Chapter Nineteen: A Beautiful Day for a Picnic

"Tomoya-kun," Kotomi greeted as she entered the kitchen with an envelope. "We have received an envelope from the Furukawas."

My eyebrows arched. "Really? What's it say?"

She gave me a puzzled look before looking at the front of the envelope. "Ichinose Kotomi and Okazaki Tom-"

"No no," I interrupted. "I mean, what's inside?"

"Oh!" She quickly opened the envelope and I got to briefly enjoy the sight of my girl scanning the letter. "Oh!" She repeated. "They are inviting us to a picnic at the park in front of their bakery!"

"Did they say who else they were inviting? Did they invite Kyou and Fujibayashi?"

She glanced at the letter again. "Yes…they have invited Kyou-chan and Ryou-chan."

"Good for them," I said. I didn't know the Furukawas well enough to know how they would react to their daughter's death, so I was glad to see this. "I've heard that it's good to have friends around during times like this." I thought back to what the doctor had told us. "And it'll give us a chance to be there for them."

Kotomi's eyes glistened as she nodded. "I cannot even imagine how Nagisa-chan's mother must be feeling right now."

"Not to mention her dad," I added, rubbing my chin before sending her a smile. "Well, you can take care of her mom and I'll take care of her dad. How does that sound?"

She returned my smile. "I am looking forward to it already."

"Hey, you two!" called Akio as we approached. "You're late!" Next to him was a barbecue with something delicious-smelling cooking on it.

"I am sorry," Kotomi apologized with a bow when we got close enough. "I was having difficulty in picking what to wear."

I barely suppressed a smirk as Akio fell all over himself trying to tell her that it was okay.

Fortunately for him, Sanae came to his rescue. "It can take us ladies a long time to make ourselves pretty."

"I find that hard to believe when I see you or Kotomi," my mouth said before my brain could stop it.

"T-Tomoya-kun!" I heard Kotomi blurt out, and I looked over to a blushing fiancée. Realizing what I had just said I quickly turned back to the Furukawas. "I'm really sorry about that; I spoke before I thought."

"N-No worries," Sanae replied as she fanned her flushed face.

I hadn't heard from Akio yet, so I figured I'd better apologize more directly. "I'm sorry sir; I really meant no disrespect to you…well, either of you."

His frown deepened, and I was concerned that I might have to go home already. Hopefully they'd at least let Kotomi stay.

His next words, however, let me off the hook: "At least you have good taste in women."

It took me several seconds to realize that he was messing with me, but I still kept my laughter somewhat reserved.

"Hey, what's so funny?" came a familiar voice from behind me. I turned to see Kyou and Fujibayashi entering the park, each carrying a bag. "If Tomoya's the punch line, count me in!"

"You're late," I said with a smirk.

"No they're not," Akio said from behind me.

I turned to him. "Now wait a minute. Kotomi and I got here a few minutes ago, and you said we were late."

"Ichinose-san was early; so were the twins." He leaned toward me. "You were the only one who was late."

So that was it; I was to be the butt of his jokes. He was probably getting back at me for the name prank a while back. "Okay, I get it. Next time I'll come later to be early."

"Huh?" Apparently he hadn't been expecting any attempt at a comeback. Then he narrowed his eyes. "Brat."

I extended my hand. "Okazaki."

He shook his head with a wry smile. "You're a fun one, kid. You wanna help me with the grill?"

I lowered my hand. "Sure, but I don't know how to use one of these things."

He shrugged. "Don't worry about it; I'll make you a pro in no time."

"How's your wife doing?" I asked Akio and he and I watched the women talk amongst themselves. "Or should I be asking this?"

He exhaled noisily between his lips. "About as well as you'd expect." He regarded me a moment. "You ever lose anyone close to you, like family?"

"Just my mom, but I was too young at the time to remember her."

He got a faraway look in his eyes as he looked at the group. "It's hard, you know? You spend so much time and energy raising a child…I'd hoped that the time in the forest would have cured her but…"

I didn't know what he meant by 'the time in the forest', but I'd never seen him this serious so I really wanted to understand.

"…she was sick off and on all through her childhood…missed a lot of school."

"I'm glad that she was able to graduate," I offered.

Akio nodded absently. "Yeah, at least she made it that far."

"When you were talking about the time and energy used to raise a child…" How did I want to phrase it…? "…Is it like you're spending yourself in the process?"

"Yeah," he replied, nodding again. "See, it's not just the time and money, but us. Sanae and I gave ourselves to Nagisa."

I nodded thoughtfully. "I think I understand a little bit why it'd be hard, then."

He clapped a hand on my shoulder. "I really hope that you and Ichinose never have to go through something like this."

I felt too much compassion toward the older man to be embarrassed by the implications.

"We'll be okay, eventually," he added. "But you were good friends to Nagisa, so consider yourself welcome at our home any time."

"Thanks. I'll remember that."

We didn't say much after that until the food was ready.