KyleEvers: Pigs are flying! The impossible has occurred! I finally updated the story! Heh, sorry it took so long. I won't give you any excuses or such, I'll simply say, sorry. I apologize and will do my best to make the time till the next update not as long. Anyways, I hope you will enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 4: A Not So Mysterious Act of Kindness

The next morning, Kyou didn't need the aid of her alarm clock. She was up well before it was even close to going off. Before she knew it, she was up, dressed and preparing both her breakfast and lunch, as usual.

Kyou was a calm, yet powerful force in the kitchen. She needn't rush, nor had any reason to panic while cooking. Years of practice and an innate talent guided her.

Eventually her breakfast was finished, it being at a time when the lunch did not need her immediate attention, just as she'd planned. She promptly sat down to eat, and despite there being no need for any rush, she found herself rushing anyway. She consumed her breakfast rapidly and found herself back within the domain of her kitchen in what felt like seconds.

It was strange. She couldn't figure out why she was so eager to return to her cooking. Granted, she did enjoy it, but never this much. The only reason that seemed even remotely possible was that she was excited about what the lunch meant.

Previously, her life had fallen into a routine, one so predictable that it had grown somewhat dull. Yet something new had come into her life, she had acquired a new friend.

"Friend, huh . . .?" Kyou muttered to herself. When had she started to think of Kale as a friend? Looking back she couldn't think of any specific time, in fact looking back actually cast skepticism on their friendship, seeing as they'd only known each other for a short time. She hadn't even realized that it was only a mere two days since she'd met Kale. It felt like so much longer. She chuckled to herself in remembering the familiar saying, Time flies when you're having fun. However in this case, time seemed to slow down.

Kyou shrugged, it didn't really matter.

Glancing up at the kitchen wall clock, she saw that she had more than enough time till she had to leave for work. Returning to her cooking, she finished fixing her lunch without any problem. After packing it away into a nice black bento she began to gather up her school things as well, a clean work apron here, an extra pair of shoes there. One really couldn't be too careful with a rowdy kindergarten class. Her shoes always seemed to end up missing, so she had an extra pair on hand, just in case.

Then, she fixed her light purple hair up into its usual pony tail, grabbed her apartment keys and walked on out the door. She'd be a little early to work, but that was fine with her. After all, she might catch a glimpse of Kale.

Kyou called out for Botan and once the boar had been properly greeted with a good petting and a treat or two, they finally set off, Botan following Kyou as the two of them traveled on down the familiar street.

As she passed by another set of apartments, not too far from her own and about halfway to school, Kyou caught herself looking at them, since she remembered that this was where Kale lived. After a quick glance at her wristwatch she guessed that he must have already left for work. Shrugging nonchalantly, she continued on.

Soon enough, Kyou had arrived at the preschool. Looking out on the grounds of the front playground she noticed Kale sitting on a bench, looking down at something he held in his hands. Moving closer she could see it was a large pad of paper.

A drawing, maybe? she thought. Kale had told her yesterday that he was an aspiring artist. She moved closer, her presence apparently unknown to him as he was so concentrated on his paper, pencil in hand.

Now just a few feet away, she leaned over and snuck a peek at his artwork. But she couldn't quite tell what the pencil markings were meant to be, they honestly didn't look like anything from this angle.

Finally, Kyou decided to speak up and make her presence known, "Working on some art, huh?"

Kale was caught completely off guard. He flailed slightly, leaning back as he clutched the pad of paper tightly to his chest. He made no outward cry, but his physical actions and wide eyes attested to just how startled he was.

"S-sorry about that," he sighed, once he noticed it was Kyou and returned to a more relaxed position. "I didn't even realize you were there."

"That's kind of a surprise considering how loud Botan is," Kyou pointed her thumb over her shoulder at the large boar. "Gof! Gof!" Botan greeted.

Kale smiled and stood up from the bench. He walked over and gently brushed his hand over her dark brown fur, "Nice to see you, Botan."

She sighed a happy little grunt, quite pleased. Pleasure overwhelmed her so much so, that she slumped to the ground, eyes closing in contentment, while Kale continued to pet her.

