Chapter Forty-One: Dealing with Realities

"Good morning, honey."

I groaned at the thin beam of sunlight that had somehow found my eye. "Yeah, morning," I grunted as I sat up in spite of the protesting muscles in my abdomen and hips. "Ouchies…"

"Are you okay?" my wife asked as she slipped on her nightgown, obscuring her lovely form from my view.

"Just…muscles I haven't used in a while," I replied, hoping she wouldn't ask any follow-up questions.

I felt her gaze on me followed by a light pressure on my cheek. "I'm sorry; I hope you feel better soon," she giggled softly as she leaned down to follow up with a brush of her lips against mine. "I'll go work on breakfast… Or help Ushio make it if she got there first."

My chuckle sounded more like a snort as I threw the covers off and swung my legs over the side of the bed.

I hear a squeak and glanced up to see Mika's gaze firmly on my lower body, reminding me that we'd both slept buck-naked. "A-Anyway, I'll go make breakfast a-after you're…covered up."

"Oops, sorry." I quickly found my night shorts and pulled them on; my side of the bed was nearer the door, so if Ushio had been just outside she'd see a side of her father she had no business seeing. "I'm not usually this careless," I explained with a yawn. "Sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it," she replied with a shiver. "I'll…see you in a few minutes."

As my bride left the room I let my head drop, and I took several controlled breaths to try to wake up more quickly. Several huffs later I put on my nightshirt and padded to the washroom for some much-needed cleanup.

As I emerged from the hallway into the living room I saw Ushio coming out of the kitchen area with a couple of steaming bowls. "Good morning, Daddy," she greeted as she placed the bowls on the kotatsu.

"It certainly is," I replied, drawing an odd look from my daughter and a shy smile from Mika, who was just coming out of the kitchen herself; I realized that my good feelings were likely due to last night's interaction so I decided to rein in my exuberance. "Slept like a log last night."

"That's good," Ushio replied as she settled into her spot at the kotatsu. "How was your first night here, Mika-senpai? Did you have a hard time getting to sleep?"

"I-" my bride's face turned crimson almost in an instant, and she looked to me for backup. Unfortunately, I wasn't sure how to help her out so I just gave her an apologetic smile. "I…had a hard time getting to sleep at first, but when I did get to sleep I slept really well."

"That's good," Ushio replied. "I was kinda worried that it'd be tough for you, with how different everything is for you now."

"Thank you, Ushio."

I internally breathed a sigh of relief.

"And when I thought I heard someone cry out last night, I was afraid that you'd hurt yourself or something."

My sigh of relief caught in my throat and I exchanged an awkward glance with Mika. "You…remember that Grandpa and Grandma Furukawa are coming over for lunch today, right?" I asked, hoping to change the subject.

"I haven't forgotten!" she chirped with a bright smile as we started to eat. "I'm soooo excited for them to see us together as a family!"

"What excites you about it?" Mika asked. "Not that I think you shouldn't be excited; I'm just honestly curious."

"I'm not really sure," Ushio admitted with a giggle. "I guess I just want to see what it'll be like, seeing how Grandpa and Grandma will…" she looked up as she tried to find the right word. "…how they'll relate to Mika-senpai."

"It'll be a new experience, to be sure," I said, leaning back on my hands, "That reminds me: How do you two want to address each other now?"

"What do you mean?" Mika asked.

I gestured to the both of them. "Well, I understand that Ushio's still your underclassman, but you're not at school right now; you're at home. Also…" I wanted to be careful how I phrased my next thought. "You're part of the family now, so…" I shrugged with a smile, unsure of how to finish my thought in spite of my efforts.

"Oooo, that's a good point." Ushio looked over at her…stepmother, I realized. "I should still call you 'Mika-senpai' at school, but what about at home?"

"I…I'm not sure," my bride admitted with a blush and a giggle. "To be honest, I'm still getting used to the idea of being your dad's wife."

Ushio giggled in response as she ducked her head.

I heard the sound of my cell phone ringing and noted a familiar lab coat and blue hair as I glanced at its face. "Go ahead and start without me," I told them as I got to my feet. "I'll try not to be long."

"Hurry back," Mika said with a light blush, which deepened at Ushio's giggle.

"I'll be quick," I chuckled as I headed a short distance into the hall and put the phone to my ear. "Good morning; this is Okazaki," I greeted.

"Good morning, Tomoya-kun," my childhood friend greeted. "I apologize if I am calling too early."

"Well, I'm not quite ready to take on the day, but what can I do for you?"

A notable pause. "I am not sure where to begin, so I will simply state my request: I am requesting your assistance."

"You need my help?" I couldn't imagine what one of Japan's greatest minds would need me for. "What's the matter?"

Another notable pause. "I…cannot divulge too many details at this point, but I can say that your skills with personal interactions and evaluation of character would be of great benefit to me."

"I'm not sure how great my 'personal interaction skills' are," I snorted. "Pastor Jeff might be a better one to call, but I'd be willing to do my best for you."

"Wonderful! Can you come this evening? I will provide dinner to compensate you for your time."

I briefly mulled over her request; I really wanted to spend the evening with my family, new as it was, but… "Let me check with my-…with Mika and get back to you, okay?"

"Tomoya?" I looked over my shoulder to see my bride watching me with a curious expression. "Is…Is that Kotomi-sensei?"

"Hang on a sec, please," I told Kotomi before giving my wife my full attention. "Yeah it's her, and you have good timing; she's asking if I could come to her place and use my people skills."

She giggled, presumably at my choice of words. "May I speak with her?"

"Just a sec." I was starting to feel like a secretary. "Kotomi-chan, would you be willing to speak with Mika? She'd like to talk with you."

"Oh, of course!" My childhood friend sounded unusually excited.

"All right, hang on." I handed my cell phone to my wife. "I'll wait in the living room."

She nodded as she accepted the phone. As I headed back to the living room I could hear excited tones coming from behind me.

"Is it Ichinose-sensei?" my daughter asked as I settled into my usual spot.

"Yup," I replied. "It sounds like she needs me to talk with somebody; she mentioned using my 'personal interaction skills'."

"That sounds like sensei," Ushio giggled. "Are you going to go?"

