Author's notes: The idea for this came to me a few weeks ago when I just lay back and thought, "I should do something with Nagato. Everyone likes Nagato. What could I do with her?" Immediately the mental image of Nagato as she appears in the opening scene came to mind. Figuring out how she got to be that way took only a minute. Hope you enjoy the results.

The characters and milieu of this fan fiction work are property of Nagaru Tanigawa, Kyoto Animation, and Funimation, except for the bullies, who are all my creation.

Revenge of the Weirdos

Nagato was late to the SOS Brigade meeting that day.

I say this in retrospect because, I am ashamed to say, none of us noticed at the time. Not that we didn't have good excuses. Nagato didn't exactly make it a point to draw attention to herself. Even by the standards of a person who spent entire meetings just sitting in a corner and reading, she was remarkably still, quiet, and unobtrusive. I think I've more than once made the analogy that she was more like a piece of furniture than a person. And if someone was difficult to notice when they were there, naturally it'd be even more difficult to notice when they weren't there, right?

...I feel like a dick for blaming any part of this on Nagato.

Anyway, we had another good excuse. This one was Haruhi's fault, and I have no problem whatsoever with putting some of the blame for this on Haruhi. A few days before, Haruhi had started fuming about the upcoming vote on whether or not to ban dog racing in our prefecture. In the minutes before homeroom started, she rattled off to me about a dozen reasons why the ban was such a stupid idea. I don't read the news much, so I couldn't say how accurate her facts were, but that the whole thing was irritating her was obvious.

"So make up some flyers with all that information, and we can hand them out," I said.

"Hmm. I guess that could work."

But no, apparently that wasn't good enough. When that afternoon's SOS Brigade meeting rolled around, Haruhi put her "editor-in-chief" armband on and announced that we were going to put out a newsletter. She assigned each of us stories to "investigate".

"I thought it was the dog racing thing that you were interested in," I objected.

"Don't worry." She smiled with pure confidence. "That'll be covered, too. But I already know all the facts about that issue, so there's no need for any of you to investigate it. I'll even write it up myself. The hard part's been done for you!"

"Hard part"? I thought that was going to be the only part.

"If our newsletter only discusses one issue, they'll just think we're pushing an agenda, and ignore it entirely. Covering all the major issues gives us credibility!"

Giving credibility to an illegitimate organization whose purpose is to seek out aliens, time travelers, espers, and sliders? I'm pretty sure that ship has sailed, Haruhi.

But I figured there would be no talking her out of this one, so I just resigned myself to following her latest crazy assignment.

"It seems I've been doing that a lot lately," I remarked to Koizumi.

His usual smile increased. "Perhaps it's not that you think it impossible to talk her out of it, but that you like the idea. Thanks to your influence, Miss Suzumiya has been introducing fewer unethical or implausible projects, and taking an interest in projects which serve the betterment of society. Though I highly doubt that her sole purpose in taking this new direction was to win more wholehearted support from you, she has certainly succeeded on that front."

Well, maybe. But Haruhi herself clearly didn't think so.

"Try to put a little effort into your assignment for a change, will you, Kyon?" she said as she gathered her stuff up to leave. "You've been holding the rest of us back. Right now I can think of five people who I'm 110% confident would do a better job than you've been doing if I recruited them to the SOS Brigade. Shape up, or you're out of here."

I guess I'm out, then. There was simply no way I could ever measure up to Haruhi's standards. I'd even made the attempt, on one or two occasions. The only time she ever expressed satisfaction with my work was the editing for the movie, and of course, I didn't actually do any of the impressive parts of that. In the great road race of life, I'd be lucky to be eating Haruhi's dust. Heck, I'd be lucky if I could make her out as a faint dot in the distance.

But I digress. The sole point of all this preamble is that, on the day that Nagato was late, Haruhi had turned the clubroom into such a mad hubbub of activity that you could almost mistake it for a real newspaper office. Under those conditions, it was easy to overlook a missing member. Our investigating was more or less done, and we were all typing our articles up on our laptops while Haruhi bellowed out orders.

"Word count limits, Mikuru! Do you not understand the concept? Just because I'm the editor doesn't mean I have the time to cut all the fat from your article! Kyon! This is a newsletter, not a literary pamphlet! Or can't you write anything without making an analogy to some obscure historical event?"

Could you at least hold off on the criticisms until I've finished my first draft? Having you read over my shoulder and deride while I'm typing is very nerve-wracking.

