a/n:Well here it is finally, chapter 5 of the story. Hopefully the next chapter won't take so freakin long. X_X Anyways, enjoy.
Chapter 5: Sharing a Burden
Knock! Knock! Knock!
Kyou's eyes cracked open upon hearing the sound that so dared to intrude upon her precious sleep. Sitting up, she stayed silent for a moment, merely waiting and listening to determine whether or not she had actually heard something. Giving off a wide yawn, she heard nothing more and figured she must have dreamt up the noise.
Looking over at her alarm clock, she saw that it was about a full hour before she normally got up. She laid back down with a groan, hoping that she could fall back asleep quickly.
After but a few moments, a happy sigh escaped her lips, as the pleasant embrace of sleep started to envelop her back into it's warm arms.
Then, the sharp, unmerciful sound of knocking came once again.
Eyes bolting open this time; she sat up, her sleepy gaze able to possibly be interpreted as a glare. Whoever was at the door had better have a dang good reason for disturbing her at this hour.
Groaning as she stood up, she slowly stumbled towards the door of her apartment. Her coordination was still absent in these sleepy morning hours, so it wasn't much of a surprise when she tripped over nothing and fell flat on her face.
Kyou cursed under her breath as she rubbed her sore nose. Taking her hand away, she didn't see any blood, indicating she had not obtained a bloody nose. This small consolation did little to abate her foul mood. Standing herself up, she made her way to the door, more aware of her coordination this time.
Opening the door, she was greeted with the sight of a young woman bearing long gray hair. The young woman was instantly recognized as one whom Kyou knew as Tomoyo Sakagami. The visitor bowed slightly, speaking when she straightened back up. "Good morning, Fujibayashi."
Kyou had many retorts and quick jabs that she wanted so badly to deliver, very displeased with such an early visit. Again though, sleep proved to be a stumbling block for her. All that came out of her mouth were incomprehensible mumbles.
"I'm sorry for coming so early but I wanted to talk with you before you had to go to work." Kyou tried to glare in response to Tomoyo but just as her retorts were incomprehensible mumbles; her attempted glare was the distant gaze of someone still half asleep.
For a few moments, neither of them moved. Tomoyo waited patiently and Kyou simply stood there, sleepily gazing at back her. Eventually, she was able to wake herself up enough to mumble a, "Come on in."
Tomoyo complied while Kyou quickly went into the main room and put away the futon she had been sleeping in a few moments ago.
Kyou stepped into the kitchen area, looking behind her to where the main room was. Since there was no wall separating the two areas, only the difference in floors and kitchen appliances to designate the difference between the two, she was able to see that Tomoyo had sat down at the small table that Kyou had put out once she'd put her futon away.
"Want some breakfast?"
"Yes please," replied Tomoyo.
She nodded and turned her full attention to the kitchen area. She began preparing breakfast for the two of them, not bothering to ask on any of Tomoyo's preferences. If she didn't like it, well, tough cookies. She came early and interrupted her sleep, she was lucky she was getting any breakfast at all.
As usual, Kyou prepared a bento lunch while she prepared her breakfast. Finished with both meals in a timely manner, it wasn't long before she too was sitting down at the small table, eating breakfast along with Tomoyo.
Neither of them had taken more than a few bites before Kyou spoke up, "So what are you doing here anyways?" she bluntly asked.
"I came here to talk to you about something. I know that I had a chance a few days ago to talk to you, but I didn't want to disturb you with business talk on your birthday," Tomoya answered, not perturbed at all by her blunt tone of voice.
Kyou nodded slightly in agreement and understanding. But, there was one thing about what Tomoyo said that the kindergarten teacher didn't understand.
"What do you mean business talk?" She couldn't think of any sort of business the two of them might have, it wasn't like Tomoyo had any children or younger siblings that would be enrolling into kindergarten.
"I intend to become a kindergarten teacher, much like yourself."
Kyou somewhat admired at how blunt she was, no hesitation or such, though she was still a bit confused. "Um . . . well that's nice, but what does that have to do with me?"
