Chapter 3 – Home?

It was more of a hassle getting into their car than I'd hoped frankly, it's hard to get your legs to cooperate when you don't have any muscle control over them. My physio had suggested that it may be helpful to strap my ankles and knees together, for better control, I just thought it couldn't possibly be helpful. I was beginning to change my mind already.

Once we arrived at their house, I could see there was a newly laid path leading round the side of the house. I couldn't help but feel a little awkward, they'd obviously spent a fair amount of money to make it possible for me to live there.

The path was one thing, but then I saw the "Small apartment" I'd be living in. As we entered my eye nearly popped out of my head.

"I thought you said it was small. This isn't much smaller than my dad's old place." To be fair, the main house was huge, so I guess it's relative.

"So, do you like it Tomoya-san?"

"Yeah, it's really, really nice."

"You've got level flooring throughout; the bathroom is a wet room and has all the handles and things you'll ever want." I was lost for words as Ryou's father gave me the tour. "The kitchen counters and appliances are low level, so you'll be able to cook for yourself. The bed is low down too, so it shouldn't be difficult for you to get yourself in and out."

"Y-y-you did all of this… for me?" I was feeling really guilty; it must have cost a fortune to set this place up.

"Oh, no, no. This was supposed to be for my mother, she was very old and didn't get around too well, but she passed away before she could move in. All we've had to do to get it ready for you was to add a handle or grab rail here and there. So you don't need to feel awkward or guilty, okay?"

"Thank you, it's just going to take me a while to adjust to… my new situation."

"I don't doubt it. There's an intercom that'll calls the main house, it's around here somewhere…" Ryou's parents both started rummaging under pillows and things. "Ah ha! Got it, I swear this thing has a life of its own. The green button calls us, or answers an incoming call, and the big red one is for emergencies, I think you'll work the rest out. Ryou knows how everything works anyway."

"Thank you, Hatsuo-san I really, really appreciate everything you're doing for me."

"You're welcome, Tomoya-san, and try to relax, you're home now."

"Oh, and Ryou, we don't mind if you want to stay out here, just for tonight mind you. Just behave yourself." Both Ryou and I turned bright red at what they were implying. Hatsuo-san chuckled to himself as he and Kaori-san left.

"Home huh?" I'd said it mostly to myself really but Ryou must have heard me, she gave me a slightly worried look.

"D-do you not want to think that you can feel at home here or…"

"No, It's nothing like that, it's just… I'm not sure when I last felt like I had a home, my dad's place was, well… my dad's place, just a roof and four walls as far as I'm concerned, the only place I spent time other than school was Sunohara's dorm room. What's he up to by the way? I'd expected him to at least drop by once."

"I was putting off telling you, I know he's your friend and…" Ryou, stalled mid-sentence.

"What happened."

"He got expelled and had to go back home."

"Expelled, what for?"

"He got into a fight with the captain of the soccer team, and when a teacher tried to break it up, he… punched the teacher."

"He always had a bit of a temper when it came to that guy."

Ryou sat on a stool next to me in the kitchen.

"Tomoya-kun."

"Yeah, what's up?"

"Do you ever think about what you'll do? For work I mean."

"Yeah, I have been thinking about it a lot in the last few weeks. Between my crap exam results and now the wheelchair… I don't know what my options are really."

"Well, I umm…"

"Come on Ryou, you know you can speak your mind with me." I gave her hand a squeeze.

"Well, you see, when my parents fostered you, they got a look at your school record."

"Oh dear, I'm assuming they weren't too happy, they don't want you to break up with me, do they?" It seemed a fair assumption to me, who in their right mind would want to let their daughter to date a delinquent that barely made it through the first two years of school, was repeating my third year and stuck in a wheelchair to boot.

"NO, NO Nothing like that!" Ryou jumped over to me and wrapped her arms around me.

"Okay." I am officially confused now. "Well, what then?"

"They have arranged for you to take the first and second-year exams again, when everyone else sits them later in the year."

"Huh?" definitely confused now.

"They don't blame you for your school record." More confused now. "They said that all of the problems you've had with school are because you never had a parent there to guide you, and you had to deal with the loss of the function of your shoulder, caused by him, that took away a promising sporting career."

I was completely dumbfounded.

"I have no idea what to say."