"Keep cracking at it, people! I want those articles done by five! Ooo, interesting facts you've dug up there, Koizumi! I think we may have a scoop!"

Seriously, Koizumi thinks that Haruhi is infatuated with me?

Don't smile at me like that, you jerk. I'm not glaring at you because I'm jealous. I'm glaring at you because I know you're a damn cheat. I could have gotten a hot scoop too if I had a secret organization with ties to the rich and powerful to do my research.

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the clubroom door opening. It startled me, because I thought all of the Brigade members were already present, and the clubroom didn't get visitors often. I spun around to see Nagato standing in the doorway.

With one very striking deviation in her appearance.

I wondered how much it would have stood out if Nagato's appearance weren't so constant and unwavering. She always wore her school uniform, even outside of school. Her facial expression had never seen the quirk of a smile, a blush, or even a squint. Even her hair didn't once vary from that short cropped, mathematical style, as though she had it trimmed daily.

Until today.

Standing in that doorway, Nagato looked the same from her jawline down, but every last strand of hair on her head was gone. Shaven perfectly clean. Combined with that neutral expression on her face, she looked like that girl from Stranger Things.

"Omigod."

This utterance came from Haruhi, the only one in the room who wasn't reduced to shocked silence by Nagato's appearance. She dashed from Koizumi's side and clasped the new arrival by her arms.

"Yuki! Are you okay?"

She just nodded in response.

"Mikuru! Get her some tea, right away!"

"Y-yes!" Due to the newsletter work, no tea had been prepared, so Miss Asahina scrambled to get the water heated and tea leaves ready.

"Kyon! Don't just sit there being useless! Get Yuki a chair!"

I brought Nagato a chair. She sat down deliberately, as though only to comply with Haruhi's wish.

"Koizumi! Search the halls for the culprits!"

"Yes, Miss Suzumiya." He ran past us, out the clubroom door.

I could have gone after him, I suppose, but I was more worried about Nagato. Besides, we might have actually caught the culprits, and I wasn't enthusiastic about getting shoved into lockers.

"Who did this to you?" I asked Nagato.

She looked at Haruhi instead. "I must type up my article."

"That can wait," Haruhi said. "Kyon asked you a question."

Nagato looked at me, and I thought I saw a query behind her cool expression.

Come on, Nagato, answer the question. I would never force you to tell me anything you don't want to tell me, but now Haruhi is asking you too.

"I did," she said.

Haruhi's eyes widened. "You did?"

"I thought I would try something different."

Good grief. For once, Nagato, would you not insist on taking all your burdens on your own two shoulders? And seriously, not even Haruhi is going to buy that ridiculous lie.

"Just a different hairstyle, huh?" Haruhi said. "I get it."

...aaaand I somehow managed to overestimate her.

But then Haruhi leaned in close, her forehead almost touching Nagato's. "You think I'm stupid." Her voice wasn't angry. It sounded more... disappointed, even offended.

Nagato looked somewhat confused. "No."

"Then tell me who really did this to you. We're going to make sure they never do anything like this ever again."

As worded, these were my thoughts exactly, but coming from Haruhi, I didn't like the sound of that.

Nagato answered: "Haruta, Inokuchi, Yamamoto, and Nozawa."

Haruhi nodded, and withdrew from Nagato's personal space. "Hmm. Kyon, who are those people?"

"Why are you asking me?" I said. "Do you think I run with their gang or something?"

"Um..." Miss Asahina turned away momentarily from her tea preparations. "If that's Tomohiro Nozawa she's talking about, he's in my class. He bothered me a lot at the beginning of the school year, but Miss Tsuruya made him stop."

"Bothered" her? If any of the interpretations of that term which spring to mind are true, I'm surprised that the boys of Miss Asahina's class let Mr. Nozawa live this long.

"So, they're upperclassmen." Haruhi folded her arms. "I'll have to take a look at school records. Get their classes and home addresses down. Then we'll teach them a lesson!"

"Why don't we just tell the school administration, and not risk getting beaten up?" I suggested.

Haruhi "tsk tsk"ed. "You put too much trust in those empty suits, Kyon. Besides, if we turn to them, people will think the SOS Brigade can't fight their own battles. It's our job to eliminate evil wherever we find it. That's a sacred duty we can't pass on to anyone else."

"Get real for once. We're not a fighting force," I said, gesturing towards Nagato, sitting docilely with her shaved head, and Miss Asahina, trembling beside a pot of tea. "If we go messing with these guys, someone's going to get hurt."

