AN: Alright, so after I've finished watching both seasons of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, and rewatching the movie The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya after the third time, I think I have finally come to a valid and logical conclusion to all of it.

I think I'm confident now enough to know about the characters, and also to maybe write about them. I know I've got a lot of fanfictions already on my plate (Heart Beats, Fabricated World, Reborn and another Pokemon one I'm planning), but I'm hoping to make this a summer holidays project (god knows I won't freaking finish it by the end of these next two months, but whooooooooooooo gives a crap, as long as I start!). Now I literally came up with the plan for this in like under five minutes, but inspiration does wonders *w* *does the typical Haruhi pose*

edit: /uh, totally didn't do this on the holidays. Left it until now. Whoops :'D

Anyways, this is going to be a spin off from the anime series and movie, since I'm nowhere up to date with the manga and have no idea what goes on after the events of those SO consider this an AU of sorts, I uh, guess? XD

Disclaimer: The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Series does not belong to me whatsoever, and this piece of work is purely for entertainment purposes.

So, I hope you enjoy~! ^^

Chapter One

What is it you wish for?

I ask this of you

I'd been zoning out lately.

And not the good kind of zoning out, where your mind wanders to fickle but kind of nice memories, thoughts that take up the boredom of your day and leave you with that weird ticklish feeling in the pit of your stomach.

The kind of zoning out I'm talking about is the kind of dark nagging in the back of your skull, and how you can't help but to dwell on the possibilities of what comes of hanging onto it for too long. It's almost like poisonous gas, suffocating, but as long as you kept your head above level it wouldn't make your body drop. Or would a better comparison like that be something like water…?

Never mind that, at least. Back to the topic at hand.

I'd been having lingering thoughts since that fateful day, on December the 18th, when everything changed, and to the 21st when everything was, to say the least, back to 'normal' (if you could ever have normal with Haruhi around anyway), about the one who had actually caused it all to happen.

Yuki Nagato.

To any outsider, she looked like a simple, shy bookworm. But amongst us, with the exception of Haruhi, we knew that she was actually a Humanoid Interface, a sort of alien who had been created to watch over Haruhi Suzumiya. In line with Nagato, you had Itsuki Koizumi, the seemingly charming guy with a never-ending smile set on his face who was actually an Esper, and the sweet and adorable Mikuru Asahina. For her cutesy sort of character, Miss Asahina was actually a time traveller, sent from the future to watch over Haruhi as well.

And then you have me, of course. I'm Kyon. I'm just your average sort of guy, a highschool student with average grades and an average life. That was, up until a few months ago, when I'd involuntarily become a part of what is known as the SOS Brigade, run by the imprudent, selfish, rude, loud and obnoxious Haruhi, who, believe it or not, actually has the power to change the universe with her thoughts…! (Of course she doesn't know that though, because it's OUR job to keep it a secret from her).

Allow me to catch my breath.

Today is January the 24th, exactly a month and three days since the world had shifted back to its original state. Oddly enough, since my supposed 'accident' (I'd woken up in hospital, having apparently fallen down the stairs), the other Brigade members had gone easy on me, even Haruhi herself.

"Hey Kyon…? What do you think of this?"

"I was wondering, could I have your help with something…?"

"I'll bring you back some bento if you want!"

It almost seemed like Haruhi had taken into account just how severe and perhaps even fatal my condition had been. Although with Haruhi's sudden new niceness, I was beginning to wonder if she should have been in hospital instead of me. But, it wasn't all bad.

After all, I think I'm starting to get the recognition I deserve, after being dragged along all through this…! Yeah, maybe things weren't actually so bad after all…!

"KYON. YOU'RE LATE."

And just then, I felt the trauma in my head from my time at hospital come back as something hard collided with my skull. In an instant, I was up and out of my chair, clutching my head with clenched fists. "OW! HARUHI!"

The Brigade Leader stood with her hands on her hips, her brunette hair slightly in a mess, and a scowl set on her face.

I was surprised, actually, which was surprising for me. I'd expected Haruhi to be a little less…violent? Maybe a bit more understanding?

I spoke too soon.

"You weren't here when I came in half an hour ago! That's a severe penalty, you know!" She pointed at me with a baseball bat, which I can only guess was the weapon she had just tried to kill me with, and as I continued rubbing my skull to try and rid myself of the pain, she suddenly swung it until the batting end was in line with my nose.

Startled, I jumped back slightly. My actions caused Koizumi, who was sitting in a chair nearby, to chuckle under his breath, and for Miss Asahina to shriek in surprise, almost dropping that beloved tea set of hers.

"W-What the hell, Haruhi!?" I managed to splutter, glaring as fiercely as I could for the tears of pain in the corners of my eyes.

"Like I said, you were late! And do you also know what today is?"

