Broken Doll: An Alternate After Story

by Magnus Prime

(NOTE: Rated 'M' for language and some disturbing content.) Based on the first 'version' of the canonical After Story. It has been almost sixteen years since Nagisa's death, and an unexpected encounter with his daughter's guilt forces Tomoya to deal with his past losses and ends up reconnecting with old relationships while making new ones.

31. Now in Session

Chapter Thirty-One: Now in Session

I found myself walking down a long path that stretched into the distance, seemingly to infinity. The sky was a deep, rich blue, though it would turn cloudy and gray every so often. There were no buildings or road signs to be seen anywhere. I didn't know why, but I was forced to walk at the same pace, neither speeding up or slowing down. I walked alone and, oddly enough, I was missing my right arm.

After walking for a really long time, another path intersected with mine, and a girl with brown, shoulder-length hair started walking beside me, and the path widened just enough for the two of us. She had a warm, calming, and timid presence about her, and I felt happy and safe.

We hadn't walked for long before a baby appeared in my arms, but the brown-haired girl disappeared from my side at almost the same time, and then the baby disappeared from my arms, and I felt my heart stop and I stopped walking, though I continued to move forward, as though on a conveyor belt. The path stayed the same width as I moved alone.

I moved without walking for a long time before another brown-haired girl appeared next to me; she was short and had short brown hair under a blue and white hat, and even though I felt uncomfortable around her I started to walk slowly and felt my heart start beating again. I still moved forward at the same speed as before, though. As we walked she got taller and taller, becoming more and more beautiful, more full of life, and she started to glow, like the sun on a spring day. As she grew, her hair got longer and longer until it reached the small of her back. She was my life.

Another path intersected with ours, and a girl who was a little taller than the brown-haired girl and had long, purple hair came from the side and walked with us, on the other side of the brown-haired girl. She had a warm, calming yet bubbly presence about her, and I felt happy and safe; for some reason she appeared to me as three girls. While we continued to walk she somehow gave me nourishment, and I felt a twitch in my shoulder and held up my right hand, which had somehow regrown along with my arm.

Eventually the purple-haired girl stopped us and held out her hand toward me, and I realized I had a choice; I could move on, leaving the purple-haired girl behind, or I could take her hand and allow her to continue on the path with us. I knew, though, that if I took her hand that she would walk between me and the brown-haired girl from that point on, which made me uncomfortable.

I started to reach out toward the purple-haired girl's hand but hesitated; then, to my surprise, the brown-haired girl took my hand and gently but firmly pulled it toward the purple-haired girl's hand…

---

I groaned awake, reaching over to slap my alarm before pressing my hand to my forehead. "This is getting weirder and weirder…" With each dream I became more and more certain of who the individuals represented, but it didn't make the last part of each dream any easier to accept.

I grunted my way to my feet and padded down the hall to the washroom. I'd forgotten to check the time, but I knew that my last session with Pastor Jeff was supposed to be in a few hours, and I really needed the time to get ready. The dream plus the events at the dance plus how late I had gotten to bed had me in a near-zombie state. Fortunately Ushio wasn't in the washroom, and I was able to give my face a good rubbing with cold water. "Brrr…" I complained as my mind and body were forced into a more active state. "Come on Okazaki, we need to get going." Once last glance at my face told me that I needed more work but decided that could wait until after breakfast.

The smell of frying eggs greeted me as I left the washroom, and I found Ushio in the kitchen, wearing her apron and cooking away. "Breakfast'll be ready in a few minutes," she announced without looking at me. "Go ahead and have a seat and I'll bring it out."

"Okay," I grunted. "Thanks." I headed into the living room and fell into my place at the kotatsu. I then leaned back on my hands to look out the window. After getting up to open the stupid curtains I plopped back into my seat and watched the few clouds lazily drift by.

"Do…you mind if I leave after breakfast?" she asked as she brought out our breakfast.

"Ugh, too early to make decisions," I whined as I sat up to rub my forehead again. "Why, is there something going on at school-no, schools out for the summer. Club? Oh, that's right…"

"Ashton-sensei asked me to come to the church early," she said, looking down at her breakfast.

"Early? He did?" I puzzled over his request; why would he want me there at the usual time but Ushio there early? "I thought he just wanted me to bring you along. I didn't know he wanted you early."

"He does, but I was hoping to run a couple of errands before going there."

"Well, if that's what he needs, then that's fine," I said. "Yeah, go ahead and leave after breakfast if you need to."

"Thank you, Daddy."

"I gotta admit, though, I'm pretty nervous about today," I grunted, still feeling sleepy. "He wouldn't tell me what he's planning, so I'm not sure what to expect."

"Me, neither." She said, then chewed her food with a thoughtful expression. "Well, do you trust him?" she asked after swallowing her bite.

"I guess," I answered almost reflexively. Then I thought about it some more and found myself nodding. "No; he's taken good care of us – you and me both – so yeah, I trust him."

"Then just go and do your best," she replied with an encouraging smile.

---

"See you later, Daddy!" Ushio exclaimed, giving me a finger-wave as she headed out the door.

"You too," I replied with a wave of my own. "See you at the church."

She simply giggled as she closed the door behind her, leaving me alone in our home, and I gasped slightly as a memory of the dream hit me. I knew that Ushio would move out on her own eventually, but for some reason seeing her leaving for her errands gave me a sense of what it would be like for her light to leave the home. I shook off a feeling of loneliness as I headed back to the washroom for a wake-up shower.

As the water worked on the tension in my body I worked on the tension in my head; I still wanted to talk with the pastor about the dreams I'd been having, but I had a pretty good idea of what it was trying to tell me. Or I was trying to tell myself. "Whatever," I grumbled as I scrubbed at my scalp more vigorously than usual.

After my shower I headed to my room and got dressed for the day, specifically for my session. Then I set an alarm, grabbed a book, and settled down to read for the next hour.

I jerked awake to the sound of my alarm and realized that I must have fallen asleep. I quickly checked the time and thanked my prior self for setting the alarm; I could have easily ended up sleeping through my session. I closed up my book and set it aside, then grunted to my feet and headed to the washroom for one last splash of my face. Fully awake, I headed to the entrance, switched my shoes, and headed out.

The air felt nice and cool on my face as I headed to the church; it was a fairly warm day, but the occasional breeze helped bring the temperature down to a comfortable level, and I sighed at the sensation of it gently blowing my hair, like cool fingers on my head. It made it easier to ignore my worries about the session, and I soon found myself in front of the familiar doors to Glory to God church.

"Well, here goes nothing," I sighed before knocking on the door.

Less than a minute later the right-hand door opened and the friendly face of Pastor Jeff came into view. "Hey, Tomoya-san! Good morning!"

"Good morning," I returned; technically it was time to say 'good afternoon' but I wasn't interested in arguing that particular point.

"Are you ready?" he asked with a smile as he stepped aside, revealing the inside of the church.

"Nope," I replied with a smile of my own. "Let's go."

He chuckled as he closed the door behind me, but instead of heading to the hall to his office he opened one of the doors that led to the meeting hall. "This way."

My brow furrowed, but I followed him into the huge room…and stopped in my tracks.

The tables and chairs had been rearranged, with one of the tables surrounded by a semicircle of others. Sitting along the surrounding tables were some very familiar faces. "What the…?"

"Hey, Tomoya," Kyou greeted with a wave.

"Yeah…hi," I replied, returning the gesture as I looked around the room in disbelief. The Hiiragis were there, the children included. Mom and Dad Fujibayashi and Mom and Dad Furukawa were there, too, as well as the Yoshinos and Fuuko.

There were also a couple of faces I hadn't seen in years: "Sunohara? Is that you?!"

"Hey Okazaki!" My fellow delinquent, black hair and all, sat at one of the tables with a woman who I realized had to be his sister, though it took me a moment. "Long time, no see."

"Yeah, no kidding," I replied, feeling myself go back through the years to a simpler yet still complex time. "What are you doing here, man?"

"Got an invitation from your shrink," he said with a wink as he jerked a thumb at Pastor Jeff, who was just settling in behind the table at the center of the semicircle. "He said he was looking for everyone who-GAWK!" he suddenly yelped as the woman next to him gave him a sharp elbow.

"Nii-san, we were told not to say anything," the woman – Mei, if I remembered correctly – hissed as she withdrew the offending limb.

"Yeah, yeah, sorry," he groaned as he rubbed his side.

I laughed at their antics, but my smile faded quickly at the sight of my old man at one of the tables, and I started to get an idea of what the good pastor had in mind for my 'last session'. I managed another smile, though, at the sight of my daughter seated next to him. "Did you make it on time?" I asked as I approached her table, making sure to give the old man a wide berth.

"Yeah," she giggled as she drew her head into her shoulders. "I hope I didn't make you worry."

"Naw," I said, chuckling at her reaction as I looked around the room again. "Wow, this is a surprise."

"Am I late?" I looked to the doorway in time to see a shapely woman with dark blue hair and large, golden eyes hurry into the room. When she saw me she broke out into a huge smile. "Okazaki? Oh, wow! It's been so long!"

"Y-Yeah…" I said lamely as I accepted a hug from the vaguely familiar woman. "I'm sorry; you look familiar, but…"

"Don't tell me you've forgotten Misae-san," Sunohara said with a smirk.

"That's right!" I exclaimed, snapping my fingers; it was as though my eyes had suddenly been uncovered, and I saw the dorm mother standing before me. "Wow, it's good to see you again."

"Oh, you too," she said with a warm smile. "How have you… I'm sorry; that needs to wait 'til later. Is Ashton-sensei here?"