I had anticipated Haruhi might brush my concerns aside, but her actual reaction was a surprise. She looked utterly taken aback, as if I were the one who had suggested something that was likely to hurt out friends.

She opened her mouth for an angry rebuttal, but at that moment Koizumi came back. "I'm afraid I found no sign of anyone." His voice sounded significantly higher than normal, but that could have just been my imagination.

The brigade chief nodded, her momentary rage at me forgotten. "I anticipated as much. Well, let's document what evidence we have." Before I could question what she meant, Haruhi dug into one of her boxes of stuff, whipped out a camera, and snapped three photos of Nagato sitting there with her bald head. "Perfect."

What is that supposed to prove? Anyone who sees those photos and knows anything about you will think you shaved Nagato's head yourself.

"Of course these photos are insufficient by themselves. But something may come up. You have to gather every resource that comes your way."

Nagato inclined her head. "I must finish my article."

"For the newsletter? Don't worry about that right - Hmm. On second thought, that could be a great way to take your mind off things. Okay. Mikuru, get Yuki her tea, and then all of you get back to work. I'm going to get those school records."

"I'll come with you," I said. "I want to make sure you aren't doing any more snooping than you have to."

"Absolutely not. The students who did this to Yuki could still be lurking around, so it's no place for a coward like you out there." She forced a sneer; it did not fit well on her pretty face. "You're so worried about getting beaten up, you can just stay right here, and Koizumi will protect you."

Apparently her rage at me wasn't so momentary, or forgotten. Watching the graceful sweep of her hair as she turned and left, I couldn't help but wonder if that hair would be gone the next time I saw her.

Koizumi laid a hand on my shoulder and leaned close to my ear. "You know, you're not fooling Miss Suzumiya. She knows you well enough to see through the thin excuses you always give for accompanying her into dangerous territory."

I leaned away from him. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You did the same thing in the mansion during the snowstorm. You should simply tell her the truth. It's not as if wanting to protect Miss Suzumiya implies that you're in love with her. After all, you'd do the same for Miss Asahina or Miss Nagato, would you not?"

"But for different reasons. I'm not interested in protecting Haruhi. She causes trouble when she's unsupervised."

He sighed and released my shoulder. "As you like. But remember, Miss Suzumiya knows you better than I. If you're not fooling me, you're certainly not fooling her."

If anyone was being fooled here, it was Koizumi, fooling himself. For the moment, and plenty moments after that, Nagato's problem far trumped any concerns I might have about Haruhi. Her face had maintained its normal, neutral expression from the moment she walked into the clubroom, but I knew better than to think that all was as usual beneath the surface.

I also realized why she had come up with such a ridiculous lie to explain her shaved head. Nagato was a person who lived by Ockham's Razor when it came to interacting with other people. She assumed the simplest story would work best, not realizing that in this case, something a bit more complicated would be more believable, such as that she got gum stuck in her hair, had to cut it out, and that this ruined her haircut so badly that only shaving it off could improve matters.

I grabbed a chair and set up a seat for myself beside her. She was already typing away for her article. "How are you?" I asked.

Her eyes did not waver from her laptop screen. "Confused."

"I see."

"I do not understand the purpose of the removal of the hair from the top of my head. Haruta, Inokuchi, Yamamoto, and Nozawa's vocal intonations, facial expressions, and use of physical force upon my body suggested that this was meant to disempower me in some respect. However, unlike the eyebrows, the hair on the top of a human's head serves little practical function. It can be made to serve cosmetic purposes, such as conveying a more professional appearance or attracting a mate, but I have not styled it to serve any such purpose. I had concluded the removal of my hair to be purely illogical behavior, a phenomenon occasionally demonstrated by humans. However, your reactions to seeing me suggest that Haruta, Inokuchi, Yamamoto, and Nozawa were successful in disempowering me." She turned to face me. "Explain."

I scratched the side of my head. "It may be better if you don't understand. Um, couldn't you just stop them?"

"Doing so was impossible without demonstrating capabilities exceeding those of a human teenage girl."

Of course. How infuriating. Nagato was capable of battling off forces which could destroy the entire school, yet she was a helpless victim to a handful of common bullies.

"Were you frightened?" I asked, though I immediately felt the question was rude.

She had turned back to her laptop. "A little. Until they were finished, it was not clear what they intended to do with me. If I were disgraced in some manner, it might disturb Haruhi Suzumiya's peace of mind."