"I'd like to help her out, sure," I said with a shrug, "but I want to make sure that Mika's okay with it."

"I think I understand," she replied with a warm smile.

My wife appeared a couple of minutes later and handed me my phone. "She's still on."

I accepted the phone. "Hello?"

"Hello, Tomoya-kun. Mika has given her approval, so I will see you both at six-o-clock PM."

I glanced up to find my wife smiling at me from across the kotatsu. "Both of us, huh? All right, then; six it is."

"I look forward to it. And I will take your suggestion regarding Ashton-sensei under advisement. Have a pleasant day."

"Thanks, you too." We ended the call and I put my phone down. "Well, it looks like our Sunday's been planned for us," I announced, then looked over at my daughter. "Sweetie, Mika and I will be going over to Ichinose-sensei's house around dinner time; I would've asked her about you coming along but it sounds like she's in a…delicate situation, and I don't want to cause you or her needless stress."

"I understand, Daddy."

"I'll make sure to have something nice prepared for your dinner," Mika offered.

"I'll be fine," Ushio replied, then blinked. "Hey, Grandpa and Grandma will be over for lunch; maybe I could go to their house for dinner."

"That's an idea," I agreed. "We'll ask them when they get here."

We spent the first morning of Mika's first full day tidying up the apartment in preparation for company, and noon arrived before we knew it.

"Good afternoon, Tomoya," Mom Furukawa greeted when I opened the door.

"Hey Mom, hey Pops," I greeted as I stepped aside to let them in.

"Brat," Pops greeted as he stepped past me into my home; once inside, he raised his voice. "Where are my two favorite girls?"

"Grandpa!" Ushio squealed as she threw herself into his embrace; behind her, Mika watched with a shy smile.

"Oh, don't be like that," Mom insisted as she stepped up to my bride and hugged her. "I'm so happy for you. Both of you."

"Th-Thank you, ma'am," Mika replied, her face scarlet.

Mom pulled away to hold her at arms' length. "I do hope that someday you can call me 'mom'. I'm not trying to replace your mother, but I would really like it if we could be close."

"I-I'd like that," my wife replied, "but I could never replace Nagisa-sama."

Mom blinked at her in surprise. "Has Tomoya talked with you about Nagisa?"

"Not a whole lot," she admitted with a glance toward me, "but I believe that she must have been a great person to have helped Tomoya so much." She drew her shoulders together with an awkward smile. "Thank you for raising her as well as you did?"

"Mika-senpai…" Ushio breathed, tears starting to form.

Mom's lip started to tremble. "We did our best," she hiccupped as she drew my bride into a hug. "Thank you so much for your kind words."

"Yeah, thanks," Pops agreed in a tight voice. He then gestured back toward our front door. "I'm, uh…gonna step outside for a smoke, if no one minds."

"Akio, we haven't been here in years," Mom scolded, pulling away from her adopted daughter-in-law to send him a look of disapproval. "Are you really going to start that already?"

Pops briefly glanced to the side, his jaw working vigorously, before returning his gaze to his wife. "Well, yeah."

As Ushio watched her grandparents go back and forth I made my way over to Mika and asked, "Are you going to treat me like that when we get older?"

She glanced over at the arguing couple, then looked back to me with a small smile. "Prepare yourself, Okazaki-sama."

"Hey, Tomoya," Pops called, drawing our attention; apparently he was done fighting with his wife. "Come with me and hang out."

"I don't smoke anymore, Pops."

"You don't have to," he said. "'Sides, it'll give Sanae a chance to talk to her new daughter-in-law."

I looked over at Mika, who gave me a smile and a nod. "All right."

We headed out the front door to the sounds of happily chatting women, and I watched as Pops leaned against the wall, smacking his cigarette package a couple of times before pulling one out and lighting it. Something told me that I should keep quiet, so I did.

He took a draw then exhaled, watching the smoke float lazily away. "Sixteen years…" he said, his eyes unfocused. "Sometimes it seems like it was a lifetime ago and sometimes it seems like yesterday. Does it ever feel that way to you?"

I sighed heavily as I thought about his question. "Day by day? I don't think about it, honestly." I crossed my arms as I leaned against the wall, facing him. "But when I come home from work and see that photo on her shrine? The one of the two of us?" I looked over and met his gaze. "I don't know how this is going to sound, but I think with how much I've changed, especially in the last few months…"

"It's almost like it never happened?" he asked in a nonjudgmental tone.

"I know it happened," I said, scratching an imaginary itch on the back of my neck, "but it seems like it happened to another Tomoya. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah," he intoned before drawing on his smoke again. "It's a normal part of moving on, but still…"

"Pops, I couldn't forget her even if I wanted to," I chuckled, trying to reassure him. "I'm not going to forget her; not that easily, at least."

He sighed. "I know, brat. Thanks."

He didn't say anything more, so I adjusted myself to lean my back against the wall alongside him. We watched as the occasional car drove by, and I allowed my mind to wander back to the simpler days when it was just me and the Furukawas…

"Shit…"

I blinked out of my reverie at his unusual use of profanity. "What's the matter?"

He flicked the ashes from his smoke. "It's just that…Nagisa was our only child, right?"

"Right…" I replied, wondering what had brought this on.

He took another draw from his cigarette, and the way he blew the smoke out told me he was frustrated. "As a man, you want your bloodline carried on… But now that Nagisa's gone, mine will end with me."

I hadn't thought of that; even though Nagisa's marriage to me would have removed the name 'Furukawa', at least the family's legacy could live on through her. "I'm sorry, Pops; I never thought of that."

"It's not your fault," he snorted as he dropped his spent cigarette into his smoking pouch. "That's just how life works sometimes."

"What about Ushio?" I offered. "She has Furukawa blood."

"True." He pulled out another smoke and lit it. "I don't mean to speak badly of my daughter or anything, but if we hadn't been busy with that odd illness of hers Sanae and I would've loved to try for a son."

I smiled sadly, my heart going out toward my father-in-law. "I'm sorry; I don't know what to say."

He looked over at me, a smile spreading across his face as well as he reached out to clap me on the shoulder. "You don't have to say anything, brat. Just make sure to give your mom and I three more grandkids."

"Th-Three?!" I sputtered, surprised by the abrupt shift in the conversation; then, I remembered the dream. "We'll…see what we can do."

