This story takes place after the events of CLANNAD AFTER STORY. I do not own CLANNAD or CLANNAD AFTER STORY. The setting and characters, with the exception of my own OCs belong to the makers of the anime and visual novel adaptations of the original story.
At the Okazaki residence… ( •̀ •́ # ) ( • • 。) (= ᷄ ᷅ = )
Something that had not occurred to Yuuto was how cheerful this group of people he was with could be. He had never met a group of people who could celebrate something as tame as watching a girl act in a play in a way that, to an outsider, would appear as if they are celebrating something major like a wedding. Even some people who seemed completely unrelated to this occasion, such as Ushio's kindergarten teacher, showed up to celebrate (plus a giant pig that was snoozing lightly closeby). Yuuto thoroughly enjoyed watching the play, but he could never foresee celebrating it to this extent.
Nonetheless, he was invited, or coerced, into celebrating. It could be interpreted as coercion because, while Ushio was inviting him to eat dinner, Akio and Tomoya were giving him glares that seemed to have said, "If you say no and make her sad on her big night, I'll knock your teeth in." Yuuto hesitantly agreed to Ushio's offer, all the while thinking to himself, "What a frightening and frighteningly positive bunch of people…"
Though at the very moment, Yuuto could not waste time thinking of these things, because his head was spinning from trying to keep up with the many conversation topics that were being directed at him. "What are you doing in my house? Get out of here, punk!" Akio said, despite knowing exactly what Yuuto was doing there. Tomoya grimaced since Akio had just said this idiotic thing, on top of claiming it was his house, but most of the listeners were laughing.
"Kuroba-kun, thank you very much for joining us. My name is Sanae, and this is Akio. We're Ushio-chan's grandparents." Sanae said, explaining things on behalf of Akio and bowing politely. "How long have you known Ushio-chan?"
"This boy does not know Ushio-chan! Fuko does not suspect that the two will ever come into contact!" Fuko said as she slammed her palms down on the table. Her face looking slightly red, as well as the contents of the cup in front of her, both made it clear that she had been drinking a little. For a slight moment, Yuuto had thought of yanking the alcohol away from her, but he could not tell whether he wanted to do this because he still had doubts of her age or because he thought it would be funny. She leaned over further and pointed at Yuuto. "Akio-san is right, please leave!"
Tomoya shook his head. "What a bad impression…" he thought as he realized that every encounter he's had with Yuuto had resulted in him or his family and friends doing something embarrassing. He rested his palm against his forehead and shook his head slightly, only to look up and see Yuuto, who was looking laughably confused, and Ushio, whose smile made all the embarrassment worth it to Tomoya. "Still… maybe he's really enjoying himself…" Along with the confused expression was a slight smile.
"Nice one, Fu-chan!" Akio said as he pumped his fist. "Hey, you! How about a drinking contest?" As Sanae and Nagisa tried to get Akio to realize that proposing this idea was foolish, or dangerous, Tomoya grimaced a little. "Nope. I got it right the first time…"
"Hey, Ushio-chan. Is this your boyfriend?" the kindergarten teacher-lady asked with a smirk.
"F-Fujibayashi-sensei!" Ushio said with a blush. Tomoya couldn't decide whether to stare daggers at Kyou or to stare daggers at Yuuto. "No, he isn't…" Tomoya couldn't help but feel worried due to the blush that made its way onto his daughter's cheeks, even after she had said this in clarification. Yuuto also had a strange facial expression.
"Hmm? He isn't?" Nagisa said with an expression that was so clueless that Tomoya would insult it if it weren't for the incredible love he felt for her.
The teacher burst out into laughter. "We're just teasing you two, don't worry!" she said. Yuuto and Tomoya knew, however, that Nagisa was being one hundred percent serious when she asked that question just now. "This is a little embarrassing…" both Yuuto and Ushio thought, separately.
Later in the night, Sanae had gotten sleepy from drinking, so Tomoya and Nagisa prepared futons in the guest bedroom for her and Akio. Akio wasn't ready for bed yet, but he did take a break from socializing to step outside and smoke. "Ah!" Fuko began, realizing her room had been taken.
