A/N: I'm (definitely) not new to fanfiction, just new to Haruhi fanfiction.
I hope you enjoy it! And whether or not you actually end up enjoying it, I would greatly appreciate it if you took the time to leave a review on your way out!
Nerves
Haruhi growled in frustration as she hurriedly tugged her comb through her now-long hair with her right hand while simultaneously attempting to pull her sock up her leg with her left hand, her eyes tearing up a bit as the comb snagged on some tangled hairs. Of all the days she had to wake up late, she just had to do so on the first day of the new semester.
She had been waiting for this day since the first day of summer break.
Kyon had had to attend to some family business, which had rendered him inaccessible for the entire break. It may have been the single most boring summer break of Haruhi's life. She had spent the days lethargically walking around town, her usual high spirits and energy completely sapped since Kyon wasn't around. She had spent years looking for unusual things all on her own when she was younger and it had grown boring. Now that Kyon had come in and finally made it interesting, she didn't want to have to go back and do it on her own again! It was like being able to eat the most delicious, scrumptious, home-made meal every day for a year, and just when it became a regular occurrence and was expected, it was replaced by a boring, bland, colorless school meal. She had gone out with Yuki, Mikuru, and Koizumi a few times, but they just didn't live up to Kyon.
Haruhi grabbed a hairband off of the counter, pulled her hair up into a ponytail, and securely fastened it, inspecting it with sharp eyes in the mirror to make sure it was perfect. She checked for bags under her eyes, took a deep breath, inspected her school uniform, took one more deep breath, then exited the bathroom. She sprinted down the hallway and the stairs without saying goodbye to her parents, grabbed her bag off the couch and ran out the door without grabbing any breakfast—there was no time.
She sprinted down the sidewalk, angry at herself for not only waking up late, but taking so long to get ready. Just like her boring summer, the fact that it took her so long to get ready for school was Kyon's doing. She hated to admit it to anyone, even herself, but out of every guy she had ever met, Kyon was the only one who captivated her. He was the only one she wanted…no, needed to spend every second with. She was unsure as to what the feeling was at first, but when Kyon had kissed her in a dream she had had last year, it all made sense. The feeling she had over the summer—a dull, throbbing ache in her heart—only confirmed and reinforced the feeling.
She was attracted to Kyon as a woman is attracted to a man. She wanted to spend time with him, to go on dates with him, to hug him, to kiss him, to look into his eyes and see the love shining through them. She had decided that she was going to make him fall for her this semester no matter what.
That was why it had taken her so long to get up this morning—for the first time in her life she had actually truly strived to make herself look beautiful. She had done her hair into the ponytail he had said he had liked in her dream and altered her uniform, making the skirt quite a bit shorter and the shirt quite a bit tighter. Seeing the way Kyon looked at Mikuru's model-level looks, Haruhi had no problem making the assumption that he put a lot of stock into visible beauty. She would have called him shallow, but she knew that he was also intrigued and captivated by inner beauty if only because he possessed an incredible amount of it himself.
It wasn't until Haruhi was almost at school that she realized it had been raining the whole time she had been running, her umbrella sitting uselessly in her bag. Her anger rose as she ran through the front doors of the school dripping wet, her heart catching in her throat as her wet shoe skidded on the tile. She fell flat on her backside and arm, making her hiss in pain as she rubbed her tender elbow. She ran up the stairs and practically flew around the corner, arriving at class out of breath, her hair plastered to her head and face. She was just about to open the door and enter nonchalantly even though she was five minutes late.
But really, the fact that she was late now played to her advantage. She was already late; what did it matter if she was even later? She grinned triumphantly and turned around to head to the bathroom and dry her hair, only to walk into Yuki. Haruhi fell down for her second time in less than a minute, resisting the urge to scream out of frustration as she stood back up.
"Yuki, you're late too?" she asked, trying to distract her friend long enough to escape.
Yuki gave the tiniest of nods and opened the door, making Haruhi's eyes widen as she was exposed to the class. A bathroom escape was now impossible.
"Ah, Suzumiya-san, Nagato-san," the teacher said, marking his role sheet. "Please choose a seat."
Haruhi's eyes sought Kyon, a small, excited smile growing on her face as she saw that one of the two available seats was next to him. She shook her head, though, and erased the smile, nonchalantly walking over to him before putting her bag on its hook and plopping heavily on her seat, sighing dramatically. Kyon glanced at her once disinterestedly and then looked back down to continue scribbling on a sheet of paper on his desk, making Haruhi's jaw clench. They hadn't seen each other for two months, and when they finally do he doesn't even acknowledge her existence?
Stupid Kyon, she thought frustratedly as she rested her chin on her arms.