He gave me a wink and clapped me on the shoulder a couple more times before we turned our gazes to the bright, blue sky.

The lunch itself was pretty uneventful compared to my conversation with Pops beforehand, and it seemed like it wasn't very long before Mom and Pops Furukawa stood on our doorstep again. "Say 'Hi' to Ichinose-sensei for me, and I hope the two of you have a good time," Ushio said to us as she joined her grandparents on the front porch.

"Thanks, but I don't know how much fun this will be," I chuckled. "Have fun yourself, sweetie."

"I really enjoyed our talk before lunch, Mom," Mika said as she exchanged a hug with… Wait a minute; did she just call Mom Furukawa 'Mom'? "I enjoyed learning about Nagisa-sama. And about Tomoya, of course."

I wonder just how much Mom had told my wife about me but kept my concerns to myself.

"You're quite welcome, sweetheart," Mom said as she blotted her eyes with the back of her hand. "And thank you for calling me 'Mom'; it must have felt a little awkward."

"Sort of," Mika admitted with a giggle. "But, regardless of who I married I'd end up calling someone 'Mom', right?"

"That's true."

Mika angled her head at my mother in law with a fond smile before stepping forward to give her another hug. "Thank you for accepting me."

Mom briefly froze, her hands halfway around my wife's middle. "Y-You're quite welcome," she managed as she returned the gesture. "Welcome to our humble family."

"Hey, what about me?" Akio grumbled. "I never said I accepted you."

"Akio-san," Mom started in an admonishing tone as she released her daughter-in-law, "you and I both accepted her a long time ago. I thought Tomoya was the one you never accepted."

I hid a smirk behind my hand as Pops tried to climb out of the hole he'd dug. "All right, all right, you're right," he finally admitted. "I accepted her before Japan was ever founded, okay?"

"Thank you, Dad," Mika said before giving him a hug. "It means a lot to me to hear you say that."

It looked like Pops wasn't sure what to do; while I knew that the Furukawas were a loving family, they weren't necessarily the 'touchy-feely' type, save for Mom. "Uhhh….yeah," he replied, giving her a couple of awkward pats on the back.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" Mika squeaked, taking several steps back as she released him. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

"I-It's fine," he said, his expression softening. "I'll get used to it."

"See you tomorrow, Mika-senpai," Ushio said in farewell.

"'Senpai'?" Mom repeated.

"We're working on that," I told my in-laws as Mika returned to my side. "Enjoy the rest of your day." As the trio headed away from the apartment I turned to my wife. "Well, we have a few hours to kill before we have to leave; what do you want to do?"

"Mmmmm…" she hummed thoughtfully as we re-entered the apartment. As I shut and locked the door I felt her arms snake around me from behind, her hands coming to rest on my chest. "I'd really like to make love again; I miss you."

Under most circumstances, the latter part of her statement would sound odd, but… "I miss you, too," I admitted, turning in the circle of arms to wrap her in mine and place a kiss on her forehead. "Let me think about it, okay?"

"Oka-YEEP!" she yelped as I picked her up with a chuckle and carried my giggling wife, princess-style, down the hall to our room.

We had plenty of time.

I headed into the living room, where Mika waited for me by the door. "Are you ready to go, hon?" she asked, and I couldn't help but notice that she still had what I could only describe as 'residual bedroom eyes'.

"I think so." I allowed myself a little concern as I briefly studied my wife. "Are you sure you're okay?" I asked while giving her a meaningful look; I'd managed to 'please her' several times over the last couple of hours and I was worried that it might have hurt her.

"I'm fine," she giggled as she gave me a playful whap on the arm. "I just wasn't sure how it would go so I tensed up at first, but you were very comforting." She stepped up to look deep into my eyes. "Very comforting."

"Th-That's good; glad to…to hear it." I fumbled my keys out of my pocket, and she giggled as she turned and unlocked the door, giving me a seductive wink as we exited the apartment.

She took hold of my arm as we headed away from home, sliding her hand down to take hold of mine, interlinking her fingers with mine. "Are you looking forward to Uncle Jeff and Aunt Kyou's wedding?"

"Huh?" I was still recovering from the sensation of her hand traveling down my arm, so it took a moment for her words to register. "Oh… Yeah! It's a week from Saturday, isn't it?"

"Yup!" she chirped while giving my arm a squeeze. "I was thinking that we could give them gift cards to their favorite restaurant; that way, they could use them on their honeymoon."

"That's not a bad idea," I murmured. "I think we could afford that." I then felt my spirit sink. "Mika, does it bother you that we can't afford a honeymoon of our own?"

"A little," she admitted. "Like a lot of my classmates, I'd fantasized about a big wedding with lots of guests and a huge cake, followed by a week-long honeymoon somewhere nice."

"Oh…" My spirit fell a little further.

"But I understand now that it's not about the cake or the guests or even the trip," she continued, giving my arm a squeeze. "It's about being able to spend your life with the one you love."

"I see…" I replied, my spirit starting to lift again.

"I figure we can go on a trip later, when we can afford it," she said, giving my arm what felt like a reassuring squeeze; it helped.

"Sounds good," I said, grateful for her understanding; I'd heard about wives who, for all intents and purposes, questioned their husbands' masculinity over similar things. "Thanks."

She simply giggled before pulling me down to plant a kiss on my cheek.

"S-So…are you looking forward to heading back to school?" I asked, now trying to recover from the abrupt display of affection; I didn't mind it, but she had taken me by surprise.

"No way!" she nearly yelled as she gave my arm a more vigorous squeeze, causing us to briefly stumble. "That means I'm going to be away from you! That should be illegal!"

I chuckled at her words even as they warmed my heart. "Thanks, Mika; I really should have known better than to ask that."

"I forgive you," she replied, leaning her head against my arm. "Anyway, that's why I want to make sure we get the next two weeks to ourselves…at least as much as possible; it'll be a honeymoon of sorts for us, and I can get my 'Tomoya fuel-up' before I have to go back to school."

I chuckled again before simply enjoying her presence for the rest of the trip. As we approached Kotomi's house, I blinked at the sight of her standing just outside the gate to her property; since she'd always struck me as the indoors type I was surprised to see her outside her house, though I wasn't surprised to see Jeff and Kyou already with her. "Hey, guys," I greeted, raising the hand that Mika wasn't using.