The three of us looked up, the other two with curiosity but myself with annoyance, and she rested the bat on her shoulder, grinning triumphantly. "Well, today's exactly a month since Kyon came out of hospital."

Miss Asahina squeaked; having to be reminded of that made her distressed at any given moment (bless her golden soul), while Koizumi just raised an eyebrow.

"A celebration of sorts, perhaps?" He spoke in that cool tone of his.

"Kinda, yeah! Actually, we could make this official!" Haruhi's voice boomed as she placed her foot up on her chair, posing with her hands on her hips and her eyes to the sky (or roof, in this matter).

"E-Exc-cuse me…M-Miss Suzumiya…? …W-What are we e-exactly…c-celebrating…? M-Maybe…K-Kyon's recovery…?" Miss Asahina's voice was quiet, but tinged with a round of concern.

Haruhi's face suddenly set into an evil grin, and I found myself suddenly feeling very afraid.

"Nope! We're celebrating the day that Kyon finally breaks his contract!"

"H-Huh!?" I couldn't stop the exasperated gasp coming from my mouth, and I just stood there like a dumbstruck idiot.

"Yep! Today is an exact month since Kyon's recovery. It's under my strict code that after that month is up, I don't have to pretend to be so polite anymore! It's such a drag, you know? So, congratulations Kyon! Instead of being treated as an equal, you're my subordinate again! …Now don't give me that look! I'm pretty sure the power of being equal to the Brigade Leader was getting to your head, and you were finding yourself slacking off, weren't you? Well have no fear, because now you can finally have a break from all of this! Moving along-"

"-W-What the hell!? Are you telling me-"

But I was ignored. Go figure.

"-We're gonna need supplies!"

It was just like her to jump headlong into something as absurd as this, and I felt my stomach twist from the effort of having to listen to her words.

In an instant, she'd pulled over the whiteboard and was scribbling on instructions for tomorrow afternoon, and who was assigned to getting what for the annual 'Kyon is Free' party (man that girl makes up parties and special occasions for ANYTHING she can). Of course, I was given the oh so joyous task of managing the equipment needed to make a cake (yes, right here in the clubroom). Without a stove, we'd resorted to the easiest solution; my little sister's easy bake oven.

God knows how I'd drag one of those up the stairs.

"Alright, Koizumi! You're gonna go and get the decorations and party knickknacks, got it?"

"Affirmative." The Esper concluded, nodding eagerly.

"Mikuru, you and I are going to go to the store and find another cute costume for you!" She pointed a finger directly at the cowering girl, and Miss Asahina piped up with another squeak.

"A-Ah…! W-Wh…"

"Awesome! Alright, now Yuki, you're gonna-"

There was a round of silence as Haruhi stopped midsentence, her eyes cast about the room in search of the absent alien.

"Where's Yuki?"

I felt my own heart sort of twist, and Koizumi's eyebrows narrowed as he caught sight of whatever look I'd had on my face at the time. Damn it, Kyon, way to go.

"I was wondering that too. It's not like Miss Nagato at all to, well, miss out on one of the Brigade meetings like this." I could've punched the guy for making a poor pun like that.

"M-Maybe…s-she's…sick…?"

Haruhi's face set in a tiny scowl that overshadowed her surprise, and she crossed her arms. "If Yuki is trying to get the free month management from me, she can forget it. It comes as a one-time only sort of deal." With that, she seemed to disregard Nagato altogether, and I admit, I was a little pissed off at that.

But by the end of the afternoon, I'd managed to snuffle out my annoyance at Haruhi's selfishness as I walked down the hallway as fast as I could in an attempt to avoid Koizumi's prying, but to no avail. He caught up with me in a matter of seconds, and placed a hand on my shoulder to stop me.

In an instant, I felt all of my irritation from before coming back, and I went to shove him off, when I heard him say, "Are you alright, Kyon?"

I was kind of astounded at the twinge of concern in his voice, but nonetheless I shrugged his hand off, shoved my own into my pockets and glared at him. "What's it to you? Because I'm fine."

Koizumi merely stood, crossing his arms and his eyes hardened a little. Something in his voice hardened also, and the next words made me stiffen.

"It's about Miss Nagato, isn't it? Something is going on."

I gave an irritated sigh, rolled my eyes and turned to walk, when he suddenly raised his voice a little. "We knew it was coming, you know. There's no point being sad at it."

I stopped.

"We could see it, couldn't we? Now I don't know about you, but I am sure that if a Humanoid Interface begins to act outside of its usual program, that would be typically referred to as a malfunction. Miss Yuki Nagato was beginning to act-"

"What, more human!?" I couldn't stop the anger rising in my voice, and I found myself storming forward to face him. We were uncomfortably close, but my furiousness prevented me from caring. Koizumi kept that cool look about him, and simply tilted his head. "Yes. More human indeed."