"The thing is that I've been studying and going to school so I can be one, however it's somewhat tough getting a job nowadays, as you probably know." Kyou nodded, thinking back to the time when she was searching for a job. Those days had been tough, she was lucky to have found the one she did. "Well, I figured that if I were to obtain some work experience then that would make it easier to find a job. The reason why I am coming to you is that I wanted to request for your permission to be your assistant, an assistant teacher if you will."
"Wait, what!" exclaimed Kyou, "Where did you ever get an idea like that?"
"I told you why," replied Tomoyo, looking confused somewhat. "Did I not explain clearly enough? It is so I can have work experience as a kindergarten teacher."
"Well yeah, I know that." Rubbing the bridge of her nose with her fingers she sighed. "But why me?"
"Who else would I go to for such a request?" Although her question was not said in a demeaning tone of voice, it was not said in a submissive way either.
Kyou couldn't tell if she should get mad or not, but she did have to admit that Tomoyo was right. Out of all their friends no one else was a kindergarten teacher.
"I don't know if it is acceptable to the Headmaster, though." While she was mostly saying this to get out of it, she was also speaking the truth. She had no clue if it was normal at all, or if it was even acceptable. Even though she'd been a teacher for a bit now, she was still unsure of some of the intricacies of the school bureaucracy procedures.
"I have already spoken with the Headmaster of the school," calmly informed Tomoyo. She took a sip of some tea that Kyou had poured for her earlier. After putting the cup down she then continued to speak. "He said that although it is a somewhat unusual request he would be alright with it under one condition."
"And what condition is that?"
"That if it's alright with you as well, since you would be the one I am assisting." As always Tomoyo was quick to get right to the point, no hesitation at all. Kyou couldn't help but sigh as she thought the situation over in her mind. She couldn't just say no, to turn away someone in need, especially someone she knew, would be utterly despicable. It was sure to be a pain in the neck though, having her come and be an assistant. The purple haired young woman had a certain way of doing things, a rhythm she followed. To have an assistant thrust upon her so unexpectedly would make adjusting difficult. But as Kyou had thought to herself she couldn't turn Tomoyo away, so the answer was pretty much decided.
"Yeah I suppose it is alright with me . . ." she grumbled, her annoyance to the situation quite clear in her voice. It was still rather early in the day for to have sense to practice what tact she normally had. Despite this, Tomoyo bowed deeply to her in gratitude. "Thank you very much Fujibayashi-san," she said humbly.
Kyou's heart twanged a little bit due to guilt. Here she was acting all annoyed and everything at a little disruption in her usual routine and then here, Tomoyo was expressing such gratitude.
"D-don't worry about it." After taking a quick look at her alarm clock she then said, "How about we leave for school now? That way I can show you around before classes begin."
"That sounds like a good idea," replied Tomoyo. "I'll wait for you outside while you get ready, if that's alright." Kyou nodded in response to which the gray-haired young woman stood up and left the apartment. Seeing the door shut Kyou then began to get ready. Not much was needed to be done, so in a short amount of time she was outside, dressed, hair in a ponytail, and carrying the necessary items for the day in her bag. She looked and saw Tomoyo patiently standing a little distance away from the door. She merely motioned for her to follow as Kyou walked past her, and then walked by the area where Botan was normally kept.
"Come on Botan, time to get going," she called out. A loud, "Gof! Gof!" rumbled out from the walled area and the boar walked towards the entrance.
"How did you ever find a place for such a large animal?" asked Tomoyo.
"I didn't find this place for quite a while actually," answered Kyou. "I only found it with the help of my parents and Ryou. My parents happened to know the manager of this building and apparently the little yard area was never used by anyone. So he had no problem with me keeping Botan there."
"Ah, I see."
The both of them looked again to the walled area and saw that Botan had closed the distance between them. She seemed to be a little bit unstable, weaving ever so slightly as she tried to stand still.
