I present the beginning of Nagisa's arc. Honestly, I plan this as I go along, so I can't say how many chapters her arc will last.
I've also noted that I have a few inconsistencies with honorifics, like okaa-san vs Mom and stuff. I'm going to stick to the Japanese honorific instead of using Mom, and I'll edit the offending inconsistencies when I have time.
Prepare yourself for the fantasy elements of the Clannad franchise.
/
Preparation
"Tomoya-kun, look! It's the sea," said Kotomi happily, grabbing my small hand and pointing away from the beach we were at.
"It's really cool to look at, isn't it, Kotomi-chan?" I said. "Why don't we go swim for a while?"
Kotomi rubbed her chin thoughtfully and said,
"Yup, let's do that. I'll ask okaa-san first if it's alright to go swimming right away. She said that we might have to settle down and unpack the stuff we brought in the room first."
"I'll come with you Kotomi-chan."
The two of us walked back towards the place we were staying for the night. It was a two-storey building, and we had to climb a flight of stairs before we could enter our room.
"Okaa-san, can Tomoya-kun and I go swimming right now?" asked Kotomi.
"Someone has to watch the two of you though; we can't leave you two alone in case something happens. Naoyuki would go ballistic if something happened to Tomoya-kun, right?" Obaa-san asked, facing me.
"I guess so. Pops can get overprotective at times even though as a boy, I can handle myself," I said sheepishly.
"You're still young though, so it's best that we don't worry him," said Obaa-san. "Kotomi-chan, otou-san's finished up with unpacking the stuff, so he can go watch over the two of you."
"Okay okaa-san. Tomoya-kun, let's get our swimsuits and change," said Kotomi.
"But Kotomi-chan, I'll just take my shirt off and that's it," I said.
"Oh… That's too bad. I wanted Tomoya-kun to help me change," she said.
"I-Idiot! I can't do that Kotomi-chan!" I exclaimed, blushing profusely.
"Why not Tomoya-kun?" asked Kotomi innocently.
/
I awoke with a start, but to my surprise the sun's rays weren't peeking through the venetian blinds that covered the sole window in my room. I tried to recall the dream I was having, but to no avail, I had forgotten just what it was that I was dreaming about. However, I did have a nagging suspicion that it was something pretty embarrassing though.
I sat up in bed and yawned loudly. I looked at the alarm clock beside my bed and the time read six-thirty. I was awake a full hour before I normally set my alarm clock for, and that's because I'd often turn it off and come to school sometime around third period. However, after becoming friends with Nagisa and Kotomi again, I had become more punctual in attending classes. My earlier dislike of joining the Drama Club had almost completely disappeared. I felt good when I helped other people. I was a person who lived to protect and help others, despite my delinquent nature within the halls of our school. It was because prior to meeting them, I did not have anything worth protecting. Sunohara was a fellow delinquent, a comrade, one who I didn't have to protect; after all, he could take care of himself.
Nagisa and Kotomi on the other hand, and later Fuko, all of them needed help. Even Tomoyo, the legendary "Angel of Death" approached me for help, and consequently, she had fallen for me. I'm not smug when I say this, nor am I belittling my fortune for having a wonderful woman fall for me, but it's really troublesome. The last thing I needed was for either Fujibayashi or even Nagisa getting the hots for me, but I'd doubt that.
I got out of bed and went downstairs, and as usual, my father was slumped onto the floor. I rearranged him into a more comfortable position, though that action was borne out of obligation more than actual love and care. The man did abandon his post as a father, and I felt bitter about it. I took a shower and dressed up for school.
I don't think that I'd attract more girls. I didn't want to take Sunohara's bitter outburst to heart when he called me a "freaking chick magnet." No doubt he was frustrated, and I decided yesterday to let him be for the time being, until he decided that he wasn't pissed off at me anymore.
The watch in my room now read seven, and I decided to head to school this early. Koumura must be pleased if he knew what a positive influence Nagisa and Kotomi have been on me. Tomoya Okazaki coming to school regularly and on time was something that hadn't happened in the past two years that I had been in high school.
Times change however, and I was reminded of yesterday's lunch meeting at the Drama Club.
/
If I was embarrassed at Kotomi holding my hand under the table where no one but the two of us could notice this, I hid it as best as I could, lest Nagisa or even worse Kyou find out. I decided to stop pushing my luck and I gently wriggled my fingers away from Kotomi's. I looked at her with an apologetic look on my face, and she relented, a sad smile on her face.
It was a monumental revelation that I was in love with her. I'd always thought of her as a friend, someone whose presence I'd always acknowledge and welcome whenever she so pleased to spend time with me. Then again, perhaps I was just idiotic and dense, but I didn't care at this point.
