Intro Note: Well, it's been a very, VERY long time since I tried doing anything with the FanFiction(dot)net site, so it should be interesting to see if I've improved my fanfiction writing since my shudder-worthy efforts in the past. Along with being unable to sleep at four in the morning, I've had a massive shift towards the Haruhiist thought process, and with that has come inspiration for this. Please treat me kindly. (bows with hands flat together) Without further ado, so begins the Suppression of Haruhi Suzumiya…or not. There's just one last note to make.
Timeline Note: This story is independent of the light novels and manga, focusing only on the anime. In addition, it is only considering events from Season 1, as I've yet to view the second season or movie.
The Suppression of Haruhi Suzumiya
Chapter 1: Disturbance
I still somehow find it amazing just how much my life has been made to revolve around Haruhi. She nearly gets both her and me killed by dragging both of us into one of those Closed Spaces that that annoying ESPer Koizumi is constantly battling those blue giants in, almost ends the world over a stupid baseball game, and always, ALWAYS finds a way to make me the one at fault if any little thing should go wrong.
Why should I have to put up with this? Oh, right. Because if I don't, Haruhi will end the world as we know it and simply rewrite it. Pleasant thought, isn't it? It's a wonder I can ever sleep at all with that kind of pressure. Sometimes I feel like Atlas, forced to shoulder the world. In a way, I suppose I am, being that I seem to be the one person capable of enacting change in Haruhi.
This winter would show that, and be a challenge of my patience, as well as reveal things that, while I'd had thoughts of for a while, never chose to acknowledge due to the horror those thoughts would present me with. It all began not long after that insignificant day when Haruhi forced me to lug a heater back to the clubroom of her SOS Brigade, perhaps several weeks at most. It was December now, and the city streets, as well as North High, were in the spirit of the season commercialized by that fraud Santa Claus, who I have of course never believed in.
On a slightly warmer day, things seemed to be going normally, or at least as normally as they could when Haruhi was around. I slowly walked up that accursed hill that, to both my displeasure and convenience, was becoming less of a chore. That moron Taniguchi decided to remain absent from my walk this particular day, which boosted my mood somewhat. When I got to the classroom, Haruhi was sitting there like she usually did, in the back corner of the room staring out the window. I sat down in my seat directly in front of her and turned around to talk to her.
"Bored?" I asked, though she obviously was. Haruhi was always bored, unless she was making me and the other Brigade members do some asinine task for her.
"What do you think?" she spat back dejectedly. "This season's always sickened me. I mean, look at how everyone acts, hanging all over each other and spreading what they call 'Christmas cheer.' It's sickening." Ah yes, Haruhi as usual disregarding love and related things as a waste of time. This was a shame considering how beautiful she was. I've made no attempts to hide my thoughts on her beauty, which contrasts greatly with her personality. As I recall it, however, she finds love to be "some sort of mental illness," though even she, by her own admission I might add, has had thoughts like that once in a while. I wonder why she doesn't just take the plunge and try finding a cute guy or something. Maybe if she did, she wouldn't be so bored all the time. Of course, unless they were an otherworldly being, they probably wouldn't stand a chance with her to begin with. I would have thought on Haruhi's insatiable search for interesting things more, but as it would have it, first period was about to begin so I prepared myself for yet another boring day of lectures. My classes seemed to be particularly boring on this day, and so I found myself slowly drifting into slumber. I wouldn't get to rest long, however, as I soon felt my head being slammed into my desk. Turning around, I saw Haruhi staring at me with her usual scowl.
"Wake up you idiot! Your grades suck enough as it is."
Why thank you for the encouragement Haruhi. You'd make an amazing motivational speaker, I'm sure. I rub my head a little, feeling the onset of a bruise.
"Talking back to your Brigade Chief if grounds for a penalty, Kyon! I'll have to punish you when you get to the Brigade meeting it seems. Oh well, it's nothing new, so why am I surprised anymore?" Ah, I must have said that aloud. That's one habit that I always seem to fall into around Haruhi unfortunately, speaking my thoughts more so than thinking them.
I hear the clearing of a throat and remember that we're still in class. Bowing in apology to my teacher, I'm at least able to stay awake during the rest of my classes until lunch. As per her usual, Haruhi immediately leaves the classroom upon that moment's arrival, leaving me to talk to Taniguchi and the much quieter, and therefore preferred, Kunikida.
"I'm surprised, Kyon." Taniguchi, please don't call me that. It irritates me enough when everyond else call me that, but you annoy me enough on your own. Please don't make things worse. He continues, "I'd think that after this long maybe Suzumiya would lighten up on you. Why do you put up with her and her insanity anyway? She may be one of the top ranking girls on my Freshman Hottie List, but she's far too weird."
