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Chapter Text

Unlikely Miracle: Chapter 1

"I hate this town. It’s full of memories that I’d rather forget." 

Tomoya Okazaki stood idly at the hill path that leads to his school, 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 began 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 turned around when she heard someone running towards her direction."

Eh? Is that..." her eye 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.

"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.

"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 occur 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 looks similar to Class Rep, but she seems nicer."

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 she 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?"

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 you're a bit close. 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, where he spotted Nagisa sitting under a tree.

Tomoya heads down to the courtyard to see her. "Hey, you alone?"

Nagisa continues to munch on her anpan, not responding to his question.

"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.

"You can do it, Nagisa-chan. Faito-dayo~!"[1] Nayuki voiced out her signature form of encouragement to Nagisa.

"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." 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 this faker!"

"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 talking, let’s fight!" 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 is it?" 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 and field 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.

"Not bad..." 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!" a fellow track and field club 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!" 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 shopping 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."

"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, passing by the boxes that were neatly placed by the wall.

"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 looked 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!" Nayuki exclaimed. "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? Your mother must be something else."

"I guess so~"

They reached the junction where Tomoya had parted with Nagisa prior. Around that point, he 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- BRAT 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 to me. 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, 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?

"The question 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, lame."

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.

"Get her home safely, brat!” Akio added.

"You don't need to tell me that, 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 as Naoyuki said the following words, "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 that..." 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 in the park, her figure appearing to glimmer slightly under the street light. She offers her right hand to him. "...Would you like me to take you?" Nagisa clasped her hands together, slowly closing her eyes. "To the place in this city, where wishes come true."

The sight before him, 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.

Chapter Text

Unlikely Miracle: Chapter 2

Tomoya finds it hard to believe that he could've gotten up so early. There was still plenty of time before the lesson period would start, as evidenced by his clock. Still feeling lethargic, Tomoya decides to get himself ready anyway. After letting some time pass, he exits his house in his school uniform and walks in a rather slow pace, thinking back to the brief conversation he had with Nagisa near the park the night before.

#

"What are you doing here? Did you leave something at my house?" she regarded Tomoya, approaching him from the park.

"Uh, no. I couldn't sleep, so I went for a walk. What were you doing?"

"Reciting lines from a play. It's for a play that I want to perform when the Drama Club gets reformed." explained Nagisa.

"So they were just lines..."

"I always practice here. Since you're here, Okazaki-san, I had you watch my performance."

"You look totally like a different person just now. So you're up to getting the Drama Club reestablished?"

"Yes." Nagisa replied, smiling. "I don't know how much I can do, but I'll give my best for it."

"I see."

#

"Getting the Drama Club back together, huh? Well, it'll be a good diversion for me."

The familiarly melodic voice of a girl greets him. "Good morning, Okazaki-kun~"

Tomoya turns around to find Nayuki approaching him, clutching the handle of her book bag.

"Morning, Minase." he greets her back.

"Wanna walk to school together?"

"Sure."

They walk across the sidewalk together, heading for school.

"So... You're really helping Nagisa-chan with the club?"

"Well, I suppose so."

"I see. Um... I might be a little busy with club, but I'll try to help when I could."

"Sure. Furukawa would appreciate your help. Well, more than mine alone at least."

"Mm~!" she nodded.As they walked, the droning of what appears to be the whirring of a beetle's wings can be heard. However, it came from no beetle, as evidenced by the voice that followed it.

"Tomoya! Minase! Get out of the way!" it is none other than Kyou, who's losing control of her scooter.Thinking fast, Tomoya shoves Nayuki out of the way, not unlike a timed event in a game as Kyou's bike comes barrelling towards them.

Wham!

Nayuki was completely unharmed thanks to Tomoya's quick action. But being partially hit by the bike, Tomoya wasn't so lucky. Tomoya and Kyou were both sent flying to the pavement by the force of the impact.

"Oww! Hey, watch where you're walking down the road!" exclaimed Kyou, clutching her right arm.

"Ugh... That's what I should be saying! You almost hit me and Minase there!"

Realizing that she was on the losing end of the argument, Kyou tries laughing it off. "Ahahaha! Actually, I've just got my license a week ago, and I'm still getting used to this thing."

"Fujibayashi, isn't riding a bike-"

Kyou interrupts her. "Yes, yes. I'm well aware that riding a bike to school is a taboo. So just keep quiet about this, alright Minase?"

"Ah, okay~"

Kyou lifts her downed scooter back up. "All right. No dents. I'll let you off without paying the repair fee. You'd better be grateful, Tomoya." Kyou flashes a thumbs up.

"Aren't I the victim here?"

"And be sure to get to get to class on time, Minase."

"All right, Fujibayashi~"

Kyou hops onto the scooter and drives away, her laughter echoing across the lane. Her long, fluttering violet hair keeps on getting farther and farther, before disappearing into the distance.

Nayuki helps Tomoya up to his feet. "That hurts... Thanks, Minase."

"No problem, Okazaki-kun."

"What?! Okazaki, and the girl from back then!" a voice that Tomoya knew all too well since his freshman year interrupted.

"Ah, you're... Sunohara-kun." she got his name correct this time.

"Yes! The one and only, Sunohara Youhei!"

"Also known as the wannabe player." Tomoya snuck in a witty remark.

"Yes, I am also the wannabe- HEY!"

"We haven't been introduced properly. I'm Minase Nayuki~"

"Fancy meeting you too, Nayuki-chan!" Youhei spoke flamboyantly, or at least tried to be.

"And fancy seeing you here, Sunohara. What are you up to, going to school this early?" questioned Tomoya.

Youhei grinned. "I've got a debt to pay back. To that savage girl." he gazed into the direction of the road with a smirk.Tomoya glanced at Nayuki, getting the idea of another prank. He goes on to whisper to the track girl while Youhei is distracted with his distant dream.

"Minase, hear me out. On the count to three, we run together."

"Eh, why?"

"Well, we can cut some time with it." he assured.

"Okay..."

"Alright. On the count of one, two..."

"Three!"

Nayuki broke into a dead sprint. Tomoya followed suit, trailing a little behind the track athlete. He is surprised at the speed of her run, but wasn't as shocked as the completely abandoned Sunohara.

"Ack?! Hey, wait for me!" he breaks into a run aswell.

After a marathon across the path to school, the three finally came to a stop at the foyer of the main school building, around the shoe lockers aisles. Nayuki goes to change her shoes into the indoor pair, barely affected by the intense running. The same couldn't be said for the delinquent duo. Tomoya is pressing his right hand against the locker while catching his breath, while Youhei had collapsed into his knees.

"Okazaki-kun, you should get more exercise."

"No thanks..."

"How... How is she not tired after all that running?" Youhei panted.

"Training and discipline, Sunohara-kun." answered Nayuki.

"What kind of training regimen did you even go through?! The JSDF?!"

"Endurance, I think? I've been doing a lot of running since junior high. I may not look like it, but I was the track team captain at my old school."

"Wow..." Youhei is flabbergasted.

"That explains a lot." Tomoya remarked.

"Well, see you later, Okazaki-kun~" Nayuki heads off to her class.

"Yeah."

"Now that I'm here, I'll go teach that junior a lesson with my knuckles." declares Youhei, seemingly restored of his energy. "It's a war! That Sakagami Tomoyo won't know what hit her, hahahaha!"

"Your funeral, Sunohara." Tomoya starts walking away from the locker area.

During the break after the first period, Tomoya was about to relax into his desk when Ryou had approached him. She was carrying worksheets with her.

"This handout... Is it from Homeroom?"

"A-Ah, yes... I forgot to hand it to you..."

"Thanks." Tomoya shoves the letter under his desk after receiving it. As he took a glance at the timid class rep, he recalled the ordeal he went through with her older sister.

"That sister of yours is something, Fujibayashi."

"Eh? Onee-chan is...?"

"Yeah. You see, this morning she was on a roll with her bi-"

"Hey, Tomoya!" Kyou slid the classroom door open in an instant.

"Woah!" he barely dodges her usual dictionary toss, and was dragged out of the classroom by Kyou. She proceeds to pin him against the wall.

