Old Wounds
But I guess you really wanted to know, didn't you?
Well, it's hard, talking about something like this with a straight face. Not because it's funny, no, if I thought it was funny then I'd be as horrible as Kyou. No, they say that some men are tough enough to get over their foolish pride and cry, but I'm not going to cry over someone else's misfortune. Even then, I can't help but feel gloomy about my best friend. He never got over those wounds, and I guess Kyou just couldn't help him bandage them...
Anyways, it was such a happy wedding. Kyou didn't give a damn when Tomoya decided that I'd be the best man, and even now I wonder why I accepted it, but I did... I did, and Ryou was the Maid of Honor. As you can expect, it was a pretty big wedding. Kyou invited everyone she knew, even random people like Sakagami Tomoyo. I guess she wanted to rub it in everyone's faces that she was marrying Okazaki Tomoya. I don't know why anyone else would feel jealous towards her, since Tomoya and I were known to be the worst students in the school, but she wanted to make them feel jealous nonetheless.
Before the wedding everything seemed all well and good. Kyou and Tomoya were lovers. They spent a lot of time together, in and out of bed. They seemed like such a fitting couple. And I, well, I never got to see the inside of my dorm room for another two months. Despite Ryou's advice, Kyou kicked down the door once and forced me to beg Misae to get it fixed. Then she threatened to break my jaw if I ever locked them out again, and I knew that she'd do it, so I decided to scrap Ryou's wise council and let Kyou continue using my room with Tomoya.
Thankfully though, from the moment Kyou and Tomoya moved out of my room and over to his house to the day of their wedding, they generally let me be. It was really lonely, though, without Tomoya, and, well, despite all our little skirmishes I've always thought of Okazaki as a friend. But that Kyou, man, she practically stole my friend from me and stole a lover from Ryou. She stole my room for such a long time and stole many of my things just to make her self feel at home. What a bitch...
But I'll stop ranting about her. After all, to give her credit, she tried to be a good mother for Minoru, their son. There was a time when I'd laugh at the thought of Kyou being a decent parent, but she really tried to be one. I guess that goes to show how Tomoya tamed the beast.
With all jokes aside, when Minoru was born, Tomoya seemed to change. He started clinging onto Kyou like mad, as though he was afraid that she'd shatter into a million pieces in a heartbeat. He started ordering her not to do this or that, for fear that she'd get hurt otherwise. It even got to the point where he wouldn't let her drive a car.
The shocking part is that Kyou swallowed most of these. She acted as though everything was fine. She felt that he might need some time to adjust to being a father, since his own father was so inept at providing the emotional support Tomoya needed. She was a good wife, but I guess she wasn't enough for Tomoya. The crazier he got, the more worried and uneasy Kyou got, and eventually Tomoya left the house for an entire week, and Kyou was starting to feel devastated and worried sick.
How do I know all this? Well, let's just say that I got a very unexpected phone call one day, after years of having avoided Tomoya and Kyou.
"Youhei, I'm sorry, but I need your help..."
"The Great Kyou Fujibayashi wants to turn her head to the weed and ask it for it's aid. What's the world coming to?"
For a second, Kyou was silent. I guess she was trying to figure out what just happened. I used a sarcastic, smartass comment to counter her plea for help, and she was probably realizing that I wasn't the same spineless idiot I once was.
"Youhei, please... You're the only person who can help me now."
"But why me, of all people? You have so many friends, right? Aren't I just the weed? Shouldn't you let me continue growing merrily in the lawn?"
"I... Those friends mean little, Youhei. They're not really friends. I know we've been on pretty bad terms since the beginning of high school, but I hope you can forgive me. Something terrible's happened and you're the only person I trust to help me take care of it."
She sounded so desperate, so worried and forlorn. For a second, I decided to be a man and at least let her explain herself, while showing that I wasn't a complete idiot either.
"Did something happen with Tomoya?" I asked, trying to put some concern in my voice.
Kyou froze for a second. I guess I finally hit the bullseye.