"I have to agree, Kyon. Why don't you complain to her about it?" Kunikida adds. I've tried, of course, to make her lighten up, but to no avail. While I may be the one with the most influence over her, somehow I'm the most powerless in front of her at the same time. It's rather infuriating that my having been 'chosen' by Haruhi provides me with no special privileges in that regard. As I continue to talk to the guys and eat my lunch in relative peace, the period slowly draws to a close, and it's back to the same old lectures.
Eventually, they grant me some peace as the ending bell sounds, bringing me from one torment to another. Haruhi walks off to the clubroom quickly and silently, while I slowly but steadily follow her. When I arrive, I receive my usual chastisement from her.
"Why are you so slow, Kyon!" she shouts at me, pointing at me with her patented glare on her face. I don't know Haruhi, maybe it's that not all of us are full of excitement about the next insane scheme you're cooking up?
Ignoring the fact that she asked me a question, she went off on her own anyway, saying, "Whatever… I don't have anything specific planned for today, so Kyon, as your penalty, I want you to look at our website and start writing a blog on our activities." Of course, because we've done so much that would need to be written about, and it's not like you should be doing this, or I gave you the idea a long while back. That can't be.
Choosing not to vocalize this for fear of being beaten by the easily infuriated Brigade Chief, however, I decided to simply try to recollect all the things the SOS Brigade had done thus far. We'd made a movie, played baseball… When had we actually made any progress on Haruhi's original goals to contact the supernatural? Present company of Koizumi, board game novice and overall annoying ESPer that I'd likely trust with my life, Miss Asahina, or at least the younger version of her who was my rock in the savage seas that were my days in the Brigade, and the ever quiet but incredibly helpful and powerful agent of the Integrated Data whatever it was called...excluded. Haruhi could never find out that the very beings she sought were in her midst, however, much less about her own powers, so beyond their existence, we'd done nothing to prove the existence of such fantastical things.
My fingers slowly typed up information about the few nonsensical things we had done, however, and by the end of the club meeting, I was finished. Haruhi rose not long after I saved the website and told everyone to leave. Never one to miss such a chance as one to escape Haruhi's psychotic clutches, I started off the moment she said so. However, the eternally smiling Itsuki Koizumi stopped me.
"Kyon, can you stay for a little bit longer? There is something that I would like to discuss with you." Oh joy, I could already see where this was going… I sat down again and waited, noting that Haruhi was long since gone and the ESPer could speak freely.
"I'll assume you know by now what it is I wish to speak to you about," he stated. I nodded in understanding. Almost without fail, whenever Koizumi wanted to speak with me, it was about…
"An increase in closed spaces, right?" I asked, to humor him. I already knew it was.
"Yes. The Organization believes it has determined the source of these latest closed spaces, and that would be-" he began to explain when I stopped him.
"Me. It's somehow my fault, isn't it?" I asked. Seriously, I knew Haruhi had some strange link to me for who-knows-what-reason, but for me to be at fault every time she acts up? It's maddening!
"Well, I wouldn't exactly call it your fault, Kyon. It's actually quite the contrary." Ok, now I was confused.
"You're saying that Haruhi generating closed space is a good thing now?" I asked incredulously. I was stumped as to how Koizumi could possibly pull a positive out of that situation, unless he was some sadist who actually enjoyed Haruhi's tortured mind for some sick reason… With that disturbing smile, sometimes I do have to wonder just how tightly his head is screwed on, if you know what I mean. As if to mock me, the ESPer laughed before he responded.
"Not at all," he began. "However, the reasoning for her creating closed spaces might not be such a bad thing to have happen."
"Please let me know when you plan on saying something that actually makes sense, will you?" I retorted, my usual nature in full force.
"Very well, I'll get right down to it." I sat and watched as the ESPer continued his explanation. "It seems Miss Suzumiya has… Kyon, do you remember when I talked to you about that bond of trust you and Miss Suzumiya seem to have between each other?"
"A little bit. It was back when we were going to play that stupid computer game with the Computer Club, right?" I replied.
"I believe it was around that time, yes. Well, it seem that me and my colleagues may have figured something out about that. As I've said in the past, Miss Suzumiya chose you, Kyon. I'll ask you another question." Wonderful, more of them? "Maybe you can figure out the rest from there."
"Well, get on with it, then." To be honest, while I don't hate the guy, he had a tendency to ramble. That smile and his habit of getting a little too close were also annoying quirks, but Koizumi wasn't a bad guy, honest! Annoying to no end, though.
"You remember the time that you and Miss Suzumiya were alone within that closed space, during her bout of boredom, correct?" How could I forget?
I replied, "As much as I would like to forget about it, yes." Koizumi then continued.
"When I told you that you were the one person that Miss Suzumiya truly wished to have at her side, did you think anything of that?"
"It's given me some horrible nightmares, so I'd rather not go into it, but yes, I've thought about that night sometimes." I still can't believe what I needed to do to escape that realm and drag Haruhi with me… I had to ask, though, "What does that have to do with now?"
