothing exciting happened anymore.

Training to be a teacher was never that easy. Dealing with kindergarten kids was what Kyou always wanted to do, but seeing their cute little faces made her think of him, and of all those people she once knew. Kyou wasn't even twenty-five, but when she looked at those happy, lively faces, she couldn't help but mope around like an old woman.

Ryou had found love. She met Kappei, some guy who happened to work at the same hospital that she interned in, and apparently their relationship quickly turned to love. Kyou sighed as she thought of her quiet, timid younger sister. Even though she was always the strong and forceful one, it looked like Ryou had finally gotten ahead of her in the end. She was proud of Ryou, there was no doubt about that, but seeing Ryou so happy with her lover made Kyou feel just so miserable too.

Come to think of it, some of the people she knew still lived in this city, didn't they? Her old friends were still here, including, well, Tomoya...

But Tomoya didn't share her feelings. He chose Tomoyo, and left her in the dust. But it was her fault for not approaching him earlier, and she missed out. Still, Tomoyo was friendly to her, and Tomoya was still an old friend. It would probably be fun for her to pay them a visit.

"Sunohara, there's a girl who wants to see you!" Okazaki chuckled over the phone.

"You're lying again, I can tell..." Sunohara groaned on the other end.

"I'm being honest this time!"

"You always give me the short end of the stick, Okazaki!"

"I helped you out with Mei-chan, didn't I?" (1.)

"Well, yeah, you did..." Sunohara sighed. "But if this is some sort of tri.."

"Trust me, Sunohara. You won't regret this!"

"I'd better not..." Tomoya heard a sigh, and the phone clicked.

Tomoya and Tomoyo didn't exactly live together, but tonight she came to stay by his side for as long as she could. After all, summer had just started and she'd just graduated, while he decided to take a few days off from work.

So when she was cooking dinner, they heard a knock on the door.

"Who'd be coming at this hour? Youhei wouldn't get here till tomorrow night, right?"

"Right..." Tomoya thought absentmindedly. They had forgotten to contact Kyou in time, and she'd probably strangle him for not telling her about the plan in time.

But as Tomoya groggily opened the door, he saw a familiar face.

"Kyou!"

1. Admittedly, I did not play the game in its entirety. I read the English translation project's work, and thus I included the Sunohara's route in this... I don't think it does the story any harm, now does it?