Chapter 1: Confession
Author's Note: Welcome to my newest fan-fic. In Honor of Tanabata, which is celebrated on July 7th in Japan and played a big part on the early stages of "The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumyia", I present The Evolution of Haruhi Suzumyia. This is based on the manga past volume 13. In short the manga is moving too slow for me and decided to start an alternate storyline. The story itself is told from Haruhi's perspective (not Kyon's). Basically I wanted to keep a semi-traditional story; I wanted it to be told from a first-person perspective.
Also I've been in the hospital with heart problems so don't expect much.
Warning: there are occasional times when real world events, things and places are placed in the story. Just saying. XD
Major Update: As of 10/17/2014 I have changed some of the major story plots and even altered some of the character's names. To make sure you don't get lost I recommend that you reread the entire story.
Update 7-10-2017: A few grammar updates and a handful of changes.
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If you would have told me a year ago that I would have fallen in love with the most ordinary guy in school, I would've punched you right in the mouth. If you would have told me that same thing back in January maybe I would have called you a liar. Then in the middle of May, barely a few weeks into the new term I found myself having trouble getting myself to even talk to Kyon.
We had just past the SOS brigade's one-year anniversary and we had yet to celebrate it. The truth was that I had completely forgotten that the club's one-year anniversary had passed by. That is until Kyon had brought it up during a meeting.
"Alright! We, as the SOS brigade, need to do something this weekend to find an alien, time traveler, or an Esper," I said.
The club didn't say anything at first. As I looked around the room I could see that no one could come up with anything big. "Why don't we go on one of our old patrols, like we did back when the club began. In fact it's been a year since that last major patrol, maybe something has come up," Kyon suggested.
I looked over to Kyon and smiled at him. Sure at the time I was embarrassed that I had forgotten the club's anniversary, but the idea of a patrol in the park was pretty good. "How does that sound Haruhi?" Kyon asked.
I suddenly found myself at lost for words; flustered if you will. I was blushing profusely, but I quickly snapped out of it. "Yeah! That's perfect!" I said.
I could see the expression on Kyon's face. He looked slightly concerned about something. "You okay?" he asked. I nodded and told him that I was just surprised that he came up with that idea. He didn't believe me one bit. He instead looked at me for a bit before turning away and shrugging his shoulders.
I didn't know what came over me at the time, but now as I am tell this story I can tell you there was something there.
When the day came to an end and everybody began to leave, I got a little worried. I was mainly worried about Kyon as he walked down the stairs. Ever since December 18th I had this deep fear that Kyon was going to be pushed down the stairs again. And as he reached the bottom of the stairs safely I would always let out a sigh of relief.
Shortly after everyone, but Kyon, left the school I started on my way home. Kyon, who was worried about me at the time, walked beside me. "So… Are you sure you are okay?" he asked. I immediately became defensive and spout nonsense. "Huh? What? Oh… Yeah I total fine. The question is are you?" I said.
Kyon looked at me with just complete disbelief. We continued walking down the hill together for about thirty seconds before I realized that my hand was trying to hold Kyon's. I instinctively grabbed my arm, but the pat sound I ended up making caught Kyon's attention.
He looked at me then my arm then back at me. He now looked fairly confused. I was blushing and was holding my arm against my side. We just stood there for what felt like hours before Kyon turned away. "You sure you're fine?" he asked one last time.
I couldn't even get an answer out before I sprinted down the hill away from him. I couldn't believe that I had almost held Kyon's hand like a manga schoolgirl. But what was worse was that I had tears in my eyes. I was starting to feel sick when I was around him. It was hard for me to look him in the eye or even grab him by the neck. I had no idea what was wrong with me at the time.
As I told my mom what just happened and what I'd been going through she just simply smiled and said, "It sounds to me like you're in love with him."
Love. Everyone knew what my stance on love was. I thought of it as a disease and didn't believe in it. So to fall in love with the most ordinary guy in the world was the worst thing that could happen to me. I continued to deny that I was in love with Kyon, but as I lay in bed I couldn't deny it any longer; I was in love with him.
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The next day was very stressful for me. I was dreading even walking into the classroom, but I had to. What made it worse was that Kyon had caught up with me halfway up the long hill. He immediately called out to me. "Hey Haruhi. Are you feeling better?" he asked. I didn't make eye contact. Instead I put my hair up into a ponytail and walked a little faster.
We walked into the classroom of class 1 and took my seat. I had not said a word to Kyon the whole way, but I had kept my hair in a ponytail. "So… Any reason you put your hair up?" Kyon asked me. I responded quickly and instinctively. "Shut up idiot," I mumbled. Kyon just rolled his eyes. "I just asked," he said.