Kyou grinned at her antics, chuckling lightly. "Botan really loves a good rub," she informed him.

"I can tell."

"So, what were you drawing anyways?" she inquired, changing subjects.

"Well . . . it wasn't anything important . . ." he mumbled, taking his hand off of Botan. He shifted his feet occasionally, glancing here and there.

"Oh c'mon, what is it? Let me see," Kyou demanded, offering up an open hand to take his drawing pad. Her gaze never shifted from him, it being a powerful weapon in breaking one's resolve.

Kale struggled inwardly for a few moments, obviously debating the matter in his mind. Her powerful gaze chipped away at his feeble defense. He eventually sighed and gave up his drawings to her. "Just promise me you won't laugh."

"Don't worry, I won't." She quickly flipped to the drawing he had been working on and was immediately stunned into silence. Why Kale would ever be embarrassed of his obviously amazing talent, she would never understand.

The drawing was incomplete, but what he had done so far was great. A dragon, similar to those in European myth, was sketched out on the paper, its strong and noble face gazing out towards the viewer. The dragon only needed some more detailing, such as the scales on its tail and rear legs. Even with those tiny details detracting from the quality of the picture, it was still an incredibly beautiful piece.

"You drew this . . .?" Kyou asked quietly in near disbelief. Kale nodded, looking away with a blooming blush coloring his cheeks.

She looked down at the drawing then back to him again. "This is amazing."

"Really?" he asked hopefully. He seemed surprised by the compliment.

"Really," she confirmed with a wide smile, "I remember you saying that your art wasn't good enough for professional work, but I have to disagree. This is great."

"Well I'm glad you like it so much," Kales rubbed the back of his head. "But the thing is that with professionals, they can do all that in a small amount of time. With me . . . well, it takes a really long time. You have to draw manga at a quick and constant pace if you want to make a good amount of money."

"I suppose . . . but, if you created a manga, wouldn't you have assistants that could help you?"

"Well, possibly . . . but the problem is, that it's difficult to get started. I'd need a good amount of savings to keep me supported while I get into the groove of things. Actually, that's why I'm working here, to earn more money."

"As good a plan as any, I suppose," Kyou agreed as she handed back his drawing pad.

Silence fell upon the two of them for a moment, the current topic of conversation having died off, when Kyou suddenly remembered something, "Oh, did you remember to make a dish for lunch today?"

"Yeah, it's a soup that my mother used to make."

"A soup, huh? Are soups your strong point, then? 'Cause you made that stew yesterday."

"Ah well, I guess you could say that," replied Kale, "I never thought about it much, but now that you mention it, I do tend to make a lot of soups. I guess I find them easier to cook, since it's just me at home."

"Hmm . . . well whatever the case is, I'm quite excited to try it," she smiled.

Kyou closed her eyes, maximizing the concentration on her sense of smell. Inhaling, she was overcome by a wave of pleasant aromas.

Opening her eyes she huffed slightly. Yet again, Kale's food smelled absolutely mouth-watering and looking back on the meals he'd prepared before; it probably tasted just as delicious as it smelled. Her gaze then wandered towards the window as she dwelt on her recent past.

The meal that Kale had brought on the day that she'd inspected his artwork had been particularly delicious, so much so, that she was in fact, a tiny bit jealous. Challenging him to yet another lunchtime meal, Kyou was determined to make a better dish then him. He could hardly refuse her challenge, especially since it was more of an order then a request. Normally, she'd have later felt bad for imposing herself on someone, though she would never admit it. In this case however, Kale seemed to enjoy the challenge. He made wonderfully tasty meals which would fire her up even more. She kept on extending the challenge over to the next day, and then the day after that, it continuing on until the end of the school week.

Kyou chuckled softly to herself. Normally, she looked forward to Sundays, her regular day off from work, taken as time to relax and rejuvenate herself for another week of dealing with her lovable, yet tiring class of children. That Sunday however, Kyou found to be incredibly dull. She found herself pacing around in her small apartment, frustratingly agitated, like she had a bothersome itch she couldn't scratch.

