Disclaimer: I don't own anything, I'm poor.


Now that I think about it, I shouldn't have done that. Though, I knew I was thinking rationally, she did tend to distort reality when the world goes against her whims, and it was pretty unfair of me to leave a fuming Haruhi all alone with the rest of the SOS members. Still, I can't allow myself to back down now. She has to know there's a limit to her control, and if she can't deal with it, well, then I guess its Koizumi's problem then, along with the rest of his band of freaks.

And so, with that at mind, I entered the class of 1-5, taking my seat in front of this so-called "god".

"Hey."

Haruhi ignored my greeting and set her eyes to the cloudless sky. With a scowl on her face and an aura of loathing surrounding her, I couldn't help but to ask,

"Is something wrong?"

"No."

That was obviously a lie.

"It doesn't seem like it."

"Could you just shut up?"

Haruhi snapped, raising her voice to a near scream. She didn't once avert her eyes from the window to look at me. Even though I had barely spoken to her, it was apparent that she already had enough of me.

"…fine."

I found myself murmuring. I turned my head to the front of the class and waited for the bell to ring.

If Haruhi was going to act this stubborn, fine. Let her be that way, but the least she could do is go right on ahead and admit that she's angry rather than ignoring me like this. C'mon! Say something here! I already have a silent person in my life, and, for her sake, I can say it suits her. But that's not you. You don't keep things inside. You explode impulsively until everything's destroyed. So, c'mon! Give me a reaction here! At least have the decency to ask how my date went. It's not like I go on a lot of them.

Haruhi laid her head down and ignored my silent pleas behind me.

This is too annoying.


I felt the silent fury behind me intensify every moment, building enough tension to crush a tin can. Fortunately, before I could crack under this pressure, Haruhi unleashed her rage in the form of kinetic energy and shot out of classroom when the lunch bell rang.

Really, what was that about? There's no need to cause the end of the world over this, is there?

I had not even had the time to breathe a sigh before I heard a knock on the door. Naturally, I glanced at the intruder and saw Koizumi's dawdling smile standing out in the corridor. He nonchalantly waved at me.

I expected something like this would happen.

"What is it?"

I entered into the hallway leisurely and reflexively threw out the greeting. I already knew what the topic was about, so I might as well dive into it now.

Koizumi half-heartedly chuckled and revealed his perfect teeth.

"How was your date?"

The course of my date yesterday, in my opinion, was rather bland. The date in question was more of a friendly outing than anything else. We went out to eat, watched a movie, talked sequentially, but there was no spark between us. Hmm…perhaps this was because of the pressure from our parents to like each other. I don't even think I remember the girl's name. Let's see…what was it? Was it Asa? Ayu? …Chi? Ah, well, it doesn't matter. I'll probably never see her again, but, there's no reason why I should tell him that.

"It was great."

I watched as Koizumi nodded understandingly.

"I fully endorse your need to socialize intimately with people, and, if I were to have the chance, I too would do the same."

I wondered, did that mean that the "Organization" was filled with a bunch of occult maniacs who were ruled strictly by some code? Or did he simply mean that there was a lack of a love interest in his esper life? Either way, I feel sorry for whoever might Koizumi fancy. If this person were to find out how dry and phony his personality was, surely, she would be repelled.

"But, I think it would be in your best interest to stop now."

Wait, was that a threat?

"Threat? No. I was merely referring to Suzumiya-san's condition."

He lifted his shoulders into an exaggerated shrug.

"Ever since yesterday afternoon, there have been outbursts of closed spaces. No doubt, this uprising was caused by you."

Hey, don't pan your problems on me. I didn't do anything wrong. If it's anyone's fault it would be Haruhi for being so nonsensical.

Koizumi sustained his cheerful smile and said,

"That may be so, but if things keep escalating like this, Judgment Day may by upon us."

Judgment Day? Don't tell me she's actually ending of the world over this. Then again, this isn't that surprising. She did the same thing with that baseball tournament. Jeez Haruhi, you're such a pain.

"Indeed, with the way things are going, Suzumiya-san will construct a world where you will be alone forever."

I shuddered at the thought.

"I'm kidding."

Koizumi dramatically threw the palm of his hand forward to emphasize that point.

"More likely, she'll recreate this world with the exception of altering some of your past decisions, in particular, your choice to skip on our club meeting yesterday."

His tone took a more serious approach.

"…and, of course, there will be other differences in this new world, like the nonexistence of aliens, time travelers, and espers."

…what do you mean by that? Is this some attempt at another lame joke? Haruhi's practically obsessed with them, and that's the sole reason why the brigade was founded in the first place. Why would she not include them in the new world? I thought if she were to recreate the world, it would be filled with them.