"You! What were you planning on telling in the middle of the class, huh?!"

"What's the problem? It's just about your bi-" his mouth was clasped by Kyou's hand.

"You want to get me suspended? You do know that commuting to school by bike is prohibited, right? So be a good boy and shut your trap about it."

Kyou lets him off with that warning. At that instance, Nayuki arrives to the hallway, having been alerted by Kyou's shout just now.

"Fujibayashi, what happened just now...?"

"Nothing. Let's return to class, Minase."

"That doesn't look like nothing." was what Nayuki thought.

They were just starting to walk away when Tomoya's voice can be heard from the hallway.

"Everyone, listen up! Fujibayashi Kyou from Class 3-E is bi!"

"Eh? Bi?" Nayuki blinked her eyes twice in confusion. "Wait, does that mean... Wah?!" she is shocked to find a very angry Kyou next to her.

"That Tomoya..." seething with rage, Kyou rushed back inside 3-D.

She pulls Tomoya out again, tugging on shirt collars tightly. Nayuki watched in horror as Kyou appears to be choking him."You... You little son of a..."

"Onee-chan, is it true...?" Ryou walks up to them, on the verge of tears.Kyou snapped at her sister. "No! Bike, bike! We were talking about the scooter!"

"Fujibayashi, he is choking! Let him go~!"

"Tch." Kyou unceremoniously releases his shirt collars. He drops down to the floor, clutching them.

"Are you all right, Okazaki-kun?" Nayuki tries helping him up.

"Y-Yeah, I should be fine."

Ryou holds a curious look at the foreign blue-haired girl that is assisting Tomoya up.

Nayuki noticed her, and smiles at Ryou. "Ah, hello~"

"H-Hello..."

Taking the initiative, Kyou stepped in to introduce Ryou and Nayuki to each other. "Ryou, this is Minase Nayuki. She's the transfer student from my class. Minase, this is my younger sister, Ryou."

"Nice to meet you, Ryou-chan~" Nayuki greets the shorter-haired Fujibayashi.

"N-Nice to meet you too, Minase-san."

"Nayuki is fine~" she told Ryou. "Um... If I'm gonna call Ryou-chan by her name, can I do the same for you?" Nayuki directs the question at Kyou.

"Go ahead! I don't mind, Nayuki."

"Okay, Kyou~"

"Actually Minase, you can just call her Kyou the gorilla-"

"Who are you calling a gorilla?!" Kyou throws a jab aimed at Tomoya's solar plexus, knocking him down.

"W-Wah, Okazaki-kun!"

"O-Onee-chan, that's a bit too far...!"

Kyou flips her hand around a couple of times after that punch. "Ahahaha, sorry! Looks like my hand slipped~"

"That was quite the enormous slip, Kyou..." the downed Tomoya groaned.

During lunch break, Nagisa is seen sitting on the retaining wall under the tree in the courtyard by herself. She was munching on her anpan when company arrives.

"Nayu-chan!"

"Hello, Nagisa-chan. Sorry I'm late~" Nayuki goes to sit next to the auburn-haired girl. She brought along a croquette sandwich and a box of strawberry milk.

"It's fine. How are you?" she asked Nayuki, who had jogged a bit to get there.

"I'm okay, Nagisa-chan." Nayuki went and sits next to her, opening the pack of sandwich. "Let's eat, shall we?"

"Yes!"

Around the same time, near an open window on the third year floor which overlooked the courtyard, a couple of boys had their attention on them.

"That's the girl I was talking about. The transfer student in my class."

"Really? Man, she's pretty." said the more geeky boy out of the two. "That girl with her is quite cute too."

As they talked, Tomoya happens to be nearby, walking towards the open window too.

"Crap, it's Okazaki." the geeky guy spurted nervously, before scramming.

"Huh? Hey, Tsutomu!" his friend called for him. "...This guy." sighing, he followed suit.

Having little to no mind regarding the two students that just hurried away, Tomoya looks down the window to the courtyard, finding Nayuki and Nagisa at the same place from yesterday. Later, he was already coming down to meet them both at the courtyard.

"Yo."

"Ah, Okazaki-san." Nagisa looks up at him.

"Hello, Okazaki-kun~"

"Hello, Minase, Furukawa."

"It's lunch break now~"

"Yeah, I can see that." he took up a spot next to them. They went on to indulge in their respective lunch food for some time.

A few minutes passed. Nagisa folds the wrapper of the anpan which she had finished, setting it aside. "That was very delicious."

"Strawberry jam~" Nayuki muttered in a sleepy-like voice.

"Did you two have a knack for blurting out your favourite foods?" remarked Tomoya.

"I don't know what you're talking about~"

"Doing that won't make you any cuter, Minase."

"...Wah?!" Nayuki looks to find Tomoya munching on his cutlet sandwich. "..Ohh~ Okazaki-kun, you're teasing me."

"I don't know what you're talking about~" Tomoya mimicked her.

"No, Okazaki-san is right. Nayu-chan is really cute. At least cuter than me, that is..." Nagisa interrupted them in a low voice.

"Don't say that, Nagisa-chan! You're very cute~!"

"N-Nayu-chan, I'm not that cute!"

"Furukawa, she's right. I think you're cute."

"Eh...?"

"Partly just because of who you are. How you carry yourself, your demeanor, that sort of thing. If people could know you better, they will certainly like you." he explains to Nagisa.

"...I see." Nagisa looks down on her knees.

"That's a nice way to put it, Okazaki-kun~"

"...But even if you ask me to believe in you on that..." Nagisa continued, before Tomoya cuts her off.

"Well, do you?" he inquired.

"I really want to...!"

"That's the spirit, Furukawa."

"Hehe, that face just now was really cute, Nagisa-chan~"

"Nayu-chan!" she got flustered.

"Putting the cuteness issue aside... How's it going with the club, Furukawa? Any plans yet?"

"No. I haven't thought on what to do yet." says Nagisa.

"Well that's gonna be troubling." Tomoya looks at the old school building. "Hey, how much time do we have left for lunch break?"

Nayuki checked the time on her watch. "We have around 20 minutes left, Okazaki-kun."

Tomoya stands up from his spot. "Alright. Let's go to the Drama Club room.

Later, the three were inside the former Drama Club, having arranged the chairs and desks inside so that they could sit, as they start planning out on the steps to reinstating the now defunct club. A couple of office papers lay on the combined tables.

"Now, we should work out on a poster first to get in new recruits." Tomoya suggested first.

"Poster?" asked Nagisa.

"Yeah~" Nayuki goes on to explain, "It would help in getting out words that the Drama Club is being reinstated."

"Oh, I got it." Nagisa starts scribbling some words on her paper.

"The cutest club president..." Nagisa diligently wrote down what he said, before realization dawned on her. "Wait, does that mean..?" the brunette points at herself nervously.

"Who else?"

"Eeeeh?!" she stood instantly from her seat.

"If you add that, some stupid guys out there will be guaranteed to fall for it."

"But I don't want members because of something like that! Besides, you're more suited to be the president, Okazaki-san!" Nagisa argued.

"I told you, I'm only helping out here. I have zero interest in joining even if the club goes active."

"Helping her to form a club, but not joining it. That sounds strange, Okazaki-kun." Nayuki mentioned to him.

"It can't be helped, as I'm not really interested in theater." Tomoya shrugged at her remark. "Anyway, as the club president, you have to be the center of things, making the final decisions and such, Furukawa. You even have a play that you want to perform, right?"

"But, will I be able to do it?"

"Of course you can, Nagisa-chan. Faito dayo~!"

"Yes. Fight!" she uttered.

"Well, going back to the flier. It could use a little drawing to attract attention." says Tomoya.

Nagisa frowned at Tomoya's suggestion. "D-Drawing?"

"Yeah, why?"

"...I'm not really good at drawing." Nagisa admitted.

"That's no big deal. I got an 'F' in art, so we're in the same boat here."

"But mine is pretty terrible. Um, have you two ever tried to draw a self-portrait back middle school?" Nagisa asked.