"They discussed it at length with the school and the best solution they came up with was to re-sit the exams, if you need more time to study for the second-year exams, they'll schedule an exam during next year's term time. It's partly why I'm staying off for the rest of the year."

"Huh, what do you mean that's why you're staying off?"

"I'm going to be helping you study."

"Wow… I am lost for words." Ryou grinned at me.

"It's great news, right?"

"Yeah… although the irony isn't lost on me."

"Irony?"

"Yeah, if I hadn't fallen out of that window, I wouldn't have the chance to re-sit my exams."

"I hadn't thought of it like that… at least there's some good that's come out of all you've been through."

"There's getting away from my dad too, don't forget that."

"True. Come on let's go watch tv for a bit, I want to snuggle."

"I like the sound of that." Once I managed to get on the sofa Ryou claimed her spot cuddled into my chest. "Not that I'm complaining, but you never used to be so comfortable with physical affection."

"I know, but we've been through a lot the last few months. And I really missed being held by you."

"Yeah, we have been through the mill a bit, haven't we, I think we're past the worst of it now."

"Negisa-chan, asked if it'd be okay for her to visit after school tomorrow."

"What day is it today again? I keep losing track, one day is much the same as the next in hospital."

"It's Friday today, so she'd be getting here at about lunch time."

"Yeah, that's fine, how has she been doing lately? I know she was ill for a while after my fall."

"She's doing better, still a little fragile, but I think it'd be good for her to see you in a more normal setting."

"It must have been hard on both of you really, having to see what you did. Are you okay, yourself? I know we haven't really talked about it much; I don't know how I'd cope if I had to see that happen to you."

"It was horrible, especially before you woke up, I just kept seeing you falling or lying there covered in blood… but I think I'm okay now you're so much better, I haven't had any nightmares for weeks so I'm managing to move on I think."

"If that changes, please don't just try and tough it out, post-traumatic stress can creep up on you, so promise me you'll go and see someone if you need to."

"I will, I promise."

"In a lot of ways, I'm glad I don't remember any of it."

"Can we talk about something a bit less gloomy; I just want to enjoy having you back."

"Of course, actually, is there any food in this place? I don't know about you but I'm starting to get hungry."

"Oh, Daddy said we could order a takeaway tonight, there's a few basics in so we can have breakfast tomorrow morning and we can go shopping after Negisa-chan's visit."

"Wait, 'We' can have breakfast?"

"You heard Mom, I'm allowed to stay here tonight, and there's no way I'm leaving if I don't have to, we've got a lot of cuddles to catch up on."

"I never expected you to turn out to be such a snuggle bug, I'm not complaining, it's just unexpected."

"I had a lot of time with my 'what ifs' while you were unconscious, one of my biggest regrets was that I was always so reserved and held you at arm's length a lot of the time, when all you wanted to do was show me how much you cared. So, when you woke up, I decided that I had a second chance and I wouldn't make the same mistake again. I don't think I'm ready for public environments yet though."

"Lots of people don't like seeing public displays of affection anyway, and if I'm really honest, you always look really cute when you blush because I've kissed you or something."

"I doubt that'll change anytime soon; I've always blushed really easily. Back to the subject of food, what would you like for dinner?"

"I don't really mind too much, as long as there's some fresh vegetable and real meat involved, I'll be happy."

"I'm didn't expect you to want fresh vegetables."

"I've been stuck with hospital food for months, don't get me wrong it wasn't horrible or anything, but most of the time you could practically suck the vegetables through a straw."

"Okay, I know a sushi place that does great yasai rolls."

"Sounds awesome."

It was really good to get some real food for once, but the thing I liked the most was something as simple as siting at the dinner table with Ryou, to just feel normal again.

We sat on the sofa and watched some tv for a while, but it wasn't too long before Ryou started to yawn.

"Do you want to go to bed soon?" Ryou instantly went bright red. "Y-you looked sleepy that's all." It did feel more than a little strange frankly, it's not like there's a spare bedroom, for some reason I couldn't shake the feeling that the fact her parents were okay with it just made it seem even stranger.

"Y-yes, I'll go and get changed." Still blushing Ryou went back to the main house to get changed. By the time I'd got myself off the sofa and into my wheelchair and then worked out where all my clothes were, Ryou had already returned, she look really adorable in pink pyjamas with teddy bears on and fluffy bunny slippers.

