"We'll go sneak inside the school during this time... and stick around until morning", said a tall boy, 17 years old, blue hair, holding the hand of a girl the same age, but with a much shorter stature, black hair, and a paper bag in her other hand.
"We should try not to get caught by the teachers on night watch though...", he continued. "But this fires me up somehow"
And so, they jumped over the locked gates and made their way into the school. It was a cool night, the breeze gently brushing against their cheeks as they headed for the school building. Tomoya and Fuko walked further into the school, with slow steps, careful not to alert the teacher on night duty. They kept walking without saying as much as a word to each other until they reached a certain classroom in the old school building. Only the two of them. Furukawa couldn't tag along since she was stuck in bed with a slight fever, but her parents were positive that she'll be fine by tomorrow.
"So... this is where it all begun, huh?", said Tomoya with a faint smile on his lips.
"Yes...", Fuko replied quietly, in a manner that was quite uncharacteristic for her.
For a snap second, it felt like the two were lost in some kind of nostalgic reverie, but they shook it off pretty quickly.
"We really managed to get in", concluded Tomoya, trying to ease the mood between the two of them when he heard the sound of ripping besides him.
When he looked back, Fuko already had the paper bag she held in her hand when they jumped the school gates ripped apart. She took the birthday set from inside and placed it on top of a desk.
"Hey, Fuko... you're pretty hasty", he concluded, with an amused grin.
"Fuko can't really hold on much longer", came the reply from the girl who was speaking about herself in third person.
"Oh man, you're such a kid", Tomoya teased, even more amused than before.
"Fuko's just small. Her personality's a lot like how Okazaki-san's an adult", said Fuko in a serious voice, as to reinforce her statement.
"I don't want to be told that by someone who gets excited over opening her toy wrappers...", he deadpanned.
"Fuko knows that, but her hands won't stop themselves!", the short girl defended herself, almost frantically.
"That's because you're a kid.", he said matter-of-factly.
Fuko didn't bother retorting and expressed her joy instead. "It's very, very exciting", she said, before going off in her usual trance. That's where Tomoya picked up the birthday set lying on the desk and hit it behind his back, waiting for the girl to snap out her daydream.
"Wah... they disappeared!", Fuko said after a while.
"They're here", he answered and placed the birthday set back on the desk. After putting them down, Tomoya tried having Fuko wear the tricon, but she slapped his hand away, dejected.
"Ah, Okazaki-san, don't pick up Fuko's treasure!", she said, expressing her indignation.
"If you're an adult, then deal with it.", he retorted.
For a second, Fuko closed her eyes with a "Mph..." as if trying to make up her mind, but soon opened them again with a new found determination.
"Fuko will become a kid for a moment", she concluded, unable to give in to her childish desires. As she said that, she rushed in towards the desk, hitting Tomoya in the process. He colapsed and leaned against the wall, as Fuko claimed her valuable possessions. Then, she jumped on top of Tomoya.
"Ow, ow... why you little..."
Still trying to recover from the impact, Tomoya felt a girly scent filling his nostrils. It was a slightly different smell from Furukawa's, but he could tell they used the same shampoo and soap. However, Fuko's scent was more... tender, is what he'd describe it if he could put it into words. It made him feel dizzy, almost if he was in a trance in that very moment. He made no effort to snap out of it as the girl on top of him eyed him with her usual sharp glare. Unlike usual, there was a hint of softness in that look.
"Fuko is just being a kid right now. Please forgive her", she said after a while.
"You an adult now?", Tomoya asked with a slightly mocking smile.
"Yes, an adult", Fuko answered without hesitation.
"Then... can I kiss you?", he asked, half lost in the atmosphere, half playing around.
"O-of course not!..", Fuko denied him frantically, with flushed cheeks, while trying to keep her cool. This question seems to have taken her aback as Tomoya realized the implications behind that reaction that seemed to be so out-of-character for this little girl.
"Just the cheek is fine", he retorted, to clear the misunderstanding. Even though "just the cheek" left the implication that he wouldn't have minded more. Tomoya almost mentally slapped himself as he realized that.
"Your drool will stick. It's dirty!", she said with her closed eyes. She seemed to have regained her usual attitude, but her cheeks were still bright red.
"Just how much of a brat can you be?", he said with an expressionless face. Tomoya raised his arms to get Fuko off him and placed her back on her feet.
"But Fuko has never been told such a thing. It makes her heart beat a little faster", she said, rather enthusiastically.
"Are you even aware how popular you are with all that bodyguards following you around?", he retorted, trying to change the subject.
"By Okazaki-san, not by others", was her reply.
"Ah yeah... Well, I'm just a man after all", he said, somehow awkwardly. "Do you know that you look pretty cute when you behave yourself?"