"Ah! Tomoya-kun and Mika-chan! Welcome!" Kotomi greeted along with a bow.

"It's good to see you again, Kotomi-sensei," my wife replied, releasing my arm to bow.

Kotomi angled her head. "'Kotomi-sensei'…" She appeared to turn the name over in her head. Finally, she nodded. "That is an acceptable substitute until you become more comfortable calling me 'Kotomi-chan' as I have previously requested."

"I-I'm sorry…"

"P-Please do not worry about it," my old friend insisted with a lift of her chin; I figured she was trying to be brave in spite of the perceived conflict.

"Tomoya-san," Jeff greeted with a smile and his hand outstretched. "Good to see you, as always."

"Thanks, you too," I replied, shaking his hand before returning my attention to my old friend. "So, is this everyone?"

"It is," she confirmed with a single nod. "But before we go inside, I must give you a brief background regarding the situation." She briefly studied each of us in turn before continuing. "It is well-known that my field of expertise is in the subject of String Theory. What is not as well-known is that my research has allowed me to develop a device that allows the viewing of other realities."

I heard a gasp and looked over to find Kyou with wide eyes and a hand over her mouth while Jeff's mouth hung slightly open, probably the most surprised expression I'd ever seen on him. Of course I already knew about her work, so the revelation came as no surprise; I did feel a little awkward when I remembered her efforts so show me her...work.

"During my efforts to improve the functionality of the Dimensional Viewer, I made a most fascinating discovery," Kotomi continued. "I found-"

"A reality where Tomoya isn't a delinquent?" Kyou quipped, sending a smirk my way.

"Aunt Kyou!"

My old nemesis sent my bride a wink. "Sorry, Mika; old habits die hard."

"So what did you find?" Jeff asked, thankfully trying to get us back on track.

Kotomi nodded solemnly. "It is difficult to explain, but…" She drew a deep breath. "I found four individuals who were not where they belonged."

"Wait a minute…" I cut in. "Are you saying that these people were in the wrong timeline or something?"

"And you also said 'were'," Jeff added, giving me a sideways glance. "As in, they're not there anymore?"

"You are both correct," Kotomi replied with a nod. "To tell the whole story would take too much time, so I will tell you that I traveled to their dimension and location and spoke with them at length."

Not unexpectedly, everyone minus myself fell silent; I knew about her research, after all. "So you figured out a way to get your people back to your transporter thingy?" I asked.

"Yes, shortly after your visit," she replied with a smile...along with a light blush that told me that I wasn't the only one who was remembering what else she'd tried to show me. "I am grateful for your input, Tomoya-kun; I am certain that we would have realized our omission eventually, but that could have occurred after we had sent someone over. You are so smart."

"Yeah...no," I said, feeling a slight case of deja vu. "If I was that smart I wouldn't be… No, I'm not having that conversation again."

"So you spoke to them," Jeff prompted, thankfully trying to get us back on track again. "Are they the reason you called all of us here?"

"That is correct," she confirmed. "They have been my guests for approximately twenty hours."

"Wait, seriously?" Kyou exclaimed with a concerned glance at our friend's home. "They haven't tried anything funny, have they?"

"Not that I have become aware of," Kotomi replied. "Fortunately, Chief of Security Gouda Hanzo-kun volunteered to watch over them."

I put two and two together and… "Are you saying that your security chief has been working for at least twenty hours straight?"

"He is a very devoted employee," Kotomi told us, beaming with pride. "When he discovered that I would be traveling across dimensions, he attempted to dissuade me from my course of action but eventually relented on the condition that he be allowed to stay with me until this situation is resolved."

"Then we should probably get inside so the poor fellow can take a break," Jeff declared as Kyou nodded her agreement; I was surprised that neither of them seemed troubled by the idea of people from another reality. "Ichinose-sensei, if you would please lead the way…?"

Kotomi bowed slightly before heading up the walkway toward her house. "Welcome to my home," she greeted as she opened the front door. "Please make yourselves comfortable."

I wasn't exactly sure how comfortable we'd be able to make ourselves with four strangers hanging around, but…

I took in the sight of her living room just long enough to find her guests, but I did see nicely-colored walls, several dark-brown bookcases filled with thick books – good weapons in case Kyou needed them – and chairs and couches with light floral prints on them. Seated on two of the couches were four individuals; two men and two women. With them, however… "Hey, Kotomi-chan; I thought you said there were four, but I'm seeing…" I took a quick head count. "...right. I'm seeing seven, here."

"Ah. That would be due to-"

"Tomoya-sama!" One of the men leaped to his feet, causing me to take a startled step back. However, his enthusiasm seemed to fade as quickly as it had appeared, and he settled back onto the couch. "Sorry… I confused you with someone I know."

"N-No problem," I managed to reply as I worked on reassembling my nerves. 'Tomoya-sama'? I hadn't been called anything-sama in what seemed like a long time. Well, other than by Tadashi. I almost asked how he knew about me, but realized that if he was from another timeline, he might know another...me. This was getting weirder by the minute. Curiosity won out in the end, though. "So…how do you know me?"

"Um... ya see…" the non-leaping man started to say.

"Why don't we let Kotomi-hakase make the introductions first," the woman seated next to him cut him off, though not rudely. Her voice was calm and quiet, but that was likely due to the sleeping toddler in her lap.

My eyebrow jumped at the unexpected honorific but kept quiet. I felt a gentle yet firm squeeze to my arm and looked over at my wife to find her gazing at the children with a smile I'd never seen on her before.

"Of course." Kotomi straightened, and it appeared to me that she had some familiarity with introductions; considering that she worked with a team, it made sense. "Tomoya-kun, Mika-chan, Kyou-chan, Ashton-sensei; this is Takeshi-kun and his wife, Kohaku-chan," she said, gesturing to the slim yet still muscular-looking man seated on the couch with a rather well-endowed woman whose arms were wrapped around two children who appeared to be around five or six years old. "And this is Takeo-kun and his wife, Mayonaka-chan," she continued, indicating the shorter but stockier man seated with the taller, slimmer woman who was busy rocking a sleeping toddler in her arms.