"Have you managed to find everything?" She was still blushing, I'm sure I was too, neither one of us has shared a bed with a member of the opposite sex before.

"No, not yet, where did my pjs get put?"

"Umm, the top draw over there I think." Ryou pointed to the set of draws on the other side of the room.

"Right, thanks, I'll let you know when I'm done." Ryou nodded and left the room closing the door behind her. Despite having been practicing getting in and out of my chair, and getting changed, it's still really awkward to do. "Okay Ryou, you can come back in now." Ryou's head poked into the room tentatively.

"Are you okay Tomoya-kun? You look a little sad."

"It's just that I'm starting to realize, how much more difficult everything is going to be now."

"It'll get easier in time, and I'll be here to support you."

"Yeah, thanks… I don't know what I'd do without you." Ryou sat down on my lap and ran her fingers through my hair.

"You'd keep pushing forward, just like you always have." She leaned forward and kissed me.

"Didn't your mom say you had to behave yourself?" Ryou blushed slightly.

"I know, but you're so handsome, I couldn't help myself."

"Hmm, I'll have to remember that, maybe we should go to sleep, before you decide you can't help yourself again." Ryou went bright red and she averted her eyes, but she had a big smile on her face, I hadn't seen her smile so much in months. She slipped under the covers and sat, waiting for me. As soon as I was in bed and laid on my back, she shuffled over and laid against my side and rested her head on my chest. "Comfortable?"

"Very comfortable, thank you. Good night Tomoya-kun." I was beginning to think she was going to be a bit of a hand full at this rate.

"Good night gorgeous." I placed a kiss on her forehead and closed my eyes.

I awoke in the morning to an empty bed and the smell of coffee. Figuring I may as well get up. I was halfway through getting dressed when the bedroom door opened.

*Eeep* "S-s-sorry! I thought y-you were still asleep." Her squeak of shock was kind of cute.

"No worries Ryou, I'll be out in a minute." When I came out of the bedroom, I found a fully dressed but still blushing Ryou in the kitchen making breakfast. "Good morning gorgeous, that coffee smells great."

"Good morning Tomoya-kun, I know how much you like your coffee so I made sure there was some nice beans in for when you came home."

"Did you sleep okay?"

"I did, thank you, I had the best night's sleep I've had in months." Ryou smiled and handed me a mug of coffee.

"Me too, mmm, real coffee."

"Did you not like the coffee at the hospital?"

"That's not actually coffee."

"It wasn't that bad."

"No, I mean that literally, it's not coffee, it's chicory."

"I had no idea."

"Lots of people can't tell the difference, but chicory doesn't contain caffeine."

"It would explain why it didn't seem to help me stay awake. I've made us some Miso soup and rice, and don't worry, Mom showed me how to make the soup."

"I wasn't worried." Yeah, I was actually. "Maybe we should try learning to cook together, I've got this lovely kitchen, it'd be a shame not to use it."

"That would be lovely, we can get some cookbooks when we go shopping later."

"Sounds like a plan, did you have anything else you want to do today?"

"Well, we've got Negisa-chan dropping in at lunch time and we need to go shopping after that…" I couldn't quite manage to stifle a chuckle. "What's funny?"

"It's just that the way you're talking, it makes it sound like we're…"

"Like we're what?"

"A married couple." Ryou turned bright red like always, but just like last night she had a big smile too. "Anyway, I was thinking, it would probably be a good idea if I did some sort of mock exams or something, so we have a decent idea of what I need to work on most."

"Good idea, I'll have a look through the material the school gave me and see what's there."

A couple of hours and a mock test later.

"Well, it's not as bad as I expected, actually." It was still pretty bad though.

"Your math score is actually pretty good, but your spelling and grammar need quite a bit of work."

"Yeah, spelling and grammar were always early in the day, so I either missed it all together or fell asleep part way through. Math always seemed easy though."

"Good, math is very important, but so are spelling and grammar."

"I should do okay this time around; I've heard the teacher is kind of cute." Ryou giggled and playfully hit me on the arm.

"Negisa-chan will be here soon, would you like some tea, or would you rather some coffee."

"You may as well do a pot of tea, if Furukawa is nearly hear she'll likely prefer tea."

