It was a long day at work for Sunohara. The day seemed to have dragged on forever, but at least he's done with his shift. It was Friday evening as he was returning to his apartment when he suddenly remembered...
"Crap! Ushio's birthday's tomorrow!" Sunohara thought to himself. "Hmm, I'm sure I can pick up a present for her downtown, they always have toys and goods down there."
Sunohara went downtown and was glad to see that it hadn't changed one bit. Everything was as he remembered when he was in high school. He jumped from store to store trying to find something for Ushio. After a few more store hopping he'd finally found the perfect present.
It was a backpack in the shape of a dango plushie. Sunohara knew that Ushio loved the big dango family just like her mother. He soon purchasedthe backpack and decided to finally go home, but not before passing a familiar cafe on his way back. He looked at the front door and the sign, puzzled by why it would grab his attention. Then it finally hit him. It was the same cafe where he had treated (or was forced to) Tomoya and Tomoyo for tea back in the day. Feeling nostalgic he decided to have himself a nice cup of tea.
As Sunohara was sipping his tea he remembered the event that happened here. He was dragging along Tomoyo around this area of downtown to scare off the punks that would pick on him. Tomoya caught his little scheme and had him treat Tomoyo to tea here. Looking back he regretted the way he treated Tomoyo, claiming her to be a man and always harassing her whenever they met. He was never good with socializing with girls he liked, so making himself look like a clown in front of them seemed to be the only way he could get their attention.
"Oi, Sunohara?" A voice called out to him.
He nearly choked on his tea when he heard the voice calling to him. He knew who it was. He turned around to see none other than the girl he was just thinking about. Tomoyo Sakagami.
"Hey Tomoyo!" Sunohara said enthusiastically "What brings you here?"
"I was just shopping for a gift for Ushio and decided to stop by here for some tea." Tomoyo responded.
"Hehe, last minute shopping too eh?" Sunohara asked with a little smile.
Tomoyo giggled. "Yup, with work at the hospital sometimes these things can just slip my mind."
"What? You work at a hosipital?" Sunohara asked.
The silver haired girl sat herself down in front of Sunohara. "Yup, at the one that opened up a few years ago." Tomoyo looked at Sunohara for a few seconds...just...smiling at him. "Hang on for just a minute, I'm going to go order my tea." Tomoyo said as she headed to the counter.
"What...was that?" Sunohara thought to himself. "Why was she smiling at me like that? Do I have something on my face? My hair?" Sunohara might not have known this, but he doesn't exactly keep his cool when he's nervous, and Tomoyo can see it as clear as day. She turned back to see Sunohara subtlety brushing his face and hair as if he were trying to get something off. She couldn't help but giggle some more.
She soon sat back down in front of Sunohara and asked, "so what have you been doing these past few years?"
The two started to share stories of what they've been doing after high school, and their past experiences. The two just sat there talking, and laughing as the time passed by.
"Could this really be the same idiot back in high school?" Tomoyo thought to herself. "In those days we were always at each other's throats...and now here we are, laughing it up in an old cafe."
They eventually left the cafe when they realized how late it was. As Tomoyo and Sunohara walked down the street side by side they began talking more about their high school days.
"So where did you learned to fight like that anyways?" Sunohara curiously asked. "Seriously every time I would charge, you'd send my ass flying."
Tomoyo giggled, "well, I guess you can say I took some classes back in middle school. Whenever I had spare time I'd join a martial arts club to train in. Especially with the neighborhood I use to live in, it can come in really handy."
"Hehe, that would explain it." Sunohara said with a grin on his face. "You know I've been learning how to fight with my coworkers in my company, some of them even trained in places like Israel. The systems were pretty painful, but I can't say that it wasn't fun." Sunohara said.
"Hmmm, now I'm curious." Tomoyo pointed out. "I really want to see how much you've improved, since you always lose to me. ^_^"
Sunohara looked at her, already knowing the answer." Heh, what are you suggesting?"
"My place is around the corner and living room is big enough for two people to spar in." Tomoyo said. "What do you say? For old times' sake?"
Sunohara with a big grin on his face." Oh..You're on. I'm not going to lose to a girl this time!"
"Oh..So now I'm a girl?" Said Tomoyo with a smirk on her face.
As they were walking to Tomoyo's house, Sunohara thought to himself, "I'm going to get my ass kicked...AGAIN!"