Nothing really happened throughout homeroom other than the feeling that somebody was watching her a few times, making her look around for the culprit with almost nonexistent interest.
By the time lunch rolled around, she was bored out of her mind. Thankfully, however, her anger had almost completely abated. Kyon turned to say something to her as he took out his bento, really saw her for the first time, and promptly froze, completely surprised. Haruhi wanted to be excited and energetic but didn't want to clue Kyon on, so she arched an eyebrow at him as she took out her own lunch that she had thankfully packed the night before.
"School's so boring," she grumbled as she began eating.
Kyon was still staring at her with wide eyes. She resisted the urge to grin. "What is it, Kyon?" she asked with mock innocence.
He shook his head and took a frustrated bite out of his own food, his face a bit pink. "Nothing," he said quietly, forming his facial features into a look of disinterest again. Yuki joined them, and after a few minutes of silence Kyon asked, "So are we meeting after school today?"
Haruhi couldn't help the smile that split her face, which she brought close to Kyon's as excitement pumped through her body. "Of course!" she said. "We have so many things to do this year!"
Kyon was looking at her with a 'what have I gotten myself into?' look. Haruhi would've felt bad, but she knew he secretly liked it. "How do you have so much energy on the first day?" he muttered.
She kept her face just as close to his as her eyes began sparkling. "Think of it, Kyon," she said. "A whole new year with whole new possibilities of excitement and mysteries lies ahead of us! We'll find a mystery worth solving this time for sure!"
Kyon gave her a weak smile. "Yeah, sure…" he said skeptically.
Haruhi scowled at him and sat back in her chair, put off a bit by his mood. Lunch ended a couple minutes later, leaving Haruhi to grumble, "Didn't even comment on all the work I put in to being pretty today."
She was absolutely sure he couldn't have heard her, but directly following her statement he said, "What's happening today that you needed to look so good?"
Before Haruhi could answer, the teacher said, "Settle down, class, settle down."
Kyon looked back at the teacher, leaving Haruhi to fume in her seat. Of course he waited until the last possible second to ask her. But she wasn't going to play his game. She took out a paper and jokingly wrote, So you think I look good, you hentai?
She passed it over to Kyon, who immediately stiffened. Haruhi smirked as she saw him scribble down his response. He passed it back over to her when the teacher wasn't looking.
Does it really make me a hentai if I notice when you actually put effort into looking your best?
She grinned, a warm feeling flooding her. So he had noticed…
So you can tell the difference between when I try to look good and when I don't? Been looking at me a bit?
When Kyon received the note and read it, he raised an eyebrow at her. We spend pretty much every day together. I don't really need to pay particular attention.
Haruhi resisted the urge to sigh. She frustratedly responded, I bet you really notice when Mikuru does it…
Her heart pounded in her ribcage as she handed the note to him. Then it wilted when his head whipped over at her in shock. So he really did like Mikuru…
What does Asahina-san have to do with any of this?
She shook her head and crumpled the paper, now in a truly sour mood. Leave it to Kyon to ruin her first day back.
The boredom of class didn't do anything to assuage her mood – in fact, it only made it worse. She focused on her own thoughts about Mikuru, coming to the conclusion that Kyon was attracted to the whole 'shy girl' thing she had going on.
So when school ended, she turned to Kyon, made her voice higher, blushed, and said, "I'll be waiting for you in the club room, Kyon-kun." She gave him a small smile, disgusted with herself, before getting up and exiting the classroom. She didn't find it all too odd that Kyon was giving her an incredibly weird look the entire time. She was doing the same internally.
She walked briskly to the clubroom, swinging the door open triumphantly as she put her fists on her hips and struck a pose. "Never fear, the S.O.S. chief is here!"
Koizumi clapped enthusiastically, Mikuru made a confused noise, and Yuki kept reading her book. Just another day in the SOS Brigade…
Haruhi decided to sit in front of the computer and look important while the club waited for Kyon to show up, which he did a couple minutes later. "Good to see Mikuru's not being molested," Kyon commented as the subject of his statement blushed.
Haruhi's eye twitched. "I'll show you molested," she said dangerously, pulling out her secret weapon. Kyon's eyes widened. "Out," Haruhi said dangerously.
Kyon scurried out, Koizumi exiting with him. Haruhi advanced on Mikuru, who began stripping herself. "Oh?" was all Haruhi said. Apparently she had learned her lesson.
Haruhi put the clothes on her and laughed. Just wait until Kyon saw this…
"I'm already getting a little warm," said Mikuru quietly.
Haruhi grinned at her. "It's alright, it's supposed to do that," she replied. "I think you look great this way! You guys can come back in now!" she called.
Kyon opened the door, stopping in his tracks when he saw Mikuru's outfit. "Why does it look like you're ready to go snowboarding?" he asked, referring to the thick, heavy parka and multiple layers of pants she was wearing. There was nothing to see any more, not even the tiniest bulges from her breasts.