"Heh, still half asleep are you Botan?" chuckled Kyou as she squatted down, scratching her precious pet under her chin. Botan sleepily gave a soft grunt, answering Kyou's inquiry.
Still chuckling some as she stood back up, Kyou then said to both Botan and Tomoyo, "Come on, let's go." The boar and the gray-haired girl complied, matching their pace with Kyou's as they began to walk down the road towards the school. No conversation or such came up at first, Kyou blaming the early morning hours for that. However, she would not put up with the silence for long.
"Hey Tomoyo," Kyou decided to drop the name suffixes. She never really used them much and she and Tomoyo had known of each other for a long time anyways. Plus in her mind Tomoyo-chan just didn't go well together. Even thinking of it sent uncomfortable shivers up her spine.
"Yes?" she replied, completely unperturbed by the lack of honorifics.
"Why did you decide to become a kindergarten teacher anyways?" she bluntly asked. "You always seemed to be destined for a role of great leadership. You were a great Student Council President and everyone in the school was sure you'd go on to politics or something. So, why be a kindergarten teacher?"
"Well, I only joined the Student Council for a personal reason, though others also shared my desire."
"Oh yeah," Kyou pondered, thinking back. "It was to save the Cherry Trees wasn't it?" She remembered that Tomoyo had organized a movement to save the Cherry Trees which were scheduled to be cut down. Looking back now, she realized that Tomoyo had much zeal in her pursuit of that goal. Out of respect though, she decided not to inquire as to what her personal reason was.
"That's right. Once I completed that goal I held no more desire to be Student Council President, although I had to complete the responsibilities I had taken on, regardless of whether I wanted them or not."
"Well that's nice but it doesn't answer my question," huffed Kyou. "Why did you decide to be a kindergarten teacher?"
"Well . . ." Tomoyo hesitated, her voice slightly wavering. For some reason she seemed to be embarrassed about the reason. This actually surprised Kyou some, she could not recall a time she had ever seen her flustered, even the tiniest bit.
"The thing is, I think the trust parents have in teachers is astounding. Not just trust for their physical safety, but for their mental well-being as well. At such a young impressionable age, kindergarten teachers have the chance to make a great difference in the world, through their students and the foundation they help to build in their young lives. I want to be such a person, to make such a difference."
Passionate was the best word Kyou could come up with for what Tomoyo had just said. The burning fire within her shone through her blue eyes and was laced in her words.
Kyou couldn't suppress the slight chuckle that bubbled up inside her.
"What's so funny?" quickly asked Tomoyo. Although no anger was heard in her voice, she was pretty sure Tomoyo thought she'd found what she said funny and took offense to it.
"Please . . . don't think I'm making fun of you," said Kyou, choking back the rest of her laughter. "I just find it interesting; your reason for wanting to be a kindergarten teacher is almost the same exact one as mine. In fact I told someone that just a few weeks ago."
"Interesting . . ." said Tomoyo, head tilting down for a moment as she thought. "We seem to be quite alike. More than we know."
"Appears so," Kyou said, yawning slightly. "Make you wonder why we weren't closer friends in high school."
"My guess is that it was Tomoya that prevented such."
Confused, the purple-haired young woman looked over at her, with a curiously raised eyebrow, "What do you mean? He didn't oppose our friendship or anything like that."
"I did not mean that he himself interfered with any possible friendship we may have had," said Tomoyo, shaking her head. "Our feelings of him are what set us apart. I was interested in him and so were you, making us rivals."
Kyou blushed furiously. "Wha- Where did you get an idea like that? I don't like him!"
"You did back then though, before he was dating Nagisa, right?"
Silence hung over them, Tomoyo waiting for a response, and Kyou too embarrassed to say anything at the moment.
"Yeah, I suppose so . . ." she finally mumbled. "Although it's not like I still like him or anything."
"Of course not," calmly said Tomoyo, despite the conversation subject. "I'm merely trying to figure out why we weren't better friends in high school."
