When Angels Fall

Disclaimer- Clannad is not mine as it rightfully belongs to Jun Maeda-sensei and Key Studios, with the anime being the work of Kyoto Animation respectfully.

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"Stop it, would ya?!" Tomoya shouts at a carefree Youhei, making the blond freeze in his seat, wondering why his friend is angry.

This happened right as Tomoyo walked into their classroom. She was planning on eating lunch with them, but hearing their voices raise in volume threw her off.

Never before has she seen the two boys appear angry, especially Sunohara.

"Huh? What's your problem?" Youhei's grin that can only be described as stupid disappears.

"You know damn well what it is. Your little sister! You sit there cracking jokes while Mei is worried sick about you, and yet you don't seem to care!"

"What's it to ya?" The blond gives his friend a confused yet defensive stare.

Tomoya stands up quickly, causing his chair to screech. "Maybe I was wrong... Maybe I can't get through to you using words alone."

Youhei sighs. "What, you wanna see who's taller or somethin'?"

"Get up."

Youhei stands, and the two glare at each other.

The other girls in the classroom, Nagisa, Kyou, Ryou, Kotomi, and now Tomoyo were all observing the situation in worry.

Before either of the boys could start a fistfight, Kyou and Tomoyo step in between them to chastise them, and Youhei leaves with an annoyed click of the tongue while Okazaki glares at his retreating back.

Tomoyo sighs. "You mind telling me what that was about?" She demands of Okazaki.

Seeing that her boyfriend is too angry to talk, Nagisa explains, "Back when Sunohara was a freshman, he was kicked off the soccer team for starting a fight with the other members when they were bullying one of the weaker players. As a result, the first year players were disqualified from all their games and tournaments that year. After well over a year since then, Sunohara's little sister Mei is trying to persuade him to rejoin the team. All she wants is for him to be happy."

'So Sunohara starts fights to protect others, too. That certainly is surprising,' Tomoyo thinks with secret admiration before she shakes her head and focuses on the task at hand.

"Did any of you consider the possibility that maybe he doesn't want to go back to a group of jocks that he doesn't get along with?" The Student Council President crosses her arms with obvious disappointment. She can't believe she feels the need to stick up for the person that always harasses her and accuses her of being a man.

Okazaki scowls. "Who cares how he feels? This is about his sister."

He stomps away, leaving the classroom.

All the girls squirm with unease.

Tomoyo feels that there is a lot more to this situation than meets the eye.

"I'm going to find his sister and guard her. I fear that the Soccer Club will attempt to do something bad to her should she come to them and if they're as bad now as they were back then."

"I'm coming with you," Kyou and Nagisa chorus.

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After getting Yukine's advice, Tomoyo and Kyou accompanied Okazaki, Nagisa, and Mei to the Soccer Club building.

The soccer team makes them wait outside, and while they do, Mei pulls up a picture on her phone of her and Youhei.

"This was Onii-chan and I about a year ago. He was 16 and I was 12. We were so happy together, but since then, he's changed. We drifted apart."

Tomoyo takes a good look at the photo. In it, she sees Mei smiling brightly while Youhei headpats her, a proud yet joyous smirk on his face. The way his hair falls down his face made the Student Council President blush. He looked so handsome.

"Mei, may I?" With permission of the little sister, she takes the phone. Then, she turns away and quickly texts the picture to her own phone before proceeding to delete the sent message. She questions why she did that, but she focuses back on the task at hand.

Kyou notices Tomoyo's behavior and chuckles but doesn't say anything. "We'll find a way to get your idiot brother back to the way you love."

Mei nods. She is more determined than ever to try to convince the Soccer Club about reconsidering letting her older brother back on the squad.

However, when the meeting happens, it goes wrong. The team said they would consider it if the three of them, excluding Tomoyo and Kyou since they're class representatives plus the Student Council President, could help them retrieve balls they kick during practice.