"Haruhi said I looked good…" Mikuru said vulnerably.
"Don't worry," said Kyon. "You'd look great in anything."
Haruhi clenched her fists, but said nothing as Mikuru continued the touching scene. "Thanks, Kyon-kun," she said, smiling at him.
"And Nagato-san, I already told you you're cuter without your glasses," Kyon said obnoxiously (in Haruhi's opinion).
"Yeah, Yuki, take off your glasses," Haruhi said sarcastically, somewhat surprised when she actually did take her glasses off. She pointed at Kyon menacingly. "And you, go post some fliers."
"Why me?" Kyon asked irritatedly. "It's always me…"
"It's you because I say so," Haruhi replied smugly. "I'm brigade chief, so follow my orders or else."
Kyon, sold, opened his mouth to surely say, 'What fliers?', but Haruhi pulled a stack out of her backpack and slammed them on the table before he could get a single syllable out, patting them with a grin on her face. "On second thought, you probably need me to supervise," she said just to get under his skin more. He had been doing nothing but that to her all day.
Kyon sighed and picked up the fliers and Haruhi following him out of the door, which she slammed shut behind her. They started walking down the hall, Kyon putting up the fliers with barely any conviction at all.
"Kyon, you'd better put them up right or Mikuru's going to hear about your laziness," Haruhi said in a singsong voice.
Haruhi bumped into him, almost losing her footing. Kyon whirled around and accusingly asked, "What's with you and Mikuru today?"
"Because I know you like her," she said, folding her arms.
Kyon chuckled. "Yeah," he said, making Haruhi's heart twist. She had already known from the signs, but hearing it from his mouth was a little different.
"Then why haven't you asked her out yet?" Haruhi asked sadly.
"It wouldn't work between us," said Kyon, sounding like he had come to terms with that fact a while ago.
"The reason being?" Haruhi asked, her interest now piqued.
Kyon froze. "Oh…um…" he said. "Just a little secret between me and Asahina-san."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "You guys are going out behind everyone's back, aren't you?"
"Don't be a baka," said Kyon wearily. "I wouldn't have any reason to hide it from you guys if I was going out with her." He narrowed his eyes at Haruhi. "Why are you so interested in this?"
She felt her cheeks heat up. "No reason," she said defensively. "I was just wondering what was going on between two of my friends."
Kyon studied her for a long moment, making her fidget uncomfortably. Then he shrugged and said, "Okay," before going back to putting up fliers.
Haruhi scowled, resisting the urge to sigh in relief. She was sure he had figured it out there for a moment…
"So you wouldn't mind if I went out with Asahina-san?" he asked teasingly as he continued putting up the fliers.
So something was up between the two, and Haruhi felt her heart twist painfully in her chest. After several seconds of hesitation, she finally, morosely said, "Of course not. Why would I?"
Kyon turned around and looked at her skeptically, making her heart rate pick up. He took a step toward her and she took a step back, looking up at him with wide eyes.
Somebody needed to make her heart stop pounding…
"I don't know," Kyon suddenly said, making her blink. What was he talking about? "Why would you?"
Oh, right. She swallowed hard and licked her lips, then said, "I…um…I don't care."
Kyon sighed. "If you don't care at all, why have you brought Asahina-san up so much today?"
Haruhi tried desperately to come up with a convincing lie, but just conversing with Kyon seemed to shut her brain off. Unable to come up with anything, she felt tears spring into her eyes out of frustration and said, "You're so annoying, Kyon! Leave me alone!"
Kyon recoiled a bit and she froze, surprised at what came out of her mouth. After a second's hesitation, she sighed and wiped the tears out of her eyes with the back of her arm. "Forget it, Kyon. You can put the rest of the fliers up yourself. Just come back to the clubroom when you're done."
She turned and began walking away, her heart feeling heavy. Was this how it was going to feel every second up until Kyon finally recognized her for the woman she was? She reached up to take her hair out of its ponytail, intent on letting her hair free so she could let it breathe a little and so she could relax a little more, but a hand on her wrist stopped her, surprising her.
"Don't," Kyon's voice came from behind her.
She turned around but didn't pull her wrist out of Kyon's grip, relishing in the feeling of his hand. Thankfully, he didn't seem to notice that. "Don't what?" she asked.
"Don't take your hair of the ponytail," he said.
"Why not?" she asked, confused. "It's getting kind of annoying."
"Haruhi," Kyon said seriously, making her listen more intently. "I want to know why you seem to be so jealous of Asahina-san today."
Haruhi's annoyance flare up again. How dare he ask that so bluntly? "I said to forget it," she said, then wrested her wrist out of his grip.