"I'll make the tea, could you pack up your schoolbooks please?"

"Will do." I was still packing my stuff away when the doorbell rang. Ryou got to it before I did, so Furukawa was already in the lounge when I got there. "Furukawa, it's good to see you, how are you doing? I heard you'd been sick."

"I am much better, thank you." She still looked quite frail to me. "It is good to see you out of hospital at last, we were so worried about you."

"We?"

"Kotomi-chan, and… and me." She was definitely holding something back.

"It is good to be out, it felt like I'd been stuck in that bed for an eternity." Furukawa's lip began to tremble, and her eyes began to water. "Hey, it's okay, I'm alright now." I leaned forward and pulled her in for a hug. The dam broke and Furukawa cried into my shoulder.

"I'll go and get the tea." Ryou stroked Furukawa's hair briefly and left to give us a little privacy. It took nearly ten minutes for Furukawa to calm down, but she seemed somewhat brighter once she did.

"I'm sorry Okazaki-kun I don't know what came over me."

"It's okay, I know what you saw must have been traumatic for you, and it's better if you can let it out and begin to move on. And call me Tomoya, everyone else does."

"A-are you sure?"

"Yeah, we've known each other for a while now, and you're one of my closest friends, plus it'd be a little odd, I mean you're the only one who doesn't call me Tomoya since Ryou and I started dating." Furukawa's eyes became a little watery again, but she smiled.

"Thank you Ok… T-Tomoya-kun, it means a lot that you feel we are that close. You can call me Negisa, o-only I-if you want to that is."

"Alright, Negisa-chan it is." She blushed a little, but given she was quite pale to begin with, she just looked a little healthier rather than blushing.

"Oh, I almost forgot, my Dad gave me some anpan to give to you."

"Really, that's great, your Dad makes the best anpan, tell him thanks for me will you."

"I will, he said that you should come to the bakery again soon, he wanted to play catch with you I think, my Mom and I aren't very good."

"Yeah, that'd be fun, I'll poke my head in next time I'm nearby."

"My Mom has been worrying about you too, we read about what your Dad did in the paper."

"The paper, why on earth would that make it into the paper?"

"W-well they had already written a piece about your… fall, a-and then someone told them about your Dad being arrested, and that you would need a…"

"Wheelchair? It's okay, it isn't a dirty word or anything, I'm paraplegic so I need my chair to get around, I don't want people around me walking on eggshells, trying not to upset me or something."

"I'm sorry, I wasn't sure what to say…"

"It's alright Negisa-chan, it's not just me that has to get used to it, but really don't want people to act differently around me."

"I will try my best. Once they heard you were paralysed, they turned it into a big story, so my Mom was worried about where you'd live once you got out of hospital."

"The Fujibayashi's have fostered me, and they've been really, really supportive, so there's no need to worry, it's all worked out for the best."

"Oh, that's really nice of them to do that for you. It's certainly a very nice apartment."

"It gorgeous isn't it, I'll admit it was a bit overwhelming when I got here last night. I wasn't expecting so nice, but it'll be nice to be able to get around and do things for myself. And better still Ryou is close by too." Negisa gave me slightly awkward smile, for some reason she always looked uncomfortable any time I showed any kind of affection toward Ryou, maybe she just one of those people that doesn't like public displays of affection, at least I hope that's all it is.

"What's going to happen about school, you've been off for quite a while, are they going to make you repeat the year?"

"Ryou and I are both going to be repeating the year." Negisa look genuinely shocked that Ryou was going to be repeating the year too, to be fair, Ryou is pretty much a model student, granted she's been off as long as I have this time around, but she hadn't missed a day other than that. "I'm going to be spending the rest of this year catching up with all the lessons I either skipped or slept through, so I'll be able to retake my first and second-year exams. Ryou is going to be tutoring me."

"Oh, that's wonderful. It's amazingly generous of you to give up a whole year so you can help Tomoya-kun."

"Well, he's very important to me and he has already helped me a lot too." She had the same awkward smile again.

"Yes, h-he is very kind, and always helps people. I never would have been able to revive the theatre club if he hadn't helped me."

"That reminds me, how's the club going, are you still going to do that show at the founders festival?"

"The theatre club is going to be disbanded again, there aren't enough members anymore."

"Not enough members?"

