Chapter 7

We had been looking around town, for what I could guess an hour, and we still hadn't caught sight of Ryou. I didn't show it, but I was near panicking, so if I was like this, I couldn't even imagine what Fujio was thinking. We continued to search the surrounding area, now looking around the park that was around the bakery I had visited before. It was still light out, but the sky had begun to dim.
"Okazaki-kun?" Fujio called out to me, slightly startling me from my daze.
"Yes sir?" I instinctively called him 'sir' as in response.
"I told you, just Fujio is fine…" He breathed a sigh in his pause. "Let's split up, we should be able to cover more ground with how big this area is." I nodded. He went off to the right side of the bakery, while I took the left.

As I walked down the road some more, I found some benches with shelters over them. It would be a good place to sit down. She couldn't be there could she?
I slowly approached the benches, going around from the side to the front. As I turned to view the benches, there I saw Ryou, sitting there. She was looking down as she normally would, hands on her lap.
"Ryou!" I called out to her, hoping that she would take notice of me.
"T-Tomoya-kun?" It was obvious from her reaction that I was not expected. "W-Why are you here?" Being glad that she asked me something first, otherwise I wouldn't have a clue on what to say, I responded.
"Looking for you of course! Your father as well."
"Dad? But he and mum were supposed to go out…" I could hear the disappointment in her voice. She did seem to be looking forward to tonight.
"They had to cancel, although I didn't get a chance to hear why." I breathed a sigh. "Regardless, you should come home. I have a feeling Kyou needs you right now." I wasn't exactly lying, but I'm not sure what will happen between the two when they get the chance to talk.
"Onee-chan does? Why?" After the mention of Kyou, her tone changed entirely. Her saddened eyes turned to ones of concern.
"It's… Hard to explain." I tried to think of a way to tell Ryou what had happened. But I couldn't stand to tell her. "You just need to come back."
"I… I think I'll stay for a bit." She lowered her head and avoided eye contact. I was surprised by her response but left her be.
"Ok, well… I'll head back. Just come home soon okay?" She gave no response. I didn't try to push for an answer, but I was concerned with the lack of one. Even with my concern, I was still immensely worried about Kyou, and now that I had found Ryou, I could at least head back.
Looking around, I couldn't see where Fujio had been before. I started to head back on the assumption that he had already headed back as well.

I entered the Fujibayashi residence. I saw Fujio was back, waiting for my return, or Ryou's I guess.
"Where's Ryou?" He asked me in a soft tone.
"She said she'll stay for a bit." My voice grew quiet as I finished my sentence. Maybe I should have come back with her after all.

Would you like to go back?

I heard a voice. It felt… Familiar. Although it didn't sound like anyone here had said it.
"Okazaki-kun?" Fujio's voice snapped me out of my thought. "You alright?"
"Oh, yeah. I'm fine." My mind was still on Ryou. I did say for her to come back soon. But it didn't sit well with me. Did I want to go back?

You only need to wish.