"On contrary, Suzumiya-san is currently more grounded to reality than ever in the past. Her eccentric behavior to finding them has toned down to not caring whether or not they even exist. So, if she were to remake the world now, it would be natural to not include them."

Looking back, that statement made some sense. The club had been involved in two citywide searches of extraordinary mysteries. The first was with the whole club, and the second was with just Haruhi alone. And ever since the closed space incident, we've rarely done any searching, if you exclude that one week. Since then, we've become the sort of club that just has fun, the very thing Haruhi said she didn't want.

It seemed like Haruhi had become more content with her high school life, and, at the same time, the complete opposite had happened to me. Though I had whined and complained ever since I was brought into the world of paranormal occurrences and not-so-ordinary people, I had to admit, it was a lot more interesting than the world I thought I knew. In fact, I had even once decided in the past that this world was much better than the normal one I seemed to crave, but I would rather not talk about that incident.

"For someone who's about to lose their powers, you don't seem concerned. I mean, if the world changes, what will you use to fight off the Shinjin?"

I remembered the gray colorless world where those blue giants dwelled. No matter how many people were involved in the "Organization", I find it hard to think that they could take down one of those giants with physical force alone.

"Let me assure you, I'm as concerned as you are when it comes to this, but who's to say this isn't a bad thing. With Suzumiya-san being more reasonable, there's a possibility that she will find a new, more practical method to vent her frustration. Closed spaces and Shinjin may not even exist in this new world, and the need for espers would be unnecessary."

Koizumi expressed his thoughts smoothly with his sincere and composed voice.

"And a chance for people like me to live a normal life would be nice as well."

For a brief moment, I considered whether or not Koizumi liked being an esper.

"Those are some of the opinions the people in the 'Organization' think...but, for the sake of preserving this world's memories, my superiors have decided that these closed spaces still can't be left to expand."

Koizumi wearily smirked.

"And if you were to make amends with Suzumiya-san now, it would be of great help to that cause."

After his plea, I pretended to think for a few moments. It was obvious that I had to confront Haruhi, but the fact that Koizumi was telling me to do this made me want to do it less.

"…fine, I'll try, but I won't make any promises. Don't expect me to reduce myself to becoming Haruhi's whipping boy."

"That much is appreciated."

Koizumi bowed slightly, signaling his gratitude, and looked up to me with his trademark smile.

"I won't be able to make it to today's meeting. I'm sure you understand. I leave you the responsibility to tell that to Suzumiya-san for me."

He turned around and waved goodbye with the back of his hand.

"Oh," he added, turning his head back to look at me, "If it just so happens that you fall out of Suzumiya-san's favor, I may have to step in and take actions into my own hands."

And then he left.

The meaning to those words, I haven't got a clue.


After the last bell rang, I mechanically walked over to the clubroom. I haven't had the chance to talk to Haruhi yet, but I knew sooner or later she would be there. She wouldn't be the SOS Brigade commander if she didn't. Now, I didn't particularly have a plan on what to say, but I wasn't going to apologize to her, that's for sure.

I knocked on the door and heard Asahina-san's sweet voice prominently greet me.

"Come in!"

I opened the door and saw Asahina-san, holding a tea trey closely in her arms. To the left of her, Nagato was silently reading in the corner.

"Hey."

I took a seat at the table and waited.

Haruhi was well on her way to create a completely normal world, and it was my job to stop that. There's a bit of irony in that.

I wonder what Haruhi's version of a normal world would be like. It would probably be a lot different that Nagato's version. If what Koizumi said was true, then it would be a world without aliens, time travelers, and espers, but wait, exactly how would that work? I went back in time to Tanabata to save the world, yelling out John Smith to a young Haruhi and helping her draw symbols on the ground. If she were to recreate the world now, time travel wouldn't exist, meaning I wouldn't be able to do that. So then, Haruhi would have never enrolled into North High, but if what Koizumi said was right, and that Haruhi just wanted to change yesterday, then that would mean she did enroll, and that I did go into the past, but that's impossible, since time travel wouldn't exist. So, doesn't that mean that the future has some sort of safeguard against Haruhi, since I've went into the past? Or could Haruhi really change everything so easiliy? Taking this argument into a broad perspective, this would be Asahina-san's theory versus Koizumi's. Who's right, I don't know. Though, if the thought data entity chose a side...jeez, this is too much to think about.

