After Story: Determination

Chapter Twenty-Five: Doing the Splits

I sat with my chin resting on my hands as I stared at my milkshake.

"What is the matter, Tomoya?" Kotomi asked. "Do you not like chocolate?"

"No, it's not that," I said. "I guess I'm just worried about Tomoyo."

She smiled affectionately. "I understand. It is a shame that she could not make it this time."

"Yeah," I mumbled, but I wondered; she had called me the morning of our 'group date' to let me know she wasn't feeling well. "I haven't been getting enough sleep lately. You two have a good time, though." I'd had no choice but to accept what she said, but something didn't feel right about it.

I felt Kotomi's gaze against the side of my face. "Shall...Shall we go visit her after we are done here?" she asked with a bit of a strain to her voice.

"Yeah, I'd like that," I replied. "Just to make sure she's okay."

She took my arm immediately after I finished paying for our snack, and we headed down the road toward Tomoyo's house. We both knew where she lived because of our prior 'dates', so it wasn't long before we entered a neighborhood similar to where Kotomi lived: rows of nice, gated houses lining the road, each surrounded by bushes.

I opened the gate to let Kotomi enter ahead of me, then carefully closed the gate before heading to the front door to ring the doorbell. We both knew that it was a Saturday but were still surprised when Takafumi answered the door. "Oh hey, Okazaki-san, Ichinose-san! Good afternoon!"

"Hey, Takafumi," I greeted. "We're here to visit your sister, if she's up to having company."

He gave us a puzzled look. "Nee-san? She's out running errands."

It was my turn to have a puzzled look. "Errands? I thought she wasn't feeling well."

A gentle pressure on my arm drew my attention to Kotomi. "Takafumi-san, did your sister say anything about feeling unwell this morning?"

He shrugged. "No, she seemed pretty normal; just had her breakfast and went to school. She was only home for a few minutes after school before heading out to do her errands."

Now that was weird; why would she tell us that she wasn't feeling well and then go run errands? "Do you know where she went?"

"To the market, as far as I know," he said. "Why?"

"The three of us had planned to spend time together today," Kotomi answered, surprising me with her initiative. "We missed her and wanted to check up on her."

"We didn't mean to bother you," I added.

"It's not a problem," the high-schooler said. "Hey, how's your computer doing?"

"Fine," I said with an awkward grin. "To be honest, though, I haven't signed up for the internet yet; I've been mostly playing around with the programs."

"We all learn at our own pace," he said with a disarming smile. "No rush. Like I said; if you need help you can call me."

"Thanks."

"I...I have been helping him," Kotomi interjected.

He nodded approvingly at my friend. "It's good to have friends you can count on, right?"

"R-Right," I managed, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

***

I tried to ignore the approving looks of other people as we got close to the busy market. Kotomi and I did look like we were a couple; both of us dressed nice, her arms wrapped around one of mine and, I noticed after a glance, a bright, happy smile on her face.