"Princess Haruhi and the rebel John Smith" – June 26, 2010 –
Constructive criticism is welcomed whole heartedly.
He was upside down, he realized, with blood rolling down his cheek. One of the branches must have scratched him on his way down. His head pounded, and his backpack was pulling him backward, it's weight far larger than normal due to the amount of books he had been hauling. Groggily he realized he should have seen all of this coming. It had been obvious, but as the saying goes in America, it's very easy to be a Monday morning quarterback. Frowning, he tried to shift himself over, off of his throbbing head and shoulders onto his side without falling backward. It had taken quite a bit of explanation for him to understand the quote, due to his very rudimentary understanding of the game of 'American football', but he felt that the saying here was quite appropriate.
He should have realized what was coming early on – he understood that there wasn't much use in berating himself for mistakes made, but it really should have occurred to him. He had been warned, and he had not reacted as he should have. If only he had nipped all of this in the bud when she had started reading those books.
One Monday morning – two weeks ago if he remembered correctly – he had come in earlier than usual to class, propping the door open with one hand, hopes high on finishing the homework he had been neglecting over that weekend. He had pulled himself over the doorway and into the room, making a bee line for his desk, and had seen her. Head bowed over her own desk, one hand on her cheek, eyes downcast over a book. It had been paperback, smaller than a real novel he had thought – and in a moment of idle curiosity as he dropped his bag to the side of his desk and slid himself sideways into his seat, he had inquired about it.
"What are you reading?"
Her eyes darted up, trying to lock with his, cheeks coloring ever so slightly as her fingers moved nimbly to snap the book closed. In his own mind he smiled – he must have surprised her. "Just doing research for the brigade, Kyon." His eyes had trailed the book as she pulled it quickly off her desk – the paperback sliding very softly over the glazed wood, "What are you doing here so early anyway?" Her voice was commanding as it usually was, and her eyes were trying very hard to keep his own occupied. He was only barely able to catch part of the title – '… princess bride'?
"You never come early – you're just not an early riser." she asserted – and looking back he realized now that she had only been baiting him as she had said it, trying to get him to focus on something other than on what she was reading.
She had succeeded. Just like she always did.
"I come in early when I need to," he had frowned at her, "and I need to now. I haven't been able to study for weeks now due to your club activities." He had pulled his hand up and pointed at her accusingly, trying very hard to turn the tables before she ran him over with accusations and suspicions.
Of course, it hadn't worked.
"Oh please Kyon – you have time to do work at home! I manage to get homework done – everyone in the Brigade does but you!" Funny, he had thought, how they all had extra help to support them in that. Unable to fight back against her tirade, he had simply taken it as best he could, getting a poke in here and there, but really only losing the battle. He had eventually turned himself around and pulled his books out, embarrassed but not sure exactly why, as she huffed and stared out of the window.
He hadn't gotten much work done that morning, and the school day as many others had in his past, moved by all too fast, and in his opinion was much too boring to really learn anything from. As he had packed his books away and rose from his chair, he saw the familiar blur of yellow ribbons and brown hair as Haruhi sped toward the clubroom. He was unable to peel his eyes away from her well shaped calves before she exited the room. Grumbling slightly about the needs of healthy young men, he had slung his bag over his shoulder and started on his way.
What young man wouldn't look after all? He had trudged his way after her slowly, as per the norm – it was just to give Mikuru enough time to change, he thought, not that it had involved any kind of dread about clubroom activities.
Nope.
Not at all.
The activities of that day, however, had turned out to be nothing at all fear worthy. Not that he had had any. Settling in after some deliciously sweet tea, courtesy of the angel of the future, they had all been instructed on the brigades plans for the next few weeks. They would be going to the library, every day after school, and researching western fairy tales.
He almost swore he saw Nagato smile.