"I don't like this," Tomoyo says softly to Kyou. "There's no way they'll let him back on their roster. This whole idea is ridiculous."

"Then why didn't you discourage Mei?"

"Probably because she reminds me a little of my own younger sibling."

Her doubts were proven right. The soccer team deliberately missed the net to work them ragged, and not just that, they hit Mei and Nagisa a few times before claiming it was an accident while snickering, much to Tomoyo, Kyou, and Okazaki's irritation.

Once the practice was done, they met with the team one final time in their club building.

From there, things only escalated further as they insulted Youhei, calling him a loser while picking on Mei.

Tomoyo furrows her eyebrows in frustration. 'I never got along with Sunohara, but I think I now see why he is a delinquent and doesn't take school seriously. He has little purpose. I wonder what his home situation is like. Does he get along with his parents?'

Mei was now crying. "No! You're wrong! My brother is not a loser! If you'd just give him a chance-"

The 11 jocks all roar with laughter.

Then it happened. Before the three present guardians of Mei could blink, the douchebag closest to Mei was sent flying into the wall at the other side of the room by a lunging punch to the abdomen.

They barely heard his footsteps, but he came sprinting faster than when Kyou gets overprotective over Ryou.

It was Youhei.

"Don't make Mei cry, you bastards!"

Tomoyo and the others had to blink in surprise. It was only natural. Whenever he'd challenge the silver-haired beauty to a fight, he'd lose, but he'd charge at her a lot slower than how he ran just now. Was he taking it easy on her? Was it because he actually thinks she's a girl? Did he challenge her just to try to make her smile? The thought of that possibility both irked her and made her heart flutter.

However, there is currently much more pressing matters than him hiding his abilities. Tomoyo found herself admiring him in this moment, the fierce and angry look on his face, calculating the enemy's next move like a mama tiger fending off predator's from her cubs.

She blushed and shook her head.

"I-It's Sunohara! Get him!" The team captain ordered his underlings.

Kyou and Tomoyo took up defensive positions to guard Nagisa and Mei.

Okazaki went charging in to back up the person the soccer team is targeting.

One of them was already out of commission, leaving 10 jocks vs two delinquents, one of which is a furious older brother.

Okazaki managed to take on three at a time and beat them.

Youhei, with shear anger, fought the other seven with such speed and accuracy, revealing techniques he had never previously used against Tomoyo. He jumped on the captains back and put him in a chokehold using his legs while still fighting off all the others, using the captain's stumbling movements as if the bully were an untamed horse.

Incapacitating the leader through lack of oxygen, he punched and kicked some in the balls.

Two of the survivors, neither unscathed, charged out the room passed the girls and fled the scene while Okazaki and Youhei chased them out the room, stopping in the middle of the track and field that was now soaked.

Heavy rain poured down, as if to reflect Youhei's mood. He saved his sister, but that doesn't mean he's happy.

"Why do all this shit to get me back on the soccer team when it's full of fucking assholes?" He turned towards his friend and his little sister. "Why did you think I even want to be on the team? Sure, once upon a time, I wanted to play soccer, but that doesn't mean I wanted to play with a bunch of snobbish uppity elitists on the team."

"You should've tried to rejoin them yourselves!" Okazaki throws a haymaker, forcing Youhei to block it. He stumbles back but quickly retaliates with an open-palmed jab to Okazaki's nose, breaking his nasal bones, blood immediately spurting out, making the bluenet grunt in pain.

"And sacrifice my morals while I'm at it? Fuck you!"

"Your little sister asked me out!" Okazaki punches him back. "You're okay with her being with a guy like me?!"

He throws another punch, but Sunohara ducks onto a knee and catches it. "I was okay with it because it was you!"

Okazaki is surprised, and Youhei takes advantage of the moment to throw a left hook that connects with his cheek.

"Shouldn't we stop them?" Nagisa and Mei look towards the other two girls in worry.

They shake their heads.

"They need to get this out of their system," Kyou replies.

