Unlikely Miracle
"I hate this town. It's full of memories that I'd rather forget."
Tomoya Okazaki stood idly at the path, gazing over the scenery that he had seen countless times. At this point, he could really care less about going to school on time, even if he had woken up earlier than usual today. After all, what is even there for him if he arrives earlier?
"Wake up, go to school, chat with friends, and then go back to the home I don't even want to go back to."
Nothing really, he believed. It's all gonna be the same. Just another uneventful day in the last year of high school for him. He continues his trek up the hill at a slow pace.
"Will something eventually change, doing this? Will that day ever come?" the 17 years old boy sighed wearily.
Tap tap tap tap tap.
His hearing begins to register the sounds of what appears to be footsteps, rapidly closing in. From what Tomoya could tell, whoever this person is appears to be running.
"Wah~! I can't be late!"
"A girl?" Tomoya glanced to his side to find the owner of the voice running past him. She is clutching a book bag in her right hand while looking at the watch on her left wrist. He watched as she keeps dashing up the hill path, her long blue hair fluttering in the wind.
Further up, Nagisa Furukawa is staring at the school gates. She had been trying to muster her courage to keep going. However, the brunette was alerted and turns around when she heard someone running towards her direction.
"Eh? Is that..." her eyes widened when she finally recognized who it was.
"There's still time- Uwaah~!" Nayuki Minase was looking at her watch, and finds it too late to stop her movement or change directions in time. She trips into Nagisa, causing them both to fall down into the pavement.
"That doesn't look good. I better check to see if they're all right." Tomoya quickens his walking pace before stopping at a fair distance from the girls.
Nayuki slowly lifts herself up into a kneeling position. "Uuu... Ah, Nagisa-chan~!"
"Ow... Nayu-chan? Is that really you?"
"Yes, it's me~" Nayuki smiles at her.
"Nayu-chan! It's been ages!" Nagisa exclaimed.
"Mmh~! How have you been, Nagisa-chan?" she asks her childhood friend.
"I'm doing fine. Ah, your school uniform..." Nagisa noticed that Nayuki is wearing the winter uniform for Hikarizaka Private High, which could only mean one thing. She is attending in the same school as her.
"Mmm, I transferred here recently~" she confirmed.
"Ah, I see." Nagisa beams at Nayuki. "Still sleepy as ever huh, Nayu-chan?"
Nayuki rubbed her cheek with her index finger awkwardly. "Hahaha~. Um... Sorry for bumping into you."
She shook her head "It's fine, Nayu-chan. I'm glad that we get to see each other again."
"Mmh~! I'm glad too, Nagisa-chan~" the athletic blue-haired girl stands up first, brushing the dust off her skirt. She then offers her hand. Nagisa grasped it, allowing Nayuki to lift her up.
"Looks like I'm interrupting something, it seems." Tomoya was about to go on his way, when Nagisa lets out a single word from her mouth.
"Anpan!"
"Anpan? Ah, that's right..." Nayuki thought to herself, recognizing that this was a habit of Nagisa.
"Strawberries~" she says the name of her favourite food in return.
"What am I even looking at right now?" Tomoya remarked at the sight.
"So Nayu-chan, how are you liking it here so far? Do you like this school?" the brunette asked.
"I just got here recently, so I'm not sure yet." in fact, this is Nayuki's first day of coming to this school after being transferred over.
"Right..." regardless, Nagisa continued to speak out the voice in her heart. "You see... I really, really loved it. But nothing will ever stay the same. Fun things... happy things... they can't all possibly stay unchanged."
"Even so... Do you think I can keep on loving this place?"
"Nagisa-chan..." Nayuki felt sorry to hear of her old friend's dilemma. In that moment, she really wanted to give her some form of consolation. But Nayuki couldn't find the exact words to say.
"Just find them." with those words, Tomoya made himself known to the duo.
"Huh...?" Nayuki and Nagisa looked at him, as the cherry blossoms across the path bloomed gracefully.
"Even if you lose the things you've liked before, just keep finding them.
Nagisa stared at him, her surprised expression still present on her face.
"This boy... he looked familiar..." the track athlete thought. It didn't occurr to her that he is the same boy she had ran past just a moment ago
"Come on, we'll be late at this rate." Tomoya shrugged, before he resumes his trek up the hill. Nayuki, along with Nagisa trailed along behind him.
They followed him up the long, long, uphill climb.
Kyou Fujibayashi stared out into the window. She exhaled tiredly, having managed to arrive earlier to school despite waking up late, all thanks to a secret method that is against the school regulations.
Kyou looks behind her, where the wall that separated 3-E and 3-D stood. "Should I go check on Ryou? There should still be some time left."
The older twin of the Fujibayashi sisters quickly makes her decision. "Those two idiots better not be giving her any trouble when I arrive, if they're even there." she rose from her seat, equipping a dictionary in-hand.
"Everyone, I'd like your attention for a moment." announced Shiratori, the homeroom teacher who had just arrived.
"Guess I'll see Ryou during the break period." Kyou sighed, before assuming her class representative position.
"Stand up." her classmates stood up from their seats.
"Bow." Kyou bowed, followed by everyone else.
"Sit down." all of them sat back down on their desks.
"Why was I picked for this position again?" Kyou grumbled to herself.
Shiratori places a fist over his mouth, clearing his throat for a second. "We have a new student joining our class today. She will be with us for the duration of the year."
This announcement managed to pique Kyou's interest. "A transfer student, huh?"
And Kyou is not alone in that regard. She could also hear the murmurs from her fellow classmates talking about the transfer student.
"Enter, please!"