"Will you worry about yourself for a change?"

"They were not capable of harming me."

I guess not, but that didn't stop me from wanting to pound their worthless faces into the ground. "How long will it take for your hair to grow back?"

"Since its absence upsets you and Miss Suzumiya, I have adjusted its growth rate to 15% higher than average. Full restoration in 94 days. Hair will appear normal to local standards in approximately one month."

Great. This despite the fact that she could just alter information and return her hair to exactly the way it was in an instant. I was tempted to ask her to do just that; sure, it would blow her cover, but the looks on the faces of those assholes when Nagato came to school the next day with her hair the same as always would surely be priceless. The situation must be so frustrating to her. Despite what she said, I knew being victimized in this way had to be humiliating.

Still, there was nothing we could do about it now. Except make sure they never harass Nagato again.

Haruhi returned to the clubroom unharmed, which was a relief. The sight of her with a shaved head would have probably traumatized me for life.

"Were you successful?" Koizumi asked.

"Of course!" She held up a notebook. "Copied all the information down. Now I just need to go online and get their mug shots."

She sat down at her computer and got to work. Five minutes later she called Koizumi, Miss Asahina, and myself over to look at the photos she'd pulled up.

"These are our targets. Burn their images into your retinas," she ordered.

"Oh, no need," Koizumi said. "I'm already familiar with the four gentlemen, if the term can be used so loosely."

Well, that figured. Koizumi's job probably involved knowing every student in the school and their status as esper/alien/time traveler/normal human. Though I had to admit, looking at those photos, I realized I'd seen two of them around myself. They taunted me when I passed them in the halls sometimes. You know, "Gathering carrots for your bunnies?", or "What's the matter? E.T. not returning your calls?" Brain-dead derision that went over me like water on a duck's back, not even worth directing my snark at. The ridicule they hurled at Haruhi when she and I walked to the clubroom together meant even less. But going after Nagato was crossing the line.

"Alright, here's the plan," Haruhi said. "First, we stop by my house to pick up some supplies. Nozawa's house is closest to mine, so we'll hit him first. Then we'll move on to Yamamoto. After that, we'll adjorn for the day, and Koizumi will escort Yuki home. Give them a few hours to stew over it and wonder which of them will be next. Tomorrow, we'll get Haruta and Inokuchi at school, when they're least expecting it. Then we'll meet here as usual to discuss phase three. Questions?"

"How exactly are we going to 'hit' them?" I asked.

"'We'? Oh, no. We don't need a coward holding us back. Besides, you still need to finish writing your article."

I sighed. "Come on. Just because I question the way you're going about this doesn't mean I don't want to help get back at the creeps who did this to Nagato."

"I hate waffling. You said we'll get beat up if we try anything, so you're obviously afraid. You're pretending to be brave now, to make yourself look good, but if we bring you along you'll buckle by the time we get to Nozawa's place." She stood up, hefted her bag over her shoulder, and walked out of the clubroom, the others shuffling along behind her. "You'd better do a good job on your article, Kyon."

I didn't move from where I stood, instead raising the volume of my voice several notches. "I said, I want to help."

Haruhi stopped just outside the door. But she didn't turn around. "Participating in this mission won't get you out of writing that article."

"I know."

She turned around and looked me in the eye. "Then get your butt in gear."

When we left Haruhi's house, I was tasked with carrying four jugs of water and a toolbox, in addition to my bookbag. My hands were fully burdened by the jugs, so I had to carry the toolbox tucked under one arm. Meanwhile, Haruhi's favored one, Koizumi, had only two cans of spray paint to carry, and Miss Asahina bore the 16-pack of toilet paper. Haruhi had dropped off her bookbag at her house, so her sole burden was a spray bottle filled with a clear, yellow-tinged liquid. This same spray bottle was empty when she took it with her into the bathroom and locked the door, but for the sake of my sanity I'm still going to pretend that I have no idea what's in it.

As we walked, my arms aching with every step, Miss Asahina sidled up to me. "Um... I was thinking of how we might somehow... make Miss Nagato's embarrassment a little easier..."

"Oh?"

"Well, if she wore a wool hat, no one could tell her head was shaved. I have a spare that I can let her borrow, and it won't look out of place. It is winter, after all."

Indeed it was. The dull pain in my arm muscles had but one competition for the biggest irritation on my mind, and that was the icy wind that managed to stab even through my scarf.

