A new beginning

The same old thing. Or is it?

      Astrea smiled a little at the thoughts. Things were going to get interesting she thought as she returned to the table with her food and settled in to finish breakfast. A light knock at the door awoke her from her thoughts. Nymph got up from the table putting down her bag of snacks and went to the door to answer it. She opened the door to see Sohara standing there. "Good morning Nymph" Sohara said as she stepped inside. "Good morning Sohara" she said in return. "Is Tomoki awake" She asked. "Uh....I'm not sure, Ikaros went up to check on him a few minutes ago." was Nymphs reply. Here Astrea decided to interject "She's been up there for a while. I wonder what's taking so long?" A shade of jealousy flashed onto both Nymph and Sohara's faces as they imagined what could be happening behind closed doors. A chuckle came from Astrea as she saw the look shared by them. Followed by a quick pace towards the stairs leading to the bedrooms. As they turned the corner into the hallway they met a sleepy eyed Tomoki slowly making his way to the bathroom. He threw his hand up to them and simply said "good morning" as he stepped inside and closed the door. Ikaros then entered the hallway. "Good morning Sohara" she said as she continued along to the kitchen speaking to Tomoki through the bathroom door. "Master your bed has been made, and Breakfast is prepared when you are ready." He responded with a noncommittal grunt.

Sohara and Nymph returned to the table to seat themselves across the table from Astrea. Ikaros asks Sohara if she would like some breakfast. Sohara thanks her politely saying "Yes, thank you very much Ikaros. I hadn't had a chance to eat yet." Ikaros appeared through the doorway a moment later holding a plate in her hands. "Thank you Ikaros" Sohara says as she takes the plate from her seating herself to eat. "Wow Ikaros your Miso Soup has gotten so much better and the egg is perfectly poached. Good job" Sohara exclaims as she takes the first taste. Ikaros suppresses a smile, and Thanks her, blushing ever so slightly at the praise she had just received.

A few seconds pass with general conversation. Tomoki enters the room with the girls, with a plate of breakfast in his hands. A choir says to him, I would have gotten your breakfast....He smiles and politely thanks them all as he sits down to eat. It's as normal a morning ever Nymph watching her soaps, as he Sohara and Astrea eat their meal while Ikaros begins to wander around the house doing her self appointed chores.

Sohara notices Tomoki glancing over his shoulder at Ikaros. A sad little grin finds it's way to her lips, and she looks away, trying to put her mind to rest. A sad thought came into mind. " I know that they fell for each other. But, how I wish...." the thought trailing off.

A few moments later, Sohara says to the group " I'm meeting Hiyori at the market later, and then going for ice cream. Would you care to accompany me?" looking to the 3 angeloids gathered there. Nymph and Astrea readily agree. Nymp "Getting out of the house would be nice, and I haven't seen Hiyori in a few days" Astrea smiles, and simply says "Ice cream? Sure" Sohara smiles and lets out a small giggle. "You know Tomo, you are more than welcome to come too" Sohara says as she takes another bite of her meal. Tomoki, without looking up from his plate says "No thanks, a day out with you all just sounds like trouble waiting to happen. I think I will just stay home and relax. But, Thank you."

After the meal is finished and the dishes are done, the girls are on their way. And Tomoki finds himself in a quiet house. Almost having to pinch himself to prove it's real, he wanders back up to his room to lay around and relax.

Lying there on his stomach with a manga spread on the floor in front of him, he finds himself doing more thinking than reading. Mulling over the thoughts he had found ever present in his mind lately, he kept repeating to himself. I just don't understand....How?....She's not even human. Then the image of her smile came to mind, and he said out loud. "I don't care" "Human or not, I love Ikaros." I just need to find a way to show it without hurting anyone. And that includes her.....How would she react? he thought. How would she feel? Could she even feel? Was that lost to her now? He hadn't really noticed any signs of her being emotional, not more so than before. What was he going to do? Is it worth the risk? Rolling over onto his back, he stretches out and relaxes. I don't know how much longer I can wait to find out. He closes his eyes and thinks of her laying there with him, her head on his shoulder. Drifting off to a nap with a smile.

Meanwhile on the road to town, the Girls are walking along and chatting as they meet up with Hiyori near the farm.

"Hey Hiyori" Sohara says with a waving of her hand as she approaches her. Hey guys she says in return and steps up to join the group. As they walk along conversation is just a way of passing time. A brief discussion with Ikaros about how her watermelon patch is doing, Nymp and her soaps, and so on. Then out of nowhere, Hiyori asked where Tomoki was. She looked around as if confused. Ikaros replied "Master chose to stay home." sounding a little disappointed. "That's odd" Hiyori responds. "Normally he would have came along if nothing else than for the chance to catch a peek or cop an opportune feel." "We all know how Tomoki is." Sohara says with a chuckle. Then Nymph looks around to the group as she asks "Actually, Has anyone else noticed a change in Tomoki recently?" They all exchanged glances as they momentarily came to a halt.

Astrea was the first to speak up. "Now that you mention it, he hasn't tried to grope me in weeks." Followed by Sohara "Also, I haven't had to chop him in days. He has either stopped peeping, or he has gotten extremely good at hiding it." They all started giggling at that. The general concensus was that he had to have stopped. There was no way that he had gotten so good that he no longer got caught. this decision was followed with a roar of laughter. And then a look of concern as Ikaros spoke then "I haven't seen a porno magazine in the house in quite a while myself. Is it possible that something is wrong with Master?" A general worried feeling was passing over the crowd as Nymph then spoke again. "I for one, think it is about time. Maybe he is finally growing out of his foolishness." This brought about another round of laughs and giggles.

"Tomoki? Never." Sohara replied. Even as she was thinking. Maybe, just maybe Nymph was right. Maybe after all they had all been through, he had changed. Maybe he had grown to understand the discomfort it caused. Even if they had accepted it was a part of who he was. There's no way Tomo would give that up, that is Tomoki she thinks. Unless something came along that pleased him more. Maybe...and she smiled as they began to walk along again as the conversation had faded away.