His head felt like it had been clearing a little, as he pulled himself to the side. One of his hands was outstretched trying to give himself some leverage. His backpack had to weigh at least a third of his own weight. He peered forward in the darkening forest, his hand grasping onto one of the thicker roots of the tree he had just fallen out of. He was scratched all over. It must have been a blackberry bush he had crawled through earlier after he had been split off from Haruhi. The thorns had been huge. Gripping tightly and straining his muscles he managed to pull himself over to the side, his backpack sliding with him and producing a dull thud. Achingly he realized, as the cogs in his brain whirred slowly, that if he had undone his waist strap he might have had more luck earlier. His head hurt so bad.
With what seemed like another monumental effort he pushed himself to his side, again using a large tree root to pull himself over, and then in a push-up motion managed to get his feet under himself and stand up, albeit hunched and using the tree for support. He breathed heavily, casting his eyes around the woods, and picking a random direction of travel. Blood thundered in his ears and his eyes throbbed in his skull as his fingers started to twitch and shiver. Anywhere would do. He needed to get away. He needed to keep his head down and get somewhere warm and safe.
He needed to survive, so he could help Haruhi. Distantly he could hear the sound of dogs howling. At least, he hoped they were dogs.
They had been dismissed from Brigade duties after Haruhi had made her announcement. Mikuru had given him a quick smile, the lovely girl; Koizumi had simply marched out, and Nagato – well – she had simply turned her head in his direction as he rose to leave, slanted her head by the barest degree, and turned and marched away. He had figured he was in for luck that upcoming week, that maybe things were looking up in the Brigade and that there would be more time to focus on… well… well more time to focus in general. It would be a good thing.
His legs churned with fervor now, moving as fast as he could. The deep howls of animals faster than himself kept getting closer and closer. Whipping past trees, and stumbling over roots, he kept his hands raised to protect his face from branches. They weren't doing a fantastic job. The sun was almost completely down now, and his eye sight wasn't getting any better. His head pounded and pounded – he was sure that when he fell out of that tree it must have given him a slight concussion. He wheezed with the effort of moving as fast as he could, burdened down by fifty pounds of books. He should drop them – his brain kept saying it – he should drop them, but he was told they would be integral.
He was told, and by God he trusted her.
He had showed up early again the next day. He had sworn to himself that he couldn't let her be right. He could come in early regularly. Even if it killed him. After another early day of hill climbing, he again propped the door open and walked in to find her stationed over a book, this one quite a bit larger, hard backed and ominous looking – she saw his approach this time though and closed the book before he could get there to discover what it was. His curiosity was only slightly peaked, and he made a note in his head to try and find out what it was during the day.
"Early again huh?" Her eyes sparkled, her heart shaped face beaming with amusement. "You're not going to come in early everyday now – just because I said you weren't an early riser?" She was smiling. He turned his head to the side and was proud of himself for only blushing slightly.
"My coming in early has nothing to do with you Haruhi," he slid a little harder into the chair than probably was necessary, and dropped his backpack onto the desk. "Unless you count your club stealing all of my time." Her smile thinned, and her eyes lost a little of their amusement. "I come in for the extra time to work on homework."
"It's your club to Kyon", she leaned forward dangerously and gripped the front of her desk. "If you took things more seriously you might have a better rank in it – but even as the lowest ranking member you're still a part of it." One of her hands flew of the desk and as she snapped her pointer finger up it flicked him in the nose. "You should be proud to be a part of the SOS Brigade!"
He pulled his head back, as far as his neck would allow, and spun around, to sit straight in his desk, pulling his books out of his bag. He could hear her grumbling behind him.
As the day went on she poked and prodded him periodically, her pencil eraser jabbing into his back at unexpected moments. He wasn't sure if he should've been indignant or pleased at the attention. Again coming to the close of the day Haruhi was the first to bound away, and his eyes following her, managed to see the book she had been reading earlier peaking out of her bag. 'Grimm Brother's Fairy Tales'.
Odd.
But in line with the brigade activities.
He was just glad he was able to restrain himself from watching the edges of her sweeping skirt as she motored toward the club room.
His cheeks only warmed a little.
