Saturday morning, May 24 - High School Gym

Coming out of the boys locker room, Tomoya saw that everyone else was already finished cleaning up and waiting at the benches along the edge of the basketball court. Even Kyou with her long hair had finished her after-practice shower and was out. He knew he would get some ribbing for taking so long to wash up, but the hot water felt good on his shoulder after the morning basketball therapy.

Kotomi was thanking the assistants by giving them breakfast boxes before they took their leave. Tomoya was watching the ritual of each of them making a small bow, accepting the box, and moving off when he heard someone coming up behind him.

"Okazaki-san!" two cheerful voices seemed to harmonize. Turning, he saw Nagisa and Ryou approaching with their satchels and bento bags.

'Good morning Furukawa, Fujibayashi." he smiled at the two. He had been a little worried about Nagisa, but she really seemed to blossom after making friends with Ryou. Come to think of it, Ryou too seemed to be having her own spring now. She seemed more confident and assertive than he had ever seen her. "You missed the practice. Have you come early to have breakfast with us?"

"Yes," Nagisa replied as they both lifted their bento bags.

"Nagisa-chan is showing me how to make a simple breakfast." Ryou's smile then turned into a worried look, "I hope it will be okay."

"I'm sure it will be fine," Nagisa assured her lavender haired friend, "we are starting off with simple things. Learning from Kyou is like learning from a chef. She makes everything look simple until you try it yourself and find out how difficult it is."

"Eh?" Kyou looked up when she heard her name, wondering what they were saying about her.

"Furukawa was just saying..." Tomoya was about to tease Kyou by finishing the sentence with how difficult you are. He could already see Kyou tensing up as if she could only expect a jab from him, but more importantly, he could see that Kotomi was watching and listening to his response as well. Instead, he finished the sentence by saying, "...that you cook like a chef and it would be difficult for a beginner to try and learn from you."

"I don't try to make it difficult!" Kyou took it as an insult anyway and was expecting to get into an argument with Tomoya now, but it was Kotomi who would enlighten her.

"Kyou-chan," Kotomi explained, "that is not what Tomoya-kun said. In a discipline where you are an expert, even complex things can seem simple to you. Because of this, it becomes difficult to instruct a beginner."

"I… I don't believe that." Kyou resisted.

"Really?" Kotomi raised an eyebrow, "Would you like me to teach you about string theory?"

Checkmate.

"Eh?" Kyou's fearful expression was similar to the one she had when Kotomi was reaching for her violin, "No no no no, that's fine!" She conceded, "I see your point."

"I don't see what the big deal is." Youhei said with a sly grin as he poked at the breakfast box that Kyou and his sister Mei had brought along for him. "Kyou makes mistakes too. Take this morning's breakfast for example. Its clearly not her best work."

"Youhei stop!" Kyou barked at the smiling blond haired boy. Strangely, Kyou's expression looked more fearful than angry and that gave Youhei a boost of confidence.

"Seriously, if your cooking gets any worse it will need a sticker declaring it unfit for human consumption." Youhei laughed but stopped short when he realized no-one was laughing with him.

"Youhei, I warned you!" Kyou was furious now. She took a step towards Youhei with her right fist clenched hard before her. She only got the one step toward him though. Tomoya's right arm went around her waist and his left hand covered her fist. Kyou turned to Tomoya to see if she should pommel him first for interfering, but stopped when she saw his closed eyes and the pained expression on his face.

"Youhei, you idiot." Tomoya said evenly while still holding onto Kyou.

"Eh?" Youhei was confused more by Tomoya's tone than by the words.

"Why is your sister crying?" Tomoya asked after taking a few deep breaths.

"What?" Youhei looked over at Mei. Her head was down. Blue hair obscured her face. Her shoulders were slumped and as he watched her, the breakfast box slipped out of her hands to spill onto the ground at her feet. No-one said a word and everyone could hear her quiet sobs.

Kyou was frozen in place. Tomoya's body was behind her… touching her. She could feel the press of his body against hers from her shoulders down to her hips. One arm encircled her waist pulling her all the more firmly back into his body. The other hand held her fist. Still looking up at his face, she could see the pained expression still there. Some bruising and swelling from the damage she had caused him were still there too. But his face was still the handsome vision that haunted her daydreams. She felt herself melting in his arms. Why him? Why did it have to be him? She needed to break out of this embrace and splash some cold water on her face. She needed to get over him. At the same time, she wanted nothing more than to stay just like this forever. Mei's trembling voice brought her back to the present and back to the anger she had for Youhei.