Then again, I could merely be infatuated with her. If I rode these feelings right now without any regard to what could possibly happen, I might be even more undeserving of her than I am right now. I'd probably be the biggest douchebag in existence if I took advantage of these feelings without properly evaluating them. What if this was a temporary thing? I decided to just lie low for the moment and not act on these feelings I was having. It was for her sake after all.
"So everyone, the School Festival's will be held on the Sunday that is two weeks from now. I was thinking of something that we could do and I only knew about the play that I remembered," said Nagisa.
"What play was that?" asked Fujibayashi with interest as she took a mouthful of her lunch.
"The one I told you about last week," said Nagisa. "Oh but since Okazaki-san was busy helping Sakagami-san out with the Student Council elections, I might as well retell what I remember for his benefit. Kotomi-chan was able to catch up, but at the time, Okazaki-san was too busy with Sakagami-san."
I noticed a timid tone to her voice and Kyou commented,
"Yeah Tomoya, you might have been getting a little too friendly with Sakagami."
"That's not how it is at all!" I yelled. "Sure, she confe—"
I covered my mouth before I could continue, but Kyou picked up on it before I could stop myself.
"She confessed to you!" she crowed.
To my immense surprise, everyone at the table was blushing, myself included. Great, I was passed the Idiot Ball and now I had to go embarrass myself.
"Yeah," I said quietly, deciding that there was no point in hiding it.
"And so?" she prompted.
"I turned her down," I said flatly.
Kyou gasped, but then she breathed out a sigh of relief.
"Maybe you've got someone else on your mind?" asked Kyou, a steely glint in her eyes.
"I uh— no, I don't have anyone on my mind right now," I said, feigning indifference.
With the newfound feelings I had discovered within myself, I felt like I wanted to kick myself at that very moment because I noticed the dejected look on Kotomi's face.
"That's because I'm not yet ready for such a relationship, but maybe in the future…" I trailed off uncertainly, trying to save face.
I succeeded, because Kotomi's melancholy seemed to be siphoned away; however, I found Kyou looking at me with a look of extremely thinly veiled interest. That was when I decided to rerail the discussion to topics more relevant than my personal life.
"Anyway Nagisa—" I said, turning to her, "— weren't we discussing the play you wanted to do for the School Festival?"
"Ah yes, Okazaki-san," said Nagisa, who had been quiet the entire time that the conversation revolved around my personal life. "I don't know the title though, but I think I saw it when I was a child."
"So, what's it about?" I asked.
"It's about a girl who lived in a world that ended. Nothing was left; all she could see outside the shack she stayed in were deep valleys, mountains capped with snow, and rolling plains of wheat. The only life-forms left that she could see were sheep, and she felt very lonely."
"So, I'm assuming this is a solo play and you're going to be the actress, right?" I asked.
"Yes. Okazaki-san, do you remember the lines I was practicing on the night you had dinner with us?"
"Oh, those were lines from that play?"
"Yes. The story goes on when the girl decides that she doesn't want to be lonely anymore. So, she builds a robot made out of junk that's lying around the shack she stays in."
"So she makes a companion for herself. Does the robot do anything?" I asked.
"At first, the robot couldn't do anything. It was just like a regular doll. Then, the girl noticed an orb of light floating into the shack, and it descended onto the doll. That was when the doll came alive," said Nagisa.
"This isn't one of those horror concepts where inanimate objects come to life and kill the people, right?" I said wryly.
"No, of course not, Okazaki-san! I don't like those things, so I definitely wouldn't want to do a play about that," exclaimed Nagisa, while Kyou chuckled. "So yes, the robot did come alive, but he didn't eat or kill the girl. He became friends with the girl, and the girl taught him many, many things. Walking and carrying things too."
"So does it have a plot of any kind? I still don't get it," I said, my voice laced with skepticism, while I scratched my head.
"Of course there is. The final winter would come, and the world would be destroyed. Before that, the girl escapes The World That Never Was[1] with the help of the robot, and they both went back to the worlds they came from," said Nagisa. "The story is pretty sad, but the ending they get is pretty happy."
/
I guess before I knew it, I was already at school. I entered our classroom, and I sat down in my seat, unsurprised that the seat beside me was still unoccupied. I positioned myself to take a nap, but then I suddenly felt someone prodding me in the back gently. I tried to ignore the feeling, but the prodding got harder and harder. Eventually, I had enough and raised my head from between my arms. I turned to the offender.
"Dammit, I'm trying to sle— Kyou?" I cut myself off midsentence. "What the hell is that for? Can't you see I'm trying to sleep? I've still got fifteen minutes to nap and you're wasting my time."
"Listen to me Tomoya. I need you to walk Ryou home for me after class," said Kyou. "I have to go to the shopping district to buy groceries for tonight. I'll leave her in your care."
I looked towards Fujibayashi, who turned in her seat to face us. She gave me a nervous smile while she was turning redder and redder. She turned away, unable to hold my gaze much longer.