Fuko didn't reply immediately, stopping to think for a second.
"Do you think Fuko is cute...?"
"Hm? Yeah, I think so"
At that, Fuko blushed deeper and after a snap second, stopped to fix her hair. "T-thank you very much", she managed. "It makes Fuko a little happy", she said with a bright smile. For a second, she seemed hesitant about somehing, as if trying to tell him something really embarrassing. In that moment, Tomoya thought how rare it was for Fuko to act like a girl her age and found the change in behavior quite... refreshing? Cute? Refreshingly cute? He couldn't pinpoint it.
In the mean time, Fuko collected herself, as if her thoughts did a 360 into a completely different direction.
"Now then... please give it back! Fuko can't hold on anymore!", she said with childish enthusiasm.
Way to kill the mood, Tomoya thought, amazed by how quick she turned back to being a kid. Netherless, he complied, handing Fuko the birthday set he stole from her earlier. Fuko grabbed it like a child [l0l], with stars in her eyes, and grabbed the tricorn from the inside and placed it on top of her head. Then, she turned to Tomoya.
"Does it look good on Fuko? Does it?"
"I'm sure if you put that on, you'll be number one in Japan", he replied, giving her a thumbs up.
Seeing this, Fuko's cheeks blushed a little, and she left out a giggle. "Fuko's getting embarrassed!"
Well, not that Tomoya hated the sight of her enthusiasm, but it did seem like she was getting ahead of herself a little, so he had to ask.
"But Kouko-san's wedding is the day after tomorrow. Isn't that a bit too early to get all excited...?"
"But... Can't we congratulate her in advance?", she retorted with a serious face.
"In advance? For the wedding?"
"Yes."
Tomoya just stared at her incredulously. "But she's not even here", he blinked.
"So we can't do it now?", she asked, looking at Tomoya with puppy eyes that were enough for him to reconsider.
"I wouldn't say we can't, but... You want it that much?", he asked. She nodded earnestly. Then, Tomoya glanced at the birthday set on the table. Crackers and candles. There were no cakes or drinks, but that shouldn't be a problem. They could just get some drinks from a vending machine in the cafeteria and fire those crackers.
"Fine. Let's do it.", he conceded.
"You're the best!", Fuko said happily.
It was the first time hearing that from Fuko. It was so sudden that he felt a bit of warmth creeping into his cheeks, but he gave her a warm, teasing smile.
"You just want to fool around in that hat, don't you?"
"Of course not!", she snapped before releasing a couple of ragged breaths that signaled her entry into the dream world.
"The way you're breathing so excitedly already says it all...", he countered, deadpanning. He left out a sigh. "Fine, what are we supposed to do?"
"We can light up the candles and fire the crackers", she answered. Seemed like the obvious choice.
"Well, that's about all we've got. Right. I can buy some drinks from the machines at the school cafeteria"
"That's a wonderful idea!", Fuko said, beaming. Tomoya picked up on it.
"Your tension is quite high today, isn't it?"
Having said that, they walked out of the classroom, side by side, heading towards the school cafeteria. Once they got there, they made their way to the vending machine, with Fuko basically sprinting towards it as she left Tomoya behind. Once he reached her, he pulled out his wallet and handed her 100 yen.
"My treat", he said.
Fuko grabbed the coin and placed it in the machine's slot, then ordered a straberry juice. Tomoya did the same, opting for a coffee milk instead. They made their way back into the classroom, walking side by side in a comfortable silence.
They placed their drinks on the table, and Tomoya picked up the candles. "I'm going to light em", he said, turning to Fuko. "Got the match?"
"It comes with the candle"
"Excellent"
They stand the candle up and sat it on fire. Promply, the empty classroom was covered in a layer of small orange light coming from the candle. They didn't want to turn the lights on as it could be seen from the outside and they would have probably gotten caught, but this small of a light was fine in its own way. Fuko seemed to have another opinion though.
"It's so pretty", she said, happily.
"Whatever you say..."
"Next, let's try the crackers!", Fuko answered with a straight face. Yeah, that wouldn't be a good idea. It might as well blow up their cover.
"It's going to let one huge-ass noise", Tomoya retorted, voicing his thoughts.
"Of course it will. It's supposed to be a gun salute", said Fuko, unimpressed. And we're sneaking into school to fire a gun salute. Talk about freaky.
"Yeah, just go all out...", he said, defeated.
"Okay"
Then, she picked up a cracker.
"Well then, please let's say it in unison", Fuko said, turning to Tomoya.
"Say what?", he asked
"It's 'Onee-chan, congratiulations'!", she answered matter-of-factly. Tomoya left out a sigh and answered with a "sure". Note to self: extra energetic Fuko was too much to handle. It's like, once her excitement levels were high enough, she'd be all over the place.