For the club's new extravaganza he had been paired up with Nagato (You can't be with Mikuru – all you'll do is stare at her breasts! And you can't either Koizumi – she and I will be partners!), who had taken to the task quite easily. Every book she came across that held even the slightest reference to western fairy tales, she devoured. She would roam the isles, searching in absolute silence until she found what she wanted, and would then sit – knees together in her chair, with the book resting in her lap. Kyon spent most of his time napping, staring at Nagato (any healthy young man would!), or reading comics. He had been rather surprised, and slightly cautious when she struck up a conversation with him after about a week of study. After all, she only tended to when something terrible was about to happen.
Idly he cursed his luck – pretty girls only talked to him when the world was at stake.
She had looked up from her book, catching him busy with his second most common activity, and had posed a simple question. "Do you not intend to research the material gathered on western fairytales while residing in the library?"
His cheeks had reddened slightly at being caught and he turned his eyes slightly to the side – staring at the wall next to her head rather than meeting her eyes, but he did not hesitate to answer, "No, I don't think I will." He propped a hand up under his chin and rested himself on the table, "I don't think anything will come of it."
A rather large root, thick and gnarled, caught his ankle as he ran – a blessing and a curse. As he fell he felt the wind push past him as a large wolf made a jump for him. Pulling his aching limb from the tree root as fast as he could and planted his hands into a thick layer of moss and pine needles he pushed himself upright, muscles aching and hands covered in dirt and small scratches. His breath came heavy and his chest and head ached in rhythm with his heart beat. Staggering backward and planting his hands on either side of the tree behind him, his eyes met with the wolves, a large mangy looking creature, thin in the belly and large at the shoulders. It's beady eyes seemed to glow in the darkness and its curved pearly teeth bared to shine in the moonlight.
Good Lord. Such a thing could not exist in reality! It snarled at him and lunged, but not before he did.
Nagato merely eyed him levelly. "I can only recommend to you, that you acquire as much information on things pertaining to western fairytales as is possible in your due situation." She flipped a page in her book. "You should check out some of these books for closer study, so that you may come to know the knowledge Haruhi Suzumiya requires of us."
He had snorted – not at her recommendation, what Nagato recommended was not something to be taken lightly – but for the reason she was giving it. Haruhi. The things he had to do because of her. A part of him didn't really mind – when she wasn't domineering and tyrannical she was legitimately a great girl, and soft on the eyes too – but another part of him always stuttered at her demands. Nagato however seemed to take his snort as a sign of mistrust in her advice. He was surprised to hear the snap of the book in her lap, closed by her powerful little hands. His eyes jumped from the wall next to her head to her eyes in just the barest of a heartbeat, leveling with her gaze.
"You must understand," her tone was drawn and somewhat forced, not at all her usual droning explanations or casual simplistic speech - "in the coming days you must be prepared. Things are set in motion to occur, and choices will be made, choices which you alone hold the power to make." Her eyes held him in that moment, and for all the world he could barely tell the difference between her and the Nagato he had know in her alternate universe. She was open, laid bare for him alone to see. "I desire that you be prepared." She broke her line of sight tilting her head down and rising from her seat. "Please think upon my request, and find suitable books for study."
She was gone before he could ask her what their cryptic conversation could mean.
Intermittent in their study of western fairytales they would spend time reporting back to Haruhi, sitting in the local café, food and drinks courtesy of Kyon and his ever decreasing allowance. It' was OK when he could justify it to himself, just a day out with the friends he would say to himself – three pretty girls and some other guy that came along – well, Koizumi deserved a little more than that, he supposed – the male friend he liked to play bored *cough* board games with. Yeah. That was it. Just a day out with friends who never paid for themselves.
Such a meeting had just occurred – though he was pleased that thus far he had only been spending for himself and Haruhi, with Nagato popping in timely, dumping the information required and heading out in record time, saying that she had to prepare for an upcoming test. That had made Kyon's brows furrow. Koizumi had also come and gone, taking a little more time in presenting the information he had gathered, Haruhi nodding as he spoke, and then excusing himself for his part time job. The poor boy had been working alone on the brigade's project the whole while.
"Mikuru won't be joining us," honey colored eyes and a delicate voice interjected into his thoughts, "We're already on the same page information wise, and I know you wouldn't really be focusing on what she had to say." He cocked his head to the side, snapping a bite out of his hamburger and glowering at the wall for her backhanded comment. She just slurped on her milkshake and told him not to feel bad. After all, what Mikuru had to bring to the table was hard to miss for anyone. His cheeks reddened.