Fuko's shoulders began to droop a little, but a beautiful lady who looked like Fuko, but appeared to be 10 years older than her- that is to say, she couldn't even pass for being 30- placed a hand on top of hers. "Don't worry, Fu-chan. We can visit them another time. Besides, we've missed you at home."
A man with a serious face bearing a kind expression nodded. "That's right. It's more lively when I get home from work and you're there. Besides, you can't always be troubling the Okazakis. You've even troubled Ushio-chan's new friend by drinking heavily in front of him." The man said, gesturing towards Yuuto.
Yuuto raised his eyebrows. "Ah- it's no trouble at all." The crooked smile that Tomoya saw before found its way back onto his face. "Actually, it was pretty funny…" he said in a quiet tone. The man, Yoshino Yusuke, and the woman, Kouko Yusuke, both smiled at his remark.
"Be that as it may, I believe we have all troubled you. You as well, Ushio-chan. I cannot help but feel guilty for stealing the gift of time, so limited, from the young." Yusuke said.
"...What?" Yuuto replied, thinking that he was just doing some sort of bit. Clearly, the eccentric and dramatic way of speaking that he had just heard from Yusuke was something he only expected to hear out of one of Ushio's plays.
"You'll get used to it." Tomoya and the kindergarten teacher, who introduced herself as Kyou, both had said in unison.
"Do I have any reason to not be serious about this?" Yusuke replied. "After all, look here. Ushio-chan is having trouble keeping her eyelids open." He gestured to Ushio. Upon looking, the others, Yuuto included, noticed that Yusuke was completely correct. "I feel like we should all be taking our respective leaves soon. Robbing these young people of sleep, in the form of time, is something we should avoid doing any further."
"N-no, I'm alright…" Ushio said sleepily, but with her head nodding up and down, as if she were struggling to remain upright, Yuuto could tell that she was lying.
"Okazaki-san, you should get to sleep. You can't be late to practice for tomorrow, right?" Yuuto asked as he stood up. "You're right, Yoshino-san. I'll be taking my leave, now." He gave a bow to everyone in the room and prepared to walk out.
"Right…" Ushio responded quietly. "I'll see you in the morning, then…" She stood up and bowed slowly and respectfully. She had the urge to wish for his safety, but this would be redundant, as he lived less than two minutes away.
"Have a good night, Kuroba-kun!" Nagisa said cheerfully.
"Yeah, take care. Be sure to come visit again soon." Tomoya said. Despite the kind nature of the thing that he had just said, he had a face that told Yuuto, "Don't show up ever again, got that?" Yuuto's shoulders slumped and he turned around for the door. Both of them did, however, suspect that they would run into each other again soon, maybe even tomorrow, right at the house, and neither of them were seriously unhappy about it.
Yuuto sighed after he walked through the front door and shut it behind him. "Well, I guess I'll just go home now." Yuuto thought as he shoved his hands into his pockets and began to walk away. He knew that, even if he wanted to take a stroll around just in case, things were safer now. Plus, Yusuke had been right, he should not be staying up so late.
Yuuto walked slowly towards his apartment. "What fun, what fun…" he muttered softly as he stared at the starry sky. His mind dwelled on some of the things that had happened tonight, making him crack a smile. He couldn't help but think that he was very happy that he had met and become friends with Ushio.
Back at the Okazaki residence, Yusuke and Kouko were helping a tipsy and incredibly sleepy Fuko into Yusuke's car, and Tomoya and Nagisa were waving them goodbye. Kyou was also getting into her car, her enormous boar, Botan, crawling into the passenger seat next to her. After everyone had left, Tomoya and Nagisa were the only ones in the house, at least save for the sleeping Sanae and Ushio. However, they, too, did not plan on staying awake any longer, so they went to their room and fell asleep in each others' arms.
The next day… ( • • 。)
Ushio sluggishly rose out of her bed. She looked at her alarm clock, which was blaring, and considered turning it off to get a few more minutes of rest. However, when it clicked for her just what today was, her eyes shot wide open, and she was able to find the energy to get an early start. "That's right! Today is the day I get to meet the new Drama Club members!" she thought as she hurriedly ran to the bathroom to wash her face, brush her teeth, and straighten out her long hair.