"Then, let's start!"
"Onee-chan, congratiulations!"
"Kouko-san, congratiulations!"
While they were shouting their greetings in unison, Fuko blew through the cracker straight towards Tomoya's face. He flinched for a second, the sound startling him so much he felt the need to rub his ears. This fucking brat.
"Hey-! You feel like breaking my eardrums?!", he shouted at the short girl before him. Payback time. He grabbed the remaining cracker, shouted the greeting, and aimed it at Fuko's face.
"Wah! Fuko's ears are ringing", she let out a complain.
"So are mine!", he shouted back at the girl. She paid no mind to Tomoya's shouting, focusing on the weird feeling on her head.
"Something's hanging from Fuko's head"
"That's paper tape", he replied.
"Okazaki-san as well", she said, her eyes darting to Tomoya's head.
"Seriously...", he said, rolling his eyes. Fuko seemed to be enjoying herself so far, though. That alone put a small smile on his face.
"It's so strange", she giggled.
"Somehow, with the way we're congratiulating her...", he begin, but trailed off midway. With the way we're congratiulating her, we look like two freaks, he wanted to say, but stopped before finishing his sentence. Partly because Fuko seemed to be having the time of her life and partly for he knew that she wouldn't be able to congratulate her sister in person.
The two of them looked at each other for a moment, before they started laughing in unison, their voices echoing through the empty classroom.
After a while, they sat by each other, with their legs stretched on the floor and their backs against the teacher's desk. They were the only two people in school at this hour. The thought was peaceful. For some reason, it seemed strange enough that he'd end up sleeping in school outside classes. Then again, a lot of things have been changing lately. Suddenly, he felt a chill breeze brush against his cheek. It was a chill night and they were sleeping on the floor in an empty classroom. Of course he'd feel cold. He turned his head to Fuko.
"The night's surprisingly cold... you should get a bit closer, so you can be warm...", he called out to her.
Fuko seemed reluctant at first, but then, with a sigh, she leaned against Tomoya, their shoulders touching in the process. A tense Fuko gradually begun relaxing and laid her head on Tomoya's shoulders. They both stare at the candle light. It's weak flame were still lighting up the classroom, burning their way. As they both sat there in silence, he felt the sight of the flame pierce into his very soul. It burned slowly, sadly, as if it was saying this was all a dream. What would happen... when he woke up from the dream?
"Fuko?", he called, but the only answer he received was her sleeping sound.
Silently, Tomoya looked at her face being lit by the flames. He turned to look at the barely lit classroom and the more he looked at everything, the more it all seemed like a fleeting dream.
She stared at the sleeping face of the person she lay next to. This weird person who took her knife away the first time they met, out of concern that she was cutting herself. This weird person who always played pranks on her when she was daydreaming. This weird person who always made fun of starfish despite how cute they are. This weird person who always helped her, despite Fuko being mature enough to take care of herself and nobody asking the weird person to get involved with her. Normally, Okazaki-san's face was stern looking, bored, almost angry, but when he slept, he looked so defenseless. Like a baby. She also recalled how, at times, his angy face would soften into a smile, if ever so briefly.
She bought herself in front of him. Okazaki-san and Nagisa-san were meant to be, she thought. Everyone who was close enough to the two of them could see it, and would consider the two of them idiots for not hooking up already. Fuko would disappear soon. She had no place in their future together. Even so, if there was ever a time to be selfish, it would be now.
"This is an extra bonus from Fuko to Okazaki-san", she whispered softly.
With that, she closed the distance between her and his sleeping face. For a moment, she only stared at him. Then, she pressed her lips against his.
When she parted, she resumed her place next to him, and grabbed his hand. "Please, Okazaki-san, remember Fuko...", she whispered quietly, as tears poured freely from her face.
When he woke up in the morning, Tomoya felt a hand grabbing his. He checked his surroundings. 'That's right, I slept at school last night. With...', he glanced over to Fuko, who was holding her hand in his palm. She was still sleeping, the only thing Tomoya could hear in this empty classroom being her soft breaths. Gently, he shook her by the shoulder with his free hand.
Fuko slowly opened her eyes, still heavy with drowsiness. Her eyes fell on her hand... which was grabbing Tomoya's. Suddenly, she let go of his hand and yelped in surprise and took a few steps back.
"Okazaki-san is grabbing Fuko's hand. He probably thought of something perverted. Fuko doesn't feel safe!", she shouted.
"...Uhm... It was you who grabbed my hand?", he deadpanned.
"T-there's no way Fuko would do something like t-that!", she yelled even louder, burrying her blushing face in her hands.
Tomoya watched her with awe, unsure what to say. The sight of Fuko acting like this was foreign to him. He... didn't dislike it.