"Right here," the man in question replied as he made his way over to us. "Thank you for coming on such short notice; I really appreciate it, and I think Tomoya-san will as well…eventually."

I puzzled over his choice of words as I watched him guide the dorm mother to one of the chairs.

"Am I late?" I blinked out of my thoughts to find Kotomi awkwardly peeking into the room. "This is the right place, is it…? Ah! Tomoya-kun! Good afternoon!" she greeted, finally stepping into the room. "Am I late?"

"I don't think so," I replied cautiously. "Did Pastor Jeff ask you to come?"

"If you are referring to Ashton-sensei then yes, he asked me to be here this morning," she replied with a nod.

"Ichinose-sensei!" Pastor Jeff greeted as he joined us. "This way, please."

A few minutes later another woman arrived, this one with long, silver hair and an intense look. Something about her seemed familiar, though with the way things had been going it hardly surprised me at that point. "Is this Glory to God….church?"

"Yes it is!" the pastor said before I could reply. "Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule for this, Ambassador."

"Ambassador?" I repeated. "Ambassador to what?"

"She's Japan's ambassador to America," he said.

I looked from one to the other before carefully asking, "I don't mean to be rude, but why do we need an ambassador for my last session?"

"You don't remember me, huh?" the silver-haired woman asked as she flipped her hair.

"You do look familiar," I admitted, "but I figured it was due to seeing you on TV."

"You probably have," she said with another flip, "but you and I went to school at the same time. I was a year behind you, though."

Her name was on the tip of my tongue… "I'm…sorry, I can't remember your name."

"Well, we'll make that part of this session," she said with a playful smile, "if that's okay, Ashton-sensei."

"Sure," he said with a grin of his own. "We'll allow him the pleasure of rediscovery."

"Gee, thanks," I said sarcastically, annoyed at the lack of disclosure. "Like I'm not going to have enough on my plate."

He laughed and clapped me on the shoulder. "You'll be okay. As I said before, this'll be awkward but good for you in the long run."

"Fine," I chuckled, his mirth apparently having infected me. "Your game, your rules."

"Come this way, please," he said to the mystery woman, and she followed him to the table where Kotomi sat waiting patiently. After seating her he headed back to his table and reclaimed his seat.

"Hey, Pastor; where am I sitting?" I asked as I approached his table.

"You'll be sitting in the center table, right behind you," he replied, pointing past me.

"How do you expect to control a group this big?" I asked as I glanced over at the table he was pointing to.

"I don't expect to control it at all," he said, and I saw a smile on his face when I turned back to him. "I'll be explaining everything before we get started, don't worry."

"Okay," I said, still feeling a little unsettled by the setup as I looked back to the group. The Fujibayashis, the Hiiragis, and the Furukawas along with Kyou were talking amongst themselves, the women mainly, while Kouko and Fuuko had made their way over to Kotomi's and the mystery girl's table and appeared to be introducing themselves. Well, more like Kouko was introducing her and her sister while said sister watched. As expected, Ushio was talking to her grandpa and as I scanned the room further I saw Sunohara and his sister chatting with Misae. I smiled to myself as I realized that even though I knew all these people it didn't mean that they knew each other, so some of them were meeting for the first time. It gave me a sense of pride as it occurred to me that, in a sense, I had brought them all together. My smile faltered, however, as I realized that the pastor had to have been the one to bring them together, and as I thought about how much work he would have had to do to make the session happen, my feelings of pride started to fade.

I blinked out of my reverie as, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Pastor Jeff check his watch. "Anyone else coming?" I asked at his look of concern.

"There is supposed to be one more," he acknowledged as he rested his arm on the table again, "but we'll start at the planned time whether he's here or-" He suddenly shot to his feet and hurried around the table.

"Pastor?" I looked to where he was heading and suddenly felt a pressure behind my eyes at the sight that greeted me. "Sensei…"

The room grew suddenly quiet as an elderly man shuffled into the room, accompanied by a fussing young woman.

"Koumura-sensei; thank you so much for coming," Pastor Jeff greeted as he bowed slightly. "I regret any inconvenience my arrangements may have caused."

"Hmmmm…" the elderly teacher grunted. "You told me that Tomoya-san needed help; what else would you have me do?" My chest tightened and the pressure behind my eyes increased at the raspiness of his voice; he sounded so old… "Now, if it's not an inconvenience I should like to sit down, please."

"Of course, sir." I watched in mute shock as the pastor gently took my old teacher by the arm and led him to a table not far from the door and helped him into the seat there. "Are you comfortable, sir? I can get a cushion if you would like."

"Oh, for heaven's sake," Koumura-sensei rasped. "I'm not dead yet; I'm just eighty…" his forehead furrowed, causing me to worry until he lightly smacked the table in front of him. "Eighty-something."

"All right, sir," Pastor Jeff chuckled. "But if I can do anything for you, please let me know."

"Hmmm. You can stop fussing over me; that's what my granddaughter here is for," he said, indicating the young woman as she took a seat next to him. "However… I'm sorry Choko, but you're going to have to wait outside."

"But-"

"I am here for Tomoya-san, who will be dealing with some personal issues, not suitable for those to whom he is not acquainted."

"Yes, grandfather." With that the girl rose to her feet again and, after giving me a dirty look, left the room; I figured that ruled out making another friend.

"She will be back when she is needed," he explained as the door shut behind her.

"Tomoya-kun? Are you okay?" I heard Kotomi ask.

I couldn't answer her as I slowly made my way to the table where my old homeroom teacher sat smiling up at me. "Sensei?" I swallowed hard. "It's…good to see you again."

"And you as well," he croaked. I must have had a distressed look because he added, "Don't worry about me; in spite of my appearance the years have been kind to me."

"I'm very glad to hear that," I replied, swallowing another lump.

He smiled and beckoned to me with his hands, and that was all that was needed for the tears to start flowing, and I nearly ran around the table to fall into the chair next to him and throw my arms around the old man.

I wasn't sure how long I held my old teacher but it still didn't surprise me to hear Pastor Jeff say with a gentle voice, "I'm sorry Tomoya-san, but we need to get started."

"Yeah…" I replied, wiping my nose against the back of my hand as I pulled away from my old teacher, who smiled at me with moist eyes. "Sorry about the scene."

"It's been a long time, Tomoya-san," Koumura-sensei said as he took hold of my shoulder with a surprisingly strong grip. "We will catch up later."

"Yeah…" I repeated as I got to my feet and moved to my 'assigned' seat. "Later."

"Are you okay, Tomoya-kun?" I heard Kotomi ask worriedly.

"I'll be all right," I tried to reassure her. "It's just… I haven't seen him in years, and he really helped me out back then."

She studied me for a moment. "I will not claim to understand but will accept your word as true."

"So, if we could get started," Pastor Jeff announced, drawing my attention as he settled back into his seat. "First, I want to thank all of you for your willingness to be here on such short notice. I'm sure you're all very busy people, so your presence here is greatly appreciated."

"Glad to help," Kappei said, causing a few smiles.

"Ashton-sensei, how come I'm not sitting with my family?" Mika asked; sure enough, she had been put at a table all by herself all the way at one end.

"I'd like it if we could hold off on questions of that nature," Pastor Jeff said apologetically. "What I will say is that all of this will make sense by the time we're done today."

"Okay," she replied with a duck of her head. "I'm sorry for asking."

"No apology necessary, but thank you," he said, giving her an understanding smile. "Now, I understand that you all know Tomoya-san, but I don't know how many of you know each other, so what I'd like each of you to do is briefly introduce yourselves and tell everyone how you know him." He turned to my old man, who I noticed was sitting by himself. So where was Ushio…? "Naoyuki-san, would you be willing?"

I quickly glanced around the room and realized that my daughter had moved to the other side of the Yoshinos, and it occurred to me that the pastor may have set everyone up in the order in which I met them.

"I am Okazaki Naoyuki, Tomoya's father," my old man expl- Wait, did he just refer to me without the '-kun'? "It's a pleasure to meet you all."

"Thank you, Naoyuki-san," Pastor Jeff said as he inclined his head, then looked to Kotomi. "Sensei? Are you going to be okay with this?"

My old childhood friend looked around anxiously before her gaze settled on me. When our eyes met, her chin jutted ever so slightly and she rose to her feet and bowed. "Good morning; I am Ichinose Kotomi. I met Tomoya-kun when we were both young children and again in our third year of high school. It is a pleasure to meet you all."

"Thank you, Ichinose-sensei," Pastor Jeff said while inclining his head again. He then paused briefly, then smirked. "Ambassador, I think it's time to let the cat out of the bag."

"But I wanted to keep Okazaki guessing," the silver-haired woman huffed. "Tch, fine. My name is Sakagami Tomoyo. I'm Japan's ambassador to America and I knew Okazaki back in high school."

I suddenly recognized her but, remembering the pastor's request regarding questions, kept my mouth shut.

"I was a year behind him, but we ended up getting along pretty good. In fact, he helped me on a couple of occasions, and I've never forgotten him because of that. Anyway, it's a pleasure to meet all of you."

"Thank you, Ambassador," Pastor Jeff said while inclining his head yet again. He then looked to my former babysitter. "Fuuko-san? You're next."

"Of course," she replied, and I tried to hold back a snicker as she sat there with her hands folded on the table and a serious expression on her face. "I'm Ibuki Fuuko. I was the babysitter for Okazaki-san's daughter back when she was little, but knew Okazaki-san himself back in high school."