Taking time to relax my brain, I my eyes drifted to the embroidered laces of Asahina-san's apron. Her hot figure couldn't be concealed underneath that maid outfit. With her short stature and youthful persona, it was hard to believe that she was older than me. Then again, those developing busts seemed to disprove my theory. My gaze lifted up to her soft pink lips, which seemed moist from what seemed to be lip gloss, and then up to those big round bright eyes…which were staring right back at me.

Crap! Did she notice I was staring at her?

"Kyon-kun…"

Asahina-san blushed and looked down.

"…I-I'll get you some tea."

Stupid! Stupid! She must think I'm some kind of pervert now!

From the corner of my eye, I saw Asahina-san, fretfully pouring tea out of the kettle into a cup. Nagato probably saw me there, but with her, she could see a plane crash and still apathetically return to reading.

"…um"

Asahina-san stood beside me and apprehensively offered me a cup, and, being a gentleman, I nervously smiled and received it.

"Thanks."

I murmured. I would have to remind myself to bash my head into a wall for being so disrespectful.

"…Kyon-kun."

I looked up to see her blushing furiously.

"…h-how was your date?"

Amidst her reddening face, I was reading another emotion other than embarrassment. Was this possibly jealousy? Oh, I'm touched! For you to be concerned of me socializing with another woman, it's just too cute! I'm also relieved that your nervousness wasn't from my gazing. I guess you didn't catch that. Thank God.

Asahina-san looked at me patiently, anticipating my answer.

Now, I could tell her the truth and say that the date was okay and mildly fun, but…

"It was terrible."

I lied. And I don't regret it. Though it was morally wrong, there was no way I would ever intentionally dampen Asahina-san's spirits. I wouldn't even think about doing so.

"It was absolutely terrible. With traffic and, uh, stuff, my date couldn't even come, and so I pretty much just waited the whole day."

"Oh, I'm sorry. It must be hard on you."

Her flushed face quickly revealed worry and remorse. Oh Asahina-san! I am not worthy of your pity!

"Oh, no, not so much really…"

I brought the cup to my mouth and savored its refreshing contents.

"Well, I think it was mean of this girl to leave you waiting. If it had been me, I would've at least called."

She stopped and blushed at what she said.

The fact that she considered me as her boyfriend was enough to make start doing back flips in the air. Even though it was inadvertent, I think I felt my heart skip a beat.

Asahina-san started to fumble her fingers around and started to laugh uncomfortably.

"Asahina-san…"

I looked at her beautiful blushing face and decided to do something bold. This was something so bold, so courageous, and so inept, that it was sure to send the Asahina Mikuru fan club to my front door to mass murder me. Still, I ever so casually spoke to her.

"Say, I was thinking of catching a movie tomorrow. Do you...want to…well...go…with me…"

I tried to pretend to not care, but my heart was practically lodged in my throat.

Man, I should've thought about this before I asked. She was probably going to say "no". It was her job to watch Haruhi and make sure she wouldn't go berserk. Of course she wasn't going to say "yes". Aw jeez, this is going to make it uncomfortable every time we meet. By saying that one phrase, I've virtually destroyed our daily friendly conversations. There would be no "Hello Kyon-kun!" anytime I came to the clubroom, just a "Hi" with a long dreary silence at the end of it. Aw, damn it. I never should've asked. This was the stupidest idea I've ever had. Hell, why did I even ask? I mean, Nagato's in the room with us for God's sake. Someone put me out of my misery. Maybe if I pretended it was a joke, I might be able to save-

"That would nice."

"…really?"

Asahina-san nodded profusely and looked toward the floor with her flushed face. I took this as a sign of embarrassment.

"Ah…well, okay."

No amount of words could express how I felt, so I'll leave you to imagine what was happening in my head at that moment.

Just as my body was settling from its sudden endorphin inducement, Haruhi kicked the door open, causing the happiest moment in my life to be short-lived. The free careless cheerful mood of the room abruptly changed into one that was similar to a Nazi death camp. Haruhi stormed into the room, carrying a dark cloud of bitterness above her head, and walked over to a horrified Asahina-san. Asahina-san was completely petrified, as if she were about to get tackled by a bear, but to her relief, Haruhi just passed her and plopped herself angrily at the commander's seat.

The self-proclaimed brigade leader had arrived.

"Where's Koizumi?"

Her words weren't directed to anyone in particular, but since Asahina-san didn't know and Nagato surely wasn't going to speak, I answered her question.

"Koizumi has work. He won't be able to make it today."

Haruhi grunted and started to surf the internet, refusing to look at me. Honestly, how long is she going to keep this up?

It crossed my mind that there was a possibility that Haruhi had been listening in on me and Asahina-san, and by looking at Asahina-san's expression, it apparently crossed her mind too. But, I very much doubt that. Haruhi doing something discreetly was something I couldn't picture.

