This fanfic is currently under construction and the chapters are therefore subjected to minor changes. I apologise for any confusion.
PROLOGUE
The sun was now almost setting. The SOS Brigade gathering in the Literature Club room has ended and Koizumi Itsuki was now walking home. He was in his usual North High uniform, walking without his smiling mask he usually wears, contemplating how good it was that the SOS Brigade Commander's spirit has become very stable. It was for this reason he was receiving less assignments from the Organization lately, which was a positive point - though, he did miss unleashing his ESPer powers.
He just hoped that that clueless Kyon won't be provoking Suzumiya-san's jealousy, like other times.
He brushed his fingers casually through the strands of hair falling elegantly across his handsome face.
He's not that stupid anymore, he told himself. But still a little dense.
Itsuki sighed. Just how long will it take for Kyon to realize what he means to Suzumiya-san takes a lot of guesswork, and if the two ever end up together - no. Itsuki shook his head. He does not really want to think about it. Though he had to admit that Kyon can put limit of Suzumiya-san's absurdities, how he wish, how he truly wish to replace Kyon in Suzumiya-san's thoughts.
Just as another sigh escaped him, his cell phone rang.
At least, he thought, she allowed me to get this close to her.
--
It was late in the evening. Suzumiya Haruhi was walking back home from tutoring the bespectacled young boy whose life Asahina Mikuru and Kyon once saved.
It started to rain. Just as Haruhi was about to make a run for it, a glance of white at the end of the street caught Haruhi's sharp eyes.
A ghost?
Her heart pounding in excitement, she rushed towards where it disappeared. She arrived there just in time to see the white conformation moved in the right corner of her eye. Haruhi turned right and followed the road. Every now and then she'd catch the moving white appearing and disappearing from afar.
Fifteen minutes after the chase begun, Haruhi has reached a main road. Again she saw the shapeless white make a turn to the left. If Haruhi's guess is correct, that corner into which the conformation had disappeared to was a dead end.
"Ha!" she breathed with a smirk on her face.
But just before she could even reached that corner, she lost her footing. Her eyes widened in surprise and disbelief before she realised she was about to fall into a pit. As the darkness loomed before her eyes, she felt something soft, yet firm bump her stomach.
"Suzumiya-san!"
Haruhi felt herself being thrown backwards. It took her a few seconds to realize she was sitting on a wet pavement.
"Suzumiya-san, are you all right?"
She looked up and saw Koizumi Itsuki's unsmiling, anxious face; he had reached out his arm to catch her just in time before she could fall into the pit. What the Brigade vice commander was doing here or what that pit was doing there were all pushed aside as she stood up and ran into the dead end street.
A clunk sounded behind a large garbage bin at the end of the narrow street. Itsuki said something, but Haruhi didn't hear, for her mind was entirely focused on cornering the white - whatever it was.
"I've chased after something white," she informed her Brigade subordinate, as she walked slowly towards the rusty garbage bin. "I don't know what it is, but it looked pretty suspicious."
Though Itsuki can only see her back, he knew she wasn't afraid. This is the fearless SOS Brigade commander, who is steadily walking towards the end of the narrow street, talking without a hint of fear in her voice. This is the woman who resembled the goddess Diana - but what idea had now entered her head, Itsuki couldn't really understand…
Usually, when a normal person suspects there's a ghost or something similar to it hiding behind a large garbage bin, he would run away, or at the very least, he won't be so thrilled to confront it. But then again, Suzumiya Haruhi is not a normal person.
After pushing the large garbage bin aside with a strenght unusual for any ordinary girl of her age, she squatted towards the wall, only to find a pure white cat.
"Purr..."
"Oh, geez, I can't believe I've actually chased this cat all this way in the rain!" Haruhi pouted. "I was really expecting something more, like a ghost, or something!"
"What a beautiful cat," said Itsuki behind her.
It was a beautiful cat indeed; its pure white fur contrasting with the darkness of the night, its clear blue eyes shining brightly.
"Perhaps there's a reason for you to run after this cat, Suzumiya-san," suggested Itsuki, "After all, you've made quite an effort to corner it."
"What kind of stupid reason would that be?" Haruhi shot a sharp look at the cat. "That cat was just a waste of time."
"Well, this cat doesn't seem like a stray cat; it must have an owner who cares about it. Now that I think about it, I've heard that white cats with blue eyes are prone to deafness or blindness. I'm sure its owner must now be worried about it."
"White cats with blue eyes can become deaf or blind?" She looked at the cat in disbelief and her sharp look softened a little.
"The cat seem to have a collar," Itsuki pointed out. "Perhaps there's something written on it."
Sure enough, as soon as Haruhi picked up the cat, she saw its name on the pendant. She flicked the pendant and saw an address.
"There's an address."
"Would you like me to return it to its owner, Suzumiya-san?" Itsuki offered.
"No, just take care of it and bring it tomorrow at 2 pm before the train station. I'll call up Kyon and the others and we'll all go to the owner's address and return it."
"An excellent idea, Suzumiya-san. I'll definitely take a fine care of the cat," said Itsuki, as Haruhi handed him the cat.
"Thanks a lot, Koizumi-kun. See you tomorrow." With that, she ran off. She was always like that, like a wind swiftly passing you by.
Itsuki looked as she disappeared out of sight. Little did he know that the wish his heart made earlier that day would soon be fulfilled.
He stared for a moment at the cat. It purred as its blue eyes met Itsuki's. Even less did it know its role in triggering a set of events that would cause new emotions to explode in Suzumiya Haruhi, emotions she would hardly understand and Itsuki never did foresee…
© Mademoiselle X