"Onii-chan," Mei wiped tears from her eyes with her sleeve, "I'm sorry my breakfast is so bad."

"No..." Youhei looked down at his breakfast box and realized the enormity of his mistake, "NO!" Youhei rushed over to where Mei was sitting and knelt next to her.

"I'm sorry." Mei was still sobbing.

"I really did like it, the breakfast was fine!" Youhei said as he tried to see her face through the steel blue curtain of hair, "I was just picking on Kyou."

"But Kyou didn't make the breakfast." Mei looked up enough that she could see her brother's eyes.

"I didn't know that." Youhei explained, "I would have said something like that even if she had made the best breakfast ever. It's like a game… or a comedy routine we do. I say something mean and she hits me."

Tomoya could feel Kyou flinch at Youhei's comment.

"Really?" Mei asked her brother.

"That's right," Youhei assured his sister, "because I'm mean and Kyou is violent."

Kyou almost collapsed in Tomoya's arms. Tomoya supported her as she began to emotionally crumble in his arms.

"I don't want you to be mean," Mei shouted at her kneeling brother, "and Kyou-senpai is not violent!"

Tomoya looked over to the bench where Nagisa, Ryou, and Kotomi sat. As they saw the expression on Tomoya's face, Ryou and Nagisa knew that look. They had seen it several times at Kotomi's birthday party when Kotomi was getting in over her head and needed the stability of her friends around her to rescue her from succumbing to her fear. The girls both looked at Kotomi sitting next to them but she was fine. A little confused, they looked back at Tomoya and realized it was Kyou that was in distress. Eyes wide and mouths agape in surprise, Nagisa and Ryou took Kotomi by the hands as they got to their feet. In moments, they had weaved around Tomoya and moved in close to Kyou. Tomoya released Kyou into the arms of her waiting friends. She sank to her knees and the other three went with her. Kyou's arms were around her sister's shoulders and she was audibly sobbing.

"Youhei," with a tone of strained resignation, Tomoya said without turning to look at him, "I think it's time to retire that routine."

"Eh?" Youhei and Mei looked up to see what was transpiring on the other side of Tomoya and realized they could hear Kyou saying something through her tears.

"I don't want to be a monster any more," she sobbed, "I'm tired of being dangerous."

"You've played the mean delinquent long enough," Tomoya said to his friend, "but, just as Kotomi has been saving me, Kyou has put too much effort into recovering you from that image for you to blow it with the mean-guy routine." Looking down at Kyou as she leaned into her sister and continued to cry, Tomoya knelt behind Kyou and placed his hand on the long lavender hair and said, "And it doesn't look like Kyou wants to play that game any more anyway."

"Onii-chan," Mei took Youhei's hand and looked into his eyes, "you're not going to be the mean-guy any more, are you?"

"I...," he wanted to argue with Tomoya. The two of them had a lot of good times over the last several years and he had enjoyed the delinquent's freedom to play the mean guy, or the joker, or the aloof slacker. There were good times, but there had always been the outcast's sadness that tinged everything they did. Every memory had a frayed and tarnished lining that told of the despair and loneliness he and Tomoya suffered as they had watched other students make friends, join clubs, have fun, and talk about their futures with hope and anticipation. Youhei knew those days were over and the two of them, the two most notorious delinquents in the school, were already setting their feet on another path. A path that included friends, clubs, and hard work. But a path that would, nonetheless leave them with memories lined with the gilded edges of hope and many friendships. Youhei told his sister, "I guess… not any more."

"You don't have to be a monster or dangerous, or violent any more." Ryou was telling her sister.

"Kyou-chan," Kotomi called to her crying friend, "you do not have to be a monster, but you will always be dangerous and capable of violence."

"What?" Kyou's and Ryou's heads popped up to look at Kotomi in disbelief.

"Kotomi-chan," Nagisa cried out, "how could you say that?"

"Because it is true." Kotomi turned back to Kyou and told her, "Being a dangerous thing is part of who you are. To deny it is to deny who you are. That could only lead to psychological schism."

"I didn't know you felt that way about my sister." Ryou was starting to get upset with Kotomi for what she could only think of as betrayal.

"Of course. I have always felt that way," Kotomi admitted, "it is one of the things I admire greatly about Kyou-chan."

"...Admire?" all three of the girls asked. Then Ryou asked, "I thought you disliked bullies?"

