Good news, guys! I was able to get my aunt to get me my work over to where I am and now I'll be able to type the rest of this story. Yay!

Here's chapter 18. We'll be able to see what happened with the student council elections. Will Tomoyo win? Don't know. Enjoy. ^-^

Ch. 18

"Nagisa, you don't have to worry about Orange. I'm having the responsibility of taking care of him. He won't be bothering you any longer," Fuko said as she played around with her star.

Nagisa smiled. "Well, that's nice. But he hasn't been bothering me lately."

"But just in case, I have him covered."

"Excuse me, but who's Orange?" I asked.

"Ichigo," the girls said simutaneously.

"Oh. Gotcha."

The girls giggled. We were all at our old hang out spot under the stairs. Everyone else was organizing or getting themselves ready for the announcing of the new student council body. Today was the day.

"Tomoya! Nagisa! Fuko!"

Suddenly, a familiar purple head rushed in on us.

"Hello Kyou," we all said.

"Hey there! What are you guys doing here? They're about to announce the winner!" Kyou said.

With that, we all followed Kyou out into the hallway and into the lobby where a bunch of student were already gathered.

"Come on. Kotomi and Sunohara are over here," Kyou said as she guided us towards them. "Here we are!"

"Hello," Kotomi said.

" 'Sup?" Sunohara said.

"There are a lot of students gathered around," Nagisa said.

"Isn't it exciting?" Kyou said.

"Maybe I can hand out stars to the student who haven't gotten one," Fuko said.

"Not a bad idea. I'll help," Sunohara said.

I looked around for a familiar hue of grey. "Where's Tomoyo?"

"She must be nervous. This is her dream," Nagisa said.

"I'm gonna go look for her."

"Good luck and tell her we're here."

"Yeah."

I smiled and walked away. Now, if I was Tomoyo, where would I be? Practically everywhere. Darn. But maybe she's at the classroom where she did all her planning. I headed towards the classroom and lookey here...there she was.

"Hey Tomoyo," I said as I walked over to her. She was sitting on a chair in the middle of the room. She looked up to me.

"Hey," she said.

"Why aren't you in the lobby where all the others are?"

"I'm too nervous. What if I don't win? Everyone's going to laugh at me and point fingers."

I got a chair and sat next to her. "Why would anyone do that? And even if they do, you have your friends to defend you."

She smiled. "Thank you. Even so, I still want to take the news by myself."

"You won't mind if a friend joins you?"

Tomoyo looked at me with her blue eyes. "Tomoya..." She sighed and looked up to the speaker that will soon announce the results. "You know, I've always wanted to have my voice heard and speak out the problems of others who want their voices heard. I've wanted to do what I can do for the good of this school because I know it deserves the best. But there's also something I want to do for myself, my little selfish need."

I looked at her. "And that is?"

"The cherry trees. Did you know they want to cut them down, the cherry trees surrounding the school?"

"What Seriously?"

"Yes, and I want to stop that. I've had students begging for me to save the trees and I plan to do it. I want to preserve the trees even if it means putting my life on the line."

I looked at Tomoyo. She looked like any other girl who wanted to win badly the presidency. But she isn't. She had high dreams for herself and for everyone around her. She wanted the best for everyone, and I knew she was going to accomplish everything she has said. She's a tough girl who's hard to bring down.

"Tomoyo..."

"The results are in! We will now announce the new student council body," a girl said through the speakers.

We both looked up to it.

"Here it goes..." Tomoyo said as she began to shake. I knew she was extremely nervous, so I held her hand.

"Don't worry," I said. She looked at me and held my hand tightly.

"First, we're going to announce the new student council president. The new student council president is..." the speaker said.

"Oh God..." Tomoyo gasped and held my hand really tight, so tight I could feel my blood stop circulating.

"...Tomoyo Sakagami!"

"Oh my God!" Tomoyo gasped loudly.

"Tomoyo, you won! You won!" I smiled.

Tomoyo released my hand, looking pale from her shock.

"Tomoyo, you won. Aren't you happy?" I said.

"I won. I really won," she whispered.

"Yeah. You did. Congrats."

Tomoyo sighed of relief, bring back her color. "I really won." She looked at me. "Thank you so much."

"For what? This was all your doing."

"For supporting me. I thank all of my friends for supporting me . Without you guys, none of this would've been possible. Especially without you, Tomoya. You've helped me overcome a very difficult obstacle a few days ago. Thank you for always being by my side."

"No problem. That's what friends do, right?"

Tomoyo smiled. She turned away for a while and then turned back to me. Her cheeks were a bit pink. "Tomoya, I...I want to..." Her face leaned closer to mine.

"Tomoyo..." I said, a bit surprised. I noticed Tomoyo's eyes completely focused on my lips. Was she thinking what I think she was thinking?

"Tomoya..." Tomoyo said as she kept getting closer.