I was sure my jaw hit the floor three times: Once for her use of pronouns, a second time for how articulate she sounded, and a third because she said she knew me in high-school. "We did?"

"I can see that you don't remember," Pastor Jeff said while holding up a hand, "but we can clear that up later. Right now is introduction time, okay?"

"Yeah….sure…." I murmured, studying Fuuko as I searched my high-school memories for her face.

"Cool, I'm next," Sunohara said, rubbing his hands together. "But first; where the hell have you been, Okazaki? Sixteen years and you don't even try to call?!"

"Nii-san," Mei hissed. "We're in a temple."

"Oh…right. Sorry," he said as he rubbed the back of his head, and I found myself wondering if he'd grown up at all. "I'm Sunohara Youhei, and Okazaki and I were buddies back in high school. We did everything together; skipped school, hit on the younger girls, stayed up all night…"

I resisted the urge to utter a curse as I buried my face in my hands.

"Now, we know that's not true," Misae said in a disapproving tone as she whacked him in the back on the head. "I seem to remember very differently; Okazaki was rough around the edges, sure, but he was basically a good kid. You, on the other hand, were a constant troublemaker; playing your music too loud, causing trouble for the rugby players, trying to look down my shirt while I was working…"

"AWK!" he cried, waving his hands. "You knew about that?!"

"Nii-san!" Mei scolded while taking a whack at the back of his head herself. "Seriously?"

"It was a long time ago!" he whined, rubbing the back of his head again.

"Could we get this under control, please?" Pastor Jeff said carefully. "Sunohara-san? The reason you and your sister were invited was to help Tomoya-san work his way through some issues, but it won't do us – or him – any good if you're going to fabricate stories about him."

I was pleasantly surprised to see the idiot taking the pastor's words to heart. "Yeah…sure. Sorry." He cleared his throat as he gave sidelong glances to Misae and his sister. "The old man introduced us to each other our first year of high school; I guess he did it to keep us from dropping out. We really did do a lot together – mainly giving each other shi-er, trouble – but we kinda started to, uh, drift apart after he started hanging out with Furukawa."

"Did that bother you?" the pastor asked as he scribbled on a sheet of paper before him.

"Yeah, it did," he said, then smirked. "Not that I would've admitted it at the time, of course. Anyway, we were pretty normal teenage guys – other than being delinquents – but, like I said, we kinda drifted apart after he started helping Furukawa with her club."

"I see," Pastor Jeff said as he scribbled some more. "Mei-san, do you have anything to add?"

"Not really," she replied. "I just came to tell you that he was a really neat guy, really nice to me, so…I guess I wanted to vouch for his character."

"Fair enough. What about you, Sagara-san?"

Misae looked around the room before ducking her head with a light blush. "I guess I'm here to vouch for his character, too. Compared to Sunohara he was such a nice young man; like I said, I knew he was a little rough around the edges, but I was surprised to find out that he was a delinquent." Her eyes appeared to lose focus for a moment before she spoke again. "I used his suggestions for dealing with the students for a long time even after he graduated," she finished as she sent a smile my way.

"Thank you, Sagara-san," the pastor said, and it suddenly occurred to me that I'd been hearing Kotomi's, Tomoyo's and Misae's maiden names; had any of them married? "Koumura-sensei, thank you again for coming."

"Hmmm. You're welcome," the old man rasped before coughing a few times. "My apologies; I'm recovering from a slight cold. I am Koumura Toshio, and I was Tomoya-san's homeroom teacher his first year at Hikarizaka High School. As Sunohara-san has already pointed out, I am the one who introduced the two of them to each other with the hope that they would keep each other in school." He looked up at the ceiling for a moment. "I believe that is all I should say for this introduction."

"Thank you, sensei," Pastor Jeff said, bowing as much as the table before him would allow, and I was impressed at how much reverence the former American was showing my old teacher. Did the two of them know each other somehow? "Now, let's move onto post-high-school."

"Hey, what about Ryou and me?" Kyou protested.

"I'd planned on you going next," Pastor Jeff replied simply.

"Oh. Well, why didn't you tell me?" she huffed.

"Just let the man do his job, sis," Kappei said with a grin.

"Since you're part of his high-school life as well as after, you're next anyway," Pastor Jeff said patiently.

She huffed and stuck out her tongue before giggling. "Fine. I'm Fujibayashi Kyou soon to be Ashton Kyou, though I was Hagane Kyou for a while."

"You've been busy," Sakagami said dryly.

"Aaaaaanyway…" Kyou continued while glaring at Sakagami out of the corner of her eye, "I was sort of a friend of Tomoya's our third year of high school."

"Sort of, huh?" Pastor Jeff said with a wink and an uncharacteristically impish grin.

"Be quiet, husband," she retorted with a grin of her own.

I figured he was teasing her over her prior feelings toward me so I wisely chose to say nothing. I felt really awkward, though.

"How am I supposed to run this session, then?" he complained with a chuckle, then gestured to the Hiiragis. "Anyway…Kappei, Ryou, Tadashi?"

"Right," Kappei said, then cleared his throat. "Actually, Ryou? You should go first. You've known him longer."

"Okay," my old class rep said as she ducked her head, glancing around shyly. "Well, I'm Hiiragi Ryou, though my last name was Fujibayashi when I went to school with Tomoya-san. I was his class rep for his third year of high school. We didn't talk a whole lot, but I really liked…I really liked talking with him; he seemed like a neat guy."

"Yeah, there's more to that, isn't there?" Kappei said as he wrapped his arm around her narrow shoulders. "Isn't that why you've been encouraging our daughter?"

"Kappei!" she exclaimed, turning beet-red.

"What the-?" I blurted; I'd never heard Kappei talk like that before.

"Sorry," he said quickly, waving his hands while glancing between me and his wife. "Guess I'm feeling a little jealous." He shook his head as though to clear it. "I'm Hiiragi Kappei. I've known Okazaki for about…ten years now? Well, off-and-on really. We met after Ryou here reconnected with him after the loss of his wife. He's a great guy with integrity to spare."

"Thanks, man," I said, feeling a warmth in my heart at his words in spite of my prior shock.

He winked at me before resting a hand on his son's shoulder. "Tadashi here really looks up to him, even though they met more recently."

"I had heard great things about Okazaki-sama," the young man explained. "Granted, we have not been able to converse as much as I would like, but the times we have spoken have been quite edifying."

"Good grief!" Sakagami suddenly blurted. "How old are you, kid? You don't look a day over sixteen!"

"That is because I'm not, ma'am," Tadashi replied respectfully. "I am fifteen years old."

"I'm calling 'bull' on that," the silver-haired woman scoffed as she flipped her hair, and I smiled as I saw some of the Sakagami that I remembered from way back. "No fifteen-year-old talks like that, not even the girls."

"Well, my boy does," Kappei said, starting to sound a little defensive. "Both he and his sister are advanced for their ages. They get it from their mother, of course."

"Kappei," Ryou said in a disapproving tone as she gently smacked his arm. "You are very smart and amazingly mature; you just don't give yourself enough credit." Turning to address the ambassador she said, "He really is fifteen, though he'll be turning sixteen in a couple of months."

"Okay, okay, I give," Sakagami said, raising her hands in surrender. "Sorry about that. Truth is, it gives me hope for the future of Japan to hear a kid as articulate as your son."

"Thank you, ma'am," Tadashi said, bowing as much as the table would allow. "I will do my best to make you proud."

"Is there anything you'd like to say, Tadashi?" Pastor Jeff asked. "Of your own volition, that is?"

The boy appeared to ponder the question for a moment. "Well, as Dad has said, I've not known Okazaki-sama for very long; as I understand it, he and my parents lost contact shortly before I was born, and I've only seen him a couple of times between then and now. That being said, I believe that he is someone that I can safely hold in high regard…next to my parents, of course." He looked around somewhat sheepishly. "That…is all I have to say. Thank you."

I heard a quiet snort, and I didn't have to guess as to the source.

Pastor Jeff looked to the next table with a smile. "Yuusuke-san? I hear you're getting back into music."

"That's right; the muse has started calling to me again, thanks to Okazaki," Yuusuke said smoothly as he leaned forward to rest his elbows in the table. Beside him, Kouko sat with her hands folded in her lap and her trademark gentle smile. In light of my conversation with her a while back I suspected that she was a little uncomfortable with the setup.

"Any chance I could convince you to autograph my copy of 'Soul Magma'?" Pastor Jeff requested with an embarrassed smile. "Your lyrics gave me a lot to think about, and I'm grateful."

"Sure. Hit me up after we're done here."

"Thank you," the pastor said before taking on his more professional demeanor once again. "Sorry about that, everyone; that's been a little dream of mine. Anyway, would you and your wife introduce yourselves to the rest of us?"

"Sure. I'm Yoshino Yuusuke, and this is my wife Kouko. I met Okazaki while I was working as an electrician. Some gentleman's car had been damaged near where I'd been working and he thought that I'd done it. Fortunately, Okazaki came along and helped us figure out that it was just due to a really overweight cat."

The rest of us burst into laughter at his words, not just because of the situation he'd described but also because of how seriously he'd described it.

After we settled down, Kouko spoke. "My name is Yoshino Kouko, and I'm Yuusuke's wife and the older sister to Fuuko. I'll admit that I really didn't talk with Tomoya-san much until he started working with Yuusuke, but our conversations have been quite enjoyable and, as my husband alluded to, he was instrumental – if you'll pardon the pun – at helping him rekindle his passion for music." She looked over at me with a fond smile. "He's a very dear friend to our family."