"Uh… hey." Takeshi waved tentatively while the others gave a polite bow. I noticed that they seemed to look at me and Kyou more than Jeff...or Gouda, which was surprising considering he looked the most threatening out of all of us.

"Takeshi-kun, Takeo-kun, Kohaku-chan, Mayonaka-chan," she continued, shifting her gesturing hand to the four of us, "this is my very dear friend Tomoya-kun along with his wife, Mika-chan. Next to Tomoya-kun is Kyou-chan with her fiancé, Ashton Jeff-sensei," She then blinked before blushing lightly. "But I suppose that you already know of Tomoya-kun."

"Hmm… not with this pairing, though," Mayonaka said, appearing to study the two of us. Turning to Kotomi, she asked, "Is Mika-chan a relative of yours?"

"Why, no," Kotomi replied with a tilt of her head that matched her look of confusion. "Why do you ask?"

"I guess the hair is what made me think that. All the Kotomis we've met have had that same hairstyle," Mayonaka replied.

I glanced over at my wife, whose face was firmly buried in her hands. "Do you want to tell them the story?" I asked with an understanding smile; I didn't think it was a big deal, but that thought reminded me that she was still young and hadn't had the life experiences that I tended to take for granted, the type that put things like hairstyles in perspective.

She silently shook her head. Then she silently nodded.

"Feel free to pick one when you're ready," I quipped. "But we really need to check out soon."

She giggled behind her hands before finally dropping them to her lap, revealing a pretty potent blush that made my heart skip a beat. "It was back when Ich-...I mean, Kotomi-sensei gave a talk at our school. She was talking about her work and about science in general, but all I could think about was how cute her hairstyle looked. So when the Q&A started I…" She ducked her head with a meek expression. "...stood up and asked her about it."

We shared a brief chuckle before the slimmer man – 'Takeshi' if I remembered correctly – directed his gaze toward me. "To answer your question from before; Takeo and I first met our Tomoya when he was still in high school. He knew a girl named Miyazawa Yukine and we met through her."

"Miyazawa…" I mused as I scratched my cheek. "That name sounds familiar, but…" I waved my hands. "Sorry, it's been so long. Anyway, you say that this other me...knew her. Did I...he...know you?"

"No, well… We didn't go to your school. Uh…" Takeo trailed off, and all four of Kotomi's adult visitors looked to my left with what appeared to be cautious expressions.

I followed their collective gaze to my old sparring partner, who blinked several times as she had suddenly become the center of attention. "What? Why are you all looking at me?"

"This… might get a little heated. Is there somewhere I could take the kids while we discuss this?" Mayonaka requested.

I heard a disapproving grunt and looked up to find Gouda glaring more intensely at the group. Realizing that he likely didn't want any of the adults leaving the room, I felt a brief flash of insight and turned to my wife. "Mika, would you be willing to watch their kids while the rest of us talk?"

"Oh, I'd love to!" she gushed with a twinkle in her eye. "I mean, if it's okay with...with you," she finished with a hopeful gaze toward Kotomi's guests.

"If it would put your minds at ease, I have found her to be a trustworthy young lady," Kotomi offered, much to my gratitude.

The women looked to their husbands, who nodded what I assumed was their approval. As Mika moved to meet the two mothers, Mayonaka carefully rose to her feet and handed her sleeping toddler over while Kohaku brought the two older ones over to my bride. Mika's eyes widened as she accepted the toddler into her arms. "Oh, he's adorable…" I grinned to myself as she managed to drag her excited gaze from the infant to its mother. "He is a boy, right?"

"Yes," Mayonaka replied, though she seemed apprehensive. Understandable, when I thought about it.

"So cute…" Mika said as she gazed down at the sleeping child; the expression on her face looked so motherly.

"You two go with the nice lady and be good. We're just going to talk about boring adult stuff, okay?" Kohaku told the two older children.

"Okies!" the little girl said with a tired smile. She took the boy's hand and followed after Mika.

"Please don't worry," Mika said to our guests. "I promise that I will take very good care of them."

"I'm sure you will," Kohaku said warmly; she seemed to be a bit amused at Mika's enthusiasm. "Thank you, Mika-chan."

"Y-You're welcome, ma'am." Mika accepted the little girl's hand and Kotomi showed her to a doorway, stopping to briefly tell her something. From the way my wife nodded, I figured my old friend was telling her where she could take the children to play...quietly, I hoped.

We watched as Mika left with her three charges before Kohaku turned her gaze to Kyou; for some reason she seemed apprehensive before my purple-haired friend. "Kyou-sama… Before we tell you anything else… something that might cause you worry, you should know that the Kyou in our universe is very respected by all of the exploration team members. And I think you would be happy to know that your sister Ryou is a doctor and is in charge of the medical needs of all the explorers."

Kyou's nose traced several circles in the air; I could tell that she was trying to process the deluge of information. "That's a lot to take in. 'Kyou-sama'?" She looked over to her fiancé, who smiled down at her. "I'm still trying to become 'Kyou-sensei' again and…" She giggled behind her hand. "And Ryou's a doctor there? Here, she's gone back to being a nurse after raising her kids," She gestured to the door through which my wife had taken our guests' children. "In fact, Mika's her daughter."

SNORT! Takeo turned away to hide his face but his heaving shoulders gave away the laughter he was obviously trying to conceal.

Kyou and I exchanged a puzzled look. "What's so funny over there?" she asked.

"We've run into a whole buncha dif-rent versions of Tomoya-sama in the dif-rent worlds we been to, but this is the first one ta be a cradle-robber."

"Oh." My eyes lost focus as my heart sank; was I really a-

"Takeo!" Mayonaka exclaimed as she punched her husband in his massive back.

"There was the one that was in a relationship with Youhei's imouto." Takeshi pointed out. "She was younger than Mika-chan is now." Turning to the others in the room he explained, "I'm guessing since Mei-chan wasn't old enough to get married yet…in that world."

"Hey, enough!" Kohaku fussed at the two men. "Different worlds have different standards!"

I felt a pressure on my shoulder and looked to see that Jeff had reached across his fiancée's shoulders to comfort me. "Tomoya-san, it's okay; you and I have talked about this at length. You have nothing to be ashamed of."

