Chapter Two: A Day at the Park

As had become our custom for dates, we met at the park at 10 AM. We really didn't have a plan, other than conversation and snuggling (it helped that the weather was starting to get cooler). Oh, and lunch. Fortunately, Kyou had told me that she would take care of it, so I knew I could look forward to a gourmet-class lunch.

My girlfriend was a really good cook.

"Tomoya!" I heard from behind. With as many times as she came up to me from behind, I was starting to think that I was a character in an anime or something.

I smiled as she jogged up to me. "I don't know why I don't think to pick you up at your house. I mean, how long have we been dating?"

She smiled in return as she gave me a hug, followed by a peck on the cheek. "Three months, fourteen days, nine hours, and…" she checked her watch, "fifty-eight minutes. Roughly," she finished with another smile.

"Not that anyone's counting, right?" I quipped.

"Nope!" she replied as she showed me the lunch she had brought. "Ready to eat?"

"Not for another two hours!" I chuckled at her enthusiasm. "What do you want to do in the meantime?"

So, for the next two hours we…well, we played. On the swings, on the slides and, even though I ending up feeling foolish, on the play structures. I never knew Kyou could be such a kid! I never knew that I could, either.

Before we knew it, noon had come, and Kyou and I spread out a blanket on the grass. On it she spread...well, a lot of bento boxes, along with a couple of thermos bottles which, I assumed, had different kinds of tea in them.

"Excellent as usual, Fujibayashi Kyou-san!" I spoke as though I was complimenting a stranger. "I'll have to come to this restaurant more often!"

"Tomoya, you're a silly boy!" she replied as she munched on some kind of meat-based food. Then her face became more serious. "Hey, have you given any thought to…well…what I asked about?"

I knew very well what she was talking about: Meeting her parents. Ryou and I were already on good terms, of course. But I had never met her parents.

To be honest, I didn't really want to meet them. Not because I thought that they would be bad people or anything; I was more concerned about what they would think of one of their daughters dating a 'delinquent'. With their other daughter dating a world-class athlete…

"Are you still worried about that?" Kyou asked, apparently reading the narration. "I've told you; if we just explain it to them, they'll understand. Heck, they might even be able to help in some way!"

"I know; it's just that…" I wasn't sure how to finish my thought.

My girlfriend shook her head with a slight smile. "You're so stubborn Tomoya, you know that?" She drew an errant lock of hair back over her ear before reaching out to give my hand a squeeze. "But that's one of the things that I love about you."

I could tell she was watching for a reaction, and my face didn't disappoint as I felt it grow hot, causing her to giggle. "Knock it off, woman," I complained half-heartedly as I reached for another sandwich. Truth be told, I didn't mind the attention.

She reached out and cupped my face with her hand. "No. You have a lot of great qualities that you don't know about, and I'm going to keep telling you about them until you believe me."

This time I had to chuckle. "Well, at least I know there's one person who believes in me."

She pulled her hand away from my face to playfully swat my arm. "Now you know better than that! I believe in you, Ryou believes in you…shoot, even Miss Student Body President believes in you!"

I never could figure out why Kyou didn't like Tomoyo. I mean, I didn't expect everyone to be best friends or anything, but I'd figured they should have been able to talk to or about each other politely. So Kyou's attitude toward the student body president was a mystery to me, even after asking her about it. 'I just don't like her' was the only answer I would get.

Trying to change the subject I asked, "How are Ryou and her…boyfriend doing?"

"They're doing fine. Kappei's getting the treatment that should get rid of his cancer while allowing him to run again." She smiled knowingly. "What's the matter, Tomoya? Jealous?"

Before I could reply, she continued. "Don't worry; I think I understand. I've heard that the first relationship is always the hardest."

I felt more than a little guilty. "I'm really trying to keep her out of ours."

She sighed as she looked off into the distance. "Look, if I had been honest from the beginning, we might have avoided a lot of trouble."

"I'm not trying to blame you…or anyone, for that matter." I sighed. "I'm sorry Kyou, I didn't mean to-"

She quickly put her hand on my mouth. "I know, I know, and I'm sorry for turning the conversation that way." She looked away again. "I guess I still feel guilty for the way things happened."

That was quite an admission from Kyou… or was it? One thing I had learned while dating her was that the Kyou I saw before wasn't the real Kyou. She told me that she had been harsh with me to push down her own feelings for me, to get herself 'out of the way' so Ryou and I could date without worry.

Sunohara, on the other hand, she treated badly because she thought he was a jerk. At least until she tried to use him to knock down the rumors about her and me. After that they got along…okay, I guessed.

I shrugged, and gave what had to be an awkward smile, since I felt…well, awkward. "What can we say, huh? We're still high-school students. Sure, we think a lot, but we still have growing to do, right?"

She glowered at me. "Speak for yourself, Socrates." Her glare immediately faded. "Seriously though, you're right. I really shouldn't be hard on myself over this. You and Ryou have been so good to me through all of this."

"Well, we both…" I coughed. Stupid male pride. "We lo-…well, you know."

Kyou was kind enough to save me. "I get it; you both love me, just in different ways, is that it?"

I nodded. "Yeah. One of these days I'm going to be able to say stuff like that without feeling like a dork."

She smiled affectionately. "Yeah, well…that gives me something to look forward to."

She finished her meal and cleaned up her stuff while she waited for me to finish. She then rearranged the lunch boxes to give herself enough room to lie down on the blanket. She glanced at me with a smile before closing her eyes, and I knew what was expected of me.

After finishing my meal I packed up the boxes and set them just off of the blanket before laying back to snuggle with my girl. She turned her back to me and scooted toward me until her back was to my chest, and I wrapped my free arm around her middle, giving her breasts plenty of clearance. I smiled when I heard her sigh of satisfaction. "Happy?" I asked.

She sighed again. "Very."

I must have dozed off, because when I opened my eyes again, I could tell that the sun was lower in the sky than before. Apparently Kyou had napped as well; A couple of minutes later I heard her yawn as she stretched out her arms. "Oof, I needed that," she said before rolling in place and giving me a peck on the lips.

We spent the rest of our time just making small talk: school, homework, her family. At the end of the day she saw me off with a kiss on the cheek.

I have an awesome girlfriend.