However, Mei cannot simply stand by anymore. She runs towards them, intending to get between the two.

This was a big mistake.

Okazaki, angry that the blond sucker punched him, roars, "Then why didn't you say anything?!"

The bluenet goes for a spin-kick at the exact moment Mei came charging between them.

"Stop fighti-" She never finished her sentence as his kick connects with her chest and sends her onto her back.

"Mei!" Youhei got up from his kneeling position and rushes after her as did all the other girls. "Mei, wake up!" His little sister wasn't responding. "... Mei?" His voice fills with fear when he reluctantly leans down, and much to his horror, finds out that she isn't breathing and there is no heartbeat. "SOMEONE CALL AN AMBULANCE!"

Kyou immediately puts her phone to her ear while Tomoyo and Nagisa kneel down next to Youhei, who begins performing CPR, although his lack of practice is clear as his tempo is off. He's panicking.

Tomoya could only look on in dread at what he just did.

The paramedics arrive within a couple minutes and load Mei into the vehicle, immediately attempting to save her life.

"I'm her older brother. I have to be there with her!" He explains why he should be in the ambulance.

"I'm sorry," Okazaki speaks up. "I didn't mean for this."

"Yeah, you didn't!" Youhei gives him a furious look. "If she doesn't make it, you'll have killed your supposed girlfriend that you care so much about, the one you cheated on Nagisa with! You claim Mei came to town to see me, but she only needed me so that she could be with you, her potential murderer!"

It was a low blow, but it wasn't one Tomoya could rebuke because it was the truth. Mei didn't treat Youhei well while she was kinder to Okazaki, a boy that she knew for far less time than her own brother.

"Nagisa, I'll call you to update you and the others on her condition," Sunohara says without looking at the girls, too disgusted to cast his gaze in the same direction Tomoya is in next to Nagisa, so he gets in the ambulance and it leaves the scene. The paramedics were performing CPR, but it isn't working.

"She has gone into cardiac arrest. Explain what happened." One of the paramedics demands without looking as they gather equipment, placing patches on her bare chest and giving her electrical shocks after shouting, "Clear!"

"She got in between my... an acquaintance of mine as he and I were fighting. He hit her in the chest."

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It is dead silent in the Drama Club room where everyone but Sunohara gathered. The tension is palpable.

Seconds turned into minutes. Minutes turned into an hour. One hour turned into nearly two.

Finally, Nagisa's phone rang, so she picked it up immediately and put it on speaker.

"Sunohara-kun?"

"... Nagisa." His voice is devoid of emotion, scaring everyone.

"How is she?"

"She's alive. They resuscitated her."

Nearly everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but Tomoyo, Okazaki, and Nagisa knew it didn't end there.

"Is there more? You sound like there's bad news."

"There is. Mei isn't waking up. She's fallen into a coma."

Okazaki suddenly felt dizzy, as if his legs no longer worked.

Tomoyo's heart ached for Sunohara. 'What is this? I thought I disliked him, if not hated him, but why do I feel like I was the one that got hurt?'

"A coma? How? When will she wake up?"

"We don't know when. The doctor said she suffered something called commotio cordis. It's a rare but life-threatening injury that occurs due to a strike to the chest at the exact moment the heart's lower chambers are relaxing after a heartbeat, which causes an irregular heartbeat and sudden cardiac arrest. It's most common in the age group of 20 and younger. When that guy hit her," He couldn't even say Tomoya due to his disgust, "the loss of heart function caused her brainwaves to slow down, even less than REM sleep cycle, the part of sleep where we dream. Ugh, I'm just repeating back what the doctor said."

"She might never wake up again..." Tomoyo mutters in disbelief.

A few of the girls cast eyes towards Okazaki as he looks very ashamed, most of them not angry except for Tomoyo. She couldn't help but think if that were her little brother instead of Mei, then...