But I shook my head. "If you do that, one of those bullies will just grab the hat off her head. You may never get it back, and Nagato's humiliation will be twice as bad for having tried to hide it."

"Oh... I guess that's true."

For her, I managed a smile. "It was a good thought. I'm sure Nagato would be happy to know you're thinking of her."

When I said that, her eyes darted towards Nagato, as though she feared the extraterrestrial member of the SOS Brigade might really know what she was thinking. "I don't know. I'm not sure she even cares about this. When I brought her her tea earlier, she had exactly the same expression on her face as she does whenever I bring her tea. It was creepy."

"You have to watch for the subtle changes in Nagato's expressions."

"Hnn? I guess I'll try that."

I had to admit, even I was having a hard time seeing those changes. Looking at Nagato now, you could almost believe there was still a full crop of hair on her head. Her eyelids hadn't deviated even a millimeter from their usual position whenever we were walking to an SOS Brigade activity. She looked totally normal.

Still, even if that were true, the intent mattered, didn't it? Those jerks had no idea they were hazing a super-alien rather than a meek, reclusive bookworm.

"There may be some truth to what Miss Asahina says." Koizumi came up behind me and Miss Asahina and inserted his face between ours, much to my annoyance. "However, a counter attack against Miss Nagato's molesters is still warranted. It would be most unpleasant if Miss Suzumiya or Asahina were their next target."

"What makes you think there are going to be any more targets?" I said.

"There already have been. I didn't say anything so as not to give Miss Suzumiya further cause to be upset, but when I left the clubroom earlier, I was set upon by our foes."

"You look fine to me. What did they do?"

"Nothing terribly original. A wedgie. Frankly, I'm anxious to finish this mission so I can get home and get a fresh pair of underwear."

Thanks for sharing that last little detail. "So they're targeting the entire SOS Brigade?"

"So it would seem."

"You poor dear," Miss Asahina said, clasping Koizumi's arm. "It was so brave of you to go and face them alone."

Arrrgh. At least there's still one female member of the SOS Brigade who isn't fawning over Koizumi. I'll always have you, Nagato.

"We're here!" Haruhi announced.

So we were. I wouldn't have thought so, given how unexpectedly cozy and innocent the house looked, but the number and family name on the front door both matched. The lights were on inside, and I ducked my head in a feeble attempt to avoid being spotted.

"Do not be afraid," Nagato told me. "I have altered the information for the windows to filter out any light reflecting from our bodies and equipment."

"Which means...?"

"Those inside the house cannot see us."

Haruhi whipped around to face us, like a sergeant addressing her troops. "Okay, I don't want to make Kyon carry those heavy jugs any longer than necessary, so let's give this one the water treatment."

Which is what?

"Pour it over the front steps and the driveway."

Good grief. "In this weather, it'll freeze overnight. It'll be like one sheet of ice."

Haruhi rolled her eyes. "Wow, you catch on fast."

"You can't be serious. Nozawa could fall and break something. One of his parents could fall and break something."

"If they raised their kid so badly that he's shaving innocent girls' heads, they deserve to. And didn't you say you wanted to help? I knew you'd go back on your word."

"I'm going to help! It's just, this is going too far. Even you have to see that. What if he has little brothers and sisters?"

Haruhi folded her arms and sighed. "I suppose that is a concern. Generally I'd expect the siblings to be like their brother, but they can be totally different. Like your sister. She's sweet and thoughtful. And brave." She started to tap her foot. "Hmm. We can't have brought all those water jugs for nothing. ...Okay, new plan. We'll pour the water on all his clothes and leave them outside. Kyon, climb up to his bedroom and toss his clothes down."

"What? I could be arrested for breaking and entering! Besides, you're the athlete. Why don't you climb up there?"

"You wanted a plan B, I gave you a plan B. So it's either that, or we go back to plan A." She paused. "Or you really wow me and come up with a plan C. But I'm not holding my breath for that."

The worst part was, she was right. I didn't have the imagination to come up with an alternative. "How do you even know that's his bedroom?"

"Hmm? I saw Nagato looking up at that window. I thought she must know."

I looked at Nagato. She nodded.

Dammit, Haruhi. I'm supposed to be the only one who can read Nagato.

"Do not worry," Nagato said. "I will not let you fall."

That was good enough for me, so within a few minutes I was sidling my way up the branch of a nearby tree. Nagato monitored me from below, Koizumi and Asahina stood watch, and Haruhi sprayed the side of the house with the I-swear-I-have-no-idea-what-it-is, like an animal marking her territory.