"Yes, sensei~!" replied a girl's voice. The door slid open, revealing Nayuki who had been standing behind it.
"Well, she's very much a looker." Kyou observed, laying her eyes upon the blue-haired beauty.
More murmurs can be heard as she took her steps into the class. A majority of it originating from a group of boys that had often gotten into trouble with Kyou in the past.
"I told you, Yamane. It's a girl."
"Whoa, she's a cutie too!"
"Hey, hey. This girl kinda looks similar to Class Rep, but she seems nicer."
"Think she has anybody- "
Kyou glared at them intensely. From their point of views, her eyes were glowing fiery red, which would unnerve fellow students that lay their gaze on them.
"IIK!"
"We better keep it down, or Class Rep might punish us!"
"Y-Yeah!"
The blue-haired girl walked towards the chalkboard. "Would you like to introduce yourself?" the Homeroom teacher inquired.
"Yes." she grabs a chalk and writes her name on the board, before turning around to introduce herself. "My name is Minase Nayuki. I transferred here from the north. Nice to meet you~"
One girl rose her hand. "Excuse me. When you say north, do you mean Northern Honshu or are you from Hokkaido?"
"Um... Northern Honshu. The town I came from snowed a lot during winter, and sometimes it would last until March."
A bunch of students in the class collectively makes an "ooo" sound when they heard that trivia.
"Snow till March?!"
"That's a lot of snow..."
"I see, I see. So we got the Girl of Snow in our class now."
"Cut that out, man."
As of now, Nayuki is surrounded by strangers, and she didn't exactly know how to interact with them. Kyou manages to caught the 'stranger in a strange land' look that Nayuki had on her face.
"I might have to help this girl out here." she thought.
"Minase, you may take the seat next to Fujibayashi."
"Ah, okay." Nayuki walks to her designated seat. "Eh?" she stopped in front of her desk, looking at Kyou.
"This girl, Fujibayashi, she kinda looks like..."
"Kaori?" she blurted out her best friend's name.
"Huh?"
"Ah, Um... Never mind~" Nayuki hurried to her seat in the midst of chuckles that were swiftly silenced by a glare.
"Did you just call me Kaori?" Kyou asks, a look that expressed confusion present on her face.
"Yeah..." Nayuki looked away from her with an awkward smile on her face.
"Ahahahaha~! You're pretty silly, Minase!" her sudden laugh startled Nayuki a little.
"But my name isn't Kaori, though it does start with a 'K'. I'm Kyou, Fujibayashi Kyou!" she introduced herself with an assuring tone.
"Nice to meet you, Fujibayashi~" Nayuki beams at the violet-haired girl.
"Likewise, Minase!" Kyou flashes a thumbs-up at Nayuki.
Thus, morning Homeroom for 3-E ends with the addition of a new member to the class: Nayuki Minase.
"Now then, where should I go eat?"
After purchasing a yakisoba bread for himself at the cafeteria, Tomoya went searching for a place to eat. He happens to pass by the school lockers, where a couple of freshman boys can be heard talking about some rumours.
"A ghost?"
"Yeah, I heard it appears. The ghost of the girl that got in a car accident." one boy explained.
"I bet you're just seeing things."
"I'm not kidding, man! And I heard she's cute, too!"
"A ghost in the school, eh?" he continued on his way. As he walked down the hallway, Tomoya looked out the window into the courtyard. He saw the brown-haired girl from earlier munching an anpan, sitting under a tree.
"Hey, you alone?"
Nagisa continues to munch on her anpan.
"Anpan?"
"I'm sorry. I'm in the middle of eating right now."
"I see." he went to sit next to her and eats the yakisoba bread in silence.
About a minute later, Tomoya spots Nayuki heading towards their place, holding a carton of strawberry milk in her right hand.
"Strawberry milk~"
"Look, there's your friend." he gestured to Nagisa.
"Eh? Ah, Nayu-chan!" she waves at Nayuki.
"Nagisa-chan, there you are~" Nayuki heads over and came to a stop when she notices Tomoya sitting besides her. "Ah, you're... from this morning."
"Yo." Tomoya raises a hand to greet her.
"You're Yo? What a strange name~" Nayuki tries cracking a joke.
"...Was that supposed to be a joke?"
"Yes~! Is it not funny...?" Nayuki smiled delicately.
Tomoya looks to his side to find Nagisa giggling. "And she finds it funny? What kind of sense of humour do they both have?"
Nayuki sat next to her childhood friend. "It's really nice to know you're still here~" she spoke.
Nagisa smiles at Nayuki. "Yes, me too! With Nayu-chan, I won't have to be alone for the rest of this year."
"Alone? Don't you have any other friends?" Tomoya asked out of genuine curiosity.
Nagisa shakes her head a little. "I don't have much of a presence among my current classmates..." she then looks at Tomoya. "Do you like this school?"
"It's that question again..." Nayuki thought, remembering their brief conversation at the path as she sipped on her strawberry milk.
"Like... Not particularly." he answered her question vaguely.
"I really, really love it. I used to have friends and teachers I get along with. But now..." Nagisa trailed off into silence.
"Did something happen, Nagisa-chan?" Nayuki asked.
"Last year, I was away from school for a long period of time. So I'm..." she trailed off.
"You're repeating." Tomoya finished what she wanted to say.
"Yes, I'm a repeater." she says it with a smile, a rather sad one. "Everyone that I knew graduated, and only people that I don't know fill the school. I feel like Urashima Tarou."
"I see..." Nayuki mumbled, feeling sorry for her childhood friend.
"Were you involved with any clubs?" Tomoya asks Nagisa again.
"No. I wanted to join the Drama Club, But I have a weak body, so I don't think I can participate in the activities. Plus, it would be strange for a senior to join a club now, wouldn't it?"