Reclining in her seat she stared out the window next to them. "Have you ever thought you were born in the wrong time Kyon?" Her eyes focused on a young man and woman holding hands as they passed by on the sidewalk outside. They talked with each other, smiling, as they strolled along the pathway. "Like you were meant to live a different way?"
Lifting his eyes from the table, he stared now at the ceiling, eyes focusing and unfocusing, as they drifted from light to light. Was he meant to live a different way? Meant to live a life without the madness currently infesting it? Would he have liked a life without the difficulties it had now? A life where the pretty girl with an interesting personality who sat behind him was just that – a pretty girl with an interesting personality. Someone who he could be interested in without reservation? Was he meant to live a life where he never worried about the fate of mankind, or the destruction of the universe? Would he like a life free of worry and free of care?
Of course.
His chin fell as his head lowered, passing by her expectant face and ending to look down at the half eaten hamburger he hadn't realized he had set down, and the overcooked fries that had come with it. "No Haruhi." His voice rasped. "Not even once."
The wolf almost had him now, he had managed to dodge it a few times – slipping behind tree trunks and moving in a zigzag pattern, but he was tired. So very tired. His head hurt, it throbbed and beat as blood screamed through his veins pumping him with adrenaline. He could hear its friends howling as they joined in the chase. His feet pounded on the uneven ground, thudding and thudding and thudding some more. He had to find a way out – he had to survive. It wasn't about him anymore, he needed to save Haruhi.
"Really Kyon?" She had cocked her head to the side slightly after peeling it away from the window, her heart shaped face framed cutely by her hazel colored hair. "Not even once Kyon? You've never wished for something more?" Her eyes were boring into him, alive and filled with a life that only she had, demanding of him that he answer truthfully. His palms began to sweat.
The wolf made another lunge at him and caught his backpack. He was thrown off balance and stumbled, dragging his weight and weight of the wolf forward as best he could. He could hear the others closing in on his sides, and could feel the wolf shaking it's head side to side as it tried to take him down. He couldn't let it win.
He lifted his eyes to meet hers. She was so beautiful when she wanted to be. He licked his lips, "Haruhi," his feet rubbed across the linoleum floor, "of course I've wished for more. There are things I've wanted to change about who I am, and about how I live," he pulled his eyes away from her. "Things that I wish I could do." She hadn't pulled hers from him. "But I'm OK with the way things are now, and I don't want to endanger that. I suppose," he licked his lips, "that if an opportunity presented itself, I would take it, and change things."
She was openly staring at him now, a smile on her face. He turned his head to face her and she turned away, her cheeks looking suspiciously red. "Thanks for lunch Kyon."
Somewhere in the back of his mind he realized, stumbling forward as the wolf tried to drag him backward, that what was under him was no longer dirt covered in a healthy dose of leaves, pine needles, and oozing moss, but what seemed to be thatched straw. It was at about the moment he realized this was probably important that he fell through it, dragging his backpack, the attached wolf and all of his worry along with it.
The last image he saw, before the world went blank, was a slight girl dressed in black robes next to a small cauldron over an even smaller fire. She had been sitting on his way down, but had jolted upright when he landed, her eyes shining in the dim light – were a soft brown color – stared at him and the creature that had dropped with him in shock. As his world faded to black he could only note that her lilac colored hair was quite beautiful.
So, I started this on the 26th – got about a quarter of the way and then didn't have any kind of inclination to finish it until about 12 tonight. It's late and I'm not sure if it all makes sense, but I'm sure you'll all let me know if you find anything completely off.
This will be multiple parts, I'm thinking around 15 chapters, covering a wide array of fairy tales. The first few chapters will be broken up with flashbacks as this was, but the later 2/3 of the story will be just that – a story. Everyone will show up at some point, and it will have a happy ending between Haruhi and Kyon, with a heavy focus on him developing real friendship through trials with the other main characters.
Please hit me up with comments on how to improve my writing.