I couldn't even croak out a 'thanks' due to the sizable lump that had suddenly formed in my throat.

"That was beautiful, ma'am," Pastor Jeff said softly before directing his gaze to the next 'group' which consisted of just Ushio. "Well, I think we all know who you are, but why don't you humor us?"

My daughter squirmed slightly in her seat as she glanced around the room. "I'm Okazaki Ushio, and I'm To-" Her eyes lost focus, and I realized that she had been trying to keep a professional distance for the sake of the session, but by trying to refer to me by my first name she was going back to an uncomfortable period in her life. "I'm his daughter."

"Shio-chan!" We all jumped at Fuuko's sudden exclamation, and I looked to see her with her hands up above her head. "You've grown so much!"

"Hello, Fuuko-san," Ushio replied politely, though with a bit of regret. "I'm sorry it's been so long."

Fuuko visibly deflated, probably due to how my daughter addressed her, very different than when they interacted so many years prior. "I-It's okay," she managed. "Fuuko understands. Life and all."

"Let's talk after this, okay?" Ushio offered with a hesitant smile.

Fuuko's face broke out in a huge grin as she started fidgeting in her seat. "I'd love that! We'll talk later! You can visit my place!"

"I love happy reunions," Pastor Jeff politely interrupted with a smile of his own, then sighed as he looked to the last 'group' also consisting of one person. "Mika? You ready?"

"I think I need to throw up, Uncle Jeff." She did look a little green, and I had a feeling that it something to do with what she'd have to reveal.

"Would it help if I reminded you that this is to help Tomoya-san?" he asked.

She locked eyes with me, probably without even meaning to. "My…My name is Hiiragi Mika; I'm the daughter of Hiiragi Kappei and Ryou, and…" She cast her gaze to the tabletop before her, then looked back up in surprise. "I helped Okazaki-sama with his recovery after his shoulder was injured! That's it! He'd had a surgery that made it so he couldn't use his arm for a while, so I helped by making meals for him!"

"What about his daughter?" Sakagami asked, understandably puzzled. "Didn't she live with him?"

"We'll get to that, eventually," Pastor Jeff said with a raised hand. "First, though: Is there something else we should know about your relationship with Tomoya-san?" he finished with a meaningful look.

My brow furrowed; why was he pushing her about that in particular? "Pastor Jeff, she-"

"It's okay," he interrupted, though not rudely. "Please trust that I have my reasons, okay?"

I nodded mutely, my heart going out to the poor teenager.

"Uncle Jeff, do I really have to…? In front of everyone?"

"You don't have to," he replied gently, surprising me. "But I believe that we need all the facts out there in order to help him out, and what I'm asking for would be considered one of the basic elements of your relationship with him. So, please."

You could hear a pin drop in the room as everyone's eyes fixed on poor Mika. I wanted to leap to my feet and shout at everyone to leave her alone, but at the same time I had agreed to let the pastor do things his way, so I kept my butt in my seat and my mouth shut, choosing to trust him.

Her face was nearly aflame as she stared at the top of her table again. Finally, and with a whimper: "I…think…IthinkIlovehim."

I heard a collective gasp, and looked to find Sakagami, Kotomi, Mei, Fuuko and her sister with shocked expressions, some with hands over their mouths. The men were calmer about it, though Dad Fujibayashi looked a little green. Did he and Mom know about their granddaughter's feelings?

Sunohara, however, was beside himself. "How do you do it, Okazaki?!" he started, getting to his feet. "I can't get a date to save my life, and you have… How old is she, anyway?!"

"Nii-san!" Mei cried out. "What's the matter with you?"

"She's a third-year in high school," Kappei replied proudly, which seemed out-of-place considering the circumstances.

"A THIRD-YEAR?!" Sunohara yelled, his eyes nearly bugging out. "That means she's…seventeen? Eighteen?"

I kept quiet, not wanting to unintentionally throw fuel on an open flame. I looked over at the pastor to see if he'd try to calm things down, but he simply sat in his seat with his elbows on his table and his fingers steepled as he watched us. Or was he observing?

"Wasn't it enough that you had every girl we knew in love with you back when we were in high school?" Sunohara fumed. "You need to go back and get some more?!"

"That's enough, Youhei!" Kyou shouted, shooting from her seat. "Are you here to help Tomoya, or to whine about your bad choices?!"

"Oh, you want to talk about bad choices, Hagane Kyou?" he shot back. He then chuckled at her shocked expression. "Yeah, I know about that. Ten years is a long time, isn't it? What's the matter; about to hit the wall and need to find someone who'll fertilize an egg?"

"NII-SAN!" Mei cried, grabbing onto her brother's sleeve. "What's gotten into you?"

"What's gotten into me?" he echoed. "What's gotten into me is that this guy was just as much of a loser as I was," he said, pointing at me, "but somehow manages to get himself a wife and a kid. Me? I'm wearing woman repellent!" He looked to Mika. "Hey, what's-your-name; if Okazaki doesn't want you, how about giving me a chance? You obviously like older guys, right?"

Mika shrank into her seat, her eyes wide with terror. "I…"

I'd had enough; I shot up from my seat and, as Kappei moved between his daughter and my lecherous – and apparently desperate – old friend, I took Sunohara by his shaking shoulder and right-crossed him as hard as I could. "You ASSHOLE!" I shouted at him as he sat on the floor with his hand over where I'd punched him. "Have you grown up at all in the last sixteen years? Don't you ever talk to her like that again, you got it?!"

"Nii-san!" Mei cried for what seemed like the umpteenth time as she hurried over to plop down next to her brother. "Please control yourself!"

For his part, Sunohara glared at me as he rubbed his cheek, which was already starting to purple. "Why you? What's so special about you? What have you got that I don't?"

"There's nothing special about me," I replied honestly, noticing Pastor Jeff take hold of my arm as I rubbed at my sore knuckles. "I'm nobody."

"That's not true!" I blinked in surprise at Mika's outburst, and I looked to see her peeking out from behind her father's shoulder. "You're a great man, Okazaki-sama! You care about others, and care deeply about them!"

"She's right, Tomoya," Kyou said, drawing my attention. "Even though I gave you a lot of crap in school, I could see that you weren't the delinquent you thought you were."

"Even though you were rough, you were still very kind," Ryou agreed as she moved next to her sister. "That's why…"

"That's why we both fell in love with you," Kyou said matter-of-factly as she and her sister blushed fiercely.

I glanced worriedly from Kappei to Pastor Jeff, who still held my arm. "Are you guys okay with them talking like this?"

"Why do you think I said I was jealous?" Kappei laughed as she stepped up to help Sunohara to his feet. "I know Ryou'll always wonder what life might have been like with you; it's just the way people are, even if it's just off-and-on."

I felt like dirt as I watched him help my old friend to his feet. "I'm sorry, Kappei; I didn't-"

"It's fine," he interrupted with a smile and a wink as Mei took her brother back to their seat. "Your loss, my gain. Right?"

"I guess…"

"And I'll admit that I'd be lying if I said that I didn't envy your shared history with my fiancée," Pastor Jeff added as he released my arm. "But life goes on, and the best things we can do are forgive, learn, and move on."

"Besides, they weren't the only ones who wanted to be by your side." I blinked in surprise at the intensity in Sakagami's voice and found her gazing at me. "It's true that I could have handled the captain of the Judo Club, but the way you stood up for me…" She blushed lightly at the memory from so long ago. "…you made me feel like a girl, Okazaki."

"M-Myself as well," Kotomi said, getting to her feet. "I wanted to be with the boy who stumbled onto my parents' property. I wanted to be with him forever and ever, and when I realized who you were in high school… Were my social skills better developed, I…" She closed her mouth, apparently unable to finish her thought.

"You seem to have quite the following, Tomoya-san," Pastor Jeff noted with a grin as he clapped me on the shoulder.

"Yeah…" I murmured, looking at all the female gazes around me. Maybe my boss was right; maybe I was the poster boy for polygamy. Not that I wanted the honor. "But I don't get it; I'm not special or any-"

"Knock it off, Tomoya," Kyou interrupted with an annoyed look. "Are you seriously going to look at all of us and still say that? You're obviously special to us, right?" she asked, indicating herself along with my other admirers, current and former. "Did it ever occur to you that maybe we've seen good things about you that you've never noticed or maybe taken for granted?"

I hadn't and admitted as such. "But look at how I've turned out," I countered, indicating myself with a sweep of my hands. "I'm a thirty-six-year-old salaryman, working as an accountant for an electrical company. A salaryman! While look at you," I said, gesturing to Sakagami. "You've done so much with your life, and I know you can't say that it's all due to me."

"No," the silver-haired woman admitted, "but it doesn't have to be for you to have made a difference in my life."

"Whatever," I groaned. "The point is that you've made something of yourself, but I've done nothing! Nothing, other than survive. Even animals do that! And you…" I continued, addressing Mika. "Do you seriously want to waste the rest of your life with some thirty-six-year-old has-been – no, more like 'never was' – like me?" I heard Kappei utter something in a warning tone but I ignored it. "You have so much going for you! Why would you want to throw it away on…on me?!"

"Be-Because I don't think I'd be throwing away anything," she replied quietly as she shuddered in her seat. "I'm sorry about basketball, but that's not what attracted me to you. I want to get married and have children while I'm still young, and…and…"

"She's going to be looking for the best man to be a father to her children," Pastor Jeff suggested, drawing my attention to his intense gaze. "She's going to want a man who is established in his career and is mature enough to handle the responsibility of being a husband and father. Boys her age aren't going to be able to provide that. Would you say that's an accurate assessment, Mika?"

