After Story: Compassion

Chapter Forty-Four: Dinner Date

I found myself wondering what he meant by that almost all the way to the restaurant.

***

"This is nice," Ryou breathed as we took our seats. "Onee-chan and I haven't been to a restaurant in a long time."

"Well, with cooking skills like Kyou's, who'd want to?" I quipped.

"T-Tomoya!" Kyou blushed as she glanced at Jeff, who simply smiled at her.

I smiled as well until I noticed my girl looking down at the table with a sad expression, and I realized that she might have been feeling self-conscious about her own cooking. "Ryou?" I reached across the table for her hand, which she gave. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean anything bad about your cooking."

"It's okay," she replied quietly. "I know I'm a work-in-progress."

"At least there's 'progress', right?" Pastor Jeff said with an encouraging smile.

"She's been doing soooo much better in the kitchen!" Kyou gushed. "She still burns stuff every once in a while, but she's a lot better than before!"

"Really?" Jeff asked, his eyebrows rising. "That's great, Ryou! When did this happen? I mean, when did you notice an improvement?"

She glanced hesitantly around the table before answering. "When...When you yelled at me, Ashton-sensei?"

"When I yelled at you?" he echoed. "I don't recall ever yelling at you."

"I think I know what she's talking about," I interjected. "I can't remember what word you used, but it was when Kyou and I had to hold her and you were yelling something."

"Oh...right..." he said, his face coloring. "Yeah...the exorcism; the...casting out of that spirit...yeah."

"That's it; exorcism," I said. "Anyway, I think that's what she's talking about."

He turned suddenly-excited eyes on my girlfriend. "You really think that helped?"

She nodded bashfully. "After you did that...about a day or so...I felt freer than I think I ever have. I wasn't as worried about upsetting people or not being good enough for them. I felt free to make mistakes and learn from them instead of feeling like I had to get everything right the first time."

"You were relieved of the burden of having to be perfect," Pastor Jeff said in a melodramatic voice.

"Yeah," she giggled. "I'm free to not be perfect."

"Well, I'm about as happy as I can be," he said as he reached over to pat our joined hands. "And you have someone as neat as Tomoya here to give you the grace you need to stumble while you find your way."

"I'm so lucky," she gushed as she gave my hand a squeeze.

"Not as lucky as I am, though," Kyou quipped as she took Jeff's hand in hers, though her expression told me that she wasn't too serious.

"How do you feel, boss?" I asked. "Do you feel lucky to have a girl like Kyou as your girlfriend?"

He shook his head. "No, I don't feel lucky – h-hold on a minute, Kyou!" He raised a hand as her expression turned shocked. "What I want to say is that I feel blessed."

"Blessed?" Ryou asked. "What do you mean?"

"Let's order our meals first, and then I'll explain, okay?" he said while giving Kyou's hand a squeeze.

"We probably should," I said with a smirk. "These explanations can take a while."

***

"My understanding is that luck is something that's a result of chance, of randomness. When you think about it, the chances of Kyou and I meeting are pretty slim. I was doing my thing at church, while she was doing her thing at...at school." He sounded like he was still a little uncomfortable with the idea of dating a high-schooler, not that I blamed him for it. "We only met because of the festival set-up, which I would never have thought to get involved in had I not met Tomoya, who I would not have met had he not run off from school-"

"Okay, okay, I think we get the idea," I said as my face heated up; I really didn't want to backtrack any further, considering my reason for being in the park in the first place.

"Not to mention the chances of me coming to Japan in the first place and meeting someone who...cares about me...the way she does..."

I smiled as he struggled through some embarrassing odds.

"...I think I'll stop there," he said, thoroughly red-faced. "My point is that I don't consider being here with all of you, with Kyou, as a stroke of luck; I consider it a blessing from God."

I mulled this over; I could think of a couple of other possibilities, but that didn't negate his possibility. Another thought brought an impish grin to my face. "So are you saying you think Kyou is a blessing?"

In spite of his reddened face, he looked over at his girl with a contented smile. "As a matter of fact, I do."

"J-Jeff..." Kyou whimpered, quickly reaching for her napkin.

"Wow, Ashton-sensei..." Ryou breathed. "I'm not sure what to think of all this, but I know that I like your idea of a blessing more than just luck."

The server arrived with our meals, and I found myself lost in thought as I ate. Did I consider Ryou a 'blessing'? I looked over at her while she talked with the other two; I knew I didn't deserve her, but...did anyone deserve anybody? Had I been taking my relationship with Ryou for granted? Had I been taking the idea of relationships for granted? I remembered when Pastor Jeff had told me that he stopped taking things for granted when he found God...no, when he was found by God was what he had said to me. How had that happened?

"Tomoya?" I snapped out of my reverie to see the pastor waving his hand in front of my face. "You still with us?"

"Sorry, I was just thinking."

"Must've been pretty serious," Kyou said. "My man has been trying to get your attention for about a minute."

"What's up?" I asked before taking another bite of food.

"Nothing, really," he replied. "I was just starting to worry because you stopped eating."

"I'm fine, thanks," I said. "Just have a lot on my mind."

...A lot on my mind, indeed.

***

"Thank you for such a good time," Kyou said as we passed through the gate to the twins' home.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," Jeff replied as he held the gate open for Ryou and I. "I'm sorry that most of our time was spent listening to me talk about theology."

"It's okay," she said as she waited for him to close the gate before pressing herself against his chest. "I like hearing about that; it's what makes you 'Jeff', right?"

"True," he admitted. "Thanks."

"In fact..." She wrapped her arms around him and held him tightly. "God, thank you for bringing Jeff here and giving him to me."

I exchanged a stunned look with Ryou. Had Kyou really done what it looked like she'd done? I watched in stunned silence as he returned her embrace and thanked God for bring Kyou into his life.

"M-Maybe we should give them some privacy," Ryou suggested, echoing my own thoughts. And as we headed inside, I had a feeling that those two wouldn't be dating for long.