Epilogue: Class Reunion

I pressed the button on the dashboard and, as we descended, KITT's wheels unfolded to their usual position as the anti-gravity field powered down.

"I'm exhausted," KITT complained as we touched down a safe distance from the school.

"What are you talking about?" I asked. "Robots don't get tired."

"Maintaining the anti-gravity field exerts a considerable drain on my batteries," he countered. "It will take several hours for them to recharge. Besides, I still don't like flying."

"It's not flying," I tried countering. "It's…floating…with forward motion..." I looked over to the front passenger seat. "Yukine, help me out here."

She smiled bashfully, her hands resting on her swollen tummy. "I'm sorry; I really don't know much about technology. You really should be asking Kotomi-chan."

I grunted, then shifted my attention to the back seat. "Kotomi-chan? Can you help me?"

She exchanged a smile with Tomoyo before replying. "I am sorry, Tomoya-kun; I have just been enjoying your banter."

"Don't look at me," Tomoyo interrupted as I started to open my mouth again. "You know I don't understand that stuff."

So I was on my own. "Look, KITT; I don't ask you to fly that often. Can't you let it go, please?"

An electronic sigh. "I suppose I can keep further concerns to myself…for now."

"I am sorry, KITT," Kotomi said to my partner. "I will work on your battery efficiency when we get back home."

A longish pause. "Now I'm experiencing something akin to regret over mentioning it. My apologies, Kotomi-chan."

"I understand," she replied. "You want to be at your best to help Tomoya-kun; I-I want that as well."

I sighed; even though I knew I'd feel a little jealous, I wished that she'd find a good man to marry. Tomoyo too, for that matter. "Well, there's the school. I wish you could come in with us, KITT."

"I appreciate your concern. While your watch will allow me to be there in a manner of speaking, it's not the same as being physically present."

I glanced in the rearview mirror again. "Maybe you could work on giving KITT a humanoid body to use occasionally?"

"Tomoya, that's really not-"

"Oh, that would be wonderful!" Kotomi squealed. "When we get back home, I will work on that as well! I will need joints, some form of gyro-stabilizer…"

"Good job getting her started," Tomoyo grumbled. "Now she won't shut up for hours."

"Better than the way she used to be," I countered as Kotomi continued to talk to herself. "An introverted shut-in? Yeah, I'd say this is an improvement."

"I like it when she's excited," my wife said as we pulled up by the bottom of the hill. "She sounds so happy."

"I suppose if she's happy, then I should be happy as well," KITT said in mock resignation.

I patted the dashboard. "That's the spirit, buddy."


"WHOA! OKAZAKI!" an annoyingly familiar voice called out as we passed through the main gate.

"Sunohara," I greeted as we high-fived.

"And you've brought your harem-AWK!" he finished as he doubled over from Tomoyo's kick; I held up a hand to stop her from doing anything more.

"Where is everyone?" I asked as he brushed at the front of his shirt. "I'm sure our graduating class was bigger than this."

He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "Eh, they're in the gym; these people are probably outside 'cause it's so crowded in there." He gave me a sly smirk. "Seriously; why are you all together like this?"

"We work at the same place," I answered. "Except for Yukine, that is; she's a professional wife and mother."

"T-Tomoya…" Yukine blushed as she averted her gaze.

"WHOA! She's even cuter when she's pregnant!" Sunohara blurted as he openly stared at her stomach, and I had to hold up my hand again to keep Tomoyo from going after him; she had become extremely protective toward my wife after we had announced our second pregnancy. "Is this your first kid?"

"Second," I replied. "Hiro's with Yukine's parents." I gestured toward the gym. "I'd like to go inside, if that's okay." I said, as the others nodded in agreement.

He gave me a thumbs-up; had the guy grown up at all in the last five years? "Let's go, then!"

As we entered the gym, Kotomi and Tomoyo headed off in different directions, and Yukine and I met up with several of my old classmates and exchanged greetings with them, introduced them to Yukine, and eventually we came across…

"Okazaki-kun!" I smiled as I turned to see Fujibayashi approaching hand-in-hand with a blonde-haired man. "Welcome!"

"Hey Fujibayashi," I greeted. Then I smiled as I stuck my hand out toward the blonde man. "Okazaki Tomoya; nice to meet you."

He returned my smile as he accepted the handshake. "Hiragi Kappei; nice to meet you, too." He angled his head as thought studying me. "A handshake, huh? You must have been outside Japan at some point."

"Every so often," I replied, maintaining my smile. The fact was, over the last five years I had been on missions outside of Japan more times than I could count…but he didn't need to know that. "My job has me traveling a bit."

"And what do you do?" Fujibayashi asked. "Oh, is it that detective job you told us about?"

"Yup," I replied, "and may I assume that the two of you are married? Or are those rings just coincidental decorations?"

They shared a chuckle as they held up their hands. "We've been married for two years," Fuji-well, Ryou replied.

"Congratulations you two, albeit a little belated," Yukine said with her trademark smile. "I'm sorry we missed your wedding."

"I-It's okay," Ryou replied. "We wanted a small-"

"TOMOYA!" a voice rang out and, before I realized what was happening, I had Kyou's arm twisted up behind her; apparently she'd had the bright idea of approaching me from behind. "Hey, what the hell?!"

