After Story: Determination

Chapter Thirty: A Long Day

I opened the door to my apartment to find Kotomi sitting at the kotatsu, reading. She looked up and smiled when she saw me. "Tomoya! Welcome home!"

I studied her as I slipped off my shoes and slid into my slippers. Something about her seemed...different.

No, it was me; something was different about me. "Thanks, Kotomi," I said as I made my way over to the kotatsu and plopped myself down to pinch the bridge of my nose.

I heard her gasp, drawing my attention. "Tomoya, you're bleeding!"

"Where?" I checked myself the best I could but didn't find anything.

She quickly grabbed a tissue and gently pressed it to my temple. When she pulled it away, I could see a rather large red spot on it. "It looks like it is from your ear," she said with worry in her tone. "What happened?"

I sighed heavily. "I got into a couple of fights on the way home. I'll be fine."

She said nothing, but I could feel her gaze on me as I grabbed a napkin to finish the job. While I worked I thought about my relationship with her. She was a nice girl and my friend from a long time ago, sure, but...

I pulled myself to my feet and moved to her to hold out my hands. She took them with a puzzled expression but let me help her to her feet. I studied her face as she blinked back at me, and my eyes settled on her lips. I'd kissed those lips many times, but I'd always felt like...like...like I had to hold myself back. So I drew her into my arms, capturing her lips with mine.

She gasped through her nose at the sudden contact but wrapped her arms around me as she gave in to the kiss.

Not satisfied with just the kiss, I let my old memories and habits return, and my hand slid up between us to cup one of her breasts.

Her response was immediate; she pushed away, gasping as she crossed her arms over her chest. "T-Tomoya! What are you doing?"

I stared at her with a feeling of...of distance; Tomoyo didn't seem to mind if I grabbed her like that, but Kotomi did. Of course she did; my childhood friend had grown into a lady, and ladies didn't allow their breasts to be touched, let alone grabbed. Tomoyo, on the other hand, was more... rough-and-tumble, which was probably why she didn't seem to mind.

In the end it wasn't about breasts, but about...the differences between worlds.

***

I woke up to the sound of the phone ringing, and remembered that I had conked out on the floor after seeing Kotomi off with an apology for my behavior. I stumbled over to the phone and picked it up as I scratched my head. "Hello, this is Okazaki speaking."

"Tomoya-san?"

"Pastor!" Had it been two weeks already? "You're back in Japan?"

"Two nights ago, actually," he replied. "I thought I'd call and let you know, now that I'm over the jet lag."

I chuckled. "Yeah, I've heard that that can really take it out of you."

"No kidding." There was a long pause, then: "You okay, Tomoya? It might be the line, but you sound...tense."

"It has been kinda rough lately," I admitted.

"Do you want to talk about it? I can be there in about fifteen minutes."

I scratched my head again. "Yeah, that'd probably be a good idea. I need someone to bounce some thoughts off of. But let me come there; I need a change of scenery, anyway."

After making the arrangements I splashed cold water on my face, brushed my teeth to get rid of the smell, then grabbed my coat and headed out the door. As I walked I thought about my last interaction with Kotomi. I felt bad about touching her like that, of course, but only because she didn't seem to like it. But that kind of touching had become second-nature to me. Tomoyo used to give me crap about it, but never seriously tried to stop me. Looking back, I think she kinda liked the attention.