I do not own Clannad or any of its characters.

This is my first Clannad fic after I fell in love with the anime. Wrote most of it in the middle of the night so don't expect a masterpiece, haha. I've become a TomoyaTomoyo shipper but I don't think this is a romance. Maybe just friendship. Treat it as you wish.

This is just a little spinoff from episode 17 of the anime. You don't really need to know what happens, but for those that have watched it, Tomoya thought of Tomoyo instead of Kyou when performing the charm.

Trapped

"Oi. Tomoyo."

"What?"

"You wouldn't happen to believe in charms, right?"

She shifted the irritated stare away from the locked door and landed it on him. "Of course not."

He nodded. "Good. Then you won't think this is my fault."

"What are you on about, Okazaki?" Tomoyo narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't tell me you planned this."

"I wouldn't bother to, trust me."

Tomoyo seemed to give him a once over, judging him, and then turned away. "Whatever." The frown on her face was illuminated by the sliver of light that peeked in from an overhead window. She studied the thin slit and the pane of glass that was gently eased open to allow air circulation. Tomoya didn't know why she was bothering. It wasn't like either of them could actually fit.

"Hey, you're not in a hurry or anything, are you?"

She turned to him and shook her head. "Are you?" she asked back. "If you are, I can try kicking down the door." Her offer surprised him so much that it made him chuckle. Tomoya thought he had managed to stifle it fairly well, but she still stared at him. "What are you laughing at?"

"It's just weird." His shoulders shook. "Seeing the girl who scores combo hits on Sunohara willing to ruin her shoes for me."

Tomoyo's face darkened at the mention of the boy who had challenged her rightful gender but remained indifferent at the 'shoes' remark. "You got stuck here helping me," she stated. "I hate owing people favours."

"You're very, uh, fair, aren't you?" She only raised an eyebrow. Tomoya decided not to elaborate. He stuffed his hands into his pockets. "You're making me feel like a cheater or something."

"And why would that be?"

Damn. "Ah… you wouldn't be mad if I told you I might have done something to get us stuck, would you?" he asked warily.

Her eyes went even narrower.

Oops… Sunohara, I think I'm going to beat your record…

She tilted her head a little. "It depends on how you did it."

"A charm."

"Huh?"

Tomoya laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. "Eh, see, this friend of mine was introducing me to charms and I fiddled around with one that would get me stuck in the equipment shed with the first girl that came to my mind." A rueful smile wavered. "I didn't know it would actually work. Sorry." He peered carefully at her. "So… are you mad?"

She shook her head. "Didn't I just tell you that I don't believe in charms?" As Tomoya sighed, Tomoyo looked around, and then sat down on a stack of gym mats. They were hard and not the best seating option. "Looks like we'll be here a while," she observed.

For some reason, Tomoya didn't think she would care if he told her there was a reverse charm. "Don't worry; we won't be staying overnight," he said instead. "The basketball club trains on Thursday afternoons. They have to come in here to get their gear. Sit through lunch and they'll come."

Tomoyo nodded and he noticed that she was a little more relaxed than she had initially been. He supposed that it had been foolish of him to suspect that she was incapable of emotion. "You know their timetable very well," she noted.

Tomoya turned his head away, his right hand clenching and unclenching. "I used to be part of them," was all he said.

Tomoyo looked away as well. It wasn't hard to detect that Okazaki was uncomfortable and at odds with something he obviously did not want to discuss with her. It was his right to privacy. She didn't feel like intruding. She sensed that there was more to Tomoya Okazaki than the face of a delinquent and slacker. In truth, Sunohara intrigued her as well, but Okazaki was the one who caught her attention. She didn't know why; there was just something… intense about him.

The muffled drill of the bell seeped in through the window. Tomoya raised his head. "There goes the lunch bell," he said wryly. He looked hopefully toward Tomoyo. "I don't suppose you have any food on you…?"

"No, sorry." He sighed and his head dropped. Tomoyo took off her shoes and slid back so that her back was resting against the wall. "You should sit," she told Tomoya.

He blinked, and then sat at the opposite end of the mat. "Good idea." He glanced over at her. "You're pretty calm for a girl who's trapped with a senior guy."

"That's because I know you wouldn't try anything."

"And how would you know that? I've got a reputation for being unpredictable, you know."

Tomoyo crossed her arms and frowned. "Are you trying to force me into self defense?"

"Forget I said anything," Tomoya said hastily, backing away.

She didn't say anything. He shrugged and turned away, closing his eyes. It was a pity that the shed wasn't located in a busy area, or they could just yell and someone would hear them and let them out. Tomoya hazily wondered if Sunohara would figure something out. Maybe not.

Tomoyo was being very quiet. She seemed to be a girl of few words. She was a mystery, too. Tomoya cracked open an eye and glanced over at her. For an underclassman she was quite interesting.

He noticed that she was rubbing her forearms. "You cold?"