"I do." Kotomi realized something was amiss. She looked at the three girls next to her and saw the confusion in their faces. "There seems to be a miscommunication. Allow me to clear this up." She sat back on her heels and focused on Kyou, "Can we all agree that a dangerous entity that is uncontrolled is a monster?"

Nagisa and Ryou started to look at Kyou but decided not to. All three girls nodded their heads in sorrow.

"The same dangerous entity with control, but used for bad things would be called a bully or a fiend." Kotomi then asked them, "But do you know what a dangerous entity with control, and used for good is called?"

None of the girls responded.

"Protector, guardian, defender, bodyguard," Kotomi continued as the girls eyes opened wide at the sudden change in direction this conversation was taking, "and to a lesser extent, policeman, teacher, and babysitter."

"Kotomi-chan..." Ryou whispered reverently. She was ashamed that she had thought Kotomi would betray her sister just when she needed the support of all of her friends.

"But..." Kyou refuted, "I don't have it under control."

"Not completely. Not yet." Kotomi agreed, then said confidently, "But, you will."

"You really think that I can..." Kyou wavered.

"I do." Kotomi smiled and said, "In fact, I am counting on it."

.

Saturday afternoon, May 24 - High School Gym

There were quite a few spectators that showed up for a basketball game that wasn't advertised on any posters or announcements. Mei joined Nagisa, Ryou, and Kotomi on the gym floor to watch the match. Tomoyo and Yukine watched from the indoor track balcony. The three members of the choir club were there as promised. A group of underclassmen girls were unrolling a poster and taping it to the track balcony guardrail.

As Tomoya had expected, they were set up to play a three on three game against freshmen. He knew this was a setup but he had prepared for it. At some point the starters would come in with the belief that they could make up the difference in points and win the game. They would know Tomoya would figure this out and would enter the game before the score got too out of hand. But did the starters know his secret. Looking around the gym, he caught sight of the assistant coach and the two freshmen that had been attending all of his therapy sessions and training. Coincidently, they were not wearing their gym clothes at the moment and were all smiling back at Tomoya conspiratorially. Tomoya tried not to smile and keep his poker face when he saw the assistant coach give him an affirmative nod.

The leader of the starters, the team captain, introduced the rookies that the Drama Club members would be playing and explained the rules. Shortly thereafter, the game started. Tomoya showed his speed but never took a shot. He could see the three starters standing to the side and watching their play. He knew they would take notice that he was very fast, but could not raise his right arm and would only pass the ball to the shooter. How many points would they let him have? How long could the three of them keep up the pace?

Unbelievably, the starters had let the rookies play for the first fifteen minutes of the twenty minute game and the Drama Club team was up by eleven points. By then, Youhei and Kyou were a little winded, but the early morning practices had paid off in getting their stamina up.

After the team captain made a point of charging past all three of the Drama Club members and making his shot, he turned to look at them and let them know that the easy game was over. He expected to see their shock and the early look of defeat on their faces as they realized just how difficult it would be to play starters. It was disconcerting for him that Sunohara and Fujibayashi were actually smiling. Back at the line, Tomoya passed the ball to him to start the next set. He passed the ball back, then his eyes opened wide as Tomoya smiled too.

"My turn." Tomoya said as he zipped past the leader and passed the ball to Youhei. By the time Youhei passed the ball to Kyou, she was double covered, but she didn't shoot. She passed the ball back to Tomoya at the three point line and all three of the starters watched as Tomoya did something new. He did something he shouldn't be able to do. He jumped and shot the ball… with his left hand. With stunned looks, the starters watched the ball arch through the air and swish through the net. The Drama Club was now twelve points ahead.

The team captain realized his mistake. He would be able to reduce that lead now but he had not counted on having to cover three shooters. The Drama Club had too much lead and he did not have enough time. When the final seconds ran out, the Drama Club was still ahead by five points. The basketball team leader smiled at Okazaki, but it was an expression of admiration instead of challenge. Just then, Coach Oogami entered the gym with his characteristic bellowing. There was a moment of panic but it seemed that the assistant coach and the school nurse intercepted him and seemed to have some serious matter to discuss.

"Hey," the team captain said, "well played, Okazaki. You always had great moves. Now you show me strategy too. Maybe you can still play."

"Don't be ridiculous," Tomoya patted his injured shoulder dismissively. He glanced back at the fuming head coach and decided it would be best to leave now while the old man was still distracted.