She ran downstairs and hurriedly ate her breakfast. "Good morning Shio-chan! I packed your lunch!" Nagisa said lovingly as she wrapped it up and handed it to her.
"Thank you mom!" Ushio said warmly in response as she took the lunch from her mother's hands. After she took it, she sat down at the table, where her dad was reading the newspaper and drinking coffee. "Good morning, papa!" Ushio's cheerfulness was infectious, even to Tomoya, who wanted nothing more than to lay down a few more minutes with his wife.
"Yeah, good morning. You sure are excited so early in the morning." Tomoya said sluggishly. "How I wish I could have that energy…"
"Yeah, Papa! After all, today is the day I get to meet all of the new members! I wonder how many that will be…" She started out energetically, and thought the latter portion of this aloud. "Ah! Are Sanae and Akky still here?" She lowered her voice instinctively, so as not to wake her grandparents, assuming they were still here. Even if she really wanted to spend some more time with them, she felt like waking them up would make them unhappy.
"No, they left just a few minutes ago to open up shop." Tomoya explained. "It was hard forcing the old man to leave, since he desperately wanted to spend more time with you and Nagisa, but Sanae remembered that they hadn't left a note on the window explaining their absence." Tomoya grimaced, recalling the scene of Sanae struggling to pull Akio out of the door.
Ushio smiled. "We should visit them soon! We should visit Gramps too!" she said energetically, not controlling her volume as much as before since she now knew that nobody was asleep in the house.
Tomoya smiled and thought of the idea. "Yeah, it has been a little while since we've seen him…" Tomoya thought of his father's face, wrinkled yet relaxed. "Sure. I'll call him sometime soon, and we can take a vacation over to your great-grandmother's place."
"That sounds like a lovely idea, dear!" Nagisa said happily as she finished preparing breakfast and plating it. She brought the food to the table and served it to everyone present. "Shio-chan, let's bring a tape of your next performance to show him!"
"Yeah!" Ushio replied with a nod after chewing her food and swallowing.
Not long after she ate breakfast, she ran out the door to get ready to walk to school. Already outside, apparently waiting for her, was Yuuto, who was leaning against a streetlight's pole. "Good morning, Kuroba-san!" He stepped to be by her side and the two made their way towards the school.
"You're cheerful this morning, aren't you?" he asked bluntly. After explaining why she was so cheerful, Yuuto nodded. "I guess that isn't a surprise or anything. After all, you guys put on a great show last night." Yuuto was being entirely serious in saying this; the Drama Club's performance exceeded his expectations. Yuuto gave an encouraging look to Ushio, who smiled warmly. Not long after they started walking, Daisuke joined the group, and the three walked to school. During their walk, Ushio had noticed the two cast glances past corners, as if they expected to be jumped out at, but thankfully, nothing ever happened. "They're so concerned for my sake…" Ushio thought, feeling somewhat guilty.
After making it to the school building, they split up, and Ushio went to the Drama Clubroom eagerly, anxious to see if anyone had shown up. More than likely, she would be the first person to show up anyways, and people interested in just now joining would show up after school, not for morning practice, so she was just being hopeful. This ended up being true, and she had to wait outside the clubroom for a few minutes so that Mizuki, the Drama Club president, could unlock the door. "You know, Okazaki-chan, you should probably just get the keys yourself." Mizuki said to her, in the same tone a teacher who was helping a student whom they were close with would have.
"I'm sorry, it never occurs to me to do that until I'm already here…" Ushio replied with an apologetic bow.
"Don't worry about it." Mizuki replied. She unlocked the door and let the both of them in. Not long after, other members started showing up, and the club meeting started. "All right everyone, look up here." Mizuki said to grasp their attention. "The new members will be showing up this afternoon. Today, we're going to be assessing the skills of our new members. I've already ascertained that we have the auditorium to ourselves, so that's where we will be. However, of course, we will be meeting here first, so don't forget that. Are there any questions?" She asked while casting glances around the room. After a few seconds with no raised hands and no raised voices, she clapped her hands. "All right then. Meeting adjourned." Mizuki sat down and began typing away at her laptop. Soon after, she sent someone to pick up the club application forms she had just had printed.