"This is all your fault," I mumbled. Kyon caught this and asked me what he did. "Nothing, you idiot," I said. At this point Kyon was fairly confused. "Okay… So I did nothing, and yet it's still my fault," he said. By now I was blushing profusely and that sick feeling was coming back. "Just leave me alone," I said. Kyon just sighed and sat back. "Alright," he said.
By the end of class I had lost track of where Kyon was, mainly because I had quit paying attention. I looked at the clock and saw that it was time to go to the club (I had lost track of time too). When I got there I stopped short of opening the door and over heard Kyon talking to Koizumi.
"Hey Koizumi, have you noticed a change in Haruhi's behavior?" Kyon asked.
"Well, Miss Suzumiya has shown a significant change in her behavior. In fact there have been more incidents of Close Spaces in the past 24 hours than ever before," Koizumi said.
"So she's pretty upset about something," Kyon sighed.
"I wouldn't say upset. The Close Spaces that have been appearing have been disappearing on their own," Koizumi said.
"So you're saying she's nervous about something?" Kyon asked. I'm guessing Koizumi nodded at this point. "Exactly," he said.
"Then what is she so nervous about?" Kyon asked.
"That's a good question. Unfortunately I don't have the answer," Koizumi said.
At this point I opened the door and walked in. "Sorry I'm late. I lost track of the time," I said. I plopped down on to the chair and checked the club's website. We, and by we I mean Kyon, had been updating the website after the computer club challenged us to a game to win back the computer I had taken from them. Because of this we had steadily been getting more and more hits on the site. Then I noticed something amazing. "Whoa! We have an email!" I shouted.
Suddenly I could feel that Kyon was over my shoulder reading the email with me. "It's in English," he said. I couldn't even move. Kyon simply took the mouse and began to read. "It says, 'Hey. My name is Andrew White and I live in St. Louis, Missouri. I have been reading the posts on the website and I looked at the pictures of your trips to an island and the mountains and I want to share one of my trips I had taken with my dad. I attached some pictures and a video of the trip we took on the email. I hope you enjoy them.' Well… let's see what trip this American took," Kyon said.
We opened the pictures on the computer and saw that this American had ridden on a steam locomotive from St. Louis to a place called Newburg, Missouri. The locomotive's number on the car right behind it was 1522. The passenger cars were white with a black stripe right across the middle of the cars (basically between the roof and the bottom of the car). There were also a few other cars all with different colors painted on them.
"I've never seen anything like this before," Mikuru said. We all stood around the computer looking at the pictures and watching the three-minute video. We spent a good portion of the time looking up this steam locomotive and this is what we found:
St. Louis-San Francisco Railroad (A.K.A. The Frisco Railroad)
T-54 Class 4-8-2 Mountain Type
No. 1522
Built in 1926 at the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Eddystone, Pennsylvania
Currently on static display at The National Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, Missouri
Former Owners: St. Louis Steam Train Association
Retired in on September 29, 2002
When all was said and done we all left the clubroom. I was the last to leave and nobody waited for me, at least that's what I thought. At the school's front gate, Kyon was standing there waiting for me. Almost immediately I was starting to feel sick, and my heart was starting race.
We started to walk together down the hill. I kept my arms close to my sides. After a while Kyon asked me, "Why are you keeping your arms so stiff?" I looked over at him with an annoyed look in my eyes. "Shut up, idiot. This is all your fault," I mumbled.
At this point Kyon was starting to get annoyed. "What's my fault?" he asked. I just gave a frustrated sigh. "Just leave me alone, okay? I'm just going through a lot," I said. In response, Kyon said, "Well, if you need to talk to anyone just come to us, okay?"
Started to blush after that. "I have to go," I said. I then ran off heading for home.
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The next day it was time for the patrol and we decided to meet up in front of the plaza. Though I was not the first one there; Kyon had gotten there five minutes earlier. I just sat down and waited for the others.
It wasn't long after I got there when Kyon and I started arguing. "I surprised you're showing so much dedication to the club," I said. Kyon sat back on the bench and chuckled. "Well I may be showing some dedication, I still will have to pay the bill," he said. I immediately became flustered and that's when we started arguing about who would pay the bill at the café.
"You're not gonna pay. You don't get a penalty for showing dedication, idiot," I explained. Kyon just rolled his eyes and stared joking with me. "So you're gonna pay our bill. You've never paid the bill at the café," he chuckled. I was already getting that nauseated feeling in my stomach.
