Chapter Twenty-Six: Turning Point

"Took you long enough," Kyou greeted as Yukine and I entered the Reference Room. "Did you two have a good time?"

Yukine's revelation about Kyou flashed through my mind again, paralyzing my tongue. Fortunately, my kouhei had my back: "Tomoya saved me from being hit by a baseball, and we got stuck in the storage shed for a while." She folded her hands as her cheeks colored. "I'm sorry we were gone for so long."

"W-Well…" Kyou sputtered, "I guess it's okay, then." She still looked irritated, but I chalked it up to Kyou being Kyou.

"The place looks a lot better," I finally managed to say, having gotten my voice back. "How much is there left to do?"

Tomoyo appeared from behind one of the bookcases, running her fingers through her hair. "I've just finished stacking and sorting the shoujo manga."

"That just leaves the puzzle, seinen and josei to organize," Fujibayashi noted.

"Wow, you got a lot done in just….waitaminute….Seinen? Josei?" I gave her an incredulous look. "Just what kind of students does this school have, anyway?"

"All kinds, apparently," Tomoyo replied coolly.

"Are there any physics books?" Kotomi asked, having appeared next to me rather suddenly.

"I'm…afraid not," Yukine answered with a sympathetic giggle. "I don't think the school would confiscate those."

Kotomi nodded but still looked disappointed.

"Well…since the table's clear, would anyone like coffee?" Yukine offered as she moved to her prep station.

"Yes please." I was feeling a little tired, and figured the coffee would give me the 'kick' that I needed. Kyou also accepted, but Fujibayashi and Tomoyo declined.

"So this is the seinen?" I asked, gesturing with my freshly-received mug. "It doesn't look like there's much; couldn't we combine it with another small pile?"

Tomoyo folded her arms as she looked at the pile. "We could, but…Yukine's worried that having two different kinds on the same shelf would make them more likely to get messed up."

"And we might get more in," Yukine added. "Having the space will give us more flexibility."

"I see what you mean," I said, then looked over at her with a smile. "I guess I was trying to be a little too efficient."

"It's okay," she replied, shaking her head. "That you're thinking about it tells me you care."

I felt my face heat up as I remembered our conversation in the storage shed. "Y-Yeah."

Just then, the intercom sounded. "Okazaki Tomoya, please report to the office."

"Uh-oh," Kyou chided. "What did you do this time?"

I snorted. "I'm too boring for there to be an any 'time'."

"Okazaki Tomoya, please report to the office; you have a phone call."

My eyebrows jumped; who would be calling me at this time? "Well, whatever," I decided. "Sorry, guys; I'll take care of this quickly and be back."

"It's okay, Okazaki-kun; we'll take a short break then work on organizing again." Fujibayashi said.

"Right," Yukine agreed. "Take your time. We'll be here."

Tomoyo looked worried, though. "Do you want me to come with you, just in case?"

"In case of what?" I asked. "What could happen to me between here and the office?"

She opened her mouth, paused as if in thought, then closed it again with a grimace.

"I'll be fine," I tried to reassure her. "It's probably my dad calling to let me know he'll be home late from work or something." I lifted a hand in farewell as I headed for the door. "I'll be back soon."

"Okazaki Tomoya?" the secretary asked as I entered the office.

"Yes, ma'am. Sorry to take so long." I took the phone from her. "Hello? This is Okazaki."

"Tomoya?"

"Misae?" What was she doing, calling the school during lunch? "What's going on? Are you okay? Is Shima okay?"

"It's…" She seemed to be having trouble finding her words, and her voice was definitely shaking. "Could…could you come over?"

"Can it wait until after school? I'm still in the middle of my day."

"Please, Tomoya…you'd said you'd come if…"

Crap; I had said that, hadn't I? "All right. I'm sorry, I'll figure out a way. Just…hang in there, okay?"

"Okay. Just…please hurry."

"Go ahead," Tomoyo replied smoothly as she pushed her hair over her ear. "You need to keep your promises to your friends. When will you be back?"

I shrugged. "I wish I could tell you, but I'm not sure what's going on. I mean, I'll be back as soon as I can, but…"

Tomoyo nodded. "I understand. You'll need an alibi, so I'll come with you."

"Huh?"

"I'm coming too," Kyou decided. "She helped Ryou and me out, so we'll want to return the favor," she said as she looked over at her sister, who nodded emphatically.

"Me too," Kotomi declared. At everyone's puzzled looks she blushed. "I will help Tomoya-kun help her."

I looked over at Yukine. "I'm sorry…again. It seems like you keep getting put on the back burner."

Yukine giggled with her hand over her mouth. "It's okay, Tomoya-kun; I understand. In fact, I'll go with you, too."

I looked around the room. It was nice that they all wanted to help, but… "Okay; you can all come, but she sounded pretty upset so she may not be ready for all of you. She called me, after all, so she won't be expecting you."

"If we have to, we'll wait outside," Tomoyo said, to everyone's agreement.

I looked around once more. "Well, if we're all ready, then…let's go!"

The girls stood across the hall from Misae's door as I knocked. We figured that she could see them and decide whether she wanted everyone in her room or not.

It was only a few seconds before the door opened. "Thank god Tomoya, I…" she trailed off as her gaze shifted over my shoulder. "Wh-Why are they here?"

I sent a brief glance at the group of girls. "After I told them I was coming to help you, they…kind of insisted."

"If we're going to be a problem, we can leave," Tomoyo offered.

"It's fine, really," Fujibayashi added. "We don't know what's going on, but we'd like to help if we can."

Misae's anxious gaze flickered between me and the girls before finally settling on me. "I…won't be a very good hostess, but…I could use all the sympathy I can get right now." She stepped back, opening the door the rest of the way. "P-Please come in."