I watched, somewhat amused, as Ashton's smile grew broader and broader as I told him about my 'date' with Ryou. "...and after that, I walked her home. " I finished. "We were both pretty tired by then, so we didn't talk much on the way."
He simply sat there, smile in place, nodding slowly...
The next thing I knew, I was in a headlock. "All right, Okazaki!" he yelled, laughing maniacally. "You got her to open up! Yes! Yes! YES!!" Out of the corner of my eye I could see him pumping his fist.
"Hey, leggo!" I protested, though part of me liked being in the headlock for some weird reason. "This is-"
I felt myself released and fixed my collar as he plopped down onto the park bench we were sharing. "Sorry; just got a little worked up," he said.
"Yeah, I get that," I replied. "It seems like you're more excited about it than I was."
"Why wouldn't I?" He waved his hands around with a goofy smile. "We saw some real progress, some real growth!"
"Well yeah...I guess," I said. "What I mean is; why are you so excited? It's not like you get anything out of this."
"Who says I don't?" he countered. "If even one person gets one step closer to seeing her own value..." He threw his hands up, letting them fall back into his lap. "It's all worth it."
"But it's not like you want to date her."
"Oh...I see." He studied me for a minute. "I think I get what you're asking now, but...I'd have to go all Christian on you to answer."
Part of me was curious what he would say, but... "Maybe another time."
"Sure," he replied smoothly. "So...what are your plans now?"
"Well, I'm helping with the set-up for the festival next weekend, so I don't think I'll be...what was the word...? Pursuing!" I snapped my fingers. "I won't be 'pursuing' her next weekend."
"Nothing stopping you from talking to her at school, is there?"
"Just my nerves," I admitted. "Oh, yeah...I wonder if she's still going to help with the set-up, too."
"Huh?"
I licked my lips. "We both said that we would help the Student Council president with the festival setup, but that was before she dumped me." Interesting; it didn't hurt as much to mention the break up. "Now...I'm not so sure if she'll be there. She'd have to get time off from her nursing job, anyway."
"Well, her actions are outside your control," he said. "What you can do, however, is think about what you could say to her or talk to her about if she does decide to show up."
"That's true... It's kinda funny," I chuckled, "thinking about all the stuff that I've worried about that I couldn't control."
"It's about learning where your boundaries are," he remarked. "We all have to go through that at some point. Kids can end up bouncing off each other for years until they figure it out, and even some adults end up having to deal with them."
"Really? I thought grown-ups had it all figured out."
He shook his head. "I've found that if one doesn't commit to maturing, then a so-called 'adult' can be nothing more than a really big toddler."
I scoffed. "You serious?"
He nodded solemnly. "I've had to counsel those types; I think you'd be surprised to hear some of the arguments they'll make. Anyway..." He stretched his arms over his head. "...this has been interesting, but we have some work to do, don't we?"
"Yup."
He steepled his fingers as he studied me. "Listen, Okazaki-san; would it be okay with you if I came to help as well?"
"Huh?"
"I won't be able to be there Sunday morning since I'll be...well, working...but would it be okay?"
"Why're you asking me?"
He spread his hands. "I know how embarrassing it can be for high-schoolers to have someone my age 'hanging out' with them, and I don't want to be a source of embarrassment for you."
I blinked at his consideration. "How old are you, anyway?"
"Thirty-two. Would that be a problem?"
I blinked again; he wasn't as old as he sounded. In any case... "Well, it's not like I've ever really cared what other have thought, but..." Was that really true, though? I shook the thought out of my head. "Why do you want to help, anyway?"
He shrugged. "To learn more about you, for starters; I haven't seen you in a school environment...though I did get a taste of that 'school environment' a few days ago, I suppose..." he said, looking somewhat awkward. "Anyway... I'd also like to see this girl you're trying to win back so I can get a better idea of what she's like. You've given me some pretty good descriptions, but..."
"...it's not the same as seeing her in person; I get it."
"Exactly."
