Chapter Twenty-Eight: Departures

The next day I met up with Tomoyo at Kotomi's house. Since she had farther to go, Kotomi wouldn't be with us for a bit, but we figured we could still practice in her backyard – we'd be outside, after all, so it wasn't like we were hiding or anything.

"You're getting a lot better," she remarked as I parried one of her punches. "I used to nail you with that all the time."

"What can I say? I have the best teacher," I puffed as I dodged her follow-up kick.

"Thanks," she grunted as she got back into her ready stance. "You have any plans for attacking?"

"Nah, I'm just waiting for you to wear yourself out," I said with my best cocky grin. "Seriously though, you have an awesome defense; it's really hard to get by."

"Well, you're going to have to figure something out," she said as lunged at me with another punch. "You can't expect your opponent to-OOF!"

I had ducked under her outstretched arm and, as I moved past her, delivered a swift jab to her stomach, causing her to double over. "Was that better?" I asked as I hopped away.

She gave me a wry grin as she rubbed her stomach. "Damn, you can hit like a truck. Yeah, that was pretty good. Where'd you learn that? I never taught you that."

"Saw it in one of Lee-sensei's movies and wanted to try it out," I replied, still hopping from foot to foot.

"Well, you've got the speed for it," she said approvingly. "I'll have to watch out from now on."

We had been sparring for several minutes before we realized we had an audience. "Oh, hey Kotomi," I greeted as I noticed my girlfriend seated on the back steps to her home, watching us with a small smile. "When'd you get here?"

"About ten minutes ago," she replied. Wow, I must've really been focused. "I did not wish to interrupt your training, so I prepared a snack before coming out here. I have only been sitting here for about a minute or two."

"Is it okay that we started before you got here?" Tomoyo asked. "I didn't mean to assume anything, but-"

"It is fine," Kotomi interrupted with a shake of her head. "I had offered the use of my home, so it is fine."

We resumed our training, but I noticed that Tomoyo seemed…distracted; hardly surprising, considering that her former 'rival' was watching us.

"Just forget that she's there," I said to Tomoyo as we briefly grappled, my voice barely above a whisper so Kotomi wouldn't hear me. "You don't want me getting beat up because you were distracted during training, right?"

She gazed at me for a moment, nodded, then shoved me away only to follow up with a flurry of punches. Since I was still regaining my balance I couldn't parry all of her punches and ended up taking shots to my face and chest.

"Good job!" she praised as she back off from her attack.

"Are you serious?" I complained as I righted myself. "I don't know how many times you nailed me there!"

"Six," she replied smoothly, "but considering that I threw twenty punches, you did a really good job."

"That means that you deflected seventy percent of her punches!" Kotomi exclaimed, clapping. "How exciting!"

I saw a momentary look of pain cross Tomoyo's face before she forced a smile. "Y-Yeah. That is…exciting." She turned to face me. "Well, should we call it a day? It's almost dinnertime, and I have some homework to take care of for tomorrow."

"Sure," I said. "Are you staying for dinner? We'd love to have you."

She said nothing, but stared sadly at me.

"Sakagami-san…" Kotomi said in a soft, teary voice.

"N-Not this time," Tomoyo replied in a thin voice. "I'd better get home; thanks, anyway."

Kotomi gently took my hand and gave it a squeeze as we saw our friend off from the front gate.

I just couldn't keep my eyes off of my silver-haired friend's back as she walked away, though.


Kotomi and I met up with Pastor Jeff at the airport to see him off on his flight.

Unsurprisingly, Kyou was there, too. "I…I really wish you didn't have to go." I blinked as I noticed that she had changed her hairstyle; instead of having her hair down like she's had it in school, she had it up in a ponytail with a couple of locks framing her face, one of which held her usual hair ribbon. "I'll miss you."

"I know," he said softly. "Thank you; that…means a lot to me."

"Hey, what about me?" I pretended to complain. "I won't have anyone to talk to while you're gone!"

"Tomoya, you will have me to…" Kotomi started to say before I gave her a smile and a wink. "N-Never mind," she said with a blush.

Pastor Jeff laughed as he pumped my hand several times. "I'm sure you'll be fine without me around for a couple of weeks."

We heard the boarding call for his flight, and I glanced over to see Kyou tense up.

"Well, that's my flight," he grunted, hefting a bag to his shoulder and picking up his suitcase.

"Have a safe flight," Kotomi said.

I felt a tug on my sleeve, and I looked to see Kyou apparently trying to hide the movement. "Could you and Kotomi give me a minute?" she whispered with a meaningful look.

I looked from her to Pastor Jeff and back, then smiled. "Sure." I made my way over to Kotomi, who was talking to him, and tapped her shoulder. "Hey, Kotomi? Got a minute?"

She blinked at me with her large, beautiful blue eyes. "Certainly. Excuse me, please," she said, bowing to the pastor as she let me lead her away by the hand.

After we got what I figured was a safe distance I stopped and looked back at Kyou.

"Why did you bring me here?" Kotomi asked with a puzzled look.

"I think Kyou wants some time with Pastor Jeff before he leaves," I said as I kept my eyes on my purple-haired friend.

"Ooooohhhhhh…" she breathed. "I believe I understand."

We watched as Kyou made her way up to Pastor Jeff and said something to him. He said something back, then put down his suitcase and let her take his hands. Then, they both bowed their heads.

"What are they doing?" I heard Kotomi ask.

"I'll be damned…" I said as realization washed over me. "I think Kyou's praying for him."

"What would she be praying for?"

I shrugged. "I dunno; probably for a safe trip and that he gets what he needs while he's in America."

"Ooooohhhhhh…" she breathed again. "I believe I understand."

They eventually raised their heads, and Kyou turned and waved us over so we hurried back. "Thanks, you two."

"Glad to help," I replied, then smiled at my mentor. "Have a safe trip, Pastor; I hope you get what you need."

"Thanks," he said, shaking my hand again before retrieving his suitcase. "Well…see you in a couple of weeks."

"Take care, Ashton-sensei," Kotomi said with a gentle smile.

He nodded once before turning and passing through the boarding gate to the ramp.

We followed Kyou over to the window overlooking Pastor Jeff's airplane, and I stood next to her so I could keep an eye on her. "You gonna be okay?"

She nodded slowly, never taking her eyes off of the airplane. "Yeah."

I felt Kotomi take my arm, and looked over to see her watching Kyou with compassion in her eyes. "Kyou-san…"

Starting to feel like a spectator in a tennis match, I looked back to see a tear trickle down Kyou's face so I reached out, resting a hand on her shoulder. "You sure you're gonna be okay?"

She nodded slowly, her eyes on the airplane as it was pushed from its parking space. "Yeah," she sniffed. "I trust God to take care of him; it's just…really hard…knowing he won't be here."

I smiled sympathetically. "He'll be back before you know it; then you can go back to flirting with him."

She managed a small smile in spite of the tears. "Yeah. I look forward to it."

Then, without warning, she turned and grabbed onto my girlfriend as she started to cry. "I miss him already!"

Kotomi gave me a confused look as Kyou wept, so I made a caressing gesture. She nodded before releasing my hand to awkwardly run her fingers through Kyou's hair, and I saw a small but tender smile start to form on her face as she looked down at the sobbing girl.