"Sorry!" I said as I quickly released her. "Reflex."

She glared at me as she rubbed her arm. "So you abuse women reflexively?"

"I dunno," I replied. "Yukine, am I abusive?"

She rested her hands on her swollen tummy as she gave a bright smile. "I don't think so, honey."

"Whoa." Kyou's eyes grew wide as she noticed my wife's abdomen. "You really…? M-May I…?"

Yukine received a nod from me before answering. "Go ahead."

Kyou's expression was unreadable as she reached out and gently caressed my wife's tummy. "Amazing…" she breathed. "Does it hurt?"

Yukine's smile seemed to light up the entire room. "It's uncomfortable sometimes, but it's a lot better than when I had our first."

"Your…first…?" Kyou removed her hand from my wife's tummy and placed it on her own. "Then you…"

"You okay, Kyou?" I asked. "Before, you would have taken a jab at me by now."

Ryou smiled sadly as she laid her hand on her sister's shoulder. "Kyou's not like she used to be."

"I guess." I studied the older sister's downturned face. "Hey, did you get that teaching job you wanted?"

My former verbal sparring partner simply nodded, and I finally admitted to myself what I had suspected to be true for a long time: She still hadn't gotten over me.

I deliberately softened my voice. "Congratulations, Kyou; I knew you had it in you."

She glanced up at me briefly with a troubled smile. "Excuse me," she said, and wandered off.

"Poor thing," Yukine said sadly. "Should I go talk to her?"

"I don't think that would help," Ryou said. "She just needs some time."

"Five years isn't long enough?" I asked carefully.

"When it comes to a woman's heart, eternity might not be long enough," Kappei answered as he put his arm around his wife.

I reflexively thought of Kotomi and Tomoyo. "Yeah…I think I know what you mean."


"From what I could hear, it sounded like you had a good time," KITT said as we all piled in.

"It was…bittersweet," I replied. "It was good seeing everyone again, but some of the changes were hard to take."

"Are you referring to Fujibayashi Kyou?"

"You noticed, huh?"

"I wasn't able to complete a full analysis, but vocal analysis indicated the possibility of mild depression."

"She must've really had the hots for you," Tomoyo said.

"Could we talk about something or someone else, please?" I asked, exasperated. "I got enough attention when Kotomi-chan started talking about me to our schoolmates."

"I am so sorry," Kotomi said yet again.

"I'm not looking for another apology," I said. "I'd just like to…change the subject."

"What did you find out about your former classmates?"

I blew air noisily between my lips. "Well, Ryou is a nurse…"

"Amazing that she was able to get the time off," Yukine observed.

"True," I agreed. "Anyway, she met her now-husband, Hiragi Kappei, while he was a patient at the hospital where she works, and they've been married for about two years."

"They look…happy together," I heard Kotomi comment from the back seat.

"They do make a cute couple," Yukine agreed.

"From what I was able to find out from Ryou, her sister was able to become a kindergarten teacher like she wanted…in fact she teaches at the school in our district."

"That could be a problem when Hiro's ready for kindergarten," Tomoyo observed.

"Indeed. Human relationships can be quite…complicated."

"We'll worry about that when we get there," I said. "Furukawa is…well, we didn't get to talk to her for long but, from what I could get, she's working at her parents' bakery while prepping for college."

"She's still living with her parents? Tomoya, I would be willing to scan her to try to determine the nature of her medical condition."

"That's a thought," I mused. "The trick would be doing it without having to explain everything to her. She's a nice girl, but she's kinda…simple; someone like you might be scary to her."

"I believe I understand."

"Last one: Sunohara." I sighed heavily. "He's a taxi driver back home. That guy could have gone far in soccer, but…" I lightly tapped the yoke.

"He gave up on life," Tomoyo said.

"That's a shame," Yukine said. "To have all that talent and to not use it."

"Tomoya? I'm sorry to interrupt, but Michael's calling."

I smiled as Michael Knight's image appeared on the monitor. "Hey, boss! What's up?"

He returned my smile. "How'd your class reunion go?"

"Mixed bag."

"Yeah, they can be like that. Listen, I know you're still in Party Mode, but something's come up and I need you to meet up with the Bishop in the usual spot."

"Can you tell us anything about it?" I asked.

"Yeah, but you know me; I like the personal touch."

"You sure do," I said. "All right; we'll rendezvous with the Bishop shortly."

"See you in a bit, kiddo." With that, Michael's image winked out.

"Shortly?" KITT asked. "At cruising speed it will easily take us two hours to rendezvous with the Bishop, unless…you can't be serious. Again?!"

"Again," I said with a smile.

"You enjoy Air Pursuit Mode just a little too much, young man," KITT said in a scolding tone as he opened the dash panel.

"We all do…well, maybe except Tomoyo-san," Yukine said. "Thank you, KITT."

As we lifted off again and KITT's wheels folded into his body, I thought about what my next mission could possibly be. In the end it didn't matter, though; I would serve others with the selflessness that Yukine had helped me to develop and, with two of my best friends, we would protect the innocent from those who operate above the law.

Because, with the right support, one man can make a difference.

Rough Draft Complete