Or at least she tried to, but Kyon just tightened his hold. "Tell me why," he said.
"No," she replied back challengingly, turning her head away from him.
His hand tightened around her wrist a little. "Tell me."
"No," she said again, turning back to glare at him.
His grip tightened even more, making her wince. "Haruhi," he said, tightening his grip even more.
Haruhi felt tears spring to her eyes again. His grip really hurt at this point, and tears of frustration mixed in when she realized this was the second time she had almost cried within a five minute period.
Kyon suddenly let go of her wrist, looking down at the tears in her eyes in shock, and she looked up at him with hurt in those same eyes as she tried to rub the pain away. "Haruhi…I…I forget you're a girl sometimes," he said as if that made up for it.
The pain of icy knives going through her heart was much worse than the pain in her wrist. "Was that supposed to be an apology?" she asked quietly, glaring at him through the tears that were making him blurry.
Kyon winced. "I…I'm sorry, Haruhi," he said. "I didn't mean to grip your wrist so hard."
Haruhi remained quiet for a moment, then softly, resentfully asked, "Do you ever forget that Mikuru is a girl?"
Kyon sighed. "Haruhi," he said wearily. "Can we stop the whole 'Asahina-san' thing? It's getting pretty annoying. I think you're you and Asahina-san is Asahina-san. Stop comparing yourself to her."
Haruhi's throat began to burn as her pent up anger and annoyance from the day threatened to burst out. "Should I stop comparing myself to her because I'll never be as good as her?" she asked, allowing an inkling of anger to come forth.
"What?" Kyon asked, confused.
Haruhi didn't know why, but Kyon's confusion was the last straw. She grabbed his shoulders and yelled, "Will I never be as good as Mikuru? Will I never be as pretty as her? As girly? As cute? Will she always be the woman you're striving for? Why don't you just ask her out already if you're so in love with her? At least then I can get on with my life while I pretend to be happy for you!"
Haruhi froze as she realized that she had spoken her frustrations about Mikuru aloud, which was basically the same as confessing to Kyon. What was even worse was that he seemed to be even more shocked than she was.
"Haruhi," he said quietly, and she immediately felt her cheeks flame.
It was too late to cover it up now, so she looked down at the floor said, "Well, there you go. That's why I kept bringing her up. Happy now?"
Kyon sighed, though this sigh was different than his previous sighs. "Yes," he said with conviction. "I am."
She looked up at him to ask him exactly what it was that he was happy about, but before she knew what was happening, Kyon placed a hand behind her neck and pulled her into a kiss. She froze in shock, surprised to feel Kyon's warm lips against hers, then leaned into him and began kissing him in return.
He pulled back all too soon, his cheeks a little pink, and she stared at him, dumbfounded. "Ky…Kyon?" she practically squeaked.
He rubbed his forehead with his finger self-consciously, averting his eyes from hers. "You don't need to try so hard, Haruhi," he said. "Asahina-san looks good, that much is true, but…"
Haruhi blinked, then put her hands on her hips and stubbornly said, "But?"
"But I…I would really like to go out with you," he said after mustering up his courage. Then he added, "Especially when you put your hair up into that damned ponytail. So…will you go out with me?"
Haruhi remained quiet for a long moment, surprised by this turn in events. This was a dream come true, especially since it all happened so quickly. She had no idea this was possible to achieve in just one day. Finally, she said. "Kyon…I, um…I actually put my hair up in a ponytail today for you." He looked at her in surprise. The surprisingly shy look on her face slowly turned into a beautiful smile, and she said, "And I would love to go out with you."
Kyon smiled back in response. He was going to say something else, but Haruhi couldn't stand Kyon seeing her all flustered for one second longer, so she said, "You're wasting Brigade time here, so get back to putting those fliers up." She really needed a few seconds away from him so she could go collect herself and calm her racing heart.
Kyon, still smiling, let out a soft sigh. "Fine," he said, "but I'm done after this and we're going to get something to eat."
"Fine," Haruhi replied. "I'll ask the other three where they want to go."
She turned to head back to the clubroom. "Haruhi," he said, making her glance over her shoulder at him. "I didn't mean the club should go out to eat." He cleared his throat. "I meant…uh…you and I should go out to eat…like a date."
She found a shy smile spreading on her face once more. "Like a date?" she asked playfully.
"We're going out on a date," he replied seriously. "Tch. No need to make a big deal about it."
Haruhi didn't reply, but walked back to the clubroom with a grin on her face. Of course she needed to make a big deal about it. She had won the heart of the boy she liked – the first boy she had truly ever been interested in.
As she turned the doorknob to the clubroom, there was a smile on her face and single thought in her mind.
This year was going to be even better and more interesting than the last.