Chapter Ten: May 10 (Sat.)

I groaned, scratching at my head as I reached over to pound my alarm. I remembered that I had a date with Kotomi after school, and I wasn't sure which would end up being more stressful.

I rolled out of bed and padded to the bathroom to splash cold water on my face. When I looked up at my reflection, I could see a couple of stress lines under my eyes; If I wasn't careful I could end up an old man before I turned twenty.

As usual, I met up with Sugisaka on the way to school. "G'morning," I managed to greet.

"It doesn't sound like it," I heard her reply, and I could feel her studying me. "Are you all right?"

"Just didn't sleep well last night," I said, running my hand over my face for the umpteenth time. It was weird, though; walking with her to school had become so routine that it was comforting in a way. "You guys practicing after school?"

"Yeah." She grumbled when she said this, so I glanced over to see her scowling at the ground. "I like that she's fired up about this, but it's starting to get on everyone's nerves."

"Well, hopefully after tomorrow she'll settle down," I said. "If she can impress her parents with her singing, they'll notice her again and she'll be all better." I sent the brown-haired girl a tired smile. "Things should go back to the way they were after that."

"I hope you're right," she replied, not sounding entirely convinced.

I slid the door to my classroom open, trudged over to my desk without a word to anyone, and fell into it, letting my bag drop to the floor next to me. Remembering that I still needed my first-period book, I sighed as I leaned over to rummage through my bag.

When I straightened again, Fujibayashi was standing by my desk…only it wasn't Fujibayashi. "Good morning, Tomoya-kun," Kotomi greeted.

"Oh…hey, morning," I greeted with all the energy I could muster.

"Are you looking forward to our date after school?"

"Yeah…Y-Yeah!" I blurted, looking around at the wide eyes of my classmates staring in our direction. "Of course I'm looking forward to it!"

She smiled as she drew a shuddering breath. "I have not been able to stop thinking about it ever since you accepted my proposal."

I ducked a barrage of jealous stares. "Th-Thanks. That exciting, huh?"

"Oh, it is! A movie, dinner, and then-" She slapped her hands over her mouth. "Oh, no! I almost ruined the surprise!" she muffled.

"Y-Yeah," I said, feeling anxiety settling in. "D-Don't want to spoil the surprise…right?"

She nodded, hands still over her mouth. Then she removed one hand to wave at me as she hurriedly left the room.

I flopped over my desk, drained of what little energy I'd managed to recover. What had I gotten myself into? What had I agreed to?

School was over way too soon, and I found myself tugging on my collar as I waited next to the school gates for my…date.

"I am sorry that I am late!" Kotomi puffed as she hurried up to me.

"Not a problem," I said, checking my watch. "I've only been waiting about five minutes."

"CUT!"

We both jumped at the sudden intrusion, and Kyou stepped out of a nearby bush with a look of annoyance. "K-Kyou-chan?" Kotomi stuttered.

She marched up and glared me in the eye. "Never tell a girl that she's late; you tell her that you just got here yourself."

"But I didn't just get here-"

"It doesn't matter," she interrupted with a flip of her hair. "You don't want to make her feel bad, do you?"

"Well no, but-"

"It is all right, Kyou-chan," Kotomi interrupted this time. "I am not hurt."

Kyou looked at her with mild confusion. "Well, why aren't you hurt? He just said you were late."

"No, Tomoya-kun said that he had been waiting for five minutes." She pointed up at the outside school clock. "We are actually both early relative to our arranged time; he simply arrived five minutes before I did."

"That's not the point!" Kyou yelled, her hands grabbing her head. "A man should never tell a woman that she's late!"

"Tomoya is not legally a man yet," Kotomi pointed out. "Also…" Her face scrunched up in thought. "Kyou-chan…are you nitpicking at Tomoya-kun? I am very disappointed."

"I give up," Kyou huffed, throwing her hands up. "Have fun, you two."

"Oh, we will," Kotomi said with an interesting smile. "Thanks to your tutelage, I believe that we will-"

"GAH" Kyou quickly covered Kotomi's mouth. "Just keep that to yourself and have a good time…got it?"

Kotomi nodded once, Kyou's hand still over her mouth. "I understand," she said when she was finally allowed to speak again.

"Are we free to go now, Sergeant?" I asked, getting a little tired of the antics.

