Chapter Eight: Friendship

Kotomi was quiet the next morning, which didn't surprise me at all. Yesterday had been rough on everyone, and I didn't know how everyone would act toward each other, myself included. After all, I had just found out that both of the twins loved me; how was I supposed to act toward them after finding that out?

My main concern was Kotomi, though. I really didn't know how she would take the twins' actions towards me. Would she withdraw into her shell again? Would she lose them as friends? Or worse, would she force them to listen to her play the violin?

We walked to school side-by-side, our shoulders occasionally brushing against each other. At least she didn't seem upset at me over the situation.

"Tomoya-kun…" she said, interrupting my thoughts.

"Yeah?"

She gave a longish pause before continuing. "I do not know what to do. I understand that I do not have to worry about Kyou-chan or Ryou-chan trying to take you away from me, but I still feel…afraid."

"What're you afraid of, then?"

She shook her head vigorously enough to send her pigtails flapping. "I do not know what I will say to them when I see them."

I exhaled noisily between my lips. "That's a problem even so-called 'normal' people have." I looked over at her, catching her gaze. "All you can really do is just be…what's the word? Kind? Compassionate? Something like that." I gestured to her. "Put yourself in their shoes and think about what you would want if you confessed to someone else's boyfriend."

Kotomi's eyes lost focus, so I looked ahead to make sure that she didn't run into anything while she ran her simulation.

We stopped to part ways by Kotomi's classroom, 3-A. I wanted to walk her to her desk, but I would've felt really uncomfortable as a delinquent around all of the star pupils. "Will you be okay?" I asked.

She nodded, though she didn't seem too sure of herself. "I think so." An awkward pause. "May I come to you if there is a problem?"

I sighed. "Yeah, but don't overdo it. I'm already in trouble with my teachers, and I don't want to make it worse if I can help it."

She nodded again. "Tomoya-kun…"

"Yeah?"

She looked into my eyes for a brief moment before hopping up onto her tiptoes to give me a quick peck on the cheek. "I love you so much," I heard her whisper.

I smiled and mouthed "I love you", bringing a smile to her face as she turned to enter her classroom.

She managed to stay out of 3-D all morning.

However, she was waiting outside my classroom door, bag in hand, when the teacher finally let us out for lunch. "Tomoya-kun…"

"Kotomi-chan…" I said, echoing her tone.

She recognized my attempt at an imitation and looked annoyed; she was so cute. "You are teasing me."

"Yes, I am." I reached out for her hand. "If it really bothers you that much, I'll stop. Really."

I was surprised to see a blush tint her cheeks as she took my hand. "I…I like it when you tease me…sometimes."

My eyebrows jumped. "You don't seem to like it."

She somehow managed to fidget as we walked. "I like that you are paying attention to me. It makes me feel…" she looked away bashfully. "…special."

I stopped her just outside the back doors to hug her. "Well…that's because…" C'mon Casanova, say it. "That's because you are special to me."

Her reaction was adorable, as usual: She buried her face in my chest with a squeak. "T-Tomoya-kun!"

I chuckled softly. "So, are we eating in the Club room today?"

"I would like to," her muffled voice sounded from my chest.

"All right," I said, peeling her off me so we could start walking. "Let's not waste any time, then!"

We rounded the last corner before the Theater Club's room and nearly ran into… "Oh. Um…Hello, Okazaki-kun."

Before us stood the Fujibayashi twins. In the back of my mind I was relieved to see them together considering the way they had treated each other yesterday. On the other hand, they overall had a great relationship as twin sisters, so it should have been able to survive a few small bumps. Or a couple of big ones. "H-Hey, you two," I managed to say.

"Hi," Kyou said quietly.

I noticed that Kotomi wasn't saying anything so I continued our side of the conversation. "Having lunch in the club room?"

Fujibayashi nodded. "We were just going back to the cafeteria to pick up a couple of things we forgot." She awkwardly pointed behind herself. "If you would be willing to wait, Nagisa-san will be along soon and we can eat together."

I looked to Kotomi for any expression of an opinion; I could tell from the look on her face that she wanted to eat with her friends, but was nervous about the idea. So I turned back to the twins. "Sure, we'll wait for you."

It was still weird hearing Fujibayashi make the arrangements with us while the typically outgoing twin stood by silently; maybe when things settled down they would go back to normal.

I was lightly caressing Kotomi's back while she blushed when the twins returned with a bag and Furukawa. "Okazaki-san! Kotomi-chan! Hi!" she greeted. I kinda liked how she would always greet someone as though she hadn't seen them for a long time.

"Furukawa, good to see you again," I greeted in return.

I felt the pressure on my fingers stop, and I looked to see Kotomi-chan rising from the table bench. "Nagisa-chan; good afternoon." With obvious hesitation, she turned toward the twins. "Kyou-chan; good afternoon. Ryou-chan; good afternoon," she greeted, bowing to each of them.

Both of the twins smiled with trembling lips. "Kotomi-chan; g-good afternoon," Fujibayashi greeted.

Kyou opted for a different greeting. She carefully approached my fiancée and wrapped her in a hug. "Kotomi-chan; good afternoon," she greeted while Fujibayashi and Furukawa looked on with smiles.

At first Kotomi didn't know how to respond. Then, slowly, she wrapped her arms around her friend, awkwardly patting Kyou on the back.

I knew the two of them had a long road ahead, but I believed that everything was on its way to being okay.