Chapter Two: Settling In

"Tomoya-kun…"

Was I having a dream?

"Tomoya-kun…"

I slowly opened my eyes to the most beautiful thing I've ever seen; Kotomi's face, glowing in the morning light. Her large violet eyes gazed down on me with obvious affection and her lips spread in a soft smile.

I wasn't the poetic type, but the word 'Magnificent' came to mind. "Morning, Kotomi-chan."

"Good morning," she replied. "Please hurry and get up; breakfast is waiting and we need to go to school."

I dragged myself out of bed as she left my bedroom. I was still getting used to waking up at a decent time. Even though I didn't live with my dad anymore, it was still taking me a while to adjust to the new schedule.

"Tomoya-kun; Good morning," she greeted as I padded down the stairs, still in my nightclothes.

"Morning, Kotomi-chan," I managed to grunt. "Wait, didn't we do this already?"

She walked ahead of me into the kitchen, where breakfast waited in the dining nook. "I went with a Western-style breakfast this morning; bacon, eggs, toast with jam…"

"Smells good," I reluctantly interrupted, not ready to hear the whole list so early in my morning. "Thanks, Kotomi." Upon seeing her slight pout I quickly amended myself. "Kotomi-chan." That brought the smile back to her face along with a cute giggle.

We sat across from each other at the table, Kotomi in her school uniform and me still in my nightclothes. "Let us put our hands together," she said.

I did as I was told.

"Thank you for the food."

"Thanks for the food."

With a practiced gracefulness, Kotomi picked up her chopsticks and began eating.

I started to eat as well, but I had a hard time tasting the food. Something was nagging at me.

"Tomoya-kun, is something wrong?" Apparently Kotomi had noticed. "Do you not like the food?"

"It's not the food," I replied. "Something's not right, but I can't figure out what it is."

I smiled sleepily as Kotomi breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, good. I worked so hard on breakfast that to have you not like-"

"It's fine, it's fine," I said, waving a hand. "I'm not sure what my problem is."

I felt her gaze on me, but she said nothing more for the rest of breakfast.

Whatever it was bothered me all though the school day, keeping me from concentrating on my studies. I ended up hearing "Okazaki! Pay attention!" more times than I cared to count.

Apparently, it even affected my time with Kotomi during lunch.

"Tomoya-kun, you have not touched your lunch; do you not like it?"

"Huh?" I was surprised to have heard her with how engrossed I was. "S-Sorry, Kotomi-chan."

She turned sad eyes on me. "Are you still upset like this morning?"

I roughly rubbed my scalp. "Yeah." I chuckled. "It's actually gotten worse; now it's bugging me that something's bugging me."

"'I lay awake all night with toothache, thinking about toothache and about lying awake'," I thought I heard her say.

"What?"

She shook her head, sending her pigtails bobbling. "It is nothing. I think I understand."

"Thanks." I reached out and patted her hand and enjoyed the blush that it brought to her cheeks along with her typical gasp whenever we'd touch.

Fortunately I was able to at least ignore my uneasiness for the rest of lunch.

I watched apprehensively as Kotomi set dinner on the table. I knew that I was on edge partly because I was sharing a house with my girlfriend, but I really felt that there was something else.

She uncovered a bowl with an air of 'Ta-Daah!', a happy smile gracing her beautiful face. She looked the part of the ideal housewife, with a white apron over her black dress; she'd been wearing that particular dress a lot more often, lately.

She sat down across from me. "Let us put our hands together."

I did as I was told.

"Thank you for the food."

"Thanks for the food."

With a practiced gracefulness, Kotomi picked up her chopsticks and began eating.

I started to eat as well, but I had a hard time tasting the food. That nagging feeling had returned.

"Tomoya-kun; is something wrong?" Apparently Kotomi had noticed. "Do you not like the food?"

"It's not the food," I replied, dreading a repeat of this morning's conversation. "Something's not right, but I still can't figure out what it is."

I smiled as Kotomi breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, good. I worked so hard on dinner that to have you not like-"

"Work," I repeated. Then my eyes widened. "That's it! Work!"

"Tomoya-kun?"

I looked to Kotomi's puzzled eyes. "I'm basically mooching off of you right now. That's not right."

Kotomi shook her head, clearly puzzled. "But Tomoya-kun, I am the one who brought you here. If anything, you are my guest."

I shook my head, and I'm sure I had a look of irritation. "Normally I'd agree with you. But I'm your boyfriend, so I think it's different."

"Different? How?"

I scratched my head. I knew there was a difference…then it hit me. "Kotomi-chan, normally a guest would stay for a few days, then leave, right?"

"Yes," she replied with some hesitation.

"But I've been living with you for the last two or three weeks, which makes us more like…" I didn't want to use the word because I didn't know how she'd react, but… "…more like…a couple. Even though we don't sleep in the same room!" I was compelled to add.

Her reaction was…surprising but not surprising: She turned beet red, her hands flew to her mouth, and her eyes filled with tears. "Oh, Tomoya-kun! I never thought of it that way!"

"See? This is why I feel like a moocher."

Kotomi regained her composure enough to pout. "I do not think of you that way."

I smiled softly. "Thanks. That means a lot to me." I sighed heavily. "I'd like to do something to help with the household…." I drifted into thought. "I guess I could help with the yardwork, huh?"

"That would be very helpful," she offered.

I rubbed my face with both hands. "All I'd need is a job and it'd be like we're a real married couple." I heard a squeak from Kotomi's side of the table and uncovered my eyes to find her flushed molten again and breathing heavily. "Kotomi-chan? You okay?"

"Married…couple…Tomoya-kun…" She looked like she was about to keel over as she fanned herself with her hand.

I bolted out of my chair to her side. "Kotomi? Kotomi-chan!"

"Tomoya-kun…" she murmured, her eyes watery as she looked into mine. "…let us get married?"