Kotomi looked to Kyou, who simply shrugged. Then, she looked back to me. "Let us go, Tomoya-kun."

As we walked I tried to make small talk. "So…are there any particular kinds of books you like to read?"

She thought for a moment, then shook her head. "Not that I have noticed. I believe that all knowledge has value, even if we do not realize it when we first read it."

"I could see that." I thought back to our first meeting. "Hey, if you don't mind me asking…why were you cutting pieces out of the books when we first met?" Her face fell, and I immediately regretted the question. "You…You don't have to answer if you don't want to!"

It seemed to take a while for her to pull herself together enough to answer. "I…would like to pass on answering that if it is all right."

"Sure," I said. "Sorry if I poked an old wound or something."

"I know that you meant no harm," she replied in a subdued tone. "I…I am not ready to discuss it right now."

"Okay," I said, not sure what else to say. "Is…Is there anything you'd like to talk about?"

"I would just like to go to the movie with you for now," she said, then blinked at me with her large, violet eyes. "Is that okay?"

"Sure."

We were quiet the rest of the way to the theater, and I pulled out my wallet to pay for two tickets to whatever she had planned for us to see, but she beat me to the window, surprising me. "I am paying for two tickets for…" I didn't catch the rest of her sentence, so I figured she was trying to keep it a surprise, which…well, surprised me.

She finished buying the tickets, and came over to me with a shy smile as she took my arm in both of hers. "So we do not become separated."

"Um, sure," I managed as she led me into the building.

To my continued surprise, she had purchased tickets to a romantic movie. As the adventure played out onscreen, Kotomi's statement about Kyou's 'tutelage' started to make sense; she must have coached Kotomi to do everything she'd been doing. I started to worry as I thought about what the violent violet-haired girl might have taught my date.

Several times during the movie I found my mind wandering, thinking about the Chorus Club and wondering how Nishina was doing. From what Sugisaka had told me, she was working really hard to make the performance a success. Every time I caught my mind wandering, though, I'd scold myself and force my attention back to the movie. For her part, Kotomi kept hold of my arm, and I heard her sigh contentedly several times during the movie as she snuggled into my arm. If she noticed my distractions, she never said anything about it.

Kotomi was all smiles as I opened the door to the restaurant to let her go first. "Thank you, Tomoya-kun!"

"Y-Yeah…" I managed as I followed her in.

We were quickly seated and given our menus. "I invited you, so I will be paying," she announced. "Order whatever you wish."

"Are you sure? I don't feel right making the girl pay-"

"You are not 'making' me pay," she said, lowering her menu to level her gaze at me. "I invited you, so I will be paying. I-Is that okay? Is that fair?"

When I thought about it, it made sense. "Okay, Kotomi; sorry about that." Kyou's 'tutelage' must have been intense, with how assertive Kotomi was being.

Apparently satisfied, my 'date' smiled sweetly before lifting her menu again.

In the end, she ordered a steak dish, with mashed potatoes and vegetables. My order was like hers…sort of; a burger with French fries. At least there were vegetables on the burger.

I briefly considered trying to make small talk again, but decided against it when I remembered how my earlier attempt had worked out. So we ended up quiet until our food arrived.

"That is a very impressive sandwich," Kotomi observed as we received our meals.

"Thanks," I said, looking over at her meal. Seeing her with her meal before her caused me to realize that she was a lady, while I was ordering like I was in some fast-food restaurant. "Your meal looks a lot better than mine."

"Would you like a bite?" she said, offering a piece of steak on the end of her fork. "Say 'Ahhh…'"

"I…I shouldn't eat off your fork!" I blurted before I could stop myself. Lowering my voice I said, "Thanks Kotomi, but I'll eat my dinner and you can eat yours."

"Understood." I thought I saw a look of disappointment as she reversed her fork and ate the bite of steak. At least she didn't press the issue; I wasn't sure what I'd do if she went all assertive again.

We didn't talk much as we ate; in fact, we didn't talk at all, which made me a little nervous. Was she having a good time? The only time I'd tried to talk to her I'd ended up sticking my foot in my mouth, but she still seemed to enjoy me at the movie, and as I glanced up every so often I could see her smiling shyly at me, so…everything was okay?

"I had a wonderful time, Tomoya-kun," she said as we left the restaurant, taking a huge load off my mind.

