After Story: Compassion

Chapter Forty-One: Mental Blocks

Lunchtime found me standing at the front of an unused classroom with a wooden block in my hand and Fuuko standing next to me. "So, here's what we're going to do," I said to the assembled group. "We're going to make seven-hundred of these to invite the student body to her sister's wedding..." And also to keep Kyou's mind off of Pastor Jeff for the next week-and-a-half. "Hey, when is her wedding, anyway?"

Fuuko looked sheepishly at the desktop before her. "Nee-san hasn't set a date, yet."

My shoulder slumped. "Seriously? Did you come into this with any kind of plan?"

To her credit, Fuuko looked like she wanted to sink into the floor. "Fuuko's sorry..."

"Tomoya," Ryou said, "please don't be angry with her."

"I'm not really angry..." I grumbled. "Maybe a little annoyed...anyway, how many have you carved so far?"

I started to worry when she started counting on her fingers; had she really made so few? "I'd...have to count them to be sure, but I think...one-hundred and fifty?"

My eyes bugged out. "That's...actually a lot," I said, feeling more than a little admiration. "You're sure motivated, aren't you?"

She nodded vigorously. "Nee-san is waiting until I get better before she gets married."

"Wait a minute..." Something wasn't adding up. "If she's waiting for your recovery, how's making all these starfish supposed to help?"

Fuuko could only look at the floor.

"Tomoya-kun? What does she mean by 'get better'?" Kotomi asked with a puzzled expression. "She does not look unwell."

I looked over at Fuuko, then nudged her to get her attention. "It'd be a lot easier if I could tell them what's going on." She studied me for a minute before nodding in resignation, so I turned back to the rest of the group. "Okay, this may not make any sense, but..." I took a deep breath. "Fuuko here is actually a spirit; her body is in a hospital in the next town."

"A spirit?" Kotomi asked while examining our kouhai. "Have you visited her at the hospital?"

"We haven't," Ryou answered. "But...I can say that the girl you see here is a spirit."

"What happened to you?" Kotomi was clearly concerned for our small friend. "Why are you in the hospital?"

"I'm not sure," Fuuko said. "The doctors say I was hit by a car on the way home from my orientation."

"Oh, you poor thing," Ryou said with obvious compassion.

I glanced over at Kyou to see her watching Fuuko with a sad look. "If your sister won't marry until you get better, shouldn't you be focused on getting better?" I asked.

"I should, but..." she tapped the floor with her toe. "I want to make sure that a lot of people come to her wedding to Yoshino-san!"

"Is that her fiancé?" Kyou asked, finally getting into the conversation.

Fuuko nodded vigorously again; what an energetic girl. "He's soooooo cool!"

"So what we're going to do," I said, trying to get the conversation back on track, "is help her carve these starfish. She needs one for each of the students, so we'll need about...seven hundred? Is that right?"

"Seven hundred."

"So all we need to do is carve five-hundred and...fifty...man, that's a lot." I ran my hands through my hair. "Ryou and I have already committed ourselves to helping out, but it'd be great if all of you could help."