Chapter Twenty-Three: More Planning

"Well, that was exciting!" Sanae exclaimed as she put down the last dish. "The house hasn't been this lively in a while."

"That was exciting!" chirped Kotomi. "Eating delicious food, watching Tomoya-kun play baseball…" she trailed off as a blush crept across her face. I assumed that she was remembering Pop's antics.

"You play pretty good for having a busted shoulder," Pops commented.

I rotated my shoulder self-consciously. "I'm still learning my limits, but I'm glad that I can at least swing a bat."

"Are we ready to eat, then?" Sanae politely interrupted.

Pops glanced around at us, then the food. "It looks like it."

"Then let us put our hands together," Kotomi said before remembering where she was. "Oh! I am sorry!" she squeaked. "It is how I always do it."

Pops and Sanae exchanged smiles before Sanae gave my fiancée a loving gaze. "It's okay, Kotomi-chan; We'll do it your way this time."

"O-Okay. L-Let us put our hands together."

We followed her lead.

"Thank you for the food."

The rest of us murmured some form of gratitude.

"So," Pops started as Sanae worked on serving him udon, "how are the wedding plans coming along?"

I paused for a moment from prepping Kotomi's plate as I thought about my answer. "As far as I know we have the decorations, my suit's ready…wait, is your dress ready?"

Kotomi nodded. "Almost. The seamstress said that she needed to make a few more adjustments before it would be ready."

He nodded. "What about your wedding party?"

"Party?" I'd never heard the word used like that before.

"You know…bridesmaids and groomsmen."

"Have you decided about your bridesmaids yet?" I asked Kotomi. "I know you wanted the twins, Nishina, and…well…"

Kotomi nodded sadly.

"What?" Both Furukawas had confusion nearly written on their faces.

"I-I wanted N-Nagisa-chan to be my maid-of-honor…"

Confused looks turned to sad smiles, and Sanae scooted around the table to wrap Kotomi in a hug. "Thank you so much. That would have meant so much to her."

Kotomi could only look shyly down at her lap.

"What about Sanae-san?" I suggested.

Sanae's eyes widened in clear delight. "I would be honored!" she exclaimed before tilting Kotomi's head up to look into her eyes. "But only if you really want me to."

As expected, Kotomi's eyes became watery. "That sounds wonderful, but I would like a chance to think about it, if I could."

"Take your time," Sanae said soothingly.

"But not too much," Pops added as he looked at a calendar on a nearby wall. "If you want her, we're going to need some time to get her ready, and we're getting pretty close, here."

Kotomi nodded decisively. "I understand. I will let you know…by the end of tomorrow. Will that be okay?"

"That will be just fine," Sanae cooed as she rubbed Kotomi's head in a way that struck me as 'motherly'.

"What about you?" Pops said, jerking his chin my way.

I snorted. "I don't have any real friends…well, other than Kotomi-chan."

"What about that yellow-haired young man?" offered Sanae. "Isn't he a friend of yours?"

"Sunohara?" I rubbed my chin thoughtfully. "Yes and no. Now that I think about it I haven't seen him in a long time. I don't know if he'd be interested."

"You don't sound like you consider him a friend," Sanae observed.

"Not really, I guess," I remarked. "He and I got along mainly because we were both 'delinquents'; Koumura-sensei was the one who got us together. But since we're not in school any more…" I snorted as I realized: "Actually, most of my friends have been girls."

"Tomoya-kun!"

"Well, it's true!" I turned to my fiancée. "I mean, most of my classmates wouldn't have anything to do with me because they thought I was a delinquent."

"But-" Kotomi started to protest.

"I know; I wasn't really one, but they didn't know that." As realization dawned on her face I continued. "At the beginning of the year the only ones who would have anything to do with me were Kyou and Fujibayashi…and I learned why not too long ago," I finished, my face feeling hot. "Then I met Furukawa – I mean, Nagisa – at the bottom of the hill in front of the school and our friendship started there, I think. Then I met you…" I shoved down my self-consciousness, "…and things got a lot better."

I turned to address all three of them. "But as far as any guy friends…well, like I said, they all avoided me. I probably would have avoided Sunohara if Sensei hadn't stuck us together. I think we've kinda outgrown each other." I looked up to the Furukawas' sad faces. "It's okay, really. We served our purposes to each other, so it's fine." I slipped my hand into Kotomi's. "Besides, I don't know if he'd be interested in me studying philosophy. Shoot, I don't even know if I'll be interested," I finished with a snort.

"Anyway," I continued, "if I'm the only one up there by the preacher, I'm okay with that. Might be good for me to have that clean break."

"True," Pops grunted. "By the way, brat, who's going to be your preacher?"

Kotomi and I looked at each other with wide eyes. "Crap, that's right!" I blurted.

"We do not have a preacher for our wedding!" Kotomi nearly wailed.

"You're going with a Western-style wedding, aren't you?" Sanae asked.

I glanced over at Kotomi again, who nodded. "Yeah, that's the idea."

"There's a church not too far from the bakery," Sanae suggested as she looked over at her husband. "Maybe he could do it?"

Pops snorted with a dry grin. "I've heard the guy; he's American and has a strong accent, but he really seems to care about other people."

"As long as he's willing…" I looked over at Kotomi yet again. "Can we give him a try?"

"I do not want to rush this, but we do not have a choice at this point," she despaired before taking a deep breath. "Does his church have a service on Sunday?"

"The last time we attended, there was a service at 9:30 AM," Pops offered.

I looked over to exchange smiles with Kotomi. "Want to go to church?"