Chapter Three: Progression

I fell into my chair at school in a daze. Within the last twelve hours – well, sixteen, really – Kotomi had proposed marriage and I had agreed. We also agreed to keep it hush-hush until after graduation.

I must have had an interesting look on my face because when Sunohara sat down between third and fourth period the first words out of his mouth were "You look like a moron."

"Good morning to you, too!" My unintentionally loud reply drew the attention of some of my classmates, including Fujibayashi. "Sorry about that, everyone."

"No problem," grumbled a chorus of classmates.

"What's gotten into you?" Sunohara asked. "You're not happy or something, are you?"

I felt too good to verbally spar with him. "Yeah, I am." I lowered my voice even more as I leaned toward him. "I'll try to not annoy you, if it helps."

"Yeah," he said, giving me a suspicious look. "Thanks."

I smiled and winked at him as I retrieved my books and leaned back in my chair in preparation for the next class.


"Tomoya-kun…" Kotomi greeted, rising from her cushion as I entered the library.

We stopped a few feet from each other. We hadn't spoken much at breakfast due to the events of last night.

I absently rubbed the back of my neck. "Listen, Kotomi-chan…are you sure about what you said… last night? After all, I'mMMF!"

Kotomi had nearly launched herself at me, planting her lips on mine. The way she kissed me was different than our usual. She seemed almost desperate, kissing me over and over again. Of course it wasn't long before I was returning her affection.

As we finally pulled away from each other, panting, I managed to ask, "I take it you're sure about what you said, then?"

Her cheeks flushed, her breathing labored, she clasped her hands in front of her chest. With tears in her eyes she simply nodded. "I have waited for ten years for this."

"Ten years?!" I did the basic subtraction. "Wait, does that mean you were thinking of marriage when we were…you know?"

She nodded again, solemnly. "I really liked that boy…and…" She blushed fiercely. "…I really, really like the man he's become."

I was at a loss for words, so I did the only thing I could think of: I stepped forward and wrapped her in my arms. But no tears…nope.

Okay, maybe a few.

Once things settled down (though I felt on edge for the rest of lunch) we got out our respective lunches and shared them.

"Halfsies," she said as she handed me half of a cafeteria sandwich. It was funny because she still gasped and blushed when our fingers touched, even after the kiss from earlier.

"I've still been thinking about my situation," I told her between bites. "I still think that I should at least be working toward something while living with you. Especially since…well…"

She nodded with a blushing smile. "You cannot do much while we are still in school, but…" She ducked her head meekly. Man, she was adorable!

"What?" I asked with an amused smile. "Spit it out."

"I…I could…help you…with your studies."

"Of course!" I exclaimed, thinking back to when we first…well, second met. "I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I remember thinking early on about how being tutored by you would…" I looked up as though the words were printed on the ceiling. "…it would draw out my hidden talents, which would really help my grades. Then I would get into the best college and have fun!"

"Oh, Tomoya-kun…" She giggled before becoming serious. "I do not know how much it would help at this point, but I would be willing to tutor you if you would be willing to work."

I thumped my chest. "You can count on me!"

She giggled again at my outburst. "I am glad to see you this happy. Perhaps we could start tonight?"

My heart leaped at the glow of excitement in her eyes. "Sounds great!" was all I could say.


I hated parabolas. At least I hated them after learning more about them.

Under Kotomi's instruction I'd been trying to graph (x - 2)2 = 8(y + 1) for at least thirty minutes.

"So the vertex is (h, k), which would be… '(2, -1)', right?" I looked over at Kotomi for reassurance.

Purple eyes twinkled with her smile. "Right, and which form of the equation do you derive this from?"

I hated parabolas. "'Standard'? 'Y-intercept' is the y=ax2+bx+c equation, so it's got to be 'standard'."

"Right again, Tomoya-kun." I heard her scoot a little closer. "And what is value of the axis of symmetry?"

"Well, that would have to be the x-value of the vertex in this case, so '2'." I looked over at her again.

Kotomi clapped and scooted even closer, causing me to smile in spite of myself; what was she, a human glacier? "And the directrix?"

Crap. The directrix, the directrix…Let's see, it's the same distance from the vertex as the focus…I have the equation around here…ah! 'y=k-a', so… "-3?"

Scoot, scoot. "Very good, Tomoya-kun." I could practically feel her breath against my face; that was definitely some kind of mint I smelled. "And…A-And…"

I finished writing and looked up. "Yeah? What's the next question, Kotom-"

I found myself looking into beautiful violet-colored eyes. They were so warm and inviting, just like her voice, the softness of her skin as she placed a hand on my cheek. I had a feeling that studies would be done for the night as those violet orbs closed slowly as she leaned toward me, her lips-

Starfish.

STARFISH!

I must have backpedaled pretty fast, because I suddenly found myself out of my chair on my butt on the floor.

"Tomoya-kun!" I couldn't be sure, but Kotomi looked shocked and worried at the same time as she knelt down and put her arms around me. "Are you hurt?"

I shook my head to clear it. What had just happened? "I dunno. I mean, I know we were about to kiss, and a starfish came to mind and I panicked for some reason."

"Starfish?" Kotomi repeated. "Why would you panic over a starfish? Have you been hurt by one?"

I nibbled on the tip of my thumb as she kissed the top of my head repeatedly. "Not that I can remember." I gently slapped my cheeks to clear the last of the fuzziness. "That was weird; it felt like déjà vu."

She said nothing, but looked worriedly at me.

"I think I'm fine," I said, getting to my feet. "Let's get back to work, okay?"

As we went back to parabolas I found it difficult to shake the impression of a young girl with a purple bow in her long, wavy brown hair and a starfish in her hands…