"W-well, since you and Ryou-chan have left, and well Kyou-chan doesn't really talk to anyone anymore, not since she… she got back off suspension." I felt a pang of guilt when I heard about how it had affected Kyou. Maybe I was too harsh on her.

"I'm really sorry to hear that, do you still hang out with Kotomi-chan?"

"It's not your fault, I see Kotomi most days, we have lunch together in the courtyard."

"That's good to hear, I was a bit worried she'd disappear back into the library. How is she doing? I only saw her a couple of times while I was in the hospital."

"She's doing much better now, but she still gets quite worried if anyone stands near an open window."

"Maybe we should try and get her some help, if something like that is upsetting her that much, well it's not healthy. What about you, are you coping okay? I know you were pretty close when it happened."

"I have had a few nightmares, and I don't really like going to the area where it happened."

"I kind of feel like I'm starting to sound like a broken record with this, but have you talked to anyone about it?"

"No, but I don't know if I could talk to a stranger like that."

"Maybe you could talk to your parents then, it's just it's one of the things that they really drummed into me at the hospital, bottling it up will just make it worse later on."

"D-did you, see anyone? I-I-if I-it's too personal then…"

"It's fine, yes I spoke to a councillor a few times, not about the fall though, I still don't remember anything after walking to school that morning but adjusting to the fact I'll be in this wheelchair for the rest of my life hasn't been easy." Negisa looked to be quite deep in thought for a moment.

"I'll think about it, thank you for worrying about me. I need to get home; my Dad will worry otherwise."

"Alright, it was really good to see you, drop in anytime you like, okay."

"Thank you, I will, see you soon." Ryou walked her to the door as they said their goodbyes.

"Ryou, have you spoken to your sister lately?"

"Not since she came to the hospital to see you, why?" From Ryou's tone, I could tell she was still quite angry at Kyou.

"I'm starting to think that, maybe I was too hard on her… I was angry, but lately I don't really feel that so much anymore."

"After what she did to you it's completely understandable that you'd be angry, I don't really think you were that hard on her considering. I don't think anybody would have blamed you if you had pressed charges."

"I know it's understandable, but that doesn't necessarily make it right. From what Negisa-chan was saying, Kyou is obviously hurting, and honestly I don't know if it's right to keep punishing her." Ryou frowned as she thought about what I'd said.

"I see what you're saying, but… I'm just not sure I'm ready to forgive her just yet."

"I know it's been harder on you in some ways, because you were around for the immediate aftermath that I don't remember, I just ask that you think about it, the whole reason I didn't press charges was because I didn't want to see another life irreparably harmed, but by the sounds of it she doing a decent job of doing that to herself anyway."

"Maybe… I don't know, I'll think about it. Shall we go and get the shopping we wanted?"

"Yeah sure, you know, the way you talk about it, it makes it sound like you're moving in here with me." Ryou's cheeks flush pink.

"W-well, I-I will be spending quite a lot of time her, I mean tutoring you and… and we were going to learn to cook together and… well… umm."

"It's alright Ryou, I was only teasing, I'd love it if you could spend as much time as you want here." She still looked a little flustered, but she did relax.

Once we made it into town, we decided to stop for a drink and a bite to eat, frankly I was exhausted by the time we got there and really needed a break.

"I'm sure those hills weren't that steep before, I mean seriously who designed this town, it's like an extra hundred yards to get to a set of ramps so I can cross the road and then it's another hundred yards to get back to where I would have been if I could just cross the road where ever I wanted."

"I would have pushed if you wanted me to." Ryou was looking a little worried at my little rant.

"I know you would, but I need to get fitter so I can do this sort of thing for myself, I really don't like being reliant on other people, so it's frustrating. At least it mostly downhill on the way back so that could be fun."

"Okay, I will try not to fuss over you too much. Well maybe I'll fuss a little bit… I can't help it."

"It's alright, I know you do it because you love me, and if I'm honest I'd probably fuss over you even more if it was you struggling with something." I placed my hand on top of hers. "If we didn't want to help each other it would be a pretty bad sign for the future of our relationship, don't you think?"

"That's true."

"So, what are we shopping for today?"

"Well, Mom will get most of it in really, but I thought it would be nice for you to get out, and I can get an idea of what you want in for the future this way, oh, and we were going to look at some cook books weren't we."

