After Story: Compassion

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Supporting Roles

The next day, I stopped by Furukawa Bakery to check on Kyou. I'd never seen her upset like that before so I was worried about her.

"She's doing fine," Sanae said when I asked; Nagisa and Akio had taken Kyou out grocery shopping. "We took a bath, I brushed her hair, and she went to bed without fuss."

"You make her sound like a little girl," I half-joked.

"In a sense, that's what she is right now; girls' hearts are very sensitive, and hers was broken last night," she replied with a gentle smile.

It made sense; while she could be as vicious as any boy under the right circumstances, Kyou could also be very caring and loving toward others. Of course, I hadn't seen much of the former lately, which was a relief.

"She is a very sweet girl who was hurt while making herself vulnerable."

"But Jeff-I mean, Pastor Ashton didn't mean-"

"It doesn't matter what he meant as far as how it affected her," Sanae replied. "Pastor Ashton is a very kind man and I'm sure he let her down as gently as he could, but it still hurt her."

"I get that," I said with a sigh. "Do you know when she'll be back? I want to talk to her about him...I mean, if she's up to it."

"She should be back by lunch," she said with her usual smile. "You're welcome to wait here if you wish; I wouldn't mind the company."

I had to admit that it was tempting; Sanae was a lot of fun to talk to, but... "Thanks, but I probably should check on the pastor; he seemed pretty shaken up by last night, too."

"He's such a good man," she said. "I do hope he's all right."

***

"Glory to God, Pastor Ash-oh, wait...I'm answering the door, not the phone," he grunted as he rubbed at his eyes. "Oh, Tomoya; good morning."

"Doesn't look like it," I observed. "Did you sleep okay last night?"

"I'm not sure," he said, leaning heavily against the doorway. "Man, I hope I don't get any home-visit calls today; I need a day off from my day off. Come on in," he said, waving me inside. "I'll assume that you're here to check up on me."

"Yeah," I admitted with a chuckle as I passed through the doorway. "I'm worried about you and Kyou, to be honest."

"Thanks," he said. "Have you seen her yet?"

"Not yet. I stopped by the bakery, but only Sanae-san was there; apparently the other two had taken her out to help with shopping."

"I see," he said as we entered his office. "I feel bad that I upset her, but..."

"Jessica," I said, to which he simply nodded as we settled into our chairs. "Yeah, I'd like to talk to you about her if that's-"

I was interrupted by his desk phone. "Sorry," he said. "I'll try to make this quick."

I watched his expression as he took the call. It was interesting watching how he handled it; even though he was obviously tired he managed to find the energy to be polite and kind and thoughtful.

"Okay," he said as he wrote something on a piece of paper. "I'll be over shortly."

"Everything okay?" I asked as he hung up.

He looked at me and sighed heavily. "Sorry, but...well, it's a home visit."

"Figures," I grunted as we both rose to our feet. "What's the matter?"