Soon after... ( •̀ •́ # ) ( • • 。)
Ushio, as well as some of the other Drama Club members loitered around in the clubroom until it got sufficiently close to the bell, while others just left for their respective classrooms. Ushio did leave slightly early, and made her way to the mostly empty classroom. She took a seat next to Yuuto and began to chat with him merrily until the bell rang. After morning classes, Ushio brought the bento that her mother had packed her out and moved over close to Yuuto. "Kuroba-san, would you like to eat lunch together?" Ushio asked cheerfully.
Yuuto nodded. "Yeah, but it'll be in the cafeteria, and Suzuki will be there. Ushio didn't seem opposed to this, so Yuuto led the way towards the cafeteria, Daisuke joining the group along the way.
"Ah, getting along well still, I see." Daisuke said plainly as he began walking to the side of Yuuto. "Okazaki-chan, I enjoyed watching your play last night." He directed his attention towards Ushio. "You looked like you were about to fall asleep during it…" Yuuto thought, but to spare any hurt feelings, he said nothing.
"Thank you very much!" Ushio said. She seemed a little bashful, as if she was not entirely confident with how she performed. "Will you attend our plays as they are shown throughout the school year? Did watching the play make you at all interested in joining the Drama Club?" Ushio seemed to act more and more like an excited puppy as she spoke, energetically increasing the volume of her voice and increasing the intensity of her gaze towards Daisuke. Although, ironically, Ushio was undeniably more mature than Fuko, she still seems to have had some aspects of her dear best friend rubbed off onto her.
"A-ah… I, uh…" Daisuke was frantically thinking of what to say. He looked towards Yuuto, as if for help. However, Yuuto, in a classic manner, was staring straight forward with an expression showing that he thought this situation was vaguely humorous. "You're no help…" Daisuke thought as he rubbed the back of his neck. "...Yeah, of course I'll watch your plays! How could I not go, when so many beautiful girls are acting?"
Ushio seemed very happy with this answer. Her step, as the three approached the cafeteria, had more of a bounce to it. Ushio sat down at a lunch table and patiently waited, kicking her feet while Yuuto and Daisuke ordered and paid for their meals. The two brought their meals over to the table and sat down. As they sat, Ushio was staring very intently at Yuuto's tray. "...Do you want some?" Yuuto asked, misinterpreting her curiosity. On his plate was a bowl of ramen, filled with noodles, broth, pork, seasoning, and various vegetables, and a glass bottle of milk on the side.
"Ah, please forgive my rudeness." Ushio said with a bow. "I just found it slightly relieving that the cafeteria serves such food…" Yuuto had a slight grimace on his face, as this was slowly turning to a conversation topic that he wanted to avoid. "...Though, it does not seem like the healthiest food…"
"Yeah, man. Strong guys like you need to eat better. I mean, look at my tray!" Daisuke chipped in, adding insult to injury.
"Kuroba-san, I must ask you to come over for dinner again, tonight. Your meals must be proper ones!" Ushio said bossily.
Daisuke's eyes widened and his mouth hung open. He stared from Ushio to Yuuto, both of whom seemed confused by his actions. "You've been eating over at her house?!" he said loudly towards Yuuto.
Yuuto nodded while eating and Ushio spoke up. "Kuroba-san happens to live very close to me. You are welcome to visit and have dinner too, though!" she said warmly. Daisuke, however, clammed up, and became too nervous to give a proper response towards this invitation.
Before long, their conversation devolved into an even more lighthearted one, switching topics at random, passing the time with great humor. Soon, the clock showed that the time for classes to resume was not far, so they wasted no more time in the cafeteria and went to their classrooms, Daisuke to his, and Yuuto and Ushio to theirs.
( • • 。)
After classes ended, Yuuto and Daisuke left campus together, and Ushio went to her clubroom for the much anticipated meeting today. She was not the first one there, this time. "Ah, Okazaki-chan, hello." Mizuki greeted Ushio at the door. "We have a few new people here, so be sure to greet them properly."