I got high enough to look into the bedroom. The good news was, Nozawa was absent. The hour was late enough that they might be having dinner. The bad news: It was now apparent that this branch wasn't going to support my weight if I went out any further, and I still was nowhere near close enough to reach the window.

"Um... Haruhi?" I hissed, trying to get her to hear me without being loud enough to be heard by one of the residents. "It's too far."

"Jump for it," she said.

Right. And break my neck. That'd make you happy?

She set aside the spray bottle and looked up at me. "It's not that far. If you fall, I'll catch you."

That was not reassuring. I cast a pleading look at Nagato.

The humanoid interface looked back at me. "Let go," she said.

Good grief. They're both trying to kill me.

"Come on." The wind blew a few strands of hair into Haruhi's face, and she pushed them aside. "We haven't got all night." She was looking impatient, but there was something else there, too...

What was I thinking? Ridiculous as it sounded, if Haruhi said she would catch me, she would catch me. Whatever her faults, she wouldn't let me come to harm. And if Nagato said she wouldn't let me fall, she wouldn't.

I trusted them.

I looked back to the window, my goal. I steadied myself, let go with my hands, and kicked off with my legs...

...and my hands rocketed towards the window sill as if seized by some monumental magnetic force.

"Gyaaaahhh!"

My hands clutched tight to the sill as soon as they reached it. Maybe it was the sheer terror giving my brain a higher than normal level of lucidity, but I immediately thought back to the "homing mode" Nagato employed during our game against the Kamigahara Pirates, and realized there was a good reason why Nagato told me to let go.

"Wooo! Great jump, Kyon!" Haruhi cheered.

I appreciate the rare show of praise, but could you keep it down a notch? Though if anything were going to alert the neighborhood, I guess that scream I just let out would do it. Hopefully Nagato has blocked us from being heard as well as seen.

Even with my feet planted against the side of the house, it already felt like my arm muscles were about to give up from holding up my body weight, and I had the terrifying thought that I might wind up hanging from the sill, my hands held in place solely by Nagato's homing mode. I adjusted my grip, and came to the even more terrifying realization that while whatever Nagato did had brought my hands this far, they weren't holding them there.

You had better catch me if I fall, Haruhi, or I swear I'll never let you hear the end of this.

Somehow I managed to pull myself up and pry open the window. Maybe Haruhi was giving me an invisible push.

Nagato never said that she could protect me from detection while I was inside the house, so I didn't waste any time. I grabbed an armful of shirts, threw them out the window, crumpled together Nozawa's North High uniforms, threw them out the window, and then climbed out the window myself. I suspected that Haruhi meant me to get his whole wardrobe, but she didn't say that, and I wasn't risking staying in that room for any longer than necessary.

After a Nagato-enabled (but still terrifying) jump back to the tree, I climbed down to the ground, where Koizumi and Asahina were pouring water over the clothes I'd pilfered. To my surprise, Miss Asahina had a satisfied smile on her face as they did this. I guess Nozawa really did "bother" her.

All in all, I didn't feel too bad about this. Yes, it was criminal, but we weren't really hurting anyone, just dishing out some much-deserved aggravation and humiliation. Nozawa should count himself lucky that his only punishment for harassing such wonderful people as Miss Asahina and Nagato was an icy uniform. And no one had spotted us, so no one could know we were even here.

Wait a second... Where's Haruhi?

I darted around looking, and felt some relief when I quickly spotted her around front. She was just finishing spray painting something on the front door. My good feeling subsided considerably at having vandalism added to the list of our crimes, but that was nothing compared to the dive it took when I saw what she had painted.

"Are you trying to get us arrested?" I moaned, feeling the urge to sink to my knees in despair. Haruhi's art skills weren't great, or even decent, and her spray paint can selection had limited her color palette to green and magenta, but the SOS Brigade logo was still recognizable.

"What are you talking about? No one but students at North High even know the SOS Brigade exists." She added, "Unfortunately."

"Nozawa knows."

"That's the idea. If we don't let them know we're behind this, they'll think they can keep on bullying Nagato without repercussions."

"And when he tells the authorities -"

"Tells them what? That a handful of underclassmen got the best of him? If word of that gets around, he won't be able to show his face to his fellow bullies. Even if he does tell, we'll just say they drew it themselves to try to frame us. Besides, this is just phase one. We've got two more phases to go, remember?"

Yeah. And now I'm really dreading phase three.

To be concluded in two weeks