"Yes, Uncle," she replied as she dabbed at her eye. "But there's more than just that."

"I assume you're referring to the personal angle?"

She nodded before dabbing at her eyes again.

"I'm aware of that aspect of the relationship, but I figure that's your area of expertise," he said with a knowing smile and a wink. "Right?"

"Y-Yeah," she giggled.

"Hold on a minute, here," Dad Fujibayashi said, interrupting the exchange as he rose to his feet; his voice alone carried quite the presence. "I realize that this was mentioned before, but am I understanding correctly? Is my granddaughter in love with my adopted son?"

"Adopted son?" Pastor Jeff looked puzzled by the term, so I briefly explained our shared history. "Ah, I see. If I understand correctly then yes, Mika has become enamored with Tomoya-san and wishes to be his wife."

The elder Fujibayashis sat in mute shock before Mom found her voice. "R-Ryou? Kappei? Do you know about this?"

"Yes, mother," Ryou replied. "It was a shock to us as well."

"Are you telling me you're okay with this?!" Dad Fujibayashi said, clearly trying to control his temper. "An eighteen-year-old and a…how old did you say you were? Thirty-six?" he boomed in my direction.

"Y-Yes, sir," I said, still capable of being intimidated by him even after all these years.

"Daddy, it's not just some random guy," Kyou protested. "This is Tomoya we're talking about. And he didn't go after her; she went after him."

"Tomoya, did you do anything to encourage her?" Mom Fujibayashi asked.

"Not knowingly or intentionally," I answered somewhat reflexively.

"Hmph," Dad grunted as he crossed his arms.

"Father, if you need someone to blame for this situation, then please blame me," Ryou offered. "I told Mika a lot about Tomoya-san, and all the things that…all the nice things about him."

"You what?" he exclaimed, his arms dropping back to his sides.

"Me, too!" Kyou piped up as she raised her hand as though a student in class. "At least until Sato imprisoned me."

"I see…" he grunted before slowly lowering himself into his seat again.

"Tomoya?" I shifted my gaze to Mom Fujibayashi, who appeared to be studying me with a worried look. "How do you feel about all of this? Of Mika's feelings?"

I felt the weight of every gaze in the room on me, and I could feel the walls closing in. "I…" I slumped in my seat, feeling drained. "I don't know what to think about anything right now. I feel like I'm still trying to put my life back together after losing Nagisa. I mean, I'm glad I can use my arm again, but-"

"You can use your arm?" Sunohara broke in, sounding incredulous. "When did that happen?"

"A while ago," I replied, smiling as I raised my hand above my head. "My shoulder was reinjured, but the docs were able to fix it using an experimental process."

"Wow. Cool." He was quiet for a moment, so I looked over to find him staring at me. "I know losing your range was really hard on you, so I'm glad you got it back. Sucks that it's too late to play basketball again, though."

"Maybe not professionally," Kappei interjected, "but he could be a great coach."

"How'd you bust it again?" Sunohara followed up.

My blood froze at the question. "I…"

"I accidentally hurt Daddy while we were…wrestling." I blinked over at Ushio in surprise; she was technically lying, but her actions could have been described that way. "I fell while holding his hand and pushed it over his head. I still feel really bad about it."

Kyou and I exchanged a look, and I figured we were thinking the same thing; namely, that she was lying about the wrestling but telling the truth about feeling bad. I'd have to talk with my daughter about that later.

"Anyway, I'm really glad that he got the chance to get his shoulder fixed," she finished, her eyes on the table before her.

"Must've been a hell of a match," Sunohara commented. "I'd have loved to see it…except for the part where your shoulder got busted, of course."

I felt my face heat up, and a couple of glances told me that Ushio was feeling the same and that Kyou wanted to pound the blonde-er, black-haired idiot into paste. "It was…different," I said as carefully and diplomatically as I could.

"I'd like to get back to Rinko-san's question to Tomoya-san," Pastor Jeff said with a raised hand. "What do you think of Mika's feelings toward you?"

I sighed, then closed my eyes like the pastor had taught me a while ago. "I'm honored, really," I replied with my eyes still closed, then smiled slightly at the sound of a gasp that was unmistakably Mika's. "She's a sweet girl with a big heart for others. I think she'll make a great wife to a very luck-…blessed guy."

"I hear a 'but' in there," the pastor prompted.

"That's because there is one," I said, smiling again. "I think she'll be a great wife, but I also think she deserves someone better than a washed-up has-been like me."

"That's not true!" Mika protested.

"Isn't it? Look at you!" I said, gesturing at her. "You're pretty, smart, and you have so much life ahead of you. Me? I pissed mine away feeling sorry for myself and actively working toward ruining this part of my life!" I got up from my seat and made my way over to her table, too agitated to sit anymore. "You have so much going for you, and you want to throw it away on an old loser like me?" I spread my hands as though presenting myself to her. "You want to be the wife of some pathetic salaryman?"

She shot up from her chair and fixed me with her fierce gaze. "No! I want to be the wife of Okazaki Tomoya, the most wonderful man I've ever met!"

"You need to get out more, or at least give your classmates a chance to grow up," I scoffed, then turned to my old sparring partner. "Hey, Kyou; tell her what I was like in high school. I wasn't so great back then, right?"

"Have you forgotten already?" Kyou snapped, her fists on her hips. "You had me, Ryou, Ichinose-sensei, and…well, her…" she gestured to the ambassador, "…all crazy about you for varying reasons. As I recall, your wife was also one of our schoolmates too, right? Tomoya, you weren't as bad as you seem to think!"

"Fuuko, too!" We all blinked at the short woman's sudden outburst, and I looked to see her nearly glaring at me, her expression was so intense.

"What about you, Fuuko-san?" Pastor Jeff asked; I'd almost forgotten that he was with us.

"Fuuko liked Okazaki-san, too," she announced, her face turning beet-red even as she kept her gaze on me. "I still do. I'm sorry that he wasn't able to play basketball, but I know there's more to him than just that!" She paused as her eyes lost focus. "When I remember taking care of Shio-chan, I remember Okazaki-san being a great dad to her, and I wanted to…to…to help him raise her!"

"I saw the same thing," Kyou added as she stepped up to face me. "I know I gave you a lot of grief when you'd come to pick up Shio-chan from school, but I also saw a great dad." She grinned at me lopsidedly. "If you were willing to put up with my crap for her…?"

"What about me?" Sunohara whined from his seat; next to him, Mei buried her face in her hands. "I was pretty cool in school, wasn't I?"

"Sunohara-san, I'm very disappointed in you," Koumura-sensei grunted as he got to his feet and started shuffling toward us, and I realized that it was the first time he'd spoken since…wait, had the session started? "You were asked to come here as a support to Tomoya-san, but what I've been hearing from you has been mostly whining or bragging. This session is not about you, young man."

My old partner-in-delinquency slumped. "Yes, sir. Sorry, Okazaki."

"And don't think I haven't forgotten how you were there for me while I lived under that creep's thumb," Kyou continued, clearly referring to her ex-husband. "That jerk kept me from seeing my family, so that left Tomoya and Shio-chan as my only contact with the outside world. He was really supportive that whole time," she said, addressing the rest of the group, "getting on me about my smoking and wanting me to take care of myself…" She dabbed at her eyes with her sleeve. "…and I'm so glad he did or I might've killed myself and never net Jeff."

I heard a gasp and glanced over to find Dad Fujibayashi wrapping an arm around Mom.

"What's amazing about him is that even though I treated him so badly in high school, threatening and teasing him, and even teasing him when he'd bring Shio-chan to school, he still stuck with me through all that. I'm really grateful."

"Nee-san…" Ryou breathed.

"Well, thank you for not killing yourself," the pastor said with a tight voice, then cleared his throat. "Sorry, I know you've told me about it before, but…"

"I understand, Jeff," Kyou said with a fond smile. "Thank you."

He nodded once before clearing his throat again. "Perhaps we should move to Tomoya-san's non-Mika relationships," he suggested, drawing appreciative chuckles from most of us, myself included. "Would any of his other admirers like to tell us how great he is?"

"I'll bite," a voice said through the sea of subdued chuckles.

"Very well, Ambassador," Pastor Jeff said as Sakagami rose from her seat. "You have the floor."

"Hey, nice touch," she said with an approving smile before her expression turned serious. "Well, like I said; I knew Okazaki back when I was a second-year at Hikarizaka. I had just transferred from the industrial high school, when this guy…" she said, waving at Sunohara, "…started giving me trouble. He tried to prove that I wasn't a girl or something, but Okazaki was a real gentleman; when I-" She suddenly looked to the floor, and I realized what she was likely talking about. "I was going to let him touch my chest so he could tell Sunohara that I really was – er, am – a girl."

I saw Pastor Jeff's eyebrows raise but he said nothing.

"He refused to touch me there, but we talked for a bit and we went back and he vouched for me."

The pastor's eyebrows lowered again, and I had to suppress a smile.

"Anyway, between that and when he stood up for me with the captain of the Judo Club…" She bit her lip as her cheeks tinted. "I haven't been able to find any guys as manly as him."

"You can't be serious," I said, astonished. "I mean, sixteen years? You couldn't find one man to fill the bill in sixteen years?"

"Not one," she confirmed, then grinned slyly. "I think you ruined me, Okazaki; are you going to take responsibility?"

I scoffed at her usage of the old cliché. "Well, I-"

"You can't!" I jumped at Mika's sudden outburst. "With respect ma'am; just because you've had trouble finding a man as great as Okazaki-sama…it's not his fault; it's just who he is!"