He was right. I never paid the bill at the café and never brought any money for the bill. Kyon always paid, whether he wanted to or not (most of the time it was the latter). Today was different; with the fact that Kyon has always had the burden of paid for everything I do, I wanted to thank him in some way.
"Look. It's no trouble. I'll pay for lunch. Besides, I've gotten used to it," he said. The smile on his face made me feel like I was the worst person on the planet. Suddenly, with Koizumi, Mikuru, and Yuki just feet behind away, I screamed, "YOU'RE NOT GOING TO PAY FOR LUNCH! LET ME PAY!"
There were probably a tear or two in my eyes at the time and I know I was blushing bright red when I screamed. Kyon and the others looked relatively shocked by how upset I was. When Mikuru asked why I was so upset, Kyon just said that I wasn't letting him pay the lunch bill.
Kyon looked over at me then asked, "Did you bring enough money?" I always had money on me, I just never bothered to pay for lunch before. My flustered response probably made Kyon a little concerned. "O-O-Of course I have enough, why wouldn't I? I'm paying and that's final," I said. He looked at me, then shook his head. "Whatever. I'm still gonna end up paying in the end," he said.
I tried hiding my tears by this point. The fact that Kyon didn't trust me at all just tore me apart. "You're an asshole," I sobbed. Immediately everyone's eyes were on me as I began to breakdown. "Why don't you trust me to even pay for lunch?" I asked, tears in my eyes.
Everyone was wondering why I was just losing it over something as small as a simple lunch bill. They had no idea that I was now in love with Kyon. They had no idea how sorry I was beginning to feel about all the trouble I'd caused in the course of a year. I figured they all just put up with the crap I'd been doing because they had to.
"You know what? I'm calling off this patrol. In fact I'm going to disband the club entirely," I cried. Suddenly everyone was objecting over the disbanding of the SOS Brigade, but what surprised me was that the one person I wouldn't see defending the club, was. "Well if you're going to leave the club I'm going to takeover," Kyon said. I looked over at him with such surprise. He was the last person to expect to defend the sorry excuse for a club. "Haruhi, this club is all we've got. Sure, we've gotten into trouble, some more than others, but WE still enjoy going on these crazy adventures you, THE BRIGADE LEADER, take us on," he explained.
"Now if you want to pay for lunch, then go for it. I not gonna stop you," he added. By now I was trying to hard not to glomp him. This was the nicest thing he did for me and with tears in my eyes and a smile on my face I thanked him.
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When we got to the café I had stopped crying, but was still in no shape to order the club around, but I just powered through. I took a straw and cut it in two equal pieces then I took an other one and cut it into slightly smaller pieces (two the same size, the other smaller than the others). By then everyone knew we were drawing straws, so I explained the rules.
"Alright. We're going to split up into three groups. Two groups of two and the other by themselves," I said. Kyon just rolled his eyes and chuckled quietly to himself. He looked over at me with a sarcastic smile on his face. "This is something I can see you doing," he said.
"Shut up. You didn't trust me to even pay the bill," I said. Kyon apologized for not trusting me and said that he would be the first one to draw a straw. He ended up drawing one of the large straws. Koizumi and Yuki each drew the medium straws, and Mikuru drew the one short straw. This meant that I was paired with Kyon.
I groaned, not believing my luck. "Hey! I'm not happy about this either Haruhi," Kyon said. I took a deep breath and began to speak. "Well… Koizumi is pair with Yuki. Mikuru is alone, and I'm… I'm paired with you, Kyon," I said.
It was at that point the bill for lunch came and immediately Kyon and I went for it. We both grabbed it, his hand on top of mine. I just froze, my heart racing. It was like something out of a movie. We locked eyes and Kyon removed his hand. "Sorry. I guess I'm just used to paying for you guys," he chuckled.
When he removed his hand I was partially relieved but partially sad that he didn't keep his hand there longer. At the time I gave a sigh of relief and then paid for lunch. As I did so, I noticed that Kyon was staring at me. The look in his eyes was just so unnerving. "Would you stop staring at me," I said. By then he just smiled and threw my heart into a frenzy. It was beating so wildly and my stomach was doing back flips. I knew then this was going to be trouble.
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We all split up into three directions; Koizumi and Yuki went northeast, Mikuru went southeast, and Kyon and I went west. Two minutes after Kyon and I started our part of our patrol, Kyon and I began to talk. "So… I heard something interesting a couple of days ago," I said. Kyon gave a typical sarcastic remark. "Really, what was it?" he asked. I stopped, the expression on my face sort of annoyed. "I heard you and Koizumi talking about something called 'Close Space'," I said.