Though she went to the park with Botan and spent some quality time at the shopping district, along with all of her usual Sunday activities, nothing satisfied her as it once did. At first she couldn't figure out the reason. But as she lay in bed that Sunday night, feeling anxious for Monday, Kyou finally realized that she actually wanted to go back to work right away. The lunches that she shared with Kale excited her so, that a day without them was now considerably dulled.

The next week commenced and Kale came with a dish for Kyou to sample, just as he said he would. Yet again, it was a great meal, and the challenges continued on, though by now it was more of a friendly event then an attempt to crush him in a cooking competition.

On Wednesday of that week, Kyou had her scooter checked out since it had broken down. Repairs were possible, though due to the old age of her scooter they would be extensive and thus very damaging to her savings. She decided to just go ahead and sell the scooter for parts. It was rather saddening for Kyou, since she had owned that scooter since high school.

The next day Kyou went to work and was quite visibly grumpy. Kale seemed a little reluctant to have lunch with her, for which she couldn't blame him. However they went ahead with it anyway. It was quite uncomfortable at first, but after a couple minutes, they began to talk.

By the end of lunch, Kyou had revealed the whole truth to Kale, making him one of the few people that hadd ever known she'd owned a scooter and actually drove it to school, since such an action could have gotten her suspended. When lunch was over, Kyou found that her bad mood had dispersed almost completely, although she was unsure of why. It's not like she and Kale had done anything special, all they did was talk.

The rest of the week's lunches went on without much event, though Kyou still enjoyed them immensely. When Sunday rolled around, she was once again assaulted by boredom and the burning desire to go back to work. The day progressed very slowly but eventually, it did pass.

When she came back to work on Monday, Kyou seemed so excited that Kale even commented on it, though she simply said it was nothing in particular.

Their shared lunches became a normal part of her routine, albeit one that excited her and she actually looked forward to each day and this was why Kyou found herself tapping her foot, impatiently waiting for Kale to return for lunch. Just as they were about to eat, Kale realized that he had forgotten his utensils. He'd quickly left for the faculty break room, in hopes that he would find them there.

Not wanting to eat by herself, she decided to wait for him, before consuming the delicious smelling food that tempted her sorely. Her classes idle chatter as they ate their own lunches were at least able to distract Kyou somewhat.

Sudden audio emanating from her cell phone grabbed her wandering attention. Flipping it open she immediately recognized the caller as Ryou. Kyou had a good guess as to what it might be: picking out patterns, advice on dresses, flower arrangements, the guest list.

Kyou shuddered at the thought of having to go to go shopping for hours on end, while Ryou tried on hundreds of different wedding dresses or searched for a suitable venue. While she was truly happy for her, it was all starting to become a bit too much. Multiple times now, Ryou had been forced to drag Kyou to go with her to help prepare for the wedding.

Kyou shook her head slightly in disbelief, Ryou and her fiancé hadn't even decided on a date yet. She was her sister though, so Kyou ignored her dread and answered the call.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Onii-chan," happily chirped Ryou. "I wanted to ask you something if I may." Kyou couldn't contain a groan of annoyance when she heard those words. Ryou was most likely going to ask her if she was available tonight. Kyou decided that she would make up some excuse to try and get out of it, at least for today.

"Sure, by all means," she answered dryly.

"Well, I was wondering if you were free this Friday?"

"No, I'm really busy toda- wait, Friday?" Her question caught Kyou off guard, since Ryou usually asked her to go shopping with her on whatever day she happened to call.

"Yeah. Nagisa, Tomoya and the others are planning a party for us this Friday, after you and I get off from work."

"Party? Why are they throwing us a party? You're the one who's engaged," said Kyou, quite confused.

"An engagement party? No, no, it's not for me, Sis. Did you forget what the ninth of this month is?"

"The ninth? What's so special about the ninth . . .?" Kyou mumbled to herself.

Suddenly it struck her like a bolt of lightning, how could she forget about September ninth?

"Oh of course, it's our birthday!" laughed Kyou. "I totally forgot, sorry about that."