"Okazaki, he said you were cheating on Nagisa with a 13-year-old girl. You're going to explain yourself to me once this phone call is up. I want to know everything." Tomoyo states, her tone saying that she's done playing nice given how stressful this day turned out to be.

"Is Tomoya-kun a pedo?" Kotomi questions innocently.

"Now isn't the time for that!" Kyou gently scolds Kotomi.

Youhei sighs and continues over the phone once he hears them quiet down. "I'm here at Hikarizaka Children's Hospital in the Intensive Care Unit wing. If any of you want to visit, you may do so. I'm not expecting you to come right away though. Focus on school first and maybe visit over the weekend."

"Okay Sunohara-kun, but you should take care of yourself, too! I'll at least bring over something for you to eat from my parents' bakery!"

"... Fine. Just make sure it isn't Sanae's. According to Akio, her bread is awful. Oh, and one more thing. Keep that self-righteous prick away from Mei."

He hangs up.

Soon, Nagisa leaves to care for Sunohara, making her boyfriend feel like the third wheel.

Everyone left in the Drama Club room is staring at the floor in sadness as Tomoyo drags Okazaki to a more private part of the building.

"Talk. Now."

"Tomoyo, I..." He can't find the words to justify his actions, not after what he did.

"You were acting like Sunohara did something wrong, like every imperfection in the world is his fault? From what I understand, you lied to get a reaction out of him, and when he finally did something, you got pissed about it when it wasn't the reaction you wanted. Is that not shitty behavior?"

He had never seen the ever so calm, cool, and collected Student Council President like this. She's still calm, but beneath that control over her emotions is an ice-cold fury he had never seen directed towards him.

She continues, "Sure, there are times where I kick his ass, but that's because he deserves it when I'm the object of his focus. I only picked up bits and pieces of the full story, but from what I understand from Nagisa, he had Sanae pretend to be his girlfriend just so that his sister wouldn't worry to show her that he's matured."

Tomoyo sighs. "Then there's you, the person who is always shitting on him and taking advantage of the blond's gullibility for your own amusement. Don't get me wrong, we all get a kick out of his antics, but I can't remember seeing you ever do a single kind thing for him. Meanwhile, he has helped you countless times. From what Nagisa has said, he helped you two form the Drama Club by recruiting the others. He apparently helped you by challenging the varsity basketball team and somehow won, just to stick it to the Choir Club and steal their club advisor. All those times he challenged me to a fight? He probably instigated those just to make you laugh because he knows you're miserable outside school. I can't even imagine what else he has done to aid others with his kindness never being repaid."

Tomoya is at a loss for words. "Was... Was I really that bad of a friend to him?"

"If I were you, I'd look further beneath that stupid facade of his. Only just today have I realized that there's a whole 'nother side to Sunohara that I've never seen until he came barreling in that room to fight for the honor of someone he loves. We all know why you're a delinquent; you got into a physical altercation with your father that left you permanently maimed and mentally depressed. I wonder what Sunohara's story is?"

She turns to leave. "Knowing him, he'll skip school and will stay with his little sister for as long as she's hospitalized. I'm going to visit him later this week."

"Why do you care about him, Tomoyo?"

She walks down the stairs, hiding her blush. "I-I don't. I'm merely concerned, as the Student Council President, how poor attendance would reflect on the school's reputation."

"Oh? In that case, I'm visiting him, too."

"What? Didn't you hear what he said over the phone? He doesn't want you anywhere near Mei ever again."

"I know, but I must go. If what you said is true about me being a terrible friend, then I should make it up to him by being there for him, even if he doesn't want me there. Besides, I, as Vice President of the Drama Club, know that it would reflect poorly on our club if he doesn't participate in our activities. He is a club member, after all."

The weekend came, and true to his word, Okazaki visited the Sunohara siblings alongside Tomoyo, Ryou, Nagisa, and Kotomi.

However, a nurse stops them at the lobby. "I'm sorry, but our policy states that there can be no more than two visitors at a time. Her brother already counts as one."