"I did. I fell asleep halfway and couldn't really sketch properly. The teacher was kind enough to grade it a 'C'."

"How fitting." Tomoya commented on Nayuki's story.

"I tried really hard with mine... I really did." mentioned Nagisa. "But then, the teacher came over and said that the curry I was making looked delicious."

"Curry?" Nayuki echoed what she heard from the brunette.

"He even complimented me for adding pickles as side dishes... And I got called curry-casso since then."

"Mine got called a catcher's mitt." Tomoya talks about his attempt at self-portrait next. "I mean, what part of it warranted that exactly?"

"Catcher's mitt? Like in baseball?" Nayuki asks him.

"Yeah." he turns to Nagisa again. "Anyway, I never said you have to draw something complicated."

"Yeah~! Something simple and eye-catching should suffice." says Nayuki.

"Like curry?" Tomoya joked.

"No!" Nagisa immediately shot the suggestion down at the reminder of her awful memory.

"That would make the flier an advertisement for a culinary club instead." Nayuki quipped.

"If it's something simple, then I can manage that much!" said Nagisa.

"If it's cute, it would be better~" Nayuki recommended.

"Yes!"

Nagisa picks up the marker in her hand and starts drawing. Her head is moving as she hums a particularly recognizable melody. Nayuki immediately recognised the melody and hums along, while Tomoya is weirded out when the melody clicked in his mind.

Nagisa lifts the paper up for display after she has finished. "It's done!"

Tomoya's line of sight was immediately assaulted by dozens of circles with lines for eyes.

"Wah, the Big Dango Family~!"

"Th-The Big Dango Family? Talk about being out of touch..."

Nayuki and Tomoya offered contrasting reactions towards Nagisa's choice of illustrations added to the flier.

"..Is it no good?"

"Lemme be straight with you, Furukawa. These things you draw is completely old. Anyone who sees this flier would get repulsed instead."

"That sounds a little prejudiced, Okazaki-kun."

"I'll admit that the dango might be cute, but the choice to put them on the flier is not." he stands by his point.

"So it's no good...?"

Realising that Nagisa's mood could go down from what he just heard her say, Tomoya takes a mental step back.

"Well... I guess it's not too bad. Having the Big Dango Family on the flier might add uh, some spice to it."

"You think so..?"

"Yeah. Though it fell short in variety."

"Variety... Oh~! Nagisa-chan, can I borrow that paper for a moment?"

"Sure." Nagisa hands over the paper and her marker to Nayuki.

The blue-haired girl draws two of her own additions to the remaining empty spaces in the flier.

"And done~!"

Said additions turns out to be a cartoonish illustration of a frog with a crown on top of it's head. That, and a simple drawing of cat's head.

A look of recognization befall Nagisa's face when she saw the frog drawing. "Oh, Keroppi!"

"Yeah, Keroppi~!"

"Another old cartoon mascot, and a cat..."

"The way you said that sounds like you have a problem with it.."

"Do you dislike cats, Okazaki-san?"

"No, I don't have a problem with it, and no, I do not dislike cats." he replied to them one by one. "Now then, guess we're done with the flier."

"Yes!"

"Now all that's left is to copy it~" said Nayuki.

"Oh, leave that to me." Tomoya stands up from his seat.

"Sure, Okazaki-kun~"

The trio of seniors left the Drama Club room and return to their class, as the first bell chimed.

During another class interval break after lunch, Nayuki had went out of class for a walk when she was met with a strange sight. A female student of the same grade with hair ornament on her indigo-coloured hair is carrying a bunch of hardcover books. And it looks as though they could fall from her grasp at any time.

"Excuse me. May I help you to carry them~?"

"???" the girl looks at her in a way that made Nayuki thought she saw question marks floating over her head.

"...Can't I?"

"??" she tipped her head before asking Nayuki, "Are you a bully?"

"No, I'm not a bully~" Nayuki shakes her head calmly. "It's just... you're carrying all those hardcover books."

"Uh..."

"I'll help you carry the books~" Nayuki offered to the girl. "Is that okay with you?"

"...Yes."

"That's good~"

Nayuki picked out four books from the stack. She could feel their combined weight on her arm, but paid no mind to it. The girl starts walking, with Nayuki following her.

"Where are we going~?"

"??" The girl appears to have a 5-second delay before she registered the question. "Oh. The library."

"Are you returning them?"

"Yeah. But, not all of the books are from the school library."

"I see."

Nayuki glances at the cover of the book on top of the stack she is carrying. The title shows that it covers quite an advanced topic which should be above the school level. True to what the girl said, a stamp on the book indicated that this particular hardcover book isn't a school library property.

"From the prefectural library..." Nayuki reads out the stamp at the corner of the book's cover. "This one's not from school."

For the rest of their way to the library, the girl and Nayuki remained silent. Reaching the old building, they stand in front of the library's sliding door. The sign hung infront says that the library is closed, but the door wasn't shut completely.

"Hm...?" Nayuki narrowed her eyes at the small gap. She adjusts the books closer to herself, before slipping a free hand at the space and pushed the door.

The door slides right open, revealing the interior of the library, which houses thousands of books inside.

"Huh?" uttered the girl.

Nayuki blinked twice at the sight. "It's closed, but it opened..."

"Um... Very mysterious."

She goes into the library, with Nayuki close behind.

"There we go~" Nayuki places her share of the books at the table, after the girl had done the same prior. "So this is the school's library, huh?" Nayuki looks around the room, finding it to be no larger than the library at her previous school.

Nayuki turned to the girl to find her gently brushing her fingers on a couple of books at a bookshelf. The way she gazed at them is no different to meeting an old friend.

Nayuki walks over to her. "You must really like books~"

"...Ah!" the girl was caught off guard. After calming down a bit, she awkwardly nods at Nayuki. "Yes..."

Finding her shy demeanor cute, Nayuki elicited a warm smile at the girl. The girl seems to be searching for the right words to say, before she awkwardly looks up to Nayuki.

"Um... thank you, for helping me carry the books."

"No problem~" Nayuki assured her. "May I know your name?"

"My name..." the girl took in her words, Then, she proceeds to point at her own face.

"Kotomi. You spell Kotomi with three hiragana. When you speak to me, please call me Kotomi-chan." the girl, Kotomi introduced herself.

"Kotomi-chan~?" Nayuki recites her name.

"Yes." she nodded at her.

"I'm Nayuki. It's pronounced with two kanji, but you can spell it with three hiragana too. You can call me Nayuki-chan~"

"Nayuki-chan..."

"Mm~! Nice to meet you, Kotomi-chan~" Nayuki smiles at Kotomi.

"Nayuki-chan." she voiced out Nayuki's name cheerily. The two girls smiled at each other.

In any other instance, Nayuki would have loved to talk more with her, if she didn't glance at the watch on her wrist and realize the time.

"Ah, I'm gonna be late~!"

"What's wrong, Nayuki-chan?"

"Class is starting soon, so I gotta go in a moment..." Nayuki starts heading for the door, before realizing something. "Kotomi-chan, aren't you going to class? We can go together~"

"I have already attended class in the morning, so I don't have to go now."

"Won't the teachers be mad about it?"

Kotomi shakes her head. "They're fine with it, since I'm exempt from class."

"Hmm, I see..." Nayuki wonders what she meant exactly by that, but chose not to pry more. "Then, I'll be going."

"Nayuki-chan." Kotomi called to her.

"Yes?"

"Um... See you." Kotomi says to Nayuki with a smile.

"Sure~" Nayuki smiled back at Kotomi. "See you around, Kotomi-chan~"

With those parting words, Nayuki leaves the library, running off to the new school building in a hurry.

Homeroom comes to a close later that day. As Nayuki descended down the stairs, she accidentally collides with a female student of short stature near the landing to the first floor. The girl rebounded from the impact and fell to the ground.

"Fweeh..." the girl sat on the floor, clutching her hand which appears to be hurting. Now that Nayuki has a clearer look at her, she noticed defining features like her greenish-gray hair which is tied into a ponytail by a blue bowtie, and the green insignia on her blazer, which indicates that the girl is a freshman.