"Exactly," Sakagami replied smoothly as she flipped her long, silver hair, her gaze still fixed on me. "That's why after this is done I want to talk to you about going on a date."

"You can't!" Mika repeated, nearly in tears.

The ambassador briefly studied the teenager. "We may not have the same freedoms that America enjoys, but last I checked we were free to date whoever we wanted, provided the other person agrees. Am I wrong?"

"Well, no…"

"So, Okazaki," Sakagami said with a wink. "We'll talk after Ashton-sensei fixes you up. Okay?"

"Um, I guess…" I replied; the whole exchange seemed surreal to me.

"But Tomoya-kun..."

"Hold on," I interrupted, silencing Kotomi with a hand. "I don't see the point in going on with any of this when I'm not interested in remarrying."

"Ah, so you've decided?" Pastor Jeff inquired.

I sighed heavily; was I really uninterested? "I…guess not," I admitted. "But it really doesn't matter as long as I'm grieving my wife."

"Why are you still grieving after sixteen years?" he asked. "It's normal for the process to take a long time, and I for one would know that one never fully recovers from the loss, but…" He lifted his hands helplessly before letting them fall back on to his table. "I'm wondering if something about her death is what's keeping you from moving forward, not just in your relationships but your growth as an individual."

"That's…possible…" I admitted.

He leaned forward, resting his chin on folded hands. "Tomoya-san, I think you're withholding something from us because you've been withholding it from yourself. What is it?"

"What do you mean?"

"It's just a hunch, but I think you're holding onto something, something that would be devastating to you were you to acknowledge it."

"Like what?" I asked.

"I'm not sure," he replied, leaning back in his chair to cross his arms with his gaze still fixed on me. "Tell me about the birth of your daughter."

"No."

He blinked, apparently surprised. "Why not?"

"It's too painful," I said, settling back behind my table.

He blinked a couple times more. "Well, that's kind of the point of being here, isn't it? To deal with some unaddressed pain?"

"I'm not talking about the death of my wife, and that's final." I gave him my best glare and was impressed when he didn't flinch.

"Tomoya, don't be like that," Kyou said softly. "We can't help you if you keep stuff bottled up like that."

"Yeah, Okazaki, spill it; we won't make fun of you," Sakagami added.

I squirmed in my seat, wanting desperately to talk about it but at the same time wanting to tell everyone to shut the hell up. I crossed my arms, looked one way only to find the Hiiragis watching me with concerned looks, so I looked the other way only to find my dad watching me, also with a concerned expression.

"Daddy, please." My daughter's gentle voice seemed to speak to my very soul. "You're hurting, and really badly. If something about Mama's death is hurting you, you should tell us, let us help you."

I sighed heavily, starting to feel the weight of sadness from all those years ago… "She was so excited about the pregnancy," I said, tightening my crossed arms as I started to remember; maybe I was trying to hug myself. "She would spend hours looking at names for boys and girls."

"Did-" I heard Kyou start to say, but stopped abruptly for some reason. "G-Go on…"

"It seemed like she'd come to me every other day, wanting us to find out the sex of the baby and then changing her mind." I chuckled softly. "I had a hell of a time being patient with her after a while; after all, I had stress at work, too."

"Of course," I heard Pastor Jeff say quietly.

"She got more excited the closer we got to the due date…but then her fever hit."

"When did it hit?"

"Almost the same time as the first contraction," I replied to whoever had asked the question; I really wasn't paying attention. "Mom Furukawa was there along with the midwife. We'd talked about having the delivery in the hospital but she'd insisted on having the baby at home."

"So Nagisa wanted to have the baby at home?"

"Yeah," I grunted, feeling decade-and-a-half-old tears welling up. "I don't remember why anymore, but she really wanted to do it that way. Not that it mattered, anyway; by the time she was ready to give birth, the snow was too heavy for us to go to the hospital anyway."

"I'm so sorry, Daddy."

I sent what must have been a teary smile to my daughter. Nagisa's daughter. "It's not your fault, sweetie. Your mom wanted to give birth to you at home, and I wanted to give her what she wanted." I blinked several times as a sobering thought occurred to me, and I felt moisture start to trickle down my face. "Am…Is it my fault that she died?"

The silence seemed to go on forever before Pastor Jeff spoke again: "Is it your fault, Tomoya-san?" he asked gently.

"I…I don't know," I said, uncrossing my arms to examine my hands for whatever reason. "I mean, it's not like I killed her with these hands or anything. But…"

"Is it her fault, then?"

I snapped a glare to the pastor. "NO! All she wanted was to give birth at home! There's nothing wrong with that, is there?"

"Absolutely not."

"So why would you say something like that?"

He spread his hands as he looked at me with an expression of compassion. "Well, if someone has to be at fault, then it would have to be you, your wife, someone else there, or some combination. Am I wrong?" Even though his question stung, he still delivered it in an amazingly gentle tone.

"I guess that makes sense," I admitted.

"Do you think that Mom Furukawa is responsible for her daughter's death?"

"Of course not!" I exclaimed, snapping my gaze to his again. "She and the midwife helped a lot!"

"So we're not saying that Mom Furukawa or the midwife had anything to do with it," he said, scribbling on his notepad. "Who does that leave? Who else was there?"

"Just me and Nagisa."

"So this is where it gets tough," he said, leaning his elbows on the table. "That leaves us with either just you, just her, or both of you."

"Yeah…"

"Let's start with you," he said, studying me intently. "How would your wife's death be your fault?"

"I…don't know."

"You don't sound too sure of yourself, Tomoya-san."

"I…" I fisted my hands as I forced myself to take several deep breaths.

"Did you really agree that she should have given birth at home?"

"SHUT UP!" I yelled, jumping to my feet. "What do you know, anyway? You weren't there! You come in here like you know everything, judging me like you know everything about me! Well, you don't know SHIT!" I jabbed my finger in my chest. "I wanted her to go to the hospital, okay? I was afraid that something like that would happen, with the way life has shit on me, okay?! I didn't know it would happen, but I should've been prepared, okay?"

"Do you think she considered that as well?" he asked.

"How the hell should I know?" I yelled. "I didn't ask! She said she wanted to give birth at home, and that was it! As a man, it was my job to take care of her, and I failed!"

"You're right; it was your job to take care of her," he said, getting to his feet. "But does taking care of a wife mean giving in to her every desire, even ones that could cause her harm?"

I bit back several nasty replies, I was so furious. "Well…no."

"Based on your daughter's age you were, what, twenty at the time?" he said, sitting back down and picking up him pen.

"Twenty, yeah. Why?"

"How long had you been married before your daughter was born?"

I blinked as I realized that he had used Ushio's birth as a reference instead of Nagisa's death, even though they basically happened at the same time. "About a year-and-a-half."

"So you were a pretty new husband and soon-to-be father."

"Yeah. What does this have to do with anything?" I was starting to feel a little annoyed again, probably due in part to feeling emotionally drained.

"And she was a pretty new wife and soon-to-be-mother, wasn't she?"

"Well, yeah. Of course."

"You were both pretty excited, right?"

"I think I said something like that. What's your point?"

"That's a good question," he said, leaning back in his seat. "What is my point?"

"Dammit Jeff!" I snapped as I bolted to my feet again. "Stop with the goddamn games!"

"I'm not playing any games, I promise," he said evenly; how he could do that with me going ape-shit on him… "I'm trying to help you look at your situation objectively. I wasn't there, so I can't make these calls or decisions for you; if someone's to blame, you are going to have to be the one to decide."

"I don't want to decide, or even think!" I yelled, bringing my fists down on the table before me. "I just want to stop hurting! I just want the guilty feelings to go away!"

"What guilty feelings?"

His question stopped my rampage in its tracks. "What guilty feelings…?" I repeated. "I…feel guilty?" I looked to him for an answer but, of course, he couldn't tell me as he sat with his hands folded, his compassionate expression nearly etched into his face. "I guess I do feel guilty."

"How come?"

I licked my dry lips. "Because…I could have made her go to the hospital."

"But wouldn't that have upset her?"

"At least she's still be around to be upset with me!" I countered, then realized what he was doing. "Do you think I've been blaming myself without knowing it?"

He said nothing, but nodded ever so slightly.

"For what it's worth; that's what it sounds like to me," Sakagami said. "Damn, Okazaki; you've been putting yourself through hell, haven't you?"

I carefully settled back down in to my seat as the realization tried to overwhelm me. "It's my fault…but I was so young and naïve…" I brought my hands up, only to let them fall into my lap. "I…don't know what to do."

I heard a sigh from the front of the room, and looked up to Pastor Jeff, sitting up straighter in his chair. "The way I see it is that regardless of whether it really is your fault or not, you need to forgive yourself."

"How would that help if it's not my fault?"

"It's like we discussed before in regards to your father; even if he never apologizes for his actions, forgiving him releases your claim on him and, by extension, that part of your life. In this case, though, your claim is against yourself. So, who do you need to apologize to, and who do you need to forgive?"

"Myself," I said as the realization started to settle.

"Can you forgive yourself? I'm under no illusion that this would be settled in a moment, but do you think you could forgive yourself eventually?"

"I…don't know…"

"Naoyuki-san?" Pastor Jeff said, calling out to my old man. "Do you still blame yourself for the death of your wife?"

I blinked in surprise. "I thought Mom died in an accident."

"She did," my old man answered. "But I still wish that I had somehow kept her from going out that day. If I had…" He briefly gritted his teeth as he brought the back of his hand to his eyes. "…she'd still be with us, and you would have had a mother when you really needed one, and…we wouldn't have fought the way we did."