"I mean, there's no harm in trying. Why not go to the Drama Club room after school?" Tomoya suggested to her.
"But..." she faltered.
"Just participate to the extent that you can. No need to push yourself so hard."
"I-I see..."
"You can do it, Nagisa-chan. Faito-dayo~!" Nayuki gives out her signature form of encouragement to Nagisa, doing a guts-pose.
"Nayu-chan..." Nagisa couldn't help but to contort a smile. She stands up from the stone bench. "I... I'll try asking the club after school. Thank you, Nayu-chan."
"Don't mind it, Nagisa-chan~"
"And..." both girls then realized, they didn't quite catch Tomoya's name yet.
He stands up. "I'm Okazaki Tomoya from 3-D."
"I'm Furukawa Nagisa from 3-B. Thank you, Okazaki-san."
"You're welcome, Furukawa."
"Then..." Nayuki stands up too. "I'm Minase Nayuki from 3-E. Nice to meet you, Okazaki-kun~"
"Yeah. Nice to meet you too, Minase."
VROOOOOM!
"Huh?" Nayuki looked towards where she believed the revving noise came from.
"What's that noise?" Nagisa asked as she looked at the direction of the field.
The trio goes to the field, where the loud noise originated from. Three motorcycles which belonged to a bunch of industrial school delinquents can be seen wheeling in the middle of the field. Quite the number of students were present to watch them commit such bold stunts in the middle of the school field.
"Man! They're really spinning!" one of them happens to be a blonde guy that Tomoya is very familiar with. Youhei Sunohara, his best friend and the only other known delinquent at the school, sitting on a bench seat while clutching a peach juice box.
"Back at it again, huh?" he rests his arms on his head.
"Yup, they're- HEY WHAT ARE YOU DOING ON MY HEAD?!"
"Resting." Tomoya replied in a bored tone.
"I am not your table!"
"Nope. You're a trashcan."
"Why would you be resting your arms on a trashcan?! AND I'M NOT ONE EITHER!" he yelled.
"Is this boy a friend of Okazaki-kun? He reminds me a lot of someone..." Nayuki thought as she observed their interaction.
All four of them were then alerted to the sounds of grand cheering, which was being directed to a silver-haired girl wearing a black hair band that is walking towards the bikers. The offenders noticed her and stopped their bikes.
"Is she gonna lecture those guys? I'd like to see how this turns out!" Youhei seems to be engrossed in this turn of events.
"Such a brave girl, facing them all by herself..." Nayuki commented on the situation.
"Bravery ain't gonna save her. Eh?" Youhei turns around to take a look at Nayuki. He was surprised at the presence of an attractive girl that he never saw around the school before.
"Okazaki-san, why is this happening?"
"This school is the best one in town after all. These folks don't take that idea too kindly." Tomoya begins to take his blazer off.
"You're gonna help?" the blonde asked him.
"I can't stand by and watch that girl gets herself in danger."
"Wait, Okazaki-kun." Nayuki moves from where she is standing.
"Huh?" Tomoya looks at her.
"You shouldn't go there alone. It's dangerous."
"You guys don't have to worry about Tomoyo-san." an underclassman girl interrupted them.
"Tomoyo?" he repeats the strangely close name to his own.
"Yes, Sakagami Tomoyo-san! She is a junior that transferred in this spring. She's incredible!"
"If you tried to help, you'd just get in her way." another girl chimed in.
"Still, the odds don't seem to favour her..."
They observe the scene before them at the field. Tomoyo was addressing something to the delinquents. Whatever it was appears to be provocative to the delinquents, as it had enraged the guy with a remarkably horrendous hairstyle.
"DON'T SCREW WITH ME!" he twisted the handle of his bike and rode it at a very high speed, intending to collide against the junior, with the other two bikes following in his lead.
As fast as it began, the show was already over. Tomoyo Sakagami stood tall, overlooking the downed bikes and the unconscious industrial school delinquents. She had dispatched them very swiftly, using only her legs as an offensive measure.
"Wow..." Nagisa marvelled at the show.
"She did it!" the underclassmen girls cheered while joining hands.
"What the hell happened?" Youhei could only stand there in bewilderment.
"Uuu~... the strawberry milk is all gone..." Nayuki uttered sadly, holding the empty carton.
"Minase, can you give that to me?" he asked.
"Ah, okay." she hands the carton over to Tomoya.
"Please throw this away." Tomoya casually hands it over to Sunohara.
"Sure, Okazaki." Youhei complied, before swiftly snapping at him. "Hey, why are you giving this to me?!"
"To have you throw it away, obviously."
"Am I your personal garbageman now?!"
"Nope. You're the errand boy." Tomoya calmly retorted.
"Haha, I see... That doesn't make it any better!"
"Okazaki-kun, you're being very mean to him~!" Nayuki interrupts their conversation, in which the blonde was ecstatic to find the bluenette scolding Tomoya for his mischief.
"Are you all right, Kitagawa-kun?" only for that ecstatic feeling to be shattered in an instant. Nayuki had meant no harm, of course. However, calling him by the wrong name ended up being Youhei's breaking point.
"My name... IS SUNOHARAAAAA!!!" before she could apologize for her blunder, he sprinted away from them dramatically, still holding the empty milk carton and his own juice box.
"He didn't have to run away..." Nayuki stared at the direction Youhei just ran into.
"Don't worry. That is just Sunohara's way of introducing himself to other people." Tomoya utters out another straight-faced fabrication, complete with a thumbs up.
Nayuki glanced at Tomoya, scowling at him.