I looked over at Nagato who was absorbed in some bulky overseas novel. It seemed like she was unaffected with everything going on around her. Though she witnessed my and Asahina-san's conversation, I don't think she would tell Haruhi about that, or any less, talk, for that matter, so, the date I had scheduled was more or less private.

Asahina-san quickly poured another cup of tea. She shut her eyes and extended her arms, like it was some sort of offering to God.

"Suzumiya-san, would-"

"No."

Asahina-san winced from her response, as if every word that would come out of her mouth was set to detonate. She backed off and scrambled to a seat.

With Haruhi's glum attitude spreading around the room, I couldn't help but to feel disheartened myself. The little sentiment I had to settle everything immediately had diminished. At this moment, I felt that saving the world would have to wait until later.

And so, deprived of my will, I settled with counting the ceiling tiles instead of talking to her right away. Asahina-san started to knit fearfully, Nagato kept on reading, and Haruhi tinkered with the computer. All in all, it was one of the more uneventful days of the SOS Brigade, a sign that there was something bad about to happen.


I knew I had to do something or else the world I knew would be discarded. I had Haruhi in my sights, and I couldn't let her leave without confronting her. It wasn't an option for me.

I decided it would be best if I got her alone first. Without Asahina-san's panicked cries or Nagato's silent presence over my shoulder I would probably be able to speak to her more confidently. And that was pretty much the plan that I had formulated inside my head in the duration of the "club meeting".

So when I heard the sound of Nagato's book closing, my senses perked up and my eyes focused on the one thing that was the cause for all of my stress: Haruhi.

I said my goodbyes and left the room with Nagato, leaving the two girls inside the room. Now, I understood that Asahina-san had stay to change clothes, but Haruhi? Was she waiting until I left the school grounds before she left herself? If so, she's more stubborn than I thought.

I looked to the side to see Nagato silently standing beside me. It was surprising that she hadn't gone off to her apartment yet, since I had been standing beside the door for quite some time.

"I think I'll stay around a bit longer. I have something to take care of."

I told her.

She blatantly gazed up at me for several moments, almost looking like she was reluctant to go. I couldn't help but to be drawn deep into the depths of Nagato's obsidian eyes, where I saw signs of worry and distress. Maybe I was imagining these emotions inside her, but I could swear that at that moment, it looked like she was concerned about me. She blinked before I could read any further and lowered her gaze. Her head tilted and she turned around silently. Faintly, I heard her say a word.

"Goodbye."

I watched her walk down the hall with her ghostly footsteps.

Well, that was unexpected.


I watched as Asahina-san opened the door and shut it courteously. When she saw me, she lifted her hand to her mouth in surprise.

"Kyon-kun, why are you still here?"

"I, uh, have something to care of."

Though I had only used that line once before, and I already found it tiresome to say.

"Oh, hrmm…"

Asahina-san glanced at her shoes, as if she were to blame for Haruhi's condition. There was no doubt that she was thinking that, and to confirm my theory, she had even said,

"About tomorrow…I don't think we should…"

She didn't finish that statement, but I understood. I could understand how she must feel right now, but damn it, I really wanted this to work.

"Hey, as stubborn as Haruhi is, she can't object if we go out as friends. There's nothing wrong in that is there?"

I smiled my best in order to comfort her while still being able to keep the plans I had made. Yes, I had used the "f" word, but the meaning's all the same, isn't it?

"…no."

Asahina-san managed to meagerly smile back, though it looked like she was about to burst into tears at any moment.

Oh, there's no need to torture yourself over this. It's not your fault. It's all Haruhi's for being so selfish, so please don't cry! But if you really need to, you're welcome to use my shoulder to dry those tears.

Asahina-san nodded her head and walked away.

"Bye-bye! I-I'll see you tomorrow!"

She waved to me before leaving the hall. Once she disappeared from my sight, I decided to enter the room to talk to Haruhi.


The sun had cast an orange glow to the clubroom, and Haruhi was standing tall with her arms crossed, looking out the window. Was she waiting to see me?

"Haruhi."

I called to her, but she didn't answer.

"Haruhi."

She still didn't budge. This was ridiculous. She had probably already noticed I was here but was refusing to look at me. I wonder how long she can keep this up. If I were to not do anything, would she ignore me for the rest of the school year? I admit, it sounds appealing, but the fate of the world rests on me doing this. It's a shame, isn't it?

"Haruhi."

I put my hand on her shoulder to get her attention.

It was sudden. I felt Haruhi jerk back and rip my hand off of her with her inhumanly brute strength, and I was thrown a few steps back. How had Haruhi become this strong, I may never know.