At first the look on Kyon's face was one of worry, but it then changed. He began to smile as he began to tell me about the adventures he had been on with the others. He told me about the time Ryoko tried to kill him but was stopped by Yuki, and the time he went to a "Closed Space" with Koizumi. He explained to me what a "Closed Space" is and that it was caused by me when I felt upset or disappointed. I didn't believe a word of it. That is until he told me something that I will never forget.
"Alright… Then how about I tell you something I'll know you'll believe," he said. I just rolled my eyes. I had forgotten the fact that I was in love with him, mainly because of what he had told me so far. The next thing he said confused me. "Tanabata," he said. I began to glare at him. "What about it?" I asked. He then took a deep breath and started to explain. "Over three years ago you drew an alien message on the campus of East Junior High," he said. Again, I rolled my eyes. "Yeah. So? Everyone knows that," I scoffed.
"Yes… Well… There were two other people with you that night," he said. My eyes went wide. My heart started to race. I became furious, but deep down I was shocked. I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and asked him who had told him about the two other people. Then I realized, I had never told anyone that there were two other people with me that night.
I let go of his shirt and staggered back. "The man's name was John Smith," he said. The mix of emotion I felt was nothing more than terror and anger. It was made worse when he revealed who "John Smith" was. "Haruhi, I'm 'John Smith'," he said.
We stared at each other of a few seconds before I reacted in the worst way. With all my anger I took my hand and slapped him across the face. It then took me a few seconds to realize what I had done and I started to stagger backwards again. At that moment Kyon caught a glimpse of my face before I ran. I'm positive he saw the tears running down my cheeks, I am positive.
I just ran away after that. I couldn't believe what I had done. I ran straight home, locking myself in my room and bawling. My mom tried to comfort me, but the fact that I was this upset over Kyon said it all.
Not long after I got home, Kyon called me on my cell phone. I didn't answer it in fear that he was going to yell at me. He ended up calling me three times that night and I didn't answer once. Though Kyon wasn't the only one who called me, Koizumi and Mikuru also called. I didn't answer for them either.
I later learned that Kyon and the others called me to make sure I was okay. I also learn that Kyon finally learned why I'd been acting so strangely. He knew I was in love. Luckily he didn't tell anyone I was in love, but only because he knew who I was in love with.
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By the end of the weekend I had at least 50 messages on my cell phone. My eyes were red and swollen from crying all weekend and as I reluctantly walked up the hill to North High I had put my hair into a ponytail.
I was getting stares from the other students heading to North High because of how I looked, how I was walking, how I acted on the way to school. And as I walked into the classroom of Class 1 I saw that Kyon was sitting at his seat. He was paying no attention to me as I sat down, but that changed when I finally broke down and sobbed.
All the girls, not to mention Kyon were suddenly concerned, only because I had never cried out in the open. Of course Taniguchi used this as an opportunity to say it was "that time of the month". In the middle of my episode I got up, grabbed his collar and punched him three times, giving him a bloody nose. Not only did the girls have my back, but Kyon and Kunikida too.
When one of the girls, Kano, asked me what was wrong I looked up at her and said, "I don't want to be here. I want to go home." Kano, who I would become friends with, tried her best to comfort me. She turned to Kyon and asked if there was anything that happened recently that made me this upset. He just nodded and said that I had a fight "with a friend".
As the day wore on I continued to lose it. I wasn't able to focus during class, not to mention I was causing a disruption. The teacher ended up allowing me to leave the room and "have some privacy". I decided to go to the clubroom and just let it all out. I walked in and just started to cry.
Then it was time for club activities to start. The first one in was Yuki, who just sat in the corner and started reading "War of the Worlds". The next was Mikuru. She was about to dress into the maid outfit, but I told her she didn't have to wear it today. Next was Koizumi, who looked fairly concerned when he saw just how miserable I was. Lastly Kyon knocked on the door. As he walked in, he didn't bother to pry.
After awhile Mikuru asked me what was wrong. Before I could answer Kyon told her what he did. "I told her about Tanabata," he said. Immediately Mikuru started to panic, speaking nonsense. "You told her!? That's Classified information! She wasn't supposed to now that!" she babbled. I looked at her then to Kyon in disbelief. "So I presume you told Miss Suzumiya about our identities," Koizumi said.
I whipped my head over to Koizumi then to Yuki, then back to Kyon and Mikuru. "W-W-Wait! You mean he was telling the truth?" I asked. Koizumi nodded. He began to explain that he was an esper assigned to keep an eye on my mood. "And Yuki is really an alien?" I asked. She looked up from her book at me. "Data Life Form," she said. I darted my eyes to Mikuru who just nervously nodded her head.