Okazaki sighs. "I'd like to go in first. He'll probably react poorly, but I'd like to get that out of the way."

Tomoyo feels repulsed. "Get it out of the way? Way to make it sound like a chore."

"Sorry. That was poor wording on my part."

Tomoya enters the room. The conversation was filled with hostility on Sunohara's part, and after less than 10 minutes, his friend left.

One by one, they went in to check in on their friend and his sister before leaving the hospital and going their separate ways.

The last one in was Tomoyo. She was about to knock when she heard Sunohara speaking to himself, as he has his back turned towards the entrance while facing the unconscious form of Mei.

"Hey, Mei. Now that we're alone, I should come clean and tell you the truth. Sanae is not my girlfriend, she's Nagisa's mom. She was pretending to be Nagisa's sister and my lover. I guess I wanted to impress you." He laughs self-deprecatingly and forces a grin. "Imagine that! Me with an older woman. The only older woman I could think of that I've found attractive is Misae Sagare, the dorm mother where I live."

Tomoyo stays silent and simply observes while listening to him talk, although for some reason, she felt a tinge of jealousy at the mention of his attraction to this Misae person.

He continues. "You're probably wondering why I'm talking to you when you can't respond, right? It's because the doctor says that voices of the people that you know might help wake you up. I dunno if that's a real thing or if that's pseudo-science. Pseudo-science? Is that what it's called? Or was it sumo-science? Like sumo wrestling? Hehehehe." Again, he forces himself to appear happy by faking a laugh, even though he found his own joke funny.

Youhei's smile disappears as he slumps down, clearly depressed. "Mom and dad never visit. They see us as tools to use, thinking they can mold us to be whatever it they want. I refuse. I'll never be their corporate slave! You, on the other hand, are much easier to manipulate, and I fear you'll be their puppet."

Tomoyo's eyes widen. 'No wonder he is the way he is. His parents don't love either of them.'

Her heart that was already in breaking for him as a fellow older sibling now feels even more sympathy.

He begins breathing harder and his eyes water up. "Mei... Why? Why won't you wake up?" He sobs. "I love you. I'm so sorry for ignoring you. Perhaps Okazaki was right about me; I've been a terrible older brother. Any other older sibling wouldn't have it in themselves to give you the cold shoulder, but I'm a massive screw up. However, we can still fix our relationship, right? We can make lots of happy memories together, so wake up!"

He was too immersed in his sadness to notice the footsteps behind him until a hand on his shoulder made him jump a little. He slowly turned his head to find Tomoyo there, a look of concern etched on her beautiful face.

"T-Tomoyo?! I wasn't expecting you." He doesn't bother to wipe away his tears until the epiphany strikes him at her presence being here. "D-Did you hear all that?"

"I did. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop."

She sits down next to him, and he shuffles uncomfortably. Being next to a drop-dead gorgeous girl is already enough to make him feel nervous, but to be so openly emotional in front of her when he didn't realize she was right there is certainly embarrassing.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to get all sad."

"Don't be. It's okay, really." Without realizing what she's doing, she takes his hand in hers, nearly making him jump away before he relaxes. "I was once like you, too. I have a little brother. When my parents created a toxic home environment, their constant arguments drove him to try to kill himself."

Youhei snaps his face towards her in horror. "I-Is he...?"

"He's fine now, although he's bound to a wheelchair. Before his attempt on his life, I bottled up my emotions until I took them out on others, on delinquents in the bad part of town. I was violent, way worse than the way I am when you try to fight me. One day, I realized that if I continue down that path, I could end up killing someone. You know firsthand how freakishly strong I am for a girl."

"Y-Yeah... Sorry, by the way."

"Huh? Didn't I tell you not to apologize?" She looks at him, confused.

"Sorry for always harassing you and accusing you of being a man. I didn't mean any of it. I just wanted Okazaki to smile."

She blushes and turns her face away. "Y-You're a lot nicer than I gave you credit for." She turns back towards him, sighing before she grins. "I accept your apology."