"Thanks," I breathed before working on getting my proverbial feet under me again.

"Getting back to Kyou-sama… sensei…" Kohaku said as she sent the two men in her group a withering look, "Our Kyou is 'sensei' to the school that she runs, but she is 'sama' to us. But to answer your question, we all know how dangerous you are and there is something about our pasts that could…concern you. But…in our universe or any other, please keep in mind that we will always have the highest regard for Kotomi-hakase."

"Dangerous?" Kyou snorted as she exchanged an amused grin with her fiancé. "Not as much anymore as you seem to think, but thanks."

I glanced over at Kotomi, who had noticeably paled; apparently it hadn't occurred to her that she might have brought home some potentially...questionable characters. "So, what were you doing...where Kotomi-chan found you?"

"We were living in a small town in Hokkaido. It is the same town where Shino and Naoyuki Okazaki live. We are – or were – normal members of the community there," Takeo replied.

"Sorry, I meant…" I looked up, hoping to find the words on the ceiling; while the information regarding my 'family' was interesting, I still wanted my question answered. "How did you get there?"

"When we knew we were stranded there, we called up Kotomi-sama's godfather. He understood our predicament and helped us to relocate to a place where we could fit in… in that world." Takeo replied.

"A place where we wouldn't run into ourselves… or be mistaken for them," Takeshi added.

"That's a relief," Kyou sighed.

"No no," I scratched my head vigorously, frustrated at my inability to phrase my questions correctly. "How did you get from your...dimension to the one she found you in?"

"You mentioned 'exploration teams' earlier," Jeff noted. "Does this have something to do with your...dimension-hopping?"

"None of us are scientists like Kotomi-hakase, so this will be the dumbed-down version." Takeshi paused, presumably to give us a chance to object before he continued. "This is all our Kotomi-hakase's hypothesis. In another universe that isn't yours or ours, Tomoya-kun and Nagisa-chan had a baby named Ushio. She lost both of her parents and died herself, before reaching her teens. At that time, something happened and she was able to create these wormholes that connected to lots of parallel worlds. We think she was searching for a happy place where she could live with her mother and father. We couldn't reach her, but we could use the wormholes she made – using special machines that Kotomi-hakase invented. We were lost on that world because the wormhole collapsed while we were there."

I heard a gasp and looked over to see Kyou with wide eyes and her fingertips to her mouth. "How...How long were you stranded over there?"

"'Bout eight years," Takeo mumbled offhandedly.

"How awful…" she breathed, and I marveled at her look of compassion, a far cry from how she had been so many years ago, before...

"Lost sheep…"

My attention was drawn to Jeff's words. "I'm sorry? Lost sheep?"

He blinked before gesturing to our guests. "Sorry, hearing about their situation reminded me of the parable of the lost sheep...but I'll concede that it may not necessarily apply to this situation." He smiled kindly at the four. "For what it's worth; I'm so sorry for what you've been through."

"No problem. We chose to be explorers, so we always knew something might happen to us," Takeshi replied.

"That's good to know," Jeff said with obvious compassion.

"You're a spiritual man?" Kohaku asked him with a look of curiosity.

"He's the pastor of a local church," Kyou replied, patting her man's arm.

"Then your reference to us being lost sheep may be closer than you thought," Kohaku said. "You see, in our world, we were gangsters and bikers before we were shown a better way to live by Kotomi-hakase, Tomoya-sama, Kyou-sama, and a few others you may have known."

At the revelation of their less-than-stellar history I instinctively glanced up at Gouda to see that he'd narrowed his eyes but hadn't moved from his position.

Jeff blinked again, apparently processing the new information. "Though Jesus was referring to Himself as the shepherd in the parable, this does appear to be a valid metaphorical application." He nodded toward the group in an informal bow, and I smiled internally as I realized that he had slipped into his 'pastor' role. "I stand corrected."

"So who else might I have known?" I asked, my curiosity piqued by Kohaku's words.

Mayonaka smiled. "Takeo and I named our son after someone we both admired…an old friend of yours."

I considered her words for a moment, then buried my face in my hands as one possibility came to mind. "Oh, jeez… You don't mean…"

"Sunohara Youhei is a police detective in our universe… or he was when we were stranded," Takeo explained.

My gaze snapped back up from my hands, and out of the corner of my eye I could see Kyou's jaw dropped in surprise. "Detective? Seriously?"

"Yup." Takeshi shifted in his seat, presumably making himself more comfortable. "In all the universes we've been to, the Tomoyas have had a lot of different kinds of lives. They married different girls, had different jobs. Some of 'em moved away and others were dead." He gestured toward me. "If you don't mind my asking, what are you doing, Tomoya-sama?"

"Wh-What do you mean?" I had a feeling that I knew what it was he wanted to know, but…

"All of the Tomoyas went to Hikarizaka Private High School, but they had different lives after that. Most of them ended up in a relationship with Kyou-sama or Kotomi-hakase, or one of the other girls that he went to school with. Some were bums and some became big-shots. So I guess what I'm askin' is - what have you done with your life?"

My stomach curdled; other girls? Big shots? "W-Well, I guess that's a fair question." I swallowed to give my stomach something else to focus on. "Well...I'm...an accountant for Hikarizaka Electrical. I was originally a 'pole-climber' but transferred after about...two years?" I glanced over at Kyou, who nodded. "Yeah, two years before I transferred to Accounting. As far as 'girls'..." This was going to be the hard part. "I, uh, married Furukawa Nagisa shortly after I graduated, but she died about two years later giving birth to Ushio. After…some unfortunate circumstances I got custody of her again when she was five, and we've been together ever since." I decided to leave out her temporary stay at her grandparents for reasons that Takeshi and his group didn't really need to know. "I married Mika about a week ago." I heard a snort from Kyou's general direction and rolled my eyes. "All right, more like she married me…"

"So, dis world has an Ushio too, huh?" For some reason, Takeo sounded concerned.

"Don't worry," Mayonaka said as she took her husband's hand. "I'm sure this Ushio is past the danger point."

