I tightened my tie a little bit more as I made my way towards North High. I had been sick for almost a week…the doctor said it was a nasty case of the flu. Not that I minded, of course. I mean, a whole week of not having to deal with the strange and slightly violent tendencies of Haruhi Suzumiya was probably the best thing I could ask for. But, good things can only last so long, and alas, this morning my temperature was a sickeningly normal 98.6 degrees. Hooray.

Now I'm not saying that I hate Haruhi and her SOS Brigade…it just wears me out trying to keep up with the fast pace they set for themselves. After all, I'm apparently the only human member of the club that Haruhi put together. It isn't the easiest thing keeping track of Haruhi's god powers and the weirdoes they seem to attract. But, I suppose I just have to deal with it. After all, I am her "chosen one" or something like that. How lame is that? It's sounds like something straight out of a Gaku Tsugano manga or something.

Well, whatever.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!!!!! Do you realize how many important club activities you missed while you where gone?! Unforgivable!" Haruhi screamed into my face.

I sighed. Well, at least I was expecting this sort of reaction. "Sorry Haruhi. I can't help that I was sick." I didn't feel the need to add that I probably missed absolutely nothing important, as the SOS Brigade did nothing productive. EVER. I wouldn't want to anger Haruhi. That would only cause more trouble later on down the road.

Haruhi growled and flipped her hair violently. I could feel irritation emanating from her in waves as she slammed her fist on the desk. "Oh well. It's your loss I guess."

I sighed and managed to say with some enthusiasm, "That's a real bummer."

For some reason, my statement (or rather, my lie) cheered her up, and she immediately began to talk to me again, as if she hadn't wanted to kill me nearly 40 seconds ago. Her eyes sparkled with excitement as she began to fill me in on the club's newest activity. "Not to worry Kyon! You got better just in time to work on our newest project with us!" Haruhi exclaimed, her arms flailing dangerously through the air.

I raised my eyebrow suspiciously. "What type of project?'

She grinned devilishly at me. "We, the SOS Brigade, are going to help out a failing business in hopes of finding a Time-Traveler, Alien, or Esper! It's that old sushi place on the far side of town. Hmmm…what was the name again?"

My mouth fell open in disbelief. "You don't mean Futotta Sushi, do you?"

Haruhi's eyes flashed with recognition. "A-ha! That's right! Futotta Sushi!"

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "Haruhi, that place is located in the shadiest part of the city! Not only that, but it's where all of the worst gangs like to hang out. Are you trying to kill us?"

"Come on Kyon! Where's your sense of adventure? It's an easy job; We just have to wait tables for the day. It's the perfect chance to gather information. Plus, we can make some extra cash on the side! There's this great costume I found on the internet for Mikuru!"

"Well, Miss Asahina will never be able to wear that costume if we're all killed by rowdy gang-bangers! Did that thought ever occur to you?!"

Haruhi just smiled at me. "During lunch hour, meet us in the clubroom. I already cleared this whole trip with the teachers, so it's an excused absence."

I couldn't believe that this was happening. "They approved for us to skip school and work at a hoodlum infested sushi parlor?"

"Well, I was sparing on the details…I just put it down as community service, and what'ddya know! They approved it!" Haruhi chirped happily. "Anyway, you'd better show up mister. Cuz' if you don't, it's the DEATH PENALTY!"

I tried to say something, but Haruhi cut me off and began talking about Miss Asahina's new costume. She wasn't willing to listen to reason. I was going to have to go and do this thing. I reached into my bag, grabbed a pen and a piece of paper, and began writing my will.

Finally, the dreaded time had arrived. I felt the fear wriggling inside my stomach as the lunch bell rang. Haruhi jumped out of her seat and ran for the door. "Grab everything you need, and get your butt over to the club room! I'll see you there, okay Kyon?! Bye!" She called over her shoulder as she dashed into the hallway. I just stared after her for a while, until my legs decided that it was time to get up out of my seat and follow her. I felt like a zombie as I trudged to the SOS Brigade clubroom. I took a deep breath as I neared the club room's door. Well, at least I led a good life…I think… And with that thought, I hesitantly opened the door joined the other members of the SOS Brigade.

At least Haruhi had the decency to hire a cabbie to drive us to the restaurant, rather than wander the streets and risk getting caught in gun crossfire. However, it seemed as though I still had to be a little uncomfortable. So who could possibly have sat next to me in the tiny, pungent, and musty cab? Why, it was none other than Itsuki Koizumi. Ha-ha. Great. Just great.

