After Story: Potential

Chapter Fifteen: Revelations

Furukawa's mom must have seen us approaching because she hustled out the front door of the bakery to meet us. "What happened?"

"I'm fine, Mom," Furukawa protested weakly.

"I'm not sure, ma'am," I replied. "She was helping Kyou and Fujibayashi with Kotomi-chan's dress, and I noticed that she was pale and flushed at the same time. Her eyes looked a little off too, like she was looking at me but couldn't see me."

"Not again," Furukawa's mom – Sanae, I remembered – mumbled. "Please, bring her inside. I'll set up her futon so you can put her in it."

I followed Sanae inside the bakery, through the door to the back room to find myself in a home. So, the bakery was part of their home? I decided to ask about it when things settled down.

***

I sat next to Furukawa as she slept, while her mother sat across from me on her other side. Furukawa had a death grip on my shirt, keeping me from going anywhere.

Sanae wanted to tell me her daughter's story but I needed to make a request first: "May I give my fiancée a call before we get started? If I'm going to be here a while I'd like to let her know so she doesn't worry."

"Certainly," she replied. "The phone's in the hallway next to the bakery entrance."

"Actually, I have a cell phone, but thank you anyway," I said as I pulled my phone out of my pocket. "I'll just be a minute." I quickly dialed Kotomi's number.

She answered almost immediately: "Tomoya-kun?"

"Yeah, it's me." I kept my voice low, to not wake Furukawa. "Listen, I'm going to be at Furukawa Bakery for a while. If you get done before I get back...wait a sec." I muted the phone. "Ma'am, would it be okay if the others come by? I'm sure they're worried about her; she's their friend, after all."

"Certainly," Sanae replied. "I'm sure Nagisa would be happy if they came, even if she sleeps the whole time."

"Thank you." I 'unmuted' the phone. "Sorry about that."

"It is no trouble. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, Furukawa's sleeping. I just got permission from her mom for all of you to visit when you're done there." I looked down at Furukawa's sleeping face. "She might still be asleep when you get here, but I think it would mean a lot to her if you came."

"Just a minute, please." I heard her talking with the other two briefly. "We should be finished in about fifteen minutes; then we will head over there."

"Do you know how to get here?"

"Kyou-chan knows the way. We will be fine."

"Okay, see you later, then."

"Tomoya-kun?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you so much for taking care of Nagisa-chan. I love you."

My face flared up and out of the corner of my eye I could see Sanae-san smiling...sadly? "I'll...see you later, then. I love you, too," I quickly blurted.

"She sounds like a very nice girl," Sanae observed after I hung up. At my expression she quickly added. "I couldn't understand what she was saying, but I could hear her tone of voice."

"Thanks." I decided to not press the issue; I had made the call in front of her, after all. "Yeah, she's a really nice girl. Why she fell for a loser like me I'll never under-"

"You're not a loser, Okazaki-san," Sanae interrupted. "You were lost, but that does not make you a 'loser'." At my dumbfounded look she explained, "Nagisa has told me a lot about you. She..." At this her face fell. "...she thinks very highly of you."

I looked down at Nagisa's sleeping face again. She was sleeping but, by her pained expression, she didn't look like she was getting a very restful sleep. I took the washcloth off of her forehead and handed it to Sanae, who left to run it under cold water again.

After Sanae left I looked down at Furukawa. "Why do you think so highly of me?" I asked her sleeping form. "I'm a delinquent – or at least I was. I go around with a bad attitude. I've let Kyou walk all over me." I closed my eyes and tried to stuff down the pain. "What do you see in me that I don't?"

"T-Tomoya-kun..."

My eyes snapped open and I looked around, expecting to see Kotomi and the twins. But it was still Nagisa and I alone in her room. I looked down at her with wide eyes as she tossed and turned while saying my name over and over again.

I wasn't sure what would happen, but I couldn't let her suffer any more; I took her hand in both of mine. "It's okay, Furukawa, it's okay....I'm here."

She calmed almost immediately, but... "Tomoya...Tomoya...Ushio is....Ushio is..." The poor girl was delirious. It was strange, though; for just a moment I could see a 'ghost' of a baby lying next to her. Was I becoming delirious, too?

Sanae hustled into the room with a cold washcloth and put it over her daughter's forehead. "Shh, shh, it's okay," she said soothingly. "Everything's okay, he's here."

I looked around, but I was the only 'he' in the room. "Ma'am? Who are you talking about? Who's here?"

She flashed me an apologetic look as she caressed Furukawa's hair. "I'll explain later," she whispered.

I found myself looking forward to and dreading that explanation.

***

"She loves you, brat," Akio said without any preamble. He had arrived home shortly after Kotomi and the twins' arrival with the medications needed to help Furukawa sleep, and had joined us around the kotatsu for Sanae's explanation.

Even though I had had my suspicions, the news still caused my stomach to slither into my shoes. "Sh-She's never said anything to me about it," I managed to squeeze out. "Is that why she's sick?"

Sanae sat next to her husband with hands folded. "I don't know. It's possible."

Akio turned to his wife. "If she's been holding on to her feelings for that long..."

Sanae nodded quietly with tears in her eyes.

"You're the only one who didn't see it," Kyou admonished, though in a gentle tone. I looked over at Kotomi, who nodded sadly.

"I had an idea," I admitted, "but I didn't want to make her uncomfortable by bringing it up. I mean, what if I was wrong?" I shook my head. "I didn't want to mess up our friendship by bringing up something like that. Now I wish I had; maybe she wouldn't have ended up like this."

Akio gently smacked the top of the kotatsu. "It's not your fault, brat. She's always held things in if she thought it would hurt someone if she said something."

"It's true," Sanae agreed.

I looked at these two good people, and my heart felt heavy. "All right, I'll stop kicking myself, but...is there anything I can do to help?"

The Furukawas looked at each other before returning their gaze to me. "Just be gentle in your rejection," Akio said.

"I'll do that," I agreed, but I was still worried; how would she take a rejection while sick like this?