Ushio bowed to the club president. "Understood!" she said in acknowledgement. She ran inside the clubroom and saw five unfamiliar faces. From the uniform, she could tell that all of them were first year students. "Good afternoon everyone, my name is Ushio Okazaki! It's a pleasure to meet you, I hope we can all work together and act together well!"
Mizuki smiled to herself as she welcomed other Drama Club members as they arrived. "It's a good thing she arrived first…" she thought to herself.
After the rest of the Drama Club arrived, Mizuki took charge. "All right, everyone. I would like to begin today by having our new hopefuls introduce themselves. Starting with you-" she pointed at a first year male, who was seated. "-please begin for us."
The five students introduced themselves, with a small applause at the end of it. Now, everyone except for the president was seated once more. "Very good. I would like to introduce our already existing members, but I'm afraid that such an event should wait for a future meeting. For right now, let us all pick up our belongings and make our way towards the auditorium." Mizuki said in an authoritative tone. Soon, the whole Drama Club was in the auditorium, looking up at Mizuki on the stage. "All right. Myself and the rest of the Drama Club have gone through the effort of making several scripts for hopeful actors and actresses. So, if you are interested in acting, and not handling equipment, designs, lighting, or sound, then I would like for you to make your way onto the stage. Those who are interested in any of the latter four subjects I listed, please make your way behind the curtains. If you have an interest in both, please give deferential treatment towards acting. You will be given supplementary lessons on the other subjects at a later date."
The new students made their way onto the stage, two of them going behind the curtains, while the other three remained on the stage. Thus, the auditions began. Ushio looked up in awe of her fellow first years as they acted based on a given script. From the way they handled emotional and comedic scenes, it was obvious that all of them had some experience acting. However, one in particular seemed a cut above the rest. A somewhat tall girl with deep blue hair and eyes of a similar color was clearly pouring her heart and soul into the performance on stage.
After the performances, they took seats in the auditorium and the president took over again. "All right, that was great acting. I'm relieved to see that you all have some sort of experience. With that in mind, let's move to the third phase of today's meeting." Mizuki said as she pulled down a rope, revealing a large white screen. "Lights!" She walked off the stage, and the lights went dim, followed by the screening of a film from a projector. Ushio stared intently at the film. "Oooh!..." she thought excitedly as she realized what she was looking at.
On the screen were clips of various plays shown in the Drama Clubs from the past. She even saw a play with her grandfather in it, which made her fight the urge to jump up and begin clapping. As the play continued screening, she anticipated seeing glimpses of the play her mother starred in, the one that was performed the day her and her father became a couple. The longer she watched, the more she anticipated this. However, before she knew it, the lights were coming back on, and Mizuki was walking back up on stage. "Okay, everyone. Those were some of Hikarizaka Private High School's most successful theatrical performances. I would like for all of us, as a group, to choose one of these performances to be our first. After this, we can call it a night."
The president's words turned into static as Ushio began to feel incredibly disheartened. She halfheartedly voted for the play Akio was in, feeling betrayed by the president. After the voting ended, the club meeting was over, and Ushio was ready to leave. However, she was called out to by the president. When Ushio looked over, she saw that both Mizuki and the blue haired girl were standing by the stairs leading up to the stage. After Ushio made her way there, Mizuki spoke up. "Don't give me that pitiable look, Okazaki-chan." she said sternly.
Ushio felt her eyes sting a little at this. "Ah, I'm very sorry." she said with a bow.
The wavering of Ushio's voice made the president falter. "Ah… Don't worry about it. Anyways, you had probably thought that I had forgotten about the play you requested. Well, the way I see it, it's a great play, so we'll be performing it at some point in the year. More specifically, one of you will be performing it." She stuck out two fingers, pointing at Ushio and the other girl simultaneously. They exchanged glances, and Ushio could not help but feel like this girl was looking down on her. "You both have been in Drama Clubs longer than almost anyone else, plus your acting skills show for it. The way I see it, it could only be one of you two."
