Chapter 17: First Mecha Experience
"Alright! Time's up!" The librarian banged on the door forcefully, announcing to everyone inside. "Everybody out! And you, the boy in the green shirt, take that book out from under your shirt. Don't think I didn't see that!"
The lights in the Restricted Section suddenly went out. Yuka noticed the bookshelves on either side starting to close in towards the center. She quickly put down her notes and walked out, grabbing her opticomputer from the table and giving one last glance at the slowly closing door.
Inside, all the bookshelves had merged into a tight wooden cube, sealing away both the real and the fictional secrets, waiting to be rediscovered.
Toru, back to his usual shy self, awkwardly apologized to Yuka and the others, "I'm really sorry, I was just too eager to get up here and read. I was a bit rude to you guys."
Yuka replied, "No worries."
Toru and Ayoi exchanged names, and Alex realized that Toru seemed to know Yuka.
Yuka smiled, "Just a coincidence."
Toru nodded at Alex, "Yes, it's all fate. Oh, I should have told you that this section is only open once every three months. By that calculation, the next opening will be in December, right around our final exams. We can only come here twice a semester."
"Did you find what you were looking for?" Toru asked.
Yuka nodded.
"Great. I've got a class now, so I'll head off. See you," Toru waved goodbye.