Just then, I found myself leaning towards her. I wasn't sure why, but I got closer and closer to her. I felt my face get hot all of a sudden.

Our lips were only a few centimeters away. I hesitated. What am I doing? Why do I feel the urge to kiss Tomoyo? Do I really hold feelings for her? I was completely clueless on what I was doing, but I did it either way.

Our lips touched, and we began to kiss. Not very passionately but enough for me to feel a great sensation and taste the blueberry on her lips. It was sweet and nice despite my hatred for blueberries. I found myself wanting to explore more of Tomoyo's mouth and tried to slip my tongue through her...

"There you are!"

Tomoyo and I quickly separated. We turned around and saw Kyou and the others enter the classroom.

Kyou rushed over to Tomoyo and grabbed her hands. "You did it! Congrats!"

"Congratulations!" the others said.

"Thank you so much. But this achievement is all ours. We all did this together," Tomoyo said calmly to my surprise.

Kyou looked from Tomoyo to me. "Both of your faces are pink. Are you guys hot or something?"

I hesitated and looked away, keeping my blush hidden.

"Yes. We were both anxious about the results. It got us all worked up," Tomoyo said.

I could only nod.

"Let's have a star party!" Fuko said, throwing the stars she was holding up to the ceiling. Thank God they all landed safely without anyone getting hurt. Someone needs to get those wooden stars away from Fuko when she plans to throw them anywhere.

"Okazaki, you wouldn't mind coming over to my house, would you?" Nagisa said.

"I wouldn't mind," I said. "Kotomi, you wouldn't mind walking home by yourself, would you?"

"Of course not. You two can go on ahead," Kotomi said.

Nagisa, Kotomi, Fuko and I were walking home together until we reached our stop, and Kotomi went on her own way.

"Tomoya-kun, remember that today's Friday and Mr. Fawaya is going to check up on you," Kotomi said before leaving.

"Thanks for reminding me," I said.

With that, we said our good byes, and I followed Nagisa and Fuko to Nagisa's house.

"So, were your parents able to see Fuko?" I said, looking at Fuko who was walking ahead of us.

"Yes. I explained to them the situation, and they took it very well," Nagisa said.

"Fuko's now able to live with you?"

"Yes. I'm glad because she;s been living in the school all by herself. But because she found strength, she was able to show herself to people."

"That's nice."

And that was the only conversation we had on our walk. I don't know, but I was guessing that what happened between me and Tomoyo was making me feel uneasy with Nagisa. I wasn't sure why.

"What is he doing here?!"

Once I took a step inside the house, I was harassed by a very impossible man.

"Dad, remember we talked about this," Nagisa said.

"Yes dear," Sanae said. "We were going to have a talk with him, remember?"

Akio huffed and backed away from me. "That's right."

"Pardon me, but is the bathroom ready? I want to take a shower," Fuko said.

"Yes dear. The bathroom's all yours," Sanae said.

Fuko smiled and walked away into a door. After a few seconds, Akio grabbed my collar and pulled my away.

"You're in so much trouble, kid," he said.

Akio pulled me into the dining room and sat me down on a chair on the table. He took the seat in front of me. Not intimidating or anything...

"What did I do wrong?" I said.

Sanae and Nagisa entered with Sanae sitting on my left and Nagisa on my right.

"You didn't do anything wrong. In fact, you did the opposite," Sanae said.

"What are you talking about, Sanae? He's the one who's been bothering my little girl," Akio said.

"No, dad. It's not him," Nagisa said.

"It isn't? Then why the hell is he doing here?"

"I'll start it off, so you can remember, dear," Sanae said. She smiled to me. "We want to thank you, Tomoya, for being Nagisa's friend."

"Uh, you're welcome?" I said.

"Wait, is that what we're suppose to talk about?" Akio said.

"Yes dear," Sanae said.

"Oh."

Silence.

Very awkward silence.

Akio crossed his arms over his chest. I was actually expecting for him to say something else, and I guessed that's why Sanae and Nagisa were waiting for something too.

"Anyway," Sanae began, "we are just very grateful that you became Nagisa's friend even after her awful accident. Nagisa was never good with keeping good friends by her side. We knew she tried so hard to be nice to everyone so maybe someone would take her seriously and became close with her."

"Yeah," Akio spoke. "Snotty little punks had pretended to be Nagisa's friends, but they all betrayed her in the end when she needed them the most. They all took advantage of her, used her like a tissue to wipe up their messes and throw her away when they were through with her. So..." Akio stood up from his seat and pointed an accusing finger at me. "...if you're one of those jerks who's just waiting to take advantage of her, I will use your head as a baseball! I know where you live!"

I gulped. How did he know?

"Now, Akio. I know Tomoya isn't like all the others," Sanae said. "He was the one who surrounded Nagisa with so many wonderful friends."

"Yes mom. Okazaki was the one who introduced me to great people," Nagisa said. "And I thank him for that."