I quirked my mouth to one side as I thought about his request. Truth be told, I was starting to enjoy his company and thought it'd be fun to work with him on something, but... "I'd have to check with Sakagami-er, the student council president...might have to check with the school, too."
"The school should be fine," he said. "I've worked with them in the past, but..." he gnawed on his lip for a moment. "Yeah, I'll check with them, just to be safe; you go ahead and talk with the president and then we'll compare notes." He leaned toward me. "And you'd be okay with this old fart hanging out with you?"
"I don't think you're an 'old fart'," I countered, then gave him a smirk. "You're only almost twice as old as I am, after all."
"Ouch!" He exclaimed with a smile of his own.
"But seriously...I think it'd be pretty cool if you could be there," I said. "Things at school are a little crazy for me right now, so..."
"Do you think I might be a, um...stabilizing presence? Did I say that correctly?"
"I think so," I replied. "You want to help keep me from being overwhelmed?"
"That's it."
"Yeah, I think it'd be good to have you there."
"Thank you, Okazaki-san."
"For what?"
"For giving me a chance," he said. "For...letting me be a positive influence in your life. For letting me serve."
The air suddenly felt really heavy. "You're...welcome?"
"Whoops; I think I went full-Christian for a moment, there," he said. "Sorry."
"Don't worry about it," I replied smoothly. "It's, uh...nice to know someone cares."
"Right." He rubbed his hands together. "So, you're going to talk with your student council president and I'll contact the school for approval..." His eyes become unfocused as he spoke. "When should we meet up again? Friday?"
"I could just call you," I said. "You gave me your phone number, remember?"
"Oh, right; I guess I did." He nodded, apparently to himself. "Yeah, you can call...and leave a message if I can't answer, okay?"
"Sure." I thought about it some more, and... "Actually, why don't we meet here on Friday?"
"Sorry?"
"I changed my mind," I said. "Is that okay?"
"Sure, no problem!" he said, sitting up straight on the bench. "You just surprised me with your change of mind."
We wrapped things up, agreeing to meet again on Friday after school.
***
"You want to bring a friend to help?" Sakagami asked as she drew a silver lock over her ear. "I don't have a problem with it. If he's a friend of yours, he must be a good guy, right?"
"Um, sure..." I wasn't sure what I had done to earn her praise, unless...I remembered our 'red string of fate' conversation from Miyazawa's spell and inwardly cringed. "He's a good guy as far as I know."
"Well, the more hands we have, the faster this'll get done," she remarked, crossing her arms. "Tell him he's welcome to come and help, but you might have to get approval from the principal."
"He said he'd take care of that," I told her. "He's worked with the school before."
Her eyebrows raised. "Really? Worked? So he's not a student?"
"No," I said, then decided to spill the beans. "He's the pastor of a local church; I've been talking to him about...stuff..."
"So that explains it," she said.
"What do you mean? Explains what?"
She pointed at me. "You've grown up so quickly lately. It's almost like you're an adult yourself, now."
I scoffed. "I'm no adult...wait, what do you mean?"
"It's nothing in particular; you just give off this 'grown-up' feeling." She shrugged. "I could point to you getting to school on time all of a sudden, or your grades, but...I think the big one would be you apologizing to Kyou the way you did. Really cool."
I felt my face heat up. "I...see. Thanks?"
She gave me an impish smile. "Trying to make up for lost time, eh Okazaki? Trying to get ahead of the rest of us by using a mentor?"
"Mentor?" I hadn't thought of it that way. "You could be right..."
She gently elbowed me in the side, her smirk still in place. "Just don't talk down to the rest of us after you're all grown-up by the time school starts again, okay?"
"S-Sure..."
"Hey, will your gir-Fujibayashi be here on Saturday, too?"
"I dunno," I admitted. "Don't count on her showing up, though."
"I won't," she said, and she rested a hand on my shoulder. "After all, I know that I can count on you, r-right?"
Something about her touch and the look in her eyes...I swallowed hard. "S-Sure."