"Well it's perfectly understandable." Ryou chuckled along with her sister. "We're adults now; we have quite a few things to worry about other then birthday parties."

"Yeah, now birthdays only remind us of how old we are," Kyou sighed.

"Hey, we're only turning 26, it's not like we're old women," quickly retorted Ryou.

Kyou couldn't help but giggle. "Yeah I suppose. Anyway, Friday's open as far as I know."

"Ah, good. That's nice to hear. We'll all be by to pick you up after you get off work," Ryou told her.

"Alright. See ya then."

"Hope to talk to you again soon." The phone gave a click signaling that Ryou had hung up. Kyou closed her phone and sighed happily, looking forward to Friday.

Suddenly, a voice drifted from behind her. "Your birthday's this Friday, huh?"

Surprised, Kyou shrieked, jumping a few inches from her sitting position. Whirling around she glared at Kale. Quickly grabbing a nearby dictionary, she jumped up to a standing position, and whacked him soundly on the top of the head. Thankfully for him, she didn't hit him as hard as she'd practiced on other certain people, namely Sunohara. Otherwise Kale would have immediately taken to the floor.

"Don't you dare do that again!" she growled at him.

He rubbed his head, wincing in pain, as he looked back at her warily. "Sorry about that," apologized the janitor. "You could say I'm simply returning the favor," Kale said in regards to her surprising him that morning two weeks ago, when he'd been drawing in the courtyard.

The return glare from Kyou made him drop the weak attempt at teasing, and instead turned the conversation to another subject. "But, I did hear that your birthday is this Friday, right?"

"Yeah it's no big deal though. Just another birthday," Kyou blew it off, acting all nonchalant. She didn't want Kale to feel obligated to do anything for her. Knowing how nice he was, he'd most likely want to make a big deal out of it.

"Hmm, I know the feeling. After twenty-five years of birthdays they can get to be . . . how should I put it . . . expected, I suppose. The more that go by, the more they lose the mystique they once had when we were children. Though, sharing your birthday with friends can make it fun again."

"Yeah, that is true," agreed Kyou. Then, remembering their lunch, "Hey, how bout we eat now? I'm starving."

"Yeah, sure."

They sat down on the cloth laid out on the classroom floor. They both chorused the standard, "Itadakimasu" and then began to eat. At first, words were hardly exchanged, the two of them concentrating on the delicious meals they had prepared, though a few compliments were exchanged between the two, Kale praising Kyou's cooking skills and vice versa.

"So, when is your birthday anyways?" wondered Kyou. Kale did not speak immediately, as he was chewing his food at the time. After he was done he turned to face her as he spoke.

"March twenty-first. I was born in 1987."

"1987 huh?" said Kyou in mild surprise. "I was born in 1986."

"Guess that makes you older than me."

"Hey!" she suddenly barked. A few of the kindergartners looked up and saw that their teacher's wrath was not directed at them. Knowing this, they promptly resumed eating, while Kale looked surprised and even a little scared. Kyou kept her glare on the janitor for a few moments; her frightening purple gaze almost seemed to burn a hole through its intended target.

"I am not old!" she growled and leaned forward, he leaning back from her in response.

"I never said anything about you being old, I just said you were older than me," he quickly stammered, in hopes of calming the storm that was Kyou's wrath.

Luckily for the janitor it did work, as Kyou quickly realized that what he said was true. She leaned back, her face a clear indication of the fact that she was quite embarrassed for the misunderstanding. Eating was resumed quickly, mostly to try and avoid the awkward air that now hung in between them. Since no more significant conversations arose between the two, they were finished rather quickly. After the two gave back their empty dishes, Kale stood up.

"You're leaving already?" Since the latter part of their meal had been consumed with considerable speed, they still had quite a bit of free time before the lunch break was over. They could still sit and talk.

"Yeah," Kale sighed. "I'm sorry to leave, but there's something I have to do."

Kyou looked at him somewhat suspiciously, guessing that he was running away since she'd snapped at him earlier. However she wasn't sure and so kept her mouth shut about it. "Okay, see ya later then."