With those words said, silence again accompanied them. Kyou had become too flustered to think of anymore small talk, and for a time it seemed the silence would stay for the rest of their walk to school.
However, Tomoyo soon broke the silence. "That person you talked with about being a teacher, who was it?" she asked.
"Hmm?" Kyou looked over at her. "Oh, it was the janitor at our school, Kale Saunders. He actually came with us for me and Ryou's birthday party, remember?"
"Oh yes, I remember now," nodded Tomoyo. "He's a foreigner, right?"
"Yeah, although he speaks quite fluently and loves it here in Japan."
"Really? I got the impression that he didn't like it," Tomoyo mused. "He seemed . . . lonely somehow."
"You know . . . now that you mention it; I've never seen him go out with any other friends or anything like that, really. I wonder if he doesn't have that many friends," Kyou pondered. "You know a while back, when I was going to school, I passed by his apartment. I saw him trying to be all polite to some woman I assumed was his neighbor and she was incredibly rude to him," she told Tomoyo with a bad taste in her mouth.
"Maybe she's just a cranky person," Tomoyo tried to explain.
"No . . . I don't think that's it," denied Kyou, "I talked to her immediately after Kale left and she was really nice and sweet to me. That is, until I mentioned Kale, and then, like the flip of a coin, she was incredibly rude again."
"Is it possible that Kale is not such a good person after all?" questioned the gray-haired woman. "Could it be possible that he is hiding something that she happened to find out? Something that's quite repulsive to illicit such a rude attitude from an otherwise kind lady?"
"Kale?" Kyou said incredulously, balking at the thought. "No, it couldn't be. He's one of the nicest people I've ever known." All those times they had lunch together, seeing each other in the morning, surely she would have caught a glimpse of whatever supposed darkness lurked in his heart. But, then again . . . she had only known him for just a little less than a month. Was it possible that he could be hiding something after all?
Kyou strongly shook her head, trying to eject any such nasty thoughts from her mind. A tiny speck of worry and doubt though continued to cling onto her. Even through her tiredness Botan realized that her master was concerned about something. Whenever her beloved master was worried Botan too, grew worried. A soft, "Gof, Gof," emanated from the boar, she trying to reassure Kyou.
She looked to her pet and smiled. Stopping for a moment she scratched the top of her head. "Don't worry Botan," she comforted. Botan's concern was not fully laid to rest but it was reduced some. If she could still smile like that then she was fine.
Kyou's smile did fade for a moment however as she looked at Tomoyo. "He isn't a bad person you know. It could just be that the woman was racist."
"Whatever you say," shrugged Tomoyo. She grew silent, saying nothing more on the matter and simply continued walking. Kyou huffed and continued on as well.
Kale really wasn't a bad person . . . was he? She shook her head again. Why did those thoughts keep returning? A sigh escaped the kindergarten teacher's lips. Today was probably going to be a long day.
The slight confrontation the two girls had had, now made conversation awkward, the oppressive mood even quieting any noises that may have come from Botan.
Regardless of the absence of attention-occupying conversation, it felt like it took very little time before they reached the school. Kyou looked around and saw no sign of Kale. She had arrived quite early so maybe he wasn't here yet. Though, it really didn't matter all that much.
She began to show Tomoyo around the school, after making sure Botan got to her little shelter on the school grounds so she could rest some more before the day began. The problem with showing Tomoyo around though, was that it was only a school; and a small kindergarten one at that, so in truth, there really wasn't all that much to show. Thus, it was not long before they ended up Kyou's classroom.
After giving her a quick rundown of what the average school day was like, Kyou prepared what few things she could for the days studies and activities. But, since they had come early, she wound up with some time on her hands. She eventually ended up sitting in a chair and leaning against the wall, while Tomoyo gazed out the large classroom windows.
The time trickled on slowly like molasses trying to go uphill. Kyou even felt herself starting to nod off, her eyes occasionally closing wearily before snapping back open again. It was when her eyes had begun to close yet again that Tomoyo suddenly spoke, making Kyou nearly fall out of her chair as she snapped fully awake.
