Phase One

"Kyou, it's been so long..." Tomoya blinked as they stared at each other.

Kyou crossed her arms. "Are you going to leave a girl out here in the cold, or will you let me in?"

"Tomoya, don't leave her freezing out there!" Tomoyo added.

"Geez, both of you..." Tomoya groaned as he stepped aside to let her through, closing the door behind her.

"Kyou, it's been a while." Tomoyo smiled.

Kyou blinked for a second, trying to recover from the fact that she still hated Tomoyo a little, while Tomoyo was so sincere at being a friend. "Yeah..." Kyou managed a smile. "It has."

Tomoya stood there for a moment, stunned at the light tension between the two girls as they smiled at each other. "Well, um..."

They both stared at him.

"Tomoyo, you can make a third serving, right?"

"Oh, that's right... Dinner..." Tomoyo quickly shuffled away.

"Dinner?" Kyou blurted out in surprise.

"Yeah, Tomoyo's making dinner. Care to join us?"

"Sure..."

The two shared an awkward silence for a few moments.

"Here, have a seat." Tomoya guided her to a small circle of chairs in their living room.

As they sat down, Kyou smiled. "It's been too long, Tomoya. Have you been well?"

"Um, yeah... Work's been the same, but I've been doing fine. How about you?"

"Huh, tell me about it. I like kids, but sometimes it gets tiring doing the same things every day."

"Hmn... Say, Kyou..."

"Hmn?"

"Speaking of doing the same things every day, would you...?" Tomoya choked on his words.

"Would I what, Tomoya?"

"Would you mind seeing a few old friends again?"

"Hmn? Like who? You're referring to Sunohara, right? There weren't that many people we were both used to... Nagisa kind of disappeared and the friends I had weren't really friends of yours."

"Wait, who was Nagisa?" (1.)

"See? Even you've forgotten about her."

Tomoya gave an embarrassed smile . "Heh, guess I did... So, um, are you willing to see Sunohara again?"

"Where's the harm in it?" Kyou waved her hand. "I'm not thrilled, but he is your friend, and I did know him."

"Hmn..." Tomoya thought. This was not going to end well.

At dinner, Tomoyo tried to get down to business.

"So, Kyou, Tomoya and I were thinking..."

"Of seeing Youhei, right? I'll be taking a few days off, and I don't mind. It would be nice for all of us to have a little reunion."

"I'm glad you find it so."

Both girls continued smiling at each other, and Tomoya ate his food in fearful silence.

The next morning, a young man in a ruffled business suit walked down the street, towards the Okazaki residence. His dark grey hair clashed with his blue eyes, and since this was Japan he was literally a walking freak show. But, as usual, nobody cared.

The apartment began to show up, and Sunohara began to walk very, very carefully.

After all, one wrong move and Tomoyo might kick him again.

"At least I won't have to deal with Okazaki Kyou... Man, if that happened I think I'd have a heart attack. At least any normal person can reason with Tomoyo and hope to live. With Kyou, it's 'obey me or die,' and I don't want to die." Sunohara muttered.

But, still, whenever he thought of Kyou Sunohara's cheeks would turn red, and that disturbed him quite a bit. Why did he like her so much? She was violent, bossy, vengeful, unreasonable, angry, and terrifying.

And so darn cute.

Then Sunohara froze. He parked his car a block from here, because he wanted to save gas. But, now he began to regret it.

After all, Kyou was known to spy on people... What if she was still obsessed with Okazaki and was spying on him and Tomoyo at this moment? Then she'd know that he was approaching! At that thought, Sunohara immediately ducked, hoping that nothing was flying his way.

Like a soldier, Sunohara Youhei crawled towards the front porch, ruining a perfectly good suit in an attempt to preserve his life.

He slowly got to the door, and took cover behind it. Peering around, and noticing that there weren't any eyes staring at him from odd places, Sunohara stood up and knocked on the door.

It opened to reveal a young woman dressed in a nightgown, with purple hair that flowed down her shoulders.

"KYOU!" He screamed, leaping back and slamming into the stone floor of the porch.

"Youhei? Good morning..." Kyou yawned sleepily.

"Don't tell me, Tomoya's playing you both?!"

Kyou blinked, trying to understand him. "They went out shopping, and asked me to watch the place. I didn't think you'd get here so early."

"I... I, um..." Sunohara was speechless as his face slowly began to flush.