"So!? What on earth is wrong with that!?"

Koizumi pointed a finger towards the roof. "Nothing on earth, mind you. The Data Thought Integration Entity, as they call it, would not like that whatsoever. I don't know what's been going on between you and Miss Nagato, however I can sense something is the matter. The way both of you have been acting…Hm. It's a particular problem for all of us, you know?"

What was he getting at…?

He shifted slightly, but made no move to move backwards. "Whatever you're housing for Miss Nagato is really only futile in the end. It would make Miss Suzumiya sad, for one, and there's no point for YOU to be sad either. Miss Nagato is, after all, replacable."

And then he smiled.

I couldn't find any willpower whatsoever to stop myself from grabbing the guy's collar and pinning him up against a nearby wall. I felt a hot, gross sort of feeling rise in my chest, and my grip tightened. Koizumi's face flickered with what seemed like fear for two seconds, before reverting back to another cold but collected outlook. "There is no point, Kyon. You don't need to find yourself feeling like this. It will only hinder everybody else."

"Wha…Hey! HEY! Boys, cut it out!" I felt a sharp tug on my shoulder and I was pulled backwards kind of roughly. A whir of green flashed by my eyes and I heard Koizumi slump with a slight wheeze, and I felt satisfaction upon hearing that noise.

I was suddenly pulled to my feet again, and I came face to face with Tsuruya. Tsuruya is Miss Asahina's best friend, just an ordinary human, believe it or not. She was holding me at level with absurd strength for a high school girl, and her hands were gripped tightly on my shoulders.

"What's your problem!? Why are you two fighting!?"

"It's my fault, don't worry." Koizumi stood, straightening his tie, and offered his hand towards her. "You can let him go. I was unfairly pushing him."

Tsuruya seemed to hesitate, before letting me drop back to the ground. She put her hands to her hips, then flashed a finger in Koizumi's face. "If this sort of behaviour happens around my Mikuru, then you'll face my wrath!"

And with that, she stormed off the way that we had come, maybe in search for her beloved Asahina. This girl could be scary at the best of times.

I stayed on the floor for a moment or too, my scowl ever present, and Koizumi just stood by, his arms folded and his face deadpan.

"Kyon-"

"You don't need to say it like she's some sort of machine. I know what I'm doing." I cut him off with a grunt, brushing myself down before turning on my heel and thundering back down the hallway, failing to notice the way Koizumi's eyes filled with what seemed like sadness, before he too turned and walked away.

I burst out of the school building, tugging my scarf even tighter around my shoulders, shivering from the blast of cold air that hit my face as I took to a steady pace. The way my cheeks had burned with anger could be mistaken for my body's attempt at warming me up, and I simply bit back an irritated groan, taking it out on trampling through the snow underfoot.

What pissed me off the most…

Was that Koizumi was right.

There was only one logical explanation as to why Nagato had begun missing out on school more frequently.

She was hiding, although I don't think it would have done her any good. The Thought Data Integration Entity (we'll call it the TDIE for short) was taking it's s time for sure (something I was grateful for, although I'd never say that out loud). Nagato had begun to linger, become more silent and less productive with the SOS Brigade. At first, I had to feign for her absences.

"Oh, she's sick."

"After your terrible hotpot cooking, I'm pretty sure she has food poisoning!'

"Maybe she just missed the school bus?"

"If I were Nagato, I'd stay home more regularly. That way, I don't have to turn up to these stupid meetings, Haruhi."

Haruhi, Haruhi, Haruhi.

The girl wouldn't let up, and she was reaching the end of her tether, I could see. At first, she demanded we all try our best to make Nagato feel at home in the club room when she got back (although in the arrogant way she put it, it sounded like she was ordering us around to provide a suite for the president of the United States or something). After a whole month of on and off appearances, however, Haruhi's 'concern' and interest faded, and she simply willed annoyance rather than care into the image of Nagato.

At this rate, the other thing that Koizumi had said about Nagato would come true.

If Haruhi couldn't be satisfied, then maybe Nagato really was…

I clenched my hands into fists, hunching my shoulders and narrowing my eyebrows, my stomach pooling with bitterness once more.

I wouldn't let it happen. I swore it, on that night on the rooftop of the hospital, where the snow was falling softly and Nagato had been waiting.

She was counting on me, I couldn't let her down.

And, speaking of promises…

As I slowly opened the door to my bedroom, I saw a pair of amber eyes staring at me from the darkness. I stood for a moment, before closing it shut behind me, shrouding us in shadows.

Feeling my chest slightly tighten, I raised a hand in greeting, mustering a pained smile.

"Hey…Nagato."

R&R~? And no flames please :'D