"Hey, do you know if Kale has any medical conditions that he would have to take medicine for?" she asked, gaze not turning away from the window.
"Huh? Um . . . I don't think so. Why?" Puzzlement struck the kindergarten teacher; her question was a rather unexpected one. How could she have possibly come up something like that?
"So he would have no need to take prescription medicine then, right?" Tomoyo asked, still looking out the window, her gaze sharp and focused.
"No, he wouldn't," grunted Kyou as she got up from her chair and moved over to the window. "Why are you asking all these questions?" she stood beside Tomoyo.
Not saying a word, she merely pointed her finger to something outside in response. Following her finger, she saw Kale was outside, still dressed in casual clothes which made her guess that he'd just barely arrived. He was standing at the water fountain, facing away from the classroom. The two young women watched him take out a prescription medicine bottle and place it on the water fountain next to another one. After looking around, as if checking to see if anyone was watching him, Kale unscrewed one of the bottles and swallowed one of the little pills.
"Could that be why that neighbor of his didn't like him? Because he has a drug addiction and she found out about it?" asked Tomoyo.
"Drug addiction?" exclaimed Kyou, "Kale? There is no way that's possible," she said firmly, crossing her arms over her chest in a confident manner.
"You said so yourself though that there is no reason to take prescription medicine if he has no preexisting condition that would require it," she sharply reminded Kyou.
"But . . . a drug addiction?" There was no way it could be true. Kale was not that type of person, she didn't think so anyways. "Maybe he has some type of condition, one we aren't aware of."
"Possibly," Tomoyo mused. "However you must admit that it is a possibility that it could be the uglier scenario." At first, Kyou couldn't deny it. She hadn't known Kale for terribly long so he could possibly be hiding such secrets. However in her mind it was like her name and the honorary -chan suffix, it just didn't go together.
"I don't want to believe it though."
"Then why don't you go find out?"
"I shouldn't, it's his private life." Kyou could hardly believe the words that were coming out of her mouth. She was normally such a curious person, wanting to find out things and sometimes doing so with a little less tact then some normally practiced.
"If he has a drug addiction then it needs to be found out," said Tomoyo, finally turning her gaze away from the window and switching it to Kyou. "Such a thing should not be permitted, especially in an environment like this."
Yet again Kyou wanted to express her denial of such, but she couldn't. Tomoyo was absolutely right; this was a kindergarten, a place full of children at a highly impressionable age. It was her duty as their teacher to protect them from ugly influences, regardless of her own feelings.
A sigh escaped her as she turned to leave. "You're right . . ." she mumbled. "I hate to do this though." She walked silently out of the room and towards a possible truth she didn't want to know.
Kyou sighed again as she opened the door. It didn't take her more than a few seconds before she spotted Kale. As she began to walk towards him, she saw that he had spilled something on the ground. Small white pills dotted the ground around his feet, their numbers being reduced as Kale carefully picked up each one, brushing it off, and then putting it back into one of the bottles. Like he had been with his artwork, Kale was so absorbed with the retrieval of the pills that he didn't seem to notice the approaching footsteps. Now but a few yards away Kyou decided to speak.
"What are you doing Kale?" she asked, more in a curious tone rather than accusatory.
The janitor nearly jumped out of his skin, falling backwards onto his rear end in surprise.
"K-Kyou?" he stammered. "I didn't even notice you there." His pace in picking up the pills greatly increased, not even bothering to brush them off before sticking the pills back in the bottle.
"Here, let me help you with that," she offered, beginning to kneel down.
"No that's alright!" he quickly exclaimed.
Accepting his denial, she stood up straight, but her eyes narrowed in suspicion. She hated herself for it but she had begun to think more and more of Tomoyo's theory and how it began to seem more and more possible.
"Kale . . . is there some condition or something you have that I should know about?" Coldness tainted her voice, much to her own surprise. Even Kale seemed to be startled by it, stopping momentarily in his retrieval of the spilled pills.