We walked side-by-side back toward the school until we reached the place where she would usually go her separate way from the rest of the Theater Club. "Would…" I licked my lips, which had become dry. "Would you like me to walk you home?"

"I would," she answered without hesitation. With any other girl I wouldn't think anything of it, but with the way Kotomi had been acting lately…I felt my nerves start to fire again. "Please walk me home, Tomoya-kun."

I focused on my breathing as we walked down several streets toward a nicer part of town. Fewer apartments and more houses told me that I was entering the kind of area I would only ever visit, but never live. "These…are some nice houses," I said lamely, trying to cover my embarrassment.

"Here we are," she said, stopping before a white house with brown trim. "This is my home."

"It's really nice," I breathed. "My dad would never be able to afford someplace like that." For some reason, the house looked familiar to me…

"I am glad you like it," she said, and I could hear the smile in her voice as I stared at her home. "Would…Would you like to come in?"

"I'd better not," I said. "Thanks, but I'm not really familiar with the area, so I should head back while it's still light."

"Okay." She didn't offer any kind of farewell, but stared at me intently, like she was gathering her courage…

The next thing I knew, she was latched onto me, her arms around my neck and her face making a beeline for mine. "K-Kotomi!" I yelped as I dodged…her lips?! "What are you doing?"

"It is known as a 'good-night kiss'," she replied before moving in for the kill again. "Do you object?"

"Yes!" I cried, managing to get my hands on her shoulders to push her away. "We don't know each other well enough for this!"

"CUT!"

My fear gave way to confusion as Kyou popped out of a nearby bush, just like she had earlier. This time, though, she had Fujibayashi and Furukawa with her. "You're doing it wrong again!" she fumed as she stomped up to me.

"K-Kyou-chan…?"

"You were supposed to pay for the movie," she said, counting on her fingers, "you were supposed to pay for the dinner, and you were supposed to kiss her! At least you walked her home…that's one point in your favor!"

"Kyou…" I think my temper had flared; it had been a long time since I felt this angry, so I wasn't sure. "Have you been following us?"

"Of course!" she exclaimed, flipping her hair as she gave me a look of disdain. "Someone had to make sure you didn't mistreat her!"

"I wasn't going to mistreat her!" I yelled. "Jeez, what kind of guy do you think I am?"

"An idiot with a lot of potential," she replied without flinching.

"O-Onee-chan…"

"I think he is wonderful."

The four of us blinked and looked over at Kotomi almost as one. "Wh-What?" Kyou stammered.

"I think he is wonderful," Kotomi repeated. "When he said something that hurt me, he took responsibility for it and tried to make me feel better. He let me hold his arm and snuggle up to him during the movie even though he was uncomfortable with it."

I cringed; had I been that obvious?

"…At the restaurant he was quiet, presumably to allow me to set the tone of our conversation due to his earlier misstep. He is a very sensitive man."

"You got that right," Kyou muttered.

"But not the way you think," Kotomi countered, causing my eyes to bug out in amazement. Who was this girl wearing Kotomi's face? "He was sensitive to my needs and feelings; that is why he is wonderful."

The rest of us stared in disbelief as she stepped up to me and looked me directly in the eye. "Thank you for not letting me kiss you like that, Tomoya-kun; it speaks highly of your character to not give in so easily."

"Y-You're welcome," I said, intimidated by her intensity again.

"You will be attending Nishina-chan's performance tomorrow?"

I could only nod dumbly.

She nodded back before setting her jaw. "I will be sure to attend as well. I would like to be with you if I can, but I will understand if you have prior arrangements."

"Thanks."

"Good night, Kyou-chan, Ryou-chan, Nagisa-chan," she said, bowing to each of them as they stood as still as statues, staring at her. "And thank you for your tutelage, Kyou-chan; it was very illuminating."

"Yeah…"

Kotomi returned her gaze to mine. "Thank you for a wonderful time, Tomoya-kun." She quickly stepped forward, and I felt a soft, gentle pressure on my cheek. "Good night." With that, she turned and hurried into her house, the door clicking shut behind her.

We stood there, staring at her front door for a full minute before Fujibayashi managed to snap out of it. "Who…Who was that, onee-chan?"

"A monster," Kyou replied numbly. "I've created a monster."