"Who am I to talk, giving out advices to her? I should be the last person doing that."
Tomoya leaned back onto his chair, looking out to the clear sky through the school window. The teacher's lectures to his class went in one ear and out of the other. His thoughts wandered back into the conversation that he had with Nagisa and Nayuki at the courtyard after they had returned from the fiasco at the field.
#
"So she's a transfer student too..." Nagisa repeated what she had heard about the dynamo junior girl from earlier.
"Yeah. Her situation is pretty close to you both, especially Minase, and yet she's quite popular. So everything depends on the individual."
"Mmh, Okazaki-kun has a point." Nayuki agrees with his statement.
"I don't think I can be as outgoing as her though..."
"You don't need to be like her, or strive for popularity or any of that stuff. I'm sure you'll do just fine being yourself." he added.
"Maybe you're right." Nagisa looks down on the ground.
"It'll be all right, Nagisa-chan. I'll help you out, 'kay~?" The blue-haired girl assured her.
"Really, Nayu-chan?" she gives her friend a hopeful look.
"Mmm~! Of course." Nayuki answered earnestly.
The bell signalling the end of lunch break chimed in. Tomoya stood up from his place.
"Well, I'll be going first."
"Ah, sure. Thank you again, Okazaki-san." the brunette thanked him once more.
"See you around, Okazaki-kun~" Nayuki did a small wave at him.
"Yeah. Nice talking with you two." he turns around and walks off into the distance.
#
"Pssstt! 'ey, Okazaki." Tomoya felt something very light hitting the side of his face. It was a very small, crumbled piece of paper thrown by Youhei. He turned to him.
"Tag along later."
Tomoya gave the blonde a subtle nod, before he continues with zoning off for the rest of the lesson period.
As it turns out, Youhei had Tomoya accompany him to the second years floor once break time arrives. The reason? To confront Tomoyo Sakagami with his baseless accusations. Tomoya took a backseat along with a bunch of bystanders, intending to stay out of his mess.
"A setup?" Tomoyo leaned her head in confusion at his claim.
"Indeed. You must have paid those guys to throw that fight so that you can gain attention and be popular. The only question is, what did you do? Did you use money? Or perhaps, something else? You're real lucky, since stupid guys would totally fall for that."
Tomoyo sported an annoyed expression from the complete blabbering that this blonde is spouting right in front of her.
"Rejoice. I was thinking that I wouldn't hurt someone from the same school. However, I'll make a exception especially reserved for you. But beware, as nothing good will come out of this for you." she spoke in a dignified manner.
"How cute, you're trying to act all tough, when deep inside you're scared." Youhei taunted the silver-haired girl.
Tomoya took the opportunity to mess with him. "Are you talking about yourself, Sunohara?"
"As if I'd be scared of some fraud!"
"Whatever. I'd like to make this self-defense, so you come at me." Tomoyo gestured at him with her hand.
Youhei assumes his fighting stance. "Heh. Don't say that I didn't warn you."
"That's my line." she fired back.
"Enough yammering, let's fight now!" he clenched his fist and charged at the dynamo girl. However, Youhei was easily dismantled with swift kicks to the abdomen that sent him face-planting on the floor.
"You know, Sunohara. A few years back, there was this rumour of a beautiful girl that used to beat up anyone troubling ordinary people at night. At least, that's how the rumour went." Tomoya told him.
"Could've told me earlier..."
"If I did, you wouldn't listen anyway. Plus, I wouldn't want to interrupt such a grand show."
His head shot up for a second. "Nothing is grand about me getting beaten to a pulp!" he completely slumped down right after.
"Don't bother me again." Tomoyo and the second years that were watching takes their leave as the break period is about to end.
"Damn it... I'll get my rezombie at her..." Youhei declared, still sprawled on the floor.
"Hey, Minase." Kyou approaches her during the break between the 5th and 6th period.
Nayuki looks up, barely managing to avoid dozing off. "Eh? What is it, Fujibayashi?"
"There is something that I'd like to ask you about." the violet-haired class representative told her.
"Yes...? What might that be?" she tilts her head slightly.
Kyou sits down at her desk, facing the blue-haired girl. "During lunch break earlier, you were with Okazaki Tomoya, correct?" she begins her interrogation.
"Okazaki Tomoya... Yeah. Why?"
"Minase, let me tell you something. That Tomoya is actually a delinquent."
"Okazaki-kun is a delinquent? He doesn't look like one..."
"Yup. He's a troublemaker that often skips classes and caused a bunch of trouble. I had to deal with his antics when I was his class rep last year. Him and Youhei." Kyou grumbled.
"Youhei?"
"Haruhara... I mean, Sunohara Youhei. A blonde moron that is pretty much Tomoya's truant buddy."
"I see..." Nayuki took in what she had just heard from Kyou. "I don't think Okazaki-kun is that bad of a person, though."
"Hm? And why is that?" Kyou furrowed an eyebrow.
"Because... Okazaki-kun helped out my friend during lunch break. He gave her some words of encouragement." Nayuki explained to Kyou.
"Oh? Did he now~?" she has found more ammo to tease him with.
"Yeah~" Nayuki nodded with a smile. "Um, why are you smiling like that?"
"No reason in particular~" Kyou sported a smug smile on her face, which is totally visible to Nayuki. "Anyway. If those two or anyone else bothers you, don't be afraid to inform me. I'll deal with them for you!" Kyou told Nayuki.
"Ah, okay. I'll try to be careful, Fujibayashi." she nodded.
"She's scary. But Fujibayashi certainly meant well." Nayuki thought, smiling at Kyou.