"No I don't," he simply replied.
"Then why do you have prescription medicine?" Kyou knew that it was prescription medicine and not just some regular headache medicine. She recognized his bottles, her sister was a nurse after all, and she had seen plenty of those bottles in the past recent years. Plus, she didn't know of any sort of container that had that same type of transparent orange-yellow plastic. "You aren't some sort of drug addict are you?"
"What?" exclaimed Kale, utterly flabbergasted by such an accusation. "What would make you think that?"
"You said yourself that you have no condition, so there's no reason why you should be taking prescription medicine. No good reason, that is," she growled. For a moment her head lowered, a tinge of sadness fluttering across her face. "I don't want to pry into such matters . . ." But the sadness was then pushed aside, her eyes furrowing into a glare. "But I have a duty as a teacher to protect my students. If you have some sort of drug addiction, it would serve as a bad influence to such young and impressionable children, and that is something I cannot allow."
Kale looked up at her, then down at the pills in his hand. He sighed and put the pills in the bottle, closing the lid since no more were on the ground. Standing up to an upright position he looked her right in the eye. "Alright, I'll tell you the truth. Do you mind if we sit down though?" He motioned to a bench a little ways from them.
Kyou simply stared at him, saying nothing but giving him a nod. Kale calmly walked over to the bench and sat down, clutching the medicine bottles in his left hand. Following him, she sat down as well, although on the opposite end of the bench.
"The thing is I want you to promise not to tell anyone else," he finally said after what felt like eternal silence.
"I can't promise that, not if it is something like an addiction," huffed Kyou. "I'd have to tell the Headmaster."
"That is true, yes," admitted Kale. "It isn't an addiction though. It's something . . . well embarrassing. Although I wish the world wasn't like how it is, making something like this embarrassing. Promise me though, that you won't tell anyone, please?"
Kyou stared into Kale's eyes as she thought about it. A great desperation seemed to be swirling about within his eyes, so great that it somewhat stunned her. What was it that he was hiding? Eventually she nodded her agreement to the request. He let out a sigh of relief.
"Thank you. Well . . . now, where to begin . . . oh, your sister is a nurse isn't she?"
"Yeah."
"So do you know of some medicine and what they are used for?"
She nodded her head solemnly.
"Well then . . . here." Kale put forward his left hand, fingers uncurled and the bottles resting in the palm of his hand. Kyou took the offer and picked up the bottles. She looked at the names of the medicine, reading them softly to herself. She did indeed recognize the names of the two medicines, also instantly remembering their usage. When she looked up at Kale her suspicious and stern gaze had completely melted away. She was instead adorned with a look of surprise. Silently she handed the two bottles back to him.
"Are they for what I think they're for?" she asked quietly. While she was familiar with the medicine and its intended use she wanted to make absolutely sure.
"Yep," Kale sighed, "I have both Chemical Depression and ADHD."
"Chemical Depression?" Kyou was somewhat confused by the phrase. "I understand what depression itself is, but what does the chemical part mean?"
"It means there is a chemical imbalance within the brain that makes me moody at times, usually depressed," explained Kale. "Although the depression medicine can be used for Clinical Depression, depression of psychological origin, it also helps balance the chemicals in the brain so I'm not moody." Kyou looked down at the ground as she took the information in. She herself didn't, at least before now that is, know anyone with a mental disorder so she was somewhat unfamiliar with the details of it. Questions burned in her mind but fear also kept her in check, fear of saying something offensive to Kale. The questions though were too great in her mind to leave unasked though.
"So . . . that means that it's more of a physical ailment, it not like you are . . . um . . . crazy in the head?" She mentally slapped herself, the words she had spoken had not come out as delicate as she had desired. He didn't look offended though. In fact he gave a soft chuckle. "No, I'm not crazy," he laughed. "You are right, it is more of a physical ailment, both disorders are. Each is caused by something in the brain, an imbalance or such. It's like someone being born blind or deaf. It's just how they were born, nothing more . . . although it feels like not many people see it that way."