However, I always walked Kotomi home. Well, until the intersection at least. I could be nice though, and this was a golden opportunity to see what the Fujibayashi twins were trying to pull. Dense I may be, but some things are obvious even for me.
"I don't see a problem with that. I'll have to mention this to Kotomi though," I said, deliberately adding that last part.
You could say it was my personal security to align myself right now with the person who liked me. However, so I wouldn't be unfair to her, I'll take my time to sort my own feelings out first. In the event that I was sure of my feelings, I didn't even know if I was worthy of her.
Kyou only raised an eyebrow at my statement and she slapped me on the back, leaving before I could utter a word at her for hitting me.
As I rubbed my back, the bell rang, signaling the beginning of first period. I sighed loudly. Why did Kyou have to waste my nap time?
/
It was third period, and my eyes lazily wandered across the classroom, when a sudden movement caught my eye. The classroom door opened, and I saw a half-asleep Sunohara enter the room. The teacher looked at him with disdain; to an outsider, it was evident that this was a regular event in our class. He sat down beside me and I decided to strike up a conversation with him, to gauge if he was willing to talk to me.
"Yo, Sunohara," I whispered.
He looked sleepily at me and asked,
"What?"
"Kyou asked me to walk Fujibayashi home after school. I accepted. What do you reckon?"
He just sighed and turned away from me, muttering angrily under his breath. Be reasonable here, I'm not even sure if Fujibayashi was willing to make moves on me. It'd be out of character for her if she did so. Then again, the older sister might be pushing her to. I better keep my guard up later.
/
"Everyone, this is how a play is run," said Koumura. "There are many things that have to be managed in a play. Lighting, Sounds, Floor directing, though I think you youngsters could do without that last one, and props. First, we must divide the labor. Since you're going to be doing a solo play, with Furukawa-san as the actress, the rest of you—" he pointed at Kyou, Fujibayashi, Kotomi, and me. "—will have to cover the other jobs. You should talk among yourselves and decide who will cover what. Furukawa-san, come over here, let's practice some of those lines that you've recalled, while we don't have a complete script yet."
"Yes, Koumura-sensei," said Nagisa, who went to where Koumura was.
"If you wish…,"said Nagisa, her hands clasped together, eyes closed. She opened them and continued, stretching her right arm at us.
"Would you like me to take you? To the place in this city where wishes come true."
She stopped and said sheepishly,
"That and a few other lines are all that I have at the moment. I'll continue with writing the script soon enough. I'll practice my style of oration first."
We all applauded her performance. Nagisa blushed, embarrassed, and she proceeded to continue working with Koumura, who now handed her a printout with a list of words on it. He then told her to say the words aloud over and over for the next ten minutes, while he watched.
Meanwhile, the four of us started to discuss among ourselves the roles we would take up in the Drama Club's first production.
"I'll be in charge of the background music," said Kotomi. "I have a small collection of classical music at home thanks to the violin lessons I had been taking until I started high school. I'll bring some of the CDs soon and we can let Nagisa-chan pick out good BGMs for scenes."
"Ryou and I will be in charge of props, since Nagisa said that her mother would make her costume," said Kyou. "Oh Tomoya, I hope you haven't forgotten your appointment after school, right?"
She subtly glanced at Fujibayashi as she said so, and I immediately picked up and reluctantly nodded an affirmative.
"Then that leaves the lighting to me, I guess," I said. "Since I'm the only man here, I might as well be in charge of the curtains too. That'll be kinda hard… I need one of you to cover for me at the lights when I'll work with the curtain's pulleys."
"I'll do it, Tomoya-kun," piped Kotomi cheerfully.
"Well, that's settled then," I said. "Let's get to work then."
The remainder of the lunch period was spent discussing the play; we had a dilemma thinking on how to simulate Nagisa's shack in the play she was going to act out, but we finally decided on a wooden round table with a vase on it, as well as windows made out of cardboard and cellophane that'll be fastened to the backdrop.
One thing was nagging me though; Nagisa's play was so familiar that I felt like I knew the story and even knew what the setting looked like.
/
Before I knew it, school was already over. As I was gathering my things, I noticed Fujibayashi approach me timidly. I nodded at her and smiled, trying to ease her nervousness at the prospect of something as boring as Tomoya Okazaki walking her home.
"I'm sorry for this, Okazaki-kun," said Fujibayashi. "I know that you normally walk Kotomi-chan home."
"It's no big deal, really. Not that your sister wouldn't force me otherwise," I said.
"Onee-chan needs to cool off sometimes," said Fujibayashi.
"Damn right she does," I said, chuckling. Fujibayashi laughed too, her nervousness significantly reduced by the conversation I derailed into talking about Kyou without her presence to hear our comments. "You know, I've always wondered why you like fortune telling so much."