"Oh, I'm really sorry. Are you alright?" Nayuki tries to help her up.

"Y-Yes... Fuko is alri- hngh..." the freshman girl clutched her hand in pain as she stands up.

Nayuki asked the girl with concern in her voice, "Is your hand okay?"

"Ah, yes! It's okay."

"Let me see, then."

She displays both of her hands for Nayuki to look at. "See?"

"There's blood..."

"Ah!" the girl retracted both of her hands and sucked the blood from the wound.

In reaction to what Fuko is doing, Nayuki said, "That's a bit gross..."

"Here, see?" despite her effort, a small trickle of blood seeped in through her wound.

"I'm not convinced." Nayuki gently grabs a hold of her hand. "Come with me~"

"W-Where are you taking Fuko?"

"The infirmary of course. We need to get you treated. Is Fuko your name?"

"Yes. Fuko's name is Ibuki Fuko."

"I'm Minase Nayuki. Nice to meet you, Fuko-chan~"

"Nice to meet you too, Nayuki-san. Ah, please wait! Fuko must not go to the infirmary yet."

"Why?"

"Because she hasn't retrieved her knife from a weird guy."

"Your knife?"

"Yes, Fuko needs the knife for carving a cute... Haaaah~..." Fuko fell into a trance-like state.

The track athlete was understandably confused. "Um... Fuko-chan?"

"...Hah! It looks like Fuko spaced out just now. Sorry about that."

"That's alright, it was rather cute~"

"Thank you. Fuko just so happens to be widely known in her neighbourhood as a very cute girl."

"I see~"

"Well then, Fuko must excuse herself." the elusive girl attempts to slip away once more. However, Nayuki reacted quick enough to grab Fuko's arm.

"Ah!" she gasped at the failure of her escape attempt.

"Follow me, Fuko-chan~"

As she doesn't know where the infirmary is, Nayuki opted to ask for the location from another student. She looks around, before approaching a second year female student with light brown hair who happens to be walking nearby.

"Um, excuse me?"

The girl turns to Nayuki. "Yes. May I help you?"

"Do you know where the infirmary is?"

"Yes, I do. Why?" she tilts her head to the side.

"Both of her hands were injured." Nayuki gestured to Fuko.

"I see."

"Pain, pain, fly away... Mmnh..!" Fuko had been trying to blow at the cut, only to be met with stinging sensations.

"Can you let me see?"

Fuko hesitantly shows the junior girl her hands. She took the shorter girl's hands in her own, inspecting the cuts present on them. "Oh, these wounds..."

Eventually, she lets go of Fuko's hands. "You poor thing. All right, I'll take you both to the infirmary."

"Okay~. May I know your name?" Nayuki asks the mysterious girl.

"Sure." The junior girl proceeds to introduce herself. "I'm Miyazawa Yukine. The characters for Yukine are 'Yu' from 'Yuushuu no bi' (crowning glory) followed by 'ki' from '20-Sei-ki' (20th century) and ended with 'Ne' from 'teinei' (politeness)."

"I'm Minase Nayuki~. The characters for my name is 'Na' (name) and 'yuki' (snow)."

"Such a nice name." Yukine closed her eyes and clasped her hands in front of her chest. "Simple, yet beautiful and easy to remember. I'll be sure to remember your name, Minase-san."

Nayuki was rather surprised by the politeness that the younger Yukine exhibited. "Sure, Miyazawa-san~"

"Erm, Fuko is Ibuki Fuko."

"Fuko... as in, 'Fuko' (Child of Wind), is it?"

"Yes." Fuko nods at Yukine. "You can just call Fuko by her name- Hmnh..." she winced at another bout of sudden pain from her hands.

"Don't worry, Fuko-san. We'll take you to the infirmary, okay?"

"Y-Yes..."

Nayuki and Fuko followed Yukine until they've reached the infirmary. Entering the door to the room, they find that the teacher who is supposed to be in charge isn't around.

"Looks like Sengoku-sensei isn't here."

"Sengoku-sensei?" asked Nayuki.

"Yes. She's the school health officer. But it seems that she isn't here for the moment."

Fuko sighed in relief. "Phew, Fuko is safe. With this, she will take her leave." she starts to turn around.

"Uh uh uh~" Nayuki grabs her shoulder.

"Fuko failed to escape..." she lamented at her short-lived attempt.

"Since it has come to this, guess you can leave treating Fuko-san to me."

"You can treat injuries?"

"Yes. I am used to it after all, Nanase-san."

"Used to it... Wait, Nanase? That's not it, Miyazawa-san. It's Minase, not Nanase."

"Ah, I'm sorry. Nanase-san was someone else. Ahaha..." Yukine apologized for her blunder.

"It's okay~"

"Now then, Fuko-san. Can you sit here?" Yukine directed to a chair near the infirmary desk.

"Okay." she complied.

"Please let me see your hands again."

Fuko nods at Yukine, displaying both of her hands towards the junior girl.

"There's a lot of cuts here. What happened?"

"Fuko was carving with a knife."

"I see. Until they heal, I would like to ask you to refrain from carving. With some rest, your hands will be okay, and you'll be back to carving in no time." Yukine assured her.

"I see. Fuko understands, Miyazawa-san."

"Thank you very much. Now allow me to disinfect your hands, Fuko-san."

"Please. Hah, disinfect?!" she expressed a delayed shock, retracting her hands.

"Yes. Unfortunately I need to make sure that these cuts won't be infected." Yukine clarified to Fuko. "It will sting, but please bear with it, okay?"

"...I-It won't hurt for Fuko! Go ahead, Miyazawa-san!" she holds her hands out in a pseudo-confident manner.

Nayuki starts heading over to the door. "Then, I'll leave her to you, Miyazawa-san."

"Got it, Minase-san." replied Yukine.

"Eh? Where are you going, Nayuki-san?" Fuko asked to the track athlete.

"I gotta go to my club meeting, Fuko-chan. But it's okay, you can look for me if you want to later~"

"...Okay. Thank you."

"Mm~! Well, see ya~" Nayuki heads out of the door and closes it in a bit of rush, heading for her club meeting.

Yukine and Fuko stared at the direction of the door for a few seconds. "She's a nice person."

"Fuko agrees with that."

"Thank you. Now, Fuko-san. This will sting a little, so please bear with it." she holds out a cotton which is slightly damped with a disinfectant.

"It's okay. F-Fuko is a resilient girl."

"Alright, then. Here I go."

"Ugu!" Fuko yelped in surprise as Yukine carefully dabs the cotton onto one of her cuts.library, running off to the new building in a hurry.

As she is walking, Nayuki caught sight of a familiar person in the distance, placing a copy of the flier on a billboard. She goes to approach him.

"Hello, Okazaki-kun~"

"Oh, Minase. Yo."

"Looks like you pasted the flier~"

"Yup, and that makes this the last one."

A scrawny voice interrupts them. "Join the Drama Club? Okazaki, I didn't know you were involved with a club. Ooh!" Youhei draws himself closer to Nayuki, getting in Tomoya's way. "Hey, Nayuki-chan!"

"Hello, Sunohara-kun."

"You're too close, Sunohara." Tomoya casually sways him to the side with a light push from his arm. "And where have you been all this time?"

"Tceh, you're no fun Okazaki." he grumbled, before answering Tomoya's question. "Of course, I'm training to beat Sakagami Tomoyo!" Youhei briefly assumes a boxer's stance, jabbing at the empty air twice.

"Training? Beat?"

Tomoya gestured at Youhei behind his back. "This guy is wallowed in his imagination. Don't mind him too much."

"Hey, don't ruin my image!" the blonde had a mood swing on the remark which lasted briefly.

"But still, the Drama Club, eh?" Youhei continued, glancing at the flier. "To think you'd be involved in something trivial like a club. I thought you detested those involved in club activities so much that they disgust you. Wasn't that the one thing we have in common?"

"Eh?"

Tomoya's face contorted into one of anger, wishing that he wouldn't have to talk about this topic, especially infront of someone that's involved in a club too. He could tell that Nayuki is looking at his way, trying to register what she had heard from Youhei.