The guy is nice and all, but I just get really nervous whenever he's around. Everyone sees him as a perfect person, who's always radiant and constantly grinning, but all I see is a person trying to hard to keep up a façade. His eyes and smile are always fake--anyone could see that. He's always telling me more than I ever want to know about the situation I've been dragged into, (The Haruhi situation, for those who hadn't guessed that already) and has no concept of personal space. None. Whatsoever.

Which is the problem that I found myself dealing with at the moment. Itsuki felt the need to press his entire right side up against me, even though there was room, however little room that may be, to move in the other direction. I was feeling extremely claustrophobic. And to make things even worse, I would look over at him, only to find him staring at me intently. I sighed. Could this day get any worse?

Finally we pulled up to the run down sushi place we were to work at for the rest of the day. Haruhi paid the nice taxi driver and noisily ushered us out of the car. Koizumi turned to me and flashed one of his trademark fake grins. "Well, you heard the lady. Shall we go?"

I just grunted quietly and stumbled out of the car. Koizumi came right behind me, although his ascension was executed far more gracefully than mine. Once everyone was standing in front of the restaurant, Haruhi did a personal victory dance. "Alrighty SOS Brigadiers, let's do our best today! Work hard, be nice to the customers, and most importantly…KEEP A LOOKOUT FOR STRANGE PARANORMAL ACTIVITY! Now let's go serve some sushi!"

We all nodded and entered the filthiest building I had ever been in in my entire life. An equally filthy old woman stood by the kitchen doors in the back of the room to greet us. "Oh my, there you are! Thank you again for your help today. It is much appreciated."

Well at least the owner was nice. The granny took a step or two closer to us and began to explain our duties for the day. Mikuru would help the old broad in the kitchen, while Haruhi, Nagato, Koizumi and I waited tables. After receiving a nasty looking red apron, we where put straight to work. Haruhi grabbed Nagato her and dragged to the left side of the restaurant, leaving me with Koizumi and the right side of this dump of an eatery. I closed my eyes and grumbled quietly in my exasperation. Why the hell do I keep getting stuck with Koizumi?! My luck today has really gone sour. God must hate me. Oh--wait. Haruhi is god. Right. That explains a lot.

I opened my eyes, now somewhat collected, only to find Koizumi staring at me with those probing eyes of his. He smiled at me and gestured to the tables, which, surprisingly, were filled with hungry customers. "Are you ready to work Kyon?"

I nodded, swallowing the fear that once again was rising in my throat. All of the restaurant's patrons looked like a member of the yakuza. "Let's go Koizumi."

The customers, I found, were a lot nicer than they looked. Especially when being served by Koizumi. His winning plastic smile seemed to win all the hoodlums over, melting their icy hearts. Or something like that. But, even while taking orders from the scum of the earth, he still managed to find opportunities to just stare at me.

I can honestly never tell what that guy is thinking. He hardly ever shows his true nature to anyone, and when he does, it is only briefly, so as to give nothing about himself away. And I really don't like the fact that I know much about him, except that he's an Esper, and that he always loses at games. I think it might be nice to know the real Itsuki Koizumi… maybe even get to see a real smile or two. I bet he's beautiful when he actually… Wha--? Wait a minute…What did I just think?! Did that thought seriously just cross my mind? That's…that's just---!

"Ouch!" The customer I was serving exclaimed. I was abruptly jerked from my thoughts, and realized that I had spilled hot coffee all over the man's lap.

"Ah--! Sir, I am so sorry…I didn't mean to--"

"What the HELL?! Were you sleepwalking, you damn kid?! I ought a sock you one right now!" he growled, taking a threatening stance in front of me. He was a good three feet taller than me, and had these insanely large muscles. I took a step back…

And ran right into Koizumi. He gently pushed me to the side and stood between me and Mr. Muscles. "I am so sorry about what just happened sir. I assure you that nothing like that will happen again. Now, if you would be so kind as to sit down, I'll get you another coffee." And to seal the deal, he threw in his trademark fake grin to finish the angry customer off.

The hulkish man grunted in affirmation and sat down once again. Koizumi apologized one last time, then left to bring out the fresh coffee he had promised. I followed after him. "Koizumi! Thanks for that back there. That guy could've beaten me senseless."

He stopped in front of the coffee maker and glanced back at me. "Oh, it was no trouble at all. I'm just glad it ended well."

I nodded. It could have turned out pretty badly if he hadn't have stepped in. As he began to fill up the coffee mug, I noticed that his apron had become untied. Before I could really think about what I was doing, I reached out and grabbed the two ties. My hands brushed against his back, and I felt Koizumi jump at the sudden unexpected contact. "Kyon? What are you--?"

"Your apron came undone. So I'm just tying it really quickly." I answered, hastily tying the two strings together.

