Hello again!

Here's a new chapter of "Crossroads". I wanted to post it last weekend, but university made me change my plans... But finally it's here!

The story goes forward slowly but I guess that I was always writing like that... luckily, the third chapter is being written (slowly, but being written), so I hope we'll reach 4 chapters this year!

Please, read, enjoy, review!

Last time: Tomoya helps a stranger twice and ends up searching for photo albums for the man's grandaughters. Then, a certain familiar girl shows up!

"Kyou?!"

"Tomoya?"

Okazaki focused on the person in the entrance of the garage.

Kyou was standing there. She wore a blouse with white and violet stripes, denim shorts and white socks above her knee. She was staring at him with her arms crossed on her chest.

"What are you doing here, Tomoya?" she asked, surprised.

"I'm looking for photo albums for Hoshino-san," he responded, moving towards her, causing new clouds of dust and coughing.

"So it was you?!" she asked, but suddenly calmed down. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised to see you here," she added, coughing too.

Tomoya walked to her and dusted off his clothes.

"So you are the granddaughter of this old man…" he said and looked at her. "I was offered to receive you for my help."

"Wha-what?" Kyou shouted surprised and took a step back. Tomoya shortened the distance, smiling evilly. "You must be kidding…" she added with her face all red.

"No…." Tomoya was coming closer every time Kyou stepped back. "He said that if I want I can take his granddaughters and take them wherever I would like… You can ask him if you don't believe."

Kyou was looking at Tomoya with her eyes wide open. She seemed to be thinking about what Tomoya told her.

"That's impossible, even he wouldn't…" she started silently and took a look at Tomoya, who was doing his best not to start laughing and made his best poker face. Kyou closed her eyes, turned around and hurried into the house.

Okazaki ran to the garage and carefully, trying not to fall down, went inside. Then he finally let himself laugh. Not for long because he was aware that Fujibayashi's anger would be enormous.

And he was right. When he finally stopped laughing, he decided not to waste more time and continue searching. He didn't notice when his victim came back with her face reddened, because of a mix of anger and embarrassment this time. She grabbed an empty frame which was lying on the floor and threw it at him. Her shot was very accurate, as always, and Tomoya got hit in the back of his head.

"Hey, what are you doing to a hero?" he asked, rubbing the back of his head as she was coming closer to him, cracking her knuckles. "I'm gonna have a bump."

"You dare to call yourself a hero?" she answered with a voice as cold as ice. She grabbed his arm, but weakened the grip when she noticed that his face darkened.

"Yeah… Hero…" he mumbled. Suddenly, his face expression became sad and he lowered his head. Kyou looked at him, interested.

"What's wrong with you, Tomoya?" she asked. Okazaki told her how her grandfather had got injured. She listened to him calmly, but when he mentioned his feeling guilty for what had happened, she only waved her hand to disagree. "Tomoya, please… Grandpa is just an old scrap metal collector. This," she said, pointing at the mess on the floor. "… had to happen sooner or later. It's not your fault."

"Thanks," Tomoya said and looked at her, surprised. "I didn't expect you to have such a charming side."

"Cha…? Idiot!" Kyou hit him in his forehead. "Don't say such embarrassing things," she mumbled and quickly turned away from him, reddening on the whole face. Charm, she thought. He said a charming side, Kyou looked back at him discreetly to see him slowly stand up, rubbing his forehead. It's the second time I let myself act like that… in this idiot's presence… Fujibayashi almost saw him again in the school storeroom. "Just shut up and seek," she said, calming down.

"Yes, yes…"

Kyou glared at him and Okazaki immediately focused on searching. They spent a few minutes in silence, the only sounds were scraping of the things they were moving.

"Tomoya," Kyou said. The boy stopped searching and turned to her. Fujibayashi was standing, pointing at the wardrobe. "I want to check what's under this, help me."

Okazaki came closer while she squatted, grabbing the wardrobe from one side. He took the other side.

"Ready? Pull!" she commanded. Tomoya gathered his strength and they lifted the broken piece of furniture, causing another cloud of dust. "I can't see…" she coughed, looking under the piece of furniture they were holding. "It's too dark here, we need to turn on the lights."

"But first, let's put it down, there's no need to hold it all the time."

"Wait a moment, I'll make some place," Kyou took her hands off the wardrobe and Tomoya put more force into pulling. The girl squatted once again and started taking out the things behind the wardrobe. When she finished, Tomoya pushed the piece of furniture and finally put it in place. The boy wiped his forehead with his hand.

"It's too heavy to be empty," Kyou noticed, pointing at the wardrobe with her thumb. "I'll check if the albums are there," she added.

"Ok," Tomoya switched on the lights in the garage. "I'll keep checking the desk in the corner. I think I have seen some books on it before it collapsed."

Kyou only nodded and they both focused on their search.

"Hey, Kyou," he started.

"Hm?"

"Why are you looking for those albums so desperately?"

"Desperately?" Tomoya heard that she stopped searching and guessed that the girl was looking at him.

"I mean, wouldn't it be better if you wait until it's all fixed and cleaned? What do you need this for?" he asked. Kyou went back to searching.

"We, I mean me and Ryou, are going to help in our uncle's restaurant. He asked as if we could bring him photo albums. Although we will help in his business we'll also have vacations by the sea so I guess we could do something he wants, right?"