"Come on, why you are making that face? Oh..." the blonde boy sweated when he realized that Nayuki could hear what he had said.

"Er, well... Forget what I said, hahahaha! You can tell me more about this later, Okazaki." Youhei starts to walk away in a bit of hurry. "See ya, Nayuki-chan!"

With him gone, it seems that Tomoya and Nayuki were the only ones around in front of the board. At least that's what they thought.

"Okazaki-kun, is it true what he said? That you hate those involved in club activities?"

Tomoya sighed, knowing that it had to come to this. "Don't take what he said at face value. Sunohara is just projecting what he believes to me."

"You're not lying, are you?"

"No." He shakes his head. "If it's any consolation, I don't hate you or Furukawa either, Minase."

"Eh? I-I wasn't worried about that, really."

"Did you hear me, Furukawa?" Tomoya calls out to Nagisa, whose familiar hair strands can be seen peering out of the pillar next to the board.

"Yes! Ah..." she responded quickly, essentially revealing herself.

"There you are, Nagisa-chan~"

Having been discovered, Nagisa hesitantly steps out from behind the pillar which concealed her figure. "I've been found out..."

"Looks like you've finished pasting your copies of the flier too." said Tomoya to her.

"Yes, I did."

"Great. Now you'll get to bring the Big Dango Family home."

"But you said it yourself, Okazaki-san. The stores probably didn't sell them anymore."

Tomoya internally curses himself for saying that earlier. "Even if that's true, I'll find my way around it."

"And I'll help out too~" Nayuki chirped.

Tomoya smiles as she says that. "There you have it, Furukawa."

"I see..." Nagisa looks down.

"For now, just use them as your mantra."

"Okay..." Nagisa closed her eyes and utters out with all of her heart, "The Big Dango Family!"

She then felt a light poke on her forehead. "E-Eh?"

"Feeling calmer, now?"

"Ah, yes..."

"Hehe~ Nagisa-chan's face would turn red when she's happy~" Nayuki teases her.

"N-Nayu-chan! Jeez..." she pouted. Though, she was more relaxed and looks less gloomy compared to earlier.

After they departed from school, Nagisa had to return home ahead of the other two. This leaves Tomoya and Nayuki on their quest to search for the Big Dango Family. However, even after checking out the two supermarkets in town, they couldn't find a single authentic Big Dango Family.

"This is a lot harder than I thought..." says Nayuki.

"Yeah. But we can't just give up here. Not after telling Furukawa that I'll bring them to her."

Nayuki clasped her hands together. "Oh, I have an idea!"

"Idea?"

"We don't have to look for the real Big Dango Family. What if..."

"We make them ourselves, isn't it?" Tomoya finished the sentence for her.

"Yes~!"

"My thoughts exactly, Minase."

"Alright, then. Let's go, Okazaki-kun~"

Having changed their plan, the two roamed around the aisles again. This time, they're looking for stuff that should be necessary to produce custom made Big Dango Family. But a momentary distraction pops up when they walked into an aisle with cat-themed items.

"Waah~! I wanna buy this~" Nayuki holds a cat-themed tissue box, enthralled by it.

"You really like cats, do you?" Tomoya approaches her.

"I do, they're really cute~. It's too bad that I'm allergic to them..."

"A cat lover being allergic to cats. Now that is truly a tragedy."

"Can we buy this too, Okazaki-kun~?"

"Do as you please." he shrugs, simply going along with her.

Halfway through the search, they stumble upon an unexpected encounter with Akiko. At first glance, Tomoya can tell that this lady bears a striking resemblance to Nayuki, except she had her hair in a single braid over her right shoulder and carries a more mature air around her.

"Ah, Mom~!"

"Wait, she's her mom?" Tomoya thought.

"Ara. Good evening, Nayuki."

"You were out shopping?"

"Yes. And he is...?" Akiko looks at Tomoya.

"I'm Okazaki Tomoya."

"Nice to meet you, Okazaki-san. I'm Minase Akiko, and as Nayuki pointed out, I'm her mother." Akiko introduced herself to Tomoya.

"I see. Nice to meet you too, Akiko-san."

"Yes! Now, what brought you two here?"

"We were looking for items to make the Big Dango Family mockups. They're for Nagisa-chan~" answered her bubbly daughter.

"My, that is rather thoughtful of you, Nayuki."

"Yeah~! It was Okazaki-kun's idea too~"

"You're giving me too much credit here, Minase." he remarked.

"If you two wouldn't mind, maybe I could help?"

"Sure, Mom~"

"Wonderful~! I'll pay for the items, then."

"Are you sure, Akiko-san? I have plenty of change for it."

"Of course. Just keep your change to yourself for now, Okazaki-san."

"Alright." he complied.

Now with Akiko joining them, they continued searching for items that could aid in the process of making the dangos. They would soon check out of the supermarket with the items.

Walking just right behind Nayuki and Akiko as they conversed while carrying the bags, Tomoya could see that this mother-daughter pair are very close with each other. At least for him, it's an ideal relationship compared to what he has to deal with now.

After reaching the Minase Residence, they set up the station for making the makeshift Big Dango Family, which is the living room. It is quite spacious and is connected to the kitchen. From Tomoya's perspective, the overall sight makes for a more homely surrounding.

"Frankly, I wasn't exactly expecting the extra help when I thought of this." Tomoya says as he discards the school blazer to the side of the couch.

"But this way, we'll be done quicker~!"

"Yeah, of course."

"Now then, Nagisa-chan is waiting for you two now." Akiko gets herself seated on the other couch. "Shall we get started?"

"Yes."

"Yeah~!"

Using strips of bamboo and tinting it's edge with a type of red food colouring, Tomoya quickly dotted on the faces of the dango, giving it the trademark Big Dango Family face.

"One dango down, 99 more to go."

"Let's do this~!"

"Yeah." Tomoya smiled.

And so, they made an assembly line of dango. One sticks of dango, two sticks, and eventually, all one hundred dango has been fully realized into members of the Big Dango Family.

"It's done~!"

"Phew, we did it." Tomoya exhaled.

"Well done, Okazaki-san, Nayuki."

"Mmm~ that felt good~" Nayuki stretched both of her arms upwards.

"Now all that's left is to take them to Furukawa."

"You two may head out first. I'll prepare the dinner in a moment. Okazaki-san, would you mind joining us later?"

"Sure, I'll take up the offer."

"Good."

"Then, we'll go first, Mom. Come on, Okazaki-kun. Let's go see Nagisa-chan~" Nayuki stands up and heads for the door.

Tomoya followed suit. "Okay, okay."

"Be safe, you two."

Tomoya and Nayuki leaves the house, each one of them carrying half a batch of the mockup Big Dango Family. As they weren't really in a hurry, the two walked rather slow, taking in the scenery around them.

"Hey, Minase."

"Hm~?"

"...Thanks. For helping me out with this."

"It's no problem. I'm happy to help, since it's for Nagisa-chan~"

"I see. Guess I owe you one, Minase."

"Mm~! Ah, there she is~!"

Tomoya looked over infront. On the street ahead of them is the bakery. Infront of it, Nagisa can be seen sweeping a broom on the pavement.

"Nagisa-chan~!" Nayuki waves her over.

"Eh? Ah, Nayu-chan, Okazaki-san!" she stops what she was doing and walks over to them. "Good evening."

"Yo."

"Good evening, Nagisa-chan~"

"What are you two carrying?" Nagisa tilts her head, looking at the plastic bags Tomoya and Nayuki are both carrying.

"They're for you. Come with us for a second."

"Ah, sure."

They went to sit on the bench at the park which is adjacent to the bakery. Nayuki gave her batch of the custom made dango, which enlightened her childhood friend when she opens up the bag to inspect it's contents.

"Ah, the Big Dango Family!" she exclaimed cheerfully.

"Hmhm~" Nayuki giggled at seeing her reaction.

Tomoya hands over the bag he was holding. "There's more where that came from."

"Wow... So many..."

"Yup, a hundred of them. They're not really the real deal, though."

"That doesn't matter, I'm really happy now! Oh, some of them have unique faces!"