"I'm serious," the team leader called after Tomoya, "you should think about it."

.

Saturday evening, May 24 - Ichinose House

For the remainder of their Saturday, they saw Sunohara Mei off at the train station and had a party to celebrate their victory. The win had done wonders for everyone's spirit. Even Kyou was laughing and smiling. Everyone hoped that Youhei's great plan would work and they would hear something positive from the Choir Club on Monday.

The festivities were again at the Ichinose house. There had been a joke about the party being in Youhei's dorm room, but it was clearly too small for the revelers. It wasn't nearly as crowded as the last time, at Kotomi's birthday party. Since then, she had become a little better at being around people but it helped that it was a much smaller gathering this time. Kyou, Ryou, and Nagisa were there as well as Youhei. Yukine and Tomoyo dropped by to offer their congratulations but were invited in by Tomoya. After a little while, Nagisa's parents also showed up with platters of pastries and thanks for helping their daughter to achieve her goal with the Drama Club.

"I never knew my house would have so many parties." Kotomi was thrilled but again feeling a little timid at the increasing number of people.

"This is what happens when you have lots of friends." Tomoya reassured her.

"And a big house." Youhei chimed in. So good were everyone's spirits, that they all laughed at the weak joke.

"Kotomi-chan." Tomoya took Kotomi's hands and started their routine this time.

"Tomoya-kun?" Kotomi replied in kind.

"Everyone is here," Tomoya stated, "do you think this is a good time?" Furukawa Sanae and Kyou's eyes got wide as they noticed their pose and heard Tomoya's question.

"Yes, Tomoya-kun." Kotomi smiled, "thank you for being so kind as to win the basketball game and get everyone in the right mood."

"Hey, what's going on?" Youhei noticed that everyone else was now frozen in place and watching Tomoya and Kotomi.

"Shh," Yukine moved up beside Youhei. Taking his right arm, she whispered to him, "I think something wonderful is about to happen."

"If I could have everyone's attention," Tomoya called out unnecessarily as everyone's attention was already riveted to Kotomi and him, "Kotomi and I have a very important… question we need to ask Kyou."

"Eh?" This was obviously not what everyone thought Tomoya was about to say and Kyou blushed as all eyes turned toward her. She tried to take a step back but Furukawa Akio gave her a push putting her squarely in the middle of the gathering. Her blush deepened as Kotomi stepped forward and took her left hand.

"Kyou-chan," Kotomi asked the blushing girl, "will you be my maid of honor?"

"What?" Kyou almost fell to the floor from shock but wasn't able to get anything else out since Tomoya cut in.

"That's not fair Kotomi-chan," Tomoya chided, "I thought we both agreed that I could have Kyou as my best man."

"What!" both Kyou and Youhei shouted.

"But I think Kyou-chan would look so pretty in a flowing dress."

"All of your friends would look pretty in a flowing dress," Tomoya countered, "but you have to admit that the idea of Kyou in a tuxedo is amazing."

"Eh?" Kyou's jaw dropped as she heard Tomoya's comment.

"I have to agree with you on that." Akio nodded.

"What?" Kyou noticed that almost everyone else in the room either had looks of agreement or contemplation as they imagined Kyou in a tuxedo.

"Hey, what about me?" Youhei shouted.

"Sure," Tomoya smiled, "with your blond hair you could probably look pretty in a flowing dress too."

"I mean me in a tuxedo!" Youhei shouted with a red face.

"I guess," Tomoya seemed to consider it and said, "but I still think Kyou would look better in the tuxedo."

"Tomoya-kun, perhaps we should let Kyou-chan decide." Kotomi smiled at her lavender haired friend.

"Kotomi-chan, I agree," Tomoya smiled cunningly, "so if she decides to be your maid of honor, then Youhei will be my best man and wear the tuxedo..."

"I want..." Kyou was about to give her answer but Tomoya cut her off.

"But! If Kyou decides to be my best man, then you have to let Youhei wear the pretty dress and be your maid of honor."

"What!" Youhei gasped.

"Agreed." Kotomi said as she looked to Kyou for her answer.

"WHAT?" Youhei couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Ohhhhh," Kyou bit her lower lip as she thought about her options, "that is… really tempting."

"No… no it's not!" Youhei shouted.

"But… as much as I would really like to see that," Kyou ignored Youhei's outburst, "this is your wedding. It isn't my spectacle. And, what girl doesn't dream of being a bridesmaid and getting to wear the pretty dress?" With tears in her eyes, she hugged Kotomi, "I would be thrilled to be your maid of honor, Kotomi-chan."