"Danger point?" Red flags raised by the dozens. "What do you...? Wait…" I trailed off as I remembered Nagisa's illness, as well as Jeff's words from what seemed like a lifetime ago: "...you're waiting for something to take your daughter away from you…?" I sighed as I lowered the flags. "Never mind; I think I get it. Yeah, she's a happy, healthy, sixteen-year-old girl."

"I'm glad to hear that. Most of the Ushios in the other universes didn't live past the age of five. Those that did had lost one or both of their parents." Kohaku replied.

"Our Kotomi thought there might be hundreds, or even thousands of these Ushio spirits that created the wormholes." Takeshi added.

'Ushio spirits'? I was about to ask, but what Kohaku had just said suddenly registered; Multiple Ushios…? I shuddered at the thought.

"Anyway… Did ya ever play basketball?" Takeo asked with an expression I remembered Sunohara would make when he thought he was being clever.

It took a moment for me to catch up with the big guy's out-of-the-blue question. "In...middle school, yeah," I replied, cringing at some distant memories. "My shoulder was busted before I could start high school, so...yeah."

"One of the Tomoyas we ran into was a professional basketball player who was practicing for the Olympic Games," he told me with a congratulatory smile. "He was able to do that because of a corrective surgery that he got at Kyou's papa's hospital."

"Well, that's interesting," Jeff chimed in as he and I exchanged a look of surprise. "You just finished up your follow-up appointments for your surgery, didn't you?"

"Yeah…" I murmured; so another 'me' was able to play basketball professionally. "Yeah…"

"For what it's worth, Tomoya-san; I think you've made the best use of the life you've been given," Jeff said with a sympathetic smile, which helped to lift my spirits.

"I agree," Kyou said, reaching over to pat my arm. "And I'm sure Mika is really happy for the life you've been given."

I chuckled softly at her words. "Yeah, I'm sure she is."

"But, to get back to us… If you look up who we are in this universe, you probably won't find anything nice." Takeshi lamented. "We never ran into good or nice versions of ourselves."

"I'm sorry if that's the case," Jeff said sympathetically.

"And I've never met anyone who looks like you..." I mused, then looked over at Kyou and Jeff. "I dunno; what do you think?"

"They seem to be on the level to me," Kyou replied, raising her hands in a shrug.

"I concur," Jeff replied. "Other universe or no, people are people, and in spite of their self-disclosed history I see no reason to distrust them."

Satisfied with their answers, I looked up to my genius friend. "They pass," I said with an awkward grin and matching chuckle. "You can send them home with a clear conscience." I hesitated as a thought crossed my mind. "You...can send them home, right?"

"Oh, yes!" Kotomi exclaimed, clapping excitedly; an amusing sight for a thirty-six-year-old woman. "Before bringing them here, I recorded their temporal signatures and executed a search through the Dimensional Viewer to-"

"Okay," I interrupted as politely as I could. "I think we get the idea."

"I'll admit to being curious about your viewer," Jeff said, which surpri-... Actually, no it didn't. "But my questions regarding that can wait until later."

Mayonaka seemed confused and looked like she was about to ask something, but Takeshi waved her down.

"If ya can go to another universe and come back safely, I'd like ta invite you to visit our universe when ya take us home," Takeo suggested.

"Yes! If they haven't found our Kotomi yet, you may be able to help our researchers find her," Kohaku added.

I sat up in alarm, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Kyou and Jeff do the same. "Find her?" Kyou asked, beating me to the punch. "You mean, she's lost?"

"Are you...going to kidnap me?" a timid voice asked, and before I knew it I had put myself between Kotomi and the quartet and made eye contact with Gouda, who nodded once as he lowered his arms.

"Everyone settle down," a gentle but firm voice ordered, and I looked to Jeff as he sat, not having moved at all. "If they were here to kidnap Ichinose-sensei, they would have done it long before she could have called us, not to mention that she brought them over here." He spread his hands. "Besides, it looks like they've been otherwise preoccupied."

I briefly puzzled over his words until I remembered the children playing elsewhere. "Oh," I murmured, and started to relax. "Now I feel stupid."

"It happens to the best of us," Jeff said with an easy smile as Gouda crossed his arms again.

"To answer your question though; we can't fix the wrong in our world with something like kidnapping," Takeshi replied. "Our Kotomi is the mother to three children and we decided long ago that she couldn't simply be replaced by another one. There is another Kotomi who has helped us with the search to find ours, and we greatly appreciate her help. But we would never do anything that she wouldn't like. Our Kyou-sama wouldn't forgive us for that, but we wouldn't do it anyway."

"Kotomi-hakase..." Kohaku seemed lost in a troubled memory for a moment, but shook her head and continued, "...went to another universe where her parents were still alive. There was a problem with the machines and the wormhole. That's how she was lost."

"An' we ask fer your help cause it seems like nobody understands our Kotomi's science like another Kotomi," Takeo added.

"My parents…"

I looked over my shoulder at Kotomi, who gave me an anxious glance to which I replied with a smile. "Well…? This sounds like something right up your alley."

"But-!" Our collective gaze shifted to the enormous security chief, whose arms had dropped from their crossed position to match his expression of disbelief. "Ichinose-sensei! As chief of Sci-Tek Labs' security, I cannot allow you to...to leave the facility like this...again!"

"Gouda-kun…" Kotomi breathed.

As I watched the exchange I had the nagging feeling that Gouda's interest in my childhood friend's safety went beyond the professional. It was just a hunch, though.

"Tiny is invited too, if ya like," Takeo said with a grin; from his expression it appeared he had come to a similar conclusion.

Gouda must have realized that he had lost his composure, as he quickly crossed his arms and put on his Fierce Face again. "I...will consider your offer."

"The sciencey-types that are helping to look for Kotomi-hakase have a mountain of research that I'm sure they'd share with you," Kohaku offered as I reclaimed my seat.

I glanced up at Kotomi; I knew that the possibility of gaining knowledge would be a temptation to my scientific friend.

"That…certainly is tempting…" she admitted as her eyes lost focus, confirming my belief. Then she blinked back to reality. "I…will consider your offer."

It was my turn to blink as I realized that she'd used the exact same phrasing as her likely admirer.

"I-Ichinose-sensei…?"

Kotomi looked across the room at her volunteer bodyguard. "I have not yet committed to the endeavor, Gouda-kun, but I am willing to discuss the ramifications of my decision with you later."