"What do you mean?"
"Remember Nakamura-san, the neighbor that was rude to me?" inquired Kale.
"Yeah," answered Kyou.
"Well when I first met her she was a nice lady. It was almost as if she didn't have a mean bone in her body," said the janitor. "But she somehow, I can't remember exactly how, found out about my disorders. When she did, she changed completely. She tried to avoid me, at most times ignoring me and at other times insulting me. And she isn't the only one like that."
"I mean, how often have you heard of mental disorders, and if so in an understanding way?" Thinking for a moment she realized that not much, if at all, had she heard such discussions. "I can't really think of any," she finally said.
"Do you know why?" he asked. She tried to think of an answer but nothing came to mind. So she was forced to shake her head. "The reason is because there is a stigma here in Japan, a mark of shame, upon those who carry such disorders. It's nowhere near as bad as it was before but it's still present today, a fear and misunderstanding of mental disorders. It's almost as if there is a curtain that separates and hides the "mentally-ill" from normal society."
"Please don't assume that I think Japan is a terrible place," Kale quickly added. "It's just that there are ways it can improve. And it is improving, slowly but surely. Some are becoming more aware of the truths of mental disorder. But many also still hold that fear of that which they do not fully understand. What they don't realize is that those with mental disorders are just normal people, not some abnormal creature."
As Kale looked straight into Kyou's eyes she saw a sadness welling up within him. He almost seemed ready to cry. "I was afraid to tell you this because I value our friendship very much. You are perhaps one of, if not the only, friend I have. That's why I was so afraid. I didn't want to be alone again . . ." He looked away and looked at the ground, his face quite somber. His next few words were just barely above a whisper. "I'll understand if you don't want to be friends with someone like me."
Kyou said nothing, quickly standing up from her seated position. His head, previously bowed, looked up at her in surprise.
She turned to him and took in his sad and lonely figure. She did not hug him nor offer any words of comfort. Instead, she strongly and promptly brought a knuckled fist down on top of his head.
"Idiot!" she bellowed. "What do you mean, "someone like me"? You said it yourself, you're just another person. Why wouldn't I want to be your friend anymore just cause of something like this!"
Kale was clutching his head with both hands, looking up at Kyou. "But what about my mental disorders?" he asked. The initial response to this was another punch to the top of the head. This time, he was knocked off the bench and sprawled onto the ground.
"You idiot!" she exclaimed yet again. "You are so caught up on this! Don't you realize that people with even half a brain would want to be friends with you? You are possibly one of the nicest people I've ever known!"
"Really?" The wonder and amazement in his voice at her compliment made Kyou stop and realize just exactly what she had said.
Her face blushed furiously. "Y-yeah," she stammered. "So don't think so badly of yourself anymore, got it?" She shoved her hand towards him, offering it as an aid in getting off the ground. Kale for a moment did nothing but stare up at Kyou and her outstretched hand.
A smile spread across his face as finally he took her hand. "Got it," he nodded.
"Good," she huffed. "We are friends, don't ever forget that."
"I won't," replied Kale. Both of them smiled as they looked at each other. Then they both looked down, realizing they had not let go of each others' hands. They both quickly let go, each of them greatly blushing.
"W-well um . . . thanks Kyou."
"D-don't mention it," she said, her voice also unsteady. "W-well I better get going. I've got stuff I need to do."
"Yeah . . . me too," quietly said Kale. "I'll see you later, lunch again today?"
"Of course! Later."
"Later," muttered the young man. Kyou turned and walked briskly back into the building. As she did she brought a hand to her chest, trying to calm her pounding heart. It wasn't anything special, she told herself. She was just high-strung from the heavy conversation. Giving her head a few shakes Kyou set her mind and set it in gear for the day and whatever else it may hold for her.
a/n: I hope this chapter was all to your liking. Reviews and such are very much appreciated.