"Thank you very much, Kyou-chan!" Kotomi hugged her friend back. Tomoya watched the mingling of the long lavender hair and the long purple hair and wondered what these two were going to come up with for a color scheme.

"So," Akio asked, "I take it that this is how you are officially announcing your engagement?" Effectively, with that one comment, Akio refocused everyone's attention on the engaged couple.

.

Youhei gave Tomoya a nod towards the back patio door as all the girls settled in around the dining table to talk about planning the wedding. As they quietly slipped away, Tomoya noticed they were tailed by Furukawa Akio as well.

"Looks like it's guy talk time." Akio said as he reached for his pack of cigarettes.

"Yo," Tomoya said seriously, "if you're going to light up, make sure you stay downwind, okay?"

"Huh?" Akio was a little shocked at the attitude from a delinquent.

"No kidding," Youhei added, "you know half the time your daughter comes to school she smells like she just smoked some cheap cigarettes."

"Nagisa… but," Akio claimed, "I never smoke in the house… and these aren't cheap!"

"Just sayin," Youhei responded, "we are trying to get rid of the delinquent reputation and walking back into that house smelling like cigarettes is not going to help."

"Fine," Akio had heard stories from both his daughter and Ryou of how hard these two were working to help their newfound friends and how hard those newfound friends were working to help these boys to improve their own situations. If it meant he had to put off a smoke until his walk home, he could do that for them. "But since we're getting personal, I'd like to ask a question."

"Sure." Tomoya watched the old man put his cigarettes away as they all sat down at the wrought iron table in the back yard near the flower garden.

"This whole getting married thing," Akio asked, "it's kinda sudden isn't it?" He turned to Youhei and asked, "You've been friends with him for a couple of years now. Did you know about this?"

"No." Youhei looked at Tomoya who was just looking down at his hands. Since it didn't look like he was ready to talk about it, Youhei added, "But, I did see it coming."

"You did?" Tomoya was shocked, "How? I didn't even see it coming."

"Think about it." Youhei smiled, "Kotomi-chan is one of the ten smartest High School students in the whole country and she is going to the best high school in this small town, right?"

"Yeah, so?" Tomoya didn't see an explanation in what Youhei said so far.

"So it is the best high school in this small town, but do you really think it is in the top ten in Japan? It isn't even in the top one hundred."

"What?" Tomoya was shocked.

"It's not so bad." Akio knew something about this as he had been looking into getting Nagisa accepted into his own alma mater when she decided to go to college. "It is in the top two hundred and there are over five thousand high schools in the country.

"Still," Youhei pressed on, "not the kind of place a top ten in the country would go to if she had the choice… unless there was some other reason to come here."

"You don't mean..." Tomoya's eyes were open wide as he realized what this meant. "she came here just for me?"

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Youhei laughed, "Remember the deal she has with the school? She could hang out in the library and self study since the classes were meaningless to her. She had no interest in any clubs or anyone else until you showed up and asked her to join the Drama Club, right?"

"No… it can't be." Tomoya was trying to think of any reason why Youhei's argument might have holes in it.

"I think he's onto something there Brat," Akio pointed his finger at Tomoya.

"If it wasn't for the classes, the social life, or the activities..." Youhei said smugly.

"It had to be you." Akio poked his finger into Tomoya's chest hard enough to knock him back in his seat. Laughing with Youhei, Akio said, "Well brat, it sounds like you never stood a chance."

"Knock it off," Tomoya slapped the hand away from his chest but his defense like his words were halfhearted. He knew they were right and he knew now the extent that Kotomi went to see him again.

"But what about you?" Akio asked.

"Huh?" Tomoya was brought out of his reverie by the question.

"Why did you agree to marry her?" Youhei asked his friend, "You just recently remembered her from ten years ago. Are you really head over heels in love with her now?"

"I don't know…" Tomoya tried to find the words, "… how to explain it." He remembered the conversation he had recently had with Kotomi and told them, "She is pretty and smart, and there is something about her that makes me just… want to do my best." He was at a loss for words.

"So she would make a great coach." Akio dismissed Tomoya's explanation, "That doesn't sound like a marriage-worthy declaration of love."

"Erk!" Youhei made a horrified expression, "I hope that isn't what you said when you proposed."