I stared at him in disbelief; I knew that we fought in part because he was having a hard time dealing with the loss of Mom, but I never knew how much it ate him up inside. "I…"

"Do you blame your dad for the death of your mom?" Pastor Jeff asked me.

"Well, no," I said. "I never did. I just hated him for busting my shoulder and then basically disowning me. But…he never did, did he?"

"I felt terrible for…what I did," the old man said. "I started using the honorific to give you space, to let you become your own man without any further interference from me."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "You…did that…for me?"

He nodded solemnly. "I didn't want to discuss it with you because I was concerned that it would come across as condescending. So, I created that distance, hoping that you would take advantage of it."

"And, from the looks of it, you did," Pastor Jeff remarked as he swept an arm to indicate everyone in the room. "You made something of yourself and touched the lives of many people."

"Girls included," Kyou added with a grin.

I couldn't help but chuckle at her words. "For all the good it did. But I've got a question."

"Go for it," Pastor Jeff said, spreading his hands.

I looked to my old man. "Why do you still blame yourself for Mom's death? It's been, what, almost forty years now? And you had nothing to do with her…accident."

"I was a young husband and father as well," he replied.

My confusion must have shown, because Pastor Jeff stepped in. "You and your father are more alike that you realize, Tomoya-san. You both have very strong consciences, as well as a strong sense of right and wrong. Just as your father has been torturing himself over how he could have prevented his wife's death, you have been torturing yourself over a similar thing."

"Nagisa's death…" I mused as I studied my old man and, suddenly, he looked more like…'Dad'.

"Now that I know the situation," he started, "I suppose that part of the reason I am here today is to prevent you from…well, from becoming me."

I chuckled humorlessly. "Thanks…I guess."

My old man leaned forward with an earnest expression, taking me by surprise. "Please, Tomoya; please forgive yourself. I couldn't say whether you should have known better or not, but I can say that you have to let it go, for your sake as well as for Nagisa's. I would hate for you to carry a corpse with you the way I have been."

His words sickened me, but they made sense. "I…need to let it go," I said. "I think I might need to forgive Nagisa, too."

"Why's that?" Pastor Jeff asked.

"Because she knew about her condition, too," I sighed, feeling a weight start to lift from my shoulders. "I hate to say it, but if I'm going to forgive myself then I should forgive her, too." I looked over at him. "Just to cover all bases, I guess."

He appeared to mull over my words before nodding. "That sounds reasonable."

"Will you forgive me, too?" Mom Furukawa suddenly asked, drawing my attention. "As her mother, I should have known better as well, but went along with it anyway."

"But I don't blame you for what happened," I protested politely.

"But I do," she countered.

I slumped back in my seat. It seemed like I'd end up having to forgive half of Japan at this rate. Unless… "What if it isn't anyone's fault?"

"An interesting thought," Pastor Jeff observed. "Why do you say that?"

I looked around the room at all the familiar faces watching me with concern. "Well, I could say that all of us should have known better, but the fact is that we were all caught up in the excitement and probably just became forgetful; it's not like anyone meant to forget, after all."

"That makes sense," Kappei said with a smile and a nod, while his wife simply watched with a gentle smile.

"So maybe I don't need to forgive anyone; maybe I just need to accept that stuff like this happens in life and let it go," I concluded.

I then jumped slightly at the sound of someone slow-clapping and looked over to find my old man on his feet, smiling broadly and clapping away. "That was what I needed to hear, Tomoya," he said, and I heard a lightness to his tone that I hadn't heard in a long time, if ever. "Ashton-sensei has been trying to get that concept through my thick skull, but hearing you say it? It now makes perfect sense. I've been so foolish."

"I'm…glad I could help," I replied guardedly. "Wait; Pastor Jeff's been helping you?"

My old man and the pastor exchanged a glance and then a nod before he spoke again. "I have been seeing Ashton-sensei for 'counseling' for some time now."

That was interesting. "Since when?"

My old man briefly looked up. "Since…about the time of your shoulder surgery. He has helped me to understand quite a bit about myself, but the situation with your mother was quite the challenge."

"So you understand what I was trying to tell you, Naoyuki-san?" Pastor Jeff asked.

"I believe so."

He then looked over at me with an amused expression. "See, Tomoya-san? Miracles can happen."

I couldn't help but snort into laughter, the first in what seemed like a long time. Something felt...weird about the laughter, too; I felt freer than I had ever felt before, like chains had been removed from my wrists and ankles, and it occurred to me that it might have been what I'd been carrying around for the last sixteen years, maybe longer. "Yeah, I guess they can," I agreed when I'd calmed enough. I then sobered, studying my dad as he retook his seat. "I'm sorry you've been carrying that around for so long; I really do hope that I've helped."

"You have, but I think it'll still take some time for me to sort things out," Dad replied. Hold on; did I just think of him as 'Dad'? "I just regret that my problems became yours, and affected you so drastically. I can't tell you how happy I am that you have your mobility back, though I wish you could have had it sooner so you could have gone back to basketball."

"Well, things happened the way they did," I replied, then my jaw dropped at my own words. "What the hell? Did I just say that?"

"Looks like your new philosophy's taking nicely," Pastor Jeff said with the biggest smile I'd ever seen on him; for some reason the whole room looked brighter too, if only noticeably. "I should warn you, though; even though you might be feeling really good right now…how do I say this…?" He briefly gnawed on his lower lip. "You may experience some ups and downs over the next few weeks as this new way of thinking applies itself to other parts of your life. I just thought I should warn you so you don't end up thinking that you're backsliding or anything like that. Ups and downs are perfectly normal for someone in your type of situation. Does that make sense?"

"I think so," I replied. "Honestly, though? I'm just going to enjoy this…freedom as much as I can."

"As long as you consider yourself forewarned, enjoy your new freedom to your heart's content," he said warmly. "Congratulations, Tomoya-san."

"Thanks."

"Hey," Sunohara called, drawing my attention. "What just happened?"

I mulled over his question. "I've been set free, man."

"Huh?"

"I don't have to be bitter about stuff anymore," I told him. "I…don't have to let my past define me. No, that's not quite right…"

"Your past decisions?" Pastor Jeff offered helpfully.

"Yeah, that's it!" I exclaimed, gesturing at him. "I can look at the situation again and decide how I should have handled it and…well, go from there," I finished, somewhat lamely, in my opinion.

Sunohara looked from me to the pastor and back. "How the fuck…?"

"Nii-san!" Mei scolded. "We're still in a temple!"

"Y-Yeah…" he murmured, still staring at me. "Sorry."

"Tomoya-san," Pastor Jeff called. Once he had my attention he asked, "How do you feel about your dad now?"

I looked over at the man in question, who sat with his hands folded and a kind smile on his face. "He did his best to raise me in spite of his own pain," I said with no small amount of wonder. "And I was a little turd toward him." I heard several snorts but ignored them. "I'm not sure what to think right now, really; I've just had a lot dumped on me and really need some time to sort through it all, but…" I shook my head with a small smile as I continued to study him. "I'd like a chance to try again, but I don't know how long it'll take for me to be ready."

"I understand, Tomoya," Dad said, and I could tell that he really meant it. "Take all the time you need; whenever you're ready, you know where to find me."

"Yeah," I said, my throat suddenly feeling tight. "Thanks."

The room was noticeably quiet for while before Pastor Jeff spoke. "I think a lot has been accomplished today; to be honest, a lot more than I expected, so to speak. Tomoya-san, thank you for your willingness to put up with my shenanigans. I hope this wasn't too stressful for you."

I shrugged with a grin. "Since I wasn't sure what to expect, I'm not sure how to answer your question. Thanks for your shenanigans, I guess."

"I'm just so glad that this seems to have helped you," he chuckled before addressing the rest of the room. "And thank you all so much for being here for him today. I know he means a lot to each of you, but I also know how difficult it can be to free up time on a Saturday."

"Hey, friends are always there for each other. Right?" Kappei said, sending me a wink as Ryou giggled.

"Tomoya-san has been very good to my family," Dad Fujibayashi said, his deep voice echoing around the room. "This was the least that Rinko and I could do for him."

"And I guess a few of us have…similar reasons," Sakagami said, flipping her hair as she blushed, and I noticed that my other 'admirers' were blushing as well.

I heard Pastor Jeff chuckle, which drew my attention. "Well, if there's nothing else, I'd like to-"

"Wait, please!"

The pastor twitched, but otherwise seemed unsurprised. "Yes, Mika? What is it?"

I looked over to find her studying her fingers as they knotted themselves repeatedly. "Does…Does this mean that I can't love Okazaki-sama anymore?"

Pastor Jeff glanced at me before replying. "It doesn't mean that at all. What it does mean, however, is that you may have to give him more space as he works though what he's learned today."

Tadashi raised his hand. "If I understand correctly, this new knowledge will be life-changing for him."

"Exactly," Pastor Jeff confirmed. "Well done, young man."

The young man in question ducked his head as his mother patted it.

"I will say that, like before, the nature of your relationship will be up to the two of you," the pastor said, apparently in conclusion. "Anything else?"

"N-No," Mika replied; for some reason she seemed afraid or something.

"Anyone else?" he asked, addressing the rest of the group.

Kotomi's hand went up. "C-Can I still can him 'Tomoya-kun'?"