Her head turned sharply, as if she had been in deep thought and Tomoya had popped her bubble. Her eyes gradually softened. "It's just the breeze," she said. "I'm fine." But Tomoya had already gotten up. However, instead of unbuttoning his shirt, which was the last thing Tomoyo wanted to ask of him, he was rummaging around in a corner of baton sticks. "What are you doing?"

He didn't answer her immediately. He kept searching. Tomoyo was just pondering if she should join him when Tomoya's movements ceased. Her brow furrowed at his unnatural stillness. Very slowly, he reached out and pulled out something from behind one of the crates. A crumpled shirt. "It's still here," she heard him mutter.

Tomoyo leaned forward on her knees. "Okazaki… what is that?"

He started as if just remembering that she was there. He stuffed everything back into their place and stood, gripping the shirt tightly for a moment before tossing it at her. "See if that's any help."

She caught it deftly and held it out in front of her. It was an old singlet with a number 7 on the back in faded print. It looked worn and unused. "Basketball uniform?" Tomoyo questioned doubtfully. She shook off any dust clinging to the fabric, and then, after a short moment of contemplation, laid it over her lap.

Tomoya didn't return to his seat. He sat across her on the floor, leaning against one of the shelves. He was silent for a long time before he raised his eyes to gaze distantly at the shirt. "That was my old basketball uniform," he said softly. He gave a small shrug of his shoulders. "I chucked it here after I stopped playing." He paused. "Some days, I just want to burn it." Then he realised what he was saying. "Ne, sorry. I shouldn't be saying stuff like that, huh?"

Tomoyo watched him. "Why did you quit?" she asked in an equally quiet voice. Tomoya lowered his head again. "I saw you playing the other day; you were good." She had seen him skilfully weave past his opponents and pass the ball with speed and accuracy. She could picture him playing with an official team, dribbling the ball across the court, shirt flapping in his wake.

He remembered. He remembered racing down the court, fluidly flipping the ball over his head. He remembered that rainy night with Nagisa, how he had ran his fingers along the ball's familiar curvature and raised his arms in that practiced motion… and felt the grating of bone against cartilage restriction. Tomoya shut his eyes and pressed the heel of his palm into them. "I couldn't play anymore."

"Tomoya is Tomoya… I cannot interfere…"

"Okazaki?" Tomoyo's soft voice took the place of the phantom's, and Tomoya opened his eyes. He stared into hers. It was difficult to read the emotion in her eyes. She wasn't like Nagisa or Kyou. She was violent but there was also something gentle about her, the instinct to care… and Tomoya found that he found her presence comforting. Tomoyo was blunt with what she said. No hesitation. No lies.

"Tomoyo…"

"… Yes?"

"Do you get along with your parents?"

She was unresponsive for a while. Tomoya was beginning to think that he had offended her when she spoke up in that soft voice, a bitter smile curving her lips. "No. Not at all." She slid off the mat to sit on the ground with him. "I used not to care but… why am I telling you this anyway?" She shook her head. For a moment there, she had felt he understood…

Tomoya chuckled. "You're just like me."

"Nani?"

"Ever tried holding sand in your hand?"

Tomoyo frowned. "Yeah… so?"

"Falls apart, doesn't it?"

"So?" Then it came to her. She averted her gaze. He really was like her… "Change the topic. I don't want to talk about this anymore."

He shrugged. "Fine." The atmosphere got a little lighter. "You're a funny kid, Sakagami."

"I'm not a kid."

"But you are pretty funny," he grinned. His impression of Tomoyo Sakagami was shifting. He saw something underneath that hard shell. Someone abstract like him saw her as something akin to a clam – hard shell, soft centre. Tomoya saw her as a girl he could get to know better.

He paused for a moment. Another girl. They were all girls. Tomoya shook his head in amusement and slight disbelief.

"You're funny as well," Tomoyo said abruptly.

"Eh?"

She gave him a small smile. "I think you know that more than anyone, don't you, Okazaki?"

Speechless, but only for a moment. "… Yeah." The bell drilled again. Tomoya and Tomoyo shared a look, and then stood. "Won't be long now before someone comes to fetch us."

She wasn't looking at him. "Yeah… Okazaki?"

"Yeah?"

"Family is important. Even if it isn't your real family, even if it's just friends or strangers you feel comfortable with… they're the last grains of sand that you can't shake off no matter how hard you try."

Tomoya remembered Tomoyo's words. Even after they had been released by a pair of perplexed juniors. Even after she fell into the annoying (nice) act of waking him for school every morning. Even after they pretended that they had not gotten themselves trapped together for a whole lunch.

Because they were both still trapped in their past, their life, still in that equipment room. Together.

Ah, yeah, that's it. I realise that the Clannad fandom has very few fics. I aim to change that! One person CAN make a difference! (no they can't). Do I have anyone's support? :)