"No!" Tomoya was getting mad at these guys, but also upset at himself for not being able to put into words how he felt. "It's just… I don't know how to say it. I can't stop thinking about her. At first it was the occasional thought but… it's all the time now!"

"Um… creepy." Youhei commented to Akio.

"No, not like that!" Tomoya was starting to turn red in the face, "It makes me happy when I think of her so I end up thinking of her a lot. And when I'm with her, I feel more loved, and more alive than I've felt in a long… long..." There were tears in his eyes as Tomoya tried to remember when he had ever felt this way. How long ago it was. Before the fight with his father that ruined his shoulder. Before his father became an alcoholic. Before middle-school when he and his father would…

"That's enough." Akio clapped his strong hand over Tomoya's shoulder, "I'm convinced. And I think you got it right even if you couldn't find the perfect words."

"Yeah?" Tomoya asked the suddenly wizened looking adult.

"I was worried that it was some ephemeral puppy love that hits like a ton of bricks but fades away pretty quickly." Akio then smiled, "But it sounds like you are more in love with her every day. I'm pretty sure you kids are going to be all right."

"Oh, good timing too!" Youhei got up from the garden table and headed for the patio door, "It looks like dinner is ready!"

.

It was a dark windless night after the sunset. There was adequate light from the street lamps and the windows of the Ichinose home, but an overcast sky obscured the stars and the moon. Tomoyo, Youhei, and Yukine had turned the same way from the gate after they had left the party.

"You have some interesting friends, Sunohara." Tomoyo stated as she walked abreast of the other two and on the other side of Yukine.

"Eh?" Youhei couldn't tell if Tomoyo was being nice, sarcastic, or dismissive. "Are you trying to start a fight?"

"They are good people." Tomoyo said levelly as she overlooked his question. "I find them to be interesting and I am curious to know why so many class reps and honor students have decided to gather around the school's two most notorious delinquents?"

"That..." Youhei started to argue but realized that it was a good question. Every one of these girls were attractive and made good grades. None of them were troublemakers. Finally he admitted, "That's a good question."

"Okazaki Tomoya." Yukine answered the question.

"Eh?" Tomoyo asked.

"Except for the Fujibayashi twins knowing each other, all the rest of us have met and got to know each other through Okazaki-san." Yukine explained.

Tomoyo was about to argue the point that she met Youhei first, but if it hadn't been for Okazaki engaging her in conversation, Tomoyo doubted she would ever have had more interaction than giving Youhei his daily smack-down. Speaking of which, there was something she needed to say.

"Sunohara," Tomoyo said, "I want to apologize for not taking you seriously when you asked me to play basketball to help the Drama Club."

"That's okay," Youhei said pretentiously, "I understand why you still didn't trust me then."

"I do not trust you now." Tomoyo's flat response crushed Youhei's imperious attitude.

"So brutal!" Youhei feigned a blow to the back at Tomoyo's words.

Yukine giggled at Youhei's antics and took his arm as if to support him after being so terribly injured by Tomoyo's well aimed words.

Even Tomoyo smiled at Youhei and Yukine's silliness. It had been a very pleasant and cheerful evening with good people. She was still smiling when she got to the intersection where she would turn to walk alone to her home. Tomoyo was glad she had agreed to come and yearned to have good friends like this group. In her life, she had rarely ever had friends like that. Perhaps… but no. There was no time for it. She had the student council president election coming up and … her goal to think of. She shook her head wistfully and wished circumstances could have been different.

After the intersection where Tomoyo went her own way, Yukine continued to hold onto Youhei's arm. They had walked for several blocks before he seemed to take notice of it. Youhei wondered if he should say something. Maybe she forgot she was holding onto him? She could be deep in thought and just walking on auto-pilot. He thought about bringing her attention to it but admittedly, he really liked having this nice girl on his arm. Of course, it would all end in tears. Eventually she would realize she was still holding the arm of such a disreputable person and would be disgusted with herself. She would probably call him names like creep or pervert. The unavoidable ending saddened him but he still couldn't bring himself to disentangle himself from her. In the midst of the sadness was a hopeful smile on Youhei's face as he wished they could just aimlessly walk like this all night. Yukine suddenly came to a stop and Youhei realized the end had come. He turned to her to hear the inevitable complaint.

"Thank you for walking me home, Youhei." Yukine smiled as she let go of Youhei's arm.

Youhei was still standing frozen at the gate with the same shocked expression on his face several minutes after Yukine had gone inside her house.