I chuckled along with a few of the others. "That's for the two of you to decide," Pastor Jeff restated, chuckling as well. "Take it up with him. For now, though…I'd like to close with prayer, if no one objects." It took a bit of murmuring, but no one objected. "Thank you. Then…" He closed his eyes and bowed his head as he extended his arms across the table at an angle, palms upward. The rest of us looked at each other in mild confusion before I realized what he was doing and bowed my head myself.

It was a few moments before he spoke again: "Lord Jesus, thank you so much for this time together. What we have been able to accomplish here would not have happened were it not for your hand in our efforts." The emotion in his voice caused pinpricks behind my eyes. "Thank you for your works in the hearts of Tomoya-san and Naoyuki-san, and I ask that you continue to teach and guide them in this new chapter in their lives as they grow in their understanding of who they really are as well as who you would have them each to become. Bless them as they depart this session, and bless those who took the time from their busy schedules to make this happen. May your will be done." A long pause told me that he was done, and I opened my eyes to find the others blinking repeatedly, some of the women dabbing their eyes with either tissues or the back of their hands.

"So, uh…anyone up for a late lunch?" Kappei offered, sounding more subdued than his usual gusto.

"I'd love to, son, but I have to get to the office," Dad Fujibayashi said as he checked his watch. "Rinko, why don't you go with them?"

"I think I will," she replied, her voice sounding thin. "I don't think I want to be alone after this."

"Jeff and I'll catch up with you after he's done here," Kyou said.

"No, go with them," Pastor Jeff said. "I'll catch up."

She studied her fiancée briefly as the others got up from their seats. "All right; just don't keep me waiting too long, okay?"

"I'll hurry."

"Then I guess we'd better get going," Yuusuke said as he helped his wife to her feet. "Hey, we'll go with you," he then told Kappei. "Fuuko, you coming?"

The woman in question looked from me to her brother in law. "I…I'm going!" she decided in her typical energetic manner.

I smiled in amusement as Sakagami and Kotomi looked at each other, and then narrowed their eyes slightly before getting up as one to join the Hiiragis.

"Free food? Count me in!" Sunohara exclaimed as he rubbed his hands together.

"Sure…" Kappei said, giving my old friend a suspicious look. "Sure, I'll treat."

"Nii-san!" Mei scolded yet again while whapping his arm…yet again. "Don't you have any shame?"

"Ugh; I'll pay for his meal," Misae sighed. "But you have a budget."

"Aww…" The black-haired idiot whined.

"Akio and I would love to join you…assuming we're included in the invitation?" Mom Furukawa said.

"Of course!" Kappei exclaimed. "Any family of Okazaki's is a friend of ours!"

"Wonderful!" she replied, clapping as Dad Furukawa put his arm around her.

"I would like to attend," Koumura-sensei said as his granddaughter and Pastor Jeff helped him to his feet, "but this old man can only handle so much excitement these days."

"We'll miss you, but we understand," Ryou said kindly.

My old homeroom teacher fixed his gaze on me. "Tomoya-san; good for you."

I had to bite my lower lip to keep from tearing up again as I exchanged a hug with him. "I'll make sure to visit; I promise," I told him.

"Hmmm…" he grunted, looking up at me with a smile. "Then I suppose I'll have to stick around a while longer, eh?"

"I'd appreciate it, sir," I replied, trying to play along.

"Hm. Have a pleasant day, Tomoya-san," he said as he allowed his glaring granddaughter to lead him toward the front door.

"I would like to accompany you, if I am invited," Dad said.

"Okazaki's dad?" Kappei exclaimed. "Absolutely!"

I chuckled but said nothing as I followed the group out the church's front doors.

"I've changed my mind," Pastor Jeff declared as he locked the front doors. "I'll come back later to clean things up."

"Yay!" Kyou cheered as she immediately moved to his side.

I smiled to myself as I quietly headed away from the group.

"Heading home, Okazaki?" I heard Kappei call out.

"It's been pretty exciting, so I think I need some time alone," I called back.

"I get it, but we'll miss you anyway," he replied.

"Thanks."

"Is it okay if I go with them, Daddy?" Ushio asked.

"Sure, sweetie; have a good time."

I exchanged waves with family and friends before heading fully in the direction of home. As I walked I thought about the session; how Pastor Jeff had brought so many people together to help me. Not just me but Dad, too. Had that been part of his plan? Maybe he'd been trying to help Dad and I at the same time since we seemed to be at the same point in our…progress. It was weird, really; it was as though I could feel the new way of thinking flowing through my body as though it was part of my blood, cleaning out the old way of thinking.

I suddenly felt an old yet familiar feeling; the feeling that I was being followed, so I turned a couple more corners before coming to a complete stop. "Okay, who's following me?" I demanded as I turned toward the area where my 'sense' was telling me to look.

I wasn't surprised to find Mika pop out from around the corner…but I was surprised to see Sakagami, Kotomi and Fuuko with her. "I didn't plan this! I promise!" Mika wailed as she trembled her way up to me. "Dad said it was okay for me to go with you to make sure you got home safely, but I didn't know that Ichinose-sensei and the others were following you, too!"

"It's okay, Hiiragi-san," Sakagami said as she joined us. "Just so you know, Okazaki; it's not her fault. I saw her leave and figured she was following you, so I tagged along, in a sense."

"M-Me, too," Kotomi added as Fuuko nodded.

I sighed as I crossed my arms. "How old are you all?" I asked incredulously.

"It's impolite to ask a lady her age," Sakagami sniffed as she crossed her arms as well.

"My point is that you should have just asked to come along instead of tagging along like some kind of love-struck high-schooler," I said, then winced internally at about the same time I saw Mika wince externally. "We're all adults, right?"

"M-May I walk you home, Tomoya-kun?" Kotomi asked, then gasped with her hand to her mouth. "May I still call you 'Tomoya-kun'?"

"It's fine," I replied, suppressing a chuckle at her distressed expression. "I haven't changed that much…yet. I'll let you know if there's a problem, okay?"

My words seemed to reach her as she breathed a sigh of relief. "I understand."

"And yes, you may walk me home, Kotomi-chan," I added.

"What about Fuuk-I mean, me?"

I sighed again. "Look, I'd rather not run through the whole team roster, so… Yes, you may all walk me home, but I'd like to be left alone after we get there; I've had a pretty draining day."

"Understood," they replied, almost in unison.

Fortunately, they were quiet the rest of the way to my place, and it wasn't long before I was arguing with the lock to my door.

"Do you need a hand? I could have that…never mind," Sakgami amended at my glare. "Sorry."

I finally unlocked the door and turned to my bodyguards. "Well, thanks for the escort. Enjoy the rest of your day, and make sure to talk with my daughter; she's a neat kid," I said, directing the latter part of my statement to Sakagami.

"Do you need me to make lunch for you?" Mika asked.

Nuts. "I'll…be fine this time, thanks," I said politely. "Don't worry about me this time and go have fun with the others."

She took a step closer, and I noticed that she seemed afraid, probably because of the way I'd glared at the ambassador. "Please, Okazaki-sama; let me make lunch for you. I promise I won't be a bother; I won't even talk to you if that's what you wish. I'll just make it and leave."

"Seriously?" Sakagami exclaimed, apparently surprised by the offer. "Damn, you're a better woman than I am; I'd have forced my way in and made him talk about his day." She turned her gaze to me. "Could I at least have your number? I'd like to set up a date with you… When you're up to it, of course."

"Me, too!" Kotomi and Fuuko said in actual unison, then looked at each other in surprise.

I sighed. "Okay, but I need you all to leave after this. Please." I handed my phone to Mika. "Could you handle it? You seem to understand this stuff, and my brain's already full."

"O-Okay," she stammered as she accepted the phone, and I realized that I had just asked her to give my number to three of her 'rivals'. "Go ahead and get our y-your phones, please." After exchanging the contact info she handed me my phone back. "Here you go, Okazaki-sama."

"Thank you," I said, suddenly feeling very tired.

"May I make your lunch for you?" she asked again.

I sighed. "Yes, please. Kotomi-chan, Fuuko, good to see you again. Sakagami, feel free to give me a call in a few days when your schedule allows and we'll catch up. Cool?"

"Cool," she replied, a smile starting to spread across her face.

As the other women headed away and back to the restaurant, Mika followed me into the apartment. True to her word, she said nothing as she made her way to the kitchen and quickly began rummaging around the cabinet to prepare a meal. Still feeling drained, I headed to the kotatsu and almost plopped into my spot before remembering to open the curtains first, then patted myself on the back as I settled down to look out the window. As I watched an airliner fly overhead a delicious smell started to waft in from the kitchen and my stomach growled. "Smells good," I said before I could catch myself; I had asked her to not talk to me, after all.

"Thank you," she replied.

"Sorry, Mika," I said before returning my gaze to the sky, where a couple of puffy clouds had started drifting by.

A few minutes later she came out with a bowl and a set of chopsticks on a plate, and a small, steaming pot. A couple trips later and a colorful, beefy-smelling meal sat before my eyes. I looked up to her face, but she just glanced at me before returning her attention to setting out the meal. After she finished with that, she headed back to the kitchen and started cleaning what she had used. For some reason I found myself watching her with a feeling of unease; she was usually so bubbly and chatty, so to see her so…reserved?...was a little unsettling.

A few minutes after that she left the kitchen and headed to the doorway, and I quickly got up from my seat to see her off. "Thank you," I said after she had gotten her shoes on.

She looked up at me with a guarded smile before quickly stepping up to me and hopping up on her tiptoes to place a soft kiss on my cheek. After a short bow, she was out the door and down the street.

"See you later," I said to her diminishing form just before she rounded a corner, leaving my sight.

Lunch was amazing.