I wasn't feeling very hungry the next morning, so I skipped breakfast and headed out the door to meet with Ryou.
"I-I-I'm sorry about last night," Ryou said as a greeting. "I-I shouldn't have forced you to eat all those cookies."
"You didn't force me," I replied. "If anyone should be sorry, it should be Kyou; she tried to do your job, after all," I finished with a wink.
"T-Tomoya-kun..." she giggled.
On theway to school we met up with a surprise in the form of: "Okazaki-san!" Ryou andI looked to see Furukawa running toward us from the direction of her home, andmy mind flashed back to when she invited me to stay with her family. Inhindsight, I was glad that I decided not to for two reasons: One, I wouldn'thave had the chance to get to know Ryou and Two, I didn't think I would've beenable to handle all of her parents' antics.
Since my free hand was carrying my bag, I lifted our joined hands in greeting. "'Morning, Furukawa."
For some reason, her pace slowed and her smile faded. "Wh-Who's your friend?"
We came to a stop so Ryou could release my hand and bow politely. "P-Pleased to meet you. My name is F-Fujibayashi Ryou. I'm the class representative for Class 3-D, and Tomoya-kun's girlfriend."
Furukawa's expression appeared anxious as she looked back and forth between us before resolving into a smile. "Well, c-congratulations to you two!"
"Thanks," I replied as I reclaimed my girl's hand. "Did you need something from us, or did you just want to walk to school together?"
"Actually, I was hoping to talk to you about the Theater Club..."
"Oh, crap..." I had forgotten all about that. "I'm sorry, Furukawa, I forgot. Here, come on." As we continued on our way I looked toward Ryou. "I had forgotten, but I promised that I'd help her find members for the Theater Club."
"I-I see..." I watched as she took a deep breath. "W-Well, it's important to keep your promises..."
"I'm sorry, cutie...is there any way we can make this work?"
"D-Don't worry about it, Okazaki-san," Furukawa interrupted. "I'm the club president, so I should be trying my best to recruit."
"F-Furukawa-san? I-If Tomoya-kun promised to h-help you, th-then he needs to help you," Ryou said.
"Besides, what kind of man would I be if I didn't keep my promises?" I asked, as I gave my girlfriend's hand a squeeze. "Ryou and I'll make it work."
"May-Maybe I could help you, too?" Ryou offered.
A look of anxiety flashed across Furukawa's face again; if I hadn't been watching her face I would have missed it. "That...That would be wonderful!" she exclaimed. "Th-Thank you very much!"
"Y-You're welcome," Ryou replied, then looked to me. "Maybe we could talk about it during lunch?"
I mulled it over. "I'm fine with it if you are," I said. "We can work out the details and get started, however late we may be."
Furukawa jogged a short distance ahead of us and turned to face us, bringing us to a halt. "I'll see you at lunch, then!" With that she turned again and ran ahead of us to school.
"What a sweet girl," Ryou observed as we watched her retreating form.
"Yeah..."I replied somewhat absently; something wasn't right...
***
"I've got a few first-years interested, but it's not enough," Furukawa explained as she sat next to my girl on the stone wall; I stood next to them, munching on my anpan.
"That's too bad," Ryou said softly. "Is that why you asked Tomoya-kun to help?"
"She asked me long before that," I said, "when she was..." I trailed off, realizing that Furukawa might not want me blabbing her life story.
Furukawa smiled, however. "I was trying to find a reason to go to school. I was really disheartened until..." She ducked her head meekly. "...until Okazaki-san gave me a push."
"A push?" Ryou asked.
"He told me that I just had to find something new to enjoy, that I couldn't do anything about the past, but that I could learn to enjoy the present and future," she finished with a bright smile.
I smiled as well as I went back to that time at the bottom of the hill. "You seemed pretty depressed, and I didn't want you to end up like me since you're such a nice girl."
Furukawa pressed her hands against her cheeks, apparently forgetting that she still had a sandwich in one of them; mashed sandwich on her face looked kinda funny. "Okazaki-san! I-I'm not a nice girl!"