Gouda's face contorted, apparently wanting to say more, but he eventually gave a simple grunt along with a short nod.

"I hesitate to ask this of you…" Takeshi said then paused, apparently considering his next words. "We were well-off in the world you brought us from and we will be okay when you get us home. But for now…none of our money would work in your universe."

"It would be considered counterfeit, wouldn't it?" Jeff realized.

"Exactly. So, I would humbly request if you could take care of us while we are here." Takeshi bowed and was immediately followed by the other three in their group, causing the rest of us to exchange surprised looks.

"My…church has a fund specifically for families in need," Jeff offered as the visiting group raised their heads.

"That's not a bad idea," Kyou murmured thoughtfully. Then she turned her attention to Kotomi. "You're pretty well-to-do, aren't you? You brought them here; shouldn't you take care of them?"

"That is...true," Kotomi conceded. "I will admit that I did not fully consider the possible consequences of my decision, so…" She suddenly turned and bowed to her guests. "If you are okay with me, I would be happy to care for you until I can return you to your proper…" She trailed off, which surprised me; 'universe' or 'dimension' seemed like the most likely choices for finishing her sentence. "...your proper home."

"Tomoya-kun, Mika-chan, Kyou-chan, Ashton-sensei, Gouda-kun; have a pleasant evening," our hostess said with a bow.

"Thanks for dinner!" Kyou called as the five of us headed away from her house. She glanced over her shoulder at Kotomi's house several times before speaking again. "That was weird…"

"Yeah," I agreed; even though I'd never be able to explain how I knew, I just knew that I'd just had conversation and a dinner with visitors from another…reality. "Something about them felt…different, and I don't think it's because…because they've been gang members but I haven't."

"Their kids were a lot of fun, though," Mika giggled as she gave my arm a squeeze.

I chuckled. "I imagine kids are pretty much kids wherever they are; not enough life experiences to be too different yet."

"Youhei was so cute," she squealed as she squeezed my arm again, though I cringed at the name. "He couldn't use very many words, but I feel like we connected."

I chuckled to myself but otherwise continued silently along the road as the others chatted amongst themselves.

"We'll be going this way," Jeff said abruptly as we neared an intersection. "Tomoya-san, Mika; Have a pleasant evening."

"'Night, Pastor Jeff," I replied.

"Good-night, Uncle Jeff!" added, though with a lot more enthusiasm.

"Gouda-san, it was a pleasure meeting you." Jeff said to the huge man. "May God bless your day."

"Ah. You as well, Ashton-sensei," the massive security guard intoned with a bow. "And to you as well, Fujibayashi-san."

"Thanks Gouda, you too." Kyou waved over her shoulder as she and Jeff headed down the side road, and I noticed that she looked at me before indicating Gouda with her eyes. "See ya, Tomoya."

I nodded, hoping but unsure that I understood what she was trying to communicate as the three of us continued down the road. "You live far from work, Gouda?"

I flat him glance over at me. "N-Not far, Okazaki-sama."

'Okazaki-sama', huh? I figured the extra respect was due to my friendship with Kotomi. "Do you enjoy your work?"

A brief pause. "I do. I consider it an honor to be able to protect others as well as research important to Japan's future."

"Do you like Kotomi-sensei, sir?" my bride asked out-of-the-blue.

I felt the road vibrate, and turned to find him at a dead stop. "E-Excuse me?" He stammered.

If Mika was surprised by the effect that Gouda's actions had had on the local environment she didn't show it. "I'm sorry; that was high-school phrasing," she said with a self-conscious giggle. "What I mean is: Are you attracted to Kotomi-sensei?"

I would never have expected to see a blush on such a large man. "I…I…"

"It's okay," she said, trying to console the man as she rested a hand on his massive arm. "For what it's worth, sir; I don't think she knows."

"That's a relief."

I looked back and forth between my wife and the security guard as the latter began to gnaw on a knuckle; how long had she known? "Why is that a relief, Gouda?"

He blinked as though my voice had surprised him. "Be… Because she is so magnificent and intelligent and lovely and…" He looked to the side. "I am aware that I am not much to look at."

There was actually quite a bit of him to look at, but I understood what he meant. "Even if you're right about yourself, that's no reason not to ask her out."

"But-!"

"If you're uncomfortable with the idea, then we'll respect that," she said as she patted his arm a few times. "But it makes me sad that you're denying yourself such a wonderful opportunity. You might be denying her a wonderful opportunity as well."

I blinked, stunned by my young wife's insight.

The big guy heaved a sigh. "You are right, of course. Thank you." He stepped back and bowed deeply, and I could swear I felt a breeze at the movement.

"Maybe we should move on," I suggested, partly because we had to get Ushio, but also to give Gouda some needed space to think.

Mika looked over at me with a gentle smile, making my heart skip a beat. "Okay."

We parted with Gouda a little farther down the road before continuing toward Furukawa Bakery. "That whole thing was pretty tiring," I noted, stifling a yawn.

"You did seem tired at dinner," Mika replied with a sympathetic smile. "Are you going to talk to Sakagami-san?"

I sighed as I remembered Takeo's friendly challenge to the security guard, leading to the pair sparring in Kotomi's backyard for a bit; while Gouda had held his own remarkably well, his opponent proved to be fast as well as strong, to his – and everyone else's – surprise. At dinner afterward, Gouda somehow found out that I knew Sakagami and asked me to introduce him to her – 'So she can teach me how to fight more effectively' he had said. 'I cannot protect Ichi- That is, the laboratory effectively with a slow as I am.' "I'll do my best, but I don't know what her schedule's like," I replied.

She released my arm to stop me with a gentle touch to my chest. "Well, I believe in you," she said, gazing up into my eyes with an innocent love that melted my heart. "You're a good man, Tomoya."

I gazed down into her beautiful face, her large, blue eyes blinking up at me, her slightly pouted lips. "Thank you, love," I murmured before taking her in my arms to kiss her gently…yet passionately.

Author's Note: Many thanks to Mark629 for allowing me to rescue his 'The Kotomi Continuum III' characters from a 'Nagisa Prime' universe. He wrote the dialogue for his characters as well as their mannerisms in the relevant text. Nice working with you again, Mr. Mark!