Clannad

The Lost Girl

Note: Here's another chapter! I was hoping to time it just right for the holidays, but I am kind of late. XO Actually REALLY late now. Sorry for not updating for a while! But please Read, Review , and Enjoy!

Chapter Fourteen – Tears

The holidays came quickly after that, along with Winter Vacation. Like I had expected, Ushio did end up getting a cold, and couldn't go to the holiday party that the Theater Club was having. So, instead, we decided to bring the party to her.

"Hey hey hey!" Yurino said was he busted through the door, trying to make a spectacular entrance. "Oh, hey." I said simply. A look of disappointment came onto his face, and he sighed. "What? Did you want to be the life of the party?" I said with a grin.

Yurino looked around at the others, who didn't even seem to notice he was there. He cleared his throat, and announced, "HEY EVERYONE! I'M HE-" but he was cut off when Risha threw a Christmas ornament at his head, making him fall over.

"Idiot." Risha said, sitting back down and going back to what she was doing. Leaving Yurino to his concussion, I checked up on how the girls were doing. "How's it going?" I asked. I looked over at Ushio, who had ball-shaped ornaments shaped like the dango family, and I couldn't help myself from smiling.

"I didn't expect any different." I told her, and she smiled and blushed. I then looked over at Nyou, who, to my surprise, had tons of perfectly-shaped paper snowflakes around her. "Wow!" I exclaimed, "You're really good!" She blushed. "I-It's nothing." she commented.

Then I looked over at Risha, who was crouching down low so I couldn't see what she was doing. I slowly moved closer to take a peak, and could barely hold back a laugh. Her face turned red and she turned and got in my face. "W-What? I'm not an artist, you know!" she yelled.

She's like a stubborn kid, I thought, giving a fake smile and backing away. Risha sat back down and pouted. "H-Here," Nyou said, handing her some paper, "You can help me out." Risha sighed, then smiled and said, "Sure."

Then I noticed that Irisa was nowhere to be found. "Hey, where's Irisa?" I asked. The girls looked at each other. "Um...she said something about getting some last-minute presents." Nyou said. I raised an eyebrow, then shrugged. Hopefully she'll be back in time, I thought.

It only took about an hour for all of the decorations to be ready, and we told everyone to come inside. Sanae and Akio were the first to come in. "Wow! I knew my grandaughter was a great artist like me!" Akio said in a superior tone, making Ushio blush. "U-Um...thanks." she said.

Next to come was Dr. Chaan, who, as I expected, commented on Nyou's snowflakes that were hanging down from the ceiling all around. "Excellent work!" he said, giving her a smile. She smiled back and gave her father a hug. I grinned at the scene. She's lucky to have a dad like that, I thought.

Then came my grandmother and Mr. Koumura(which made me nervous seeing them come in together), followed by Sagara. "Oh my," my grandmother said as she walked in, "There's lots of people here." Mr. Koumura nodded, and said, "It's nice to see some familiar faces here."

Then came two people whom I had never seen before. A man with black hair that didn't suit him well, and a woman whom looked a little too much like Nyou. I looked at the others, and saw Risha's face redden. "Is that your parents?" I asked. She looked down at the ground and nodded slowly.

"Haha! Now that I'm here, it's a party!" the man said, and Yurino approached him. "Hey hey, I've been here for a while now, so it's already been a party!" The two of them locked eyes and leaned in close, glaring at each other.

Risha ran over to Yurino and kicked him in the side, sending him spinning towards the wall, hitting it with a thud and falling to the ground. She then sighed, and said, "H-Hi mom, dad." Risha's dad laughed, "Haha! That's my girl. You've got your dad's strength!"

Risha's mom shook her head, and punched her husband in the gut. "Yeah right." she commented. For a moment, my mind was bewildered by the similarities all around me. Is there something I'm missing? I wondered.

Then, to my surprise, Nyou approached Risha's mom and hugged her. "Oh hello Nyou," she said, "It's good to see my niece again." Nyou nodded, "You too, Aunt Kyou." I stood there, blank-faced for a moment. Wait...so Risha and Nyou are...related? I realized.

"What about your beloved Uncle?" Risha's dad said. Nyou turned around and crossed her arms. "Nope." she said simply. A look of disappointment came across his face. Kyou patted his back. "Don't worry, Youhei," she said in a mocking voice, "Maybe people will like you some day."

Then, to my surprise, Tomoya walked in through the door next. "Oh, Tomoya!" Youhei said with a grin, "Good to see you again!" Tomoya nodded, and said, "You too, Sunohara." Tomoya then turned his gaze to me, and gave a small wave and a smile. I returned them.

Tomoya walked over to Ushio, who gave her dad a big hug. He then bent over and told her something, which made her blush and look over at me. I raised an eyebrow. What did he tell her? I wondered as the door to the bakery swung open yet again.

I looked over to see Irisa stumbling in, with a bundle of small presents in hand. "Tadah!" she said, walking over to the pile of other presents and dumping them. "Who are all of those for?" I asked her. She grinned. "You'll see!"

I raised an eyebrow, but shrugged and started to make my way over to Ushio...But, for whatever reason, people would stop to talk to me. "Hey! You must be Tokoi. I heard a lot about you." Sunohara said, giving me a wink. I looked around and said, "Uh...yeah..."

Thankfully, I was saved by Kyou, who came over and dragged her husband away by his ear. "Youch!" he shouted. Then it was my grandmother and Mr. Koumura who came to me next, then Yurino, then Nyou, and...

By the time I was done with talking to everyone, I noticed that Ushio was gone. Where did she go? I wondered. I looked over towards the front door and saw that Tomoya was motioning for me to come over.

I walked over to him and he told me, "Ushio's outside," he told me, "I think you need to comfort her." I tilted my head in confusion. Comfort?... I thought. "What-" I started to ask, but Tomoya patted my shoulder and walked away.

When I opened the door, a blast of cold air came in, so I went back in and grabbed my jacket. Then I looked around for Ushio, and saw her standing out at the park across the street.

She shouldn't be out here if she's sick! I thought, running over to her. She only turned when I got near, and I was surprised to find that her eyes were red and tears were streaming down her face. "Ushio!" I exclaimed, embracing her.

Ushio sobbed and held onto me tightly. "Ushio, what happened?" I asked.

She took a few moments before telling me, "I'm...I'm going away..."

"Forever."

To be continued...

Next Chapter – Goodbye