He stared back at me briefly, his expression unreadable. Then he returned his attention to the coffee, which he had spilled when he had jumped. I thought I saw his face grow red before he turned, but I wasn't sure. Was he embarrassed about spilling the coffee…or was it something else?

"Thank you for that Kyon." Koizumi said, mopping up the coffee puddle on the counter. Then he faced me, holding a full coffee mug and wearing that stupid smile. "Could you take this back to the gentleman who ordered it? And try not to spill it this time."

I rolled my eyes and gingerly took the mug from his slender hands. Wait! Slender? What is going on with me?

"Hurry, before he finds another reason to beat anyone else up." Koizumi urged, nodding in the direction of the Muscle man, who was tapping his fingers impatiently.

I took Koizumi's advice and gave the man his coffee.

The remainder of the day went by somewhat fast. But, heck, my mind wasn't really focused on waitering or whatever. I was too preoccupied with the fact that I may have found a chink in Koizumi's armor. And, of course, trying to figure out how to repeat my earlier success. The day in itself had turned out to be better than I ever would've thought. Well, that was until they came waltzing into the restaurant.

It was nearly closing time, and there were hardly anyone at the tables. Then, a large group of men in obnoxious pink jackets came through the door and sat on the right side of the sushi place. Just our luck. It was then that I noticed the numbers present on the back of the ridiculous pink jacket. It was then that I realized how much danger Koizumi and I were in.

While I was sick, I had been watching a good bit of television, the news in particular. One day, they showed this special inside report on the recent gang activity in the area, which spotlighted a dangerous gang called the Guys125's. They were a gang made up of incredibly violent gay men, from the ages of 20 to 50 years old. (Their gang name, the Guys125, was translated literally to guys love. The 1, 2, and 5 stood for the fingers on your hand that you use to make the love sign.) The gang would go around searching for young boys to kidnap, rape, and force into back alley prostitution. They were very good about keeping a low profile, resulting in them being excellent at avoiding the law. The news reporter had warned young boys from junior high age and up to stay away from this gang's turf. And that is exactly where this sushi restaurant was located. Ha ha.

I looked around for Koizumi, hoping to catch him in time to drag him away from these not so nice customers. But…I was too late. He was taking the entire party's orders, and I could tell by the looks in their eyes that they wanted Koizumi. My mind and heart were racing now, and I didn't know what to do.

As Koizumi walked away from the table, the gang members began to whisper amongst themselves. This was my opportunity to grab the Esper before they did. As Koizumi walked past my hiding place near the kitchen, I grabbed his hand and pulled him in. He was surprised and flustered, a blush gracing his cheeks as he looked at me with questioning eyes.

"Those guys are dangerous gangsters," I began, my voice low and urgent. "They kidnap boys and force them to be gigolos! You can't go back over there or they'll try something. They might abduct you!"

Koizumi blinked once or twice before it really sunk in that these guys might actually kidnap him. His face was once again unreadable as he began to leave the hiding place. "What are you doing?" I hissed, trying to tug him back.

He stood his ground. "Kyon, they already know I'm here. If I don't go back, they might start something. And if they're as dangerous as you say, then them getting rowdy in here would not be an ideal situation. Besides, what could they do in this restaurant? They wouldn't possibly try anything illegal here."

I tried to protest, but he shushed me. "Thank you for warning me Kyon. I promise I'll be careful."

And with that, he walked into the kitchen.

I couldn't believe the danger that Koizumi was in. He was a walking target; just their type. It was all Haruhi's fault that this was happening. Stupid Futotta Sushi.

Koizumi came out of the kitchen with two trayfuls of food for the Guys125's. They were sitting at that table looking like lions about to pounce on a big juicy wildebeest. I watched as he set down their meals, smiling as much as ever, and telling them to enjoy their food. He turned to leave, but a gang member on the end grabbed his arm gruffly. Koizumi looked over at him and smiled. "Please let go of me." I heard him say.

But the guy wouldn't let go. Koizumi's smile disappeared instantly and was replaced with a sharp, deadly stare. "Let go" he repeated, his tone much darker then before.

I couldn't watch anymore. I had to do something. Anything. With my newfound courage fueled by adrenaline, I stomped over to the table, slapped the man's hand away, and stood between him and his prize. "If you keep this up, we'll have to ask you to leave the restaurant,"

Before the guy could respond, I dragged Koizumi away while simultaneously calling for Nagato to take care of the pigs we had just dealt with.

Once we were safe in the kitchen, I released Koizumi and let out the breath I had been holding. My knees were shaking and I felt extremely lightheaded. " This is all Haruhi's fault." I muttered.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Thank you very much for that Kyon. It was very brave of you." Koizumi said from behind me.