Ushio's feeling of defeat turned around completely. She was filled with an overwhelming feeling of determination. The person in front of her was not just a fellow actress, she was a rival to Ushio, one that would push her to reach higher and become the better actress. This person spoke up. "I see…" she said in a tone that was relaxed, as if she had nothing to worry about. "Well then, it's a pleasure to meet you." She gave a bow. "My name is Ruri Iwasaki."
Ushio, who did not feel insulted at all, but was still motivated, responded eagerly. "I'm Ushio Okazaki! I hope that we will get along well, even if we compete against each other!" she said energetically with an equally energetic bow.
Soon after… ( •̀ •́ # ) ( • • 。)
Ushio, as she left the school building, had her fists clenched and her arms bent, as if she were trying to power up. At the front gates, waiting for her, was Yuuto. However, Ushio, who was imagining all of the work she would be putting in this school year. Yuuto had a blank stare, at first, but seeing her pose made him snicker. At this, she turned around. "Kuroba-san?" she said, slightly surprised. "Ah, please forgive me! I must have been distracted…"
Yuuto shook his head. "It's nothing to apologize for," he replied. "...Today went well, right?"
Ushio, who had an uncharacteristically determined expression, as if her heart were saying, "Alright!" nodded. This expression reminded Yuuto of himself, and perhaps his friends, when he was younger. The fierce, yet innocent, look on Ushio's face made Yuuto feel nostalgic, and made him happier than ever that the past few days had happened the way they had.
On the walk to their homes, Ushio described how everything went, and Yuuto politely listened. He honestly was not interested in the meeting, but he was interested in hearing Ushio's excited and happy voice. Moreover, at this point, he had gained enough tact to forego voicing his lack of interest. Soon, they had arrived at the Okazaki residence, where, for once, there were no guests over.
At the dinner table… ( •̀ •́ # ) ( • • 。) (= ᷄ ᷅ = )
"Kuroba-kun, you must eat more! Shio-chan tells me that you aren't eating properly!" Nagisa said, eagerly scooping more food onto Yuuto's plate. Yuuto stared at his ever-growing pile of delicious looking food and could only think how it became to seem less and less appealing as it grew. "There! A boy like you needs to eat a lot!" Yuuto couldn't help but feel like this lady, who seemed so innocent, acted very much like a proper mother.
Yuuto prepared to protest, but the happy and pure look of Nagisa, coupled with the expectant look of Ushio made him hold his tongue. "Thank you for this meal..." Yuuto said, resigning himself to eat what was in front of him.
Nagisa turned on the TV and the three of them watched while eating. Soon after, Tomoya showed up, back from work, entering through the front door. "I'm home!" he called into his house, after which, Nagisa stood up and ran over to him.
"Tomoya-kun! Welcome back! Do you want to bathe first, or to eat? Dinner is ready!" she said eagerly, gesturing towards the table on the latter sentence. Yuuto and Ushio were both staring at the interaction. It was foreign to neither of them, but Yuuto had never been so aware of how attentive and loving such a greeting could be. Of course, to Ushio, who was smothered in love all of the time, this was nothing out of the ordinary, but to Yuuto, this stuck out.
Tomoya glanced over to the table, looking at the two teenagers who were seated. "Oh, it's you. You know, when I said you could 'visit again soon,' I didn't mean the very next day. Don't you have any food at your own place?" Tomoya said to Yuuto with a grimace.
"Papa!" Ushio said with an upset tone. She looked as though she was pouting because her father was teasing her friend. Nagisa also looked as though she was going to scold him.
"Right, right." Tomoya said as he slid his shoes off. "I'll have dinner first, then." He set his bags down, and, accompanied by Nagisa, he went to the table. "Thank you for this meeeeaaaal!" They both said in unison. With difficulty, Yuuto managed to finish his meal, and he did so at around the same time as everyone else. While Nagisa was taking the dishes up, Tomoya spoke up. "So, Ushio-chan. I told Yoshino-san about visiting Sanae and the old man, since Fuko would want to also. He thinks that this Saturday would work for Fuko, is that okay with you?"
Ushio nodded eagerly. "Are we playing baseball?" she asked, just as eagerly. Yuuto cocked an eyebrow, struggling to understand why any girl could be so excited to play baseball with a bunch of adults.