It was already after school. Students that were in a club stays back for their club activities. Those who don't would return home. In Tomoya's case, he would deliberately kill time by wasting his time inside the school. His leisurely stroll took him into the side of the school field, when he spots Nagisa, sitting on one of the bench seats. He approaches the brunette and takes a seat next to her.
"Hey." he greets her.
"Ah, Okazaki-san. Good evening." she returns it in kind.
"What are you doing here?" Tomoya asks her.
"I'm watching Nayu-chan on her club practice." Nagisa replied to him, before turning her attention back to the school field.
"Hm?" he looks over to the field as well. There, Tomoya could see Nayuki, who appears to be smiling as she overtakes her competitors. A cheering, though not as loud as the grand cheering during lunch break earlier, can be heard from her peers.
"The school's track club, huh?"
"Yes! Nayu-chan is amazing." Nagisa says, complimenting her.
"That, she certainly is. But, don't you have something else to attend to?" Tomoya tries reminding her of the Drama Club.
"Yes?" Nagisa looks at him.
"The Drama Club, remember?"
"Ah, that's right." Nagisa rises up from the seat.
"Better not keep them waiting."
"Got it. See you, Okazaki-san." Nagisa heads off into the old building.
Tomoya decides to stay around at the bench seat, figuring that Nagisa will do just fine. Then, he heard another wave of cheering. Nayuki had just finished another lap, shocking her peers and opponents alike. And she has yet to stop her running.
"She's truly something else." he marvelled. As he watched her, Tomoya couldn't help but to feel envious for the blue-haired girl that is currently running at the field.
"Minase still has the opportunity to continue chasing her dreams through doing what she loves. While I... I have lost the chance for that long ago."
"Okazaki-san?"
"Oh, Furukawa." Tomoya looks up to Nagisa, who had just returned from the Drama Club room. "How long had I been spacing out just now?"
"Okazaki-san, are you all right?" she asks with concern.
"I'm fine." Tomoya then noticed that Nagisa looks notably downtrodden. "What about you? How did it go?"
Nagisa sat down next to him, the sad expression evident on her face. "There's no one there... Only boxes inside an empty room..." she murmured sadly.
Seeing her like that, Tomoya places his hand on top of her head.
"Okazaki-san, what's this hand for?" Nagisa looked up at the hand.
"No reason." Tomoya takes a moment before he speaks again. "I've just recalled something. The Drama Club was closed down back in March."
"I heard the number of members were small to begin with..."
"But since it's only closed, once you fulfilled at the conditions, the club can be reinstated."
"Do you think so?"
"Why not give it another try? I'll lend a hand, and of course, Minase too."
"Okazaki-san... Why are you being so kind to me, even though we had just met?"
"Why, I wonder..." he couldn't give a clear answer to that, but that doesn't stop Nagisa from casting a warm smile at him.
A minute later, Nayuki approached them from the field, having just finished another lap of running. A white cloth was draped on her shoulders.
"You did really well out there, Nayu-chan!" Nagisa complimented her.
"It's not that big of a deal~" Nayuki wipes the sweat off the side of her face with the cloth.
"Furukawa is right, you know? You're pretty incredible, to be able to run that much."
"Hehe~. Thank you, Okazaki-kun." Nayuki then remembers something. "Ah, that's right. How did it go with the Drama Club?"
"Unfortunately, the club had closed down a month ago. However, we're gonna try restarting it." Tomoya explained the situation.
"Is that so..."
"Nayu-chan, will you help me out?"
"Of course, Nagisa-chan~" the bubbly athlete replied in an instant.
"Thank you." she smiled.
"Minase-san!" a fellow track member called for her.
"In a moment~!" responded Nayuki.
"Nagisa-chan, you can go on ahead. My club meeting won't be dismissed for another hour." Nayuki told her, looking at the time on her watch. "I'll see you at the bakery later, 'kay?"
"Yes! I'm sure Mom and Dad would be excited to see you."
"Yeah, I can't wait to meet Sanae-san and Akio-san again~"
"Hey, Minase-san!" Nayuki was called on again.
"I'll have to go. See ya~!" she runs back to the field.
"Bye."
"See you later, Nayu-chan!"
"C'mon, Furukawa." Tomoya began to walk ahead of her.
"Okay." the two of them exited the school gates and walked down the path together. Later on, they were standing at a junction.
"We'll part here."
"Sure. Bye." he was starting to walk away when she called to him once more.
"Um, Okazaki-san. My house is just further up this way. It's the bakery in front of a park. Please come visit when you feel like it." she points at the direction of the road that she is taking.
"Okay, when I feel like it." he raises his left hand to bid her goodbye.
"Yes. Bye, Okazaki-san." she beams at him before walking down the street that leads to her home.
Tomoya looked at Nagisa until her back was already far enough from him, before he heads off into the district, not intending to go home just yet.
Track and field practice is over. Nayuki went back home by herself. After minutes of walking from the school, the track athlete had finally reached her home. It was a rather cute house, and was similar in size to her old home, albeit the lack of a sizeable yard from before.
She walked up to the front door and opened it. "I'm home~!"
Akiko Minase had been carrying one of the many unopened boxes that was delivered recently when Nayuki announced her return. She places it down and greets her daughter. "Welcome home, Nayuki."
The landing was occupied by many boxes, although there was a narrow thoroughfare which was made by Akiko for people to pass through it.
"How was school today?"
"It was fine, Mom. I met Nagisa-chan today~!" Nayuki replied as she closed the door and starts taking her shoes off.
"Oh? Nagisa-chan is still at school?" she places a hand over her cheek in her usual manner.
"Yeah. Some complications made her miss a lot of school." Nayuki answered her.
"Is that so… Poor girl..."
