After Story: Compassion

Chapter Thirty-Six: A Fresh Perspective

I slid open the door to my classroom and waited to let Ryou enter first. As expected, girls from every year swarmed around her desk. "I guess I'll see you at lunch, then," I said, ready for a return to the usual.

"Of course you will, but..." She took me by the hand and led me to her seat and gently but insistently pushed me into it. She then took my bag and put it at the usual spot by my desk. Then, as everybody watched, she came back and settled herself in my lap, my arms wrapping around her almost on their own. "Th-That's how it should be," she said with a playful grin over her shoulder as the girls around us squealed.

I blinked at her. Where had the shy, timid Ryou gone? I liked this new one, sure, but it would sure take some getting used to.

I watched as she did her tarot card readings. At first I felt a little twinge from a sad memory, but the feeling of her warmth in my arms and my lap made it seem like a distant memory...and maybe at this point it was.

The warning bell rang, and I wiggled my legs to get her to get up so I could go to my seat, but she just looked over her shoulder at me with a smile that sent my heart racing. "N-Not yet," she whispered.

"S-Sure," I whispered back. Where had the shy, timid Ryou gone? This would really take some getting used to!

Eventually the first bell rang, and Ryou finally got off of my lap, shooing the girls away as I hurried to my seat. The day had barely started, but I was already starting to see how different we were from when we left for summer break.

***

"The school looks so different now," Ryou said as we walked arm-in-arm during a break. "I know it's because I'm different than I was before then, but still..."

"I know what you mean," I replied with a smile. "Hey, let's check out more of the school during lunch; I'd kinda like to see if anything else looks different."

"Okay," she replied with a squeeze of my hand.

The day started to look more normal from that point, with Sunohara getting to class during third period and immediately going to sleep on his desk. As I watched him I felt something like annoyance but wasn't sure why, so I shook my head and returned my attention to the teacher.

At lunch I left him snoozing away to meet up with Ryou at her desk. "How about wandering around the old building for a while? After we eat, I mean?"

"That sounds good," she said as she took my arm and give me a shy smile.

As I held the door open for her to enter the old building I felt a sense of unease. "Huh. Weird."

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I dunno," I admitted as she took my arm again. "Just...something doesn't feel right; like I'm forgetting something."

The minute I saw the door to the Reference Room, however, it all came back to me. "Miyazawa!" I yelled, and nearly dragged Ryou down the hall.

I slammed the door open, startling its lone occupant. "Miyazawa!" I yelled again, causing the girl to jump, losing her grip on her book.

"Tomoya-saaaaaan!" Yukine squealed as I picked her up by the waist and twirled her. "W-Welcome back!"

"Tomoya, what was that all about?" Ryou puffed as she entered the room. "You took off so...suddenly...."

I put Miyazawa back down; knowing that she was safe made me happier than I'd ever thought possible. "Ryou, this is Miyazawa Yukine; she's the one who was missing a few weeks ago! Pastor Jeff visited her family, and I went along, and now she's back, safe! Isn't that great?!"