Chapter 17 – Unnatural Disaster

I hated parabolas. At least I hated them after learning more about them.

Under Kotomi's teaching, I'd been trying to graph (x - 2)2 = 8(y + 1) for at least thirty minutes.

"So the vertex is (h, k), which would be… '(2, -1)', right?" I looked over at Kotomi for reassurance.

Purple eyes twinkled with her smile. "Right, and which form of the equation do you derive this from?"

I hated parabolas. "'Standard'? 'Y-intercept' is the y=ax2+bx+c equation, so it's got to be 'standard'."

"Right again, Tomoya-kun." I heard her scoot a little closer. "And what is the value of the axis of symmetry?"

"Well, that would have to be the x-value of the vertex in this case, so '2'." I looked over at her again.

Kotomi clapped and scooted even closer. What was she, a human glacier? "And the directrix?"

Crap. The directrix, the directrix…Let's see, it's the same distance from the vertex as the focus…I have the equation around here…ah! 'y=k-a', so… "-3?"

Scoot, scoot. "Very good, Tomoya-kun." I could practically feel her breath against my face; that was definitely some kind of mint I smelled. "And…A-And…"

I finished writing and looked up. "Yeah? What's the next question, Kotom-"

I found myself looking into beautiful violet-colored eyes. They were so warm and inviting, just like her voice, the softness of her skin as she placed a hand on my cheek. Those violet orbs closed slowly as she leaned toward me, her lips-

Starfish.

STARFISH!

I must have backpedaled pretty fast, because I suddenly found myself out of my chair on my butt on the floor.

"Tomoya-kun!" I couldn't be sure, but Kotomi looked shocked and worried at the same time as she knelt down and put her arms around me. "Are you hurt?"

"Starfish."

"What?" She shook her head, her pigtails flapping with the motion.

"Starfish," I repeated. "Starfish, starfish, starfish, bouncy tune, sister's wedding, party hat, oh my GOD I almost forgot again!"

Kotomi gave me a puzzled expression. "Tomoya-kun, what are you talking about?"

"Fuuko," I replied, somewhat out of breath. "I had forgotten about her again. Damn me!"

"Fuuko? Are you talking about the girl in the hospital?"

"Yes! Everyone else has forgotten about her, but I won't! I can't!"

I felt her pull away and looked over at her as I heard a hiccup.

Tears glistened in her eyes as she looked at me. "Tomoya…kun…do you…like…Fuuko?"

I realized what she had been trying to do, and my heart sank. "I'm sorry, Kotomi-chan…I didn't know…I mean…Kyou had said something, but-"

"Tomoya-kun…it hurts…"

Suddenly she was in my arms, with her face buried in my chest as she sobbed uncontrollably. Kotomi-chan was my oldest and dearest friend…

…and I had just broken her heart.

After having lunch in the Reference Room I trudged out to the field where I was supposed to meet with Tomoyo for my 'combat training'. Kotomi seemed to have calmed down by the time I left the library, but I was still smarting from the conversation and had considered canceling my training for the day. I realized, though, that maybe the training would help clear my mind, maybe give me a success to make up for my failure.

Tomoyo stood in the middle of the field with her hands on her hips and an irritated expression. "You're late, Okazaki."

I lifted my hands in defeat. "I know, I'm sorry. I had a…rough time with my studies this morning and got held up."

Tomoyo's expression softened in response. "All right, I'll let it slide. At least you're trying, and I don't want to mess that up."

"Thanks," I said while waving a hand. "What am I working on today?"

"Reflex training," she replied, and her smile looked a little odd. "But it may not be what you're used to."

"How's that?"

She knelt down on the ground and sat on her heels. "Sit in front of me, like this."

I sat on the ground, copying her posture as best as I could. "Is this good?"

She nodded. "That'll work. Now, what we're going to do is try to poke each other."

My eyebrows rose. "Excuse me?"

"It'll be fun; what we'll do is try to poke each other in the side for a tickle response. So, one of us tries to poke and the other tries to block or parry."

I had to admit that that certainly gave me a good reason to defend myself; I hated being tickled.

"Now remember, Okazaki," she continued, "the idea isn't to try to anticipate what the other person will do, but to let your body respond to the threat. You've shown me that you're definitely quick enough to defend yourself against me; what you need to do is train your mind to let your body do what it needs to. Got it?"

I nodded. "I got it."

She ran a hand through her silver locks. "So…do you want to attack or defend first?"

I didn't want to, but…"Defend. I am the student, after all."

"One thing I forgot," she added. "We need to look each other in the eyes for this. Not only does it train you not to be intimidated, but you'll also be able to tell when your opponent is about to do something by watching their eyes. Also, a turn ends when a poke has been successfully deflected." I squirmed a bit, and she chuckled. "Don't worry; I think you'll do great. Ready?"

"Let's go."

Her smile faded to a more serious expression. A moment later, her left hand shot out at an incredible speed and poked me in the side. My snort must have sounded amusing, because she chuckled. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I replied. "You know how to pull your punches."

Her smile turned serious again as her eyes settled on mine, and this time her right hand shot out. I got my hand out to parry, but it was too late, as she poked me in the other side. Another snort, another chuckle.