"Yes. She was unable to graduate and is repeating her senior year without a friend. Nagisa-chan must've felt like an outcast..." Nayuki stepped in from the entrance into the hallway.
"Not anymore. Since she has you, now." her mother pointed out.
"Mmm~! And Okazaki-kun, too." Nayuki smiled.
"Okazaki-kun?" Akiko repeats the name.
"Yes! He's another friend that I've met today." the bubbly girl affirmed. "He's a little mischievous, but Okazaki-kun is a kind person. When Nagisa-chan was sad earlier, he helped to cheer her up."
"He sounds like a kind boy, indeed. I'm glad that you are making friends too, Nayuki." her youthful mother smiled at her.
"Mmm! Also, I met two people that looks pretty similar to Kaori and Kitagawa-kun." she mentioned.
"Do tell me about them."
"Let's see. The girl who looks like Kaori is Fujibayashi Kyou, the class representative. She's a little scary, but I'm able to get along with her."
"And there's Sunohara-kun. I didn't know him much, but he's… strange." Nayuki added.
"Strange? How so?" Akiko questioned.
Nayuki smiled awkwardly. "Um… He ran away crying after I called him "Kitagawa-kun" by accident."
Her answer had brought a slight giggle out of Akiko. "My, my. Nayuki made a boy cry? That is rather odd."
"I didn't mean to, Mom. His name just slipped out so suddenly~"
"I know, Nayuki. Now, is there anything in particular that you would like for dinner?"
"Dinner, huh? Dunno… I'm planning on going to the bakery after this. Maybe I'll eat there later." Nayuki told her mother.
"I see. You can go on ahead, Nayuki. I still need to take care of some things here." she looks at the boxes that has already been opened, before turning back to Nayuki. "But, take a bath first. You did just got home after all." addressed Akiko.
"All right." Nayuki was a little disappointed that her mother couldn't come along.
"Please send my regards to the Furukawas. And don't return home late, 'kay?"
"Okay, Mom~"
Nayuki goes upstairs to get herself changed out of her school attire, while Akiko resumes her work of arranging the boxes.
Tomoya finds himself back at the road to his house. Before then, he had been wandering aimlessly across the town after parting with Nagisa. It sure managed to kill him some time, but the delinquent felt that it was still too early for him to return to his so-called home.
"Should I go there now, or hang out with Sunohara again?" Tomoya contemplated on his options.
"Huh? Okazaki-kun?" he heard a familiar voice.
"Minase?" Tomoya turns behind him. There stood Nayuki, clad in what appears to be her casual outfit, which consists of a t-shirt with light red neckband and a medium-length red skirt.
"What are you doing here?" she tilts her head.
"I've been wandering around town, got nothing better to do." Tomoya shrugged his shoulders.
"Then, would you like to come with me? I'm going to Nagisa-chan's place." Nayuki decides to invite him along.
"Funnily enough, I was considering that too. I'll tag along, then."
"Sure~!"
The two of them walked side by side across the road. The scenery around them is gradually turning darker, with the night sky gradually enveloping the whole town as time passes.
"So you live around here, Minase?"
"Yeah. What about you, Okazaki-kun?"
"The same. Guess that makes us neighbours."
"Mmm~. Such a small world, huh?"
"Yeah. Though, this town is the only world I've ever known in my entire life." said Tomoya.
"Even smaller, then~" says Nayuki. "My hometown and this one are the only places I've known."
"Is that so?"
"Mhm, it snows a lot over there during winter. Sometimes, it even lasted up until March." Nayuki stated to him.
"I can't imagine living in such a town. Sounds like torture."
"No, it's not... You're exaggerating it, Okazaki-kun~"
"You were used to it. Of course you'd say that, Minase." Tomoya told her.
"When does it stop snowing for you usually?" Nayuki asks Tomoya.
"Probably around early February, but that doesn't make it any better."
"Whoa, lucky!" she exclaimed.
"Yes, I'm lucky!" he says sarcastically, pointing a thumbs up at himself.
Nayuki looks forward as they walked. "I love the snow, but it can get a little troubling when there's a lot of them around. They would be piled up on the area around my old home."
"And you had to shovel them, too. Must've been back-breaking."
"It sure is. But usually it's Mom that does most of the work. She could shovel two lanes of snow and still keeps going."
"Two lanes? I'll be damned."
They reached the junction where Tomoya had parted with Nagisa prior.
Tomoya decides to switch the topic. "Say, you told me you're in 3-E, right?"
"Yes." Nayuki responded.
"I take it you must've met Kyou, then."
"Yeah~! She's nice to me."
"Kyou being nice, huh? I have a hard time seeing that."
"Why?"
"To be fair, she's nice enough to not mind talking to me, but..." Tomoya folded his arms. "Let's just say, Kyou can be prone to physical ways of handling things, and she can get a little foul-mouthed when agitated."
"Weren't you just being mean to Sunohara-kun during lunch break?" Nayuki says bluntly.
"I'm not one that made him cry, though."
"I can still remember his hurt expression..." Nayuki remembers how Youhei had cried as he ran away from her during that eventful lunch break.
"You don't have to worry about him, Minase. Sunohara can quickly recover from any physical and emotional damage inflicted on him. In fact, he already forgot about what happened during lunch."
"Hmm, if you say so~..." she decides to leave it at that
After some time, the luminous sign of Furukawa Bread is finally in sight.
"This is the place, huh?"
"Yes~"
Tomoya proceeds to open the half-closed entrance, and enters the store with Nayuki. A couple of trays on the display are still full of breads.
"Hello?" Tomoya called out, to no reply.
"Is no one home...?" Nayuki wondered.