Nagisa had finished cleaning up, and she moved back over to the table to sit with the others. "I can't wait! Kuroba-kun, would you like to join us?" Nagisa asked.
"Oh, that would be so much fun!" Ushio said as she clapped her hands together. Yuuto had a skeptical look on his face, not being quite sure how to respond to this sudden request. "Kuroba-san, please say that you will join us…" Ushio's pleading made the doubt leave Yuuto's body.
"Yeah. Of course I will." Yuuto replied with a tone that expressed that he was, although only slightly, looking forward to this. Tomoya, despite having a strange look on his face, voiced no opposition nor tried to intimidate Yuuto into declining.
After this short conversation, followed with a conversation about the two students' school day and Ushio's Drama Club practice, the time had come for Yuuto to leave. This time, when Ushio offered to walk him home, Tomoya did not interfere, and they left together.
( •̀ •́ # ) ( • • 。)
Although the walk was not very long, the two spent their time, walking as slow as possible. Neither one in particular initiated this, yet they both seemed to agree that this was the right course of action. "Kuroba-san, thank you for getting along with my family." Ushio said out of the blue, breaking the silence that was otherwise filled with the ambient noises of the night.
Yuuto stopped walking for a moment, staring at Ushio for the duration of this time. After noticing that he had stopped walking, Ushio turned around. "Is something the matter, Kuroba-san?" she asked.
"I should be the one thanking you." Yuuto said. A faint smile, unseen through the dim illumination of the stars, moon, and street lights, crept onto his face. "You and your family."
Ushio smiled too, but she looked away. "Do you feel at all pressured to come and visit?" Ushio said, a hint of nervousness hanging on her voice.
Yuuto hesitated. "Yeah." he said bluntly. He continued to walk. "But that just makes you a great person, Okazaki-san. You're pressuring a boring guy like me to visit. You're really concerned, and that makes me happy." At this point, Ushio continued to follow Yuuto once more. "Oh... and about Saturday..." He turned to look at her. "Even if you hadn't pressured me into coming, I think I would still want to go. I'm looking forward to it."
Ushio had a beautiful smile that, even in this darkness, could best be described as "bright." "Yeah, me too!" she said cheerfully.
Back home… ( • • 。) (= ᷄ ᷅ = )
After walking Yuuto to his apartment, Ushio hurried back home, and greeted her parents once again. "I'm baaack!" she said happily. She skipped over to the table and pulled out her homework. Nagisa and Tomoya, holding hands, watched Ushio as she did her homework, enjoying her presence and being there for her on the off chance she would need help. They enjoyed pleasant conversation after her assignments were completed, and the time had come for Ushio to bathe then go to sleep. She then brushed her teeth, tidied her room, and prepared her uniform for the next day.
"Alright, Ushio-chan. Get some rest. I love you." Tomoya said as he stuck his head into her room, turning the lights off and closing the door to Ushio's bedroom as she laid in her bed.
"I love you, Papa, good night." Ushio replied sleepily.
Once her lights were off, Ushio was left alone with her thoughts. She thought how lucky she was to have met someone who enjoyed her company, especially one who lived so close. She also thought how nice it was that he seemed to warm up to her family. At this point, she was hugging her dango pillow, enjoying its presence as though having it with her made thinking these things even more pleasant.
She felt truly lucky to have met Yuuto Kuroba, and she, subconsciously, felt like she never wanted to let go of this feeling.
Back home… ( •̀ •́ # )
After Ushio walked him back to his apartment, Yuuto opened his fridge and stared at its 'contents, which were barren compared to the contents of even one meal the Okazakis served. "Maybe Okazaki-san has a point…" Yuuto thought. He decided to just forget about this, so he stretched and took a bath. He brushed his teeth and set his alarm for early in the morning.
He laid down, staring up at the ceiling through the darkness. As he was left alone with his thoughts, his mind wandered over to the person he had just spent so much time with.
He thought how lucky he was to have met Ushio, someone who was so selfless and caring towards others; someone with a family who welcomed him without a second thought.
He felt truly lucky to have met Ushio Okazaki, and he, subconsciously, felt like he never wanted to let go of this feeling.