"Miss Suzumiya seems to have…how do I say it without being too blunt…formed a stronger attachment to you than you might realize right now. I won't say anymore, but I will say this: This stronger bond, it could be the key to stabilizing her chaotic nature, so it might be worth looking into. Of course, it does carry the risk of being very dangerous, but I'll trust you not to let that happen. I put my faith in you." Great, as if I don't have enough pressure, now you're telling me to figure out…wait a second, hold on a minute!
I had to counter that point, "You said at first that it would be a good thing, and now you're backpedaling and saying it could be dangerous?"
"I only said it could be a good thing, Kyon." Darn you Koizumi, you've got me on that one… "Whether it leads to good or bad is up to you." Koizumi then checks his cellphone, and I instantly know what's going on now.
"I'm sorry," he begins predictably, "but we'll have to end it here for today. My work beckons." With that, Koizumi walks out of the club room. During the explanation, Nagato and Miss Asahina had left, so I was on my own in the club room. I simply shook my head and locked the door before leaving myself.
Once I arrived home, the conversation with Koizumi having drained any desire to do much of anything, I found myself in my room staring at the wall, thinking about what he'd said.
'What could he have meant?' I lied to myself. Deep inside, I knew what he was alluding to, but as such thoughts were the things of nightmares, I chose to ignore them and try to reason my way into another explanation.
'What does Haruhi see me as? Are we friends? I sometimes feel more like ours is a master and slave relationship, but I don't hate Haruhi. Does she get on my nerves? Of course! Who wants to waste a perfectly good Saturday wandering the city for mysteries I know we'll never find? However, she's gotten slightly more tolerable over the past few months. Though, if she only wanted to be 'friends' with me… Some things came to mind just to debate against my own blissfully suppressed thoughts about that.
'Why would she dislike when I would get close to Miss Asahina or Nagato? More importantly, why was the only way to get her to return us to our own reality from that closed space a… No, it's impossible. She's said herself that she doesn't see that as more than an illness or a phase. However…' I was beginning to hate my mind for having sharpened, however slightly, as I was beginning to see that the pieces could only make sense in this way. But was it truly possible…?
Could Haruhi Suzumiya have fallen for me?
My face contorted itself into a grimace as I considered the thought. I sincerely hoped it was a misinterpretation, since the results could be disastrous. I didn't get the chance to continue my internal debate, however, as my phone went off, signaling that I had a text message. Of course I'd get one now.
'Koizumi, I've had just about enough of your bad news for one day…' I thought as I opened it. It was indeed the ESPer contacting me, and the request within was more than worrisome.
"Come meet me in the park as soon as you can. There's been a development that we need to discuss." Of course there has. Naturally it can't be as simple as just a 'routine' closed space, can it, if such a thing exists? Why is it that Koizumi never seems to have good news?
Deciding that delaying would only increase my anxiety, I headed out. When I got there, I saw the normally smiling ESPer's face slightly less cheerful than usual. Normally I might have been happy to see a different face than his usual fake-looking grin, but I was already aware it wasn't a matter to be exactly joyous over.
"Well?" I prompted, and Koizumi began to relay what he'd heard.
"From what I've gathered, it seems something strange, and rather unsettling, has begun to occur within our very own Miss Suzumiya. Not only has my Organization noticed it, but Nagato's group as well. Miss Suzumiya's…value, let's say, as a deity, an omnipotent figure, is declining. It seems to lower in bursts, little by little. Fewer of her changes are happening in the world, and that is how we can measure this. We've noticed for some time, but I figured that maybe things would settle down, so I didn't want to worry you. However, it's gotten severe. My ESPer powers are only about a third of what they normally are, but as a bonus, the Shinjen within Miss Suzumiya's closed spaces are also weaker." That was a lot to take in, but it didn't seem necessarily bad. I voiced this.
"Well, you losing your powers might not be the most fun thing in the world, is it really so bad for the world to become more…normal?" I asked.
"While it seems like it would be a good thing, the truth is, we rely on Miss Suzumiya's status as she has it. If it keeps decreasing at this rate, our world could collapse upon itself, like a house that had the support beams ripped out. We should still have some time, I'd say a few weeks at our current rate, to figure out how to get Miss Suzumiya's powers back to their normal levels." So even when Haruhi's losing these powers that make her so dangerous, it's dangerous? That hardly sounds fair. Haruhi, you really are a pain sometimes…
"It's getting late," Koizumi noted. I looked at the nearby clock and nodded. "You should go get some rest. Also, talk to Miss Suzumiya, preferably sooner rather than later. I'll try to find out what's causing her will's power to decrease, but you, Kyon, have a more important job to do. Even if she regains her powers fully, things will only get worse if her current turmoil isn't taken care of. As you should have figured by now, you're the one we need to count on to do that. Goodnight, Kyon." With his doomsaying finished, Koizumi left.
He really never did come with good news… The next day, I decided I'd talk to Haruhi and try to find out if my fears were true.