"So this whole time I've been with a Time traveler, an esper, and an alien," I said. They all explained that they weren't expecting to reveal their identities so soon. They explained they had been just trying to keep me happy and that they were all my friends.
I then had my chance to speak. I started to say how this club felt like family to me, and how on December 18th I almost lost it all. "When Kyon fell down those stair, I thought I had just seen someone who helped me with the club since day one die. I… I though he died right there. I was terrified. I couldn't sleep for days. Even now whenever he walks down those stairs I don't want him to leave my sight. I'm just glad you're alive," I said.
After that we decided to end club activities early so I can take it all in. I was the last one out of the room and once I reached the gate I saw that Kyon was waiting for me. "Hey Haruhi. I just wanted to say that I'll see you soon," he said. I started to blush and as he started to walk away I wanted to thank him just for waiting for me.
As I walked home I thought about how I was going to tell Kyon how much he was starting to mean to me. I viewed Mikuru as a clumsy sister and Koizumi as a responsible yet smug father. I didn't know what to make of Yuki, but she was important to me. But Kyon was on a completely different level now. I tried to figure out how to confess to him; luckily I was going to have my chance later that night.
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As soon as I got home and began to relax, Kyon called me on my cell phone. He asked me to meet him at the café so we could talk. I told him that I would be there as soon as I could. Then when I hung up the phone I just lost it. I couldn't believe that fate was toying with me.
I headed toward the café on my bike. When I got there it was five past seven and Kyon was waiting for me. We walking in and sat down across from each other. "I'm gonna pay for this," I blurted out. Kyon chuckled and shook his head. "No. I'm going to pay for dinner. You've been through a lot and I don't want you to worry," he said.
It felt like a dream. Kyon was more handsome than normal, either that or I just didn't notice it before. Suddenly the mood changed and Kyon became a little serious. "Haruhi, there something I need to tell you about December 18th," he said. I looked up at him and began to listen. "What you remember wasn't what happened. On December 18th just after four in the morning the world was altered from that day on. You didn't go to North High, Miss Nagato, Miss Asahina, and Koizumi were normal humans, and Miss Asakura was back in Class 1," he said.
He then explained that Yuki was the one who changed the world and how he went out of his way to change it back. He told me that Ryoko tried to kill him and how he managed to survive by going back with Mikuru and Yuki after our trip to the mountains. But what really got me was that he missed me the entire time the world was changed.
He told me how he went berserk as soon as Ryoko showed up. How he was miserable because I wasn't around. And when he finished I couldn't hold back. With all the emotion I had bottled up I just embraced him and held him tightly. "H-Haruhi?" Kyon called. I quickly let go and apologized.
"It's just that you mean so much to me and if that same thing happened to me I would do everything I could to get you back," I said. Kyon smiled as I continued to gush. "You really mean a lot to me. I guess what I trying to say is that I-I-" He cut me off at that point by giving me a small kiss. As soon as we parted my heart was racing and my mind was going a million miles an hour. "Why don't we leave," he said.
I ended up letting him pay for dinner. We began to take a walk and it wasn't long before I realized that he was walking me home. When we got to my house he kissed me again and said, "I'll see you tomorrow."
As he walked away all my fear, anger, and sadness melted away. It was now or never. "KYON!" I called out. He stopped and turned around and at that moment I said it. Those three little words I had hated just a month earlier. "I LOVE YOU!" I'll never forget what happened next. To this day we talk about what he said to me at that moment. "I love you too Haruhi."
Love. If you would have told me a year before that moment that I would fall in love with the most ordinary guy in the world I would have punched you right in the mouth. If you told me that a month before that moment I wouldn't have punched you, but I would've called you a lair to your face. Now, 19 years later, I would tell you that it was the greatest moment of my life.
To Be Continued…
Author's Note: I know this is a short first chapter, but later chapters will be a little longer and will try and keep the characters a little more original.
Anyway, Be on the look out for new character, new relationships, and a brand new version of Haruhi Suzumiya. I also be using real world thing (NOT BIG EVENTS) to have some fun with the characters while still keeping the old feel of the manga.
By the way, The Frisco 1522 I used in this chapter is a real locomotive. I actually live in St. Louis, which is not too far from the locomotive current location in Kirkwood, Missouri. This locomotive will play a big part in a future chapter of "The Evolution of Harhu Suzumiya". So I hope you don't mind.
'Till next time.