It started out like every other day. That's how these stories all start out, right? Well, this was really like every other day. No Haruhi, no SOS Brigade craziness during school, no nothing. I mean, sure, Haruhi had been in class, but she was in one of her little 'moods' and I wasn't really worth the energy to be spoken to in more than monosyllabic grunts. The longest sentence I heard out of her all day was, "We've got a Brigade meeting today."

Thanks, I really wanted to know.

I found myself walking in the wrong direction after class—I wanted to go home, not to the club room! But, as always, my feet just carried me to the wrong place.

There was an interception.

This girl comes running out of a classroom to my right and she's laughing about something. She turns to me and asks me my name, and I tell her. She laughs loudly and thanks me, and runs back into the class room.

So much for my ordinary day.

The club meeting was the same as usual—uneventful—and Haruhi declared that no one was allowed to be late to tomorrow's meeting or, as usual—"The death penalty!" I don't think she realizes that it's not that much of a threat anymore.

So, the next day after my epic trek to school, I arrived at my shoe locker with an inexplicable sense of dread. I had no idea where the feeling was coming from, until I opened the door, and there was a little envelope sitting on top of my shoes. It was a pale pink envelope, addressed to me by my real name—not just to Kyon—in sparkly purple ink. It was sealed with a heart-shaped sticker on the back.

"Oh, no."

The last time I got a note in my locker, I was almost killed.

Opening it and reading it, the sense of dread only grew. It gave no name, nothing much more than, "I really have something important to tell you, come to so-and-so place at so-and-so time." No reason for me to be there, no hint of the urgency. I made up my mind, then and there, that I wouldn't be at the specified room at the time on the card.

And yet, there I was at the time specified in the note. I was going to either be dead from this encounter, or find that it's nothing at all and be dead from Haruhi's promise of a "death penalty". Maybe she's serious this time? In any case, I was absolutely ready to head for the hills at the first sign of a threat. I didn't need any more brushes with death, Haruhi-related or not!

With sweaty palms I gripped the door and slid it open. Without opening my eyes, I figured there was no one there, so I immediately turned on my heel and made to leave. Until someone called my name. I looked back; standing in the middle of the room was a young girl from my class. She sat in the front, I knew that much. I didn't know her name, but I'd heard that she was very, very shy. She looked like she was quivering like a scared puppy dog.

Okay, so what was I expecting?

"I'm so happy you came, K—"

"Kyon," I corrected her. "Just call me Kyon. Everyone else does."

"I'm glad I can call you that," She replied awkwardly.

There was a long silence, and she stared determinately at her feet. She reminded me of Miss Asahina in that respect—trying to work up the courage to say something important. And, like the ever-determined Miss Asahina, she finally found the words.

"K-kyon, I've been wanting to say this for a really long time. I… I'm sure you didn't notice, but I went to your middle school, too. Um, we were in different classes then. But, still… I wanted to say… I really, really like you. I h-have for a very, very long time."

Okay, waiting for the crazy attack of doom to start! Come on, come on, anything, anything in the wide world of aliens, crazy robot chicks, giant snot monsters… anything's got to be better than this!

The first thing that flashed through my mind was Haruhi. It was like something out of a nightmare. I'm just sitting in class, minding my own business, and all of the sudden I'm being strangled with my tie, and Haruhi's the one lifting me out of my chair.

"So, Kyon!" says Nightmare-Haruhi. "Who's this new girl, huh?" She has that look of mock-sweetness, or maybe the look of a hungry snake happy to find some lunch.

I find myself answering, "Sh-she's my girlfriend, okay?! Let go!" She drops me, just like that.

"We'll have to take care of that, won't we?"

And in my sudden afternoon nightmare, I watch a multitude of bad scenarios: Haruhi killing the poor girl, the world exploding, buckets of water on doorframes, nails in her shoes; every prank on the planet ranging from the mundane to the vile.

"K-kyon?" The girl's voice was what brought me back to reality, and I jumped a little bit. "D-do you want to… I don't know… go out with me sometime, or something?"

Crap! I start stammering, "I'm not so—well, you see… the thing is…"

My mind's not done with its little slideshow, it seems. All of the sudden, memories and fantasies just assault me completely out of the blue.

Haruhi.

First, she's running up to me in the park on Sunday, wearing a short skirt, dark leggings and a heavy coat over the whole piece. "I'm not late!" she protests, producing hot canned coffee out of her pockets. "I'm not late, I'm just generous! There's no penalty when someone goes completely out of her way…" Scene change: We're at the school, filming. Itsuki says something funny—at least to Haruhi and Tsuruya—and they both crack up. Haruhi has this quality about her when she laughs, when she genuinely laughs… she just completely abandons her tough exterior and lets loose. But she snaps back to complete and utter seriousness when I remind her of the time and that we have to finish the movie today. Scene change again! Haruhi's bought a really, really, really, really skimpy outfit for an attempt at getting attention. This one has matching outfits for Yuki and Miss Asahina—they're vaguely Christmas-y. Haruhi's wearing this tiny, sleeveless Santa top and red, white fur-lined miniskirt combo. I don't even know what the other two are—the scene changes suddenly again and it's just Haruhi and me and we're standing somewhere. It's still cold outside, but spring's coming. I think we're on a bridge, or maybe the top of the school, because we can see everything up here, wherever we are. A view right out to the sea…

I whisper something to her, and she looks up at me. I kiss her on the forehead and grasp her small hands in mine. We aren't wearing gloves, and the softness of her hands surprises me.

"I can't." I whispered.

The girl looked up at me suddenly, with a look of horror on her face, the only thing that was really inhabiting the world I was in. Haruhi was in the other building, probably counting how many dinners I would have to buy as punishment.

"I'm sorry, but I can't." I continued. "I'm… I like someone else. And, you know… I'd really like to try for them, even though it might be a little hopeless." She looked close to tears, but I looked up and smiled. "You want to try for them, even though you don't think you'll get them, right?"

The girl nodded sadly, but put a smile on her face. "I'll be rooting for you, Kyon."

"Thanks. I've got to go, I'm a bit late for my club meeting." She nodded, and I headed out.

The closer I got to the clubroom, the quicker my pace became. I wanted to see her today, I really, really needed to see her. I got to the room, took a deep breath and opened the door.

"Sorry I'm la—"

"PENALTY!" The familiar voice echoed out into the hallway. I shut the door behind me.

Everyone was there, even Itsuki, who'd been skipping out on us lately. He was busy hemming a new dress on Miss Asahina, though he gave me a casual wave. Yuki was reading and acknowledged my presence with a nod.

And Haruhi was standing there in short camoflagued shorts and a black top. She looked like some anime character come to fight a war.

"Nice costume," I chuckled.

"Shut up. I came up with an idea for a new movie!"

As she relayed the plot to me—which, ultimately, made no sense at all—I started to think. I was really glad I told that girl the truth. I couldn't help but think that maybe, just maybe, Haruhi will grace me as my girlfriend for three minutes, or however long she feels like. The more I thought about it, the more I began to think.

Yeah. I kind of… I really can't wait for that day, actually.