I motioned for her to follow me, and I went to the vending machine that was beside the music store that Kotomi and I visited a while ago and bought two sodas for us.
"But Okazaki-kun, you don't have to," protested Fujibayashi.
"Go ahead and be selfish for once," I said. "It's my treat."
My words made her frown though, as though something troubled her.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way," I said, leaning against the wall while she sat down on a bench across me.
"It's not your fault Okazaki-kun. It's mine, if anything. I feel guilty for asking for help from my sister when she wants the same thing," said Fujibayashi.
I raised an eyebrow and asked,
"Oh? What would that be?"
"Eh!" she exclaimed. "Oh, ah it's this piece of jewelry we both want, but instead she said that she'd help me get it for myself, even though she also wanted it. That's why I feel so guilty, but despite that, I felt happy that she was going to help me out. So, I'm plenty selfish, actually," she muttered, not looking at me.
Well I didn't expect that.
"By the way, you haven't answered my question from earlier. Why do you like fortune telling so much?" I asked, steering away the topic from something she obviously did not want to talk about.
"Well, all girls like fortune-telling at the genetic level," she said.
"Your accuracy needs work though. Don't get me wrong; this is constructive criticism. And I believe you were right once," I said.
"Really? When?" she asked, excitement in her voice.
"This is the queen of spades. On your way here, you'll have a romantic meeting with a kind girl."
Clearing her throat, she continued, this time indicating another card,
"This is the ten of diamonds, and this is the ace of hearts. You'll lose track of time and arrive late. Very detailed, isn't it?"
Well it wasn't exactly what I had in mind, but I did meet Kotomi that day.
"The day you read my fortune and dropped the entire deck."
"Oh… I got it right?"
"Just part of it, and I'm not telling," I said in an uncharacteristically playful tone.
"But that time aside, I never got anything else right, right?" she asked in a somber tone.
"Well… Yeah," I said quietly, sitting beside her on the bench.
"It's a pity I don't get it right, but I think it's better than I'm wrong more often than right," said Fujibayashi.
"But why would you want that?" I asked in confusion. "Doesn't that defeat the purpose of actually telling fortunes?"
"If the prediction comes true, then it's as if there's only one future. If it fails, we can safely think that many other futures and possibilities exist. It's like the spawn of a multiverse, but I think someone like Kotomi-chan can explain that kind of concept much better than I do."
"So it's like viewing the millions of possibilities that could happen without restricting yourself to one future because of an accurate fortune?" I asked.
"Yes. We never know how the future shifts because of the slightest change in events. I choose to believe that there are many possibilities awaiting our futures, and not just one predetermined path," she replied, standing up.
"I see what you mean," I said, following suit.
The rest of our trip was uneventful, and me and Fujibayashi parted ways at the corner that led to her house. I didn't want Kyou to actually see me bringing her sister home. That being said, I wandered the town for a few hours and went home sometime around nine in the evening, if the clock at the train station was to be believed when I left that place about fifteen minutes ago.
I ignored my unconscious father slumped in the living room, too tired to even tidy him up. I took my shirt off and immediately plopped myself in a comfortable position. Within seconds, I was fast asleep.
/
This was a world that had ended. Nothing is born, neither does anything die. Even time does not exist. If I were searching for a place to be born, then it definitely isn't meant to be here.
Then I saw the girl. She was wearing a white dress, with long chestnut colored hair. It seemed that she was the only living thing in this lonely world. I felt that she could see me, as if she wanted my company. And I was right. I looked down and to my surprise, I had a body made of garbage. She extended her hand towards me and said,
"Come here. You can walk now."
I shakily got to my feet and began to walk towards her, taking one step at a time. My memory is stagnant. I can't remember anything even if I put all my power into such an act. I had no idea who I was, or what I was doing here in The World That Never Was. A world that had ended, yet had no beginning.
I fell onto my face, and I did not want to fail the girl, so I got up. I walked towards her and finally reached her, and she wrapped her arms around me in a gentle hug. I cannot talk to her; my voice was non-existent and couldn't reach her. However, this was the only warmth I sought in this world. However, I was made of garbage, and I couldn't feel the warmth of the girl.
/
I awoke with a start, sweating profusely and breathing heavily. I rubbed my eyes and looked at the clock on the table. It read three in the morning. That dream… It was exactly like the play that Nagisa wanted to do. But why did I know about that play? It was as if I had been there watching it, or even more astounding, I had acted in that play. I had even dreamt about it. I couldn't think straight, but I burned the dream into my mind, so that I could use it to help Nagisa's play out later when we met in the Drama clubroom.
That being said, I fell back against the covers and fell asleep, my sleep unperturbed by dreams.
/
[1] – This is a reference to the world where Organization XIII held their base of operations in Kingdom Hearts 2.
This will probably be the most fantasy/mystical arc, since we're dealing with the Illusionary World here. Review please! :)