I shrugged, acting more collected than I actually was. "Consider us even."

The Esper behind me laughed quietly. I didn't even have to turn around to know that the plastic smile was back on his face.

Haruhi had failed to arrange for the cab to come take us home, so the only way back to our places of residence was to walk. And without even so much as a good-bye, she scurried off into some alleyway, with Nagato and Miss Asahina in tow. Leaving me with Koizumi. Again.

He and I simultaneously agreed that it would be best to leave this neighborhood as soon as humanly possible, so we began power walking through the filthy street towards the nicer part of the city. As we walked, we talked about small things--truly insignificant topics such as homework, customers we had served that day, and, of course…Haruhi Suzumiya.

"I don't see how us complying to her every whim is really helping things in the long-run." I muttered, glancing nervously around me for any psychopaths that might be lurking in the shadows. I glanced over at Koizumi, expecting him to tell me otherwise. Instead, he looked over at me, a genuine expression of interest on his face.

"What makes you think that Kyon?"

I was surprised that he was actually willing to listen to a theory other than his own. Especially when it was about Haruhi. "Well," I began, collecting my thoughts to deliver my opinion. "By keeping her in a constant good mood, she'll never be able to deal with things not going her way. And when she's older, and we aren't there for her to fix everything up for her, then her closed spaces will be even worse than ever. At least, that's what I think."

Koizumi nodded thoughtfully. "I can understand that…but you see Kyon, it is our job to constantly stay by Miss Suzumiya's side, with the exception of Miss Asahina. It is our duty to keep her happy, so that this world can exist."

His words made my fists clench. "So what? We just can't have lives?! I can't baby-sit her for the rest of my life! That's ridiculous."

"But Kyon, you're her--"

"Chosen one, I know! But I didn't choose that! She did!" I exclaimed, grabbing the Esper by the shoulders. "I'm sick of everything being about Haruhi, ya'know?"

He just stared at me with wide eyes. We had stopped walking. He opened his mouth to speak, but I cut him off. I grabbed him roughly by the shoulders.

"And what about you Koizumi? You do everything she tells you to do, you be what she wants you to be--but you can't enjoy constantly putting on a show, day after day, can you? You're a high school student. It's criminal that you should be charged with a lifetime of pretending, when you've never truly had a taste of what it is to live!"

His façade was falling apart. My harsh words were hitting home, and forcing the real Koizumi to come out. He looked torn, like he was about to cry. His face was flushed and he stopped moving entirely. He tried to look away from me, but my gaze held him there. "I…" he breathed, his voice barely a whisper.

Before he could say anything more, I saw a bunch of guys heading towards us. I let go of Koizumi's shoulders, and realized that while I had been ranting, we had been trapped. We had been trapped by the Guys125.

The biggest of all of the men stepped closer, and grabbed Koizumi's arm. I lunged toward them, but I was held back by three other gang members. The large man ran a sausage like finger down Koizumi's neck and laughed huskily. "We just couldn't bear not seeing you again." the gangster gargled. "We came to give you your tip."

All of the men around us laughed along with their leader. Slowly, they began to crowd around Koizumi, picking at his uniform and stroking his hair and face. I felt a violent feeling welling up inside my chest. I kept struggling against the three that held me, but the wouldn't loosen their grip at all. I tried to think of a plan…then I heard Koizumi let out a cry. One of the many men was yanking his head back, jeering at the pained expression on his victim's face. That was the last straw. With strength that I didn't know I possessed, I threw the men off of me and ran towards Koizumi. "Itsuki!" I called out, paying no mind to the fact that I had used his first name.

His head snapped toward me as he heard his name. When he saw I was free, he began to fight back--ferociously. I stopped running and watched in awe as Koizumi took down every single gang member with black-belt precision. His punches and kicks were fierce and almost animal like, and soon, our assailants lay on the ground around us.

He dusted off his hands as though he had gotten dirt on them. I was in shock. I had no idea he could fight like that. I stumbled toward him numbly, not noticing a very agitated gang member rise behind me with a knife. I yelped as the man grabbed me from behind and held a knife to my throat. I felt the blade start to slice my skin, ever so slowly…the world was spinning around me. Koizumi reached out and was screaming at the top of his lungs. Suddenly, a bright red light shot from his entire body and made everything disappear. When I could see again, I was sitting on the ground, free from the gangster's tight hold of me. Itsuki looked down at his hands. His jaw was gaped wide open. "What did I just do?" he asked no one in particular. "How did I…?" Before he could finish his statement, he fainted, falling flat onto the asphalt road we were standing on. I scrambled over to him, hoisted his unconscious figure onto my back, and began to head for my house as fast as my wobbly legs would carry me.