"Thanks."

"Yeah. Anyway, my point is that you shouldn't hide what you're feeling. Sometimes, it's necessary to guard your feelings from those that wish to use you, but at least don't do that in front of your true friends and myself."

"We're not friends?"

"No, of course not. Why would I put you in the friendzone?" She smirks.

His expression went from downtrodden to surprised. "Friendzone? Wait, what are you-"

"We should go out sometime. We don't have to do something super energetic like taking rides at an amusement park. Normally, that seems like what you would love to do, but given this situation with your sister, it's not a good idea to force yourself when you're probably not sleeping much. Something as simple as grabbing some coffee at a café and taking a nice walk through the park. I know one that has lots of pretty cherry blossoms."

"Just you and me?"

She nods.

"Like on a d-date?" He looks away shyly before looking at her.

She blushes but nods again.

"Who are you and what have you done with Sakagami Tomoyo?" He's in disbelief.

"Is that a no?"

"No, no! I mean, yes, I'll go out with you." He grins.

"Great! How about tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow is fine, but... What about Mei? I should be here when she wakes up."

"That could take weeks or months, God forbid years. She would want you to be happy. That was her wish."

"I see. So... You have feelings for me?" He gives her a confused smirk, a bit of the old Sunohara returning, much to her relief.

Tomoyo turns red and frowns. "Don't push your luck unless you want to get kicked before we even have our first date."

"Ahahaha, right." He laughs nervously. "By the way, I thought you had feelings for Okazaki?"

She sighs. "I had a small crush on him once, but people change. I guess once I saw him for who he truly is, I fell out of 'love' with him, if you can even call it love."

"He and I aren't on the best of terms right now, but he's not a bad guy deep down."

"I know. I misjudged you, as well. I always thought you were some creepy pervert trying to sneak a peek at girls' panties, mine included."

"I-I mean, I enjoy observing feminine beauty, but I would never go that far."

She giggles. "I know. Now I have a better understanding of who you are."

"But that begs the question. How did you develop feelings for me?"

"... Over the past month, you haven't been challenging me to fights as much as you usually do. Not having you visit felt weird, so I began questioning why I would miss that idiot Sunohara? Sometimes, I write down my thoughts in a diary to help me understand certain things, so I wrote about you, trying to psychoanalyze your actions in relation to my behavior. At first, I denied it, but when the facts presented themselves, I realized you're always helping others without expecting anything in return. As The Class Clown, you put on a show of arrogance, but the real you is different. This disconnect in your persona made it known to me that you're actually humble, despite being horribly mistreated by others, such as Okazaki and Kyou, sometimes even me. For that, I'm sorry."

Youhei blushes and nods. "I wasn't expecting such a deep response. Then... Are your feelings for me stronger than when you had eyes only for Okazaki? Be honest without any recency bias."

She simply smiles.

"I love you, idiot."

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To Be Continued

So this is my second ever Clannad fanfic. The first one I wrote, I deleted it years ago since I was in early high school when I wrote it and my grammar was awful, plus the writing was cringe at times. I hope you enjoyed this one.

Youhei Sunohara is easily my favorite Clannad character. As a matter of fact, I think Key studios and Jun Maeda-sensei either completely messed up his character by making him such a punching bag comedic relief or they did that on purpose to hide who and what he truly is and is capable of. I think there is so much more that meets the eye to him, but unfortunately, Key studios and KyoAni don't get into his character much just because he is not the harem protagonist.

Also, Youhei x Tomoyo is easily the most underrated anime ship ever. There are so few fanfics of them. Many call their ship name "TomoHara", but I call it SunoGami. They're so adorable. Tomoyo is easily best girl.

If anyone has any story suggestions for Youhei alone or for Youhei x Tomoyo, please let me know!

This fanfic, like all my fanfics, is being written on Wattpad and published on AO3, Fanfiction, and Webnovel.