"Later," replied Kale.

When they had lunch together again the next day, Kyou noticed that Kale seemed somewhat distracted. From what she had gathered over the past two weeks she'd known him, Kale was a quiet fellow. But even taking that into consideration, it didn't seem to explain why he barely said anything at all during lunch. Kale also ate rather fast and once he was done he quickly excused himself, saying that he had some errand to run. Kyou did not object, but was still rather curious about his behavior.

Wednesday was almost exactly the same as the day before. He said very little during lunch and as soon as he was done, he left in a hurry. Kyou still looked forward to lunch, but it had turned more into a source of curiosity.

Thursday passed in much the same way that the previous days had. Kyou couldn't help but wonder if Kale would do the same thing on her birthday.

When Kyou showed up to school on Friday, she saw Kale washing the outside windows as he so often did. Though apparently, work was not as absorbing as his artwork was. He turned to face her, most likely because he'd heard Botan, as she tended to make grunts and snuffles as she walked. Once Kale's gaze beheld who was approaching, he smiled instantly.

"Good Morning Fujibayashi-san," he happily greeted her. Although the greeting was warm and friendly, basically pleasant all-around, there was one part that sent chills up Kyou's spine.

"Please, there's no need to call me Fujibayashi-san," said Kyou as she suppressed yet another shiver. "Being called that by my friends, it makes me feel old . . ."

"Friend?" whispered Kale. Kyou looked at him, somewhat confused by the surprised tone of his voice. She saw that Kale was pointing to himself, looking surprised.

"You consider me a friend?" he asked quietly.

"Well of course, why not?" she put a hand on her hip. "We've eaten lunch together for the past two weeks. If I didn't like you, then I wouldn't have agreed to that." While Kyou did think that making a new friend was nice and all, she didn't see it as an extremely big deal.

Kale must have though, for he bowed deeply, saying, "Thank you very much." Returning to a standing position he asked, "What would you like me to call you if not, Fujibayashi-san?"

Kyou shrugged. "Just call me Kyou."

"You sure? You don't want me to call you something like, Kyou-chan?"

"No!" she exclaimed suddenly. Her exclamation startled both Kale and Botan, surprised by the strength of it. Kyou sighed as she rubbed the bridge of her nose for a moment. The -chan suffix with her forename just seemed too . . . cutesy.

"Just . . . Kyou, will be fine," she said exasperated by the situation.

"Very well, if that is your wish I will comply with it," Kale gave a slight bow. Suddenly, he bolted upright. "Oh! I almost forgot! Happy Birthday, Kyou!"

"Thanks," she smiled. Hearing those words from Kale made her oddly happy. Just on their own, those few words were quite worthy of being a most wonderful birthday present.

"Do you have a moment to spare?"

"Sure, it's still pretty early, plenty of time before class begins," shrugged Kyou.

Kale seemed to become excited at hearing these words. After placing down his cleaning supplies, he asked for Kyou to wait just a second. She simply nodded.

Once that was settled, he practically ran into the building, further puzzling Kyou, who in vain looked to Botan for answers. The boar only looked back at her master and emitted a soft grunt of confusion.

Kale came back out of the building with a very large pad of paper held carefully in his hands.

"Well first off, I want to say sorry for using her as a subject without your permission," said Kale, pointing at Botan. "I also couldn't decide on the exact nature of the piece I wanted to make, so to make it simple I just sketched two pieces." Kyou gave him a confused look, to which the janitor chuckled. "Maybe I should just show you." Flipping the torso-sized pad of paper around, he showed Kyou her birthday present.

The purple-haired young woman was instantly stunned. It was a picture of a boar, it certainly being none other than Botan, done in a realistic manner. Although it had minor flaws here and there, its beauty was still incredible. She was certain that if Kale wanted to be, he had the potential to become a professional artist.

"T-this is amazing!" she gasped, staggered by his skill.

Botan grunted, giving her usual, "Gof! Gof!" She was rather pleased to be featured in an art piece.

"Thanks," said Kale, face beaming with happiness. "It's for you."