"That's more reflex than anything," I countered, pointing at her. "You are a nice girl; you're just a little too shy for other people to be able to appreciate it. If I didn't think you were nice, I sure as hell wouldn't have called you cute-" Oh, crap.
Sure enough, Ryou turned wide eyes on me. "T-T-Tomoya-kun...? You called another girl 'cute'?"
"Y-Yeah, I did!" I confessed. "But that was before we started dating, I swear!"
"A-A-Are you sure?" Ryou asked, now wringing her hands. "I d-d-don't want to get in your way if-"
"F-Fujibayashi-san? Wh-When did you and Okazaki-san start dating?"
"A-A-April t-t-t-twenty-sixth," Ryou managed to answer, and I made a mental note to write that date down next to our first lunch date.
"Th-Then it's okay!" Furukawa exclaimed. "H-He called me 'cute' on April 17th, so that was before you started dating!"
"R-Really?" Ryou asked with hopeful eyes.
I opened my mouth, but stopped when it hit me: why would Furukawa remember something like that?
"Yes, it was over a week before you two started dating, so he didn't cheat on you!" My brown-haired friend was on her feet, gesturing so vigorously that her 'antennae' waved. "Okazaki-san is so amazing and wonderful that he'd never ch-cheat on you!"
I was starting to feel really uncomfortable.
"You're right!" Ryou cried, then whirled on me. "I'm so sorry for doubting you, Tomoya-kun!"
Huh? "But you never said anything like-"
"Furukawa-san believes in you, so I should too!" I had never seen Ryou this passionate outside of fortune-telling. "I'm such a terrible girlfriend, but I'll do better from now on!"
"Ryou, stop!" I almost yelled as I grabbed her hands. "You're not a bad girlfriend, or whatever you said! It's understandable that you would get worried if you heard about me saying stuff like that to other girls." I paused to let that sink in before I continued. "If I need to answer for my past behavior to help make you feel better, then I'll do that; I understand. Just..." I smiled awkwardly. "...just be...gentle with me, okay?"
"Okay, Tomoya-kun," she giggled, blinking away a few tears.
"You're so lucky," Furukawa breathed. "I wish..."
I snapped out of the spell cast by Ryou's eyes. "Huh? Oh, Furukawa! What..." I shook my head. "What do you wish?"
"Eh?" My friend's eyes grew as wide as saucers. "I wish...um...wish...that...that more people would join the Theater Club...yeah!" she finished, clapping her hands.
"Oh, let me help you!" exclaimed Ryou. "Onee-chan has a lot of friends, and I can talk to the girls who come for my fortune-telling!"
"You'd really do that for me?" Furukawa asked, with tears starting to form. "Thank you so much! And you and your sister could join!"
"I-I'm sorry..." Ryou said sadly. "Onee-chan and I are both class reps, so..."
"They can help you get new members, and I'll do a better job of keeping my promise," I...well, promised. "I didn't mean to blow you off."
"Don't worry about it," Furukawa said, shaking her head. "You're a good man, Okazaki-san. You talked to someone like me and really helped me when I needed it. Thank you for everything."
"N-No problem," I said awkwardly as the warning bell signaled the end of lunch. "We...We'd better get back to class," I said as I helped my girl down from the wall.
"O-Oh, right!" Furukawa squeaked. "W-Well, I-I'll go on ahead, then; y-you probably want some t-time with each other, right?"
"That'd be...nice, yeah," I replied carefully.
"Furukawa-san, are you all right?" Ryou asked with concern in her voice.
"Me?" she squeaked again. "I-I'm fine. Thanks for all your help!" And with that, the turned and ran ahead of us toward the nearest entrance.
"She is such a sweet girl!" Ryou exclaimed; then, she giggled. "And you're right; she is cute."
"Hoo boy..." I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck.
We held hands and made small talk as we walked back to class...but in the back of my mind, it still felt like something wasn't right.