"Well, that's good. I know that you must be focused on Ryou's response… As am I. But, we did confirm her safety, at least."
I nodded in response. Wondering if I had made the right choice. "Is Kyou up yet?"
"Let's go check in with Meiko then shall we?"
Fujio led me into the living room where Meiko was preparing something in the kitchen. From what I could smell, she had only begun to prepare tea for our return.
"Okazaki-san! Welcome back. Has Ryou returned with you?" As she greeted me, she started to pour the tea.
I shook my head, "No ma'am."
"Oh…" Her voice gained a heavy tone and her hands retracted, making the tea stop pouring. "Well, she'll be home before it gets too dark anyway." Her voice had picked up her usual optimistic tone as she handed me a cup of tea. "Knowing her, she would have been wanted to be left alone for a bit."
"Yeah, kind of."
"Kind of?"
"She didn't say it directly, but I did get that feeling."
"Okazaki-kun, if I may. But why did you return here after Ryou's response?" Fujio interrupted.
"Why? Well…" I thought about it, why did I return, even though I was concerned? "Well, I wanted to listen to Ryou and respect what she wanted, and I guess I was also still concerned about Kyou."
"Oh, so you chose Kyou then?" Meiko's words stunned me. I chose Kyou?
"W-what? No, I mean they're both my good friends. So…"
"Hahaha, I was just teasing. Now, who are you going to end up with, hmm?" Meiko suddenly got closer to me, as if inspecting me.
"Ahem. As much as you like teasing him Meiko, they are still my daughters. And I think Kyou's had enough excitement from tonight as is." Fujio stepped aside, allowing Kyou to be seen.
Kyou was redder than I had ever seen. Maybe it was because of her blushing that I thought that I did. But everything about her stood out to me; her lips, her checks, her eyes. Just everything.
"K-Kyou…" I had no words. Whether it be because that I was so concerned for her, or that I just suddenly found an attraction to her.
"T-Tomoya? What are you…" Before I knew it, I had hugged her. Her sentence trailed off before I felt her head dig into my chest. "Thank you."
I felt a warmth in-between us. A light came out from between us and floated upwards. What was it?
"Tomoya, thank you. You came to me when I needed it." From the sound of her voice, I could tell she was starting to cry. "You chose me over Ryou. Even after all of the horrible things I did to you." In between Kyou's words, I thought I heard a door open. I looked to the foyer but didn't see anyone there. "Even though I pushed you onto Ryou. You still chose me. Tomoya, I'm sorry!" Fujio looked behind. Following his gaze, I saw a small head of hair. She had hidden herself from Fujio's view, but I could just see her.
"Tomoya… I, I love you." Kyou's words pierced me. They felt familiar.
A quick movement caught my attention, followed by a loud door slam.
"Ryou!" I yelled out, letting go of Kyou and rushing to the foyer.
"Tomoya!" I felt a pull on my jacket. Kyou had grabbed me, looking at me with dejected eyes. I couldn't bring myself to take another step. I turned around and embraced Kyou again. This time I felt her arms around me. It didn't last long until we separated.
"Tomoya… Go. Go find Ryou. I'll wait for you." Her words were sad, but honest.
I nodded, giving a reassuring look. I headed towards the foyer, getting stopped by Fujio.
"Okazaki-kun." He gave me a stern look, typical of what a father would give. I would be lying if I said I wasn't intimidated. To my surprise, he put a hand on my shoulder. "Please, bring her home safe."
"I will." I turned to Meiko and nodded to her. "And Kyou, go rest."
"Okay."
With all that sorted, I ran outside after Ryou.

I ran towards where Ryou had been last time. In such a short time, she had run off twice. It may have been annoying, but I didn't care. She was my friend. And I had hurt her. To my dismay, she wasn't where she was before: where would she be? Considering that we didn't leave too far apart from each other.
"Ryou!" I called out, hoping that she would respond. "Ryou!"
"Are you looking for someone?" A familiar voice called out to me.
"Oh, Furukawa-san. Yeah, I am." I responded to her, but my voice seemed, saddened.
"Was it a girl with short, purple hair?"
"Yes, have you seen her?!" Finally! I'm getting somewhere.
"Do you think you could tell me why?"
I hesitated. "Well, I don't exactly have the time to-"
"Don't worry. She hasn't gone far." She cut me off, almost like she knew something.
"Okay, fine." I said with an exasperated tone.

I explained everything that had happened to Furukawa. How Kyou kissed me, Ryou running away. How I found her and then once she returned home she ran away after Kyou's confession. "And here we are." I finished my explanation without getting any interruptions from Furukawa.
"I see. Well come inside." Furukawa said with no emotion.
"Huh, why?" I questioned her proposal, with a hint of confusion.
"You'll see." She walked towards her door and opened it, leading me inside.
I entered through the door that she opened. I was introduced to a standard wooden foyer, a side table on the wall held a flower pot and a standard bowl as to put mail or paper in. Over it hung a painting of what seems to be a grove of trees.
"This is a nice place." I continued to look around as we came to a break, stairs to my right and a curtain to the left.
"Ah, thank you." She paused, noticing my wandering gaze. "Through the curtain is the bakery, and upstairs is all the bedrooms."
"Right, this place is a bakery. I almost forgot." I could still smell the aroma of bread from the bakery itself.
"Well um… Please, come upstairs." The nervousness in her voice was obvious.
I followed Furukawa upstairs. She led me in front of a room with the door shut. I waited for a moment until she took a breath, and inside the room, Ryou was waiting.