"M-me?" Kyou stammered.

"Yep, this is my birthday present to you. Although, this isn't the only piece I made for your birthday. Remember how I said I couldn't decide on the exact nature of the piece I wanted to do?" Kyou quickly nodded her affirmative answer. "Well, I made two sketches of Botan. One done realistically like this one here, and the other . . . well, you should see for yourself." Kale flipped the piece of paper that was on top of the others to reveal another drawing.

The moment Kyou realized exactly what was on the paper, she burst out laughing. It was another drawing of Botan, although this one had more of a cartoonish nature. Realism obviously was not considered much at all, for the Botan in this picture wore a small cape, she flying through the air like a superhero.

"You like it then?"

"I love it," replied Kyou once she'd finally stifled her laughter. "I'm sorry for laughing so hard. It's not that I think it's silly or anything like that. I just laughed because . . . well, because it was so funny."

"Heh, well I didn't think it that funny," sheepishly said Kale as he blushed slightly. "But I'm glad you like it."

"Not just like it, I love it!" exclaimed Kyou. Botan grunted loudly, running around in circles beside the two of them. She chuckled at her antics. "Botan loves it too," Kyou translated.

"Thank you," Kale grinned, elated that his artwork was received so well. "But I'll have to officially give them to you later. I don't want to tear them off just by hand, I might rip the picture."

"That's perfectly fine."

Then something suddenly came to her, "So, Kale, is this the reason why you've been rushing through lunches all week?"

"Yeah," he admitted, "Like I said before it takes me a while to do my art work, especially fancy pieces such as these." Kale nervously rubbed the back of his head as he shifted his gaze here and there.

The silence that had fallen upon them felt somewhat awkward and judging from how Kale was acting, he must have felt so too. Unable to think of anything to say, but wanting to make certain that he knew just how appreciative she was for the thoughtful gift, Kyou let her actions speak for her. Walking forward, Kyou wrapped her arms around Kale, giving him a gentle hug. He stood there, shocked for a moment by her actions.

Kyou's voice was barely a whisper, "Thank you."

Somewhat timidly, Kale returned the gesture, wrapping one of his arms around her, the other arm holding the pad of paper trapped between them. For a few brief seconds everything around them, the whole world itself, seemed to stand still. Eventually Kyou realized that she had been hugging Kale for quite a few seconds now. She pushed away from him, face blushing furiously. She attempted to stutter something. Eventually, Kyou was able to utter the words she was looking for.

"If you tell anyone what happened just now, I'll kill you," she muttered, face still blushing. The threat carried with it an air of malevolence that made Kale gulp. He nodded quickly.

"W-well . . . um. . ." Kyou looked for something else to say, anything to distract them from the even more awkward air that now hung between them. Finally, an idea came to her.

"Uh, later today some of my friends are getting together to throw a party for me and my sister Ryou, since it is our birthday and all. How about you join us?" she asked.

"As long as it would not be an imposition, I would be honored to join you," said Kale, bowing slightly.

The rest of the day passed without much other event, although Kyou's students did give her an enthusiastic round of "Happy Birthdays," when they walked in the door.

When Kale and Kyou met for lunch, their conversation was somewhat more subdued then most of their other ones, as awkwardness still tinged the air between them, although it wasn't as bad as it had been that morning. Kyou filled Kale in on her friends and informed him that they were all coming to pick them up from school after work.

When the school day came to an end, Kale found Kyou just outside the front of the school, bidding her students farewell as they left with their parents. Most of them were already gone, except for one little girl in particular.

Ushio stood with Kyou, waiting for her own parents to arrive. When she saw Kale approaching, she waved. "Hi, San-san!"

Kale's face broke out into a smile as he walked over to them. "Hello Ushio-chan," he greeted warmly, "And hello to you too, Kyou."

"Hey Kale," replied the kindergarten teacher.

"So, where are these friends of yours?"

"Right on time!" Kyou replied, pointing down the street.