"Yeah, they even have names too~!" Nayuki takes one dango stick and starts pointing at each dango on it. "This red dango is Miki, this one is Meiko, and the angry one is Miwa~"

"Stop. You don't have to name all of them."

"Okazaki-kun, you killjoy~"

"No, I'm Okazaki Tomoya."

"That's not a funny joke."

"It's funnier than yours."

"No it's not~"

The silly exchange was a followed by a short burst of light chuckles out of the three of them.

"To be honest, I was really down this afternoon." Nagisa began, looking down on her lap. "I was supposed to be on cleaning duty with my classmates, but before I knew it, I was all alone."

"Nagisa-chan..."

"I'm pretty clumsy, and that's why others have made jokes out of me ever since I was little. But I'm okay now. Thanks to Okazaki-san and Nayu-chan." she beamed.

"It's not just us you should thank. Akiko-san helped out too." Tomoya leaned against the bench idly. "But, glad to hear you're doing better now."

"Guess I should thank her too, right? Ah..." Nagisa finds a pair of arms going around her shoulders. "Nayu-chan...?"

"Sorry, Nagisa-chan. It's just... it felt right to hug you now."

"...Um, thank you, Nayu-chan."

Nagisa remained in the embrace for around a minute or so, before Nayuki eventually releases her.

"Hey, Furukawa."

Nagisa turns to Tomoya. "Yes?"

"Are you feeling happy now? If you are, say it."

"Yes. I'm happy, Okazaki-san." she smiled.

"Say it again, with more confidence!"

"I'm really, really happy right now!" she exclaimed with more energy behind it.

"Haha, now that's a performance befitting the Drama Club president."

"Eh?"

"So you've been teasing Nagisa-chan..." Nayuki caught on.

"What are you talking about?" he feigns ignorance, despite being obvious with his intention.

"Jeez, Okazaki-san!"

"My bad."

"It's okay, Okazaki-kun~" Nayuki starts to tease her too. "You helped to show more of Nagisa-chan's cute side, so it's fine~"

"N-Nayu-chan!" Nagisa is glowing red on her face now.

"Hehe~"

"Mmph!" she pouted, although her joy at the moment is rather evident.

Having cheered up, now only one thing bothers her. "Still... Okazaki-san."

"Yeah?"

"Did you really not like clubs?"

Tomoya contemplated on answering for a second, before he replied. "It's not like that. You know enrolling through sports, right?"

"Yes."

"Sunohara and I, we got to this school through that. He's a soccer prodigy, while I used to be a basketball team captain."

"Oh, you played basketball~?"

"Yeah. Though I quit soon after enrolling." Tomoya stands up from the bench. "I haven't touched a ball in a while either. So there's that."

"I see..." Nagisa murmured with a low voice.

Later, Tomoya and Nayuki are on their way back from the bakery.

"She was so happy~"

"Yeah. I reckoned that the dango really filled up her happiness meter to the max."

"Well, the dango are really cute~!"

"That, and she was pretty much infatuated with them, so it helped a lot."

"Yeah~" Nayuki nodded with a grin.

"Speaking of cute, Minase sure has that going for her, moreso with that smile." Tomoya glances at Nayuki.

"Okazaki-kun, is there something on my face?"

"I think there's a couple of petals on your head." he blurted out.

Nayuki tries brushing off the non-existent petals from her hair, finding none of it.

"Just kidding."

"Liar~!"

"Sorry, sorry." he laughs at the expense of Nayuki's composure. "Actually, there is something else. And it's your on face, Minase."

"What is it?"

"Your cuteness."

"...E-Eh~?"

"I'm not lying to you this time, am I?"

In spite of the red tint overlayed on her cheeks, Nayuki sends a sharp scowl on his way. "Hmmn..."

That look didn't last long, as Nayuki's expression softened and shifted into a smiling one as she looks at Tomoya. She elicited a short chuckle which drew his attention.

"What's with that look?"

"Nothing~"

"You're thinking of something rude, weren't you?"

"No~ I just thought you looked pretty funny." Nayuki says.

"Are you picking a fight?"

"Just kidding, Okazaki-kun. Fufu~"

"You... Whatever you say."

The lengthened outline of Tomoya and Nayuki's shadows move synchronously with their silhouette as they walked across the pavement, which had been overlayed with the evening orange. The same colour was also reflected on the roofs of the houses they passed by.

"Say, Minase. You moved in recently, right?"

"Ah, yes."

"That would explain those boxes at the hallway then."

"Yeah." Nayuki nodded. "After the moving company truck delivered the boxes, Mom and I organized them there so we could open them later. The two of us already packed out a couple, but I think it's still gonna take a while to unpack them all."

"No kidding. They took up quite the space. Hmm..." Tomoya was deep in his thought for a moment. He contemplated on if he could help her with arranging the boxes. "If you want me to help, then I don't mind."

"Eh?" Nayuki does a sidelong glance at him.

Tomoya went on to say, "I got a lot of free time anyway, so it won't hurt for me to do something with it. Besides, I kinda owe you and your mother for helping me with the dango."

"I suppose you could see it that way. But..." Nayuki moves to just a a couple feet to his front as she walked, turning to face him. "Are you sure, Okazaki-kun?"

"Yes." he replied.

"Really, really sure~?"

"Yes, yes, I'm really sure, Minase. No need to make me repeat myself."

"Hehe~ Okay. Thank you, Okazaki-kun."

"Don't mention it."

A smile was brought upon Nayuki's face. "As I thought, you really are kind."

Tomoya is quite taken aback from the genuine compliment. He promptly stopped in his tracks. "Should you really be calling me kind? You know what I'm like at school by this point."

"What you're like?"

"You know, about how I'm a delinquent."

"Oh, I did." Nayuki confirmed, not reacting much to what Tomoya told her. "Though, I don't mind."

"You should mind."

"But, it's not like that'll change what I said about you being kind, right?" Nayuki added. "You're helping Nagisa-chan with the Drama Club, and you offered to help with the boxes at my house, Okazaki-kun. If you weren't doing those out of kindness, then strawberries would be falling from the sky~"

"Why strawberries, specifically?"

"Have you seen them fall from the sky?"

"Plenty of stuff other than strawberries won't fall from the sky, but okay." he quipped. "You really believe in what you told me that much?"

"Of course~"

Tomoya choose not to question her further. "I see."

"It's not good for you to skip classes though. Do you hear me, Okazaki-kun?"

"Yes, yes. I can hear you, sensei." Tomoya sighed. Slowly, Tomoya's hand was drawn to the top of the intake-like formation on her hair.

"Ah, w-what?" she fumbled.

"Just felt like doing this. Do you not like it?"

"No... I mean, I didn't hate it. But it's embarrassing..."

"Oh– right, my bad." the delinquent retracted his hand.

Nayuki smiled awkwardly, trying to assure him. "It's fine, Okazaki-kun. I'm not really mad at you."

"Well, it would be troubling if you are."

Nayuki nods subtly. "If I'm really mad though, I doubt we'll be on speaking terms."

"The sulking type, much?" Tomoya remarked in his head. "And how am I supposed to talk to you again if that ever happens?"

"You can treat me to a strawberry sundae and I'll forgive you~"

"Strawberry sundae?" Tomoya grinned. "Got it, I'll keep that in mind."

"Ah..." the track girl was rather surprised to hear it from him.

"Haha. What's with that look? Come on, Minase. Your mother's cooking should be waiting for us."

"...Okay~" Nayuki replied.

The pair then resumed their walk back to the Minase Residence.

Finally back inside Nayuki's home, they find that Akiko is still in the middle of preparing the dinner, which happens to be chicken curry. Nayuki had went to help her mother with it, while Tomoya waits at the living room.

A moment passed before she reappears from the kitchen. "Dinner's ready, Okazaki-kun~"

"Gotcha." he stands up from the couch when his eyes were drawn to her appearance. In place of the school's sailor blazer, Nayuki is wearing a peculiar green apron over the turtleneck shirt.

"Huh, it's that frog mascot again."

"Yup, Keroppi~"

"Didn't that old man wore something like this too?" he referred to Akio.