The two came upon a tray of leftover buns at the display. Tomoya took one in from a particular tray, inspecting it in his hand for a moment.
The blue-haired girl reads the name on the display. "Rice cracker bread?"
At that moment, a fairly young-looking woman emerged from the hallway. "That's our newest-" her eyes widened once she had registered that Nayuki is standing there.
"Ah, Sanae-san~!"
"NAYUKI-CHAN!" Sanae closed the distance between herself and Nayuki, pulling her into an embrace.
"Woah." Tomoya backs off a little. "This lady... Furukawa's mother, I presume. Or is she the older sister?"
"How have you been, darling? I haven't seen you in ages!"
"I'm doing fine, Sanae-san~"
Sanae releases Nayuki from the hug to take a better look at her. "Nagisa told me that you're gonna be coming here, but still... You've grown so much, Nayuki-chan."
Nayuki smiles at the older woman. "It's nice to see you, too. Mom couldn't come along, so she told me to send her regards."
"That's great. We'll be able to get reacquainted soon!" Sanae looks behind Nayuki. "Oh, this boy is?"
"I'm Okazaki Tomoya."
"I'm Furukawa Sanae. Nice to meet you, Okazaki-san." Sanae then notices the bun in Tomoya's grasp again. "Oh, that bread is a leftover, so you don't need to worry about paying. Feel free to have a bite!" she beams at him.
"I'll take the offer, then." Sanae was bouncing a little when Tomoya was starting to eat a chunk out of the bun. Before he could have a bite however, Tomoya saw the face Nayuki is making, and halted.
"What's with the 'Wow, he's actually going to eat it' face, Minase?" he commented on her expression.
Nayuki does a wave off gesture with her hand. "I-It's nothing, Okazaki-kun."
Tomoya pays no mind to her behaviour, and moves the bread to his mouth once more. But he was interrupted again, by none other than Akio Furukawa.
"What's going on here- KID WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" he rushed over to Tomoya. In an instant, Akio snatched the rice cracker bun out of Tomoya's grasp, and pulls him in close, an arm around Tomoya's neck.
"Hey, what's the deal?!" Tomoya exclaimed.
"Listen kid. You can take any other bread here, but not this one! Be thankful to me, I just saved you from a trip to the dentist!"
"Huh?"
"This bread in particular isn't all that it's cracked up to be. It'll crack your teeth instead! There's a reason this one was only a leftover today!" he whispered, albeit a little too loudly.
Nayuki taps his arm lightly, making herself known. "Um, Akio-san?"
"What- Oh, Nayukyun! It's been a while!" the man's demeanour changed in just a second.
"It has~, but..." Nayuki points at Sanae, who is about to bawl her eyes out. "Sanae-san heard what you said."
"Crap." the cigarette fell from his lips into the floor.
"So my... my bread..." she hiccuped. "My bread is destined to be leftovers?!?!" Sanae runs out of the store while clutching her face with both hands.
Akio bites into the bun that he had snatched from Tomoya earlier. He then pursued Sanae outside, leaving Tomoya and Nayuki at the store. "I WUOVVV DEEMMM!"
"That's her parents, huh? They're quite the eccentric pair."
"Yeah... hehe~" Nayuki giggled slightly at the nostalgic sight of Akio chasing Sanae across the street. "Guess some things never really change after all."
After Sanae's bout of running across the street had come to a stop, both Tomoya and Nayuki were invited inside for dinner. The two were seated next to each other at the table.
"The last time I saw you, you were still just a little girl. Now look at you, Nayukyun! You're a big girl now!"
"And you're still as cool as ever, Akio-san~"
"Damn straight! Thank you, thank you."
"The ego on this guy..." Tomoya deadpanned.
"I'm really sorry for making such an embarrassing display in front of you two." Sanae apologized.
"It's fine, Sanae-san~" Nayuki assured her.
"Don't worry, Sanae. This one here looks like an idiot. I'm sure he has forgotten about it already!" Akio rubs the top of Tomoya's head roughly with his palm.
"How did it turn out like this?" Tomoya grumbled internally.
"Still, today is such a great day! Nayukyun and Akiko are back in town. We'll be able to reconnect with each other in no time!"
"Yes~! I would really love that~"
"Last but not least, Nagisa had brought in a new friend as soon as the new semester started!" Akio exclaimed.
"Not to mention, it's a boy too." Sanae chirped.
"What?! You're a boy?" Akio moves closer, as if inspecting him.
"Did you just notice that now?" Tomoya snarked at him.
"Maybe it's her boyfriend." Sanae theorized.
"As if I'd let such a wimp be Nagisa's boyfriend, or Nayukyun for that matter."
"Eh?!" Nayuki blushed.
"Ah, that's right. You arrived here with him, right Nayuki-chan? Is Okazaki-san your boyfriend, perhaps?"
Their questions prompted them both to get flustered.
"No, I'm not!" he vehemently denies it.
"He's not my boyfriend, Sanae-san~!"
Akio laughs again. "That's a good one, Sanae! Look at their reddening faces!"
Both Tomoya and Nayuki glanced at each other for a second. They reflexively turned their gaze away pretty quickly.
"What's with that face, brat? If you are really a man, you should fight for the woman you love. Snatch 'em away with force if you have to!" Akio makes a dramatic pose with his clenched fist. "That being said, you still have to go through me before you could even hope to have Nagisa, or Nayukyun."
"There isn't anything going on between me and Furukawa, or Minase!"
"Akio-san, stop joking about that already~!"
"Fine, fine." he complied.
Nagisa finally comes out from the kitchen, carrying a tray of food. "You're all getting along already." she places them on the table and sits next to her mother.