"Makes sense, it is good to get out in the fresh air for once."

"We're probably best going to the bookshop first, rather than try getting around there with a bunch of shopping."

"You know, sitting here, having nice cakes and coffee, it kind of feels like a date."

"I thought the same thing; it's been a while since we've been out together like this."

"Well there's nothing stopping us now."

We finished our cakes and drinks and headed off to the bookshop, unfortunately when we arrived, we discovered a problem, there was a step in the door in to the shop, it wasn't very high, maybe only an inch or so, but that's plenty to stop my front wheels from riding over it. In the end I had to basically pop a wheelie and thrust forward with enough speed to get the back wheels up the step, it went far from smoothly, requiring two or three tries before I got in. Once inside things didn't improve much.

"You know, I never noticed it before, but these shelves are kind of close together." I only had about three inches clearance on either side, so if there was anyone in the aisle I either had to ask them to let me past or go down a different aisle and double back. "Okay, where are the cookbooks?"

"I think they're on the back wall."

"Figures they'd be back there."

"What's wrong with that?" Ryou looked quite puzzled by my irritation.

"Towards the back of the store, there's a set of stairs." It's only three steps but that's three more than I can manage. Ryou looked dejected.

"Oh… maybe there's a lift or a ramp or something."

"Well we may as well take a look." All we found was a sign saying we should ask a member of staff. Ryou left me where I was, partly because navigating the store was a giant pain in the backside.

When Ryou returned she was being followed by a staff member carrying a folding metal ramp, he set the ramp up on the stairs, it was better than the stairs but it was still really steep and took an significant effort to get up, not to mention the attention it drew amongst the other shoppers, I'd already been attracting looks and stares before this debacle and I was rapidly running out of patience with the on lookers, but I had to satisfy myself with glaring at the ones that made it too obvious, thankfully this tactic worked without fail.

"Right then, here at last, *sigh* you'll have to tell me what's on the top two shelves, I can't see them from this angle."

"I'm really sorry, Tomoya-kun, I thought this would be nice and relaxing but…"

"It's alright Ryou, it's not your fault the shops don't take wheelchair users into account. I guess this is just something I'll have to get used to dealing with. Although online shops are becoming more and more attractive." Ryou was frowning slightly but tried to smile anyway. "Never mind, let's just try and enjoy ourselves as much as we can, do you see anything to looks interesting?" We browsed the shelves for a while, until we bumped into a familiar face.

"Kotomi-chan, it's good to see you, you on your monthly book binge, are you?"

"Tomoya-kun!" Kotomi's momentary surprise was followed by a quite force full hug, rolling me a good foot backwards.

"Kotomi-chan, it's nice that you're happy to see me but I can't breathe." Kotomi released me instantly.

"I am sorry Tomoya-kun, I was very pleased to see you out of the hospital. I tried going to your house, but there was nobody there."

"My house, do you mean my dad's place?" Kotomi looked a little confused but nodded. "Didn't you hear about what happened?"

"I do not believe so." She was looking more confused than ever.

"My dad was arrested, and as I'm legally a minor I can't stay there, even if I could afford the rent. And it's not even slightly wheelchair friendly." Confusion gave way to shock and horror.

"I-I did not realize I am very sorry; it must have been hard for you to have him arrested like that." She was doing her best to adapt to the new information, but as our time in the theatre club proved, Kotomi sucks at improvisation.

"Considering he was arrested for child abuse no not really." She looked to be on the verge of either crying or running away. "Calm down Kotomi, it's alright, you weren't to know. It's fine, really."

"W-where a-are you staying? Y-you c-can stay at my house if you need to… but there are some stairs." Still looking like she was going to cry, she did her best to try and help.

"It's very kind of you to offer, but Ryou's parents are taking care of me, they've got a wheelchair accessible apartment behind their house that they are letting me use."

"Oh, that sounds wonderful, if I can be of any assistance, I am happy to help."

"Thank you Kotomi-chan I appreciate the thought. You must come by and visit some time."

"W-would that really be okay?" Her eyes were fliting between Ryou and myself, I couldn't quite work out what she was thinking, but that was true a lot of the time when it came to Kotomi.

"Yes of course, Negisa-chan came around for tea earlier today." Ryou did her best to calm the flustered and confused Kotomi.