Kale followed her finger and saw a small group of people walking down the sidewalk, having just turned the corner. While most were not familiar to Kale, Kyou recognized everyone in the group, waving at them all merrily with an arm stretched long over her head. "Hey!"

Ushio immediately ran to greet them. "Mama! Papa!" she called out happily.

Kale recognized Ushio's mother, Nagisa. The man who bent down and scooped Ushio up, Kale obviously assumed was her father.

"Hey, everyone!" Kyou called out to the group once they were closer. Everyone returned the greeting, along with happy birthday wishes.

"Hey, who's that Kyou?" asked the man Kale assumed to be Ushio's father.

"This is my friend Kale Saunders, he works as our janitor at here at the preschool," replied Kyou, then looking to Kale, "Kale, these are my friends."

Next, she clapped her hands sharply, gaining everyone's attention, "Now, everyone go ahead and be so kind as to introduce yourselves."

"Hey, I'm Tomoya Okazaki, Ushio's father," greeted Tomoya, giving a nod instead of a bow since he still held Ushio in his arms.

"A pleasure to meet you," replied Kale.

"I believe we've already met Saunders-san," said Ryou as she stepped forward, smiling brightly.

"Indeed we have. It is good to see you again, Fujibayashi-san" said Kale in response, giving a bow to her as well.

"And I you," Ryou returned the bow.

"We have met before too, right?" asked Nagisa.

"Yes we did," said Kale. "As I said to Fujibayashi-san, it is a pleasure to meet you again."

"Alright, enough with that!" suddenly exclaimed Kyou. Everyone stopped and looked to her, wondering exactly as to what she wished to stop.

The purple-haired young woman began to explain. "If we go through introductions one at a time like this, we'll be here all night!" she growled. "Let me speed things up. Kale that is Tomoyo Sakagami, Kotomi Ichinose, and Youhei Sunohara," Kyou named them off quickly, pointing to a silver haired woman, a dark purple haired woman, and to a short black haired man each in turn. Then Kyou started in surprise and without allowing Kale to even finish greeting them, said, "Wait . . . what are you doing here Kotomi? Weren't you studying abroad in America?"

"I was, but, since I had a lull in my studies, I decided to come back home for a bit. I still plan on coming back for New Year's, but I just couldn't wait to see everyone again."

"Are you just going to ignore me!" yelled Sunohara to Kyou. "I came from out of town too!"

"Yes, yes I know. . ." Kyou feigned annoyance. Then she stopped teasing him and smiled appreciatively to the energy-filled Sunohara. "Thanks for coming."

"It's good to see everyone again," said Tomoyo with a wide smile.

"Yes, it feels so nice when we're all together like this," Nagisa concluded.

"Though we have an addition to the group," pointed out Sunohara as he draped an arm across Kale's shoulders. "So are you some sort of foreigner or something?" he inspected his face closely.

Kale leaned backwards some, trying to increase the small distance that the scrutinizing Sunohara had initially put between their faces. "I suppose so; I'm originally from America."

"Now now, that's not important," growled Kyou as she planted her palm in Sunohara's face and pushed him forcibly away from Kale, she noticing how uncomfortable he was getting with Sunohara. She certainly couldn't blame him; Sunohara didn't have the most tactful personality and was sometimes abrasive with others.

Sunohara almost tripped over his feet as he was pushed backwards. "Hey!" he rounded on Kyou, "I was just trying to get to know him better! Why'd you need to be so rough?"

"Yeah, Kyou's right," said Tomoyo, ignoring Sunohara's outburst. "After all, we're here to celebrate the birthday of two of our dearest friends."

"That's true," replied Sunohara, quickly forgetting his anger. "And we all know what celebrating means! PARTY!"

Everyone cheered happily in agreement. With the introductions finally out of the way, the group left to their destination, happy chatter buzzing among them.

They went out to eat a nice restaurant, and then rented a karaoke box- Sunohara's treat –exchanged presents and ate cake until they all just about exploded.

But Kyou wasn't really concerned with all of the details. All she knew, was that that night was one of the most fun she'd ever had, made even more so due to the including of her new friend. Kyou would look back fondly on that day for a long time to come.