"You mean Akio-san? He did."

"Guess you and Furukawa's family were linked through Keroppi, huh?"

Nayuki nodded. "When I was little, I made Nagisa-chan cry because she wanted to borrow my Keroppi doll."

"Wow, you must've been quite the bully back then."

"I-It's not like that." Nayuki denies the claim. "I just wanted to play with Keroppi, and I probably raised my voice at her a little..."

"From what I know of Furukawa, she can be quite sensitive."

Nayuki simply nodded. "I felt bad about it, and was scared that Sanae-san would get mad. Silly me~..."

"I can't really see her getting mad like that." said Tomoya.

"Sanae-san can be quite strict, but you're right~" Nayuki started walking towards the dinner table. "Let's go, Okazaki-kun. Tonight's dinner is chicken curry~"

"Yes, yes." Tomoya followed after her.

Some time later, at the dinner table, Nayuki opted to tell her mother that Tomoya will be helping out with the boxes at the hallway.

"Mom, Okazaki-kun said that he's gonna help us with the boxes~!"

"Are you sure, Okazaki-san?" Akiko asked him for clarification.

"Yes. I'm not up to much anyways. And it won't just be me."

"Oh?"

"Well, I'm considering on asking a couple more people for this. I just haven't gone through with that, Akiko-san." said Tomoya.

"I see. Thanks for that, Okazaki-san."

"No, don't mention it." Tomoya says, as he continues to munch on his food.

"It's always good to have some extra hands to assist us after all. Right, Nayuki?"

"Yeah~!" Nayuki agreed with her mother.

"How's the curry, Okazaki-san?"

The explosion of flavours in the meat curry does wonders to his taste bud. "It's good."

The youthful mother smiled, content with his answer.

"Mom's cooking is always good~"

"And it's even better when Nayuki is helping with the preparation. She was rather insistent for this occasion."

"Ohh... I didn't~!" the bluenette denies. "You're getting the wrong idea, Mom."

"Ara, did I say that out loud?"

"You did..."

"Fufu~ sorry."

Tomoya observed the exchange between the two Minases. "Yeah, they both are really mother and daughter, alright." 

After having dinner with them, Tomoya decides to leave. Both Minases accompanied him until they reach the doorway.

"Well, I'll be going home." Tomoya informed them after he puts his shoes back on. "Thanks for the dinner, Akiko-san."

"You're welcome. Have a safe walk home, Okazaki-san."

"I will."

"See you tomorrow, Okazaki-kun~" said Nayuki.

"Yeah, you too, Minase. Good night."

"Mmh~" Nayuki nods. "Good night."

Having said his goodbye, Tomoya was already on his way out of the house. And with that, he strolled off into the street, heading for the boys dormitory.

The next day is Saturday. For the students at school, it's a half day where they would usually be allowed to go home after the fourth period if they don't have any club activities scheduled for the day. As for the weather, the sky had been rather cloudy since the morning, and it's expected to rain around the afternoon.

While he borely gazed out into the window next to his seat during the last Homeroom, Tomoya recalled how earlier in the morning, Nagisa had requested to play basketball with him and Nayuki. Along with Nayuki, Nagisa told the delinquent that she will be waiting for him at the athletic grounds after school. In response, the former basketball captain tried to avert the topic by telling her to go straight home after school without implying anything about his handicapped state, while her more athletic friend didn't seem to pester him much about the matter.

Hoping that she will heed his words, Tomoya's thoughts was shifted to the idea of heading straight for his usual crashing place right after school when he glanced at the empty seat to his right.

Meanwhile... After the end of the Homeroom period, one particular violet-haired class rep can be seen looking around near the courtyard. She appears to be on the search for something, which piqued the interest of a passing by Nayuki.

"Kyou?" Nayuki greets her.

Kyou turns to Nayuki's direction. "Oh, Nayuki!"

"What are you doing here~?"

"Well, care to take a guess?" Kyou asked the blue-haired girl.

"Hmmm... You seem to be searching for something."

"Ding, ding! Correct!" she announced.

"Alright~!" in a sense of accomplishment, she pumps her clenched palm up. "What are you looking for?"

"My pet." Kyou tells Nayuki as she walks around the area.

"Why is your pet at school? Is there a pet club here~?" Nayuki asked her.

"No, there is no such club here. He just has this habit of wandering to school to see me."

"I see. Is it a cat~?"

"Nope." Kyou answered quickly.

"Is it a dog? A bunny?"

"Not a dog, and not a bunny either. But he's pretty cute too, you know!"

"A tanuki~?"

"Nope. Well, you'll know when you see him."

"Okay then. I'll help you look for your pet~"

"Sure!"

They split briefly to cover more ground in searching for Kyou's mysterious pet. Not long after, at the area near the fountain, Nayuki felt something fuzzy rubbing against her leg.

"Huh?"

"Puhi~ puhi~" the culprit is a critter with vertical stripes on it's back, and it's neither a cat nor a dog. However, it has a level of cuteness that is capable of competing with the two common pets.

"Is this... Waaahh~!" completely enthralled by the adorable-looking creature, Nayuki goes to pick it up and held the little animal close to her chest. "Cute~"

"P-Puhi puhi..." it was a little apprehensive at first, but, "...Puhiiii~" the small animal gradually appears to warm up to her.

"You found him?" Kyou arrives to where Nayuki is. "Woah, he took a liking to you."

"Oh. So this is your pet, Kyou~"

"Yup. Botan, here!" Kyou calls out to the small animal.

"Puhi?" the critter looks at Kyou in recognition of her voice, before leaping from Nayuki's arms into Kyou's.

"Um... what type of pet is he~?"

"He is a urinko, a baby boar, and his name is Botan. Pretty cute, right?"

"Yummy~"

"Puhi?"

"Hmm, 'yummy'?" Kyou leaned her head, smiling erroneously.

"J-Just kidding, hehe~"

"I know, ahahaha!" Kyou finds her nervous reaction funny. "Well, I did name him after botan stew. But of course, intending to eat Botan is absooolutely prohibited!"

Nayuki agrees with Kyou's words. "He is much better as a cute pet~"

"That's right. Come on, Botan! Say hi to your new friend."

"Puhi puhi~!"

"Hello, Botan~" Nayuki waves at the urinko.

"Say." Kyou looks back at the bluenette. "Are you busy, Nayuki?"

"No, why?"

"Can you walk Botan home? Usually, I'd do it myself, but..." Kyou sighed as she continues. "There's a class rep meeting that I can't skip."

"Of course~" Nayuki quickly agreed to it. "But, I don't know where your home is..."

"No worries! Botan knows the way home. All you need to do is look out for him. Keep an eye out for crows, cars and a baker with menacing eyes." Kyou explained.

"The last one sounded familiar... But sure. I'll keep an eye on Botan~" assured Nayuki.

"Thanks! I'm counting on ya', Nayuki. Remind me to treat you for lunch next time!" Kyou gave her a thumbs up.

"All right, Kyou~"

Soon after, Kyou watched from a distance as Nayuki leaves the school gate while holding a peach-coloured umbrella that she has yet to open, all the while accompanying the little yet energetic Botan. Satisfied, she turned around walk towards the school building.

In the meantime, Botan had been dashing across the path with a running Nayuki in tow. They exited the hill soon enough, where the baby boar starts taking on the directions of his home. It was right when they're close that rain starts pouring down from above.

"Wah, rain~!" she hurriedly unfurled her umbrella.

"Puhi puhi!" Botan dove under the umbrella aswell.

"No more running, huh...?"

Botan nozzles against her leg. "Puhi~"

Nayuki smiled warmly at his behaviour. She then goes to pick the small animal up from the ground.

"Can you show me the way to your home?"

"Puhi puhi~!"

Carrying Botan with her, Nayuki continued on their way under the rain. Botan would motion at the direction that Nayuki should be going to using his tiny front legs.

Eventually, they reached the street where Kyou's home stood, which is quite the sizeable house. Botan signalled for the blue-haired girl to let her go, which she is able to follow through with.

"Is this your home?"

"Puhi!" he bobbed once.