"Yeah, come in and stop being an idiot. Look, your shirt looks filthy. Do you wash pigs or something as a career? I wouldn't be too surprised." Kyou yawned and stepped aside.

Sunohara took a step in the door.

"Take off your shoes and make sure that your filthy clothes don't touch anything they shouldn't."

"I know how to enter a friend's house!"

"Then do it..."

"Fine, I will." Sunohara scoffed as he stepped into the room.

Kyou chuckled to herself. "Idiots never change." She thought.

Sunohara, too, was quite surprised at seeing her. "Seems like she hasn't changed one bit." He thought to himself.

So Sunohara quickly got in, took of his shoes, and began to walk carefully around.

Kyou continued to stare at the suit. Who would wear a business suit to visit a friend? Maybe those were the only clothes Sunohara wore these days. Then that would mean...

"I take it you're doing well."

"Yeah, I guess." Sunohara chuckled nervously.

"What's wrong?"

"It's just that, well, I expected you to kick me or something."

"If you're not being an idiot, then I don't have to waste my energy."

"Yeah, I thought that." Sunohara chuckled again. Why was she so friendly?

"Anyways..." Kyou waved her hand. "I have to change... Don't you dare think of following me."

"Oh, I will!" Sunohara laughed, perhaps a little too readily, because he immediately saw a fist heading straight for his face.

When he came to, Sunohara found himself bound to a chair, and he could hear the roar of water and smell the sweet scent of shampoo from a distance. "So she's taking a shower..." Sunohara smirked. "But, wait, isn't this Tomoya's house? Wouldn't she be a rude guest?" He thought.

Using his strength, Sunohara hopped over to the bathroom door. He rammed his head against the door, causing Kyou to cry out in fear.

"What the hell?!" She screamed, turning off the water for a second.

"Hey, this is Okazaki's house, and that's probably Tomoyo's shampoo. Why the hell are you using it?"

"I'm a guest, and an old friend. I can use anything in here, can't I?"

"What are you, shameless?"

"Okazaki used to use your room, and you were fine with it, right?"

"How the hell would you know?!"

"I'm not stupid, ok?"

"More like you're a stalker."

"Why... You! The moment I finish and step out that door, you'd better pray to whatever god you believe in, because you are going to visit Him very soon."

"Shit..." Sunohara quickly hopped away.

Tomoyo was the first to return home. She was quite surprised to find a beaten Youhei sprawled on the floor of her lover's house. Kyou stood with her foot on his forehead, and smiled sweetly at her. "What did he do now?" Tomoyo asked, staring back at Youhei as though he was some kind of weed.

"What else would he be doing? He was being an idiot, of course!"

"Ah... I figured." Tomoyo nodded and started unpacking the groceries she was carrying.

"Where's Tomoya?" Kyou asked.

"Right here..." Okazaki panted, staggering into the room with his bags.

"What a helpless guy..." Tomoyo sighed. "Should I help you carry them?"

"No... I'm... Fine..." Tomoya wheezed.

"How funny. Your female does a better job than you." Kyou chuckled.

For a second both Tomoya and Tomoyo froze. If Kyou referred to Tomoyo as 'your female' to Tomoya, it might mean that Kyou was finally accepting the fact that they were a couple and that she wouldn't be able to butt in and seize Tomoya. This would also mean that Kyou was accepting the fact that she would still be single for a while, and since people tend to want to find a lover when they were single, she might be more willing to give Sunohara a chance. Tomoyo gasped when she thought that her plan might actually work.

Kyou noticed her gasp. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing." Tomoyo smiled. Kyou stared at her suspiciously for a few seconds, then shrugged it off and continued to stare down at Youhei, amused at the fact that he was still lying still.

"Guess Sunohara will never grow up, will he?" Tomoya laughed.

"I didn't do anything, she's the one who attacked me!" The three heard a protest as Youhei finally woke up. He began to flail around, and Kyou immediately put the entire bottom of her foot over his eyes, nose, and mouth. "Shut up..." She sighed.

Tomoya stared at Tomoyo with a tired glance. She could tell that stare. He was basically telling her that she was dead wrong, and she glared back at him, making him flinch.

"Guess we still have plenty of work to do..." Tomoya groaned to himself as he watched Sunohara shake helplessly, trying to get Kyou's foot off his face.

1. Mind you, in the Tomoyo route, if Tomoya remembers Nagisa, he misses out on Tomoyo. Silly developers!