"Yes..." She mumbled, and I could tell that the fiery, mighty Kyou I once knew had done a 180 degree turn. Now, she was a worried, uncertain, hesitant Kyou, and I wouldn't be a man if I continued to be cruel to her.
"Let's hear it..."
It wasn't pretty, not at all. After hearing what had happened to Okazaki, I began to wonder how all of this could have happened. There was no reason for Tomoya to be so extreme. He had Kyou trying to support him every step of the way. She would do whatever it took to be a good mother for their son. Why would Tomoya break down as a father? Did he feel like he couldn't take the heat, that he just wasn't meant to be a parent? If so, why did he even bed Kyou and not make her have an abortion in the first place? Or why didn't he just try to get the kid to an adoption center? Why did he choose to stay a father?... Nothing made sense... (1.)
Kyou and I remained silent for a few minutes. I could hear her breathing rapidly, as if she had just seen a grizzly bear and had narrowly escaped it's claws. I sighed. "Say, Kyou, these kinds of things aren't easy to discuss over the phone, right?"
"Right..." She mumbled again.
"Tell you what, I'm free next Tuesday afternoon. You're a kindergarten teacher, right? Won't you be off by then?"
"Well... You're right, a kindergarten isn't a daycare. I'll call you by Friday if I am able to meet you then."
"Ok, then. I guess I'll be seeing you..."
"Yeah... Thanks, Youhei." And, just like that, she hung up. I guess she didn't change that much after all.
That Tuesday Kyou and I were in a café, and with a cup of coffee in each of our hands, we thought up a plan to save Tomoya and Minoru, by all means necessary.
Well, what can I say? I've always tried to be a nice guy, after all.
"So anyway, Tomoya's always been one to neglect his duties, right? Why don't you lure him, telling him that there's great beer at some bar, and that you'll pay? At the same time I'll get Minoru ready, and you'll lure him into an alley, where I'll corner him and use Minoru to make him realize that he's got to be responsible!" Kyou put her hand into a fist, slamming the table with her elbow and nearly tipping over both cups of coffee.
Seriously, that girl was quickly making a full recovery... I guess Kyou just can't be broken for long.
"Um, first off that sounds like you want a restraining order from him..."
"Are you an idiot? We're married, and he's not going to try to file a restraining order on his wife, right?"
"Has it ever occurred to you why he wandered off in the first place, Kyou?..." I narrowed my eyes. If I had to be a jerk to get her to think straight, then so be it...
At that point Kyou froze again. Yeah, vulnerable she truly was, but true to herself she definitely was not. "He's... He's just having some doubts about what to do in life, that's all!" Kyou stammered angrily. "Why are you bringing these kinds of things up?! They're not important if we already have a good plan to get him to become a good father!"
"That's a lie, Kyou, and you know it. Your plan isn't going to work at all unless we can truly figure out why Tomoya left in the first place. Smacking some sense into him is useless. You used to do that to both him and me back in High School, and did that get either of us anywhere?"
Kyou was honestly speechless. "... I guess you're right."
With such a quick retreat, she cut me off guard. Maybe Kyou was cracked in more ways then I thought... I guess her time with Tomoya changed her for better and worse.
"So... Anyway, those restraints Tomoya put on you... It seems like he broke down long before you even felt that something was wrong. Did he start bothering you before Minoru was born, or...?"
"He started making those kinds of demands before we had our child..."
"Then Minoru probably isn't the only reason why Tomoya's like this. I thought it would be because Tomoya felt like he couldn't be a good dad after thinking about his past... Or because his father was a miserable failure at being a good role model, so he wouldn't be able to make up for it... Hmn..." I stroked my chin while Kyou just stared at me. She looked more and more hopeless each passing minute. Had she turned even more bipolar after all this?
Kyou just stared at me the entire time, as if she expected me to have the answer. I stared back at her in kind, but my mind was honestly blank. Tomoya having a mental breakdown was hardly believable, so I really didn't know what to say to her.
1. People like to say that Sunohara Youhei is an idiot. I disagree. When he wants to be serious and wise, he sure can be. For example, in the anime for the summer season episode, Youhei gave Tomoya some decent advice that one could hardly think he'd be able to give, since he's single, after all.
