Clannad

The Lost Girl

Note: Hey hey hey everyone! Like that the chapters are coming out faster? I hope so! :) Like I said in the last chapter, this is the final chapter in Part One – Tears and Happiness. The reason I changed it into two-parts, is because it makes it a little more organized like that. Give some feedback in your review if you'd be so kind. ;)

This chapter is a little short, but has some major plot stuff in it, so...Yeah. xD

Anyways, please read, review, and Enjoy! :D

Chapter Ten

Promise

"Hey hey, Konoda!" Yurino said with a grin. I raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing here?" I asked. He walked into the room and looked around at everyone. He then walked up to me and whispered, "Already surrounded by girls I see? You must have it good here!" I sighed and shook my head. "I see you're still the same." I commented, and he just grinned.

Yurino then turned and gave a sort of mocking bow to everyone. "Hello everyone, I am the one and only Yurino!" he said, making a sort of pose. Everyone just blinked at him, and nobody said anything. "I know, I know...My beauty is hard to take in! Don't worry though, you'll get used to i-" he began to say, before Risha gave him a good kick to the stomach.

Glaring at him, she crossed her arms and said, "Who do you think you are?" Yurino took a few moments to recover, and then got up and went back to his cocky look. "You're lucky that I wasn't ready for that...You'd be in for a world of hurt if I was prepa-" he tried to tell her, but he was already sent flying towards the wall, falling to the ground with a thud.

"T-Tough crowd..." he muttered, obviously dazed. "R-Risha, that wasn't nice." Nyou said. "Hmph, he's even worse than that idiot there." Risha said, pointing at me. I sighed. It's been a while since anybody compared me to Yurino, I thought. "Hey, Yurino," I began to ask as he slowly stood up, "Why are you here?"

"Oh, I'm transferring to this school." he said, wiping himself off. That took me by surprise, and I heard Risha's irritated sigh. "Great..." she commented. Ushio suddenly walked up to Yurino and extended her hand slightly. "H-Hi...I'm Okazaki Ushio." she said. I noticed Risha watching Yurino closely, and I did the same...But, to my surprise, Yurino shook her hand politely, and said, "Tachita Yurino."

I couldn't help but chuckle slightly. Leave it to Yurino to only be polite around girls like Ushio, I thought. Nyou hesitantly walked over and introduced herself, followed by Irisa. Risha stood where she was, still glaring at him. Yurino squinted his eyes at her, and walked towards her, his hand outstretched. She looked at it for a moment, before grabbing it and squeezing it hard, making Yurino grunt in pain.

"Risha." she said plainly, letting go of him. Yurino fell to his knees and held onto his hand. "O-Ouch! Jeez..." he said, shaking his limp hand helplessly. Everyone laughed, and I helped my old friend up. "Hey, tell me," I asked him, "How bad were your injuries?"

Yurino shrugged, and looked himself over. "They weren't all that bad. It took a little over a month for me to heal," he told me, "Once I was able to go back to school, I convinced my parents to let me transfer here!" I raised an eyebrow. "They moved to this town just to let you go to school here?" Yurino shook his head. "Nah, my parents gave me money to rent a dorm room," he said, "Besides the manager being strict, it's pretty comfortable there."

I grinned and gave my friend a pat on the shoulder. "Well, you have some good timing." I said, walking over to the chalkboard and adding his name to the list. He raised an eyebrow, and asked, "Why are you putting my name on there?" As I finished writing his name, I laughed, and said, "Welcome to the Theater Club."

After much debate from Yurino about not wanting to be in the club, I finally convinced him to join, after telling him that he and I were the only guys in the club. "Four girls, two guys?" he said, looking up in thought, "That's...awesome! Sign me up!" I grinned, knowing that if he tried anything on any of the girls, Risha would completely destroy him.

Nyou and Risha were the first to leave, followed by Irisa, who said goodbye to Ushio. "I'm sorry for not talking to you," she said, "But the seniors and juniors are in different parts of the school, and..." Ushio nodded and smiled at her. "I-It's okay..." she said, and we waved goodbye to her.

Then, it was Yurino's turn. "Hey, make sure you visit me later, Konoda," he told me over his shoulder, "Just be careful, because Sagara is really strict." Sagara...That must be the manager he was talking about, I thought, waving to him as he left. Then, it was only Ushio and I in the clubroom.

For a few minutes, there was a sort of awkward silence. "W-Well..." she said, "Should we walk home now?" I nodded, but, suddenly remembering something, I said, "Hold on." Grabbing a piece of chalk, I began to write on the bottom-right corner of the chalkboard:

Okazaki Ushio

Konoda Tokoi

Setting down the chalk, I turned back to her and smiled. "There...We can have our names in this room for the students who come after us to see." I said, and Ushio looked at what I had written. She smiled at me, and then blushed slightly and turned away. I tilted my head slightly, and asked, "What is it?"

She looked down and played with her hands for a moment, before saying, "U-Um...I just wanted to say..." she paused for a moment, before looking up at me, "Thank you..." Those words took me by surprise, and the fading sunlight peaking through the doorway hit Ushio in a way that made her seem to glow.

"Ushio..." I said, walking up to her and embracing her, which obviously took her by surprise.

"I'll always be there for you...that's a Promise." I told her, and I felt her arms hesitantly wrap around me. "I-I'm glad..." she told me.

I didn't want that moment to end. I wanted to stay with her right there. Forever.

I'll always protect you...

Ushio.

End of Part One

Next Chapter - Peace

Note: Hey hey hey! Did you like it? :D Too bad there wasn't a kiss, right? :/ I didn't feel like this was a good enough moment for it yet, so you'll just have to wait. ;D Stay tuned for Part Two of the story!