"I see," Tomoya scratched his neck. "So you two are going to spend the summer on the beach, nice…"

"We will help too, but yes it's…" she answered but suddenly became quiet. Tomoya looked at her.

Kyou was squatting in front of the wardrobe with one hand inside it. She was staring at it all tense, trembling and looked like she was going to cry.

"Tomoya…" she said silently as if she begged. "Tomoya, come here please…"

Okazaki stood up and joined her quickly. When he squatted next to her he peeked inside the wardrobe, where Fujibayashi's hand stood still, only trembling a little.

"Please, take it off, take it off, take it off…" she started mumbling.

And then he noticed why she couldn't move her right hand.

On the back of it was an enormous spider, bigger than half of her hand. Kyou was staring at it with tears in her eyes. Tomoya grabbed the spider quickly and crushed it in his hand.

"I killed it, see?" he said, throwing the spider away. Kyou grabbed her right hand with the left one, and Tomoya patted her shoulder to comfort her. "Come," he took her shoulder and dragged her to the corner he was searching in. "Help me here, and I'll check the wardrobe later, hm?"

Kyou started rummaging through things without a word. Tomoya took the top of the desk and checked what was behind it. When he was about to search in a promising stack of things, Kyou finally spoke.

"I hate spiders, they're awful."

"They're not pretty, I agree."

"They're awful," Kyou sounded as if she was offended. Tomoya looked at her, but her hair was covering her face. "Awful."

"My mistake. I haven't seen one in ages," Tomoya said, searching again. Kyou looked at him, surprised. "And you?" he asked.

"Hmpf," Kyou turned her back to him, reddening. She didn't expect that Tomoya would be so nice to her. Remember about Ryou, she reprimanded. He may feel something to Nagisa, but as long as they don't become a couple, she has a chance, remember.

They spent a few minutes in silence. The longer they were searching, the hotter Kyou felt. When their shoulders accidentally touched, she felt as if her heart was about to explode. Wha-what the hell? What am I doing?, she thought, brushing her hair over her ear. Why do I feel so…

"I'll check the wardrobe," Kyou almost jumped when Tomoya spoke. She only nodded when he went to the piece of furniture.

I feel the same as I did that day, she remembered the time she was closed in the school storeroom with Tomoya. I can't, I can't!

"Wo-ho-ho," she heard. Tomoya was flicking through the little book he held. "You were very photogenic, Kyou."

Her romance mode turned off as quickly as it turned on. She had a terrible feeling.

Without a word, she snatched the thing he held. It was what she wished nobody would see.

Both open pages were full of her and Ryou's photos from their babyhood. Wherever she looked, they were bathing naked, smiling with stupid grins.

"Nooo!" she shouted, pushing him away and reaching into the wardrobe. Fujibayashi grabbed the books inside. Five photobooks. Another four. One big photo album. And three smaller.

"What? Why is there so many of them?" she said, shocked. Tomoya found another big album.

"Wow, this one is from your grandparents' wedding," Tomoya noticed. "Pretty old," he added, looking at yellowed pages. Kyou searched in the wardrobe for a while.

"I guess that's all," she concluded.

"I think so," Tomoya looked inside, where only some clothes were left. "That's rather many," he said, pointing at the photobooks.

"Fifteen… Seriously?" Kyou looked at the albums.

"I can't recognize you and Fujibayashi on the baby photos…"

"You don't have to!" she hit his head slightly and took away the book. She was older on the photos, there were a few photographs from kindergarten. "I was in the carrot group, Ryou in beans," she told him, showing a picture.

"So this one is you… Wait, carrot group, bean group?"

"Yes," she said. "We had a plot outside and each group was responsible for one vegetable. I was responsible for carrots."

"Do I hear pride in your voice?" Tomoya laughed.

"Shut up, these were such nice times…" Kyou mumbled with a dreamy voice.

"I had groups called like flowers," the boy pointed at himself with his thumb. "A member of the rose group. I was called Tuxedo then!"

"You?! Please, don't make a fool of me!" Kyou laughed. Tomoya heaved a sigh and sat inside the wardrobe.

"I should know you wouldn't understand this," he lifted a hand to his face and grabbed an imaginary mask. "Can't you see?"

"How are you two similar?" Kyou sat next to him, smiling.

"Haircut?" Tomoya guessed, grabbing a strand of his hair.

"I knew it wasn't connected with personality. It's just offending Tuxedo."

"And this is just offending me. Remember that I didn't choose that name by myself. The girls called me that."

"You were always popular, weren't you?" Kyou mumbled.

"Hm? What did you say?"

"That there's no way the girls would call you that. Not Tuxedo," she said, standing up. "Take the albums, there shouldn't be any more," the girl commanded.

"Eh…" Tomoya sighed but did as he was told. " You just don't understand…"

"Every girl was in love with him, no way they would make fun of him that way. Accept it," Kyou said, while Okazaki was doing his best not to drop any book.

"Oh, so you loved him too?" Tomoya grinned. Kyou glanced at him and moved in the direction of the house.

"Maybe."

How did you like it? I hope that somebody smiled while Kyou and Tomoya were bantering. Let me know by favs or reviews!

And never go to a university of technology if you're not ready to study 24/7. Seriously. Take that as advice.

I hope I'll make the third chapter quickly...

See you next time!