"Sure we are. Goo!" everyone at the table save for Tomoya raised their fist into the air.
"Hm? Is something the matter, brat?" Akio asks him.
"No. I was just thinking, maybe I shouldn't get involved with this family."
Akio pats his left shoulder roughly twice. "Would you look at that? We can already toss around slightly harsh jokes with each other!"
"Okazaki-kun looks uncomfortable..." Nayuki looks at him.
"Say, I didn't catch this brat's name. Okazaki, was it?"
"Okazaki-san. He's Okazaki Tomoya-san." Nagisa says his name.
"Such a wimpy name. Make it Okazaki Ginga. Daiuchuu Ginga! Greater name, ain't it?"
"My name is Okazaki Tomoya!" he raised his voice.
"Man, what a picky brat. Sanae, you got any other name?"
Sanae clasped her hands together. "Let's see... How about adding something after the first name? To indicate that he is a being that has surpassed time and space: Okazaki Tomoya Eternal!"
"Oh, Ethanol! That's a great one! Nagisa, any ideas?" Akio looks at his daughter next.
"No, Dad." Nagisa shakes her head.
"Nayukyun, how about you?"
Nayuki puts a finger over her cheek, thinking of an answer. "I don't think... Ah! How about switching 'Okazaki' to Okazakyun? That way, it would sound cuter~"
"Nice idea, Nayukyun!"
"Minase, not you too..." Tomoya's head drooped down.
"Haha. Sorry, Okazaki-kun~"
"There you have it! We've got Okazakyun Tomoya Ethanol as your new name. How does that sound?" Akio asked Tomoya jovially.
"I prefer keeping my name as it is, thank you." Tomoya responded, complete with a sarcastic head bow.
"Tch, what a lame kid."
More conversations would follow (half of them being Akio trying to mess around with Tomoya again), accompanied by laughters among them. Tomoya watches closely as the Furukawas and Nayuki interacted with each other. Seeing them talking and laughing with each other, as a family... it was a completely foreign scene to him. A contrast to his own state of affairs. Still, he felt a sense of ease and comfort around them.
Not long after the dinner, it was time for Nayuki and Tomoya to excuse themselves. The Furukawas see them both off at the front door of the bakery.
"Stay safe, you two." said Sanae.
"Okay, Sanae-san~" Nayuki replies.
"Don't let her get hurt, brat!" Akio added.
"I hear you, old man." he answered in a bored tone.
Akio sported a smug grin on his face. "Heh, brat's got guts going for him at least."
"Okazaki-san, Nayu-chan. See you tomorrow." Nagisa waves at them.
"Good night, Nagisa-chan~"
"See you, Furukawa."
The two finally leaves the bakery together. Since their home is situated in the same area, Tomoya decides to accompany Nayuki for the time being.
"So there are families like that too, huh?"
"Huh?" Nayuki turns to look at him as he says that, finding the atmosphere between them getting tenser.
"You guys get along so well." he sighed.
"Ah, are you not supposed to get along with others~?" she replied.
"No, no. That's not what I meant."
"Then... what do you mean, Okazaki-kun?" questioned Nayuki.
"It's just, the atmosphere between you and Furukawa's family, the closeness between you guys... it's something that is completely absent at my home." he explains.
"...Absent?" Nayuki faltered.
"I'd rather not get into details on that, but yeah."
"I see..." she trailed into silence for a moment, pondering over what she had just heard from him.
"Okazaki-kun." Nayuki spoke again.
"What is it, Minase?"
"What you said earlier... I'm always here if you ever want to talk about it."
"...I'll think about it." he simply replied, to which she responded with a small smile.
The two continued on their trip back home in relative silence.
"Ah, my house is coming up." both Nayuki and Tomoya came to a stop in front of the Minase Residence.
"Thank you for walking me home~" the bubbly girl beams at him.
Tomoya smiles back. "No problem."
"Mmh~! Good night, Okazaki-kun."
"Yeah. Good night, Minase."
Nayuki enters her house and closed the door, leaving Tomoya to his own thoughts.
"Guess I'll head home too."
Tomoya went on his way. It doesn't take long for him to get to his house, as it was fairly close to Nayuki's home. He slides the door open and entered, heading for the living room, which is scattered with a bunch of alcohol bottles here and there. The TV is still running, and a man that Tomoya knows as his father, Naoyuki Okazaki is sleeping against the wall.
Tomoya held in the accumulated anger he has for the man and went to wake him up by shaking his shoulder. "Hey, Dad. Wake up."
Naoyuki began to stir awake. He fixed his glasses slightly before looking up to his son. "Oh, now look at that."
Tomoya gritted his teeth. "It seems that I have caused more trouble for Tomoya-kun."
The scene before him turned red for a second. He stood up and sprinted out of the living room. He runs out of the house, away from his estranged father.
"No matter what happens, no matter what I did, it was always like this..." Tomoya kept sprinting across the side of the road, not really caring where he was going, as long as he can get far, far away.
Eventually, he finds himself stopping by the road where the bakery stood once more. The area was already dark, brightened only by the street lights nearby. Tomoya was looking at the closed steel shutters of the bakery, when a voice called out to him.
"If you'd like..." he darted a glance to the park, where the voice came from. It belongs to Nagisa who is standing there, her figure glimmering slightly. She offers her right hand, directed to him.
"...Would you like me to take you?" she clasped her hands together, slowly closing her eyes. "To the place in this city, where wishes come true."
The sight, it was like an illusion - purity itself. Tomoya could only stand there in the freezing atmosphere of the night, as he was mesmerised by the scene before his very eyes. It was as if... Nagisa is reaching out to him.