From the moment I met Haruhi, I had observed her moods. I had seen various different sides of her, from melancholy, to boredom, to the bouncing enthusiastic schoolgirl I got used to. But this was the first time I had seen her look this infuriated. It was like she wanted me to disappear out of her sight, and perhaps that was what she was doing. This was the first time I had ever saw this scary side of her, and this was the first time I ever actually felt scared of her.

"What!"

She shouted while corrosively glaring at me with those fiery eyes. With the orange sun radiating behind her, it felt like I was being yelled at from a deity. Now, I knew for a fact that she wasn't God, but, at this moment, she could play the devil quite well.

"What is your problem?"

I combated her anger with my own. Though I glared back and changed the tone of my voice, it still didn't feel enough to match Haruhi's awesome emotion.

"Nothing."

"…"

At this point, my mind drew an absolute blank. I had no idea what to say next. Throughout my planning, I guess I should've included a script of words to say. Hmm…maybe if I try staring her down, I could squeeze something out of her.

"…"

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Haruhi's continued glaring, apparently untouched by my "intimidating" stare, and answered with an annoyed voice. She took a few steps toward the door and circled around the table. With her crossed arms and firm scowl on her face, she stood there, impatiently waiting for me to reply.

"Because…I know you're lying."

Without any plan, I pretty much said whatever came to mind.

"Now, I may not be smart, but I can see that it's pretty damn obvious that something's wrong with you. You've been angry and depressed ever since you came to school, and you've been getting worse by the minute. So why don't you make this easier on me and tell me directly, because I'm enjoying talking with you just as much as you are right now."

I regretted how I worded that, and even more so, how angry I sounded when I said it. I suppose it would've been better if I hadn't cursed at her either.

"You…really…want to know?"

Haruhi shook her head and a thin smile stretched across her face.

"I've been thinking about you."

Her eyes glistened as she paced in front of me.

"I am sick and tired of your lazy attitude. All you do during club activities is mumble and complain. Not once have you ever supported me on any ideas I come up with. You're cynical, pessimistic, and frankly, you're an idiot."

I continued to listen to her rant and took in every insulting word she had to offer. I was able to do this because I knew she was speaking blasphemy. If she knew what I had done to insure this reality's existence, she probably would've shut up by now, but since she couldn't know, all I could do was stand there and wait patiently for her to stop.

"…I don't even know why I even bother keeping you in the club."

She ended there, but I decided to push her further.

"So why do you, then?"

Truthfully, this wasn't such a random question. This question had been in the back of my mind for quite some time. Haruhi had wanted a mysterious transfer student, a moé mascot, and had also received an indispensable silent character. So, where does that leave me? Even after I learned all of the SOS members' identities, there was still that question. I wasn't an alien, time traveler, esper, or even a slider. I was completely normal, boring in every aspect and nature, so why was I dragged into all of this? It was truly an anomaly.

If I hadn't sat in front of Haruhi at the beginning of the school year, would some other guy replace me? Would it be some other guy that would run meaningless errands around town? Would it be some other guy that would go back in time to save the world? Would it be some other guy that would be trapped in the closed space with Haruhi? Or was there actually something special with me? I just wanted to know, why me? Why was is it that I'm here?

Who am I kidding? There's probably not an answer to that question, and if there was, Haruhi wouldn't know either.

Haruhi looked like she had been slapped. Her head tilted forward and her bangs covered her eyes.

"You're right."

She said monotonously. To me, she looked like someone who had just realized the world wasn't flat after all.

"You're absolutely right."

Haruhi walked toward the door and opened it, leaving me to look at her backside.

"From here on out, I don't ever want to see you in my clubroom again."

And then she left.


AN: I'm not really that good of a writer, now that I think about it. I have this uncanny perk to start off every story with the end, completely disregarding the beginning and middle. So, when I wrote down, "And then she left," I hadn't really thought of how to build up to that point. With that said, I had to write four thousand words of new content before I could type up what I originally came up with. It doesn't seem worth the trouble, doesn't it? Well, looking back at what I made, I can say that four thousand words exceeded my expectations. I didn't plan on this chapter to be this long, since I usually only write a maximum of two thousand, but here it is. Four thousand words. Wow.

On another note, I don't think that this could ever possibly happen in the novels or the anime, but I still tried keep everyone in basic character. It's especially hard to do since I'm dealing with an angry Haruhi, a more bold, but dense Kyon, and a seemingly out of character Mikuru who has just accepted a "date" for the sake of moving the plot, so forgive me for those discrepancies or any others I missed.

Until next chapter, Ivan Run Elmore