"Actually, there is something you could help us with." Kotomi brightened noticeably.

"I would be most pleased to help."

"Ryou and I are going to try and learn to cook together, so we're looking for a good beginner's book, do you have any ideas?" She thought for a moment.

"Yes, I believe I do know of some excellent books, come this way." Kotomi set off at pace and Ryou and I only just kept up with her. Kotomi selected six books that were appropriate for us, it was more than we'd planned on buying but she was quite excited for some reason.

"If you like I could, help you to learn to cook."

"Yeah, you're a pretty good cook aren't you; I'll tell you what, we'll give these books a try and if we're still struggling, we'll give you a call, would that be okay?"

"Oh, yes Tomoya-kun, I would be very pleased to help you."

"Thank you, Kotomi-chan, it was very kind of you to offer to help us." Ryou, seemed to be trying to remind Kotomi that it was both of us, that were learning, not just me.

"Well, we need to get going, we still have some other shopping to do. It was good to see you, and thanks again for the help."

"It was pleasing to see you also, if there is anything else, I can help you with, please do ask."

We headed off to pay for our books, unfortunately the ramp I had used to get up the stairs had been removed, so Ryou had to go and find a member of staff to bring it back again. Sitting waiting at the top of the stairs I was drawing attention again, seriously, what's so interesting about a guy in a wheelchair?

Once the ramp was returned, I suggested that Ryou went to pay for the book while I tried to navigate my way out of the store, and we could meet back up at the front door.

Even with having to wait in line to pay Ryou was still waiting for me by the time I made it out.

"I think we need to find a different bookshop."

"I'm not sure where there is another one, maybe Kotomi-chan would know."

"That's true, she does go around every bookshop in town at least once a month. I'll ask her when I see her next, I think we've got enough books for now. You may as well stick the books in my backpack." Ryou slipped the books into the bag we had hung on the back of my wheelchair.

"Shall we head to the supermarket, or would you rather head home?"

"Let's head off and finish the shopping, the bookshop may have been annoying, but the supermarket should be much easier."

"I hope so, I wouldn't want you to have to go through that again."

"I think we're just going to have to get used to it to a point, we'll just have to think which shops we're best able to access before we go out. It's aggravating, but it's just the way it's going to be." Ryou sighed, dejectedly.

"I suppose you're right."

"Did you want to go to that fortune telling booth thing again?"

"No, I don't want to do that sort of thing anymore."

"How come?" Ryou hesitated, chewing her thumb nail a little.

"The morning of your fall I did a reading for us."

"What did it say?"

"It said that something wonderful was going to happen, that we'd be really happy."

"I see, alright I think I understand, I won't bring it up again."

"Thank you."

We headed off to the supermarket, mercifully it wasn't too far, the town was getting a little more crowded, now that all of the students had been out of school long enough to get changed and return to the town centre. A high proportion of them were from our school, so most of them knew who I was and what had happened. Frustratingly this made me pretty much the centre of attention, most of them just watched as we passed by, but a few did stop to say hello or wish me well, which was nice for the most part, but the staring was really getting on my nerves.

Surprisingly it was Ryou who was the first to say something to a group of students that were being less than subtle about their staring. It was quite amusing, as I watched her stomp off toward them and give them an ear full, I couldn't hear what she was saying, but she looked like a mother scolding some small children. The group moved on and Ryou stomped back to my side.

"Feel better now?"

"Yes, I do actually, honestly, don't they have anything better to do?"

"It's been bugging me too, frankly I'm starting to feel like an exhibit at a freak show. I guess someone in a wheelchair is a pretty rare sight around here, I just hope they lose interest soon." When I looked over at Ryou she was scowling at another group of people from our school. "Come on let's go and get our shopping and get back home."

The supermarket was far easier to get around, nice wide aisles and smooth flat floors, granted I still couldn't reach the higher shelves, but I could at least see what was on them. Getting home was far easier too, the vast majority of it was downhill, so I barely needed to push at all.

All things considered we learned three things from my maiden voyage in to our local town centre, first the wheelchair accessibility of a lot of shops sucks immensely, two I really need to work on my stamina and third I don't handle being watched as well as I'd like, for that matter neither does Ryou. The learning curve was going to have to be steep.