"Come on, Okazaki; Your body knows what to do; just let it do it."

"Right." I closed my eyes and took a deep, cleansing breath. I opened them again. "Ready."

Her left hand shot out again, and I found her wrist caught in my left hand.

She nodded approvingly. "Good!" She lowered her arms to her sides. "Your turn."

I admit I was a little anxious about this. I wasn't worried about hurting her; I knew how to pull my punches, too. It was more that I was worried about poking her in one of her breasts by accident; my aim still wasn't the best. But, she trusted my ability, so…

My hand hadn't even crossed half the distance to her before she had caught it. "What the-"

"You have a 'tell'," she said, responding to my unasked question. "Like I said earlier, you can tell when someone's about to act by the look in their eyes. So keep your face normal and your opponent will have a harder time knowing what you're about to do." She gestured to me, causing me to flinch. "Do you want another shot, for practice?"

"No, I'll take the penalty. I'll keep that in mind for next time, though."

I managed to catch her next strike, which surprised us both. "You're picking this up quickly," she said.

"I hate being tickled."

She chuckled lightly. "Gotcha. Well, your turn again."

I took another deep breath and cleared my mind. My left hand shot out, and she snorted. I never knew that girls could snort!

*poke* A hit.

*slap* A parry.

*poke* *poke*

*slap*

Tomoyo got a funny look in her eye so I knew she was about to act. She gave me a shocked look as I released her wrist. "What?" I asked.

She shook her head in disbelief. "You're amazing. I switched it up without telling you; you just blocked seven in a row."

"Seven? Really? I wasn't counting."

Apparently I had a shocked look myself, because she laughed and shook her head again, her silver hair swaying. "Amazing. Anyway, it's your turn again. A couple more rounds, then I think we'll call it a day."

"Okay." I nodded and then readied myself.

*poke*

"Damn, I even saw that coming," she said while shaking out her arms. "I must be getting tired."

"We have been doing this for about forty-five minutes. Ready?"

"Come at me," she challenged.

*poke* *poke* *poke* *poke* *poke**poke* *poke* *poke* *poke* *poke* *poke* *poke* *poke* *poke* *poke* *poke*

"Stop! Stop!" she gasped. "You win! Stop!"

*poke* *poke* *poke* *po-

She pounced, throwing me onto my back. When the dust settled, she was sitting on top of me, with my arms trapped under her hands and legs, and her hair hanging like a silver curtain around us.

"That's not fair," I half-heartedly complained.

She was sweating and visibly trembling. "I did say 'stop', didn't I?" she retorted, her voice still shaky from laughter.

I looked down at my situation. "Well, you got what you wanted, I guess." I shrugged my shoulders as I looked back up at her. "Now what do…we…"

Her gaze was intense. "Tomoya…"

Oh, boy; she's using my first name. "Yeah?" I answered cautiously.

She bit her lower lip as she lowered her eyes and I knew, just knew, dammit, what was coming next. "Tomoya, I've been thinking…"

After a long pause I prompted, "You've been thinking…"

"Just…just give me a minute, okay?"

"Sure. Can you at least get off my arms? They're starting to go numb."

Without saying anything, she moved her hands and legs, setting my arms free. I shook them to get the circulation back.

"Tomoya…" She'd apparently got her train of thought. "I've really enjoyed our times together…not just the training sessions, but our conversations outside of training."

"Thanks. I've enjoyed them, too."

"But…but I want more." She still wouldn't look me in the eye. "I want…to be yours…and for you…to be…mine."

I would have used another profanity, but I'd already used up my allotment for the day.

"So…I like you, Tomoya…Will you be my boyfriend?"

I closed my eyes and swallowed the lump in my throat; breaking two hearts in one day… "Tomoyo, please let me up."

She carefully got off of me and sat on her heels again.

I also sat on my heels and then bowed with my face touching the ground. "I'm very sorry Tomoyo, but I'm already with someone." I straightened. "I'm…honored that you think of me this way, really, and I…regret that I can't return your feelings."

I saw a lot of emotions on her face, but I couldn't tell exactly what they were.

"I, uh…" She didn't seem to know what to say. "I, uh, didn't expect this," she admitted with what sounded like an embarrassed chuckle as she scratched the back of her neck. "I mean, I had no idea that you already had someone. I…I'm sorry for putting you in that position."

I didn't know what to say. "A-Are you going to be okay?"

She waved a dismissive hand. "I'll be fine, Okazaki. I…I just need some time to think." She smiled at me, but I could swear that there was sadness behind that smile. "See you at the next session?"

"Sure."

She got to her feet and started to walk off. "See you."

I also got to my feet. "Yeah, see you." I half-waved at her and turned the other way to head home.

I had only taken a handful of steps before I heard footsteps running towards me from behind and, before I knew it, a pair of arms was wrapped around me. "What-?"

"Tomoya," came a familiar voice from behind me, and it wasn't hard to recognize it as Tomoyo's. "Please…just for a minute…"

I understood, and let her cry against my back. Her sobs intensified when I put one of my hands over hers and squeezed it gently.

By the time I got to the twins' house, I had Kotomi's dried tears on the front of my shirt, and Tomoyo's on the back.

What a crummy day.