I looked at Nagisa who smiled to me. When she smiled, my lips form a smile on their own. It's contagious.

"You've made Nagisa very happy. You believed in her when others didn't. For instance, the Fuko incident," Sanae said.

"Wait, you guys know about Fuko? You know, her real self, her background story?" I said.

"I told them," Nagisa said. "They are my parents, so I had to tell them one day."

"As much as I hate to admit it," Akio began as he sat down, "Sanae and I didn't believe in our daughter when she told us. We thought it was the effects of the accident that was doing that to her brain, her imagining someone else who wasn't there."

"Yes. It had us worried because it would've affected Nagisa's social outcast because of that," Sanae said.

"But then you came along, kid," Akio said as he looked at me. "You were the first person to believe in here, to believe she...was telling the truth." He began to sob, and Sanae held onto his hand. "I wasn't crying."

"Of course not, dear," Sanae said.

Nagisa giggled. "But now that Fuko had made herself visible, they have no problem believing me anymore, and it's easier to explain Fuko now more than before. And it's all thanks to you, Okazaki, for only believing me and becoming my friend."

I looked at Nagisa's beautiful, young smiling face. She was so innocent, so full of life. She was my first true friend in a way. Then I noticed Akio and Sanae looking at me. Akio had the face of a protective tiger, ready to slash out his enemies or anyone who messes with his family. Sanae had th face of a motherly polar bear, the caretaker of all. They all were smiling at me, all happy that I did a very simple deed of friending their daughter. It was a very strange yet wonderful feeling. I wanted to stay here forever.

"Well, this talk made me hungry. How about I make some dinner for all of us? You wouldn't mind staying a little a bit longer, Tomoya?" Sanae said as she stood up.

"Sure. I can stay," I said.

"Splendid!"

Sanae walked over to the kitchen.

"I'll help you out, honey," Akio said as he followed Sanae, leaving only me and Nagisa.

We both smiled at each other, causing us to blush a bit until we heard the old man.

"Hey kid! If you do a move on my girl, I will kill you! Just to let you know!" Akio yelled from the kitchen.

"Thank you so much for the dinner. It was really good," I said.

"Aww! You're welcome, Tomoya," Sanae smiled.

She cooks way better than she bakes.

"Hey! I helped too!" Akio said, sticking a new cigarette into his mouth.

"Do you want me to say thank you or you cook well?" I said.

"Neither!"

I sweat dropped. Then why did he...I don't even know.

"Well, I'll be leaving now. Tell Fuko I said bye," I said as I began to walk towards the exit.

"Wait, Tomoya. How about some pastries?" Sanae said as she handed me a bag filled with good smelling bread.

"These are good, right?" I said.

"Why of course! What? You thought they weren't?" Sanae sniffed.

"No, no. I only-"

"Hey kid! Sanae handed you free bread so accept it with no complaints!" Akio interrupted me.

"I was just...oh never mind."

Then thunder was heard.

"Oh dear. It seems like it's raining hard outside," Sanae said.

"The boy can make it home just fine," Akio said.

"And get myself sick, right?" I said.

"Sure. He's a man. He can handle it."

I sighed.

"No, dad. Okazaki shouldn't get sick," Nagisa said as she walked away and came back with an umbrella. "Here, Okazaki. You can borrow my umbrella."

She handed the umbrella to me, and I grabbed it. "Thanks Nagisa."

"Nagisa, why are you so nice?" Akio said.

"Don't tease her, honey," Sanae said.

"You can return it tomorrow if you want," Nagisa said. "Because, you are coming tomorrow for the picnic, right?"

"Uh, yeah. I said I would hang out with you every Saturday right after work. Tomorrow is no exception," I said.

Nagisa smiled. That smile. Damn. So contagious and beautiful.

I just hoped this bread would still be as good as they were ten minutes ago. This rain was a bit chilly, and I know the bread wouldn't still be warm. The rain was bad, but Nagisa's umbrella didn't let me down. How can it? It was hers after all.

Once I reached my house, I saw Mr. Fawaya standing in front of my door with a large umbrella over him. I walked over to him and we talked for a while about how I was handling myself: the bills, food, comfort, etc. He was in a hurry though, so he gave me an envelop with money for my extra needs that not even my job could pay and left.

I entered my house and dried the umbrella. I placed the bag of bread on my table and was about to get my clothes to take a shower until the door knocked.

I wondered if Mr. Fawaya forgot to tell me something, so I hurried to the door and opened it...

"Tomoyo?!"

They grey haired girl was standing there, soaking wet.

This has to be the longest chapter ever! I got tired of typing it out. Anyway, Tomoya was elected as president. Yay! But what is this? Le gasp! Tomoyo and Tomoya kissed? Oh my! It must've felt pretty weird to be with Nagisa right after that incident. I bet. I would be nervous around anyone myself. Well, please review and tell my what you think. Thank you. ^-^