"Here you go, Botan~" she puts him down on the pavement, and petted the tiny boar.

"Puhi~" he looks rather blissful from the gesture. Then, Botan starts to move towards the front of the house, but not before turning at Nayuki for the last time.

"Puhi puhi~!" he squeaked.

"You're welcome, Botan~"

After sending Botan off, Nayuki leaves the area. She wondered if Nagisa had gone home already at that point. Recalling how insistent she had been that morning to play basketball with Tomoya, Nayuki is starting to get worried for Nagisa's whereabouts.

"I hope she isn't waiting under this rain..."

"Nagisa? She isn't home yet." Sanae informed Nayuki when the latter had dropped by the bakery briefly.

"I see..."

"Well, it's pretty rainy now. So I hope she gets home soon." evidently, Sanae is worried for Nagisa too.

"I'll go look for her, Sanae-san."

"Eh?"

"I think... she might be still at school. That's why I need to go back."

"That so..." she murmured delicately. "I understand. Please be careful, Nayuki-chan." Sanae smiles at her assuredly.

"Okay, Sanae-san."

Sanae watched as Nayuki went out of the bakery. Gazing at her gradually departing back, she hopes that everything will turn out well.

Nayuki sprinted as fast as she could on the way to school, slightly obstructed by her umbrella and her awareness of the danger of running too fast under the rain. With how she is running, the umbrella could hardly shield her from the rainwater droplets.

"Gotta... hurry..." she huffed.

The long run did little to weaken the track athlete, though she is breathing pretty heavily. In a matter of minutes, Nayuki dashed across the hill path and eventually managed to reach the front of the school gate.

After catching her breath a bit, Nayuki paced into the school building area, looking for Nagisa. As she was about to head for the athletic grounds, the track girl saw a figure in the distance, heading towards her. Upon a closer look, she recognised that it's Nagisa.

Nayuki ran towards her. "Nagisa-chan!"

"...Nayu-chan..." Nagisa shambled towards her. Nayuki hastily brought the umbrella above Nagisa to shield her from the rain.

"What happened?! Ah, you're drenched!"

Nagisa looks up to Nayuki, her eyes appeared as though she had cried recently. "N-Nayu-chan... I did something awful..."

"Eh?"

"I was being stubborn over basketball..." Nagisa began. "And because of it... I hurt Okazaki-san... I'm really an idiot... A-Ah..." she exhaled a really strained breath, as her knees are starting to weaken.

"Nagisa-chan!" Nayuki tossed her umbrella aside and immediately grabbed hold of Nagisa's petite figure before she could fall hard into the ground. The brunette is now breathing heavily, and couldn't open her eyes.

Nayuki immediately checks on her forehead. "She's burning up..." her eyes glanced at the blazer draped over Nagisa's shoulders, when a voice called to her.

"Minase, Furukawa!" Tomoya comes running towards them. He eventually stopped a couple of feet away, his shoulders heaving up and down.

Her gaze fell on him. "Okazaki-kun..."

The two of them stared at each other, not saying a single word. Only the sounds of rain hitting the ground can be heard. Their silence only lasted for a couple of seconds, but it might as well be longer than that.

Nayuki was the first to speak. "We have to get her home..."

"I-I got it. Let me carry her."

"...Sure."

Tomoya would lift Nagisa behind his back, while Nayuki retrieved the umbrella she had dropped earlier. Soon, the two are finally on their way back to the bakery, with Nayuki using her umbrella as their only cover from the rain.

They didn't speak with each other along the way, although the bluenette noticed the pained complexion on Tomoya's face each time she glanced at him. Nayuki mused on how it reminded her of a scene from her past, when a certain boy sat alone at that bench with a similarly hurting look.

"That face... Why does it remind me of that time...? Of Yuuichi..." 

Sanae is still waiting inside the store when they arrived at the bakery. Immediately, she hurried over to them.

"Nayuki-chan, Okazaki-san!"

Nayuki looked at her sadly. "Sanae-san..."

"She's soaked to the clothes, so please change them." Tomoya explained to Sanae.

"Okay, I understand."

Tomoya and Nayuki both followed Sanae into a room in the hallway.

"I'll leave the rest in your hands, Sanae-san." he hands Nagisa over to her inside.

"Yes. Thank you, Okazaki-san."

"Don't mention it."

Nayuki speaks to her next. "Sanae-san, can I help you with changing Nagisa-chan?"

"Oh. Of course, Nayuki-chan." the Furukawa matriarch smiles at her.

Taking his blazer, Tomoya then stands up. "Alright then, I'll wait outside."

"...Okay." Nayuki looks at him worriedly as he left the room.

After leaving the room, Tomoya stays around for a bit at the now unattended store. It was right then that he encounters Akio, who just got back from wherever he went to.

"Oh, so it's just you, Okazaki Aznable Ginga III." Akio addressed him.

"Hey, old man."

"Here as a customer, brat?" Akio took the already put out cigarette off his mouth. "I don't mind giving out these leftovers of Sanae's bread to you for a lower price."

"Don't want em." he answers quickly.

"Too bad." Akio eyed him down briefly. "Why are you drenched as hell? Don't tell me you're still playing in the rain at your age."

"As if it's something like that."

"Ah, Akio-san." Nayuki emerged from the hallway.

"Yo, Nayukyun! How are ya?"

"I'm fine~" Nayuki replied, before informing Akio of what happened. "Nagisa-chan collapsed from a fever, so Okazaki-kun and I brought her home. She should be resting now."

Akio's expression steeled when he heard that. It is quite the contrast to his more lively self. "That so." he simply said, maintaining his tough guy front. "Well, it sounds like Nagisa is fine."

"I hope so..." Tomoya utters.

"What's with that face, brat? If it's about Sanae's bread, I can make them free for you."

"Sheesh~ Akio-san... That's not a good business practice."

"Hahaha, I'm just kidding with him, Nayukyun!" Akio said, earning a brief scowl from the boy.

"I'll get going." Tomoya starts to walk for the door.

"Me too." Nayuki trots over to where Tomoya is. "We'll be going first, Akio-san."

"Yeah. Take care, you two."

Akio watch as they walk away from the bakery with a distant look on his face, before moving into the hallway to check on Nagisa.

Meanwhile, the rain kept rattling on the umbrella as Tomoya and Nayuki walked. Again, silence hits them both. Nayuki was left to wonder what Nagisa could have meant before she fainted from her fever, though she doesn't feel like asking from Tomoya about it.

"I... I thought Nagisa-chan went home already. I didn't know she was still at school." she tries to break the silence.

"Me neither, but Furukawa is stubborn." Tomoya said to her. "Maybe, she wanted to see me at my best..."

"Hmm?" she did a sidelong glance at him.

"No, it's nothing."

"There's that look again..." Worried for him, Nayuki decides not to pester Tomoya about what happened. "I see..."

The former basketball team captain internally scorned at himself, wondering how much more insensitive he could get that day after saying that to Nayuki, and with what happened to Nagisa way earlier.

Soon, they finally reached the neighbourhood area, stopping in front of Nayuki's house.

"Here you go, Minase." Tomoya hands over her umbrella. But to his surprise, she lightly pushed it to him.

"You can borrow it."

"Huh?"

"I said, you can borrow it~" Nayuki repeated.

"I hear you the first time, but it's practically unnecessary. My house is just around this area too."

"I know... but I don't want you to suddenly catch a cold, so please borrow it~" Nayuki told him. "You can return it tomorrow."

"...Alright." he decided to concede to her insistence. "I'll give it back to you tomorrow."

"Mmh~" she hummed.

"Have a good evening, Minase."

With a smile, she bobbed her head once. "Bye, Okazaki-kun."

Nayuki went inside, closing the door. With that, Tomoya starts to walk away, though not without glancing back at her home for a second.

"Maybe I should've told her..."

His eyes briefly wander to the umbrella that Nayuki had lent to him. He sighed tiredly, and slightly adjusted his grip on its handle.

"Well, there's still tomorrow."

Tomoya continues to make his way into the street, as heavy rain keeps pouring down from the dim evening sky without any sign of letting up soon.

Chapter Text